Amazing

What a pleasant surprise!

This is more impressive than the previous 6 Mbps result.

What I Have Done

These are what I have done, so far, and enumeration numbers make no sense as I crossed out those I have not done. A full list is maintained at My Little Moments.

4. Changed a baby’s diaper
8. Climbed a mountain
10. Said “I love you” and meant it
12. Visited Paris
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
28. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
30. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Felt very happy about your life, even for just a moment
36. Loved your job 90% of the time
38. Watched wild whales
39. Gone rock climbing
47. Alphabetized your personal files
49. Sung karaoke
51. Gone scuba diving
55. Done something you should regret, but don’t
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
58. Taken a martial arts class
61. Made cookies from scratch
65. Spoken more than one language fluently
68. Read – and understood – your credit report
73. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
77. Broken a bone
78. Ridden a motorcycle
81. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
83. Eaten sushi
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
86. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
88. Gone back to school
101. Had a booth at a street fair
112. Cooked a dish where four people asked for the recipe
114. Gone to a Broadway (or equivalent to your country) play
120. Gone to an arboretum
121. Tutored someone
122. Ridden a train
125. Let a salesman talk you into something you didn’t need
138. Flown first class
144. Learned how to take a compliment
158. Written a poem
159. Carried your lunch in a lunchbox
160. Gotten food poisoning
162. Hiked the Grand Canyon
163. Sat on a park bench and fed the ducks
167. Ridden in a limousine
173. Thought you might crash in an airplane
178. Laughed till your side hurt
179. Straddled the equator
183. Spent the night in a hotel
188. Built a campfire
189. Kept a blog
192. Made a PowerPoint presentation
197. Ridden in or owned a convertible

More Meetings

I managed to squeeze in some meet-ups with some old friends a couple of days before my departure to the United States.

This is Zaai Yee. She just graduated from LimKokWeng University. We had a tea-time conversation at a café, enjoying curry puffs while we began to catch up on each other’s life.

Yew Yih and Han Wei were my high school classmates (so was Zaai Yee). We went out for a dinner at a famous Thai restaurant in Jitra and a movie after the delicious meal. The Dark Knight was the movie of our choice.

This picture was taken on the fly-over at Anak Bukit. The location could not have been tackier, but it is hard to find a good background to pose in the middle of the night.

And finally, a picture on Yun Xin’s visit. She spent a couple of days in Alor Star. We were along Jalan Putra after having breakfast at a small coffee shop that sells one of the best shrimp noodles in Alor Star.

Reminiscing

Throughout my 2-month-and-10-day stay in Malaysia, I got the opportunity to meet up with some old friends. It was fun when friends get together and indulge in the past memories we shared.

I first met with my fellow wolverines, almost a month after my arrival in Malaysia (I was not in the mood of meeting up after my awful nose surgery). Jin Ye, Poh Yi, Putt, and I dined at a Thai restaurant in One Utama to celebrate Poh Yi’s and Putt’s birthday. That was our first hang out after our graduation in April. Putt brought along his new laptop to “show off.” It was a cool laptop, I have to say. And I think he got a good deal when purchasing the laptop.

We had a great time, unfortunately we did not take a group picture after the meal.

On the same week, I called Wan Chuin to set up a meal together. Wan Chuin is one of my close friends whom I have known since Form 1 (1998). That’s was 10 years ago! Phew… Unbelievable. We took our lunch at Nando’s in MidValley, and we managed to pose at the entrance of The Gardens Mall.

These are my Form 4 and Form 5 classmates. From left to right: Han Yang Lee, Yew Yih Teng, and Chee Hwei Tey. Thanks to Yew Yih who put things together. Without him, I think the meeting would have not taken place. Photographer: Yuan Hang Soo.

The famous Mr Bean! Bean Thong Chan was my high school classmate who studied in Ohio State University (OSU). Though we both lived in neighboring states (Michigan and Ohio) for the past three years, we never visited each other. Whenever we were on the phone, we had always put back the plan to drop each other a visit. Reason being – we lived to close to each other, so there’s no hurry! We were quite sure that the plan will materialize, but it did not. We both graduated, and this was the first time Bean Thong and I met after so many years!

This is Li Enn, my friend-cum-student who currently studies actuarial mathematics. We did meet up last year in Ipoh, Li Enn’s hometown. Li Enn is an old friend of mine. We know each other since 2001, the year I instructed a HTML course back in Keat Hwa Secondary School.

From left to right: Chia Wui Lee, Eric Fu, Chee Hwei Tey, and Hooi San Noew. Chia Wui was my primary school classmate. A long-long-time-ago friend indeed. Hooi San was the source of laughter in our Form 5 class. After so many years, she still stays positive and funny! Chee Hwei is currently undergoing some training in a secondary school, I believe. She will be teaching high school English after her graduation.

Qi Xue wasn’t my schoolmate, but we went to the same science tuition class. He was one of my friends who sent me off at KLIA almost four years ago…

Friends who sent me off four years ago… Time flies right?

