你找到辛福了吗？

Temperature: 23 c
Weather: Fair

往往很多时候，辛福就伴在你左右，只是我们从未去发掘而已。

到了上海也整整四个星期了，说实在的，家人开始想念起我们了。

早上醒来，总会寻找他的背影。望了一下熟睡的他，看着他好像小孩子般的模样，真叫人疼惜。他一定很累了，忙了一整天的他，有时半夜还会说梦话。他一定累坏了。

我静悄悄的走出房门，为他做了一份简单的早餐。也没什么特别，一杯牛奶，两片面包间中夹着两片cheese, 有时还有煎蛋。就那么的简单。

一起床的他，二话不说，第一件事就是看看他的个人网页，家人朋友的留言，直到他心满意足，才匆忙的吃了早餐上班去。一天就这样的过去了。回来的时候又是深夜了，倒头就呼呼大睡。我不曾见他那么的疲累。“人往高处爬，水往低处流。”我深信他一定会挨过去的，只因为他是杜韩念嘛！

虽然他很忙，却不曾对我发脾气，反而更加的疼爱我。记得有一次，他怕我在家闷坏了（偶尔参加慈济，打理家就没别的了），就赶紧把手头上的工作给安排妥当后，给了我一通电话，吩咐我到住家的大门口等他。“你怎么啦，为何突然间想出去走走，是不是心情不好，又遭老板责骂了？”他说：“好久没陪你散散步了”就牵着我的手朝着大街走去。看着他沉重的步伐，就知道他已经很累了。

他的工作室就在“新天地”。那里是一个高级，繁荣的商业城。偶尔，我也会步行到他家公司陪他用餐。记得好几次，他带我到附近的餐馆用餐(平时我都不去的，价钱也比一般较贵一些)。我真的很好奇，他几乎天天和同事在这用餐，现在只有我和他，应该没这个必要浪费吧。他说:“我当然到过，可是你却不曾来过，也没有机会品尝这里的食物。再怎么贵都是值得的。”听了这一席话，有谁不感动。

昨天，我去了上海书城，打算给妈妈买一本于丹《论语》。那书局正搞着促销活动，我一口气买了好几本书。 看了那账单，想了想，我好想把书给退了。可是，他却把书全买了下来。他告诉我说，“阅读是个好习惯，多读是件好事。只要你活得充实， 一切都值得。” 多感人的一句话。

有他就有家，有他就有辛福。虽然他比以前更忙了些，但，我们的生活比以前更踏实，更快乐。我发现到我越来越爱他，更珍惜他了。

Written by Engtee


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上海的月亮 大马的倒影

Temperature: 25c
Weather: Clear

Mid Autumn Festival 中秋节 has just quietly passed by. If not because of the 2 boxes of mooncakes I received from the office, I would not realize mid autumn festival had arrived.

This could not be true. After all I am now living in a country with 1.3 billions of Chinese who are supposed to celebrate mid-autumn and needless to say mid-autumn festival originated from this land！But where had the atmosphere of mid-autumn gone?

I remember when I was younger (I am still young, so I intentionally use the word “younger”), mid-autumn was a big thing in Kuala Terengganu. Despite its insignificant Chinese population, there were organizations busy organizing various exciting activities like tang-lung march, tang-lung contest, riddles, cultural performance etc. Of course mooncakes and "pig biscuits" were things that could not be missed.

Damn! Mid-autumn was such a big thing in Malaysia that a local boy group even made a song called 月亮圆 specially dedicated for this festival.

Mid-autumn is a public holiday for Hong Kong. But their holiday is on the 16th day of the Lunar calendar because they want to spend their night in a family reunion while appreciating the 15th day moon and do not need to work the next morning. I was in Hong Kong on the 15th day. My Hong Kong colleagues were discussing their plans to celebrate mid-autumn: some suggested shopping with husband, some suggested having a big and expensive dinner, bottom line: all had plans to do something in the name of mid-autumn.

Well, very unfortunate for Mainland China, mid-autumn is not a holiday. It is business as usual. The spirit of mid-autumn here has been reduced to selling and giving expensive mooncakes in beautifully decorated boxes. Where is the lantern? Where is the family gathering?

月圆人团圆, the Chinese says. "But if there is no holiday, how am I going to reunite with my family?" my Chinese colleague complained during dinner.

I can see the big bright moon from the window of my office, the same moon that is shining on my family now wherever they are. When you are thousand miles away from your home, the following verses by 苏东波 become very meaningful:-

人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全！

但愿人长久，千里共婵娟。

Just a quick note

Temperature: 29 c

Weather: Fair

Just a quick note to my friends and family,

Engtee and I are fine and happy in China. Do not get misled by the hidden negative massages in my articles. The articles are written to record my thought at that particular time which may not accurately reflect the quality of our life in China.

Mom, I am sorry if I got you worried but I am really ok. There is no reason to worry about me. I have no regret coming to China. Come heaven or hell, it was my decision to be here. I was not forced by anyone to be here. I voluntarily walked into the airplane and flew here. Nothing is stopping me from going back to Malaysia but I choose to stay on in China.

海上升明月，天涯共此时

The moon last night was very bright and beautiful. It reminded me of my dad who I was sure was appreciating the same moon at that time. 独在异乡为异客，每逢佳节倍思亲. Dad, if at all possible, please cut down on your smoking and take care of yourself.

I may be able to drop a longer entry later tonight, but now I had better go to work.

p/s: Stevo, Shindy, Harley, Rosie, Lloyd, Timmy, thanks for your comments. I wish you all well and happy.

The best place on earth

Temperature: 29 c
Weather: Cloudy

I had a funny dream. In my dream I was working in my office until my heart nearly went into shock. I had deadlines to chase and dozens of memos to answer. I was suffocating. I needed a break.

When my heart and brain almost quitted on me, I vaguely saw a green genie appeared in front of me. He walked slowly to me, patted my shoulder and said, “Brother, you need fresh air. Why are you here? It’s midnight, go home.”

I told him I couldn’t because I still had tons of things to do half of which were already behind schedule.

“Brother, ok, since you are not able to go home and have to work so hard, I will realize your dreams. Tell me what you want and I will make your dreams come true.” Genie said.

“You mean 1 dream or many dreams?” I was slowly getting excited.

“As many dreams as you like.” Genie said.

“Ok, then, let me think, emm… I am tired of working long hours, please give me a job which I would work exactly 9 to 5, 5 days a week.” That was my first request.

“Granted. Anything else?” Genie asked.

“Emm… ok ok. Let me think… oh oh, I am tired of being called by the boss to come to work on urgent matters on Saturdays and Sundays, please make sure my job doesn’t need me to face with my boss on office matter after working hours and definitely not on weekends.”

“Understood and granted. Anything else?”

“Emmm… Ok ok, I am tired of taking the public transport. It was packed every time and I had to walk for a great distance to reach the bus stand. So, give me a car so I could drive to work and to other places during leisure time.” My mind was going wild!

“Ok, reasonable, granted! Anything else?” Genie said.

“Ar… My current rental is too expensive and my room is so small! Give me a place where I don’t have to pay rental while the space of my room is extra spacious!” Now I was demanding.

“Sure, why not. Anything else?”

