In Memoriam: One Year Later

Today marks the 1st year of my grandfather's passing. In the days towards the end he was in a pretty sad shape and in great pain, having suffering complications from pneumonia and all we could do is to let him go off rather than putting more pain for him.

A few days ago, during a courtesy visit, one of my uncles told me that he saw grandpa in dreams, in heaven, with his favorite sarong. I lent him a box of old photos that my late grandmother kept. When he went through the photos, he took one of the black and white ones and told me of the image he saw in visions. At least I was grateful to hear that my sweet grandpa is well taken care by God up there.

Sadly he didn't get to see new additions to the family, as those happened six months after his passing. But we, the family really missed him so much.

Anyhow, my aunt actually adapted a poem from James Kisner called "In My Eyes" (original text here) but changed to reflect his. Quite interesting to read really. At least now I remembered what was his favorite song :)

He's rough and lacks in etiquette
Society would say
He has no classy attributes... See More
To help him on his way

He's not a fancy dresser
And he's just trimmed and neat
With simple clothes and simple shoes
He wears upon his feet.

He doesnt belong to a club
Or drive a shiny car
And when he takes vacations
He does not go very far.

He doesnt dine on fine cuisine
To him eating something western is a treat
And he may use a plastic fork
When it is time to eat.

He has a modest little house
But has all that he needs
He keeps his house spick and span
He even mops the floor till it sparkles!

He works long hours at his job
To make an average pay
And even if he's sick or tired
He goes to work each day
Thinking of the 6 mouths he has to feed
(incl.mom)

His job is just a government jobj
His pay just makes ends meet
But a few good friends and family
Makes his life complete.

He's not well versed in poetry
Theater or the arts
But Acker Bilk is his favourite
"Strangers on the shore" was the song

He loves the simple things in life
For riches doesnt thirst
He knows what is important
And his family is put first

The wealth that God has given him
To treasure in his life
Loving sons and daughters,
Grandchildren and great grandsons
And a very special wife.

He never has much money
And his life is not a show
But he is still the RICHEST MAN
That I will ever know.

In Memoriam

Today I will not talk about my usual stuff. It's something personal.

Today is exactly three years since my gran's passing. The date still etches in my memory and the night she died I was not there because of work commitments. She was at sure of what she wanted before she went off.

We gave her the tools to cure but she refused, intending to go and end the suffering.

You can say R.I.P or whatever you want, but I just want to mark today as respect in passing.

That means no more home cooked food already in the last three years and counting.

There are things I still remember about and the picture box that she has that I kept as a memento.

Of course there's something I intend to write today about Gurujib, but that thing, if you are smart and insightful, you'd figure out. No, I put this for today.

Benjamin Lim

There's my new-born nephew Benjamin, in which we celebrated his full moon yesterday night. Apart from that, my family relatives also revisited memory lane with photos that I took from my grandparents house. We had a good laugh on that one. Seeing the faces of my relatives at their yeteryears - that was around the period of 1975 to 1985.

Madonna - This Used To Be My Playground

As the title simply suggests, this is fitting the theme everyone in the family saying goodbye to the place called home. We can hold this place in our memory and be proud of it. We all enjoyed our time in this house, some for maybe a few years, some for more than 30 years, and all comes to and end on June 10.

It used to be our playground really.

Bye Bye...Home

Bye Bye...Home

Kevin drew that pic above and below it says:

Thanks for the 18 years of shelter,
You're always special to me.

Gone back to Ipoh over the weekend to help pack up a lot of things. We had to move out of the house latest by 10th of the month as it has been sold. Our family has been staying there for almost 36 years since the house was first built up by IGB - or Ipoh Garden Berhad it used to call though. Some family members came and go mainly because of having setting up their own family lives. And for 25 years, I've grew up there. So by the evening of today, most of the electrical equipment and light furniture were moved out except for the fridge.

Of course, as dad said, it's a chapter of a book that has to be closed. Since Kevin started studying after secondary school, there's no one to look after the house as my late grandfather was too weak to move around. Since then, upkeep is pretty troublesome and there's no one is in the house except that mom, who sometimes drop by every nightfall.

A will left by grandfather stipulates of the house to be sold after his death, well it had to be and some of us wish to retain the house but you can't break the rules really...heh.

The one thing I loved about the house is due to the geographical factor. You can easily go in and out of the town, for example you can go to the stadium in less than 5 minutes, go to Kampung Simee in about 5 minutes, reach Ipoh town in about 15 minutes and etc..and best you can walk with ease to Kinta City Shopping mall which is opposite the main road.

Well, after that, I could be moving to either another town called Bercham or in Gunung Rapat, depending on the what happens in the entire month or so.


There's too much memory to carry about in this house, so I took some pictures at least as mementos. I am sure that when the next owner comes to take over, the house would be completely renovated, but we won't be seeing it there. I don't know whether if some of my relatives want to remember what's the house look like, but there's some pics which I left at Facebook. Sorry folks, though as of now the pics access is purely for family and relatives lol. But I can share one or two pics over this page.

