Just Babbling

Gawai is coming very soon. Not that I am celebrating but the holiday mood is just around the corner, making me lost interest in my work. Can't wait for the long weekend to come and enjoy myself with my loved one with our plan for the holiday.

I am not feeling too well recently. Saturday was still alright until evening. I started to be insomniac, woke up the next day feeling really tired and exhausted. Feeling warm all over the body but got better after taking two tablets of Panadol. Everything was alright until the night fell. I took another two tablets of Panadol before going to bed.

Things were alright on Monday morning but by noon, my head was aching like it was going to split anytime. I went home for a sleep but it didn't help at all. Popped in another two tablets of Panadol and felt better before going to bed. I woke up several times last night with the weird sore and muscle ache. Woke up feeling fresh but the muscles all over my arms and legs are sore. Hope I will get better after taking a good rest.

p/s: I didn't go to America, I didn't met anyone coming back from overseas and I don't think I got infected with the swine flu.

Back at Home

It's 3pm in the afternoon and I am sitting in front of my laptop, back at home. I am in dilemma whether to smile because of my freedom or to cry as a result of my "productivity". Life is always full of dilemma isn't it.

There are times in my life when I feel blessed to have a good career where I can control my own time and schedule. No 9 to 5 job to go to, no boss to meet and submit reports, no countless meetings to attend to and freedom to choose to work at my own will. Compared to those who work their 9 to 5 jobs, it's not easy even for them go and pay their parking tickets or pay bills at the banks whereas I can choose to do so whenever I want as frequent as I like.

But when the phone stops ringing and the blog entries get updated more frequently, it starts to send shivers down my spine. To start panicking for the "non-productivity" that occurred and how tomorrow will be like.

I am glad I am not God. MAN is not easy to please...

I always think that I am strong, I always feel that I could take any challenges that come my way. I always feel that no matter what happened, I can control my mind, stay calm and make the right decision at the right time. Again and again, I am proven wrong. Repeatedly, I am mentally challenged to accept the fact that I am just another human being with emotions, sometimes, out of control.

I always tell myself, "This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it" as of written in Psalm 118:24. Sometimes I managed to attract lots of positive powers into myself. Other times, I failed to do so and when the system collapses, it goes down so hard I feel I just break myself apart, not being able to be fixed again, yet, there goes another day and here comes another tomorrow.

I don't like myself when I lose my temper. It is always a priority to make my love ones smile and be joyful, to care for them and to give them the best I can. I want to be ever pleasing, be the Mr Nice Guy that everyone loves and happy with. I want to be the best in everything I do. But as always, there is a limit to what I can do.

It's not easy to be a good husband, neither is it easy to be a good son. To follow God's words to the fullest is even harder than what I thought it would. Bob Proctor teaches Law Of Attraction. The late Dr Norman teaches the Power of Positive Thinking. God also assures me that,

"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it".

as written in 1 Corinthians 10:13.

It's hard, it's not easy and life is never easy BUT I will strive on, to continue to be strong and only to be stronger tomorrow.

Busy week

This week has been quite a hectic week that I have gone through. Apart from this blog that I have started not long ago, I have started another blog for my work purpose. I believe that blog is going to be a success. The readers frequenting that blog will definitely be more compared to the visitor that visit this "Sharing" blog of mine.

I have been quite busy with the set up and posting of entries on the other blog, causing me to lose focus on this one. Somehow, I promised myself not to drop anything that I have started so easily and I definitely will not stop posting entries on this "Sharing" blog that I have started not long ago.





By the way, there is a website which is quite well-known among the people in Kuching called the catscity. I have heard of it for some time now but never registered myself there because I can't feel anything interesting in there. Somehow, after I have set up my other blog, I tried to google any famous local forum where I can spread the news of me starting the blog which might be useful to the public as well as boosting my traffic flow to my other site. And of course "CATSCITY" is what I found. I registered myself, got approved, start to post in the forums about my new blog and the things they can find there. Guess what, the next day, I found myself banned, all the entries deleted and they do not allow me to register myself again with the site.

WTF... Maybe I am wrong. Maybe I am not supposed to make use of that site to promote myself but isn't that the purpose of people flocking to forums? To read and get as much useful information as possible and since I have something which I think can benefit others, isn't it right for me to share that with the public in a well known forum such as that? To make things worse, I am accused by the admin for spamming, damn it. I never spam and I will never do that. Posting different entries with different ways of expressing a same thing at different places does not mean spamming (or does it).

Whatever it is, that will be the last time I will ever visit that site again. If no sharing is allowed, PLS LIMIT YOUR FORUM ONLY TO REGISTERED MEMBERS, DON'T OPEN IT TO THE PUBLIC. If it's meant for public sharing, it's definitely not right to ban members who tried to share what they have on the net...

Pregnanthood - Part 2

My wife is now 8 weeks pregnant. Despite having to go through the difficult first few months of pregnancy, she still have to work during the day, sometimes on some evenings.

She threw me a question before, "Why do women have to go through such difficult moments. Not only is it tiring when one is pregnant but a woman has to go through a very painful and agony time during labor as well".

