Memang la bloody hell betul si eSawan ni.  Aku beriyer menulis tadi pas tu tetiba dia buat sawan dia. Kasi ilang.

Anyway, what I wanted to say was, entry yang kat bawah ni sebenarnya untuk semalam. Tapi since I was actually bogged down by WORK, it had to wait.  Walau bagaimanapun, I am appending it here as today's entry.  However, since today is Teacher's Day, I would like to add a disclaimer to the entry.

To all teachers in the world, especially in eKawan, I would like to thank all of you for the assistance (am not even terming it 'services') that you extend to us. Since the job role I am holding now actually includes a little of what you do, I realize the hard work that goes into your job.  Well, a little la.. So, teachers, Happy Teachers' Day.

And now back to our regular program.

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question: 'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection.

Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do.

He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?'

The audience was stilled by the query.

The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.'

Then he told the following story:

Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball.

Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?'

I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.

I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play.

The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.'

Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt.

I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart.

The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three.

In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again.

Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.

At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?

Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact.

The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.

The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly
towards Shay.

As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.

The game would now be over.

The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman.

Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.

Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates.

Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to first!

Run to first!'

Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first
base.

He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.

Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!'

Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base.

By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball ... the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team.

He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head.

Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.

All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'

Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third! Shay, run to third!'

As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!'

Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team

'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world'.

Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

AND NOW A LITTLE FOOT NOTE TO THIS STORY:

We all send thousands of jokes through the e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending messages about life choices, people hesitate.

The crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion about decency is too often suppressed in our schools and workplaces.

If you're thinking about forwarding this message, chances are that you're probably sorting out the people in your address book who aren't the 'appropriate' ones to receive this type of message Well, the person who sent you this believes that we all can make a difference.

We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help realize the 'natural order of things.'

So many seemingly trivial interact ions between two people present us with a choice:

Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process?

A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it's least fortunate amongst them.

You now have two choices:
1. Delete
2. Forward

May your day, be a Shay Day

Got the piece of e-mail (kat sebelah) from my CEO today.  Yes, here, they’re into helping people and all that, and it is a laudable task.  Not many people are ‘into’ helping of others as we may notice.  Hence the proliferation of robbers, and pencopets and what nots.  No one wants to help people nowadays, and I guess in this individualistic era that we’re living in. It’s quite normal.However, as much as I believe in helping, kenapa bila aku baca cerita ni, all that I can think of is how jaded I am.Yes, I understand the importance of making Shay feel psyched.  But I can not agree that this needs to be done all the time.  Fine, in this story’s case, they boy dies in a year.  But what I am trying to say is, if we keep on giving chances to people, WHEN WILL THEY EVER LEARN?If teachers are going to give Spot Questions for the SPM (forgive me Queenie, Et4, OP and ramai lagi) for the sake menaikkan nama sekolah, sampai bila budak2 ni nak belajar?People, tak ramai orang baik dalam dunia ni.  Understand that.  Yang baik nya segelintir aje, seperti the 18 people on the baseball field that day!  Yang lain dalam dunia ni, people we meet daily… Susah, and I mean Oh, so SUSAH to meet yang baik.So, sure, while it’s great that you can help someone’s dying wish, and paving the way for them, what happens when you are not around?  I make sure the road forward for my kids are clear. No stones tergolek tengah jalan.. tak de batu nak tersadung.. Ishh.. sampai bila2 la dia orang ingat jalan selalu smooth. Bila roda hidup dia tersekat sebab motor rosak.. Haa.. cam ner nak gerak?  Tau ke dia orang nak kena turun and kayuh, or jump start or running start?Ok.. now you can all collectively spit on me for being so negative.

 

 

 

 

Tag/Label : off the cuff
Dipostkan @ 09:12 AM | 14 Komen | Report Abuse

Yes, as a mother I have the right to say that today is mine. Well, at least it's mine to celebrate as I wish.  And I wished that I had a gajillion dollars to spend the day with.. But I don't, and I doubt if I ever will. So no use in going there.

