Dire Need for a Savior

I realized that for Husna, we have brought her to many interesting places in her toddler years. Unlike Husna, Huda is slightly under privilege. To reduce the guilt, we decided to bring the children to Zoo Negara on the first week of May 2009.

We last visited it 2 years ago, and we have discovered that the condition is actually deteriorating, instead of improving. The funny part was, I saw the banner outside the zoo saying "Towards being a world class zoo", or something like that. Unfortunately I didn't take a snap of that banner.

What a shame. Have they done any benchmarking and improvement actions before displaying the banner to the public? As a Malaysian, my "water face" would drop significantly upon meeting tourists who were at awed with the zoo's dismal condition.

Being part of national attraction and mostly advertised place of interest to visit in KL, something drastic really needs to be done to save this place, and the poor animals. What a pity.

The main entrance could have been painted to make it more lively. From far you can note already how old and not so grand welcoming at the doorstep.

With RM15 fee for adults and RM8 for kids, I thought that upon entering, we'd be given a map. Sorry ma'am. The map cost RM2, should you decide to plan your journey inside. The tram is also not free. What we did was to snap a picture of the wall map, then plan our journey from there. How pathetic! This is not a "no frill" zoo, where every need has to be purchased at extra fee. Mcm nak tiru Air Asia business pulak.

The elephants were very hungry I presumed, by begging for food from visitors.

Poor lion - old, dirty, thin and very haggard looking. Just look at the water in the drain. Yucks! Where are all the zoo cleaners?

Pak Belang taking a brief dip.

Huda was excited to see the giraffes, but the long untrimmed grasses were really a turn off to the eyes, eyeing for good view of nature.

Same for the camels.

The haggard looking monkeys.

Information from the wall on Orang Utan captivated attention of many foreign tourists. See the filth on the wall surface.

Mr. Rhino almost lost behind the untrimmed bushes.

Nak kuih Badak Berendam? Wonder how the old Malay generation could have spotted the hippos and named the animals as such. Memang kena!

Hidden honey bear. You have to make some noises to make it awake and move.

Hungry cows. Feed them anything, they'll swallow.

Heydedoo Mr. Kangaroos.

Overall, I think Zoo Melaka is much better, since I've never been to Zoo Taiping. But even Zoo Melaka needs a LOT of improvements.

It's good that the management of Zoo Negara has a vision to be among the world class zoo. But vision alone is not enough. With the hike in entrance fee, visitors expect something more, especially the basic needs of all the animals - clean cages, clean body, trimmed and clean surrounding, etc. Otherwise, close the zoo and transfer the animals elsewhere. Where? Like in the Perak Assembly Hall maybe? Hahaha.

Next trip shall be to Singapore Zoo. Now that's what we call a world class zoo to be benchmarked with.

Where Have All the Common Sense Gone?

Scene 1, Take 1:

Blurr Candidate (BC) : I used to work in IRB and then in a few factories. In my last company, I realized that I need a job in a government sector. The company is not stabilizing. I want err...errr....
Bored Panel of Interviewer (BPI) : You mean job security?
BC : Oh yes. That's the word. I want to be save (smiling, nodding, happy that the BPI able to understand his need).
BPI : Hmmm.... (Dude, which planet you're from??)

Scene 2, Take 1:

BPI : Tell me why you want this job?
BC : My company told the staff to be dispersed. We are going to be located in other subsidiaries.
BPI : You mean the company is scaling down its operations?
BC : Yes, yes. My boss told me to go and find other better job elsewhere.
BPI : Hmmmm....(Dude, you're so screwed).

Scene 3, Take 2:

BPI : Encik KH, let me give you some advice, just in case you're going for other interviews after this.

1. When you attend an interview with a private sector company, please don't say that you're actually looking for jobs in government to get that job security, but so far to no avail. (DUHHHHH...)
2. Please also don't tell them that your current company is scaling down. It sounds that you're in desperate need for another job. (it makes you look cheap, dude, seriously).

BC : Yes, terima kasih Puan. I'm sorry. I will remember.

"Entertain Client" - The Sequel

Get this.

Wife : Kalau pegi entertain client tu, you pegi makan je lah. Lepas tu balik rumah.
Husband : Itu namanya bukan "entertain client".
Wife : ???

Wife : Ok, you pegi, tapi suruh orang lain la entertain the next step. Suruh other PMT guys.
Husband : Tak boleh. They need managers. Important clients require only managers level to entertain them.
Wife : ???

