Typically Malaysians

Malaysians are known to put off things they can do today to tomorrow, or the day after, or never at all.

Every year, never fail, you will see long queue in the Income Tax Department (Inland Revenue Services in other countries) on the very last day.

With the advent of e-filing, meaning declaring the income via internet, the queue is slightly lesser but still is there, especially today, because their server is unable to cope with the sudden surge of demand for processes.

It is very silly of the Income Tax Department. I mean, they know their server can not cope. They know Malaysians won't do their income tax declaration unless it is dateline. Why don't they vary the dateline to within the same month? Ie, 7th, 14th, 21st and 30th of April. That way, their server will not be overwhelmed (which incidentally, shouldn't be overwhelmed either, basing on present technology, if Google and Facebook can handle billions of transaction simultaneously, no reason the Income Tax Department can't do it for 5 - 6 millions user)

I was one of the victim too. I had everything online but I didn't key in the dividends for the year. So, assuming that I will have time on Sunday, I planned to do it on Sunday. Well, the rest they say, is history. You can predict what will happen to you. I injured my back, can't sit straight and totally in no mood to look at those paperworks. I only managed to do it all today and you guessed it, the server was overwhelmed and I have no choice but to drive all the way to the Income Tax Dept office to access from there. I took me all of 15 minutes to finish both mine and my wife's declaration but it took me about 1 1/2 hours to and fro.

Next year, I will do everything by March!

To top it off, I had a very near miss on the way back. Thank God I managed to brake on time. There were massive jams in the town, I don't know why. See how the nature of things work, whenever there are people rushing to do last minute things, there will be massive jams that has nothing whatsoever to do with it. I noticed it because most of the cars were heading out elsewhere, not to the building where the income tax dept were located.

But the silver lining is, it is fun to see those people anxiously doing their things. Some people were staring at the monitor screen for so long that I thought they were meditating. Come on, you only have to put in the figures, fill in the blanks and off you go. Why waste other people's time waiting for their turn? I really can't phantom why some people are so scared of computers, especially when there is something official to be done with it. Urgghhh!!!

Visit To Traditional Chinese Bone Specialist

I was not sure whether to consult the traditional specialist or not. The Orient in me says that they have thousands of years of history whereas the Occidental in me says not to take the risk.

In the end, I went.

It was like a torture chamber!

I screamed and yelled without shame!!! :(

But the end results justify the pain that I have to go through. He told me that it would probably take me a day or two to get my realignment back properly. As it is, I am already feeling much much better. But I wouldn't want to go through it again. Let's see how it is tomorrow. I was cautioned against any heavy duty things for the next couple of days though. There goes my gym days....And here comes bulging tummy.....huhuhu...

A Better Day Today

I am slightly better. I can stand straighter. But still, every now and then, there is some painful pulses. I must have strained or pulled a muscle.

Nicky, my good neighbour advised me not to go for massage, might make it worse, he suggested a therapist instead. I am considering it now. Vincent suggested his chiropactor expert but the place is too far. I don't think I want to sit in a car with this condition for hours. I might ended up with a stiffer back than before I go. Unless, if there is not other alternative, that is.

I am taking it as easy as possible. I try not to put undue pressure on it but unless I lie on bed, practically there is always pressure on it.

I hope that by this evening, the pain will be gone and I am back to normal, at least, partially normal. I really need to get back on my workout which I have stopped for a few days and I am getting flabby. And I have been eating when I have nothing else to occupy my mind (beside the pain) and exercising does take my mind off food.

Laze And Be Prepared For The Consequences

I had postponed my normal, not so stressfull work-out for the past week. And for that same period of time, I have been eating a lot.

Consequences?

I gained about 3 kgs and the unsightly, unwanted, unwelcomed bulging tummy is showing sign of come a visiting again!! To make matter worse, my back is still stiff and I am not able to do anything heavy whatsoever, lest I aggravate the injury.

Life is always choices and consequences, no? Action and reaction? It is pretty frustrating, it is so hard to get a toned body, it is easier to lose weight than to get a build body. Hope I am okay tomorrow, able to prance about and go about doing my work and some workout.

Back Pain, Again

I hurted my back while unloading a tank of gas from my car. My back has been giving me problem quite often and it is very inconvenient. I can't sit too long, it gets stiff and sensitive. I can't stand too long. I can't do this, I can't do that, that is plain stupid and irritating.