We celebrated my mother yesterday by having a tea-party at her new apartment.  I brought a concoction of meehun, mushrooms, carrots, daun bawang, bombay onions, chicken.. all on a sesame seed bun. No la! No buns involved.. I fried that all with another concoction of black pepper sauce, mushroom sauce and kicap lemak manis cap kipas udang.. Mak asked me.. "Ni recipe sapa ni?" Hehehe.. I was proud to say, the peningness was all mine.  Heyyy.. never doubt it's tastiness. Along menyesal tak bawak balik left over malam tadi.. Sedap sangat dia kata.

Mak made Dalca. Acik ordered carrot cake. Along (my along mind you) made agar2. And Angah ordered Roti jala with kari ayam. heheh.. makan busat again eh?

Then today, went to a friend's house to celebrate her son and daughter's birthday. I don't know if their birthdays were on the same day.. tak kesah la.. the nasi lemak and mihun soup was worth having to wake up early for. Yes, she likes to have her parties at 9:30 am.

Then seperti biasa we went to Summit to lepak and me and adek and (surprise, surprise) Abang went to the Karaoke Jamban.

Talking about me and Abang.. he sent me an sms a few days ago. Yo Mama. I love you till I die but we will fight sometime OK.  Then of course he promptly fights with me.  He's quite emotional about everything, so he seems to think that everything we do is a slight on to him. Terrible really, and I do try to make him see that what he does is not correct.  Of course, it's difficult, but that's all part and parcel of being a mother, right.  Then last night, he gives me this wrapped up gift. Actually the gift was for him from his Acik or something. I said it was nice.  So last night, before we actually went to bed, he came up behind me and handed me the gift. Opened and all scrunched up. "Mama said mama like so me give you".  Aku pun tak tau nak buat apa dengan benda tu. But I said thank you very nicely and will take it to office with me tomorrow. Mana la tau aku nak buat some coloring with it. Yes, it was a nice gift-wrapped Barney-themed color pencils.  Tu lah punya sayang nya anak aku kat aku.  Mana aku ada, situ la duduk nya. Kalau sempit pun kosi tu.. dia duduk jugak kat atas riba aku.

Talked to hubby the other day in the car. I know I have very high regard in Abang's eyes, but what I am so afraid of is that one day, we have such a falling out, that we will lose each other.  Tanya ngan tOH, "You ingat that will happen ke?" Mencebik tOH.  "Tak kan nya da.. U manja dia sangat".. Errr apa kena mengena ngan falling out eh?

Gift roll call for Mother's Day.

Along: Cake order dari skolah and carnation hidup

Adek: Cloth roses and kisses galore

Abang: Barney-themed color pencils and his undying love (for now)

tOH: FM Modulator complete with a remote control..

Not bad, not bad at all..

Tag/Label : togetherness
Dipostkan @ 05:50 PM | 6 Komen | Report Abuse

Since starting this new job, I don’t have time to read the newspapers anymore. Really!  I do get to read a few lines over breakfast.  Yes, Miss Pathetic that I am, I still have breakfast at the old place (where hubby currently works). Bukan apa, we leave very early now from home. Like about 7am. And so, due to this we arrive at the old place at about 7:40 (sometimes 7:30).  So, from the old place to my new place is only about 10 minutes (on a good day, 20 on a seriously jammed day). So daripada makan sensorang, I usually have breakfast with him.

Since we reach there so early, and he refuses to go to work that early, he will spend the good hour or so reading the papers.  That means, we don’t buy The Star anymore.  He reads it while waiting to go to office, and I get to read maybe 2 pages before breakfast comes and I have to eat and rush off. Yerlah.. baru seminggu dua.. kena la masuk on time every time kan?  So much so, that aku tak tau menahu pun Myanmar dilanda topan until like 2 days ago.  Pathetic sungguh!

