Light at the End of the Tunnel

I guess many of us are probably still in shock of the GE13 results. It’s like watching victory only remained in our hands for mere seconds before dirty tactics were pulled, blackouts, extra ballot boxes, police totally not independent, alien voters.. to wrestle the rakyat’s voices and rights from our grasps. Again, we were cheated from what we strongly believe in.

I cried myself to sleep last night. I gave up watching tv as well as looking at the internet after the evil managed to form a government with simple majority (with magic tricks David Copperfield wouldn’t even be able to pull!). This is the new low in the history of our general election. I wonder how much lower one can get to do everything they could to hold onto power.

I questioned God – WHY? Why did You even let this happen? Isn’t the truth and justice should prevail? I heard nothing but only the beating of my heart and my breathlessness as I choked myself in tears to sleep. Then I realized that, it was the Devil’s doing to tear me away from the only God, so I revoked the Devil and proclaim Jesus’ blood. We may not understand what God’s plans are. But all we could do now, is to stay vigilant and be ready when He unleashes His wrath to the evil to make things right.

I woke up this morning, drag myself to wash my face and brush my teeth. It’s going to be another day for the next five years. I was touched when I read messages from friends around the globe, words of encouragement and feeling of togetherness. They are right. We have not lost yet. The battle has just begun. The people has managed to wrestle 7 more parliamentary seats compared to the previous election. This alone, is an achievement. I bet, without gerrymandering done despicably by the ruling party, the results would be reversed! 80% turn out is not a small matter. It took each and every rakyat to come out to stand for what is right.

When I was at the polling station yesterday, I spoke to some of the people there and everyone chatted like old friends eventhough we have never met. We are all for a cleaner and fairer government, to put an end to corruption once and for all, to vote for the future of our children. One lady even ask me to touch her head where she was knocked by a helmet in a robbery incident and I just met her like 5 minutes? We all talk like old friends. I bumped into some ex neighbours. Eventhough they have moved out more than 15 years ago, they came back to this old hometown to cast their votes! I saw old friends who had moved to neighbouring countries, and they all came back to vote!

I even saw all races sitting together at the entrance of the school to watch out for alien voters. It was raining in the afternoon and yet, the people didn’t budge. They stood under the trees and bus stop shelters while keeping their eyes peeled open, watching entrance like a hawk!

It matters because of this working together, we managed to wrestle the state seat and maintain the parliamentary seat! Kudos to the people of Selayang!

I would like to end this post with a status from a friend, Edmund JP in his facebook. It comforted me dearly and I hope it does the same for you. Let’s not lose hope. In darkness, we use faith to see with our hearts, not our eyes. We will continue this fight till our last breaths! Be forewarn!

Written by Edmund JP

I woke up with a heavy head this morning, still suffering from the Malaysia’s 13th election hangover. The election result really didn’t help to boost my energy level despite having a comfortable bed at home.

I bet many urban tech-savvy Malaysians had the same feeling too this morning. We didn’t get the change we wanted. Instead, we were raped and robbed by a bullish government with no respect to the Rakyat’s fundamental constitutional rights i.e. to make our voice heard with our votes.

But my fellow Malaysians, today let’s bury this 505 dark day behind us. When you walk out from your house, let’s hold your head up high. For the fact the you felt lousy when you woke up this morning, it shows that you are a REAL PATRIOT who love your country, Malaysia, a land we called home.

We might have lost a battle. But despite all the cheatings before and during the 13th election (Bangla import, sudden blackouts, gangsterism, money politics, last min dubious ballot boxes rushed into polling station etc) and billions of Ringgit spent by BN, I don’t think we lost, In fact we gained further traction as the Rakyat managed to reduce BN’s seats from 145 seats to 133 seats.

So did we lose? NO! THE RAKYAT DIDN’T LOSE! WE MADE SMALL LITTLE STEPS FORWARD. Great people like Mahatma Gandhi and Aung San Suu Kyi fought their respective war for years before they achieved what they wanted for the people.

