牵手

Weather: Sunny

Temperature: 22 c


Written by Engtee.

如今在上海已有八个月了。忽然之间听到了这首曲子。。。

苏芮 * 牵手

因为爱着你的爱
因为梦着你的梦
所以悲伤着你的悲伤
幸福着你的幸福
因为路过你的路
因为苦过你的苦
所以快乐着你的快乐
追逐着你的追逐
因为誓言不敢听
因为承诺不敢信
所以放心着你的沉默
去说服明天的命运
没有风雨躲得过
没有坎坷不必走
所以安心的牵你的手
不去想该不该回头
也许牵了手的手
前生不一定好走
也许有了伴的路
今生还要更忙碌
所以牵了手的手
来生还要一起走
所以有了伴的路
没有岁月可回头

这首歌是我蛮喜欢的一首曲子。。。听到它就会让我回想起在巴生的那一段喜怒哀乐的日子。。。

2007年八月前的我从来没料到2007年八月后的今天，我会生活在世界数一数二的大都会-上海。我回到了我公公的国土。其实公公是我最钦佩的。。从爸爸口里得知公公为了家庭的未来，身无分文无亲无故的独自下南洋来寻找工作。因为勤劳诚实的他受人重视。慢慢的，事业有成之后，他却没忘了他的妻子及儿子。把他们从中国给接了过来，一家团聚，才有今天的我们，快乐幸福的家庭。

然而，我万万也没料到今天的我已重回公公的国土上。这回我不得不称赞他，佩服他的勇气。他的决定让我大吃一惊。果断的决定，他马上把工作给辞了，一心一意的寻找工作。发送了好多的简历却一封封的石沉大海。有谁不慌张，有谁不失落? 但他却一点都没放弃。他的坚决，他的用心感动了我。

终于，上天不负苦心人。。。在三家公司的邀请下，他决定到中国面试。虽然只是短暂的几天时间却是决定他的成功与失败。所谓在家靠父母出外靠朋友，真的很感谢这一班朋友们。只因有他们的协助才能那么顺利的完成这一项任务。谢谢你们。

时间太短促，简单的向家人朋友们告别，他就带着我匆匆忙忙的 飞往中国。我好不舍得我一手布置的家，现在的离去有点不舍得。

拿到了这一份工作并不意味着故事的结束。新的工作，新的生活其实才是故事的开始。我知道未来的路还很长，好多事情都是未知数。但我深信只要我们相信对方，手牵着手肩并着肩一定能克服一切。






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A Stateless Malaysian

Weather: Cloudy

Temperature: 14 c

Scene 1

Time: September, 2000
Place: Cardiff, Wales

It was the university’s orientation week. Many clubs and societies were busy setting up booths to recruits new members.

A few of my friends and I discussed about which club or society to join. We were nerds (though I really hate to admit that), so aggressive clubs like Latino Club, Basketball Club or Boxing Club were out of the question. We were searching for something mild, gentle and which did not require any physical capability. In the end, we picked one which showed how unimaginative and uncreative we were – the Malaysian Society. We filled up the application form, paid the membership fees, and were officially the members of the Malaysian Society.

The first meeting of the Malaysian Society was held in one of the small lecture halls. My friends and I were there early. However, we were so shocked to find out that almost 99% of the members of the Malaysian Society were Malays. We were the only Chinese there, and of course, we received funny stares. No one approached or greeted us. We surrendered into one dark corner and observed the whole event.

The president of the Malaysian Society gave his welcome speech (in Malay) and (to our shock and disbelief) followed by “baca doa”. We, the only non-Muslims, felt so awkward. What were we supposed to do? Pray along? At that moment, we felt like we had come to the wrong place or joined the wrong club. That was not a Malaysian Society; it was a Malay Society.

Immediately after the “baca doa”, we quietly sneaked out of the lecture hall and never came back.

Feeling lost, we really did not know which other club to join. Some of the senior Malaysian students suggested we join the Chinese Society. They were organizing a party at a restaurant and the tickets were not expensive. So, we went to the Chinese Society. We thought we would not go wrong this time; after all, were we not Chinese?

The Chinese Society was dominated by Hong Kees. Consequently, the whole party was conducted in Cantonese. I have no problem speaking Cantonese, but I would prefer Mandarin if given a choice. Further, why Chinese must speak Cantonese? Shouldn’t Mandarin or Putong Hua be a more suitable alternative? Anyway, I was the minority, I’d better keep quiet. If you can’t fight them, join them.

