What or who is STEEST?

When the idea of blogging suddenly hit me on 18 September 2008, I just sat down at my computer and began creating my own blog space. It didn't take me very long to think of a name, a rather unique one, since I had already formulated this word in my mind long ago. I'd fantasized about giving my home a name (for fun lah) and came up with this combination.

I didn't really think that anyone would even ask about my blog name, but ask they did! So I've decided to explain a bit. Little explanation needed really.

STE is from STEPHEN
EST is from ESTRELITA
I just combined those six letters!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, some of you nodding your heads now!

Simple and different, or so I think! Lovingly thought about too! Don't you agree?

Any couples out there want to give it a go with your names! Come on, be brave, share with us all in the comments!

My brother-in-law, Shunmugam and my sister, Esmeralda would be SHUESM! Or something like that lah. My brother, Antonio and his first love, Mary-Ann would be ANTMAR. It looks very like the "word verification" thing. Often, I just want to type that word in my comments too, also just for fun!

By the way, Zewt has an interesting story about his blog name! Read it here. I found his only after I started my blog, okay!! So we are both originals! I suppose!

Anyway, while on this, here's something interesting about our names. Hope you like it!

Now the question of why I use all three names when most people usually call me "Lita".

Well, Estrelita was the name given to me when I was born. It's mine! Soliano is the name of my dad, the late Tony Soliano and whose surname I used until I got married. Grosse (which rhymes with "was") is Stephen's surname. All are equally important and make up "me".

And "Lita," well, all my family and friends call me "Lita'. I've had to live through many variations of my name, some of which I've liked and some I don't particularly care for.

Here they are:
Estrellita (original spelling and means "little star" in spanish)
Escalator
Extralita
Estherlita
Litita
Tita
Lit
Ta (for the really lazy ones!)

Don't you dare add any to the list!! :) No, just kidding. Get creative!

As an afterthought, I'm adding this: Be kind folks! Especially those up north! You know who you are! hahahaha

PJ Candlelight Vigil Take 9 - Looking Fine!

Recently, I saw a blog comment that said the people who attend the candlelight anti-I.S.A. vigils are so out of touch with life. I thought about that statement for awhile now. I didn't want to dismiss it straightaway as I think it's good to understand where these ideas are coming from. However, I cannot, for the life of me, equate the vigils to being "out of touch" with life.

On the contrary, I think it's really a case of being in touch with life. Real life and real people accepting a situation, assessing it and doing what can be done to deal with it.

Rather than sitting at home and thinking, "oh, that doesn't concern me!", it's simply a case of "this concerns a fellow human being and I am, therefore, going to give my support".

This truly concerns everybody.

Those who aren't concerned shouldn't stand in judgement of the people who are showing up for what they believe in.

Raja Petra Kamarudin

(he walks the talk)

Husband and Wife Mother and daughter
Brothers Whole families New Friends

Old friends
and a whole bunch of other caring Malaysians!

Fr. O. C. LimJames NakasonYoung Malaysians - Jared and Jarod
Young Women (ahem!)
Young Men!

Blogger - Stephen Francis

Lawyer - Haris Ibrahim

Queen(ie) bee

One of the worker bees - Benz!

and the other worker bee - indefatigable Pat Lu.

I missed getting good shots of Zorro, Lokeman, Dave and Mrs Dave, Gus, Sunny, Mark, Rodi, Boom, Ambrose and many many others. These are all the caring Malaysians, who hold their heads up high and stand, with all those pictured here, together in unity! I am so proud to be one of them.

What was my Sunday like before 12 October 2008? I cannot remember! I do know now that since that day, I've felt more a part of Malaysia than I've ever felt before!

Read more here:
DELCAPO
JAROD
KKITSAM
PENG'S THOTS
SANJIUN (MANDARIN)
SHANGHAISTEPHEN

Selamat Hari Raya Haji

Hi there, I'm in Singapore at the moment and putting this up now, in case I don't have the time and/or opportunity to post this later.

Happy Eid Mubarak to all my Muslim family members and friends, not only in Malaysia and Singapore but all over the world.

Especial wishes to

• Mama Julie, Ibu Darling
• my brothers: Mohd Zaini, Rindra and Irman
• my sister: Faridah Lourdez

A Glimpse of Peru

This evening I had a wonderful surprise when I fought against my initial desire to forego attending the screening of a Peruvian film entitled “Una Sombra al Frente” translated as Crossing a Shadow. I really did not expect that it would be interesting and actually harboured a devilish notion that I would slip out after about 15 minutes, under cloak of darkness.

I couldn’t.

The movie, in its simplicity, caught me in its arms and carried me through to the end.

Here is a little background: Enrique Aet is a young civil engineer dedicated to the building of roads and systems that will allow communication with the distant Peruvian Amazon region, at the beginning of the twentieth century. These were years when the idea of progress was predominant and the Peruvian society was engaged in the task of integrating a difficult territory. Crossing a shadow has the purpose of depicting a period of Peruvian history, not only in its physical and architectural settings, but also in the vital and personal options of those living in the initial years of the 20th century.

Now you see why I was, initially, unenthusiastic about the movie. Nothing in its description appealed to me.

Unexpectedly, this young man and all the people that he encountered, as he journeyed through life and love, aroused my interest.

You have to see it to know what I mean. I am sure you will identify with all the characters there because either you share those personality traits or you know someone like that.

I am just sorry that I did not highlight this earlier but the good news is that it will be screened once more. Details are as follows:

Location:

• National Art Gallery, 2 Jalan Temerloh, Off Jalan Tun Razak, 53200 Kuala Lumpur

Screening Time:

• Friday, 5 December 2008 at 5.00 pm

Admission is free.

All are welcome.

