I could rave and rant all day but this tale sums up a lot of stuff that’s going on in our Malaysia now.
A lot of people, good meaningful friends included, always tell Nic and me to migrate when we still are young and have lots to offer.
I think I’m stubborn. I also think I’m not an immigrant. This is my home, this is my land as much as it is theirs. Come to think of it, why should I leave and play into their scheme?
I have brilliant Malay friends but I have never looked at them as “Malays”. They’re friends. Period.
I have friends who are Muslim converts.
In fact, my youngest sis is a Muslim convert. And my parents, though initially upset, have gotten over it. I was far more upset in the first place! But see, even me, stubborn old sis, has come to grips with the idea. It’s her life. Let her live it her way.
Perhaps someone should ask us Chinese, what makes us cringe? What are the policies that make us so mad? What is it that can’t get through to their heads? What? Is it that we are pork-eaters? Is it that we make more money? What? What is it?
We cannot live together until we get that resentment out of the system.
What’s good these days (post 8 March, post 26 August) is that the worms are crawling out of the woodwork – worms which have been dormant too long. Once the worms are purged, perhaps there is hope for a better Malaysia.
I say a better Malaysia because we live in an abundant land, we speak a multitude of languages, we are far more competent that we let on. We have skills. We have resources. We have diversity.
And we certainly have more than that little island down south. (But that little island down south has exceptional marketing. They can turn anything into something. This happens when they use their brains for real stuff, not for fighting each other. That’s the difference.)
But why oh why aren’t we using what we have to go further?
Why are we still battling each other, 51 years after Merdeka?
Roz wished me Happy Merdeka when I met her last Sunday.
We aren’t really in the Merdeka state of mind if we still have pettiness in our hearts.
Year: 2008
Wear a Socially Conscious Skirt
Over the past week, I’ve been thinking of what to write.
It’s not that I am at a loss for ideas.
I got around thinking this because this blog is for friends and family to catch up with me and my adventures (though most times, the adventures aren’t the Rin Tin Tin type!). I am a regular person, running a business and on the side, I run other things too (cue evil Madame Cruella cackle).
As it’s for real people, I’m not going to write fluff.
And you guys know me better.
I won’t write fluff.
I’m sensible in that sort of way.
And I always want to make this blog as meaningful as possible too. I won’t write crap though crap is sometimes so much easier to spew.
I won’t write anything that isn’t positive or life-affirming.
So that’s why sometimes there isn’t an update for a whole week and then comes a flood of stuff. I only want to share the best with people I love and people who know me and hopefully, love me (yeah, I know you do…. just kidding ok).
I’ve been approached even to put ads here. Yep. On this blog.
But no, that doesn’t feel right. This is Mayakirana, after all. I make enough money running my business and I know the few cents from running an ad won’t be enough to buy me Wall’s Moo ice cream (which, by the way, is my favourite ice cream this season – it’s ice cream sandwiched between 2 chocolate biscuits.)
Anyway, in a world where every blog is overrun by ads and blinking-in-your-face-audacity, isn’t it a relief to visit a blog that’s so Zen and advertisement-free?
And today,today I have something inspiring to share. It’s a beautiful forwarded email from my best pal, Jana.
The email was about Letha Sandison who started a social entreprenuership project in Uganda. The project helps Ugandan women earn a living and help themselves. It read:
She founded Wrap Up Africa which is an organization that helps provide jobs through local partnerships where the profits will be funneled back to community support programs through non-profit partners. Wrap Up Africa collaborates with the Uganda Cancer Institute in Kampala, Uganda to help with the growing and often unrecognized needs of the patients.
Letha has designed wrap skirts to fit any body type. She then trains local Ugandans (many of them are parents of cancer patients) to sew the skirts…providing them with a job that not only helps their family live a little more comfortably but helps care for their dear child who has cancer. She gets so much joy out of seeing these parents feel as though they have a sense of purpose now because sitting around and waiting was just too painful.
It says, “A skill, a skirt, a life saved” which cleverly epitomises what Letha’s Wrap Up Africa (WUA) project is about.
WUA teaches Ugandan women tailoring skills and lets them use sewing machines at the Ugandan Cancer Institute. Later these women sew wrap-around skirts which are then bought back by WUA to sell back in the States.
