Bedtime gossips

On the male anatomy.

CH: Someone told me that guys who are circumcised have greater sex drive because they (the little they) are more sensitive.
NY: Hahahahahaahhahaah!!!!
CH: Really. Why are you laughing?
NY: Hahahahahahahah! Because XYZ is circumcised!
CH: How do you know?
NY: Because he told a few of us before. Long ago, when we were in school. He said his parents took him to the hospital when he was a little boy. He said they thought it would be more hygienic. Hahahaahahah!
CH: How would it be more hygienic?
NY: I think it is, too. My cousin is circumcised. When he was a little boy he kept getting infections and the doctor said he got too much foreskin when his penis is not erected and it was trapping dirt.
CH: Ewe!
NY: And our friend told me once that when he was a doctor in the urology department, he had to insert something into a patient’s penis (OUCH) and he could see trapped dirt under the foreskin, too.
CH: EWE!
NY: See, it is more hygienic.
CH: But it makes them more horny!
NY: What?? I’ve never heard of that before.
CH: Really. That’s why the Malays are more sexually active than us (the Chinese, not us as in CH and I, but the comparison still holds true).
NY: Gosh! That cannot be real. Who told you that?
CH: You have not heard of it? But I’ve had a few guys told me that in uni.
NY: Like who?
CH: Henry for one.
NY: Henry? How would Henry know? He’s not circumcised.
CH: He is a guy. He would know! I mean if people say anything about the female body we would know, too.
NY: That is true…

On national current affairs.

CH: Our prime minister is getting married.
NY: What?
CH: My colleague told me that. It is true. I checked on the Internet.
NY: So soon? Who is she?
CH: I said that, too. But my colleague says it is not that soon because his wife died 1.5 years ago.
NY: Wow, talk about different perspectives.
CH: This lady is Endon’s ex-sister in law. Divorced from her brother long time ago. Has two daughters. And she is Chinese. At least she is not a young girl.
NY: How old is she?
CH: 53
NY: Wow, you know a lot.
CH: I got it from the Internet.

On politics (we are deep, us girls).

CH: When is the next elections?
NY: 2008
CH: Ok, I must make sure I am home at that time.
NY: Ya, me too.
CH: Have you voted? I’ve voted before (detect the gloating).
NY: I’ve voted twice (ditto).
CH: I tried to register the first time but it didn’t get through so I didn’t get to vote that year.
NY: Yes, I remember. 1998. The government didn’t approve the registrations of many people that year because they feared the young people would vote opposition.
CH: Christine, YL, HM and I were talking about elections and they all had not voted before. They don’t really care.
NY: I know… many people don’t.
CH: But you have to exercise your rights!
NY: Yes! You go girl!
CH: In Shah Alam, it actually doesn’t matter because we always get BN and PAS.
NY: Urgh… that is quite a no brainer. In Subang we get BN and Keadilan. It’s no that I like Keadilan or I want the opposition to win. I just don’t want BN to get so many votes. If we have Gerakan from BN I would vote them cos they are like the opposition within BN. You are right. BN and PAS is bad. I wonder what would I do.
CH: Ya, please tell me!
NY: Well, we cannot vote PAS, that’s for sure. But if we have to vote that means BN gets another vote.
CH: So how?
NY: I guess I won’t go vote then.
CH: But you have to!
NY: Then I will void my vote.
CH: Like pangkah* all the boxes?
NY: Ya.

*Malay for "cross"

Please, make me a picture

That’s how many Europeans say it, I noticed. They don’t say, “Could you please take a picture for me.” They say, “Please, could you make a picture for me.”

It sounds unusual to English speakers like most of us because we take, not make pictures.

It got me to thinking why. And I think I won’t be wrong to say that “make a picture” is a literal translation from the user’s own language.

It’s like how the Chinese always get “he” and “she” confused because in Chinese there is no difference.

Make me a picture.

Is that correct?

I reasoned that in the very technical sense, it is in fact, correct. And that TAKE a picture, is actually not. We, in the literal sense, cannot take a picture. We can pick up (the act of taking) a printed photograph of a picture, but can we pick up the vision before us?

Now, to MAKE a picture. When we click the shutter button, what we in fact do, is to create on film/ digital pixels the vision we see through the lenses. Isn’t that the making of a picture?

The English language is actually quite “aggressive”, if you think about it. So, I quite like the way Europeans say it ☺

Playground of the kings

Hampton Court Palace is renowned for its opulence and the still beautifully kept grounds. CH and I took advantage of good weather two weekends back for a visit. As we were both bored of old buildings, we enjoyed only the gardens.

Here are some of my favourite shots. I have no idea why the vertical shots appear horizontal even though they appeared the right way on my computer. Pointers, anyone?

