The squirrel having a feast...

There are many squirrels living in front and at the back of our house. I have been feeding the one in front of the house with cut apples and it would come and go after enjoying its meals, at time sharing it with the ants. The one that lives at the back of the house would have a field day on the fruits tree there. Often in the early morning I could see and hear the squirrels and birds enjoying their meals of fruits there. Indeed it's refreshing to see these animals and birds happy enjoying their morning meals care less of the happening around it; usually I would just watch and enjoy the cool morning breeze.

Just a few days ago while I was surfing the net and lost in cyberspace my spouse came over to me and say that there is a squirrel feeding on the ripe papaya at the back of the house. I went to have a look and sure enough there is one there enjoying its morning meal. Well, I thought that this would be a great chance to take a snap of it whiles in action. Not wanting to disturb it I took my camera and snap it from inside the kitchen and Voila!! I got it. Indeed a rare moment in time. An image of that squirrel having a great meal of that ripen papaya that is still clinging to the tree. Happy I am sharing it here with all to enjoy that moment in time; the squirrel and the papaya. Folks that wonderful scene does color my day.

Have a nice day.

Happy Diwali...

Happy Diwali to all Hindus. May we all continue to prosper and enjoy life. Together we have built this country Malaysia that we call home. Let us continue to contributes in whatever ways we could in making it as prosperous as ever. Let this festival of light brighten our nation.

The people of the Hindu faith would celebrate the Diwali this year on October 27, 2008.

Have a nice day.

Blogger.. Me on RTM 1..

As plans, I was at the studio of RTM [Radio and Television Malaysia] as a guest speaker on the Blog Program of RTM 1. It start at 8.40PM on Sunday October 19,2008. In that twenty minutes program I talk about the culture of Blogging in Malaysia. That this New Media would eventually take over from the Old Media. In it infancy Blog has already made an impact in delivering messages from the Rakyaat [the people]

Before Blogging the venue for the ordinary folks to get their voices heard was rather limited. It was always a one sided affair, one had to write to the Newspaper or magazine or write a book if one want to share information and ideas with the society. And as we all know too well it is not often that one could get one opine heard all the time in the Main Stream Media unlike what blogging could do. In Blogging one could share information and ideas all the time and this to me is good for the society, especially so for Malaysian who for the first time in its history had a tool to do that.. disseminate information to the masses which before that was the prerogative of the MSM [Main Stream Media] only. Now with Blogging and to a certain degree You Tube, the Rakyaat have a tool/mean to do just that. And today we see thousand of blogs in the Internet and in some ways do make its impact on the government as a feed back as well as providing info to the ordinary folks in making their political decision.

The host of the program also took the opportunity to ask me of my opinion on the political situation in the country now and as I had blog on this subject before..to me there should be a mindset change if the present political party want to get back the confidence of the Rayaat.

There was so much things to talk about but I believe I managed to drive the point that the New Media is here to stay and should not be taken for granted. I also stress that blogger should be responsible of what they blog and that freedom of expression has its limit especially so in the contact of the Malaysian society.

According to a poll taken during the show, at present only 21 percent of folks in their golden age in Malaysia blog, whereas the rest of the blogger are from the younger generation. I think more elderly folks should blog because it is healthy to blog, since by blogging the mind is always active. A healthy mind made a healthy body. I am happy that more and more young Malaysian has taken to blogging and hope that they would continue to contributes information and ideas which would eventually translate into a productive Malaysian society.

I thanks RTM for giving me this opportunity to talk about the culture of blogging and hope that those who watch the program would get some ideas of the power of blogging in a democracy.

Have a nice day.

Of Blogging and a Sunday...

Woke up to another beautiful day, the sun was shinning bright on this great Sunday morning. As usual the sunlight made me happy; somehow I could felt the effect of the sun on me. It sort of that feels good feeling. With that came joy. I have always enjoyed the sun. During my childhood on the east coast we would be enjoying a great swim at the beach on such a sunny day, splashing and enjoying the day care less of what's happening around us. Telok Cempedak in Kuantan then was just another great bay with beautiful golden beach. There was no building at that time, just greens. We could even get fresh water to drink from the small creek nearby or from the fresh water that sprout from the crevice of the rocks that one could still see on both sides of the beach enclave. It not the same now after the authority decide to allow developers to build hotels and shops houses near the beach. I was sad when I saw these developments but what can we do but just to turn back to the memories of good time we have had at this wonderful place in the sun of my childhood. Whenever I go back to Kuantan I would still have a glimpse of this place, my playground in the fifties. Let come to the reality of today's world, and enjoy as much of the good earth before that also became just a memory.

