“Hi Meita & Florence, this weekend there will be a Indonesia Chinese girl coming in from Indo. She is a student studying in Delasalle art school. FYI only.”
This was the sms from the landlady. “FYI only”, so informing us that Cindi, the landlady finally found another new tenant, a roommate to replace the previous tenant who left in December last year.
“Life will not be the same again, at least for me”…hahaha, I thought to myself.
It was 6pm last Sunday, I was in the library and heard my handphone vibrating. I panicked each time my handphone rang. (“Face reality” this was something I learnt from Meita, my existing roommate of 14 months. Meita is a young but matured Chinese Indonesian PR here. Educated in Singapore starting from Primary school and graduated from Polytechnic last year. She is as good as a Singaporean now, she speaks our lingo and behaves like one of us, haha.)
I checked my phone, I missed 2 calls earlier, it was Cindi, the landlady. “Oh, not again, I thought to myself, what’s the matter with the new tenant now?” I was in the library and was not convenient to speak nor return her call. I was thinking, she should be able to handle it herself.
I used to stay at home during weekends to recharge and rest after working almost 15 hours a day on 2 jobs, it is Mondays to Fridays one week and Mondays to Saturdays another. Thus, anyone can imagine how I treasure my Sundays.
However, it was different last Sunday - I left for the library instead. I slept early last Saturday around 9pm so that I would be well rested for Sunday and to avoid having to receive the new roommate.
I am not an unaccommodating person; just that the landlady made me meet two prospective tenants previously, one of them, the first foreigner was a big turn-off, I felt really offended by her attitude.
….. and why did the landlady did that? you might be asking.
Well, after the last roommate left us in December 2010, the landlady made us signed for 12 months’ rental contract instead of the original 6 months. I felt forced to sign, because the landlady approached me while I was ironing my clothes and pester on even though I told her my reasons for not wanting to sign a 12 months’ rental contract. It was also done even before the previous contract expired in May this year. I felt forced and cornered to sign the renewal in March 2011 while I had until April 2011 to decide.
My reservations were that in the event that I cannot get along with the new roommate for some reasons or another, I would be trapped there to fulfill one year’s contract.
The other reason was that my condition might change and I have to move out or I might want to change.
This is the beauty of renting shared accommodation - move and change if you do not like it.
Cindi promised that she would treasure existing tenants and will make sure that new tenants will be given priority and will ensure we like the new tenants, in a way to assure us to sign the 12 months rental contract.
Now I regretted signing the 12 months’ rental contract……
………. To be continued
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