The profit made from selling these skirts are used by the cancer institute to fund programmes and activities for cancer patients such as cancer treatment, nutritional programmes, scholarship programmes, therapeutic arts programme for cancer patients, setting up a library and buying basic necessities like mosquite nets for the patients.
I thought it was a fabulous way to give back.
A simple idea becomes a life-saving idea. You get a skirt, the Ugandans get to live, you feel damn good parading in your skirt.
Shouldn’t life be meaningful like this?
The Wrap Up Africa skirts are sold on Etsy at 100 dolllars a pop.
Turning Life into Stories
If you’re a closet writer (like me lah) and want to learn from a real writer for free (and get to ask all those burning questions on writing short stories etc), do make yourself free for Robert Raymer is coming to Penang this Merdeka weekend.
He will be doing a whirlwind promo tour of Penang to promote his new book, Lovers & Strangers Revisited. (He lives in Kuching, by the way).
Tomorrow he will be at Institut Perguruan Persekutuan P.Pinang from 9 am to conduct a workshop on “Writing Narratives and ‘Neighbours’: Making Choices” This is open to the public.
You can also catch him at MPH Gurney Plaza at 3pm tomorrow where he’ll teach you how you can turn your ideas into short stories, using examples from Lovers and Strangers Revisited.
Finally, if you’re still keen to learn more from the man who recently won 4th place in the 2008 USA National Writers Association Novel Contest, you can still meet him on Sunday (Hari Merdeka) at the Little Penang Street Market. He’ll be selling books at one of the stalls and giving a reading at Segrafedo at 12 noon.
I’ll be there as a friend and supporter as well as pick up a few writing tips myself.
So if you love writing and want some tips to hone that craft of yours, make a date with Robert this weekend!
Missed Me? I Missed Me Too!
My blog title says it all. I missed my blog. I missed rambling like some old nenek. I have lots of stories to tell. In fact, sometimes I think I have so much to tell that I don’t know where to start.
This blog got cranky the past few days and I got booted out. Couldn’t log in. Couldn’t do a damn thing. Nic asked me if I had backed up the blog posts. Like yeah, maybe a month ago! Don’t do this to me, oh Blog. Don’t wipe out my entries. They’re hard work. But Nic’s my husband for a good reason – he can perform some IT miracles. Finally, my Baby (Blog) is back.
And now Maya can get down to updating all and sundry about her 2 weeks!
Well, first off, I didn’t win in my Science & Tech category that night at the MWW Gala Dinner. But chill people. When I SMSed a friend, she shot back: “Woman, you are among the 18 chosen women of Malaysia! That’s a big win.” Yes, my dear. You are so right!
Another friend told me she bought MWW and showed “me” off to everyone! Hey, thanks Dot for the life-affirming gesture. I’m proud that you’re so proud of me!
Actually I’m not even disappointed (oh god, I must be aging gracefully! I was a competitive maniac when I was in school) – I was enjoying myself so much that I quite forgot that I didn’t manage to get that Royal Doulton vase (masquerading as a trophy). I invited Lisa along and she had a grand time, being made up by the Guerlain girls in black and having her hair styled.
What I loved most was meeting Jun Lin (artistic director of the Rainforest World Music Festival), Alecia (of Gorgeous Geeks, what a name for a group of IT women, love the name!), Dr Tang (Malaysia’s only pediatric rheumatologist), Cynthia (a retail consultant for One Utama), Hoong Ling (exuberant gal with such a brilliant smile), Maple Loo-Asaro (the really beautiful owner of JapaMala Resort Tioman and Samadhi Retreats), Regina (love her elegant hair do), Prof Dr Halimaton (she won in my category by the way but we had a great time chatting during dinner… she looks so much like Marina Mahathir!) and Shanti Jayaram (who was the Most Inspiring Woman of the night – she told the story of how she was nominated by her boss at Zerin Properties – what a boss, right?).
I was there with these accomplished, beautiful and fabulous women. Looking at them all, I think Malaysia’s in no way short of talent or skills. We’re all doing something fantastic in our own ways, helping the community and in a way, helping ourselves to grow.
As we were all being fussed over by hair stylists and make-up girls in a private room which gave us a stupendous view of Pavillion KL across the road, I felt a bit like an awards winner! Everyone was truly down-to-earth, especially the women team of Malaysian Women’s Weekly: Tara Barker (the editor-in-chief), Elaine Kwong (MWW editor), Melati (MWW writer with a hidden talent for designing evening gowns), Rina, Geetha, even to that sole guy graphic designer who shyly asked us to pose for a photo!
