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… is celebrated on October 17th, 2009 that marks a very auspicious festivity in our life. With a whole amount of muscle needed in coping with cleaning, baking, cooking and rituals performed, surprisingly I am still in a very high festivity mood. We ushered in the celebration by adorning new clothes and the house is brightly lit with diya’s all over.

I cooked so many dishes! But no photos, except for one. Sigh. Sorry guys! So occupied getting ready for diwali celebration with friends that I forgot to take some photos. Just one, taken in the afternoon to drool over. I made an Indian version of stir-fry with medley of vegetables. Drool away!

Medley of vegetable sabji !

Medley of vegetable sabji !

With a full tummy, good company of friends and Disney fireworks, Diwali was celebrated with thoughts of family’s and friends back home. We miss you all. It gets very tough during festivities. Nonetheless, it was celebrated with loads of blessings and love from every one. Thank you all for showering your love and Diwali greetings via calls, sms, Facebook, Twitter and emails. Can we ever survive without technology? Not us! Come on, give us a break! We are so far away from every one…

DiwaliLight

Image courtesy: sneha1967.sulekha.com

Happy Diwali! Hope you had a blast celebrating it with your loved ones.

A fire extinguisher is not an option, but a necessity during this festivities or performing rituals. We do not want to be in the predicament as such. People should learn and practice safe fire etiquette’s. It’s not worth celebrating and mourning at the same time.

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As I scour through my feed reads this morning, I came across a blog post from Karen Cheng’s Snippets of Life. The blog post is about a heart-wrenching struggle of a child. Charmaine Lim, a four year old Singaporean, is dying of a rare cancer. Dubbed by her mother, Charmaine is her feisty princess diagnosed with neuroblastoma. She is currently in the 4th stage of her struggle.

Cynthia Lim, Charmaine’s mom quoted on her website as follows:

I thought over, probably a couple hundreds of times wondering how to write this entry. At the end of the day, I still have no idea what to write.

Truth is when I first saw the email sent by Dr Aung on the amount needed to bring Charmaine to New York for treatment, I was shocked. $350,000 is the upfront deposit. I weren’t sure what currency it was in. Sent Jolene and Charlene a text message, ending the message with “I would give up if it is in USD”.

And of course, the bad news never ends.

$350,000 USD.

Half a million Singapore dollars.

How would I ever be able to raise this amount of sum? How do I convince anyone that Charmaine’s life is worth half a million dollars? I don’t know how. I seriously don’t know how. So many times, I want to give up. I don’t know how to think. I don’t know what to think. I don’t want to think. I don’t dare to think.

A week has passed since I received the email and I know I have already procrastinated a week away and made no progress.

I am brought up to think rationally and weigh my decisions against benefits and cost. Rationally speaking, I know fully well that half a million dollars can be better spent on saving thousands of malnourished kids in Africa than on Charmaine who only has a 40-50% chance of survival even with the antibody in New York.

But Charmaine is my daughter. No amount of money can justify how important she is to me. And Jase. Despite Jase’s young age and maturity, I know fully well that he loves his mei mei just as much as I do.

I would do just about anything to save her. I thought about selling my kidney, being a surrogate mom. They may sound stupid and crazy but my conscience feels so much better with me earning that USD $350,000 because I cannot think of any rational reason to convince you to help me save Charmaine.

I really thought of giving up. Its so much more easier and I am so tired.

I don’t want to think about anything anymore. Its easier just remembering the next doctor’s appointment, the next time for medication, the next time to pay the bills and just things I can do without thinking…

I even avoided Jolene and Charlene for a week because I have no answer for them. Their suggestion to go public and seek for help. My permission to allow them to publicise the materials.

Even as I am typing right now, I don’t exactly know what am I doing. I don’t know what I have decided. I don’t know the consequences of me typing this.

The only thing I know for sure is that should anything happen to Charmaine, I would never be able to forgive myself for not trying to fight for Charmaine when all she has to help her is me.

This is the very reason why I am typing this.

Dear friends, please help Jase and me to save Charmaine. charmine

Such a young, innocent, sweet angel – Charmaine and her family needs your support. For donation details and words of encouragement, please visit http://ourfeistyprincess.com/. For current updates on Charmaine’s health, you can visit Charmaine’s blog at http://ourfeistyprincess.blogspot.com/. Help spread the word around and support this cause by placing Charmaine’s badge/widget “Feisty Princess needs bullets to fight, be her weapon” on your blog, via email, viral communication or conduct a charity drive in your community.

I am just lost of words at the moment – cannot fathom the type of diseases out there, plaguing even the smallest of soul on earth. Hang in there Charmaine – the angel’s are watching over you.

