Weekday mussing.....

As I sat down on my single seater sofa after a work meeting in town in the afternoon, I could not help but reflect on what had transpired in the morning episode yesterday. I guess, in many ways, it kinda pricked my inner soul and made me wonder a lot. As usual, I was working that morning and attended to a pre-arranged meeting of a client who had requested for a later meeting as she was tied up with some matters. Little did I know what her “matters” were and I certainly was minding my own business when it comes to work…especially. So, I consented to the meeting to be brought forward to Monday and that was that.

That morning, I had to wait a long time for this client to show up and was asked to go to a nearby coffee shop for a drink while the client (she) explained things to me. We finally met up at a coffee shop and the client just told me from A-Z about her life and why we had to do the meeting later in the morning and in a pre-arranged meeting. Mdm.X( to conceal her identity ) is a 49 year old woman, a mother of two teenage children, slim and good looking woman who works as a hairdresser. She slowly unfolded to me her drama in life as I have asked the reason for the delay in surveying her house loss. She patiently explained to me that she is currently separated from her estranged husband who is at home most of the time and hence, the reluctant to have the survey done when her husband is around.

As inquisitive and straight forward as I was, I have asked of what had happened as I would have to give an account of the delay in my survey work. So, Mdm.X straightened up and explained to me that her husband is an alcoholic, controlling freak filled with jealousy pang and abusive ways. So, she did not want her husband to be in the house when we survey the loss at her house. She was afraid that he would get berserk and attacked the both of us. She had left her husband about a year ago and she would get back home to meet up with the children when he is out at work. She then went on to explain that she could not endure the physical and mental abuse anymore and that’s the reason she left her husband. Though I wanted to tell her that it is none of my business to know all these but I could not help but felt for her in many ways. Yeah, it adds up to my already long list of “amazement with people” list.

I realised that there are many women like Mdm.X. Trapped in a hopeless situation of physical and mental abuse while hanging on to the only thing they know that is to stand by their husbands no matter what. Hanging on to their only financial support and trying not to offend that financial tree for the sake of the children and whatever reasons they may have. They do not know where to turn to and yet when they confided in their closest relatives and family, they were told that the man is the head of the house and just bear it all. Worst still, some would relate how they were like that too. It is sad that these women were consistently told to “bite the bullet” and bear the brunt of such monstrosity. It is a vicious cycle, ladies & gentleman.Very very vicious cycle! I find that rather disturbing and appalling indeed. I can understand a lot of matters but I will not understand nor stomach the fact that a man would raise his hand to strike at a woman even at the slightest provocation. To me, this is every ounce of cowardice for smacking a woman who is not even a physical equal to a man’s strength and yet, blows are inflicted without a single afterthought nor care just to satisfy the craving for power and position as “head of the house” konon.

I believe that there is definitely something wrong with men who hit their wives. Sure, some women tends to be talkative and sharp/toxic with their tongue but we really need to turn the other way to avoid conflicts at times. But to raise your hands and pummelled the woman like there is no tomorrow is extreme and dangerous. Then, we blame it on the effects of alcohol! Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! Dumb moron! That is the problem when you are so stuck up in the “men’s only world” regime. Meaning, you are taught that men’s voices are to be heard and reign supreme and women’s voice are not important. I believe there is a real need for men to grow up or get better educated for they are badly brought up,man. There is a real need of balance and understanding lar....

While the men have their flaws, there are women who are simply out of line at times. Don’t you agree? This too needed to be addressed. If you want freedom and wisdom then you should not abuse that privilege either. You better clean up your acts and not be snobbish and toxic with your tongue and ways. Be a blessing rather than a curse to people, women!  I have seen women who treats their husbands like cash cow and spends everything till the bleeding leaks from the arse while there are women who are so damn fierce, clingy, suicidal and dominant that it is no surprise to come to know that their man would rather find solace in the arms of another woman who are more “understanding” to their needs. Yeah, yeah, Adam took a bite of the apple but no one talks about Eve prodding Adam to get the apple in the first place! Adam gets the bloody stick all the time!

Yeah, it is atrocious how some women would treat their husbands/boyfriends like some slave dogs while it is the same for some husbands who would bark at their wives like some maid from the foreign lands. To me, both genders are a pain in the ass when it comes to power and authority. Oh Yeah, I have seen some pretty dominant wives around and it is really a painful sight indeed until the partner loses their cool. I guess, many would not raise a fuss but I believe that mutual respect and a lot of tolerance are fairly important traits. There is a need to exercise wisdom, respect and freedom in a relationship. When these traits are missing, you can be sure that it is a matter of time when abuses start and explosion of profanity starts. You can bet your last dollar, somebody is gonna get hurt real bad! ( borrowing Russell Peter’s dad lines! )

Yeah, there are definitely more ways than ever to see the matters. For the women supporters, you would say one thing and for the men supporters, you would have your say on this too, right? So, I am not going to get into those conflicts but say it as it is.

I know that it is completely none of my business but I really felt for Mdm.X and her predicament that day. Yeah, she did cry in my car telling how difficult it had been on her own for a year without the financial support but she had started to re-build her life. She is, in her own words, adjusting to a new life. She just wanted to start a new life and daily life seemed hard each day but she was determined to start anew and move forward. I asked her if she is ever going to go back to her hubby’s side. She did not hesitate to say a resounding ‘NO”. Good for her, I guess.