Fortunately, I am able to work from home and that most of the jobs has been delegated out that I can just take my rests. I do hope this pain will go away soon.

Excuses!!!

I read with much disdain the news above.

Ask any Malaysians and notice too how services will improve only when someone with power get down to it, that is how bad the civil delivery in Malaysia is presently.

Quote some of the paragraph,

"Meanwhile, HKL director Datuk Dr Zaininah Mohd Zain said the hospital would be the first to take action should there be any element of irresponsibility.

She said HKL’s investigation showed that there were only eight patients and 20 relatives waiting for treatment and that none of the patients were in pain as stated by Saravanan."

There were ONLY eight patients? - meaning that they can afford to be treated (or not treated) as the doctor's pleasure?

That non of the patients were in pain - meaning, those people visits the hospital for fun? Is she dumb or what? Who in their right mind would go through the hassle of going to the HKL, where there is so much inconveniences to get to in the first place if they are not in any kind of pain? They would have gone to any clinics for that? Do we really have some idiots in charge of our civil delivery systems?

If only those people will come down from their high up chairs and take a look at the ground, they wouldn't have given such brainless answers. A walkabout by those in powers, be it the Director General, the MPs, the Ministers will always keep the working people on their toes, especially if a visit is a surprised visit, unscheduled one. As we all know, all scheduled visit will be greeted will all the beautiful pictures. Come on, more surprise visit to see the true picture.

X-Men Origin - Wolverine

The movie is supposed to be out on May 1st??

Go watch it.

Narcissist

Well, after the initial joy of cam-whoring, I did take a few other pictures and some of it turns out ok, I guess.







One thing for sure though, you really don't know how it would turn out like because you have no idea where you are vis a vis the camera lense. Still, it is fun and expect to be bored with a few more photos at later stage, as and when I do take them again....

It is interesting too in the sense that, despite everyone's comments that I am underweight, when I looked in the photos, I don't feel to be underweight, in fact, I even felt there are rooms to lose a few more pounds, here and there. We shall see...

Current Craze

Alrighty, sorry for the hiatus. As if there is any follower to this blog, hahaha.

Anyway, my current craze, sort of is to download and follow "Britain's Got Talent Season 3" and "Make Me A Supermodel Season 2".

I have liked Britain's Got Talent ever since I came across it accidentally, when everyone was talking about Connie Talbot and then, Paul Potts. This season's seemed to unearth many rare talents and really talented ones at that. Competition seemed stiff and if ever I were to vote, I would not know who to vote for, and it is only Episode 2!

And then there is Make Me A Supermodel where some of the best looking people compete to get a contract with a New York Modelling Agency and be on the cover of Cosmopolitan, I think. There is not so much drama as in the joy in watching the transformation, some of them looked gorgeous with or without make up and some looked plain without but more than gorgeous with. Go figure...hmmm. I guess, sometime, grooming does help a lot, no wonder some of my friends (one in particular) are practically swamped with cosmetics...

Both shows are not shown in Malaysian TV so, I can only look for it in the internet and/or watch it over YouTube where, the connnection is so bad that I am about to be turned into a Saint for the patience I granted while waiting for it to load.

At The Junction Of Life

Everyone will face their moment's of hesitating at life's certain junction. It could be the plunge from working life to self employment. It could be taking a commitment in relationship. It could be anything.


Some people have their life planned out, way way ahead. Everything will go and have to go as per their plan. Nothing less will do. Some people don't have any plans at all. They just go along for the ride, so to speak. Most of us though, will plan probably a few days in advance, making decisions as far as we can see, with some guiding light at the back of our mine. As long as the focus or goal is there, it doesn't really matter how it was achieved. Like the sayings, in the end, the end justify the means.

My Jeans Collection

Following up to the cam-whoring session, the idea (from Jamie) is to "show-case" another collection, ehem, which, brings me to my jeans.

Most people make do with one or two pair of jeans. I have a few. Some with story, some with history.

