Happy birthday Dad
This was my Dad's 69th birthday feast last month. The picture were taken with my mom's latest toy - a kodak Easyshare C533. But it was only yesterday that my mom fully acquainted with the function of transfer, edit and special effect from sepia tone to cartoon shade. However we decided to present this picture in its most authentic way as our most sincere birthday wish to our beloved Dad.
Rajkumar and Namia
Namiah is 4 year old Indian girl with beautiful black eyes. For a four year old, she is very good in colouring. Rajkumar is 6 but a little bit too skinny compared to boys of his age. Rajkumar has two other older brothers. Together with Namiah, and and 12 other old folks, all three brothers shared the roof of Rumah Kewajipan Kasih Sayang together. Rajkumjar’s mother, who is a single mother herself, is the live-in care-taker of the Home.
Rumah Kewajipan Kasih Sayang is a welfare home set up by Mr.Ragu, a resident of Serendah and a tow truck driver working for one of the local finance companies. His wife, Mrs. Ragu was an orphan from young and her wish has always been to take care of older folks. Decided to fulfill his wife’s wish, Mr.Ragu obtained the necessary permit 2 years ago and with the help of a group of friends, they fund and manage a welfare home in a rented house just a stone throw away from their own home.
Every morning before going to work, Mr.Ragu and two care-takers will bath the old folks and see the children to school. The home is very basic with one television, a dining table, basic cooking facilities and beds within the four walls. During the day, the residents will be just sitting around and staring into the blank space. The TV will be turned on in the late afternoon.
The last trip in September when I came to deliver the donated foodstuff, I saw one of the younger children completely engrossed in an old Astro magazine. It struck me that the things that I used to do as a child are luxyry to them. There is no children’s playing corner, colouring books, toys, story books and dolls. When I drove home that evening, I felt an urge to do something. The concept of a children's mobile library with donated children's books might be just it !
This trip in October I did not load my car with potato, tepung and adult pampers.
Instead it is a bag of children's readers and colouring books donated from my generous friends Racun, Assam-boi and Seetau-Po. The happy Hedge smiling in the background is donated by a friend who is working with the press and probably has picked it up from the movie gala night. He also passed some old magazines with high-quality printed glossy pictures of interior designs and recipes. The old folks just love reading them.
If the books are just left passively at the home, I doubt if the children will be interested. My commitment is to to read to the children and get them to do some activities during my monthly visit. The old folks love our company too. My buddy
Life-treker who came with me with Nutty Nat, is certainly a charmer and popular amongst aunties of all races in the home. Giving him time, I bet he will find out even the most personal stories from each of the residents of the home.
I shall also bring along each time a new change of books. Nutty Nat has a little bookshelf that she no longer uses. She will give it to the home for their bookshelf. Another friend Uncle H has already suggested to sponsor ice creams
Hopefully donation of books will grow over time, and more volunteers will be enrolled to read to the children and visit the home. I am looking forward to my November visit.
Bangsar Baru Bazaar Ramadhan
It took an email from a sister in Australia and an YM chat message from another in Singapore for me to realize that there is a food carnival right in my neighborhood.
Tucked at a one-way street ( Jalan Sehala ) in front of the Bangsar Mosque and running along Jalan Maarof, the bazaar offered a great assortment of kuih muih to delight the sweetest of all sweet tooth. The Macik at the corner stall was serving up big bowls of piping hot assam laksa. Mat Rocks were trying to outdo each other by offering ayam pecik against charcoal grilled BBQ fish. With the the haze that is engulfing KL, I am not going to apologize for falling for a big glass of thirst quinching air bandung. Take a bite at the juicy roti John, I was transported back to my childhood. I allowed the sweet and sour tomato ketchup tickled my palette as I sinked my teeth into the delicious egg laced fried bread.
Amoi, soya panas, Bandung sejuk, satu lagi?
