This year, Earth Day falls on a Friday, and it is also Good Friday for the Catholics as well as my darling second girl's 8th birthday!
Turning 8 is always very exciting, I think it's more exciting for Chinese due to the emphasis we place on 8, 8 and more 8, because it sounds so much alike to luck and prosperity.
When I say my darling second girl, it is my goddaughter, Genevie's birthday. Her mama, Odri is my distant cousin and childhood friend that I love just as much too! As their godmother, I become their Mummy and their mother is their Mama as they call their father Papa.. so mama and papa matches. If it's Mummy then it's Daddy, well, some people mix it up but for these kids, it just matches!
Have I mentioned before that I have two god daughters and I love them to bits? They are both sisters, Genevie the birthday girl is the younger one and they are two years apart. Both of them of course, belong to Odri, mentioned in the paragraph above, I'm stating the obvious here, of course if they are both sisters, they belong to the same mother, I didn't add any other adjectives or terms to sisters, didn't I? Just reiterating myself! haha.
Her elder sis, Rachel, just turned 9 last year and this year, on 11.11.11, she's gonna turn 10! Yup, she was born on 11th November 2001, 10 years ago, she's my eldest girl, I consider them my girls as I've been their godmum for as long as they could remember!
It seems like just yesterday when I was still holding them in my arms. How fast time flies!
My only hope is for my two girls to be happy and grow up well! Happy Birthday, Tita (Genevie's nickname)! Mummy loves you!
Friday, 22 April 2011
Wednesday, 13 April 2011
Hump Day is Wednesday, no?
They say Mondays give you the blues as you find yourself having to wake up early (after two mornings of lazing around at home for most of us) and drag your sorry feet to work/school/become the mother for the family, etc).
And Fridays are so wonderful we even have a food chain that is named Thank God It's Friday (TGIF), cos the weekend's here.
My question is.. how about Hump Day? This is a lesser known day compared to Sunday/Friday and Monday or even Saturday night where people are supposed to be partying. Wednesday is supposed to be Hump Day as it is the middle of the week. So then that is true if the week starts on a Sunday.. but for half of the world (a generalisation) we learn that Monday is the first day of the week! So Thursday is another Hump Day for some as well?
I remember a very old rhyme (obviously localised or borrowed from the old British school system) back when I was 7 or 8 in school (I only remember the first line and last line vividly and the rest are kinda blurry but the meaning is there):
Sulaiman Effendi was born on Monday (see, this is the first day of the rhyme!)
went to school on Tuesday
first worked on Wednesday
married on Thursday
became a father on Friday
has a grandchild on Saturday
Died on Sunday.
This is the story of Sulaiman Effendi.
My English teacher was Mr Abu Bakar (his youngest son, Saiful was my classmate for 6 years in primary school and we reconnected through FB).
We would greet him in a sing-song voice in unison - 'Good Morning Mister Abu Bakar'.. and he would look so polished with well-combed wavy hair and walk in. He used to have this whole brown paper (parchment paper, I think), tied up with a wooden 'clip' that he would flip so to the song/rhyme of the day so that he can save up on chalk and writing energy on the blackboard, back when 'computer' was a luxury.. heck, I only literally 'touched' a computer for a month in 1992 when I was completing primary school! It was about RM25 just for the 'computer lessons' where whatever I learned are mostly obsolete now.. there wasn't any mouse back then! lol
My hubby has no recollection of the poems and rhymes I learned back in primary school and almost all of the songs I learned back in school, except for the common one - our Malaysian national anthem - Negaraku.. lol.
Maybe it's the different school systems hubby and I were in. He was in a vernacular school with Chinese as the main medium, English and Bahasa Malaysia (Malay language) are secondary - for me - it was a government-aided Catholic mission school with English and Malay being given equal emphasis, thanks to the Franciscan sister who was the headmistress back then, Sis. Odelia Ngui.
I remember Wednesday was English day for most of my primary school life and we had to be fined RM0.20 (which was big money back then for us school kids!) if we are caught speaking Malay on that particular day as it was English day!
So my only grievance which is my biggest loss is I'm half-Chinese-illiterate, I can speak it with no problem, but I painstakingly had to memorise the characters as I had no formal education in Chinese except for the occasional on-and-off-tuition classes now and then. It was very useful when I entered the job market and I felt crippled by my lack of Chinese education. :(
So for parents out there, especially if you're Chinese out of China, send your kids to at least SIX years of Chinese education (primary school)! One extra language is definitely worth it! The same goes to other additional languages as well!
How do you say Hump Day in Mandarin/Chinese? I have no idea?!?
Just a random thought! :)
And Fridays are so wonderful we even have a food chain that is named Thank God It's Friday (TGIF), cos the weekend's here.
My question is.. how about Hump Day? This is a lesser known day compared to Sunday/Friday and Monday or even Saturday night where people are supposed to be partying. Wednesday is supposed to be Hump Day as it is the middle of the week. So then that is true if the week starts on a Sunday.. but for half of the world (a generalisation) we learn that Monday is the first day of the week! So Thursday is another Hump Day for some as well?
I remember a very old rhyme (obviously localised or borrowed from the old British school system) back when I was 7 or 8 in school (I only remember the first line and last line vividly and the rest are kinda blurry but the meaning is there):
Sulaiman Effendi was born on Monday (see, this is the first day of the rhyme!)
went to school on Tuesday
first worked on Wednesday
married on Thursday
became a father on Friday
has a grandchild on Saturday
Died on Sunday.
This is the story of Sulaiman Effendi.
