2009: A YEARLY REVIEW

Every end of the year, bloggers would reflect on the passing year and highlight their favourite moments of the year. I can't fly and I don't have super powers, hence, like other bloggers, I jump on this egoistic wagon too, for what good is a blog if you can't write whatever you want without caring what other people think, once in a while?

I cried a lot this year.

I cried when Susan Boyle first sang on stage and wowed everyone including Simon Cowell.

I cried when I watched the four-minute montage of Carl and Ellie (from Pixar's animated movie UP) getting married and growing old together.

I balled my eyes out when I was watching 99 balloons, the heart-breaking video made by a couple showing their short 99 days with their baby (I'm already tearing up now) who succumbed to Trisomy 18.

I cried when Yasmin Ahmad died of a stroke in July and in the car when I heard this lovely song Pergi on the radio; the song was showcased in one of Yasmin's last works Talentime.

There are also a lot of other occasions where tears were the only consolation to the soul but who can dwell only on sadness all year long? There had to moments were this little ol' blogger was excited, happy and so darn proud of someone or something, right?

Of course, there are. One of which was the 15Malaysia project which features Pete Teo's efforts in showcasing the works of talented Malaysian film makers and taking them onto the world stage. Stories like Meter featuring Khairy Jamaluddin and the always humorous (and bloody talented) Baki Zainal, Halal featuring Adibah Noor and Man in Chicken Suit, and Potong Saga featuring Namewee who also just recently caused a media frenzy when he posted a video online showing him giving TNB Muar a piece of his mind in the middle of a blackout back in his hometown. He should visit Tawau sometimes, I'm sure the citizens there would welcome him on a red carpet. with flowers. and a live band.

News from home: there was my uncle Soo Wei who participated and came in runner up in the Astro's Classic Golden Melodies Singing competition 2009. When he reached the semifinals, my daughter Eva C, came along. And just in time for me to be reunited with a long lost Aunt of mine who is all the way in Canada now through the powers of the Internet.

Speaking of which, there were plenty going on in Malaysian news as well, things like the change in teaching medium from English back to Malay. Being an opinionated loud-mouth, you can be sure I said something about it. They went ahead and switch it anyways, if you didn't already know. Apart from that, there is the MCA issue ending in a half-hearted unity plan and no end in sight. Plus, the MACC vs Teoh Beng Hock saga, the billion-dollar Port Klang Free Zone issue which ended(?) in the arrest of several project directors. Sigh.. I wonder how many other corruption stories are left to be unearthed.

Speaking of money, one of biggest consequences from the 2009 budget was the credit card tax of RM50 to be charged for every card and for every year used. It wasn't just me who said something about it, sharing some of the same sentiments as HHTan's. LTM, Karl Heinz, KFSee, Cheng Poh among others like ME P.Gunasegaram also shared their opinions on the credit card issue. A noisy lot yes, but at least we said something about it and as we reach the end of the year, at least some good came of it.

Internationally, the year has also been filled with much tragedy and loss. There were many high- and low-profile deaths like those of Michael Jackson (foulplay?), David Carradine (bedroom-antics went wrong), Natasha Richardson (ski accident), Stephan Gately of Boyzone (natural death), Jane Goody, Patrick Swayze and Farah Fawcett (cancers), Brittany Murphy (stroke?), and Kim Peek (heart attack).

2009 was also the year of Barack Obama, Tiger Woods, Madoff, Chris Brown vs Rihanna, the pandemic of H1N1, a record number of police reports lodged by Malaysian politicians not to mention so many by-elections that will keep you busy until 2012.

Let's hope for a 2010 to be better but no less as interesting as 2009. Or else, what would we blog about?

COUPLE LOSES FOUR CHILDREN IN RIVERSIDE ACCIDENT

The Star Online > 21 December 2009

FOUR SIBLINGS FEARED DROWNED

KUCHING: Four young siblings were feared to have drowned after they fell into the Rejang River in Sungai Labaan near Sibu.

The four are brothers Wong Sie Kong, 12, and Sie Hou, eight, and sisters Sie Sang, 10, and Sie See, six.