Take this for example. This is my GA Blue. When I first bought this, it was just nice fit. And then, time goes on, and it became a tight fit. When I wear it, nothing much was left to imagination, hahaha. I remember wearing this jeans in Seam Reap in Cambodia and we were going to some place deep in the outskirt. I can barely breathe, what with the bumpy road and "tight pant" and to make matter worst, that was the day I got "infected" with some germs and got food poisoning symptoms, that I was not able to talk the whole 2 hours drive and was pale. And I threw up BIG TIME once we reached the destination, only then I was able to talk and/or smile a bit. What a relieved.

Now, it is a bit loose, as can be seen from the pics.

This is one of my favourite, a no brand name jeans I got from Bangkok, Thailand, on my second trip there, that would probably be 5 years back. It is one of the most comfortable jeans as it has what we called "stretchable" material as one of the components weaved into it. This jeans practically followed me everywhere, until recently that is, when it, again, became a bit loose...

This is one of my Levi's. Can't remember when or where I bought it. I rarely wears it because it is quite hard, probably not seasoned enough (chicken and egg, right? - I mean, how can it be seasoned if I don't wear it?)

This my my FIRST real jeans, branded one at that. This is a Versace which I bought from an outlet in Jakarta, on my first trip there, which was like in either '99 or 2000. So, this jeans is practically 10 years old!! It was marked down 90% as the store was closing and I just have to buy it because it was a bargain. At 90%, what is there to complain??

This is my Northern Rock jeans. I got it from Factory Outlet early this year, prior to Chinese New Year. The reason? Because all of my jeans are oversized now. So, I just go to the cheapest shop that I know with passable products and bought one jeans to wear. As it turns out, this jeans is very comfortable and looked good too, for RM 15.00 (USD 4.50), this must be one of the cheapest jeans in the world.

My latest addition, also bought this year. In where? Pratunam area in Bangkok, Thailand, on my last trip. I have sort of like fascination with this type of jeans and I wasn't sure I dare to wear it? But as it turns out, it looked nicer on than off....And it is one of my favourite too.

This is also one of my more rugged jeans. It attracts quite a few praises (and criticsm as well - but what the heck, to each his own, right?) Quite a number of people really liked this jeans and asked me where to get it. Sorry, I think it probably is one of it's kind and I got it in one of the small shop in Shenzhen, China, two years back. Even when I bought this jeans, I was not able to fit into it but it was too unique to pass up. So, I just bought it with the plan to reduce some weight to wear it. Trust me, at that stage, it was not one of the more comfortable jeans, as it was pretty low cut and being tight means you risk it falling off if you bend down too much, hahaha. But, now, it is the reverse, it is TOO big. I still wears it every now and then, with belts and some branded "intimate wear" just so that IF I got accidentally exposed, at least, it will be a decent and presentable exposure, hahahaha. The good thing is, since it being a low cut, and my hip (ehem) didn't decrease in size by too much, I am still able to wear it without it falling off totally.

This is my first Levi's 501, with button fly, my one and only. I was not too sure about button fly because I worried that in times of emergency, I can't open them fast enough, if you get what I mean. Strangely, what my friend told me is very true, button fly can be opened faster than zipper!! And, this Levi's was bought in one of the morning market in Amsterdam for I think EURO 10.00. My initial thought was it was cheap and the fact that I was in need of another pair of pants as my stay in Europe was extended by another week and that I ran out of CLEAN pants, as I had travelled light at that time. I was thinking too that it would be a good buy since Levi's 501 button fly jeans is like a collector's item.

This is another Levi's that I bought in one shop in Guangzhou, China. Noticed that I have a soft spot for rugged jeans? I bought this before I went to Shenzhen. This jeans is slightly more understated in it's ruggedness, right? But as any Levi's, this jeans is very comfortable.

Now, the grand finale. This has to take the spot as THE favourite jeans, as you can see from here. The irony of it is, this jeans is a no brand one, which were bought because I liked the cutting. And when I bought this jeans, it was THE BIGGEST size available and trust me, I can barely zip the zipper up when I tested it. I have to really suck in my breath to wear this jeans. But boy, does this jeans looked good!!! It was worth all the discomfort (vanity over sanity?) because it really is a very beautifully sewn jeans. But now, this jeans fits loosely.....as can be seen, I have to put a belt on to hold it in place.