Three new dreams

“I want to be a forensic scientist when I grow up,” Saphie said. Every night we watched CSI and/or Bones before we go to bed.

“Then you got to be very good with your Maths,” I said. That is not quite true but Ping said she is very lazy with doing her Maths so I am trying to do some cajoling here.

“When you grow up, what do you want to be?” Saphie asked me.

“But darling, I am already grown up.” I tried to get out of saying I was a journalist and a PR consultant. How to explain to a seven going to be eight year old inquisitive girl? Nobody says she wants to grow up to be a PR consultant; surely not I!

“How old are you, jie jie?”
“31.”
“When you grow up to become 32, what do you want to be?”
“Happy.” I said. Hah!

Saphie is very persistent and she asked me that same question probably four of the six days I was there (I was supposed to stay only four days- see how persuasive she can get?).

So it actually got me thinking. What do I want to be when I grow up? I’ve come to a point of thinking how youth is wasted on the young. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?

Today I was day-dreaming and I felt a little disappointed at myself for thinking the way I did. Later, walking out of church after an inspiring message, my mind strung some words that have been recurring.

New season. Dreams. Harvest.

What if I am not beyond dreaming of what I want to be/do when I grow up from 30 to 50? It’s really the start of another season, no? ☺

(I am very good at defining my own universe, you see)

So here are three more for the road (of course there are more!).

1. Have an organic farm (some you think this is in commercial scale but I’m thinking my parents’ backyard!)
2. Have a small “tent-making” business of my own that would give me flexible time
3. Write a book

Notice the lack of physically challenging activities!! But I would so do hang gliding again ☺
Gin, you wanna write three new dreams down? This time you can refer to this website in case you forget!

Anyone feel like dreaming?

p/s Jenn I know you wanna go Disneyland and I did say I would go with you ☺ If you don’t mind me being the lamp post!

7 random things...

...that Krystal doesn't know about me.

1. I know how to make tiramisu and it turns out well :) You surely don’t know this because I only learnt how to, three days ago.

2. I like to do things with my fingers. Playing the piano. Taking pictures. Developing prints in the darkroom. Folding origami storks. Cooking. Weeding. Gardening. Doodling. Arranging things. I think I could be good at baking, too, if and when I take it up :)

3. I used to think that cats yowl was because they were hungry and wanted food. My grandma told me so when I was four. I believed her until I was in college and saw the actions that came with the yowling.

4. When we were in high school, Gin and I listed three dreams we would like to achieve in our lifetimes. One of mine was to go to Disneyland twice. I don't know why twice. But I did just that, without being conscious of fulfilling this "dream" while they came to pass. I've been to the original one in Anaheim, California and the one in Disney World, Florida. Disneyland is indeed, magical.

5. I have only really, really liked two men in my life and neither of them were my ex-boyfriends. Tragic, huh?

6. Some noises unnerve me. Slamming doors, loud arguments, thumping and harried footsteps.

7. I didn’t think I could keep a blog for so long. September makes two years :)

All about Saphie

I used to think I would not be able to live away from the city but I think age has gotten to me. I like this little town of Buckingham where Ping and Saphie live.

In the morning I indulge in sleeping late (9+); saunter into the kitchen for tea and toast; read the papers; check my emails and look for jobs.

Yesterday I had to pick Saphie from school. Two hours before that I got into a mini panic attack- there is no food. What if she gets hungry when she gets home? I settled for the simple stuff and whatever I could find in the larder and fridge. It was to be pasta and prawns marinara.

I walked to Saphie's school, 15 min away from the house. Ping was at work and I get to do the honour. I came with Ping the day before and one of the moms thought I was 20!?!? Saphie gladly told her teacher that I am her sister because she says I look like her. I look nothing like a Chinese-Italian although that would be nice.

On the way home Saphie showed me a different route. "The long way," she said. We walked through some lush greenery and what reminded me of "the woods" in Enid Blyton's stories. I could almost imagine fairies spying on us. "Be careful of stinging nettles!" Saphie warned.

Ping had told me she would ask to go to the playground, which would be OK. But Saphie changed her mind and decided she would like to make butterfly cupcake. Gulp. Me? Bake?? She must have read my thoughts: " We have instructions on the box". This little girl reads body language and nuances very well.

We searched high and low (basement also) but could not find the measuring spoons. How was I to know how much is 50g of butter?? Let's see, one box contains 500g so I would just make divisions of 10. "You're so smart!" "Thanks darling, I know." :)

Ping came back while we were whisking the dough. Our butterfly cupcakes turned out well and so did the icing. Hurrah!

Then we played badminton in the garden while Ping watered her plants. We mused about starting a garden center together, Ping and I.

