Slow momentum.........

School officially started (officially because last Friday, everyone

was in Raya mood) today...and haih....

my engine took a while to warm up....

slow momentum...but i hope i'll gain momentum soon.....

Form 4 will still have a lot of things to do

but Form 5 will be in revision mode from this week onward....

they have less than a month or most prolly

a month to SPM.....

but i see that they are still unchanged....

some of them that is....

haih....

their trial SPM result for English wasn't that good....

so...if the percentage goes up by a bit next year is a real

blessing....

I hope for miracle....muahahahaha...

which i think will not materialize..

so it all falls back to hard work....

Need to push them more.....after this....

An interesting conversation...

Another story for my nephews and nieces:

(my own and through marriage alike)

This is the story of another brother.

Boy: Jiu mu, I feel so sad...i feel like i have not made my parents happy...

Jiu mu: Why do you feel like that? I'm sure they are happy.

Boy: They have been here for a whole week but i feel that i have not made anything that makes

them happy.

Jiu mu: Well...you have to understand that parents are pretty simple creature. It's pretty simple

to make them happy, just by seeing youmakes them happy.

Boy: Really? But my mom always compares me with my brother. And he wants me to be like

him - good at studies and all.

Jiu mu: First of all, you have to understand that you could never be like him. You may have the

same DNA and stuff but the composition is different.

Boy: So, what should i do?

Jiu mu: You have to know your strength and what you are good at and capitalise on that.

Boy: You mean...choose to do something that totally different from what my parents expect me

to do? Wouldn't that be making my mom unhappy?

Jiu mu: Well...you have to show that you are truly happy with your own choice and that you

bring a difference in this life by what you are doing best. And in doing so. you will make

them happy. As long as you live a happy life, your parents will be happy for you.

Boy: I wish my mom would change. She reads a lot of books but she remains the same all the

time. Dad is a different matter. He never reads any books and he is not

educated like mom but he is so wise in things about life.

Jiu mu: Your mom is old. And you are young. It is very difficult for her to change. You, on the

other hand, are young and flexible and it is easier for you to change.

Boy: I know that but i just wish...you know...

Jiu mu: Imagine this - your mom is a 486 CPU and you are Pentium whatever the latest. It's

difficult to upgrade her. Not impossible but if she changes a little bit, you should be

happy about it.

Boy: Hmmm.....

Jiu mu: Your mom is like a mountain. And you...want to get to the other side. No matter how you

shout, hack away, bomb it or dig it...you'll never be able to move it. It will still stand

strong....but does it mean you cannot get to the other side?

Boy: No...

Jiu mu: What would you do?

Boy: I'll think of other ways.

Jiu mu: That's right...and in the end you'll be happy and she'll be happy. Once you understand

this concept...you would be so unhappy about your mom.

Boy: Yeah...i know...but don't you think she can still change?

Jiu mu: Your expectation is too high. To change your mom...or to revamp her....you need to

uproot her....you need to change her childhood experiences, you need to change the

whole 70s and 80s...the time when she was molded into the person that she is

nowadays...do you think you can change that?

Boy: Hmmm....no.....

Jiu mu: She is the person she is today because of the environment...the trend and the

situation...and even the era she grew up in. So, if she's able to shift a little bit...that is

something that's worth rejoicing about. Once you understand this simple concept, you

will make peace with her and everything will be okay. And you won't be so hard on her.

This is just part of the interesting conversation between us.

(Jiu mu means Aunty in Mandarin)

The important part that is.

Some of you may disagree with this - especially the young ones -

but it is a concept that i found difficult to understand too

before. And the less you understand this...the less forgiving you are...

and the more unhappy you become.

But if you can understand this, you willmake peace with the

older generation who have different set of thinking

from the young.

There is no good or bad in this situation...just understanding....

Excuse them for being young and naive...

A story for my nephews and nieces:

(my own and through marriage alike)

Being young is the most exciting time of life....

One would tend to think one is invincible....

that one is destined for something great...

that one will do no wrong...

and that when one is older, one will change the world....

well...there's nothing wrong with that line of thinking....

Sort of reminds me of the song...

