Of knowing

The days of autograph books now seems to have become extinct. When I was in primary and secondary school, I loved being asked to sign autograph books. It gave me the opportunity to leave a verbal mark and also read what other people wrote. Probably therein lay the beginning of my interest to write and to read what others had to say.

Funnily, people wrote stuff instead of just signing their name. Some drew caricatures or put a picture. It was a chance to pen your thoughts or share a poem.

My girlfriend Chris found her old autograph book and kept it. She took a picture and put it up on Facebook. I couldn't believe it.  Thank God my writing has improved since then.  I have my old autograph book too.  I'm going to have to look for it.

I had some favourites and I can still remember them till today.

May you sail in a ship of ambition and anchor in a harbour of success!

I wish you luck, I wish you joy

I wish you first, a baby boy

and when his hair begins to curl

I wish you then a baby girl

and when her hair is up in pins

I wish you then a pair of twins

F.R.A.N.C.E

Friendship Remains And Never Can End

Remember M, Remember E
Put them together and remember ME

However, the one that I like the best is this

When day is over and shadows fall

I think and I realise that I love you most of all

It is so true that only when everything gets quiet and there is a stillness in the air, just before sleep comes, we think of who we love. This has been true for me.

No matter how many times I had thought I was in love before, this was always the acid test. In that twilight moment, between wakefulness and sleep, is when I know.

I know who I love most of all.

Of being a friend

Recently, a string of emails made me think about what it means to be a friend. Not just a Facebook friend, but also a friend as defined by dictionaries as “a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard”.

The dictionaries also describe a friend as (1) a person who gives assistance, (2) a person who is on good terms with another and (3) a person who is not hostile.

A friend is not only someone who gives assistance. Anybody who is not a friend can also do that.

A friend is not a person who is on good terms with you. It is much more than that.

A friend is a person who is not hostile. Not true. A friend can sometimes be argumentative.

I suppose it would really be a stretch of the imagination to think that a friend could be defined so easily.

In one email reply, I wrote, “a friend, who could stand me, would stand by me”. This really is true. We are not perfect beings. We hide behind different masks with our insecurities and our vulnerabilities. The one who can see beyond all that, and still accept us for who we are, is a friend.

I have many friends. In every aspect of my life, I’ve been blessed with good friends. Not just fair-weather friends but friends who have shown their love for me much more than I sometimes think I deserve.

From experience, I know that it isn’t the length of time, the quantity of moments when meeting up or the quality of each happy greeting.

A person become your friend when you dare to show your true self, warts, and all.

As I think of the people in my life, the ones who are my friends, I realise how wealthy I am.

(pics from photobucket)

She said! She said!

She said to them, "Oh, so nice of you all to come".
She said to me, "I wished they didn't come".

She said to them, "You all look so much better now".
She said to me, "They look like they had plastic surgery".

She said to them, "You all look fat but happier".
She said to me, "They look swollen and out of shape".

She said to them, "So nice to hear the latest news".
She said to me, "They are the biggest gossipers".

She said to them, "Finally, I get to meet you all."
She said to me, "Finally, the troublemakers are gone."

Then,

She said to me, "I don't trust them."
I said to her, "Hmmmm".

They say, "Man speaks with forked tongue".
I say, "Woman, too!"

Sigh....

Well, folks, Be Calm In Your Heart!

(pics from photobucket)
Got to run now, owe someone down under a reply, wink! wink!)

Already Two Years Old and Counting

Two years ago, I began my blog without really thinking of where it would lead me.  I don’t really know why but having a blog made me look harder and deeper at everything that was happening in my life.  

I began to scrutinise and analyse what people said.  I watched TV and listened to the radio as if it was a homework assignment.  I scoured other blogs and online news portals to see what others were saying and thinking.  Always at the back of my mind, unconsciously or subconsciously, I thought of my blog and wondered, “to blog or not to blog”.

As luck would have it, less than a month from the birth of my blog, I found a “cause” I believed in.  My involvement in the anti-I.S.A. vigils that followed, gave me a weekly topic to promote and to write about.  It helped build up my confidence when people responded and commented. 

I had other bloggers guiding me, helping me, nudging me along the way.  Without their advice and support, I know it would have been more difficult so I really am glad that they shared their knowledge so unselfishly. 

Today I celebrate 730 days in existence and just over 150 blog posts.  It’s a drop in the ocean if I compare with others who have been blogging since before blogging became fashionable.  It’s a tiny scratch on the surface if I look at the top bloggers who have hits in the millions.  So I don’t do that.

I look at my blog and don’t compare with anyone.  I don’t compete either.  I feel proud that my stats are what I believe to be reasonably high.  I’m a blogger.  There have been times that people have stopped me in public to say, “Hey, I know you, you’re a blogger, I read your blog”.  At the beginning, I used to feel embarrassed but not anymore.  I am a blogger and I say that with pride.

As STEEST reaches two years, I look back and I can tell you that the highlights have not been that some posts were featured on Malaysia Today or that I’m listed under “Fabulous Blogs” or even that Global Voices invited me to write for them. 

The highlights are the friendships I’ve made. 

If I hadn’t started blogging, I’d never have found the warmth and kinship of other bloggers.  I’d have missed knowing the camaraderie of a “friend” or that of “a friend of a friend”.  Who would have guessed that great friendships could blossom from the least likely places?

I think when we write, we share a part of ourselves.  In some small way, it is a window to our soul.

To those of you who have peeped through the window, reached out and touched my life during these last two years, in one way or another, I just want to say

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

MALAYSIA DAY

Happy Malaysia Day!  

(and it's a holiday)

Finally, an all-inclusive celebration.

(Not exclusive, all are welcome!)

THE JOURNEY SO FAR

Date: 

16th September 2010

Venue: 

Rumah Anak Bangsa Malaysia - no: 66, Lorong Setiabistari Satu, Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur (Map - here)

Programme:

6.30 - 7.30pm - Registration

7.30 - 8.00pm - Welcome speech and video presentation

8.00 - 9.00pm - Rakyat Voices

9.00 pm onwards - Makan2, Minum2 and Cakap2


You need to be registered to attend this event.
For registration, please Email events(at)sayaanakbangsamalaysia.net

50,000

How long can 50,000 last?

If you use 2,000 a month, it will only last 25 months.  That is just about 2 years.

If you use 1,500 a month, then you'd be able to stretch it to 33 months.  That's just under 3 years.

If you use 1,000 a month, then you'll have 50 months.  Only 4 years and that time is almost up, isn't it?

Some people are so curious about money, even when it isn't theirs.

SELAMAT HARI RAYA

Dengan Ingatan Tulus Ikhlas

Maaf Zahir Batin


Specially to 


Mama Julie, Ibu Darling,
Lourdez Faridah, Mohd Zaini (Tony Jr),
Rindra, Irman, Greg  
and other Muslim family members,


my CBN FRIENDS


and all MALAYSIANS

 who are celebrating 


Hari Raya Aidil Fitri
With much love and hope
for a peaceful celebration!