Free rider
A butterfly took a lift from me from Bangsar to One Utama. It clinged onto my windscreen while I was waiting for the traffic light outside Bangsar Shopping Center to turn green and endured a good 10 minutes of very windy ride. Though I tried to drive slower and stopped by several other traffic lights along the way, this little fellow refused to leave. Just when I thought its fragile wings are going to be flattened by oncoming gush of wind, my car reached the traffic light at One Utama. Swiftly and elegantly it flattered its wings and disappeared into the bushes nearby - without uttering even a word of thank you.
Furla bags in my wastepaper bins
My friend Ling is a passionate environmentalist. Her birthday celebration 4 weeks ago turned out to be her podium for a compelling speech on recycling. Boring it might seemed, I learnt about how Ikea designers painstaking ensure every single material they use are recyclable – right from sofa to towels to plastic flowers.
I learnt that in recycling paper products, newspaper is to be separated from white paper before recycling process could begin. Envelopes from junk mails could be recycled but the windows need to be removed. Then there is
plastic, the major culprit which makes up at least 20% of the average household bin (which for me is easily 50% while paper makes up the other 40%). Each day the plastic items that I throw away ranges from mineral water bottles to the packing materials supermarket uses for fruits and vegetables.
But what is the point of separating plastic from paper and white paper from colored ones when our garbage incinerator practically combined them all and burnt them off in a big torch? Well there are NGOs and voluntory groups that sets up stalls to collect recyclable items at desingated days in various suburbs. Separating them before we hand the recyclable items to them save them the effort. Indeed I know of a recycling collection van by a buddhist-run NGO every Sunday outside TMC, my neigbourhood supermarket. They in turn sell their collections to privately own recycling centers and the fees collected is channeled into charity funds.
The prospect of being able to regenerate values from discarded items intrigue me. Therefore, the next day I set up a recycling corner at my backyard.
Today , 4 weeks after the recycling corner is set up, I have stopped stuffing junk mail into my waste paper basket. They are stacked up nicely on the little stool at the recycling corner. I discover I could reuse the transparent packing boxes supermarket uses for strawberries to store tomatoes and mushrooms bought from the pasar malam.
May be I have become older , may be I have become more cost conscious, but I feel good about not wasting and contributing to good deeds. Just think about it - if 1 kg of paper fetches 1RM at the recycling station and if everyday I throw away 500g of paper comprising of junk mail , printed documents , writing paper, and I continuously do this for 20 years, it will be like draining away RM 3650 - that is good enough for me to buy 3 Furla bags ! No way I am going to throw away 3 Furla bags !
This was my Dad's 69th birthday feast last month. The picture were taken with my mom's latest toy - a kodak Easyshare C533. But it was only yesterday that my mom fully acquainted with the function of transfer, edit and special effect from sepia tone to cartoon shade. However we decided to present this picture in its most authentic way as our most sincere birthday wish to our beloved Dad.
Instead it is a bag of children's readers and colouring books donated from my generous friends Racun, Assam-boi and Seetau-Po. The happy Hedge smiling in the background is donated by a friend who is working with the press and probably has picked it up from the movie gala night. He also passed some old magazines with high-quality printed glossy pictures of interior designs and recipes. The old folks just love reading them.
It took an email from a sister in Australia and an YM chat message from another in Singapore for me to realize that there is a food carnival right in my neighborhood. 
A butterfly took a lift from me from Bangsar to One Utama. It clinged onto my windscreen while I was waiting for the traffic light outside Bangsar Shopping Center to turn green and endured a good 10 minutes of very windy ride. Though I tried to drive slower and stopped by several other traffic lights along the way, this little fellow refused to leave. Just when I thought its fragile wings are going to be flattened by oncoming gush of wind, my car reached the traffic light at One Utama. Swiftly and elegantly it flattered its wings and disappeared into the bushes nearby - without uttering even a word of thank you.
My friend Ling is a passionate environmentalist. Her birthday celebration 4 weeks ago turned out to be her podium for a compelling speech on recycling. Boring it might seemed, I learnt about how Ikea designers painstaking ensure every single material they use are recyclable – right from sofa to towels to plastic flowers.