But, later we found out that those Hong Kees had some prejudices towards the Malaysians. For instance, they called us 马来仔 and 马来妹. We tried to argue with them that it was not appropriate to call us that. Nevertheless, the Hong Kees were not convinced. In their eyes, we were 马来仔 and 马来妹, and we came from a country stuffed with jungles and monkeys. 梁静茹 and 光良 were not famous then, so they knew very little about Malaysia. We concluded that we could not click with the Hong Kees, so we decided to move on.

In the end, we joined the club which we were really reluctant to join: the Singaporean Society. I do not need to elaborate further about the Singaporean’s attitudes towards the Malaysians. They have every reason to look down upon us.

We felt as if we were “stateless”. So, we ended up not joining any club but spending time on our studies instead (what a loser we were).


Scene 2

Time: February, 2008
Place: Shanghai, China

It was our company’s annual dinner. Everyone in the company had been talking about the annual dinner because the lucky draw prizes for this year were extraordinarily magnanimous. The grand prize was a 41’ LCD TV!

We were trained by an external instructor to waltz. Of course, we did not really pay attention to the dance instructor; we just wanted to have fun.

The annual dinner proceeded as planned with music, dance and great food. Everyone was enjoying the light evening. However, somewhere along the line, someone creatively came out with an idea of asking all the foreigners (老外) to perform on stage. Obviously, the American and Australian could not escape. They have to go on stage to either sing a song or tell a joke.

After that, they asked the Malaysians to perform. Wait a minute! We are not 老外, we screamed. We are Chinese, we are not 大鼻子 (big nose), so we should be spared. Nope, too bad. In the eyes of the locals, we are still 老外. Regardless of how well our Mandarin is or how we all look exactly alike, we are still stamped with the chop of “alien” on our foreheads and we have to walk up the stage to be ridiculed – because we are not “Chinese”.


Scene 3

Time: April, 2008
Place: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Kelantan Crown Prince Tengku Faris Petra said that Malays had been coerced into giving non-Malays citizenship and the latter should therefore not seek equality or special treatment.

"Therefore, the rakyat must unite and never raise issues regarding Malay rights and special privileges because it is a quid pro quo in gratitude for the giving in of citizenship (beri-paksa kerakyatan) to 2.7 million non-Malays into the Tanah Melayu federation.

“Thus, it is not appropriate for these other ethnic groups to have citizenship, only (later) to seek equality and privileges,” said Tengku Faris.







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A super weekend

Weather: Fair
Temperature: 15 c


This weekend was a super weekend for me. I wanted to write about my fantastic weekend until I read about one sad and disappointing news on the website (I will deal with it later).

In the course of my work, I did a lot of agreements for companies which host various types of event, including concerts. Not to say that I know much about contract drafting or my contract law was good; in fact, I seldom prepared any form of contract in Malaysia. Only when a contract (which was prepared by other lawyer) went wrong, then only was I involved in the following litigation between the contracting parties. But in China, the majority of my job scope involves contract drafting. Well, you do not need to be a rocket scientist to figure out how a contract works; most of the time, it is just common sense.

Hard work does pay. Last week, I was offered 2 tickets to Celine Dion’s Shanghai Concert, free of charge. The organizer is our client and we assisted them to prepare various legal documents for that concert. As a goodwill gesture, they gave us 6 complimentary tickets and I got 2 out of the 6. The seats were not bad.

Last Friday, Engtee and I enjoyed a free concert, again. It was our second concert in Shanghai. It always feels good to go to a concert, and it feels even better if you do not need to pay for it. However, I must admit that I am not a fan of Celine Dion. Further, we rushed to the stadium straight from our office on Friday evening, without dinner. We were therefore tired and hungry throughout the concert.

Anyway, the whole event was worth it when Celine Dion sang “My Heart Will Go On”. It was superb!

The next day (Saturday) was our office outdoor outing. I was the organizer. It was an unprecedented outing because my company has not done that before. My colleagues are serious and dedicated workers and you do know how hard the Chinese works. They can spend 8 hours straight in front of their computers without stretching their bodies; they can come into the office at 9 am and leave at 3 am the next day, then come back again at 9 am. But, going to a park to have fun? That’s way beyond their imagination, something unthinkable.

Here is where I want to thank Rotary and Rotaract Club. It seemed like I have not forgotten all the trainings I got from Rotaract.

I sensed that the firm will work better and more efficiently if all the colleagues could work as a team. But, before you create a team, you must first create a strong bond between the members. How do you create such bonds? Rotary/Rotaract teaches you the best.

