Strays

Ah Tuen

Ah Tuen is missing. I have not seen him since last Fri evening. He wasn’t around to greet me on Sat morning when I reached my office car park; nor did he appear when I played with my car remote - I usually tooted to let him know I was there. I made 2 trips to my office block on Sunday hoping to find him but up to till this morning there was no sign of him.

I’ve adopted quite a few strays ever since I started working here. Each time a stray goes missing, my heart aches a little.

The first was ‘Ah-Girl”, so named by the ladies working in my area but I re-named her SharPei because I believe she is of mix-heritage, half Sharpei and half don’t-know-what. She was one of the ugliest dog I have ever seen, yet a favourite among the nearby offices’ staff, which included a Malay nurse who fed her chicken legs on a daily basis. One of the ladies claimed that Girl escorts her to the car every evening. I’m not surprised because she used to walk me to the car too and the nurse told me that Girl sits outside the clinic till it closes. Our area can get pretty deserted in the evening and the clinic stays opened till night. Because she was a big dog, Girl’s presence gave the nurse a sense of security. I believe Girl got so used to company that during one of the long weekend holidays she must have gotten lonely and wandered off. We all thought she would return after a few days but she never did.

Next was a dog that perpetually stayed in the toilet of the deserted shop lot 2 doors away. She used to be somebody’s dog because she wore a collar. We learnt of her presence one morning when we heard her howling. Our attempts to draw her out the next few days were in vain so each day I had to leave food in the stinking toilet. I called her “Kow-Chai”. Weeks later, she would wander out for a few minutes a day whenever I called her. One day, some people came to clean up that vacant lot and shooed the dog away. I couldn’t find her for about 2 days but on the 3rd day I saw her lying dead on the side of the main road while I was driving by.

Then there was Blackie, who looked like a Border collie. He was black except for his white chest. I assumed Blackie was a stray because you could always find him lying at our company’s directors’ makeshift garage but one day, after feeding him for months, an Indian boy staying at the squatter area told me that Blackie was his. The squatter houses were about to be tore down and the boy felt that he should inform me of his intention to take Blackie with him to their new house. Anyway, Blackie went away for about 2 weeks but one day I saw him lying at his regular spot. For some reason or another, the family disowned him. Sadly, Blackie didn’t live very long after that.

Other than the strays, there was a dog that belonged to another Indian family staying at the squatters. The owner told me his name was “Cowboy” and he looked like my Max except that he was brown and very friendly. Cowboy had a girlfriend called Pinky who was a stray. When Cowboy’s family moved, Pinky was left behind and so I ‘adopted’ her. At that time, Blackie was around and they became friends. After some months, Pinky gave birth to 6 puppies. Just before that, Blackie died but Pinky didn’t feel the loss until one by one her puppies were taken away. One Sunday I came to feed her in the morning but kept half the food so that I could feed her a second round later but I couldn’t find her when I came in the evening. Since then, I have not since Pinky.

Then came Ah Tuen. He is serious faced yet looks dopey hence the name, Ah Tuen. He’s totally white but is incapable of keeping himself clean. He sleeps beneath an abandoned truck and each time I drive past, he knows it is mealtime and comes running after me. I don’t know how he does it but he is able to distinguish my car engine from others. If I come from the other direction where I don’t need to pass him, I only need to play with my remote a few times and he will appear. He seems able to tell time too. When I am late and arrive after 9.00 a.m., he will wait for me where I park.

It’s been 4 days since he disappeared. In the next few weeks I will probably still look out for him even though I have a feeling he’s gone for good. His disappearance leaves a hollow feeling inside me but it is to be expected, strays come and go. Yet each time it happens I grieve and I mourn. How am I ever going to be a volunteer for SPCA or PAWS?? F

My 2 sons !!

