Always the Girls Fault
Step One:
Take a look at this
pic. There are two types of uniform for a public secondary school. See the girls in the front row, four of them are wearing the
baju kurung - a long, loose, white tunic, usually knee-length. The skirt is a long skirt, ankle-length.
Baju kurungs are usually worn by but not limited to Muslim girls. The 3rd girl from the left is in the other type of uniform - a blue pinafore, worn outside a white shirt. The pinafore is usually knee-length and worn by all (including
Muslims). These 2 uniforms are standard across all public secondary schools in the country. Then there are the prefects (the girl with a red tie) and probably librarians (they volunteer at the library) in brown shirts.
Step Two:
Read this
article.
Here are the important bits:
A Malaysian group condemned the uniform worn by girls at government
schools,saying it encouraged rape and pre-marital sex.
And
this article. Extracts below:
Wan Ubaidah said it was “challenging” for schoolboys to sit in the same
classroom with schoolgirls who wore revealing school uniforms.
Step Three:
Go back to the
pic again.
There is no Step Four because you are probably feeling outraged, angry, in disbelief. You must also be thinking that Malaysian
people are one stupid bunch schoolboys are one horny bunch of kids!
Labels: Smack Me
Get Your Ass Off, Girl!
Read this:
The Ugly SingaporeanSeveral days earlier, a girl who refused to give up a seat (meant for the
elderly and the handicapped) to a pregnant woman, called her a “bitch” because
she had stared at her and shook her head.
If I had been in that train, none of this would have happened. Because I would have gently tapped the young girl and told her to give up her seat for the pregnant woman. If she had refused, I would have asked again, this time, raising my voice slightly, audible enough for the other passengers in the train, audible enough to embarass her. Hell, I'd yank her from her seat.
She can call me a bitch for all I care, as long as she gets her ass off for the pregnant lady.
Labels: Cathartic Rant
Friday Fives
Five Things I Do Not Like About Myself:
- Jealousy - I can get insanely jealous of others, and it has affected my relationships. I acknowledge that this is not something which is healthy, and I make a conscious effort to stop myself every time I feel I turn into a green monster.
- Low tolerance for stupidity - I don't suffer fools easily.
- I can be real mean, bitchy and nasty but I try to tell myself each time that I would be better off channelling that energy to something positive.
- Inability to say no - which leads me to always doing things for others which sometimes I don't want to do and be non-interest-earning money-lender (which I should really cross off as bad debts *sigh*)
- Temper - which was really foul but has mellowed as I get older.
(The list is definitely much longer if you were to ask people who know me)
Labels: Friday Fives
She Needs Help
A dear friend has been lamenting about her bf of 7 months. She is getting all mental because he has not told his 13 year-old daughter about her. She finds because of this, the relationship is destined to fail and she does not see any hopes of the relationship going anywhere.
I asked if he treats her right, if he is ok with her friends.
all his close friends know me. all his band members know me. he brings me along
to all his gigs be it in the county or out of the county. go out for drinks
theatres etc with his close friends. he comes along with me to all of my pal's
functions. calls me when he thinks something is wrong, calls me to ask me if my
day's going ok, calls me every day. i have his apartment keys, alarm code,
i can use his apt anytime.
To me, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the relationship at all. I totally understand why he is treading so carefully when it comes to his daughter, she's just 13, probably rebellious and angsty, so it makes perfect sense that he doesn't tell his daughter yet. And for freak's sake, it's just been 7 months. Not 7 years.
Then again, why am I surprised. Coming from a person who lied to her therapist after her previous breakup, "because I don't want her to think I am a loser".
Labels: Relationships, Smack Me
Relationship Ghosts
When I heard the song Realize by Colbie Caillat, I immediately thought of Bestie and her fuckelationship with her "soulmate" for the past 12 years. He is the one person she feels most comfortable with (and I think the feeling is mutual), they are great together, they love each other but the relationship is based on different things. To her, it evolved from sex to love. To him, it moved from sex to sex + love.
Since he got married 4 months ago, she's been learning to let go and move on. He has suggested "an illicit affair" (not that it was not that to begin with) but she wisely declined.
And today, she told me that she has decided to let go of the ghosts of this relationship. She realises that as long as she does not let go of the ghosts, she cannot move on and meet someone else. She has waited long enough and she does not want to wait any longer.
It's time and I am very happy for her.
Labels: Relationships
Mothers
During Chinese New Year, it’s customary for parents to give their children angpow and likewise, married children also given their parents angpows, wishing them a healthy and happy life. If you are not married, you do the same, only it’s not in a red packet.
Every CNY, Mom gives Grandma some cash, just for her personal use. This year was no different. However, Grandma declined the cash this year, saying that she got lots from her nieces and nephews and suggested that Mom give her cash another time.
And then she offered Mom “Do you need money? You want some? I give you.”
When Mom told me, I roared with laughter. It was hilarious to me, simply because Mom offers me money all the time. Though I give her and Dad money every month and I pay all the bills at home, at least once every 2 months, she would ask me “Do you need any money? You want some? I give you la.”
Imagine, an 82-year old woman offers her 60-year daughter pocket money. So why does it surprise me every time my mom offers to buy me handbags or shoes or even dinner?
But now, at least I know where Mom gets it from!
Happy Mother’s Day, Mom! I love you.
