Y.E.S is back!!

It's the time to celebrate!!

The Malaysia Year End Sales is Back! Y.E.S! A month long sales in all major retail outlet in Malaysia.

The Malaysia school holiday is also back. Where all Malaysia government school is having aschool break from 21 Nov 4 Jan 2010. Yes! it means students can finally relax after all the major exam. And to those travelling to work, it means good news too as the traffic will ease tremendously after the school holiday starts. Yipee!!

And those who has work smart & hard throughout the year. You may get your bonus around this time of the year. Congrats!! Select a good deal during the SALES time and pamper yourself, you deserve it. Re-charge and prepare for a brand new year!

And for those who didn't get the bonus. Don't beat yourself up or start the endless complaints and whines. Think what's lacking in you that you didn't get it. Plan your plan and work it out. If you are all stress up and needing a "shoping teraphy". Choose wisely with the abundant deals around this Y.E.S time. Soak yourself in the good deal, but remember not to over spent. If not you might have even bigger stress when you received your bill by the end of the day. Reboast yourself and plan to work toward your best and achieve your target in the coming year.

Enjoy!!

Eye Sore – Bogus Monk

Lately, I been driving in the city centre of Kuala Lumpur and I frequently spotted men in monk robe begging for money. I knew these men are bogus monk (even if they are real monks, they have broke the Buddhist code of ethics).

Let me tell you the modus operandi of these fake monks. They shaved they head bald, wearing monk robe, with or without an alms bowl walking on the street. Usually, they will ignore the normal Malaysian as many knew that they are fake. They target foreigners, especially tourists. The bogus monk will walk towards their target(s) and beg for money. Sometimes, the target(s) generously and willingly “donates” money to them. Sometimes, the target(s) simply not willing to donate and the fake monk will persuade or even follow the target(s) until the target give the donation.

I read some articles reporting on the issues of bogus monks in Malaysia. A report also stated that that a true monk is to reject any offering in terms of monetary. Even if a monk offer blessing string in return of a monetary offer is inappropriate. When a monk collects alms it should be in terms of food. Those who offer food should give pure vegetarian food.

Maybe Malaysians and those who are visiting Malaysia are too generous in giving blindly. Some greedy people abuse the ignorant & generosity of these people to satisfy their own greed.

I want to urge all generous people to be careful and not to give out money blindly. Make sure the donations are fall into the use of people in need. Of course, stop giving to these bogus monks!

No X in Forest, Please

In one of my previous blog, I’ve share some tips (without any evidence or its existence and effectiveness of methods shared... hehe) now I gonna “luan bai” even more about survival tips in forest (by avoiding the X).

The foremost important thing when inside forest/ jungle is never ever calls the real name of another person. The rationale behind is, if the X heard the name of the person and the X will learn and call the name of the person. What happened when someone answer to his or her name? The person soul would be called out from it physical body. Dangerous ler… That’s why don’t use real name, if the X call the fake name and you answer to the X’s call, nothing will happened. Safe la. Remember, never call people real name, use substitute name like Big Stone, Wolf, etc, up to your imagination. And never answer to anyone who is calling your real name when you are inside the jungle / forest. Never!

So you think you are pretty safe by just ignoring name calling. No really, those X are quite resourceful. They don’t rely to only one method in getting the mortals. I heard that they also make people lost in the jungle / forest. I don’t know they use illusion techniques or what other techniques, somehow, the people being targeted by them would not be able to come out from the jungle. They will find themselves walking in the same location, no matter how hard they try. So, if you so “shui” (bad luck) and encounter such situation, no fear. An old rubber taper lady told me her “petua” (secret know how) to escape from this kind of danger. No matter you are a guy or lady, as soon as you realized you are lost and walking in the same spot, undress you pant and PEE! Yes, pee and then, gather all your angers & frustrations in your daily life and start scolding in 4 letter words. Whatever foul language that come to your mind, scold it out as fierce as you can lo. She said with this you will able to see the path clearer and eventually find your way out. Miracle!

