The Family Guy

Have you ever watched The Family Guy? It's hilarious and sometimes somewhat insightful. Watch it with an open mind and don't ask questions like...Does anyone hear what Stewie says? If they don't, how come everyone can understand the dog, Brian? And, what's with Brian and the martini with an olive in it? It's actually all good fun and sometimes it's good to laugh at yourself (which alot of the episodes poke fun at).

The first time I watched Family Guy, I actually didn't like it very much. I didn't find it very funny but it actually grows on you and after a couple of episodes, it was actually quite a laugh. The father, Peter, is an obnoxious big guy, the mother,Louis, is just too perfect (which makes you wonder why she ended up with such a loser), the kids, Meg and Chris are just normal kids trying to deal with issues teenagers go through. The strange characters are the baby, Stewie, and the family dog, Brian. Stewie's ultimate aim is to kill Louis and world domination. Brian is far from just the family dog being the most intelligent creature in the house.

I highly recommend it if you don't feel like thinking after a long day at work and you just want to chill out in front of the tv. Happy viewing!

A New Addition and New Beginnings

At long last, there is a new addition to the Thean family. Welcome Ashley, who has just completed her one month full moon. For such a young one, she has managed to make parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles run around her frenziedly trying to meet her every whim and fancy. With an angelic demeanor, when she is not about in break out crying that is, she has managed to wrap everyone around her little tiny finger....bwahahaha.

All that said and done, although small and sweet, she's has quite a temper and hidden strength in her little arms and legs that could make your muscles sore for days to come. Although born in the year of the rat, she shares very similar characteristics with her Uncle Dennis, who is born in the year of the Monkey, with arms and legs everywhere and anywhere and an inquisitive disposition.

What a beginning to a new year it has been. I was so exhausted at the end of 2008 that I missed the fireworks going into 2009 and fell asleep an hour before the new year kicked off. A new family member plus a new and exciting job, what could more could anyone ask for?

Chinese New Year was relatively quiet this year in comparison to prior years, possibly due to a downturn in economic conditions and the potential for hard times to come. The Business News on TV shows still broadcasts gloom and doom everyday as companies come in reporting lower earnings and headcount reductions and lay-offs. In the new company I have joined, about 6000 staff were laid off. Wow!

On the political front, the fiasco in the our Northern State of Perak just adds on to the already gloomy view of the future. I guess then, it's a time to keep a low profile, sit tight and ride this out again and hope it isn't as bad as all the media is portraying it.

So far, for me, the new year has started on a good note. Already, I have made some good friends in my new company. It is an exciting time for me and being the pioneers to setup a new shared service center, it is an awesome opportunity in my career to learn new things and build new relationships.

I am truly looking forward to a challenging, interesting and fruitful 2009 albeit all the doom and gloom of the economic projections.

Welcome 2009...Goodbye 2008...

It is with mixed feelings that I say goodbye to 2008. It was a strange year, filled with erratic ups and downs and historical first-times in politics. On a personal level, 2009 will be an adventure, with a new job in the pipeline, there will be new friends to make and a new level of commitment and aspiration. Although excited about what the future holds for me, it is with a deep level of sadness that I bid farewell to my old job in Maxis and the friends I made there. Friendships made in the workplace can never quite compare to any other friendships as we are brought together, not by choice but by necessity.

I'm not sure how to describe my feelings of the coming new year. If I were to look around, Malaysians seem to be still going about their normal businesses and don't seem to be affected by the global recession that we are told about on TV and in the papers. We hear that there are pay cuts and retrenchment in our neighboring country down South and up North, in Thailand, there are continuous political upheavals that can't be good for the economy for the whole of South East Asia. Even though there are throngs of people at the malls, consumer spending has got to be down as revenues at Maxis are not quite up to what is expected. Can we then say we are in for hard economic times in 2009 then? Will we see the full brunt of global recession after the christmas, new year and chinese new year festivities are over? What can we do to protect ourselves from what is projected to be a economic tsunami of sorts?

With all this mixed up thoughts and feelings on my mind of what 2009 holds for me, what can I do? Right now, I'm going to start off the new year by making a good breakfast at home and take it from there. Next, it'll be a new job next week and a whole lot of anticipation of what is to come.

Goodbye 2008 and thank you for all the experiences and friends I have made. Welcome 2009, hit me with all that you've got in store for me!!!

The World is Changing....

