10th International Convention Of Melaka Twin Cities IV

Wednesday 14th April morning, I still left my house very early because I was not sure what time exactly the interpreters needed to report duty. When I arrived at Equatorial Hotel at 8am, the registration counter was not even open. This time, I was ready with all my translations. So my mind could relax despite my lack of sleep.

Emi joined me for breakfast. Since we were neither required nor interested to join any sessions of talk in the convention halls, we stayed in the foyer to take a rest and had some sharing together.

KC who came much later was right. We only had to turn up for the closing ceremony at noon to make noise in our kandang again.

The prelude of the event was "Dondang Sayang". It was the first time I watched this love ballad originated in Melaka sometime in the 15th century. Accompanied by musicians behind, two singers exchanged Malay pantun (poetry) in a lighthearted style.

Next, the Mayor of Melaka and the Melaka State Secretary gave their speech one after another. The colleague for Arabic and Emmy knew that the Yemen ambassador and the Cuban ambassador needed their simultaneous translation. KC had been told by Sukhirah the previous day that the Nanjing delegate who had requested an interpreter for Mandarin had withdrawn himself from participating in the convention. Nevertheless, she did her job faithfully. I still had no idea who was listening to my voice. Anyway, it was a good opportunity to practise my reading as well as my writing skills. And I was now a bit more familiar with the topic of conservation and management of world heritage sites, which was the theme of the convention.

I already felt myself like a radio reporter after reading four texts.

Emmy continued to translate spontaneously even what the emcee said. She could be employed as a deejay! When the event was over, I said to her, "You've worked overtime!" She replied, "I've worked like a dog these two days! Even more than my maid!"

The participants were leaving the ballroom. I looked at the temporary wooden booths and asked one of the technicians, "Is our kandang going to be demolished soon?" He nodded.

I jokingly urged KC and Emmy, "We'd better take some pictures now. This is also a heritage site in danger!" Those who heard that all laughed.

KC,

Emmy

and I posed in front of our own "cage" as a memory of our two mornings' vocal work.

Before we went to Oasis Pool Side for lunch, Sukhirah called all the interpreters to an office to hand over a token of appreciation each given by MBMB. She was the only one who verbally thanked us for our service.

I was not tempted by the variety of dishes anymore. I ate a little for the sake of keeping my friends company. Since my entire teaching load had been shifted to the city campus, I seldom met KC who was stationed at the Alor Gajah campus most of the time. It was an occasion for us to chat about our recent life.

I was especially glad to have known Emmy who was such a friendly person. About fifteen minutes after she had left with her husband's car, she telephoned me, "I'm still on my way back. I'm already missing you two. You must come to my house and I'll cook for you!"

Having swallowed 6 hotel meals within 42 hours, I had to begin to plan my next 42 hours' fasting in order to get rid of my added kilos...