Streets of Malaysia (part two)

If you're the type of person that constantly whimpers about not having a lavish lifestyle or being picky over the food provided on the table, take a stroll down the streets of downtown Kuala Lumpur, and you'll finally understand how fortunate you are to even have a roof over your head and a nice comfy bed to sleep on.

It’s in these streets and back alleys where you’ll get your reality checked, because it is here where you can find all sorts of mysterious characters that manages to get you musing over how fortunate you really are. Walk along the rows and rows of shop houses and you’ll be surprised to constantly come across homeless individuals who scavenge for food in rubbish bins outside your favourite fast food joint or restaurant, hoping to get something within them that helps to soothe their hunger pangs. Then there are those people who sleep on extremely thin layers of worn out cardboard by the sidewalks where they get immune to the constant stares and glares from the passerby’s.

Of course, not to forget the abundance of prostitute joints that can be found in the back alleys of desolated shop lots right in Kuala Lumpur if you were to look hard enough (it’s not that hard, really). The streets also plays host to alarming amounts of persistent beggars that would hound you until you give them a small donation. It’s these types of people who jeopardize our sense of security as we do not know how far they would go to in order to get some money out of us.

Last but not least, disco clubs! There are a handful of them which are being operated illegally and it’s those which are considered as safe havens for drug addicts and illegal prostitutes. Fortunately those places are only active well past after midnight and when there’s no one around to interrupt with their frequent gatherings and afterlife ‘parties’.

All this and more, right in the very heart of Kuala Lumpur!

Streets of Malaysia (part one)

You take a quick glance to your left and then to your right, the only thing that catches your eyes is the masses of people who seem to be oblivious to the scorching sun walking along the sidewalks minding their own business. Sometimes it makes you wonder, how are people actually able to tolerate the combination of the heat, humidity and the stuffy feeling when they stroll along the streets of Malaysia. But as they say, no pain no gain! If you want the best bargains in town, you’ll have to bear with the heat and pay a visit to the famous Petaling Street which is situated right smack in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.

They say that if you’re the person who’s interested in purchasing luxury goods at an exceedingly cheap price, Petaling Street is the place you should go to. You’d be surprised at the wide variety of stuff that you’d be able to find there that ranges from imitation Tag Heuer watches to imitation Louis Vuitton handbags. But do bear in mind that good stuff doesn’t come cheap, and cheap stuff doesn’t come good. So if your watch becomes faulty even though it’s barely a week since you purchased it, do remember that for the price you paid for it, you shouldn’t be complaining at all!

Not only does Petaling Street sell fashion accessories, it is also a renowned food paradise as it plays host to a huge array of food stalls that caters for the locals and tourists who strongly believe in the concept of living to eat, instead of eating to live. The food that can be found here ranges from light snacks to proper restaurants that serve wholesome meals to their customers.

So if you’re looking for a place where you can get mouthwatering food along with branded goods at literally dirt cheap prices, look no further, as this is the place where you can find them all in one convenient location.

Random! (part two)

It was similar to any other weekend morning that I had, where I would have to drag my ever so reluctant body out of bed before my mom would start making noises and comment on how sloppy and unhealthy I am for not being up bright and early. Who wakes up at 9am on a Saturday anyway?

So anyway after managing to persuade myself to get up, I sat by the side of my bed and immediately I noticed this sharp stabbing pain on the right side of my chest. Like when somebody gives you a nice hard punch to chest but the pain is slightly sharper and it had a throbbing feeling to it too. I thought to myself, so it’s one of those rare days where I happened to wake up on the wrong side of the bed or something. Oh well, hopefully it’ll go away as I soon as I get my body warmed up to get through the day. That’s what I thought, but what happened next was completely out of my expectation.

By noon I was already grasping at my throbbing right chest while I gasp desperately for air and wince in agony simultaneously. My mom said enough was enough and decided to rush me to the nearest hospital’s emergency room to have me diagnosed. As soon as I stepped past the automated sliding doors, the nurses’ reactions were swift because as soon as they saw me, from my facial expressions they literally could feel the pain I’m experiencing, so they then immediately whisked me to the doctor’s office to be consulted and diagnosed. The doctor said he couldn’t detect the source of all the pain I’m experiencing just by using his stethoscope and the other simple instruments that he has, so he suggested I go for an X-Ray to clarify my problem, which is not a good sign.

