Safety Comes first...do you care?

Safety of our loved ones is usually upmost in our mind...but does it always the most important matter in everyone's mind?

Well..every morning I send my kids to school and I usually took the shortest and yet the least busy route to their school. I timed all the possible routes and found one which is the fastest time to reach their schools. But...I had to passed through one kampong road..What I experienced every morning, makes me wonder ..Do these people care about their kids' life?

• 3 small children about 8 to 10 yo crossing a busy road, carrying heavy bags, without any adult supervising them. I've seen the cars had to break hard to avoid them..God forbid..if something should happened ...
• A father riding motorbike with 4 children-(one in front and 3 at the back)..only the father is wearing a helmet...Wonder where are their bags??
• A boy in school uniform, about 9yo, riding his bicycle on a narrow road (usually Kampong road is quite narrow)..without any light. Every time there's a water puddle, he would just swerve the bike to avoid it..mind you, there are a lot of water puddles on this road...you can imagine the car behind him had to slow down to a crawl to avoid hitting him..

How could any parents put their children's life at risk or are they just couldn't be bothered? These are some of the examples that I've seen on the road every morning..Not to mention the older boys with their motorbikes ( without helmet) racing with friends on the road...There was an accident which costs one life due to these boys about a year ago. An old man was hit and run by them. The police manage to identify them when one of the name tag with the school badge was found at the scene..Crime doesn't pay..

To all parents out there..children are god's gifts to us...Love and care for them..Think of their safety above anything else..

Little thieves

Last Saturday, I called up mom asking her to accompany me to buy some cakes baking groceries. Since it was still early, she wanted to go to the market first..

We went to "kedai bawang" where we can get onions and groceries at a cheaper price. And nearby, we stopped by "kedai beras" to get the supply also at a cheaper price. Then off to the market to get our supplies.

By the time we reached home, we were too tired to go and get the baking stuff. So, while we were taking all the shopping out of the car boot, I saw 3 little kids, one girl and two boys, around the age of 8 to 9 yo. At first glance, I thought they just got back from mengaji al-quran. They were carrying some papers. Well, I didn't give them a second glance until my mom's neighbour started yelling. I was shocked and asked her why..She said the kids took all the letters from the mail boxes from each house. I rushed out the gate in time to see one of them took the letters from the neighbour's letter box.

"Mak, tolong jerit sat kat bebudak tu" I called my mom. She started yelling at them. One of them, the girl threw the letters by the road side. I started the car back and asked my mom to get in..They ran off the corner, and by the time we found them, the three of them were sitting under a tree surrounding the loads of letters they took from the houses.

I stopped the car by their side and they took off through the back alley. My mom went down and collected all the letters. We continued our search and saw them coming out of the alley. Unfortunately, the road was closed due to "kenduri kahwin" At least it was still early and there were no guests arriving yet. Both of us went down and talk to the people there and showed them the bundled of letters these little rascals had taken. We spread the letters on the table and saw mine was also there. One of the guys volunteered to delivered the letters back to the rightful owner. We took those letters addressed nearby and put them back in the letter boxes.
Gerammmnya...If only I could get my hands on them, I'll make sure their parents knew what their kids were doing.
What if, my son's offer letter was taken by them and he lost his chance to further his studies just because these rascals wanna have fun...God forbid..Now, I'm still looking for these little thieves...

Year of OX

Happy New Year to all my chinese friends...May these year brings ample happiness and good health to all.

I started today with a Malay kenduri at Kangar, Perlis. Then, we move down to Kedah for CNY celebration..Got to visit friends who had been calling since yesterday. Not to mention the boxes of oranges..Our house is now looking like a fruit stall selling oranges. I had to give away few boxes to colleagues and family. In fact, I still have 4 boxes left and I guess I had enough oranges to last me at for the rest of the month.
As I said earlier, not only the chinese celebrating CNY but the malays are also using this long leave apportunity to have the Kenduris. We have been receiving a lot of invitiations and fortunately, I dont need to cook since Saturday. My kids loves nasi kenduri and they really "pulun"...There goes my diet...Anyway, I need to cut down on my meat intake...Unfortunately, all the kenduri have more meat than chicken. So, it helps me to eat less since chicken is not my favorite either.

Year of Ox
THE METAL OX 1901 AND 1961
It is said that people born in the Metal Ox year are the most hard working of all and most trustworthy although not the one who will show their emotion well. Their feelings are usually kept well hidden within themselves.

THE WATER OX 1913 AND 1973
Water Ox are the quickest thinking of all the Oxen and also very hardworking.The water elements gave them more flexibility and liberty. Thus they are good businessmen as they are more open-minded of all the oxen.