The siblings, together with their parents, were looking for molluscs when the incident happened at about 3pm on Sunday. Their parents are safe.

Sibu acting police chief Supt Zamani Hamdan said a search and rescue operation involving three boats and about 25 police, fire and rescue services and civil defence personnel had been mounted for the missing children.

The family has chartered speedboats to join in the search, which was on-going at press time.

“The four children were walking in front of their parents when the incident happened.

“Their father managed to hold on his wife as she slipped down the riverbank,” Suopt Zamani told The Star when contacted Monday.

However, he said the couple failed to save their children as they slipped into the river.

Wong Yew Tiong, 40, his wife Tang Teck Leh, 35, and their four children had earlier visited a relative before they went to the nearby river to look for the molluscs.

The family is from Permai,Oya Road, Sibu.

Supt Zamani said a police team rushed to the scene at about 5pm after they were informed of the incident.

A worried Wong and family members, who were at the scene Monday, were praying for the safe return of the children.

However, Wong said the family is preparing for the worst.

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Update: 23 December 2009, 4.47pm press time, it was reported that the last of the 4 bodies of the siblings have been found. Arrangements are being made for a joint funeral to the four children lost to the ravages of the Rejang river.

I can only offer my condolences to the parents of the four lovely children (your heart will break like mine did if you see their photographs in the newspaper) and hope that in time their broken hearts will be able to heal from this.

WORLD PEACE CAN WAIT

The Star Online > Tuesday December 22, 2009

BROTHERS ARGUE OVER INHERITANCE AT MUM'S GRAVE

THREE brothers did not only refuse to look after their ailing mother when she was alive, they even fought over her property at her grave, reported Harian Metro.

The sad case was related by the founder of a home for the aged, Muji Sulaiman, who expressed disgust at the actions of the brothers.

“They quarrelled over their mother’s assets when her grave was still fresh,” he said.

The brothers also demanded that Muji surrender their mother’s death certificate to enable them to withdraw her Amanah Saham Bumi­putra savings although the woman had left instruction for her money to be bequeathed to the needy.

Muji said the woman, who suffered from diabetes and hypertension, was sent to the home by her children about two years ago.

None of the brothers visited her despite numerous calls from workers when her health deteriorated.

The brothers only came to their mother’s grave after she was buried, and then only to fight over her belongings.

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It is very disturbing, to the point where many adults nowadays chose to remain unmarried and childless, for fear that they will in turn be turned out into the cold by their offspring during their golden years.

But what of those who have kids, and who can celebrate huge gatherings, reunions and kenduris together? What of those with sons who bring them on vacations, who walk patiently and slowly with them behind the busy crowd and hold their hands and lifted their elbows for fear that they misstep? What of the daughters who bring their children home every weekend to visit their grandparents, help their mothers cook and give massages to their fathers?

They are of the same flesh and bone as their violent counterparts, yes, those who hit the elderly, who leave them without protection, shelter or food and who argue at the fresh graves of their recently deceased parents with equally unemotional siblings over their rightfully owned inheritance.

If we are all the same, how can we treat those who brought this to this world so differently?

[Rambling mode kicks in.]

Right, the problem here is the upbringing, the environment and other external factors such as traumatic experiences, the peer group they mix in and the different values of the people they marry.

Say what?

All women go through labour and so they would go to the ends of the earth to protect, love and care for their young ones. No wait, some go through the relatively painless Caesarean section and forgo the all-hell-breaks-loose pain of childbirth.. so that isn't a main factor. While others just deliver the baby then throw them in a dumpster or leave them in religious buildings so someone else more 'responsible' will find the baby and care for it. And they themselvse are off, scot-free. So...

Hey, all parents love their children, even animals know to care for their young ones. No, wait, hamsters eat their young, usually forsaking the first generation so that they can produce stronger second-generation children that will survive in the wilderness or in the cage of a 12-year-old eager beaver. And not all parents love their children the right way: some abuse their children, some shower them with material gifts but none of the parental sort, some just leave them with sitters, grandparents or in homes because they can't take it.

