Engaging the Engagement

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During my recent hiatus, I've had a few meaningful events happening at my home front.
One is the euphoria of Imran scoring all As in his PMR examination. Congratulations again, darling!

The other is my eldest daughter's engagement ceremony held in December.

I have been wondering if there is any other mother who has had the assistance of the internet to help organize some part of the event. I mean, it's so simple, if you don't have the slightest idea about anything at all, just click on the google engine. If you happen to like anything you see, you can order online, and some of the local netpreneurs are really efficient.

Let me elaborate a little bit without infringing on my daughter's privacy.I'm giving them credits here because they are really good.

I ordered this personalized ribbons from Create-my-own-gift. They delivered the ribbons at my doorstep within 2 weeks to enable me to decorate the choc boxes for our guests.

I can't forget to mention that wiz is the supplier of these beautiful daintily crafted muffette of cupcakes served as part of dessert for the day.

Presentations of 7 trays of hantaran and the lovely hand bouquet were prepared by Sherry.

The similarities between these hardworking young ladies is that they hold full time jobs and only nettrading parttime. And they are all based around Kuala Lumpur.

Of course, my daughter must have made use of the enormous amount of available information from the net too, for her wedding dress designer, makeup artists, fotographers and so on and so forth.....

There was no internet yet during the iceage decade when I got engaged (exaggerated for dramatic effect to gain sympathy), no wonder there was nothing much to remember about.........

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Resurfacing

Imran asked me why I have not been updating my blog?

(Errr, my son Imran reads my blog?!?)

mama: I'm on study leave......

Imran: People comes back after a leave. Why do you take forever?

mama: I'll write again one of these days, if you say so!




And so, this entry is dedicated to my darling son, Imran, if he happens to still read my blog.













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In the mean time, let me continue with my study leave a little while longer ......

Study Leave.

The Bursa Saham of Malaysia has reached the highest level ever in its entire history. As an investor, this is certainly one of the phenominal periods in my life, (the other being post-menopause! he,he,he.....)

I am currently going back to the books to sharpen my skill. Hope it is not too late to relearn something new.

With a maximum exposure to the ticker while trying to figure out the works of black and white candles (instead of the usual aromatic ones), and battling hot flushes at the same time, I will have to take some time off from blogging.

Meanwhile, stay safe, my friends.

Stressed Out

I have put myself in a pressure cooker and need time to disentangle my current position.


Pics, thanks to Salvatore Dali

Ka-Ching $$$$

Ever since he knew what money can do, Imran has always wanted to be a 'Property Manager'.

Perhaps because he saw how much fun there is in collecting the monthly rental income from the properties.
He thought that all those rolls of dough is to be spent on whatever he wishes, after all, there will be more coming in the next month!

He has not been exposed to the capital recovery, maintenance costs, tax payable, tenant harassment, etc..

He aspires to be like Donald Trump. He reads some of The Donald's books on my bookshelf.

Imran already has some basic ideas on how to develop my existing land bank.
Yesterday he asked "How do I get money to build real estates, mama?"

I told him that most of my properties are compliments from the stock market.

Imran: How do I get my hands on it, too?
mama: You can start by either trading as an investor, becoming a remisier or a stock broker....
Imran: What's the Bursa Saham thingy?
mama: That's a place where all traded stocks are listed.
Imran: How do I get them into my stock broking firm to enable my clients to sell and buy?
mama: There is this thing called a CDS account.
Imran: What can a CDS account do?

Aaiyo, Imran, go read the book on 'Pasaran Saham Malaysia' at the study room.

Imran: I've read it. Whatever term I don't understand, I looked it up at the glossary, I was confused with even more terms used to explain it in the first place ...

mama: never mind, go take your PMR exam first, then SPM, then A level, then do a degree in perhaps 'Financial Engineering', then only think about making big money on your own!!!..

I was wondering whatever happens to all the easy, frequently asked questions posed by children his age, once upon a time? ...
And why can't they just be happy with a 'Harry Potter' instead? ...

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14 years ago, it didn't make any difference whether it was a resort or just a sink full of water!

8As, it was!

Ikram managed 8As in his SPM examination result..

We were invited to the announcement of the exam result event last Monday at the school's hall, and I can say that it was a nerve wrecking experience for both parents and students.

After the occassion was over, Ikram hugged me and apologized for the less than perfect set of results.

Ikram: I'm sorry mama!

Both papa and me shed tears, not because we were disappointed in him, but we realised that he really tried so hard for our sake!

I told Ikram that I'm really happy with his achievement. I suppose that's the best of his ability, especially I know how much effort he had put into it.

Since then, we have done some research, discussing with a few student advisors from various colleges and Universities. We have decided to support whatever that is Ikram plans to do next.

Next Monday, Ikram will start his life as a student doing GCE A level (pre-Med) at Taylor's University College.
We pray hard that in 18months, Ikram will qualify to pursue his studies in Medicine at the International Medical University (IMU) in Kuala Lumpur.
That's the road map for him to focus on for the time being.
This time it's for his own sake.

Congratulations Ikram!
And thank you teachers and tutors who have guided Ikram along the right direction..

Kong-Fu-Wa

The fact that I've always been mistaken for a chinese girl is not something new.

I remember as a young teenager, while taking a bus from Simpang Pertang where my father used to work, to the town of Kuala Pilah, the bus conductors often amused me with:
'lei heui pin-to?'
(where are you going?)

I usually ignore them, or, if insisted for an answer, I will embarrasingly say I don't understand chinese.

Over the years, I encountered a few more misunderstandings, that I made a conscious decision to join an adult cantonese class in the evening after office hours.

As adults, the first few words that we learnt were naturally either bad ones or how to curse and swear at other people.
The lou-si (teacher) usually obliged.
I have quite a vocabulary of them, however, my all time favourite is still that single Tamil quote.

Scenes from our hillarious cantonese class sometimes went like this:

lou-si: 'Ceng man, nei kiu mi ye meng?
(may I ask, what is your name?)
student: Ngo hai Ahmad.
(my name is Ahmad.)
lou-si: 'yi-ka, nei mhou sam?
(right now, you are not very happy?)
student: 'lou-si,toi-m-cui, ngo msyui fook'
(sorry teacher, I'm not feeling well)
lou-si: 'lei yau heui tai yee-sang?
(have you gone to see the doctor?)
student: mei, ngo hai keng par tar djam!
(not yet, I'm scared of big needle!)

Lou-si was so happy that her student could string simple sentences out of some words learnt in class that day and turned to another lady.

lou-si: 'Aminah, nei hau mah?'
(Aminah, how are you?)
student: 'Hou, yau sam.'
(I'm well, thank you)
lou-si: 'Nei hai kit mkit fan? Kei to sai lo kor?'
(Are you married? How many children have you?)
student: 'ngo mkit fan cor..myau sai lo kor'
(I'm not married yet..., don't have any children)
lou-si: 'tim kai nei mkit fan'?
(why have you not gotten married ?)
student: 'ngo hou keng par tar djam'!!
(I'm so scared of the big needle!!)

Although our answers sometimes caused red faces, lou-si was happy nevertheless that we could be innovative with whatever few words that we could remember.

Of course now that I go around wearing the tudung, no one speaks to me in cantonese anymore.
As a result, I've forgotten (mkei tak cor) most of what I've learnt.

However, I could miserably practise my dribblet of kong-fu-wa at the night market by asking:
'sin saang, ceng man, niko kei to lui?'
(Mr., may I ask, how much is this one?).
The usually enlightened hawker will say:
'wah, nei sik kong kong-fu wa!!!'
(wah, you can speak cantonese!!!)
mama irma: 'ngo sik kong siu-siu lor....'
(I can speak only a little bit lah...)

With that, I never failed to get a spontaneous discount , no matter how small, from the night market hawker..

The mistaken identity

Last Sunday, I went to Sg.Buloh with papa.

One can really get oneself lost at the nurseries of Sg.Buloh.
The plants sold there are dead cheap, up to 50% lower than the prices sold elsewhere.

