Merotan @ canning

Lately I read quite a number of news or comment on soc med regarding canning, particularly in public school.

I am from the canning generation & news on canning students will not get on the headline in the news during my time. It is a norm. Most of our teacher has rotan and they make it clear that they will not hesitate to rotan us if we misbehaviour. And being rotan by your parent during that time doesn't raise an eyelid. Oh yes, we are scare of our parents as well as our teachers but we are not terrified of them.

But fast forward to today, 'jentik' a little bit you will get yourself on the front page of the news. No need rotan, teacher asking student to write a thousand sentence saying they are sorry for what they did also the parent already say.."see you in court!" hahahha...

But you know, these parents are not so much older than I am, which mean we grew up in the same era. And they turn out to be a law abiding citizen with a proper job. But why anak haram jadah takder discipline??? Hhahaha...Is it me or you see it too that the attitude of our young generation is deteriorating as day goes by, as if the term 'respect' is nothing but a speck of dust that you can just blow away. Blame it on gadget, Internet, education system what-so-ever, I still believe it all goes back to UPBRINGING. Are we so blind to see it or are we just being denial?

I do not condone the act of canning nor I am against it. I believe in certain situation it is necessary but in some, it is unnecessary. It should be the last thing to do if other intervention fail.

We grieve as a nation

The announcement yesterday was devastating for all Malaysian, especially for the family of the passenger on board of MH370. Never before, we grieve so much as today although, some of us might not know anyone on board. For once, we grieve together for the lost of 239 passengers and crews on board of MH370 whether they are Malaysian or not because this is a national catastrophe. We might have known the end will not be good as it has been more than 2weeks since the flight been missing but as human, we cling to the hope that miracle do happen. But all hope was shattered with the PM official announcement yesterday.

What actually went wrong that day?? This is the main question that has been playing in everyone mind until today because no one survive the crash to tell the world their story. Our only hope to find an answer and provide explanation, not only to Malaysian in general but particularly, for the remaining family member who will forever mourn the lose of their loved one on that fateful day, is to find the black box. I do hope it won't take too long for it to be found as we all know, it might takes days, weeks, months or even years. This will end all speculation and accusation as well as giving a peace of mind to the grieving family.

Malaysian authority might be criticised for not handling the situation efficiently but I believe they have tried their very best. Despite the criticism and accusation of withholding important information, they remain calm and held their head up high when facing the throng of both local and foreign press. Trying their best to remain strong in the midst of the whole commotion, and become the front line of the nation communication to the world in regard to this tragic incident. It is easy to say they are not doing the best job because we do not walk in their shoes. We, Malaysian might have different ideology in various angle but when outsider accused our nation as murderous and has committing an 'unforgivable crime', we put aside our differences and stand behind our beloved nation. 

No one anticipated such tragedy. No one crazy enough to wish it to happen. No one is ever ready to lost their loved one in such a way. No one like to be in the position of both the passengers and the surviving family member. No one want to be the one to tell a family member that their father/mother/wife/husband/son/daughter will never walk out from the arrival gate again. As a person who believe in God, there is only one explanation that I can provide for now, that this tragedy is God's will. 

Will I stop using MAS? Absolutely not. This tragedy can happen to any airline, be it MAS or KLM or Airasia because such tragedy is out of our control. Will MAS as a company survive this tragedy? I sure hope so. I have never been afraid to fly previously and I will never be afraid in the future because I refuse to let fear be in control of my life. I live my life with one and only one principle; My life is in God's hand & I know, one day He will call me HOME and until that day come, I will treat my life as a GIFT.

To all the passengers and crews of MH370, may all of you rest in peace. Good night. :(

Let's talk about RAPE

I have stop reading local newspaper for several years for a number of reason. I also has stopped watching local news, regardless whichever channel for quite a while because of several reason. But I do 'flipped' and go through online news from time to time just to get a glimpse on what is going on in the local scene. That is how this issue come into my attention and also thanks to my fellow fb friends who posted it on their wall.