Okay then, so... hey, what about the fact that parents are more educated now and thus will provide children with the best education possible which include being respectful to their elderly. But hey, don't doctors, lawyers and hot shot managers also throw their old and dying parents into homes? Why, yes, and why is that?

Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's because they are academically inclined but not taught the correct moral values or in their pursuit of academic and career excellence, they forgo family, bonds and relationships? Since family will always be there and in most careers, once an opportunity comes and you don't grab it, it may be lost forever, not going home for Chinese New Year suddenly becomes a necessity rather than a choice.

Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's the fact that more women are going to work and no one is around to take care, teach and train their children to be better individuals. Maybe it's because when women are getting better roles in the working world and losing their roles in homes, men are still not chipping in because going to the office is a whole lot more important (and bloody easier) than managing the kids at home, doing housework, managing the kids' schedule around their own work schedule, and during Sundays tending to the bbq and watching football are what they are entitled to after a 'busy' week at work.

Oh, I just don't know.

[Switching back to non-rambling mode.]

Ahem... society is made up all kinds of people. The old Chinese says that 'one type of rice feeds one hundred types of people'. This means that even though we eat the same food, we are not made from the same mould. Some of us prefer chocolate, others vanilla. Some of us are righteous, some cruel and conniving. Some like rainy days, while others have a lot of washing to put out to dry. And as we are with our preferences, we are also as fidget-minded when it comes to loving our family, especially when your spouse who grew up without either of your parents has a say about it.

"I love your mom too but she is becoming senile and I don't want her cursing around the children. I'm tired of picking up after her, cleaning her messes off the floor and having to look for my car keys under her bed everything I need to leave the house. Maybe a home is a better alternative for her. We can afford it and she will have friends there." Argument ensues.

Sometimes couples (or even siblings) argue over the smallest of things, like pinching the toothpaste tube on the middle or from the bottom, taking dinner with the tv or without, and chopsticks vs forks (it happens in my house) sagas. Sooner or later, this flows over to the parent zone. Whether it is staying in the same house with them, or going over to their house for gatherings, or caring for them after hip surgery, if either of the couple finds any of this a hassle, arguments will surely follow. If either of them thinks it is their responsibility as children to care of the elders, that they owe their position in life now to the past contributions of the elders, and that these things are nothing compared to the sacrifices of their parents or parents-in-law did... then perhaps there is hope for the coming generations.

It would be nice to see independent and working adults doing their best for their parents, returning the love and care that their parents showered them with when they were vulnerable and dependent once.

World peace. Can wait.
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Note: For what it's worth, newspapers only publish the odd and interesting, which usually makes up less than 5% of the normal and mundane real world.

So there is still hope.

Book Review: Ripples and other stories

Apart form Robert Raymer, Ripples and other stories by Shih-Li Kow is probably the only Malaysian book, that is published in Malaysia, that I read.

Get your own copy from www.silverfishbooks.com

It's a refreshing read from the usual novels I read. Can't say I love it, can't say I hate it too. Refreshing is the word.

Yup. Refreshing.

The content is so Malaysian. I mean, there are things in there that only a Malaysian would know and understand. There are also things in there that shows the reader how Malaysia really is from the inside. Superstitions, lottery-buying, foreign help in households and competition in the food business are some of the topics discussed in the book.

Another thing I like about it is Shih-Li's (the stories give a sense of familiarity, so much that I subconsciously call her by her given name now even when I tell other people about the book) choice (or maybe her editor's) to let the characters intertwine in most of her stories.

A secondary character plays a main character in the following story and a secondary character from that story goes on to play a main character in the next story. This gives a surreal feeling to the stories told in the book. It's as if the characters are real and she is writing about their lives.

That's the power she has in her stories.

She is also a master in delivering so much with so little. You can say, she defines compact writing.

In fact she is such a fine storyteller that this current book was shortlisted (I kid you not) for the 2009 Frank O'Connor Short Story Award which boasts some one of the most lucrative prizes in the book publishing world: the winner gets 35,000 euros.

For those of you who can't count, that translates to roughly RM175,600. Imagine the number of nasi lemak, tose and and yao char kwai you can buy with that.

