Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

Dear friends, colleagues, country men/women and foes (yes, you too!),

This festive season is a time for giving and sharing the joy and happiness, together with your loved ones and friends. I do hope that you will have a fabulous time despite the short break for some of you. Please be extra careful while traveling balik kampung and my very best wishes for you and your family. God bless and enjoy your holidays.

Ketupat inti enak sekali
Makan bersama rendang bonda
Kepada semua salam Aidilfitri
Semoga selamat pergi dan tiba

Salam Syawal
azlan

I'm A Proud Father :D

I was in Perlis over the weekend. Went to the Thai border and bought a handful of Thai guppies. For those of you who are not into fish - Thai Guppies are different - they are more colourful and the female is larger (more than twice the Malaysian Guppies). And they are prized and pricey!

This morning, one of the females gave birth to 10 babies (guppies do give birth - technically. They keep their eggs in the mouth/belly until they hatch). but out of the 7 parents I bought, only 1 survived the long journey.

I look forward to growing the babies to become fine beautiful adults and hopefully, the Thai Guppies family will grow. :)

Price Spike

The recent government's salary adjustment for all its staff is taking a toll the rest of the Malaysians. Stalls and hawkers are taking advantage of the salary increment to increase prices of food and beverage. And the rest of us have to swallow the bitter pill. LAst night I had to fork out RM15 for 2 plates of fried rice, 2 glasses of warm water, a bowl of tomyam and a small plate of keropok. It seems like even the stalls are going "boutique". Consumers, it's time to exercise our rights! I'm bringing my own coffee for breakfast and i'm cutting on my "eat out".

It's A Durian Life

I walk through the market, I smell durian. I go to the night market (pasar malam), I see tonnes of durians. During a dinner at my friend's, we had durians for dessert. In the newspapers, durian commands the headline. I walk in the park, I see Englishmen savouring durians under a baobab tree. On the television, the durian fever is a hit with the producers. I had durian bubur kacang (durian flavoured mung beans porridge) over the weekend. By the roadside, I can see durian sellers almost everywere and anywhere...and Malaysians that are squating besides the durian stall, totally oblivious of the passing human traffic. And everywhere, the smell of durian is surpressing everything else even my Davidoff Echo.

Durian. Durian. Durian. It's a durian life! For Malaysians, for now. Back in my hometown, in Balik Pulau in Penang, it is so cheap because it is the largest producer of durian in Malaysia with thousands of acres of A-grade durian orchards. In KL, I'll have to pay quite handsomely for it. But it's a favourite with us Malaysians. For now, we'll enjoy the king of fruits, while the season is in. Bon Appetit! Buuurrp!

Lost Souls...

After so many months of lapse, i’ve got a really weird story worth sharing in this blog…I had a spooky dream two nites ago. It was about spirits of a family – five of them altogether – parents, 2 daughters (I think, from their laughters) and a son about 5 years old. but I wasn’t scared. I wanted to know more and I tracked them down and was curious to know what happened to them.

A complete story of a family’s tragic misfortune that resulted in the death of the entire family. The dad didn’t want to let go of the family he loved especially the children. He felt he has not done enough and wanted to see the children grow up. He remained a lost soul on earth.

The spirits of the mother and two daughters were caught by a shaman / medicine man and the father and son ran away and seek shelter at a dormitory where I was staying. Initially the boy’s playfulness scared the occupants but I wanted to know who he is.

So I asked, “adik sapa, mai la jumpa abang.” He duly appeared. I tried to touch him but my hand passed through him like he was a hologramme. I told him not to be afraid. I just wanted to get to know him. He obliged and after which, I could touch and feel him. He giggled and ran away to his dad. My friend and I chased after him and we met the dad.

It wasn’t the normal dream of driving to the cliff or mountain climbing then you fall off, where you wake up all sweaty and your heart beating fast. Nor was it the ghostly dream where you feel you’re trapped and suffocating and you try to break free but you can’t. It was a compellingly sad story. At the end of the dream, I hugged the dad and I said, “uncle I wish I could get to know you better, but you need to let go.”

He cried and said farewell. I woke up crying.

What are your thoughts? Was it just another meaningless dream?

Of capitalism, profits and greed

In recent months, the business news are full of mergers and acquisitions especially those by public listed companies (PLCs). Of course these are not bad things – if you view it from a corporate perspective. From finance point of view, it is a necessary evil.

In the world of capitalism (particularly PLCs), a company needs to continue showing better returns on investment and constant growth in order to maintain share price stability or perhaps even gains. One of the ways to do this is through a merger or acquisitions. Although organic growth is better, it is usually a slow process and requires huge capital investment. Thus, what some companies do is to find a good company, a competitor or even companies that are financially troubled (but with good growth record and potential), to acquire or merge.

But what it brings to the general public like you and I? Instability, fear and uncertainty of what the new corporate structure and culture will bring.

A friend of mine is a perfect example. Her current company will be taken over by a large conglomerate. She is worried about her future with the company. Already she is thinking of leaving, before being offered the Volunteered Separation Scheme (VSS).

In the world of capitalism, employees come second after profit, or maybe third after profit and profit. When the company does well, the employees will be handsomely rewarded. If the company does not perform up to expectation, even if they make tonnes of profit (and that means even if the co misses the target by RM10), they will first scrutinise the employees – benefit cuts, paycut, layoff and VSS will kick in (generally). Hey, it’s nothing personal, just business (this is what my boss of a consulting firm used to tell me).

What’s my point exactly? Watch this space…

Fast & Furry-ious...

Guess what – this is not even my cat. He comes to the house regularly once a day, behaves cutely mengada-mengada and playful/adorable, demands for rice or milk then makes himself very much at home on the sofa (most of the time licking, sleeping and snoring) for 3-5 hours before going off.

But who can resist such a cutey right? I call my adopted cat, Tommoy – Tomcat/Male/Boy. Haven’t got a clue which neighbour owns him. But I don’t mind the company.

I can’t touch him though. Kinda like Rogue in X-Men who can’t touch any other living being. But the effect of my ‘mutant power’ is opposite – I’ll be the one suffocating and gasping for breath and my face will balloon with rashes. I hate this allergy, because I like cats…:(