The weekend is over and i am glad it was not as hectic as last Sunday! Nevertheless it was still eventful. Saturday was spent getting my tyres changed and then grocery shopping. Sunday was busier as i went for a dance workshop in TTDI, KL. It was beneficial and fun. It's organized for the Asia Pacific Masters championship and they teach dances that are chosen for the competition. I am not there to join the competition but just to learn the dances and have fun. And i sure did! :)
It was a full day affair from 10am - 6pm! but we came back earlier and i had a chance to relax and have my dinner at home. It was a tiring Sunday and i was just looking forward to bedtime. I was too tired to bathe son no.2(Storm ...the Schnauzer>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>

so i put that on hold :) At about 11pm we put out son no.1 (Thunder..... the German Shepherd) and didn't notice that the gate was not closed!!! 15 min later when we realised that, Thunder was already out of the home grounds,... my first thought was ..... oh dear, this is going to be a longggg night! Sigh! Our 1st German shepherd ( Candy) was a wanderer and she would wander off and getting her back would take like an hour! Phew!!!
But i think i have good sons :) !! We caught a glimpse of Thunder in the dark. He was sniffing and marking his territory at the end of the road about 5 houses away. We called for him and he came running back! Phew, what a good son!!!! he was rewarded with lots of biscuits for his obedience! I was so relieved... after a long day at the workshop i was not cut out to run all over looking for my 4 legged son! But when i thought again about it , it would be really really devastating if we had lost him like F lost her girlie

:( Sigh! I got lucky this time. We need to be extra careful with our 4 legged family members.

E-xtra careful now!

Have we all become so cynical ?

Out of the goodness of her heart, a young girl, Daphne Ling highlighted the plight of a little girl with Fraser Syndrome. Daphne is a member of the Star's Brats and has stood up for and spoken on a lot of moral & general issues. The story of Siti Aisya Shahidan first appeared on The Star on 24 th Dec 2006.

Through her efforts, donations in cash and kind poured in for the family of the little girl as Daphne had also posted the story in her blog along with other bloggers like Marina Mahathir etc... Every month or so, Daphne would give an update on Aisya's health, donations collected, etc... so that the story would not fizzle out and become another forgotten issue. By April the family had collected about 13k in cash and in addition, pledges for 1 year's supply of diapers, milk, Nestum etc..

Unfortunately, along with praises for her efforts, she received some emails and messages from strangers questioning her motives. All along, she had chosen to ignore these messages but Daphne has since decided to quit this effort because of a message posted in her blog from somebody called 'Melayu Jati'. It goes :

'apa yang aku tak fahem memang satu. siapa dia ni adik daphne ini? kenapa semua percaya sangat kak dia nak bagi duit nak bagi siti aisya ini? tak pernah ke dengar yang banyak orang yang tipu duit orang? mana bukti yang Siti aisya ni wujud? mana bukti dan buku akaun yang daphne ni tak ambil duit tu untuk dirinya sendiri? tak hairan ke semua orang yang budak cina yang tak kena mengena dengan keluarga si aisya ni nak tolong dia? pandailah sikit. mana ade orang yang nak tolong kalau dia tak dapat ape sendiri terutama kes macam ni. bUdak cina tolong orang melayu konon. pleese pak, bagi lah orang melayu jaga diri sendiri. kalau betul nak tolong aisya, ambil duit sendiri bagi. menyampah nak sibuk jaga kain orang. memang ku menyampah. takdak orang sebaik ni. tipu!dari, melayu jati'

Marina Mahathir had this to say in response to Melayu Jati !

Kalau 'melayu jati' ertinya menuduh orang yang baik hati mencuri, saya bukan melayu jati. Kalau melayu jati ertinya tidak percaya ada orang yang boleh membantu orang yang memerlui tanpa mengira bangsa dan ugama, saya tidak ingin menjadi melayu jati. Kerana sikap inilah, penderitaan berterusan, kerana ada orang yang sentiasa mencari alasan supaya tidak membantu sambil mengkritik orang lain. Saya kasihan kepada Melayu Jati kerana hidup dalam dunia dimana tidak ada 'orang sebaik ni'. Agaknya kalau kita tidak buat baik kepada orang lain, mereka pun tidak buat baik kepada kita. Alangkah gelap dunia kamu.

Translated : If 'melayu jati' (pure Malay) means accusing people who are goodhearted of stealing, then I am not a pure Malay. If 'pure Malay' means not believing that people can help those who need it without considering race and religion, then I don't want to be pure Malay. It is because of attitudes like these that human suffering continues, because there are people who find every excuse not to help while criticising those who do. I feel pity for Melayu Jati because he lives in a world where there are no people 'as good as this'. I guess if you are never good to people, people will never be good to you. What a dark world you live in.

It's sad because people like MJ puts others off from helping one another. And the worse part is being so racial about it . If you all want to read more about it, here are the links :
Daphne's http://daphneling.blogspot.com/
Marina Mahathir (http://rantingsbymm.blogspot.com)

F

Murphy's Law!!!

