The Monsters We Have Morphed Into

With each year that passes
We grow to be more materialistic
Everything is money
And money is everything

People lose sight of the important things in life
Family, love and God
Instead our vision is blurred by material goods
Branded items and cash to spend
Goods that elevate our status
But do nothing to ensure eternal happiness

Let's get practical
We need money to survive
Money to live
But is money life?
Is it the measure of all things?

Sure, money can buy better health
Maybe even a longer life
But a life that's worth to be lived longer?
Maybe not

He is tearing
To see how money-centered we have become
To know that we now measure love by the dollars
How did we become like this?
What happened to the sincere act of giving?

You dare say you are not as guilty as charged?
How many times have you wished you were richer?
Compare the times that you have given and taken
To the times that you have given and given
For surely it is 'normal' that we want something in return
For every act of charity that we do
Don't we secretly long to be acknowledged?

Cuff my wrists
Because I too, am part of this selfishness
I am not proud of it
But somehow, we have all become so

If only there exists a world without money
Then hearts will not be broken
Families and friends will remain as one
And we will finally live

The Mayhem That Was Christmas

Just like that and another Christmas is over. Time sure passes fast when you're having fun. So much fun that i'd even forgotten to take pictures until the last few hours of the day!

*A pause to remember those that passed on*

However, this year's celebration and the years to come will never be the same again after my mah mah and yeh yeh left us. No more ang pau packets hanging on the tree. I miss hearing their laughter and watching their silly antics. But i know that up there, they are looking down and smiling at all of us. Have a happy Christmas my grandparents...we love you.

*The end of pause*

Like tradition, the entire family gets together under one roof. We stuff ourselves silly with food (my family has the most rojak spread of any Christmas: rendang, stir fry veggie, bak kut teh, sambal prawns, roast lamb, pie, steamed chicken) and then chit chat the day away until the most awaited moment arrives...presents opening session!

You see, it has always been in my family's tradition to open presents on the night of Christmas. The presents are given out and each will take turn to open their gifts. And while the gifts are opened, it is everyone's duty to go 'wah' and 'oooh' to pump up the anticipation! Rather embarrassing at times because all eyes will be on you...so you better make sure you look happy receiving the gifts!



Little Kimberly looking so lost and afraid, wondering why everyone is looking at her and why the living room is drowned in exclamations of 'wow, what is that?' and 'wah, so nice!'. She was so blur when she saw the huge bear we gave her that she came to me and asked 'why so big?'.



Mabel getting some La Senza goodies from her sayang. Saucy!





Common pressie theme this year - tees for the boys, accessories for the girls



Even Nondi gets in on the Christmas cheer!



The face of the girl who just found herself three manga books richer...





The Christmas joy continues at the Portuguese settlement tomorrow. Time for an eye-opening trip back to my roots...

Oh, on another happy note, i might be going to Korea next year! I'm so psyched!

Christ's Birthday Is Coming

A dress and lucky charm necklace from Forever 21
A white necklace from the market
A pair of sneakers from Adidas
A belt and black tights from Dorothy Perkins

I am a happy albeit poorer camper! But oh well, Dec 25 is always a good reason to splurge (yes, i am trying to comfort myself for the damage done).

Anyway, there is 11 hours 46 minutes left to Christmas!

The presents are wrapped and the tree looks awesome. See y'all tomorrow family. To cousins reading this: here's a sneak preview of the gifts waiting for you tomorrow!! Woot woot!!

Spirit Of The Season

Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la la la la la!



Unfortunately, i've been too busy at work to really get in the Christmas spirit. Heck, i even had to work from home on weekends! But come tomorrow, when all my articles are submitted, i will finally have time to be jolly and entertain my colleagues with Christmas carols! =]

Two more working days to my Christmas break! I can't wait...three days of Christmas cheer, family love and stress-less days!

It definitely is the most wonderful time of the year!

New Hero In Town

Put my entire family under one roof and naturally, wacky things will happen:



It started with a simple walk to the playground. We found one of those Astro-installment ad on the ground and with one camera in hand and heaps of imagination, Astro Man was brought to life.

A couple of hours and MANY retakes the later (my memory card was max-ed out), the filming finally ended. I took the clips home, edited them, burnt it into a CD and months later, gave Astro Man it's official opening.

Despite the stressful hours sitting in front of my computer, searching for suitable background music and timing the beats to the scenes, all was worth it. To see the kids laugh themselves silly put a huge smile on my face. And to have the family gather in front of the TV to watch this group effort was simply priceless.

The movie's not perfect. The plot's not excellent. The editing's not great. But the time spent creating this was as good as good can get.

Oh, i love my family. Mah mah, yeh yeh, this one's dedicated to the both of you.

P.S - I think the Astro installer guy (handphone number 016-9691116) should pay us for advertising his service! =P

Family Away From Family

Came back from work to find a little surprise from Australia sitting on top of the piano:



A Christmas card from Tony and Maria. A simple yet sincere thought that sent all the memories running back.

I remember the day in 2006 when i was walking in the city with Jeny and chanced upon a 'volunteer needed' sign on the door of St. Stephen's Cathedral Gift Shop. Afraid but full of excitement, i daringly walked into the busy shop and signed up for the job. The rest is beautiful history...

Sacrificing my class-less day for an early morning at work was sometimes a pain but once at the shop, all dreariness vanished. I enjoyed every second that i spent in that small shop, selling products, meeting new faces and talking to people. And i learned how to work the cash register (one of the things i've always wanted to do - super fun!).

Slowly, colleagues and my boss turned into family.

If someone were to tell me that i would have friends over 50 years of age (Pris is 70ish!), i would never have believed them. The huge age gap would only bring awkwardness. But awkward it was not.



We may not have hit the pubs together. They don't share my passion for pop concerts. But we do bond in mysterious ways. We shared happy lunches together. We gossiped. We talked about celebrities and fashion. But most of all, they exposed me to a much more mature world that i never knew. And i was blessed with so much love and all those hugs that kept coming and coming!



Val and George, thank you for everything! Thank you for treating me like your own daughter. I can never thank y'all enough for all that you've done. And to the rest of my St. Stephen's Cathedral Gift Shop babes - Ana, Priscilla, Maria - i miss all of you! And we sure as heck rocked the shop!

Take care. Lea loves y'all heaps!

It's You Not Me

And so the blame game begins.

When the massive landslide (Ren, remember how we were so into Ammo and you unknowingly spelt land slYde during your exam? So funny!) in Bukit Antarabangsa occured, many families lost their homes and some lost their loved ones. For days the disaster made headlines in various local media. Then the story angles started changing.

In addition to the unfortunate tales of the event, articles on who's to be blamed for the slide started popping up. Can't say i am surprised. After all, we all love to point fingers at others.

So i read about people blaming the government for approving construction projects without first doing their research. I read how construction staff are accused of not doing their best job and continuously harming the environment.

Oddly enough, what i don't read is the tenants themselves owing up to their faults. Among all this chaos and accusations, many seemed to have forgotten that they too, played a part in causing the catastrophe for supply cannot exist without demand. No housing company would be stupid enough to lose their money and build homes on hills if there were no buyers.

Think about it. Yes, government can be blamed, those who build housing estates are wrong but aren't we too?