Bumper crawl...

Back to work and back to familiar territories, actually. It was depressing enough to hear of companies shutdown, major salary reduction, shortened working days and stricter working conditions and today, we have to deal with traffic congestion! I must say that I was pissed to my lungs when I was caught in massive traffic jam. It took us twenty minutes to have a meal and fifty five minutes to get back to office from Batu Berendam. It was lucky that my colleagues and I avoided going to Melaka Raya for our meal. If not, the jam would have been far worse than anyone can imagine!
Now, I understand those folks in KL when they talked of traffic jam. Anyway, coming back to Melaka, where did these cars come from? Well, a quick scan showed that there were a lot of cars from 'kiasu land' [ I just hate these buggers for arrogantly cramming our roads!! ] , Johor and from other states. Yeah! Tourists and holiday makers! BTW, don't they have work to do? Why don't they just go back home, start working for the future and stop jamming our streets?! Aaaaarrrggggghh! There seemed to be no end to the massive outstation car invasion to our historical land! One colleague remarked that it would be good business for our traders and hotels while I would just say," Go home and work! " This is exactly what I did when I arrived at my office car park area; I shouted to the top of my lungs , " Go home and work-lah!" I got a couple of glares and stares from some motorists while some just smiled. For me, I don't give a two hoots for what they say or think !~ They are still jamming our streets in Melaka! Siao people!!~ Or is it that I have gone "cuckoo" this time! Ha.......ha.......ha.....

CNY celebrations...

Finally, CNY arrived and what a day I had! Yipee! I get to dress up with new clothes! [ Incidentally I don't really spend on new clothes but the wife had sorta "pressured" me into getting at least a new shirt which I did, of course! Wouldn't want to cross the live-in woman, ok? Life can be terrifying without speaking for days and no food! ha..ha... ] As usual, morning meant a visit to grandpa's place. As the family arrived at grandpa's place, we missed the lion dance performance by 10 minutes! Well, this tradition of having lion dance performance at the house is a yearly affair. Anyway, Gramps looked great though quite saddened by the fact that not all of his children were around for CNY celebrations this year. I guess, it saddens me too in a way as I did not get to meet all my uncles and aunties. Afterall, we are getting older each year and meeting up each other can be quite difficult at times. It's a fact that CNY season brings us closer together as family and relatives. While at Gramps place, I looked around me and noted that SLing and I have aged quite a bit while our children and my uncle's children have grown up too. It is so nice to see these young lives enjoying each others company and having a great time together.
Gramps is a patient but a very direct person. Somehow, I have found favour in his eyes in many ways. As I reminisced my childhood days, Gramps would always give us ice-cream whenever he is back from his usual rounds at the fringe of Melaka town. Yeah, Gramps was an ice-cream seller. He has a heart of gold when it comes to my family. He treats us all fairly and he was good to my mom and dad. Even now, he is the one who would always pass some of the mangoes [ btw, the mangoes tasted very good! ] from the front of the house to me through my mom. Anyway, he still looks good because he exercised a lot through tai chi exercise moves. Suffice to say that he is a good man. Never a difficult person but always a calm figure in the family. Anyway, after paying my respects to him, my family moved on to my mom's best friend, Ee Chu Abok or Auntie Ee Chu's house. Well, I have known Uncle and Ee Chu Abok all my life as we used to stay at their place when we were young. When dad was a young mechanic and we didn't have a house of our own , we shared the same rented house with this family. So, over the years, we've become more than friends ~ we have become close family friends. This family was the first of our many extended family members. Uncle earns a living by taking photographs for personal capacity and also, for our local Chinese dailies. Auntie Ee Chu earns a living by preparing Chinese grape and rice wine concoction in bottles. This stuff is usually used for ladies confinement beverages. I remembered that I first learn about sharing meal from this family [ incidentally, they have 4 children ] and I'll never forget the good values these two oldies taught me during my youngers days. Things like what it meant to enjoy each scrap of rice and the simple meal laid out on the table, giving thanks to mom & dad for bring food home, sharing a meal in good times and bad times and thankfulness. Yes, my family was poor at that time but we shared every meals and celebrate every ocassions with this family and vice-versa. They have been a good cheer to my mom and dad. Now that they are old, I still have utmost respect for these old folks. They are really nice people and I am privileged to be able to visit them year after year. I guess, I am old fashioned in that way. Like I said many times, I try to teach my children the same values - respect for the elderly [ that includes manners in speech,thought and deeds ] cherish good memories and always be thankful with what you have!~ I guess, there is still a lot of work to be done for this younger generation who seemed to have conveniently forgotten our respectful ways. Anyway, it's CNY~ it's fashion week and food week! Happy tucking in the food and gain some weight!~ Cheers to your heart!~

