Life's Remains....

When I crashed Abang Haris's three month old red Proton Saga about a quarter of a century ago (it is fresh in my memory) I was deemed to be in the wrong. All evidence pointed to me as the guilty party, because: 1) the skid marks indicated that my right side was on the other side of the road, 2) the other driver was an apek tua (well not so tua... maybe 40 plus) 3) I was young (I wasn't 20 yet then). Sergeant Abu Bakar, I remember him well, was the policeman who took my statement. He was wearing a hawaiian shirt, unbuttoned down to his bulging stomach, and I, being scared and intimidated, dare not look straight at him and was instead looking at the few strands of grey hair on his leathery chest. He wasn't really interested in hearing my side of the story.... He just asked for me to accept his "special offer", a reduction in the compound. So I was wrong, and Abang Haris paid for it. Abang Haris, I seek your forgiveness.... But, I tell you the real story now. Mother ...

My boss keeps reminding me and my fellow managers that nothing happens by itself. Somebody must have flicked a switch, pushed a button, literally or metaphorically, for things to get in motion. It's a nice notion that somewhere along the line, there was somebody responsible for something that happened. Of course, it may not be a nice thing, and that somebody who was deemed to have "flicked the switch" or "pushed the button" may not want to take any credit for doing so. But, more often than not, we can't really pin point the start of something. There's always something else that leads to another and we find it's impossible to separate the end of one incident and the start of another. What riles me the most is when somebody takes credit to say, "I saw that coming." That's a load of bull, because nobody ever saw it (whatever the it is) coming. From the a death in the family right to the credit crunch, culminating in the fall of giants like...

I did not bother to set the alarm clock to wake me up at 3:30 am this morning. Last season, I'd make the point to watch Liverpool's every game. "Early days" still, they all say and opposing managers all "refuse to write them off" after beating Liverpool with late goals, I say they are being very polite. At first, I refused to believe that this current appalling form is due to the departure of Xabi Alonso. But, I now have little doubt in my mind that the Reds are missing him.... terribly. This season, LFC is a one man team. No, not two, one. Gerrard hasn't showed up this season. This season, all the teams in the world fear only one man.... Liverpool's Number 9, Fernando Torres. The only one of Rafael Benitez's great acquisition. At 26 million pounds, he's proved to be a bargain. His mere presence on the pitch, forces opposition teams to camp in front of their goal. They are afraid to venture out too far and leave their defenders at the mercy o...

Nothing on this earth is absolute. What may seem good could be bad, what seems bad could be good... maybe not immediately, but sooner or later, we learn that, all that glitters is not gold and not all that glitter is (I confused myself there, too. But, you know what I mean..) Hindsight is 20/20 vision. Some (many) people will say... "I saw that coming", after the thing happened. But, the greatest of human minds cannot possibly see the future. I read a motivational article sent to me via e-mail, which I was supposed to send to twenty other people or something bad will happen to me. It was interesting enough. Actually, I've read it before a long time ago, late 2001 or early 2002, after the fall of the twin towers in New York.... also known as 9/11 attacks. (By the way it's 9/11 only in the USA, everywhere else it would've been 11/9). The e-mail entitled "A Purpose Behind Every Incident" tells the accounts of (supposedly real) people who were inevitably det...

Today (26 October) is my eldest daughter's birthday. 16 years old..... the most confusing age. I'm talking about me as a parent. After work today, I exited the NKVE at Subang Jaya to go to my favourite haunt, Subang Parade. I kind of like it there since it's not too crowded like Sunway Pyramid, and there's MPH and Rock Corner, my two favourite stores and there McD and Pizza Hut and Nando's and Secret Recipe and Sushi King and even KFC. Anyway, I thought of getting my daughter a soft fuzzy toy, but Nur is really known for the soft fuzzy type. Besides, we already have two big teddy bears and one turtle soft toy which are pretty much abandoned. She like those Jonas Brothers.... not all of them, just one of them, t he cute one... I don't know, it's Nick or Joe or Jacob or Jeremiah or something. So I thought maybe just get her a CD. The poster at the entrance of the CD shop looks new... but when I asked the shop assistant, she said the album was at least half a y...

Reds 20 Year Wait Ends!! I am sleepy... I got up at 3 am this morning to watch Liverpool vs Lyon, knowing very well that my favorite English Premier Club can easily lose. This is a tough season for Liverpool FC. Already we've lost 4 in 9 games. Last season, Liverpool only lost twice, but drawn 11 games, and ended up 2nd to Manchester United. This Sunday, at 9:30 pm Malaysian time, I will be glued to the TV to watch Liverpool take on the league leaders Manchester United. My son, who is not a football fan, asked why I keep supporting Liverpool and keep getting frustrated. Support other teams, my son recommended. Maybe he's right.....Arsenal is not faring too badly, and I am an admirer of Arsene Wenger. Last season, when Liverpool were going through their slump (as every team in the league will experience at various stages of the Premier League season), drawing games they should've won comfortably, I actually, supported Man U for a while, because I (as I told my Man U suppo...

Today, I went to the market, by myself.... alone... without my dear wife. As she is incapacitated, and the food supplies were running low, it was up to me to ensure the survival of our family. I've done it before, I think, a long time ago, just after the birth of my youngest child, while my wife was in confinement... but, that was almost 10 years ago. 07:30 hours, after the debriefing by my wife, equipped with a list of things to buy, I embarked on a journey of uncertainty..... I was unsure what ikan senangin (threadfins) looks like. The night before, I googled an image of the fish, tried to commit the picture to memory. 07:48 hours. Arrived at destination. As usual there wasn't an empty parking space in sight around the Subang Jaya SS15 wet market. I stopped the car and wait for somebody to vacate a space. There were a few, but they were on the other side of the road and were quickly filled by others who were also lying in wait. 08:02 hours. went once around the block and...