My Case of Brain Drain

Thanks to World Bank’s report on Malaysia’s alarming brain drain – I think I too suffer from a brain drain.

Last year, I saw exodus of my buddies to OECD. They left our Ibu Pertiwi because they know they are destined to live a larger life, than surrendering themselves to our pariah-state socio-politics. They know their life and those of their next generations will remain meaningless even if their races are being represented in our August House for as long as we continue to elect the racist and sexist smart alecks. As much as they want to, I wonder if they see our Ibu Pertiwi and its people are those of beyond repair, that any of their helps to bring positive changes won’t be good enough.

Their exodus to greener, freer and wiser land makes me numb. I lost my appetite in digesting matters shared on our Blogosphere because with their departure, I have not been able to sniff anintellectual discourse, a rational justification and a thoughtful reflection on any given matters.

Blogs have been a den for rumour mongers, whom have lost, their sanity, humanity or ‘kejantanan’, for they hit below the belt most of the time. My buddy once told me that we should not hit one when one is down. During this intense mud-slinging moment, I sorely miss my buddy.

Bloggers are like congregation of EPL club fans on Saturday night, who would cheer up their club, jeer down their opponent and close their eyes to biased referee treatments. Another buddy said that what maketh a man is his manners and never is his popularity. During this maddening prelude to GE, I yearn for my buddy’s wisdom.

As much as our Ibu Pertiwi is losing from their exodus, my case of brain drain clearly show that what maketh a nation is not how many people it has (or how many BeNd supporters do they have) but how many people it has to maketh it a nation.

For the last 6 months, I find myself sitting at one particular Pizza Hut Restaurant, at least once a month. Over steaming hot pasta and extra cheesy pizza he personally delivered, I steal a look or two at the Manager (if you really know me, I am rather infamous for walking around blindly with my eyes wide open – Yes, I don’t fancy making eye contacts unless I’m in a conversation or a meeting) – one whom I complained to too many a time before for black-hued prawn fritters and running roaches over their tables (I wonder if he finds my complaints amusing to him as he just gets friendlier). While I douse my thirst and hunger over the meal, I too douse my missing for my buddy (he’s a mirror image).

Looking at the Manager, I cannot help but realized that by us continuing to drive away valuable human capital and human beings, like my 2 buddies, our nation will end up like a Pizza Hut – cooking steaming, cheesy meals but of no real values, fresh ideas and authentic identity.

p.s. I laughed till I cried reading Talent Corp’s CEO saying this to the Little Red Dot's media, “Ultimately, what gets implemented are the policies of the prime minister and the government”, in his plea to professional Malaysians overseas to ignore race rhetoric and come back to serve the country. Isn’t PM = UMNO = PERKASA? I want to convince myself that our Talent Corp is running some Talent Time Shows, with contestants the likes of Sarah Palin (she surely doesn’t know about so many things before and after running for VP).

p.p.s.Most fast foods serve our guilty pleasure foods. The growing fad of fast-fooding reflects our ‘Fast-Food’ approach to life.

p.p.p.s. I believe in foods cooked in our own kitchen, with tender, loving thoughts and care. It takes a lot of efforts but we’re worth it.

Ole Ole Dari Pulau Mutiara

Dari Johor ke Pulau Mutiara

Tomorrow, Chu and her family will be having their Open House upnorth and Chu has decided to 'import' one cook (and a kitchen helper - that's me) from Klang Valley to prepare the authentic Johorean dishes.

If I were to ask me what would be the perfect dishes from Johore, that would be Nasi Beriani Gam, Laksa Johor, all kind of kuih kacau (kacau keledek, suji), Koleh Kacang and Bubur Kacang Pol.

So, Hello Nasi Kandar, Bye Bye weight lost during puasa (:P as if there's any) :)

Have a great yummy weekend all.

p.s. Drool at my dear bro's post on "Line Clearrr" and make a point to stay at the refurbished Lone Pine.

My Mushy, Marshy March

I have a habit of reading Obituaries and headstones. Once, in our way ‘balik kampung’, we passed by a Chinese cemetery. I zoomed in at one headstone as it looked new to my eyes and I saw a photo of a young man. My heart turned silent. That night, he came in my dream and asked why I looked at his plot. He told me he died in an accident. I apologised and he left me in peace.

