Malay Drama

While the rest of the world has made a variety of dramas related to many different things, Malay dramas primarily centred around romantic love (boy-girl; husband-wife; girlfriend-boyfriend; love-triangles) and revenge (mostly amongst 2 individuals or 2 families).

Apart from Sabri Yunus' works related to "kisah masyarakat"; Leftenen Zana that portrays life in the army; and probably Jalan Sesat ke Syurga about a cult; I can't think of other shows that steers away from the plotlines mentioned in the above paragraph.

I must say I get so lethargic watching rehashed storylines. I wonder if the actors are tired of it as much as me. Is it the Malaysian viewers that demand these shows? Or are the scriptwriters already out of ideas? Or are all our book adaptations crappy because all our novels are about romantic love?

Korean drama; Japanese; even Chinese ones have evolved in leaps and bounds, and Malaysian dramas are still on the same plane. Tamil and Malaysian-Chinese-speaking dramas are breaking away from love-themed concepts but I guess they do not receive as much funding or viewership as Malay dramas.

Can we have dramas about:

- teachers teaching in rural areas

- B40 folks literally struggling to live

- kids from kampung and studying/ working in the cities

- pengemis/ beggars; prostitutes; drug users (reformed or otherwise) >> incidentally, Nur and Nur 2 were great/ fantastic shows

- a person who has faced challenges starting multiple businesses

- a chemist, physicist, mathematician

- a trainee in the aeronautics field, or Malaysia's future astronaut

- a sportsman, or a sports 

- a business idea that flopped/ succeeded

- a biography

- politics/ constitution (although I would admit that our current political scene is already fodder for drama)

- aspects of Malaysian history

- mythical stories/ fables (these may end up censored or banned post production due to tahyul themes)

- sci-fi (that is not silly looking) >> Hikayat Putera Syazlan many years ago was a great example of an imaginative drama, although not too sci-fi

- friends who achieve great things together e.g. a science project or an invention? (if we want kids interested in STEM, why do we not have more science shows?)

- language learning or travelling or exploration (e.g. Oh My English)

- sleuthing (e.g. Geng Bas Sekolah)

I know at the end of the day it is easier said than done. Me the couch potato can have 200 opinions yet the work will be done by the players/ experts in their fields who takes responsibility for the content. Come on Malaysia! We can do better 💪

Midlife Crisis

Swimming with Men is a movie about an accountant who is undergoing a phase in his life, where he was getting bored with work and having issues in his matrimonial relationship.

He was added on to a synchronised swimming team and they eventually competed in an international competition. The overall experience brought the men together and gave a direction for the team.

The story is good and Jane Horrocks carries her screen time well as Eric's councilor wife (I remembered her as the absent-minded PA from Ab Fab).

There were some scenes reminiscent of The Full Monty and many funny lines.

That short experience had turned their lives around and brought the men closer together. There is a sense of purpose, camaraderie, togetherness, and they achieved as a team.

As for me, my life quest continues.

Appropriate Response

This post is inspired from these news: 

1- Budak main basikal Jam 3 pagi di Putatan disangka hantu >> https://www.sabahpost.net/2021/01/02/budak-main-basikal-jam-3-pagi-di-putatan-disangka-hantu/

2- Budak min basikal disangka hantu >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adKuLYehEtg 

[Translated: A child cycling at 3 am thought to be a ghost]

In short, a person was driving in the neighbourhood and saw this small child on a tricycle outdoors at 3 am. It is uncharacteristic and out of the ordinary, I would admit. 

The driver of the car had shouted to the tiny cyclist "Kalau kau manusia, jawab sekarang" (If you are a human answer me now) but the child kept cycling onwards, which must have creeped the person out. Again, I can understand where they're coming from, given that time of night/ early morning.

The child was eventually taken to the local police station and they eventually found his mother. According to mom, he is an autistic child and without mom's knowledge, had cycled outside at 3am. I have friends with autistic children, and some behaviours appear unexplainable- in this case it could be that he was just restless & curious.