I replied jokingly about the sin Eve had done before by offering to Adam the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden and God has decided that men will have to work hard to earn a living for his family whereas women will have to bear the pain of labor.

My wife replied, "It's not fair. Because women nowadays work to earn a living too".

Unfortunately, she is right. Women in the past used to stay home to look after the children and the family needs. Earning money for a living is never an issue for them, even till my mom's generation but things have now changed. An average family needs to have working parents in order to go through a more comfortable living unless either parents are very well-to-do. A single working parent in a family will only create more stress to the person working out there to make a living. In our recent days, it's even hard for a single to enjoy a really comfortable life without having to worry about the empty pocket by the end of the month before the salary can be withdrawn, what more to say feeding another person or maybe even another child with the same amount of income plus the need to secure some for retirement.

Being a husband whose wife is pregnant, the first few months of pregnancy proves to be very antagonizing moments. My wife who is exhausted most of the time plus the nausea that she is feeling right now has to work everyday, sometimes during weekends and public holidays. She even has to work in some of the evenings as scheduled.

She vomitted on Monday at the parking space near her parents' house. She vomitted again last night at my parents home after dinner as she was getting ready for the evening shift. Although I am not the one experiencing those agony and discomfort, I could see that she is really exhausted due to the pregnancy and the symptoms that occured. I could not pretend to understand how it feels to be in such state but looking at her helplessly really punctured my heart.

There are moments when I felt that she should resign from her work but that proved to be a little extreme. Spending about 7 years to master what she has studied and given the fact that she is doing something she enjoys doing, to quit just like that and become a fulltime housewife feeels a little too much. Besides, I fear of future social problems if she is to quit working and stayed home. Although Jesus has blessed us abundantly and we are never lack of anything, I feel that what I am doing right now is still not sufficent to give my wife and my future child a good life.

Pregnancy is really a very difficult moment. I salute my mother who has carried me around for 9 months before I was born, taking gentle care of me and investing her time on me until I am who I am right now. Not having the chance to witness such difficult moments of pregnancy really make it hard for me to appreciate what our mothers have done for us.

All I can do right now is to pray to Jesus everyday for HIS help to ease my wife's suffering. May the first trisemester ends soon so that she will start to enjoy her pregnancy more than now.

The Monday Incident...

It has been a great weekend. Although I am on call almost everyday including public holidays, the weekends often bring lots of relieves to me, bringing my stress level lower despite having to meet more clients during those days. Although I am self-employed with no fixed office hours, the coming of Mondays sometimes brings me a little bluish mood.

Today (11^th May 2009) is a Monday and the blue Monday Syndrome is a bit inside my blood. Life is full of surprises, life is very unpredictable. Mine is no exception…

My wife called around noon today while I was having a discussion with a client at a local coffee shop. Instead of talking to her, I decided to return her call after my discussion with my client. Less than 10 minutes later, I returned her call and learnt that someone tried to molest her while she was walking back to her parents’ home from the car park. With God’s blessings and care, nothing untoward happened to her but she was relating to me the incident, I could feel the blood boiling inside me. My associate who happened to be in the car with me at that time overheard the incident too.

I informed my associate who happened to be also my buddy that I was going to look for that guy because he is someone running a stall in that area and my wife recognized him. I planned to look for him myself but my associate insisted to join as going alone will be too dangerous. I ended up going to that place with two of my associates to locate the molester followed by my wife to identify him.

He was not around when we arrived but luck was on our side when we spotted him walking slowly from the old market towards the shops. I quickly confronted him. Even before I spoke, the molester stepped back upon seeing the four of us. He turned out to be a little retarded guy almost my age, or maybe younger. While confronting him, his mom appeared and got his father to speak to us. I couldn’t hold on to my anger and slapped the guy several times on his face, throwing verbal abuses towards him. The father finally appeared with a friend and apologized profusely, trying to explain that his boy is a little mentally unsound.

Despite his excuse, I slapped his boy a few more times on his face…

Mentally retarded, mentally unsound… these are no good reasons to give to wade of any wrong things one have done. There might be people who feel that it is not right for me to do what I have done today, slapping and hurling verbal abuses to the molester but if they were the victim, I am very sure there will do much more than that.

Can I go and rape and murder somebody and then claim that I am mentally unsound and be pardoned for the wrong things that I have done? No way, or I will be robbing every bank along the street and tried to ask for pardon by getting my parents to come and beg for mercy. I am not against ‘special’ people in this world. We can’t deny they do not want to be born that way and neither do any parents want their children to be like that. The fact is no matter in what kind of mental state one is, you can’t just go and do anything you like that might harm others.

After that incident, I was in dilemma, as whether it’s right for me to do what I have done. Should I just forgive and forget without inflicting my own punishment towards him. Somehow, I later felt that I have done the right thing. I was thinking maybe I should have punched the molester instead of just slapping him. It’s fortunate that my wife knows how to make complaints and point out the molester. What happened if the harassed is not an adult but a young child who doesn’t know her rights. She might just live in fear for the rest of her life. At least the bastard knows that it is wrong to do what he has done and let’s hope he will not repeat himself again.