March had been a dramatic month in its quiet way. Somehow, year in, year out, it has always been a mushy marshy one for me.

They say, in Seventh Heaven, our souls are like leaves hanging from a big tree. When one of the leaves drops, it means that one close to us will pass on to the Hereafter. If you are closed enough, you could sense the vibration as the leave dropped down, passing your way. March has been that kind of month where I sensed too much vibration and that made me sad and scared.

During ‘kenduri menyambut menantu’ for my aunt (Angel), I didn’t feel like celebrating – tak la, I wasn’t sad because I’m yet to be hitched OK. Alamak! That’s so lame a thought you have there sir!

"Heaven"

I thought of Pakcik Ahmad, Abang Man’s ever friendly and cheerful father. He along with Ummi, Abang Man’s sis and family came over for my brother’s ‘kenduri menyambut menantu’ in December 2008. I should have invited them along too this time around but I was caught up with my beloved ‘boyfriend’ – my works – I forgot to do so and didn’t feel good calling him up at such a very late notice. Pakcik Ahmad met one of his good friends during our kenduri decades after they last met. Sadly, he passed on that fateful Saturday at 3.45 pm. Now, I couldn’t look at Abang Man for I would be reminded of Pakcik Ahmad. I was closed to tears meeting him in the lift the other day. “Boleh Pakcik Tanya Awak Orang Mana?” question during tea at her daughter’s house after Abang Man and a few of us from office dropped by after our site visit down under revealed that Abang Man’s brother in law is related to Mak. He connected the missing link between me and his side while I connected him to his good friend during the kenduri. For that, he would always have a special place in my heart. Along with my late grandmas and grandpas and Abang Long Khir, my cousin, I have added his name in my daily Al-Fatihah.

“Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live” ~ Norman Cousins

During my brother’s kenduri, Tok Da also came over. When Ayah was posted to our Embassy in The Little Red Dot, Tok Da and his family would sleep over at our house to accompany Mak, me and my baby sis when Ayah had to go for some ‘mission’. I am sure Mak was deeply comforted by her presence since my late maternal grandmother, who passed on when Mak was 9 years old, looked exactly like Tok Da. Thirty years later, Tok Da’s son found me a great place to stay when I was there for some attachment program. My landlord – the best I ever found – had a tough time making sure everything was tip top for me. After a couple of month, I thanked him for his great hospitality. He said Tok Da told him that anyone can even sleep in Mak’s sparkling clean restroom and no way should I stay in a shabby place! While I tried my best (ya, I quit trying because no one would surpass Mak’s ISO standard in house management – she’s the QUEEN), I was glad I shared with Razak, my landlord, how to do his laundry better, cook sago gula melaka, laksa johor and gulai asam pedas johor and not forgetting how to remove ink stain from his shirt (milk would do).

Tok Da had undergone a major surgery last Friday, to remove a growth as big as a baby’s head from her intestine. She is now very weak but we all pray that she would be strong enough soon so that Mak Long Halimah, her eldest, could bring her back to their house in JB. During my short stint there, I saw where Mak, me and baby sis get our ‘strong’ genes from. At her age of early 80s, Tok Da is still active around the house but most of the time, I just pity her because she is rather lonely as her children and grandchildren are always busy. I wish I could spend more time talking to her over Bengawan Solo’s kueh lapis and onde onde. Despite that, she always has good words to say about others. She confessed a lot of things yet still thinks we should always treat people in the best of ways – no matter what. I know her time in this world has almost ended and I pray that she would have it easy for she has been a strong yet kind lady, a loving wife and a caring mother, surrounded by her beloved ones.

“As a well spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well spent brings happy death”

~ Leonardo da Vinci

Death brings sadness and it makes me curious too.

Mak told me a good person would be granted a wish by God to see his loved ones after his death, which explains why sometimes Mak dreamt of her mother and heard Tok saying something to her. I told Mak she always have that privilege because she never fails to recite Al-fatihah for her parents all this while God has granted her an access to see them whenever she wants. I am sure you too would have experience such thing when you could feel such presence, think of them and do or say great and meaningful something out of thin air.

Alfred Nobel was so depressed that the obituarists emphasised on his pioneering work on dynamite – W(eapon) M(ass) D(estruction) – that he endowed his enormous fortune to Nobel prizes. I wonder what my obituary would sound like when I'm gone.