THE WOOD OX 1925 AND 1985
Wood Ox are more receptive to new ideas and are more apt to changes. Thay are usually have high self-confidence which gave them a sense of higher authority thus are more respected by team members. However, they are rather outspoken and have short tempered compared to other ox.

THE FIRE OX 1937 AND 1997
My father was born under this sign and being a fire ox gives these Oxen dynamic qualities. Their leadership capabilities are tremendous, and they have to desire to be in charge so they generally hold positions of status and importance at work and in the community.

THE EARTH OX 1949 AND 2009
Earth Ox are the most loyal and diligent amongst all. Those born under Earth Ox are usually looked up to because of their reliability, sincerity and their modest ambitions.

I love reading through the chinese astrology and it is rather interesting to find out how much truth is when they describe people we know.

The year of Ox seems to promise a good year ahead and hope it will become true till the end of the year.....

Welcome 2009

It's been almost a month into 2009. Life has become monotonous again. Weekdays, I'll be travelling to work and weekends, will be looking out for kids at school. No more lazying around or holidaying during weekends.
This year there hasn't been any changes in my daily chores except I dont have to rush to my eldest son's school anymore since he had finished his form 5. My son is saving to get his SONY ERICCSON C902. At the rate he is saving, it will definitely took him at least a year..hehehe..well he juz have to work harder...
My daughter is starting her swimming lessons every Sunday this February. I'm having a hard time looking for someone to pick her up from school since her current driver has moved to another place. Well gotta keep looking....
My youngest is 6 yo now and is currently loving all the attention he could get from everyone around him. He's getting quite good with his studies now and can read much better now.
My hubby is still at the same place and nothing has changed for me as well...
My wish for this coming year...
I hope I could lose some of this extra flesh..
I hope my son will get good grades and able to fulfill his dream
I hope I will get my transfer back nearer to home this year
I hope I will stay healthy and get my voice back without the need of an operation.

Insyaalah....

Good bye 2008

Today is the last day of the year. We are leaving 2008 in a few hours time. Early this year, I was told that 2008 will be a good year for me. Well, I do read through my horoscope (the problem is I can’t be sure whether I am a Geminian or a Cancerian) and also Chinese forecast (definitely a Dragon). Just for the fun of it. My wealth is on the positive side but my health will be on the negative side. Looking back the year 2008 there were a few things which had a major impact in my life and my family as a whole:

Well, this year I had good luck in my fortune/wealth side in terms of bonus, increments and salary adjustments. However, as forecasted I underwent an operation that resulted with me losing my voice.

My daughter, Auni, had been registered as “OKU” and able to enrolled into special class in Sekolah Kebangsaan Suka Menanti. She is happier there as they have swimming lessons every Sunday and the teachers are very helpful. I can see vast improvement in her studies and communication skills ever since. She even went to Terengganu through her school trip. She was also taught gardening. I remember the first time she came back from school and gave me “kacang panjang”. “Cikgu suruh ibu masak sayur ni”, she said. I found out from her teacher that they grew all these vegetables at her school and distributed to the students once they ripen. She also joined “pengakap” of which the smallest size uniform is still too large for her.

Amir, joined Tadika Kemas and has learnt on ways to make friends beside learning to read, write and count. He has shown his true colours in his class…Being an “Emir”, he’s becoming a leader in his class. At 5 years old, he would go up to his teacher and report what his friends had been up to…”Kuat mengadu” that’s what his teacher said. I remembered the teacher told me once when she told the kids, “ kalau siapa nakal nanti cikgu panggil polis” So Amir stood up and said;”Cikgu, ayah saya pun polis” During his birthday, I managed to persuade his brother Zhafri, to give Amir his PS2. But for a price…gotta give him RM300 so that he can top up with his saving to buy PSP. At least both of them got what they both wanted. Since then, Amir didn’t want to go anywhere. He would rather stay at home and play with his PS2 rather than going shopping.

Zhafri, has ended his form 5 and heading for another era of his life….outside school days. Sometimes, I forgot that my children are growing up very fast. Soon Zhafri will be off to further study and later will start working. He is going to be an adult…!!Sometimes, I’ve forgotten that I’m getting old…but my growing up children will keep me in check. Zhafri is already getting so tall. At 17 yo, he’s already 5’10” and still growing. Perhaps, he’s going to be taller than his father who is 6’ 2”We’ll have to wait and see…

As for me…nothing much changes. Just hope that 2009 will be a good year for me and my whole family…Happy New Year!!!

