Fab Feb

It's 2012, and almost like clockwork, all forms of technology has started failing on me. True to form, I believe that technology really has a shelf-life of 2 years. At least for me, anyway. Cell-phone, laptop AND camera!  That's right. I'm old school like that. I still carried around my once-trusted compact Canon point-and-shoot everywhere I went. Now that it's not working, I'm having to revert back to my previous banged up, but still functioning SD1100.  It still works a charm, and the explosion of megapixels in these new ones don't do sh*t!  Camera phones just don't cut it for me and I don't exactly want to be lugging my Digital Rebel around.  That's just not sexy anymore, apparently. So I have yet to get my camera fixed.  If it is at all worth it.  Might just get a new one. One of them smart eye-fi-enabled cameras maybe.  The ones that let you upload pics at the get go. So I confused SS and he says, "But wouldn't that be just like a smart phone?"  Yea, smart.  I need to do some serious tech shopping.

So while we're catching up, what's been happening?  Now that the holidays are out of the way (finally! I thought they'd never END!), it's back to the grind.  I was welcomed with a pretty quiet workplace though, what with the Dragon Year baby boom going on.  (And the 105-day maternity leave has nothing whatsoever to do with it!)  Congrats and rest well new Mommies!

And then there was this

Durian fever alright. So much so that people have been getting sick, left, right & centre. And yet they wonder why.  I didn't indulge as much this year, as I wasn't lucky enough to find a good batch locally.  Monthong's still the best! (don't hate me now!)  Your teeth practically sink into it!  Where's the seed?!  But hey, that's just my preference.

The Lunar New Year was another very welcome holiday for all, being the 2nd long weekend for the year.  And there are many more scattered all year through.  Didn't I say this was gonna be a fab year?!

Fresh Familiarity

Last week was the week for weddings, it seems. Oh, but of course, last Friday was the auspicious 11.11.11, which, no matter how you look at it, is an impossible date to forget.  I was invited for 3 weddings in that week alone. Though perhaps somewhat unimpressive to most people, my social calendar was booked up. 

11.11.11 so happened to be the day of B&G's wedding.  The groom was an old friend from high-school and in the UK, and the bride, well, let's just say that a few of us were around when they first hooked up.  So it was one not to miss.  Chinese weddings are always good fun, anyway, and the last one I had attended was probably 5-6 years ago.  Bring on those 8 courses!

By Malay wedding standards my friends and I arrived "early", but it turned out that we were among the last guests seated. We found a few empty seats at PS's table and parked ourselves there.  We spotted a few familiar faces from high school and realized that this was turning out to be a reunion of sorts. 

Just as the MC was starting to get everyone settled down, at the next table were these two ladies who looked like they had just arrived.  One of them looked awfully familiar, and yet it took me a while to recognize her.  It was DS, my BFF/side-kick/wingwoman from primary school!  I doubted myself at first, until her cousin at the same table, JK, told her I was there too.  Suddenly we were school-girls again. Ok, maybe not quite, but this was the first time we had seen each other after 22 years!  It was surreal.

We had lost touch after primary school and I got to know that she had gone overseas very soon after.  Back then, Facebook, or even e-mail would have really helped!  Small world that it is, her first cousin JK is my next door neighbour who was also my classmate in Grade 6.  He's always known DS & I were good friends and a few years ago when I was back on holiday from the US, he told me DS was living in LA and passed me her number.  I never got round to calling her while I was still there, but as fate would have it, we were reunited back here. 

A couple of FB & WhatsApp messages followed, and in the attempt to  make up for lost time, we caught up over coffee.  I honestly always had it in my head that it would be awkward reconnecting with your oldest friends, especially those from way back when we were kids, young, carefree and uncomplicated.  You would think that you'd no longer have anything in common or have anything to talk about. But all that aside, time passes, we get older, we're no longer kids, yet essentially we're still the same people we were 20-odd years ago. Hopefully better people. There was a reason why got on so well and stuck together so much.  That doesn't just disappear 'cos we've been out of touch all this time.  I was relieved to know that DS is still the same level-headed person I had known back then.  Sure, we had missed a larger part of each other's lives, but who's to say that we can't make "new" friends out of "old" ones? 

Here's to new beginnings, from what had started a lifetime ago.....


P.S. It's also 20.11.2011 today......if that sorta thing turns you on! :P

Salam Aidiladha

Taken from a spot where I am most at peace

Selamat Hari Raya Aidiladha to all Muslim family and friends wherever you are. 

Calm

This feels almost like a first date again.  Can we pick up where we left off? 