I know it is a working day but if you happen to be in Kuala Lumpur, do take the opportunity to catch a glimpse of Peru. When you do, you just might want to know Peru as it is today. For this reason, you should know that Malaysians could enter Peru, visa-free for up to thirty days.

~with English Subtitles~

PJ Candlelight Vigil Take 8 - Eight is not Enough

Tonight's candlelight vigil drew a bigger crowd and they came from as far as Seremban! Some came by car, some came by bus, some came on foot from the Taman Jaya LRT Station but the the one who came on his bicycle took the first prize in my mind!



The brave speakers of the night!
Mrs Norlaila, Mariel, Angie, Lokman and Pinto

The crowd listening attentively!

The crowd from the other side! So many huh!

You can even sit if you want to!

The permit didn't touch on this! :)

It was the first time that I noticed a
tee-shirt with Chinese characters

and one with tamil characters too!

Faces of Malaysia standing side by side!

The faithful hearted guys!

Other than Zorro, we have a lone ranger!

More variations of the candles!

The freedom to sit in front of bars!
Isn't this what it's all about?
weather 10/10
turnout 10/10
crowd participation 10/10
peaceful assembly 10/10
feeling of unity and strength 10/10

Overal medal tally: 5 Golds tonight!

Read Paradise Storm
and The Whisperer
and KKitsam (he did a real great write up!)
and SanJiun (mandarin version!)
and Shanghaistephen
and anilnetto via rakyat@work

A One-Night Stand became a Full-Blown Affair

Attending the first candlelight vigil on 12 October 2008, I had no pre-determined illusions about what to expect. It was a rather spur of the moment decision, only made possible because my son, Jared could accompany me. That day, as I’ve said before, I read something that Antares had written which shocked me completely.

While my first vigil was only meant to be a one-night stand, I have to admit that it didn’t end there.

I’ll explain here:

That night, no one knew me. In all fairness, I didn’t know anyone either. I scanned the faces to see if I could recognize anybody and I think the only one was possibly, Zorro. I was too timid then to even say ‘hi’. Anyway, while just standing there with our candles trying to look “cool” and like “one of the gang”, this tall guy came forward to say “hello”. Of course, when he introduced himself, I knew immediately who he was, from his name, as I had been following his blog for some time. I was pretty much bowled over by his humility. Most personalities wait to be approached, he didn’t. I noticed when I arrived that he was talking to a small group and then another and finally he came to my group. He welcomed us and told us he was happy we were there and he hoped we would continue to give our support. Such a simple and straightforward invitation to join them, made it all the more real and genuine.

Haris needs no introduction to those who have access to the internet, and he certainly has no need for lessons in PR charm. He’s a natural. He’s as ferocious about our rights as he is authentic about being a good person! (more on that, possibly in the future!)

Now why did I continue to go for the vigils? The answer is simple yet complex.

First, definitively is because the I.S.A. goes against the natural order of human rights.

Then following very closely behind would be the kind of people giving their support.

Sometimes when we have an opinion about something, a fair share of uncertainties also plagues us. After all, we are bombarded by the MSM about the ramifications of the I.S.A. and that it is for our own protection! However, when I look at the quality of the Malaysians who come together, I have to believe that these people (and I am not talking about the Mat Rempits type) know about the intricacies of this Act. As for me, I’m not a lawyer neither am I a politician and I’m just there because I shudder to think that another human being can be so callously removed from society, on a whim, for an indefinite period. Let’s let them have their day in court!

So my decision to have a full-fledged “affair” with the anti-I.S.A. vigil stems very much from the fact that the people there are cultured, educated, civilized, intelligent, and well informed. You only have to look at a cross-section of the supporters and you can get a clear idea that this vigil, although small but growing in numbers, reaches out to all classes of people.

This vigil touches the hearts of professionals, retirees, teenagers, homemakers, and the clergy – a wide spectrum of society. How can so many of us be wrong?

If you are still doubtful, check it out this Sunday! It's the school holiday, folks! Be there or be square!

Date: 30 November 2008

Time: 8.00 pm

Venue: Tarmac (next to car park)

opposite the Civic Centre, PJ New Town

A dedication to Eric

Receiving a poem dedication today, I remembered writing one myself, way back in January 1993. I've written many but never published any. Now that I have a blog, it's only fitting that the first ever poem I post, should be dedicated to this little fella who left such a dent in our lives.

Eric (March 1990 - July 1992)

Once upon a time, there was a little boy

with curly brown hair, who gave me such joy

He was my son. I called him Eric

cute as could be, but then he was sick

He was delightful with his cheeky ways

keeping me busy through all of his days

He had a hole in his heart, known as VSD

not many knew, except for the family

At two, he had to have open-heart surgery

how painful for him and for me such misery

But he was brave and smiled even in the ICU

My precious child, experiencing something new

He recovered from the ordeal and came back

Then he had a hypertension attack

He collapsed at home, near his brother and I

We both panicked and feared that he would die

With terror in our hearts and such pain in mine

I suddenly felt he would leave us behind

I relived again all the tension and stress

realising that I could have one person less

I held my son and whispered a prayer

"Don’t take him, Lord, just don’t you dare!"

How could I endure some more pain?

Would I survive it? Would I be sane?

Six months later, I'm still grieving inside,

so much to let go off and so much to hide

I love you, Eric Joseph, and I always will

and life for me is like walking uphill

It's so difficult, not having you now

but I have to manage, someway, somehow

I had you dear Eric, for only two years

now all I have left, are just my tears

You've gone somewhere better, that I know

But it's hard to be happy when I miss you so

My "Once upon a time", is just a short chapter

Without the "they lived happily ever after."

-17 January 1993-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The 2 brothers, Jared John and Eric Joseph in 1991