“Ok ok. I am sick of the food here. It’s tasteless and oily. I want Bak Kut Teh, nasi lemak, prawn mee, roti canai, satay, char kuey tiau, tomyam, asam laksa, and ayam rendang!”

“Yeap, I agree with you, good food is important. What else you want?” Genie asked.

“I guess that’s all. Please make it all comes true. I want to end the torture. Then I will be living in the best place on earth. I will have nothing to complain about!” I almost sounded like begging.

“Ok, sure I will make all your wishes come true. Don’t worry. Now, close your eyes. When you open your eyes, all your wish will come true.”

I closed my eyes as instructed. I indistinctly heard the genie mumbling “mali mali hung! mali mali hung!”. After a few seconds, the genie said, “you may open your eyes now.”

I slowly opened my eyes and realized I was laying on my King size bed in my house in Klang and Engtee was waking me up furiously as I was late for work at Eric Yap & Associates.



.

Blogging from Hong Kong!

Dear everyone!

Engtee and I are now in Hong Kong for some official business. So the news and information about China will have to be paused until Wednesday (we are flying back to Shanghai on 25-9-2007).

It's kinda late to write long blog. I just log in to tell everyone we are fine in Hong Kong and we had met Kevin (the busy Lawyer I mentioned about in my earlier article).

Ok, good night and take care!

中秋节快乐！

Happy Birthday Bom!

Temperature: 28 c

Weather: Fair

Today (23-9-2007) is a big day for my good friend Bom, it’s his birthday! I am not sure whether I will be meeting him later today, so I will record my wishes to him here:-

祝你所有愿望都实现，婚姻美满，身体健康，工作无压力，事事顺利！

The reason I am not sure whether I will be meeting him today despite today is his big day is because we had earlier celebrated his birthday on Friday night in a Sichuan 四川 restaurant.

Lately, Bom had fallen in love with Sichuan food; he enjoys the sensation of his lips and tongue being numbed by the spices. The key feature of Sichuan food is not about its spiciness (though some dishes are really hot), it’s its numbness 麻. Take 水煮鱼 (water-cooked-fish) for example, (oh by the way, don’t get misled by the words “water-cooked”, there is no water in it, it’s all oil, and the fish is soaked in hot-boiling oil), the fish is not hot at all, so you might think: “Oh the Sichuanese says this is hot?? Hahah! We Malaysian can take this on anytime!”, but after you have eaten few more pieces of the fish, your lips and tongue will feel a weird sensation, i.e. you can’t feel your lips and tongue anymore because they are completely numbed and all your subsequent dishes become tasteless.


Bom’s birthday celebration was not graced only by Sichuan food, there was a Malaysian thing too: a Secret Recipe Cheese Cake! Yes, the Secret Recipe we have back home. In Malaysia, Secret Recipe is a big thing; here it has yet to gain its popularity. Secret Recipe is known as 食之秘 in China. Shanghai only has 4 Secret Recipes currently (3 of them housed in Carrefour premises). The Secret Recipe Cheese Cake we brought it for Bom has a story to tell.

When Bom’s girlfriend, Stella, came to Shanghai last month, her main job was to seek out the best Secret Recipe outlets and buy cheese cake for her boyfriend because Bom is a big fan of cheese cake. She wanted to give him surprise (oh how sweet) so all her research on Shanghai Secret Recipe was done quietly outside the purview of Bom. However, she didn’t finish her research and book the cheese cake before she left Shanghai. So she needed external help, and Engtee (another jobless housewife) came in handy.

With careful coordination, communication and cooperation between Stella and Engtee through sms and MSN, the cheese cake was finally booked and later purchased. Bom, if you are reading this, the cheese cake 可说是有血有泪! You’d better tell Stella how much you enjoyed the cake!


I was actually going to write something about the explosive Lingam Tape that everyone in Malaysia is talking about now (Eric, thanks for alerting me). But I took my mother’s advice not looking back.

It is really heart breaking to know that our judiciary had rotten to that stage. It was merely rumour that the senior judicial officers in Malaysia are fixed and arranged by an invisible hand. Now it is virtually confirmed. In other more developed country, heads must roll. However, in Malaysia, these culprits are blessed with very tolerant rakyat. The people will make hooh hah now. It will be a hot topic in the coffee shop. The Bar Council might do something. But in the end, life goes on and before you know it, this explosive issue will be swept into the carpet and the police investigation file will be stamped with “No Further Action (NFA)”. Our AG even had the brain to say that he saw no criminal offence in that tape. Our beloved PM said that there is no need for Royal Commission. Ok ok, even a first year law student will tell you this is something that warrants thorough and serious investigation because it concerns one of the 3 pillars of government! But of course, that’s just the opinion of a first year law student. How can our PM and AG be wrong? They are, after all, much more wiser and experienced than a first year law student, aren’t they?

Now, every lawyer when appears before judges will inevitably have this thought in their mind: Yang Arif, are you sitting there because you licked the right boots?

Typhoon Wipha

Temperature: 24 c
Weather: cloudy

I should not be blogging today. I have solid reason for not blogging because it's my shift today and I will be working until the nightclubs close and the drunks start urinating on the streets.

But how could I not blog after knowing that some of you actually make it a point to read this blog every morning, or some even risk their lives reading this blog while driving (though I highly disapprove such habit, I am nonetheless touched).

So today I will talk about typhoon Wipha: the first ever typhoon I experienced in my life.

This typhoon Wipha has made a huge hooh-hah in Shanghai. You could read about it from the newspaper, internet, billboards and you could hear about it from the radio or TV. Typhoon Wipha is everywhere. People talked about it everyday. So I thought it must be a big thing, maybe something like Twister or some other natural disaster Hollywood movies. In fact it was so big that my father-in-law called me to see if everything was ok. I was not afraid at all and to the contrary I was very excited. Let the Typhoon comes, I will take it on! I suddenly remember a song by Scorpion: “Here I am! Rock you like a hurricane!” I was very pumped up to meet this typhoon Wipha.

On the 19th morning (which typhoon Wipha is forecasted to hit Shanghai), it started to rain heavily and the wind was picking up speed. But it was still manageable. I, with my barbeque stick umbrella, could still walk to office (though my Hushpuppy shoes were completely wet). Schools were closed due to the typhoon and some law offices, I heard, were closed too.

When I was in the office, my colleague told me the typhoon was going to hit Shanghai pretty hard at 2.30pm. “Shanghai will be like in the centre of this typhoon! You see the scaffoldings there? I bet it all will be blown away!” he said. That’s cool! My seat was next to the window and I got the best view when the typhoon Wipha launches its attack on Shanghai.

We waited patiently for the typhoon to come. Minutes and hours slowly went by and 2.30pm was just around the corner. The great show performed by natural forces was about to be witnessed by me!

Then 2.30pm came, no show. Then 3.30pm, still no show. At 4.00pm I was getting impatient, where was the typhoon? Why all I got was just rain and wind? Where was the destruction it promised? I checked the net and found this:-

Wipha missed Shanghai by 100 km.

Oh, how anti-climax it was! It's like watching porn movies and when it comes to the most interesting part, the computer hang and cannot be fixed!

p/s:

Bro Stevo! Reading this blog while driving to work?! That’s kinda hard to beat! Unless someone comes up and says, “you know what, I read your blog while having sex!”