Life Goes On The Way It Is Supposed To Be

Yes, life goes on... And it does go on the way it is supposed to be. I recently got the opportunity to work with a new associate whom I am going to share with regarding all scopes of my job. Never did I like to share what I am doing at work with another person because of the fear of that person overtaking me in my field of work, especially the way I close my sales, interacting with my clients and so forth but after some thoughts and experiences, it's really not that bad at all.

Sharing what you are doing with an associate helps me to recap a lot of things which I might have forgotten. Being my responsibility to bring up this new associate, I tend to have more initiative in looking at new ways to do things because it is my job to make sure that my new associates do well in his area of work. Higher responsibility but fun at the same time.

Work is progressing well at the pace that God and I want it to be. At the same time, my pregnant wife with the adorable little fetus inside my wife's womb is progressing well too. As much as the anxiety I have inside, I can't really wait to see our baby delivered in Dec soon. Wonder if the baby is a male or female. I have never been a dad before but I am very sure with my wife's help along with God's guidance, I will be able to raise up our children in a very good way.

Relationship with friends seems to be getting further apart. Is it because I am too busy with my family and work that I have started to neglect them. I have not met most of my old friends whom I used to meet up with every week. Is it for that reason also, I feel that there is a growing gap between us. Different kind of opinions, different goals in life, not easy to get along with. People says that friends are like stars in the sky. They will always be there although they are not always seen. How true is that? I hope this statement will be very true else I will start to lose friends.

Since the pregnancy of my wife, I start to feel that I have neglected my parents. Dad especially... I used to chat with him when I go home for dinner during weekdays but recently, the only thing I say to him is the greeting when I see him and the goodbye when I want to go home. Even during the weekend, I spend less time with him already. Dad, I am so sorry for neglecting you. My strong and egoistic Dad plus my egoistic character really push us further apart BUT I know, dad will still love my and he will still always be in my heart...

Luckily Mom comes all the time to our house during the weekends and holidays. Although I feel that I have neglected her too, I am glad that we still talk to each other when there are times together. Mother Day is coming. I am not planning anything for her. Not buying her any gifts either, apart from that two boxes of bird nests that I have given to her last week. Not sure if that is enough or not.

I hope that sister is doing well at work and study as well as her relationship with her cute boy friend. I pray that my wife will be getting more strength from the Lord so that she can carry on with her working life during this first trisemester of her pregnancy. It's heartbreaking to see her nausea and loss of appetite without the ability to help at all. Sigh... Luckily Jesus is there to take care of everyone. Oh yes, we went for ultrasound again last evening and I saw for the first time the heart beat of our baby in my wife's womb. The feeling is truly amazing... I am not kidding. It's really a mystery plus joy to see a beating heart inside the womb, knowing that the life inside there is created by you and your love one... I love you baby, and of course I still love you, darling wife...

Punctuality...

At 12.00pm.
Happy : Halo, triple X ar, our appointment confirmed at 2.00pm ho.
XXX : Ok ok. No prob.

At 2.15pm, Happy called Triple X on his mobile phone.
Happy : Triple X, you arrived oledi ar?
XXX : Aiyo. You arrived liaw ar. Wait ar. Im coming liaw. On the way, on the way (while
searching for his car key).

At 2.30pm, Happy called Triple X again.
Happy : Oi. Lu late liaw. Where are you?
XXX : Aiyo. Jam ar, jam ar. Wait me ar.
Happy : Warlau, I got other appointment lei. Fast fast please.

At 2.45pm, Triple X finally arrived and acted as if nothing happened, not even a 'sorry' is said.

I'm not too sure about the rest of the people out there or am I the only person who encounter issue like this most time. About 50% of the people I meet with will be late for their appointments. To make things worse, they got angry when you called them several more times, asking them to be faster as you have some other clients you need to meet with after that. Some will apologise when arrive but some just ignore the fact that they are late (as if it's your job to wait on them).

When an appointment is made at 2pm, the meeting is meant to be at 2pm instead of to leave wherever you are at 2pm, only on the way to your appointment. When the appointment is at 2pm, one should automatically be at the place as promised at that time instead of waiting for someone to call and tell them that they've arrived and only then, starting to find their way to whatever place they have agreed to meet.

When can those people learn to be more punctual...

Feeling Blue...

Yesterday (29th April 2009) was the bluest day of the week that I have gone through. Woke up feeling tired despite the 8-hour-sleep, get prepared for work with my heart beating a little faster than normal resulting in my body a little weaker than those normal days. Not much things to accomplish at work today, lack of appointments (probably I was a little out of focus at work recently) and not in the mood to call anyone to follow up anything.

After spending my almost half day doing personal chores and stuck in the traffic jam, it was then almost 4pm. That's the time when the depression peaked. Received two phone calls, discussed over the phone about some obstacles encountered at work, feel very agitated with the way people who called themselves professional do things and resulted in my heartbeat getting faster, body temperature higher. Going home for early dinner as there would be another meeting in the office that evening. Didn't take anything for dinner at all because the appetite just not there. Didn't feel like talking either so I just sat there, quiet like a damn statue, trying to calm myself down.