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Selamat Datang…

I am a Malaysian. A proud Malaysian. My family background is quite unique. My great-grandparents, both from dad and mom are migrants from India. They traveled to Malaysia during the British invasion. And from there on, our family tree grew and our identity stamped forever, as a Malaysian. But does my family and I consider ourselves Indian in any way? You would soon find out. Let’s keep some unfold mystery’s for later shall we? 🙂

Growing up, I’ve faced difficulties in identifying myself only as an Indian. The atmosphere and society we were brought up in was and is still uniquely diversified. Thankfully, we were very ethically and culturally drilled since birth. Mom has taught us all about being Indian, by virtue and mannerisms in respecting elders, recognizing the importance of prayers, festivals, maintaining close-knit relationships with our loved ones etc. I guess I can relate my being Indian from my mom and her virtues instilled in me 🙂 Oh… looks like the mystery(s) promised earlier, is no longer a mystery 😀 I know, I know.. My poor attempt at joke ! Well, you can’t blame me for not trying 😉

Anyways, back to the topic of my post. Anshul once suggested me to write more post on Malaysia. I shall begin with a little Malaysian history and background.

)

Malaysia, Truly Asia 🙂

Malaysia has come a long way since the British colonization and Japanese invasion from late 18th century. Since gaining independence on August 31st 1957, population currently stands at 25 million. Malaysia is separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular and Borneo. It is divided into 13 states and 3 federal territories. The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, which is known as “Wilayah Persekutuan” in Malay language (as in, our national mother-tongue). Our neighboring countries are Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei and Philippines. Putrajaya is the city that seats the government who constitutes the federal constituency, elective monarchy and parliamentary democracy – quite a mouthful of constituencies 😉  The head of state is our ruler, the King. Whereas, the government is headed by a Prime Minister.

Enough of politics, let’s shift the gear into economics & tourism. Malaysia is the largest producer of rubber, palm oil and tin. Apart from controlling the Straits of Malacca port for international trade, manufacturing industry has always been one of the major influences in the economical growth of Malaysia for many years now. However, the GDP growth % have been steadily declining since 2005, which I believe is not surprising at all with the current world economical turmoil. Let’s talk about tourism. There are many incredibly beautiful and breath-taking locations to visit in Malaysia. For example:

Serene and breath-taking!

Serene and breath-taking!

Blissful

Blissful

…and many other attractions namely Genting Highlands, Redang Island, beautiful rain forest preserves and religious landmarks namely, Batu Caves. I could go on and on, but let’s not utilize the image uploading capacity just for this 1 post! 😉 What the heck, I can’t resist! Let’s go absurdly gaga for more pictures 😀

Rainforest adventure!

Rainforest adventure!

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Peace and devotion 🙂

The architecture achievements are profound. Whether modern of traditional, each architecture is maintained and preserved with Malaysian flair and history added to it. Kuala Lumpur City Center (KLCC) and KL Tower is one of many beautiful, modern and prestige architectural display in the heart of our city center. Standing majestic and tall, proudly symbolizing the utmost achievements of Malaysians, and a promise for more to come. Malacca is a historical state that once housed the majority of British colonization. There are still vivid memories lingering in the air that constantly reminds us of our histories.

Stardust...

Stardust...

Historical State of Malacca

Historical State of Malacca

Malaysia’s culture is rich in many facets. I am so lucky that I have many friends from different ethnicity and diverse background. We are all blessed by observing each others ways of life, upbringing and indulging in many religious happy celebrations. Oh, how I miss all those public holiday’s 🙂 Malaysian’s consist of major ethnicity’s such as Malays, Chinese, Sikh, and Tamil. Some of us grew up together, went to school, played, laughed, smiled, cried and work – yes, together!

I believe the motto that truly reflects our bond as one proud nation and it’s people is: ME and U equals WE, whether as a Malaysian or an Indian. I am proud.

Malaysia is also a shopper and food fanatic haven. Spicy, sweet, savory, tart, salty, sour – apart from local delicacies, one happily indulges in variety of food influences from Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore etc. What’s my favorite food? Let’s keep you folks guessing and the answer might be revealed in another post. To all foodie’s out there, here are some pictures to drool on 😉 Please do not make a mess. I repeat, no mess please !

Yummylicious!

Yummylicious!

If you are done drooling over the pictures, I shall continue.. ahem..

Industries that offers array’s of household, electronics and personal items at reasonable prices are mushrooming from time to time due to steady demand by tourist. Though I must say, the best of IT bargains can still be found in US! Sigh! That reminds me, I might need a new gadget soon *day-dreaming*.. Oopps! I am going out of topic. Rewind, rewind … Now then, you must be wondering about the climate. The peak of monsoon season usually begins from October to February, and it’s tropical throughout the rest of the months. Plan your visit’s accordingly please. Do not worry, I am not getting paid by enthusiastically encouraging the tourism industry here. However, I shall not refuse one if you insist to contribute 😀

This is me, myself and Malaysia.

Terima Kasih, Jumpa Lagi

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