I just got to know that some of you are still checking back. I still have readers?  Thank you, though. I'm touched.  In my head, it's likened to looking for me at my office and being greeted with a ceiling-high pile of papers that haven't even been touched. 

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it's been a crazy few months.  Good crazy, though.  Workwise I've had to become a number of different people all at one time, be everywhere and still stay put.  You get the drift.  As much as we hate to admit it, we do tend to work ourselves silly (and whine about it). So I won't.

I've been looking to be inspired to write something worthwhile. But, hey, who needs that kind of pressure?

So I'm writing, just to check in. Like a first date....

HM65

Another glorious long weekend for us in Brunei as we celebrate His Majesty the Sultan's 65th Birthday Anniversary. 

His Majesty's Titah highlighted a few interesting points. Personally, a few of them stood out for me.
Those from both the public & private sectors shall benefit from more educational opportunities, revised educational allowances for themselves, as well as for their children in private instututions at tertiary level.

His Majesty also consented for changes to the passage allowances (elaun tambang) that would be extended to all female officers and staff in the public service.  My understanding is that, how it's always been, once a female officer was married she would no longer be entitled to her own passage allowance as only her husband would be granted the privilege, provided he was also in the government service.

On the subject of energy conservation and the tackling electricity dues, His Majesty consented for the replacement of post paid metres to pre-paid metres at private residential houses, which would be implemented free of charge and wholly financed by the government.  I needed a double take on that, as at first I wasn't sure whether this would include every household.  I think this way we'll be more conscientious with our energy usage, rather than sitting in pitch darkness for a measly hour in one day the entire year!

As the Rakyat we have a unique sense of loyalty, love and respect for our King.  We are truly blessed.  Which is why His Majesty's Birthday is not only a celebration for our Ruler, but for the country too.

Daulat Kebawah Duli Tuan Patik!

More on HM's Titah here

Today and Every Day

Pic courtesy of sis-in-law's Facebook album. Thanks Needz!

The third Sunday in June. Father's Day. Depending on which part of the world you're from, it could be any other day in the year. That's my excuse for having a bit of trouble remembering the exact date. Naturally, the same applies to Mother's Day, except that I know it's sometime in May. But thanks to commercialization, now with the help of the ever ubiquitous social media, I'm sure the connected masses would be hard-pressed to look away from the constant reminders to make reservations, order the cake and shop for gifts and flowers.  It's like having another birthday to look forward to. 

How often, though, do we look into the history of such celebrations?  I'm sure most of us see it as a day dedicated to honour our parents and show them how much we love and appreciate them.  Digging a little into the history of Father's Day, it was first observed in West Virginia in 1908. Mrs. Grace Golden Clayton, wanted to celebrate the lives of the 210 fathers who had been lost in the Monongah Mining disaster several months earlier.  Following this event were several attempts to proclaim Father's Day as a holiday, but it wasn't until 1966 when President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation honouring fathers, designating the third Sunday in June as Father's Day. Six years later, the day was made a permanent national holiday when President Richard Nixon signed it into law in 1972. 

The origin of Mother's Day too had a similar story. In 1870, the "Mother's Day Proclamation" by Julia Ward Howe was a pacifist reaction to the carnage of the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War. She believed that women had a responsibility to shape their societies at the political level.  Years later, Ann Jarvis founded five Mothers' Day Work Clubs to improve sanitary and health conditions. After Ann Jarvis' death, her daughter succeeded in making Mother's Day a recognized holiday in The U.S. in 1914.

Now in The U.S., a "holiday" doesn't necessarily mean a day off from work or school. It's normally a day of commemoration.  Not that this would be an issue though, 'cos both Mother's & Father's Days are on Sundays. What we call "public holidays" in this part of the world would probably be the equivalent of "Federal holidays" in The U.S. 

In other countries, Father's Day may also commemorate other events or traditions. In Thailand, Father's Day is set as the birthday of the King.  Interestingly enough, though, while some countries don't actually recognize it as an actual holiday, or have any concept of it, their societies often adopt it from exposure to other cultures.  In this day and age, that's a given. This is not to say that they adopt their beliefs in celebrating such days, but merely taking the good out of it and making it their own.

Going back to the history of these holidays, particularly that in The U.S., they would have been marked by religious services.  Therefore, they were not meant to be "religious holidays" per se.

In Islam, we are taught to honour, cherish and respect our parents every day, all year round.  Celebrating Father's Day and Mother's Day may not be part of our culture, but I'm sure all parents out there wouldn't mind being made to feel that extra special for the one day.  They should also be recognized for their contributions not only to their own families, but also in building the society.  It's prefectly fine to have a Teacher's Day or Civil Servant's Day. 

Parents deserve their day too. 'Cos we love them today. And every day.