Blunt, extremely blunt.

Dear friends, have you ever heard of this simple abbreviation: P&C? I don’t mean Palmolive and colgate ok.. I’m sure among the first few things tat come to your mind must be, "Private and Confidential". If so, you’re rite. If not so, you’ll have to learn more business language pal. ;)

P&C simply means, private and confidential.

I remember when I started my first few jobs after Form 5, a senior once told me tat our salary/pay is private and confidential. What she meant was; you don’t have to tell the world your pay/salary. It’s good enough for only your employer, family and close friends (and government, if you qualify for income tax) to know it. She also added, "People don’t go around asking ppl about their salary unless they’re very close to each other."

"What if they still want to ask?" An innocent question from me.
"I would say that those ppl are extremely blunt," she said.

Funny, of 100 ppl I met here, 30% of them are extremely blunt.

First, I’m not close to them. I’ve merely met them for maybe 1month +.

Second, their question was very direct indeed, "What’s your salary?" When I pretended stupid to elude their question, they persistently repeated, "What is your pay?"

Third (and I can’t stand this), when I retaliated by asking them the same question, they went generalizing the whole idea, like, "Oh, enough to eat la.. enough to survive la.. enough enough enough," and all sorts of redundant phrases. So I’ve tried using their method, "Enough to eat la." Then came the irritating reply, "So how much? Got RM1000? 1500? 1800? 2000? 2200? 2500? 3000?"

HEY, MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS CAN’T YOU?!

Today I finally told myself, enough is enough. Then came a familiar question from an innocent looking guy/uncle, "How much is your salary?"

"Hah? What did you say?" Act stupid, my first defense line.
"What is your pay, I asked."
"What? You want to know about my salary?"
"Ya, I want to know how much your salary is."
Enough is enough. Smiling, I replied, "I can’t tell you."
"Got 1000?"
I ignored.
"1500? 2000?"
ENOUGH! "I said I can’t tell you, it’s private and confidential."
"Got 2000? I’m sure got one…"

I ignored him totally, didn’t even want to respond to him anymore. Politeness has reached its limit.

Blunt. Extremely blunt.