Journey of A Mother

 

Happy Mother's Day !

Retirement

The common word heard spoken recently is "Retirement".

First, one of our clients, a design-and-build contractor asked us to help to look for a GM since the current GM who is a retired JKR engineer has finally decided to "retire" after working 3 years after his first retirement at 55. His reason of not wanting to work anymore is that he no longer needs to work since all his children have graduated.

Then there is this shocking news of Justine Henin's announcement of retiring from tennis at the age of just 25 when she is ranked first in WTA. Like Paul said,"She is burnt out !".

The No. 1 lady golfer Annika Sorenstam also announced her retirement from golf.

But then if one has no specific plan of what to do after retirement, life would really be boring........

Travel to Heaven

Travel to Heaven

This 85 year old couple, having been married almost 60 years, had died in a car crash. They had been in good health the last ten years mainly due to her interest in health food, and exercise.
When they reached the pearly gates, St. Peter took them to their mansion which was decked out with a beautiful kitchen and master bath suite and Jacuzzi.
As they "oohed and aahed", the old man asked Peter how much all this was going to cost.
"It's free," Peter replied, "this is Heaven."
Next they went out to survey the championship golf course. They would have golfing privileges everyday and each week the course changed to a new one representing the great golf courses on earth.
The old man asked, "What are the green fees?".
Peter's reply, "This is heaven, you play for free."
Next they went to the club house and saw the lavish buffet lunch with the cuisine's of the world laid out. "How much to eat?" asked the old man.
"Don't you understand yet? "This is heaven, it is free!" Peter replied with some exasperation.
"Well, where are the low fat and low cholesterol tables?" The old man asked timidly.
Peter lectured, "That's the best part...you can eat as much as you like of whatever you like and you never get fat and you never get sick. This is Heaven."
With that the old man went into a fit of anger, throwing down his hat and stomping on it, and shrieking wildly.
Peter and his wife both tried to calm him down, asking him what was wrong.
The old man looked at his wife and said,
"This is all your fault. If it weren't for your blasted brain muffins, I could have been here ten years ago!"

1969 Vs 2008

Last Friday, I attended a wedding dinner of the son of one of my former secondary school classmates of Lok Yuk School, KK. We had the chance of meeting up with old friends whom we have not seen for some time. All show sign of having been "ravaged" by the passage of time. It's hard to believe that almost half a century has passed since those days when we were secondary school boys and girls!

 

I thought it would be interesting to see what almost 40 long years have done to us. But by their faces, they look a happier bunch in 2008 compared to 1969 then!

An Eating Place Called "Remember to Eat"

I was in KL again on 25 April 2008 to attend a meeting in Putrjaya. I met up with My wife who also happened to be in KL for her meetings and official obligations.

We met up with Minmin's family for a meal and dessert at this place called "Remember to Eat" at Plaza Low Yat, Bukit Bintang. The Sesame Dessert is not bad.

The sweet young lady next to me is now in U already ! Well, that's another milestone in life.

The Dessert in front is Mango Loh.

Cute

It is rare to find kid who is so willing to pose and be photographed. I find him very adorable! On the way back from Kluang to Sri Gading, My wife kept asking him to tell stories and sing songs. He obliged and before long, he was just too tired to carry on and fell asleep.

When I was at the wheel and he was telling stories, I was for some moments thought that I was back in the 80's listening to my kids telling stories. Somehow, non-Caucasian English-speaking kids sound very similar. Yea, stop dreaming!

A Short Trip to Kluang

Da Shau (大嫂) appeared more health conscious than the last time I saw her some 6 or 7 years ago. From the amount of publications and pin-ups on health-related issues, I suggested to her to consider giving health talks to interested public.

I was impressed with the way she displays the photo's of relatives and loved ones on the countertop in her living room. I saw a lot of familiar faces !

Sri Gading as at April 2008

This is one of the places in Malaysia where time stands still. This little town hardly has undergone any major change since I first saw it in 1974.

One of the changes however is a new sundry shop called Xian Kiat Trading. The boss is none other than my wife's 3rd brother. The "little boss" seen in the photo is proud of his shop!
Talking about this little boss, I am indeed amazed by his "photographic mind". At the tender age of three and a half, he "reads" the Entertainment page of the newspaper to pick up the TV programme of the day. Somehow, over time, he is able to pick up and compare the programme titles as shown in TV as against those printed in the newspaper. He can correctly tell you what is going to be shown in the TV by looking at the newspaper. Pretty amazing!

Lundong sold in one of the little food stores by the road side built on top of the drain was delicious.

Another morning, we had roti cannai at another nearby food outlet acclaimed to serve the best roti cannai in Sri Gading. The roti cannai man was really competent in that he handled taking of order, cooking the roti cannai and acting as cashier all at the same time.