As soon as I got my X-rays taken, I was told to wait obediently at the reception area while I silently groan on the inside till the results were ready. Thankfully, the results were out pretty swift, but I don’t think it was because of their efficiency, but more towards the critical condition that I was in. I was rushed back into the doctor’s consultation room again, and with a stern look, he gave me the results which I was ‘eagerly’ waiting for.

To put it simply, I ruptured my right lung; like how a balloon would if you were to poke it with a needle. The pain was not from the hole in my right lung like how I thought it was, but instead it was caused by the air that I breathe in leaking into my chest cavity through the literally miniscule hole which would subsequently create a pressure in my chest cavity that would push my organs against each other, hence the agonizing pain. That’s as simple as I can put it.

I won’t elaborate on it any longer because it’s already starting to become painstakingly slow and boring. But that is how and why I no longer can go scuba diving anymore, even though it has been 4 years since the incident happened.

Not to say that I can’t dive though, it’s only a matter of whether I make it back up to the surface alive or not.

Maybe I’ll be keen enough to place my life on the line in exchange for doing something I’m madly passionate about.

Who knows?

Random! (part one)

Being an avid scuba diver like the rest of my family, it’s only natural for me to constantly yearn for my family’s annual holiday trip to Pulau Redang, a local island approximately 45 minutes off the coast of Terengganu which is renowned for its white sandy beaches along with its phenomenal underwater flora and fauna.

It has been more than a decade since this peculiar family tradition has been ongoing and for 4 years, I had the privilege to feed the need of mine to venture into the deep to witness first hand God’s marvelous underwater ecosystem at work.

As a matter of fact, we’ve been staying in the same old resort for the past few years to the extent that our family has managed to get to know the people working there because surprisingly, they’ve never seen a family that has returned to the island so regularly despite all the economic chaos going on. Not to imply that my family is loaded or anything, it’s just that every year we would make it an effort to save up so that we can splurge on a greatly needed holiday like this. This impersonal relationship between the staff of the resort and us also means that we get special room rates for our stay and not to mention, priority treatment! Oh it’s so good living the good life.

During the length of our stay, our itinerary is as simple as it can possibly get. This is how my family’s specially catered itinerary for 5 days and 4 nights stay looks like: Wake up – breakfast - scuba diving – back to the resort – lunch - scuba diving – back to the resort – dinner - leisure time - sleep. And that routine repeats throughout the 4 days of our trip (short of time to dive on the 5^th day).

But here’s the fun part; even though we’re dead tired by lunch, we have the tendency to still force ourselves to continue on with the next dive because to us, scuba diving is our ecstasy; without it we’d suffer and start catching seizures. Just kidding; but seriously, it literally is that addictive. We’d then just drop dead after dinner and wake up in the morning to start the whole process all over again. But what’s strange is this; we enjoy the hectic schedule although we’re on a self-proclaimed ‘holiday’.

But like all good things, they have to come to an end. On one atrocious day three years ago, my flaming passion and the ability to scuba dive has been put to a halt and came to an abrupt end, literally almost taking along my life with it.

And this is what happened…

Festivals

Festivals play a major role in a multiracial country such as Malaysia. First of all, not only does it signify a (much needed) public holiday, but it also represents the point in time where different people with diverse cultural backgrounds go back to their roots and pay their respects to their ancestors and their God.

During the ever so red-hot Chinese New Year, married couples give ‘red packets’ to their children and those who have yet to get married as a token of good luck to start off the New Year. The reason why ‘red packets’ is named as such is because the Chinese culture strongly believe that the color red signifies good luck and it helps to ward off evil spirits. New Year cookies and snacks like pineapple tarts and fried mini spring rolls would be prepared beforehand so that the hosts of open houses would be able to give their visiting guests something to munch on.

Another festive occasion that is similar to the Chinese New Year would be the Hari Raya Aidilfitri, which is celebrated by the Muslim community around the nation. In the days leading to this event, the Muslims will set up ‘Ramadan bazaars’ or food stalls along specified streets in the town or city. The food that are being sold there can range from Western dishes like chicken chop to the ever so mouthwatering traditional Malay cuisine like beef ‘rendang’, which is something similar to a curry based dish. Similar to the Chinese culture, certain Muslim families would give their children ‘green packets’ as it represents good harmony and luck.

