Abuse of my chatbox!

Yes, there goes my chatbox! Thank you guys for your advice, I’ve heeded your advice and removed my chatbox. Now, I’m being informed that others are using my name and leaving indecent messages in other chatboxes. It does not bother me in the least.
Firstly, everyone who knows me will attest that I never utter indecent or vulgar words in any language that I speak. Have any of you heard any form of vulgarity from me? No way. Thus any bad language in your chatbox is definitely not from me!
Secondly, some people are plain spoilers! It appears their aim in life is to make other peoples’ lives miserable. Perhaps they have nothing better to do. Perhaps they enjoy this cheap thrill of upsetting other people. Perhaps that is how they have been brought up – to use fowl language and be born losers! Whatever their reason, I’m thankful for them. God can’t possibly accommodate all of us in Heaven. I suppose these people make God’s job a little easier. These people insist on booking their place in Hell! Let them. Hindus and Buddhist believe in karma. I strongly believe such people contribute towards my good karma. Heh! Thank you You!
I have finished marking my exam scripts and in fact have been catching up on my reading. I intend to review these books on my blog soon. Actually I got this idea from Pei Hau’s blog. He wrote quite a bit on restaurants and food, so I want to share my experience reading books.

Welcome to my blog

Wow! When Dhama put the chat box in my blogspot, I didn’t know it was another name for ‘complaint box’!! I think I should thank Philbert for making my blog popular overnight. Thank you Philbert! Hey Raja Petra, move over. You have competition here man!!
Before I continue, I also want to thank the others who have posted complaints in my chat box. You are most welcome to do so, but please don’t hide behind fictitious names. I don’t think it is the right thing to do – stealing someone else’s identity. Especially Pn. Marina Chin! She is not only the principal of a very important school, she is also a well-known personality in the country. I know it is not her style to say the things you have said, and her language is also much better then that! Improve your English or stop using her name. Be fair to her.
The complaints and issues mentioned are very reasonable. Is this what they mean by ‘barking up the wrong tree’? Why are you telling me all these? If there was a spelling error or content error in the certificates given out on Prize giving day, then tell me about it because that was my responsibility. But problems with invitation and selection of prize winners was out of my jurisdiction. If I had it my way, I will give away prizes to each student who successfully finished their school education, irrespective of the number of A’s.
As for the “Samad bashing” going on, I am just an ordinary teacher, teaching Moral studies and Geography. I feel honoured you feel you can tell me all these things but I’m powerless in the school. Please direct all your grievances to the school office. In no way am I involved in the school administration.
Actually I wouldn’t mind giving admin a shot but the ministry has not offered me any relevant posts. I wonder what the criterias are to be promoted into the school administration. I have been teaching for 24 years and never shirked my responsibilities at any time. Maybe my fault is I work hard and not work smart. Que Sara, Sara, what will be, will be!!
My technical assistant advices me to remove my chat box! Hey! Chat with me, I will love to hear from you. Don’t abuse it please. Thank you all for visiting my blog. Now I feel pressured to update my blog more regularly! I know I don’t have many posts, but whatever I have posted is important to me. I would appreciate feedback regarding my posts. I have exam papers, and folios to mark so don’t expect to hear from me in the near future.

POST ELECTIONS

OK. I know every Mary, Ann and Jane (as in Tom, Dick and Harry) have said their piece regarding Malaysia’s 12th general elections. There was much I wanted to say, especially during the campaign period, but was feeling apprehensive about what I had to say. In case I worded my post wrongly, I may be sued by the candidates!

Ever since I became aware of Malaysian politics, several things were very apparent. Most candidates come looking for us, the voters, only during the campaign period. After voting them in, it is we who have to make appointments to see them. They don’t seem to have much time for the people who put them in their Parliament seat or the state assembly seat. In Parliament, many seem to ‘wakil diri’ rather than ‘wakil rakyat’.