She even joked with me to introduce her a good man and I was wondering………….( gramps is dead.…dad is dead….my best buddy, Teo is 53, most of my single male colleagues are half her age ……….  ) Naw, I was just joking. I told her to be strong and never succumbed to selling short of herself in life. I even told her that she would survive if she puts her mind to it. We all have been that tiresome road of rebuilding our lives somehow each day and I told her exactly that. Honestly, I will never ever know whether what I said made sense or not but I believed that I lend an ear to her that day and hear her cries. Maybe, it was a relief for her as she told me that she did not know why she needed to tell me. Yeah, poor me, right? I did tell her to be careful in this deceitful world we live in today as there are just too many social vultures around and people who would just take advantage of her in many ways. She smiled and said something about some Chinese horoscope thingy about people like me helping her. I don’t believe in those mumbo jumbo stuff and so, I started to walk away when my job was done.

Yunno, how many had suffered like Mdm.X ? Maybe too many have suffered but how do we get around that stigma, you may ask. Maybe, just maybe that better marriage counselling and ensuring that it is not just the rush of the flesh that matter but rather a better understanding of each individual matters big time. Take time to get to know each other, learn to respect the strength and weaknesses or maybe, make conscious decisions and not just spur of the moment thingy.  I dunno…… probably a need to really understand your partner and the needs. Many of us ignored the signs and needs. Everyone needs a hug or a word of encouragement now and then. Let’s let go of our baggage in life and past relationships and make good of our relationship to whom we put that ring on. The emblem of the ring is a gentle reminder that two people had pledge their lives to be one. That is what the ring is all about plus “suffering” too if I may be blunt! 

In all honesty, I certainly have had my share of ups and down in my life and a lot of testing time in my relationship with SLing. Only God knows how we have weathered those storms……….. REALLY one.…….

#JanganUndiRosak#......

Lately, the echoes of #UndiRosak make an unbelievable splash in view of the imminent General Elections both in the printed media and the electronic media. Though there had been a lot of points generated by certain quarters in regards to this matter while there had been aye and nays in some of the points forwarded, personally, I am really puzzled to how anyone could be a supporter of spoil votes campaign.

Personally, I do find this an appalling thought and this is not a democratic right at all even though some leaders seemed to support this idea. Maybe , these leaders needs to get their heads examined or is it because of imminent defeat in the coming polls? Sure, I do respect the decision taken by the people involved but it should be done in a different scenario not in the national polls. The very thought of spoiling votes during an election is truly deemed as a sinister act indeed. The people who are promoting people to do this is equally sinister, evil and cowards!  I do respect if one wants to be a fence sitter on issues but we are talking about our nation building, people. We have to choose sides whether you like it or not. If one’s basis fundamental rights in choosing a government of the day is being pushed aside, what else hope is there for this nation? 

By abstaining to vote for either side of the parties in contention to form a government of the day is being made, then, we have to live with the fact that we did absolutely nothing nor contributed anything to make this nation to where it is. Can we live with that fact or are we just too absorb and wallow in self-pity that neither parties are contributing to the progress of the nation? These are very real questions that we have to answer. We cannot just bypass the government elect and then expect the government to pay us benefit or feed us when we do absolutely nothing at all for this country, right? Anyway, we only have two ballot papers in our hands every 5 years namely for Parliment and State Assembly. If even with two ballot papers we cannot make a decision , we might as well resign as human being!

I am a firm believer that whoever takes over the reign of this nation will be faced with mounting debts or even bankrupt coffers but at least, we have to make a choice. My choice was made a long time ago not because of race, color or creed. It has always been this for me :

Corruption has to stop!

Abuse has to stop!

Racial segregation has to stop!

Religious oppression has to stop!

Every time an election process comes our way, I would daringly asked the candidates on what he/she intends to do about the CARR , I have just mentioned. I would gauge their answers and knowing that they would be lying through their teeth at times or even out of desperation, I would vote with my conscience. I am not afraid to cast my vote to the ruling party or even the Opposition! That has always been my principles in life.

I may be long dead and gone some day but what about the future of our children and children’s children? How can we make this place of ours a better place or just resigned to the core badness of this country and fold our arms while lamenting away at nearby Mamak stalls as usual? Yeah, many of us are complaining about the ruling government and the Opposition team but at the end of the day, we take up a flimsy placard that say “ #UndiRosak “. When discussion were made at the Mamak stall, we foamed in our mouths ( cakap sampai berbuih-buih! ) when we speak about the corruption, the economic conditions, the hard daily lives and one hundred and one difficulties. Then, like I said, we just blatantly used the excuse that we are fed up with both ruling and opposition part and decide not to do anything except spoilt the votes. What a cowardice act of self-righteousness ! You bet, I am mad lar. Mad as hell if you get my drift!

Use the vote to change the government! Use our voting rights and stop lamenting! We failed this time, we try again the next time. Vote, we must. We cannot change the situation in our country by revolt, snowballing in parades or even show of presence by gatherings. It is all good for a while but at the end of the day, the ruling party is as dumb and as deaf as a bat! That’s why we need that “kejutan” to make them listen better or understand better. What better way to do it than by exercising our right to vote. Scare the shit out of them! Tell them that we are the voters. We are the ones that put you in the government in the first place.

Who cares if the government knows who were are voting! Afterall, what underwear we wear each night also they know already lar! So, what is the big deal? They say the government servants are not supporting them – so, how did they know? Like I said, they already know who vote what la…… So, nothing is secret as far as I am concerned. We are all like in the hush hush secret mission whispering when in fact, the whole world knows about that already. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out how they know and how we can know who vote what, actually.The main thing is that our voices need to be heard – through the voting process. Look at how some component parties of the ruling government are spurned off because they simply refuse to listen and arrogant. They lose and the trust of the people are broken. We lose big time if we continue not to vote or spoil the votes when we can really make a change and a difference to our nation.

We can bring a change by the simple majority of voting in a democratic voting process. We do our duty to vote for the future of our country and not let others do it for us by electing the corrupters, the sly, the snakey or even the selfish to the political thrones. We need to have a clean and trustworthy government to help our nation grow.