Adidas Shoes

Temperature: 22 c
Weather: Rain

Last Sunday out of the blue Engtee received a sms from a company informing her to go for an interview on Monday morning at 10.30am. Earlier, Engtee has sent her cover letter and CV to this company through a job hunting website to apply for the posts of account executive and internal audit officer.

However, Engtee was not thrilled. She was not excited at all. Instead of thinking that she might finally get a job, she saw it as the possible end of her jobless life which she rather enjoys at the moment.

Engtee’s Sunday was entirely spoilt after seeing the sms. It was supposed to be a great Sunday because we were going to 七浦路 which is something like our Petaling Street where cheap clothing, handbags, underwear, socks, shoes are sold. “Yeoh… I don’t want to start work so soon!” she complained. “I have not enjoyed enough!”

Once we were home, I checked the company which sent the sms to Engtee using the internet. It was an insurance company. After reading the company profiles, I had my reservation about this company, nevertheless I encouraged Engtee to go for the interview. “What the heck! It is not like you are very busy. So go and have fun. Maybe you will learn something from the interview.” I persuaded her.

So the next morning Engtee reluctantly put on make-up and went for the interview. As always I went to my office to start my grueling works.

Once I returned from office, Engtee shared with me about her interview in the morning. It confirmed my fear. The insurance company was actually recruiting insurance agents. They advertised in various websites that they are recruiting account personnel or whatever posts, but their real motive is to recruit insurance agents.

Which is good too because they provide training for Engtee. Free training. In order to get the agent license, Engtee has to go through their 3 days course with a examination on the final day. I thought that was great! Engtee could learn something about insurance. Better than hiding in this small apartment doing nothing other than waiting for the husband to come home right?

With that, Engtee went through the 3 days course. Today was her examination and you know what? She passed! Ok, one more thing to add to her resume now: Qualified Insurance Agent in Mainland China. But, like everything else in China, nothing is free. She was asked to bring RMB160 to pay for her registration fees. Neh! No no no! Of course she won’t pay. Good try though. This is probably the work of a con artist in Shanghai. Engtee told me that the CEO of this company which claimed to have millions in its investments is only 25 years old. Come on man! This is stretching it too far!

But the main thing I want to blog about today has nothing to do with being conned in Shanghai. It is about a story Engtee learned from the training which I find it very interesting and worth to be reproduced here below:-

2 friends were walking in a jungle when a ferocious and hungry tiger suddenly appeared and charged towards them. Of course both of them ran for their life.

After running for awhile, one guy stopped, opened his bag, took out his adidas shoes and wore it. The other guy was puzzled and said, “Oh what’s the point? Even with the adidas shoes, you still can’t run faster than the tiger!”

“Yes I know. But I only need to run faster than YOU!” he replied.

Well, this is what competition is all about: you are either number one or vanished into the stomach of a hungry tiger.

p/s:-

Bro Stevo, with or without my blog, the situation in Malaysia is still the same. Using the same analogy, not only Malaysia is not running fast enough to be number one, it is running towards the direction of the tiger! If Papa is asked to record a police statement because of this blog, I am sure he will say: “you expect my son to write good things about Malaysia? Then I will not be able to read his article everyday! Further, this blog is not about Malaysia, it’s about China, you know how to read or not?!”

Wow! Now I have No. 1 fan in down south of the Earth. Thanks Alex and Shindy for your supports. I hope everything is fine in Australia.

Papa, how could I neglect you? You set this blog as your default homepage. Basically you are logging into this blog every time you turn on your computer! But that’s considered cheating in contending for the world no. 1 title. Sorry.

Pig Culling Effect

Temperature: 23c
Weather: Thunder Storm

My friend Ah Heng, whose family is involved in pig farming, once told me that when they slaughter pigs in the morning (why must it be in the morning? I am sure it has nothing to do with “halal” thingy), they would normally bring 5 to 6 adult pigs into the “Butcher Chamber”. There they would place 1 pig on the “chopping block” and then stab its neck to collect fresh blood. Once the stabbed pig became unconscious and motionless (due to lack of blood or whatever) and thus could be easily handled, they would start cutting the pig into pieces and parts (and this may take place while the pig is still alive!).

I asked Ah Heng a stupid question: did the pig make any noise or struggle when you did all these to it? Of course it did. It squawked, squealed, kicked and struggled horribly with the pointless hope of freeing itself.

“但这些都是无谓的挣扎，因为它越是挣扎，血就流得越快，也死得更快” Ah Heng said.

Ah Heng further added, not only did the pig which was on the chopping block make noise and struggle, its “comrades” (i.e. the other pigs which were also inside the Butcher Chamber waiting for their turn to receive the “treatment”) would feel the fear and struggle, squawk, and make horrifying noise too! “They knew they will be killed. They just knew it.”

I call this the “Pig Culling Effect” or PCE.

I must apologize for telling this pig slaughtering story in front of my readers the majority of whom are Bak Kut Teh lovers. But, let’s be frank, how many of you, when enjoying your delicious and aromatic Bak Kut Teh, will think of those poor pigs lining up in front of the Butcher Chamber waiting for its turn to be chopped into 排骨，五花肉，小骨，脚腕etc? Ok, may be I have digressed too far, please forgive me.

Now, back to this “Pig Culling Effect” or PCE. Where else can you see PCE? In the battlefield for instance. Imagine you and your teammates were engaging massive offensive attacks to capture enemy’s base. You were inside a small military boat which ferried you and your teammates to the enemy’s base. Upon reaching enemy’s shore, you saw your teammates getting down from the boat one by one and one by one they were blasted off by enemy’s heavy weapons. PCE would instantly set in and you would automatically feel the fear of the “other pigs in the Butcher Chamber”.

PCE could also be experienced in a less violent but equally hostile environment, for example, in an office. You saw your colleague sitting next to you received a call from the boss’s secretary saying “Boss wants to see you now.” Then your colleague’s face turned pale and expressionless. He slowly got up and walked into the boss’s room as if he was receiving his HIV test result. Once he was inside the boss’s room, the only thing you could hear was the boss’s shouting, screaming and banging against table. You saw a healthy young man walked into the room, but a roasted piglet 乳猪 walked out minutes later. Suddenly you got PCE: today is his day, tomorrow might be yours.

To all working class who had this PCE before, please sing along with me:-

“我地呢班打工仔！一生一世为钱币啊做奴隶！个种辛苦折堕讲出吓鬼, (死俾你睇）。。。”


p/s:-

Chew, it’s good to see your comment here. I did not use the word “sucks”, it was used by a third party, I just referred to it.

Bro Stevo! You are indeed my no. 1 fan in the whole North America region. I guess only mom could compete with you for the World No. 1 title.

Mom, I was just enjoying my well deserved weekend without having to face computer monitor (except watching pirated DVDs). So now I know this blog has another function, i.e. to keep my mother busy and happy. 母命难违, I will see what I can do. Regarding the statistic I produced, well, I was not free enough to make that up. I got it from the internet. Mom, to discuss about China comprehensively, sometimes we do need to talk about more serious stuffs like statistics and data. We just cannot go on and on talking about how your son fools around in China, where he bought DVD, whether he got enough sleep or things like that, can we?