U are probably wondering what it is with me and laws!!!! First its the Newton's 1st law (inertia) and now its Murphy's!!! Hahahaha!!! Well, newton's was proven, Murphy's law, on the other hand, is just a saying. And this is what it is : Murphy's Law states that "Whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time," ... and believe me , its proven to be quite true in my life!!! Its a saying in the western culture and i have heard my mum saying the Hokkien version as well that goes: "Chuan Geen Chuan Too" ~ that's in Penang Hokkien so a lot of u may not understand it.
This is my version of F's eventful weekend. I was really looking forward to a getaway weekend. Its been ages since i had a holiday :( away from home. The golfers planned it and i was going to make the best of it. I had qualms about sharing a private apartment with an unknown friend. But it was not as bad as it seemed. She is nice in her own demure way , very unlike the noisy silly people are!!! She carried her part of the conversation well , and made us feel at home at her apartment.
We did get some alone time to be crazy though , when we took the cable car and went up to the top of the highlands. F was left to try her luck at the slot machines, while my other friend and her daughter took me to the karaoke room for some lung exercise!!! I had fun singing the safe songs so as not to embarrass anyone! Another friend joined us later and after the singing session we made our way back to the casino where we combined our luck and made the mini jackpot for F! 3 pairs of hands busy pressing the screen won her 1200RM! And we finally dragged away from the machine!
Dinner was nice , and after dinner we went back to the casino. I lost a total of 40RM and my other half lost 600RM!! We made it back to the apartment at midnight ~ oh and i must not forget to mention that i had many Mother's day wishes on my phone :) Thanks kids ! ( Wilson included) Back at the apartment we stayed up to chit chat till 2am and then i went to bed , Brrrrrrrrrrrr it was a cold night!
The next day we made our way home after lunch and that's when Murphy played his trick on us. i was worried about my car tyres so we drove really slow. And when we made it downhill in one piece i was a bit relieved but the worst was yet to come. The car radiator leaked and the engine overheated. We stopped by a petrol station and were told to wait for 30 min b4 we fill up the radiator. McD was nearby so we went for drinks. Later when we found out that filling up with water didn't help, we called for a tow truck. And that was when we realized that the keys were locked in the car!!! ALAMAK!!!! Itu la , i say Murphy's law!!! So the tow truck guy had to drive one of us back home to get the extra set of keys . Apparently he estimated the ride to be 30 min but then Murphy struck again ..... there was a huge thunderstorm along the Kesas Highway and the floods caused a massive jam. So it took more than the double the estimated time getting there , and coming back ..... well, it was like almost 3 hours!!!! ARRGGHHHH! By the time we made it back home with all the necessary done , it was 9pm and i was ready to collapse! My sis called to ask me one million and one questions about the event , and it was right at the time when i was watching Greys anatomy season finale!!! i was trying to keep my cool but my voice was getting softer and slower in speech Hahahahahah!!! Phew! but i kept my cool! :) To sum it all up, remember this was Mother's day!!! And Boy, its got to be one of the most memorable ones for me!!!
One consolation though, the radiator is OK . I only had to get the top casing/housing replaced for 210RM :) and tomorrow i will get all 4 new tyres , so my car will be good as new again!!!
Come July13th Genting here we come ..... MLTR , i hope u have learnt how to rock so u can teach us how to rock too !!! :)

E-xhausted Mom's day!

An eventful weekend.....

Last Sat, I was invited to join E and her hubby for a free night’s stay at Genting. He was meeting some friends for a game of golf and one of his friends had an apartment in Goh Tong Jaya big enough to accommodate his family and us. My urge to play the slots overcame my misgivings about staying, and having to make small talks with complete strangers and so, without hesitating, I accepted.

When I laid eyes on Eddie’s (the owner of the apartment) wife, Judy, I was certain that she was somebody I knew from school. I had a hunch that she was from the same batch as my sister and asked her about it. That sort of broke the ice because Judy seemed the reticent type and prior to that, E and I were like whispering to each other, “she like quite serious, hoh?” We spent a few minutes catching up on old times and then E and I left to meet up with another golfer’s (Al) wife and kids to go up uphill, leaving Judy and her son, Jake, behind as he had an exam coming and needed to study.

