Friday, April 30, 2010

Ladies Coach

Kudos to KTMB for providing special coach for ladies in the train from Sentul to Port Klang. I am sure there are some who will not agree to it by saying we are moving back in time etc. As expected we can not please every body all the time but we can definitely please somebody some of the time. I just hope that the service will be provided not only on commuter trains but also on buses.

I am sure some of the female riders who have experienced sexual harassment are very happy. Believe it or not I have an embarrassing experience back in the 90's when I was riding a bus from Bandar Baru Sentul to Bukit Bintang area. I was standing right next to an Indian man who was in his 40s or 50s. He was rubbing his *@# against my arm! Since the bus was so packed with men and women all the way to the steps, I couldn't move to another spot. I do not have to elaborate what happened after that but suffice to say that I had to wash my arm the first chance I got when I arrived home.

It would be great also if we have separate public swimming pools because not everyone has a body which she is proud to flaunt around. If we have for ladies only pool, I for one would change allegiance from walking to swimming in a flash!

I think it's high time that we give choices to women who want to be separated from such animals.
I think those who complained are those who have never had any bad experience like I did or they simply enjoy being molested. Those are the only reasons which I can think of their objection.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Irsyad's Sports Day

Never in the history of Irsyad School having its annual sports day at the Kuantan football stadium. When I was told that this year's event was going to be held on Saturday (April 3rd) at the stadium I was ecstatic. It was a grand event for my kids Harris and Hannah who are still in the elementary school there. I don't know about other parents but to me and my husband, our kids' activities are very important and significant. No matter how busy we think we are they must be celebrated and enjoyed so that the kids feel that they are being appreciated.

Coincidentally on the same day our new Big Boss was scheduled to come and visit our campus in conjunction with the entrepreneurship day function. I went to see my boss to get an excuse not to attend because I wanted to go to my kids' sports day. As expected, the answer was no, and I was very disappointed. Since I am leaving this College real soon, I could have just ignored my boss' request. However, being a good employee as I am (though not many appreciate that!) I still attended the function but my heart was at the stadium. Everbody in my family was there except for Danial. I kept on looking at my watch and finally when the function was stopped for a break, I took off and joined my family. I missed all the games etc but I managed to watch the end of the award giving ceremony. Thank God Yasmin took some pictures.

Anyway, when it was over I went back to my College and continue attending the afternoon session which finally ended at 5 pm. It was a win-win situation because both family and career are important (though not equally important). That reminds me of the speech by Bryan Dyson, the former Coca-cola CEO who said that life is like a game in which we are juggling five balls in the air namely work, family, health, friends, and spirit. He said work is like a rubber ball because when you drop it, it will bounce back. However, the other four balls are made of glass. If we drop one or all of them they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even shattered. They will never be the same. Therefore, I do not feel too bad for leaving the function momentarily becausel it was a Saturday and we were not given any unrecorded leave or anything like that. Even if we were I was already decided to forfeit my share. Such an angel I am :)

Just look at their faces, how could I not want to celebrate together?

Monday, April 26, 2010

SMSNS Reunion

Last Saturday night was a really special night because it was a reunion for my classmates when I was at Sekolah Menengah Sains Negeri Sembilan. I was so excited to go ever since I was informed of the gathering. My plan was to leave early in the morning so I could spend a lot of time visiting with my friends. Unfortunately, my kids' school had an award giving ceremony on the same day from 8.30am to 1.00pm at Vistana Hotel. Well, it was not a 100% unfortunate because Danial received 6 or 7 awards and Yasmin received 3 or 4 awards. Anyway, after the ceremony ended, we rushed home to perform our Zuhur prayer and left Kuantan around 3.00pm.