Anyway, I am glad though that I have now started to melanggan to this cute little comic called ‘Pickles’.  It’s about an old couple (grandma and grandpa) and how they cope with their ageing, each other and the family.  Of course la, like all writers, some days are good some are bad, some are so-so. So, some of the cartoons are really heartwarming.  I aspire to be like them someday..

 

As I am aspiring to be someone, someone aspires

As I am aspiring to be someone, someone aspires to be me.  She said that she too hopes that one day she can be as adapt as I am at texting while driving.  I told her that it’s not something to set as a goal.  However, I would now like to add that I have progressed to texting while driving round and round a parking ramp.  The parking lot at this new place is 5 storeys high. So we have been given the whole of 5^th floor to park.

So, while going up the ramp, I texted a friend yesterday who got on ERA to tell the world (Malaysia) that she loves her mother’s Sambal Belacan.  The content of the message is not important.  The important part is that I can text while driving round and round.  So to the lady who wishes to grow-up being able to text&drive, here’s a new benchmark.  This morning, as I was trying to zap the parking tag and maneuver the car at the same time.. the phone rang.. hehehe.. I drew the line there.

 

Tag/Label : off the cuff
Dipostkan @ 01:50 PM | 7 Komen | Report Abuse

This entry was supposed to be posted last night.. apa tah mangkuknya tak bole masuk pulak tenet.  Ni skarang tak boleh masuk imageshack nak upload gambar..

In case you wanted to know, this is what my desk top looks like.  It’s the original one that I got when they give me this notebook, and I’m really good at not changing desktops.  I see no reason actually, but sometimes when something really moves me. I do.

Anyway, I actually wanted to do some work.. yes, yes gasp all you want.  The current environment is such that you are expected to not spend your time with your family, but spend it all on the company.  I was on my way home this evening when my boss texts me and tell me to wait, as he needed to see me. Sorry, boss. I was 1/3 way home already.  And I don’t love my job that much to turn back and see what you want.  You see, I am externally motivated. I work for money, and not for the love of the job.  Well, come to think of it, I never was intrinsically motivated when it comes to my career.  For me, a job is a means of getting money, without which we wouldn’t be able to function in this world.

The price of everything is rising by leaps and bounds these days.  I went to the grocery just this Sunday, and a 10kg pack of rice now cost me RM 28 when it used to cost me about RM 19 – RM 20.  Flour is RM2.20 per kg now.  So, how not to work for money?

But the more I thought about it, the more I think it’s okay to not be internally motivated. I mean, all the leadership gurus and psychologists will all want you to work for the love of the work itself.  But let’s get real here, eh?

I still have kids at school going ages.. they’re all at school going ages.  Very soon they’ll want to get higher education.  The government isn’t going to sponsor that!  Although they insist of education for all, they still make it so difficult to enter the IPTAs, and they don’t control the rising cost of education by the IPTSs.  I am seriously considering migrating to Germany or France where they still offer free education for their children all the way up to university level.  I mean the abolishment of the Yuran Sekolah seems like a farce!  Wuhuuu! Yeah, you abolished the paying of RM4, but you allow the schools to impose Yuran Khas which ranges from RM30 – RM50 depending on where you lived.  Alhamdulillah the primary school that two of my kids go to, decided they were in Plan B.. the middle income group.  So we paid like RM37 or something like that (I’m ranting too late in the game to even remember what I had to cough up). 

The place I used to work in is an IPTS. They classify themselves at the higher end of the mid-range organization.  To get a degree after SPM you would have to pay close to RM50k (inclusive of 1 year foundation course), and to get a diploma, you would pay close to RM26k.  Gila kan?  Aku tak boleh imagine nanti bila Along nak masuk uni. Apatah lagi Adek..