Along Came Polly, Penang and Rain

Along Came Polly

"Reuben Feffer thinks he's found the love of his life but on his honeymoon he discovers her cheating on him with a scuba instructor. Reuben travels back home to get his life on track. On a night out with best pal, Sandy Lyle, Reuben discovers an old school friend, Polly Prince. Reuben feels a connection straight away, and tries constantly to get her to like her. But it's not going to be easy for Reuben, especially when he spends his days calculating risks, and when someone unexpected turns up - Written by FilmFanUK "

Heck no, I didn't watch that movie today. A kitten of 3-4 months old paid a visit to this house. After a quick check, it's a she - "Along Came Polly" sprang to my mind. So, I'd call her Polly if I obtained my parents' approval (plus Mulan's) to keep her around the house in due course (please, please, pleaseeee).

Penang Came to Me

Then, Chu, Pak Busu and Lisa drove down from PG to fetch Nadhirah, who just started her 2-week semester break from college. Along came Penang, when Chu brought over "Penang" (berbakul-bakul) in the form of varieties of food for breakfast (nasi lemak, crab and tuna spicy fiery, cheesy sandwiches plus roti kahwin with our kuih bakar and cucur udang) to lunch (rojak buah, kari kepala ikan, 3 types of lauk nasi kandar with big tumbler of papadum).

So, I was not up to 'Cinderella Slavery' standard today (only heavy-duty dishwashing and cleaning up). A trip up to PG is highly recommended by Pak Busu within the next 2 weeks for Balik Pulau durians, which are declared as prohibited items in Pak Busu's car (hence, we didn't get doubly intoxicated with the absence of the durians. Still, we had it in the form of my sis' serawa durian).

I must mention here that people could get very enterprising nowadays. In PG, you could even buy sambal belacan in a small plastic container. Chu had brought along our second serving today. I wonder if we are so damn busy, even sambal belacan must be bought instead of pounded in our own kitchen. As for my family, it only makes cameo apperance for laksa johore and occasions like these, while some of us have to take the likes of Clarityne/Zyrtec/Simtec before enjoying it. Chu even told me that we must go to Balik Pulau market on our next trip - this simple old town with its friendly people, selling all kinds of food and not forgetting the already-fried keropok in bigggg packets and fresh jeruk limau.

So, do you have any ideas on what our small traders could sell to us, city people? Let's bring back the heavenly, simplistic products that remind us of the good ol' times. What would be yours?

Raindrops Came Falling Down on My Head

Along came the rain, after a very long spell of 'drought' (shish..i must get them to change name of this place from PA to Lembah A, it is surrounded by hills, the clouds couldn't get through them) and it was even better when we were having our vanilla ice cream topped with loads of fresh cherry - Yummy.

Alhamdulillah for the rain - while my garden is well watered (some are even over ..ops :), many more trees out there have been water-less for weeks. It must be so refreshing for them today.

The pleasure of thinking (or knowing) too much

It makes me think awhile. While we are being reminded to help to cut down our water consumption (err, in my house will be quite a challenge as we do have (too) many greens to 'hydrate'), would we neglect the needs of these plants? Would we let them die? Would we even stop planting them? I always believe having more greens will put our Mother Nature in better position to curb the ever-increasing threats of global warming.

I even wonder why we need to pay a significant amount of money for clean water and electricity? Is it because our operators are technically- challenged (they can't turn the polluted water sources into crystal, clear water or they simply can't think out of the box, relying much on coals and petro-products to keep their generators going), or they have cut down their R&D, QA/QC and Maintenance & Replacmement budget to reward their shareholders?

Come to think again, i feel sorry, maybe more towards cheated by these operators - Malaysia has all it takes to provide cheap clean water and electricity - thanks to our climate, location and topography - but why can't we?

My hands are tied - more water for the plants, more energy to produce more water, more pollution in the process - I might end up bringing our Mother Nature to premature death.

Anyway, along came Polly, Penang and Rain - that make my day!

p.s. No, no, no..i shall look into the matter of providing cheap water and electricity in due course. For instance, look at what happened to Sultan Mizan's Stadium - for all the great architects and engineers we have in Malaysia - what went wrong? So, for all the technologies and expertise available, what went wrong with these operators?

