Death|Reflection

One of my husband's friend Adlan passed away on Monday 14 Nov 2011 @ 6 pm. According to the info circulated he was involved in a car crash & died soon upon impact. I did not know him personally but I guess you could say that I knew him by association. He dated my uni classmate when we were in year 2 of degree. Adlan was 37 years young at the time of his passing.

The week before one of my colleague's husband's uncle (.. was that confusing?) passed away at the age of 54 due to a breathing/heart complication, caused by pneumonia. He left behind 5 children, the youngest being 21.

Both incidents remind me how brief our time on earth is. How fleeting the moments can be- our memories, our family and friends... all left behind. It makes me ask a lot of questions (.. as always). Would people remember me fondly? Would my students and siblings and children take away some of my advice? Would I have made a small tiny difference in another person's life? Would anyone miss me? Will I be prepared for the afterlife? (.. I hope so). Also as usual, I have more questions that answers. I will however strive to be the best me I could be :)

May they both rest in peace.

Relative Success

My second son obtained 5Bs in the recent UPSR- his results are not good but not exactly bad either. My rosy estimate is that he would be in the middle-upper percentile(?) but I really won't be pedantic about it & start looking for statistics.

How do I respond to this? Both me and hubby have always been achievers in school, so we did not know how to respond. Son 1 obtained 2As and 3Bs & we had expected Son 2 to do a bit better. Anyhow I ended up giving Son 2 a lot of advice to keep improving (.. should I have done more?). When I asked him how he thought of his performance, he expressed that he was really disappointed of the results. Next question: why did he not do well in the exams? He mentioned that there were some questions for which he was uncertain of the answer. Fair enough. In that case, he needed more preparation. Maybe with past year questions, to improve the chances of success. Left right and centre every friend's child is getting 5As. However I forced myself to recall my own advice: compare you with you, not with others (.. does that make sense?). I take the blame fully for being a neglectful (.. is there such a word?) mother. WILL DO BETTER!!

The "Do"

We attended an MOU session yesterday evening with people from the MOHE. The reception was very warm and I was surprised to be directed to the VIP Holding Room (...me? are you sure?). Upon the announcement being made we were escorted to the main hall where everyone stood up to welcome us. I felt like I wanted to dissolve onto the floor.

Most people who know me seem to think I am a confident, self-assured being. In honest truth I am the direct opposite. To avoid being dramatic I went along with the entourage (as there was a sizeable number of representatives from our uni) & found that people were more interested in the Ketua Pengarah and our Vice Chancellor's speeches (... you think?).

Overall it was a smooth & well-run event, one that I wish I could pull off in a couple of years' time. Tip to self for future events: get immersed with the people and the event and bring the attention away from yourself. It is not about you (although you'd like it to be.. haha)

Ogle Factor

How does it feel to be approaching 40 & getting attention? I had a weird experience this morning- a few guys in a landscaping/maintenance van whistled & winked at me. Perhaps the poor light of the morning or their poor eyesight disguised my age. It was flattering nevertheless. Sophisticated men (executives) would never have dared to do that to me, but the blue collar guys really have nothing to lose. Why not make an old woman's day? Haha..

A Wedding & An Education

Eja's wedding was held at Taman Warisan Pertanian Putrajaya on 12 Nov 2011. Her husband appeared nice & we wished her well. Her wedding was simple, yet traditional & elegant.

After bidding Eja leave, we took some photos at the area & noticed that the park is much bigger than we thought it was. Farhah and I explored the area & we found the entrance. Taman Warisan Pertanian ("Agricultural Heritage Park"- my translation) houses multiple species of plants typical to Malaysia e.g. jambu air, durian, delima, kedondong, dragon fruits, longan (to name a few). Some buntings containing details of the plants' medicinal properties were rather atrociously translated e.g. "launch periods" for "melancarkan peredaran darah haid" was one example I remember well for its shock factor.

Bad translations aside, we found that the entrance fee is RM2 for adults & decided that we should come back another day for a visit. After all, it is a park with potential. On the way out we passed by various plants like pandan, kaduk, limau kasturi, pegaga and at the entrance, bought 2 kg of jambu air for RM4- the workers claimed they were organically grown (pesticide-free & fertilised with chicken droppings). We shall be back!

11.11.11

This is just my habit of wanting to record/document something on special dates.

Today is pretty ordinary & ho-hum apart from the fantastic date (on which may have decided to get married, I've been told):
- 9.00-10.30 am: Attended a management meeting
- 10.40 am-12.40 pm: Taught a class
- 2-3 pm: Conducted an interview & we decided to offer the person the job
- 3-5 pm: Attended training on "How to be a Good Supervisor"