Moral Education (anyone?)

you'd take things for granted as you grow (older) UNTIL some incidents hit you hard and bring you to some contemplations and revelations.

i've been in the US for more than 5 years. i have observed enough to share what i wanna say now.

to most malaysians, our education system might seem not so perfect in bringing us up as the model human being. yes, one can always argue his/her way on this subject. as a non-malay malaysian myself, to have moral education as one of my 'required' subjects to study seems like any other subjects--to educate me as a whole (good) person...especially living in a multiracial country....ummm...how to behave appropriately, morally. ;-)

for those who doesn't understand our education system. moral education is part of the main subjects to study since 1st grade-11th grade (it's in the standardized nationwide examination!). and what do we study?

The moral education curriculum is designed around ten values:

physical and mental cleanliness,
- cleansing is a must. not just because we're near the equator where the weather is always hot and humid :-P

consideration,
- consider others' need and feelings. be compassionate and put oneself in others' shoes

moderation,
- do not boast. do not take advantage of the weaker ones. i have one in chinese saying, 'if u aint got a big head, do not wear a big hat'. lol

diligence,
- 1% talent + 99% hard work = key to success

thankfulness,
- always be grateful of what we have dear to ourselves. it brings people together--being thankful/grateful, humble :-)

trustworthiness,
- how much time and effort one must invest to gain trust of others? action always speaks louder than words...

fairness,
- injustice brings anger and frustration to others

affection/love,
- there are subcategories to this: parental love, siblings love, friends love, neighborly/community love, lover's love, nation's love. wow...how we MUST have distinctive lines and actions correspondingly!

respect,
- also, subcategories: respect the elders(!), respect the teachers(!), respect others...

and society.
- gather all the above values and put them in the society--peace and harmony ;-)

we were given alot of case scenarios which test our moral ability to seek out the most rightful way to response according to the given situations. oh boy...how we use to laugh at our righteous and silly answers--what's right to do and hell do we do that in real? nooooo... maybe... ;-P

but at least the whole nation are somewhat educated morally. lol

now this made me think that perhaps USA could learn a little from a little multiracial 3rd world country. i have seen many people having difficulties 'behaving'. i'm not gonna pinpoint anyone right now, but i would say that it's alot healthier for the entire nation to at least learn these fundamental values to become a better person for peace, harmony and the betterment of the society.

ALL ABOUT WORKING FOR WORLD PEACE in our little humble ways ;-)

the past 3 days

Part 1:

so my right eye has been twitching for the past 3 days.

according to the old housewives tales, twitch on the right eye means disaster/bad thing is around the corner or is happening right a the moment AND twitch on the left eye means fortune/prosperity...

the first thing that popped into my mind was my mum. :-O OMG is she alright??? we do have some kinda telepathy thing going on.

the second thing that popped into my mind was about myself. am i gonna get hurt in some/various way(s)? i do feel kinda vulnerable right now.

so, mum called me like 3 hours ago. she's doing alright. phew... then what the heck with the twitches? it's certainly not about the lack of sleep coz i've been having 6-8 hours of sleep these days!

man...i feel like walking on thin ice.

Part 2:

like the chinese saying, 'yat yau so si, ye yau so mung'. JS appeared in my dream 3 nights in a row.

1st night, she texted me 'get some nigori' on my way to her place. wow...i'm kinda craving for some nigori sake, but then i'm on budget. and she wanted to get the expensive sake?! lol.

2nd night, i went out for an adventure with 2 of my friends (whom i can't remember now). we went kayaking in a really cool 'boat/kayak' with extendable 'wings'. like a roller coaster ride on the water. we arrived at a lil village. at the souvenior shop, i found some kafir lime leaves, and kafir limes with leaves. kinda expensive, but i thought of her...how she loves lime...and probably her corona will taste much better in those. AND kafir leaves are kinda hard to get here ;-P i bought the limes with leaves. lol. when i gave her the gift, she squeeze those limes in caesar salad... lol.

3rd night, i was sitting on her lap facing her. yes, fully clothed. the look, the long, the passionate making out. wow! AND my dad happened to be there and he saw. wtf? then fast forward to the 68. ummm... :-P

gee...it's like i'm dating her in my sleep, don't u think? urgh...what about the reality now? huh

Sweet September

it's like stepping into fairyland...

like those in Enid Blyton books

quaint and quiet lil historic town

faint distant sound of the train

fairy tales seem real

expect lil pixies

cute lil angels in wings

a drive into nowhere to somewhere

an invitation

a quest to seek

a mutual connection

if chemistry work then will there be a need for catalyst

the catalyst that brings some similarities together

the resonating feel between us

deep into the blueness of your eyes

beyond those glasses

a pick on the brain

communication

the hint of smartness, talents, longing and mischief

like those spices of life

to spice up one's life

the 5 elements

water fire wind/air earth and wood

the simplicity of life

you breathe

how comforting

how empowering

how invigorating

how refreshing

a revelation i found

meeting and knowing you

the moments we shared

one of my best experiences...