Ok, I did mentioned pee for survival, but do not think that you can pee as you like lo when you are inside jungle / forest. And pee will make you safe. No way! If not under critical circumstances like what I describe just now, never simply pee here and there. I’ve heard that sometimes, you can get yourself into trouble because you pee at the host’s land without permission. Have to have manners la. Ask permission before you answer your call of nature. Say something like, “Excuse me please. I need to pxx / sxxt at your place because I have no choice.” Then only you do your business there.

Well, that’s all I know about X and forest. I want to state that I really no idea how true is all these story and practice flowing around the folks here. So never never takes it too serious. Read for fun only, k?

No money No Pee...

While I was doing window shopping at The Gardens, MidValley, I urgently felt the call of nature. Immediately I look for the sign of the washroom. I rush to the washroom and found that it is a premium washroom.

Guess the charges for per entry... RM5 per entry. My God! It takes RM5 for a shopper to pee? Of course I am not willing to pay that much for toilet entry. I thought the shopping management must be doing some gimmicky thing about this particular washroom, like what the Lot 10 did many years back, where it imposed premium charge for the toilet entry.

So, I quicky rush to another washroom inside the mall. To my horror and dismay - It's the premium toilet again! With a staff smartly dress in blazer and pant at the entry of the toilet. Yes, the ticket seller of the toilet entry. Well, I guess it look like a musuem inside. But I'm too stingy to pay for a visit to the toilet!! Ark!!

I dare not to look at the other floor of the toilet in The Gardens. I quicky rushed to the main entrance, ran across the road to MidValley Mega Mall. Finally... the toilet (that doesn't need to pay), I'm glad.

Well, lesson of the story -No money, No Pee!

No X, Please.

When traveling to a new place, some will worried that they have additional unwanted company – ghost. Personally, I heard many these so call tips that we can do to avoid bumping into these “sui” (bad omen in Cantonese) thingy.

Before I go into the core subject of this blog, let me clarify a term - “X”. Here it means the ghost/ spirit/ soul or any other unknown similar subject to ghost.

HOTEL
One of the most talked about subject about traveling and ghost encounter is in the hotel / any accommodation type where we spend the night. What are the common believes? And what are the “do” and “don’t”?

I have encountered situation where single female traveling and the make sure the room they book is a single bedroom with only 1 bed. Why? They said if there is any additional bed vacant, you might seem inviting companionship. Double bed is always worse than the twin bed situation, as the X might just sleep beside you.

There is also another common believes among the Malaysian Chinese that the last room in the roll is always not clean (meaning contain X(s)). So beware next time you check in the both extreme corner rooms. ^-^

Do’s
1. Knock or ring the doll bell trice before you enter the room for the first time. When you check in an unoccupied room and before you stepping in for the first time, you may want to consider knocking on the door or ringing on the door bell trice. Then, you may put your key in and open the door. The reason is to inform those X who might be having vacation in the same room that you are coming to the room and spending your night(s) here.

2. Well, some people just feel ain’t secure and courteous enough just informing them that you are coming in and staying here. They will open the door and stand at the side for awhile, and they will say “jie meh” (meaning excuse me in Cantonese) before entering the premise. And I must tell you I hate traveling with such superstitious person. It always gives me a goose bump when they do so. It seems like you are really waiting for the X to come out from the room. And telling them excuse me please, because I have paid for the room, so I’m spending my night here.

3. There are also people who tell me that I shouldn’t left my shoe at the bedside nicely when I go to sleep at a hotel. Here’s the answer why you should not. If you left your shoe nicely placed bedside your bed, when the X wandering around after you slept and sees your nice shoes lying there. They are tempted to wear you shoes and wander around in your shoes. What happened if the X really wore your shoes? Aiyo, easy la… you’ll get bad luck! I don’t want bad luck, so I do practice this one- making one of my shoe flip facing down, so that none can wear my shoes. You can do anything that you think they can’t wear your shoe without rearranging your shoe will just do the trick. I know it sounds silly and doesn’t make any sense, yet, I did it every time I go travel. Oh… Please stop laughing at me la.