I hope you dance....

but you might think that i contradict myself in this issue...

i do not of course object to this being young and idealistic kind of

ideas....

but...at the same time we have to have humility in

everything we do...

Why the sudden interest in this worldly issue...you might ask...

as my blog is usually about something fickle...

ROFL....(to me that is...fickle)

Right....it sparks off by an argument that MR Chin had

with one of his nephews...

we disagree basically with how they 2 of them

treat their mother....

i know that their mother is a naggy woman that

even the most patient saint will scream....BAH.....

but that is no way to treat her...

His mom called to arrange a lunch or dinner outing or

even a whole day outing with him...

but the way he sounded when talking to his mom was

really like he was unhappy...

that his mom is an intruder to his daily routine

which is according to him 'really busy'.

So ended up his mom was really hurt and upset...

imagine you come all the way from Kelantan

and you have not seen your son for months

and now finally you get to spend one precious day with him...

and suddenly

you are being splashed with cold water....

Hmmm.......

So Mr Chin texted him the next day to express his

dissatisfaction over this matter...

of how he showed that he does not put his family

first and appreciate the rare moment of togetherness.

Imagine his surprise when he got a rude reply from him.

To sum up everything...he used the classic argument of

'I'm old enough to know what i'm doing'

and

'I did nothing wrong' statement.

When Mr Chin chided him on being rude talking in that manner to

an older person....

a very interesting phrase came up....

"I don't care about rank.....when we are talking about facts..

we do not consider about rank.

Rank is only an excuse for people who cannot accept the truth"

or something like that...

(The argument on the sms ran a whole 2 pages of foolscape

paper long you see...and i have to sum it up in

4 sentences)

Mr Chin chided him on his arrogance

and mind you he had his replied ready....

he actually scolded Mr Chin and rudely asked him

to check his fact and that Mr Chin was the one who was wrong

and rude...

Mr Chin finally threw his arms up and said

...yea..live your own life...it's your life after all....

and if you refuse to listen to my advice....

it's fine by him.

well...i smiled at all these arguments...

not condescendingly...but at how naive and innocent his replies

were...

I though to myself: If Rudyard Kipling were still alive

he would cringe at this....

all his wise words gone down the drain...

My word.....no matter how knowledgeable you are...

it is not an excuse for not respecting others....

especially someone older who tries to advise you...

for your own good...

you may think that they are old fashion and that the world no longer operate

the way it used to be...

but the skills to survive that the old possesses will help you

go a long way...

It that's difficult to understand, let me give you

an analogy:

The sea and the fish may change and evolve

but the skills to catch the fish and face the rough sea

are still the same...

it may need some upgrading but the basic skills are still there..

So...go out...change the world to be a better place

all you can...

but DO NOT EVER FORGET the VALUES that

we hold dear to us...

that actually DEFINE the person that we are....

To the young people out there....esp. my nieces and nephews...

Yes...I do hope you guys will DANCE....and not choose to

SIT it out....

(I mean get involve and not be a spectator)

but when you do dance...dance with

respect and humility...

The old may lack in knowledge and facts...

but they are rich in life's experiences....

and with due respect....

these two (knowledge and experience) are a potent combination

of the word SUCCESS...

some of you may not even live a quarter of this life yet

but the old...they have reach maybe 3 quarters for

all you know...

You have not met all or maybe any of the

big fish yet

but the old...they have met all the different kind of fish..

You may have the technology

but they may have the strategy...

So...a little of respect and humility will go a long way...

especially when you have just started your journey

and tried to expand your wings...

Raya is over and school reopens....

So...a week and a half has passed and now we are going to be back

to the same old routine of living this life....

it's not like the holiday offers many changes in our routine

but at least we don't have to face the almost

2 hour journey to and fro school....

and yeah....we can lazy around doing nothing...yay...

the best part...and watch movies....

Nothing much happened during the break...

and we didn't actually go anywhere special...

the usual haunt that is...

which is quite boring....

KLCC for bookfest which really wasn't that

good this year...

and later on to Mid Valley...on the 1st day of Raya...

and Mines....which amounted to nothing...

i spent on 2 blouses in Nicci, my favourite store

in Mines...

Then the next day we went to the Curve....