Meeting was normal but not normal for me. As if the day's blue mood has not been sufficient, I felt very useless and belittle compared to the other associates working together with me. Everyone's hands is one certain task except me. Felt so out of the world... I could feel my energy seeping out of my body, no strength at all even to look up but to sit there quietly, all to myself.

The day before was not like that. It was a vibrant day, filled with excitement and energy. Hopes were high and spirit was great. How have things changed so dramatically. I am feeling better today. I was reading the Bible this morning and came across something which I would like to share here...

"...Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand..."

-Jeremiah 18:6-

This is only a part of the verse spoken by the Lord that I have taken. The Lord says that we are just like the clay in the hand of the potter with him as the potter. The elaboration of this verse is numerous but one thing that I got from this short verse is that God has in mind what He wants us to be. As long as we follow His will, His way and do our best for the day, things are going to work just fine. No doubt we have dreams, no doubt we have things that we want to achieve. It can't be denied that when we under achieve, we feel bad about it but God knows what's the best for us at that particular moment. He knows when are things supposed to come into our life and when some things need to be on hold first.

Easier said then done. Not easy to follow God's words but that's the reason why Jesus is there for us. There comes across another verse from the Bible which I think is useful to me (which I would like to share) especially when I am feeling really down and useless:

"God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."
-Genesis 1:27-

It's good to know that we are creation of God and we are created in His very own image. We are created to do great and create wonders in the world with His assistance...

One thing that no one alive can deny, one universal truth that we have to accept, "Above every dark clouds is a BRIGHT SUN that never fades".

Dory Fish

There was once when I received an email from a friend, complete with pictures and descriptions about rearing the dory fish in Vietnam. The pictures and the details of how the people there rear dory fish are gross. Talking about injecting the fish with urine, feeding them with food which is not food, feeding them also with their own kind (comparing the mad cow disease where cows were being fed dead cows). In the email was also the pictures of where the fish was stored before they are being processed for sale.

It has been a concern for me before as my mom likes to buy dory fish due to its price and boneless features. No need to take out the bones or scales. Just defrost and cook them. Easy to prepare and tastes good. I asked mom not to buy Dory Fish anymore just for safety precaution. We are not really sure about how true it is the emails sent or the articles and blogs written about the production of the fish but somehow, it's not work a risk to take.

Until recently, there was a need for me to cook for one or two dinners and in need of protein, I decided to go to Ta Kiong, The Spring to get some fish for dinner. In nick of time, I rushed to the section selling meats and fish and finally put into my shopping basket a packet of frozen Dory Fish despite the reports that I have read about the fish. I was thinking, those are probably wrong reports else Ta Kiong won't be selling fish which is dangerous to health.

However, the more I thought of it, the more uneasy I became. I started again to surf the web for more information about the fish but not much information can I get about the safety of the fish except a few more blogs telling the same story about the danger of Dory Fish.

Thus, I decided to write an email to the staff at Ta Kiong who is in charge of the Frozen Food Section:

It has been a few days since I have sent Miss Andrea an email and she has yet to reply it yet. Yesterday (27th April 2009) I decided to send another short one expressing how grateful I would to have her prompt reply. So far, no replies from them yet. I start to wonder if they are hiding something or probably the internet is down and Miss Andrea does not receive my email.

What should I do next? Is Dory Fish really safe for consumption?

Pregnanthood (if such word exists)

Making babies is easy but bringing up babies is hard... How nice it is to be indulged in romantic love making sessions with scented candles burning, cool air conditioner blowing, nice and comfortable bed to sleep and the dim lighting just nice to let you fall asleep right after sex.

The sperms then did their job by swimming across the large ocean, in search of their soul mate (the ovum) and be joined together, never to be separated again. Once together, they produce and reproduce a lot of cells to form another human being and come out a new baby.

Let's just forget first about bringing up a baby after he or she is born. Even in the pregnancy period, things have not been easy. Having to cope with morning, afternoon and evening sickness (who says sickness happens only in the morning), the pregnant mother has to be strong to go through the tiredness, the exhaustion of her body due to the hormonal changes as well as bodily changes to accommodate the new baby inside the womb.

How lucky it is for the rich ones who can afford to stay at home, relax themselves and to have the privilege of the help from the servants to prepare everything. Tough it is for those who have to go out to work as if the exhaustion from the pregnancy is not enough to wear them down. As if child bearing is not tiring enough, the expectant mother have to go through series of check ups, queuing up at the local clinics, taking injections, taking supplements as well as having their blood drawn for blood testing and so on. The waiting period itself is so tiring even to those who sit there waiting.

Not only is pregnancy not easy for the mom, the dad has to play his part too (besides, he is also taking part in the fun and pleasure during sex). To have to accompany the wife to the clinic, to do the house chores, to try to make the wife enlightened during her downs (because of hormonal change) and not to forget a little bit of scoldings here and there by the exhausted wife. Blessed are those with work which he can arrange himselves, without having to follow any office hour. Blessed are those dad to be who do not have deadlines for their work, for they can arrange to complete their work at their own sweet time. But still, no matter how easy the work is, physical and mental exhaustion is still something unavoidable.