Looking at the apron worn by the roti cannai man, I thought he is a member of the "Bersih" movement that had caused "havoc" to the Malaysian Government just before the election. My wife thought otherwise. He wore it probably just to prove he was serious in upholding good and hygienic food handling practice !

When we wanted to make an order for gong-gong, the roti cannai man simply said that he knew what is the usual order for him.

That proves one point: He must have been there countless times eating the same thing over and over again!

At first, I could not believe that there is a road named after my wife's Dad. I was proven wrong when I was finally led to the Jalan not far from the Xian Kiat Trading.

Elevated to State Assemplyman's Wife

We met up with one of our MU Ex-Fifth College friends, Ho Wai Suet in our recent trip to KL on 18 April 2008. Not much changes except now that she is the wife of a DAP State Assemblyman for Damasara Utama in Selangor. Her compliant: We meet less often as he is out early in the morning and return back late at night.

Syabas to Dr. Cheah Wing Yin who has to shoulder on as a politician and a practising psychiatrist at the same time.

Malaysia will be a step forward if some of his ideals are realised.

“We have a historical duty to renew our struggle for a Bangsa Malaysia. However this contest must not be seen solely from the perspective of political rights or social injustices but also from the economic perspective of wealth creation and distribution. Malaysian First is a continuation of Malaysian Malaysia with equal economic opportunity as its central core. 

Equal opportunity is not just giving everyone the right to study, the right to work, right to spend what is earned, right to own property and have the state as a servant and not as a master but also about our obligation to help the needy. No one is fated to be poor just as no one is entitled to wealth. Social justice gives everyone the opportunity to improve their standard of living. 

We must free up the potential of our greatest resource - our human resources. We must empower every Malaysian with economic freedom and equal opportunity to achieve the great Malaysian Dream of success through hard work and ability. 

If we succeed, we can transform Malaysia into a united nation identified with a common destiny sharing values of democracy, freedom, justice, integrity and human dignity. If we fail, we have a sham democracy that can not differentiate between right and wrong.”

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An old photo taken immediately after Dr. Cheah Wing Yin was nominated as the candidate for the seat of State Assemblyman for Damansara Utama. Some of the familiar faces in the photo are Chow Kon Yeow (3rd from left), Lim Guan Eng (4th from left), Dr. Cheah Wing Yin (5th from left), Ho Wai Suet (Dr. Cheah's wife) and Liew Chin Tong (1st from right).

Guess Who are in Town

Bananas leave rice and fish head curry at Krisnan.

Audrey enjoying her meal !

At Ocean Seafood Restaurant

Audrey in Serene's KK residence

Head Hunting is On........

It's not hard to figure out why the head hunting for Sam is on. He was featured fairly prominently in the weekly article of "Sabah Architectural Heritage" in Daily Express on 31 March 2008. Abstracts:

"Samuel Lee, a young architect from Sabah who is steadily making a name for himself in Singapore. He and his eclectic team of young designers recently won a Singapore national architecture competition for Marina South residential district...."

"...he and his generation of talented young designers ......"

SYABAS SAM !

Prayer for the Nation

Malaysia is now in the process of electing a new government, this prayer should be food for thought for those aspiring to be YB or YAB:

This is a Prayer given in Kansas at the opening session of their Senate. It seems Prayer still upsets some people. When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard:

"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask for your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance! We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good'; but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.

We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.

We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.

We have killed our unborn and called it choice.

We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.

We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem.

We have abused power and called it politics.

We have coveted our neighbour's possessions and called it ambition.

We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.

We have ridiculed the time-honoured values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.

Amen!"

The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked out during the prayer in protest.

In 6 short weeks, the Central Christian Church, where Rev. Wright is the pastor, logged more than 5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively. The church is now receiving international requests for copies of this prayer from India, Africa and Korea

Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on his radio program, "The Rest of the Story" and received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever aired. With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and motivate  our desire whole heartedly to achieve "One Nation under God".

Impression Counts

Remember the young engineer who came to ask for endorsement of his documents? Yes, he came a second time early last week.

He came again to ask for my endorsement as his proposer for his application to become graduate member of IEM. He was again in slippers and short pants. This time, I was not very pleased. I took his application form and asked him to come again in more decent appearance before I would sign. Well, I said it with a smile:)

He dropped by last Friday morning in long pants and a better looking T-shirt. I signed the document and we had another interesting chat. He told me his mom did give him a good scolding for being sloppy.

Before he left, he asked whether he could email me things that he finds interesting and likes to share. I said "Why not". So far, I have not received anything from him yet.

One thing I hope he has learnt - Impression counts !

Just Follow Laws

Whenever you travel along the highway from Tawau to Kunak, there is this army check point that has been there for umpteen years. Men in the street always wonder the purpose of its existence when the number of illegals and crimes show no sign of reduction.

Last Friday, as I was travelling along this road in a contractor's vehicle to attend a site meeting near Kunak, we were talking about the subject of how lorry drivers deal with check point set up by JPJ personnel meant to book overloaded vehicles.

