3 Zewty months

How fast does time passes?... very Incredibly fast.

It has already been 3 months since I started this blog, and it has been an incredible journey. I made this blog my new year resolution and I am proud to say I am still keeping to it, with no sign of stopping. I made it a point to “launch” this blog on 1 Jan 2007 and I actually asked Jules to remind me to “launch” my blog. She so willingly complied.

I remember I was very excited when Patrick Teoh dropped me a comment, and a lot of people were wondering if it was the real Patrick Teoh. Well, how many Pat Teoh are there anyway? Then I remember the time when comments started rushing in when I blog about a romantic tale and asked readers to guess the ending. 20 comments for that entry and I was feeling rather ecstatic.

Next, I bumped into the first blog that linked to As Zewt As It Gets… it was Huei’s Dead Boredom Seeking Freedom. Thanks Huei, you didn’t know you were the first eh? By then, I also installed my first html code… the hits counter. Thanks everyone for giving me my 10,000+ hits thus far.

It led to the first time I posted an entry of pictures I took in my everyday life, what an interesting picture indeed. Then I sort of recycled an entry I posted to TheStar earlier regarding Malaysian drivers and it hit a new high with 24 comments. The blogging interest began to take off and I sort of did a series on blogging, talking about time, topic, readership and overall blogging. Thereafter, I had my first tag!

Next, I posted the infamous entry on Chinese and it currently holds the highest record for comments with a total of 74. It prompted me to do a few entries on Chinese and Chinese culture which led to some really intellectual comments, which excites me.

Then I attended the Bloggers Gathering organised by Wingz and it was a very enjoyable time indeed. Managed to meet up with some fellow citizens in the blogosphere and I don’t know why… many people think Zewt is a girl.

Next were the 2 entries I did on top scorers in the SPM and again, it managed to attract some really interesting comments. Co-incidentally enough, one of the readers here is actually a friend of one of the top scorer in the country and he gave his insights on the issue, the view from his side of the world.

It was then that arguably the most significant event of my life took place. It was then my mom suddenly collapsed and left me without a word. It was then that I found out mom was hiding something from us. It was then I learnt so much about mom, and how mom has already planned her departure. I pondered on why mom acted in a certain manner and how successful mom was. It was also the time when my blog hit a phenomenal level of readership, with an average of 336 unique readers during that eventful 8 days.
It was then Nuffnang secured As Zewt As It Gets’ first advertisement. Thank you guys!

I know it may sound like some oscar speech but all these will never be possible without you guys (and gals)… seriously! And oh... I was featured in this blog and Nuraina was kind enough to mention me in her blog which lead to Zewt being mentioned in Malaysia Today. It has only been 3 months, but where do I go from here? Well, let’s just say I will try to keep those interesting entries going… Meanwhile, Happy 3 months old to As Zewt As It Gets!

P/S: That picture was just for kicks… hehe…

Happy with no RPGT?

I was talking to Politikus, a political blogger the other day. As usual, when you talk to a political blogger, the topic tends to be… well… somewhat political. Was talking about election and some hero calling us bloggers liars and stuff like that when I mentioned the gomen is really giving out lots of goodies… one being the abolishment of Real Property Gains Tax (“RPGT”). Politikus’ reaction was…. “Huh! What is RPGT?”. Well, can't blame Politikus, after all, Politikus graduated with a degree in law and politics, not the usual boring accounting and finance.

For those who are not aware, the gomen announced that RPGT will be abolished effective 1 April 2007 (If I am not mistaken). This means, when you buy and sell property and make a profit, you don’t need to pay tax anymore. Prior to this, you need to.

No need to pay tax ya’ know… don’t pway pway… No tax… Nice or not? Well, nice if you have a lot of property, nice if you are a property tycoon. But for you and I who makes just enough to pay car instalment and housing instalment… by the time we clear our credit card bills, we are already praying hard for next month’s pay… how to be happy at such news?

When the news first came out… wahhhh… everyone was saying… very good oh, sell my house, make some money, no need to pay tax. They talked as though they have 10 or 20 house to sell. I think people shouldn’t be throwing party at the abolishment of RPGT because:

1. You and I don’t have many properties to sell;
2. As an individual, RPGT rate is 0% when you hold a property for more than 5 years, i.e. you and I don’t need to pay any tax if we sell our property after 5 years.

Well, looks like it’s not exactly very good news now huh? Well, the sky is not all dark and gloomy. If you happen to be a super rich dude with very the many properties, then ok la, you can now throw a party to celebrate… make a lot of money no need to pay tax.

If you own a company that holds property(s), then you can also be happy la. This is because corporate property owner needs to pay 5% tax despite holding a particular property for more than 5 years. So companies with property(s) can now do something noble and perhaps give their employees more bonuses. Imagine those property development companies sell a piece of land and make RM10m (it’s possible by the way)… that’s like RM500k worth of tax saved! But will such companies treat their employees in such a nice manner?
Another fella which I think (just think only la) will benefit from this are the famous toll concessionaires. You know la… they are very pitiful ya’ know, build toll for us, and then they claim they made losses, they claim they spend a lot of money repairing those highways, and then they have ungrateful toll users protesting against toll hikes… really not easy to be toll concessionaires. Since so difficult to be toll concessionaires, perhaps they might decide to dispose those highways. And if (just if) they do… then no need to pay tax lor.