It is truly amazing what has happened in the political arena this year, 2008. It seems that, all over the world, the newer generation, the ones that have just reached the age to vote are finally finding a voice. Gone are the days when we had to have all night vigils, camped out in the open and finally tear gased and hauled away. Today, in our internet era, one could post blogs, take part in forums, chat on chat sites and still maintain a certain level of anonymity. The amazing thing is, there is little to nothing anyone can do about it. In a sense, it is freedom of information in it's purest form. The battle to control information is a lost cause. Our younger generation, are now, constantly bombarded with all sorts of information, it is now up to them to sieve out the right from wrong. Never before has our children been made aware of what is going on around them so early in their lives. Parents can been seen trying hard to protect their children from being exposed to information that they feel they are either too young for or not ready for. We, as parents, should know that it is an uphill battle that may not succeed and we need to learn to embrace the internet age instead of fighting it.

In Malaysia alone, it was our younger and more informed generation who had made the decision to take things into their own hands and vote. Most of our older generation would say that it is because our generation has never experienced how hard our lives can get when things don't go right. We've never experienced what war is like or when there is hate purely due to race. One has to remember though that times has change. We, as Malaysians, have developed a strong feeling of being Malaysians with the way we converse, the food we eat and of course, the way we drive. And, the one thing that we share is a need to call the shots in our own future and the future of our children.

It was not only in Malaysia that the winds of change had touched. For the first time in history, the US will be having a black president. Ten or even five years ago, if asked if this would ever be possible, most people with say a definite no but it has happened. I am so proud of the time that I live in and hope that we, as humans, are able to see beyond the colour of our skins and our religious differences to recognise that we are all citizens of this world. To me, the fact that a black president was voted into office is a small step for all mankind to realise that our squabbling about race and religion are so very petty as compared to the bigger issues of the our enviroment and the stability of our world markets.

We should look at this as an inspiration to overcome our differences in race, religion and political ideas and work together to overcome the urgent issues of the damage we have caused to the enviroment.

Are We Truly Better People As We Grow Older?

When we were born, we had no prejudices, no pre-concieved ideas of what was right or wrong. As babies and even as we grew up, our world revolved around our parents and the people whom we most associated with. Along the way, we picked up information in the form of academic education, ideas and continuous programming that either made things clearer or made things more confusing. Most of us believe that what we learn will make us better people but is that necessarily true?

The only filter of what is right or wrong or acceptable or unacceptable is our conscience. This filter was also created based on what was programmed on us during the process of growing up. Hence, this is the reason why everyone stresses the importance of how parents and teachers bring up our children and what we "teach" them.

All that said, we have to remember that every one of us started out on a empty slate. We were born into this world and all we did was sponge information, happenings, ideas into our brains. We definitely picked up some information that are more gray then white. In addition, we also realised that there were people out there that could hurt us and whom we didn't share the same idealogies with what we picked up along the way. We also started building walls around us to protect us, physically as well as emotionally.

One thing most of us didn't realise though is that while these walls kept bad things out, it also boxed us in with all our accumulated ideas and judgements. As we grew older, the walls got higher and less new ideas and information could get in. In the meantime, we mulled over and started extrapolating on the existing information that we had. Maybe that's where the saying of 'thinking out of the box' came from.

The realisation of this hit me full in the face on Deepavali day itself when I was taking an online test in the sanctity of our little library cum office at home. The test explicitly stated that I was to read the excerpt and answer the multiple choice questions purely based on the information that was provided in the excerpt. The excerpt dealt with current issues and concerns that I had either saw on TV, read about or spoke to someone about and of course, formed some judgement on. Thus, what made this test so difficult was to leave all these pre-conceived thoughts and judgements at the door and answer the questions purely based on the information that was provided. Man, it was tough!!

The amazing thing is, it actually got me thinking of how I approached my life, my work and everything I did everyday. It also made me realise that, in the process of building my emotional walls and accumulating experiences, I had also formed my own judgements and opinions on different aspects of my life. In order to feel safe, I found myself clinging to these thoughts and had persuaded myself that they were actually fact. In some circumstances, this could be good but in some cases, it could have made me miss out of opportunities.

So, are we truly better people as we grow older? Or, in order to validate our experiences, we think we are better people. Some how, kids seem to be better then us anytime. Try having a solid conversation with a kid sometime (of course with one that is old enough to have a conversation with). When you talk to that kid, try not to correct him/her and try to truly listen to what they have to say. Kids have not yet built their huge barriers and you truly become aware of this when you talk to them.

Go have an honest conversation with a kid and I believe, it will bring your out of your box for a little while. Just remember not to judge what they say and try to understand where they are coming from. It is truly an eye-opener.

Great Men...

Although I told myself that I would never talk about politics on my blog, I realised that there are some people worth mentioning.

