Freinds, neighbours and relatives make my day!

It makes me a happy woman when many friends, neighbours and relatives dropped by on the first day of Aidilfitri, which fell on 20 September this year.

Second son Farouk and daughter-in-law Azni arriving home.

Amalia (second from left), daughter Deedee's best friend, and family were the first guests to arrive. On the extreme right are Amalia's parents.

L-R: Amalia's younger sister, Amalia and Deedee

My affable brother-in-law Ching.

Mr Cheah, Deedee's boss and his wife

My close friends, L-R: Nor Hajar, Ivy and Suan

Mr Teoh, as usual, in a story-telling mood!

The kindly Mrs. Teoh

Mrs. Teoh must be giving some kindly advice to Helen.

L-R: Ivy, Suzanne and Mrs Teoh

Nor and me with the ketupat and the lemang in the kitchen

Deedee seems to be a crowd favourite with the uncles and aunties

My in-laws who dropped by in the afternoon. L-R: my daughter-in-law's second sister, her husband, my daughter-in-law's Father, Zahari and Mother, Sharma. Dee dee is entertaining my ex-office collegues in the background.

Sharma posing for the camera

L-R: Deedee's friend Jane and her sister who is holding up my beef rendang which she enjoyed very much. She said she will come back again the next aidilfitri for the beef rendang. Ha...ha...so cute..

Cooking the rendang

Tommorrow Muslims all over the world celebrate the festival of Aidilfitri – known as Hari Raya Puasa in Malaysia. It marks the completion of Ramadhan, the holy month of fasting.

As ususal 1 day before aidilfitri, I would cook the traditional dishes such as the beef rendang, chicken rendang and ketupat for the children and neighbours and friends who come to visit. Probably I had been doing it for the last 30 years or so. But I don't think my rendang had shown any improvement over the years...mmm...in fact everytime I cook it, it tastes different, sometimes better, sometimes not so good. I think I am not destined to be one of those women who would leave a legacy behind in the culinary department...


The just completed chicken rendang in the kuali. In front are some of the many ingredients that go into making this must-have Hari Raya dish.

House renovation going at snail pace (1)

Spent almost 3 hours in the hot afternoon and fasting too, at the house in Kota Damansara, "pretending" to approve the rennovation at the back of the house. Eric the contractor explained the workers are doing the footing and reinforcement. Ya..ya...good...I said, as though I knew any better. Then went through with Eric and the electrician from room to room determing the extra electrical points that need to be installed.

After more than 1 month, that's all they have achieved, blaming it on the wet weather!

Will post again after some progress is achieved.

Another inspiration

You have brains in your head.You have feet in your shoes.You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. ~Dr. Seuss

An inspirational thought

"Believe it can be done. When you believe something can be done, really believe, your mind will find the ways to do it. Believing a solution paves the way to solution." -David Joseph Schwartz

Colourful Scenes of Bazaar Ramadan in Section 13 Shah Alam

The month of Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic lunar calendar, and is a month when Muslims must fast from sunrise till sunset. It is only during the month of Ramadan that you will find the Ramadan Bazaar, located at various places in the villages, towns and cities, where traders sell mostly food and drinks for the breaking of fast.

The food traders, who are given temporary license at allotted spaces by the local authority, normally sell under canopies and huge umbrellas. Stalls are normally set up as early as 3 or 4 pm and by about 5-6 pm the stalls would be packed with people of all races and religions, not only the Muslims.

Fasting is not only forgoing food and drink from sunrise till sunset, but also "fasting" and refraining from all bad practices and thoughts.

Friendship that dwells within the heart

Today my very close friend Nor and her family moved out from the condo where we had been staying for the last 11 years. I shall miss our daily brisk walks in the neighbourhood, her cooking, the special closeness I shared with her and most of all her touch of kindness when it was needed most.

Nor all packed and ready to go.

The kitchen counter where I had spent a lot of time over the last 11 years, sipping green tea and taking advantage of Nor's hospitality.

We had had the benefit of being entertained by Ezra (Nor's elder son) on this organ until he left to study medicine in Australia about 3 years ago.

The professional movers , Cheah and his assistant, moving the furnitures

Iskandar Lim (Nor's husband) standing guard at the second floor lift with some of the furnitures.

There's a miracle of Friendship that dwells within the heart,

And you don't know how it happens or where it gets its start...

But the happiness it brings you always gives a special lift,

And you realize that Friendship Is God's most perfect gift.

By Jean Kyler McManus

Limited to a few drops of water a day!

In the Carnation-area in Seattle, a teenage girl (now 15) was systematically starved by the stepmother who limited the girl to a few drops of water a day. The father Jon Pomeroy, 43, wrote in plea paperwork that he knew his wife, Rebecca Long, was disciplining the girl by depriving her of food and water, but he opted not to intervene.

Police and prosecutors say that Pomeroy and his wife had for long isolated and starved the girl, who was just 4 feet 7 and weighed just 48 pounds when authorities found her in August 2008 after they were called to the home to check on the girl at the request of Child Protective Services. The teen suffered dehydration so severe that all of her teeth were rotting!