It was mentioned that, the reason why the statistic of statutory rape is higher among the Malay as compared to other races is that because other races do not report the incident to the police unlike the Malay. "The Malay, unlike other races, can't accept sex with underage person, children out of wedlock and pre-marital sex"..his word..not mine. Therefore, indirectly he claimed that other race such as the Chinese, Indian, Iban, Orang Ulu, Kadazan…do accept sex with underage person, do accept children out of wedlock…do accept pre-marital sex. He also mentioned that other races but Malay, are less sensitive to issue of statutory rape. So, he is implying that other races are less sensitive to such scenario therefore when it does happen among other races, they ignore it & do not report to the authority. Are you kidding me?? Seriously???? Does that means, we (as I belong to the other races that he mentioned) keep a blind eye when our children was raped??? Or having sex when they are just 15 years old??? My word (like the Brits like to say)..what a statement..

Actually who is not being sensitive here? If he is being sensitive, he won't say such statement in the first place. Being a minister doesn't give you permission to simple say whatever you want to say. Does it ever occurred to him, that the reason why the percentage is lower is because there is nothing to report besides the one that already been reported? Does it ever cross his mind that the percentage is higher among Malay because it does happen quite frequently within the Malay community? (Don't start label me as a racist yeah, I am just stating this based on the given statistic study, written in the news.) Why? I do not have any idea nor I want to indulge into the matter because it is out of my league. What I want to highlight here is how insensitive our leaders can be when it come to sensitive issues such as this.

Are we supposed to create a statutory rape case and reported a bogus case just to show how sensitive we are toward the issue? Are we suppose to consent the thought of allowing our underage children to have sex so that we will not be in the statistic? Does it occurred to him that some of the unreported cases might be due to other reason besides being insensitive? Or does it occurred to him the reason why some does not report to the police is because they have their own 'justice system'? Or because they simply do not trust the authority and that the perpetrator will be punish? For me, statistic data mean nothing is you do not do something about it. I guess he does not expect someone to ask 'why' that he was so flabbergasted, which resulted with an insensitive answer. Still, there is no excuse for saying what he has said. 

What important in my opinion is that not only the why question, but what and how. It doesn't matter whether it higher among the Malay, Chinese, Indian etc. I think what should matter most is to investigate what contribute to the percentage regardless which race you belong to. Rape is a serious crime, not only to woman but as well as men, and especially to underage individual. It take away your dignity, your self worth and for some, it takes away their reason to live. No one deserve to go through it regardless how it happen. It is not enough to say that most of statutory rape happen due to pornography or peer influence or genetic etc. We need a solid prove, written black and white. We need to go down and get our hand dirty. Statistic mean nothing without explanation, that is what we researcher were taught from the beginning. 

The next part is what can we do about this statistic. It is not enough just to parade it around because even without doing any survey, anyone can come out with a statistic data. And that make me think, how would he know that those who reported the case are due to their sensitivity to the issue? As far as I am concern, when you making a police report on anything, there is no form that specifically ask you why you do the report. Can you imagine you going to the police station & the police ask you why you want to report a rape case? So, what are we as an individual, society and nation going to do about it. Next, the how question come in. How can we reduce the 80% to 40%, or the 4.3% to 1.3%? If you want to completely eradicate statutory rape..I will say, you are living in the fantasy land. One thing I realised about Msian politician, they love to make unrealistic target as if we all have Doremon magic box. Be realistic with the target and do it consistently and gradually. What important is the percentage is reducing every year isn't it? Then we will know what we did in our previous planning that we shouldn't do in our future planning or what we did not do previously that we should do in the future in order to achieve our target.

So, I agree when he said that he is not a racist when he mentioned that. Because he is just an ignorant individual, who couldn't be bother whether his words will hurt the public feeling or not. I found it so amazing how some people could just said unintellectual statement such as that and get offended when others highlight the wrongness of their act. How can we Malaysian trust and have confident in our leaders when they do not learn how to communicate with sensitivity..when they do not bother to 'investigate' statistic reports but quickly make assumption when asked..when they 'promoting' racial harmony and yet contradictory 'ignite' fire of racial tension…when they urging public to spend wisely when they 'throwing' money like what we witnessed in the Hindustan movie…How can we trust them to provide a safe environment for our children to live in when he himself is ignorant to know the why, what and how question in regard to statutory rape..

