Sevens 2008

Hong Kong Night View.

This weekend is the Sevens weekend. To the uninformed, Sevens = rugby. In Scotland we have Six Nations played by 6 different rugby-crazy countries and with lots of beer involved. Sevens is played by many more countries and have seven players a side and is THE major sporting event of Hong Kong with tickets changing hands for many more times the face value of the ticket. I am astonished at how a ticket with a face value of 600 dollars can be sold for 6000 dollars. I am seriously in the wrong profession. I should set up some stall outside some dodgy alley and sell Sevens tickets instead of working in my clinic. Initially I did not want to go since I knew nothing about rugby besides the fact that they are generally played by men who are burly and are smarter than footballers. In a podiatrist's point of view, rugby players have more sense than football players as they buy proper fitting shoes unlike footballers who buy shoes too small like women do. The banker convinced me to go but when I have gotten all excited he has told me he sold his ticket. -_- So now I am left with the choice of forking out thousands to watch a game I don't even know anything about (besides the above).

I rather spend my thousands on things I understand better such as massages, manicures and jewellery. However, I am sure the atmosphere will be brilliant as any international sporting will involve beer. Unless it's Wimbledon where it would be strawberries. Maybe next year... or if the banker has sympathy for me maybe I can go catch the Finals on Sunday.

In the meantime, I shall entertain you with wonderfully random photos of the Wonderful Worlds of Whampoa. It is the most amazing tourist attraction in Hong Kong guarenteed to give you a WTF moment. In fact, they should class it as THE place to see in Hong Kong instead of the Peak or IFC or Victoria Harbour. Mind you, they have probably classed it as some protected area already. It is okay to knock down historical buildings to build highrises but its not okay to disturb that ship smack bang in the middle of the housing estate.

Hanging crocrodile.

Tea. No wonder they threw it overboard, it looked like shit.My WTF moment.

Sunset Boulevard!

It takes a bit of getting used to...Like maybe a lifetime.

I found a traditional candy stand inside Treasure World...Dragon Whiskers candy sounds so cool huh?
Freshly made on the spot with organic dragon whiskers!

Filled with super-strength inducing peanuts and sugar.They didn't give some cool name for the filling like Phoenix poo or something.

Duracell Rabbit

The medic must be psychic. The lawyer and the pseudo-lawyer and myself decided to embrace our inner child by going to Ocean Park on Saturday. Now, Ocean Park is that place that your parents would bring you as a kid to let the man in the dolphin suit entertain you while they take lots of photos. In fact, my mum told me that she got sick from the roller coaster ride when she went there last time. I don't remember being brought along, in fact I have memories of crying while watching my parents wave goodbye. Boy, I need therapy...

Dolphin Show! =)

We went to Ocean Park when it was all bright and sunny and oh so nice. Okay... It wasn't raining yet. But once the medic called to tell me that Shatin was raining cats and dogs and so we should get under some shade. He just wanted to rub it in that the weather sucked. We pretended that it didn't until 5 minutes later when the rain did pour down bad. Then the banker called to say it was raining too. Gah, why is everyone pouring cold water onto my plans??? We insisted that it was not raining even though the rides stopped due to the rain and we were soaked through with our umbrellas open. Women and their stubbornness have never been so obvious. We agreed that the accurate story would be that we got wet on one of the water rides that we didn't take and the rains only started after we left Ocean Park.

Shark Tunnel.

Why women have thicker skins.Training seals (the fish not the soldier).

Anyways, I saw the Pandas! They were so cool... I love pandas.. they are now officially my favourite animals after stingrays. Two of the pandas were PDA-ing while another was sitting there with her arms behind her head shaking her legs and chillin'. The fourth panda displayed more enthusiasm and ambled about and munched bamboo. Every single itsy bitsy movement had the crowd going Ohhh and Ahh.. In my next life I want to be a panda. I can sit in an air-conditioned room decorated like a forest and eat fresh bamboo imported from China while shaking my legs and chillin' with tourists gawking at me through a glass plane and a camera trained on me dispatching my image live across the world to hardcore panda fans worldwide.

Communist Pandas

PDA-ing Pandas.

The only bit of Panda action I saw.Chillin' Panda.

Now, I know you will wonder: Where did a pseudo-lawyer come about? Well, I didn't know what to call the new person I met 'lawyer2Aa', I'm not about to do what they do in Hong Kong and give everybody ID numbers with alphabets and letters. That would be too anal. So she is known as pseudo-lawyer as she used to work as a lawyer but is now in the bank.