4. If you go into a room and found that there is mirror facing the bed(s). Take a cloth / bath towel/ anything to cover the mirror before you go to bed. The rationale behind? Hehe... I’m not too sure. Anyone knows the reason, please let me know. The only thing I know is that in Feng Shui perspective, no mirror should face to bed. It is consider bad and will make a person less energetic and less confident.

Don’t
1. If you found that the room you check in has a Bible or Quran open at a certain page. Please do not close or move the Bible/ Quran. I’m being told that there’s a reason why the Bible / Quran is open at a certain page. It serves the function of guarding the traveler from the unwanted company.

2. Don’t sing or play “Wo deng zhe ni hui la” 我等着你回來 (I’m waiting for you to come back) a Mandarin oldies. I don’t think this has to do with any superstitious believes. Instead, it is because quite some years ago, there was a famous Chinese horror movie that relate playing this song and the appearance of the ghost. Haha…

Having fun reading the silly practice and believes about the X while traveling? I have another part which I gonna share in my coming blog. No X in forest please. Enjoy!

Is Getting Married in the Hungry Ghost Month a Taboo?

I can still vividly recall the way my mum told me to stay home at night time during the hungry ghost festival each year when I was still schooling. I also used to hear how mysterious things happened during the hungry ghost festival.

What is Hungry Ghost Festival? It is known as Zhong Yuan Jie 中元节 or more commonly known as Gui Jie 鬼节. I’m sure the Chinese community and the Malaysian are familiar with this special month of seven in the lunar Calendar. Ghost Festival is on the 14th night of the seventh lunar month. It is believed that during this month, the souls of the unborn for all deceased are released from hell to wander the earth for 30 days. As ghosts are dominating events in this month, it is consider a month of inauspicious for most of the Chinese community.

If you asks around , I’m sure you’ll hear different stories and views about Hungry Ghost Festival. Some consider it as the Feast for the wandering souls, some think that it is some sort of Chinese Halloween, etc. Well, generally, the Chinese believes that it is “bad” or inauspicious. And that’s the reason why, in the past the Chinese avoid holding any happy or significant events during this month. Older people will not be happy if someone wants to get marry, open new business, renovate house, move in to new premises, or even to travel during the seventh month of the lunar calendar.

As we exposed more to the science and our tradition is diluted slowly to a more Western style, people in Malaysia are getting less “pantang” (taboo) about all these believes. Press and media highlight the overwhelming high figures of Chinese couples booked the date of 09/09/09 to tie their knots with their loves one. And this has break the traditions of the low numbers of Chinese getting marry during the ghost month in the past.

Instead of the beliefs that getting married in the ghost month is inauspicious, the Chinese community in Malaysia believes that this particular date 090909 which read as jiu, jiu, jiu a rare auspicious event. The number nine is read as jiu 九sound the same as 久“jiu” which means eternity. So many loving couples choose this special date which happens only once every 10 years to tie their knots.

Well, I really don’t know whether to say that the Malaysian Chinese community is getting modernized and less “pantang” about the old superstitious beliefs or it is that the 090909 which symbolized eternity simply sounds too good for those who hope for an everlasting love between them…


P/S: Since I am writing on the hungry ghost month, in my next blog I’ll share some fun facts and believes of the Malaysian about traveling & ghost. Stay tune!!

Evolution: From 555 to The Plastic Card

I remembered those days when I was a young kid, my mum used to buy things from a sundry store nearby my house. They also made deliveries for big items like cooking oil, gas for stove, etc. The tauke (boss) would take his 555 book out and record the total purchases. Mum would only pay the total bill at the end of the month. During those days, using 555 as credit purchases are common. People use the 555 at the mamak, sundry shop, Chinese medicine hall et cetera.

