Compilation from Facebook

我知道你们都很爱我...但我不想永远沉浸在永无止境的舒服感和安逸感...我仍渴望上课和上班的日子...我想回到故乡,有我最真切的理由...那里有我最需要及负责的家人们...我知道,那才是最真实的我...

我,珍惜与你们同在的现在,但,也绝不会忘记需要我的未来!

***

I bring my love away, to this foreign territory. Then, I bring my love back, to my dearest homeland.

***

When you fall in love...

When you fall in love...

This is a very interesting topic I think...but only for those couples loh...

One of my friend claims that yesterday is Chinese Valentine Day, is that so?

I thought it is at Day 15th in the first month of Chinese Lunar Calendar (Chap Goh Mei)?

无论如何,祝大家七夕快乐!有亲人终成眷属! =)

适逢华人农历七月来临,别只懂得烧香烧纸,毕竟这其实是宣扬爱心的月份!为那些孤苦伶仃的饿鬼送上些许"祝福",肯定是件好事!

而虽此月不及清明,难道我们就要马上忘记最根本的孝道吗?

婆婆,对不起,请安息吧...

The Story of Three Children

Now sitting quietly at a corner in the Pustaka Miri...

It has been thousands years before I managed to online again today...haiz...

Nothing much to comment...Not much progress although I've spent almost 2 weeks at this City of Seahorse...Hahaha...

And now I sleep almost every night at my uncle's house, because my cousin (which is my uncle's first daughter) considerably loves me?

"Tonight I sleep at Kakak Ling's House, can?"
"Cannot lah, later I nangis..."
"Hah? But later I have to go back to Sabah also, later you also nangis hah?"
"Aiya, why need to go back? Me suka you leh..."
"Hah, but if I not go back later my mama miss me, how?"

And so on...
And so on...

This is the acts of a 6 years old girl, the cutie Mina...Hahaha...

Then my uncle also got this so-called the only son...And I really suspected that he got hyperactive disorder or similar...well...That's because he's really too active...My God...This second he's in the house, the next second outside already! Not to say what, yet it's absolutely dangerous to let children playing outside -lah, later they rush to the road, sometimes with cars, haiz...My poor uncle and aunty, don't know what I should say when I see the naughty Zaac keep going outside, even in the middle of the night!

Then there is one night when the cutie Zaac just can't sleep. He keeps going in and out from my uncle's ad aunty's room. Out of anger, my aunty lock the door 'temporarily', yet later she forget to unlock it and fall asleep...LOL...so in the end poor Zaac cry and walk slowly to me...

"Abang Jackie...Abang Jackie...hmm..hmm.."
"Oh...Abang Jackie sayang...sayang...No cry...no cry..."

Then I pull him to sleep with me, gently tapping his chest, until myself fall asleep...ZZZzzz...

Then there is another cutie, Vivie which is only 7-month-old, and when she's quite, sometimes she will 'travel' in her baby 'car', chasing you, like crazy! Then when you look back at her, don't know you should smile or what...Yet her smile is sooooo cute...a feeling of touched...And when I am asked to hold Vivie for a while, I can feel the 'lightness' of the baby...This is what we call life, from a little tiny cute baby till when he/she has grown up...

Experience with children may be quite headache sometimes. Yet at the same time, I have to say that such experience are just soooo wonderful and meaningful!

With LOVE...

已经星期五了

Today is Friday already.

I have been at Miri for almost a week, being quite unproductive…

As my cousins and uncles are working on shifts, hence they cannot bring me everywhere for 24 hours…Yet luckily my Sister Ling haven’t start working yet (she’s still in her pregnant holiday), so she manage to bring me around, together with Sister Lily, while my youngest maternal uncle will bring me out at night…

Therefore it’s like a rotational basis to bring me hanging around Miri…When she’s not there, another one will be there…Hence the burden of entertaining me at least have been spread out, and I feel more than relieved, and grateful to The God at the same time for that =)

In summary, I have been carried to hanging around Miri. Some of the places include Taman Awam, Petroleum Musuem, beside the Miri beach (Tanjung Batu) and Crocodile Farm…

Actually I myself have planned to travel down to Bintulu, Sibu and Kuching after that…yet I realize that everything is just so hard for this moment. Budget strain, time strain, plus everybody are so busy now…I just can’t be selfish anymore…I know, I have to be back to Keningau very very soon…There’s a lot of responsibilities waiting for me to be ‘accomplished’ there =)

Different from self-directed journey at BSB, as I have to depend on their transport at Miri, the nature of my ‘adventure’ has become partially-self-directed…Truthfully, I’m a little bit upset about it initially, yet later when I think back, I should be more than grateful as at least I still have so many relatives at Miri, and they are more than willing to accept me and accommodate me…

***

夜幕降临。。。

一份从马鲁蒂的电话接踵而来。。。

“表哥，你还好吗？身体好吗？。。。。。。”

