Thursday, May 27, 2010

When I was a young warthog!

I remember my childhood quite vividly.

There were bike rides. And on my very first bike ride, dad taught me how to balance on the bike and go straight but omitted to teach me how to turn the bike without falling off, or where the heck the brakes were. Which in turn resulted in me going head first into the ditch because, out of sheer panic, I could not figure out the brakes nor know how to avoid the ditch.

Being on the skateboard because it was newly introduced then. As I could not balance on the skateboard, I sat on it while my cousin pushed me. And as usual, in panic, I put my feet down which (again) resulted in me going head and face first on the asphalt and having two scars above my lip today to remind me of that fateful day where my dad almost choked my cousin to death because he didn't watch out for me.

Going skating in the park because it was a great activity then. And having a huge bug fly into my eye while I was skating which resulted in me having to go to school for a whole week with one eye the size of a ping pong ball.

Being thrown in the swimming pool to learn how to start paddling my feet to keep afloat and eventually learning to swim because in dad's words "you were too afraid to put your head under water."

There were little kiddie potluck parties thrown at home where we used Alpha Nuggets from KFC (remember those?!) and spelled out "Jo you Asshole" to show to the one friend who said she would turn up but did not. (we made two trips to KFC just to have enough alphabets to spell that. I still have the photo of our Alpha Nugget insult.

There were weird themes at parties where we tied our hair in two side ponytails because the Shampoo chicks (remember them?) were hot then. And where all three of us turned up in this partially blue and partially striped shorts which must have been quite the fashion then.

Then there were the trips down to the padang where we learned how to use the monkey bar, where we swung ourselves so high on the swings and attempt to jump off it. And we would hide in the those circular things and pretend it was our home. And then cycle until our lungs were about to explode to avoid the neighbourhood dogs who were hell bent on biting us.

What a great childhood.

I hope to give my children the same childhood that I have.

I look with pity on children living in the city of Kuala Lumpur where their Facebook/blogs are chocked filled with pictures of them clubbing, drinking,smoking, video games, reality TV and the latest gadgets. (just to name a few)

Whatever happened to the innocent, carefree, childhood that each child is entitled to?

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

A tale of the delusional male steward.

During my exams, I visited a friend's mum who was admitted to IJN. She was scheduled to undergo bypass surgery the next day and while she was told she was in good hands, she was still jittery about it. After all, it's quite a feat these bypass surgeries. You open someone up and in its simplest explanation, you fix the person's heart and get it working again.

All you can say to doctors/surgeons who do that is..Wow. Nothing but wow.

So you see me gaping in awe when the surgeon walked in (much to the chagrin of the bf), in his scrubs with X-ray in hand to explain the surgery to his patient. "this artery is very clogged up, it's small so there is a risk..."

They save lives everyday. They give people second chances every day.

It must be great to know that everyday you wake up, you can help somebody in some way with your profession.

So, this little background brings me to what I want to tell you today.

I came across a blog run by a male steward. Now this guy in his latest posting brings tears (from pure unadulterated laughter) to my eyes.(I won't link him because obviously I have nothing nice to say about the post. And I prefer to gleefully and surreptitiously read the posts. )

So in this post, male steward (let's call him delusional male steward or "DMS") wrote about this SUPERGROUP of friends that he has. Let me quote :

"They rule the social order. They determine what is in and what is not. Rival groups were formed and were aptly called The Rejects by them. Rival groups did their best to try and become the hottest thing on the block but failed miserably."

And he continues:-

"... even if the whole world turned against this supergroup, they wouldn't mind cos they have each other and they have their looks and they have their talents. This supergroup will survive." (emphasis added)

Sorry, but I find this quite delusional. Firstly, with no disrespect to cabin crew, he is but a male steward. And the people in his so called supergroup are stewards/stewardesses. Sure, nobody said these jobs are easy but to think so highly of yourself? Surely there is an element of denial there.