The Lawyer and the Pseudo-Lawyer (back to front).

Back to Ocean Park: We went to pet stingrays! I love stingrays because they are soooo cool. They are huge flat floating things that flap about and feel so weird. The one I petted felt so hairy and was about 1.5 meters wide and really liked me because it kept coming back for more. Then there was another one that felt like felt. The most common one that we always find on the BBQ with sambal and a squeeze of lime did not want to come near me. Maybe it could sense I wanted to eat it. =)

After the rain started *ehem*, we proceed to Aberdeen. There is another place in the world called Aberdeen and it is also full of rich people. However, it is no where near as beautiful as the Scottish one. This Aberdeen is well-known as a port for seafood and for floating seafood restaurants. So we took an old junk to Lamma Island which is South of Hong Kong Island for a some seafood. The weather was bad, the sea was choppy and the junk swayed from left to right. I loved it. It was an authentic Hong Kong experience. We landed on Lamma which was full of seafood restaurants, half of which were suspiciously called Rainbow Seafood Restaurant.-_- There was also supposed to be a family trail that would take us between the two civilised spots, but we had stopped momentarily at the other spot so I didn't see a pressing desire to go again on foot in the rain. We had seafood done Cantonese style. They do not know how to cook chili crab here! Or butter prawns... or have buns to wipe up chili crab sauce! What is this?! In Singapore, they know how to cook seafood the way it should be cooked! We didn't want to leave them a bad image of Malaysian tourists, so we ate the seafood cooked Hong Kong style *eheh*.

Junks to the floating restaurants for the discerning tourist.

Lamma Island...No there were no lammas I checked.

Sunday saw the heralding of Easter! Happy Easter everybody! =) The medic and I went to church and witnessed baptism, first holy communion and confirmation all in 90 minutes. Then we went to have Dim Sum like the average typical Hong Kong person with the ophthalmologist, the lawyer and the pseudo-lawyer who came to visit rural Shatin. I had a good Easter Sunday with cake and coffee in the afternoon and lovely Irish pub grub while watching the football and playing drinking games with our HSBC Internet Banking Random PIN generators.

So I am now feeling the post-Easter blues. I have no friends to go for dinner with. The banker prefers to sleep than to have wan tan mee with me. The medic has gone for his dance class, and the ophthalmologist is back in China while the lawyer and pseudo-lawyer are busy cleaning their flats. I shall just wallow in self-misery and whine on how Hong Kong is boring. I spent the afternoon watching baby tv shows supposed to stimulate the infant mind. I want Triple Os BC burger but it involves going to get it in the town centre. I think belacan kuay tiaw is the perfect post-Easter blues, don't you?

Triple Os Chicken Burger .*Yum*

Going back to the real world is no fun.

Obligations to meet or else risk being ignored by Flo.

Flo tagged me and made me complete this. I don't normally do tags but I was threatened. :(

Instructions: Remove ONE question from below, and add in your personal question, make it a total of 20 questions, then tag 8 people in your list, list them out at the end of this post. Notify them in their chat box that he/she has been tagged.

1. What's your favorite anime /cartoon at the present time?

= I like Ouran High School Host Club... I know, it's a super girly anime. But real stupid it's good!

2. Given the chance, what special ability/power would you like to have?

= I want to be able to fly. Then I don't need to take trains/buses anymore. But I wouldn't be able to wear a skirt and lacy underwear. =(

3. If you were to be stranded on a deserted island, who are the 3 blog buddies you would take with you? Why?

= Ra - because she is cool and has nice bags and I love her so much.

= Nithia - because she is so smart and will be able to figure out everything and I love her just as much.

= Osbert - because he is my brother and can lift heavy things for me. Besides, I am older and can boss him around. =) Oh, I also love him very much! hahah

4. Where is the place that you want to go the most?
= Vietnam on a beach with cocktails and hunky men feeding me grapes.
= Home, where ever that may be at any one time.

5. If you can have 1 dream to come true, what would it be?
= My family and friends eternal love and happiness in whatever they do.

6. Are you an optimistic / pessimistic person?
= I believe I am optimistic. People think I am too optimistic.

7. What are you afraid to lose the most now?
= My sanity.

8. If you win $1 million, what would you do?

= Buy a Birkin bag in green croc leather. Pay taxes? hahah... Donate some to charity and pay my loan shark father.