I am about to experience the first typhoon of my life. Typhoon Wipha will hit Shanghai for 3 consecutive days starting from today. I had better get myself a good quality umbrella because the one I am using now (which costs only RMB10) will definitely transform into barbeque sticks once the typhoon hits.

I must admit I am quite thrilled by this impending typhoon. Natural disaster in Malaysia is almost non-existent. The disasters we have back home are usually man-made for example, landslides due to over development and poor planning, buying a set of “cheaplak” screwdrivers at more than RM200, being detained for 6 months just for failure to produce IC, being shot by police while attending political assemblies, leaking in parliament building even though we have just spent millions to renovate and upgrade it, sending an astronaut to space to prove Malaysia’s “boleh-hood” when a monkey had already accomplished such mission 50 years ago etc…

人山人海

Temperature: 25 c
Weather: Clear

One thing that cannot escape from your discussion about China is its 1.3 billion populations. It means everyone 5 human beings living on this planet, 1 is a Chinese.

Of course everyone knows that, but do you have any idea what 1.3 billion populations is all about? Let me share with you this statistic which I found from Wikipedia. I ranked the world’s most populous countries, but counted each Chinese province as its own country. The listings in red are Chinese provinces. The rest are all independent nations.

1 India 1,169,016,000
2 United States 302,500,000
3 Indonesia 231,627,000
4 Brazil 186,800,000
5 Pakistan 163,630,000
6 Bangladesh 158,665,000
7 Nigeria 148,093,000
8 Russia 142,499,000
9 Japan 127,720,000
10 Mexico 103,263,388
11 Henan 97,170,000
12 Shandong 91,800,000
13 Philippines 88,706,300
14 Vietnam 87,375,000
15 Sichuan 87,250,000
16 Guangdong 83,040,000
17 Germany 82,400,996
18 Ethiopia 77,127,000
19 Egypt 75,498,000
20 Turkey 74,822,000
21 Jiangsu 74,330,000
22 Iran 71,208,000
23 Hebei 68,090,000
24 Hunan 66,980,000
25 Anhui 64,610,000
26 France (including overseas France) 64,102,140
27 Thailand 62,828,706
28 Congo-Kinshasa 62,636,000
29 United Kingdom 60,209,500
30 Hubei 60,160,000
31 Italy 59,093.092
32 Myanmar 48,798,000
33 South Africa 48,577,000
34 Guangxi 48,890,000
35 South Korea 48,244,000
36 Zhejiang 47,200,000
37 Ukraine 46,205,000
38 Spain 45,116,894
39 Yunnan 44,150,000
40 Jiangxi 42,840,000
41 Columbia 42,770,000
42 Liaoning 42,170,000
43 Tanzania 40,454,400
44 Argentina 39,531,000
45 Guizhou 39,040,000
46 Sudan 38,560,000
47 Heilongjiang 38,170,000
48 Poland 38,132,277
49 Kenya 37,538,000
50 Shaanxi 37,050,000
51 Fujian 35,110,000
52 Algeria 33,858,000
53 Shanxi 33,350,000
54 Canada 32,934,400
55 Morocco 31,224,000
56 Chongqing (municipality) 31,220,000
57 Uganda 30,884,000
58 Iraq 28,993,000
59 Nepal 28,196,000
60 Peru 27,903,000
61 Venezuela 27,657,000
62 Uzbekistan 27,372,000
63 Afghanistan 27,145,000
64 Malaysia 27,140,000
65 Jilin 27,090,000
66 Gansu 26,190,000
67 Saudi Arabia 24,735,000
68 Inner Mongolia 23,840,000
69 North Korea 23,790,000
70 Ghana 23,478,000

Conclusion:

-Of the 70 “countries” on this list, 23 of them are Chinese provinces.

-Henan, Shandong, Sichuan, and Guangdong all have larger populations than the most populous
European state, Germany.

-Jilin and Gansu have roughly the same population as Malaysia.

- The total number of all Malaysian Chinese only makes up 10% of Anhui’s population.

China is definitely people mountain people sea!


p/s:-

Bro Stevo! Of course I got your comments. I just don’t have the necessary inspiration and idea to give you a rock and roll reply! Don’t doubt my love for you. I dedicate this song “男子组” to you, especially the chorus part.

Some of you emailed me to tell me reading this blog has become part of your daily chores. I am touched by and thankful to your encouragements. I sincerely hope that through this blog you will be able see China from the eyes and ears of a junior Malaysian Lawyer who is here to make his mark.

日出而作

Temperature: 24 c
Weather: Clear

Not too long ago when I was still working in Klang, I received an email from a good friend of mine, Kevin, who is a corporate lawyer current residing in Hong Kong (Kevin, if you are reading this, yes, I am talking about you).

He told me his vacation to Beijing had just been effectively ruined by the partners when he was out of the blue told to stay back during the weekend to finish an IPO project. He reckoned that I should feel blessed and lucky working in Klang because while he was literally camping in front of his computer 24/7, I was enthusiastically discussing with my fellow Rotaractors about the coming trip to Port Dickson. What a stark contrast!

I was unable to fully comprehend his predicament. What sort of work would require you to glue your backside to the chair and your eyes to the monitor 7 days a week? There’s always tomorrow right? Further, there is always unfinished business so why the hurry? My biology teacher told me that we need at least 8 hours of “good quality” sleep everyday to ensure our body functions well. Legally and biologically speaking, how could one be compelled to work until midnight？That’s insane and should not be permitted! Have you ever heard of 日出而作，日落而息?

Kevin is a person who is always on the move; I have never seen him sitting down doing nothing. The only moment he does nothing is when he sleeps which I am not too sure either because chances are he might be planning his plan for the next day in his dream! So having known him to be of such character, it was normal for me to assume that his busy schedule was more or less self-inflicted.

“Take it easy Kevin, you only live your 20s once.” That was my piece of advice to Kevin.

Few months later, ironically, my karma caught up with me and it turned out it was my turn to work my butt off until and, sometimes, beyond midnight. I would look at the digital clock in my monitor which indicated that it was already midnight and ask myself, “it’s sleeping time for all normal human beings and what the H am I doing here in the office?” Oh, that’s because I still have 2 unfinished assignments and the deadline for these assignments is 9 am tomorrow. And Harnniann, why didn’t you finish it sooner since it was so urgent. Oh, that’s because the 2 assignments were only given to me at 9 pm and I am expected to finish it before 9 am the next day!

Ok, now I really have to eat the humble pie and swallow back the piece of advice I gave to Kevin: take it easy Harnniann, you only live your 20s once!

日出而作，日落而息? Well, it is more like 日出日落皆要作，大病不死方能息.

I am not complaining though. Didn’t I purposely quit my job, abandon my house, leave my country and come to China just to experience life? It would not worth the efforts if life in China is exactly the same as Klang, would it?

p/s:-

Mom, the word "sucks" is not invented by the Chinese. It is commonly used by the Angmos to mean "bad, awful, lousy, not good" etc. Engtee is joining 慈济. She will join them to bake cookies next Monday and Tuesday.