Voilà – here is Kenny and Yun Xin. A trio of best friends! We have known each other since the INTEC days back in 2003. In fact, Kenny was my roomate! We tried to plan a trip together when we were in the US, but, again, to no avail. Everyone was busy. When I was available, Yun Xin would be not. Likewise, when Kenny was free to travel, I was busy in the exam battlefield. Finally, we got to spend a couple of days together in Ipoh! We chatted the whole night without sleeping on the first day of our arrival. Literally until the sunrise. Then, instead of going to bed, we went to Foo San for dim sum breakfast. Cool, ain’t us?

Believe it or not, I joined Kenny and Yun Xin for a karaoke session at e-Box!

Disgust?

Disclaimer: Please be warned that this entry may contain medically disgusting materials, whereby its deeming varies individually. The author is not responsible for vomiting, lose of appetite, or any plausible aftermaths that may ensue.

If you remember, I was hospitalized almost a month ago for a minor nose surgery. Details here. During my hospitalization, my sister managed to visit me in Penang. I asked her to take some pictures and videos of me during my stay.

After the surgery, I could not breath through my nose. The endless compression of gauze dressing pads completely blocked my nasal airways. The medicated gauze pads were inconveniently there to help heal the stitched wounds. It took Dr Chua 3 times before he could completely remove the pads. Each time, the gauze pads were seen to be about 30 cm (12 inches) long. Scary huh?

My sister, who is an amateur video taker, used my Canon digital camera to take the following short video:

Apparently she did not realized that the video recording was terminated after she hit a button. That explains the length of the video.

Her second attempt was not that phenomenal after all. But you get the idea of the procedure!

This is the physician who operated my nose, Dr Chua Hock Kim.

Defense

At times, when I am bombarded with accusations, I have the disposition to be defensive. Very often, I state my stance clearly on issues pertaining to the bombarding. However, situations as such usually end up unfavorably, with my words hurting people instead.

Bak kata pepatah, kata-kata lebih tajam daripada mata pedang.

Somebody Has Been Busy

Week 1

Two days after my arrival, I felt sick. I had severe fever and diarrhea. I was feeling so weak that I spent most of my time under a huddle of blankets helplessly. I lost my appetite. It was a plain torture. I took paracetamol, but it did not help much.

On the next day, my mum took me to a physician. The doctor cited the weather and food as culprits. The weather culprit is understandable, but food? He offered further explanation – my stomach was “not used to the local food.”

I have an American stomach, someone quipped.

Week 2

For the past year, I have been having nose bleeding. And the worse thing is, it occurs more and more frequently. So I decided to pay an ENT (ear nose throat) specialist to have a regular check up.

Unexpectedly, the doctor (Dr Chua in Penang) told me that a surgery is needed. Apparently, the soft bone in my nose was crooked and there was a lump behind my nasal airway (that is not supposed to be there). So, the bone had to be corrected and the lump had to be removed. Furthermore, the lump had to be tested via biopsy (as it could be benign or cancerous). Everything went well – the biopsy result was benign, and I was discharged from the specialist center two days later. But I have to confess, the hospitalization was not fun at all. I hate the antibiotic injections – they hurt so much. I felt like having needles and army ants injected into my blood vessels.

Week 3

For most of the time, I stayed at home to recover from the surgery. The first 10 days after the surgery was rather miserable. I had plastic support flaps in my nose. There was no way I could breath normally; I breathed through my throat. Moreover, I had no control over the mucous in my nose. Every morning, I discovered dried mucous tainted with blood around my nose openings.

Bangsa Malaysia

What defines the Malaysian experience?

Being Deprivileged?

As I exited the United States, I relinquished several privileges that I have been enjoying throughout my residency in the US:

1. Listening to my favorite online radio station Pandora.com.
2. Watching good quality episodes of TV series directly from the channel’s website (e.g. House MD via FOX, The Big Bang Theory via CBS, etc). I despise watching clips in a small, low resolution YouTube-sized screen with Chinese subtitles.
3. High-speed Internet.

Welcome home, embraces Malaysia!

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as a "Practise Prime Minister"

by Bakri Musa

In his novel Gadis Pantai (“The Girl From The Coast”), Pramoedya Ananta Toer revealed a quaint custom in ancient Malay culture. That is where the lord of the kampong upon reaching adulthood would grab the prettiest village virgin to be his “practise wife.” Then when he becomes sufficiently well honed in his “husbandly” skills or when he gets bored with her, he would toss her out like a piece of soiled rag. He with his now enhanced skills would go on to marry a lady of “proper” background.

I believe that Fate has gifted Malaysians with a “practise prime minister” in the person of Abdullah Badawi. He is so inept, so spineless, and so lacking in ability to make decisions that he practically invites scorn and contempt. Or in Tengku Razaleigh’s words, Abdullah showed a “stunning ineptness in managing … straightforward functions of government.” Today, in the kedai kopi (coffeehouses) even taxi drivers are not hesitant in ridiculing Abdullah.

