An estimated 218 million children are involved in work around the world!

DO YOU KNOW?

An estimated 218 million children are involved in work around the world.
126 million work under the worst forms of child labour.
More than one million children are employed in the cocoa farming sector in West Africa.
Between 200,000 and 800,000 children under the age of 18 are trafficked each year in West Africa alone.

From: http://www.frenchbuyers.com/tackling-child-labour-in-the-chocolate-industry-what-role-can-fairtrade-play

Images from various sources.

Two, Three, many worlds coexsitng

"I have to say that I am… astonished by Malaysia. Here is an "Islamic" country where a gigantic Christmas tree sits in the lobby of the hotel I'm staying at, and the café waiters in the plaza a few blocks away are dressed like Santa's elves. Here is a city where the nightlife puts San Francisco's to shame. Where the city's oldest gay bar, the Blue Boy, makes Baghdad-by-the-Bay seem like a dive in Podunk, Idaho; where people party well into the morning light, and you can have a good time for a few ringgits (the Malay currency: around 30 cents).

The food is fabulous: Malay (spicy, somewhat Thai-like), Arab (there's a great place right off Bukhit Bintang), Chinese (you haven't lived until you've sampled the pleasures of Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown), and too many more to go into here. The place is a gastrointestinal paradise!

Modernity is juxtaposed next to traditionalism: on the one hand you have the soaring heights of the Petronas Twin Towers, the tallest buildings in the world, lit up like a vision of futurity against the night sky, and on the other hand you have women in traditional dress - colorful costumes of bright color and the requisite head covering - traversing its corridors. Two, three, many worlds coexisting: the past and the future converging into a new synthesis of creativity and entrepreneurial energy. The impression one gets is of a tremendous vitality, a restless yet directed life-force that seems to spring right out of the earth.

Extract from Christmas in Malaysia - It is not what you might imagine by Justin Raimondo

My daily dosage of high drama

We have had more than our dosage of bad news on a daily basis for quite sometime. Everyday there will be people back stabbing other people, people pulling other people down, people calling others liars. I have a feeling more of these dosages will come our way still. Seeds of distrust and destruction are being sown every minute. Accusations, counter-accusations, law suits, corruption, intrigues and power plays seem to be the order of the day. More twists and turns are happening in real life in our political scene than the Bollywood high dramas.

To follow the daily high drama we just have to check out a few sites:

http://www.malaysakini.com/

http://www.malaysiainsider.com/

http://www.theunspinners.blogspot.com/

http://www.barkingmagpie.blogspot.com/

http://www.x-pkr.blogspot.com/

http://www.malaysia-today.net/

http://gerakan-anti-pkr.blogspot.com/

http://barkingmagpie.blogspot.com/

Anymore suggestions, anyone?

Police rescued 7 year old with her hands and feet tied up!

The police have detained a woman in connection with the torture of her seven-year-old adopted daughter in Lahad_Datu Malaysia.

The victim sustained swellings in the body as a result of being beaten with an umbrella and a piece of wood.

At the time the police rescued the girl from a toilet of the woman's house, her hands and legs were tied up.

The girl has been warded at the Lahad Datu Hospital.

Original article: http://www.bernama.com/maritime/news.php?id=483269&lang=en

Protecting Children from violence, exploitation and abuse is an integral component of protecting their rights to survival, growth and development- UNICEF

He got so hungry he ate his own faeces and drank his own urine!

On February 21, based on a tip-off, Sheriff's Deputies were shocked when they arrived in a house in Southern Ridge Drive in Lake Charles, LA and found a severely malnourished boy laying on a blood and urine-stained pallet. A dog leash was hooked from one door to another to keep the 9 year old boy inside. The boy was dressed in a T-shirt and wearing a diaper, with multiple wounds on his face and body!

The boy who wieghs only 38 pounds told police he was not allowed to eat and at some points, he got so hungry that he ate his own faeces and drank his own urine.

The 27 year old Step-Mother and the Father are now facing 25 counts of cruelty to a juvenile and 2 counts of second degree cruelty to a juvenile!

The boy is now in foster care and is recovering well and had gained 17 pounds.

Read full article: http://www.ktre.com/Global/story.asp?S=12109599 and http://www.kplctv.com/global/story.asp?s=12113995

My Grandma, my Protection and Inspiration

I went to see a doctor in my neighbood about my swollen eye. At the end of the session I ended up with a worse swollen eye, having been moved to tears.