Like number four, who I believe has a minimal autism spectrum: she breaks down watching movie or drama scenes where a baby is crying, or a child is beaten up. In Kungfu Panda 1 & 2 when Po was left at his (foster) father's doorstep and when his mom left him, she was distraught to say the least. Yesterday during a drama scene showing a child being beaten up by his father, she hit her neck. I had to tell her that what she's seeing is merely acting and sound effects.

I see that behaviour in me too when I was younger. I remembered crying uncontrollably watching a sad Indonesian movie about orphaned children, and until today I cannot really watch movies with torture scenes without empathy. 

That is our response, compared to other people who can distance themselves from 'acting' and real life. 

10-day debt

Due to work demands I had been unable to write from 21-29 Dec and on 31 Dec. From today onwards I will be writing post-dated entries. Not ideal, but a promise (even though belated) is a promise. 

Blogger has this feature where we're able to set the post(ing) date, hence I am able to track the missing dates. A bit of cheating, but I blame it on my incessant workload in November (and primarily myself for not being able to say no when people asks me to do things at work).

November is my birth month, and since 2018 I have registered for Nanowrimo: National Novel Writing Month, but until 2020 I have not been able to write anything. There are 3 drafts that have just began with less than 1000 words, no even achieved the ONE day maximum for Nanowrimo.

What shall I do differently this year? Perhaps take a whole month off for November? Or quit my job? Or reassess my own commitments at work? What is it that I have agreed to that's so overwhelming that I cannot do much else?

UPDATE (5 Jan 2021): Had just realised that there are no entries in December. Looks like I have a 40 day debt instead of 10. Bummer. If you see the December entries being filled up, then yay for me. If not, it meant that I did not take up the challenge.

A Wandering Mind

Why ?

You must have that one friend that asks too many question. I am that irritating person 🙈

There are 101 things that go through my mind at any point in time. Most I would have answers to, as I let the questions percolate, or when I start reading about it.

When there is no time however, some questions just spew out in torrents.

So to my patient and understanding friends, thank you for accepting me for who I am. I am that person 😅

46th Birthday

I share the same birthdate as Elizabeth Hurley and Jodie Foster (according to wikipedia). We may or may not have similar characteristics, however I seem to still be searching my way through life at 46 while many others have achieved acclaim.

The main point here is the belief that everything happens at their own time, and everything happens for a reason. It is not my time yet for acclaim, perhaps I do not know how to handle it yet, or I may be expected to achieve something else first, or my rewards may be received in the hereafter (this I do hope).

I am humbled to be alive at this age, to be able to care for my children, to be able to sustain a living reasonably comfortably. I am completely grateful for the good health, great company, wonderful opportunities and possibly this job too which sometimes gets to me, but generally not too bad relative to other jobs that other people do.

Work From Home

In principle, working from home is every mother's dream. To be able to be with her child(en), not having to drill everyone out of bed early in the morning and fight crazy morning traffic, and to be able to cook/ have a meal and dash back to work in a matter of minutes. Who would not love that, yes?

In reality, some of us have to deal with small children in the household, there may not be a dedicated 'workspace' for mommy and after a while, the whole experience may be tedious and mundane because there is no delineation between work and home life. 

In my case, my neighbour had decided to carry out his house renovation and scheduled the noisy activities during my classes. As I conduct my lessons, the drilling starts. Thank goodness for noise cancelling apps! However I still have to deal with the disturbance on my end of the broadcast, even if my students do not hear any noise (apart from the irritation in my voice).

I have worked from home since 18 March 2020, till about 30 December.. that is nine whole months of lack of balance and continuous working.. however in the bigger scheme of things I have learnt to manage in my own way. Hubby feels neglected, and perhaps my children too but they're a bit too kind to complain. Health-wise I have gained 4 kgs which is completely unbecoming. This I will have to lose in the first quarter of 2021 (or eventually).

Tanjung Rhu

Due to the pandemic, Tanjung Rhu Resort in Langkawi is offering 10% price for its RM1000+ a night rooms. However traveling is still not permitted except for work, for which you have to queue at the police station for a permit to cross the states, from Selangor to Kedah.