Ps. As a fellow Sarawakian…berik malu ajak eh...

Flyer Nightmare

I assume we all have heard it. The devastating new of the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 and until today, no one know what actually happen that lead to the disappearing of the flight. And most important of all, what could be the fate of all the passengers and crew members. There are so many speculations that has been published on the media on what could possibly go wrong or could happen. But I do not want to make any speculation here. Let it be just between me & those I know as a respect to the family members of all passengers and crews on board.

As a person who travel frequently, I depend on flight very much in order to fulfil my quest to see the world or just to be with my love one. At one point, I travel so often that I can actually say that I am literally living on a suitcase! It's like I am unpacking my luggage to repacking it again for my next journey. Yeah..it sound very exciting but you will reach a point where you get so tired of all the travelling, the packing, immigration and custom checking points. Air plane has become my main mode of transportation at one point and still am today. Therefore, when incident like this happen, it create an anxiety within me because at the back of my mind…I was thinking…s*** it could be me.

At this moment of time, my sympathy goes to the family of all the cabin crews and the passengers on board the flight. Not knowing what happen to their love one and whether they can see each other again, is a feeling of unrest. The uncertainty of the outcome of the incident can lead to anger, stress and tension for these family members as they are worry and sad at the same time. And all these media speculations on what can possibly happen to the flight does not really help to put their worry at ease. Well, I do understand that everyone is entitled to their opinions on what could go wrong on that fateful day but I just hope we do have a little bit of courtesy especially to the family members, and try to minimise our unintellectual, idiotic and insensitive speculations to ourselves or our circle of friends (just like what I did). There is no need to publicised it online!

And I do not think it is fair for us to criticised the SAR effort that has been going on to locate the missing flight. I believe every single organisation/countries is putting everything they got to locate the plane and just because it has been three days since the flight is reported missing and yet not even one piece of evidence showing that they manage to locate the missing flight, that does not mean that they do not try their very best. Do take into consideration that they also have no idea where the flight could be. What we all can do is …hope for the best & prepared for the worst for people on board MH370.

Randau ruai ari menua ribai..

Aku tok pagi2 nadai kerja lain, nungga laptop. Nyak meh ko apai tuai ku...ngantik nadai internet, pahai la aku tok. Hahha...tapi amai ah. Bosan ngantik nadai internet..

Anyway, pagi2 ku udah chat enggau ex-housemate aku bak kl subak. Ya benung mandok pansuh babi hutan. Apooo.....balat penyamai utai nyak deh. Badu pengelama aku endak makai jelu utan tok..skali skala ningga org manduk nu tertenguk kedirik especially now udah diau bak menua ribai tok. Ne ka ngulih. Bisi meh jelu utan ditok tang ukai ya ulih ditimbak peneka ati deh. Parai aku tok nu masuk brita lagi..another malaysian being prosecuted for killing endangered animals. Hahhaha..ditok, jelu utan smua endangered animal. Nyamai mai jelu utan ditok neh, terasa selamat sidak diau ditok. Ngantik bak menua kitai din..huh...nu semua belalai bak sepiak2 utan diak meh sidak ya. Enggai ka x bernasib baik masuk periuk...becoming someone's meal. Ukai la madah aku tok a fan of exotic animal tapi skali skala makai syiok amai ah...nama dah kitai anak iban..wlp ukai sejati..hahah..susah ka dipisahkan dgn menu jelu utan. Betul endak???

Udah nyak sikok dah gik bala madah benung mandok kelawar (sori..endak ku nemu nama iban ngangau kelawar tang bak bidayuh we cal it nginyawat). Ngantik endak salah ku..tok kelawar buah nyak..mit ya. Endak entu maioh isi laban ka slim amai. Hahhaha..endak ingat ku bila last aku makai tok tang seingat ku maya aki belah indai ku agik idup subak, bisi gak few times makai. Ka ku madah nyamai x gak tang edible. Di pandok kami enggau asi and other stuff ( endak entu ingat lbn udah lama). Aku endak nemu la kati bala iban mandok laban nyak tadi style orang bidayuh. Tenguk nyawa ningga bala makai nyak.