I remember those day when I went to Haadyai, I would stop at the nearby money changers at the border to change our Malaysian currency to Thai Baht. It was always a welcomed currency. But nowadays, there are signboards that says. “ Other Currencies Accepted. Malaysia No.” while even the van operators at the border would rather take Thai Baht than Malaysian currency. I could also see that Malaysian tourist struggle

I remembered chiding a group of young people and some “older” folks one day when they both spoke to me of that hopelessness in the unfairness in schools, colleges, institutions of higher learning, government departments and the general public. I told them to get rid of the toxic and poison that had been fed through our minds by reckless and dangerous politicians and policy makers but equipped ourselves with love, care and humbleness. Never mind, if our society acts that way because somehow in that pockets of society, they will be people who are not like that and not willing to be pulled by the nose for herd mentality but to think rationally for the good of others. I always believe there are still “ a few good men/women” around. I have to believe in that or else, what hope is there for people like us, right?

That’s why I have insisted that they register as voters and make a change for the future generations and not be taken in by “goodies” or “sweeteners” given out which will incidentally gives you diabetes which will breed gangrene in your soul and your every day life! Let us not talk until we foamed in our mouths but make every vote counts!

In my lifetime, I have seen a politically unknown candidate brought the downfall of an influential  Chief Minister which led the CM to blame it on racial politics, community and kicking of the ballot boxes. All this is done and not even a single time reflecting the defeat on himself! What easy way out to blame on others rather than himself! Even his usually “dependable” community did not support him and yet he blames it on other factors like race and betrayal. Can we not make a change? Can we not make a stand that “enough is enough”?  Can we not tell these fellas to get their corrupted ass out of the State & Parliament seats and rebuild the nation? It is the votes that make an arrogant man fall from grace in the political scene. To me, that is the best excuse to vote! What a privilege to vote out such people and clean up the House!  So, what is your excuse on not to vote or spoil the votes?

“The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope.” These are the words from Barack Obama. How true these words ring through the lonely pathway of hope and change! We really need to re-build our nation, people!

However, I do prefer this inspirational quote from Martin Luther King Jr. that states :-

“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” 

“LawanTetap Lawan!” - That is my battle cry for the coming elections! Now, who is with me? 

Warong Nordin....

Warong Nordin....my kinda warong,man!

We, Malaysians are really one helluva lucky lot when it comes to our food. I must admit that being a Malaysian Chinese, our cuisines and food fares are endless in variety and mind blowing at times. We can sample Malay food, Indian food, Sikh food, Sarawakian food, Sabahan food, Portuguese food, Gujarati food and a whole load of goodies from the world, actually. Each community in Malaysia has their own specialities of gastronomical good food and that is what makes Malaysians so unique indeed. Primarily, Malaysians live to eat and not the other way round.

If you are like me who enjoys good food, ( and of course, a rather precociously handsome tummy to show! ) the entire length of the Peninsular of Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak offers you that gastronomical food extravaganza that is truly unique only in Malaysia. Yeah, I am blessed and still am being blessed with the goodies from the land including the food from the indigenous people ( Orang Asli ) in our land too.

Today, I want to share about my favourite breakfast place and breakfast fare – roti canai. Roti canai is a type of Indian–influenced flatbread. However, the word “canai” in Malay means rolled out dough bread. To me, it doesn’t matter if it is rolled out, flattened out , spun, throw in air, spiral, round shaped, square shaped or made like a triangular cone tower, if it looks good, eat it! ( Borrowing the favourite tag line for Andrew Zimmern! )

 

Nordin busy with the roti canai making and his customers

Traditionally, roti canai is served with dhal ( lentil curry ) or any type of curry, such as mutton or chicken curry or in my case, Assam pedas ikan pari. However, the versatility of roti canai as the staple lends itself to many variations, either savoury or sweet, with a variety of toppings and fillings, which includes eggs, banana, sardines and onion. In Thailand, it is usually served sweet - typical fillings include condensed milk, peanut butter, jam and nutella, without the curry. I had this type of roti canai pisang topped with condensed milk while I was in Haadyai recently.

My favourite stall is Warong Nordin which is situated at Jalan Durian Daun, Melaka opposite the Malay graveyard. Yeah! Don't be afraid of the dead; they can bring you no harm but be afraid of the living for they are more dangerous! This place had been my favourite breakfast haunt for the past 4 years now. This warong or stall is run by the illustrious and industrious couple in Nordin & Leha. The stall is jammed pack in the morning with their regular customers including me and my buddy, Errol. I have watched this couple and their children working in the stall and I must say that every ounce of care is given to ensure every customer is satisfied with whatever food that comes out from the warong.

 

Dhal curry and assam pedas ...yummy

I remembered going to this stall when it was still in wooden structure with the same crowd of customers. I remembered ordering two (2) roti kosong and pulled tea a.k.a. teh tarik. It was the best roti canai fare for me. The flatbread was crispy, not burnt, not oily and yet retained it springy dough texture when pulled apart to be dipped into the sambal ( sweet, hot & spicy cooked paste condiments ) and dhal curry.  I remembered the taste and the niceness of  the flatbread. It stuck to my palate till today. At that time, roti kosong was 80sen, roti telor was RM 1.30 while teh tarik was RM 1.00. The warong serves prepared fried mee hoon, fried mee, curry mee, lontong ( compressed cylindrical /squarish rice cakes drenched with curry base vegetables or even meat served with sambal ) , nasi lemak and even traditional Malay kuih ( bite size dessert food or snacks )

As Nordin hits out and churned out lovely roti canai of epic proportions and quantities, Leha would prepare the drinks and I like the teh tarik very much. Over the years, I had to cut down on sugar and my teh tarik would be less sweet and just to my taste. I am blessed that each time I arrived at the stall , my “orders” would be in front of me even though I had not made my orders. Jaafar, one of their ever-smiling and jovial helpers told me that regular customer’s orders are already known by the couple. I guess, that is the trademark of good service and personal touch from the proprietors. Guess, old goat like me doesn’t stray much away from their orders each time they are at their regular place of makan, huh?