Kumar, the gardener, had just cleared a large patch of a heliconia colony at the side of the garden facing my dining area.
I've decided to replace them with aromatic flowering plants.

So, I was there at my favourite "lengcai's" nursery again, collecting the 'kesidang', 'kemuning', 4 varieties of 'gardenia' , 'jasmine' and 'lady of the night' . I've purchased huge plants of 'Bunga Tanjong' and 'Kenanga' from him last month and hillariously sat on one of the branches in the car on our way home for lack of space.

By the time the "lengcai" (handsome boy) finished arranging the plants in the CRV, papa's car transformed into a perfumed garden.

I came across and excitedly bought a very beautiful and intricate 'teratai bali' with leaves interestingly arranged in an array of colourful mosaics, which needed to be placed in a pot of water. Papa was obliging enough to make another stop at the pottery seller.

I returned to the packed car later with a pretty sandstone pot, cursing the salesgirl.
Papa asked why the sour face.

mama: cilaka budak yang jual tu, I asked for a discount, she said 'tak boleh lah ahmoi!'
papa: You should be pleased that she called you ahmoi, what if she addressed you as 'ahsoh'??
mama: 'mou kow cor!' (don't try to be funny!) ,I would have pretended to accidentally drop the pot and left! ha,ha,ha...
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The beautiful cluster of teratai bali's leaves.

The Red Carpet.

The Malaysian investors at Bursa saham today experienced exiting the red carpet of a different kind...

There was a blood bath on the trading floor, with everyone seeing RED!!.

At the close today,the CI dived 35.8points down, with 1123 counters turning red as compared to only 42 counters remained in the green, bucking the trend.

Congratulations and clap, clap, clap to those who managed not to cry today.
I am one of them, not because I don't lose money together with the crowd, but I've experienced this aftermath once too often.

Just last week, everything looked nice and full of potential.
Lots of stories about investors wanting to quit their fulltime job for easy cash from trading in the equity market.
I have no advice to offer, other than shaking my head.

However, the uptrend gave me the long awaited chance to clear most of the stale bull in my stead.
My portfolio no longer looks like a railway track and I was so very pleased with it.
Unfortunately, with the lower prices, I began to shop around this morning, nibbling here and there, for a good pick.
But the market went down and down and even further down....
I remember Ben's advice not to catch a falling dagger, so I stopped shopping slightly before lunch break.
The onslaught, however, continued until the market closed at 5pm.
That must be the longest trading hour for some investors today.

Just last night I asked papa if he wanted to invest in a counter.
I've done a lot of research on it, and full of certainty that it will be the star counter of 2007.

Papa said he has some RM50K of petty cash stashed somewhere, if it's OK for him to join the fun.
Thank God you are not in yet, papa,
or else your petty cash will by now become pitty cash....
(slap forehead and try to let out that not-so-funny laughter...)

Tudungs and Such.

Like most ladies my age, I was not brought up as a naturally tudung wearer.

We didn't go to school wearing the compulsory white scarf as they do now for all muslim students in the public schools in our country.
In fact, we were happily trodding the corridors of our school in mini skirts uniform, and white shorts for PE classes.

If I remember, the serious tudung wearing in our community only started when I was in form 2 in 1971, when Rafiqah's sister, who was our senior, went to further her studies at UPM and came to visit us at school donning one.
Those days, it was classified as joining the Dakwah and one is thought of as being a follower of an extremist group if you go around with your head covered.

Of course now, time, perceptions and the span of our religious knowledge have changed.

The decision to start covering up was not made without a prolonged debate with myself.
There were lots of skirts to discard.
And the short sleeved blouses will be such a huge waste....

Until one day when I was waiting for Imran outside the school, his very young friend at standard two asked:
Kenapa mak awak tak pakai tudung?
Imran asked me how to answer him?
I didn't have any plausible excuse worthy to be understood by an 8year old!

Later, I went for an umrah trip, got used to covering up for 2 weeks whilst there, and it gave me the best opportunity to continuously wear the tudung from then on.

Since tudung has been a part of my costume, it has become easier for the hubby and my sisters and my friends to get me a gift whenever they travel abroad.

The collection multiplied faster than a pair of hamsters.How do you store them?

A friend told me that she hang them around an unused lamp shade, which doubled as an interior decor. But then I'll need a lot of them all over the dressing area.

I tried to clip the same coloured scarves on to a hanger, but they are so difficult to be retrieved and chosen from whenever I need to use one.
Papa once brought me to the hawkers' street at Jalan Tuanku Abd. Rahman where there were many tudung sellers.

They hang their wares around a circular metal stand.
Papa wanted to get me one but I thought it would look horrendous at home!


For the moment I've solved the problem by using this canvas shelf which I bought from IKEA.
It comes with a velcro top which you can strap to the wardrobe's metal bar where we hang our other clothes, and a covered box at the bottom where we can keep those nice chiffon beaded and drycleanable scarves out of sight and protected from dust..
























Of course I have to be very disciplined in storing each piece back after wearing one. And I better not be in such a big hurry in the morning, or else the whole organized work, according to hue and colour will turn out to be like this after a week......






















Well, actually my shelves did look as chaotic as the picture above, before I sweatingly sort them out in one whole hour yesterday..

I had a dream.

Last night, my grandma who has left us last Ramadhan came and visit me in my dream.

It was so vivid and so real.

The moment I saw her, I went and hugged her hard and reminded her that we have not met for about 3 months.
She looked fine, standing upright and without the pain which she was having before she passed on.

I asked her how it was to be staying at the other side of the wall.
She told me she is doing OK.
I asked too whether she was harrased in any way by the Angels. Grandma confirmed there was no such experience. She managed.

I remembered telling myself in the dream that it was perhaps because grandma was such a very nice lady when she was alive. She never hurt anybody's feelings, never forget her prayers and always willing to help.

She told me that her daughter, whom we called Acik, is now looking after her. Acik passed away in 1996 . Acik's husband who died in 1997 is also there with her.

I asked if she has met my dad.
She said she had. Infact my dad was the first to wait and welcomed her in the alam barzakh.
I thought I saw my dad's shadow there in a distance with grandma.

I cried and asked that she send my salam to my beloved dad and to inform him that I still miss him badly.

Grandma told me not to worry as everybody is alright except my dad is a little disturbed by a knowledge that a certain relative is currently in trouble. That's so like my dad. He was always so concern of everyone when he was alive. She mentioned a name.

I must remember to call my mum today to find out if that person is alright.


Al-Fatihah to all our dearly departed.

Passport Photo.

I have yet to hear someone says that she is happy with how she looks in a passport-sized photograph!

If it comes from any of my daughters, it will be either
'hiii, teruknya, tembamnyer!, or
'why is my one eye bigger than the other'?, or
'yikes, why do I look like Bibik?!!, or
'OMG, benci lah, buruknyer!!!.....

papa: dah rupa hang macam tu, nak tukarq jadi lagu mana pulak??!!...

I was planning to travel during the Chinese New Year weekend holiday when papa alerted me that my passport is valid for another 5months only.
Alamak, got to go to the Immigration office to renew it.
Worse still, I'll have to go and pose for a new passport-sized photograph.

In an effort to minimise the trauma, I first went for a facial treatment, hoping that the wrinkles will temporarily disappear.
Alas, 2 mini pimples appeared the very next day.

After trying to do some magic infront of the mirror, I drove to my favourite Fotoshop near my office yesterday.

Eric the photographer, told me that my beautiful silk scarf can't be featured in a passport .
'It has to be black, kak!'

Aiya Eric, I was hoping that the flowery scarf will camouflage my face!

Eric offered a black pasar malam scarf used at his studio.

I spent a few minutes trying to put the rough scarf on top of my head and cover the sides of the droopy cheek. It didn't do too well, but I was lazy to drive home and get a better black scarf.

After giving unsolicited instructions to the patient Eric on 'not too bright, not too close, try to make it blurr',
'Let's see how your smile turns out, kak'!

We took a look at the result on the computer screen and I wanted to hide under the studio bench.

mama: Heavens, Eric, I don't look like I'm attending a funeral, I appear like I'm at MY own funeral!!