Boy I will miss the house badly. I think there are about at least three moments of life I could remember about that place, mainly the one fine afternoon 15 years ago, slipped in the dining room as a kid and of course hearing the sounds of mobile hawkers / salesman at the backlane when in the toilet....:)

Stories From Back Home

My dear old grandfather was hospitalized again on Friday as he had some difficult breathing problems - diagnosed as pneumonia. Today, it seems that he is breathing quite hard he coughs (no yellowish phlegm) but I suspect it's sinus. I felt sorry and occasionally wept for him, being in this weak state, and I wish that he can enjoy at least another 3 more years, then I'd be happy. I thought we would be celebrating his "chinese date" birthday in KL, but because of this circumstance, the event didn't happen and I came back to pay him a visit. Before I leaving after the visit, Dad told me not to worry, he'd try the best he can to take good care of him.

The Pusrawi Man was There

On Saturday, I visited back home and went to do the quarterly car service. The workshop manager, at first asking me questions on the political scenario back in KL. Then interestingly, he told me that he met that Dr. Osman Hamid who came over to do his car service. Interestingly, the car has a PKR sticker on top and I was told that he moved back here, admittingly, having enough of the thing in KL, especially the Saiful episode.

People Still Hate Hee

People in Jelapang are still hating the assemblywoman Hee Yit Foong. Her husband operates a chicken rice store in Jalan Yang Kalsom (opposite AmBank) and days after the incident last month, some people sprayed red paint at the shop. True, Hee's husband has owed a lot of money in gambling depts. 60% of the $25 million paid to Hee was paid by interestingly by Berjaya's Vincent Tan! I couldn't find that shop yesterday, and I you guys happened to find out the name of the shop, that would be a big plus.

Ah, The Tree!

There's the famous tree of democracy - the very spot in which Sivakumar the Speaker convened the Tuesday assembly outside the Hall, since it was barred by the police and the State Secretary.
I've been checking testing another photo just to help reference the spot where it was held. If you come in, on your left, it's the Malay food stall by the name of "Selera Idwa"

Long on Brutality, Short on Foresight

I can have a good guess that the police will do everything under the orders of the UMNO thugs to stop this Saturday's rally from going on. I wondered whether is it really because of the fear of the cronies on the above that prompted them to act. What good is a policeman if he is ordered to behave like a terrorist?

Malaysiakini and Bernama reported that IGP Musa Hassan has shot off a warning and threat of arrest to anybody including the public if found to be at the place. As of a few hours ago, there were roadblocks placed around Gombak, Jalan Pahang, Jalan Kuching and roads from the east coast leading towards the capital, as the police will anticipate tons of opposition followers from the east coast, especially the PAS people will be coming down in readiness for Saturday's march.

In most occasions nowadays, the police seems to foment troubles instead of ensuring order and security to the nation. Crime rate still remains at high, and there are cases of splinter cell wars between the CID and CCID, Special Branch is accused of starting the ruckus at Batu Buruk. The police reputation has taken another severe setback, resulting in tarnish of public relations, when they were judged responsible for the abuse of ISA detainee Malik Hussain and this has resulted the government having to pay $2.5 million in damages to Malik. What more are they going to push for what they know that they cannot win?

According to some reports, some 4000 police personnel will be deployed around Merdeka Square ready to pounce on anybody. Now the question is, suppose if there is a total of 100 thousand people against 4000 policemen, how are they going to arrest all of them, unless if they have the balls to shoot every innocent unarmed person including women and children on the street. Like the march of Lawyers in September, the FRU and the police are likely to come with those big trucks, shields, batons, and those tear gas, water hoses ready.... The police think they are able to repeat the formula in stopping the Indian forum but what if things turn the other way round? Should the police decides to make things personal by hitting an unarmed person who has nothing to hide, this means it's a grudge of the citizens against the police for they are provoked and threatened of their lives. And that means massive damages. Do they really want a April 1992 LA Riots here, K.L style?

Let's face it, the RFS index is at 124 compared to 92 in 2006. What more can it be worse with such brutality taken into consideration. The police are just like the gangs fighting for the Five Corners of New York from the 19th century until to the late 70s. They are short of foresight but long on brutality. Don't forget that each police personnel are citizens of Malaysia too, not robots. They too have the right to take part in a general election. If they are not aware of the current situation now, including the judiciary crisis, why do they call themselves policemen if they don't use their common sense and their conscience to wake themselves up from the slumber and ignorance? You see, they should let them go, because if they do not do so, a greater comes in the form of hegemony by iron-fist, politicians who may strip us the freedom as Malaysians in the not so distant future. It might not be now, it will happen someday though. This is the foresight that sadly the policemen did not take into account.

I would like the authorities to step into the shoes of being a normal Malaysian citizen being in that scenario as to understand the other perspective of being a part of the assembly. This sad thing here is that many accusations are made from one side of view, without looking at the other, just as what Puteri UMNO does now, repeating the Wee saga and seeing from only one side.