One thing for sure, everytime when I see the government trying to oppress the Rakyat, we grow stronger and more united. I saw this beautiful phenomena in the Bersih rallies, Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat rally, GE12 and even GE13. We helped each other as MALAYSIANS without looking at our skin colours and religions. I saw the same beautiful scenes yesterday at the polling stations where Malaysians worked together to attempt to defend our rights. This is something that we should be proud of, and I definitely am proud of being a Malaysian.

So, to all the:
1. PACABA volunteers at the polling stations – Malaysia thank you and we are proud of you.
2. “Ghostbusters” citizen – Malaysia thank you and we are proud of you.
3. citizen who used their flesh to block suspicious cars carrying dubious ballot boxes into the polling stations – Malaysia thank you and we are proud of you.
4. citizen who tried to protect other citizen from gansterism and intimidation – Malaysia thank you and we are proud of you.
5. citizen who guarded the gate at the polling station so that no one was allowed to go in after polling hours- Malaysia thank you and we are proud of you.
6. 80% eligible voters on the electoral roll who voted – Malaysians thank you and we are proud of you.
7. Malaysians who returned hom from oversea to vote AND Malaysians who voted oversea – Malaysia thank you and we are proud of you.
8. Orang Kurang Upaya (OKU) and the elderly who braved the rain and physical challenges but still voted – Malaysia thank you and we are proud of you.
9. bullies who used all sorts of dirty tricks to cheat and gangster to intimidate the Rakyat – Malaysians thank you because you made us stronger and more united between different races.
10. the 20% of eligible voters who didn’t vote and the rest of the Malaysians who didn’t even bother to register to vote – You are welcome.

So, my fellow Malaysians who still feel sad, the little small steps we made yesterday show that if we work together, we can move forward and make changes (small or big). Always remember, loyalty to the country always. Loyalty to the government when it deserves it. People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people. In anything, once we give up on hopes, we have nothing. So, LET’S KEEP OUR CHIN UP AND NEVER GIVE UP!

What Seoul Taught Me

To be honest, I was rather reluctant to go to Seoul. After so many stories about North Korea threat and also, the country where K pop comes from – I think I only know PSY so far.. and Rain, I was not very interested. We have booked the tickets since last year and I was on the fence on whether to go or not since, we weren’t sure if election day is going to clash with the trip. I decided to cancel my trip if election were to fall on 27th April. Fortunately, God answered my prayer and got it fixed on 5th May. So, off I go.

Seoul and Jeju simply amazed me. From the sight seeing, their natural wonders, how they managed to upkeep the place – keeping it spick and span, the efficiency of how they manage so many tourists or travelers both local and foreign, timeliness and efficiencies of their transportation system – you don’t have to go around the bush just to get to a place! Their quest for perfections – in terms of their appearance and projecting positive image, their people’s friendliness despite being unable to speak a word of English, everywhere we go, there’s a tourist booth providing information with officers who could speak Japanese, English or Chinese to assist you, their architecture, cleanliness of the area.. even the recycling area didn’t smell bad!

A friend even showed me an app on her phone which could track how long more we would be waiting for the next bus, as all buses are equipped with GPS on them and their frequency is every 2-6 minutes each, right on the dot. She even paid for her bus fare or train fare using her iphone – T money, they called it. And she said, you can just leave your handphone or ipad on the table and go to the toilet or even order your food at the counter without even worrying of your things getting stolen etc which is very rare in South Korea.

Everywhere I see pretty girls and boys walking with their eyes transfixed onto their gadgets on their hands with headphones plastered permanently into their ears. They walked without even holding tight to their bags and be alert at all times people might jump them. Some even let their handbags zip open with the least care in the world, even in a crowded MRT train, chatting away.