Folks I have been invited to be on live TV this evening. It would be on the air at 8.40PM and I would be talking about the New Media on the TV1's Blogger program. Hopefully I would get enough time to contribute as much. To me Blogging is a godsend tool for us to express out thoughts and sharing our knowledge with the society, with the hopes it would in a small ways do made the differences. Blogging has enriched my life and I am enjoying doing that. If you are as yet not into blogging, do give it a try and I am sure that you would come to enjoy it.

The latest research finding of what blogging meant to folks in their golden age is indeed encouraging. It says that blogging is healthy for it alert the mind, thus it kept one healthy. Of course as any blogger know best the mere posting of an article already made one happy. Happiness is the vital ingredient of a healthy life. So folks do blog and enjoy doing it.

Have a nice day.

My 2 Sen worth...

It showers like hell last evening with thunder and lightning and with that came a cool morning. I sat at the patio enjoying the cool weather as I write this. Like the weather the political situation in the country has not really settled down as yet.

On the political front the BN whose party rule the country from day one of independence in 1957 saw one of its worst result but as yet to come to term with the people's verdict and faced the political reality of the day. In that election the BN lost the two third majority it enjoyed in previous Parliament and five rich states went to the opposition Pakatan and if you count the Wilayah Pesekutuan [WP] [Federal Territory] of KL which saw all but one seat was won by the Pakatan, the new collation of KeAdilan, PAS and DAP. From my reading of the situation the component parties in the BN is still in the old mindset where the leadership is passed down from one person to another from top to bottom instead in a truly democratic system where the ordinary members have the right to elect the leader they want to lead them. These mindset must change if they want to regain the lost ground come the next election or a by election when it become necessary.

Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi has decided not to seek re election so by March next year he would no longer be the PM of Malaysia, since by tradition whoever lead UMNO became the PM. That whoever has yet to be known but like anything in politic five months is a long time indeed and anything could happen, so we may never know as yet who the next PM would be. The reason been that AI whose collation won big but not big enough to take over the government says that there might be a cross over and that he would take over the government and if that comes true then the leader of his collation would surely be the next PM. Since politic is the art of the possible any thing could happen. So folks let wait and see.

On the economic front the government has reduce the price of Petroleum and Diesel. They have been doing it on a bit by bit way after raising the price some five months ago. Because of that raise all goods and services has increased drastically and not down with the price going down. I do not believe the price of good that has gone up would come down. Folks normally price that has gone up would not go down, that is the reality of the situation. In the first instance they should not have raised the price of the fuel but should wait for a while and then made a smart decision. Now even with the lower price of fuel the price of goods and services would I believe not go down. That is why the government in the first instance should study the situation taking into consideration that the country also has Petroleum and Gas and is making good money on the export of it. Now it looks like even with the price of fuel down like before it was raised, the price of goods and services would not go down.

Just look at the price of high quality rice the one that is not under the price control system, it has risen hundred percent. Before leaving the US last May I bought a bag of ten kilo rice of branded quality for RM29.00. Coming back to Malaysia in late July I went to look for the same kind of rice and I was shock to see that the same brand of rice has been prices at RM58.00. And it has remained so until now. As I am used to enjoying this quality/brand of rice I had to buy it at whatever price. Not only that, other goods and services had risen to a level making the Ringgit so weak. So as you can see it is because of the raise in Petroleum and Diesel that made the price of other goods and services went up.

So only a smart decision by the authority would save the people a few Sen or Ringgit. I hope that the authority in the future be very careful when raising the price of fuels because it affects the transport sector and since every goods and services must be transported, the cost of goods and services would naturally rise. Had the authority made smart decision we would not be facing this dilemma now. Remember it is the economy that normally influences the political decision of the rakyaat during an election.

Anyway do have a nice day.

From the desert of California...

To digress a little...The year was 2001. I was then living in New Haven, Connecticut, US. It is just about one and half hour’s commuter ride to New York. It was a period before facebook or Blogging. To write and post in the Internet one had to be savvy in IT by creating a web page on your own. Being from the era of the cave I am simply useless in that. Yet with Window, it is the beginning of the new era of the Internet when one could surf the net using the Dial Up system. Dial Up system was godsend when Broadband was yet to be heard. It was indeed wonderful to be able to use the computer in a way that you would not have dream of doing. Getting into another world that we now took for granted, cybersphere. As a person who loves new technology I was as excited with this new toy, the computer that I got introduced in the mid eighties.

