Irony

October 7, 2019.Reading time 5 minutes.

When I was five, I wanted a bicycle. Not any bicycle. A two-wheel bicycle with pneumatic tyres. Preferably pink in colour. I used to watch this girl, who was a little older than me, ride along the road, in front of my house in Alor Setar. I wanted a bike just like hers. My dad […]

Caring enough

September 30, 2019.Reading time 6 minutes.

My mother is special to me. She was very unwell recently. Despite visits to the doctor and medication, her recovery was slow. She caught a cold off my brother. Maybe. I am not absolutely sure. He had a cold. She got one after he stayed with her while my husband and I were away on […]

My mum

September 23, 2019.Reading time 6 minutes.

I cannot picture my mum as a child. All mums must have been children once, for sure. But, I can’t imagine mine being young and doing the stuff children do – play, have childhood friends, go to school etc. etc. I’ve known my mum all my life, but only as an adult. She was 28 […]

Haze…again

September 16, 2019.Reading time 6 minutes.

I bought an air pollution and haze KN95 respiratory mask last week. The mask was designed specifically for the situation at hand. Yes, another year of the same old, same old. Haze. It’s back. It’s choking Kuala Lumpur and many states in Malaysia with its familiar and acrid thick smog. Unwelcomed. Unwanted. But, here it […]

Holidays – then and now

August 5, 2019.Reading time 6 minutes.

The days of turning up in a foreign country or even in Malaysia without reservations are over. This was the modus operandi for much of our travels until a few years ago. My husband and I just turned up wherever, and found a place to stay for a night or two before we moved on. […]

Forgetful

July 29, 2019.Reading time 6 minutes.

I didn’t think too much about getting out of bed (albeit a little slower now), and long before daybreak (being an insomniac), until my Achilles heel hurt. The pain hindered my out of bed movements, and made me reflect on things that should be important to me. The heel was just a reminder of the […]

Photograph

July 22, 2019.Reading time 6 minutes.

There is a baby photo wall in the photo studio where I get my photographs printed. Yes, I do like to own some hardcopy photographs. Especially as all, if not most, of my photos are stored on my laptop or my mobile. The virtual photos on my mobile, I view now and again, before they […]

A little England in Fraser’s Hill

July 15, 2019.Reading time 6 minutes.

My husband and I have been visiting Fraser’s Hill for the past 20-odd years. Not much changes there. Shops, restaurants and hotels open, move and close, in and around the main town centre, but the general look and feel remains the same. The cooler temperature and quiet familiarity are almost constants in the former hill […]

Access

July 1, 2019.Reading time 6 minutes.

Access. The quicker, the cheaper, the more efficient – the better. Thanks to technological innovations. At least, that’s how it seems to me, and I like it. Speedy access to information, cheaper communication and faster travel. That’s not all. Entertainment at our finger tips, health care options and business opportunities etc., etc. I like quick […]

Tick-tock

June 24, 2019.Reading time 6 minutes.

I cry easily when I watch poignant, heart wrenching movies about family, relationship, illness and death. In between muffled sobs (I try not to embarrass myself), I silently vow to focus on what’s important in life – family. When my sisters visit from overseas and return to their respective homes, I miss them achingly, and […]