My English teacher was Mr Abu Bakar (his youngest son, Saiful was my classmate for 6 years in primary school and we reconnected through FB).
We would greet him in a sing-song voice in unison - 'Good Morning Mister Abu Bakar'.. and he would look so polished with well-combed wavy hair and walk in. He used to have this whole brown paper (parchment paper, I think), tied up with a wooden 'clip' that he would flip so to the song/rhyme of the day so that he can save up on chalk and writing energy on the blackboard, back when 'computer' was a luxury.. heck, I only literally 'touched' a computer for a month in 1992 when I was completing primary school! It was about RM25 just for the 'computer lessons' where whatever I learned are mostly obsolete now.. there wasn't any mouse back then! lol
My hubby has no recollection of the poems and rhymes I learned back in primary school and almost all of the songs I learned back in school, except for the common one - our Malaysian national anthem - Negaraku.. lol.
Maybe it's the different school systems hubby and I were in. He was in a vernacular school with Chinese as the main medium, English and Bahasa Malaysia (Malay language) are secondary - for me - it was a government-aided Catholic mission school with English and Malay being given equal emphasis, thanks to the Franciscan sister who was the headmistress back then, Sis. Odelia Ngui.
I remember Wednesday was English day for most of my primary school life and we had to be fined RM0.20 (which was big money back then for us school kids!) if we are caught speaking Malay on that particular day as it was English day!
So my only grievance which is my biggest loss is I'm half-Chinese-illiterate, I can speak it with no problem, but I painstakingly had to memorise the characters as I had no formal education in Chinese except for the occasional on-and-off-tuition classes now and then. It was very useful when I entered the job market and I felt crippled by my lack of Chinese education. :(
So for parents out there, especially if you're Chinese out of China, send your kids to at least SIX years of Chinese education (primary school)! One extra language is definitely worth it! The same goes to other additional languages as well!
How do you say Hump Day in Mandarin/Chinese? I have no idea?!?
Just a random thought! :)
Friday, 8 April 2011
It Does Not Help to Discount Others' Feelings
Every human being wants to have his/her feelings recognised and acknowledged. Somehow we have this innate urge to be the 'most' in everything, like the happiest, saddest, proudest, worst, most terrible, most painful, etc.
If one person says oh, the surgery hurt, and you said mine did too, the doc cut me 3 more inches deeper than yours, or my job is bad, you'll say - no, your job isn't that bad, my job is the worst!
Example: I feel so bad, my job is okay, but I find myself dragging my feet to work every morning, I wish I can enjoy my work but I hate my current job.
It doesn't make that person feel better by saying: "You are ungrateful/should count your blessing/do you know how many unemployed people are out there in this economic uncertainty".. and you launch into a lecture or worse, a personal attack on the already stressed out individual.
Yeah, you have many more 'worse' stories but just because you are comparing does not mean that individual will feel any less worse or even feel better about his/her current job!
Acknowledge the feelings first, give that reassurance that you are recognising the feelings, and then slowly, see if you can offer some help or advice, usually people take the short cut and force-feed such individuals that caused them to feel worse about themselves or even worse, shut down altogether and will not attempt to reach out to anyone anymore. This is very sad, especially in cases where a simply word of concern can make one feel better. This is where we get : 'No one understands me' phrases cos too often, humans jump the line and offer their 'better or worse stories' and give a piece of their mind that shut the individual up and retreat into his/her own cave.
Yeah, I understand the need for comparison for a certain level of motivation to improve and for the advancement of 'humankind', that kinda idealism. Despite that, we should remember that our quest to feel the 'most' does not mean we could discount others' feelings too.
When people are sharing their negative feelings, it simply means they are ranting/complaining/need reassurance - Since they need acknowledgment of their feelings, give it to them and keep your advice or 'greater stories' to yourself unless asked/requested. Be kind to yourself and be kind to others by acknowledging their feelings and the world will be a more peaceful place.
If one person says oh, the surgery hurt, and you said mine did too, the doc cut me 3 more inches deeper than yours, or my job is bad, you'll say - no, your job isn't that bad, my job is the worst!
Example: I feel so bad, my job is okay, but I find myself dragging my feet to work every morning, I wish I can enjoy my work but I hate my current job.
It doesn't make that person feel better by saying: "You are ungrateful/should count your blessing/do you know how many unemployed people are out there in this economic uncertainty".. and you launch into a lecture or worse, a personal attack on the already stressed out individual.
Yeah, you have many more 'worse' stories but just because you are comparing does not mean that individual will feel any less worse or even feel better about his/her current job!
Acknowledge the feelings first, give that reassurance that you are recognising the feelings, and then slowly, see if you can offer some help or advice, usually people take the short cut and force-feed such individuals that caused them to feel worse about themselves or even worse, shut down altogether and will not attempt to reach out to anyone anymore. This is very sad, especially in cases where a simply word of concern can make one feel better. This is where we get : 'No one understands me' phrases cos too often, humans jump the line and offer their 'better or worse stories' and give a piece of their mind that shut the individual up and retreat into his/her own cave.
Yeah, I understand the need for comparison for a certain level of motivation to improve and for the advancement of 'humankind', that kinda idealism. Despite that, we should remember that our quest to feel the 'most' does not mean we could discount others' feelings too.
When people are sharing their negative feelings, it simply means they are ranting/complaining/need reassurance - Since they need acknowledgment of their feelings, give it to them and keep your advice or 'greater stories' to yourself unless asked/requested. Be kind to yourself and be kind to others by acknowledging their feelings and the world will be a more peaceful place.
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