Skarang nak beli rumah pun aku berbelah bagi.  Seeing as to how we’re not rolling in dough, we would have to utilize all the money we have in Account II of the EPF (which is not much ok?)  And that took us years and years of working to accumulate.  So, in 4 years time, when Along needs to go to get her higher education, we won’t be able to use that to finance her studies with that money.  So, antara rumah and education anak2.. hmm, I think I choose education anak2 la kot.

Now what does that have to do with my desktop? Nothing actually.  What you’re seeing is a depiction of the datelines across the countries of the earth.  Korang tengok eh. Bengkak-bengkuk line tu.  Kenapa boleh jadik cam tu yer?  I mean, shouldn’t it be black and white mengikut vertical gradient? Kenapa kita kena bend backwards and forwards to accommodate countries yang jajahan takluknya merata2?  Okay, maybe some are due to geographical constraints, tapi kalau kat Asian continent tu korang tengok je lah.  Sumer selfish, dan sumer fikir kan kebaikan diri (country) mereka sendiri.

Maybe it’s high time, I did that as well.

 

Tag/Label : rantings
Dipostkan @ 10:28 AM | 11 Komen | Report Abuse

Aku tak tau la apa ke nasib aku ni. Dulu kat tempat lama, the highlight of my day would be when i could circumvent the servers firewalling. Here, this page is not firewalled, but instead, the WiFi in this building is Owh My God punya la slow.

It takes me hours to download anything. So much so, 3G aku lagi laju dari WiFi ni tau. But of course it's being shared by 70 people, so what do I expect kan?

I have made a complain to the management, and apparently we are upgrading. They said by next week. We will see la yer?

Anyway, what I wanted to talk about before this rant, was how simple things make our day.

• Everyone else being on leave for the long weekend, leaving an almost empty road for you to go to work
• A phone call from a friend whom you've not heard of for months/years, but whom you've known since 1991
• A meeting with another set of friends, whom you had not met for at least 6 months.. Friends who helped you stand up when you couldn't even sit. The karaoke and the Mixed Grill helped as well
• Movies back to back with the kids.. Congkak and IronMan. I still don't understand why there has to be thunder and lightning every single time Opah comes to the screen. The gamelan and cak-lempung wud have been sufficient. We wasted money on Congkak. We either shut our eyes, or ears, or both, for a good 60% of the movie show

Hmmm. yup.. simple things are better than complicated ones..

Happy Friday and Happy Weekending.. Wait? It's Friday again? Wuhuuuuu.. Time flies fast this week.. Another thing to be happy about..

Tag/Label : off the cuff
Dipostkan @ 10:15 AM | 13 Komen | Report Abuse

Hmmm.. it’s been more than a week, and I still feel like an impostor here.  I’ve sms’ed a few people, and they all seem to think I can do it. Now that should make me feel pretty comfortable, right? Wrong.It makes me feel even more like a fraud.

Been training on a topic that I have no knowledge of. Well, I do, coz I had like 3 days on the internet reading every ‘seemingly’ interesting write-up on it.  I mean I am so not what I am training (Again, I am remaining VERY anonymous here, as the crowd is mainly young ‘uns.  I’m pretty sure at least 5% of them subscribe to this page. Hehehe..maybe I’ll take a show of hands at some point of time).. But back to my lament.. And it’s just noise. I am determined to make this work, as it has the potential to give me what I want in life. Freedom to work as and when I please, and enough income for me to sustain.Am not yet up to the good doctor’s energy level of working hard NOW to reap the benefits later.  But, I am determined to get everything I can from this.

I told a friend; You know the ceramahs that you go to, and you’re thinking to yourself that the penceramah is just a load of crap.. That’s me!”

Tag/Label : rantings
Dipostkan @ 09:34 AM | 8 Komen | Report Abuse

Ini la dia pempuan paling busy seantero dunia.

Padan kan muka aku. Nak sangat try kerja baru kan? Haaa.. rasakan!  Minggu pertama ni, aku tak de pernah balik kul 5:30 (waktu habis kerja).  Paling awal pun 6:30pm.  Nak menai