Dear Diary

I know most of the people have had their own diary, if not only entry with tons of to do list in it or as most teenagers and well, some adults still do this, writes off an entry on what they had been going through, what they felt for the day - sad, mad or happy. I have had those - note the word had as time taught me that written off stuff could be read by both really "not-that-nosy-but-can't-help it" brothers and they could laugh about it. Well I might say that it was my own fault anyway.
I started off reading and hunting for my oldest brother's diary when he was in secondary school and believe me I enjoy reading every single thing in it. He always have cartoon characters alongside his entry. I remember most the image of broken sink that he drew when he actually broke it and was caught. One of the things living in a boarding school, there is always something to share well, the escapade and misfit... save for my sister - she was a school prefect during her time and as for me, lets just say that I support my friend in her GAP (Gerakan Anti Pengawas / Anti-Prefect Movement). My youngest brother learnt well from his brother and sisters - not to document anything that can be read and be used against him.
Abang Bil (thats my bro) wrote off his blog entry about the time he met up with my sister in law - make that before he met her and just by pure coincidence and luck, I happened to find a tape that one of his exes gave him. So being "curious" both A'an and I played it and ... I guess we just kind of compared it with Din Beramboi's tape (Din Beramboi is one of the comic comedians who released a couple of stupid but funny comedy tape. Yeah yeah we are both mean, hahaha). Just when I was getting my kick out of posting some familiar part from the tape, Abang Bil posted back saying that my saved IM conversation in A'an's pc was even more interesting that the tape. DARN! I forgot that I actually saved them. Darn! Darn! Darn!

Starlight, Starbright

True to the prediction, the Geminids meteor shower could be seen best last night from 9pm. At 9, after dinner and watching Survivor Vanuatu (I seriously kinda sick of it but that's the only watchable program at that time) I turned the lights outside off for a better view and start craning my neck up. Nothing much going on up there just yet and I was so glad that it rained heavily. The sky was so clear and beautiful.
Not long after mom joined me, turning the backyard light on. Then I start taking out a chair from the porch while mom taking the swing because our necks were hurting already. Most of the meteor could be seen after 9.30pm and we were both counting who sees the most because we were looking at different direction of the sky. We only managed to catch some together and then the airplane passing by was spoiling the fun.
Not long afterwards, my brother joined in, carrying a chair and a jar of crackers. We get to see more and the funny thing is, my mom keep saying, "after one more meteor, i'm going in", but she has been saying that since 10pm. Guess I got her hooked. The shower was not as many as I saw in 98 but then again the web page did say best seen in America and Europe. Still, I'm thankful that I manage to catch it at all. The last count was about 16 meteor and 17 airplanes, hehehe. Wished on every single one of it - minus the plane.

Sweetest Day

Well okay I haven't written in for days. I am definitely not in the mood for writing but I am definitely in the mood to jump up and down, screaming all over the place in joy and happiness and well, basically, just be happy. I have a great family, someone who loves me so much (believe me I was actually surprised but thankful that I am actually experiencing this) an okay job etc. etc. the list will go on and on and on.
Anyway as for what happened on the 9th of December 2004... that I would leave for anyone to guess. I was actually in the office, multitasking doing my job and chat up with Jeff while babysitting my bosses' son (yeah I have 2 bosses, drive me crazy sometimes) then he called me up and asked me to turn the cam on which I did, telling me how much I mean to him, his hopes and dreams which includes me and... oh well. *sighs+grin+blush.
I was in daze the whole day and went out to Jusco without realizing what I was doing. Spent kind of a lot there and returned home still in daze, prayed and crashed onto my bed. I woke up at midnight, perform prayer and of course - istikharah, the guidance prayer. I had done it quite few times, it all leads to him and for that night I dreamt of going through a recipe list tht mashed up Malay & Western cooking. Enough said. Just hope for the best. We still won't ever know what would happen in the future. Though I am HAPPY!!!!!! and hope that my dreams will come true too.
The Geminids Meteor Shower can be seen clearly tomorrow - Monday 13th December. I am not sure if we could see it clearly here like the last very cool and clear meteor shower (I forgot which) that happened in 1998 (They predicted last time that it was going to be at about 2 am, we waited up just to see that we actually see the showers at 5 to 6 - just about the time when everyone would wake up at the boarding school - bummer) Hope we could catch it here even though the hotspots would be around in Europe and some part of America.

Motorcycle Crash Causes 1 to Fall

Pontian: An accident happened involving a male, a motorcycle and a stop sign late afternoon today. It was reported that the motorcyclist was too occupied thinking about his future engagement with the restroom that he nearly missed the road towards his house. It caused him to make the emergency break thus 'injuring' the stop sign in return. The stop sign however did not survive the crash. The rider went straight into the muddy drain nearby while the motorcycle was not even scratched. The rider is currently being laughed at by his mother and sister as he was trying to hide it. He was caught when his mother told him about the fallen stop sign when she returned from work that causes him to smile crookedly and laughed giving away his involvement to the crash. He is now going through a hard time getting the smell of the mud off his arms and face. The drain is believed to come from the nearby house's lavatory (i.e: toilet)

The fallen stop sign


The tool of destruction


The perpetrator

Honour Killing

This is a slight detour from my usual blog entry but I feel that I really need to get it written out.

Picture this

A single woman returned home. Her clothes in tatters, face was badly bruised - she was raped. She came home to seek help, to seek refuge where everyone would when they are faced with the worse thing in their life. Her father and brothers went out and seek revenge - after killing her in the name of 'family honour'.