Updated 17 June 2009

Retrospective approval from my parents was denied, hence, Polly has found a new 'home' at nearby shoplots. I feel so sad because being alone, she needs someone to look after her but it is unfair to expect my parents to 'train' her while i'm at work. Yes, they did that years ago but at their age now, this is the best decision for them. I have seen stray cats here and there wherever i go, so my mom, always an angel, made a good suggestion a few weeks back that we should keep a bag of cat food in the car so we could feed the hungry ones out there...

Of wedding, nasi beriani, tapai pulut and kuih suji

Any kenduri in my grandfather's house back in my hometown Kota Tinggi ("KT"), Johore, means a marathon of cooking-cleaning-eating marathon. I was back in KT last weekend for my cousin's wedding. Hers was agreed upon in the shortest period of time - circa 1.5 months. In spite of that, everything went on smoothly. Alhamdullillah. My Mak Long and Pak Long will definitely feel her absence as my beautiful young cousin hardly leaves house without one of them. She will follow her husband to start a new life together in KL, where her husband is working. My Chu (youngest auntie from my mom's side) said perhaps Allah has made everything easy for her in this matter for she accompanied Keno (he was adopted by my grandfather during his early teen years after he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and his parents apparently abandoned him. He is in his 70's now) for Keno's medical checkup, checking on his medications and monthly trip to the bank to withdraw Keno's pension.

That statement makes me pondered in silence - was i not good enough to other that I am still unmarried? However, that negative thought flew out the window as i regained 'my conciousness' that I am who I am today for me to serve better cause instead of getting hitched, at this point of time. Of course, i want to get marry one fine day (the weather has been thunderous so far hehehheheh.weather forecast in malaysia is so unreliable). Anyway, as usual, the million dollar question popped up too often, my rebuttal bank almost dried out of idea to counter such curiosity. One joke i made was that my groom was left stranded by Sheikh Muszaphar at ISS. Last year, i told them i was waiting for Pak Lah (Selisih malaikat 44 P). My aunties were making jokes of me, asking me to get hitched while they are still strong to help and cook kuih kacau. Those jokes kept us awake till late at night even after heavy-duty cooking.

We also had tapai pulut for dessert. I told them that the air tapai is good for skin just like SKII. They were laughing that they rather not put that on as it will attract ants and their face will get swollen. So, isn't that great - instant, enviromentally-friendly botox treatment? hehhehehehhe... By the way, i forgot to try one (the tapai not the ants ok ;), so i will make a point to experiment it on myself in near future... Ill let you know of the outcome, ok? But let me tell you that our hands were almost free of wrinkles after handling those tapai. I was told by that to prepare tapai is not easy. The person who is preparing must be clean - physically and spiritually and the glutinuous rice needs to be washed till the water become clear. Only then you can get a perfect tapai pulut. They say a woman cannot prepare it when she is having her menses as the tapai will turn red. I wonder what is the chemistry behinds it.

My uncle from Penang told me that i look young when we met last weekend. Yippe! I was over the moon because i hardly use any face cream and i rather spend my money on others than facial treatments. He thinks it is in our genes as he remembered telling my auntie how young my mother looks like when my aunt brought him to meet my parents - that was 20 years ago. Alhamdullilah. Well, it is not that I want to look young but I like to show others that if we feel good about ourselves, we look good.

The chef for the wedding was my uncle. So, we had sumptious nasi beriani with ayam masak merah, daging and kambing masak beriani, dalca and acar rampai. A great granduncle of ours was a cook with the Johor Palace so it is natural that he is a great cook too.

My auntie made kuih kacau suji - one of my favourite traditional kuih. This kuih is so ancient that you would not find it in any other house except my grandfather's house (Well, that is what people complained - it is such a rarity). Hence, it is most sought after during the wedding. Everyone wanted to sample some and perhaps, bring back to relish it more. My auntie used more than coconut milk from more than 60 coconuts, tens of sugar and tepung suji and cooked them over slow fire. After such tender loving cooking, the taste of kuih is so heavenly. My mother asked me and my cousins to learn from my auntie as she does not want this tradition to die with her generation. Insya Allah. Apart from Laksa Johor, various kuih kacau are one of classic Johorean cuisine.

I had an enjoyable weekend and now back in The Little Red Dot, I am nursing aching limbs as if I have trekked in the jungle. Where's my painkiller?