Hubby is away in Langkawi for work and having the time of his life, and they took up the offer. Life is Good: Golfing, Working, and living it up at a luxury resort 😍

Micro Credit

Currently I am mid-way in the delivery of 2 micro-credits:

• Ethics and Digital Citizenship (EDC)
• Intellectual Property and Me (IPM)

Altogether there were 4 students, one for EDC and 3 for IPM. Not that many but not too bad for a start.

I remembered the day when our Business Management programme had one student, and I happen to be one of his lecturers. He was a compliant student, thank goodness.. and ever so patient, because he was the sole student in every class!

Anyway, how does one prepare to teach a micro-credit?

It can be taught synchronously, asynchronously, or using mixed mode (sync-async).

I had designed the modules 90% asynchronously and 10% face-to-face. For both modules. It was a challenge but it was a useful learning experience... and might I say that it improved my teaching in the synchronous/ mainstream programmes.

Format:

Pre-recorded lectures

End of unit discussion points (weekly meetings)

Quiz

End of school year

Schools had to close in October as the number of covid-19 infections rose. 

Today my daughters' class teachers asked us to collect their personal items.

I had expected to meet the teachers but the school had actually prepared all items in plastic bags. These were left at the canteen based on each class & parents merely collect the bags (after scanning, taking the temperature & sanitising) and bring them home.

Rather anti-climactic, but that's essentially what it is.

What are in those bags? Some arts & craft items; some test papers & exercise books. 

Rather poignant.

Sup Gearbox

Hubby rarely cooks, but when he does he makes such delectable dishes.

Today he made "Sup Gearbox".

'Gearbox' is a Malaysian term for part where the bones meet  at the cow's knees. This part tends to be a bit pricey compared to beef because there are on 4 gearboxes in a cow that are sought after. 

We took the recipe from this website: https://www.aziekitchen.com/2015/03/sup-tulang-yang-sangat-sedap.html (incidentally Azie's Kitchen is my "go to" site for recipes).

Hubby has a very proper approach to cooking. All ingredients cook properly and the meat has to be at the right level of tenderness.. and everything comes together nicely in a beautiful meal.. cooking is an art/ mastery for him while for me cooking is sustenance- hence our approaches to cooking is completely different (and no guesses how his and my cooking turns out!).

Hence today I played the assistant chef role: I did the cutting, mincing, 'blender'ing, cooked the gearbox in the pressure cooker, and the cleaning thereafter.

We all enjoyed a hearty meal of sup gearbox today, we feel really blessed (and full).

Friday the 13th

Number 4 turns 12 today.

We do not have any birthday traditions, but we'll normally get a cake and have a family meal on that special day. Togetherness and gratitude.

Her cake this year is a moist chocolate cake with ganache topping, made by my lecturer-turned-baker friend, Jean Perera.

Next year Number 4 will be starting high school, becoming a teenager, learning more about the world.

Be a wonderful person my child. Love always from mama.

How things have changed

Before the pandemic, work-from-home especially for teachers is unheard of.

We are expected to wake up in the wee hours, battle morning traffic and appear spick and span and read for our 8.30am classes. 

Now we wake up, get ready with minimal fuss, switch on the laptop and start the broadcast. 

Our students equally login with minimal preparation and thereafter go back to sleep 😂

Such is the downside, however there is always the recordings that they can refer to later.

The motivation, to me at least, is to pay attention the first time (and hopefully the ONLY time) intently.

Chances are we will not go back to the recording after this, no matter how enchantingly delightful it is.

Having to hear the recording again (having forego it to precious sleep earlier) is punishment in itself.

A few of my colleagues remarked about instances of cheating in online exams. Not a problem for me. Progressive assessments are the way to go. After every topic or two there'll be a quiz. Over time, I will get a picture of how the students measure up. If suddenly in the exam they perform superbly (and uncharacteristically) well, I will invoke the viva clause- and my students know this- and an oral exam will be administered on top of the written exams.