So basically, if you have a lot of properties and make money from those properties… no need to pay tax. But if you earn more than RM2,500 a month, you have to pay tax. Nice or not?

On a related note, my friends in the tax industry said they are waiting for the official legislation to confirm the abolishment. Perhaps it’s not as simple as it seems. Ya’ know, the thing with our gomen… sometimes… they give you A… you have to fulfil B, C, D, E, F, G, H….. X, Y, Z before you can get A.

A quick threesome!

3 things that I would like to share today… very quickly:

Uncyclopedia

Jules sent me this link today. A MUST READ!!! One will think it is a joke with just one page to make fun of you-know-which-country. But… but… but… it’s not just a one page wonder, it covers a whole lot of things… I actually looked up “World War II” and “Global Warming”, and they actually cover those too!! Have fun… this is truly a good breakaway from Wikipedia.


Recipe for Oyster Mushroom with “cili padi”

1. Heat up oil and put in chopped garlic, stir till it fragrances;
2. Add in ‘cili padi’ and fry till it stings your nose;
3. Put in some salt based on your requirement;
4. Put in oyster mushroom and fry;
5. Add in a little sugar to stimulate taste (tiu mei – not a vulgar word);
6. Fry and add a little water (just a little) and cover wok wait dish to boil.
7. Add soya sauce for taste based on your preference.

Tips: Must control water input because the fluid from the mushroom will surface during cooking to form your gravy. Do not cook too long, else they will get slimy.


Feedback on Zewt’s cooking from Julia

Can be seen as a comment by Jules here.

Jules said…

Yes yes yes Zewt can cook! A very attractive quality indeed! I have been fortunate enough to taste his signature siew yok! And yes cucumber can be cooked..someting new to me too, until zewt cooked it for me!I think everyone can cook. It doesn't take a genius, just some commonsense. With experience we can only get better. It is just a matter of whether we WANT to cook! Think many of us rather run to the nearest hawker/mamak!


Have a lovely weekend everybody!!!!!

P/S: Politikus, will blog about RPGT next.

Chef of the day

One of the first thing I told mom when I returned from UK after completing my studies was that I learnt how to make roast pork (siew yok). Naturally, mom asked me to cook for her. I said I will, when I’ve bought the family an oven, I will make one for her to try. Years have passed… it never happen. And now, it will never happen even if I want to.

Anyway, I was in charge of cooking today. Mom would have been very proud of me. Cooked 3 dishes. Here it is… the camwhoring of Zewt’s cooking:

Fried cucumber with vegetarian ham. One of Julia’s favourite (yes, I cooked for her before). Family’s remark… nice…

Fried ‘ghost’ sprout (kwai tao) with button mushroom and vegetarian ham. Family’s remark… salty, probably too much ham.

Fried oyster mushroom with ‘cili padi’. Family’s remark… nice.

Some of the readers here said they can't cook a meal even for themselves. Zewt will say… it’s not that difficult… you just have to try.

Have you promised you will cook something for your mom and you have yet to fulfil that promise?

The week that’s been

It’s exactly a week ago, today, that we pulled the plug. Time passes so fast, I don’t really have the chance to fully grasp all that has happened. A week just passed by like a flash, and it has been a week since I last heard mom’s nagging. And for the first time in my life, I miss it very much.

It has been a week of many 1st, for instant, it was the first time I saw my dad cried. Temper is his trademark emotion during his younger days, I have never seen his sorrow, but I saw it that day at the ICU when the doctor informed us that mom is beyond any medical help.

Speaking of tears, it was the first time my whole family wept together… all of us by mom’s bedside. I really wonder if she can truly hear us, I have to believe that she does. Otherwise, mom would not have heard all that I told her in the hospital that day.

It was also the first time I spent a week away from office and wish that I have worked instead. I am willing to go through any level of stress or unreasonable deadlines in exchange for another 1 minute with mom.

It was the first time that I think that all I have achieved in my life is utterly futile. A man can gain the world but if he failed to express his love to the person he loved, it means absolutely nothing.

It was the first time I went hours after hours without sleep due to reason other than work. I guess you know I do spend a lot of time at work… in the past. It’s amazing where I managed to gather that amount of energy.

It was the first time my faith is put to the test, and I think I coped well. Yeah, I did performed certain Buddhist ritual, but in my heart, I am not worshipping any other god, the true God remains in me, and when I bowed down, I did it in honour and respect to my mom. Why constraint ourselves to the rigidity of ridiculous religious rules and forget our responsibility as a son towards our parents?