As usual, when we traveled with the kids, we had to make a few stops for different reasons. By the time we arrived in Seremban it was already dark. Since we were so unfamiliar with the housing area where the reunion was held, we had to stop and ask for directions 3 times! Finally we made it around 8.00pm. A few of my friends and the teachers had already left. Many more were still there. I think that was the most high school friends I had seen in one gathering. I was surprised at the amount of food being served. Kudos to my friends Siti and Ajim who have done a great job planning and preparing for it. It was really exciting and I hope we will continue doing it from time to time, at least twice a year.

I am quite disappointed because my camera quit functioning just a few days before the gathering. I couldn't take any pictures but I am hoping that my friends will email me some soon.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Busy Weekend

I thought weekend is supposed to be the time when we can rest and catch up with unfinished business. However, things don't work that way when you have 5 growing children. Poor Steve looked more tired in 2 days than he did in the entire week last week! We did a lot of unpacking, rearranging, and throwing things.

On Saturday morning I went alone to piano lesson because Hannah participated in coloring contest at KPTM. Besides, she left her piano books at Da Vinci Art Center last week, so she couldn't finish her theory assignment. Najla was supposed to have art class that morning but she refused to go. She insisted in participating in the coloring contest also. Luckily the art teacher allowed her to do the make-up class at 3 in the afternoon. Both of them won and received a hamper each.On Sunday I took Najla to the telematch at KPTM. She participated in 2 games: filling an empty bottle with water and carrying a ping-pong ball in a spoon. Her groups won and they received 2 hampers. Harris came with us but Hannah and Yasmin went to their art class with Steve. The telematch was over around 11.30 but I had to wait until 1pm to get my present for winning the ping-pong match which was held a few weeks back. I got a medal and a small hamper also. By the time we got back I was tired and sleepy. I always feel that way when I stay out in the sun. That's why I prefer exercising early in the morning.In late afternoon all of us except Yasmin and Danial stopped by the contractors' houses to give our house plan. We are looking for a few quotations before we can decide which contractor to hire. Unfortunately both contractors weren't at home. Missions not accomplished. That means we have to see them this week.

Evil Guardians

What a wonderful site to see. I wish all babies are loved and cared for like the one above. It is very sad and shocking when we read about babies and kids who are being abused or killed by so called parents or guardians. Yesterday I read the sad news about a 3-year old girl who died from abuse by her step father. So now the cycle is complete: the 1st 3-year old who died from child abuse a few months ago was a Malay girl, the 2nd child was an Indian girl, and the one yesterday I believe was a Chinese girl. When will it end?

Monday, April 12, 2010

Done Moving

Finally we are done with moving. Now comes the hardest part, to unpack and rearrange things. It has been 12 days but our living room still looks like it has just been hit by a "twister". We planned to label all the boxes and pack items according to their importance etc, etc. Unfortunately things don't work out that way in this life for us. Only the first few boxes were labeled. Then we took a break from packing, and suddenly, boomed! It was time to get everything out! So we gathered all the junk into huge plastic bags and started piling them into our car. Now we are paying for it. We can not find things when we need them. We said " the next time we move, we have to be more organized". Yeah, yeah, sounds familiar?

We are still adjusting our routines at this new place. Harris said he has trouble getting up in the morning. At the old place he was the first kid to get up. I guess the main reason is that the internet is not working yet at this new place. Usually he would play some internet games after he did some math problems in the morning. That brings me to the topic of our super frustration with TM (Telekom Malaysia). We followed the proper procedure in that we filled out the form and submitted to them a week before we moved, along with the RM50 fee! They were supposed to reconnect the line on the 1st of April at the new house. We waited for 3 days and nothing happened. So Steve decided to call them and was told it was "under investigation", or in lay man's term "nothing was done yet"! A week passed by and still nothing happened. Steve went to the office and talked to someone at the customer service counter. The response was "there was no line". What? We just moved around the corner for heaven's sake! Surely there is a line. If nothing else they could just use our old line! Then the person asked Steve whether the housing area is new. Gee, that was really pushing it too far. Today, it's the 12th of April and the telephone line is still not in. We are really upset!