Ditok..aku madah aku makai kaki manok orang udah capoh. Endak ku nemu ngantik ku madah aku makai kelawar. Hahah..Kitai iban tok almost semua jelu di empak. Janji x bisi mali, empak jak. Maya aku diau bak China, you name it, you get it. Lebih kurang sama meh kitai enggau orang cina tok, we eat anything that move. Hahah...almost! Tang bak din extremist mai gak sdk ya sampai placenta baby pan sidak dadu sup awak ke bajik. Aduss...endak ku sanggup eh..aku tok adventure with food, jenis ke rindu cuba macam2 tapi I have my limit when it comes to fellow human being. Huhuhu..Skali aku kala ke pasar basah maya bak China din...apooo...endak ku nemu kati ka madah. Aku tok jenis ka kuat semangat pan asai ka leput!!! Kamah diak..bau diak..that is the first and the last aku kia. Endak cukup adventure ku ka makai utai diak. Hahah...apa jak binatang x diak..ular bisi..manok..babi..chapi..seafoods..kura2..biawak..dan pelbagai jenis jelu. Engka ngantik udah di pandok, ka aku makai tang bila medak sidak nyiang diak enggau perut2..darah..errrrr....gue enggak bisa!!

Tapi best bak China..aku ulih makai kaki manok..katak...kaki babi..lelabi...ikan sungai (lbn ikan din sama enggau ikan kitai)...nice! Ditok..laban bala mensia kelalu merti & kelalu sayau ka jelu..animal ethics kata..smua utai endak ulih empak kecuali yang biasa2. Hehhe..Pesan apai ku subak sebedau aku mupok ka China..."dik ulih makai smua utai tang 3 jelu tok endak tau di empak kitai; jugam..kera..ular sawa.." . Ya madah mali. Ngantik makai...ulih ka gila2. Amai endak ..endak gak ku nemu tang enggai gak aku testing teori nyak enggai ka amai gila. Hahha...Diatu aku udah cukup gila, niboh ka nambah agik meh kan. :)

Nyak meh randau ku tadi,ngenang ka pemadu manah utai dempak kitai di menua. Bila dah jauh, u appreciate it even more. Walaupun aku tok la paling jarang pulai menua tang aku endak kala lupak asal usul dirik empu. Asai ya bila aku tak tetiba lupak dirik alu speaking ko orang ribai, x nemu jako Iban..x nemu adat iban..aki ku bak kubur nyin..kada ke dani baru ngingak aku. Hahhaha...

I heard of this statement before & would like to share it with uols..." a person who forget his/her roots is a person who will not go far in life". Agree or disagree...bisi amai ko orang ka ngeluar ka jako tok. 

Ok. Tok jak randau ku saritok. Bisi siti dak gik topik tang aku tok alu bedau mandi. Lagi meh kitai randau ruai agik aok. Tatata..have a good Saturday!

Cerita orang bak menua ribai..:)

Lama udah aku ka cuba nulis blog dalam bahasa Iban tapi slalu endak nyadi. Laban Iban aku tok endak berapa manah laban ka ukai Iban tulin. Ngantik ka berjako, macha & ninga bahasa Iban nemu meh aku tang ngantik part2 (nee..tu udah jako Ingeris..heheh) grammar nyak, sigi FAIL! Nyak meh balasan ya laban ka maya agik skul di Kapit subak, slalu 'escape' kelas Iban. Laban ke kelas nyak slalu jak last class, nyak meh slalu ngangak alasan ka pulai. Hahahha...nyak tiap kali exam, anang nyebut. Sigik fail. Tapi at least aku nemu jako Iban. Endak la apai ku malu. Hheheh...