In Rotaract, I learned how to make a group of strangers into a team. More than that, I learned how to make people believe that it is necessary and in their interests to work as a team. Once I successfully did that, getting them together to do 1 activity would be so easy.

I sold to my colleagues the idea of organizing a team building exercise in one of the parks in Shanghai. Shanghai has so many beautiful and well-maintained parks, why not enjoy it? I then volunteered to be the organizing chairman. I told them I only wanted them to believe in me, that we really needed this outdoor activity. Further, this activity will be fun and exciting!

In Rotaract, we have organized so many events and projects, from a simple birthday party to hosting foreigners from another country. Therefore, organizing this outdoor activity was like a walk in the park. With all the trainings I have, it was really easy.

The hardest part is how to sell the idea to your target. Why do they need to wake up so early on a Saturday and sacrifice their precious sleep to be at a park? Initially, I have to answer that question repeatedly and personally. However, once my core group was formed, I have someone else to do the marketing for me. I learned that trick from Rotaract.

It was a great outing. We did some stupid and childish games, including “eagle catches chicks”. But who cared about what game we played? The whole idea is getting people together and strengthening bonds; the “games” or “other activities” are like a carrot hanging in front of a donkey – it is just a means to an end, not the end itself. Yes, I also learned that from Rotaract.

I am in a good mood now, so I do not feel like whacking my home country to spoil my day. Click here to read about the news I said earlier. If you don’t feel like reading it, the headline below will tell you the whole story. G bless Malaysia.

“Tengku Faris: Non-Malays should not seek equality”



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Happy Birthday Big Brother

Weather: Fair
Temperature: 13 c

I am going to write briefly about two things.

Yesterday was a big day for my big brother. It was a day when he has no choice but to kiss goodbye to his 20’s. Yesterday, he finally turned 30. My father now has a son who just joined the group of 30’s. In 2 years time, I will be joining the 30’s club too. I’d better live the remaining 2 years of my life before I turn 30 to the fullest, so I can kiss my 20’s goodbye with no regret and move on to enjoy my next phase of life.

Of course, a happy birthday to my big brother who is now happily living his life in LA. I hope you had a wonderful birthday party in LA last night. But, take it easy my brother. Today is a working day, and a serious hangover will not do your career any good. : )

I am now in my office room though the time (and my body) indicates that it is time to go to bed. The patrons of Xintiandi are slowly getting out of the pubs to go home, yet I am still in the office figuring out where to insert 1 particular clause into the termination agreement. But I am not going to write about my work, I am going to write about something else, which is more interesting than a lawyer’s life (Oh, father, why did you encourage me to do law?)

An hour ago, my colleagues and I were discussing about foreigners (老外) learning Mandarin. We don’t find it strange anymore to see a foreigner speaks fluent Mandarin. In fact, all my Angmo colleagues speak good Mandarin. The truth is, the only one who could not read and write Chinese in my firm is a Malaysian Chinese. Well, that’s another story for another time.

One Australian Angmo told us that his prime minister can speak fluent Mandarin. He was talking about Kevin Rudd, the newly elected prime minister. Quickly, we went to youtube to look for Kevin Rudd’s Chinese speech. It was amazing. It made me speechless. We are not talking about half-past six Chinese here; we are talking about good and proper Chinese with correct pronunciation. He can speak pure Chinese without referring to or borrowing from English words like we always do. For example, we like to say “你可以send sms给我吗？” or “这个agreement once 你terminate 了，它就没有binding effect 了”. After listening to his speech, I started to doubt whether Kevin Rudd can actually speak English. I thought his mother tongue is Mandarin!

If you do not know who Kevin Rudd is or have not seen him embarrassing the Chinese with his Mandarin, I suggest you click here to have a good look at it.

After watching the video clip, my Australian Angmo said he is very proud to have such a prime minister. He wanted to write his prime minister an email to tell him how proud he is to be an Australian because of Kevin Rudd. Here we have an Australian who wants to write to his prime minister to say he is a proud OZ.

He asked me whether the Malaysian prime minister can speak Mandarin. Oh no! I was hoping he will not ask this question. It was so embarrassing! Australia has only a handful of Chinese yet their prime minister can speak Chinese; but Malaysia has more than 25% of Chinese, yet our prime minister can’t speak Mandarin at all. Not only my prime minister can’t speak Mandarin, it is the government’s policy to make Chinese schools the second choice.