So, why suffer the pain? Might as well get with the programme. It makes more sense to be compliant and learn, doesn't it?

In this, I see the future of education. No one or no tool can MAKE you learn. You learn because you want to. And you can learn ANYTHING that you want, for that matter, because most things are available online anyways. 

#toaGLORIOUSfuture !

Quirks and Quarks

These two words came to mind this morning.

Quirks refer to peculiarities in someone's behaviour, which may or may not be explainable.

Quarks refer to particles with electric charges- I remembered attending a talk many3 years ago by a founder of a company called Qwerks. She had said that the company name is a play of the word "quark" and reflects their passion about always being on the move/ being active, like a quark.

This could be a title to my novel, or my youtube channel name.

Anything under the sky, because I just cannot focus.

Shopping Spree

Lazada and Shoppee are having a sale on 11.11

So tonight we are all asked to "add to cart" and start shopping from midnight onwards, with abandon.

The government would love this fiscal injection and the economy is improved, somewhat.

Except that Lazada is a company from China and Shoppee is Singaporean. Sellers are from all over the world and where do all our Malaysian ringgits end up? In other peoples' pockets, most probably, and not necessarily flow back to the country.

Despite the frenzy, I still go to local shops to do my groceries and try to purchase local brands as much as I can. These are the companies that inject money back to the country, the injection that we so badly need. The makciks and pakciks selling food by the roadside are more in need of our money than the large conglomerates promoting capitalism.

Cooking Class

Our youngest is being taught to cook by hubby.

She started learning to cook the simplest thing on earth: instant noodles.

Then she started learning to fry eggs, and crackers.

Next she is being shown the cooking method for fried rice (or "fry rice" as said by Uncle Roger).

So far she seemed to be enjoying the process and embraced the activities wholeheartedly.

Except the washing, now that needed reminding.

MKN

A circular pertaining to the immediate closing of colleges and schools was released yesterday by the Majlis Keselamatan Negara (MKN) i.e. the Malaysian Security Council.

As usual when MKN instructs, everybody scrambles.

Colleges and schools have to be cleared immediately, parents of the schoolchildren are mobilised and permissions were obtained for travels across states. 

Number 2 was about to sit for his last exam tomorrow and his project presentation was scheduled on Wednesday. He graduates after these 2 things are done. All these will not take place because he was sent home yesterday.

Due to the CMCO we were supposed to stop interstate travels, yet this circular cause many to move EVERYWHERE. Why can't the children stay in school, the canteen operators can earn income from food preparation and distribution, teachers are able to guide them in  face to face lessons, and they are all contained in one location. This is probably miles better than letting the parents move interstate, have stopovers in various locations, and fingers crossed nobody is carrying the virus. 

I would probably do things differently if I were the Minister, but then nobody's asking me 👿

Ikan Kelah

This river fish has premium status in Malaysia, and can fetch a price of RM200 per kg at the lower end and RM3000 per fish at the higher end.

Hubby purchased this fish yesterday and he asked his chef cousin to cook them for us.

One fish was marinated with turmeric and salt, and fried.

Another was cooked Thai style: Kengsom. I would describe it as clear and sour soup, with pineapple and kangkung (water spinach). 

When dealing with a fish that has a unique taste, the simpler the cooking the better (methinks). The overall recipe should not overpower the taste of the fish, which is sought after and that we have paid so much for.

The fish is light in taste, yet has body. The fried fish scales can be eaten like crackers, and frankly I could probably eat it on its own, no rice. Overall, a wholesome meal, super lovely.

Delivery Service

Hubby took some orders from friends yesterday and today we did a delivery round to 3 locations, all our close friends.

It feels good to meet everybody again. face to face, after months of isolation. We do constantly communicate on social media, but I have to say that nothing beats a great chat with eye contact.

Hubby's experience with KL roads also proved really useful. He did not need much reference to Waze to make his way from one location to another, and we made it to all 3 locations in good time.

All in all, a Sunday morning well spent!

An Open Marriage?