Strangely enough, however, that was not how I came to know about her. I was browsing fiction books at the Borders bookstore in MidValley and just picked up the book. My daughter's constant whining prevented me from sampling the book but perhaps it was the cover or the fact that I saw that it was shortlisted for an international award, I went back and bought a copy on the next visit to the store.

The book could use a little bit more publicity.

Anyways, I have three favourite stories in there: Dividing Walls for fine storytelling, A Gift of Flowers for the storyline and Waiting for Gurjit, for such an interesting and powerful concept. Some stories did not rub me the right way, or I just didn't get the story, yet could still be favourites of other readers. To each its own, right?

Halfway through the book, however, my enthusiasm to finish the book in one go fizzled out. Not so much because of the writing (which was addictive), but more so because of how the stories were laid out; the structure of the whole book, so to speak.

The stories also lacked sentiment. The writings thrived on observations of the idiosyncrasies of Malaysians, regardless of race, beliefs or religious upbringing but they evoke none of the feelings that should come with (something Yasmin Ahmad can do so effortlessly). If it did, it might have won her the award. I'm just saying.

I've never written a book in my life but then again, not everyone has, but everyone has read a book, even if it just the single one. And everyone passes judgement, even if it is never said out loud.

But I would recommend the book for light reading, not because the writer is Malaysian, but because she is really good.

ANOTHER CASE OF PLAGIARISM

I was reading Shih-Li Kow’s Ripples when I came across this on the main website for Silverfish books.

An apology was written by Adeline Lee who published her first book, Lethal Lessons, with Silverfish books at the tender age of 18. I found more about the issue at Sharon Bakar’s Bibliobibuli, a blog about book-dependency (I like how she calls it like she sees it).

In short, the writer plagiarized a story from the well-known Chicken soup for the soul series and masked it to be published as one her own writings.

Although she has apologized, the apology in my humble opinion is half-hearted and does not reflect her comprehension of the seriousness of her actions.

However, I do not blame her as many Malaysians do not see the severity of publishing something plagiarised.

However again, it can do much damage on the long run.

For one thing, nothing else that Adeline writes in future will not have its originality scrutinized by readers.

Two, Silverfish books could have easily be forced to close shop if the publisher or author of the plagiarized story decided to sue.

C, she did not copy from a fellow Malaysian writer, which begs the question, are Malaysian writers not copy-worthy?

CHANGE IS POSSIBLE

It is set. I've been given a new lease in life.

I'm switching jobs.

Based on first impressions, the new job will be challenging, full of surprises and perhaps will take a lot more out of me than my current job does. But then again, they're paying me better. Plus, I get to go out and meet and greet more people. Focus on the 'go out'.

In a previous post of mine, Change, where I [somewhat] counted my blessings after achieving motherhood status, I wrote that I've learned to let things fall into place instead of working towards making all the puzzles fit. In my quest for a better job with a brighter future, the experience has become a definition of the statement, sort-of.

The first realization

Through the power of the Internet and new technology I was able to meet up with a long lost aunt of mine whose mother was a sister to my grandfather. The last connection we probably had disappeared long before my parents got married, and hence was gone before I was even conceived.

Brought together by the common interest of following my uncle's (her cousin's) participation in a local singing competition, we've exchanged emails and a dream to be able to organize and hopefully run a successful family reunion in two year's time.

It was during one of these exchanges when she asked if I was a journalist, the conclusion made judging from the writings in my blog. I replied no. Later I would become saddened by the fact that the best part of me, pointed out to me by one who I've yet to met, would be forever hidden by my lack of execution in achieving what I've always wanted to do: write.

Opportunities and chances.

It would be three months later before jobstreet pointed me to the direction of a job ad, the contents stating an interest for a new writer.

The requirements stated there: I fitted like a glove. It could have been nothing more than a coincidence. But then, many great inventions and discoveries came from coincidences. They became known only because someone took notice and discovered the importance of it.

I then sent my resume. But since I've got nothing to show for my writing skills, I wrote an informal covering letter which I sent with resume through email. It was attention-grabbing, bold and straight to the point. Later I would find out that it was the determining factor of me getting the first interview, which was scheduled a week after.