As time passes, I don’t know whether is the trust between people has deteriorated or is the modern economy doesn’t allow this type of trading. The month end bill clearing from the 555 book is no longer in practice.

Now a new type of credit purchases take place – swipe the credit card. Yes, the easy application for credit card. Most urban folks have at least a piece of this credit card in hand. Unlike the 555, the little plastic card has wider usage.

Undeniable, the credit card gives many flexibility for the card holder in credit purchaser. Unlike the traditional 555 “hutang” (credit) method, the person much gain trust from the tauke to the credit facility. Bill must be clear each month or else the boss wouldn’t give more credit out.

In today competitive business world, getting a credit card is relatively easy. Once your card is approved, a person just need to pay the minimum amount per month and the credit continues to roll. Many youngest today falls into the pit of credit card, where the loan amount is too big, beyond their capacity to repay the loan. Rate of bankruptcy due to unpayable credit card loan is on the rise. Many people become the slave of the card, with income that barely enough to cover the minimum payment of the card(s) each month. And that’s the negative side of the new hutang method.

What is that, son?

Recently, I watched a short movie clip sent by a friend, it is like a wake up call to me. It teaches me to bring the kindness forward and be kind to our parents who have been so loving in nurturing us.

For all they have given to me, there’s nothing I can ever repay them. And now I’m in my adulthood, I have less patient towards my aging parent. Thankful for this video, it reminds me to be gentle and kind to them.

The film title is “what is that, son?” At the beginning of the show, it shows an old age father sitting beside his adult son in the garden bench. His son is busy reading the paper. Both of them sit in silent until a sparrow landed in the bush near the bench they seated. The father gently asked, “What is that, son?” His son took a look at the direction his father looking at. Feeling a bit annoyed, he answered, “A sparrow.” The little sparrow happily jumping at the bush and his father asked again, ““What is that, son?” His son didn’t even bother to look at the sparrow. Without hesitation, he raised his voiced, “Father, I’ve told you. It is a sparrow!”

The sparrow flew to the tree behind their bench. His father took a look at the little creature, curiously again he asked, “What is that, son?” Furious, his son put down the paper and staring at his father, he shouted back at his dad, “Damn it. It is a sparrow!” After finished shouting at his dad, he re-picked up the paper and read it. His father calmly sat at the bench and again gently he asked, “What is that, son?” This time, his son was totally mad at his annoying actions in repeatingly asking him the same question. He slammed the paper in his hand. Stood up, staring at his father, in an extremely angry tone, “How many times you want me to tell you?! It is a sparrow! A DAMN sparrow. Sparrow! S.P.A.R.R.O.W!”

His father eyes showed great disappointment. He stood up, before his son could speak any further, he give him a sign there’s no need to talk further. He walked towards his house. His son felt some discomfort at the situation. Feeling mad and guilty at the same time. His father came back to the garden where his son was with a diary in his hand. He passed the diary to his son and requested him to read out the page where he had opened for him out loud. His son was puzzled, yet he fulfilled his father request. And the diary wrote, “Today, my 4 years old son was a sparrow in the garden. He had asked me 21 times what it was. And I answered him, son it is a sparrow. And each time I answered him, I hugged him in my arms, because I love him.” His son was embarrassed at what he did to his father. His father had only asked him 4 times, and he already lost his cool, he was shouting and blaming his father for the stupid question. So he hugged his father tightly. And the father smiled.

How true, when our parents guiding us during our growing years. They endure many things, accepting us by embracing it with tones of love. And when they have grow old. We are into our adulthood. We cannot even accept a little of slow actions, a little of repeating questions and many more. Blaming and complaining about them. Shame of me being a child that been grow in the blessing of loves. I’m sorry and I love you, mum and dad.