People are out there saving lives, fighting wars, helping the underprivileged, feeding the poor, fighting crime, being presidents, running countries and etc, but here you have DMS talking about his looks and his talents, and sitting around laughing at "rejects"?

Isn't it ironic that he travels the world, but has such a skewed narrow vision of the world? And how it revolves around his looks and his talents? By talent, he means throwing "hot parties" and by looks he means possibly being the face of the airline(once upon a time).

I don't know about the rest of you. But it has never been my ambition to be known for my looks. or my talents (if I have either of it) . And it has never been my lifelong desire to look down upon others based on their looks or talents and to deem myself above the rest because of things which we are blessed with. Looks and talents are things which we are blessed with. If someone is beautiful, she's blessed. It's not something we brag about. It's not something we use to look down on others. I don't wake up in the morning and say "DAYMN is that a hottie or what?" To me, an accomplishment worth smiling about is when I do a good job in court. Or when I am able to help someone avoid the death sentence. Or imprisonment. Those things last.

If you are out there, fighting social ills, being involved in NGOs, caring for orphans, feeding the underprivileged, saving lives, then....those are things which we can be "proud" of. Making good use of our lives for the betterment of others.

Yes, yes, I am sure many of you are thinking, he is entitled to write whatever he wants on his blog. Yes, of course, but I equally have the right to comment on it. And I think its delusional, vain and quite sad really to have to justify one's nastiness in looking down on others as an appreciation of his looks and talents.

I sure hope one day when he is old and much too creaky to throw hot parties, his 4 supergroup buddies will support him and constantly tell him he is good looking and talented. And that one day he wakes up and realises, that there are PLENTY of people out there prettier and more talented than his supergroup. (and hence why they have been replaced as the face of the airline) and that there are plenty of people out there who are beautiful, talented and SMART and find no need to tell others that they are so.

Such is the tale of the delusional male steward.

Monday, May 17, 2010

When I no longer feel guilty for doing absolutely nothing.

I'M ALIVE! I'M ALIVE!

The bf asked me in the car on the way to the exam centre:-

"Are you aiming to pass or to pass with flying colours?"

I replied,"I usually aim to do well. But I think this time, I have to keep my fingers crossed that I'm going to pass."

It's not that I am a negative person, or I didn't study hard enough for the papers (I have been studying for four months) but it's because I am never one of those people who are lucky. I never go "phew! Thank God the only chapter I studied was the one that came out in the exam paper!"
But I am always the one who " Shiat. I didn't cover that topic and that's what came out."
Never. Never been lucky. The ONLY time I manage to win something at a lucky draw was when they had gifts for each and everyone present.

So, yeah. All the questions which I had for this year's paper, was way different from the ones they have been repeating for the past three years. But that's just my luck.

And to add to my great fortune, my car got rear ended the week before my exam. I think that would make it the fourth time in a year?

Serves me right for buying over the car from an ex.

I texted the bf when I got hit and he panicked.Petrified that I was driving alone and may be beaten up, raped or kidnapped. (In no particular order)

Well, he should know better that I am no ordinary girl. I am the type who would stand in front of the motorbike that hit my car and demand that he gives me his IC. I am also the one who will pull the biker's tshirt and try to yank him off the bike. And yes, I am also the type who will kick his bike when he tried to get away.

And I am also the type who tell the police lady sitting at the police office in MidValley that "yea, saya memang lebih pandai dari you." when she yelled at me, insulting my profession. Do not be surprised to know I refused to budge from my seat when the policewoman shouted at me asking me to get out from the police station. I told her it was a public place and I can stay there as long as I want. And to make the story even better, she told me she has been in the force for 10 years and I told her " Wah, sudah 10 tahun dalam force masih kerja counter ambil report saja ah?"
Well, that full story is for another day.

But I guess I am just not the type who will quietly walk away. Or suffer fools.

Now that I think of it, maybe THAT'S why the bf is worried I may one day end up dead for "defending" myself.

Oh well.

At least I survived my exams! For those who are in possession of toes and fingers, kindly cross them for me. I need to pass this exam!