This is Where I Called Home

Let me introduce myself to you guys. My name is Muthu. I am eight. Eldest of the five siblings. All are boys, the youngest is 1 year old. I never attended to any formal school until now. My parents never send me to one. I am staying in a hut as you can see with a blown off roof after the last thunderstorm and a door that barely close. There were no windows.

I introduce my mom first as she is the person that I see the most everyday. My father seldom at home. He loves alcohol more than our family. My mother is currently expecting another baby. Heard that it is a girl this time. I seldom see my dad. He is never at home. I don't know what he is. Only thing I know when he is back is mother will get hit and we all siblings we got beaten up for no reason at all. Since he has this new found girlfriend, he came home less and less. I knew my mother cried a lot for him.

Since I am not attending any school, I had plenty of time. I like playing around with friends. Though they always have some shiny new toys I could only hoped for. So I found a way to make money. I asked from people. Sometimes, on 'luckier' day, I could earn myself a can of coke. 'Bad' days can be really terrible. Anyway, I don't enjoy reading. I can't read anyway. Although I hate it, I have to take care of my younger siblings for my mother sake.

Life is tough. I never want all this responsibility of grown man. I wanted to play, I wanted to go to school like the other boys, to see the world. Above all, I wanted a home that is warm, a father that provides, mother that heal all the wounds, and everyone around table to enjoy a nice dinner. Not this and definitely not what I had now! I am so longed for a change in my life and fate.

To see this broken family really breaks my heart. They were a defunct family living off the main road from Kuantan to Gambang. They were the poorest of the poor among the area. The house they lived is no living condition. Torn down roof, no rooms, poor sanitation, with food and faeces lying around. Anyway, it is a shelter provided by some kind people. They were like a roadkill from the economic highway.

Father does not has a permanent job and mother is a housewife. Most of the income were spent on the drinking behaviour. Moreover, the father is abusive at times and his beating never spared the younger child as well. Education for the young one never seems important. The health condition were terrible. Almost all of them having head lice manifestation with the second youngest child having scabies infection as well. I have no doubt that the other siblings will have the same infection. All of them seems malnourished and looks small for their age. The mother, though pregnant, never attended the routine maternity clinic check-up for the young one inside.

People around had been trying to help them, with monetary support from governmental agency, non-governmental organisation and people with a heart of a Buddha. People donated food and clothing to fulfil only the basic necessities but they were far from enough. They need better homes, and most important, education to promise a brighter future for the younger generations. With the help of people who cares, this family will be relocated to the foster home to ensure proper living condition and schooling for the child. There is still hope if everyone only lend their helping hand.

The Money-Making Pet

This is not a zoo. This, in fact is my house. And this is no ordinary monkey. His name is 'Beruk'. He is owned by Pak Mat Beruk (in local tongue we pronounce as 'Pok Mat Berok'). His job? He plucks coconut for Pak Mat. How they pluck the coconut is fun to see. First, he will climb up the coconut tree. Then he will liaise with Pak Mat on which coconut to pluck (you don't want a young green coconut to be plucked as the flesh is still relatively thin and no value). Pak Mat will shoosh here, praise there and they will get job done. After that, he will be rewarded with food.

This is a thriving local industry in my home town. Coconut fetch a very good price in the market and it is in all time demand. The coconut-plucking monkey enjoy his job, and I am going too, in the month to come when I start my job.

Combo of Pak Mat and his beruk equals to nicely skinned coconuts

Bak Kut Teh: Smelly Pork No More

Do you know that bak kut teh originates from Malaysia? Have you ever wondered how it come by? According to local people, it started as the manual workers that works in seaports of Klang long time ago was looking for a way to curb the stench of cooking the pork raw. They needs something filling for their job nature as well and the bak kut teh served with rice is just the answer for a hungry man's call. So they found the way by adding certain chinese herbs to the stew will bring out the aroma and curb the smell. Now it had evolved from worker's meal to all time favourite of Malaysian.

Nowadays you can easily find bak kut teh everywhere in Malaysia, but with their own variations. Usually, it is served in claypots to preserve the heat. Almost all part of the pork whichever is edible will be thrown into the stew. The soup is between clear to dark colour depends on the chef. Usually, there will be garnish such as lettuce, and you char kuay. There will be strong smell of herbs usually. It will go along very well with chinese tea. Usually, in bak kut teh shops, you will see pots of water boiling beside the main table. This is for the customer to refill the tea themselves.

Yesterday I had a chance to taste the well known bak kut teh in Klang itself. It was one of the well known shop near the port Klang. We called for both soupy and dry bak kut teh. The dry type according to the owner, is a new taste. For the soupy one, the taste was just okay, too mild to my liking. And the selection of the meat was mostly the fat one. As for the dry bak kut teh, after the meat was boiled, it was fried with dark soy sauce and chilis. So it tasted a little bit seet and hot. Anyway, not bad overall. The price was fair, about RM 12 per person.