In my opinion, it takes a great man to step down from the highest position in the nation. Once you are given the power, it takes an enormous amount of strength to relinquish it. In my lifetime, I have been fortunate to see 2 great men step down from their position of power. Both men, in their own way, have done good for the nation we live in. One of them ruled and contributed to the development of the country and the other enabled the people to speak out and bring out all the hidden corruption and secrets that were hindering the countries further development.

During a time of turmoil and condemnation, one has to realise that we have to be thankful for everything that has happened thus far. We can only pray that the peace and prosperity of the nation continues on. It is excellent that the people are speaking out more but we have to remember not to get too carried away. We need to cut off all the noise that can comes with such upheaval and take a focused and clear direction.

One Night in Bangkok...

It was not really just one night in Bangkok but a good 3 days of non-stop shopping but it was one night in Bangkok when I was truly hit with a blast from my past....

Bangkok, or Krung Thep as the locals will refer to it, is a vibrant city of about 8.1mil people. A city that truly never sleeps and a woman's shopping paradise. Admittedly, there's much more to buy for women then for men. In comparison to KL, which only sports a population of about 1.7mil in the city proper, Bangkok blows your mind in terms of the number of people. Of course, most Malaysians stay in the outskirts of KL within the Klang Valley but in comparison, we are still about 2mil people less then those living in Bangkok city proper. We're used to having a certain amount of space between us and it is quite dis-orienting when there is so many people living together in one spot.

Bangkok has fond memories for me. Living there at my most impressionable age of 7 to 11 years old, it almost felt like I was coming home when I touched down at the airport. Of course, nothing can replace my true home in Petaling Jaya but the nostalgia was over-whelming. The language, the sights, the smells and the taste brought back fond memories of my childhood. Even getting stuck in the traffic brought a smile to my face. I was actually waiting for the cab driver to turn off the engine. Alas, times have changed in Bangkok and I don't think it is now such a common practise.

The first thing I had to have was my Pad Thai. No where else in the world or even in other parts of Thailand does the Pad Thai taste the same as in Bangkok. The combination of sweet, sour, crunchy from the raw beansprouts and 'pedas' from the chilli flakes makes this dish a treat for the taste buds. It was with pure and utter contentment for me when I was done with our late lunch.

Shopping in Bangkok.....how should I begin....shopping as usual was glorious. The pinacle of retail therapy, the absolute bliss of being able to buy an item at a fraction of the price that I would have paid at home. Bangkok has never let me down when it comes to shopping. One thing though, branded products in Bangkok is amazingly expensive. I can proudly say, if you want to buy branded products, come over to KL or go over to Hong Kong. But, no one goes to Bangkok to buy branded products anyways and cheap is good in this city of angels.

The additional empty suitcase I packed came in very handy and I managed to fill it up to the brim with my purchases. Fortunately for us, we ran out of Baht as we wanted to keep enough for Airport Tax, only to be informed at the airport that the ticket price already included the tax. I could have bought that blouse at Pratunam. Not to worry, Bangkok is only a 2hr flight from KL and with AirAsia tickets prices, who says I can't do this every year!

The last night in Bangkok was the most memorable and I have to say thank you to the two individuals who played a key role in my teenage years and who welcomed us so enthusiatically after 18 years. It was a different country and a different time when we first met but the most memorable years of our lives in Myanmar or Burma as we fondly remembered it. It brings tears to my eyes that it took us 18 years to finally find each other but that night in Bangkok, we found out that the bond that kept our friendship alive was still strong and kicking. I never truly realised until that night that the time we spent hanging out together doing silly teenage things at the age of 14 to 16 could have created such a strong friendship that spanned over so many years. In the 18-20 years, we had all taken different paths, some of us got married, some of us didn't but all of us have become successful in our own right.

The flood of memories of all the little things that we did together as kids. Of just hanging out at school and after school was so over-whelming that night that, if not for the all the drinks I had, I wouldn't have been able to go to sleep. It was like being re-united with family that I had lost so many years ago. Initially, I was a bit afraid to meet up, afraid that we, as individuals, have changed so much that there will be little or no common ground. Boy was I wrong to underestimate the kind of friendship that we had built. Even with the different paths we've taken and the different people we have made a part of our lives, nothing could have changed the past. I also realised that these were also the people who knew some of my deepest, darkess secrets of my childhood. These were the people who knew me before I became an adult, before I started building walls and fences to protect me from the harshness of the world around me. It did make me feel a bit vulnerable but I remembered the trust I had in my old friends and all that was forgotten.

One night in Bangkok....a truly memorable one night in Bangkok.