Birthday....

Woke up to a beautiful day in August and it was my seventy fifth birthday. As usual I am happy welcoming the day; the image below shows part the family a few days later with the Birthday cake.

Have a nice day folks.

The Outward Bound School, a Reflection...

On going through some old album recently I found some photos that brought memories flooding back to my mind. It was really nice to see all those photo of the past, some taken in Black and White, an era before the advancement of colour photography. Above is a photograph taken in the early sixties when I attended the Outward Bound School course at the school in Lumut, Perak. I was just in my early twenties and apply for the scholarship to attend the course there. I was told by friends that it provides good leadership program but it tough. One had to go through endurance programs that lasted for almost a month, living in camp, excursion into the tropical jungle, boating, canoeing on the high sea around the island of Pangkor.  Since l love adventure and had been in the Scout Movement from my primary school days I love to go to such training and meet others of the same mind-set. I was awarded the scholarship and went all the way to Lumut in the state of Perak to attend the month long program; the 50th course. We went through a tough and challenging programs on various aspect of leadership as well program on civic. We were not spare the task of keeping the pit toilet crawling with maggots clean every day and had to sleep in the jungle where at time it rain and rain. Even having our meals was never at the same place, from the hall to the beach or in  the  middle  of the jungle. We were told to go on a jungle expedition to nowhere and expect to survive the track on our own. It was tough sleeping in the middle of the jungle among leeches and wild animals but we endure and manage to get through it all. We had to canoe into the open sea the whole day. I did get seasick and vomited when reaching the shore. We had to scrap boat and paint it underside, thus we learn the skill doing painting works. We had to keep our sleeping quarters spot clean all the time. Everything went like clock works from breakfast time till bed time. Because we were all dead tired it was easy to sleep. 

The whole programs toughen us all and did teach us all various leadership skills that we could use in any endeavour we took. As for me the training did help in my career in the government agency that I was working. Until this day I still could remember vividly the time we had spent in the school.  It turns out to be the best leadership training that I had ever had in my whole life. The Outward Bound School did made what I am today.   

Have a nice day.

Miss Telecom of Yesteryears...

It has been an eventful weeks. Starting from the Eid Fitr Open House there was streams of visitors to the house. As couple who love to party since our youth, these happenings has been one happy moments for both us. My spouse and I love it. To top it all my spouse decided to organized a get together last Thursday October 15, 2009 of her colleagues while she was working with Telecom Malaysia years ago.

In the fifties and the sixties these girls are the darling of the Telecom Department. The girls that made the Telco tick before the introduction of automation, electronic and the cell phone where all calls had to go through a human interface. Without them it was not be possible to make a call. There was no automation then so they are the part of the system that made possible all the million of calls that are made days by days. Now with automation and electronic their services are limited to special function only. They had served the service well indeed and today all those girls are in their golden age and enjoying life. It was a culture then that there would be a Miss Telecom Pageant where the Miss Telecom of the year would be selected. We would attend this Dance and Dinner function and enjoy the night of fun and splendor of an era gone by. Now things have changed and we no longer hear of such event. How sad. We all did have a great time then but time has change and now it is just history.

So on that special Thursday at our home a numbers of them attend the invitation from my spouse for the lunch. It was to some a meeting after twenty years. Some was the Miss Telecom of yesteryear. What a gathering of ladies it was. I was the only thorn among the roses, until the spouse of two of them arrived, one is one of my cousin and the other is a General; the retired Chief of the Malaysian Arm Force, a close friend of ours from our youth.

I am sharing here the images of those folks who were at our home on that special day. In those days they are dressed differently and not as what you see now. The fashion was different then but with changing cultural influences the fashion of dressing has change too. They were gorgeous then and now in their golden age they still look as great. Gorgeous as ever. Have a nice day.

A glorious wedding in December...