While living in New Haven I began to use the Internet more and more, surfing and writing email. There was no way of communicating with people you do not know or do not have email address. It was in a way frustrating and then I found a way on AOL. I was then using an AOL account and AOL has introduce sort of a Bulletin Board where one could post message and hope to get some attention. So I thought that I shall try by posting my email address just to make friends with strangers on the net. Soon I began to get reply from those who want to exchange note via email and one such person is this lady from the desert of California, Mary Shaw. A lady who in the hay days of her youth roamed Europe and the East where her parent was on official duties; that eventually brought her to Penang then the Pearl of the Orient. It was real nice to get to know such person who had been to the East in those days, when I believe only Steam ship ply the route. Soon we began exchanging notes on various subjects and personal information via email and at one time when my daughter returned to the US, I send her a package which did arrived perfect to her home in the desert of California. So we kept emailing each other and became cyberpal and enjoying the cyber relationship. I was hopping that eventually I would meet her in person but then she suddenly disappeared from the radar screen. I wrote a few times but in vain, still hopping for the best I just took it easy, with memories still lingering in my mind.

And guessed what! a few days ago I got an email from her. A surprise indeed. It was just a short mail and I replied quickly and then she replied and explains of the why she was not being able to communicate all the while. It was sort of a lost and found story. In this case I found her again or rather she found me again. Her latest note is so beautiful and touching that I felt it worth sharing with all. From the tone of her writing it shows that she is still as fit as a fiddle and healthy as ever. I am sharing this beautiful mail from Mary for all. This is part of that beautiful piece of notes: -

"....Thank you for remembering me.

My long silence was due to Leo taking seriously ill and commanding all my attention. He passed away on August 2, 2008. I am still in the desert of Palm Springs but planning to move. Since I will be 81 on the first of November, I am giving some thought to moving in with my son who lives in Columbus, Georgia. I'm just not sure WHAT I'm going to do. There is so much to do here before I make that decision.

Yes, I read on the blog that you were in the US. I am so sorry that I missed you. Let us not lose touch again. Warmly, "

Folks in their golden age would agree with me that this letter sound familiar indeed. It is about the core of living and the beauty of life. It also show how remarkable this friend of mine is. Indeed a woman of substance. As for me getting reconnected again continue to makes living so wonderfully colorful. Of course the arrival of that notes does make my day.

Getting old has its up and down but then that is the nature of every species, some stay longer while some just had to go first not according to one's biological age but by a system that we are yet to know. That is why I kept reminding everyone that we should enjoy every minutes of living on this beautiful planet of ours.

The above image shows Mary Shaw with Leo some years ago in their best mood. May Leo rest in peace. Amen.

Have a nice day.

The wonder of Eid [Hari Raya]...

October 1, 2008 is no ordinary day. It is a special day in that it is the Hari Raya or the Eid Fitri. It is a day of joy for the Muslim who had fasted during the whole month of Ramadan. It is a day where families get together to enjoy this once a year festival of hopes and happiness. A day of rejoice among family members, relatives and friends. For the Malay Malaysian the Hari Raya is special in that it is at this festival that family members and relatives goes back to their root, thus the balik kampong or the return to the village ritual that made our roads clog with traffics. It is a day where you had that feeling of love all over you, to meet with the elders, like mom and dad or the other extended families at the place of your birth or some place where your mom and dad had made it their home or Kampong. At this time the house would be done up with the pomp and splendor of a festival, with fairy lights and colorful flowers and orchid blooming all around. It is a day where everything became renewed of sorts. Mementos are dusted and decorated turning the home into a colorful and wonderful place to enjoy that one day, the Hari Raya.

As for our family the kids and the grand kids had already been camping at our home for the last few days and today they celebrate their Hari Raya with us the Grandma and Grandpa. To Nenek and me it is like heaven come home, what with that cheerful look of all those grand kids all dressed up in their new Baju Raya [new dresses made especially for the Eid]. The joy and the glitter in their eyes brought joy to us that only folks with kids and grand kids know best. Generating an atmosphere of love all over and it really do made living so wonderfully beautiful.

Folks, golden age do have it reward and one of such reward is to be able to see the kids grows and have family of their own. And when the grand kids came along, it is an added bonus that brought more joy and happiness, more so on the morning of the Hari Raya. Image on the left show the grand kids paying their respect to the grandma and grandpa just like they did with their mom and dad and the other members of the family. And of course this is the time when they would get their Duit Raya. With that Duit Raya this solemn moment of grace would manifest into a moment of joy for the whole family, adding more color to the already colorful event of that wonderful morning of the Hari Raya.

Have a nice day.

[Note: Duit Raya means Ang Pow or Gift Money in a packet, a tradition of Hari Raya]

A view...

I was enjoying a TV program when suddenly my thought was trigger to this view of a section of my home. Without thinking much I took a few snaps of it, photographing it the way I know best. And voila! I believe I got a good shot. Happy with it, I am sharing it here for all to enjoy. Have a nice day.