Nevertheless, I did answer my Angmo colleague’s question. Sorry, my prime minister can’t speak Mandarin. Further I would break coconuts at Batu Cave if my prime minister could speak good and decent English without “rojaking” with Malay words.

Am I a proud Malaysian because I have Pak Lah as my prime minister? You can help me to answer that.

Spring is here. 花开了


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Open your mouth please…

Weather: Cloudy
Temperature: 14 c

This morning, I had to wake up extraordinarily early despite having only less than 6 hours of sleep. Last night, Bom, Ryan, me and the rest of the Malaysian gang had a wild night at a pub in Xintiandi, and we exchanged quality entertainment time with quality sleeping time. It’s been a while since I visited a pub. I felt disoriented when we left at 12 something midnight.

Back to the topic, I had to wake up at 7 am and get myself ready to leave the apartment at around 7.30 am because I had a mission: I needed to bring Engtee to see a dentist for some fillings.

Engtee, being a professionally trained senior accountant and my personal financial controller, had done some good researches on the cost of dental care in China and the results of her research got her worried. It was simply too expensive (based on Engtee’s standards). It may cost up to RMB 200 to fill 1 tooth. Unless her tooth problem prevents her from eating her favorite junk foods, Engtee will never spend that kind of money on her tooth.

But, Engtee is a resourceful financial controller. Her research did not stop at just finding out the cost; it extended to how to get cheaper but reasonable quality dental care. This is where Engtee used the knowledge she acquired in China to the fullest extent. She deeply understood the 2 Chinese characters that were most useful and crucial in getting things done in China: 关系 (guan xi, or relationship). This is how the Chinese society works – through Guanxi. In China, by using Guanxi, you can always get things done faster, cheaper and easier.

Her colleague knows someone who works in a hospital. Through her colleague, Engtee managed to “say hello” (as the Chinese would love to put it) to the dentist who works in that hospital. The colleague told Engtee that by “saying hello” to the dentist, she can expect cheaper and faster treatment. So, an appointment was fixed.

The hospital is quite far from our area. Since our appointment was at 8 am and we have to take 2 buses to get there, I proposed that we take the taxi instead. I was actually trying my luck. In Engtee’s eyes, taking taxi is deemed cheating and equivalent to committing an unforgivable sin. I tried my best to convince her that situations like this justify the taxi fare. Though I am legally trained to persuade the courts to give judgments in my clients’ favor, I rarely won an argument before Engtee. My oral application to take the taxi was summarily dismissed by Engtee even before I could start my oral submission to support my application. In the course of my numerous arguments with my wife, I learned one valuable lesson: if Engtee does not win, I lose.

It was not difficult to locate the hospital after we alighted from the bus. The hospital is a community hospital which provides medical care to the people within that community. It was smaller and very much cleaner than I had imagined.

We went to see the dentist (to be 100% sure that we were in the right hospital and seeing the right dentist) before Engtee registered. They did not ask Engtee to show any ID. She just needed to fill up a simple form (and they did not ask her what her race is!) and pay registration fee of RMB 8.50. Engtee used her Chinese name to register herself. I think the officer in charge had no idea at all that we were not Chinese citizens but nevertheless were using citizens’ facilities. I guess it is alright because in Malaysia, our general hospitals are used by (both legal and illegal) foreigners too.

Engtee was the dentist’s first patient of the day, so we did not need to wait. 25 minutes later, Engtee’s tooth was already filled, and the dentist gave her a small piece of paper for her to pay at the counter. To illustrate the power of Guanxi, the dentist told Engtee that since she has earlier “said hello” to the dentist, the dentist will give her some discount. I had in my wallet RMB 400, so in case anything goes wrong, we still have our backsides covered.

Happy that her tooth was finally filled, Engtee walked to the counter to make payment. She gave the officer the small piece of paper, and the officer typed something into the computer and asked for payment. Engtee had to pay RMB 19.70. Let me repeat, RMB 19.70 for filling 1 tooth (less than RM 10).

We looked at each other in disbelief. We expected something between RMB 50 to 60, but definitely not lower than RMB 20.

We, of course, happily made the payment and left the hospital.

It was our first time using the medical facilities of China. Not a bad experience.

The corridor of the hospital

Learned a new word - but I still think they should use simple word like "dentistry"

The English still needs some work, obviously

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Malaysian from Malaysia

Weather: Fair
Temperature: 12 c

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Martin Luther King Jr.