If you happen to have a chance to enjoy this dish, please do so. It will surely leave a lasting impression of a special taste in Malaysia.

Oh I Love You So Much, My Love Durian

So they say, durian is the king of all fruits. Some like it, some loath it. It can be anything from the
best thing in the world to the piece of thing that smells like a rotten fish.

It is spring time again. The durian trees is blossoming. There is a nice fragrant in the air. Between sakura and durian flower, I like the latter more. All because it turn into little durian fruit later. I say, durian is a weird fruit. It is covered in spikes all over the skin. yet the flesh is sliky smooth and glistening yellow in colour. In three months time, some these flower will turn into fruit and ripe.


It is best to enjoy a durian when it is fresh, best about 12 hours after it fall. If we eat the fruit right after it fall, it will smell like grass and the fruit will be slightly hard. This year, the trees flowers a lot, compared to last year. Hope it all turn into lots of durian.

Celine Dion 'Taking Chances' World Tour Live in KL Attended

I had an amazing weekend. It was all because of Celine Dion. She had performed her best for us, Malaysians in her 'Taking Chances' World Tour in Stadium Merdeka.

The weather was not helping very much initially. It was heavy downpour since 3 pm in KL. However, the weather changed to clear sky at about 5 pm. Me and my mom went there early, so there wasn't so much of traffic and parking was easy. This is the first time she attends any concerts and I thought of bringing her to experient how a live music would feels like. We parked in front of the Victoria Institute. However, the person in charged of parking came and collect RM 10 from us! Who are they actually? The car was parked on the pedestrian's walkway . I never knew the walkway was theirs. Anyway, we just paid.

At 5.30 pm, there was already people lining up to get into the stadium. Celine was singing that time! She dressed in green top and red pants and she sang 'Taking Chances'. After 2 songs, there were no more singing. We waited for at least one hour and the crowd is building up very fast. 10 minutes before seven we were able to be seated in the stadium. As you can see from the photos, there were a very weird structure situated between the RM 400++ seats and it was in the middle. Thus everyone avoided sitting in the middle part of the stadium that faces the centre stage. The stage was quite plain, with 3 big screens and no fancy stuffs, so the enjoyment is purely from the performance of Celine. Meantime, the waiting process was very long and boring as well because there were no slideshow or whatsoever being put up on the big screens. There were only some crappy music box-like songs being played. Wished the organizer could improve on this next time. There were quite a holdup because the VIPs were late. So the show begins at about 9 pm, which was 1 hour later from schedule.

All I can say is Celine Dion is absolutely a superstar. She never failed to entertain us with her strong and powerful vocal and at times, she was witty as well. She is a true singer. It was an one and a half hour intense show. She sang most of her hits such as 'I drove all night', ''Because you love me', 'It's all coming back to me', 'Pour Que Tu M'aimes Encore', 'I'm alive', 'River deep mountain high' and songs from her latest album such as 'Taking chances', 'Alone', 'Eyes on me', 'My love' and many more. She ends with 'My heart will go on'. Amazing. As for the clothing, she had been conservative. She wore a silver shining dress, and leather pants throughout the show and only changed to a white gown for the last song. She had been sweating like mad, though.

Even the King also attended her performance. Among the VVIPs were Siti Nurhaliza and Tun Mahathir's son. After the concerts, I managed to grab a poster of her, haha. She will bound for Manchester, UK for her next stop. This will be a memorable time for me and my mother. Thanks to you, Celine. Happy belated 40th birthday, Celine.

The centre stage from where I seat

The RM 200++ seating, not yet packed because it was still early

My mom and her first time in concert

The line behind me at bout 6 pm.

That is how far I was from the entrance. There was a weirdo wearing rain coat (in yellow) despite no rain.

The Power of Believe

I had been helping out in a secondary school lately. There is this young boy, who is delinquent, create a lot of problem to the teachers and the friends. It seems like law does not applies to him. Law were mean to be broken anyway. In fact, her mother is a teacher in the same school. There is some sort of high expectation from him to perform well in academic and behaves well. Alas! It turn out that he failed several subjects in the school test. The mother had lost hope with him. His teacher thought he is just another naughty student that refused to study. His friends think that he is a bad company to mix around. Even he himself does not believe in himself that he is capable. This creates a self-fulfilling prophecy, as he try to fulfil the low expectations in his surroundings.

Then, came along the school counsellor. She found out he is an intelligent boy. She never lost hope in him. She told the mother to tell him one day that he is actually a good person and the counsellor believe that he will succeed one day. After listening to such a simple word by her, his life changed totally. It takes one person, only one, to have hope and believe in him that he can do it. From that day on, he changed to become an obedient student, never missed a class, and does not create trouble for the school anymore. His academic performance improves. Now, he even became favourite student of his class.

Sometimes, we unwittingly condemned a person without thinking twice. Without knowing it, we might actually strip off the person's hope in themselves by giving negative remarks. It is easy to notice a person's mistakes but it is very hard to appreciate a person's good. Next time, before we passing out a comment to a person, think twice, thrice or more. Our words might done a damage beyond repair to a person's life, or save a person from the brink of destruction. Choose carefully.