Well, everyone loves Wedding, for it symbolizes joy and happiness, the core value of Love. It is the end of a process that loves goes through and when the wedding bell rang, it became the most waited event in any family. It is a symbol of maturity of kids who have grown up to face the reality of the real word. It is in this institution that the lover began to understand that love is not all Sunshine and bed of Roses. It likes both but with differences. Like the Sun it does not shine all the times but even in rains that sun is there somewhere and it never failed to shine again and as for the Rose, we all love Rose and we knew too well that Rose come with the green leaves and the stem with thorn all over. If not handle with care it could hurt oneself. But then Rose cannot be Rose without that thorn and we all love Roses which come in all shades, colour and sizes. Been presented with a bunch of Roses would always bring joys and happiness to the receiver. It does have that aura of a healing power that we often need on our journey of life. So in a way wedding is like that, it is beautiful and would continue to be beautiful if it is nurtured with love. For in any wedding it is love that would play an important role in the lives of the couple. Quote: C.G.Jung "For two personalities to meet is like mixing two chemical substances; if there is any combination at all, both are transformed" How true...

The bride Zalia a petite lady, the gorgeous daughter of our friends Dato Wan Shamsuddin and To'Puan Zaini. The bridegroom Arzumy is a lad who was her college mate whiles studying at a local University. Together they do made a perfect couple. In the Malay culture such couple is often referred to as "Seperti Pinang dibelah dua".

The Wedding reception was held on December 27, 2008 at the Grand BlueWave Hotel at Shah Alam. My spouse and I were among the many guests invited to the reception. We arrived early and got a real look at the deco of the reception hall. The concept of the deco is contemporary and I believe it is the choice of the young generation of the family, probably the bride and the bridegroom themselves for it devoid of the normal traditional setting that folk of our generation would want to have. Anyway it is well done in that it did introduce an atmosphere of 'cool' of today's generation. It looks real simple but yet elegant; so pleasing to the eyes. It does fit well with the charm of both the bride and the bridegroom; kids of the twentieths century making their bond in the early twenty first century. A new generation of Malaysian who grows up in modern Malaysia and heading toward a more challenging time into the country future. It is their world and the wedding reception befits their generation's aspiration.

For both of us it was also a time to get to meet friends. It is an occasion likes this that gave us the opportunity to meet and renew our acquaintance. On arrival we were greeted by the host and been early we got the opportunity to take picture with them. The image below shows the bride's parent [dress in pink/purple on the left] together with us and another couple.

The whole ceremony was choreograph well indeed, with the two Emcees doing a pretty good job of entertaining the guests with their wits and humor; turning the ceremony into an atmosphere of joy. The good music and song add to the festive mood and it does lure the guests into an atmosphere of joy and happiness. The food spread was sumptuous and with such good company of friends at the table we did enjoy the evening. Indeed, a joyous event to all of us.

Many thanks to the host for the invitation and to the newly wed couple I leave you with these words of wisdom:" Have a joyous life together."





Selamat Pengantin Baru. Have a nice day.

The Beijing Olympic...

It is 08-08-08. An auspicious day in the Chinese culture. And today is the beginning of the greatest show on earth, the Beijing Olympic. This is also Asia biggest show and it is I believe the start of new developments to come, the emergence of a new Asia. In the spirit of friendships let us make sure that the Beijing Olympic run smoothly. For those of us who are not in Beijing, let us watch the games on the TV in the comfort of our home. Have a nice day.[image taken from the official site]

Majestic Kuala Lumpur!!!....

Look at the images above and I am sure you all would agree with me that it is such a majestic event, with the pomp and splendour that befit the colorful country Malaysia. I was there with the millions of crowd that lined the streets, the highways, the elevated highways, the streets and the grounds of Bintang Walk, the Bangsar, the Curve/Ikano, the Merdeka Square, the KLCC and everywhere where the action are accross the country. Lives performances started at eight in the evening and ended awhile at the stroke of midnight to usher in the new year 2008. Revellers continue to enjoy pass midnight. Thats the way to go Malaysian. Enjoy!!.