Jaafar...jovial, happy go lucky worker and cynically funny dude

Recently, during one of the working Saturdays when I ate my breakfast there at the warong, I had the opportunity to speak to Nordin on some matters in regards to their business. As Nordin was on one of his rare breaks as he had sold out his roti canai, I began to ask him about the business. I was told that Nordin would wake up as early as 3.00am each day to do the preparation for the flatbread dough. All this was done by hand and he would get the recipe right which was handed down in generations to ensure the customers get great roti canai each time. Nordin did informed me that the cost of ingredients had increased tremendously and he was unable to sustain the increase in cost which is affecting him a lot. When I spoke to him, I could see that he was genuinely concerned for his customers in terms of rising cost. In one of the moment, he told me that one of his success was the lower and middle income customers who had patronised his stall ever since he first started. From the labourers to the rich who had come to patronise his stall, he was concerned of the lower income and middle income group of people struggling to make ends meet, hence, the low prices of his food and drinks. I applaud this man’s concern and his conscience in affordable prices. However, to my surprise, it was the customers themselves who had asked him to raise the prices if he was unable to sustain the rising cost. I guess, every one understands the situation we are all in while some may not sound that enthusiastic of the increase in price. BTW, there is nothing extravagant about Nordin & Leha lifestyle too as they still own the first model old beat up Proton Saga and they live modestly as I have been to their home during Raya celebrations. Really down to earth couple.

I guess, only in 2017, he had increased his prices as he was not able to sustain the high cost of raw ingredients like lentils, curry, spices, flour, eggs, onions, chillies and the rest of the raw materials. It is notably easy for us to get angry with stall owners like Nordin for increasing their prices in food and drinks but at the same time, we have to give him the opportunity to earn a decent living and feed his family just like what we are all dong every day of our lives. I must say that a good majority of his customers are all for him to increase his price including me when he asked his customers about it as he explained to them as he served them their food. That to me is a gentleman’s conduct. Being an avid people watcher, I did not notice any missing customers, actually. In fact, his customers grew in numbers and soon, my family members joined in his list of customers too.  

Anyway, I still like my roti tampal ( an egg pasted on the outside of the roti ) and roti kosong accompanied by my milk tea nowadays. It is so refreshingly good in the morning and it starts your day just right. Some of my colleagues have joined me in the mornings for breakfast at this place while there are days I would packed these roti canai telor and roti canai kosong for my colleagues in the office.

 

Roti tampal & roti kosong together....my kinda food!

I guess, watching Nordin, I realised that the art of making good roti canai is a dying skill. As I looked at Nordin at the peak of his work, I realised too that this was a skill that was acquired with much passion and respect. A good chef once told me that you have got to have the skill, the passion and the respect of ingredients to churn out good food. I must admit that the good roti canai is the embodiment of this man’s hands skill at making it. I have no complaints of his roti canai. Nowadays , Nordin doesn't open his stall that frequently citing old age and pain to the hands. He usually takes Monday off while the rest of the days are business days as usual unless he falls sick or his hands tires out. 

I guess, there is no one else in his family who is going to take over his business when he retires as the tired hands of Nordin slapped, mould, spun and stretch the roti before landing the roti on the big flat oiled pan.

As I sat down and slumped back after another satisfied breakfast, I could only expressed my satisfaction by giving Nordin and Jaafar the thumbs up sign. There were smiles all around as I joked with Jaafar and Nordin. This has been our usual banter with one another in the mornings. 

As the crowd of customers thinned, as plates and cups are cleaned up, I saw Nordin sitting at one corner of the shop drawing a puff from the newly lit up cigarette pushed to the centre of his mouth. I could see Nordin’s determined and lines etched face shows the anxiety of what tomorrow will bring to ensure a continuity of survival and hope. The usual anxiety of every stall owner, I guess…..as the construction of a new stall located next to his shop is under way.

As I passed Nordin that day, I said “Lawan tetap lawan, kawan.”. He looked up after pulling his gaze away from the construction site of the new stall and laughed aloud. At least, the strain on his face was gone while the anxiety was gone for a moment. A relief etched on his face as I turned to walk away heading towards my trusty car to go to work for the day. Who knows what tomorrow will bring but at least, the first part of the morning had been bright, cheery and fulfilling, don't you think so?

Smile brings cheer to the heart but laughter is still the best medicine for the heart, right?  

Hidden Figures

Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson…..these are names that are unheard of while their accomplishment and achievements are never ever mentioned. So who are they and what are they, you may ask. Interesting question......

After work on a Saturday afternoon, I switched on the television to unwind and after some Korean TvN movie, I turned the channel to watch a HBO movie with the comfort of the old sofa set caressing the body. It was at this moment that the movie “ Hidden Figures” came to the TV screen. I have completely no idea what this movie was about and perhaps, the cold breezy afternoon was a cosy time to watch an English speaking movie. I am kinda used to watching Korean movies with BM or English subtitles just to understand the movie. Well, gotta have flavour in my movie taste , right? 

So, plonked on the sofa seat with a cup of coffee and some accompanying tidbits, the movie started with an African American child doing some mathematics and one of the teaches explaining to the child’s parents that the child is a brilliantly bright child and that she should get her further education at West Virginia State College. As the movie unfolded, I came to know about Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson.  