Friday Fives
Five things that is repeated season after season (if not episode after episode) on American Idol:
1. "Remember, these are 866 numbers, not 1-800" - Ryan Seacrest
2. "So, here's the thing dawg..." - Randy Jackson
3. "I like you" - Paula Abdul *in a daze and with a glazed look in her eyes*
4. "I don't mean to be rude but... that sounded like a cheap wedding singer/karaoke singing " - Simon Cowell
5. "Oh, I'm just out here and having fun, that's the most important thing, to come out here and have fun!" - ALL contestants, especially when they know they are to be booted out.
Labels: Friday Fives
I Am Thankful
I am a lazy-ass who does not believe in walking unnecessarily. I am one of those who has to park my car as close as possible to the place of destination. And when I drive and there is no parking lot close to the entrance, I always drop my passengers off at the entrance, and then park my car (why should 4 persons walk when only one is necessary). When parking lots are full and I have to walk a distance, I bitch quietly to myself (sometimes a bit too audibly).
But things have changed.
I am not going to bitch anymore that I need to walk "unnecessarily".
I just heard of a friend's friend who has bone cancer and he had to amputate his left leg two months ago. He has just been admitted into the hospital again over the weekend. For lung cancer.
He's only 22.
And I am not bitching again.
Labels: Smack Me
Look In The Mirror
My bestie is desperately trying to lose weight for a sexcapade next month - she's on a diet and embarking on an exercise regime. She told me that she and another 3 friends are planning to swim every Tuesday and Thursday. I was planning to join but these 2 days are the days when I don't drive (I carpool and I don't drive on these 2 days) and I told Bestie so.
I then remembered that on the days that I want to join and I don't drive to work, I could ask another friend, Bestie No 2 to pick me up from the office (just a stone's throw from her office) and after the swim, she could send me back.
Bestie exclaimed "
Amboi*... who do you think you are??? Some royalty??? You want her to fetch you and send you home after work?"
Funny. Coming from a person who asked Bestie No 2 to pick her up from work yesterday to go grocery shopping and then paid for the purchases coz she has maxed her credit card out. Coming from a person who asked Bestie No 2 to not work last Friday so that she could accompany her for some pampering and shopping. Coming from a person who relied on Bestie No 2 to take her to the bank each time she had something to settle. Coming from a person who gets Bestie No 2 to places at least 3 times a week.
And I'm the royalty.
Labels: Cathartic Rant
He's Just Not THAT Into You
One of my good friends, WW recently moved back to the country, and is seeking jobs in the city, so that she can be close to her bf. Meanwhile, she is living with her parents, who live several states away, approximately 8 hours away from where her bf is (her bf lives a stone's throw away from me).
Whenever she is in town for interviews, she bunks in with her friend, who lives alone and work very long hours. While we are all at work, most of the time she just hangs about at the apartment, waiting for her dear bf, to come over after work.
The problem is this. He's not usually keen on meeting up with her - he's either working late, or has dinner plans with his parents (he lives with them). You would think that being in a long distance relationship, he would grab every opportunity to see her. There've been many times when she arrived in the morning, attended her interview, chilled about at the friend's apartment, made plans with friends, and all of a sudden, changed her mind and took the next bus home. Without seeing her bf whom she had not seen for weeks.
There have been days when she rejects all dinner invitations, prefering to wait for her bf to finish work (which I totally understand), unfortunately there have been more than one occasions when her bf claimed exhaustion and canceled their dinner dates. And she was left to eat stale bread at 10pm.
Anyway, next week she has another interview. In the same organisation where I work. I called her asking her to schedule the interview around 3-4pm, so that we can leave the office together. I wanted to make sure she has dinner in the event that he doesn't see her and if he does, then he can just pick her up from wherever we're at. A guaranteed meal in her stomach instead of stale bread.
Her response was: "Err... the day of the interview is his mother's birthday, so I don't think he will have time to see me at all. So there's no need to meet up la..."
I was stunned. I realised that she's telling me that she will meet up with me
only if there's a chance she will get to see her bf.
Maybe she just likes eating stale bread.
Labels: Relationships, Smack Me
I Will Not Be Hyphenated
Women's liberation started in the West. It was many decades later that women in the East started demanding for equality. We look to our counterparts in the West for guidance, for lessons.
Unfortunately we are still backwards in many things. There are still many women here who believe that their sole existance in this world is to find a husband and "serve" him. Be the trophy wife that he seeks, be the amazing and tireless mother to his kids.
However, there is one thing that has never been an issue with Asian women. Adopting your husband's family name after marriage. We don't see Mary Lee becoming Mary Wong or Mary Lee-Wong after marrying Mr Wong. However, in social settings, she is addressed as Mrs Wong, because she IS Mrs Wong. But changing her name? Na'ah.
Of course, I am speaking only for the Malaysian women, the South-east Asian women, and most of the Asian women.
Labels: Musings
Friday Fives
Five things I have done on this super unproductive Friday:
1. Read all my emails - work, personal, blog related.
2. Attempted to go for the FJ Benjam1n sale but turned back because the parking lots in Bangsar Village I & II were full, same as Jolly Green's. (Was it good, anyone?)
3. Analysed some figures.
4. Made arrangements for the weekend.
5. Blogged.
Labels: Friday Fives
M(oney)cure
Have you ever helped a friend out when times a bad and she just need some cash to tide things over until things get better? But somehow things just get harder and harder on her, and you try to help whenever possible?
So you help on a monthly basis, you do whatever you can. You give her money whenever she needs it. You pay for food each time you dine out.
And then you call her one fine day and find she's taken the day off for some self-pampering. While I'm in the office, earning
her my keep, she's doing her manicure and pedicure.
Before she goes shopping.
Labels: Cathartic Rant