What a evening for us and the family. This year my spouse and me decided to join our daughter and her family to watch the beginning of the New Year. We all packed in the MPV with our son in law at the wheel. He had done this many times before but we never took the trouble to follow but tonight we did and as usual with him he selected a spot on the elevated highway and parked the MPV there, just like the thousands of others did. We arrived at eleven thirty, half an hour before the Bang!!. By that time just before midnight the cars lined up in three rows all along the elevated highway. As can been see in the images above cars were everywhere, on the highway, below it along Jalan Tun Razak, Jalan Ampang and everywhere the eyes could see. It was indeed a night of glitters that Malaysian took to the streets in peace and harmony to enjoy together in ushering the new year 2008. It was a spectacular shows of gigantic proportions, a colorful panorama of Kuala Lumpur in the night. Not any other night but the night of the first day of the new year 2008. Indeed it is a picturesque sight to watch and enjoy. With my camera I had a field day shooting and enjoy the electric moment in times. What an evening!!.

Friends, enjoy these images as much as I had enjoyed taking it. Have a nice day and may the year 2008 bring greater prosperity to all. Take care..

Visit Malaysia Year 2007

Welcome to Malaysia. This year is the Visit Malaysia Year and the programmes was officially launched by the Malaysian Prime Minister last night at the Titiwangsa Garden in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. The launching ceremony was a spectacular show, with the usual pomp and splandour of the Malaysian culture. Add to these already spectacular show, tonight saw the launching of another landmark structure, call the Eye of Malaysia. The above images I snap from the live telecast on the local TV, as I watch the live events on my new LCD TV. It look like it is much easier to snap images from LCD TV then the conventional TV. Enjoy and Have a nice day.[click on image to enlarge]

Time Person of the year...You

Yes We Blogger are among the others who have been made the Person of the Year by TIME Magazine. Great, that we all are having a part in making this world of ours a better to live and enjoy life. Thanks to the great minds who brought the Internet to us. Now that it is here to stay, life would never be the same anymore. No I do not believe that we could live without it. At least it is part of my life now. Never a day that I do not surf the net. From writing blog and visiting those great blogs all the over the world.

For Malaysian, Blogging gives them a total new avenue to share their thoughts with the world. Making disseminate of information no more the exclusive of the few but possible to all. All this because of the opportunity to blog. To all those blogger out there continue on blogging and may we all continue to contributes our thoughts in whatever ways we could, trying in our own way in making this country Malaysia a truly Negaraku.

Friends We are all being given the honour as the Person of the Year. Thanks to
Time Magazine... Yes, We are honoured... Have a nice day.

The AGM of MMBR Owner's Association...

The AGM of the Owner's Association of the Merak Melaka Beach Resort [formerly Mutiara Melaka Beach Resort] at Pantai Putri [formerly Pantai Kundur], in short is known as the MMBR would be held on Sunday, April 30, 2006 at 11:00 Am, at the Resort...All association members have been invited to attend this meeting...Some members could not be contacted, probably because of change in address...So if anyone knows of members that did not received the AGM notification, do inform them to attend this AGM..Two members one from California, USA a Mr.Robert John Kunst and another from Hong Kong, a Mr Michael Tse Chi Hung could not be contacted at all, so if you are reading this blog, do contact me.. I am one of the owner helping on the AGM and my email address is on this blog. The resort is been managed by a new management company and they are doing well and soon I believe the Resort would be back to the days of if former glory...Have a nice day.