A veteran King County sheriff's detective said it was the worst case of abuse he had seen.

Investigators say the girl told them that Long permitted her half a Dixie cup of water a day and supervised the girl's showers and tooth-brushing so she could not sneak a drink. The girl said she once was caught drinking from the toilet because her thirst was so bad.

For more information, please read: Carnation man accused of starving daughter pleads guilty

Teen starved for years in 'horrendous' case of abuse

"Violence can have severe implications for children’s development. In the most severe cases, it can lead to death or injury. However, it can also affect children’s health, their ability to learn or even their willingness to go to school at all. It can lead children to run away from home, exposing them to further risks. Violence also destroys children’s self-confidence and can undermine their ability to be good parents in the future. Children subjected to violence have a heightened risk of depression and suicide in later life "- quote from UNICEF

He Brews!

A man and his wife were having an argument about who should brew the coffee each morning.

The wife said, "You should do it, because you get up first, and then we don't have to wait as long to get our coffee".

The husband said, " You are in charge of the cooking around here and you should do it, because that is your job, and I can just wait for my coffee."

Wife replies, "No you should do it, and besides it is in the Bible that the man should do the coffee."

Husband replies, " I can't believe that, show me."

So she fetched the Bible, and opened the New Testament and shows him at the top of several pages, that it indeed says: "HEBREWS"

Ke...ke...ke...

Credit to: http://www.thejokeyard.com/

Respect for other religions

Tolerance towards another religion does not require us to endorse the beliefs and practices of that religion, it simply requires our respect for that religion.

I think this group who carried the severed head of a cow to the Selangor State Secretariat building to protest against the proposed construction of a Hindu Temple in a Muslim dominated area had definitely contravened this rule of respect for other religions.

Although I am a Muslim I have to say that this is a downright insensitive act. Yes they can protest, but wouldn't a memo to the State Government do? They do not have to protest by mocking another religion! For more information on this protest please read:

PM orders action against cow-head protesters

All religions are divinely inspired and all of them give solace to their adherents. This we must all remember.

On politicians

House of a politician -location unknown

House of a politician in Segambut

House of a politician in Damansara Heights

House of a politician in Shah Alam

“Politics (pronounced "sc-um-ba-gs"): noun; from the Latin words Poli meaning "many" and Tics meaning "bloodsuckers.”

~ The Dictionary on the Politician

“At the end of the day, politicians are people too... But what about during the day?”
~ Stephen Colbert on Politicians

Ke...ke..ke...!

More on child labour

The recent death of a 10-year-old Irula tribal boy in a brick kiln in Namakkal district in Tamil Nadu, India under mysterious circumstances has prompted rights’ groups to urge the district administration to carry out a detailed inspection in its brick kilns to verify whether child labour is prevalent.

The members of Evidence’s fact-finding team said they found 30 children working in such kilns in the village.

For more detailed information please read Child labour prevalent in Namakkal brick kilns: rights group

More than 200 million children in the world today are involved in child labour, doing work that is damaging to his or her mental, physical and emotional development. Children work because their survival and that of their families depend on it. Child labour persists even where it has been declared illegal, and is frequently surrounded by a wall of silence, indifference, and apathy.-ILO

The recruitment of child soldiers still widely practised by the Burmese army

Htun Htun Oo 16, a Burmese child soldier, escaped from the Burmese Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 341 in Papun District in northern Karen State in July, making his way through the forest eastwards, even though he was not sure whether he would be killed when he reached KNLA-controlled territory.

“Whether I lived or died didn’t matter anymore,” Htun Htun Oo said, “All I wanted to do was escape. I was ready for anything so long as I didn’t have to stay another day in that battalion.”

Htun Htun Oo was seized by the Burmese army at a railway station in June 2007 while he was on his way to visit his uncle, who was a policeman in Rangoon.

Htun Htun Oo’s case is not untypical. The recruitment of child soldiers in Burma is still widely practiced by the Burmese army, according to Aye Myint, a leader of Guiding Star, a Burma-based social and labor rights group.

Pic above: A Burmese child soldier, not Htun Htun Oo

For the full story please read: http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=16620

She held a 2 year old's feet under scalding water to potty train her!

In Wildomar, California, a 24-year-old woman accused of holding her toddler's legs under scalding water to discipline her and then failing to seek medical attention until the wounds became infected has been charged with child abuse and torture.

The 2-year-old girl, who suffered severe burns from the knees down, underwent surgery 3 days ago in attempt to save her feet. The toddler received skin grafts but it will be several days before doctors will know whether they were successful.

For more information, please read Wildomar woman pleads not guilty to child abuse, torture

“While legal obligations lie with States, all sectors of society, all individuals, share the responsibility of condemning and preventing violence against children and responding to child victims. None of us can look children in the eye if we continue to approve or condone any form of violence against them.” – Report of the Independent Expert for the UN Study on Violence against Children

Friends from the office

Outing with my old EPU colleagues for lunch followed by a viewing of Yap's brand new Condo unit in Taman Tun.