Adapted from Margot Lee Shetterly’s book : Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Spare Race, the film focuses on these three real-life African American female pioneers who are part of NASA’s team of human computers. This was a group made up of mostly women who calculated by hand the complex equations that allowed space heroes like Neil Armstrong, Alan Shepard and John Glenn to travel safety to space. Through sheer tenacity, force of will and intellect, they ensured their stamp of American history eventhough their story remained obscured from public view until now.

As the heroic story of these ladies unfolded, you could see what great sacrifice and humanly patience of these ladies. The discrimination and racist behaviour at those times were deplorable and how these women went through them. It was disheartening to see the colored and whites segregation overtones at work and many other injustices of those times. I marvelled at the tenacity, the patience and the endurance of these ladies in what they were doing. Mind you , these three women are brilliant mathematicians - one is a trajectory analysis expert, one is an expert Fortran computer programmer and the other is a female engineer.

Their stories are really an inspiration and encouragement to anyone who are willing to learn and survive. I especially like one particular scene in the show when NASA bigwig, Al Harrison played by Kevin Costner smashed down the “Colored People” signboard off the exterior bathroom wall. I also especially like the scene where Katherine Johnson ( Taraji P.Henson ) spoke to Al Harrison that there wasn’t any colored people bathroom at the block and she had to run 2 blocks to get to a “colored people bathroom” plus there is a “colored people only” coffee maker while she is working her ass off and she was dripping wet !!!. That was really a great, stunning and powerful statement indeed.

I was also particularly impressed when Mary Jackson went to the judge of City of Hampton to fight for her right to study engineering in the night school and she graduated as the first black female engineer. Powerful, powerful statement and guts all the way,man.

Sterling performance by Octavia Spenser in her role of Dorothy Vaughan makes her the hero in the movie in my book. Her role of assigning special mathematicians to special units makes her the unsung head of her all-black mathematicians department which is the West Computing office.The tenacity to get her fellow all-black female group of mathematicians team to learn computer makes them indispensable when the computer machine comes into action as Dorothy Vaughan taught her team on how to manage and use the computer while they were in her unit. That was really brilliant and inspiring lessons in life. Never be afraid to learn new things or you’ll be shipped out and fight for whatever is right in the right way.

What I have learn from the movie is that aggression doesn’t win the tale of the day. It takes a brilliant effort to learn things, be better at your work, get better in attitude and work harder that pays off despite the veil of racism, unfairness, cowardice and difficulties thrown at your face each and every day of your lives. 

Indeed this is a new breath of positivism instilled and an encouragement in our ailing world today. Sure, it is just a movie and life ain’t that rosy as it is but the life lesson behind the movie mattered a lot.

I could appreciate such movies as I do find them extremely good at times like these. Values, honor and integrity are propelled wonderfully despite a bleak outlook of our situation in today’s living. That, ladies and gentleman ,  is encouragement and tenacity.

The Greatest Showman

One of my New Year resolutions this year is to spend more time with family and to be able to get some quality family time together. So, last night, SLing, SYuen and myself went for a movie. It is my resolute move to try to make Wednesdays or Fridays as my movie night or spend some quality time together somewhere and somehow.

So, when SLing told me that she had bought the movie tickets for a movie the other night, I was ecstatic but at the same time wondering what the movie would be. When I was told that it would be “The Greatest Showman”,  I told myself “ Oh!God! Not another “ LaLa Land “ movie! “ I must say that eventhough“ LaLa Land” won countless accolades and so on, I was practically looking at the Cineplex doorman on when he is going to open the door to signal the end of the movie! Yup! It was that bad for me.

So, I psyched myself up for this movie as we proceeded into Cineplex 6 together with a small crowd of audience. The audience then grew a bit as the advertisements and coming movie trailers were played. There were familiar faces amongst the crowd that came to watch this movie and I then just slumped back at the seat. I said to myself , “ OK! Wow me or I’ll sleep in the next 5 minutes! “

The movie started with the synchronised foot stomps, interesting music and the lyrics “ Whoaaaa”. The familiar red, black long suit and tall hat adorned the screen and Hugh Jackman appeared singing the catchy and lively song indeed. My mind was like " Here we go again....another musical which will bore the sleep out of me!  Please, NOT another La La Land bore please!" Then, the atmosphere of the movie started to be quite lively. Wah! I was intrigued. Truly I was intrigued by such opening act which was to me quite catchy and “what is going on” bewilderment. So, I sat up a bit and started to enjoy the show. The flash back and the cinematography was great. 

What really woke me up was the tight slap given to young P.T.Barnum as he owned up to making a young girl, Charity ( his eventual wife ) laugh. That was so face smacking,man! I guess, something just woke inside of me. When a movies does that to you on the inside, you know that it is gonna be a good movie. Sure enough , as the movie wore on, the singing acts were great and the characters in the movie was also brilliantly acted out. It was a nostalgically lovely musical with interesting characters. Man, "Wolverine" Hugh Jackman can sing and dance!   

Inspired by the ambition and imagination of P.T. Barnum, The Greatest Showman tells the story of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a mesmerizing spectacle that became a worldwide sensation.

THE GREATEST SHOWMAN is a biographical musical about young Phineas Taylor Barnum's life as a child, entrepreneur, museum owner, circus producer, and entertainment producer. As a young boy, Phineas "Finn" (Ellis Rubin), the son of a tailor, meets Charity (Skylar Dunn), the daughter of one of his father's wealthy clients. He makes her laugh and earns a slap from her father for it, but the spark between them lasts throughout their adolescence, even while she's away at boarding school and he's an orphan in the streets. 