Brad Pitt was rumoured to be dating a German model Nicole Poturalski for a couple of months and eventually they split up and went their separate ways.

Sounds straightforward enough, no?

The plot thickens

She is married, to Roland Mary, and they have a 7 year old son together. 

Her get togerther with Brad Pitt is said to be with her husband's consent, because they are in an open marriage. I guess she is free to date others, so is he probably, so long as she does not become pregnant with Brad Pitt's kid, or fall in love with him (I am heavily speculating). Why be married in the first place anyways. Will Smith and Jada Pinkett, as open and carefree as they are, didn't seem too okay when Jada had the alleged entanglement. 

Matters of the heart, to me, is very straightforward. You love one person at a time. When you love too many person as heavily, it is just confusing. I don't know how to do it. My belief is cemented in the very idea of monogamy. Period. If you want an open relationship, then be single. Date as many number of people as you like. 

Is open marriage workable? I don't know. There is probably some ground rules or t&c that the partners have agreed on. Mr Mary seemed unperturbed. Or so he says. Only God knows what is in his heart.

Reeducating the Cat

Hubby's friend gave us a cat.. with a cage.. and poopoo container.. 

So I guess we now have a cat AFTER hubby promised to take care of it with our youngest daughter.

The cat's initial name is Kasim & daughter renamed him Lemon.

He is caged half the time, and I do not like cats to be caged.. and at the same time he cannot come inside the house.. because my nose gets itchy around cat furs.

Note that Kasim | Lemon is not a pedigree cat- he is the normal house tabby that we can find almost anywhere in the neighbourhood.

When he first came home he was bewildered, to say the least. He was upset to be removed from his old house. Clearly. He was moping, and hissing, and when he's done with the drama he asked for more food which we happily oblige.

My plan is for him to be reeducated.. for him to roam the area of the house and live free.. and eventually we would be able to return the confounded cage.. and before that happens he may have to live in the cage for another couple of days. Be patient dear Lemonade!

A Cluttered Mind

How does Mary Kondo does it? Because I cannot. My house is now a grand mess and I really do not know where to begin organising anything.

Start with a corner here, label your things, say thank you (to the joy-creating articles in the house) for contributing to your life, and whatever else. Help!

My work keeps piling on, as as usual I am behind schedule with the micro-credits. I WISH I had more time, but I have to work within the time given to me. SHORTEN the damn course will you please, woman! I will most likely do the latter. Instead of doing 15 mins sessions x 4, I will do 5-minute sessions x 4, and just ONE exercise at the end. DONE!!!

*expletives*

When I read this today, I disagreed instantly with the Court of Appeal decision that ruled that a Muslim woman may be excluded from divorce proceedings between a non-Muslim couple, by reason of the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act. The Act itself most likely needed reform.

Free Malaysia Today: Apex court to hear if Muslim can be cited for wrecking non-Muslim marriage.
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2020/11/05/apex-court-to-hear-if-muslim-can-be-cited-for-wrecking-non-muslim-marriage/ 

If the interpretation is correct, then non-Muslim man may go gallivanting with a Muslim girl and neglect his family.. and she goes scot free having wrecked another person's family. No no nooooooo

Whatever the LRA says, drag that person through the divorce proceedings and let the world know that this JMBH is someone who has caused pain to another woman. Yes I know that the man has made the promise to his then wife to have and to hold bla3, and this third party JMBH is probably "mangsa keadaan" (a victim of circumstances (as if!!)... but she should not be excluded by reason of her being Muslim. In that case, can she be tried in Shariah Court for indecent behaviour instead? She should pay. Or at least the world should know.

Apply the mischief rule, why don't we.. and hold her accountable.. it is not cool to entice a married man and then apply to court to be excluded from the divorce proceedings by being Muslim. It cannot be a good shield to hide behind. I disagree. Totally.