While E and the rest went off for karaoke, I went straight to the casino. After karaoke, E came to meet me with Al’s wife and another friend, Shireen, who happened to be in Genting. By then I had lost some money but I am happy to say that the machine I was playing finally struck the mini jackpot, winning RM1200 plus. We were so happy (especially me of course!) and could not believe that you could strike so much with a RM0.05 cents machine. Unfortunately in the midst of all the excitement, we forgot to take any photos for our blog. That night I went into the casino again but this time lost. I guess what matters is that at the end of the day I made a few hundreds …

During dinner, Eddie asked if my family owned the watch shop in Port Klang. He then told me his mum and aunt were close friends of my mum as they shared the same surnames and probably came from the same province in China! It didn’t ring any bell as I have never been close to relatives or friends of my parents and the responsibility of keeping in touch with kin and old family friends falls on the shoulders of my 2 sisters. He said, “ I remember you have 2 sisters very pretty-one!!” Aiyo, as if my other 2 sisters and I not pretty-lah??

Sunday morning we sat around and chit chatted till lunchtime. We left Genting about 2pm. A short distance after the Gombak toll, E’s car overheated and stalled. There was just time to turn into a Pro Jet petrol kiosk. All of us got down and Doc opened the car hood and 3 heads pored into it. Doc called his mechanic friend who told him to wait for about ½ hr and then fill the radiator with water. Since there was a Macdonald’s at the petrol kiosk we decided to wait out the ½ hr there. Unfortunately, when we tried to pour water into the radiator we noticed water leaking out.

One of the 7-11 boys helped looked for a tow-truck. It was then we realized that the car keys were locked in the car. E’s car had auto lock function and all of us went down to look into the hood without removing the keys. When the tow truck driver came, he offered to take Doc home to Klang for the spare key and then come back to Ulu Klang to tow the car. He was confident that it would just take about an hour. Doc was supposed to come back with his car to pick E and me.

It actually took the tow truck about 1 ½ hrs to reach Klang as there was a jam along the way so all in all, it was about 2 ½ hrs later that Doc reappeared with his car. We then had to wait another 15 mins for the tow truck to come. Since the tow truck operator was not familiar with Port Klang, we had to lead the tow truck to the workshop. We had earlier called to inform the mechanic that we would be bringing the car that evening and he had agreed to wait for us. But due to the delay, the mechanic suggested that we call him only when we reach Port Klang and he would meet us at the workshop upon arrival. By the time we reached the workshop it was about 8.30pm.

What an eventful trip and weekend it turned out to be. I don't know about E but for me this weekend was when old friendships were rekindled. It was also my first win in Genting in a long while. Even though it was a long, long trip home, I do believe that I will always remember this weekend fondly. F

His Plans For You

While driving to work this morning, I was thinking. (I don’t know about you but when I drive I ‘think’.) Last night I was having drinks with a friend. She has been harping about work for some time now and I was aware that she was looking for another job.

This morning's thoughts were focused on my friend’s situation and I was telling myself that I must ask Grace (another friend) to pray for her. Not that I am not on speaking terms with God, but then I have always felt that God listens to some people more than He listens to me. Just as I am aware that my mum used to give in more to my younger sister’s demands than she would mine, every time we needed permission to do or buy something, my sis would always be our spokesman! The same situation applies here. If I really want to help my friend, Grace’s prayers would be more effective than mine! Motivational speakers encourage us to speak & think positive. Be very specific and know what you want in life and so in my mind, I was very specific that “help” would come in the form of a job opening for this friend. An ideal job would be having a good boss, nice environment, high pay, no stress etc.

In the midst of all these thoughts playing in my mind, a revelation came! It had to be from God because I don’t have the capability to think so logically. Sometimes we are so ‘set’ in our minds about what we want that we don’t recognize an answered prayer even when it is staring at us. We do not know the mind of God or how He would choose to answer our prayers.

I remember a story that goes something like this. One day it rained very heavily till it started to flood. There was this guy who prayed to God to stop the rain but pretty soon the water had reached his waist. Along came a man in a sampan who offered to take him to higher ground but he refused. It continued to rain and he prayed harder “God, please make the rain stop!” By now he was standing on a table as the flood had risen even higher. Soon a speedboat made its way towards him and the boatman shouted for him to get into the boat but again he refused and prayed even harder for God to stop the rain. It kept raining and by now the man was standing on the roof of his house. A helicopter came and hovered above him but the man waved it away, shouting, “God will stop the rain” Soon the man drowned and rose to heaven. When he saw God he was very angry and asked God why his prayers were not answered? And how in spite of his faith, God had not saved him by 'stopping the rain'. God said, “Who did you think, sent the sampan, speedboat & helicopter?”