*now reread it from the bottom

dah lah tu...

my malay is slipping off of me bits by bits... damnit, this is that one gets being a lil 'derhaka' to the birth land.

macam mana lah i nak curamkan isi hati dan emosi i ni...

*burps* (too much light beers)

kan kerja tak berapa mempromisi' kan? ;-P boss tu menanyakan kayaulah i boleh kerja dinner kat pasadena. pasadena branch tu hampir 40 minit drive dari tempat tinggal... isssshhh...dah lah dia cakap 'don'tcha need the extra money?... bla bla bla' i pun tabik lah. the bosses are looking out for me after all.

dah lah tu. i pun hadirkan diri ke restaurant tu. menonton game ravens. betapa menariknya lah kan?! iissshhh...but without me putting any $ in the game, it's jz...not as exciting lah ;-P

apelah...customers tu bukan lah banyak.. tapi kena lah mempromosi sikit. iissshhhh macam lah pelacur... bla bla bla... slow but enjoyable night. tu memang i punya 1st night kerja jadi pelayan ;-P

dari restaurant i 'pecut' ke kelab hippo (malam untuk wanita lah...)...

i nak potongkan scenes yang tak usah lah kan... tarian tu je memang tarian lah. i pun takde 'cakap' dengan si dia... ataupun 'bermesra'...

yang aku fikirkan tetaplah si dia...

le lesbians wedding

after getting lost following the retarded GPS, i relied on the mama's direction to the reception ballroom. you wouldn't know how frustrated i was. damn GPS! damn chinese man's GPS! unreliable... urgh

say what would u go being seated with your ex (and her bf) at the same table. uh huh... even her mum called me to 'check'. hahaha... hush hush!

with too much kenny G's music throughout the 'waiting' for the brides...plus alcohol and some appetizers, i was trying to keep myself amused and awake. thank goodness for cherie and carla to keep the laughter and conversation going.

we couldn't help laughing when shannon showed up in her red vest, red tie, white shirt and black pants. a man walked up to her and asked about food... BWAHAHAHAHAHA! she really looked like the maitre de! and there we went...talking loudly, requesting her attention about the food we have. "yo, i have a problem with the chicken. overseasoned lah!"

at 9pm...we thought that's it. cherie came back and reported that it's gonna last til 11.30pm. what?! apparently there's a cake cutting and bouquet throwing. hhmmmmm nice...

finally the DJ played some dance music, starting with 'i gotta feeling'. wow, i was really dragging everyone out to dance. hahaha! bla bla bla...dance dance dance...

here comes the bouquet throwing. apparently only the single ladies are allowed but i don't know why was cherie doing getting ready to fight for the bouquet. anyway, emily threw them my direction. aiya! i got it. whoooopppssss... hey, i got the bouquet sue mooi threw too, back in 2004. i wasn't the one getting married after that... heck, i'm still so single and available. it's a bad luck. i'd say the gal getting the bouquet would b the last one getting married out of the bunch...

not that i don't wanna get married. but but...no one really wants me that bad... i'm just saying lah.

next came the 'groom' throwing a lil scrunchy. uhhh...what?! so, yaz caught it (i wasn't allowed to catch it coz i already got the bouquet... huh). since she's the mama, she refused to do the 'act'. omg...i had to sit down in front of everyone and the 'man' has to perform the wrap the scrunchy around my ankle and roll it up my thigh. whoa! if i had known better, i'd have ducked at the bouquet throwing! gee... cherie did the favor. phew! or else it'd b wrong...mama and daughter doing that thing. hahahaha

well, that's it for the night. i managed to drag the ex out for 'our' song "i kissed a gal". she was like...omg, i'm gonna get yelled at for doing this. pssshhhh! who cares?! u r in a lesbians wedding. be gay a lil!

really. that's it. no extravagant 10 course chinese dinner. jz some lasagna, meat balls, cheese, cracker, bread, oversalted marsala chicken, carrots and stringbeans cooked in butter, steamed red potatoes with parsley(?), roast beef and some crab dip (i could see lotsa mayonaise...eeeek!).

may the brides live happily ever after.

the end.

black and white

the night is silent with the sound of cars on the highway

nursing my 2nd miller lite

staring at the black and white keys of the piano by the bed

chuckles

reminiscing on the old days

how much has these keys taught me the way of life

how hard have i banged on them to let my emotions out

how gentle i've touched them as if caressing someone dear to my heart

con moto

pianissimo

piu mosso

sforzando

animato

espressivo

dolce

giocoso

non tanto

sempre passionato

rubato

forte piano

con brio

tranquillo

satisfaction aside

these black and white keys taught me true love.