Although it is a wonderful experience to have a child, the process even from the beginning (except sex) is not an easy one. Now, before we do something that might hurt our family, should we twice and try to understand how hard it is for our parents to bring us up even when we were several weeks old, inside the womb...

Economy Dowturn?

Our world economy is facing it's toughest time during the end of 2008 going into 2009. Even though big companies like Western Digital has been laying people off and a lot of small business owners claimed that businesses are dwindling, it is said that the worse is yet to come.

I do not know how true the economy thing is. As for myself, since the year 1999, everyday economy has been very bad economy. It's 2009 now and the economy seems to be still bad yet more and more people are building houses, shop houses, big detached houses and lands. Every day when I am on the road, more and more Beemers, Mercs and luxury Japanese cars are touring the road like never before.

As a conclusion, not everyone is really affected and many more actually know how to use their time to look for opportunities instead of complaining and following what others have to say. One thing for sure, everyone has their way to look for opportunities.

The point of this entry is because of a hilarious yet creative way to make money that I have just seen. I was surfing the "mudah" website when I stumbled upon this ad:



For a moment, I am just astounded by this guy called Ajan. He / She is trying to sell this RM 10 note for RM 300 because of it's serial number. I bet you can see his number there so feel free to call him for more details.

(This is not an advert, ok. Besides, no one will want to pay me for any adverts for the time being)

Internet is indeed a very wonderful place.

Is Candle Burning Safe or Hazardous to Health

Last night, for the first time, I used the burner given by my wife's friend to burn the scented oil. It is the type of burner where you can place a candle beneath a ceramic container where you pour in the mixture of your scented oil and water. The smell of the lemon grass is definitely soothing and my wife and I love it very much. I instantly decided to buy more candles the next day and make it a practice to burnt scented oil more frequently.

Something however triggered me to google for the health hazard imposed by the fume from burning candles. The results are really shocking. I learnt that most of the candles we use today are made from mixture of certain ingredients with a large proportion of paraffin wax. I have no idea what paraffin wax is but later found that it's the by product from the process of crude oil refining. It is said that inhaling the fume from a burning candle is similar to inhaling the exhaust fume from a diesel engine. If what is said is true, I have been breathing in a lot of diesel fume last night while sleeping, especially in my small room.

To make things worse, reports say that most manufacturers, especially from PRC use cheap ingredients to make candles and some might even use lead wicks to ease the manufacturing of candles. Burning lead wicks will release the lead particles into the air. As the particles will be very micro, they are easily breathed into our respiratory system, sipping and settling down onto the deepest part of our lung, not being able to be cleansed easily. Lead poisoning is a very serious matter not only to children whose immunity is low but also to adults in the long run.

I have been searching the internet for any regulations about Malaysia banning any lead wicks used in candles or any posts about encouraging the use of lead free candles in the country. China, the notorious country has been freely exporting its cheap goods into our country (to help some greedy businessman to increase their profit margins). To make things worse, I have no confidence at all that our government is aware of anything such as lead free candles or candles with lead wicks (sorry government, that's what you make me feel).

On the other hand, there is another group of people who claimed that there is not scientific proof that paraffin wax is dangerous for health. It is said that some manufacturers even use paraffin in food processing. How true is that, I really do not know. It is claimed that the reports about the danger of paraffin candles are false and carries the motive of increasing the sales of rival products. It is also claimed that lead wicks have been banned in the manufacturing of candles and it is not possible for us to get candles with lead wicks in the market nowadays.

Who is right and who is wrong. How can I be sure that the candle that I am burning is safe for me and my family. How can I be sure that I am burning a good candle (bees wax, soy wax, etc) or a bad candle (paraffin wax, gel wax). How does a good candle look like and how does a bad candle look like. Although the usage of candle is not as popular here as in countries like the America, no one can deny that candle burning popularity is on the rise, especially in terms of aromatherapy. Can the government starts to look into this issue and ensure that while we are getting cheap goods from certain countries, we are also using safe products that will not harm our body in the long run.

Enough about MALAYSIA BOLEH, I can't even find the right candle to burn, damn it...

Blogging Not Only a Hobby But a Therapy

Blogging Not Only a Hobby But a Therapy

On the 19th of April 2009 which is a Sunday, I came across this interesting article which I would love to share with all of you (as if I have a lot of readers). This article was published in a local daily "The Borneo Post" and it's also available online here on "Bernama's" website but with the published date a day earlier.

I found what has been written in that article is true. As for myself, blogging can really release a lot of stress that is lying within. In real life, there are a lot of things that bother us (at least, there are a lot of things that bother me). When things happen, you are so filled with stress and anger and it helps a lot when you have the opportunity to share the bad experience with someone else. Of course it happens when you are happy and joyful also. Just that happiness is easier to be kept to yourself compared to anger.