Anyway, campur jak la bahasa ku ditok aok. Sapa ka endak nemu jako Iban, nasib la kan. Aku saritok ka bercerita pasal brita hangat diatu. Cerita apai indai ka di tangkap alu di jail bak menua Sweden ditok. Apa pendapat kitak? OK ka maluk anak? Mesti maioh mai jawapan kan laban ukai smua anak sama. Bisi ka manchal..bisi ka nelap..bisi ka kuat ngelaban..bisi ka udu mai nyaut apai indai..bisi ka ningga ajak ..etc. Aku maioh kawan ka bisi anak. Bisi antara sidak maluk anak tang don't get it wrong ya..sidak maluk nadai la sampai alu biru2. Nu over gak nyak kan..Bisi ka suka berterauh nganok anak sampai suara nu ngalah ke Amy Search..hahaha..tang apa2 cara skali pun, nyak meh cara paling manah ko sidak ya awak ka anak nyak nyadi orang ka berguna ilak lusa. Aku faham..ukai aku endak faham walaupun aku tok nadai bisi anak. Tapi kes tok lain. Namahal ku madah lain..laban apai indai nembiak tok diau bak menua yang maluk anak udah lebih 30thn dibanned (x nemu nama word tok dlm Iban)..

Aku tok udah suah mai diau and mawa ke menua ribai. Endak kira menua ne endur aku pergi, aku mesti ka study dulu pasal endur nyak. Nama utai ka ulih di gagak diak..sejarah endur nyak..nama utai ka endak tau digagak maya diak.. etc. Awak ka aku niboh kiruh atau endak menyusahkan dirik ngadu utai ka endak sepatut ya. Laban adat kitai bertanding ka umah/menua orang, sigi mesti nitih adat/peraturan bak menua nyak. Ne ulih kitai sukati peneka hati diau diak nu baka kitai diau bak menua dirik empu. Aku and a matter of fact, I believe all of us, nadai nemu nama cita sebenar kes tok tadi. Laban kitai sekadar maca bak newspaper/media. Bakani ya maluk anak ya, kitai endak nemu. Paluk sampai bisi lebam ka nadai, pan kitai endak nemu. Amai ka baru sekali nyak ya maluk atau udah berkali2. Tapi yang jelas, udah di stated bak Swedish Law yang parent endak ulih maluk anak and it has been implemented on 15th March, 1979!!!

Bah..do you see where I am going here?? Rules nyak udah bak diak bertahun lama ya. Parent nembiak nyak udah diau bak Sweden for the past 3 years (alu berubah bahasa..ehheh). Dah la Director gik nyak..konon ka promote Msia bak diak. Kati ka promote bila nuan empu nadai ka nitih rules of your host country??? Ya simply giving the impression that kitai orang Msia tok nadai respect ngangai rules negara bukai tapi expect orang bukai respect kitai empu so called culture/regulations. It make me wonder, bisi ka sidak tok take time untuk maca history on why such regulations were implemented. My bet...sigi nadai. Engka mikir laban ka bisi pangkat besai..maioh connection etc..nadai hal la. Niboh nitih gilak..tambah2 gik ku maluk bak umah. Tapi skali udah kenak tangkap, bisi hati ka minta immunity. Hello??? Even diplomat India bak US ka violated visa application empu rule pan di depot orang pulai ke India. Diplomat nyak...ukai pengarah tourism

Kitai suah mai ka nganok bala sidak 'apai celum' aka apreka ka sukati jak ngadu Msia baka negara sidak din. Nganok sidak 'apai carpet' aka orang arab ka diau bak Msia nadai respect kitai beserta enggau kitai empu cara penghidup. Nganok sidak idup baka bak Hollywood....nganok sdk Indon ..Bangla..Nepalese..etc..Sigi typical Msian, rindu ka nganok orang bukai nadai hati ka hormat negara kitai. Tapi bila kitai empu bak menua orang, idup baka bak Msia, nadai hal piak??? Kala kitai mikir our own action whether it is being respectful or shameful? Baka bak Msia, nyual dadah carry a capital punishment aka gantung sampai mati. As soon as bilun terengka bak airport, udah di padah orang statement nyak. It's apply to Msian and non-Msian. Kitai pan nadai meh kira sapa laban ngantik udah maik dadah, hukum ya sigi mati. Enggai kitai orang luar mempersoalkan hukum tok. FYI, bak ditok (Scandinavian countries) death penalty udah lama di abolish. So, ngantik orang sweden di tangkap maik dadah masuk Msia, will we let them go???? Obviously NOT! Sidak stuju ka endak, sidak udah maik dadah and nyak adalah salah, so terima la consequence ya. Sama la enggau negara bukai ngantik kitai violated their rules.