The Contractor seemed annoyed to have to "grease the palm" of these personnel to avoid being booked or detained and kept by the road side for hours under the pretext of waiting for verification of the overload amount.

But when asked whether he preferred to live in a civil society like US or Australia where the bulk of the people follow the laws; it didn't take him long to confirm that he prefers the "present system" because this is how Malaysian society operates. He would be at a disadvantage if he is to follow the rules of laws while the rest don't.

I thought to myself, there is still a very very long way before Malaysians can expect to live in a civil society where the majority would live by the rules of laws. My feeling is, it never will!

Gutsy Young Man

This afternoon at my office, a young man knocked at my door and asked for a moment to see me. He has long unkempt hair and in short pants. He is dark skin and looks Malay. He was apologetic for not being well-dressed because he did not expect to just drop in like this. An abstract of the conversation goes like this:

Me: So, what do you want ?
Young Man: I wonder I can have your permission to certify some of my documents for submission to BEM (short for Board of Engineers Malaysia).
Me: Tell me a bit about yourself.
YM: I studied my primary at SRK Lok Yuk, Likas. Then did my secondary at Maktab National. My Diploma in Mara. My Electrical Engineering degree in University Technology Petronas.
Me: So, what are you doing now ?
YM: Doing my Masters at MU?
Me: Why do you choose MU ?
YM: That's my mother's U.
Me: May I ask, what year did your mom graduate?
YM: 1977.
Me: (Thinking to myself that's about the same time I was in MU) may I ask, what is your mom's name?
YM: MR.
Me: What a coincidence. I know your mom. She is now no longer called MR.
(I knew, she has an Abdullah behind her name because she married a muslim).
We talked a lot more and I could see that he also enjoyed the conversation.
Me: If you have a chance, you should try to go overseas and expose yourself to different kinds of experience.
YM: Well, I wish I could but my mom can't afford.
Me: Did you notice many students who are studying overseas are not coming back?
YM: I noticed. I have many classmates who are now overseas.
Me: You know why? Malaysia has an unjust system. The system does not reward people based on merits. (I took the chance to remind him on this issue. I think if there is any chance of change, may be it has to start with the younger generation. I thought).
YM: I agree.

At the end of the conversation I gave him my name card and he expressed his desire to see his name ending with just as many professional titles as well one day.

This young man reminded me of my two gutsy sons as well. One ventured on his own to pursue his dream in a foreign country. Another went to the country down under literally on his own and is thriving there despite the fact that there is very little Malaysian content so to speak, just orang putih.

This young man's positive attitude bodes well for his future. He is polite, affable and holds himself well. He has a bit of roguish humour and I can't help but like him (especially when he reminds me of my boys).

080108

Paul was a year older on this unique day of 080108. As usual, it was celebrated with yummy food.

Session 1: Dinner at this new Italian restaurant with Italian chef, Grazie. We had Carpaccio Tonno, Lingui. Marinara and Lasangna. I couldn't make out of these until the dishes finally arrived.

Session 2: Immediately after the Italian food, we went to Foh Sang for round 2-porridge. Somehow, the dosage of the Italian meal was slightly undersized.

That's a record - to celebrate a birthday with 2 meals at two separate locations non-stop.

Some of New Year 2008 SMS Received

"All of life is a series of choices, and what you choose to give life today will determine what life will give you tomorrow"

"In this outgoing year of the pig, you are slaughtered. In the coming year of the rat, you will be caught. If you want neither, then throw away feng shui and exchange it for God's Grace through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. May you New Year be Holy Spirit-filled"

"This year is almost gone but made us strong. The path was long but we walked with a song..... There were fears and tears but we also have reasons to cheer ! Wishing you happy memories of this ending year and hope you will have a wonderful New Year filled with joy, good health and success"

"Later, Mr. Chung and his family will visit me. I will ask them to visit you too ! The Chung family members are : Chung Ma Piu, Chung Tai Choi, Chung ToTo and Chung 4D. They will be there to wish you good luck for 2008. Don't worry ! One of the members will not visit you for the whole year - Chung Sa Man is out of town this year"

"A new start, a new beginning, a new chapter, a new year. Forget the bad. Cherish the good"

"My very very good friends, Mr. Fatt Choi (money man), Mr. Ken Kong (healthy) and Miss Happy-go-Lucky visited me last night. They promised to stay with me in year 2008. I thought of you and asked them to see you through 2008. They said"Yes, No Problem!""

"Wisdom from God for a better tomorrow. USE THINGS AND LOVE PEOPLE. DON'T USE PEOPLE AND LOVE THINGS"

"Fresh year, fresh hopes, fresh plans, fresh efforts. May 2008 delight you with good health, happiness, success and joy.... Happy New Year"

To all out there "May 2008 truly be of significance to you and blessing to others"