Eric promised that he'll do some touch up.
'When do you want to collect your photos, kak?'

mama: take as long as you need to make it 'appear' better, Eric!

Well, if all fails, I can always blame it on the black scarf!

Congratulations, Dilla!

I must congratulate my daughter Dilla for passing her Module D of the MICPA exam last session.

I knew it was very difficult for her to cope with work and continuing with her professional studies all at the same time, nevertheless, amidst sweat and tears she made it!!!

So, it's back to the grinding stone, so to speak, this March for the Module E.

After which there will still be the Module F!!!

Faster faster finish them all Dilla, so that you can start learning how to cook and do your own laundry, and clean your own room....
I think you need to know at least the basic stuff before you can attend the kursus perkahwinan next!!!!

Har,har,har.....

Cat and Mouse!

If I have not decided to complete my last month's account reconciliation today, I would have stayed in bed for another day !

Both papa and mama woke up blurry eyed this morning.
All because of our cat, Bella!

Last night, Bella came in through the balcony of our bedroom with a mouse in his mouth!

I was frantic and told Bella to throw that fella out into the garden.

But Bella had other ideas, he wanted to show his prized catch to ChiHua who was sitting pretty on my bed.

Soon I heard the both of them squatting under the 3-seater, discussing the poor creature placed in between them with their ouuow and eeaeaw....

Papa told the 2 of them to get out of our room, that's when Bella let slip the mouse who took the opportunity to quickly run for it's life.
Just imagine the commotion caused by 2 cats trying to catch a mouse in the room full of furniture, and my bed!.
They heard mama shouting with
'careful with my curtain!...
hey, my vase!!!...
No, not my lamp!!'...

Finally, the mouse managed to climb up the curtain railing and the cats gave up because they are just too plum to climb up as well.

Bella decided to take a break and curled up on my bed.
Papa took a clothes hanger and thrashed the mouse with it. It fell to the floor and ran towards the exercise machine with papa chasing after it.
Now it's Bella's turn to watch papa played with the mouse.
Papa had little success when the mouse headed straight under the bed with Bella having no more interest in it.....
It was already 12midnight when we managed to convince ourselves that we could catch some peaceful sleep with Bella on the bed and a mouse under it.

Alas, it was not to be, as at about 2a.m. we heard a loud thud from under the bed.
Bella caught the mouse and with it in his mouth jumped up and presented it to papa on the bed!
'Look papa, I caught the mouse for you'!!....

I shrieked and papa did a silat step.

Both Bella and ChiHua had the mouse in-between them to play again at the wee hour of the morning.

We went back to sleep with the door wide open.
we didn't find our 2 kids and their live toy in the room when we woke up with red eyes this morning.......
The maid said that they were at the garden.
I hope they have not turned someone into breakfast....
Uuurgh! I'm not kissing you today, Bella!!!

Try your luck

Kak Wati, the office cleaner, whispered softly to me while wiping my table this morning:

Boss, tahun 2007 ni Kak Wati tak di naikkan gaji?

Kak Wati spent 15 minutes daily in our office. Her daily chores include sweeping the floor, mopping the front office entrance, washing the toilet, clearing the rubbish and that's all.
Within 15 minutes she will disappear and continues her cleaning job at other offices within our office block.

mama: Kerja Kak Wati ada apa2 tambahan tahun ni?

silence.

mama: Kak Wati dah menepati KPI?

lagi panic, apemenda nya KPI tuh?

Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are financial and non-financial metrics used to quantify objectives to reflect strategic performance of an organization. KPIs are used to assess the present state of the business and to prescribe a course of action. KPIs are frequently used to "value" difficult to measure activities such as the benefits of leadership development, engagement, service, and satisfaction.

Kak Wati must have thought kat Malaysia ni kalau kerja mop lantai dan nak mintak tambah gaji pun kena tahu KPI?

But Kak Wati's strategy is acquired only through her expertise in manouvering the broom, thus:

Tapi kawan2 Kak Wati yang kerja kat ofis lain semua dah naik gaji tahun ni.
Diorang kata kenapa Boss Kak Wati teruk sangat?

mama: Lain kali kalau orang kata Boss Kak Wati teruk, Kak Wati jawab Boss Kak Wati yang paling handal berniaga, dia tak suka bazir perbelanjaan kalau tiada faedah kepada syarikat!

Kak Wati dah kerja 10 tahun tau Boss!

mama: OK, sebab dah 10 tahun buat kerja yang sama, Kak Wati dah banyak kumpul duit dari syarikat saya. Jadi tahun ni gaji Kak Wati kena potong!

Kak Wati: Tak pe lah Boss, tak naik gaji pun tak aper, asalkan jangan potong....

Kak Wati keluar pintu dengan muncung yang memoncong. I better don't use the washroom today, it's very likely that it remained uncleaned this morning....

What's in a Name?

2 weeks ago, my Property Agent, Patrick came and sit infront of me in my office.

He saw my eyes were on the computer screen and knew what I was watching.

Patrick: MI, my friend told me to buy 'Satang'!

mama: What the heck is 'Satang'?

Patrick: He said the company obtained HUGE contract from the government!

The sucker that I usually am, automatically keyed in "Satang" on the search column and saw the stock being traded at RM1.14/RM1.15

mama: Contract with the government is one thing, can collect payment or not?

Patrick: If YOU don't believe in the government, who else will?

mama: I don't like the companies' name. I don't understand what it means!

When you are fully invested in a running market, you get very anxious and jittery, and tend to find every possible excuse not to commit to any new purchase unless you have the chance to switch.

Today the counter trades at RM1.55. The chart shows that it's at the verge of a breakout.
The Target Price?
I don't know.
I'm too shy to ask Patrick to ask his friend to ask his friend's friend to ask his friend's friend's friend.......

What does it mean?

It means that I've foregone the opportunity to gain 40sen profit which translates to RM400.00 per lot.
I usually keyed in my trade at a 10 lot basis,
It's a cool RM4,000.00 in 2 weeks, flushed down the sewer,

just because I don't like the name!

Only The Lonely.

I came home to a very quiet house last Saturday.

Imran had extra classes and decided to stay on for a group study at the library,
Ikram went out for lunch to celebrate a friend leaving for further studies in Australia,
Tasya was nowhere to be seen, perhaps out with a friend who came over from down South,
Dilla is at work (what else is new??).

Only the sound of the maid at the far back of the kitchen, kelentang kelentung, doing the laundry.

The only family member available was papa, doing his packing in the room. He was leaving for Medina the next day, fetching the last group of pilgrims coming back from the Haj trip this year.

Suddenly, I got a panic attack!!!

mama: papa, what is to happen to me if even YOU are no longer around? I'm so frighten! I don't want to live alone like my mother in her humongous house, doing nothing!!!....

I started to figure out what I should do:
-fire Kumar and do my own gardening, or
-collect as many stray cats as I possibly can and let them live in my house, or
-adopt abandoned babies to keep me occupied.

Somehow they all seem to be for the wrong reasons,

mama: papa, help!!!
what am I supposed to do if I don't have you as a companion anymore?
well, assuming that you will die first!..

papa: You can go to the mosque and pray for my soul!..and go visit my grave..

mama: Like dat? Life not so interesting anymore lor. In that case let me die first lah. I malas want to go and visit your grave!

What will you do then after I died?

papa: Ha,ha,ha... There's so much of new interesting things to do:
- **%^.....
- #@*!.......
- *&%^#......
-^%*$#!%^......
- *&^#$%&^........

items above are all censored in order to preserve my sanity!

OK, OK, I've changed my mind about volunteering to die first!
I will compile my new to-do list later.

S.O.S

Imran reminded us over dinner last night that February is fast coming.

papa: Huh?!? So???..

Imran: Don't you remember what happens on the 23rd??..

papa: What will happen?

Imran: It's MY birthday!!!!

papa: So, it's your birthday, what about it?

Imran: We are supposed to celebrate the one and only special day in the entire calender of the year!!

papa: I thought mama should be celebrating as on that day 15 years ago, she was done carrying you in her tummy!

