Studying

i think this image aptly portrays what my dear daughter is going thru. the can of soda, bar of chocolate & iPod are all frighteningly familiar.

yeah, she's even mentioned the "D" word.

advantage

malaysian students studying in s'pore have one distinct but small advantage over the local students - mastery of the malay language.

what's the big deal, you ask.

no big deal la, except that they make up most of the debaters for polytechnics/junior college teams in the national schools malay language debate. for the local malay schools, the madrasahs, the malay students participate.

my daughter's school, VJC, managed to scrape through the round-robin stage to enter the last 8 for the knock-out competition. the school's debaters are all malaysians.

what's ironic is that in the quarter & semifinals, they consecutively knocked out 2 madrasahs, only to meet, in the final, yet another madrasah, one whom they had earlier lost to in the round-robin stage.

they debate tomorrow. may the better team win. go VJC!!

fickled-minded

after 2 weeks of wan tan mee, char kuay teow, mee siam, roti canai & dim sum, i kind of miss a good full english breakfast.

starting with oven-fresh bread with butter & juice, the main course usually consists of bacon and/or sausage.....

potato patties, baked beans & eggs.

the scrambled egg has a rich yellow colour because it's duck eggs. besides its high content of protein, vitamins A & E, it's also high on cholesterol.

just goes on to show that too much of anything can't be good.

awfully quiet

my daughter has just gone back to the hostel. of the 4-week term break, we spent the 1st 2 weeks on vacation, & she pretty much stayed in her room for the next 2 weeks to revise for her mid-year exams starting next week.

it's not that she is loud or boisterous but the home seems awfully quiet without her presence. one less person at the dining table, one less passenger in the back seat & one less child to kiss goodnite.

we can't wait to have her home again in august!

MAS - rightfully the nation's pride

a lot has been written about the deplorable state our national airline MAS is in, suffering losses in successive years for some time now, despite having gone through several so-called transformation programs. these essentially involved cost-cutting, staff severance & asset stripping, amongst other painful processes.

we flew on MAS recently. the 747 jet looks old & the interior could do with some serious refurbishing. but i have to say, the cabin crew served with diligence & more surprisingly, a friendly smile despite the long haul trip. we had 2 main meals, which were pretty good,  & a snack with plenty of drinks in-between. the in-flight entertainment had recent movies.

even though the recent financial crises & rising jet fuel costs have affected the bottom line, as other regional airlines are similarly affected, ours has been a perennial problem for longer than that. the many management changes suggest that matters are not well at the top.

are we lacking competent & dedicated professionals to run our national corporations? i think not. just look at Air Asia. in the mean time, i hope the cost-cutting would not affect passenger safety.

yes, i've been watching too many episodes of Air Crash Investigation on Nat Geo channel, & a crash is not a pretty sight!

fathers' day

a little token from the kids...

and just to share this.....

blessed fathers' day!

Blessed Day, my Father in heaven!

what's there not to like about england?

well, not a lot.


1) a direct flight takes about TWELVE hours!


2) if your joints ache when it's cold, they still will even in summer - the weather is just too unpredictable!

3) in winter, the sun rises at 8.30am & sets 3.30pm, and the days seem to pass really fast!


4) the ringgit doesn't take you very far - a big Mac alone costs rm20;


5) after 5 days of bacon & sausages/sandwiches/fish & chips/meat pies, you'll crave for nasi lemak or char kway teow & you won't find a warung/food court up your street selling that!


6) if you drive, petrol is rm6.60 a lit!


and finally, if you're a victim of a poor education system and SPEAK NO INGRISH, you'd better off staying home.

what's there to like about england?

plenty, actually.