Croco Aunt, I got your comment. Thanks! Unfortunately, I am not able to reply your comments as I am firewalled from entering my own blog. China bans blogs. But all comments are sent directly to my email, so I could read comments via my email.

Sorry, but what are you trying to say?

Temperature: 24 c

Weather: Partly Cloudy



I have mentioned earlier in my articles, legal documents here are prepared both in Chinese and English. Strictly speaking, there is no legal duty to prepare the English version. More often than not, when these documents are filed with the relevant authorities, only the Chinese versions are submitted to the authorities. The English version is prepared solely for foreign clients.

Today I was asked to read, review, edit and comment on a Service Contract (it’s funny, I have only started work like less than 2 weeks and I am already expected to “comment” on contracts based on China law? Well, just do it!).

As always, I was given 2 versions of the same Service Contract i.e. the Chinese and the English version. Having studied and practiced law in English language, it only makes sense for me to read the English version to understand the contract.

Well, from the language of the contract you can easily tell whether the contract is prepared in Chinese first then translated into English or the other way round. Normally if the contract is prepared by local Chinese firms or local government authorities, the original version will be Chinese and then they will ask someone with reasonable knowledge of English to translate the documents to English.

The one I was reading, reviewing, editing and commenting on this morning was definitely prepared in Chinese first then translated to English. But it is still easier to read the English version than the Chinese.

While I was half way reading the Service Contract, I came across this sentence which I shall reproduce here below in verbatim:-

“Party B’s services shall be examined and approved by Party A based on ‘superior wins inferior sucks’ principle.”

I nearly choked and went into coma. What the H is he trying to say??!! Superior wins Inferior sucks?? That sounds more like the lyric of Eminem or Linkin Park songs. How could it appear in a legal document? Further, what does it mean?!

That’s the good thing about being bi-lingual, when you hit a dead end with the English version, you can always refer to the Chinese version.

Ok, this is what the original Chinese version has to say:-

“乙方所提供的服务将经甲方以‘优胜劣汰’的原则审批。”

I will not try to embarrass myself here, in my own blog, by attempting to translate the above. If you understand the above Chinese sentence, you get it; if you don’t, you don’t get it. It’s just that simple. Sometimes, it is just difficult if not impossible to translate the Chinese (even if it only has 22 characters).

I don’t blame the English translator of the Service Contract. He/She’d probably tried his/her best to tell the Chinese story in English. It’s just that, the best he/she could come up with is “Superior Wins and Inferior SUCKS”.

Let’s just say I don’t read Chinese. How am I going to “advise” my client on this “Superior Wins Inferior Sucks” concept?

This might be my legal opinion to my client:-

“Judging from the principle of ‘Superior Wins Inferior Sucks’, it is our view that the potential services to be provided by you to the Chinese party shall be of superior quality in order to win the hearts of the Chinese, otherwise, your services might not be approved and thus be labeled as ‘SUCKS’.”

My first Starbucks in China

Temperature: 25 c

Weather: Clear

Did I mention that locals drink Starbucks in my earlier article?

Today, I just had the opportunity to taste my first Starbucks in Shanghai. It was about 2 something in the evening and my secretary suddenly came into my room and asked me what I wanted to order. What? “I am going to Starbucks now, what you want?” she said. It looked like she was buying Starbucks for the whole company and was asking around. I told her I wanted Mocha Ice Blended. In case you don’t know, Ice Blended is called “星冰乐” in Mandarin.

Half an hour later, I had my first taste of Starbucks. How much was it? “Oh, it’s on the office” my secretary told me. What? I guess that was part of the benefit of working for a big company, you have free Starbucks once in a while.

If you are curious about the price of Starbucks here, it’s around RMB35 to RMB40 per cup. Yes, I will Not walk into Starbucks and spend this much of money on a cup of coffee unless it is totally unavoidable or absolutely necessary.

p/s:-

There will not be any new article tomorrow because I will have to work until 1 am in the morning. Everything is a trade off, you get to drink free Starbucks, but the price is working your butt off until the wee hour.

先天下之忧而忧，后天下之乐而乐

Temperature: 25 c

Weather: Partly Cloudy

Whenever I look at the computer monitor filled with hundreds of Chinese characters, I thank my father for making the tough, bold and risky choice of sending all his children to Chinese school. It was a far-sighted decision. Only men with vision and unique ideas could make such decision.

I remember when I was 7, I studied HanYuPinYin 汉语拼音. It was a tormenting experience. My Chinese teacher (as are hundreds of Chinese school teachers) was strict and the whole class feared her and her cane. Now, because I know HanYuPinYin, I could type Chinese easily. Typing Chinese characters is not a skill required in Malaysia but in China, if you do not know how to type Chinese, you are handicapped i.e. you could only do half the work. As I have mentioned in my earlier articles, all legal documents must be prepared in Chinese; the English version, most of the time, is prepared for client’s reference only and has no legal effect.

I spent half of the time staring at monitor which shows Chinese characters. I spent a great deal of time reading Chinese text book. You could of course get English text book on Chinese legal system, but you will not be able to apply the knowledge in the real world as a practitioner because the English text is only meant for non-Chinese readers who wish to learn the basics of China law.

For example, a Joint Venture Company is called 合营公司; Board of Directors is called 董事会; Registered Capital is called 注册资金. The English text books will only make sense in the real world if you understand both English and Chinese legal terminologies. Fortunately, being equipped with knowledge of both these important languages, I was able to learn and understand China law with little guidance from colleagues.

Language is the lawyer’s tool of trade. It certainly is. But please don’t mistake it as “English” is the lawyer’s tool of trade. The more language you know, the greater advantage you stand. It is fair and simple.

Few days ago, I was talking to one of the partners. He said I speak like a native English speaker, yet I know how to read Chinese. I told him not to be surprised, because in Malaysia, especially in the Chinese schools, we have a pool of thousands of bilingual talents just waiting for you to tap. Great, he said. “Your government did the right thing in cultivating multi-lingual talents.”

I told him NO. No credit given to the government. Learning Chinese is discouraged and Malaysia’s Chinese education grew often in adverse and hostile environment. We learned Chinese at the mercy of our government. My government will not be happy if I could memorize all the Chinese dynasties or speak Mandarin like a TV host.

For instance, when I went for an interview at the AG’s Chamber, they looked at my CV and instead of saying “Oh you are from Chinese School, you must be able to speak good Mandarin” they said, “Oh you are from Chinese school. So your BM not so good right?”. See my point?

As I have repeated hundreds times in this blog, the world is advancing at great speed and globalization is real. Yet, our courts in Malaysia are still yelling: Gunakan Bahasa Melayu di dalam Mahkamah saya!

To sum up what globalization is all about, let me share certain facts with you. My ‘angmo’ colleagues speak Mandarin, have Chinese names, and eat with chopsticks while my Chinese colleagues love to call themselves ‘Michael’, ‘Andy’ or ‘Jacky’, and drink Starbuck coffee. Nevertheless, back home in Malaysia (where some people still think Globalization is a joke), we still find people who want to stay the same ‘dulu, kini dan selamanya’.

Back to my original topic of this article. Not only did I study HanYuPinYin (which is the basic), I studied Chinese history, poems, culture, literature etc.