9. If you meet someone that you love, would you confess to him/her?
= Depends. I am commitment-phobic yet romantic. I will probably die a spinster...

10. List out 3 good points of the person who tagged you.
= She is committed.
=She has impeccable English.
= She puts everyone before herself. (Not necessary a good thing babe)

11. What are the requirements that you wish from your other half?

= This will be a long list ahhaha.. He must be kind and loving, generous and understanding, a stable presence who would tell me when to stop and protect me from getting hurt too badly while I bounce about life. He must be able to stimulate my intellect yet take my randomness. A huge credit limit and good housekeeping skills would be good too haha...

12. Which type of person do you hate the most?

= Tall girls with endless legs that are oh-so-skinny and flawless skin and can look good in a bin bag yet have the brains to be a nuclear engineer. -_-

13. What is your ambition?
= To marry a rich man and spend all his money.

14. If you have fault, would you rather the people around you point out to you or would you rather they keep quiet?

= I would rather be told, especially if my skirt was riding up my back.

15. What do you think is the most important thing in your life?
= To be able to make someone else's life better.

16. Are you a shopaholic or not?

= This is not even a question. If I said I was a repentant shopaholic you would call me bluff. If I am a serious hardcore shopaholic then I wouldn't be here doing this tag but out in one of the 365 shopping malls in Hong Kong.

17. What kind of life do you see yourself leading in 10 years time?
= I would be retired and have no wrinkles and my boobs will still be perky.

18. If you have a chance. Which part of your character you would like to change?
= My cynicism. Maybe my sloppy dress sense too.

19. Is there anything that you have done which you regret?

= There are always mistakes we make, but it is all a learning curve. So I have no major regrets in my life besides not living close enough to Krispy Kreme.

20. Why do you blog?
= To annoy people and let EVERYONE know what I had for dinner the night before.

Penance

This week is the most important week in the Christian calendar. It is the week commemorating the passion of Jesus Christ upon which forms the basis of the Christian belief. It is supposed to be a week of solemn reflection and penance followed by a celebration at the end of the week with Easter officially marking the start of Spring. Hong Kong sure has a very interesting take on penance and fasting. The Last Supper has a rite where the celebrant washes the feet of twelve members of the congregation as a sign of humility and service to others. Well... they skip all that here BUT put out donation boxes so that everyone can show service to others by donating money. It was the same for Ash Wednesday; fasting was scraped for monetary donations. I don't like this whole business of donations instead of penance. I am sure hoping people do not take it that way. The whole reason for the remembering the Passion is to re-examine ourselves, be mindful of others and remember the true road to salvation is service, compassion, understanding, forgiveness, faith, hope and love.

This weekend is going to be a long weekend. I have so many plans!
They are in chronological order:
1. To do my laundry.
2. Sweep and mop my room.
3. Go to Ocean Park to pet the stingrays in the stingray pool and annoy the panda.
4. Go to Lamma Island to see the sunset and eat seafood. A nudist beach would be the icing on the cake.
5. Go to Lantau Island for the 5.27km cable car ride up to see the Big Buddha and the cool village hanging in the middle. Apparently even paratroopers shit their pants on this ride.
6. Eat chocolate pudding with ice-cream. Eat Kinder Surprise eggs.
7. Go to the fake Disneyland in ShenZhen.
8. Play drinking games with our HSBC Internet banking PIN generator at the pub.
9. Go get a massage/facial/nails done.
10. Eat a 2 pound mango pudding.

So you see, I have a heavy weekend planned. So far, I have done none of those. I am unlikely to finish doing all those and will probably just sit in my room to nurse a cold. My body has the uncanny ability to run down at holiday season so that my clinics will not be disrupted. Who cares about my social life eh?

My brother told me that engineers in industrial training get paid a decent amount to survive. I was shocked to find that they were paid the same amount as a graduate podiatrist. It is so depressing... All my work goes unrecognised by HR. I have a mind to quit charity work and go into private practice. But I believe in doing good things, so maybe being paid peanuts is going to benefit me in the long run when the cute grandson of a rich patient wants to marry me hahaha. My mother seems to have my life all planned out for me. If there is anything more scary that having your mother deciding on who/where/when you should get married and getting your siblings to vote on that then please enlighten me. We all turn out like our mothers in some way or another whether we like it or not. My kids will probably remain celibate/commit suicide. I pity them already. Maybe I should not have kids or give them up for adoption once they don't look cute in Winnie the Pooh costumes.