Imran: It's mama's happy day too.

papa: But you have no idea how much pain she went through. We should be buying presents for the mother on our birthdays!!!

Imran: But mama doesn't want anything on my birthday. Besides, she already is happy enough to have a son like me!! I brought her a lot of joy and happiness....
(I am so used to this kind of emotional manipulation, after all, my career as a mother spans over the past 25 years...)

mama: what do YOU want, Imran?

Imran: I'll e-mail it to you tonight. Thanks, mama!











What in the technological world is this????






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Deja Vu

I read with trepidation a comment made by a young investor (I assume he/she is young) in a comment box of a blogger that 'he has made enormous amount of money in the stockmarket lately that he found it foolish to work for a living'.

Careful there, mate!
Been there, done that....

It was such a euphoric atmosphere back then at the end of 1993 when no one seemed to be interested to work. The telephone switchbox at the office was jammed up by outgoing calls to the designated line by Telekom to check the price quotes of shares traded at the stock market. Everyone talked about the share market. The fishmonger, the taxi driver...Even Lat came out with a cartoon of a lady about to give birth to her baby, but was still busy on the phone giving instructions to her remisier.

I don't envy anyone, as I too made my first million during that period.

It is said that when everyone talks about how easy it is to pick up cash from the stockmarket, it is the time to get the hell out of there, before it is too late, before you get burnt to ashes together with the rest..

It took only a short Finance Minister at that time to come out with a statement that he bought shares in the stockmarket only for his coffee money, that the whole market came tumbling down from it's peak, in January 1994. It went down and down and made severely worse by the regional financial meltdown in July 1997. Almost everyone lost money. It was a matter of whether you lost some or you lost all, together with your CD handbags and Ferragamo shoes..

Last night Papa asked: where are you now?

mama: I'm on the first step of a runaway train.

papa: why so?

mama: In the event that the train is about to runover a small stone on it's track, I'll be the first to jump out!!!
I'll catch the train again later when it is safer.

papa: stay safe, mama!

mama: we'll do. Pray to God, you ain't gonna see me do a repeat of the folly of 10years ago.

A First New Year's Posting.

So, eleven days into the new year and I've not put up any postings yet!

I better get started with at least one, before I get booted out of Kak Teh's listing at the Sentralstation...

I was trying to remain insanely focussed on my stockmarket trading due to a certain conviction, that whatever profit I make in this first month of 2007 will go towards the Malaysian flood victim's fund. I have been reading up enormous amount of texts during the end-of-year break, resulting in my back and forth strategy to corner the market.
I might as well made known to Tauke Saham Chap Ayam, Wise Ben, and Zen Trader that I've been snooping at their blogs too for assurance.

Meanwhile, I missed the opportunity to gossip about Dilla who is having a tough time in her career as an auditor. Auditors are an abused lot at the end-of-the-year peak period, and it so happened that this time it coincided with the Hari Raya Haji as well.

She was supervising the stock taking of mozarella cheese at Dom*n* on New Year's eve.
Bluek!
She vow to never eat Dom*n* pizzas again for as long as she can still remember the smell....
Poor girl.
And she had to be there in person to acknowledge among others, the number of fresh sharks' fins stock at an Internationally owned 5* Hotel on Hari Raya Haji!!..

Dilla: mama, they came in that triangular shaped fin, simply cut off from a live shark! How could we eat them.....

Great, give her some more stock taking duties, and my pencilthin daughter will soon convert to be a full pledged vegetarian.
And in no time she will be reduced to the size of a taugeh!

It's OK Dilla, you won't have to do all those 'back breaking' assignments anymore once you become a partner of the firm in 3 years' time,

Cannot, meh?!
Menager osso cannot?!
Aiseh, die lar like this!
gotto continue counting belacan, lor!..(in your mng suit and coach handbag???)....

End of the rainbow

Taking a well deserved holiday.

Merry Christmas, Selamat Menyambut Aidil Adha and a Happy New Year to all my cyber friends..........

If you are in Kuala Lumpur, do not forget to check out the street deco along One Utama, you'd think that you are at Orchard Road!

And enjoy the annual fireworks on New Year's eve, put up by Ikano and the Curve. We usually view them from the balcony of our bedroom while the cats would all hide under the bed...

See ya next year.

Goodbye, Su.

After training the new maid for a week, Su (the senior maid) ends her career in our house today.

I usually bring in a new maid for the old one to train before she leaves, macam changing of the guards, for the simple reason I'm lazy to get into the works of showing where the garam and the gula are in my kitchen. Besides, Su already had a routine in place, hari Isnin sapu rumah, hari selasa vacuum, hari rabu mop, hari khamis sental the exterior porches, tingkap and pintu, hari jumaat tukar bedsheets, hari sabtu cuci fridge, hari ahad lepak! So, the new maid ikut saja lah senarai tugas tersebut.

Last night we went out for dinner, a farewell treat from Dilla for Kak Su.

This morning we said goodbye.
Tasya gave her an angpow, thank you Kak Su kemas bilik Tasya, basuh dan gosokkan baju Tasya.
Kak Su: Bye Adik, Abang. Kak Su mintak maaf banyak2 ya. Semoga jumpa lagi.

I took another quick trip to Port Klang.

Bukan ke Su sibrengsek tu suka purak2 pekak bila aku cakap dengan dia, and I often murmur to myself that I've never met a homosapien who actually took 5 whole minutes to make one small step forward when I called?
pastu apasal pulak aku nangis ni?
Uuuurrghh....

I hate goodbyes!

The Remisier and I.

My Remisier (the person who executes your trades at the stock market), Shirley, is the closest a person could get to me as far as my financial issues are concerned.
Not even my Banker, not even my husband!
She has been my confidante for the past 20years or so.

Each morning by 8.55am, the moment I switched on the PC, I got directly online with the Stock Broker.
I first scroll my account summary page, discussing and confirming with Shirley my exact position left from the trade done a day before.
Checked the Outstanding position, Margin Equity and pledging , balance of stocks available in the portfolio etc...

By the time the bell rings at the Bursa Saham within the next 5mins., I would have somewhat decided what I plan to do for the day. By then I will have the entire trading session going on live on my desktop, blinking figures in red and green....well, preferably green...The lists of most active counters, top gainers and losers , and my own hoardings will all be blinking, changing quotes by the seconds, for me to base my decisions on.

No 2 days are the same, my conversations with Shirley are often beyond comprehension to people other than us.

Yesterday, I caught up early with Shirley.

mama: Shirley, check my Ara*. Are the IPO for the REIT already in my account?
shirley: Yes, it's on the list and entirely paid for.
mama: sell the mother.
shirley: all?
mama: yes, all.
shirley:done.

In 2 seconds, my inbox was already blinking with the sell and matched order, stating the amount of shares I've sold in the open market.

mama:throw Ede*
shirley: How many?
mama: everything.
shirley: what price?
mama: give the buyer.
shirley: keyed in.....OK done!

mama: clear my Ica*.
shirley: it's in the retail account.
mama: it doesn't matter, sell.
shirley: give the buyer? OK, done.

mama: Dialo* is ex-div?
shirley: Yes, paid, 11%, you were entitled.
mama: sell dialo*
shirley: You've just bought last week during the cum.
mama: Within T+4?.Contra then!

mama: Rid of Tanama*. I'm tired of them!
shirley: this counter is only starting to move.
mama: I'll buy back later. Give all to the buyer.
shirley: ALL?? it will require 2 bids.
mama: clear whatever on the current buy bid and stay there as seller until finished.
shirley: roger.


It went on and on the entire morning.
By lunch break when we have the space to talk normally, Shirley called on my mobile.

Shirley: Puan MI, are you buying some properties again?
mama: Nope.

Shirley: Do you have informations that I'm not aware of?
mama: Nope. C'mon, I'm no Martha Stewar*.

Shirley: Do you plan to crash the market, then?? Please lah, have some heart, it's not easy for us to touch 1,100points, you know that!
mama: Hello?!? Haven't you heard of 'profit taking'????? Aaiyahh, I'll buy back later, mah!!!