Somehow, there are times when I found it hard to verbally share my problems with someone. By sharing it verbally, it means that I have to recall and repeat the sad story once again and the more I talked about it, the worse I feel and it doesn't help at all to share it with friends. Besides, I don't want to be tagged under the category "the living being with complaints". Thus, most of the time, I decided to keep things to myself hoping that the trouble will dissipate over time. Nevertheless, there are those days when your complaints are so overwhelming that by choosing to keep quiet may cause one to lose sanity.

The best way that I have found... blog it. It's your blog and you can blog whatever you want in your blog. Blog it, tag it and let the whole world search it and read it. It's alright when there are no responses to your posts. At least I know that my thoughts are posted and they can be accessed anytime by anyone, anywhere. When you get comments on your post... Ummph... That's how it feels.

There are then sad times when we have the freedom of speech but no freedom after speech. You can write, you can say and you can voice out whatever you have in your mind but sometimes when you are not careful, you might land yourself in trouble. Who to blame? I do not know. Is moderation the answer? No idea. What's a democracy when the practice is limited to certain subjects only.

Now, enough about politic. I really adore and salute bloggers like Kenny Sia. It's not easy to write and express your thoughts when millions of people are reading your work and watching over you. One thing for sure, it's impossible to satisfy everyone. Mr A likes your post but Mr B thinks its a bull shit. People like Kenny Sia must have gone under lots of pressures and critics throughout his blogging years. However, I am very sure he enjoys it (sorry if I am wrong).

Back to blogging to realease stress, a lot of people started to blog but stopped upon the 5th or 6th entries. Reasons... run out of ideas, no visitors, no motivations... If that's true, don't worry. HappyMan is here for you. Email me your thoughts, lamentations, complaints and regrets as well as gladness, joy and happiness. I will post it here for you, with your identity kept secret. Comment and send me an email now at 5haringoflife@gmail.com. Tick tock, tick tock, I am waiting...

Pregnancy

To any married couples, pregnancy is a joyful thing to be celebrated unless for those who do not plan to have any child due to certain circumstances. Whatever reason one might have, I strongly believe that God has given us the DICKs and VAGINAs (eh hem, excuse me) not just for us to enjoy love making but to produce and multiply. As Psalms 127:3-5 says:

"Sons are a heritage from the LORD,
children a reward from him.

Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth.

Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate."

What a beautiful way to describe the birth of a child to the world. Being a first time parent is a wonderful experience. It's a situation whereby there's a mixture of joy and expectancy but also fear and uncertainty. Happy because the child is someone whom you are going to raise up together with your partner, a symbol of love between the couple, someone who is going to be your inheritance. Anxious and worried because you love the unborn child so much (of course you love the mother-to-be also) and it's the last thing in your to let any untoward incidents to be upon them.

I was googling the net, trying to search for more information that I need to know about the do's and dont's during pregnancy as well as the food to take and to avoid to produce a happy, healthy baby. During the first 10 minutes, I was enjoying myself with the vast and useful information provided from articles posted by doctors, experienced mothers and other internet surfers which seemed to be very logical. The advice to avoid over intake of oily and salty food as well as food which contain high cholesterol level, the advise to avoid half cooked and raw food to avoid bacteria infection are common sights to most articles written by westerners.

This is followed by advice to take nutritional food such as fresh vegetables (cooked of course), fresh fruits (washed thoroughly), meat and fish high in protein as well as food rich with carbohydrates. As it is very common for a pregnant lady to be anemic, the articles suggested increase intake of food rich in iron. Folic acid or folate is strongly recommended to prevent birth defects. During pregnancy, electrolytes such as potassium, sodium and chloride are very much needed to maintain the extra fluid in balance when the blood volume expands (it's claimed that the blood volume expands up to 50% during pregnancy).

Articles suggest lots of examples of fruits and food to take during the pregnancy. Bananas, oranges, watermelon(some controversy here during the later part), vegetables, meat, milk and grains are highly recommended food for mothers to be. There are a lot of other food varieties that have been suggested which actually get different kinds of opinions from different people.

---

Westerners say: Pineapple is rich with Vitamin C. Good for pregnancy (take in moderation of
course).
Easterners say: Hamik? Pineapple cannot ar. Can abort one you know. People use it to abort
lei.

Westerners say: Banana, rich in potassium. Very good for pregnancy. Can help to reduce
cramps (take in moderation).
Easterners say: Warlau ei. Eat banana. Can not lei. I don't know why but people say can not,
can not lar.

Westerners say: Spinach is recommended because of it's iron contain. Good to prevent
anemia.
Easterners say: You think you are popeye mei. Eat spinach. Can not ar.

Westerners say: Coconut juice has lots of nutritional values. Recommended for pregnant
women (click here for more information). It may even prevent neonatal
jaundice.
Easterners say: Ngai ti. Coconut. Very cold lei. Not good.

---

As a conclusion. I only get excited during the first 10 minutes of my surfing the net for information. The rest of the time is spent in doubt, trying to understand each suggestion of the do's and don't during pregnancy... Internet is indeed a place rich with information...

Please feel free to comment and email me suggestions about the do's and don't of pregnancy. I'd love to learn more.

p/s: Easterners: Oi, pregnant liaw, don't change bed sheet hor.
Westerners: Damn, am I going to lay on the same bed sheet for the next 9 months?