I can't wait to terrorise the pandas and provoke them to attack the other pandas and break open the glass enclosure and run away to the wilderness! =D That would be so cooolllll...

PS: I got a lovely postcard from South Africa telling me that I mean something in some one's life. It is lovely to know that I am included in people's life plans! :) Lovely cards from beautiful friends mean just as much as I can't stop the stupid grin on my face when I get them!

The way to a woman's heart is through her stomach

I spent the weekend munching. I was just thinking how I should spend my time more efficiently like finish the stack of books I have sitting by my bed, but then the medic asked me if I wanted Italian on Friday so I said yes. Then Saturday I got my promised donut because I had been good all week and ate 5 portions of fruit and vege for at least three days. I am so proud of myself. I normally get in around one portion if I am lucky. I am going to keep on trying to eat healthy so I can get a donut at the end of the week. I had Lebonese for dinner on Saturday with the medic which in our opinion was ever so healthy as there were bits of tomato and lettuce in our food. Our diet normally doesn't include vegetables as the ophthalmologist eats enough greens for the three of us. We went out clubbing in Lan Kwai Fong after dinner. Pi was pretty good as there was a good crowd of very cute boys *cough cough*. The banker bailed out as he said he was too old for this kind of thing. -_- We got back just before daylight haha. Cinderella doesn't need to ride a pumpkin when there are two doctors to make sure she gets back in one piece. How I managed to wake up for mass was a miracle.

I had dimsum for lunch on Sunday with the teacher as I felt like having 'siu long pau' but when I got there, I forgot to order it. Then I went back to church for my lenten confession. I have to admit, my faith has been taking a nosedive since I came to Hong Kong. While Hong Kong is predominatly Buddhist, there are many christian groups that actively promote their cause. I am humbled by their entheusiasm but also annoyed when they try to engage me to join their activities every week without fail. While I approve that Christians should evangelise to the people around them, it doesn't really do much good for one Christian denomination to evangelise to another as everyone believes in the same God anyway *shrugs*. The priest made a very interesting observation: "Christians show their love by spreading joy." So, just by being a happy person, you are able to show God's love. I like that idea. I think I am a happy person. Maybe if you cut out the sugar intake I may be less happy but still happy nontheless.

Oh, I got my craved 'siu long pau' at dinner with the banker. I love 'siu long pau' and the shanghainese restaurant we went to had the most amazing 'siu long pau'. My plans to leave Hong Kong just about evaporated when I had them. I should practice resisting tempation. Food is not good for me. I become biased to a particular place. Shopping here is so good that everyone should come here. So far, I have got two new summer dresses, a pair of distressed jeans and a crystal pendant and earrings for summer. I can't wait for summer! I have started to wear skirts and the boys don't look too comfortable with my presence when I wear them skirt things. They look at me as if I am wearing something funny and walk at an arm's length behind me. =( Maybe it's the huge ass bruise I have on my knee.

Men in Uniform

BFF- SCMS & Krispy Kreme!

I went to the Fire Station today. The boss asked me if I wanted to check out hot Hong Kong firemen, naturally I said yes. So off I went today to Shatin Divisional Fire Station. The last time I went to a fire station was in Aberdeen and the firemen in there were shit hot. I mean seriously sizzling hot. So I expected some eye candy today. But nooooo... firemen in Hong Kong are not as cute. Some were decent-looking but most were old and married looking. What a waste of a day! The other girls seemed to like the look of them though.. Maybe I need to re-examine my taste in men?

They are so exam orientated here, I had to sit through a whole day's lecture on fire safety so that I can be a fire ambassador. They didn't tell me I had to sit an exam at the end of the day. It didn't help that the course was run in Cantonese, with the exams also in Cantonese and split into multiple choice and long answer questions. -_- I just answered them in English and made calculated guesses. So I ended up with 6 'As', 6 'Bs', 6 'Cs' and 7 'Ds' to give every answer equal weightage. The other people on the course were all asking all kinds of stupid questions like: Why can't we take the firemen lift in the instance of a fire? Can we take it if we run to the lift? Why do we need to bring our keys out when we leave the apartment? How do we get back into the building. How many minutes will it take for a 100 degrees celcius fire to kill us?