And the day's index went down by 13.28points to 1,088.42points or -1.2% at the closing yesterday, the biggest one day decline since July 14th.
No Sir, Mr. Bursa Saham Chairman Sir, it's not my doing! I never touched your Blue chips!
I'm only an investor on the sly, who happens to be so free now that the school holidays are here...

Happy shopping.

Changing of The Maids.

If you have just recovered from a bout of vertigo, flu, migraine or PMS, take my word seriously, don't ever attempt to go to The North Port Jetty at Port Klang to collect your new maid. I did just that yesterday, and when I returned, I decked my aesophagus with a series of repeat medication plus my blood pressure went to a territory where it haven't been before!!!!.....

My previous maids were supplied by an agent. This time around, I thought I wanted to 'jimat' a bit and tried to arrange one myself with the help of a friend in Tg. Balai.

I found out that filling up The Immigration form is such a hassle that perhaps doing your own laundry from now on would be much simpler, if not for the metacarpal syndrome which you suspected that you could be suffering from..

Like, in order to 'qualify' for a foreign maid:-
-both you and hubby must be working - checked.
-total income must be more than RM3,000.00 per month - checked.
-you must have a child younger than 15 years old - uh huh, Imran will be 15 in 3months' time....

mama: I never knew that you are of any use to us until we have to apply for a maid, Imran!

Looks like this will be our last of a row of 19 maids, who have been hired and fired over a period of 26years in our household.
Unless we have another baby, which is completely out of the question,
or we have a sick parent, also very out of the question as I can never figure that my mother would consider staying with me even in her healthy state!

After a month of paper shuffling, medical tests, trips to the Immigration office, finally, I was to collect the new maid at the ferry terminal of the North Port in Port Klang.

The people sitting at the MPK had better pray hard that the Sultan of Selangor would forget about the existence of that piece of no man's land.

The moment you step out of the car and into the complex, you'd think that you are already across the straits in Tg. Balai.
It was so filthy , almost everyone talked loudly in the Indon accent.
The dangdut music blaring from a karaoke set, keretek cigarette smoke filled the entire airspace, the hostility and suspicion on everyone's face.....
I could sense that it was me who was the foreigner in my own country.
I was so embarrased to be there!!!...

After 'Ocean 2' safely docked at the jetty, we waited for another 30 minutes for Immigration clearance. It was enough for me to absorb the unfamiliarity of the surrounding. The tough life some human form have to endure in order to earn a living in a more prosperous neighbouring country. We are so lucky to be Malaysian, never mind the present highly criticised leadership, after all, President Bush is a lot dumber!

I hurried out of the complex with the frightened looking new maid in tow, my hair smelling of rokok keretek smoke, ear ringing with dangdut music, clothes covered with dust.

mama: and you expect the new maid to understand the concept that dirt is an 'allergen' in our house???? ...

sigh.....

The Road Last Travelled.

It was highly probable that I could be driving through that gate for the very last time yesterday.




For the past 5years, I was entering and leaving the compound with Ikram. Some mornings I would still be half asleep and in my tattered pyjama, waving unceremoniously to the guard on duty at the gate, from behind my wheels..



Alas, no more queuing here, waiting for the prince to come down from his airconditioned classroom.....

We left the premise at 4.00pm yesterday, after Ikram's last paper, with mixed feelings. Happy, sad, relieved and anxious that Ikram will henceforth start the new chapter in his life as an ex-student.

mama: so. we'll only be back for the result in April, eh, dude?

Ikram: Yeah, and I hope it will be one of the happiest moments in my life!

mama: OK, how about RM11,000.00 for 11A's!

Ikram: Uuh, I kinda messed up the Physics paper quite a bit. Can I settle for 10K with 10A's instead??...

mama: Nope, buddy, winner takes all...It's all or nothing at all!...

Ikram: Now is the part where I will have to tawakkal, right mother?

Right Ikram. I know you have done your best.

The object of my ramblings infront of his school building in his school uniform for the very last time......

And all the best to the parents, too.....

Yes, Mr. Prime Minister!

Sigh.., Mr. Prime Minister,
Finally, who told you that?
Yeah, you say it right!


Pasaran saham perlu teguh – Abdullah

PORT DICKSON 28 Nov. – Pertumbuhan ekonomi yang kukuh dan pasaran saham yang teguh sangat penting bagi mewujudkan keyakinan terhadap ekonomi negara, kata Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Sehubungan itu, Perdana Menteri mahu melihat pertumbuhan ekonomi diperkukuh dan usaha penambahbaikan dilakukan dalam Bursa Malaysia.

Menurutnya, penambahbaikan pasaran saham akan menonjolkan imej bursa dan dapat menjana keuntungan, sekaligus memastikan wujudnya aliran masuk pelaburan langsung asing (FDI) yang lebih mantap ke negara ini.

...Utusan Malaysia Online......

Thank You, Mrs. Radha!

I sent Ikram for the last tuition class at Mrs. Radha's this evening.

I packed a box of chocolate to accompany the card which Ikram bought on Sunday.
Ikram wrote a message:

"Thank you teacher for your guidance, without which I would still be failing in my exams".

Oouw,
I cried!!...

.

The Traveller.

Papa returned from Helsinki, threw out his winter clothings, and repacked his summer ones to head for Surabaya the very next day. Next week, I suppose he will be getting ready his Ihram suits as he will be involved in some of the Hajj flights which has just started....

Aduhai, mama letih melihatkan papa's schedule, at the same time mama terasa lebih letih being a single mother especially during this crucial time when Ikram is facing an important examination. The tension is, sort of, on me alone to bear.

Actually, even if papa is in the country, it is still my responsibility to get the kids where they are supposed to be, and see to it that they have the minimal of problems.
But I suppose the weight is lighter if, later in the day, I have someone to whine to, and who could at least pretend to agree that I make the right decisions, all the time.

I subscribe to the adage that behind every successful mother, there is an ever consenting father!!!



Papa: After all these madness, we go for a holiday, OK, mama. Kita pergi Penang ker...

mama: Ha'ah, pergi Seoul ker....

Papa: Eh, tu tak sama category!! Are you sure you run a Travel Agency??

Papa was drooling over the Penang Road's Kari Kepala Ikan, I had a hallucination of distributing good Korean Won to the traders at the Nam-Dae-Mun market.

Infact, both of us are anxious for the examination season to be over:

-I need the long awaited breather, to be out of stress until next year when it will be Imran's turn to face the PMR.

-Papa wants Ikram to start his training to be a Pilot. He wishes for Ikram to continue his legacy in the National Airlines, after he retires.

I must remember to remind Ikram to choose an uncomplaining wife when the time comes,
otherwise, he has to develop the art of agreeing,
afterall, papa managed thus far.......


.

D Day

Today is the start of Ikram's SPM examination with Prinsip Akaun as the first paper.

It's not without drama, however, as yesterday evening, hardly 24 hours before the big day, Ikram needed a new calculator.

mama: what happens to your calculator? It was with you yesterday!!

Ikram: I misplaced it.....

mama: OMG, Ikram, you better go and get the same one so that you will be familiar with it's functions!! Now, hand over your exam slip and IC for me to make copies of them.

Ikram: You can't use copies to enter the exam hall.

mama: I know, but in the event that you misplace them, at least I have copies before I could start a quarrel with the invigilators.....

Last night, Papa called from Helsinki where he is attending a meeting, to give Ikram a last minute encouragement.

This morning, Dilla woke up early to wish Ikram the best of luck, and to do a quick checklist of things he was supposed to bring.

In the car, I made a brief inquiry: your IC, your exam slip, your stationery, your brain.....
Ikram: I've just done that with Kak La at the door, mama!!!!

Right now, Ikram is in the exam hall and I am in the office praying hard for him.
Ya Allah, terangkan lah hati Ikram,
Ya Allah, permudahkan lah ujian keatasnya,
Ya Allah, jauhkan lah Ikram dari sebarang kecuaian.........

Amin....

.

Of Second Chances.

Ikram is holding on quite well there, I hope!

