Second day of CNY

The second day of Chinese new year in my Father's house in Petaling Jaya saw more guests than yesterday. The house was full and there were not enough chairs to sit everyone. Sister -in-law cooked a Kelantanese dish Kuzi Ayam, served with nasi minyak, roti jala and bread.

Above: Most of the guests were nephew Fadrul's friends from the Civil Aviation Collge






Left: Some have to sit on the stairs

Left: The food

Above: Niece Fatim and her boyfriend

Above : Tengku Suriani's daughter and Tengku Sheila's daughter

Left: Sister-in-law Aminah, Norishah and Nur Sham

Below: Nephew Fadrul chatting with his aunt

A picture says a thousand words

Spent the first day of Chinese New Year in my Father's house in Petaling Jaya. I cooked with the help of the maid.

Today is the first time my 2 sons give angpows (red packets with money) to my 97 years old Father. The picture below shows how delighted he was after receiving an angpow from my second son Farouk. Very rare indeed to get such a big a smile from him !

L: Brother Tai Kam came back from Jakarta for the celebration

R: Brother Dr Tai Keat came down from Kota Bahru to celebrate with Father

L: Sister- in - law Aminah (Tai Keat's wife) enjoying the lunch with her daughter Dr. Freida and son-in law Sabri

R: Brother Tai Keat's 3 lovely daughters, Dr Freida, Fatim and Fara

L: Brother Tai Keat's elder son Freddy, a chef

R: Brother Tai Keat's younger son Fadrul, a civil aviation engineering student

L: The lovely chocolate cake baked my my daughter-in-law Azni

R: My elder son, Feris, socializing with Tengku Sheila, my sister-in law's sister

L: My second son Farouk and daughter-in-law Azni relaxing after lunch

R:My children's aunty Norsham, also one of my closest friends

This is pretty little Amni, daughter of Dr Freida and grand daughter of Brother Tai Keat

In truth a family is what you make it. It is made strong, not by number of heads counted at the dinner table, but by the rituals you help family members create, by the memories you share, by the commitment of time, caring, and love you show to one another, and by the hopes for the future you have as individuals and as a unit.
- Marge Kennedy

Brother Tai Kam performed his ancestor worship obligations

Brother Tai Kam came back from Jakarta to join in the Chinese new Year celebrations and also to fulfill his ancestor worship obligations, traditionally performed on the morning of Chinese New Year Eve. I do not participate in the ritual as I had professed Islam since 32 years ago.

To the Taoists, ancestor worship is an integral part of life as the Family is viewed as a closely united group of living and dead relatives. Ancestor worship is a religious practice based on the belief that deceased family members have a continued existence, that the spirits of deceased ancestors will look after the family and possess the ability to influence the fortune of the living. Ancestor worshipping is not asking for favours, but to fulfil one’s filial duties. The act is a way to respect, honour and look after ancestors in their after-lives guaranteeing the ancestors’ well-being as well as possibly seeking the ancestors’ wisdom, guidance or assistance for their living descendants.

For the ancestor worship, food will be offered to the ancestors, consisting of plates of savoury dishes, cakes, fruits and sweets. Also paper money will be burnt for the ancestors to ensure they have enough to spend in the other world.

The information in italics above was obtained from article entitled

ANCESTOR WORSHIP AND VENERATION

L: The food that Brother Tai Kam spread out to offer to the ancestors

R: Brother Tai Kam burning money for the ancestors.

Remembering mother on Chinese New Year

In 2 days time it will be the Chinese New Year. When my Mother was alive, this was the most important time of the year for her. I remember she used to start preparing for the occassion many weeks in advance, like sprucing up the house, changing the curtains and at times even changing the furniture sets in the house.

For Chinese New Year Eve, She used to cook a some traditional dishes that everyone used to enjoy, although it was the same recipe year after year. Hainanese Chicken rice was a must, and not any kind of chicken, but chicken she reared herself in the backyard in a coop, for exactly 3 months. The chicken was simply boiled for 20 minutes with ginger and salt, but the taste was really out of this world. Then there was our favourite stuffed fish maw and stuffed mushroom dishes. There was also the sea cucumber dish which I could never duplicate. The soup was none other than home-cooked sharksfin, painstaking prepared.

After her death 10 years ago, I tried my best to keep up her tradition by cooking the same dishes. But of course the dishes, however much I try, never tasted the same. Nevertheless, every year I do it, at least some of the dishes, to keep up the family tradition and because I know she would be happy that I do it.