It is also during the campaign period when much is said about unity and harmony among the races. How the candidates are there to serve the public and not any one race. After the elections, it is all back to race-based political parties. It is during this time that much gets done in constituencies – roads are retarred, drains are cleaned, squatters get keys to new homes, abandoned projects and public’s complaints get attended to, etc.,etc.,etc. For this reason alone, I wish elections were held every year. Then, we, the rakyat will get our candidates attention more often.

In fact I have always felt the best thing that could happen to a constituency is the death of the elected representative! Don’t brand me cruel or nasty. Everyone can see how ALL ATTENTION is focused on the area that is having a by-election. The Ijok by-election last year was an excellent example. So much money was pumped in to improve the area and the people’s life just to win their votes. We read about how women who didn’t know how to sew were given sewing machines! Just imagine if such a tragedy were to occur once a month in the constituencies, one by one, a by-election every month will bring so much development to that area.

However my opinion has changed after the March 8th elections. It has been more then a month since the election, but our elected representatives are still so concerned for the electorate! They are stll actively trying to resolve issues important to us! Isn’t that wonderful? Will the people be the focus of our elected reps for the next 4 – 5 years? Wow! No wonder most developed countries have 2 parties system OR are the countries more developed BECAUSE they have the 2 party systems???

This is LOVE!

So how was Valentine’s Day? Did I receive a bouquet of roses? No. Heart shaped chocolates? No. A branded handbag? No. Perfume? No. Some other fancy gift? No. Am I upset or disappointed? No.

My husband does not believe in Valentine’s Day celebrations. He thinks it is too commercialized. Looking at the price of flowers and romantic dinners, I couldn’t agree more! But I was not saddened by it. We don’t need February 14 to DISPLAY affection and quarrel the next day.

I have been suffering from a bad backache after lifting a big pail of water when I mopped the floor last week. The household chores are shared between my husband and I mostly while the children chip in to help sometimes. My husband and my daughters knew about my suffering. However, when the weekend approached and it was time to mop the floor, it was my husband who insisted on doing the job so that I could rest my back which was still aching. Now, what do you call that, if not LOVE?!! My girls sympathized with me and offered backrubs to sooth the pain, but did not volunteer to do the painful task of mopping the floor.

What my husband did was a simple act, but it meant a lot to me. In actual fact, I don’t do the marketing; he does. I don’t pay any bills; he does. I don’t send my car for servicing, repairs and even filling up the petrol tank; he does. And he does a lot more for me.

God, how blessed I am! So if February 14 is the day to show your adoration for your loved ones, then most days are February 14 for me!!!

My 3 Diamonds

Last night my 15 year old daughter, Dhamayenthy and I reversed our roles. She became my ‘mom’ when she suggested that I should blog instead of playing FreeCell, my addiction, especially when I’m watching TV. I had only managed to put 2 posts on my blog when I forgot my password and had technical problems after that. She took about 20 minutes to fix the problem and even designed it for me. I love what she has done. Thank you Dhama!

What would I do without my children?!! In fact my blogspot was first started for me by Dhivia; my elder girl (read first post). My son Karthi takes care of my anti-virus and whatever other programmes I need. They also download songs for me. I just have to give them my ‘favourite songs’ list.

My 3 children are the best thing that has happened to me. Sorry dear (hubby), you have to settle for second place now even though I owe our children’s presence to you! There has been much pain bringing them up, especially when disciplining them, but now they are my best friends and it is such a pleasure when I’m with them.

I wonder if Karthi and Dhivia remember how they compared me with Cinderella’s stepmom and the wicked witch in ‘Snow White’ when I used to cane them for being naughty when they were young! Believe me, it hurt me too. Now, I’m so proud of them. They are my 3 diamonds; the jewels that sparkle and brighten up my life (and I’m sure my husband feels the same way too). Am I a biased judge? Please be informed that as a teacher I’ve been meeting and handling a couple of hundred teenagers every year for the past 23 years. So I have enough ‘samples’ to make comparisons with my children. They are so undemanding, very accommodating, reliable, obedient, loving (though Dhivia has a problem displaying it!) often understanding, etc. etc…KARTHI, DHIVIA and DHAMA… I LOVE YOU!