He has been doing trial runs, some sort of a rehearsal, on his SPM exam, by trying out past year exam papers within the stipulated time and quite happy with his results.
There are a fair bit of improvements required here and there.
Meanwhile, I am keeping a close watch on his food and his health.

Not even a drop of rain is allowed to fall on his head...
mama: 'Nanti demam!!!'....

Nak makan Tiramisu?
mama: OK, I'll order one from the 'Secret Recipe' this evening.....

As I take up this role of his complete supporter, I reflect on my own road in pursuing education.
When I was much younger, before leaving for a boarding school at age 12, my attempts of self study at home would be interpreted as trying to escape from doing the housework!

-Pergi basuh pinggan!!
-Tolong jaga adik!!!!!
-Malas lah tu, buat2 nak belajar!!!....
At that age, it's my words against the establishment.

The establishment then was my one and only mother.
She took up a post of a fulltime housewife, incharged of 5 children at that time, with minimal cooking as far as I can remember..
No other career, no gawking at the stock market, and no sending kids to school as we walk the miles to go there.

Luckily, my dad was far sighted, noticed my determination, and saved me from slavery by allowing me to bring my books and sat beside him after school, while he was on duty at the Police Station of Parit Jawa, in Muar.
He did get into trouble with my mum, once in a while, though never with his superior....

mama: Macam tu lah susah nya masa mama nak belajar dulu, Ikram!
Ikram: Yes, mama. We have heard about the story many times before.....

Holiday

That was certainly a very long one week break of doing nothing. I spent it by sitting around, gossipping, eating, sleeping and watching television (kenapa I tak paham tengok cerita pontianak tu, hah?!?)
.....and putting on 3Kg of toxic waste into my system..
It's so counter productive that if I don't start work today, my brain will probably suffer from a permanent damage due to prolonged stagnation.

On top of that, work I must, in order to cover the meteor-sized hole I've created in my Bank account in the name of Hari Raya. Am waiting for the KLSE CI to break the psychological 1000point to recoup my losses....(in the event that no pahala was rewarded out of the act of giving away duit raya).

Meanwhile, both my eyes will be on Ikram for the next 3 weeks as he will be sitting for his SPM.
G'Luck, mate! mama doakan your hard work will ultimately pay.....

Baju Raya

We are so fortunate that we have Mary, the boutique cum tailoring owner located behind my office, to sew our Malay traditional costumes for us all year round. She has in her record our exact measurements and whenever her suppliers come with new stock of imported materials, she would pick some for me and my girls. She'd come up with some simple designs and within 2 weeks they will be ready to be hung in our burst at the door wardrobes.

For this Raya season, Mary has prepared all our baju kurungs and kebaya one month in advance. Since this is her first year of working, Dilla did not foresee that in the month of Ramadhan, most of the Malay staff in her office wear Baju Kurung. Somehow, she has already worn her Baju Raya to office. Poor girl, I felt bad that she will not be dorning new clothes for the festival as no way will Mary accept new orders barely a week before Raya!!!!! However, I still rummaged through the cupboard and found 5pieces of material bought by papa on his travels overseas, not cut into a dress yet.

The next day, I put on the saddest face and begged Mary to try and get them ready for Dilla before Raya. Mary said she wouldn't want to quarrel with her tailor but will try her best.

Yesterday Mary phoned me with tears in her voice!
She explained that one of her clients sent 2 pieces of Batik silk specially selected from a designer in the East Coast for her Raya attire. Mary's tailor had accidentally cut the cloth according to Dilla's measurements. Since Dilla is a size 0, nobody could dream to fit into the baju which is ready for collection.

Mary: Now the client and her tailor are both crying! The client has no new baju for Raya, on top of losing her personally chosen material, and the tailor will have to compensate her. The client asked for RM800.00 for the cost of material.

Mary desperately asked for my favour if I could just purchase the baju kurung for Dilla. She offered the 2 suits for RM500.00, with the tailoring fee waived.

mama: well, err,....let me see the baju first.....(tried to sound reluctant but could not hide the glee in my voice...)

Mary: They are sooooo beautiful, I promise you!!!

Today, 3 days before Raya, Dilla is the accidental owner of 2 suits of someone else's new Baju Raya. And as her gratitude, Mary managed to rush Dilla's own 5 sets of baju too.

Dilla: Alhamdulillah....Inilah rezeki Bulan Ramadhan!!!!...

Al Fatihah

Late last Thursday, my mother phoned to inform us that my grandma did not look too good. She could no longer take in any food and in a state of semi-consciousness.

After sahur, I was making plans to go back to see her. I was discussing with papa that perhaps I could go and get some baby food for my grandma when another call came to inform us that she has passed away.

innalillahiwainnailaihirajiun.....

My grandma lived to a ripe old age, outliving one of 2 adopted daughters and both sons-in-law.

During the funeral, almost all of her cucu, cicit, piut (?) from all over came to see her for the last time. Amongst them were a Member of Parliament (yep, that handsome Datuk from Pilah is my cousin!!), a Mayor, a Chairman of a Bank and a Wakil Rakyat. It was apparent that even she was actually childless, she was much loved by the entire families of her adopted daughters and her own brothers' children and grandchildren too.

My grandma went to grave with well kept secrets, one of which is the identity of who my mother really is.....

p/s: Mr. Lim Goh Tong sir, could you please find out if one of your sisters was given away to a Malay couple (the husband was a police sargeant in Bekok, Johore) in 1933?

Apo Nak Di Kato...

Negeri dialect for dummies.

mi: ASM mak, apo kabar?
(Hi mum, how are you?)
mak: sihat. Dah bukak poso, dah dapek sireh OK lah.
(I'm well, after the iftar I've eaten my sireh, I'm OK)
mi: kalau tak makan sireh apo jadi?
(What happens if you don't eat your sireh?)
mak: Badan den raso sombab, jantong den macam bongkak..
(My body feels like it's gorged, my heart swollen)
mi:Orang ketagih memang macam tu, sekarang dah lambek nak suruh boronti..
(Addicts are like that, it's too late now to ask you to stop eating the sireh)

mi: Atok macamano skarang?
(How is grandma now?)
mak: Den risaukan dio tak berak2 sojak kono stroke.
(I'm worried that she has not passed motion since she got the stroke)
mi:Dah, tak lalu makan camano nak berak?
(Since she is not eating well, how to go to toilet?)
mak:Tu budak kocik baru kluar pun berak yo, takdo makan apo2 doh.
(A newborn baby also passes motion eventhough he has not eaten anything. )
Nor kato apasal mak nak risau, dio pun dah seminggu tak terberak. Den kobar kan, kau tu pokok dek kau tak terberak sebulan pun! Den risaukan atok kau sobab den yang jago dio!
Your sister Nor said not to worry, she too has not gone to the toilet for a week. I told her, that's her problem, I don't give two hoots even if she doesn't go to the toilet for a month! I'm only worried over your grandma since I'm taking care of her...)
mi: habih tu, atok seleso tak?
(Is grandma comfortable then?)
mak: Bilo si Idah dah mandikan, nampak cam tak sakit. Kau kato nak nuntut ilmu dio, dah dapek?
(After the maid bathes her, she doesn't look sick. You said you want to learn the tips from her on how to look forever young, have you got it?)
mi: haritu kitorang gurau2 cakap kek dio, dio buek derk yo.
(That day we jokingly asked, but she refused to let us in to the secret)
mak: skarang atok dah tak dapek cakap, tak boleh turunkan petuo. Nanti kau mintak petuo nak cantik, dio bori petuo burok...
(Too late, now she can no longer talk, she can't transfer the knowledge anymore. Otherwise, you ask for the mantras to appear pretty, she may give you the ones that would make you look ghostly)
mi: mak ajo lah mintak dulu, nanti kitorang ambik kek omak!
(In that case, you learn them from her first and pass them to us later!)
mak: membising den doh. Nanti den pulak yang susah nak mampuih!!!
(No way !!!! I'm not going to be the next person who would find it difficult to drop dead!!)


So much for a mother-daughter bonding!!!!...
It's entirely not your fault if you don't understand what the ramblings are all about...

Apolitical

The house is extremely quiet this fasting month of Ramadhan.