Choices

2 pieces of news caught my eyes today:

(1) WORLD OF BUZZ: Meet Muhammad Hilmi, The Grab Rider Who Won The Hearts Of M'sians After His Phone Was Snatched.

https://worldofbuzz.com/meet-muhammad-hilmi-the-grab-rider-who-won-the-hearts-of-msians-after-his-phone-was-snatched/ 

(2) Covid-19: Former Shah Alam pilot wears uniform while running food stall after losing his job

https://www.malaymail.com/news/life/2020/11/04/covid-19-former-shah-alam-pilot-wears-uniform-while-running-food-stall-afte/1919240

Things are not going great for many people, yet the choice to live our lives respectfully (or otherwise) is entirely our own. There is courage in doing the right things. These are 2 very dignified people living their lives, in contrast to the snatch thief who also thinks that he is making a living? I hope he turns a new leaf before things become out of control & he graduates into something more sinister. May we always be motivated to be a good person. There are bad people and there are good people in the world, but the number of good people should always be more.

Hypothetically Speaking

This year, because we had to do online teaching, we have been so blessed to have found SO MANY great teachers around the world via countless webinars and training sessions and online meetings and sharings.

Everyone is doing something they love and making some difference in someone's life.

In this vein I have never quite believed in a teacher's award, unless in situations where the teacher is nominated by the school or his/ her students, because I view every teacher as a respected person who keeps at it no matter how bad they feel that day, no matter how poorly behaved their students are, no matter how bureaucratic the management gets, no matter how demeaning the job may appear... and by this reason they are beautiful wonderful people. Having said that however, I should probably qualify that awards are necessary to encourage teachers who have been fantastic on their job.

A teacher is a teacher, his heart is pure gold.

I have not been awarded with any award, nor would I consider myself a fantastic teacher.. but perhaps I would like to think of myself as someone who loves doing this.. and perhaps it is the only reason why I am still at it after 17 years. No matter how shitty certain bosses get, I remain eager to go into every class, I look forward to deliver, to share, to learn continuously from my students, as much as (or sometimes even more than) they learn from me.

We all (hypothetically) have similar or accessible amount of resources, and we can all do something about it. Some do more than others, enviably so, because of their regular semesters (like in many public universities and most private universities). Some do their best in the circumstances (like the private university lecturers with continuous intakes), and that is not too bad too (I think) because we use the time and the resources that we have. Sometimes the busier the person is, the more he gets done. 

By that reason, the folks in my university should probably get awards... for continuous teaching and unbreakable spirit 😂😅💪💪💪

Dispensable

As with all employees, each of us is dispensable.

Context: today there is an appointment for Digital Learning Director at the university, announced via email. [The questions in my mind: How? Who? Why?]

Everyone in the Digital Learning Team are probably too junior and inexperienced to be appointed. [In fact, when was the post created? Could we not have been provided some pre-knowledge? It feels as if the bosses went to a dinner party one day, and this person pops up "oh you know she does e-learning stuff too" and she is hired?]

Utter confusion, for me at least. Or am I just being dramatic?

My arguments [not that they matter anyways]:

- the amount of her salary vs what she will actually do vs if we had our salaries improved instead and make us more encouraged to do the whole digital learning stuff vs hiring a consultant for a one-off job

- we were reminded about how difficult things have been/ is/ will be (financially).. and YET one whole person with manager/ director role is appointed [and have I mentioned her salary?].. so we have money now is it?

As usual I believe there is always a good justification for this appointment and eventually all our voices will be silenced. We are essentially cogs in a wheel and we fulfil the purpose of others. We work, they make money and pay other people instead. What a wry way to living that is.

Now I know the pain and drive behind great classics, and great novels. Injustice.

Micro-Credits

I have just completed recording Teaching Unit 1 for TWO micro-credit modules.

What is interesting with micro-credits is this: lessons are 'bite-sized', followed by a review and assessment.

The lectures range typically from 10-15 mins each, followed by an exercise at the end.

At the end of the week, a feedback session will be held to de-brief everyone and prepare for the next week. I am still trying out a few things, but essentially (and surprisingly) I am enjoying the process.. even though it is pretty exhausting.. and I worked weekends to finish everything.. oh well.. no pain no gain 💥