The Past, Present, Future

Now Playing: Sugarland (It Happens)


Seriously (in Grey's Anatomy Style), it has been a while since the last time I step my foot (literally la kan) here. And it has been a long hiatus since the last book review that I posted here. I have been too occupied with works (seriously) and adjusting myself to the new environment. I do not know how many loyal readers that I have (as I always mentioned in my previous post) but for me number is just a number. I received few comments from my silence readers lately and certainly you guys have made my day with your warm words. I feel good and grateful when people commenting on how my book reviews here, have helped them a lot. They enjoyed reading it very much. Please note that, I'm writing this is not for the purpose of showing off or whatnot. My intention is to acknowledge what people have commented here. With that, I want to thank all of you for the sweet and honest comments. It has very much made my day. :))


The Past

For those who have not know yet, I am no longer working at Introspek Asia. I have tender my resignation in October. I had hard time in making the decision to leave the company as my relationship with the colleagues there is like a family. This is the place where I found my first mentor in career life. I gain a lot of knowledge there; from managing a company to the way of making good research. I learned the basic principles of networking and the need for effective communication. I cried during my last at the company which was very embarrassing but that's just sum up of how I felt towards the company.


The Present

I am officially a PTD. I have been posted to KPWKM since 8th November 2009 as PSU in International Relations Department. My post requires me to handle bilateral relations and ASEAN related matters regarding women, family and community issues. On the very first day at the ministry, my first task was to draft a speech for the minister and since then the works are piling up by every hours. I am not exaggerating here. This is the truth; as in my case lah. Yesterday I received a delegation from an NGO from Cambodia and this morning I attended a meeting chaired by TKSU MITI and looking at the audience who came, I would say I am the junior among all. And these all happening within my very first few days in the ministry. My point here is, if you are interested to join the force, please be aware that, the job is not as easy as you may have heard before. You need to be well prepared. Kalau nak tengok orang relax, maybe staff sokongan ada lah but not the officers. Booorring :p


The Future

Apa eh? I hope that my life here at the ministry would become one of the great journey that I ever had. I pray that Allah make it easier for me. On the sideline, I am also hoping that I am able to advocate the rights that need to be championed. Oh and, and, I hope I will be able to finish the draft of minister's speech by next week. There goes my hari raya. sob,sob,sob. berkorban la konon.. LOL


Selamat Hari Raya Aidiladha!!! :))

Book Club; The 4th Session - The Cultural Creatives by Paul H.Ray and Sherry Ruth

Now Playing: Missy Higgins




I have yet to read the whole book. But after reading the first two chapters, the book totally got me hooked up into it. It was the boss who recommended to read the book in order to help us in developing new set of questionnaire. The title of the book is a term coined by sociologist Paul H Ray and Psychologist Sherry Ruth, who both are the author and the co-author of the book. The book is based on their claim to have found that 50 million (in the year of 2000) adult Americans can now be identified as belonging to this group. If you are interested to know more on the concept, you may do so by going to their website http://www.culturalcreatives.org/home.html


But first, you may want to answer this simple question first;

Are you a Cultural Creative? This list can give you an idea. Choose the statements that you agree with.

You are likely to be a Cultural Creative if you...

1. ...love Nature and are deeply concerned about its destruction
2. ...are strongly aware of the problems of the whole planet (global warming, destruction of rainforests, overpopulation, lack of ecological sustainability, exploitation of people in poorer countries) and want to see more action on them, such as limiting economic growth

3. ...would pay more taxes or pay more for consumer goods if you could know the money would go to clean up the environment and to stop global warming

4. ...place a great deal of importance on developing and maintaining your relationships

5. ...place a lot of value on helping other people and bringing out their unique gifts

6. ...do volunteering for one or more good causes

7. ...care intensely about both psychological and spiritual development

8. ...see spirituality or religion as important in your life, but are concerned about the role of the Religious Right in politics

9. ...want more equality for women at work, and more women leaders in business and politics

10. ...are concerned about violence and abuse of women and children around the world

11. ...want our politics and government spending to put more emphasis on children's education and well-being, on rebuilding our neighborhoods and communities, and on creating an ecologically sustainable future

12. ...are unhappy with both the Left and the Right in politics, and want a to find a new way that is not in the mushy middle

13. ...tend to be somewhat optimistic about our future, and distrust the cynical and pessimistic view that is given by the media

14. ...want to be involved in creating a new and better way of life in our country

15. ...are concerned about what the big corporations are doing in the name of making more profits: downsizing, creating environmental problems, and exploiting poorer countries

16. ...have your finances and spending under control, and are not concerned about overspending

17. ...dislike all the emphasis in modern culture on success and "making it," on getting and spending, on wealth and luxury goods

18. ...like people and places that are exotic and foreign, and like experiencing and learning about other ways of life.

