The cab ride to KLIA

The cab driver who took me to KLIA when I was in KL 2 weeks ago was quite an interesting character.  For a start, he spoke English with me.  As far as I can recall, I have never encountered any Malaysian cabbie who does that.  He may not be very proficient, but deserved 10 points for effort.

From the initial stage of the conversation, I found out that he used to work in a corporate environment.  Unfortunately, he couldn’t make it as he doesn’t have any paper qualification and his boss… “that bastard ahh… makes me work day and night.  But pay me chicken shit”.

He then asked me where I work and why I am going to Singapore, etc.  Naturally, the conversation led to discussion on brain-drain and politics.  That’s when he popped me a very straight forward question…

“Eh sir… you ahh… govt supporter or opposition supporter? Tell me please!”

I must say I was caught off-guard.  He asked me with such gusto, I had to pause and planned my words carefully.  Further, he had a special permit which allows him to pick up passengers from LCCT, a rare case.  I wonder if he was a connected individual or something.

But at the same time, I didn’t want to lie.  Hence… “I believe Malaysia needs a change” was my answer.

“That’s right sir! Actually ah… me and all my friends ah… my generation ah… all wants to change” – I reckon he is in his 30s.

It was then that he said something rather inspiring… I will never forget it…

“We all ahh… not very smart people, but we also know. If change govt, economy sure affected.  Maybe I will lose this permit to drive taxi. But nevermind… must still change.  For the future, we must change”.

He went on to say about life being tough but everyone must be prepared to suffer so that we can be better.  To me, that’s quite amazing. 

Here is someone who is willing to risk what is possibly his entire income for the betterment of the nation.  But many out there are not willing to risk that simply because they are afraid that they might drive a Honda instead of a BMW… they might need to move from a luxury link house to a condo… that they might no longer be able to fine dine.

I guess when one has too much too lose… one will become selfish.

1 year ago… Professional world vs. Commercial world

2 years ago… Any difference?

3 years ago… Will you attend?… Don’t ever let this happen to you

The story of Helen, who’s only the mother

Perhaps it’s the drive to achieve equality, perhaps it’s the desire to prove that women are as good, if not better as men… Career driven women are everywhere these days. Helen is one of them.

Rose from rank to rank, always given the recognition in her workplace, a legion of staff under her command… Helen was the epitome of a successful female corporate figure. If you thinking that Helen is single and lonely, then you’re wrong. Helen is married with 2 children. Her husband, just like her, is also a very career driven person.

Under such circumstances, the children were well provided for. Material gifts are aplenty; and just like many working parents in Malaysia, a maid is a must.

Of course, there is no perfect picture in this world. Something has got to give. And in this scenario, all the signs point to the one and only sad truth… the children were often ignored. Helen seldom gets to see her kids. When she reached home after a hard day work, she is either too tired to entertain her children or the children were already asleep.

While Helen was busy working and building her career, maid did the rest… cooked, sent the children to school, picked them up, sent them to the doctor when they were sick, did all the laundry, etc. etc.

This went on for years………

Then, came a time where the maid needed to return home for a few months as one of her family member was not well. Helen, being a good employer, allowed her to go.

On the day the maid left, the children cried non-stop…

“I don’t want mommy to go” the children said.
“What? I am your mommy! Kakak is not your mommy!” Helen screamed!
“No, kakak is our mommy. You’re only our mother”

That was the loudest wake-up call Helen has ever gotten in her life.

Are you the “mommy”?... Or the “mother”?

P/S: Kakak = the Malay word for “sister”


1 year ago… Maundy Thursday

2 years ago… Chronicles of vol-ass-no eruptions

3 years ago… An out of this world experience… Prioritise life

Joseph, the unfortunate banana

Joseph is a typical “xiang-jiao-ren” (banana). For the uninformed, a “banana” usually means a Chinese who does not know how to speak the Chinese language. And Joseph is one of such, able to only converse in English.

One day, Joseph returned to his home after work, just like usual. As he walked towards his home having parked his car, Joseph was stopped by 2 men. These 2 men began to ask Joseph some questions in Mandarin.

As they were smiling and appeared to be polite, Joseph tried to respond to them. Of course, he couldn’t really understand what these 2 men were asking and tried to explain himself in English instead. Hence, for a good few minutes; there was a classic chicken and duck talk situation.

After a while, these 2 men became rowdy. Joseph could see that they looked irritated. All of a sudden, one of the men pulled out a “parang” (long knife) and started threatening Joseph. But still, Joseph was unable to comprehend what they wanted as they were speaking in Mandarin.

Instinct came upon him that he was being robbed and hence, he took out his wallet and mobile-phone and gave them to the men. To his surprise, those men threw away his wallet and mobile-phone and continue to threaten him with the “parang”, shouting at him in Mandarin.

Poor Joseph, he just couldn’t make up what those men want. Worse, the 2 men got so annoyed, they started to attack him. They kicked, punched and slashed him with the “parang”. This went on for a while, till Joseph was floored.

As Joseph was rolling on the ground trying to block kicks directed at him, he felt a small bulge in his pocket. It was his car key. It was then that it dawned upon Joseph that the 2 men wanted his car. In a flash, Joseph took out his car-key and desperately handed it to the 2 men.