Double CNY Reunion makan..

This year my family enjoyed two CNY reunion makan - one was lunch while the other was dinner. Looking back, it is about almost 20 years now since the last time SLing had lunch with her family members. I guess, due to the fact that CNY eve fell on a Sunday, we unanimously decided that we would enjoy CNY reunion lunch at SLing mom's place in Seremban and dinner at my mom's place. Sorta double bonus for our family.
Reunion makan holds a very special place in my heart. I enjoyed reunion makan a lot especially with the family members. I guess, there is no better time to get every one around except on this auspicious day. Spare me the knives for I know that we don't need any occasion to get everyone together but in our diverse lifestyle today, meeting up everyone of our family members can be rather difficult especially if you have brothers or sisters at four corners of our nation and down south in Singapore. Anyway, my family had a great lunch at SLing mom's place. With Wei, Jade, Ryan , the four of us and mom-in-law, we had a great feast [ fried pomfret fish, abalone & pork stomach soup, arrowhead with sliced pork, vegetables, prawns and Hainanese chicken] though we miss the presence of Ting, Yam and Wei Li. Ryan was at his playful ways as usual but his smiles does bring a lot of laughter in the home. We were really blessed as a family.

After lunch, we drove back to my mom's place to have my family reunion dinner. My mom cooked our normal reunion dinner meal comprising of braised duck, Hainanese chicken, fishball soup, braised pork with mushroom, pork rolls [ made by my sister ] mixed vegetables and the ever potent, Penang sambal belacan paste! My orphaned cousins also came over to join us for dinner. It was good to have everyone around for dinner. We had some lighter moments together and after the meal, we had our usual family chat. It was light, fun and very down memory lane thing! Really great.......... I guess, the one thing that I really miss that night was.....Dad! Really miss him, actually!~ As I got home that night, I reflected the good times we shared as families both SLing's family and my family. I thank God that there is still a great bond between all of ours. In times when families are split and strained through many weird situations, ours just grew stronger and stronger. I am thankful to Wei, Jade & mom-in-law for putting up with us all these years and I am also very thankful to my mom and my family for being understanding, loving and caring too. There is really nothing else I could ask for! I am thankful to God for giving me such wonderful family members!~ Hey, don't wait for ocassions just to tell your family members how great they are and how much they meant to you! Gong Xi Fa Cai, everyone!

The special Dragon fruit & lemon juice concentrate drink! Classy & nice, man!

Ryan & fun....