So, pikir2 la kedirik. Kitai ka merantau tok especialy ka diau bak menua ribai, including me, kitai mesti nemu maik dirik. Kitai mesti well-verse enggau regulations menua endur kitai diau nyak. Kitai mesti respect cara idup sdk bak menua nyak. Just because kitai endak stuju alu kitai endak nitih. We must learn how to adapt to our environment in order to survive the outside world. We can't change the rules, but we can change ourselves to go around the rules. Tak kan laban nuan sikok, satu negara ka ngubah rules/policy? Kitai tok sapa? Tuhan? Be humble, open our heart for change, open our mind to others way of live, take it as a challenge to change ourselves and before we condemn others, try to look in the mirror and ask..."Kati aku ka ngasuh anak aku terbuka untuk mengenal Tuhan tanpa perlu aku terpekik terlolong atau maluk ya"...

Nyak ajak saritok. Tadaa... 

Morning thoughts...

Today is a good day. Why do I said that? Because when I woke up, it was raining but as the day progressing, the rain stop and the sun manage to shine through the evening. We don't get much snow nor do we get much sun this winter. What we get a lot is RAIN!!! So, as I sat in the kitchen & had my morning coffee, I was looking at this scenery...my backyard..

Very serene and calm, with birds chirping happily. Occasionally, there will be a group of deers roaming the field near our house. Hubby said, sometimes, fox will pay a visit at the middle of the night. Well, I haven't had the opportunity to see Mr.Fox or wolf yet. It is nice to live in the countryside because I love the quietness and peacefulness that you will seldom get nowadays.

Suddenly, my mind go back to Malaysia. Although permanently living abroad now and constantly leaving my beloved country due to my frequent traveling previously, I always make it a point to follow what is happening back home. Some of my friends asked me why bother? Well, the answer is simple, I love Malaysia no matter what. As cliche as it sound, there really is no place like HOME! Furthermore, I have family and friends whom I care dearly, and who still live there.

Regardless what happen back at home, Malaysia is still a great place to live. I do hope it get better one day soon and all these disputes can be resolve. It is sad to see what has become to our society nowadays especially when it comes to these religious issues. Why can't we tolerate each other like we use to in the old days despite our differences. I guess it is not a good idea to mix politic & religion because most people end up fighting for the wrong reason. Thus, create unnecessary situation where I guess no one will win at the end of the day.

Since we are promoting this VMY 2014 and 1M, I hope we live up to the so called slogan and marketing strategies of our tourism industry on how we can live in harmony despite our diverse culture and religions. Potential tourists will be very confuse when they read the promotion but yet greeted by a different scenario when they landed at our beloved Malaysia. Oh by the way...x payah datang Msia pun orang luar dah boleh baca pasal apa belaku kat saner through internet. 

2013 Finale

Tomorrow is new year eve so I guess this is the right time for everyone including me to recap and do a little bit of reflection on how this whole year has been. I believe it has been an exciting year for all of us although there might be some bump here & there.

It has been a bitter sweet year for me. A few milestone has been achieved and that indeed is a joyous occasion for me personally. One of the milestone is to finally received my PhD after been struggling with it for 3.5 years. Only God knows what shit I have to go through to get it. But ironically, the shit has nothing to do with the study/research but more to dealing with unstable human character, which unfortunately has a huge impact on the whole process. But I want to put that behind me now.  Finally on 2nd of July, after 45 minutes of presentation, the university declared that I have fulfilled the requirements and I have passed! Halleluyah! The 3.5 years of research and hardship only took 45 minutes to wrap it all up & I reached my target of wanting to be Dr. Angelina before I am 35 years old.

Another achievement is that I finally get to go to Laos! I have been reading & watching documentary on Laos and I have been wanting to go there ever since. So, the day after I passed my exam, me & my buddy packed our bag & off we go..to Laos! It just feel so surreal when we finally landed in Vientiane. We been planning for one whole year for the trip and we gone through so many obstacles before we finally arrived. We were there for 5 nights (a long unplanned stay) and we enjoyed every single day of it. Vietiane is a small city but with an amazing characters. It is both work & pleasure for both of us & I always enjoy our trip together.