Oh! What a great time we had last evening.... It was yet another wedding reception.... This time it was held at the grand ballroom of the Mutiara Hotel in the golden triangle of Kuala Lumpur.. This hotel use to be the Kuala Lumpur Hilton, the place to be in the seventies and the eighties... It was closed for some time and renovated and back as a new five star hotel of a class of its own, now it is know as Mutiara.... Mutiara is pearl in Malay..... It is indeed a jewel in this part of the city.... The hotel, then Kuala Lumpur Hilton was our play ground in those days, being back to this hotel after a lapse of  sometimes... Seem like going back in time to the great time we have had in the days of our youth.... Now entering the grand ballroom which still use the name Nirwana, it remind me of the many days and night that I organized official function at this great hall, it was then the only ballroom that could accommodate two thousand guest at a go.... The new renovation have been given a  face lift and a new life of it own, though the hall is still known as the Nirwana.... To me personally it bring pleasant memories of our days together attending dinner and dance at this great hall....  Now in our golden age, my wife and me are happy that this venue once where we had enjoyed the party and the dinner in another period of our life.... is still there in its glory.... For this wedding reception this hall were decorated with the pomp and splendor that befitting the King for the day.... We call the new wed couple the King and Queen for the Day.... It is one of those day of a Malay wedding where tradition and contemporary blended together into a glamorous fusion of today's culture... in the making..... As we arrived we were greeted by the host, a closed friend and his charming wife... with all the cheerfulness in their greeting and the happiness that come to parents at such an occasion, a wedding of their daughter.... We makes our way into the great hall and met the others that had arrived earlier and saw the arrival of others in their best dress, some like us came in our tradition dress and the young would come in their fashioned contemporary dress.... in all the color of the rainbows, so vibrant and blended well with the event of the day..... The wedding reception of  a young couple...... After all the guests had arrived, the guest were treated with serenade of great music and song of bygone era... era of the Ma and Pa that host this wedding reception.... They were of our age and soon the music and songs  transported us back in times to those days of the seventies and early eighty... I guessed all the music and songs were specially selected by the host.... It bring me back memories of the great time we have had in this same hall years ago......  We makes ourselves comfortable at one of the table where a couple, a friend of ours were already sited, we greet each other and talk about this new renovated hall, soon more guests arrived and three more couple join us at our table..... The table were beautifully laid, with a bouquet of flowers placed on the centre together with the menu, it shows a mixture of Chinese food and traditional Malaysian cooking, we enjoy the chat as the musician play on entertain us with the oldies.... Beautiful songs accompany by a combo of three professional musician...... It was really well presented and personally I really enjoy listen to those old melodies and songs..... Soon the bride and the groom parade in leads by little children, proudly dressed for the occasion... It was like in those Cinderella scene, with music to company, making it a colorful scene to watch, the bride and the groom follows behind dress smart in contemporary clothing, specially made for this occasion, a gorgeous couple indeed..... They parade on to the main dais where they present themselves to the public for the first time as husband and wife..... Then they seated at the main table for the dinner to start..... First as a starter, the famous Chinese dish 'shark fin soup' were served, it was well done and refreshing to enjoy such a wonderful cooking, I enjoy shark fin soup and it is only at the Chinese restaurant that such dish are served.... It has a flavor of its own and only the Chinese know how to create the greatness of the taste of the wonder this starter dish.... We enjoy the dish while the waiter brought more foods to the tables,.... And soon another waiter served rice, for those dishes that were placed on the table were best eaten with white rice, as it is usually done in this country.... Rice being our staple food, no dinner is complete without rice..... It has been our tradition and we love it, for rice is the miracle food that have been with us all along our civilization..... The spread of foods laid on the table in varieties... ranging from grilled prawns, roasted chicken, beef in Soya sauce with spring anions, soft taufoo in mix vegetables, fried fish, and many more.... It all goes very well with white rice..... We sat to enjoy the meals while listening to the music and the song that were serenaded by three youth, who themselves played string instruments, it was indeed a great performance a la the Spanish quintet, once make popular by young Filipinos....... As usual there were speeches, but it was done well, short and sweet..... And the Host were seen going from table to table to meet the guests, and at our table, being a close friend that live in the same neighborhood, I took some pictures with my digital camera.... Just to immortalize some of the scene of this great traditional event...... We chat and continue eating and then watch the couple taking picture with a change of dress, first in their western dress, than a sorts of a traditional Asian dress.... It was indeed a beautiful sight to watch.... These young couple enjoying the moment of their life.... Like we say here ' King and Queen' for a day.... They then dance to the tune of a slow waltz...... Enjoying themselves and at the same time provide the quest a scene of the loving couple at their best......What a day..... The music continue to play some oldies and to me it was real entertaining...... At the break outside.... I then met the young musician and congratulate them for the great performance........ Like all good thing, wedding events like this brings back old memories and it was real nice to recall some of the same event of our wedding that took place some forty years ago........ Now in our golden age..... We sit to enjoy another events in the ever going tradition that are pass from generation to generation, the pomp and the splendor of Malay wedding still the same, well preserved and adapting to the time, the time of our grandchildren....... One of the most important aspect of Malay wedding reception is that guests would arrived in their best clothes, whether traditional or contemporary..... Which in a way add color to the already colorful events...... Soon the event draws to an end with the serving of dessert and coffee or tea...... I love coffee..... And enjoy the great coffee that were served at the table.... With that, the event ended at just after eleven in the evening...... We then congratulate the couple who had waited at the entrance and thanks the hosts for a great evening that we all enjoyed...... What an Evening..... A night to remember and talk about.., a receptions well done...... Great thanks to those proud parents that hosted this glorious event.....