Wow, who would have guessed that jeans would have such stories and histories and I ended up writing one of my longest posts yet!! Sorry to be such a bore but do indulge me in my moment of vanity, hahaha. Thank you thank you thank you. (Finishing the catwalk now)

Short Post

I just bought for myself some t-shirts and one long sleeved tees too. I have like, umm, a wardrobe full of those....but I just couldn't resist it, just like how some people are not able to resist a certain cosmetics.

Anyway, had a long day today and only now that I have time to sit down and write a few words. Probably, after a game or two of poker, I would go to sleep.

Susan Boyle

There was this small news about how a woman's performance in Britain's Got Talent stirred up the YouTube community. It is burning up the Internet with over 21 million hits thus far and is one of the highest hits EVER and I would say, deservedly so.

Following the buzz, I hit the search in YouTube and I was not dissappointed. Snickering and bitching people take note, looks can be deceiving, very very deceiving indeed. If there was any humble pie around the theater that day, most of the audience will have to eat it there and then!

Now, I am so looking forward to her next performance. She has such a beautiful voice that you couldn't help but to root for her, despite her appearance and age that is going against her.

Compared to previous years' competitors, some of whom brought tears to my eyes with the beautiful singing, Susan does not elicit tears with her singing but there is something about her and her singing that makes you wants to listen more. My deduction that is, probably not shared by most people.

Somehow, most of the YouTube embedding has been disabled for her performance, so, I can only provide one of the link. Do check it out, it created a buzz not without a reason.

Don't Wallow In Self Pity

My good blogger friend, Roti Kacang Merah felt under the weather recently. I commented that life is such, don't let depression get to us.

At times, people tend to forget that life does not centre around the other person totally, you still have your own life to lead. When you go all out to change and/or accommodate the other person, in the end, you will feel short-changed. But the valuation differs from person to person. Your 100% might be construed as only half hearted effort by the other party. Always remember, men are from Mars and women from Venus, thus, they tend to think differently at different level with different perspective and with different conclusions.

Take heart that tomorrow will always be brighter and whenever you feel down, remember you still have tomorrow to make things better. And tomorrow always come (unless it's Armegeddon already). Don't keep everything to heart and wallow in self pity, it does no one any good. In fact, keeping it too long will cause rot to take root and it will send out bad vibes, causing further distress. Life is complicated as it is, don't make it any more.

Passengers Caption Contest

"Oh my love, my darling, I hunger, for your touch"

Eh!! Wrong channel lah!!

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

1) Answer this question:
What's the name of U2's twelfth studio album? It is b) No Line on the Horizon

2) Post up this pic:



3) Write something - anything! - about U2.

Huh? I just realised that the U2 album that made an impression on me (and many others, I would say) was released in 1987!! That is like, 22 years ago!!! OMG!!

I remember those were the season, when U2 was THE BAND to listen to, The Joshua Tree were the album to own. Everywhere, you would hear nothing but "And I still haven't found, what I'm looking for" over and over and over again. Together with "With or Without You" bla bla bla....

And to think that after 22 years, this album comes out, with the title No Line On The Horizon, pretty much sounding like they still haven't found what they are looking for? Though, I would say, you would never go wrong with listening to U2.

I mean, they have nice tunes, melodic, dark at times (in my opinion) and sample this (excerpts from the song, the title which I used for the title of this post),

""
I have climbed highest mountains
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
""

Use this words on the gal of your dream, chances are, you will have her attention if not her love immediately, hahaha. Coupled with U2's songs in the background, you would soon be wanting to NOT wake up from your dream, only that it is NOT a dream...how sweet..

Okay, enough fantasizing, if I don't get the freebies from the good folks at AMBP, I might need to fork up approximately RM 45.00 to own another U2's album. I hope they still sounds as good as they do 22 years ago, hopefully, even better, you know, like wine, which taste better with age? Heard of vintage?

The Best Is Yet To Come

I was reading the entry from Tony Pua's page and in it, was directed to another politician's page. Below is the entry that attracted me there.

You know, it is true that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. I don't say that because I am being indoctrinated by opposition parties but anyone with eyes would be able to see that people who are in power for too long a period tend to lose their balance and have their heads in the clouds, meaning, they can't see below, they can't be bothered and they trample whatever is in their way. Whenever they are high up, they forgets who put them there and for what purposes. In other words, they lose their "God" or sense of direction. It is a pity because in the end, the people will have to pay for other's folly.

