Gigi Kekal

I pulled out one of my daughter's front tooth just now... using dental floss. The tooth was hanging from her gum, unwilling to let go so we decided to relieve it from its misery.

Sorry- I got distracted surfing Yahoo Malaysia Answers. I have one question: Do we have smart people running the country? I don't expect any answers for this. Shall we let this question resonate for another year and see what happens?

I have a dream

I have a dream...

That one day we will all identify ourselves as Malaysians- strong and proud (not Malay, Malaysian Chinese, Malaysian Indian, Chindian or whatever else- it's getting confusing e.g. "Bianca has a Malay-Arab-Spanish mother and a Portuguese-Dutch-Javanese-Chinese father"... see how long write-ups would be because of this? Compare that to "Malaysian Bianca wows the West-End crowd"- simple, sweet, concise without having to dig into one's lineage)

That a common school is the school where everyone goes to, to learn to be multilingual together, not for cultural reasons, not for racial supremacy but out of the pure interest to learn

That one day we will be truly free... of bigotry, of hatred, of unnecessary pre-judgments

For our children never to be afraid... to speak their mind, to explore, to be free and to be proud of the country that they love

For all of us to be civic-minded and conscious of others... not because of fear of penalty but because it is the right thing to do

Now... let's play the devil's advocate and rationalise how long it'll take for the dreams to materialise. Soon? Sooner than soon? Longer than eternity? Never? Keep dreaming? Since the above is not contained in any government doctrine, maybe "never" is the most likely answer.

Hmmm... the thing with me is that I can never find a good conclusion for my blogs. I always like to leave with questions that make people think but not necessary cause them to wander in the wilderness. Now, howsoever shall I end this entry?

Maybe my final dream is for me to always know how to start & end things properly.

Buka Puasa

Last night me & my colleagues went for a communal breaking of fast at our parent company's site... It's one of those events where people go out of courtesy and everyone always comes with their own gang. At a table of 10, I had the misfortune of sitting next to smart alec who just cannot keep quiet. He's one of those guys whom you work with but rather not talk to... What did I do to overcome this predicament? I kept a smiling face, the best smiling face I could muster with the thought "Don't you ever shut up?"

This morning I was almost grazed by a blue Vios by a sliver-of-a-hair's distance... somebody was in a hurry. Thanks to my superior car-handling skills, I didn't ram into the car in front. I had thought that if you had a taller car than everyone else, other drivers could see the signals better. Boy, was I wrong! Malaysians are signal-blind. We never bother. We have another few years before we get the 'developed nation' status. How do we become developed with a third world mentality? God help us.

The little girl who died

She looked so peaceful in the photo published a day after she was found dead, stuffed in a sports bag and dumped in front of an office. We can only imagine the horror she went through, the fear and abuse culminating in her death. This is a person, for goodness' sake- who is deranged enough to do that to a child?

Hubby has gotten a little paranoid of the safety of our own children, but yesterday he made an interesting remark: Do crimes happen for no reason?

Cause and Effect

We're having to firefight because a colleague pushed a student up one level. Needless to say a furore ensued when his classmates demanded the same treatment, not wanting to attend classes until we pushed the whole lot of them up. What can I say?

Meanwhile, fasting month has its perks. We came to work early, worked through lunch & get to leave 1 hour early- fabulous! I love the kuih muih on sale and I love breaking fast with the children. I definitely love the serenity of the whole month. A kind of peace descends upon the earth, especially at night time.

Did I tell you that I have to develop a whole subject from scratch & I have to teach it next week? How about that for a challenge? At least I'll be getting some help doing it. No students yet- hopefully nobody will sign up for it *fingers crossed*

I have to write a letter to my children's school and give a copy to the PTA. My daughter was punished for something that she didn't do. She probably got up to support a dear friend and got caned as a result. In plain sight- before a few hundred students during their morning assembly. The reason for punishment escapes me. As always, I have a strong feeling that the purpose is to evoke an overwhelming sense of fear to reduce students into submission. Never mind the reason. The 'Gurubesar' said so and it shall be law of the land.

Whatever happened to "innocent until proven guilty"? Guess it doesn't apply to some jurisdictions- punish first & ask questions later seem to be popular these days. What worries me is the message that it gives out. That it's okay to punish based on pure admission. What about evidence? What about extenuating circumstances? In the end, what will it do to the children's psyche? Gosh- I dread to think about it.

Blur

There's a 5000-word assignment waiting to be done on my table and it's due on Friday. Will it get done in time? I guess it'd have to, no matter what- too late to back down now.

My lecturer wouldn't be too happy if she chanced upon this blog :p

Tomorrow marks the beginning of the fasting month- yay! It's my favourite month of the year. Somehow the environment/ weather is a little different than usual- a little bit more peaceful, perhaps. People also tend to be kinder to each other during this month. My children and I will wake up early tomorrow for sahur.

I'm feeling under the weather. Hope I'll get better soon. I have GOT to get my thesis finished by end of this year and move on with my life! It's an unfinished business hanging over my head and I long for the day when I'd have it bound, ready for submission.

Well, for now I'll have to finish my assignment, get it submitted and then I'll channel all my energy to finishing the thesis- God help me!