Marley and Me...

Marley and Me... A very nice and touching movie.

It has been a while since I last indulged myself in watching a romantic comedy. Although I love fighting scenes and action-packed stunts which keep me at the edge of my seat, there are also times when I craved for more emotional and touching yet hilarious love stories.

"Marley and Me" can be best described as a hilarious yet touching love story for family. The impact of the movie of course will be greater if you happened to be someone who has just gotten married and is gearing up to travel the wonderful path laid in front of you and your new life partner. Although this love story is very suitable to those who are in a relationship (a very good movie for couples) it is also a great one to be watched together with friends.

Directed by David Frankel and starred by Owen Wilson (as John Grogan) and Jennifer Aniston (as Jennifer Grogan), it started with the scene of two of them just married. Jennifer is a person who does a lot of planning for her life. She sticks to her plans and accomplishes them in stages whereas John is a very understanding and easy to live with husband who loves his family very much. Both John and Jennifer strived till the end for the best of their family but there are times when things are not going as smooth as predicted causing them to flare into temper and lose their cool. John and Jennifer kick start their new marriage life along which they adopted a very playful labrador (Marley) which John gives to Jennifer as her birthday present. As naughty as Marley can be, he brings lots of tears and laughter to the couple through their ups and downs.

Things start to get a little out of control when Jennifer gives birth to their son. After the birth of their second son, Jennifer has to sacrifice her career in order to be a fulltime mom. Proven from the movie (as well as in real life), it's not an easy task to manage a family. There are times when the exhaustion is so intense that both John and Jennifer get into destructive arguments.

---

One good thing about watching a family movie like this is that there are a lot of lessons for us to pick up along the way. Different people in different states of mind pick up different ideas from a same movie like this. As for myself, this movie shows me how important it is for couples to go through hard times together, to actually make time for each other to voice up their discontent and to find solutions together no matter how busy they are. Conflicts that are not resolved promptly will lead to more complication as much as illness not treated soon enough will grow chronic.

It also shows me how important it is for us to treasure the moment we go through everyday be it during the ups or downs and even during the very downs. Life is never a fairy tale. Even a fairy tale has its share of tears and grievances (it's not a happy thing to be poisoned by the apple, neither is it great to have a bad "step" mother who keep on "stepping" on your back). Whether we like it or not, there are not joy without sorrow and there are no laughter without tears. The ups and downs are what give our life it's color. Else, we'd better be robots.

The movie which run for about 2 hours is definitely a must see movie of the year. My thumbs up for "Marley and Me".

Some of the screen shots from the movie:

This is not from the movie (a picture of the Eric Dane-as Sebastian)

---

Taken For Granted...

Every week day morning we wake up, we brush our teeth, take a quick shower and changed into our smart and beautiful clothes. We rushed out of our bedroom doors, greeted our parents without even looking at their faces and sink our teeth into the food served on the table. Or maybe not, sometimes we just head to the front door after a short 'bye' before rushing out to work or to have breakfast with friends and colleagues before work.

After the office hour, we were supposed to go back home for dinner but due to the heavy traffic condition, we decided to have a quick dinner outside. If the crowd is right, we chatted till late before going for a drink at a nearby pub only after which, we went back home. Back at home, we were either too tired or we have tonnes of personal things to do either online or offline that most of the time, we were locked in our own room, forgetting the other family members who are staying together with us. By 1am, we slumped onto our bed, recharge our exhausted body, getting it ready for another 'Great' new day 6 hours later.

The same thing happened the next morning but instead of saying a short 'bye' before leaving, we probably complained about the car that has not been washed, or the stained leather shoes that we have just bought before leaving for our next 'important' task. That evening, we probably would not drink at the pub anymore but we might go out for a movie or do some shopping with a few close friends before late night supper after which only will we go home in exhaustion.

Finally, Saturday has come. We go out for drinks and as the alcohol seeps into our bloodstream, we forget that it's time for us to go home and not until the pub closes that we drive home in a drunken state. The following morning, we wake up after the lunch time is over and take our shower to shake off the hangover. Feeling bored at home, we called up our friends before going off for another tea session to chat and boast about how much liquor we have drunk the night before.

---

It doesn't happen all the time, it doesn't happen to everybody and it doesn't happen to all the families but more and more people are facing situation like this nowadays. To make things worse, with the availability of wireless modem, high speed broadband, laptops and now super high tech mobile phones, the more we are connected, the further apart we are from our family. We hang out with friends, we strive at work, we try to enlarge our social circle and yet we have absent mindedly neglected the most important social circle of our life.... our family...

When is the last time we actually sit down with either one of our parents to share about our work, our friends and our boy or girl friends. When is the last time we went out with our brother or sister for a jog at the park. When also is the last time we went out for a picnic with our family whom we have neglected because of our commitment to our work, to our friends. When we converse with our mothers, when is the last time we really look into their eyes, trying to really understand and listen to what they have to say about the neighbours' new grandchildren, the new cookware that she found useful while she went to the market or her concern about whether the new chicken dishes that she cooks for dinner taste alright.

