PA: I am NOT FROM CHINA.

What?

You cannot be fair and Chinese and not be from China issit?

While some people get the odd encounter of having someone assume they are from a different country, I get the USUAL, HAPPENS EVERYDAY, WASH RINSE REPEAT, *speaks Mandarin* because they assume I am from China encounters.

Not a day passes without someone speaking to me in Mandarin. In the lift, at the roadside, in court( Chinese lawyers practise here meh??) in restaurants, in coffee shops, shopping complexes, cinemas, you name it, it happens.

EVERY-DAMN-WHERE.

In fact, when SARS was the scare of the moment a few years back, I bundled into a taxi after a long day in college. The taxi driver covers his nose and mouth with his hand and says (in Mandarin of course) "Are you from China?" to which I replied "Saya orang Malaysia la."
He then removes his hand and goes (in Mandarin) " oh, I thought if you're from China, I want to wear my mask. Scared you got SARS."

Sure, my eyes are sepet. And my skin may border on being translucent. That does not make me automatically a citizen of PRC. Or that I can spew Mandarin because its my mother tongue.

It has become almost impossible to tell people I do not speak Mandarin. They gape their mouths in awe. They round their eyes in surprise.

When I was younger I get gems like this "Are you mixed?" (Because apparently it's a crime to be born a Malaysian Chinese and be fair and not have gwailo blood infused somewhere)

"Are you Swedish?" (apparently many Swedish people look a tad Chinese)

But the best one I got was "Are you Chindian?"

*_*

Seriously.

I'm this close to bitch slapping and round house kicking (Chuck Norris style) anyone who comes to me and starts their conversation with "siao jie.."

My little girl named Thi Do.

It's not that I do not care about the Haitians. Or those affected by the Tsunami. Or those of them in Mauritius.

But those are usually just natural disasters and one off. Malaysians rush to pour aid to those countries when disaster strikes. After that, they forget. They forget that the people there still need continuous aid to get along. After a one off donation to say, the tsunami survivors, they go along with their lives and forget about those survivors.

So, as terrible as it may sound. I usually do not donate to these one off aid funds. Because 90% of the time, I do not KNOW whether the money gets to them.

I have a weird sense when it comes to charity.

I do not give to beggars who are not in any way maimed or disabled. Two arms? Check. Two legs? Check. 10 fingers and toes? Check. Got all your five senses? Check. You can get a job.
Beggars who lug around their children? I abhor those even more. If you cannot afford to take care of yourself, please do not bring a child into this world. And after you selfishly did, you bring her out to BEG? as a sympathy card? I don't even know what to say to that. But you sure as hell won't be getting any money from me.

When it comes to blind men/women who sell tissues? Oh, those are my favourite. They are disabled but instead of begging, they are selling something. I give them one RM and take only one packet. Most of them will say "cik, ambil dua paket!" (bless their honest souls!) but I always refuse. At least they are making a living whichever way they can. They are not asking for your money, they are earning your money.

I do not donate to MAKNA because I feel that many already do. Not that I do not feel strongly for cancer patients, but I feel that MAKNA is so publicised and well marketed, many people donate to them. I chose to give my money to the National Kidney Foundation. I like it because they not only help the patients with their dialysis bills, they also help them start up their own businesses. Making them self sufficient not to need to rely on charity anymore. I like that.

And just today I received a package from World Vision. I have decided to sponsor a child and the little girl of 5 whom I am sponsoring hails from Tua Chua Vietnam and her name is Giang Thi Do. For as little as MYR50, I can help make her life better and give her a brighter future. So I shall just give up those expensive eateries every once in a while, pocket that MYR50 and let be it put to good use. I can keep sponsoring her until she finishes school. And then it's up to me whether I choose to continue with another child or not.

I don't know about others, but doing charity without ensuring I can have my tax reduced or to be part of the "happening" group giving to the current charities, donning a ribbon, being out on magazines supporting the charity or just to be known to be charitable, but because I genuinely want to, is a really good feeling.

Scrap that.

It's fantastic.

Every once in awhile...

you have to let those you love know that they're in your heart and your thoughts.

F**K you bootcamp elitist!

You know what is more insulting than random people/friends thinking that I am not fit?

It's an overweight person, who smokes and drinks, who just joined the gym and did one week of bootcamp @ bootcamp.com.my and who says to my face "I think you better not come to the bring a friend session at bootcamp, because I will definitely have to do more workouts and suffer because you cannot hack it."

Now, I do not think I am the fittest person walking planet earth. I do not think I am better than anyone else. And I do not think I have enough muscles to choke Ms. Overweight to death without even exerting much energy, but I do think I am fit enough not to be looked down upon.

Sure, I do not deny the activites at bootcamp may be hard. The burpees, the grunts, the running, the flipping of tires, etc etc. And all these at the ungodly hour of 7am or 545am. And in the harsh environment of muddy fields, sun and wind.

Hey, if you think you are great because you did one hour of bootcamp for one week and you hadn't died, good on you. But please, refrain from saying I cannot hack it. Or that I "may think gym is good enough but once you are out there, you will suffer."

Yes, I may. But I think my 5 gym sessions a week of weights and cardio will ensure, after the first one or two days of suffering and adapting to the workout and environment, I will kick you ass so far, you won't even know what hit you.

So, F**K you bootcamp elitist.

A tale of pork and an idiot.

At exactly 9am.

*buzz*

Sms reads " OHMYGAWD! TONIGHT I HAVE A COMPANY DINNER! PLEASE TELL ME PORK IS NOT CARBOHYDRATE!"

I reply.

"It's meat."

And I got "SO IT'S NOT CARBO RIGHT?"


*_*

Evil eye me not.

Ever got an evil stare from someone you don't know?

I get it all the time.

Back when the BF and I were still friends, we partied together with his bunch of cabin crew friends. This one particular girl gave me the evil eye the whole night. I think her being the BF's ex's best friend was probably the motive behind the evil eye.

Anyway, I digress.

So now that I am dating a pilot who used to date a stewardess, I am always, and I repeat always given the evil eye by his colleagues. The you-left-the-ex-for-her? look. If I had a penny for every time it has happened, I would be filthy rich.

I am not too sure whether the stewardess give me a filthy evil look of "gosh, lookit me, I travel the world!" "oh, why are you so dowdy?" or "ugh. lawyer?".

Well guess what? You may travel the world, you may have luxury at your fingertips, you may make more money than me, and you may be more glamorous than I will ever be. But when your company screws you over, who do you turn to to help you out?

Me.

Me who wrote to your company to ask them to remind them about your legal rights. Me who wrote in to fight for your right to work. Me who threatened the company with legal action if they continue with the screw employee over tactics.

Me.

Remember that the next time you give me the evil eye. I may not look it, but sometimes, hidden beneath the unglamorous, underpaid job that I have, you can't live without me or my profession.