Today I finally found a great opportunity to ‘show off’ my Mandarin. There is a big calligraphic art located near my office entrance. It was written in 草书 (a freestyle form of writing) so it was hard to read the Chinese characters. Most of the colleagues don’t pay attention to the calligraphic art. But I do.

I asked my ‘angmo’ colleague whether he knew what the calligraphic art is all about. (Please don’t accuse me of showing off my Mandarin in front of Angmos, I picked him because he is the only one who showed interest in Chinese culture)

I told him it is a famous literature titled “岳阳楼记” written by 范仲淹 (AD 989 - 1052), a politician and philosopher from North Song dynasty.

庆历四年春，滕子京谪守巴陵郡。越明年，政通人和，百废具兴，乃重修岳阳楼，增其旧制，刻唐贤今人诗赋于其上，属予作文以记之。
　　予观夫巴陵胜状，在洞庭一湖。衔远山，吞长江，浩浩汤汤，横无际涯；朝晖夕阴，气象万千；此则岳阳楼之大观也，前人之述备矣。然则北通巫峡，南极潇湘，迁客骚人，多会于此，览物之情，得无异乎？
　　若夫霪雨霏霏，连月不开；阴风怒号，浊浪排空；日星隐耀，山岳潜形；商旅不行，樯倾楫摧；薄暮冥冥，虎啸猿啼；登斯楼也，则有去国怀乡，忧谗畏讥，满目萧然，感极而悲者矣。
　　至若春和景明，波澜不惊，上下天光，一碧万顷；沙鸥翔集，锦鳞游泳，岸芷汀兰，郁郁青青。而或长烟一空，皓月千里，浮光跃金，静影沈璧，渔歌互答，此乐何极！登斯楼也，则有心旷神怡，宠辱皆忘，把酒临风，其喜洋洋者矣。
　　嗟夫！予尝求古仁人之心，或异二者之为，何哉？不以物喜，不以己悲，居庙堂之高，则忧其民；处江湖之远，则忧其君。是进亦忧，退亦忧；然则何时而乐耶？其必曰：先天下之忧而忧，后天下之乐而乐欤！噫！微斯人，吾谁与归！

I went on to tell him that the most famous verse of this literature is 先天下之忧而忧，后天下之乐而乐 (literally means ‘to get worried before the world gets worried; to be happy only after the world is happy’).He was impressed.

“You learned all this in school? What else they taught you?”

“Yeah, they wanted to teach me Shakespeare too, but I was not interested.” I replied.

The entrance of the office

Kingdom of Piracy

Temperature: 26 c

Weather: Cloudy

I just got my tv antenna installed. Now I am able to watch countless “made in China” programs. Some of them are really good but most are just typical Chinese dramas or performances which I have little interest in. I was expecting my landlord to give me a flat screen or plasma or LCD, but in the end, I get something similar to the one I had in Klang, a 21’ old model made in China TV. My landlord is so cheap. I have stories to write about my landlord but I guess I will not want to spoil the relationship at this early stage, may be later, when I need to demand back my deposit.

I don’t have CNN, BBC, FOX news, HBO, Cartoon Network etc (and I am not complaining because I am someone who has survived without ASTRO in Malaysia). I was told I could install a satellite (illegally) which can receive Philippine’s signal where I will be able to enjoy CNN, BBC, AXN, etc or even some porn too at the cost of only RMB1k (one off charges). But right now, given my tight budget, I don’t have the luxury to install one now. May be later when my parents visit me. My father just can’t survive without a satellite.

But not having a satellite is really not a big problem for I am in the “kingdom of piracy”. Yes, the kingdom of piracy. 90% of DVDs produced in China are pirated copies while China is responsible for manufacturing 70% of the world’s imitated products (here they call it “A 货”). The protections of Intellectual Property (IP) rights in China still have a long way to go. However the legal framework for IP laws in China is advancing at great momentum because the Chinese realize they themselves also have trademarks, copyrights and patents to protect against the merciless infringers.

I used to think Malaysia is the world's capital of piracy. Whenever you dine in a typical Chinese restaurant or hawker centre, it is very likely that someone will bring a basket of DVDs near your table. Ok, I plead guilty to buying these DVDs. Sorry, Jacky Chan or Jet Li or Chow Yun-Fatt for supporting these pirated copies. I really find no reason to buy the originals when the pirated cost only RM8 each (and at RM15, you can get 3 movies in 1 DVD which is really “value for money”).

The remedy against not having a satellite in China is through pirated DVDs. Engtee and I initially wanted to watch movies in the theatres. We planned to watch Jay Chow’s 不能说的秘密 in a cinema nearby. We walked to the cinema only to get cold feet. The ticket is RMB90 per person! Will we want to spend RMB180 (around RM85) just to watch a movie? May be we would if we were just love birds who were obsessed with romantic dates. But after getting married (even for just 9 months), the desire for romance often overridden by realities.

Why watch it in cinema when we can get ourselves a pirated copy at just a fracture of the movie ticket price? Further, after watching it, we can pass it to Bom, then Bom can circulate it among his friends. It’s killing 2 birds with 1 stone.

Unlike the situation in Malaysia where the DVDs peddlers have to play hide and seek with the authorities; here in China, DVDs are sold openly.

I was shock to find out the prices of pirated DVDs here. A pirated DVD costs RMB5 only (less than RM2.50). You can even get 15 movies in 1 DVD and it will only cost you RMB10. The quality of these DVDs is much more superior than those of Malaysia’s. It comes with a hard paper cover and a plastic cover. Oh G! At RMB5 each, what more could you expect or complain about? Even if you buy 10 DVDs and 1 could not be played, you should still be laughing your way home.

Sorry I wish to write more but I have to stop here as I have just bought 3 DVDs yesterday and I need to finish them before I start my grueling work cycle tomorrow (oh shit… tomorrow is Monday).

Engtee was asking for more money to buy more DVDs

Shanghainese needs NEP

Temperature: 23 c
Weather: Fair

Engtee and I were in a cab. Normally the cab drivers in Shanghai don’t engage in a conversation with the passengers. They often look very pressured, tired and desperate to get customers.

But this cab driver was different. Out of a sudden, he said to me, “Shanghai people are very pressured.” (Of course he spoke Mandarin)

I wasn’t sure how to reply, so I nodded my head to signal him to continue.

This is basically what he told me. Shanghai has been “bought” by outsiders. The true “bumiputeras” of Shanghai are seriously marginalized. Why so? The developers, with the help and encouragement of the government, had taken away land that was formerly owned by Shanghai people in the prime areas. Compensation was given of course. But the compensation was given based on the rate in the rural areas. For example, if you own a 55 square meters of apartment, then the developer will compensate your 55 square meters based on the rate of rural areas. If it costs RMB1000 per square meters in rural areas, then you will be paid RMB 55,000. The idea is to ensure that you have enough money to secure accommodation in the rural areas.

In another words, the developers pay the Shanghai people at rural areas’ rate to get their land, build apartments on it, and then sell it based on the market rate of urban prime area. This explains why the developers here are making money so fast like it is flowing out directly from the spring. Not only that, I read from newspaper today that the developers are using the following tactic to maximize their profits:

They sell their properties in batches. For example, after the completion of the buildings, they only sell phase 1. Then they wait until that area is heated up by big fat thirsty investors and speculators. Once they see phase 1 is selling like hot cakes they open up phase 2 at double the price of phase 1. Then phase 3 and 4 and 5 etc. The government plans to ban such unfair and unscrupulous practice of the developers.