Saphie gets me to stay in the bathroom with her while she takes her shower because she doesn't like to be in there alone. Ping hears not of the nonsense but me, I am a woosie... The bathroom, by the way, is larger than my dorm room in Butler's Wharf when I was in LSE. I sit on the cushions with a book while Saphie talks in the shower.

I dry her hair and she continues talking. Something about a boyfriend called Callum and them getting married when they turn 9.

She made a necklace for me from her beads collection. They all came off when she tried to wear it for me. We patiently strung the beads together again. This happened twice.

Then she wanted to type on my computer- she is fascinated by my white Macbook.

Time for bed. Saphie kissed me while I brushed my teeth and wished me good night. She went into her room and came out again. "Jie jie, are you still washing your face?" She comes over and hugged me from behind and kissed me again.

Repeat.

Today Saphie has African drumming lessons after school and then her dad picks her up for swimming. Ping asked if it is OK is she spends time with daddy while she and I go out for a drink this evening.

"Bu neng!" (Mandarin: Not possible!)
"Why?"
"Because she didn't just come for you, you know!"

Ping and I were dumbfounded. She is flabbergasting and lovely all at once.

"Will you come to Italy for my birthday in August?"
"Will you come to Greece with us?"

When Ping and Saphie came to Singapore last year they stayed three nights. On the morning they were to depart I woke up with a big lump in my throat. After the taxi drove off I went back to my apartment and it never felt so empty.

Criticisms of the Abdullah Era

Some people don’t like Pak Lah and the biggest grouse is that he didn’t do much and didn’t do what he promised.

I can’t say I like or dislike the guy and I regret he really didn’t do anything to curb corruption and bring culprits into justice as he has promised.

But with the former common fault I cannot agree. In my view, people who accuse him of not doing much for the country is so used to Mahathirism. For 27 years he was the driver of the economy and UMNO politics. People are so used to have that strong force and when times are good (and they were) it is easy to over look the detrimental effects of all that bulldozing.

As a journalist I interviewed an UMNO politician once who said something I will always remember. He said under Mahathir, a whole generation of leaders has been quashed because he did not allow dissent. To me, that sounded like something to be mourned.

Patronage, it seems, preceded democracy, which I believe would have produced more credible leaders.

If Pak Lah’s “weakness” allowed more factions to grow within UMNO and if among the cracks of those factions arise independent-minded individuals, I am thankful.

On the business front, the community cannot always depend on the government to pump in resources and to be the driver of the economy as with the construction industry right now. The Maybank-law firm-bumiputra-shareholding fiasco is such a shameful development and you see what damage government intervention can do.

The business community must grow up and learn to be proactive. The government should only put in place policies that would enhance and catalyse the development of commerce (i.e., interest rates models, bankruptcy laws, customs and taxes processes, etc).

And sometimes, that can only happen when the government takes a step back and let things happen on their own. Be watchful and step in when necessary (i.e., telco’s local roaming) but not be the jump-starter all the time. Not anymore. We need to grow up as a nation.

Sometimes, doing less or backtracking IS doing something. I am glad this Merill Lynch report came out in the news today:

Merrill Lynch: Abdullah’s leadership is creditable

KUALA LUMPUR: International merchant bank Merrill Lynch says that while recent reforms in Malaysia have been attracting a lot of attention, the country’s new political regime under Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has been largely under-appreciated.

“But we think that due credit is not being properly given to the country’s new leadership under Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who took over the helm in late 2003,” the merchant bank said in its latest analysis on Malaysia.

“We believe that this change in leadership has been one of the most under-appreciated, if not the most important, developments in Malaysia following 22 years of rule under Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad,” said the merchant bank in an analysis undertaken by its Hong Kong-based economist, Arthur Woo.

Merrill Lynch said although the Prime Minister is often criticised for being too slow, indecisive and deferring to consensus too often, “we believe his new style of leadership may be exactly what the country needs to rejuvenate the economy’s long-term growth prospects, especially in the face of rapid globalisation.”

Merrill Lynch said Abdullah had made a number of tough but critical decisions since he assumed power.

“Many of these decisions, which addressed issues left over from Dr Mahathir’s era, are under-appreciated,” it added.

These include the restructuring of GLCs [NY: this can go one step further by reducing Govt stakes], foreign exchange liberalisation, improved foreign relations, reducing fuel subsidies and cancelling non-essential projects.

As for foreign exchange liberalisation, the merchant bank said the unwinding of capital controls and the de-linking of the ringgit to the US dollar that were implemented in 1998 had helped reverse international investor perception that Malaysia is not open for business.

“This move has played a critical role in re-attracting foreign capital and investment.

“The decision to reduce fuel subsidies and cancel mega projects like a new bridge linking Malaysia to Singapore and the cross-country double-tracking railway line highlighted the fact that Abdullah understood the importance of fiscal discipline and keeping the overall level of public debt in check,” said Merrill Lynch. – Bernama