How are you feeling now, after reading that paragraph?
Sick? Disgusted? Horrified? Angry?

That was how I felt when I first came across an article about 'Honour Killing' in the local newspaper when I was 14 that occurred in Middle East. All my life, I know that my family would protect me from harm and even if I was harmed, they would always be there for me, protecting. Same goes to others. All I could think was, what happen to the family constitution there? Not long after Reader's Digest published out the topic on the so called 'Honour Killing' and again I felt sick to the pit of my stomach. One of the cases that happened was about a married woman in India (or was it Pakistan? I'm not sure but it was just about there) who was trying to get a divorce due to her husband's abusive ways. She ran back to her family with the hope that they would give her the protection she needed. She got a bullet in her head instead, put there by her own mother when she filed for divorce because it would taint the family's reputation.

Recently, my cousin Dayahlent me Norma Khouri's Forbidden Love. Again, it was about honour killing but due to the authenticity of the book, it was pulled out from the shelf. Ms Khouri should have known that for an autobiography, she should not mix fact with fiction. In other case at the end of Ms Khouri's page a girl was raped by her own brother. Logically we would think that action would be taken on the brother. It happened differently. She was shot by her other brother while that other brother of hers is still alive and well. That certainly tipped me over. (For the part where Ms Khouri listed the cases that happened, it was based on real cases but the existence of her friend Dalia was in doubt because she couldn't supply enough proof that she was there at the time it happens) Nevertheless, both Dayah and I agree that we couldn't be grateful enough to be living over here instead of there.

Needless to say, in countries where honour killings are permitted - and believe me there are acts and bills to support it in some of those countries such as Jordan - women become the victim in every single way. From the National Geographic channel, it was told that this happens when women are deemed as a property, not as a person nor do they have the freedom to choose. Some even believe that honour killing is in accordance with the religion of Islam. That is a complete lie. There is no verse in the Qur'an that said anything about honour killing nor permitting them to kill women in the name of honour. In my opinion, it is an act of extreme male chauvinism and stupidity.

From my search throughout the net and books, honour killing trailed back even before the coming of Qur'an, during the dark time of the Arab or known as the Jahiliyah period where female infanticide and 'honour killing' was widely practiced for they were afraid that the female would bring shame to their family. The prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) called for an end of this barbaric practise back then but still it manage to survive through time. I am not sure about female infanticide nowadays but it is clear that the honour killing goes on.

There are no clear statics for this killings and the women who was killed for honour sake would always be buried in an unmarked grave and the family tend to wipe clean any memories of her. The saddest part of all, the family who practise this believe tend to strike out on gossip basis without even investigating the female's innocence. That would come after she was killed during the post-mortem but then again, for what purpose? When someone is dead, they remain dead. From what I read, in Jordan, the male family member who commit the killing would be jailed for the short sentence of 6 months or less and when he was being freed, he would receive the welcoming fit for a 'hero'. They have no regrets killing their female family member believing what they did was right and was even widely supported by the community. Due to that action, many female in the respective countries opt to live inside a prison to save their lives.

Knowing all that, there is no spared moment that I don't feel blessed and lucky living here. I would always have options and I could choose. Families did not tend to act out based on the gossip itself and even if there is a gossip or even if the gossip is true, I don't have to be afraid of getting home and being killed by my own family.

And the Winner Is.........

Taufik Batisah!!!!!!!

I don't know whether it was wise or not to tell the fans who support Taufik to turn up at the Singapore Indoor Stadium to wear white while those who supports Sylvester to wear... pink because it was apparent that most of the audience turned up in white. When we look it at another view, it was kind of a spirit killer for Sylvester even before he started performing. When Gurmit prompted the audience to say out loud what was the number to vote for Taufik, the number 1 could be heard very clearly and as for Sylvester, the sound of number 2 came out as a mumble from the stage and some of the Taufik fans even had the gall to shout out 1 on Sly's turn.

Our very own Jac was in attandance of the grand final. Now i'm waiting for the World Idol :D

Singapore Idol

Okay, before anyone get the wrong idea, I am not from Singapore nor do I live there. I am a Malaysian who happens to have the opportunity getting Singapore TV channels from home - I live in Johor, few minutes away from Singapore. The Malaysian Idol fever has finished with Jaclyn being crowned as the first Malaysian Idol and she deserve it too. Tonight is the final round for the Singapore Idol with Taufik Batisah and Sylvester Sim as the final 2.

I spent the afternoon on the net, multitasking as usual, doing work, talking to my baby - on the phone and on the net and discussing with my best buddy Eena about the outcome of tonight's show. The Singapore Idol fever is geniusly being build up by the Mediacorp by having interviews on the radio - Perfect 10 98.7fm Morning Show for those who has fallen out of the contest and for the standing idols each week after their performance night and of course not to mention the magazines. I don't like to watch the Singapore Idol at first but when you get to hear Daniel Ong and Grace Chua every single morning tapping about the idols throughout the 30 minutes journey to work, you tend to get the fever without realizing that you have it.

The most remembered Idol contestant would be Jerry Ong. He was being booed and jeered openly during any appearance mostly because of the fact that... okay I am being mean but here was what I hear most people say - he can't sing, but still he managed to last for so long. Jeassea (very complicated spelling, I don't think I even spelled it correctly) got voted out at the first spectacular round even though she sounded so good. That is the power of voting.

So anyway, Eena and I agreed that Taufik deserve to be crowned as the Singapore Idol tonight. His own version of Belaian Jiwa could melt anyone's heart. We'll see about that, and hope that he would.

My last comment - Jaclyn could win World Idol.

Taufik or Sylvester?