TIME FLIES

I love being a mother. It’s the most rewarding job I’ve had so far. Of course, I’m using the term “job” very loosely here. Motherhood is not a really a job. It’s more than that. It’s my life!

During her early days, I always felt like it would be ages before I could see this little being take her first steps. And suddenly, she’s started walking and uttering one and two syllables words. Where did all the months go? Time seems to fly by without me noticing it. Now, I start fearing the day when she’d stop needing me the way she needs me now. Now I know what my parents mean when they say I’ll always be their baby, never mind the fact that I’m already in my mid-thirties. I can never stop being her mother. I’ll continue worrying about her even if she says she’s all grown up and that she’s doing fine on her own.

Ahh...Motherhood. It’s bittersweet I’m telling you.

Hijrah

I seem to be running out of steam with this blog. I tried to continue writing but to no avail. This little place no longer gives me any inspiration.

Hijrah... yes, that's what I'm going to do.

I'm leaving this space. Insyaallah, I'll return.

Kalau ada sumur di ladang
Boleh kita menumpang mandi
Kalau ada umur yang panjang
Boleh kita berjumpa lagi.

THE MEASURE OF SOCIAL GRACIOUSNESS?

I was watching an outdated "Six Degrees of Seperation" hosted by the ever beautiful Asha Gill on Discovery Channel earlier. In that episode, the host was in Singapore and at one part, she was interviewing Jack, the President (I think) of the Public Toilet Association. Regardlesss of what some of us might think of this society (though I honestly wish we have our equivalent), I just want to quote Jack quoting Singapore's Prime Minister:

" We should measure our social graciousness by the level of cleanliness of our public toilet."

Nicely put, I must say.

And I start to reflect on the sorry state of our public lavatories. Goodness me! We still have a long way to go...

KISAH HUJUNG MINGGU

Yang terpekik terlolong sampai keluar urat-urat di leher, rata-ratanya Melayu. Pengusaha gerai-gerai pasar malam yang terpaksa menanggung kerugian pun rata-ratanya Melayu juga. Siapa yang rugi? Fikir-fikirkan lah…

Demonstrasi diwar-warkan sebagai tunjuk perasaan anti ISA. Tiba-tiba keluar sepanduk “Suruhanjaya Pembunuh Rakyat Malaysia!” yang dipegang oleh mereka-mereka yang berkopiah. Laa… pulak dah! Ingatkan tadi demonstrasi anti-ISA. Ini apa pulak terselit isu kematian Beng Hock?

Apa sebenarnya hala tuju demonstrasi hujung minggu baru-baru ini? Saya agak pening dan keliru.

Ruginya bila bertindak membuta tuli tanpa ilmu di dada. Agaknya, berapa ramai di antara mereka yang berdemonstrasi telah membaca akta ISA dan faham apa yang mereka perjuangkan? Atau, mereka cuma bertindak mengikut telunjuk tuan besar dan justeru itu, hanya layak dipanggil sebagai boneka-boneka sahaja? Kesian…

Berjuanglah secara bijak. Kamu sudah diberi mandat oleh rakyat untuk bersuara di Dewan. Jadi, gunakanlah mandat itu sebaik mungkin. Saluran yang betul sudah tersedia. Jadi, mengapa masih perlu berarak macam kambing pulang petang di tengah-tengah bandaraya?

Lagak seperti ini membuatkan saya menjadi bosan.Saya mahu pembangkang yang lebih “pro-active and assertive”. Jangan kerana anda pembangkang, segalanya hendak dibangkang! Dan berjuanglah untuk rakyat. Bukan untuk membalas dendam kesumat yang membara di dada. Tunjukkan sedikit kematangan dalam berpolitik.

Percayalah, bukan semua rakyat suka berdemonstrasi membuta tuli tanpa arah tuju pada hujung minggu.

Jika inilah lagaknya, tidak mustahil suatu hari nanti, anak cucu saya akan menjadi hamba di negara sendiri. Sedih sungguh bila difikirkan… Buat apa menang sorak tapi akhirnya kampung tergadai? Bilalah Melayu akan sedar?

I'M MISSING YOU BOTH...

Mama misses daddy. Mama misses Tatija.

Daddy is in the Queen's Kingdom, managing a project. Tatija is in Kuantan with Wan and Tok Abah because mama refuses to hire a maid to take care of Tatija (mama is one PARANOID lady!) and those good day care centres only take toddlers of 18 months and above. So, until mama and daddy can find a possible solution, you will continue to be spoilt rotten by Wan, Tok Abah and all your uncles and aunties!

And where is mama? Mama is all alone, feeling miserable in KL. Mama's not there in Kuantan with you this weekend because my boss loves me so much and has ordered me to work the whole weekend. BUT, my weekend will start early next week. Yaay!