Everyone retreats to his/her own room in the evening after school/work, waiting for the call of azan to enable us to end our fast for the day.

Any legible form of communication will only be heard at about 10mins after the start of iftar at the dinner table. Sometimes what started as small talks lead to huge, emotional discussion, an argument or a quarrel.

Yesterday I pointed out to the girls that a Dato' neighbour from 3 houses away is buying over the similar bungalow next to it. He'll probably build a bridge across the balconies of the 2 houses and end up with a semi-palace.
I made a back-of-the-envelope calculation while swallowing the ikan terubuk bakar cicah air asam, that the purchase could easily set the Dato's bank account by at least RM5mill.

mama: Don't you all wonder how could a retired Police Personnel afford such purchase??

Tasya: There are enough of corrupt people in the country from within the Police, Customs and the Politicians. You only need to read the daily newspapers to realise that!!

Tasya said that she could perhaps try to marry herself off to a Politician so that she'll have a richer life.

mama: That's not the way I brought you all up. Incase you aspire for something extra, achieve it with your own effort so that you have your dignity intact.

Tasya was of course joking (I hope), and came out with a general observation that the politians in our country are so lame! Our leader can't even fight LKY. Nak gaduh pun kena tulis surat!
And did you read LKY's reply? It was reiterating what he had said earlier so that it looks clearer for our leader to understand better, and on top of that, he was not sorry for what he had said but instead was sorry that we are unhappy about it!!!

mama: He made sure he sent a copy of his letter to our media so that incase our leader could not interprete his letter as intended, at least it's out in the open for everyone in Malaysia to see.

Tasya: LKY even listed things once said by Tun Dr. Mahathir about Singapore and he pointed out that he has never retaliated towards them.

mama: Of course nobody dared to ridicule us when Tun was our leader. Now that we have a dumb one, they can just humiliate us, as and when they please!

papa: Hoi, hoi, tadi masa puasa mata pun tak boleh buka! Sekarang bila dah kenyang, you all are ready for a coup d'etat!!!

Tasya: Ye lah mama, you better not write those things in your blog. Our cats will get into trouble since you have pasted their fotos there!!! Did you know about that guy who got into trouble for criticising the current leadership in our country??.

mama: Ya and the irony is, more readers are flocking to read his blog.......and while you are at it, you can also read here and here and here.......

OBITUARY

Tuxy Jetta Zones
1 May 2005 - 26 Sept.2006

It took me 3 days to ponder whether I should actually jot down this very sad episode in my life. I don't feel like grieving anymore however I felt as if I'd betray Tuxy by excluding her untimely demise from the fold of my memory.

3 days ago, we had our iftar in tears. In fact I couldn't remember if I ate at all, with everyone at dinner table sobbing, blowing noses and trying our best to contain the sorrow. I even saw Imran wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his t-shirt, shaking in tears.

The drama started at 6.30pm when papa returned from the nearby shop.
papa: Where is Tuxy??
mama: I've not seen her today!
papa: I saw a dead cat by the curb of the roundabout, looking exactly like Tuxy.

I've just finished taking my bath, wrapped my wet hair in a towel and rushed downstairs.
I searched for Tuxy all over the house, garden, front yard.
The maid said Tuxy did not turn up for breakfast this morning.
I was beginning to be frantic and started calling out her name..

At about the same time, Dilla arrived from work at the gate and I asked her to drive me to the curb to check on the dead cat.
I was in pyjama pants, loose t-shirt, hair bundled in a towel and wearing the maid's garden slippers.
The moment I saw the still body, I knew it was Tuxy!!
I turned to Dilla and she confirmed my worst fear by just seeing the tears already welling in her eyes.

Tuxy must have been hit by a vehicle while foraying just about 50 meters from the house.

Tuxy came to our lives by a split second sheer coincidence about 16 months ago.
We were at my mother's house in Kuala Pilah when Imran saw this very pitiful Siamese cat, body covered with fungus, belly bloated with worms infestation and suffering obviously from severe malnourishment.
She was probably 2 weeks old and could hardly walk, creeping from the drain outside my mother's kitchen.

Imran said he was sorry for the cat.
I took her in my palm and bathed her in warm water. After an attempt of feeding her with whatever human food available from my mother's kitchen, I told papa that the kitten required medical help, as her skin appeared to be curling up as a result of fungal infection.

That evening, as we prepared to leave my mother's house with the poor kitten in a box, Imran saw ANOTHER one in the drain. This little girl was far worse than the one we picked up earlier, one eye plastered up with dried mucus almost blind, and having bad diarrhoe. She was a mess of black, ugly thing and if we did not take her along with us, she would probably not last another day.

Papa: You mean we are going to end up with 2 sick kitten?
mama: mama tak sampai hati, papa. I already took one but could not ignore the other just because she was ugly. My conscience can't take that!

The moment we arrived in KL, I took them to the family Vet. They were dewormed, given a course of antifungal treatment for 2 weeks, vaccinated and prescribed with specified kitten food.

After they were cured, they turned out to be 2 beautiful girls, Chihuahua is a bit clingy but Tuxedo or Tuxy as she was later lovingly called was very independent. Her favourite pastime was sitting on top of one of the pillars in my garden, watching the world passed by....

I'd naughtily disturb her peace and tranquility by calling out her name and waving to her from the balcony of my bedroom.

She had very pretty, shiny, jet black coat of hair by now, the reason why I jokingly called her Tuxy Jetta Zones....

She loved the garden, spent most of her time there. She was my constant companion at the Koi pond, biting playfully at my feet, left, right and then left, perhaps to alert me of her presence.

I used to tell the cats to be careful of the passing cars.The guilt is still there, that I did not do enough to protect Tuxy from one.
But 16 months of life, free to roam and venture around, is better than 6 years of living protected in a cage.

Tuxy was aptly buried under the Cempaka tree at one corner of her favourite garden of our house, very close to the pillar where she frequently held station.

May you be happy at the cats' heaven, darling.
Once in a while, don't forget to look down on mama at the Koi pond!, I'll be missing you!!

In Loving Memory.

Tuxy and her sister ChiHuaHua within the first week of coming to our lives.







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Ramadhan is here again.......

Alhamdulillah, we are given the opportunity to perform our ibadah in the month of Ramadhan again. Other than trying harder in my efforts to be a better muslimah, top on my priority list this Ramadhan will be cutting down on purchase of food for the breaking of fast.

mama: Tahun ni mama tak nak membazir macam selalu lah! Mama nak beli just enough food for everyone. Beli 3 keping kueh and I'll cut them for us to share...

Ikram: Aren't the kueh already cut when you purchase them?

mama: Yes, and I'm going to cut them further into even smaller pieces!!!!..

Everybody at the dinner table looked at me in disbelief.

On Saturday, my mother called to inform me that my grandmother suffered a stroke. That it eventually came was not quite a surprise since my grandmother is already 98 years old. After the first sahur, we drove back to Kuala Pilah to pay my grandmother a visit.

She of course cried when she saw us, especially after setting her eyes on Tasya. Even with half her body hardly functioning, she still remembered not meeting Tasya for so long since my daughter had been away studying in London.

I pray that whatever days left in her life will be easy for her, and that she will not lose her dignity. We know how it is with stroke patient when she would require assistance even in her private moment.

We left Kuala Pilah the same day at 2pm and decided to check out the Pasar Ramadhan at Jalan Melang. It was the first day of the fasting month but the Pasar was already a hive of festivity. I saw lots and lots of food cooked in Negeri Sembilan way. Tasya and I walked around the rows and rows of Ramadhan hawkers and went back to our waiting car with:















1. Gulai tempoyak daun kayu
2.kerabu daun pengaga
3.Daging salai masak lemak campur belimbing buloh
5.Gulai sayur maman
6.masak lemak ikan masin dengan nenas
8.Acar limau jeruk

All these are sold for RM2.00 per serving.

9. Ayam percik at RM1.80 per stick. Try buying the same at Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, I saw on TV last night that it would cost you RM5.80 each at the Pasar Ramadhan here.