Anyway, read on and pray that there will be more reluctant politicians joining the political landscape, effect some changes before they move on, leaving behind a better community, a better country and a better check and balance system for the benefits of everyone.

The best is yet to come (Hannah Yeo)

So many people have been telling me just how frustrated they are with the current political situation in our country. Some have told me that they regretted voting for change because of the political instability now and would prefer returning to their old style of voting - vote for stability and forget about having a stronger opposition and greater check and balance. I shudder at the thought of this! One needs to remember the reason why we are seeing such great resistance for change is simply because there is much to lose for those who have been in power for so long. For decades there have been so much abuses of power, unchecked misuse of public funds and plain dirty corruption. With a stronger opposition now, they stand to lose their illegal sources of income and some may even be charged and sent to prison if they are found guilty. With this in mind, they will fight at all costs to reclaim back power and to ensure they can continue to steal public funds from the people for their own enrichment. We are not just dealing with differences in politics; we are combating evil forces who will not rest till they secure back their powers and illegal sources of income.

Sometimes I feel equally frustrated and disillusioned about the political situation too. Sometimes I lay awake thinking of how to effect change in this land. Some days I cry while driving in between meetings thinking of what's left for the future generation in this land if we give up now. I have endured much verbal attack from political enemies, accusation after accusation of me not doing anything for my constituents and etc. No one truly understands the resistance we face daily in discharging our duties except for my fellow PR assemblymen. Robert Kennedy once said ‘Progress is a nice word. But change is its motivator and change has its enemies.’ Our enemies are resisting change but we must stand firm and continue to push for a competent, accountable and transparent government. At the end of each day, as I lay myself to sleep, I ask God for strength, wisdom and protection to face the next. I look forward to the end of the term when I can tell the people of Subang Jaya that I have remained clean and have not stolen any of the taxpayers' funds. As reminded by Raja Petra in his blog "Please continue your struggle to make Malaysia a better place for our future generation. This country belongs to them and it is for them that we struggle." All hope is not lost. Come the next election, vote out the corrupt once and for all. Hang in there supporters and friends, the best is yet to come!

New Obsession

As per earlier post, I have just discovered the joy of cam-whoring with tripod. I have a mild OCD and once I am hooked on something, I would spend a lot of time on it, Tinkering, Toying, Trying and Testing to the max. That is Thomas for you!! Even the blogging was once a daily affair, until the novelty wears off, that is.

Same goes for my obsession with :-

a) blogging - but it is slowing now.

b) eating very sparingly - resulting in huge weight loss, one result that I am quite pleased with anyway. The photos are the testimony, nyek nyek nyek.

c) gardening, or more specifically, planting fruit trees - as of now, I have like 15 species of fruiting trees in my garden now!! not counting the green vegetables, herbs and whatnots. and I am thinking of adding a few more species of trees, the problem is, there is no more space!! hahaha

d) owning longs - I like clothes and at the same time that I like jeans, I have very very special soft spot for longs. that is long sleeve t-shirts. and I am still buying them, as and when I see ones that I liked.

e) on-line poker for the past few weeks - which resulted in getting some eyebags for lack of sleep (lipo beckoning??)

and now,

f) cam-whoring!! Gosh, it is no fun to have OCD, no matter how mild, hahaha. It would be like, eat, sleep, dream of the current obsession until it become, like, normal, no more fun.

So, now the current fad is self-potrait, more "vulgarily" known as cam-whoring and only now I realised why some bloggers are so fond of taking their own pics. It will pass, I know but what the heck, I might as well enjoy posing while I am at it. Like what I promised Jamie, Thomas Mok Jeans Collection is coming!! hahaha....

Cam Whoring???

Ok, ok, ok, I am human after all.

I mean, everybody is vain, to a certain extent, some more than others (some many many more). So, I am no Saint. So?

I just realised that my lousy digital camera can be fixed on a tripod, which I have owned for like, centuries!!! The tripod was in storage and just got dusted two days ago. So, opportunity knocks for me to do some cam-whoring.

For vanity sake, I just pretended to be some sort of model (ehem...) - I know, I know, I am NOWHERE near a model but hey, a guy is entitled to a little dream, don't they? After all, if I don't keep some youngish photos of myself, with various poses, I would soon be taking photos of my wrinklish self!!!