Looking for lost friends!

I won’t boast of having lots of friends, but can definitely say I have some very good friends! I moved from Kuala Lumpur to Penang, then to Petaling Jaya. In the process I have met, worked with and interacted with many, many people. Most were passing acquaintances but some have been special enough to win a place in the corner of my heart. I keep in touch with most of them.

Who I really miss are my schoolmates. Most will agree that the best part of one’s life is when we were in school. I enjoyed my schooldays tremendously. Especially when I was in Form 4 and 5, I had some of the most wonderful people as my classmates. The lessons I learnt from them were more valuable then what some of my teachers taught!

I miss Annamma Kochumen. She came to my school and into my life in 1975. It must have been her quiet and calm nature that drew me (the noisy and talkative one!) to her. Besides being a good listener, she was very patient with me. She was also a very staunch Christian. Through her I learnt about God’s love, patience, understanding and much more. We kept in touch even when she went off to India to study Medicine, but lost contact after several years. I have been searching for her through the internet. Her name appeared in some organization in Canberra but there was no address or phone number to contact.

Then there is Geraldine Loo, such a cheerful and fun person to be with. We have done some interesting things together, especially going to some hotel (can’t remember which one) to meet Vince Hill, a singer who hosted the program “They Sold a Million” on TV those days. I still remember and cherish my first Christmas celebration (I am a Hindu) when I stayed over at her place and attended Christmas Mass with her family. I think I met up with her once after her marriage and that was the last I saw of her.

Zaleha Salleh, Shikin and another girl came from Johor, calling themselves “The 3 Musketeers”! They were also a bunch of exciting people to be with. I learnt much about Islam from them. They readily accepted my invitation for Deepavali lunch at my house and didn’t doubt if the food prepared was ‘halal’. Our class went on a trip to Port Dickson after our MCE. Here is where I discovered what a lovely voice Zaleha had. Her rendition of ‘The Last Waltz’ was so beautiful; it brought tears to my eyes knowing that we will be going our separate ways after that.

Zahidah Omar was the bubbly and very artistic class monitor. However I think she had problems controlling the loud, noisy and naughty me! So what did she do? She always called upon me to ‘help’ her keep the class quiet – smart eh!!! Roziyah Ismail is another friend I loved very much. We got to know each other well when we spent a lot of our time in the school library as librarians. She was brainy, hard working and always did well in the exams so I used to compete with her.

These are some of the people whom I really want to get in touch with, to see if they still remember me and feel for me the way I feel for them. Whenever I think back about some of the good times that I had (I realize I do this more as I grow older!), they are the ones in the picture. I intend to keep looking for them.

Ceremonies

I try not to miss the news on TV3 at 8 pm every night. There was an item about our PM attending some function in Penang. He was being ushered on stage by a group of girls, all dressed up in traditional cloths and it was quite an elaborate display. That reminded me of an issue that I feel very strongly about - unnecessary government expenditure!

Is it necessary to have all these ceremonies? A lot of time must be spent, getting these girls ready, having rehearsals, and money spent on their costumes and other hidden costs. Is it unfasionable to get straight to the point? Can't we do away with all the pomp and pageantry? Shouldn't we be saving all that time and money for better use? Do other countries have such practices?

That brings me to another issue - most meetings held in government departments are accompanied with meals - breakfast, lunch and/or dinner, depending on time of meeting. These people who attend the meeting are doing their jobs, it is their working time and they are working. Give them a break to have their meals and be back at the meeting table. Why spend money for their meals? Do doctors and nurses have meals provided while they work? I'm not served with a meal while I work as a teacher - I pay for the food if I want to or need to eat!

Providing 'free food' is one thing, all the wasted, uneaten food is another! And to know there are so many people out there without food. I would rather my tax money be spent on them!