Years later, Phineas T. Barnum a.k.a Finn and Charity (now played by Hugh Jackman and Michelle Williams) marry and have two girls. He manages to secure a loan to open up a museum of oddities, and when that starts to fail, he's inspired by a brief encounter with a little person to invite unusual-looking folks including bearded lady Letty Lutz  (Keala Settle), Tom Thumb (Sean Humphrey), and black brother-and-sister trapeze artists W.D. Wheeler (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and Anne Wheeler (Zendaya) to join a show focused around them. With a little embellishment from costumes and makeup, he opens what will become the first circus. Although Barnum's show is critically panned, the masses love it. He earns a fortune, but Barnum can't stop looking for approval from the upper crust. Searching for ways to further his reputation amongst the upper class, he meets playwright Phillip Carlyle( Zac Efron ) and convinces him to join his venture. 

The plot has its ups and downs but overall, it was a highly entertaining movie. The rejection, frustrations and sadness of the Finn's crew of unusual people together with with their camaraderie spirit helped livened up the movie. All in all it was an entertaining movie with much humanly emotions, expectations and simplicity of life portrayed. 

I shall not ruin the plot for you as I would rather you find out yourself as you go to the cinemas for this movie. For me, the solid performance of Hugh Jackman played a great part in making this movie a success while I believes the so-called weird characters popped tremendously on the silver screen. yeah, I enjoyed it very much.....

Never mind if in history, P.T.Barnum was labelled as a fraudster and so on but he certainly brought out the "not so normal" people out to make a quick buck and so while allowing them to be who they are without having to hide in bedrooms  or even barns - away from the prying eyes of the stuck up society those days. To me, it ain't that different in modern times like this too, right? Likewise, everyone out there in this world today is out to make a quick buck out of you, right? 

Anyway, P.T. Barnum's famous quote, "There's a sucker born every minute." still rings loud, clear and true even today, is it not? Makes you feel less vulnerable now, isn't it?

Fish tales & bonding.....

Double hook up of ikan gelama papan...

As far as I could remember, fishing has always been my greatest hobby in life. The twitch of the fishing line to the ferocious tug at the end of the fishing line are the direct enjoyment for adrenaline fishing junkie like me.  However, with never ending work commitments and ever pressing deadline, work expectations and slavery to moronic management, the window of opportunity to do recreational fishing diminished slowly as time goes by. 

However, with careful planning, I was able to do some fishing during my holidays. Tanjong Tokong was the venue for my little pleasure in life together with my son, JWee and Darren, my son's friend. I guess, I must admit that I have never met a hardcore angler like Darren. That day, he travelled  by train from Alor Star, boarded the ferry to get to Penang and then we picked him up for a quick bite of McDonalds and we are off to Tanjong Tokong. Thereafter, upon completion of our little fishing pleasure, Darren would then board the ferry and leave for his home in Alor Star. That is hardcore,man. My utmost respect for such an angler.

JWee with his ikan kembong...

Coming to our fishing outing, SLing and my sister , Lee Lee was teasing us if we are going to get any fish that day. I guess, it was quite daunting as I have not seen the terrain of my fishing spot and the teasing was bothering me. What if we ended up empty handed? No! No! No! It will not happen on my watch. No way are we coming back empty -handed. 

After completing our pleasantries, the three of us, JWee,Darren and myself headed towards our fishing destination that day. Upon arrival at that quaint place, I realised that it was really a nice day for fishing. The breeze was good while the weather was even better. It wasn't a particularly hot day but you definitely can feel the heat. Heading towards the end of long walk to our fishing spot, I scouted out the area for a while before setting up my fishing gear. I brought out my trusty 5' light weight fishing rod and my trusty Surecatch small reel. I then rigged up my hooks and bait while the two young men got themselves ready. The previous days before our fishing trip, I had tied some hooks for JWee and I had offered the same special hooks to Darren. I had learnt from my colleague, Firdaus that the secret to getting good size fish lies in the hook used and the bait used. The rest is the grace of God! That is what I believe la........Thanks, Firdaus for the valuable insights on hooks and baits. 

JWee and Darren with their fish......

I must admit and give glory to God that before casting out my line and bait, I prayed for a good harvest of fish and that I may land a sizeable fish. As my hook and bait hit the waters, I was prayerful and hopeful for a fish. The two young men did the same and I knew from experience that each and everyone of us are hopeful whenever our hooks hit the waters. I remembered asking my son if he had caught any fish here. He told me that he had caught a fish here while some of his friends had been unlucky. I told my son confidently that we will catch some fish that day and he gave me a smirk. While speaking to him, I felt a nibble, then a tug and I yanked the line with a flicker of my wrist. Then I felt the line again and noted that the tug was still there. I got up and started to reel in my line; excitingly sure that I had a fish at the end of my line. The anticipation was really killing me as I reeled in and when I brought the line out of the water, there lies a healthy looking 7" ikan gelama papan!  

JWee with his puffer fish

Euphoria feeling of gladness, happiness, proudness and a sense of joy overwhelmed my body! It was a fantastic feeling. It was as though I had won the first prize of the social welfare lottery,man! I must tell you that all the line as my pointer finger was feeling the line, I had uttered, " Lord, give me one fish...gimme one fish....one fish, Lord.....one fish, Lord" for about 10 minutes when it actually happened. I am really thankful to the Lord for this, really. It wasn't my skills or the baits or the hooks - it was His blessings!

After turning in my fish into a plastic container I had brought, it was the turn of Darren to get a fish and it was a big ikan duri. ( catfish family ). Minutes later, it was JWee's turn to get a fish. It was like that throughout our entire fishing time there. We shared great laughter and fun as we hooked up fish after fish. The highlight was when JWee caught an ikan kembong and that was amazing indeed. We were terribly disappointed not to get more ikan kembong as usually these fishes travelled in a shoal.