Answers: No we cannot take the firemen lift even if we run right out with our keys when the fire alarm sounds as the lifts are programmed to go straight down and the doors stay open in the event of a fire. We need keys to get back into the building *duh* and it only takes 30 seconds for a small fire to go out of control and 5 minutes for instant combustion. Fire that is 100 degrees at floor level would be 600 degrees celcius at room height, so obviously we would die before that happens due to smoke inhalation. Shessh.. I thought this was common knowledge? Maybe I hang out around fire stations too much. I used to wander through the fire station in Glasgow because I was too lazy to walk around it hehe. It helped that the firemen were hot too!:)

Anyways, they let us try the extinguishers and look at all the fire engines. I love the one with the saws and the metal cutters that can be used to cut through car wrecks. I am begining to think I was a boy in my previous existance as I get so excited about electrical tools, either that, or I am hanging out with the boys too much. Soon I will be fishing for hot chicks like the rest of them. The plus point is, I will never get pregnant (haha!so no shotgun marriage) and both of us can take turns to go through childbirth. A brilliant take to sharing resposibilities don't you think?

I do hope I pass my Fire Ambassador exam. Because I get a cool certificate at the end, and an ID card I can flash around and show off. I can also buy myself a sexy firewoman outfit to match! And if I see any fire hazards I can order people to move it and I get to collect points when I report it. I wonder what the points will get me? A free ride in the fire engine of my choice? =)

Random fact of the day: There are more than 8000 firemen in Hong Kong but only 4 female Fire Officers. What a ratio eh?

Oh my love! I was promised a donut on Saturday if I behave. =)

I told you so...

The weekend was a welcome relief to the workload recently. While the cases are no less interesting the spirit is lacking in the enthusiasm it started with. Ulcers just look like ulcers at the end of the day, the toe dangling at the end of the foot with green pus oozing out looks just like the one that came yesterday but perhaps the one yesterday had yellow pus and serous discharge as well as redness tracking up the leg... There are days when you just want to quit the day job and sit in a nice warm jacuzzi and drink some cocktails.

I spent Friday night hanging out with my parents' friends who were in Hong Kong for the day. It feels nice to see people that knew you when you were small and cute and didn't know any better; then to meet them again years down the road and talk adult talk instead of 'how err Blue Peter had a cool thing on tv that day and how PowerPuff Girls are the coolest things on Earth' . I have always enjoyed the company of the many people I have met growing up, while I conveniently forget my smart Alec comments as a kid, I am reminded of how much I have matured over the years. We mused and laughed over the past while downing our cocktails and listened to the live band in Lan Kwai Fong. I know, my parents have happening friends I can go bar hopping with haha... It felt good to be reassured that my parents didn't bring up some messed up kid who has no future, career, dreams, hopes nor the ability to stand on my own two feet and to think independently, logically and without emotional attachment. Okay I sound scary... Coming back to Asia is going to be a constant walk down memory lane.

Saturday was supposed to be a nice easy day in bed until I remembered I needed to go to the bank. So I went to Shatin in my heels and my tiny clutch which held my passport, three purses, my phone, one packet of tissue, one mirror, one tub of vaseline, a pack of pantyliners, my RenMinBi, plasters, and my room key. I was glad I brought my passport as I consequently went to Causeway Bay for lunch with the banker, got bribed to Hung Hom to look at the serviced apartments and dragged him to the Wonderful World of Whampoa to show him that it really exists. We both think it is so cool and the flats are so ghost-town-like that we will stay there next year and be part of the tourist attraction. Yeah right!

The boys had planned this huge outing to ShenZhen to the massage palace. I managed to persuade the lawyer to abandon her work and join us *yay*. So off I tottered in my heels and without a jacket to the playground of Hong Kong. By the time I reached there and had dinner my feet were starting to ache so I had to buy two new pairs of shoes. One is 'oh so pretty' and dainty and just perfect for summer while the other matched my purse so that I could wear them on Sunday. The massage place was heaving. I got my usual Hong Kong style massage but this time the masseuse was heavy handed and it hurt like hell. I told her to be more gentle but she didn't really ease it. The ophthalmologist totally scored with the masseuses as they just so happened to walk in on him naked. Then they were all ooh-ing and ahh-ing on how muscular he was, how 'hairy is the new sexy' and how cool that he could speak some Mandarin. I have never seen anyone pick up girls that fast without trying. The rest of us had to translate the pick up lines. -_-

I seriously ate enough fruit to last me two weeks. Mind you, I need all that fruit as my diet is appalling. I got a head and a foot massage in the morning for the road. Then we went to have lunch and to soak in some retail therapy. We were supposed to go pet some lions/tigers and visit some Swiss village or the fake Disneyland, but we were just too lazy to move. So all I got was a silk shawl that doubles as a top for going out in. We came back to Hong Kong for dinner and a movie. What ever you do DO NOT watch 10,000 BC. It is the worst movie I have wasted three hours of my life on.. at least it felt like three hours. Don't say I didn't warn you!