However good my intention, I don’t think it’s for me to decide that the best solution for my friend is a new job. Maybe God has a better plan for her? Instead of telling God to find her a job, I should just intercede for her in prayers and allow God to do things His way and trust that God’s will is best even though we may not think it at first. Can you imagine 3 yrs down the road I am still praying “find her a job, find her a job” and getting more and more bitter that my prayers aren’t answered but who knows the ways of our Lord? Perhaps with the passing of time, my friend has come to enjoy her work and is enjoying the benefits of an ideal job and yet because my mind was so made up, I did not realize the change in her situation.

When I next speak to Grace, I will not be asking her to pray for a new job for our friend. I will just ask her to pray for our friend full-stop. F

Jer 29:11 (NIV) "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Isaiah 55 : 8 & 9 - For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all.

This week has been quite a good week for me as I am less stress at work and at home. It's been quite a while since I had such relaxing moments. That's why the happy picture.

Anyway, the week started off with attending wedding dinner with my kids on Monday. It was my immediate neighbour's eldest son wedding. We have been neighbours ever since both families shifted in. Their three children were still young and as for me my twins were not even conceived. Its been more than over a decade that we have been neighbours.. wow how time flies. They are very helpful people. Most of the time, we are out from our house in the morning and only back at night. At times, when we leave the laundry out to dry, they will help to ensure the laundry are taken in especially when its raining. These are some little things that good neighbours do for each other. The dinner served was delicious. I understand from my neighbour the cost of each table is RM530.00 / table. Wah...... we had the 5 varieties dish served in a boat with fresh scallops, fish maw, chicken meat. The superior shark fin soup was served in individual bowl. My children went gaga over that.(their fav dish). Followed by steam cod fish, piglet with fried pigeon, prawns, mushroom with brocoli and fish maw. By the time dinner was over, it was almost 11 pm. Rushed back home as the next day was school going day.

Tuesday morning, I received an sms from my subordinate, shipping operation informing me that he was unable to report to work as his car broke down in Melaka. So the day when by without any major happenings. Later in the evening, he called up and informed that he will NOT be coming in the next day as his car was not ready yet. Apparently, the engine has to be change. His other excuse is without the car he cannot come in to work. Now that was the last straw as knowingly there were two vessels coming in and required clearance from our end. I got a feeling he deliberately trying to put me in the corner inorder to give in to his demands. FYI, he has approached me last month requesting for company car as the activities has increased tremendously due to the surge of aggregate from our neighbouring country. How can I justify his request to my boss ?? I honestly dont know how to even bring this subject to the Management. I was just waiting and see how long the sudden surge will last before I even dare to propose to the management. Unknown to me, he has spoken to my boss about his request and found out that I did not even mentioned anything to my boss. He was furious and raised his voice, saying I was a lousy manager. He followed the protocol or hierachy of the management, ie going through the dept head instead of directly to the MD and yet his request was not brought to the attention of the management. (Did I handle this correctly ??). His demands is :
- company to provide company car for him to work. All upkeeping and petrol will be under the company. He will forego his car allowance.
OR
- used his car but all maintenance under company. Petrol allowance still maintain.

I told him, it's fine with me if he decides to talk directly to MD about his request. Secondly, I dont like to be hold at ransom or cornered in order to give in to his demands. He is excused from work !!! I can still manage without him. !!! I spoke to my ex.colleague regarding work related matters and he agreed to help out. I have standby a new staff I hired two months back with similar working background as back up just incase this fellow starts his tactics again. I was caught once unprepared. Not this time. ! We managed to clear the work and all was well. I stayed up till 1 am to make sure all clearance was done without any problem. He thinks I will beg him to come back to work. NO WAY, man. I may have to put in extra effort but I wont back down. Argh,,,,, hear me roar.... hehehe.

Yesterday, he came back to work. I refuse to speak to him. Firstly he was rude to me for the 2nd time. The 1st time was on Mayday, 1st May. He shut the line before I could say anything back to him. I have reported his behaviour to HR dept and will bring this to MD attention. I hope he will be serve with warning letter and if i have my choice, I dont want him in my team anymore. I had enough of him !!!!

My week so far was still OK..........

S...