You can find this sign at shops selling fragile goods:

Once broken considered sold.

But you can't find the same sign anywhere in a marriage regarding trust:

Once broken considered forever and ever gone.

Who Exactly Do You Entertain?

Today, I have learned a new lesson.
Before this I was just guessing and imagining what would normally happens, but today, seems like my imagination and guess were far off from what is the reality. Hmm, how naive I have been.

"Entertain Client".
2 poisonous and deadly words.
As a woman of chastity (insya Allah , I hope), and more so as a Muslimah, all these while I could only imagine what actually is the meaning in terms of what kind of activities constitute the entertainment part. In the world of men, entertainment can only give one meaning. That part I "mastered" already. It's the actual detail action of what's inside the "entertainment" word is the real shocker for me. We are not talking about doing it privately back in a hotel room, we are talking about doing it in the "karaoke" place, open, public and in total disgust!

My source is very reliable. He was speaking based on his past and current duties. But now he said he had past that stage. The excitement only lasted for a few months for him, then it was enough. Now being the Head of Department, he'd asked his staff to go and "entertain clients". He is a non-muslim alright, but his encounters that the main players in this field consists of majority muslims is really sickening.

First, take the client out for a nice meal at a fancy restaurant, or wherever his stomach desires. Then, go to a place where the word "sing songs" was just a gimmick. The word "karaoke" is a window dressing for the damn filthy heinous activity. He was excited when telling me the details, but I was dead sick. It's like these people have turned into animals when they are in such situation. The room would be dark, the girls would be on drugs, just imagine. That's why I said ANIMALS. They perform acts equivalent to donkeys (keldai bodoh).

Their reason : It's part of my work alright.
Or is it? Are you entertaining the client or are you entertaining yourself?

In Islam, any activities which bring you close to ZINA is haram. Allah doesn't say zina itself, He said any activities which bring you close to it. Because He knows. He created us and He knows what action we'd end up with. And with the severe punishment outlined by Him in the Quran, we could implicate that such a heinous activity shall bring disaster, if not now, must be later. He knows everything.
For single - to whip you 100 times.
For married ones - to throw stones at you until you die.
Can you imagine how severe the punishment is? That means it is deadly if you do it. But why do people still "entertain client"?

If someone close to me tell me that he's going to "entertain client", I already know what he is up to. Can I say, "pegi makan je lah, lepas tu balik", you think he'll accept? Or can I say "Kalau client you layan the GRO, you tengok je lah ek...you jgn pegang pulak..". Do you think it'll work? The hell.

Well, life after death is longer than our life now. Just hold on to that.

"Setiap perbuatan baik sebesar zarah akan dibalas, setiap perbuatan jahat sebesar zarah juga akan dibalas".

Foreign Smell in Boleh-Land

Sometimes I did dream about life back in the US. The dreams were so real and vivid, that always I was deeply frustrated when waken up, oh my gosh, I am in Malaysia and I am no longer a student. How sad...

Last weekend, I managed to drop by Border's bookstore in The Garden, a newly opened high-end mall next to Mid Valley, KL. The moment I entered the bookstore, I could smell the very familiar odour which was distinctly, foreign. It was the smell which I had long for a very long time. It's almost equivalent to the smell of my luggage coming back from the US. It's that nice, strong and indeed, out of this Boleh-land kind of odour. Ahhhhhhhhh....how I had missed the smell, and now, if I feel like being "there", just drop by at Border's. Kesian aku ek, how pathetic!

The visit was fruitful since not only me who got to enjoy the smell and choices of books, little Eusoff as usual, showed signs that he too, was deeply in love in books.

Admiring the choices of books. Hey, nice smell too.

Big daddy to the rescue.

Going to the bookstore doesn't have to mean you're a geek.

It can be fun to have some exercising cum playing of hide-and-seek.

Back at aunt Ruby's house, he prefers books to other toys. Bro Daniel's collection was just superb.

Eusoff pointing at pictures and texts, wherever he deems interesting.

Getting back to reality, looks like mama has to save a lot of money if mama wishes to go back to the US, again. In the meantime, dream on.

Air Mata Kasih (part II)

After I submitted the tax form last nite, I tried to search for a video on youtube as suggested by a friend. I was supposed to search for a video featuring Abby Abadi on the program Anjakan Paradigma hosted by YB Dato' Dr. Fadzilah Kamsah. It was beneficial, relevant and helpful, as told by the person. Unfortunately, after scouring for many minutes, I stumbled through a bunch of other videos which were as interesting and more fruitful from the 2 personalities.