Last evening, we decided to head back to Seremban to have an early CNY reunion dinner and also to catch up on the latest happenings on our favourite nephew, Ryan. Upon arrival, we quickly sought for Ryan and he was in his own bed [new one with some really nice side trimmings and so on! ] watching his newly found bedtime movie/motivational solace/calming effect in the movie "Ratatouile". [ BTW, he likes Remy a lot because every time Remy appears he would laughed aloud! ]. He's one smart and adorable kiddo! He must be reminded of his uncle Ivan when he sees Remy - big & stout!
Later, we took him to the playground together with Jade and we were forewarned that he would not hold anyone's hands lest be asked to go here and there as directed. Yup, he really live up to his name, King Ryan as he strut his stuff while walking down the street heading towards the playground with his squeeky sound shoes. Boy, he really run circles around us. Being as "young" as we were, it was hard and harsh keeping up with him. He kinda like playing in the playground as he moved from one apparatus to another with ease while this two poor ol' people huffed and puffed over our way at the playground. Yes, age is really catching up with us as bones are tweaking and creaking by the minute! Chasing one active tiny tot is not for the faint-hearted - this is as much I can tell you. But he's really adorable and huggable-lar!
In many ways, it was really fun being with him because he's really a smart kiddo for his age. I observed that SLing taught him twice to climb up the stairs for the slider and by the third time, he was already climbing up the stairs like a pro. OhYes! He has grown a lot too. I guess, he was such a tiny tot the last time we saw him but this time, he has really grown a bit. It is really a joy being able to play with him and soothes down a lot of stress. Yeah! He still screams as and when he likes though no big tears running own the cheeks this time. Only the screaming is louder but the teardrops seemed to have fallen less! Ha.....Ha...... All in all, he's such a fun boy and when he smiles, he definitely melts your heart away. As we walked him back to home, he was again doing the stuff he likes - not giving a two hoots on what's happening on the street or at people's house. He loves to move around and get him basked in the evening sun. He wasn't sweaty and all that but you could see that he simply enjoy "torturing" this two oldies while heading back for home. Ha...ha...... What a really enjoyable kiddo!

Bully Again!

Today, I had a call from a good friend whom I have not seen & heard for quite some time and it was good to have receive such a call. Well, I guess, the coming CNY celebrations always brings good memories.I thought I had "lost" this good friend but I want to thank God for His works in this friend of mine. We spoke for about 5-10 minutes and during those time, I just can't stop thanking God for keeping this friend of mine in His loving hands. I miss his family a lot as we were quite close. Yunno, there are times I have often wondered if I had in one way or another offended this friend of mine but today, it clears the air a lot. I was relieved that it wasn't what I had thought all this while but it was just that we grew apart due to some unforseen circumstances. When this good friend of mine apologised to me as he told me that he was impressed in his heart by God to call me, I thanked God in my heart and told my good friend that there's nothing to apologise. Yes, we may have differing ideas & perspective over certain matters but never in any way it hurt our friendship. So, I am glad to have a good friend back!

Just when I thought I was going to end my day on a good note, my colleague's wife met with a small accident and we quickly rushed to the accident site. The accident wasn't that bad but it was a shock to my colleague's wife. In my unbias professional view, the fault lies with the girl who knocked into my colleague's wife car. Anyway, everything was quite okay until the girl's father turned up. All this while, I was cool and even calmed my colleague's wife down but when a tall, big and bully belted out, " Bodoh!", "You buta-kah!", "Macam mana you bawak kereta, bodoh!" and all the crap abuse, I lost it. All this while , the abuse went on and I too lost my cool and I said, "You tak boleh cakap macam ni!" This man wasn't interested whether his daughter was okay or the other person was okay. He was more interested in the damn car! To me, this bullying of my colleague's wife with his unkind words was just too much for me and I won't stand for that type of abuse. No one should listen to such crap! I then told my colleague and his wife to just don't bother about him and report the accident matter to the police and let them decide the outcome. I was rather mad with the man and I really wanted to do something but I really kept my cool. I quickly took my colleague's wife into my car and drove her to the police station.

Yunno, picture this scenario. Here stood a so-call local authority swimming coach with a stinking attitude and abusive qualities. He comes around in his fancy big van, spew his stinking language, strut his bully stuff and tried belittling everyone in his path. As I stood there, I often wonder what type of father he is [ There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that here stood a lousy father who only struts fear in his children and calling it "love" ! ]. As I look into the girl, I have nothing but sympathy for such a girl for having such a father. She must be terrified if she told the truth as her father won't be that forgiving to her! [I can imagine her getting hell from her father! ] Sometimes, I just wish people would just tell the truth. Instead, they cover up with lies and more lies and at the end of the day, they get further entangled in their deceit web. This is what happened today. It caused a lot of unpleasantness to my colleague's wife and my colleague and I was so sorry that they had to face up with such idiocy.