After the 8^th of March, I naively thought that everything in Malaysia was a bed of roses. I had every reason to believe so.

The bodyguards of UMNO, i.e. MCA and MIC, were disgracefully thrown out by the people. Now MCA needs to think twice before claiming it represents the Chinese community. MIC suffered the same fate. 13 Indian MPs were elected into the parliament and only 3 come from MIC.

PAS, DAP and PKR have officially formed the Pakatan Rakyat, which set the path for a two-party system in Malaysia. Pakatan Rakyat is not racially based, i.e., theoretically, you can join any of the parties under Pakatan Rakyat regardless of your race. The recent classic example would be the dissolution of 1 MIC branch where 110 former members of MIC became PAS supporters.

To show that Malaysia is going towards non-racially based political landscape, we have the first Indian speaker in Perak, and a Chinese speaker in Selangor. Half the Exco members of Selangor are non-Malays; while, though DAP holds the majority seats in Perak, a Malay MB from PAS was appointed instead. The notorious NEP will be reviewed and replaced by a new policy that will not only help the poor Malays but all poor Malaysians. Penang will no longer dish out state’s contracts to cronies and the well-connected; all contracts will hereon be subject to open tender.

We read from the blogs that people are seeing things beyond races: regardless of whether it is a white cat or black cat, as long as it can catch rats, it is a good cat (YB Teng, I think it was you who brought this idea up during one of your ceramah in Klang). I have read articles written by Malay brothers that they are prepared to accept a Chinese or Indian MB if that is what it takes to make sure that the state is well governed and the people’s money is securely protected.

Based on what I could gather from the internet, I slowly feel the movement that Malaysians are seeing themselves as Malaysians, not as Chinese, Malays or Indians – just Malaysians. The truth is, in Malaysia, we may speak different language, profess different religion and eat different food; but outside Malaysia, we always call ourselves Malaysians. I am not a Chinese in China, I am a Malaysian in China. I don’t read news about China every day but the first thing I do after I turn on the computer is reading about Malaysia.

After the 8^th of March, I have this vision that all the citizens of Malaysia are regarded as Malaysians. Diversity is not our weakness but is where our strength lies. Malaysia is the only heaven on the Earth where you can speak Hokkien to your grandparents in the morning, speak Malay to the government officer in the afternoon, speak English to your colleagues in the evening, and speak Mandarin to your children at night; or eat nasi lemak as breakfast, rojak and cendol as lunch, bak kut teh as dinner and roti canai as supper.

I was on MSN with a good friend of mine and she asked me what I missed most in Malaysia. I said it was the food. She asked what food I missed most. I said “a lot”. Then I made a list of food that I missed the most: nasi lemak, bak kut teh, asam laksa, roti canai, otak-otak, char kuey tiao, cendol, nasi goreng kerabu etc. Then I realized the food I loved (and therefore missed) were not all Chinese food – they were a good mixture of multi-racial food. In China, can you find a Chinese who loves asam laksa and bak kut teh at the same time? Clearly, I am not a Chinese from China. I am also not a Malaysian from China. I am a Malaysian from Malaysia (or so I thought).

Just when I proudly (or naively) imagined myself being a Malaysian from Malaysia, something happened this morning that poured a bucket of cold water on my face to wake me up from my day dream.

This morning, I received a package sent by a Public Mutual Fund agent (thanks Dad for arranging this for me). I was asked to fill up, sign the form and then send the executed form back to Malaysia. Yes, I wanted to open an account with Public Mutual Fund so that they could help me invest my money.

In the form, I was asked about my full name, IC number, address, salary, marital status and… race.

I have to tell them whether I am a Melayu, Cina, India or “lain-lain”. This woke me up from my day dream. I really felt like tearing up the form into pieces. I was really pissed.

All I wanted to do was to open an account and invest some money, why do they need to know whether I am a Melayu, Cina, India or “lain-lain”? What the heck does my race get to do with the money I wanted to invest? Is it because if I am a Melayu, my fund manager will be extra careful with my money; and if I am a “lain-lain”, then my fund manager can simply throw my money into Klang river?

I showed that form to my Australian and American colleagues and they simply couldn’t understand. “Why do you tick ‘Chinese’ when you are a Malaysian?” the American asked.

I don’t know. I really don’t know.

The next time you are being asked to identify in an application form whether you are Melayu, Cina, India or “lain-lain”, please think of this article.

Wake up, Harnniann, we are still very far from seeing ourselves as Malaysians from Malaysia.

Me and my colleagues

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