And it was indeed, the first time I realised my mom has always been there for me, loved me in a way that no one else could have done… and I am thankful for that. As cirnelle put it in her comments… mom has always helped me in my studies and other achievements by taking care of all the other things. So I can't really say mom never helped me in my studies.

There are many other 1st, but I think that’ll be all for now. Spoke to someone today and that someone said I should start writing about social stuff again. Well, perhaps I should. Of course, I will still write about my mom on and off. After all, I really enjoy writing about her.

So… making jokes of others… traffic… society… some morons... the G… anyone?

2nd chance with mom: Hard work vs success

I am a very proud person. I have always considered myself a self-made man, that what I have achieved today is due to my own hard work, that my parents never nurtured me along the way. The fact that I did performed well in certain fields despite not getting any support from home made me a really proud person. I also believe that I would have been able to achieve much more if my parents have nurtured me since young.

“hai la hai la, ho ba bai la! Yat ko yuet wan do gei chin man ho chi ho ba bai kam yeong”
(ya la ya la, damn big shot now. Think you earn a few thousands a month, as if you’re damn big shot now)

My mom always says that to me when I give remark about how incompetent this person or that person is. I will also get the same words from mom when I proudly belittle the achievements of others, claiming that I would have done a better job. And I will definitely get those comments from her when I belittle her work.
This afternoon, when I was trying to remove the laundry from the washing machine, I broke the handle of the machine door. I pulled too hard I think, and now, the load of laundry is still in the machine as I type. Repairman said they will come either tomorrow or Thursday, which means probably no laundry for the next 2 days.

I clean scrubbed the bathroom floor yesterday, because it was getting slimy due to the layer of soap accumulating on it. Just now, as I stepped into the bathroom, I realised I have to scrub it again. At that moment I realised, mom scrubbed the floor every single day…. 24/7. And I have not even mentioned toilet. Have you clean the toilet of your house before?

Today is the second day I have to clean the dishes after dinner as my sis was in charge of cooking. During the first day, I had no idea where to put which plate and where to put which scoop and where to put this pot. And clean dishes does not mean end of cleaning. There’s also the kitchen floor and stove and throw away the remnants and replenish certain stuff to prepare for the next day.
The floor is getting a bit sticky; my bro just mopped it yesterday. He is doing his prayer and I am hoping he will do the mopping since he didn’t do much today as he went to work. I wonder how often mom mops the floor. I never recall the floor being sticky. Ok, maybe once in a while… but I am sure you get what I mean.

As today is only the second day since we realistically commenced life without mom, I am sure there will be plenty of discoveries in the days ahead.

For all the promotions and increment and other accomplishments that I have in my life, and the proud thinking that I will be able to ‘survive’, I was made to think otherwise. Mom humbled me yesterday and today. And I am sure she will keep humbling me in the days to come. And I thought I was damn big shot.

“Ni you le ni je ji the jia. Ni ke yi jiao gu ni de jia ren, jiu shi yi ge sing gung de ren,” cousin told me that night. (When you have your own family. When you can look after your family, that’s when you’re successful)

Of course, many of us have our very own definition of success. But to mom, success means being able to look after one’s own family. And ‘look after’ here probably doesn’t mean only in monetary terms. This is probably due to the mom’s upbringing. Therefore, being there for the children, preparing everything for the children, or maybe even nagging the children makes one a successful person, a good person.

This is also probably why mom is always quite angry when I belittle other people’s achievements. And the fact that the house can be quite a mess in my hands means I am nothing without my mom, I am certainly not successful, not yet at least. Mom never considered all my grades, all my promotions, all my sports medal (a few la), all my appearance in the paper (a few times la), all the money I made as success.

I will only be successful in mom’s eyes when I have achieved what she has achieved… to be able to really “look after” your own family. And I am determined to do that. And I promise not to belittle other people’s achievements anymore.

On a relatively unrelated note, society pressures us to measure success by the number of digits in our bank account, the number of cc of our cars, the number of staff under us, the number of months of our bonus, etc. No matter how much we deny it, somewhere in our mind, this notion is quite true. However, if we were to ask ourselves honestly AND answer it honestly, we will probably realise that money is not the ultimate success. You can shower the children with PS2 or i-Pod or the latest handphone so that they can appear cooler in front of their friends and employ a maid to look after each child, but if you can't cook a simple meal the children, I believe that’s not quite success. Of course, you can disagree with me.

Thank you

Just want to pause for a moment to offer my sincere gratitude to all who commented in the last few entries offering me much support, be it in the form of words of comfort, words of encouragement or prayers. Words cannot describe how touched I am to all of you. I am thoroughly amazed by all of you in the blogosphere. You are all great friends despite we have not met in person.

I wrote what I have written not to impress anyone, but rather to remind myself of what happened and I will read it again and again as a constant reminder to me on my mistakes and regrets. May we all minimise our mistakes and regrets in our lives.

I know I have not been replying to your comments but I have started doing so in my previous entry. Once again, thank you for all your support.