Ning Baizura sang a few Whitney Houston songs as we dined on a 3-course dinner (no photos of the food due to the subdued lighting and I had to listen attentively to my dinner companions right? Would be kind of rude to whip out my camera every 5 seconds).
My dinner companions that night included Dr Farrah-Hani Imran (remember the gymnast? She’s now a medical doc) and her cute brother, Dr Amran as they were seated at our table. Dr Amran looked like a spitting image of RPK with a deliciously wicked sense of humour.
Everyone had their five minutes of fame as we were announced by Lina Teoh (who did an amazing job emceeing that night – the right dose of wit!) to go onstage, accompanied by male models, to receive our orchid bouquet from Tara. Nominees in each category were next photographed together. Each nominee received a Guerlain Paris Orchidee Imperial, Patchi chocolates (divine!), an autographed copy of MWW by Ning, a certificate, Royal Albert silver spoons and a bouquet of white lilies and orchids.
I’ll let the photos do the talking… it was a perfect night where I felt like a princess! Thanks to a special friend who nominated me and gave me this chance to try something totally different from my usual Penang routine. Thanks to everyone who SMSed the votes. Thanks to everyone of you who believed in me. Robert even intoned me to visualise winning using the law of attraction! (We’re both serious junkies of The Secret!)
Related links:
http://mayakirana.com/blog/2008/06/a-hurricane-of-a-trip/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kristagoon/sets/72157605952122481/
Wish Me Luck!
I won’t be posting for a few days as I am off to KL for the MWW Gala Dinner tonight.
Shall be going with Lisa and we two are quite excited despite having to arrive at 3pm at The Westin for a rehearsal.
Yes, you read right. A rehearsal! *making me slightly nervous now*
Ning Baizura will be crooning some songs, Lina Teoh will be the emcee.
A few days ago I got the dinner programme from Rina, the deputy editor of MWW and it seems we’ll be made up by professional make up artists and hair stylists. Am I relieved I don’t have to lug my sister’s Philips hair styling tools to KL. As it is, there’s a lack of leg room on AirAsia planes. Am I relieved I don’t have to do my own make up!
Anyway, thank you my dears for your SMSes and support and calls. You know who you all are.
I am so grateful to everyone who voted for me. I am going without any expectation of winning because I want to have a fabulous time and I want to meet the other amazing women too! If I win, that’s a bonus! And the Montfort Boys Town will probably be the recipient of the RM5,000 prize….already Nic’s adamant that this organisation should get it. I think so too.
Other than that, I shall have more news and more photos when I get back to Penang next Wednesday!
Until then, wish me luck, my dears!
The Best of Us
It’s Olympic season…. which is a good thing in my books.
Thank God I don’t rely on RTM to get broadcasts. Who wants to hear some boring wawancara when you can enjoy the action live? Why can’t RTM get out of its RTM-ness (which basically means, humdrum, boring, old fart sort of stuff)? If you work for RTM and you are reading this, please go tell your boss that RTM, even after the so-called revamp, is not working! It’s not on the pulse of what people want to watch these days. But RTM never gets it. It reminds me of an old, obstinate company which won’t change because it’s too scary and too difficult to change.
Anyway, RTM rant aside, I love Astro this Olympic season. 8 channels of pure sports to indulge in. I had to of course upgrade my Astro subscription (which took 24 hours to activate) but for an extra RM20 each month, I now have the pleasure of watching world-class sports.
We’re planning to just subscribe to the Sports package just for this Olympic season but we’ll see what happens after that. Maybe we’ll stick to it though Nic isn’t a football fan.
The opening ceremony was amazing, don’t you think? We rushed home and sat glued to the TV for the whole night. There’s this thing about being Chinese – no losing face OK? – especially when Western eyes are watching, no, make that scrutinising every move. Well, the Chinese bested them in terms of firework display last Friday.
The other good thing as a result of hosting the Olympics is that the Chinese learn some manners and learn how to be eco friendly too. Not bad for a nation of spitters and rubbish-throwers. A friend who used to work in Shanghai said she hated walking in their streets, for fear some spit might land at her feet! A good suggestion is to carry an umbrella and keep it open always to prevent spit from soiling oneself.