Somehow, he told me about his Grandma who took under her care all her 6 grandchildren as well as her depressed daughter-in-law when her son died at the age of 34 from a heart attack. And Grandma was not rich. Infact she was quite poor, tapping rubber for a living in Banting Selangor. They lived in a small hut in a rubber plantation. Grandma woke up at 4 am to tap rubber. Grandma was a very strict disciplinarian. When she realized that her grandchildren were watching too much TV instead of studying, she chose not to repair the TV when it broke down. Grandma quietly cried to herself alot of times at the riverside where she brought her youngest grandson for evening strolls. But she was tough. Today all her 6 grandchildren are professionals, the eldest a Public Prosecutor and the youngest the doctor in my neighbourhood, who told me "My Grandma is illiterate. But she is my protection and my inspiration". Grandma is now 86, still living in Banting.

Missing children in Malaysia

How many of us are aware of the missing children’s statistics in Malaysia? Let me share with you the statistics for the past 6 years. The source is 23rd September 2007, New Sunday Times and http://www.cybertraveltips.com/asia/malaysia/Statistic-Of-Missing-Child-In-Malaysia.html viewed on 24th December 2009.

Back in 2004, there were 2,405 children missing and 1,803 the next year. Then we have 1,485 children went missing in 2006 and 759 in 2007 (from January to July). From January 2008 to 8th November 2009, there were 4,968 cases and 1,859 are still missing.

Quoted from article entitled What can be done to curb missing children written by RTC Wenn, Selangor

A small pebble

My new neighbour and me were having a friendly conversation. Probably more comfortable with the language, halfway through our conversation she started to speak in Mandarin instead of English. Then very quickly she stopped and asked "Do you know Mandarin?" I told her yes, I was in a Chinese medium school up to primary 6. Then I also told her that when I had to change from the Chinese medium school to a national school, I cried for weeks. After more than 5 decades I still remember so clearly how, after loosing the chance to continue secondary school in a Chinese medium school, I used to cry quietly to myself every morning when I walked to school, for quite a few weeks.

I also remember clearly I used to enjoy my primary schooling. One of my favourite activities in the school was Chinese calligraphy classes. The headmaster used to enter me into Chinese calligraphy competitions and I used to win for my school several times. I was also the HM's favourite and used to enjoy many privileges, like personal coaching from him in the HM's room before the competitions. He also gave me a painting done by him personally as a gift which unfortunately I had lost over the years.

Memory is a child walking along a seashore. You never can tell what small pebble it will pick up and store away among its treasured things. ~Pierce Harris, Atlanta Journal

Why old age has its charms!

"Is there anything good you can write about the aging process?"... Nothing, nothing, nothing ..."Yes, there is. Some advantages are obvious. Movie discounts, seats on buses, Social Security and Medicare. Relief from the stresses of a 9-to-5 job and/or raising kids. Release from the tyranny of machismo and the menstrual cycle.Freedom is the greatest gift. "I do what I want when I want," is how a friend puts it. There's time to read, nap, travel, study or catch up with an old hobby or hubby. There's time to spend with children and grandchildren.

Extract from article Why Old Age Has Its Charms

Love...who would live and live without thee!

Today Diadrian, my very close friends Haznah and Yusof's son was married to Nur Jesamine Wong, a girl of mixed Chinese-Indian parentage. A 1 Malaysia wedding!

"Mysterious love, uncertain treasure

Hast thou more of pain or pleasure!

Endless torments dwell about thee:

Yet who would live, and live without thee!"~ Joseph Addison ~(May 1, 1672 – June 17, 1719)English essayist and poet

14 year old locked in bathroom for months!

In Phoenix Arizona a couple was indicated on child abuse charges involving their 14-year-old daughter /step-daughter.

Police say the malnourished girl was locked in a bathroom without running water for two months, beaten with metal rods and forced to exercise until exhaustion because her father said she had stolen food and cheated on a home-school test.The girl reportedly escaped through the attic and rode her bike to a coffee shop, where a worker called police.

She said she was only fed a few cans of food, crackers or bread every few days. Police said they found a 5 gallon bucket on the floor with four inches of urine in it.

From original article: Police: Girl Locked In Bathroom For Months

Information from www.childabuse.com:

An estimated 3,154,000 children were reported to child protective service agencies as alleged victims of child abuse or neglect in 2008, and approximately one million of these reports were confirmed. Approximately three children died each day in the United States from abuse or neglect in 2007.

CNY on 14 February 2010 with family and friends

As usual every year on CNY relatives and friends gather in our family home in Petaling Jaya. This year, Brother Tai Kam came back from Jakarta and Brother Tai Keat and his wife from Kota Baharu. It was a gathering of four generations -my Father, me and my family, 2 of my 3 brothers, as well as my youngest brother's 6 children and 3 grand children.