The result, if I may say so, is passable. Using a no brand digital point and shoot camera, what would I expect, work of art? I would have to engage the services of professionals like Ewin if I want to be artsy and sorts.

So, here are some of the results. Ok, ok, ok, laugh all you want but spare me the scathing remarks okay!! Only pleasing words welcomed, to stroke some bruised ego lah.

Posting In The Dark

Here I am, at 1.42 a.m, typing in the dark, the rest of my family members are all asleep, dreaming away sweetly.

For the past few days, had been having trouble sleeping. My eyes are tired, very very tired but my body just simply refused to sleep. I even watered my garden just now, which was about an hour ago!! The neighbours must thinking that there is a crazy man around, hahaha. Oh, I don't have neighbour yet to my right side and left side, only the back and they were fast asleep too, I suppose.

I just booked a flight to Ho Chi Minh City on Air Asia today. I should have booked it yesterday. The price difference was about RM 140.00. Fortunately, the return ticket is still at promotion rate. Imagine spending about RM 250.00 RETURN to Ho Chi Minh City from Kuala Lumpur, despite my scepticism of Air Asia, it is just too cheap not to just fly off and savour in other country's culture, which, incidentally is one of my favourite past time.

At that kind of price, I will strive not to complain about anything (which I know, I won't be able to NOT complain) I just hope that I will find something interesting in HCM City, I have never been there.

After that, I would probably be booking to Bangkok again, seeing now that there is no fuel surcharge on flights, it is much cheaper to travel on budget. Next on my plan is Clark, Phillippines and Vientianne, Laos. These are the only Asean countries which I have not stepped foot on, yet. And another place that I would really go is Chiang Mai, in Thailand. It is supposed to be a nice mountain city with agri tourism their mainstay of economy.

After that, probably, I will start travelling a bit further, Yangon may be. All these places are being served by the budget airlines and if it costs me less than RM 500.00 RETURN, I will definitely pack and go, I don't even mind back packing, hahaha.

The Worst Kind Of Sin?

The Kite Runner is full of gems of wisdom. I suddenly remembered one of the comment by one of the character. He said something like this, "There is only one kind of sin in this world, the sin of thievery (or theft - I can't remember the exact word).

He then goes on to explain to the main character of the movie :- When you kill, you steal a life out of somebody. When you lied, you steal the truth out of somebody, denying them the opportunity to judge for themselves.

I admire the mind that comes up with this reasoning. It sounds logical and simple enough. Sort of like the root of all evil, hahaha.

If we looked around us, we will realise that this really applies to our daily life. It makes decision simpler, lives life easier and less claustrophobic, as what life should be. So, strive to NOT "steal" and we are much happier....

2 Choices

This is just too beautiful to pass up. I know, we get loads of junk mail but once in a while, a good ones come along and makes you more human.

As for me, I am not very sure that I would be as great as those boys, I know I have been running a rat race ever since I left the innocence of school and it is with much self consoling and restraint that I try to run a bit slower, just so that I can keep some form of humanity, memories and smelling the roses along the route before I reach the end of the line. I don't want to reach the finishing line asking myself, so what now?

Read the following and I know reading it, the choices would be obvious, but if you are there yourself, I doubt, if it is up to the adults, the choices would be the same.

================================================================================
Two Choices:

What would you do?....you make the choice. Don't look for a punch line, there isn't one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the same choice?

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question:

'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection.

Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do.
He cannot understand things as other children do.

Where is the natural order of things in my son?'
The audience was stilled by the query.

The father continued.
'I believe that when a child like Shay,who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.'

Then he told the following story:

Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps..

I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.'

Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three.

In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again.

Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.

At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?

Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact.

The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.

The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay.

As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher. The game would now be over.

The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.

Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to first! Run to first!'

Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.

Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!'

Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base.

By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball. the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team.

He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head.

Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.

All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'

Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third! Shay, run to third!'

As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!'

Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team 'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world'.

Shay didn't make it to another summer.

He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

AND NOW A LITTLE FOOT NOTE TO THIS STORY:

We all send thousands of jokes through the e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending messages about life choices, people hesitate.

The crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion about decency is too often suppressed in our schools and workplaces.