During my preparation for the interview, I re-read the job ad only to find that I was supposed to submit a 500 to 800 worded published work along with my resume. The discovery rattled me. I was surprised as to how I could have missed out such an important requirement. And I'm a bloody editor. I'm not supposed to be that sloppy if I am supposed to be a good one.

At the end of the first interview, I apologized to the person who arranged the interview for me and thanked her profusely for giving me a chance even when I had not provided all the necessary paperwork. She told me that the requirement was added after I, and several other candidates, had sent in our resumes.

When you apply for a job as a writer, you're supposed to send in writing samples. Otherwise, we won't be able to tell if you are good enough for the job.

The simple logic hit me straight in the face. But then...

Since everyone wrote in without providing writing samples, I decided to give a chance to those with cover[ing] letters. And based on yours, I thought "Hmm.. she sounds interesting. Let's give her a shot."

I mentally rubbed a huge drop of sweat from my forehead and made a mental note to give more trust to my instincts in future.

More coincidences.

I was the third candidate and since I have been to the area often enough to understand the rough landscape, I got to the place quite easily. It gave me an advantage over the previous two candidates who got hopelessly lost. Can't blame them. The place is a maze.

The editor in charge hit it off pretty well with me. We came from quite similar backgrounds. We started from zero (relatively speaking) and we both are not Chinese-educated and have glancing proficiencies on Mandarin. I can also assist her in some editing and she seemed to be satisfied with my editing skills.

During the first interview, I was asked if this would be a career change for me, from being the editor of academic publishing books to being a senior writer, one who needs to go out and interview people, conduct and carry out talks in schools and such. Looking back, I was satisfied with the answer I gave her; that it would not seem to be a career change for me, but more of a change of pace since I am quite confident I can do all the things as required in the ad. But saying is cheap, doing is gold. And I intend to prove myself.

Expectations

I was made to understand that the group of people I will be working with are very smart people and there is no salary scale in the new company. In return for this kind of environment, I will be required to be dedicated to the job and extremely hardworking. Thus far, I had not lied about anything during the interview or in my resume. But expectations are subjective and things will always change. That is how life is, right? Change is always eminent.

As seen on an autopay machine in The Gardens, next to Midvalley Mega mall: Change is Possible.

GETTING MARRIED AND GOING TO JAIL

The Star Online, Wednesday December 2, 2009

NEWLYWED WHO GAVE BIRTH FACES LEGAL ACTION

A WOMAN who gave birth to a baby girl barely 24 hours after her akad nikah is now in trouble with the Malacca Religious Department (JAIM) for having the child out of wedlock, reported Harian Metro.

The 21-year-old girl married her 28-year-old partner at her family home in Malacca, knowing she was pregnant.

The daily said a group of enforcement officers led by JAIM chief enforcement officer Rahimin Bani went to the Malacca Hospital to take statements from the couple.

“The woman understood when she was told that she had committed the offence of having a child out of wedlock and the couple also admitted to having prohibited sex,” Rahimin was quoted a saying.

He said the woman’s family was aware of her pregnancy and still allowed the solemnisation of her marriage.

He said the woman would be charged under Section 54 of the Malacca Syariah Offences Enact-ment for being pregnant out of wedlock while her husband would be charged under Section 55 for being an accomplice in prohibited sex.

The two can be sentenced to a fine of RM30,000 or jail for 24 months or both if convicted.

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There are so many ways to react to this article yet the first thing that popped into my mind was: I guess they'd preferred it if the woman got rid of the baby.

What was the couple to do? Abandon the baby and deprive it of a normal life? Why should the child be penalised for something that the parents did wrong?

Yet when the parents decide to take responsibility for their actions, officers come crashing into their family life to tell them the obvious "you had this baby out of wedlock". Well, duh.. Mr Occifer... "and your family knew about this and did not report you, and allowed you to get married anyway." And your point being?

Pre-wedding activities aside, I think that since they took responsibility for their actions, a tinge of leniency and mercy should be given to the couple. 2 years of jailtime for doing the right thing... the idea simply screws up justice in the justice system.

Crud. This just ruins my day.