1) MAS flies twice daily direct to Heathrow;


2) frequent train/bus connections into London & beyond;


3) hotels & car rentals can be booked online;

4) people are generally friendly, courteous & honest;

5) people EXPECT you to be friendly, courteous & honest;


6) free entry into London museums ;

7) travel cheap on the bus/train/underground after 9.30am on weekdays & all day on weekends;

8)some cities charge high parking fees, & therefore provide good Park & Ride services - one fee includes car parking with bus ride into the city;



9) almost always a sainsbury/tesco/asda/morrison everywhere you go, some are opened 24/7;


10) almost always a good offer if you search hard enough;

11) a paradise if you love sandwiches;


even better in summer when the sun rises around 5.30am & sets 9.30pm.....

which gives you at least SIXTEEN hours to explore!!

4 wishes

i wanted to be  here......

she liked the atmosphere here......

he was thrilled here.....

and, the wife was on retail therapy at all three locations!

a leopard never changes its spots?

after 12 days away from home, having full english breakfasts

stew & boiled veggies

sandwiches

scones with strawberry jam & cream,

the 1st things on our minds for dinner were laksa, char kuay teow, prawn mee & cendol. 


once a malaysian, always a malaysian?


PS. nasi lemak? oh, we had that on the return flight.

travelling light

when you travel by low-cost airlines, you tend to travel light because they charge for baggage. but when you travel by full-fare airlines, usually 20kgof  luggage per person is allowed without charge.

we usually travel light &  this time is no exception. with 4 of us, we checked in only 2 luggage bags. the total weight?

28kg.

can anyone beat this?

detoxify

when i told a colleague that i was going on vacation with the family soon, he said it's good to detoxify yourself.

detoxify?

i was stumped for a moment, but then, realised it's an appropriate although unusual description.

of late, it has been rather stressful at work, not only because of increased workload (often seasonal) but also a succession of patients with difficult problems. throw in the contagious bugs & germs, & yes, i'd say the hospital environment can certainly be toxic.

well, i'll be off till the end of school break, & i can't say i'd miss the hospital one bit! also glad the general election is not called while we're away.

cherio, mates!

hiding the truth

it quite common that we will loudly proclaim good news & keep silent on less happy events. when you read the mainstream media, most likely the govt's finest achievements will be front-page news while misjudgments will be consigned to a footnote, if mentioned at all.

after all, who wants dirty linen on public display?

my son certainly doesn't want that either.

that's why he hid his english test paper from us. the wife found it this morning tucked deep into a side compartment of his school bag. when asked why he didn't show it, he cunningly replied it's because we never specifically asked for it. ha ha, i can see where he gets this crafty trait from.

needless to say, he only got 85%. that by itself is average, but will be difficult to accept, considering that some of his chinese-speaking classmates outscored him.

he will be punished - no, not for the marks but for hiding the truth.

i, too, wonder if the govt should also be punished accordingly for hiding the truth?

be careful when flossing

i floss 2 - 3 times a week. most times, when i flossed vigorously, the gums bleed a bit.

last nite was a bit different. while doing it, the floss seemed to get stuck in between teeth. as i tugged firmly with fingers at both end, something popped out. i feared it was a tooth but there was no bleeding.

turned out to be a filling instead.

went to the dentist today to replace the filling.  she said a filling normally lasts up to 10 years, by which time it would have loosened or cracked. i can't remember when i had that filling done but next time the floss gets stuck, i'd just release one end & thread the loose end thru the teeth instead. that would have saved me a visit to the dentist.

with that constant drilling, it's no walk in the park!

a pleasant surprise at the check-out counter

there is a promotion for assorted flavours of bottled green tea at the supermart. normal price is $2.00 each but for this weekend, 2 bottles for $2.85.

so, i got a bottle each of 2 different flavours, amongst other items. after paying, i was surprised i was billed $2.00 & $2.10 respectively for the 2 bottles. on closer inspection, i realised one of the two was a red tea, priced at $2.10 & not included in the promotion.

what was i to do? after all, i had paid & moved out of the counter already.

so, i decided to take a chance. i took another bottle of green tea & queued at the same counter. when i explained my oversight to the check-out lady & asked to exchange the normal-priced red tea with the promotional green tea, she promply amended my purchases & gave me a refund.

no hassle, no fuss.

how about that for exemplary customer service?

have you been frustrated by bad service & bad attitude from the supermarts?

turning 10

i have 2 birthday posts in May. though unplanned, both my kids were born in this month. the girl turned 18 in the last post & the boy turned 10 today.

looking back, this is how he's grown since the last birthday:

1) he's started using underwear. he knows the perils of not wearing it;  read here. 

2) he's sleeping alone at night;

3) best of all, he says grace before meals & prays before sitting for his tests/exams.

Direct your children onto the right path,
and when they are older, they will not leave it

                                                                  prov 22:6

turning 18

i used to think that when you're 21, you've finally achieved liberty. because on your 21st birthday, you usually get a key-shaped present, be it a pendant, a plaque or even a cake. the key symbolises freedom, but from what, i don't really know. not financial freedom, that's for sure, since most people at 21 still depend on their parents for living & education expenses.

now, i think youths achieve an independence of sorts when they turn 18. they can sign consent forms for medical procedures, they are entitled to supplementary credit cards & can operate a bank account on their own.

however, some see this rite of passage differently. i asked my daughter how she felt about turning 18 today. she said now she can consume alcohol & go clubbing.

i chuckled, though i'm not really sure if she was serious about going reckless. remember, she recently ran thru a red light on her driving test?

still, she is who she is, & i love her to bits! blessed birthday, darling daughter!

monkey see, monkey do.

while the food & drinks stalls were doing a roaring business during the recent bersih 3.0 rally, apparently a group of businessmen felt hard done by. read here.

really? did they lose that much? RM100m? in less than one day?

just because the rally was vilified by the govt, they've decided to ride on the coat-tail & claim their spoils. make hay while the sun shines, so to speak.

now, i wonder if they'd use the same figures when they submit their business income tax in june?

false identity?

i was at the wake service of my colleague's father-in-law last nite. at 76, he had been leading an active life till the heart attack took its toll on him.

one of his friends who stood up to speak of him, said he was very surprised that for the 6 years he had known the deceased, it was only recently that he found out the latter's son-in-law is a heart specialist. in other words, he had lived on his own identity, & not by whom he knew or was related to.

that impressed me a lot. how often these days do people like to boast of whom they know & who their friends/relatives are, just to gain a bit of recognition? i suppose you get that a lot in corporate dealings when agreements/contracts needed to be inked asap.

even some of the wives of my colleagues have forsaken given up their surnames & introduce themselves as mrs so-and-so. in the west, a married women is expected to take her husband's name, & some still keep them even after divorce, eg. ivanka trump, bianca jagger. however, i doubt if we are ready to relinquish our asian values at the current moment. furthermore, is there any place or a valid reason for a change in our identity cards, driving licences, passports, EPF, or income tax forms?

anyway, i speak for  myself & all these years, the wife is still known by her maiden name.

the new gold?

Our gold medallist at London Olympic Games stands to become an instant millionaire.

that's a story in The Star yesterday (read here). call me old-fashioned, which i am, but we always talk about the good old days when representing the country in the world's sporting arena was an honour & winning was the one desire in every sportsperson's dream. the prize money, though pittance those days, wasn't much to brag about.

remember the football team of arumugam, santokh singh, soh chin aun & mokhtar dahari? we were consistently the best in south-east asia & second only to south korea in asia. look where we are now despite turning professional?

in badminton, we have no clear chance of winning the thomas cup since 1992, when the razif brothers last brought glory to the country. now only lee chong wei has consistently won at international level while the koo-tan pair (in 2007) & roslin (in 2003) proved to be a flash in the pan at the all-england. unfortunately, squash is not yet an olympic event.

maybe money has nothing to do with our title drought but it sure can be a distraction.

on an unrelated matter, if you support electoral reforms, wear yellow tommorow.

it could well be the new gold.