Meme from Lydia

Thanks Lydia! Now it’s my turn to tell you some stuff (personal most likely) about madame moi. Have to dig into my brains to think about things like these. But awful good fun and great way to reflect on how I’ve grown.
Twenty years ago (1985)
I was 11 years old and in Standard Five, busy mugging for my Penilaian Darjah Lima. Important exams to me. Had to study hard and get the 5As. That time, Michael Jackson, Lionel Ritchie, Madonna were all the rage. Loved waking up on Sunday mornings to watch my fave cartoon “Jem”. Dad bought me my first issue of Galaxie when it came out, and I remembered it was hidden in my cupboard as a surprise. I remembered Rock Hudson’s face on the cover of Galaxie then. Also, loved submitting my stories and such to the Starchild section of The Star newspaper.
Ten years ago (1995)
I was 21, and in my second semester of my first year as an undergraduate in USM Penang. I had gotten over my homesickness by then (I was quite homesick the first few weeks of the first semester). Started to get to know people around me, especially people from other schools or faculties. Joined the Buddhist Society and AIESEC, but ended up spending a lot of time in the Buddhist Society first as a normal member then as a committee member for its yearbook. Had a whale of a time when I signed up for German language classes under this bear of a German called Dr Askandar. Oh yes, ended up as an emcee for the USM Martial Arts annual Kung Fu Nite. Hmmmm…..Oh yes, met my BF whom I married in the end (in 2001).

Five years ago (2000)
Just changed jobs. From advertising I hopped into web. Became a website editor for a woman’s portal right here in Penang. Decided that 2.5 years running around the Bayan Lepas Free Trade Zone servicing MNCs like Motorola, Agilent, Intel and stuff wasn’t really as exciting as I thought it would be. Needed a change of scenery and industry. Always loved writing and women’s issues ever since I did cub reporting for Kee Phaik Cheen’s Penang State Women’s Consultative Committee as an undergrad.
Three years ago (2002)
Was promoted as a corporate comms manager when the boss saw that I could write. Juggling two roles in one office – website editor and corp comms manager – under one pay. No mean feat. Very frustrated with things. Started doing yoga seriously by going for classes. That helped to get rid of my stress for a bit. Started to blog seriously after much egging by husband.

A year ago (2004)
Stopped working for others and decided to take the plunge and work from home like my other half. It was a scary decision to make but I knew if I continued working as I did, I would go insane. Got featured in eHomemakers’ Sept issue. Started joining online forums actively and sharing heartily. Picked up a three-legged tortoise from the roadside (yes, the things you can pick up if you observe closely) and took him home as a pet. He sleeps happily underneath my sofa at night and munches on bananas only.
This year (2005)
Had a great one week holiday in Cherating this April. Learnt how to paint batik. Met with some great people online and offline, and collaborating on some web projects together. Started writing for Reader’s Digest and story appeared in RD Aug/Sept. Was also featured in Malaysian Women’s Weekly. Picked up crocheting again after years of leaving it out of my life. Read some life-changing books – Michael Gerber, Anthony Robbins, Jay Abraham, Jose Silva, Dan Brown, Terry Pratchett. Joined a treasure hunt and got brains burned bad. Itching to join another soon. Looking forward to a good end of the year break by going home to see parents for a bit. I think I had a good year.
Now I have to meme other people. Marsha and Keat, your turn!