My 99 years young Father with his 3 year old great granddaughter and his 6 months old great grand son.


My 2 brothers, Tai Keat (L) and Tai Kam.

Cousins Fatim and Deedee

Brother Tai Keat and son-in-law

Daughter-in-law Azni, Nephew Fadrul (standing) and Fadrul's friends from the Civil Aviation Academy.

Brother Tai Keat's 3 year old granddaughter

Nephew Freddie who calls himself Chef Ed.

More of Fadrul's friends from the Academy.

Niece Fatim

My grand niece easily warmed up to my second son and daughter-in-law

My elder son Feris (R) and Sabri.

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one." Author: Jane Howard

Eve of CNY

Scenes of the SS2 Market in PJ at 7 am on the eve of CNY. Customers were seen jostling their way through the narrow passages to make purchases for the CNY.

Brother Tai Kam came back from jakarta to perform the ancestor worship ceremony in the family home in PJ.

The Chinese places great emphasis on filial piety. Theref0re, ancestor worship is a central part of CNY activities, normally done on the eve of CNY, as a way to respect and honour the ancestors in their after life. The practice is also based on the belief that the departed have a continued existence. Food will be offered to the ancestors, consisting of various plates of food, cakes, fruits and sweets, followed by the burning of paper clothes and "money" as gifts for the departed.

Pre- CNY

For the Chinese, before the Lunar New Year, spring cleaning and sprucing up till the whole house is spick and span is a "must". This is normally done one or two weeks before the Chinese New Year. It is believed that by so doing all the bad luck of the previous year will be swept out, in anticipation of the new year's good fortune. Whether or not we believe in the superstition, it is a good practice anyway. Pictures of big Sister's house 3 days before CNY. An elegant beginning for the new year!

Do you think I will live to be 80?

A man recently turned 65 and did a comprehensive medical examination. After two visits and exhaustive lab tests, the doctor said he was doing 'fairly well' for his age.

A little concerned about that comment, he asked the doctor, "Do you think I will live to be 80?"

The doctor asked: "Do you smoke tobacco or drink alcoholic beverages?"
"Oh no,"he said.
The doctor asked "Do you have many friends and entertain frequently?"
"No, I usually stay home and keep to myself," he said.
The doctor asked"Do you eat rib-eye steaks and barbecued ribs?"
"No, my other doctor said that all red meat is unhealthy!", he said.
The doctor asked "Do you spend a lot of time in the sun, like playing golf, sailing, hiking, or bicycling?"

"No, I don't," he said.

The doctor looked at him and said, "Then why do you care?"

Source: http://www.jokesaboutage.com/will-i-live-to-be-80.html

A new beginning

Yes, at last, we moved house. Gosh...the hassle of it all...not to mention the expenses involved. I thought I had everything under control...what with my long check list and all. Still many things did not turn up as planned. The phone line went dead after 2 days... the main gate was not delivered on time...the internet connection delayed...the brand new hob would not light up...and to crown it all the sewage pipe was badly clogged...by a large piece of concrete that could not be dislodged!

The beautiful Sri Alam which I left behind.

The new owners of my old apartment, Dr Nik, his lovely wife and affable son.

With my best friend Prof Noor Hajar whom I got to know 10 years ago after moving into Sri Alam. We had so much fun together over the last 10 years. I am sure we will remain good friends.

My new neighbourhood in PJ

I managed to find time in between unpacking to go shopping for new furniture with my sister and brother in law.

My brand new book storage cabinet.

Some of my belongings still on the floor...got to get some more cabinets. Still a long way to do.

A new sewage pipeline to replace the old clogged one.

Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending. Author: Carl Bard

Hey, I survived without the internet for 3 weeks!

I was without internet access for 3 whole weeks! I suddenly realized that actually, in the not so distant past, the internet never existed. We used to look up encyclopedias, dictionaries... we used to read alot more...magazines, story books...do you remember? We used to write letters...make entries into our diaries with the pen...do you remember? We used to have many more real friends...instead of friends we had never met before and not likely to meet...do you remember?

But, as with anything we get very used to, it can be hard to let go. Here I am, back at my old habit after the internet break...googling...skyping...downloading...posting....and... losing track of time....

My 2010 Hope List

Even the most cynical among us probably harbour a belief that the new year will bring new hope. Even though it is just another day, it is symbolic of a new start.

My hope list for 2010 is just so long...I hope for freedom from poverty, freedom from child abuse, freedom from child labour, freedom from all forms of oppression, freedom from discrimination, freedom from exploitation, freedom from injustices... and most of all... the freedom for all the children in the world to live a life free from war, strifes, hunger and pain.