On a more interesting note, on the way to ShenZhen we saw news of riots in Malaysia. As I don't understand Cantonese, I couldn't tell where or why or when but it was definitely Malaysia as I saw the Polis uniforms and the PAS signs and the coconut trees. The Malaysian elections has been an interesting ride. There has been international criticism of how Malaysia suppresses human rights and how the elections are not fair. This election has shown the ruling party that they no longer have a 2/3 majority and that the people are looking for something else and are not satisfied with how things are at present. If all the Malaysians aboard could vote the results would have been even more dramatic. The coming weeks will prove to be difficult for them as they figure out how to go about things. I believe this is a brilliant opportunity for everyone to prove their worth. The BN to prove that they are still the best you can get, the opposition parties to prove otherwise. We will have a more balanced power share. Criticism can only make you stronger. If you are strong enough to take shit from others and defend what you stand for and convince them that you are right, then the people have nothing to lose. In the exchange of heated words, we must not lose sight of the purpose of the discussion and let pride get in the way of compromise. If all fails, we only need to wait another four years to resuffle the board.

Put your X in the Box

The Malaysian Elections are just around the corner. Yet again, political parties send their henchmen to do all the 'you will vote for me... or else' and the 'I will do this and this and this for you'. Malaysia being a relatively young country has not seen a great number of elections and even then, they have not lead to any change in government unlike many other major countries in the world.

I believe that the country needs to change the ruling government to be able to proceed further. However, there may be a few glitches. You see, to change the government, you need to vote for the opposition. Kenny Sia gave a very interesting who-to-vote-for-this-election generator which seemed to show a great number of people being DAP supporters. I am no expert in the manifesto of each political party but I am convinced that people need to wake up to the fact that the government needs a good and proper shake up. There has been such dilly-dallying and such indifference that people are starting to feel indeed, that certain ways are the only ways of life. Many of us have not known any different. We have grown up under the same government, lived under policies and Malaysia Plans that are extensions of each other.

I am a believer that increasing the basic minimum wage thereby increasing the number of people who meet the taxable income bracket can increase awareness of politics in the population. However, this is a Catch 22 as increasing basic minimum wage to have it taken away in taxes will make Ah Beng the blue collar worker mourn the loss of income to the government. This will make Ah Beng all the more interested to know where his tax money is going and demand a say in how it is used. How is the government going to justify using 26 million ringgit to send a guy into space to treat other guys in space to nasi lemak when it could be used to improve roads, build more schools, community clinics and employ podiatrists?

.

Elections are always argued in terms of race. I hate the race arguement. I hate it when people argue on who was here first thereby claiming right of abode. Sure! I am a fourth generation chinese immigrant from Mainland China. Does that make me a citizen of the Peoples' Republic of China? No. Yet why am I not made to feel as if Malaysia is not my country too? Am I a foreigner in my homeland? What should I tell my children and grandchildren in the future? I have been lucky to have lived in many countries and experienced life out of Malaysia but it does not mean I love her any less and want anything short of success for her. I understand and respect history but it does not mean that we cannot change our stance and progress above and beyond the who-came-first arguement and strive to make it a fairer and more inclusive country for everyone.

The cracks of dissatisfaction with our current lot are starting to show. We have witnessed many incidents and how they have been handled. Many people have voiced their dissatisfaction in the coffee shops, over the glass of teh tarik, on the many blogs that we read and stalk. Yet, how many of us are able and willing to be part of the change? I for one, would love to be able to vote. To be able to have my say on how I want my country to be, who I want to lead it and what I want to see in the future. However, there is this slight problem where only civil servants and registered students living abroad are allowed to cast the ballot. The cut off age of 21 may be able to exclude many young and eager students who are abroad financed by their parents. The unwritten rule of 'not biting the hand that feeds you' will no doubt influence the many government funded, older than 21 years of age, students and civil servants to vote to keep the status quo. What about the votes of the many professional Malaysians working overseas who would like to cast their votes? Malaysian embassies and consulates are present in every country. They are supposed to be a patch of home to protect the people and to serve them. A country is nothing without its people.

Likewise, we the people must be able to exercise our right to change our country for better or worse. We need to show up and give our two cents worth or else quit complaining.

*stops complaining*