If you agreed with 10 or more, you probably are a Cultural Creative.

taken from; http://www.culturalcreatives.org

The book in some ways did open up my mind and I came to realize that there are vast and new concepts out there that I have never think about. I always making excuses that I have limited time to read, but the more I keep making one, I will end up not knowing of everything or becoming ignorant. The procrastination should stop now. If you do not have much time to read, just go to their website and you can find a summary and the current writings on the subject. Happy reading!!!

Entri ini sangat cliche. Sekian, terima kasih.

Now Playing: Jakob Dylan


Saya rindu dia. 5 days to go.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.



Saya tahu. Macam corny sangat kan. Alah, sekali setahun je. Please bear with me. :p

note: En suami jangan marah ye? Boleh ke nak minta tolong, don't tell him that I published his photo here, can? hehe


P/s: My parents and the aunt has safely arrived at Medina airport this morning. Thank you for your kind prayers. You know who you are.

And, I have tender my resignation to the current company that I worked for. Nothing personal. Just looking for other new opportunities out there. The time has comes, I presumed. Ye ke? LOL

A reminder to the self

Now Playing: Suara hati

"Then, when u've taken a decision put your trust in Allah. For Allah loves those who put trust in Him"

(Ali Imran:159)

P/s: Cik diri sendiri, selalu ingat ini ya?

Random Thoughts II

Now Playing: Stereophonics


1. DUKE Highway is insanely stupid. Why the Smart Tag lane is only open at ONE lane but to cater HUNDREDS of cars? This is too irony to comprehend. Isn't 'the very basic existence' of Smart Tag to help smooth the traffic? Aiyoo!!

2. I have been observing for quiet sometimes now, and if I may conclude that Malaysians are too selfish when it comes to line up at the train (especially monorail) station, driving and whatnot. This selfish breed always think that they are in hurry and they must go first above all people. Yello brader, I paid the same fee that you did, would that make us equal? And another thing that annoys me the most is when this breed do not want to go inside the train but rather to stand next to door. I know that you wanted to go out at the next stop, but do you see people waiting outside to come in? Adoi la weh..

3. Oh ok, this one is funny. This is based from my friend first-hand experience. Currently, it is the trend for some Muslims ladies to wear a dress plus with lining and jeans/slack. So you know that sometimes this dress came with a belt attached to the dress. And sometimes, people mistakenly assumed that you are pregnant while donning this type of dress. This is what happened to my dear friend (sorry ye, cik fiza, hehe). In a monorail, she has been offered to a seat by this kind fellow who assumed that shes pregnant. My friend being in her cool mode, accepted the offer. Using this incident as a case study, I am now berhati-berhati dalam meng'offer' my seat people. Lagi senang tak payah duduk. LOL

4. My parents and the aunt have been confirmed to fly to Medina this coming 27th and later to perform hajj. I am glad with this opportunity and hope everything will goes well as what we have prayed. Insya Allah...

5. The husband is going to Korea on 24th until the 2nd for work. So ladies and gentlemen, according to my calculation it is 10 days (including the 24th; because he will not be at home starting that day). But according to him it is 9 days instead of 10 days. Why am i so concerned about the figure? This is because, i will now entitled to have 10 days holidays alone/with girlfriends. Not that I am not looking forward to spend time/ holiday with him or whatnot (which is the best actually), but sometimes i do want to be able to spend time with girlfriends too. Bole tak? hehe..
So Singapore, here I come!!! :))

6. I am now reading Jane Austen "Pride and Prejudice" after so many procrastination. Hey, it is better than never ah? (alert: sedap kan hati mode).

The One with A Guy Who Cannot Park

Now Playing: Pixie Lott


disclaimer: This post is just another 'self therapy' after an incident which happened last month. The writer wish to disclose personal information of people who involved in the incident and hope that this post serves as a reminder to us.

I have been living in Ampang, specifically Taman Sri Watan for 24 years now. My age, literally. In my entire life, I have never moved out to any other places. I have never experienced, meeting new faces at school, at the resident and what not. Suffice to say I am accustomed to Ampang. This is the place where I called my home, my sanctuary (minus the infamous traffic jam, of course). Although technically I have moved out from my parents house for 5 months now, I find it difficult to change my answer when people asked me this, in this scenario(s);

1. During an event at Johor Palace in KL.

Datin: Tinggal kat mana?