Old folks get priority in seats on buses and trains and, they are healthy folks who are independent, going about their passion for hiking with friends on weekends, in their chic jackets and pants in bright neon colors! A group of ajumas and ajusis can even walk faster than us when we were attempting to scale the steps in Mount Seorak!

Any beeline do not deter people from lining up to get their things done. They are fast workers and were very efficient. When we were at the airport, the staff even asked us if we need help with our tax refunds and patiently explained to us 2-3x till we understand.

Most shopping complexes charge you if you ask for plastic bags. They encourage you for bringing your own shopping bags, not only on weekends. Or they have many discarded boxes at the checking out counter for you to pack your own things to bring back home. They even separate their rubbish. Right from the guest house – they have separate dustbins for food waste, plastic, paper, glass and other waste. Cleanliness is so important, you don’t even believe how clean their public toilets are! They even shut down the escalators after 9 pm much to my chagrin to conserve energy!

I am no history buff or what but I remember reading a little about the Korean war 1950 – between South and North Korea in wikipedia as I was still contemplating on whether or not to go to Korea.. the war ended in 1953, which was just 4 years earlier than the independence of our country, Malaysia. And as they pick up pieces to mend their war torn country, we managed to obtain independence from the British with not much blood shed (saved for the communists and security forces, may their souls rest in peace), we didn’t develop to this level as yet. It does make you wonder, isn’t it? Seoul is already almost at par with the Japanese and yet, we are still comparing ourselves with countries like Ghana (My God!). Even Cambodia which I visited in 2006, it only took them 7 years to develop their Phnom Penh city from “Ipoh in the 1970s” to the “current Ipoh”! Yangon is also already catching up.. and I read somewhere that, Vietnam is soon going to lead the world in coffee exports!

This trip truly opened my eyes to the reality of the choices we could make. So, my fellow Malaysians, I urge you to please vote with your conscience. We all should vote to get rid of corruption, we vote for equal opportunities to education, we vote for basic security, peace of mind, safety of our loved ones, we vote for keeping brains and skills in our country, we vote for harmony that has been all along fostered over the years, we vote for rationalism, we vote for fairness and justice, we vote for a competent government who doesn’t take us as idiots, we vote for freedom of speech, we vote for freedom of religion, we vote for our fundamental rights as a human being, and most of all, we vote for a prosperous and peaceful future Malaysia. Together, we will bring the evil and corrupted to their knees in the presence of truth and integrity! Together, we shall fight for the future of Malaysia!

Champion of Loose Morals

On Saturday afternoon I was having a nap when I was awaken rudely by shouting and unruliness, followed by sounds of a group of motorcycles.

I went to my porch to check out who was that, and was shocked to see a group of rempits, donning identical black shirts, carrying the blue flags – shouting and screaming, honking all the way. I am not sure what their special PR people going to say about this? Since they have paid millions to hire some angmoh company to handle their “image”. *Shake head*

How can a ruling party condone such act? Probably want to give them something to do, since most likely, these rempits are unemployed! So, are we supposed to thank the ruling party for reducing unemployment rate? These people have the same opportunity to pursue their studies, the same opportunity to get a decent job but they chose not to. Probably work only once every 5 years as flag bearers and riding dangerously on the road putting unnecessary risks on other road users.

I guess this rot of the society started in school. I saw a group of school children, hanging around the backyard of my office during schooling hours, sniffing glue and smoking. Some students were seen lighting up cigarettes the moment they got out from school. They think it’s really cool to smoke. If you earn your own money to buy your cigarettes, then congratulations lah. But you are still in school and live on your parents’ hard earned money and you feel so proud? Shame on you.

You may say, we must blame the parents for not keeping an eye on their children. It’s quite true also.. in a way. Most parents now are too busy at work. Both moms and dads have to pull their socks to bring food to the table and sometimes, even with both sides working, they could hardly make ends meet. They just live from one pay check to another, if they are lucky.. but what more if they are also being heavily in debt. With the rising in food costs, utilities, petrol, housing prices etc – who are we to blame when we elected the wrong representative to spend our hard earned money in form of tax – which supposedly help the people, instead they put the country into deeper debts?

