God's gift to me

April is a special month for me. My 2 sons' birthdays are in April, 3 days apart. We had a dinner at the Curve over the weekend to celebrate the boys' birthdays, 6 of us, myself, my 2 sons, daughter, daughter-in-law as well as my daughter's friend.

“You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.”
-Desmond Tutu

This you must read!

Chinese report documents human rights disaster in the United States

Some highlights from the Chinese Report:

• Each year, 30,000 people die in gun-related incidents.
• There were 14,180 murders last year.
• In the first ten months of 2009, 45 people were killed by police use of tasers, bringing the total for the decade to 389.
• Last year, 315 police officers in New York City were subject to internal supervision due to “unrestrained use of violence.”
• 7.3 million Americans were under the authority of the correctional system, more than in any other country.
• An estimated 60,000 prisoners were raped while in custody last year.

Also:

The report presents evidence of pervasive racial discrimination against blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans, the most oppressed sections of the US working class, including a record number of racial discrimination claims over hiring practices, more than 32,000. It also notes the rising number of incidents of discrimination or violence against Muslims, and the detention of 300,000 “illegal” immigrants each year, with more than 30,000 immigrants in US detention facilities every day of the year.

The little girl endured physical abuse for years!

In Gresham,Oregon, Child abuse investigators said a 5-year-old girl who died had been abused for years in what they said was the "worst case of child abuse that anyone can ever recall" in the area.

Detectives arrested the girl's father, 23-year old Christopher Rosillo, and Guadalupe Quintero, a woman police said was a long-time live-in fiance of Rosillo's. Both were charged with murder.

"This poor little girl endured some physical abuse for years and we want the public to know this isn't a one time thing; this has been going on for awhile," said Sgt. Rick Wilson of the Gresham Police Dept.

Please read source: 5-year-old's death worst case of abuse officials have ever seen

"Nations will not prosper if their children do not heal. To suffer violence in childhood is to be wounded in the soul, and if not healed, to go on to inflict pain on others as well as oneself. No child should be a victim of violence. All children have the right to protection and to first call on their nations’ resources".

- Hon. Landon Pearson, Director, Landon Pearson Resource Center for the Study of Childhood and Children’s Rights

House moving progress

After 4 months, the mess upstairs is still there. Downstairs looking a little bit more decent now. Still have to do some personalization.

One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats.
-Iris Murdoc

3 year old with 30 bruises on her body died!

In Subang Jaya, Malaysia, a three-year-old girl, believed to have been abused for over a month by her stepfather has died, prompting police to arrest the man and the mother.

A doctor who examined the child found more than 30 bruises on her body, arms, legs, back and head. She was pronounced dead during a medical examination at the clinic.

A nearby resident, who only wanted to be known as Sham, said he had heard the girl crying constantly and screaming for several weeks. AND HE DID NOTHING? AGAIN, OUR SOCIETY'S APATHETIC AND LACKADAISICAL ATTITUDE !

source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/4/15/nation/6060990&sec=nation

A little girl grown up

Amalia, Deedee's best friend and schoolmate since primary school entered wedded bliss yesterday.

I prize thy love more than whole Mines of gold
Or all the riches that the East doth hold.
My love is such that Rivers cannot quench,
Nor ought but love from thee give recompetence.
-Anne Bradstreet

All grown up

My nephew Freddy wedded on 27 March in Kota Bahru. Please see my April 6 posting on Freddy when he was still tiny.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

A Day with the girls

A day with Sister Wan Lan and her best friend Molly in Petaling Street, Kuala Lumpur's vibrant Chinatown where you can find just about anything, from Chinese-centric goods such as medicines and herbs, ginseng roots, dried abalones, mushrooms, fish stomach, sea cucumber, etc...etc... to more contemporary favourites like "branded" handbags, "branded" watches, belts, fashion accessories, clothings, cheap CDs and electronic products...etc...etc to flowers and wreaths and funeral parlours! And oh yes...with the dozens of restaurants and foodstalls, it is a food paradise!

Molly getting a hair make- over from Frankie of Profile Hair saloon in Kota Raya.

Wan Lan and her best friend

"It is better to be in chains with friends , than to be in a garden with strangers."
-Persian Proverb

Remembering Mother on Qingming

Accompanied Sister Wan Lan to pay respect to our late Mother in Fairy Park, Klang. Sister Wan Lan carried out the prayer ceremony in 2 places- the actual burial site where Mother was put to rest as well at the Temple, also in Fairy Park, where Mother has a "home". It has been nearly 12 years since Mother left us. For me it does not need Qingmeng to remind me of her and all the love and total devotion she had given us.

The Qingming Festival (simplified Chinese: 清明节; traditional Chinese: 清明節; pinyin: Qīngmíngjié, Ching Ming Festival in Hong Kong, Vietnamese language: Tết Thanh Minh), Clear Bright Festival, Ancestors Day or Tomb Sweeping Day is a traditional Chinese festival on the 104th day after the winter solstice (or the 15th day from the Spring Equinox), usually occurring around April 5 of the Gregorian calendar (see Chinese calendar). Astronomically it is also a solar term (See Qingming). The Qingming festival falls on the first day of the fifth solar term, named Qingming. Its name denotes a time for people to go outside and enjoy the greenery of springtime (踏青 Tàqīng, "treading on the greenery") and tend to the graves of departed ones.

Source: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qingming_Festival

Rapidly, merrily, Life's sunny hours flit by

I pinched this image from my nephew Freddy's facebook, taken probably about 27 years ago! Too cute to let go! The little girl on the left is my niece Freeda, now Dr. Freeda, a dentist, married with 1 child. The baby in the middle is Freddy, now a chef and just got married, The little girl on the right is the eldest of my brother's children, Fara, a computer sceince graduate, who just got married several months back. These 3 cuties were later joined by another 2 sisters and 1 brother.

Rapidly, merrily,
Life's sunny hours flit by,
Gratefully, cheerily,
Enjoy them as they fly !

- Charlotte Bronte

My little backyard -before...and after...

In all things of nature there is something marvelous. -Aristotle