One more point I wish to point out is this big bully was a so-call swimming coach. How on earth are his swimmers going to learn discipline, dedication and all the qualities of a good athlete if they have a coach like him? It doesn't take an idiot to figure out why Malaysian sports are in the dumps when we have coaches like this! Yunno, I have great respect for many swimming coaches that I know & met but not this one! He doesn't potray one bit of the quality of a good coach I've seen. What a real shame to the swimming fratenity! A real mockery to the swimming profession!I've been a hockey player, a coach but never have been abusive or used harsh words on my players! Strict, disciplinarian and serious but NEVER abusive! I'm just speechless over what I have witnessed today! This incident leaves a very bad taste in my mouth today!

BTW, even the policemen can't stand him ~ just to set the record straight!~

Pre-CNY celebrations...

Last night, SLing, SYuen and myself went to Jusco for some CNY shopping after sending JWee for tuition. There was a sea of people in Jusco and it was really a challenge maneuvering our way in the supermarket section. Yeah! We just wanted to get some packet and canned drinks for our CNY celebrations. As we were walking around the supermarket, I realized that CNY celebrations had become a universal celebrations for all the races in our country. It was really funny seeing a whole load of people picking out the Mandarin oranges and tasting them! tsk!tsk!tsk! BTW, the best part was that no one knew that they were not allowed to taste the oranges lest peel it for their own family pleasure!!! It was only until the arrival of the Floor Supervisor that everyone stopped. By that time, it was a gala time “free” oranges for these people!!!! Of course, I stayed away from such folly but it was fun to see that moment of gluttony! After all, I’ve got enough supply of Mandarin oranges at home. Oh Yes! They aren’t that sweet this year.
One observation that I noted with interest is that the general public can’t resist “free” sampling items! Once the frenzy starts, you just can’t stop them. I tell you, if you go to the supermarket on a Sunday, you can see this type of behavioral pattern and it can be really fun. Why do they do the things they do is quite mind-boggling, actually. Seriously, I don’t know the reason or reasons for it but mostly out of curiosity, I guess. For me, I am not a sampling addict! I usually get that particular brand or item I want and I am out of there! Cruising along the supermarket, we then saw an array of canned abalone, razor clams, pacific clams and so on. These are items you would see being sold during the CNY celebrations. Then there’s the waxed duck [ I totally can’t understand this item lest eat it! ], dried freshwater fish from China, some black fungus and some traditional Chinese foodstuff. I like to stick to the foodstuff I know by hard like ‘bak kua’, chicken floss , pork’s leg/trotters, ‘lap cheong’ and more pork! [ Staple food–lar! How to miss! ] Mushrooms……hmmmmnnnnn….. got some dried white mushrooms for my mother-in-law. [ BTW, it’s what I do every year – get her eight (8) Mandarin oranges , a pack of white mushroom and a red packet! ]
I think, the most traumatic time I had last night was queuing up at the payment counter. The queue was never ending but orderly. I guess, the overly crowded supermarket was too much for some children last night. Anyway, there was a touching scene while I was queueing up to make my payments. That was the scene that kept playing in my head today. It was a scene of a crying Malay child in the arms of her mother who was having a load of groceries in her cart. I think, the poor girl was tired. She was crying and mucus was flowing from her nose. What I saw next was just amazing. An old Chinese lady at the front immediately pulled out some tissue paper and wiped the mucus off the poor girl’s nose and dried her tears. The girl stopped crying as the old lady consoled her. You could see that the mother of the child was relieved and these two women – one young and one old just smiled at each other; appreciating the lovely gesture of one another ! It’s just a simple scene but definitely a meaningful one. Both are mothers in their own ways but share a common love for the child. Just like our Father in heaven, watching over our children and consoling them just as we console/teach our children.
So, to all my friends out there, “ Gong Xi Fa Cai” & stay blessed! For those from outstation, drive save and I pray for journey mercy for all of you and your families! For my dear friends who had lost both their parents, my family's thoughts and love are with all of you all the time!~ God bless you all !