Dim Sum

I remember once a mentor told me that we must give the special dim sum in serving people. He explained that dim sum, if you read the Chinese character, it means touches the heart. When serving people we must be willing to go the extra mile, sometimes it can be very small matter, but it will touches the heart of the receiving party and leave a lasting impression.

I truly agree in his statement. In many businesses and facets of life, we only do the minimum or what is the normal standard. So, if we only do the normal (average) things, how can we complain about receiving the normal treatments, or leading a normal (average) life?

No matter in business or in personal life, only if we are willing to spend a little affection on it. Add that little magical special touch, and automatically we can stand out from the crowd. That is because the heart that being touches will leave lasting positive impression on it. And it just likes the dim sum that we eat. We always need to improve on it and pushes out new dim sum dishes to match the needs of the others. With this, I believe your dim sum will lift you to another peak of your life.

Gross!!

Few days ago, I spotted this fat, gross worm outside my house. It is climbing up the flower pot where the curry leaf tree is planted. Hey, wait a minute, this fat worm gotta finish up my curry leaves. I take a closer lot at this yellow slimmy creature, it has a pair of fake eyes giving impression of a even bigger worm.

I move it to somewhere else and don't you come back and eat up my curry leaf tree!!

This creature make my little niece so excited, she keep bugging on me saying want to see the fatty worm on my cam. Every time she sees it on the cam, she would exclaimed, "Eee!! Chung chung so fierce... Wanna bite people..." I reminds me of my childhood days. Almost every day we can see caterpillar like this crawling around the garden planted with orchids and other flowers. Sometimes, I even helped out to search out the chung chung (caterpillar/ ulat/ worm) hidden inside my garden. So that my dad flowers are not finished munching my the caterpillar.

Butterflies, caterpillar, eggs of butterflies, insect cocoon, ladybug, grasshopers and mantis were commonly found around my house's garden. As i grow up the grasshoper and mantis started to dissappeared. Later, ladybug are no longer seen around my house area. Hai.. so sad, last time I used to see red or yellow ladybug with black dotts. And now even butterflies and caterpillar are hardly seen. That's why my young niece got such excitment when she see the caterpillar for real, first time.

Hhhmm... development bring many materials enjoyment, at the same time, we lost many natural treasure each day as the side effect of the development...

Being Self Responsible

I wrote a Chinese poem portraying my view of being responsible.





The translation of the poem is as follow:

We always are trouble by what others say, how others view (of us), what others do.
Why are we troubled by these?
Do we live in the eyes of others or do we live for ourselves?
Actually, we only need to be responsible for ourselves.

We always say that we did it for others.
It is true?
Maybe we are doing it for ourselves.
Because we only need to be responsible for ourselves.

Therefore,
Don’t live in the eyes of others,
And don’t say that we did it for others.

The truth is,
We only need to be responsible for ourselves.

Of course self responsible doesn’t means being self centre as we only look at ourselves. In fact, being responsible for our feelings, our actions, and our lives. No blaming and take full charge and responsible on the path chosen and the consequences (regardless good or bad). And I know being self responsible need lots of disciplines, courage, self-consciousness and wisdom.

Susan Boyle Rocks

I want to admit that I’m outdated. Yet I want to say that Susan Boyle really rocks! Surfing on the net aimlessly, I came into this you tube clip on Britains Got Talent the first round Susan Boyle sang on the stage. A normal lady with an “aunty” look, what she wanna perform?

I hope that she’s not the lady version of William Hung. When she sang, I jaws dropped. She’s incredible! If I haven’t watched the clip, I would never believe that it is sang by a 47 woman like her. Angelic voice and the way she perform it is simply stunning. Wow!! I feel in love with her voice, her talent and courage to stand on the stage and show her talent. I salute you, Susan Boyle. Susan Boleh!

I dunno who to incorporate video into this blog (pai she la). Anyone interested to watch her performance, please click to this link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY