RACONTEUR-ESQUE SCRIBBLINGS

The courtroom seemed divided. To one side were a number of young people, most of them nervously biting their fingers as the judge was quietly deliberating the situation. On another side, several old religious looking men sat, looking smugly at each other. It was the first ever case of it's kind to be tried in court. The judge got up and addressed the courtroom. "The defendant is found guilty" The defendant looked up, and then stood, albeit unsteadily, overwrought with emotion. She thought to herself, "I'm going to die because the people who knew better, the people who were supposed to guide me, pretended that sex didn't exist" Two weeks later, early in the morning, she was ushered out, and prepared for her impending hanging. As her head was covered with the thick, black, heavy cloth in the silence, it occurred to her that she and her baby were the cats that curiosity killed. 6 Months Ago She certainly didn't expect it to be so wrinkled, red...

We're slowly making our way to the end of August, and in less than a week, the nation once again celebrates Independence Day for the 53rd time. As usual, I was listening to the radio on the way to work this morning, and to mark the celebrations, they had a new special segment interviewing powerful and influential women of Malaysia (or Malaya) from the days gone by - mostly from the time right after independence. Today, they interviewed the very first woman ambassador. Now, I've always heard this particular radio dj interview people in the mornings, and I'd say she prepares herself quite well, in the sense that she doesn't ask stupid questions, and is able to handle any topics they're discussing about either if it's regarding business, politics or any other current issue. I do find her voice a wee bit annoying, though... just a wee bit. The person interviewed this morning (to be known as PIM hereafter), however, was a totally different kettle of fish. I suppo...

If there was anyone who could admit knowing me well enough, they'd certainly corroborate to the fact of me admitting that I'd try anything once. Naturally, when I say anything , it refers to anything that I wouldn't mind doing, and perhaps the occasional dare like trying to put off fire with my fingers. And that is precisely how I found myself *agreeing to go for a karaoke session with a bunch of friends from work (from a different department from me), most of whom I've only dealt with regarding work matters before this despite my loner-like tendencies. Now, I've always imagined local karaoke sessions to be the type where middle aged Chinamen (mostly businessmen) would sing at the top of their lungs to Chinese songs from the 70's or 80's, while discussing business over food and drinks, a place where a someone of my **demographics would never be caught in, but there I was, among a few early twenty somethings right up to a few early thirty somethings, singing...

...with the sound of people. Over the past half month or so, my sister and I have been unsystematically climbing hills nearby. I suppose these are what you could call baby steps in preparation for the gargantuan task of someday climbing Mt. Kinabalu, the highest peak in the country. We have currently covered two hills so far, one called Broga, and another called Bukit Gasing, Broga Hill Situated just a little over an hour away from our home (if you don't lose your way, that is), Broga seems to be a very popular hill among the locals, with people starting to trek up as early as 6 am while it is still dark to catch a glimpse of the sunrise. Good intentions, no doubt, but unless you made a deal with the clouds, there's no guarantee that you're gonna get the sunrise you want. The cousins, sister and I reached the foot of the hills slightly before sunrise, much later than we had planned as I had missed two (2!) turnings on our way (trust me, when the GPS asks you to go s...

* "Use less garlic, there's no such thing as vampires" says a wise man, to the public via the local newspaper. No points for guessing that said wise man is a politician. Ahem. Actual article found here:   So apparently, the uncertain weather conditions in China has caused a massive reduction in the export of garlic, and while the demand remains the same (actually the demand has probably increased with it being Ramadan and all now where people are busy making extra stuff for the breaking of fast every evening, etc) which has led to an incredible increase in the price of garlic. And after all that, the only thing a hapless politician can advice is for us to use less garlic in our cooking. How constructive and forward thinking. Now, even with the limited knowledge of economics I have, I understand that there is probably no way that we can reduce the price of garlic, but you'd think that the Minister for Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism would have something ...

A slightly cloudy afternoon welcomed us as we touched down at Adisucipto Airport, greeted by an extremely distressed airport staff. We found out a few seconds later, why... the lines were long, almost non-moving. After the immigration process was completed about over half an hour later, we lugged our bags ahead and was greeted by the tour guide and the driver. Our journey started almost immediately that afternoon. The bags were sent separately to the hotel while we were taken to our lunch destination, a place called Hartz Chicken which was a big disappointment seeing that it as also available in our country, not that any of us had tried it before, but that's beside the point. The thing is, we were all ready to have our tastebuds explode with new and interesting local flavours and not franchised outlet stuff. (Actually, we probably overlooked a lot of things while planning for this trip, being in different countries during the planning - one of it being not knowing that food was al...

There's way too much rage,   Trying to lock it in a cage, Is like sifting through garbage,   Or eating cabbage.