Rotary Club in Sitiawan, Malaysia set up a Mini market for the hard core poor

It’s a mini-market with a huge difference for some of the hard core poor in the Manjung district in Perak. Upon registration, they just have to go to the “Drop-in Centre” to collect necessities such as cooking oil, rice, milk, canned food and even clothes (new as well as second-hand, cleaned and plastic-wrapped), for free.

The project was mooted by President S. Loganathan two months ago as a project of the Rotary Club of Sitiawan.

Read the full story: Mini market for the hard core poor

Do you know these sobering facts?

Each year in the world over 8 million people die because they are simply too poor to stay alive !
More than 800 million people go hungry every day in the world !
The GDP of the poorest 48 nations is less than the wealth of the world's three richest people !
30,000 children die every day in the world due to hunger and treatable illnesses !
6 million children die every year before their fifth birthday in the world , as a result of malnutrition !

Sometimes several days attack me at once

I think I have not suceeded as a good Mother. I wish the clock can be turned back to allow me to start afresh. But I know that is not possible. God had given me this special responsibility, doubling up as a Father and Mother. Sometimes I feel tired, sometimes in great despair. How do I go forward? I shall have to think. Maybe I need some counselling, but who can I talk to?

I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once. ~Jennifer Yane

Her daughters will visit her twice a week in Bloomingdales!

An elderly woman from Brooklyn decided to prepare her will and make her final requests. She told her rabbi she had two final requests.

First, she wanted to be cremated, and second, she wanted her ashes scattered over Bloomingdales.

"Bloomingdales!" the rabbi exclaimed. "Why Bloomingdales?""Then I'll be sure my daughters visit me twice a week."

Source: http://www.agehumor.com/

An old person's prayer

God, grant me the Senility

To forget the people

I never liked anyway,

The good fortune

To run into the ones I do,

And the eyesight

To tell the difference.

Source: http://www.agehumor.com/

Camping gear for seniors!

This is hilarious!

Source: http://www.toilette-humor.com/old_folks_humor/index.shtml

Reflections of old age

These 3 cartoons are really wacky! I like the one about hot flushes!

Source: http://www.sticksite.com/old_folks/index.html

Sometimes I wander back into those shadows

Took a 45 minutes brisk walk in Section 12, Petaling Jaya where I grew up with my sister and 3 brothers, Father and Mother.

Picture on the left is our modest home where my 97 year old father still resides. We first moved into this house in 1961, more than 4 decades ago!

The 3 pictures above are pictures of Raihan Kindergaten where my 2 elder children began their first steps into school where they learnt to soicalize with other 4-6 years old. The kindergarten belonged to Datuk Raihan, a beautufl wife of a Diplomat and as kind as she was beautiful. Unfortunately she perished in an accident on the Federal Highway about 15 years ago. The kindergarten has not changed a bit.

Some of the houses are still found in their original designs, as shown in the 3 pictures above.

Many of the houses had been renewed and rebuilt into grandios residences and mansions, as shown in the 6 pictures above.

In this matured neighbourhood, beautiful fauna and flora are found almost everywhere.

Sometimes I wander back into those shadows,

Quietly being who I used to be,

Bringing to life all the joys and the sorrows,

Days that can’t die while they still live in me.

-Author Unknown

Kuala Lumpur child tortured to death!

Picture of little 4 year old Iswaran and his 7 year old sister Vinothini

For three months, an ordinary looking first floor unit of a shophouse in Segambut (Kuala Lumpur) concealed a 12 sq ft torture chamber of untold horror. In that “cell”, Vinothini Navindran, seven, and her four-year-old brother, Iswaran Navindran, endured abuse and constant beatings at the hands of a sadistic animal.Yesterday, Iswaran’s ordeal ended. He died. His frail body bore testimony to the suffering he had endured at the hands of his alleged tormentor, his mother’s 26-year-old boyfriend. His torso was almost completely covered with swellings, angry bruises and welts. There were scratches everywhere.

Neighbours spoke of endless nights of wailing and screaming, racked sobs and pleas for mercy. “They were constantly being held under lock and key in the room. If the couple had to leave the unit, they would just throw in a pail and the kids would use that to answer nature’s call,” said Praveen (not his real name), the neighbour who rushed the couple and the dying Iswaran to the hospital (see accompanying story).“My wife would sometimes buy food for the kids. The only way we could talk or pass food to them was through a shutter window at the back of the unit”.

Read the full horror: Segambut sadist on the run

The neighbours knew and yet did NOTHING? Time and again we failed our children!