If you're thinking about forwarding this message, chances are that you're probably sorting out the people in your address book who aren't the 'appropriate' ones to receive this type of message Well, the person who sent you this believes that we all can make a difference.

We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help realize the 'natural order of things.'

So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice:

Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process?

A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it's least fortunate amongst them.

You now have two choices:
1. Delete
2. Forward

May your day, be a Shay Day.

The Dawn Of Another Era

Today marked the transition of power for the Malaysia top most government job, that is of the Prime Minister. The top job of the COUNTRY of course belonged to HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS, THE YANG DIPERTUAN AGUNG, who is also the ruler of individual states in the Federation before being ELECTED to sit at the throne to "rule" Malaysia for 5 years.

To think that even blue blooded royalties have to go through the process of election amongst peers before being crowned THE King of Kings.

Anyway, despite all attempt by the opposition to protest the handing of power from the past Prime Minister to the present one, all was in vain and we have now, a brand new, newly minted Prime Minister, the sixth for our nation of 26 millions odd and 50 odd years old.

I don't know whether our new Prime Minister will be a good one or worse but I can only pray that after assuming power of the land, a certain responsibility will stirred inside and lead the people to a better life, meaningful and richer life, as is deserved by all Malaysians and no more wastage and squandering away the nation's riches for we wants our descendants to be well fend for too.

Until such time where we can make our choices known, we have to bear with what is being shoved down our throat and whether bitter or sour or anything else in between, gagging and otherwise, we will not be able to throw it out until time permits, as such, just pray hard that something good will happen.

The Kite Runner

I finally got round to watch this movie. It has been in my possession, the DVD, I mean for like a very very long time. I just don't feel like watching it as it doesn't seemed to be that interesting, from the cover, I mean.

Boy, was I wrong. To be sure, it wasn't the best movie ever, but it does have a certain poetic justice, with a dose of hypocrisy and some suspense thrown in, a full out and out human drama. And I can feel that. I guess, end of the day, it is how the story reaches out to you, it could be silly to some but if it reaches out to you and you only, then, it would have already achieved it's intention. That is, to tell a story. In the age of crash, boom, bang, thank you very much, pretty much is lost in story telling. Simple, beautiful stories like this brought us back to reality, to how we fare as one human being.

After watching movie like this, you feel life is very fleeting. How our story ends, we are the writer, we end is as we like, to borrow a phrase from the actor, "it's my story, I end it how I like." How very true.

There are a few good lines inside there, I will post in later, after a few more watches, hahaha. Till then, try to get the DVD and watch it, it's quite worth to spend the two hours or so to watch it.

The Most Restless Sleep(less) Ever!!!

Yesterday night, which is the night of April Fool, nevertheless, has to count as one of the worst for me, in terms of a night of supposed rests and sleeps.

It is very rare that I sleep before midnight, but yesterday night, I was in bed by 11.00 p.m. Cool, I thought I would finally turn normal again..

Fat hope!!! Not only that I turned and tossed for the first hour, I turned and tossed for almost the rest of the night!!! I wasn't really sleeping, I wasn't dreaming, I didn't know what's wrong with me. I was just hugely restless and wanted desperately to sleep.

I thought it was my allergy doing, after all, I have a severe reaction to some allergen two days prior, but the rashes were subsidising, they weren't really bothering me but some how, you would and could feel some itch coming. But that shouldn't be because I have taken medication and sacrificed my butt to molestation by a needle just so I can be off the allergic inconveniences at faster rate, but somethings were just not meant to me.

So, I was pretty much a zombie by 5.00 a.m and I was so angry at everything but there wasn't anything to be angry at. I couldn't even blame it on monthly cycle!!! I don't have one, remember??? Arrgghhh!!!

Finally, I went downstair, to the living room with a good mind to just watch TV and while my time away, while waiting for daybreak. I was THAT desperate. Luckily, after drinking a cup of water, I just lie on the sofa and finally, was able to rest my eyes and body, albeit a disturbed one, but better than earlier.

Now, I even have a worry that if it is going to repeat itself. I hope that yesterday would be the first and the last. It was no fun when you really wanted to sleep and it just doesn't come. No wonder they always break people by denying them sleep. It has to be one of the cruelest form of torture, aside from the physical pain type, you know, pulling finger nails, this and that. Yukkkk, must be my lack of sleep turning me into a sadist...