The Olympics perhaps remind us that humans are superhuman particularly when I watched the puny Chinese gal lift double her weight! Or when the Koreans nearly had perfect tens in archery. It’s really about majestic humans on a world platform for the next 16 days.
Isn’t that about the best of us, like the ad says?
Spotting a 10 Million Dollar Fake in 2 Seconds
I bring at least 2 books whenever I go to Kuching. I know that I will have lots of time to read unlike the stolen minutes when I am in Penang.
This round, I picked up a non-fiction to read. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell.
Blink wasn’t in my list of must-read books but something I picked up as Gladwell wrote The Tipping Point which was a major hoo-haa of a book last year. I hadn’t read The Tipping Point but after Blink, I now know I must backtrack and read that.
But I am planning to re-read Blink.
I don’t usually read the same book twice because I barely have time to read. But if a book warrants a second read, it is definitely worth my time. Ha!
Prose and Poetry in Cat City
This is quite late a post but I have very limited Internet access in Kuching. Don’t ask me why. It’s either some bloody dial-up (which works not) or have to go to a cafe with wifi access. Going to Kuching can be quite trying for me, at times. I wrote this post on 3 Aug which was the day the event was held, so read on (I shall stop being so grumpy today).
Stories about Backstreet Boys, a sea witch who seeks to break her own spell, corny love poems, Freddy and his 3-horned, 8-legged monster of a cow, the anguish of waiting for a love that never comes and the story of a wild boar piglet called Pumba reared in suburban Kuching – these and more were the creative expressions of a bunch of Kuchingites who shared on a Sunday afternoon at Bing, a coffee place in the heart of Kuching’s Chinatown (also known as Padungan).
A Little Weekend Gossip
It’s been way too busy for me these past 2 weeks.
First I was in Langkawi for 3 days and when I got back, I was whisked away by my 2 girlfriends for a girls’ only weekend getaway (it happened right here in Penang la, I didn’t go anywhere exotic but just had an overnight in Evergreen Laurel) and now that I am catching my breath a bit, I will be packing again to go off to Kuching for a week.
And when I get back after that, I will be going off for the gala dinner in KL (remember the MWW Awards thingy?)
It culminates in a posh dinner in The Westin and an audience with the Tengku Puan Pahang, Tunku Hajjah Azizah).Actually I met the Tunku about 2 years ago when she launched a fertility website we designed for a client but that’s another story for another rainy day.
A scheduled luncheon meet with Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen was also in order about two days after the gala dinner but I declined. I decided that I would really need a rest after such frenzy and though meeting Datuk Dr Ng would be a treat, I think too many things leave me too breathless.
My sis had sms-ed me that my face was in the MWW magazine this month but I had hardly any chance to pop into a bookstore to grab a copy (what with me going about Georgetown like a typical tourist).
Luckily my staff bought a copy and was raring to show it to me when I got into the office this afternoon. If you could, do SMS and vote for yours truly. I would be deeply grateful and honoured if I do win any of the awards on 15 August (when the gala dinner is scheduled and the winners announced). My 15 minutes’ claim to fame, so to speak!
I will be in Kuching for a bit of R&R but all my so-called R&R’s are often fun and productive for business too. This time, I will be meeting two friends of mine when I am in Cat City. We’re going for a reading at BING, one of the local cafes next Sunday.
Well, Robert will be doing a reading since he is the published author (his new book is out now so here is a shameless plug for a dear friend and client *smile*) but it seems he intends to drag me there so I can help him do a reading! Let’s see what happens.
I hope to blog more once I am in Kuching. Work in the office often leaves me with very little time to blog which is a delicious irony because most of my work revolves around writing! Such is the case for most people anyway. The paying work gets done first before anything else. Ouch.
Hope to write about a tonne of stuff I did over the past week and my girly-girl weekend which was slightly marred (imagine sitting between 2 arguing women and both are my good pals from uni!). Errgh!
Turning from Fish to Shark
I rarely get upset. I rarely lose my cool. I think life’s best enjoyed if one is optimistic and happy not glum and sullen.
But I got mad and I turned from friendly fish to grumpy shark two days ago.
Because of some people’s impertinence.
Sigh.
Most of you who know me know I am the last person to explode and short-circuit. So it had better be something truly freaking mad to get my knickers all knotted up.