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For last night's family reunion dinner before sending Cheng off, I suggested my favourite Hokien Mee stall in Jalan Ipoh, KL, between the Indian temple and HSBC.

Just to give an idea of how long we had been here, my late father was born somewhere off Jalan Ipoh in 1909! 101 years ago, yet we feel unwelcome as citizens.

My youngest child is my father's youngest grandchild and she is number 35! It occurred to me to contact some relatives who live nearby but the time pressure would make it unsuitable. I contacted a friend for some information but did not ask him in case he felt obliged to treat us. So it was just us, plus my son's girl friend. We left BG before 4.00pm and arrived PJ just after 6.00pm. Nee just got back from work and we rested before setting off for Jalan Ipoh. Son was delayed at work and had to fetch girl friend. We were there early and ordered (as advised) so that we are in queue and could ask to start cooking when everyone arrived.

When my son and friend came, imagine my pleasant surprise to see a nephew and his family members walking in! My daughter said I always meet someone I know in the vicinity. Why not? Even the chef is a grandson of the original 'Ah Lok' whom I knew as a kid!

I have wanted to mention to my nephew that my son is going out with someone he knew as a former colleague but refrained from doing so. I never knew it could be such a coincidence! Without any initiative on my part, they met. It was also uncanny in that my nephew is now based in the Middle East and happened to be on holiday for a few days. The last time I met him was in a coffee shop in Jalan Kuala Kangsar, Ipoh when he was on his way to Langkawi and I was waiting for my car which was being serviced. I always believe we do not need to fix appointment if we have affinity with each other.

As it was still early, I suggested we adjourn to the Old Town Kopitiam in Riverview (Low Yat's project). Cheng noticed I felt uncomfortable and I told her the reason being her bags were in the car, but visible. Even with security guards around, I was worried, as usual.

Cheng's one-month holiday here (except few days in Bali, Indonesia) seems so short and sweet. While driving back at 1.00am, got a text from her that she was boarding the plane and thanked us for the lovely time. She said it was nice to be back. The now rare and occasional immediate family reunions and heart warming feedbacks are encouraging to us as parents. We have to get used to separation, as even our other two children's jobs in Malaysia require international travel.

I cannot help but be reminded of the guy in BG, who commented that people who are educated have no time for their parents. As someone who placed priority on parents and family, even as househusband, it is time for me to think: 'anything different from me is good for them'!

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She who knows not and knows not she knows not, is a fool...

From Malaysia Today:
By Fed-up Employer
We send our children to school to acquire skills ranging from literacy and numeracy to more job specific skills. School also socialize our young people into key cultural values such as equality of opportunity, competition and religious morality. There, we hope they can acquire moral responsibilities that people should have towards each other to avoid a tendency for individualism and self-centredness. With the examination system, people are allocated to their most suited jobs so the more talented ones are given the most functionally important jobs for the society.

Where our country is concerned, the deplorable standard of education goes beyond the poor command of language, poor mathematical skills but also the disgusting attitudes of some young people who think the universe revolves around them.

Today, I received the attached letter which is shocking for the following reasons:

1. The applicant did not understand what is the meaning of IM contact and gave her mobile phone number instead!
2. Neither did she read the job description for the position advertised.
3. Her response was rude, arrogant, brainless, clueless and self-righteous and most condescending in that she lectured the prospective employer!!

This is the exchange:

Hi Ms G****,
You have not provided your IM contact as explicitly requested for in the job description.
Thanks,

Dear [employer],
is that IM contact refers to immediate cnt?? If it so, this is my immediate cnt# 01*-********
regards,
g****

Hi G****,
No - instant messaging. Did you not read the job description? There is a pre-interview via Skype, MSN, Yahoo or Gtalk as clearly stated.
Thanks, [employer]

At this point, the employer must have become irritated and penned:

Anyhow, there is no need for you to reply. Judging from your (1) Poor english in your email and (2) Cannot be bothered to read the job description, you have been rejected anyway.

Thank you for your interest.