I will repeat again, no more. This week marks the 90th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. And we are likely to see the Yellow Revolution this Saturday. If the people particularly those who could not make it on that day realize how brutal the police are, then this is likely a sign that the support of BN is likely to erode badly, considering how they are done. There are some who has to do the job of telling world what is happening here. Unless, the King, being the Supreme Military Commander of Malaysia decides to overrule the police and let the soldiers help the country-loving citizens in marching peacefully...something that I wish it would be tomorrow.

I also would like readers here to take a look at some video clips on Youtube of Warren Beatty's Russian Revolution epic, Reds which has the similar context to what is likely to be expected this Saturday. As for me, I am unlikely to attend this due to an appointment elsewhere, but my spirit will be together with this march - unless by stroke of luck I am available.

After all, it's time for citizens to learn how powerful you are in deciding the government of choice.

Bottled Up Anger

Well, I had to wait for another day before my pay comes up. After some calculating and planning for next month's expenses, I felt that I am a little bit angered by the fact that I can spend no more than $600 or $700 on credit card bills, while the remaining half has to be used on usage of food and sundries.

Almost one third is used on the mandatory expenses of the month which includes the room rent and the office monthly parking pass. The one thing that I am pretty offended about is that my rent has shot up by another 60 percent. The main reason according to the landlady was that the electricity bill per month when I started to stay shot up to roughly about $230 plus per month. Sensible to say that I used the air-conditioner almost every night when I am bed. And not to mention that I am using a mini-fridge and water heater during my baths.

I might try to haggle for a slightly lower price so that I can spare some extra cash for food. By having this thing up, I can surmise that she is hanging me out to dry for 8 days. Imagine the extra money I had to pay can be equivalent to 8 days of food, assuming it's roughly $15 bucks per day.

This is something that boils inside that I simply find it hard to accept and it's like bottling up anger within a person. I really feel the dark psyche of humanity - wanting to shoot a person for creating inconvenience out of me. But the thing is that I decided to sign up for a marketing course, after my self-attempts could not work. I hope that I can earn extra cash in USD by the time October is over. My target that I intended to reach is around $7000 USD. Part of it is used for next year special event.

This morning there was a terrible traffic jam along Jalan Kuching in which I thought there was an accident but instead there was nothing at all. It really angers me that the attitudes of drivers who care less of going to work is affecting me that I got delayed by 30 minutes. Fortunately, I informed my manager of that circumstance before the clock hits 9 a.m.

I really wanted to carry a baseball bat in the car and really wanted to bash up idiots who really create trouble out of nothing. I couldn't really depend on obeying the law now that the judiciary process in Malaysia is corrupted already. There are many murders whereby criminals are still walking away free is if they are untouchable...that's where vigilantism comes in.

So angry...I wanted to beat them all!

The Alleycats....Gone

The Alleycats is one of the top bands from Penang singing hit Malay songs. Founded by the Arumugam brothers, the band produced a massive record of 28 albums since 1979.

Alleycats were old pros on the pub circuit, in their Penang hometown and in KL. Back in the 70’s and 80’s they had dozens of Bahasa Malaysia albums, with evergreen songs like ‘Sampaikan Salam Cintaku’, ‘Kerana’, ‘Sekuntum Mawar Merah’, and many more. Every time David Arumugam finished a song, he will shout his trademark ‘Terima kaSIH!”. Every time, without fail. There was one time I was at my Malay friend’s wedding kenduri, this wedding singer belted an old Alleycats ballad ‘ditujukan khas buat pengantin’, and he ended with the exact same ‘Terima kaSIH!”, to which the crowd cheered vociferously.

Sadly, today, Loga passed away from lung cancer at 10.50 a.m. today at the Mount Miriam cancer hospital. He has been diagnosed of this disease eight months ago.

I think I heard of one of their songs a few years ago. At this time, they are contracted to perform every week until July at the Holiday Villa Subang Jaya. Sadly though, they never finished it.

Condolences to David over Loga's passing.

Weekend Plans

I will be leaving for work tomorrow morning from Ipoh at around 6.30 a.m. directly to my office. I got a call from an old acquaintance and my three other friends about weekend plans.

I am having a little bit of headache on planning these. One was on planning on allocating money to pay the credit card bills, and a small portion is needed to pay my parking monthly pass due by Friday. Secondly, Simon is coming again on the 18th, my Sabah friend is coming on the 9th to the 19th and I am meeting a friend for dinner Friday night but only the space of two hours.

Had a little problem, and frustration - the worst of my problems. Today, I managed to complete the Challenge of the Titans - the last one was very frustrating, whereby you must kill every monster without hurting yourself, took me a few hours to figure out how to solve the problem.

After this post, I would be doing a little more packing - this notebook into the case and my hair treatment things. I am having a hair-loss problem now, so the treatment is meant to stop the rot.