We had our rough patch but amusing times too when we hooked up more ikan duri and puffer fish. Sometimes, we thought we had hooked up a big fish judging by the weight and the heavy tugging of the fishing line but it turned out to be ikan duri or puffer fish. I was glad too that I had the opportunity to teach the young men on how to handle the catfish which had stinging spike at the top and two sides. I count it a privilege and blessing to be able to pass on such knowledge to them. Now, they would be able to handle the catfish when they catch one with their friends. 

Another puffer fish.......

After a three hour fishing time, the dark cloud begun to gather rapidly signalling an imminent heavy downpour and thunderstorm. The fishes were still bitting as I noted a big school of fish were heading towards our fishing spot but I guess, safety comes first, no matter what.  All in all , we had about 20 fishes that day; a mixture of ikan kembong, gelama papan, ikan kapas and ikan duri. 

Yeah, I really enjoyed myself out there that day together with JWee and Darren. I thanked this two young men for making an old bloke like me one satisfied fishing enthusiast. I guess, I will treasure this moment very much as I get to spend time with my son and catch a bountiful of fishes too. 

It was a great day that day and I wanna thank the Lord for the bountiful blessings. I must admit that I can do this when I retire. I guess, what I am trying to say is that I can see myself catching fish when I retire some day... sooner or later.  Here, fish..fish...fish....come to papa!~

Dilema of a Worker......

As I stared blankly at the plastered ceiling board above my head, I am reminded that sleep had eluded me again. It must have been more than a thousand times I’ve had had this type of sleepless nights. Am I okay? Am I sane? Or am I just plain old? I seriously don’t know what to say. Some good hearted friends reminded me that “ it is all part of growing old, my dear friend! “ while there are some “really really” good friends who also told me “ See liao lor, you are definitely meeting your Creator soon! “ Choy! Choy! Choy! But it is all in good fun, actually, as I see it. I am not going to sleep over death caused I am never afraid of it and never will. Trust me, I have lived long enough to know that death doesn't concern me one bit. I will be happy to see my Creator if you get what I mean!

I have no idea what is happening to me but I know that many things weighed in my head. I am beginning to understand Dad better these days and how he have had sleepless nights though some days are really good for a good sleep. Guess, as we grow older, we kinda get “extremely sensitive” fast and people around seemed to tell you that your temper fuse can be quite short and nothing seemed to make you happy etc etc. Maybe, just maybe, they are right in certain sense but I believe, we all do have certain dosage of patience for stupidity and people who are genuinely a pain in the ass, right? Like I said, I know what I am saying....

Yeah, I am agitated. You bet, I am agitated like some busy ants when their nest is disturbed or when you stir the bee’s nest and the bees in the hive just get buzzingly crazy angry.

When I was a young employee, Dad used to tell me to do my best and don’t shirk my responsibility and so on. The lecture from Dad on responsibility, morality and integrity goes for miles and miles. Looking back, I am grateful yet I felt like a stupid dumb ass as I reflect on my life too which occurs every now and then. Ideals, expectations and hopes were high then but somehow they died along the way..........as one works longer..hahahhahahaaaaaaaa..... I guess, that is what happens when you meet real dumb piece of assess in your life, right? Yeah, win some, lose some!

Work and remunerations are also a funny thing. Sometimes, I am pinned to the walls with stupidity at work too. I wouldn’t say I am an excellent worker or “prime beef cut” or “worker of the year “ quality but I believe, I have given my best at work. A lot of us today, I mean, the “not-so-young” worker a.k.a kulikang tends to be steamrolled and bulldozed by young yuppy executives or overly ambitious aspirants who just wants to pour sand over your bowl of rice, literally. May I remind these young people and so mysteriously “old-young” people that it doesn’t pay to break or put sand in people’s rice bowl. We all have mouths to feed at home be it a father, a mother, children and even grandchildren.  Sure, we do mistakes along the way and we do try to do our best. Afterall, who is perfect in this world other than GOD? Afterall, we are all going to grow old someday. No one stays young forever, okay?

I believe, humbleness, willingness to listen to people’s ideas and also, a caring heart will win the day. Definitely you cannot win a worker to your side by the slogan - “ Don’t Work Hard, Work Smart.” Are you promoting slackers then? Yeah, only slackers, lazy, cunning and workers full of trickery will benefit from such work slogan! I minced not my words that this is the very reason why there are so many “redundantly and massively” highly paid moron executives at the top managements today. No pun intended for the real hardworking ones because you know who you are. I especially hate pencil pushers who just do nothing great and yet; lift their voice to hurl abusive words and hurtful remarks, showing off their volume of colourful spectrum of cunning vocabulary and apple polishing stunts to jostle for positions and pour nothing but scorns to their subordinates below them. Brother, lift those fella up and not trampled on them lar! You would not be there without those at the bottom rung working their ass off for you to get to your position today! Remember that!

Maybe, I am from the old school of thought. I guess, people tend to label people like me but to me,  honesty, humbleness and integrity are important values. With a slogan like “ Don’t Work Hard; Work Smart” - what values do you want to propel? Working smart, to me, means trickery and no integrity. That’s exactly what it is, actually!  Work smart for what? Get out of trouble, stay out the corruption ways or “you scratch my back and I will scratch your back “ feedback. What? Seriously, I don’t get it at all. To me, this is the rich men and populist men coinage of making more money and sucking the employee dry and high and leaving them for dead! To me, the road for success is pure hard work, blood and sweat - that's how my dad would put it. 