10. Rendang ayam dengan daun puding. Tasted just like my mother's.

Lepas tu papa menambah lagi dengan:

1.Dalca
2.Gulai sotong
3.Ayam masak madu.

My main intention of trodding down the Pasar Ramadhan in Jalan Melang was to go and get my 2 favourite N.Sembilan traditional kuih:














The Buah Sepang a.k.a Badak Berendam which I purchased from 2 different makciks.

Another all time favourite is the Kuih cucur (second plate from left) which is made of tepong beras and gula anau. It's difficult to prepare in your own kitchen but cheaply sold during Ramadhan at RM1.00 for 3pcs.

The rest in the picture are good old cucur pisang, toothless delight, buah melaka, cucur badak, and agar2 santan with gula melaka.

At only 2pm, and another 2hours of journey back to KL, I've already bought 2 jugs of icy watermelon juice:

Ikram: Whatever happened to your cost cutting measures, mama?

mama:Today is different, I bought the food so cheap but delicious, besides I wanted to help the Ramadhan traders in my kampong!!!!...

ye ke??

Astaghfirullahalazzim....

(disclaimer: Food arrangement and the use of carca-marba utensil is courtesy of my made-in-Indon maid. Any fatal flaws against the acceptable etiquette is not the responsibility of mama-irma).

Lihat lah, Dunia....

Finally, after 8 years of working moderately hard, Malaysia Airlines decided that we are worthy of an 'Outstanding Sales Achievement Award'!!!! This award really belongs to my entire staff, without whose effort, this accidental travel agent would have called it a day many, many years ago..

I called myself the accidental travel agent purely because I have never thought that I would be counting airticket stocks each morning, 6 days a week, as a career. Being married to an airline staff, with free annual tickets to do my personal travels, my most meaningful participation to any overseas trip thus far was holding on to the boarding pass handed over to me at the airport by dear Papa.

After leaving a Government job, I set up office in my own bedroom, with only a desk and a laptop hooked online to a stockbroking company. I buried myself thick in serious stock market investment and very soon it appeared like it was a battle between myself against the ticker. After 6months, and a fattened bank account, I became an isolated person. I waited for papa to come home each day to brag about my daily haul and if he failed to show any expression of being impressed, I would start a quarrel.

Papa suggested that I should go back to seeing the world. I started meeting friends again. To make a short story long, one dear friend requested if I could help him manage his fledgling Travel Agency. I asked to buy it over instead, and in 2 weeks I was the owner of a business I knew next to nothing about. Papa nearly had a heart attack!!!!!

I went for a short intensive course in an effort to equip myself and only then started to familiarise myself with the AIRIMP codes, using Alpha, Bravo, Charlie for A,B,C instead of Apple, Bola and Cacing!!!!...ha,ha,ha....
I learnt the structure of a fare ladder, calculated the maximum & minimum permitted mileage and created airlines routings worldwide, within 2weeks.
I obtained a Certificate in Travel Trade with a Credit and could now arrange for your trip to the North Pole.

Fast forward 8 years later.....What do you know, the national airline has kindly concurred that we are one of the Outstanding Achievers amongst Travel Agencies in the country.

Here's hoping to a more profitable business in the years to come......

Farewell, Irwin.

Imran and I spent the entire day yesterday watching 'The Crocodile Hunter' on the Animal Planet channel, a marathon programme as a tribute to Steve Irwin, the wild life conservationist who was killed by a stingray on Sept.4.

Steve's passion towards conserving especially wild animals, made him a very special and kind person that should the stingray lived, even it would have regretted stabbing Steve on the chest, piercing his heart, in that freak accident last Monday!

I watched documentary after documentary filmed by the brave Aussie. I laughed out loud watching him made a face like a spoilt child, declaring "I want to be an OrangUtan!!!", after spending a whole episode being with a family of the specie.

I cried when his dog, Sui Irwin, died of old age. He spent the last hour with her, him sobbing as she died in her sleep. It was just like a page from the book 'Marley the dog' which I've just finished reading.

Steve started catching and rescuing crocodile at age 9 . The knowledge he imparted through the documentaries he made were those he acquired from the school of hard knocks, scratches and scars. He said that he didn't believe in spreading information through reading from pages of texts, but by demonstrating them. Indeed, the way he went about explaining the habits of the Slow Lorris, and the life in a colony of Macaque, were exactly what I learnt from the text books for my Animal Behaviour class in University Malaya, doing my own degree in Zoology. I had to memorise the mechanics of the snake's movement through an imaginary pattern but Steve explained it all by just holding on to a snake's tail!.. But he'd later say: "Now, this is really dangerous, don't try to do it at home, kids!"

Irwin spent his life trying to rescue endangered animals and it was only appropriate , I suppose, that he died doing what he loved.

Goodbye now, mate,
May you rest in peace...

My Own Merdeka Hero!!

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Suddenly, the Merdeka celebration this year carry a different air of festivities in our family, due to Imran's involvement in his school Merdeka projects.

One of the projects, the raising of a giant flag was telecast live on 'Malaysia Hari Ini' programme on TV3 at 8.00am this morning. Imran's mediocre participation as one of the students chosen to wave the state's flag is something I was so excited about.

I rushed home from sending his big brother Ikram to school, just to be infront of the telly. Not before telling Dilla to be on standby with the recorder incase I could not make it. Never mind that Dilla too was going to be late for work. Of course, the night before I have already alerted my mother in Kuala Pilah not to be elsewhere but infront of the TV at the specific time....

Such an enthusiasm, unfortunately, TV3 didn't give Imran a special airtime, perhaps because he was only bearing and waving a Sarawak flag! ha,ha,ha....
(we will next be able to see him perform in the Kawat Tatu Hari Merdeka at the Stadium on the 9thSeptember,2006)

Before he left the house this morning, I managed to capture his image on the camera in his full Kadet Remaja's regalia. He has just been promoted to a LansCorporal, and a typical mom, I am so proud of my son no matter how small the steps he made on his move forward.

I'm grateful that my children are raised in a Merdeka environment, where they are free to seize every opportunity to be the best person that they could possibly be.

Merdeka!!!

Happy Birthday, Hisham!

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Happy Birthday to who?
To Hisham!
Which Hisham?
Hisham, my penfriend since 1971!

That means we have been penfriends for 35 years...

Penfriends, to us the oldies and mouldies of yesteryears, are just like the current version of friendster through the internet if you like.
However it required more effort than clicking on the keyboard of your computer.
We write letters, in our best handwriting, usually on our school's writing pads , put a stem on the envelope and hand them over to the prefects to be posted.
The reply from a penfriend took another extra step of being scanned first by the teacher on duty for the day, before it could reach you .
All these did not deter us girls from writing to our penfriends.
Most of us had at least one penfriend from another boys' boarding school.

I used to exchange lots and lots of information with Hisham on all of my activities in school.
It was like blogging, really...
I wondered how he put up with them, then.
Hisham was the first to know that I became the champion in Poem reciting competition in Johor.
He knew that my choir group came out the National champ for 2 consecutive years.
I described to him at length of my participation in the school play as Princess TupTim in the 'King and I'.....

I valued Hisham's friendship, as he too wrote back on a weekly basis.
He continued writing even after I sent him a foto of myself with the school compound as the background. I thought I was ugly and Hisham would stop writing once he set his eyes on my pic.
He sent me pictures too which I still keep in the drawer until today. He was very goodlooking.

His letters were the only thing I look forward to those days besides the monthly registered letter containing my monthly allowance from my dad.

We stopped writing for a while, after Hisham left for UK to further his studies.
It was not economical anymore, I suppose, and besides Hisham must have been busy mixing around with new international friends.

We went our separate ways, leading our separate lives, but Hisham has always been in my mind.

Some years back, I hit his name at an email address and sent a brief hello.
Lo and behold, he wrote back with a hello in return!

We had a lot of stories to catch up on.
I updated him on my family, and he on his.
Hisham knows where I am and I know where he is holding up.
We have not met, even after 35 years.
We are still penfriends.....

Happy Birthday Hisham!
I know that all of your dreams have come true......
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