Road Trip to Peninsular Malaysia

I am planning for a road trip around peninsular Malaysia soon with couple of my buddies. Starting point will be Kuala Lumpur. We will travel north, using the trunk road, through Ipoh and Taiping, up to Penang, then transect from West to East using the Grik way. From there, we shall go south, cruising along the beach side road. and stop by Kuantan. From Kuantan, we will travel further south till Johor Bharu, finally picking up from there through Melaka and Negeri Sembilan. Finally back in Kuala Lumpur.

This is to reminiscence the old memories of these places. When I was a little boy, my mom used to take us around Malaysia during school breaks. Along the way, we shall meet the friends that had been scattered around after the last parting. Most important of all, I think, is to enjoy the journey along the way, things that we had missed when we rushed things through. Isn't it always that way? The process of doing something is always most fun. However, when we had finished the thing, it is sort of anticlimax already. Just like my medical school life.


Hope that this road trip will bring back some sweet memories to me and my lil car don't give me trouble.

Live à Kuala Lumpur: Celine Dion World Tour

Haha! I have been waiting for this with anticipation. I am going to CELINE DION TAKING CHANCES WORLD TOUR 2008! OMG. Wait a second. What? Postponed? Now it is on 13th of April. Glad it is not cancelled or something. Bought this ticket on the day it was released. This is the first time I attend an English concert. Last time attended Emil Chou concert. Even the second lowest price was RM 111 after 10% discount (Original price was RM 123). Not that I want to complaint for the pricing of the ticket, it is simply ridiculous to price the starting price of the ticket from RM 158 and way up to RM 1000 for the grand seats. Maybe she wasn't mean to perform for youngsters like me, though. More over, the venue. Oh~! So cheap! Stadium Merdeka is just a torn down place to watch such a wonderful superstar performing.

One funny thing I encountered during buying concert ticket. I had made my purchase and waiting for the salesperson to print the ticket. There was this couple, in their forties, wanted to buy ticket. During that time, the cheapest fare is still plenty and the seating is facing the main stage. However, this couple straight away enquire about the RM 288 ticket, which is seated sideways. Experience tell me that whichever type of cheap seating, there is no significant difference between the enjoyment level as we STILL cannot see the star and can only see the big screen. On top of that, you enjoy a good neck strain for looking sideway for 3 hours. Next time don't ever buy sideway tickets (from my personal experience). The last time I attended Emil's concert in Bukit Jalil Indoor Stadium, I need a full good body massage the next day after sitting sideway for 4 hours.

See what I mean? The cheapest face centre stage but the more expensive sit sideway.

The first time I fall in love with Celine's songs was during 16 years old. The very first CD album I bought in my whole life is 'A New Day Has Come'. I think it was the album début that captured me. Subsequently, I ended up with her other albums as well such as 'Lets Talk About Love', 'One Heart', 'The Collector Series', 'Miracles', and the latest addition 'Taking Chances'. However, NOTHING compares to listening to her LIVE! Here I come, Celine.

Investment is the First Step, But How?

Since I am back in Kuantan, I suddenly feels there is nothing to do. There is always excess time. There is no more early awakening to cover bed, ward rounds, or do revision. No more (and not yet!) Instead, I woke up to the chirping of the birds and sweetness of the morning mist. There is hardly any motor vehicle that pass through the road in front of my house. Only one word to describe: Peace.

This gave me a lot of space to think. Where do I want to go from here? I have been reading books about investments and given a thought about financial stuffs. I thought I am a person that want to drive a good car. This maybe due to my family background that think that a car is nothing but a depreciating piece of metal, unlike a property or even gold, which will increase in value with time. So we never own a good driving car. However, I always think that I should drive a car that can ferry the passengers safely and feels well made. The car should be up to my status as a professional. So I have had conflicts with them about this matter. My mother wants me to drive a Proton Saga as a fresh man, the most is a Toyota Vios, nothing more. On the other hand, I would prefer something of a higher hierarchy such as a Corolla Altis or a Honda Civic. I even test drove a Civic that day to get the 'feel' of a nice car (however got disappointed by the car and the salesman).

Then, I come across this book that teaches a whole new idea about getting into debts. If we loan from the bank, say RM 100,000.00 to buy a new car, with the interest of 2.38% per annum for 5 years, we are actually paying an extra of whooping RM 11900 for nothing (that's about 11% of the total value!). The monthly instalment will be RM 1865. If we save this amount of money and put it into investment , by the end of 5 years, we will gain more than the amount we paid for instalment. Meantime, drive something cheap before driving your dream car. This idea seems feasible. I will seriously give a thought to it. In fact, starting a life with huge debt is no good as it limits the amount of cash flow into investment that would be dependent of the time factor. The earlier we start investing, the better it is.

I am still at the crossroad of how to invest. Can someone help me?