So, what is the root of all the rot in our society? A corrupted government. A corrupted government which spent unnecessarily – to spoon feed their mindless minions once every five years, implementing infeasible programs which do not benefit the society in general but lining pockets of their cronies, turning a blind eye on escalating crimes by labeling them as “perception”. etc.

My fellow Malaysians, we must stem the rot from its roots. So I urge you to please vote wisely.

PS. If you ask, why didn’t I call the police whenever these kids are hanging about at my office backyard? Believe me. We did.. many times. But they keep coming back.

Big Heart

When I heard a friend is attending her ex husband’s wedding, my jaw dropped to the ground. This ex husband of hers, who wanted to sell the house she is living in with her two growing up children and refused to pay alimony despite court orders. Eventually, he sold the house to her. She, a single mom has to fork out money and getting a bank loan to finance the house. She still has to service her car loan and to prepare for college funds for her two children. It made me really angry when the other party refused to help, even though he has a stake in it – his two children.

Somehow, this friend of mine has a really big heart. She forgives him, saying, eventhough he’s an a**hole, he’s still the father of her children. She advised her children to be respectful towards him and let them spend the big festivities like Chinese new year and Christmases with him. The children’s grandmother – paternal side, always hope that one day, her son would get back together with his wife (my friend). Even as she drew her last breath, her last wish was to see them together again.

When the grandmother died, my friend attended her funeral, together with her children, shedding tears and told me, she has been a good mother-in-law to her while she was still alive and she would remember and cherish every kindness that her mother-in-law shown to her while she was still alive.

I have nothing but utmost admiration for her gentle kindness and open hearted-ness. Many of my friends said, I have a big heart – I do give a helping hand, kind to animals and respectful towards the elderly. But I guess  I still have a long way to learn, how to forgive and forget, when one was hurt so deeply and yet, stay so graceful and benevolent.

Vary Beauty Skin Solution

I visited my beautician on Tuesday and was amazed on the transformation of the place. Jovy first started her business in Plaza Mutiara back in 2002 and came a long way since to who and what she is today. I am proud and delighted that her hard work paid off and exemplary visionary leadership that bring her business to this level, as well as created opportunities for young girls to learn entrepreneurship from her. This year, she celebrated her 10th anniversary in the beauty business and renamed her business Vary Beauty and she has two successful salons in Kepong and Puchong respectively. Check out the newly renovated salon!

Apart from supporting her business as a friend, I am also a satisfied customer since 2002. In fact, I recently signed up another package with this beauty salon, which is tailored made to suit my skin conditions. My skin has changed over the years, from oily with blemishes to combination skin, and sometimes dry skin. This bound to happen as we aged because of hormonal changes as well as our lifestyles. Instead of just signing up for a standard skin solution, I got mine tailored made to suit the needs of my skin, meaning, there would be days where I spent too much time in the sun, hence I would need the skin to be rejuvenated with additional moisturizers or masks, or on good days, I would be able to pamper myself with a nice and long facial massage which I enjoy the most! I kick myself for falling in a blissful sleep (some more snoring away! OMG!!!) whenever the consultant massages my face! I want to enjoy also cannot! Hahahaha! But really, the facial massage is THAT comfortable and soothing.

Visit Vary Beauty at Facebook, like the page, leave your name, IC and contact number to get yourself a complimentary eye mask treatment worth RM169!

Vary Beauty Skin Solution
17-1, Jalan Puteri 2/7,
Bandar Puteri Puchong,
47100, Puchong ,
Selangor Darul Ehsan.

Tel : 03-80653384
Fax : 03-80623384
Email : enquiry@varybeauty.com

30 & 30-1, Jalan Medan Putra 3,
Medan Putra Business Centre,
Bandar Menjalara
Kepong, 52100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel : 03-62771804
Fax : 03-62621804