One of the men grabbed his key, shouted something to Joseph (in Mandarin of course) and drove away his car.

For all those bananas out there, particularly those who are proud that they only speak English, do take note that your banana-ness may just get you killed. In the land of sumptuous food, criminals tend to only speak everything but English.

And ya’ know what? Criminals and sumptuous food in this land share one similarity… there are plenty of them out there…


2 years go…. Can you take it easy?… A state of many people

Story from Jane

Jane works in the private equity industry. Generally, they are the people who go “shopping” for profit making business. They also look into buying distressed business with the intention of turning it around and then sell it. Anyway, that’s not the notion today.

One day, Jane was sent to a cockle farm (si-ham), one said to be making tonnes of money and thus, attracted attention from the private equity industry. She was sent there to evaluate the farm and the company managing it to see if it is a viable business to buy. Naturally, she was given a tour of the farm…

It was then that she saw, much to her disbelief, that that the cockle breeding area was located in a lake right next to a factory. Toxic waste can be seen disposed into the lake and one can tell from the look of the water that it is highly polluted.

“Dit si ham mai yau tuk lor?” Jane asked the owner.
(Does this mean the cockles are poisonous?)
Leaning closely to Jane, the ownder whispered…
“Mo kam tai seng. Hai ah, yau tuk kah” (Not so loud. Yeah, it’s poisonous)
“Hah! Mo yam lei yim kah?” (What? No one comes to check?)
“Aiyah, yi tit ngo dei ho yi gau tim geh” (Aiyah, things like these can be settled)

It was then that Jane realised, that this heartless entrepreneur has made a conscious decision to sell polluted cockles in the name of profit. Well, since the authorities can be easily “gau tim”, I guess there is no stopping him.

But of course, Jane was traumatised. She stopped eating cockles and told her family and friends about her experience, advising them not to eat cockles as well.

But there is a problem…

Ya’ see, in the land where Jane lives, cockle is an important ingredient in what is seen as a food of national importance, known as char-kuey-teow. Taste bud stimulation from this food supersedes all other concerns. Further, some of Jane’s friends adopt the little-bit-of-poison-won’t-kill-you mentality. Besides, it’s not any other food… it’s char… kuey… teow.

And hence, Jane’s story shall just remain… as a story.


1 year ago… It was just an ordinary day

2 years ago… The identity inquiry… What’s with the name?

The Jacke story

Jacke was someone who just wants to live his own life. Just like many others, he was not interested in politics. Even the simple task of casting vote was meaningless to him. “I don’t care, it just doesn’t concern me” was his usual response.

And no one can really blame him. Jacke worked hard and has truly established himself. He was drawing a very comfortable salary, married to a wonderful wife and blessed with 2 kids. He was oblivious to happenings around him as he thought he will be able to solve all the problems with his financial prowess.

Lack of quality in national schools was not a concern as he can afford to send his kids to private school. Poor medical service at national hospitals was not a concern as he can afford private medical care. Poor quality in tertiary education or even restricted opportunity to enter local tertiary education was not a concern; his children will enter overseas universities. High crime rate was not a concern as he can afford sophisticated security systems and even a few bodyguards.

As the saying goes… if a problem can be solved by money, it’s not a problem. And since Jacke has enough money -- What’s the problem? So no, all the social and political stuff is of no interest to Jacke.

In fact, Jacke even took advantage of the poor governance in the system. Jacke had with him not one, not two, but three maids! As some of you may know, one family is only allowed 1 maid. But that problem was conveniently solved with money. 1 for the wife, and the others for each of Jacke’s children.

Life was bliss, who cares about the ruckus of politics and deteriorating condition all over? Really?

Due to a certain requirement for something Jacke was applying, his family was asked to undergo medical examination. Imagine the horror of Jacke’s face when the test showed one of his children was infected with “a deadly virus”, one which is without cure.

Detailed investigation showed that everyone is the family is clean except for the poor child. How can that be? It was then that Jacke asked 3 of his maids to undergo medical as well. Lo and behold, the very same maid who looks after that poor child has that deadly virus.

How did the maid contract the virus? She has a clean medical certification from the authorities as provided by the maid agency. She was relatively new and was never let out of the house. How did it happen?

As money can solve a lot of problems for Jacke, money can also help Jacke discover how the problem came about. Using a lot of money, Jacke found out that the maid agency he engaged never sent the maids for medical certification.

How did the maid obtain a clean medical certificate?... a combination of corruption plus poor governance. How so?... because those in authority are corrupted. How so?... because those in politics put them there. How come such people are allowed to be in politics?... because we have people like Jacke.

Jacke thought he can always stay away from the ruckus and as long as he has money, he will never suffer the consequences of a poor administration. He learned it the hard way. Now, Jacke’s son will probably only live to see Jacke cast his vote in 2 elections.

P/S: Seriously, send your maid your medical check up. Better be safe than sorry.


1 year ago… A familiar pub notice… A note to Mom on a special day

2 years ago… As mourning period ends… Lessons from death