Granted, some of the criticisms leveled at Abdullah are crude and clumsy, but then so would the village nobleman’s initial experiences with his “practise wife.” The concern is less with finesse and artistry, more with getting it done! With time and practice, rest assured things would only get better!

Once Malaysians have become accustomed to being critical of Abdullah and are unafraid to criticize or even challenge him, then we would toss Abdullah out, as the village nobleman would of his “practise wife.” Malaysians would then be ready for a proper leader.

Consequences of Uncritical Citizenry

Fate has blessed Malaysia with capable leaders in the past. There was Tunku Abdul Rahman, the Father of Independence, who successfully led us out of colonial rule without shedding a drop of blood. However, as Malaysians had not yet learned to be good followers, we were not sufficiently critical of him. Thus he got carried away with being the “world’s happiest prime minister” while letting problems fester away until they blew up in his and our collective faces.

He was succeeded by the able Tun Razak, but his life was tragically cut short by cancer. As such he was spared from being spoiled by an adoring and uncritical populace. His reputation remains intact and unblemished.

His successor Hussein Onn may not have been the most capable but at least he knew his limitations. He was wise enough to voluntarily relinquish his position. He also took his oath of office seriously. Thus he was meticulous and unusually astute in the choice of his successor.

In Dr. Mahathir Malaysians had a leader of exceptional brilliance, unorthodox convictions, and courageous innovations. He transformed Malaysia. Like any other mortal, he too had his share of mistakes. Unfortunately his uncritical and unabashedly adoring followers were equally blind to his mistakes thus preventing him from recognizing and rectifying them.

Had Malaysians generally and UMNO members specifically been more critical of Mahathir in his choice of a successor for example, the nation would have been spared the current political muddle.

This uncritical and sheep-to-shepherd dynamics also characterize other Asian and Third World societies. Indonesia was blessed with the charismatic and brilliant Sukarno. He united those polyglot islands into a cohesive nation while bravely taking on the Dutch colonialists at the same time. China has its Mao. However, as their uncritical followers did not rein in their leaders’ initial excesses, those leaders got carried away.

Making Malaysians More Critical

Malaysians are excessively deferential to their leaders, rarely challenging or even criticizing them. Our leaders are always clad in the finest fashion even when all they have on is a piece of tattered, stained loincloth. The relationship is akin to that of a flock of sheep and its shepherd, of blind obedience.

That may be fine for a flock of docile sheep but it is hardly the recipe for a progressive society. Nor is it the recipe for a competitive society, or at least one that would merit the adjective “modern.” In such a society, leaders must be held accountable, and followers in turn must not hesitate to hold their leaders to exacting standards. This reciprocal relationship means that followers must be willing and not fearful to criticize and challenge their leaders. That is the best way to ensure accountability. It would also discourage these leaders from being led astray by their blind ambition or abusing the trust we grant them.

Without being unduly Pollyannaish, the only way to make sense of the current political mess is to believe that this is part of a divine design, of Fate providing Malaysians with a “practise leader” in order to better prepare us for a real leader in our future.

There are two towering personalities in the horizon that fit my characterization of a real leader: Anwar Ibrahim and Tengku Razaleigh. In their previous incarnations, these two had their share of fawning followers who egged them on to make unwise decisions. For Anwar, it led to his imprudently challenging Mahathir. He (and us) knows only too well the disastrous consequences of that fateful decision. Tengku Razaleigh, again at the behest of his admiring supporters, left UMNO briefly to form the Semangat Party.

The problem is not with Anwar or Ku Li challenging Mahathir, rather that we as a society have yet to deal with or learn the art of challenges and criticisms. Our standard response then was either to split the organization or riot in the streets. Enter Abdullah as “practise leader;” now we have learned at least not to riot, a significant advancement.

I believe that Anwar and Ku Li are now wiser. They would be even better leaders if we let them be, meaning that we should not let our guards down lest they would be tempted to be led astray by their uncritical admirers.

On the personal side, I note a certain humility and magnanimity in both Anwar and Ku Li. To them, the travails and weaknesses of Abdullah Badawi truly pain them. To these two nationalists, challenging Abdullah is not a route for the fulfillment of their personal ambition, rather a patriot’s obligation.

To young readers who may not yet quite grasp the “practise wife” concept, let me substitute a sports metaphor. Abdullah is a convenient punching bag for Malaysians to practice on how we should learn to handle future leaders. For now, his ineptness and incompetence make those lessons easy for us, though not for Abdullah.

In Pram’s novel, the young nameless lady who is the nobleman’s “practise wife” returns to her village. Only through her strength of character could she maintain her dignity and respect in her village.

When Abdullah gets tossed out, as inevitably he would, lacking strength of character, the public scorn heaped upon him would be merciless. Abdullah’s predictable humiliation would not arouse any pity from me, but his destroying what was once a fine Malay institution – UMNO – would.

The only redeeming part to the whole ugly saga would be that Abdullah would also bring down with him the “practise pundits” and “practise editors” in the mainstream media, as well as the “practise academics” and “practise intellectuals” in our universities.