Rapist

After lunch , my colleagues was so emotional after reading the paper today. When I asked her why, she told me about an article in Harian Metro North. It was about a man and his son raped a 20mth old child. I went to look for the paper and read it. It was reported that the child was sent to the baby-sitter’s house and was later being raped by the husband and his 16yo son.
What is happening to the humanity nowadays??? A 20mo girl is so small and innocent and yet the adults have no brains in their head. I supposed they only have nuts up there. The world is no longer safe nowadays, especially to girls. Where are the “9 akals” of these people?? God gave them akal to be used, and not for safekeeping…
I just couldn’t understand how these criminals think…
Pity the young girl. The lusts of these maniacs have caused her trauma for the rest of her life…
I am so worried about my girl, Auni..I guess we should let our girls to take up defense classes for their own protection. We cant be around them always..
At the same time, more severe punishment should be given to the rapists. The current punishment doesn’t seem to frightened them any more…

Parathyroid

Having too much of anything is not really good for your health. It is a fact of life. Everyone needs calcium for stronger bones but too much of calcium can leads to serious illness as in the case of parathyroidism.

Every year, I'll be having my annual check up (especially now that I'm turning 40++). I've had the same result each year..I'm perfectly healthy. It's just that I had too much calcium in my blood. The doctor would advise me not to take too much milk or reduce my calcium intake. That's all.

When my youngest son was born in 2003, he had to be hospitalised due to lack of calcium when he was 2 weeks old. The hospital took my blood sample and discovered that my calcium was high. Since I was not the sick one, no one bothered to check further. My son was fed with fluid calcium daily and after 2 weeks, he's back to normal.

As for me, my life went on as usual. Early this year, I started to have high blood, shot right up to 170/140. My blood fluctated inconsistently. Every now and then I started having migraine and I knew that my blood must have shot high. The doctor prescribed me high blood medication but I refuse to take because it did not jive with my symptoms. I did an early checked up in March this year and the result was as usual, healthy except for my high calcium. When I asked the doctor if there is anything wrong with me that caused the high calcium, he advised me to do another test on PTH (Parathyroid hormone test). The result came out positive. I have a case of hyper-parathyroid.

What is Hyper-Parathyroid? Everyone has 4 to 6 parathyroid glands in their necks. These glands function is to control and monitor the calcium flow in your body so that the muscle and nervous system can function properly. Once the glands detected low calcium level in the blood, they will disperse parathroid hormone(PTH) into the blood which will subsequently break the calcium in the bones to be dispersed into the blood and also promotes calcium intakes by the kidneys.

In the case of hyper-parathyroid,at least one of these glands is hyper-active and produced excessive PTH into the blood and causes serious calcium imbalance.The doctor used to tell me that the symptom is known as "moans, groans,stones, bones and psychiatric overturns" meaning moans -feeling ill,hyper tension, groans - abdominal pain(gastric), stones- kidney, bones-bone pain and psychiatric overturns-lethargy, fatigue, depression, memory lapses. And I had most of the symptoms.

The bad news is there is no medicine/cure for this illness. The only cure is to remove the over active parathyroid galnd. So, I had it removed in May 9,2008. The operation was done in Putrajaya Hospital because no other hospital has the specialist for PT cases except UKM and Putrajaya Hospital. Well, I chose the best doctor. Since then, no more high blood, lesser bone pain, better temperament or gastric.
However...the bad news is the operation had cause an injury to my voice nerve chord. The gland was on the nerve and resulted with me losing my voice..That is another story...

Boosting marriage life

My friend sent me to the bus station last nite. It was soo dark and yet the time was only 6 pm. I dont feel like walking to the bus stop in the drizzling rain and in this kind of weather. It's not because I was afraid of getting wet but it was also very dangerous to wait alone in this kind of weather...
Anyway, we were chatting in the car and I was telling him that it was my hubby's birthday.
"Why didn't you take leave?" he was asking. "I'm taking half day leave for my son's birthday on the 23rd. Furthermore, I dont have much annual leave left"..
Frankly, I can spare a day leave for my hubby, but I was still mad at him for forgetting our anniversary last month. Imagine....I took leave to spend time with him and he was off to work on his rest day for the whole day...Leaving me with the worst anniversary celebration I've ever had...! To top that up, I bought him a nice gift which he couldn't be bothered to acknowledged...
My friend told me that he wanted to take leave for his wife's birthday but it was too close to Chinese New Year. Being an Indian, he had to give way to his Chinese friends for their New Year celebration.
"I used to give her presents for her birthdays b ut I don't know why I didn't now...I think I'll start back giving her presents."
"She'll be pleased if you do. I guess it's life that people take for granted after few years of marriage and people tend to forget the importance of cherishing little things like birthdays and anniversaries"
That starts me thinking...We haven't had a proper anniversary since ages ago...Why do people changed after marriage?? They took each other for granted and it is driving them apart..
Time to think of a way to boost the marriage life back.....