An annual note to my sweetheart!

Happy Birthday, My Sweetheart! You are 13 today. Sudah besar anak bapak. Kalau dulu-dulu ni, sibuk le mak bapak nak cari kan jodoh. Tak pe, tak pe. Kita akan usahakan bersama-sama bila tiba masanya nanti like 10 years from now.

Bapak bersyukur kepada Yang Maha Esa akan berkat ini, di atas anugerah ini yang bernama Alia. Tak terungkai dek kata-kata betapa mak dan bapak amat-amat bersyukur kerana dapat anak yang sihat, cantik dan baik hati. Alhamdulillah.

Sempena Hari Lahir ini, seperti biasa Bapak panjatkan doa agar anak Bapak yang manis ini tetap dalam iman, sentiasa bersabar dan bersyukur dalam apa jua yang dihadapi, dan moga panjang umur. Tetap bahagia.

Doa Bapak juga supaya Alia rajin-rajin belajar. Alia, you must strive for perfection in whatever you do. You must not settle for anything less.

Kalau nak berboyfriend, mintak permission dulu. Confirm jawapannya - NO WAY! Kalau ada calon, just let Bapak know, kita masukkan dalam list dulu.

Apapun, thank you for being a wonderful daughter! Here's to many many more years to come! InsyaAllah!

Dan jangan lupa hari ni, mintak ampun serta peluk Mak. Remember that exactly 13 years ago Mak bertarung nyawa melahirkan Alia.

Selamat Hari Lahir, My Sweetheart!

Laki-laki Sejati

Laki-laki sejati bukanlah dilihat dari bahunya yang kekar, tetapi dari kasih sayangnya pada orang disekitarnya...

Laki-laki sejati bukanlah dilihat dari suaranya yang lantang, tetapi dari kelembutannya mengatakan kebenaran...

Laki-laki sejati bukanlah dilihat dari jumlah sahabat di sekitarnya, tetapi dari sikap bersahabatnya pada generasi muda bangsa...

Laki-laki sejati bukanlah dilihat dari bagaimana dia di hormati ditempat bekerja, tetapi bagaimana dia dihormati didalam rumah...

Laki-laki sejati bukanlah dilihat dari kerasnya pukulan, tetapi dari sikap bijaknya memahami persoalan...

Laki-laki sejati bukanlah dilihat dari dadanya yang bidang, tetapi dari hati yang ada dibalik itu...

Laki-laki sejati bukanlah dilihat dari banyaknya wanita yang memuja, tetapi komitmennya terhadap wanita yang dicintainya...

Laki-laki sejati bukanlah dilihat dari jumlah tanggungjawab yang dibebankan, tetapi dari tabahnya dia menghadapi lika-liku kehidupan...

Laki-laki Sejati bukanlah dilihat dari rajinnya membaca kitab suci, tetapi dari konsistennya dia menjalankan apa yang ia baca..

Museum Volunteers Malaysia

Although I enjoy reading historical pieces and watching History Channel, I don’t really fancy going to museums, which as you all know where historical artefacts are housed. I find static display of historical stuff are, well, just plain boring. Big time. I simply don’t have the stomach to do that. Why I even find looking at the crocs in Ikano ever more liberating! Hmm!

I believe for museums to be more appealing, they should make their presentations interactive. You know through technology or at the very least through human tour guides. Like the The Coca-Cola Museum in Atlanta, Georgia. I remembered in one section of the museum there was free-flowing of Cokes and being a true blue Malaysian who thrive on barang percuma I drank Cokes until I was really really sick. Whatever it is, that’s my kind of museum.

Which brings us to Museum Volunteers of Malaysia which since April this year have been conducting guided tours done in English and French at Muzium Negara.

The Museum Volunteers of Malaysia is a non-profit, non-governmental, non-political and non-religious group with the aim to promote public and government awareness of museums while encouraging its appreciation among the visitors.

I have been to Muzium Negara previously and did not particularly enjoy it, but recently the group invited me to tag along for a session. And whaddya know? I liked it. I like the fact there’s someone explaining the significance of various displays. I really don’t know how to describe it but having a guide in a museum tour is much better than walking aimlessly from one display to another. You tend to appreciate it more.

But with the Museum Volunteers of Malaysia, I also feel a bit malu as most of these guides are “expat moms”. The one I met, Marie Christine Tseng is French married to a Taiwanese. And she knows a lot more about history of Malaysia than me. A real alamak!!! moment for me.

Currently, the tours are done at 10 am on Tuesdays and 11am on Thursdays where they take visitors to selected sections of the museum that focuses on discovering and exploring Malaysia.

The free tours start at the front of the main entrance desk, which is the meeting point for those interested. Reservations are needed for groups and school tours while dedicated tours and activities for children and schools will be made available soon.

Marie also told me that they are recruiting more volunteers as to offer the tours during weekends.

The Museum Volunteers of Malaysia is hosted by Muzium Negara, which supports and promotes their projects and activities since their inception.

Interested to be a volunteer, you may contact
Marie Christine Tseng
Tel: 017 230 5199
E-mail: mvmqueries@yahoo.com
Website: http://www.jmm.org.my/

That's Marie (right) explaining things to a group of Vietnamese tourists

I'm no Bill Miller!

My daughters told me the other day that I'm just like Bill Miller, the father character in that American TV sitcom, Still Standing.
While I enjoy the show whenever I managed to watch it, I beg to differ. I am certainly no Bill Miller. I can be more cruel. Ha ha!

The cast of Still Standing

And you call him/her.....?

My daughters call me Bapak. They call Yan, Mak. Simple. Very basic.

Both Yan and I call our fathers and mothers, bapak and mak jugak. When I was younger, I remember that many others - friends and cousins - call their fathers, abah. At one point, my brothers and I pun musykil jugak. Why bapak?

Anyway I just remembered that my Mak Temoh called her father (my Tok Temoh) ayah while almarhum bapak called his father, abah. Macamana boleh jadik bapak ni? And get this, both my parents called their mothers, Encik. Funny, is it not? Well, in the good old days ramai my sedara mara call their mother, Encik. Why? Don't ask me. It's a Perak thing, I guess.

Apapun, there's one time when I was in secondary school and somehow I managed to incur almarhum Bapak's wrath (can't remember why though, must be something about my report card, oh well!). Bapak simply went berserk and boomed at me:

"Kepala bapak kamu!!!!"

And I just stood there trying to restrain myself from bursting out laughing. Gila nak gelak, but I was very kecut then.