Borders...and i found Nora Roberts books...

but what really pissed me off was that

i got it at RM30 per book and yet there is

this one second hand book store in the Cineplex building opposite

that sell it for RM15...

one of the books at least...

but imagine the frustration...

Blast....

Anyway....we ate most of the time and we only

shopped for books...

so that was how my break went.....a lot of

relaxation and eating...wedding dinner and buffet

etc...etc...etc....

Think i gain some weight...haih...

i was just enjoying the false impression that i lost a lot

of weight due to dengue fever...

but i sure gained it fast....

i'm merely rambling away here.....

due to boredom....

i wonder if anyone ever died of boredom....

even my cat survived being kept in the house for

a whole day....

and i think even my cat lives an interesting life

of fighting off the neighbourhood stray than me...

So...school....after this...

another 10 weeks to go before the next hols...

and i guess there'll be meetings....

and adrenalin rushes of supervisions and all...

So bring it on life....

I'll face whatever you throw my way...

and hopefully come out not blue and black...

Down with Dengue Fever....

It's been a week now since i had dengue

fever and boy oh boy....

i hated the feeling...

It started on last Wednesday morning, when i woke

up with a heavy head and a slight

banging in my head.....

i put it down to lack of sleep but i felt the

morning chill terribly that day....

by 9 i felt like lying down and so i went into Bilik Gerakan

to rest for a while...

by 9.30 i already felt the onset of fever...the tell tale signs...

i took 2 panadol actifast and felt better...

but by evening....

there was still fever.

So Thursday, i took the day off....

and took panadol...but by evening...there was still no

change....i suspected that it was

dengue fever...but stil i went to the clinic....

the doc diagnosed food poisoning but...yeah....

i suspected otherwise....

By Friday....i knew it was sort of dengue

because the fever pill had no effect....

Friday afternoon, Chin brought me to CMH and by then

i couldn't sit for long already....i had to lie down.

While waiting for the blood test....my stomach

did not feel good....

One of the tell tale sign of dengue fever is

the increase of acid level in the stomach...

it'll make you feel like throwing up .....

and the discomfort caused you not able to

eat anything.

I was admitted on Friday afternoon....

got numerous jabs.....antibiotics etc....

and the drips....

surprisingly this was the first time i did not feel any pain

at all on my hand where the tubing for the drip

was inserted.

I felt much better after that tho not on the eating side....

Luckily...my temperature dropped immediately after

admission and by Saturday i did not have any more

temperature....

So...it was a fast recovery for me....

but my platlet count was still dropping.

It increased a bit on Sunday...so the good

doc discharged me...

anyway...the hospital is under renovation

and it was too noisy to sleep....

so i did not have sufficient rest there...

I still had to go back for the blood test on Mon and Tue...

the acid level was still quite high...

and i suffered from that.....

and slight dizziness....and short of breath.....

couldn't sleep properly for 2 nights.....

but i did not want to be readmitted into the noisy hospital....

so i forced myself to eat and drink as much as possible

just to raise my platlet count.....

But....it was still considered low.....

Friday....my PC was 84, Saturday - 76, Sunday - 80,

Mon - 57 and tue - 60....

Finally on Thurs it was 79 and the Doc said i

passed with an A.....hah.....

Now thank God.....am recuperating fine and recovering fast.

My nephew was admitted on Saturday morning,

also suffering from dengue fever.

He stayed longer in the hospital since it was his first day

of fever and the fever lasted until Wed....

and on Thurs, he was finally discharged.

It was slow recovery for him as he drank less water and

refused to eat....anything....

But well...now he's recovering too....

We discovered that there was a bout of dengue fever on our

street....Mr Wong's son, from 890 also got dengue,

then the husband and wife from the first corner house both

got dengue, then the auntie opposite our house...

and in April...Mr Yee from opposite our house too.

We also discovered that our drainage system actually

encourage stagnant water that is a breeding ground for the mosquito.

Chin wrote a letter to the Health Department

and on Wednesday evening, they came to

spray the house and the street.

We hope that RB Land or the developer would come

and fix the drainage system soon.

This has been a scary experience for all of us...

and though we have 6 months immunity

but still...the thought of the acid level in the

stomach can still cause me to cringe.