I’m not truly following the drama back home but I gather that the drama is still on-going. It’s quite apparent that we’ve become famous for the wrong reasons. Malaysia always wants to come out in the news, big news or small, it’s a big thing if the country is mentioned in any sort of news. But more often than not, it’s for the wrong reasons. *sigh* I got quite a shock to hear about the drama on talk-radio last night. Drama over there but on talk-radio over here.

I couldn’t have said it better than what my sis had put up in her FB status :

….thinks that not using a certain word doesn’t make her any less Catholic and that God will not think less of her if she doesn’t use it. She’ll just give in and not use it if it can bring back peace and harmony. We really don’t need more hate and unnecessary fighting like little children in our world. Have we really gott…en out of the Dark Ages? Seems like we’re moving right back there. Backwards is the new forward.

In my opinion, bombing churches does not help, but make things worst than it already is. And if not using THE word will make things better, why are we not doing it?? It’s not a matter of giving up the fight, it’s about being the bigger man.

What is happening to my tanahair…? It’s so malufying. I used to be proud to be Malaysian, now…shy to mention that I am.

….the babies/toddlers you used to play with/help look after and changed their nappies when it was soiled now have FB accounts!

I feel really old at this precise moment. :/ And what a shock I got when I realised that a lot of the kids that my aunt used to look after as well as her nieces and nephews [on her side of the family] now have FB accounts and all look so grown up! What happened to them? Did they just sprout overnight?? Goes to show how time really flies and I really can’t say enough about this. I don’t have to look far. Just need to look into the kids bedroom to see how much the girls have grown.

Checking out their photo albums, I wouldn’t even know it was them if I walked passed them in town. They’ve grown so much, it’s scary! I still remember them being these tiny human beings. LOL And of course when I think of these kids, I am reminded of my aunt and how superbly good she is with kids. I tell you, there is no child who does not like her. Be it a total stranger or meeting her for the first time, they ALWAYS go to her as if they knew her from long ago. It’s really amazing!

I still remembered how she managed to get Arianna asleep when I couldn’t and when I used the same technique as she did, it STILL didn’t work!! Must be something about her. Don’t know what magic she does but if she could bottle it up and sell it, she’s be a multi-billionaire! I know I’d definitely get a tanker full of it. *lol* I call her the baby whisperer and she really does live up to that title. Hands down.

Translated that mean, going back to my hometown. I’m so excited!!!! We managed to get some rather cheap Air Asia flights back to KL from Gold Coast. It will be a bugger having to lug 2 kids around but with sis to help out, we should be fine. I can’t believe we managed to get those tix. The last day to puchase was 15/11/2009 and believe it or not, Mum told me about it the day before and we were merely tossing around the idea. But when taking into account how cheap it was, we decided that arvo that we’d fly down and praise God, purchased the tix 1 minute before midnight!!! Talk about walking on thin ice eh?

So it is official, we will grace Kulim with our presence from 13/5/2010 to 13/8/2010. Wished I could stay longer but the kids visas only last 3 months so it’ll have to do. I gotta say that we would not have gotten these tix if AA insisted that the passport numbers were keyed in on the spot. KR has not yet got her passport so that is our priority now to get that on the way. I too have to check with immigration about my visa as I want to have a sticker in my passport rather than a piece of A4 paper that could easier get mistaken for rough paper. A fair bit to do but should be more than enough time.

O, with sis coming out to help me, it is planned that we will be spending a few days in Gold Coast prior to the trip back to KL. Haven’t really decided where to go since #1. I dont have my license and no way am I going to drive by myself in some new place. #2. Can’t go to all those Worlds with the kids and no Ted to keep them in line. So we will most likely be going to the zoo or something. According to sis, ‘ As long as I touch Gold Coast soil, I’m happy’. So I’m just playing along. However, on the way back to Sydney, we are planning a short holiday there too. Might as well make the most of it since we not only arrive at some ungodly hour in the morning, seeing that we are already there and it would be sometime in winter, the room rates will be cheaper than normal and would be nice to have a tiny Aussie family getaway.

But we’ll see how that bit goes. For now, Kulim….wait for me!!

*slaps forehead*

*slaps forehead again*

This is what you get for not paying more attention to the things you buy at a tourist attraction. Last Christmas we spent in Kulim and on Christmas day, we went to the Penang [Seberang Jaya] Bird Park. Apparently this is the only one around so in that sense, we were lucky coz we live so close by. And being bird lovers [Ted, that is] we went, looked and left not very impressed I might add. And now that Arianna can finally fit into the tshirt, I see this!! How to wear this with pride in public here??? It would be the same as sticking an ‘L’ on my forehead and walking around town.

Here I am all waiting to help ‘promote’ Malaysia and this is what I get. Is it really that difficult to get such a simple thing right? I mean, tourists who come would buy this in a heart beat as it’s the simplest and easiest thing to get and to remember a place by. But look what we do…..screw up such a simple phrase too! Don’t these people have someone to edit pharases and such before something is printed on a big scale? If don’t have, I nominate myself! Such a sad thing really….I was so disappointed and I wonder how many of these souvenirs didn’t get sold because of such a silly mistake.

At least I now know one reason why the place is so run down, with hardly anyone buying any souvenirs, how to keep the bird alive? I’ll be sticking strictly to magnets next time. Thanks to you Penang Bird Park!

Ps. Maybe I should email these people and tell them to amend it la. So malufying man….

Despite not being a Chinese, I remember celebrating a wee bit of CNY while I was growing up. It wasn’t the full blown affair with the family reunion dinner or things like that but I do remember the little things such as going to my aunt’s [mum's SIL] house on CNY to have lunch, collect angpow and then gamble. I still remember how one aunt forced me by giving me money to gamble coz I refused to. I was and am not fond of gambling and having arse luck when it comes to gambling pretty much puts me totally off it. Needless to say, I lost the RM10 she gave at the table la!

So what does CNY do for me? It’s funny how when one mentions CNY, the first thing that pops to mind is ANGPOW. Nothing else comes close to it. Makes you think if Chinese kids were brought up thinking of nothing else but angpows during CNY. I think it goes the same for the Christians too. Christmas means PRESENTS and SANTA, not the birth of Christ. So materialistic eh? Truth be known, I also grew up thinking that way too. Come close to CNY, can feel my hands itching to collect angpows from all my uncles and aunts. Although my dad’s side is Indian and my mum is Eurasian, most of her siblings all married Chinese hence, as part of the family we go a-visiting la.

And of course if you go visit a Chinese home during CNY, sure to get angpow. Even if the family member is bau-bau bachang [distant relative or relative through marriage], you still get that wonderous red packet and who doesn’t love money right? Even Arianna knows where to dig for money when she opens my purse these days – that must be the Chinese in her!

But what I also love is the fact that it’s just wonderful when a family gets together. I have always been one who feels that family gatherings should be a priority, the bigger the better! Although huge family have their usual family squabbles, when the festive season comes along, everything petty is pushed aside and we get together to celebrate as one. And that is what I always look forward to, then and now.

I guess when you grow older, one assumes that the angpow thrill is no longer there. Firstly, it is weird getting an angpow when you’re already working so hence, once you’re working, I think you can kiss your angpow days good bye la. Secondly, when you get married – you get scared coz then it’s your turn to give the angpow! How many of you like to give instead of receive? Don’t bluff and say you like to give angpows, ok? Everyone loves to receive…giving is normally hard, very very hard! But apparently, if it’s your 1st CNY as a married couple, you escape giving angpows. I never knew that and I got to know about it from a non-Chinese! *so malufying*

Now I realise that being a Chinese can be very, very expensive and quite scary too. I don’t know what will happen if you give out presents instead of angpows to kids during CNY. I think they will skin you alive and roast you for dinner!

The one thing that I can do without during CNY is the firecrackers. Haiyolar….if it went on for awhile, I don’t mind but the whole night for what…15 days. OMG, can pengsan la!!! Even though firecrackers are now banned, where there is a will, there is a way. I know that it is a must to set them off but the noise pollution has definitely gone down tremendously over the last couple of years. From memory, it was very quiet the last time I was home for CNY. [As I'm blogging, crackers are going off in the distance and I don't know why that is...must be pre-Australia Day celebrations la....]

Anyway, this year, CNY falls on the same day as Australia Day. That really means absolutely nothing to me coz to me, it’s just like any other day. On top of that, Ted is working that day so, it’ll just be me and Arianna at home. Just like any other day except that I will be missing all the Mandarin oranges, the bak kua, having dinner at my Godma’s in-laws place where her SIL makes the most drool worthy fish maw soup and pig stomach soup/thor tn’g [sorry, non-halal here!], and without a doubt, my absolute favourite….love letters. *sigh*

So when you eat these things, think of me and eat more on my behalf. Happy Chinese Moo Year!!!

I just saw a video clip on FB I wished I hadn’t. Nothing beats seeing it with your own eyes even though it was on cam. It was hard for me to watch and I can’t imagine how it would have been for his mother who was also there. It was about the death of an Indian youth in custody taken on 21/1/200 – the date was printed. It didn’t mention who the said victim was or where it happened. I dare not say for sure if it was a reliable source but one thing’s for sure. No matter who that person is, no one deserves to die so tragically. And no one should decide how one should die.

It’s no doubt that deaths in custody has been happening for as long as prisons have been in existence but somehow, it seems rather rampant these days. Or perhaps the cover ups aren’t good enough and on top of that, thanks to our hi-tech video phones and cameras, everything is being caught on tape. From school bullies in action to the horizontal acts of politicians too – you name it, I’m sure YouTube has it.

I understand that on one hand, prisons are for the baddies and they are sent there as a punishment. What I don’t get is, why is there a need to torture them this way or any other way for that matter? I think it’s safe to say that being in prison can be said to be similar to living in hell, on earth. It’s bad enough you get harrassed by the inmates who I’m sure will do anything to get whatever they want from you – needless to say, many are raped and tortured in ways unimaginable. No one talks about it but at the back of our minds, we all have an idea of how horrible it is to live a life there.

So already tormented this way, isn’t it enough punishment that there is no need for anyone else to make life more painful both physically and mentally for them? When one mentions death in custody, it automatically points to the people in charged. I wonder if they get a sort of high or satisfaction from beating the crap out of immates just be cause they have the upper hand. What if the tables were turned? What would be coursing through their minds then? So what if they are inmates? Aren’t they human too? Do they really deserve to be beaten that badly or even beaten at all???

I just don’t get it. Is it because they [OIC] think that they are teaching the inmates a lesson by doing this to them? I personally think it is not their call and they have no right whatsoever to mishandle the inmates this way. But the sad thing is, such things are always covered up by the department – it’s the same everywhere. They protect their own even when their own have done wrong. Such a sad, sad system…after all, who cares about an inmate right? They are just punching bags what.

*This is a personal point of view – no right, no wrong. Please refrain from any flaming but feel free to share your opinions. I can and will delete your comments if they get out of line.