Maybe I am too sensitive and maybe also I am exaggerating. Maybe what I have seen is just the minority who happened to be leading a bad lifestyle. Maybe a lot of people out there are actually spending a lot of quality times with their families. They might have just came back from a great vacation and are planning for another one soon. Whatever the maybes are, this entry is for sure one thing I won't mind to be proven wrong...

Kelantan Football Riot

---

On the 7th of April 2009, something which I regarded as very shameful has happened in our very own country, Malaysia. Due to some misunderstandings during a football match, arguments started and fights broke up. As if fights were not enough, the football supporters even resort to damaging public property as well as burning the police car. To me, this incident is something very shocking and yet very out of place in our culture. Since when do we started to riot due misunderstandings, since when do we started to use this way to express our discontent.

---

Taken from NST online:

KOTA BARU, Thurs:

Police have detained seven more suspects involved in the Kelantan football riot at the Sultan Muhammad IV stadium last week, raising the total number of detainees to 16.

Kelantan Police Chief SAC I Datuk Abdul Rahim Hanafi said the 16 fans arrested, believed to be involved in the riot that was triggered after Kelantan lost 0-1 to Negeri Sembilan in an FA Cup match, included a teacher and students.

"We urge anyone who witnessed the incident to come forward and assist the police in the investigations," he told reporters after opening a programme on discipline at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan, Sultan Ismail here today.

Abdul Rahim said police would continue their investigations and hope to make a few arrests to help solve the case.

During the April 7 incident, 10 vehicles, including that of Kelantan FA president Tan Sri Annuar Musa, were damaged by rioting fans while a police car was set on fire.
In the incident, a student also lost his right eye, after allegedly being hit by an unidentified object when police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd.

Abdul Rahim said all men, aged between 15 and 32 would be investigated under Section 148, 332 and 435 of the Penal Code and if convicted, face fine or jail.

He added that in future, police would beef up security at the stadium (inside and outside) when matches are played at the Sultan Muhamed IV stadium. -- BERNAMA

---

Not only has the public lost thousands of innocent money during the riot, a poor young student who was helping out at a food stall nearby has also lost his right eyes due to the irresponsible act of the beasts. What an animal act. As of yesterday, about 16 people has been detained by the police who are suspected to have taken part in the riot. As what I can see from the news, the people involved seemed to be very pleased with what they have done that night. Is it 'their' nature to be violent all the time?

p/s: Please feel free to comment or add anything to this post. Thank you.

Friendship

Broken Friendship
Sometimes I wonder,
We met along the way,
We traveled the road with joy,
Vows are made to be together forever,
No matter what comes along the way;
Hopes are given, giving enjoyment to the road we travel on,
Feeling assured no matter what happened, you‘ll never be alone.

When the hopes are high,
And the spirits are burning,
There come the obstacles,
Full of confidence, striding towards the hindrance,
Suddenly…
You are all alone,
Despite the sweet talks and promises made;
Friend, it’s alright for a friendship not to last,
But then, it has ended at the wrong time,
Or,
Is there never a right time…

-originally composed by HappyMan-

---

My Very First Post

I love to read as much as I love to write. Reading gives me the opportunities to learn a lot of things which I do not have the opportunity to learn while writing gives me all the chances to publish and share my thoughts to the whole world. Although I am a marketeer, I enjoy writing more to talking to people. I adore the capability to think, write and edit my thoughts, I love the thought of people reading through my articles, the fruit of my grey cells, arousing their minds, controlling their emotions. Call me a selfish person but where else can I pour out my thoughts freely and what other easier ways to do that if not here, my very own blog which I can access anytime, anywhere... (even with an Iphone at a place with a wifi connection, as if I have one)




It's not for fun that I name this blog '5haring'. Not that I have 5 'haring(s)' or whatever it is but because this blog is meant for me to share my thoughts to the world and the display name 'sharing' has been taken by some idiot (please click here to see who this idiot is) and all he/she ever did was to post this to the blog about 8 years ago:

"Wednesday, December 05, 2001

Posted 2:36 PM by D This is a first attempt at doing this blogg thing"

Naming his/her blog 'online collaboration' I couldn't catch the idea of his/her collaboration at all. What a waste. However, that punk might have started another blog filled with great collaborations, probably better than Einstein's.

Starting from today, this will be the place where I will write and publish all my thoughts, my complaints, my lamentations as well as my joy and little wisdoms (which I hope is big enough to inspire like the late Mr Norman Vincent Peale) who is one of my favorite authors.

However, as much the love of me to share my thoughts here, I'd love to listen also to the thoughts of you who are out there. What's the use of lengthy posts which beautiful idioms without any readers but the author himself. Thus, for those of you who would love to share your thoughts with the world with the hope of giving the opportunities for people to learn from your ups and downs, whatever your experiences are, I'd be looking forward to receiving emails from you and I will publish your thoughts here if appropriate. So please email to me all your joys, ups and great stories as well as grievances, sadness and complains to me as soon as you can.

Thank you for reading. Whether you like what I write here or not, do not hesitate to leave a comment or two here. Till then...