My agents told me, when the developers commence housing projects, they don’t even bother to launch it in Shanghai. Instead, they launch it and set up sales office in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and America. So the centre of Shanghai is “conquered” and “dominated” by foreigners or outsiders. When these foreigners come to Shanghai with big pockets, they start their shopping spree on real properties like there’s no tomorrow and inevitably hike up the price of the properties. That’s why the Shanghai properties are so expensive and the locals just simply could not afford it. The locals are being pushed to the rural areas of Shanghai and are helpless.

The fresh grads here usually get RMB2k to 3k for their first job. After they’d climbed the corporate ladders for several years, it’s time for them to get married and settle down. But their income by then probably is just RMB 5k to 6k. How could they afford to buy apartments that are mostly in the millions?

“Unless you are a boss, you won’t get RMB 8k to 9K per month” said the cab driver.

The cab driver looked very upset now. He was not happy with the government. He felt that something must be done about it. He was an unhappy man.

10 minutes later we reached the entrance of our apartment.

“You live here?” the cab driver asked. He looked surprised.

“Yes, I live here.”

“But the apartments here cost at least 2 million each and the rental is probably more than 3 thousand a month!” the cab driver was scratching his head in disbelief.

I didn’t reply. I gave him RMB20 taxi fare and said bye bye. He probably didn’t realize I was one of the foreigners that conquers his land and indirectly pushes him to the outskirt of Shanghai.

Shanghainese needs NEP? What you think?

My colleagues. 3 Malaysians and an Australian.

The Wisdom in translating documents

Temperature: 23 c
Weather: Clear

There are similarities between Malaysian legal culture and Chinese legal culture when it comes to preparing 2 languages version of same documents.

In Malaysia, as we all know, all documents (i.e. the summons, pleadings, affidavits etc) filed in court must be written in Malay. However, because some senior judges and senior lawyers are of the old schools and could only speak and write simple layman’s Malay, it is a common practice that the English translated version is filed together with the Malay version.

When a lawyer (especially those from reputable law firms) prepares a document (for example a defence), he normally prepares the English version first. He will use the best of his abilities to draft the best defence. Every word must be used for a particular reason. If a word carries no meaning or is capable of producing adverse result to his client, it must be deleted.

Simple words like “might be”, “may be”, “may possibly be”, “could be”, though bear similar meaning, are quite distinct from each other and must be meticulously studied and selected by the lawyer. “Language is the tool of our trade” said the lawyer.

Once he has finished drafting this English defence, he will send it to his junior lawyer or assistant to translate the same into Malay. For without the Malay version, this English defence could not stand alone.

So the junior lawyer starts translating. Simple but meticulously selected words like “might be”, “may be”, “may possibly be”, “could be” are all indiscriminately translated into Malay as “mungkin”. All the sweat and hard work of the lawyer are thrown into the drain when his masterpiece is converted to Malay version.

The beauty of this: whenever there is a conflict between the Malay version and the English version, the Malay version prevails. So why this lawyer spends countless hours drafting and redrafting document in perfect English only to take a backseat when it is faced with its Malay counterpart?

Same applies in China. Legitimate legal documents are in Chinese, from example, the tenancy agreement I signed is in Chinese.

But when “ang mo” wants to invest millions in China, do they trust the Chinese contract they enter? How could they trust it when they don’t understand a single word of the contract? So an English version (or other foreign language) must be prepared: only later to be translated to Chinese. Sounds familiar?

You think nationalism is the unique feature of Malaysia? The only difference is SHE has a song called 中国话, Ang Mo here speaks Mandarin and Chinese is one of UN’s official languages.

Yang Arif,

Saksi saya hari ini banyak sakit kuat. Tak boleh datang di Mahkamah. Saya mintak postpone boleh tak? Pihak defendan tiada bantahan. Peguamcara defendan telah tulis surat kepada saya semalam dan kata dia tidak bantah dan tidak datang hari ini so saya MOB untuk defendan.

Don't look back Keep on walking

Temperature: 22 c
Weather: Fair

“Don’t look back just keep on walking”

That was what my mother said in the comment. I was actually planning to write about something else but when I logged into my mailbox and saw my mother’s comment, I decided to write about “looking back”.

I walked home from office just now listening to 张韶涵’s 隐形的翅膀 (thanks dad for buying me this walkman phone, it makes the walk pleasant. Just 4 songs and I have reached my home).

While walking, I subconsciously recalled back the things that happened back home. I saw my Rotaractors enjoying themselves in club meeting. I saw my fellow lawyers having tea in the court canteen. I saw myself having lunch with Eric and client. I saw my parents visiting me in Klang. I saw my younger brother playing basketball…

Maybe it’s the song. Or is it the cold wind? I am not sure.

I was not being myself. I normally could think quite clearly and rationally. I think I was behaving quite emotionally because leafs are falling and the trees are balding. They told me it will turn grey before you know it. What a depressing scene it will be then. Not a great time to get homesick.

There are many Malaysians in Shanghai. Few days ago I was having dinner with 9 Malaysians. All young professionals searching for something (I am not gong to deal with the issue of brain drain here; namewee has mentioned that in his Negarakuku). I bet all got a story to tell. All has a reason to leave Malaysia. But is everyone’s reason the same?

I have “ang mo” colleagues too. They are from US, UK and Australia. I asked one why he is here in China. (You know when you ask a Malaysian why he left Malaysia, you normally will add “Malaysia not good meh?” But for “ang mo” you definitely won’t ask “Why you here in China? America not good meh?” interesting right?) He said he was fascinated by Chinese culture especially its martial art, wu shu. He went to Shaolin temple last year and stayed there for 2 days to learn some skills from the monks. That’s his reason for being here. Not for the money, not because America is not good, just because he wants to learn more about and experience Chinese culture.

Well, am I here for the same reason as his? Emm... let’s see.

My grandparents were born here; his were not. My home country is Malaysia; his is not. My home country has NEP that protects the majority against the minority; his home country has policy that protects the minority, the weak and the poor against the majority, the strong and the rich. My home country has suddenly transformed into an Islamic State; his home country allows gay marriage. My home country is known as the “Boleh land”; his country is the land of the free, home of the brave.

So, how could our reasons for coming to China be the same?

Don’t worry mom. I will keep on walking.

First day at work

Temperature: 21 c
Weather: Light Rain

I had not been working for the past 2 months. When you are jobless but do not worry about money, the feeling was too great. However, the 2 jobless months came to an end this morning. I was working today. My first day in my new office.

Well, I know some of you are really interested to know how my work was today. Some even sent email to ask about it. Thanks for your concern. I am touched.

However, to your disappointment, I will not write anything about my work in this blog. I am old enough to understand that blogging about work is automatic career suicide.

Thus, this is what I want to say about today’s work:

I am spoilt by my ex-boss. I am spoilt by my ex-colleagues. I am spoilt by my ex-clients. I am spoilt by Klang. Conclusion: I am spoilt.

