How should we judge a government?

In Malaysia, if you don't watch television or read newspapers, you are uninformed; but if you do, you are misinformed!

"If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing." - Malcolm X

Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience - Mark Twain

Why we should be against censorship in a court of law: Publicity is the very soul of justice … it keeps the judge himself, while trying, under trial. - Jeremy Bentham

"Our government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no
responsibility at the other. " - Ronald Reagan

Government fed by the people

Government fed by the people

Career options

Career options
I suggest government... because nobody has ever been caught.

Corruption so prevalent it affects English language?

Corruption so prevalent it affects English language?
Corruption is so prevalent it affects English language?

When there's too much dirt...

When there's too much dirt...
We need better tools... to cover up mega corruptions.

Prevent bullying now!

Prevent bullying now!
If you're not going to speak up, how is the world supposed to know you exist? “Orang boleh pandai setinggi langit, tapi selama ia tidak menulis, ia akan hilang di dalam masyarakat dan dari sejarah.” - Ananta Prameodya Toer (Your intellect may soar to the sky but if you do not write, you will be lost from society and to history.)

Monday, November 29, 2010

Between two grandmas

My son was about four years old when we came back from UK for good. My mother-in-law suggested that my wife assist her in her business and that was the start of my 12-year weekly travelling between BG and KL. In other words, until we had our own house in 1994, my son lived with my in-laws until he was 16! During those years, my elder daughter was born in 1983 and about two years later, my younger daughter.

My mother lived alone in Kuala Lumpur. I kept her company during working days from Monday to Saturday and it was an emotional tug-of-war for me between my mother and my own family. My mother used to ask, 'Why are you leaving for BG so early?', while my elder daughter would ask, 'When will you work in Ipoh instead?'

My mother was a housewife all her life. She brought up ten children, though the youngest daughter died of kidney failure at the age of four. I became the 'de facto' youngest in the family and was doted. She had 35 grandchildren and my youngest was her number 35. So, it is understandable when she said to me one day, 'Unlike some people, I won't fight for your children to be with me. It is good that your in-laws welcome them. I am unable to take care of them even if I want to.' I knew that though she had so many other grandchildren, it was said with sadness because I was away in UK for 8 years. Even when I was back in Malaysia, my son, and later my daughters, did not get to see her often, because it was easier for me to travel to see them than vice versa. When I came back in 1981, my father already suffered a stroke and could not communicate with me. He died few months later. It was a few years later that my son lived with my mother for a short period when he worked for a month in KL. My mother passed on in December 1993 and it was only a matter of time before I arranged to join my family in BG.

My parents-in-law had fewer grandchildren and she welcomed my son and later, my daughters, to live with them. Her other grandchildren lived in Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur. They had a day housekeeper and my eldest sister-in-law was around too. My elder daughter enjoyed watching Hong Kong serials on video tapes with grandma and her. The fact that my son lived with my in-laws for 12 years meant he is naturally closer to them. My father-in-law used to take him to school in Ipoh and back. He heard many of his stories and understood him more than others. The bonding was as natural as could be and their relationship good, if not excellent. He learned Hakka easily because his grandparents spoke only in that dialect. It is only natural that he has a soft spot for his maternal grandma as this recent picture shows:




Beng acting as 'interpreter' or 'loudspeaker' because grandma was hard of hearing

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