Welcoming 2007

Alright, it has to be now.

I mean if you are going to any New Year Eve’s countdown party, you should start warming up your engine now. 31st and half pass six in the evening; soon you will have trouble getting into city centre, as several main roads will be blocked by city hall. Although I don’t see how this year’s celebration will be any grander than the Millennium New Year that I had experienced years ago in Singapore: But as Malaysia are gearing up for VMY 2007 (Visit Malaysia Year 2007), this might be yet another show on earth.

Somehow this also a reminder for my selves: Writing a post? It is now!

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Honestly speaking, we never really celebrate New Year. At least my family; and a typical Chinese family will celebrate only Chinese New Year and other festivals in our lunar calendar. In my memories there are these excitements (as a small kid, during Chinese New Year) of rushing downstairs to greet my grandparents: They usually gave bigger Ang Pow, or in longer term (throughout the year: Ice-cream money, buying toys, etc.) anyway.

And that, usually after you were rudely woke up by approaching Lion Dance troupe: Unmistakably sounds of harmonious drum and gongs, couple with firecrackers. Well, it’s not Chinese New Year yet, eh? Perhaps I should elaborate more in couples of month’s time, and maybe with some pictures. But it is such environment and six years in Chinese Vernacular School taught me about us, Chinese.

I once failed to understand the multi-cultural setting of our country: We always befriend with kids of our own race, that cycling to a Malay village or Indian estate would be a “great adventure”, usually armed with elastic Y-sticks and on “high-alert” mode. Every year we explore “new” territories, with bicycle and the range of 3 miles in radius, we discovered they “occupied” some other rivers, on the other side of our “world”. We hunt for the same magpie species, or Murai, but they are always a step further. So soon enough, we befriend with each other, exchanging ideas on how to win a cockfight match, the coolest way to jump/spin into the pool of river. Inevitable encounter, but interesting.

Anyway as I grew up, slowly I understand the meaning behind “celebrating all the festivals”, be it Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Deepavali, Gawai, or Christmas. We define it as Malaysian festivals that everybody can celebrate, or at least respect, understand and most importantly, accept. That one of the many “great adventure” and explorations plus four years in government mainstream school or national school taught me about us, in a bigger context, Malaysian.

Sad to say that some of us still remained at the “due-to-respect and assumed-understand” stage, as acceptance seems a continent too far. You can never read a book by studying its cover design, or learn how to drive a car by washing, polishing it. These are the relationship that doesn’t stand a proof of time, or at least, it’s not sincere. But it’s a free world; you choose how you want your life to be. Worldwide friends but locally “disoriented”? That is new race I’m trying to understand!


Okay, I am a bit off-topic so far. But for me most festival season carries one important message: Reunion. I sort of celebrating Christmas, when I met Agnes and then reunite again with Swami-ji, at a temple where the waterfalls meet the majestic arched bridge. We sat and chat in temple, along side with a Buddhist from a Chinese temple nearby. You always sit down on the floor after Swami-ji’s prayers: To absorb the positive energy and to socialize, I guess. Unlike the good old days, people nowadays prayed for everything-perfect and quickly rushed off within 10 minutes. Busy living, busy dying, huh. Or do we have a choice?


Agnes was lucky to experience more than the temple experience. We have been traveling off the main tourist hot spots, doing things what normal Perakian (or rather me, hehe) will do: Spent a lazy afternoon by the river, wash your blood-tainted feet (work of leeches, what else!) with cold, refreshing “mountain” water. Have Laksa after taking a spin around the Ubudiah Mosque and Royal Palace of Kuala Kangsar. Or making a short trip to Penang Island, sampling more local delicacies while saying Hi to few of my friends working there. You can’t compare all these with urban Kowloon, we both know that pretty well. Perhaps that is the basis of understanding between two cultures, even if we are both, Chinese.


The next reunion comes with a little bit of surprise: Visit from my Uncle’s family from Canberra. They will stay long enough this time, until Chinese New Year is over in February. So I’ve been busy fetching my family to join my aunt’s family, who is hosting my uncle for a good while. The rest of my father’s sisters will come, and have their only reunion on rectangular and not-round table: Majhong table!

Plenty to catch up, definitely, even among us, dear bloggers! So this post will be our reunion: Panda, Happy, Moody, YD, Irong, Pinkpanther, to name a few. No doubt 2006 has been great, and busy. I am deeply saddened by the fact that I can’t post that much anymore - can't make/take as much photographs as I used to be, too. Nonetheless I will be always around, that this is still the best place to find me, get updates about me. But it's safe to say that I will reply your emails faster than posting the whole stories here, haha. Keep up the good “posts”, my dear friends!


To summarize this post, let’s go back to yesterday, first day of 2007. We are helping MRCS on post-flooding operation, main packing sanitary packs for the flood victims. Weeks of heavy rains, 2500 affected families and thousands dislocated, many officials are still worried about our VMY 2007 campaign and somehow, blaming the weather. That ever famous force majeure comment made by our Minister of Public Works Department definitely rings a bell.


You better met people like Kulwant Singh (quite easy to find him in that group photo), Manager for Disaster Management (MRCS) than the minister: Effective 1st January, toll charges for few privatized highways in Klang Valley will be rised up to sixty percent for its old rate. Apparently I am one of the thousands affected, and I wonder how these policies can benefits the people. Driving to work can never be the same again!

The night ends with a wonderful dinner at Michael’s. Michael brings laughter wherever he goes while Guna, his lovely wife, cooks fine Southern India food, with little combination of Malaysian wisdom. Looking back at those pictures, I can tell you the foods are even better this year!

A friend in Czech told me what you do the first day of New Year; you will do it for the whole year. Hmm. Not bad at all. I’ll be a good happy boy for 2007! Wishing everyone here all the best, too!