Those are just two of the most observed festive occasions that we have here in Malaysia; other examples such as Deepavali and Christmas are also widely celebrated by the people here and are always looked forward to as they represent the time where we pay our homage to our makers and not to mention strengthen the bond that is shared within the family.

Just a simple reminder, just because you come from a different race and background, that doesn't mean you aren’t allowed to celebrate the respective festive occasion with your friends. In Malaysia, we believe that you are obliged and encouraged to attend open houses that are being held across the nation during the many festive seasons, because even though you have a different belief and religion, we have learnt to put that all aside and instead look at the one thing that we all share and have in common, which is being a proud Malaysian.

Animal rights (part two)

Animal rights is a controversial topic simply because it is a matter that has no rights and wrongs to it but instead it all boils down to the tolerance level of you and I and how we were to interpret it. And in order to maintain this ‘truce’ between the animal kingdom and the humans, several non-profit organizations have been established by kind Samaritans to ensure that the animals are not mistreated and abused by heartless humans.

And one of the most recognized organizations out there would no doubt be the WWF. Some might say that the acronym stands for the World Wrestling Federation, but that is of course not what we’re talking about here; we’re talking about the World Wildlife Fund. This beneficial organization exists all around the world for one reason and for one purpose only, which is to ensure that certain species of the animal kingdom are protected and taken care of to prevent them from facing extinction no thanks to mankind’s despicable deeds.

Other major companies such as automobile powerhouse Toyota, HP and even Coca-Cola have formed partnerships with the WWF to help ensure that its objectives on helping out the environment and the animal world are not being done so in vain. By protecting the environment, we are also indirectly protecting certain species of animals such as fishes, which are required to live in specific sea temperatures in order to survive. But as we can see and feel today, our earth is starting to take its toll from global warming and it has to be dealt with immediately otherwise the waters will start to heat up and the fishes would perish.

If we are not so blindsided by our greed, we would not need to constantly cut down the forests which certain mammals call their home to feed our insatiable appetite for Mother Nature’s precious resources. By learning how to manage the resources that we currently have along with adopting the concept of reusing and recycling, we need not constantly compromise the animal’s homes to feed our interests.

Animal Rights (part one)

Take a look at a picture above and ask yourself what comes through your mind, does it manage to touch you somewhere deep inside your heart because of its adorable looks or does it make your tummy growl because it looks so finger-licking good and alluring? Well, if you answered the latter, you have obviously got the concept of animal rights wrong. (Based on my perspectives, other people might think otherwise)

Animal rights basically mean that anything that falls under the category of animals have the rights to be treated fairly and equally rather than being kicked around and abused like it were an insignificant toy that belongs to mankind. This issue is a very perplexing one because it all comes down to you and your views on this matter, for example, dogs and cats in China are brutally killed and sometimes literally skinned alive before being cooked and served on a silver platter. One might say that their actions are inhumane and despicable but let me ask you this; if you say that dogs and cats aren’t allowed to be consumed, why is it alright to consume poultry such as chicken and turkeys then? I’m sure chickens do feel the razor sharp blade of the butcher’s cleaver as it slowly slits its way through their necks before being left on the chopping block to bleed itself to death. Why the double standard?

I told you it was a touchy subject didn’t I? Here’s a simple theory on why people are so defiant to see your friendly neighborhood dog and cat being served on a platter - heard of the phrase ‘a dog is a man’s best friend’? Of course you have, because for a long, long time dogs have always been humankind’s favorite domestic pet (or food, when it comes to China) because of their loyalty and companionship towards people like you and I.

But have you ever heard of the phrase, ‘a chicken is a man’s best friend’? I don’t think so, because chicken has always been a staple food to us humans and is almost always seen in our rice bowls and in the deep fryer rather than being a pet in our backyard. You see, we’ve grown a bond so strong towards dogs and cats that we can’t bear to see the sight of them being butchered and served on a plate, whereas when it comes to chickens, we salivate just from the thought of them being roasted in a oven to golden brown perfection before being carved and served on a silver platter drizzled with brown gravy and a dollop of mashed potatoes on the side.

Oh, the tasty irony.