Entries from February 2008 ↓

In olden China, if you wanted to rise up and challenge the Emperor you better jolly well make sure you win and you kill the Emperor. If not, your life and those of 7 or 9 generations after you are forfeit. The Emperor leaves no trace of you nor your family and your followers to threaten him.

We no longer live in the ancient times, but the vindictive streak that runs in all leaders continue. So long as they are challenged and they survive to tell the tale, they will ensure that the challenger and his whole “family” are deader than a dodo. Never mind that the challenger stood by himself the whole time. Never mind that there are capable people waiting in the wings to take over if he fails to meet the mark. Slash and burn is the order of the day.

So, the lesson to learn from here is that no man is an island. If one person rises above the rest, it is because he rises on the shoulders of others who give him a leg up. The masses toil in order that one man may rise but the selfish and self-centered never see that. He fails to realise that his actions affect the life and livelihood of the people toiling below him. Because of one foray into folly against the wishes and advice of the masses for selfish gains, he has sounded the death knoll for himself and the people who walked with him. I only hope that the death edict does not cover the next 7 generations to come.

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On a lighter note, today is Chap Goh Meh which in Hokkien means the Night of the Fifteenth Day of the Lunar Month. It is also the last day of the Chinese New Year festivities and is popularly known as one of the Chinese Valentine’s Days. I say “one of the” because the Chinese (being super kiasu) have 2 Valentine’s Days!

One is on the 15th day of the first lunar month (last day of the Chinese New Year) and the other is on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month (see Legend of the Cowherd and Maiden involving lovestruck couples, bridges of doves, milky way etc).

Chap Goh Meh was traditionally the day when young ladies ventured out into the public closely chaperoned by their maids or mothers and young men jostled for a glimpse at their beloved. It is a night for discreet tete-a-tetes and passing of love notes as the spring air cools warm ardours and carries on it the scent of plum blossoms and chinese tea.

Tonight is the night when unmarried women throw oranges into the river with a wish for a good husband. Personally, I never understood the concept of this. Why waste a perfectly good orange eh?

Then again, maybe there might just be an orange bobbing along with my name on it. Or maybe not.

Happy Chap Goh Meh everyone!

Picture Credit of Leo Reynolds

Yesterday, I just had someone threaten me that they would buy me a clock because my house has a timeless quality - I do not own a clock. I quickly said that it was bad luck to do so because to the Chinese, giving a clock (”song chung” in Cantonese) sounds like going for a funeral which is terribly bad luck.

I’m not highly superstitious as a rule, but when too many people tell you that you shouldn’t give gifts of clocks or knives you have no choice but to pay attention to these things.

The other reason I did not want a clock as a gift is because I rather like not having a clock in my house. I’ve moved into my own pad for a year plus by now and I still don’t have a clock in my house. In fact, I don’t even have any way to tell the time at all unless I check my mobile phone.

I don’t have a clock, I don’t have an alarm clock and I don’t wear watches (unless I remember to do so). My mobile phone wakes me in the morning and on days when I misplace it or forget to bring it home from the office, I have no way of knowing when to get up in the morning! So, on those days, I drag out my house phone, plug it in for the day and request that my siblings or friends give me a morning call.

My dad keeps threatening to get my a clock but I refuse every time because I rather like the timeless quality I have at home. There is no tick tock or chime warning me that time is flowing by; and times like these I’m rather grateful for the nearby surau (mosque) because the regular call to prayer gives me a rough idea of the time of day.

I don’t wear watches because I kept meaning to replace my watches’ batteries but later forgot. That said, I usually make it on time for most appointments so after a while, it did not matter to me anymore whether I had the time on my wrist or not.

After more than a year, I’m pretty happy with the lack of a timepiece in my house and on my wrist and I will probably keep it that way. How about you? Can you get by without a time piece reminding you of the time passing by?

Just like Beetrice, I was down in JB at the awful Hyatt Regency Johor Bahru hotel on the weekend. I went down rather late on Friday evening, and forced a pit-stop at the rest stop at Pagoh for a toilet break and some food.

I was very surprised to see the state of the women’s toilet at the Pagoh rest area off the highway. IT WAS CLEAN!! And not only was it clean, it was dry and airy with a bright air-well filled with plants and even the toilet stalls were clean and dry. Unheard of (and hitherto unseen) in Malaysia.

Since I was already in my home state of Johor, I was quick to scarf down 2 of my favourite foods - Mee Rebus Jawa (RM2.50) and Nasi Lemak Bungkus (RM2.00). So sinfully delicious and so CHEAP!!

Nevermind that it was rest stop food, I enjoyed every single morsel. The nasi lemak at Pagoh rest stop is one of the best (and cheapest) I’ve tried, to be honest. I first tried it when I took the bus down to Singapore and they stopped for a bite. The sambal is spicy and tasty and it comes with a whole hard boiled egg wrapped up in traditional banana leaf and waxed brown paper into the traditional pyramid shape.

So the next time I head down South, I know where I’m stopping for my toilet and tea break!

When I first heard about Happy.com.my which uses the DiGi network, I was quite fascinated by it because it was cute and young and fun. It was supposed to be the brainchild of some people at DiGi or so I heard/read.

Then, I went to Bangkok at the end of last year, and at the checkout of a supermarket, saw that they were selling reload coupons for a Happy mobile network. The cashier spoke no English and I speak no Thai but I did not buy it and I later forgot about it.

Then, a colleague went to Bangkok and bought a prepaid card for use there and when he returned, he showed it to me. It distinctly said “Happy” with that smiling logo. I started to get intrigued.

I asked around but no one seemed to be able to tell me if Happy in Thailand is the same or affiliated or in any way similar to the Happy of DiGi here in Malaysia and in fact, most people I asked professed that they had no knowledge of the Happy network in Thailand.

The Happy prepaid service in Thailand uses the Dtac mobile network while the Happy prepaid service in Malaysia uses the DiGi mobile network. They are both called Happy, and they both share a smiley logo, and both their mobile providers start with D

Separated at birth maybe?  Are there more Happy mobile networks elsewhere in the world?

Would someone like to explain this?

I was down in Johor Bahru on the weekend and elected to put up at the Hyatt Regency Hotel Johor Bahru. I’d stayed there before a few years ago and it was the only hotel in JB that really stayed in my mind.

Well, I have nothing good to say about the Hyatt Regency this time: Continue reading →