The dining area

L-R: Daisy, Yap and Havinder relaxing

The girls checking out Yap's kitchen, very pretty, spick and span. I wonder if she ever cooks? ke...ke...ke...

View of the Taman Tun Hills from the kitchen window

Maybe I should cook for the girls the next time they visit?

View of the corridor to Yap's master bedroom on the right

In an office, we encounter many different people and personalities. Some make us feel at ease, some make us feel uncomfortable, some we admire, some we just cannot tolerate however much we try, even for years, some are aggressive, some are downright uncivilised, some are nice but keep a polite distance and a precious few become our friends for life.

IT defies logic!

In Bristol, Virginia, the extreme nature of the child abuse case reported this week – a 6-year-old girl allegedly bound for weeks and frightened with toy snakes and spiders as punishment for taking food – seems to defy logic. It appears that family members bound a hungry child and frightened her intentionally, or allowed the abuse to continue, unabated, for the crime of being hungry. The perpetrators – her aunt, uncle and grandmother were arrested.

For more detail information please read Bristol Child Abuse Case Defies Logic

Violence against children is never justifiable or acceptable. States are obligated to protect all children from all forms of violence. International human rights law is based on respect for every person’s human dignity. Children, as people, should receive no less protection than adults.-UNICEF

Just for giggles

Q: Why should 60-plus year old people use valet parking?

A: Valets don't forget where they park your car.

One in six children in the world are engaged in child labour!

Pictures above from stolenchildhood.net

These pictures break my heart!

An estimated 158 million children aged 5-14 are engaged in child labour - one in six children in the world. Millions of children are engaged in hazardous situations or conditions, such as working in mines, working with chemicals and pesticides in agriculture or working with dangerous machinery. They are everywhere but invisible, toiling as domestic servants in homes, labouring behind the walls of workshops, hidden from view in plantations. - UNICEF

Who gives a shit?

Two nicely dressed ladies happen to start up a conversation during an endless wait in the LAX airport. The first lady was an arrogant California woman married to a wealthy man. The second was a well mannered elderly woman from the South.

When the conversation centered on whether they had any children the California woman started by saying, "When my first child was born, my husband built a beautiful mansion for me." The elderly lady from the South commented, "Well, isn't that precious?" The first woman continued, "When my second child was born, my husband bought me a beautiful Mercedes-Benz." Again, the elderly lady from the South commented, "Well, isn't that precious?" The first woman continued boasting, "Then, when my third Child was born, my husband bought me this exquisite diamond bracelet." Yet again, the little old Southern lady commented, "Well, isn't that precious?"

The first woman then asked her companion, "What did your husband buy for you when you had your first child?" "My husband sent me to charm school," declared the Southern lady." Charm school!" the first woman cried, "Oh my God! What on earth for?" The little elderly Southern lady responded, "Well for example, instead of saying "Who gives a shit?" I learned to say, "Well, isn't that precious?"

Credit to: http://seniorcitizenhumor.blogspot.com/

Keke...ka...ka...

We are all born as human beings first

Pictures above of Myanmar refugees in Malaysia, reproduced from http://www.flickr.com/.

I am currently working on an assignment to research on refugees in Malaysia. My preliminary research shows that according to the UNHCR, as of end May 2009, there are some 49,000 refugees and asylum-seekers registered with UNHCR in Malaysia, 43,500 from Myanmar. In addition, according to UNHCR, and based on lists provided by refugee communities in Malaysia, there are some 45,900 unregistered asylum-seekers in Malaysia.

They runway from their countries to escape religious and political persecution but in Malaysia they face a harsh reality as they cannot be granted refugee status by the Government. Malaysia, like other countries in the region, is not a signatory of the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees 1951. Therefore their children cannot attend schools, they work illegally in underpaid jobs and most have to stay in substandard living conditions, sometimes in makeshift conditions on the fringes of the jungle. Their refugee status is granted by the UNHCR office in Malaysia which provides them with minimal welfare assistance.

"...we are all born as human beings first before the establishment of the concept of territorial integrity. Hence, it should be natural that we should see each other as human beings first rather than aliens" - quote Lim Ka Ea, Human Rights Research Officer from a paper entitled "Refugee Go Home - He would if he could"

If he lives he may never walk, talk or be able to feed himself!

A 2-month-old infant, Jack, who police say was shaken, smothered and bitten by his 26-year-old father is clinging to life at Children’s Hospital. The father, Koller of Lafayette, and his wife, Jennifer Schmidt, 20, brought their baby son to Avista Hospital in Louisville on July 21 with a skull fracture, multiple bruises and bite marks. Jack wasn’t responsive and was transported to Children’s Hospital, where doctors told police that Jack has “considerable widespread brain damage.” Doctors said that if the child lives, he “may never walk, talk or be able to feed himself.

Koller is being held in lieu of a $1 million bond at the Boulder County Jail and is scheduled to be charged Friday with felony child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury.

Read the full report Infant in Lafayette child abuse case clings to life

"Violence against children knows no boundaries. Violence cuts across race, class, religion and culture. In every country of the world there are children who continue to fear and experience violence. No country or region is immune" - UNICEF