The reply:

Dear [employer],
Please do not judge the book by its cover. First of all, do not critise on other english in near future as your's english in you poor email correction as per below:
(1) no need ( actual:not necessary)
(2) cannot be bothered(no phrases) ( actual:not bothered(past).

Please accurate yourself before giving advice to others.Please learn to be professional.Means when we as in corporate recruitment replyed an email the specification must be in manner notifivation such as below:

On behalf of ***** would like to inform you that the processing period for this position has just ended. Unless ***** has contacted you, it would be advisable to consider your application not shortlisted. Please be assured that your application has been given its due consideration by ****.

Secondly, *****didn't attach any job description. Please do not blame others if you didn't do your job properly.

Anyway, Thanks for the previous consideration. Take care.

Regards,

G****

And in an additional email from G****:
did you not read the job description?what english is that?

What will happen to Malaysia if there are other applicants such as this who will scare away potential investors/employers from expanding their base in Malaysia?

What happened to humility and manners? Don't they teach these at school any more?

Think. What will happen to the generation that witnessed the racist attacks by the principals and other incidents? I dread to think of the monsters that could be mutating at this moment!

And who is responsible?


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Viagra emails: It wasn't me

I believe my Yahoo email account has been compromised because I have received a number of emails to my own account, advertising various types of Viagra pills, purportedly from my account!

Incidentally, the following two clever advertisements are not what I am referring to:

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LKY vs TDM

Have you heard about the proposal between KIA of Korea and SUZUKI of Japan to set up a joint venture company in Singapore to build a hybrid car, which will be named KIASU?

"Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad is believed to have said: "If we use the merit system , half of the university students don't qualify..."

A Hokien would simply put the difference to Singapore's national attitude of Kiasu (as in don't want to lose out) and Malaysia's national attitude of Kiasi (as in being defeatist, rightly or wrongly, perpetuated by vested political interests).

Seriously, both former Prime Ministers (of Singapore and Malaysia respectively) are autocratic in their own ways. Whether Singapore and Malaysia could have been better off as one is subject to much debate and we can do so until the cows come home and not getting any wiser.

I believe Singapore was lucky to be kicked out of Malaysia because LKY was able to do what was necessary and the results was an amazing transformation of an island state with practically no natural resources, into a vibrant financial centre, with national reserve twice that of Malaysia (ranked No.11 as compared with No.20 in the world) and if based on per capita, its national reserve was 11 times that of Malaysia (ranked No. 4 in the world!)

If Singapore and Malaysia were one country, I can imagine the chaos and disruptions in administration arising from political and racial disputes. There are certain things which cannot be forced upon and it is better to be pragmatic. The sum of the parts seems greater than the whole can be seen when the reserves of Singapore and Malaysia are lumped together and its ranking would have edged out India! But was it possible? No way could there be unity and autonomy to do what was necessary. I believe in the principle of subsidiarity, which according to Wikipedia:

'Subsidiarity is an organizing principle that matters ought to be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralized competent authority. The Oxford English Dictionary defines subsidiarity as the idea that a central authority should have a subsidiary function, performing only those tasks which cannot be performed effectively at a more immediate or local level...'

Hong Kong and Macau, which were under British and Portuguese rule respectively for many years, prospered way ahead of China, until recently. They are essentially being administered separately and differently to continue their economic and developmental success.
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Do we need a brick to draw our attention?

A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something.

As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag's side door! He slammed on the brakes and backed the Jag back to the spot where the brick had been thrown.

The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car shouting, 'What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing? That's a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?'

The young boy was apologetic. 'Please, mister...please, I'm sorry but I didn't know what else to do,' He pleaded. 'I threw the brick because no one else would stop...' With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car. 'It's my brother, ' he said 'He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up.'

Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, 'Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me.'

Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out a linen handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts. A quick look told him everything was going to be okay.

'Thank you and may God bless you,' the grateful child told the stranger.

Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the boy push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home.

It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door. He kept the dent there to remind him of this message:

'Don't go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!' God whispers in our souls and speaks to our hearts. Sometimes when we don't have time to listen, He has to throw a brick at us. It's our choice to listen or not.

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