I was never a corporate animal. Filling time sheets, hanging a tag around the neck etc were never my concerns. But they are now.

So, severe culture shock was inevitable. Just like sending a Polar Bear to the Sahara Desert or throwing monkeys into the sea. Both will not live long.

Fortunately I am not Polar Bear or monkey. I am a spoilt child who is now sent to Montfort Boy School. It’s time to get disciplined. It’s time to see the real world.

In a way I felt lucky I made the decision to come to China. If wasn’t for that decision, I might still be living in my own world, fantasizing I was doing good, earning ‘decent’ income and all that. Now I painfully realize what I thought was a ‘decent income’ was not even enough to pay my rental and utilities bills in China. “Malaysia Boleh” was meant to be heard by Malaysians only. The world has moved so fast and far ahead of us and I was still happily driving my 5 year old Proton Wira, going home at 6.00pm every day.

Summer has gone. The autumn winds are blowing into my apartment now. Though it cools down the air, it nevertheless brings a taste of depression. Not before long, the leafs shall drop and the trees turn grey. I will be walking alone in the busy streets. Streets filled with busy but soulless people.

I will survive, don’t worry. I know I will cry, I will scream, I will regret, I will question my decision, I will doubt myself, I will get depressed, but in the end, I will walk through hell and emerge a winner.

Found my apartment

Temperature: 25 c

Weather: Cloudy

After days of apartment hunting, finally the hunt is over. We landed ourselves an apartment and we are moving in tomorrow after we check out from this hotel.

Though I love staying in hotel, after days of eating the same breakfast every morning, I am quite glad that I am checking out tomorrow.

Getting an apartment in Shanghai is not difficult PROVIDED you are not choosy, not demanding, not unreasonable, and most important of all, have a very high budget. I have seen not less than 10 apartments and I turned down most of them mainly because of 2 things, i.e. location and money.

If you want to get a cheaper apartment, you must be prepared to live in “hulu” areas. Unfortunately my office is located at the most happening and expensive area in Shanghai, it’s called 新天地. If I want to save rent and stay at the rural areas, then I will be punished with heavy traveling costs and time. Remember I said taking bus during the peak hour is a nightmare?

1 room apartment in the vicinity of 新天地 easily cost RMB5000 to RMB7000 per month. At entry level, I am hardly able to pay such rentals. So when the agents called to say they found great apartments for me, the first thing I asked was: how much per month. If it is 5k and above, I would tell the agents not to waste both our time.

Bom is always good to me. He asked me not to rush thing and offered me his place to stay if I am unable to find a place before this weekend (oh, by the way, did I tell you that I have to move out of this hotel by this weekend because my future employer only provides 5 days hotel accommodation?).
But I had already owed him a lot. I was quite embarrassed to ask for his help so I thanked him and tried my best to get myself a place by hook or by crook this weekend.

Just when all hopes seemed gone, one agent called me up yesterday and told me he found a place near my office and the landlord is willing to offer 4k per month (my initial budget was 3k per month, but since 3k was way too unrealistic, I upped it to 4k). I was quite skeptical but nevertheless told him I will meet him in 2 hours time.

It is a 1 room apartment. Approximately 1km from my office. Location wise, it is perfect. The common area looks like a hotel, and it comes with a club house too (I was told I have to pay a few thousand RMB a year to use it).

The apartment is brand new and I would be its first tenant. It is so new that the landlord did not know how to use the security system. It is small though, only 550 square feet (around the size of my living room plus dining room in Klang).


The landlord is a professor from 交通大学 (Jiao Tong University). Please don’t ask me how a professor of a local university could afford an apartment of more than RMB2 millions. I want to know too. Is everyone making big bucks in Shanghai? I sure want to find out. May be the recent share market boom does help a little.

Engtee and I combed the apartment. We like it. It is within our budget and within walking distance from my office, so we decided not to waste more time. We told the agent we are ok with the place. It was at that exact moment the agent pulled out a written tenancy contract from his suitcase and asked me to have a look and sign it!

I was so dead shocked! Wow! If tenancy agreements could be so easily at-the-spot concluded, I guess lawyers in Malaysia will have to learn how to fried kuay teow.

I told the agent I didn’t bring the rentals in advance and deposit (equivalent to 4 months rental). “Can we do the documentation tomorrow?” I begged (see? The “tomorrow syndrome” from the lazy mind of Klang again).

The agent was quite annoyed and disappointed but he had no choice. I had no money to pay him so what else could he do?

The professor said he is a very busy man (by the way, the professor is a very friendly and polite individual), he requested us to meet him at the university to settle the miscellaneous tomorrow. I have no objection so did the agent. Before we left the apartment, the landlord gave me a key (actually not a key but a card, a smart card. There is no keyhole in the door, all you need to do is touch the sensor with smart card “dooo” and the blue light will flash and door will open, kinda high tech har) and allowed me to move in first even though the contract had yet to be finalized.

“Save the hotel cost, move in here first” he said. Ooh! That was very kind of him. We took the key and thanked him. Of course we will not move in so fast lar! Our hotel is paid till this weekend mar! Shhh… don’t let the landlord know.

Today evening Engtee and I went to Jiao Tong University to meet the agent and the professor cum part time landlord.


The professor greeted us wearing his pajamas (it was only around 4pm!!). No joke. I wanted to take a photo to show you all but I guess I’d really better not to piss my landlord off.

The agent showed me the contract and asked me to go through it. I studied the cover. Oh My G! You gotta be kidding me. It is a SAMPLE tenancy contract bought from Carrefour! Inside the SAMPLE contract, one only needs to fill in the blanks. That’s it. No stamp duty required. Thank G that’s not the practice in Malaysia, if not, lawyers will really have to hang their practicing certificate on their mother-in-law’s bedroom and start frying kuay teow.


The agent asked me to produce valid document to proof my identity so he could write my particulars on the first page. I told him I did not bring my passport with me and showed him my IC instead.

“What’s that? Where is your Chinese name.” the agent asked, studying my IC front and back.

I told him I don’t have a Chinese name. My official name is Toh Harnniann. “Then why you tell me your name is 杜韩念?” the landlord puzzled.

I told them my government only recognizes Toh Harnniann, and as far as they are concerned, 杜韩念 has no legal meaning and does not exist. But I always consider myself as 杜韩念, and as far as I am concerned, my name is 杜韩念. Toh Harnniann is just for the government to put it on my birth certificate because they do not allow 杜韩念 to be printed on my birth certificate, my IC, my passport and even my death certificate. But don’t worry, you will not find Toh Harnniann on my tombstone, it will be written 杜韩念. Now come to think of it, quite interesting isn’t it?

So I asked them whether they want to put Toh Harnniann or 杜韩念 in the contract. They thought for a while and decided it’s better to put 杜韩念.

So there it is, my first time using ONLY my Chinese name to enter into a ‘valid’ contract without reference to my IC number or passport number.

Once we put our John Hancock on the contract which comes in triplicate, I paid the landlord RMB16,000.00, the agent RMB1,400.00 as agent fees (35% of the rental).

Ok, I now have an apartment. Whoever wants to come to visit me and Engtee in Shanghai, if you don’t mind, the living room and the sofa bed are exclusively yours (but be warned, we might not have enough space to store your luggage!)