This year also marked a very important event with our new purchase..no need to mention here. But it is indeed an important one because that will be for our future and retirement plan in my beloved hometown, which my better half learn to love. Starting next month, there will be a slow yet moving progress plan for it. Well, we have to slowly and carefully plan the build up as it has to be as close to PERFECTION as possible.

Last but not least, this year also marked an important date, which is my migration to the land of the viking. We have been married for almost 7 years but this move will be the first time in all those years of marriage that we will live together under the same roof. It is a very daunting experience for me, having to start all over again at this age, in a new country. The place might not be a total foreign for me but coming here for vacation and having to live & work here, is two total different scenario. But I will persevere and take this as another challenge in my adult life and with my headhunter spirit & determination, I believe I will make it work here...probably I will make it BIG here...I guess we will never know yeah. 

There you are, things that happen in 2013. I am so eager to see what 2014 will bring into my life especially, it will be the year of the HORSE. I am praying for continuing peace and harmony in my mother land, and probably a year full of good transformation for the nation. I am also praying for success coming my way this 2014, be it in my career or personal life. I am praying for strength, determination, strong will & perseverance to overcome challenges ahead for 2014. 

Okie dokie..it's time for me to prepare the menu for tomorrow feast...

A little of RESPECT is all I need

In life you will bound to meet up with people who openly, whether consciously or unconsciously, say things that are contradict to what they mentioned earlier. And I so happen to met this 'person' yesterday. 

You see, we were having this lunch & dinner session and they started to have some drinks..(when I mentioned drinks that will be referring to the alcohol). That was not our first meeting but we met previously, several of time in fact. And each time, I never failed to mention that I do not drink...not anymore...for a very long time. I am no saint but when I made a stand on something, I stick through it regardless what. And again..and again..this person never fail to persuade me to have a sip..ahh..it's Christmas anyway..(as if it is a good enough reason to drink).

Don't get me wrong ya...just because I do not drink anymore, I do not push my opinion on alcohol and drinking habit on others because I totally believe in individualism. I have stop to take alcohol because of personal reason that is very painful to share with just anyone. But regardless the reason, I believe I have the right to practice what I think is the right decision for me. And for someone who claim to be my friend & even have the nerve to say that he/she respect our friendship..that is very absurd!

When I know my friend do not drink, I won't even think of offering them, what more to force them to drink. That is RESPECT! That is very PLAIN, SIMPLE AND DIRECT! Is that so difficult to understand???? Some people including that person should learn the basic meaning of RESPECT before he/she can claim to be my friend.

Choices

Everyone has to make a choice in their life & I do believe everyone has a choice regardless what are the choices. Not making decision and just follow the flow is a choice in itself. I was having a conversation with a friend one day and we happen to have a topic of choice.

Now this person think that kids are not given any choice when it comes to making choices but I do believe that they actually do have a choice. Now I am not talking about anyone below 11 years old here but beyond that age. From my years of observation, kids are not all innocent and stupid but they are rather smart and can be very manipulative at times. I do not give any excused nor will I make any excuses for bad behaviour because God has provide us with a sound mind to think. Well, unless you are mentally retard than I think you can have a little credit for that or what I would say, close one eye.

Research shown that children grew up with a depress or alcoholic's parents are tend to be depress or becoming alcoholic themselves when they grow up but it also can be the other way around. They are prone to such living style but it is not genetically connected, which means they do have a choice. This is not like having a Huntington disease where it is transferable genetically. I have quite a number of friends that I know personally, who grew up in a broken family or parents who are alcoholic but they turn out just fine, in fact, even better than their own parents has ever been. These group of friends told me once, they made a choice not to succumb to the same way of living, which they hate so much and vow to be different. And they did, superbly.

You see, we have a choice whether we want to admit it or not. Unless you were born with some sort of genetic diseases that will be different story all together. But nowadays, there are some medical technology that enable parents to avoid the birth of a genetically sick child but that is a matter of their personal choice. Again...choices are available. Regardless good or not, ethical or not, right or wrong...it still is a choice.

Conclusively, I am a firm believer that everyone has a choice. There is no such thing as no choice.