Me: Ampang.

Husband: What? (and starting to roll his eyes (betul tak tipu))

Me: Alah, I cannot helped it la. Used to that 'formal' answer. Bad habit dies hard.


2. During an event at a kenduri in taman melati (neighbor's kenduri)

Makcik Vogue: Cantik baju awak. Tinggal kat mana?

Me: Terima kasih. Makcik pun apa kurangnya (me being polite). Tinggal kat Ampang.

Makcik Vogue: Oh ingat tingal dekat sini. Selalu nampak awak ulang-alik turun blok sebelah tu. Salah orang la kot.

Me: Errr...


Oh yes, ladies and gentlemen. I have embarrassed myself up to that extent. I do not know why, but I am still appeal to consider myself as living in Ampang. Boleh tak in denial? hehe

I have always treasured my memories while I still reside in Ampang. I met new people and established friendship with them. During this 24 years residing at Sri Watan, I have came to know several types of neighbor.

I had good neighbor; who likes to gives food, who likes to organise makan-makan every month, who likes to tease me, who went to school with me, etc. And not to mention, I also had neighbor; who likes to jamming at the wee hours, who is an actress and wants people to notice her, who likes to go around and spreading words about other and the like. Mind you, although I do categorized some neighbors as fall under bad category, I have never hate them. But this would be the first time in my life after 24 years residing in Ampang, I met the worst self-centred person in my life.

I lived in a terrace house resident. In front of my house (outside the gate) there is a space for cars to park if people come to visit us. As my family owns three cars, and the space (inside the gate) is just suits for two cars, so the third car will always be parked outside the house gate. We have never had problem before on where to park the car so as to my other neighbor. Sometimes my neighbor who lives across the street will park at the spot and we never bothered with that. Our life was perfect until came T in our life (drama seyh. hehe).

I remembered it was a fine evening and me and my sister were watching Buletin Utama. Suddenly the bell rang, and my sister quickly went to the door. Here are the excerpt of what happened:

Sister: Ada apa ye?

T: Boleh alih kereta tak? Kalau nak parking kereta tu, janganla sampai masuk rumah orang. Tengok tiang rumah tu kalau nak parking. Skang dah susahkan orang. Tak reti ke nak parking. (not his exact words)

Sister: Pakcik ni tak boleh cakap elok-elok sikit ke. Dahla tengah azan Isyak ni. Selama ni kami takde masalah nak parking. Cubala timbang rasa sikit.
My sister went to move the car.


Sombong gila kan? The funny thing is, he choose to park his car outside the house, although he had the space inside the house. Self-centred he is, big time. And with no manners too. And the other funny thing was, after my sister moved the car, less than 5 minutes T left his house and literally left the parking spot. Sakit hati kan? Sabar je la banyak2.

After few months of the incident, we literally left the parking spot unoccupied to avoid misunderstanding in the future. And you might guess that we have a bad relationship with T, and you are so true. To show how disrespect he was, he even cannot bring himself to my kenduri which took place last June. Gila kepala batu kan.. I think he better move in to Batu Caves because of his failure to understand basic human relations.


Ever heard about the old Malay saying of; makan ludah sendiri or mengata orang lebih, tapi diri sendiri pun terlebih.... or something like that. Forgive my err, if any. hehe. Translation: You

So this is what happened after the incident in April.

Now tell me, who cross the line?
info: The blue car belongs to T, while the black belongs to us.
The wall/fence with hole is the starting point of T's wall/fence.So this picture clearly proven that he definitely crossed the line.

and pakcik what about this one;


Gotcha!! You bet, I did!!

Moral of the story: Pakcik, janganlah cakap kasar-kasar dekat orang. Kan sekarang dah susah. Malu tak?


End

The Other Side of Mimi

Now Playing: Aqualung

I've been watching your world from afar,
I've been trying to be where you are,
And I've been secretly falling apart,
I'll see.
To me, you're strange and you're beautiful,
You'd be so perfect with me but you just can't see,
You turn every head but you don't see me.


I'll put a spell on you,
You'll fall asleep
and I'll put a spell on you.
And when I wake you,
I'll be the first thing you see,
And you'll realize that you love me.

Nota kaki: En suami, bila mahu dedicate lagu ini? :)