The other thing I really cannot understand is why an employer would pay his employee salary late or in arrears. It is disheartening for an employee to not get his salary on time. The logic is simply this :- Everyone got bills to pay from utilities to basic home needs, to car payments, to home rental payments, to even alimony! If the whole purpose of lateness in paying out salary is due to some “Smart Alec” savings on interest in the bank, I would definitely ask the Finance Director or executives or even directors to go find a really tall building and jump off it. You are a disgrace and a real nuisance to the society as a whole. Having said this, there are still practices like this on – going and every one is so damn quiet on this matter. I can understand if the company is having a financial crisis/difficulties but healthy companies doing such things are just pure nonsense. Mind you, I still see for myself, young lady executives/clerks/ proprietors lining up at the ATM Deposit Machine on the 6^th day of the month; banking in workers’ salary via CDM!!!! Have a heart la......

The other thing which I want to mention is that remunerations and bonuses are solely on the part or discretion of the company, as one puts it. That part I understand completely. That is before you declare the bonus in writing. But once, you put the figures on paper as someone’s bonus, you have the responsibility to honour it. Don’t be a “chow kar” lar.  

But when you break up the bonus to be paid twice or three times – that too I do understand – mainly due to financial constraints over the years. But to stall payments of declared bonus going into the next financial year and still with no payment in sight, that is really stretching it out a lot on the sanity of the workers. It is a common practice nowadays to do this and this is, again, pure stupidity. There is nothing genius about this except that it is a financial concoction of the highest evil of evilness! That is what it is, in actual fact.

Mentality of “penny wise, pound foolish” idea is really someone’s concoction of pure evilness. Let me put it this way. For the top executive in the so-called Management brackets, you buggers are the “sucked up specialist” who get the biggest pay cheque each month (Yeah, some of you don’t deserve it as you ride of your fellow workers blood, sweat, tears and hard work! Think about it real hard, you swines! ) and even without your bonuses, you will still be able to live within that means but for the middle and lower rung workers, bonuses meant a lot to them and to their families. Getting half your bonus one day before your festive season meant little as most shops would be closed by then and you really can’t do much at last minute shopping. Using your credit card for purchase (one of the greatest excuses given by top management.)  ain’t the solution too. I must admit that it has been years since I buy any new CNY clothes for myself for that matter. Years…..like 10-15 years…..now….

I feel it is like “tak kam buan bagi “ ( Peranakan lingo literally translated as “ not happy to give out money where it is due! ) and I do feel like a beggar everytime I have to do this before CNY celebrations. Maybe, some of you, the fortunate ones, do not know how it feels but let me give you an honest overview of how it was. The anticipation before the festive season - you wait and you go to the bank each time hoping that it would be different that year but each year it is the same old thing. It is so degrading and humiliating as your family waits for you in the car and their down-casted face when you tell them that your salary and half bonus is not out yet. Each week is the same and the missus decided that it is best to buy the children’s clothes from her salary first as they would not understand why they do not have CNY new clothes or Deepavali clothes or even Raya clothes for that matter. For me, I am thankful that my sister used to get the clothes for my children and I felt blessed and emotional at times when I think of it but most important of all, I have always wanted to bless my mother whom I cherished a lot. It is so sad just to shove some money to your mother as for older people, it is not the money but the care of getting new clothes from son and food stuff meant more than the money given during CNY. My mom had come to understand my predicament and she would comfort me by telling me that it is perfectly alright as we all have been there before. This is the old school of thought and values that I cherished in my life. So don’t tell me to “ Don’t Work Hard, Work Smart.” 

Yeah, this slogan came up probably because the number of people falling dead on their work tables during work, I guess! You shove a pitiance of money to the next of kin hoping it would somehow be some form of compensation after the death of their husband/ their son/ their brother/ their uncle/their nephew and that is supposed to be alright and make it all good again? People, this is the reality of what is happening and mine is no exception. I might get a backlash for what I write but at least, I write from my heart and this is what had been as it is all these years. 

Yeah, you don’t run a social welfare organisation nor a charity organisation and sure, you gotta make money in the business somehow. I am very sure that over the years that is what has been happening – filling up the coffers and make “ helluva lot of money ” but practices of such still are rampant. If it is a finance issue, why are the staff at the finance department not being more aggressive at collections or why give discounts to collections when discounts had been given at regular times?

I want to say one thing for sure – demotivations, frustrations and death of the inner spirit starts to occur. Staffs slowly dropped off from being productive and care. My question is : what is there for them to look forward to? What incentives are there in place to motivate their work? Money? Positions? Accolades? These big words “incentives” are just a clouded veil and office politics. Money is not everything as sometimes, money is useless when your child/ your husband/your wife/your mother/your father/ people you love lay in that casket ready to be lowered into the 6’ X 4’ plot! Sure, money is important to get your essentials and so on but it is not everything. There are still people who thinks they earn big bucks and with the big bucks under their belt, they can dictate things as they like and bully the ones that doesn’t want to respond to these things. These are what I would call “ Little Napoleon Bonapartes” or my own interpretation in Hokkien is “Little Napoleon Boh Lam Pahs.” Mind my language, people . Must be the dhall with the naan bread I had for dinner which had caused such horrific language! No more dhall curry and naan for me. Yesssssiree!

If you are like me, 20 years at the same work and seeing all these, it does stretch your mind in terms of sanity and motivation. Like I always say, “ Evil triumphs when the silent and good people do NOTHING! “ Maybe, in these difficult times, people may be afraid to lose their jobs and so on while some still have small children and so on. For whatever reasons known best to you and you alone, you do what is right for your family and your every day life.

Heck, that’s what making me sleepless, huh? Well, a pint of Guinness should do the trick though……would it? Maybe a glass of single barrel oak whisky should do the trick, would it? I dunno….I really dunno…..that’s deep,huh? 

Maybe......just maybe.......the angels may know the answers......