Oh! What a great day....This morning at just past eleven in the morning a taxi came over to the house.... I was wondering why... Who had call a taxi on this Saturday morning.... Not me, maybe our daughter... But then she has just arrived home early this morning in a taxi from the Sentral station after a night traveling by train from Singapore and she and her fried are asleep now .... She could not get the bus to return to Kuala Lumpur from Singapore and instead took the night train from Singapore, that arrived in the wee hours of the morning at the Kuala Lumpur train station know as the Sentral Station, a new hub for trains and other means of communication that services the city of Kuala Lumpur.... The taxi stop at the gate and I was at the patio at that time, I saw the taxi driver alighted from the taxi and came over to the gate and asked me whether anyone had lost a small purse and that he had come to returned it to this address... I supposed that they got the address from the document inside the purse... Well for a few seconds I was lost... I asked the taxi driver whether He was the driver that send our daughter and her friend this morning and He said He did not and that another taxi driver did that... He continue to say that He had been asked to returned this purse that was found at the station.... He handed me the purse and I asked him to wait while I talk to my wife and wake up our daughter, who after the night train journey were exhausted and decided to sleep... And at the same time I unzipped the purse and true enough there inside the purse were our daughter's Identity Card,Credit Card and some changes... I paid the fare to the good taxi driver and thanks him for the good deed and at the same time send and an email of thanks to the authority at the Sentral... Well actually our daughter did not even realized that she had lost her purse and that only when it was returned that she realized the purse was missing....Thanks to those good people at the Sentral, the purse that contain among other things important documents... This incident manifest the value of our people who took upon themselves to do the good to others, thus result in the returned of the purse to its rightful owner, intact... What a Great relief to us that it is returned before it is even considered lost... Like I had said time and again....Life is a circle... If you do good deed and have good and caring heart you would not loose anything and in the greater scheme of things you would eventually be rewarded in some ways of others.... We have always teaches our children to be good and not to take anything that do not belong to them and if they ever found anything.., do take the trouble to return it to it rightful owner.... And at the same time do give a helping hand to others in time of needs... In my life things like these happen many times and I had always find a way to return the things that are not mine.... So today it is our turn to be on the receiving end.....That purse that was lost was returned before even the lost was notice....Thanks God for the guidance that had made this possible.... Good value and Us of being human, true to spirit of all our religious teaching... I had always believed that there are more good people with great hearts out there than those that are bad or evil.... I also believe the if we sow the good on our journey of life, goodness would be harvested in return and it is my belief that we should do all the good and give love sincerely without or never asking or want anything for doing it, just do it with the great feeling that you are doing something good and the rest leave it to the Creator to judge us, for the Lord knows and He is Love and the reward would just come when you least expected... Like what happen today.... The returned of the purse.... Is it not something to ponder... The magic of life itself.... Wonderful.. The true meaning of life... The beauty of life.... The spirit of being human... So on our journey of life, while we walk, run, climb and doing our daily works, do it diligently and with care, as well do its all in the spirit of goodness and love, and asked not for any reward or thanks, for it would come in due time... And when it comes you would feel so good that you something wonder whether you really deserved all the love and goodness that life brings from time to time.... Remember We all are in passing on this blue planet and if we could do just one good deed a day than life would be great and rewarding... The reward would manifest in many ways, that only time would tell.... For goodness would always be return with goodness...And Love would be returned with Love.... And with that life would be beautiful all through... What happen today shows that those people at the Sentral had good management style in their operation and with that comes the quality of people that they employed.., that in turn resulting in the product its services...A great services indeed... For my family and Me we salute those good people at the Sentral for a job well done, in the spirit of the Malaysian value that we deeply treasured... A heritage that had been passed down from generation to generation, in doing so making Malaysia great and it people greater then life itself.... Terima Kasih.....

[ the website of the Sentral ]