Among others, a program called Bersama Dato' (hosted by Dato' Fadzilah Kamsah) with special focus on Kenapa Wanita Menangis (Why Women's Tears are Dead Cheap?). There were many useful information in it based on his own research and by research of many other subject matter experts. I very much like the introduction in which he differentiated the categories of tears - the quality ones vs. the cheapo ones. The highest quality of tears are meant for:

1. Bila seseorang bertaubat dengan bersungguh2, mengenang akan dosa2nya yg lalu.
2. Bila berdoa, bermunajat dgn bersungguh2 dan ingin sangat mencapai hajat yg suci.
3. Bila mengenang kisah2 para nabi2 dan rasul2, betapa peritnya perjuangan dan pengorbanan yg mereka terpaksa lalui, compared to whatever that we have faced to date.
4. Bila terasa sangat2 bersyukur atas segala nikmat yg Allah telah beri selama ini.
5. Bila mengenang dan menghargai ciptaan dan kebesaran Allah.

For tears with reasons other than stated above, you can consider them of low quality, may even be unnecessary. We can look at it as temporary measure to relief the discontentment or frustration inside, but in no way it will alleviate the pain. It's also interesting when he put it in perspectives of both the person who cry and the person who was forced to listen to the cry. When you have the time at nite, you may want to take a look at this. As usual, better viewing of videos at nite.

Remember that I was supposed to find clips of Abby and Dato'? Unfortunately, I think the featured program has not been downloaded into youtube yet. Nonetheless, Abby's series of unfortunate events has stirred the world and hence, videos on her, the j*** and the 3rd party were a lot! Had a glimpse on some of the videos, with a few noteworthy reminder:

1. 1 so-called motivational speaker concluded that it was a case of COMMUNICATION breakdown between husband and wife. Just what is the heck communication?? If only one party is interested to talk and collect the pieces and try very hard to re-build them while the other party on the other hand is ruining everything, what can we expect?
2. Abby did say that she pursued the course for separation since she thought that it's time she thinks about herself, after all the while busy thinking of others. And for that, I truly supported her action. It's like inborn in a married woman that once she got married, she will think of other people and other things, except for herself. Suami dah makan ke, anak sihat ke, mak kat rumah ok ke, rumah kita bersih tak, baju dah gosok ke belum, weekend ni nak buat apa, duit simpanan untuk masa depan cukup ke, bla bla bla. At the end of the day, we look miserable and again, if the marriage fails, the first finger would point to the wife. Penatlah weh....

Today I read in a newspaper about how Ikhwan leads his marriage with Wardina (Ikhwan is Mr. X's schoolmate back in Taiping). Apparently they both come from very different worlds, and that's the very basic fabric which knit them together. I like when he said, "Bila kita bergaduh, saya cepat2 ingatkan diri saya, kenapa kita berkahwin? Kita berkahwin kerana mencari keredhaan Allah". A point very well said, Ikhwan. Unfortunately not many people share the same thoughts and perspective, even though that is, in my humblest opinion, the only savior to a marriage.

The Very Meaning of Last Minute

I just helped Mr. X to send in his tax filing for the year. Apparently he's been working on it while I was showering and taking my very own sweet time to calm myself before turning in to bed. When I touched the laptop, the time shown on the laptop was 11.55 pm. Oh my gosh...to send or not to send...that's the biggest question..

I was surprised, even though the Celcom's blue cube kept on alternating between blue (fast) and green (slow) color, he managed to turn it in, on time. LHDN time recorded it as sent at 11.54pm, but the laptop's clock clearly marked it was already 12.04am, 1st May 2009.

Perhaps the people at LHDN adjusted their clock to match the very mediocrity of Malaysian tax payers as the usual suspects - last minuters.

Why when it was at the very last minute, ideas seemed to flow, figures seemed to be correct, paragraphs seemed to look OK, but not a few days earlier? In the case of Mr. X's tax filing, he forgot the password. To get the password, you need to call the LHDN office. That's a major killer. He got that pasword a few days ago allright, but why only tonite managed to turn it in? Hmm, again, a case of don't worry, it'll be allright. This is Malaysia, the Boleh-land (as according to my Kiwi Drama Queen).

Well, look at it this way. We pay tax. Shut up.