Mama can't wait to see you, princess. And we can skype (don't we love all these technologies?) with daddy who is missing you dearly too. The lovely summer weather does nothing to uplift daddy's spirit, it seems. Hhmmm... time for daddy to come home, don't you think so?

This was taken last week. Courtesy of Tatija's Pak Ngah.

And this was taken about a month ago. Those are definitely daddy's eyebrows :)

Mama's heart and soul. At GIMC to see good Dr. Adrian.

ZEBRA CROSSINGS

If any of you works in one of the buildings along Jalan Raja Chulan near Pavillion and you have to park your car next to Novotel (because most of the buildings do not have sufficient parking bays for tenants) then you are surely familiar with the difficulty when trying to cross the roads in that area especially in the morning. It is like committing suicide! I am now contemplating to tell my HR manager that the staffs ought to be given “hardship allowance” for having to brave the traffic to get to work everyday. I almost got hit by a car this morning and I am fuming mad! I need to let this anger out of my system before I start work.

In all honesty, if the City Hall and traffic police do not do anything, a major accident involving pedestrian is just waiting to happen. You see, there are two zebra crossings between Wisma Cosway, Novotel and the road behind Novotel. The thing is, only the zebra crossing behind Novotel is equipped with a set of traffic lights. The one between Wisma Cosway and Novotel only has the blinking orange light to remind drivers to slow down as they are approaching the zebra crossing. But we all know how Malaysian drivers are. We can be proud of the fact that we have some of the worst and most notorious drivers in the world! And please, I don’t need some empirical studies to support this contention. The daily behaviours that I see on the road are enough to lead me to that conclusion.

Anyway, if Malaysian drivers can ignore the red light and speed off, what makes the authorities think they will take heed and stop when they see the blinking orange light? In fact, they speed faster when they see pedestrians waiting to cross at the zebra crossing. Some of them, usually motorcyclists, even scream at the pedestrians if they still insist on crossing. I stood by the roadside one day, just curious to see how many cars would actually stop and give way to pedestrians. Out of fifty cars (a rough estimate), one would stop at the zebra crossing. ONE!!! So much for world class mentality! On one occasion, a group of tourists was almost run over by a car. The car driver pretended nothing like happened and sped off. I was like what the @#$!??? I was so embarrassed by this incident.

So, if you are about to take up a job in this deadly area, good luck! And it is useful if you are agile and run really fast. Even better if you are bionic.

Kepada pihak DBKL dan polis trafik - Tolonglah buat sesuatu!

ZEE AVI - ALBUM REVIEW

I am listening to Zee Avi this very moment. Bought her CD at Victoria, Sungei Wang Plaza during lunch hour. By the way, I love Victoria music store. It’s located on the ground floor of Sungei Wang. I think it’s one of the best music stores in KL if not the best! True, the layout is a far cry from that of Tower Record or any other upmarket music stores but the staffs are friendly and their stocks are so varied you can find almost any record! At least I can… It’s also a plus point when the salespersons are able to give their reviews on a particular record I’m interested in. Sometimes, it feels like I’m walking into one of those back lane record stores in London where I would be greeted by young men with dreadlocks and smell like they haven’t seen the shower or bath tub for weeks. But the blaring feng-tau music from surrounding stores ensures I am homebound again. Browsing through stacks of CDs in Victoria usually results in a lunch-less lunch hour and a poorer me.

I digress.

Back to Zee Avi. I am officially her fan. She is truly a talented young lady and I believe this is only the beginning. She exhibits extraordinary maturity and depth through her pieces. Her music is simple, uncomplicated. The strumming and plucking of guitar sound flawless. Her phrases are short and catchy. One way to describe her work is honest and without pretense. I have always had this inclination towards singers who sing without much layering or fancy arrangements. The likes of Tunde Baiyewu, Norah Jones, Keiko Lee and another superb local talent who deserves a separate review in this blog, Yuna.

Zee Avi’s voice is strong yet never overpowering. A testament that a good singer does not need to hit high note on each line. A Malay word that comes to my mind every time I hear her voice is “lemak”. I’m still thinking of a comparable English adjective… Perhaps “rich”? You see, literally, “lemak” means “fat” (noun). But I can’t say her voice is “fat”. It does not make sense. So, I leave it as “rich” until I can think of a better word. There I go again. I can never stay on track. If Zee Avi were to commission me to write promo articles for her album, I would’ve been axed the moment she reads this all-over-the-place piece.

Anyway, expect to be blown away by her rich, sultry voice. The thing is, when you sing with only one or two accompanying instruments, your margin for mistakes is almost zero. Any mistake is magnified and you cannot hide behind some fancy arrangement or digitalized layering.

This self titled debut album will definitely catapult Zee Avi’s career to the next level. It is not merely an attempt to prove that this girl can sing. She’s done that long before her album is out. I view this album as an introduction to Zee Avi and what she, as a singer songwriter, embodies and represents. I look forward to many, many more beautiful albums from this talented young lady.