A Provoking Thought...

I was in a crazy debate which went on to be uneasy with my dearest wife yesterday over the simple yet most forgotten phrase called “Thank You”. Don’t worry. Nobody was hurt, no blood was spilled and no part of the body was sacrificed or spilled out on this occasion. Only a battered heart and some bruised ego, I guess. Seriously, I didn’t expect it to escalate into a really mind numbing effect to me. Personally, to me, I know that I wrote about humility in my last post but I also want to bring forth this rather personal yet touching phrase. It is NOT that I seek self glory or any of that sort but like all human beings, I too would like to be thanked for whatever I do. It is not self glory that I sought after. Again, you’ll probably say that “Oo!Oo! We have a loony on the loose!” or you’ll probably think that I am going thru mid-life crisis or worst still, I’ve lost my marbles! I want to tell you that I still have my marbles, I’m sane and I know what I am talking about! Now! Now! Before you draw out your firing bullets, knives or even stones to pelt me, hear me out! I may be wrong but I just want to present my case.
You see, I am tired of people taking advantage of our niceness that it becomes a norm. It is like taking for granted that so and so will do this thing or that thing without complain and moreover he/she likes doing it! So, the appreciation level for that person is virtually non-existent or some may hide under the cloak of “He/She is good at that and he/she should do it.”. We always think that this person or that person would understand and it is okay. That’s why, personally, I take every opportunity to thank any one who has in one way of another helped me in my stay on this earth! If I have missed anyone, at this space, I forward my sincere apologies and I really want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for blessing my life no matter how big or how small that favour is! You may challenge me and say that saying “thank you “ is not necessary or awkward among friends or family but don’t you think that saying the phrase “Thank You” would brighten up that person’s perspective a whole lot? I think, you and I know that the answer is “Yes, it would.” It would brighten a whole lot of a person’s perspective in life. Am I the only one being silly about it or do you feel that way too? Just like the picture of the red panda, I would say that this trait has become almost extinct!
Yunno, I see this trait of not saying “thank you” in a lot of people that I’ve come across in my life. It has become a really “forgotten” norm. It is like, “ Yeah! It’s your job-lah” or “Yeah! You’re supposed to do it.” and so on. It is so much worse when you get people whereby they always felt that people must do what they want and worst still, “they should do it for you” mentality. Look! I am not sharing this by plucking this info from the air, ok? This is not the “minta puji” thingy either. This is a fact of life. I know that there are plenty of ways to appreciate a person that has in one way or another helped in your life but saying “Thank You” is really an inner feeling of gratitude and appreciation. That, I think, is more precious than anything else I could think of. Yunno, don’t get tongue-tied when saying “thank you”. Be very generous with this because it does a whole lot of good to the receiver of this nice words. Honestly, it really feels good to be appreciated in that way and it does help you in a small way. Come on! I know that gratitude and appreciation would not be missed by God but hey, we live on earth. Be real. Know that gratitude and appreciation goes a long way in making someone’s life much happier and brighter indeed. Do not conform but transform,right? Good words never hurt our soul. In fact, they are like therapeutic healing in our heart. It hurts me to think that as a person, we have forgotten the basic goodness and living manners in our lives. Ask yourselves, on what occasions or situations have you profess this phrase? Ask too, have you meant it from your heart when you say such phrase? Remember that reciting the Lord ’s Prayer by memorizing in the mind is so much different from meaning /professing it from the heart! This is my 5 sen input ~
Lastly , for all of you who had made my life a little brighter in this crazy world in one way or another, THANK YOU SO MUCH from the bottom of my heart!~