他的问题也许无关痛痒，闲话家常。。。但我的心里知道，字字文后，都是真心诚意的。。。

因此纵然会有些“烦”的感觉。。。但一想到这两个还蛮天真的表弟们。。。心里顿时暖了起来。

维持童真，对我来说，是一件好事———出淤泥而不染。。。思想永远单纯，没有多少心机，人相处起来，也舒服的=）

然而，在与此同时，却同时也为他们担心，毕竟在这弱肉强食、自私自利、非常现实的今日社会，童真与单纯是否会被他人珍惜？或者会被他人埋怨成造作、虚假？

听着表弟的字字句句，仿佛像是回到了中学时期的我，看似单纯。。。除了学业，其他东西不是我思考的范围内。。。所以大家都对我的老实、公正、勤奋“称赞”有加。。。well…

只能说，人越长越大，就应更成熟，太单纯、太诚实、太公正都不会被大众化所接受的。。。
而回想起小就与表姐们陪我在美里的时刻，我更知道，虽然每个人都一定要依靠他人，但人终究不能单一依靠

任何人。。。人，即使贵为万物之灵、合群之动物，也必须拥有独立，孤独，自讨反省、冷静思考的时刻。。。

***

回想起在汶莱时，每每坐在文叔的车上，开了车窗，让外边的大风吹过自己的脸颊、让头发骄傲昂扬、让内心激烈地震荡！随着这一刻所赐予的感动，呼唤内心最真实的灵魂。。。

已经太久太久没有享受这种‘飞车头发’的感觉了，最后一次应是当我七岁的时候吧！后来，老豆不争气，把家里那唯一的汽车给贱卖了。。。哎。。。从此。。。

所以能够在婆罗州这马来王国里重新找到这种童真实的兴奋与感动，也许并不是那些有车阶级所能理解的。。。但我只想说，很多幸福不是理所当然的，能够获得这一刻的幸福，除了感动、感激，就只有感恩、惜福！

是的，也许你会觉得：

父母爱你是天经地义的。。。又可否想过，世上有多少狼父强奸亲身女、世上有多少母亲一起自己的儿子？

兄弟姐妹和睦相处是应该的。。。又可否想过，曹操的孩子间又有多少争执？曹植还不是因此而走出了《七步
诗》，在中国古代文学的世界里举世闻名？

马来西亚永远不会有地震。。。又可否想过，邻国如印尼及菲律宾都是处于地震线上的国家。。。所谓唇亡刺齿寒，二零零四年的大海啸也杀死了不少大马人。而沙巴更发生过轻微的地震。。。所以若我国在未来与上瘾

大马因为这些天灾而受到更大的影响，也不足为奇，更不是完全不可能的天方夜谭。。。

所以很多幸福不是理所当然的，能够获得这一刻的幸福，除了感动、感激，就只有感恩、惜福！

感谢你的身边还有父母、兄弟姐妹、亲戚、邻居陪着你。。。

感谢那些对你永远不离不弃的同学、朋友。。。

感谢那些义务斯基刻苦耐劳教导你的恩师，他们是你向上向善的主要恩人。。。

感谢那些曾经帮过你的，陪着你的。。。

甚至也应该感谢那些曾经伤害过我们的人，他们教我们上了人生中最宝贵的一堂课，引导我们深思、熟虑，成为一个更好的人。。。

***

And to one of my dear friend…

Sorry for not being able to give you the support in the time of your hardness。。。

Miri - A Moment of Thought ...

This is my 3^rd day at Miri, the second largest city at Sarawak state, Malaysia.

This is a quite-big city actually, just that the roads are sooooooo long, and the buildings seems quite far from each other, especially when they are not centralized, hence giving us a feeling that “Miri is a quite-big” city.

Still stayed at my uncle’s house today.  This is my mom’s youngest brother. And he is married to a Melanau woman. LOL~ so again it is a harmonious blend of languages, religions and cultures. That’s why I always said that Sabah and Sarawak are the states where 1Malaysia is really seriously practiced, PERPADUAN KAUM, INTEGRASI NASIONAL…Haha…Well, feel so lucky to stay at these states, although it’s obviously inconvenient to travel back and fro each time to Peninsular Malaysia for thousands reasons, you just can’t deny the peace and tranquility here…so nice =)

Meanwhile, everything is quite Ok, just that his only son aka the second child is very very naughty, and that makes me very very ‘big head’ / 头大！I even suspect that he may, (I repeat: MAY) got ADHD, a type of hyper-active disorder, which is also the disorder that haunted some of my friends when they are young. Well, patients need to take some form of medications to control their active-ness. If not controlled, later in the future they will be classified as “bad-student”, and bad reputation, lack of confidence plus lack of concentration is definitely not good for their development…

Then there is another story of my two cousins. Each of them is married to Iban guy, and each got 2 children. Well, I can see that the child of my elder cousin is actually some sort of quite-lazy, and that’s something that I really usually can’t bare with! If you tried and failed, at least you tried…But if you never tried and say that you can’t, tak boleh, then perhaps you wanna re-think about the decision? I mean, you will never know the boundaries of your own real potentials before you have taken the real action, right? Sometimes miracles do happen in our life. Expecting the unexpected, LOL~

So what I wanna really comment is I think my cousin should give an eye on the development of her children. Of course it’s can’t denied that my elder cousin doesn’t receive too-high education, yet I don’t think that’s reasons for not following the education level of their children. As parents, your responsibilities are not only to raise the child up till his/her adulthood, but education also is a very must, be it formally or not formally…家庭教育比学校教育更重要！Personally I myself very agree with this statement!

So if your child can’t read Malay properly, the best way is to start with knowing ba-be-bi-bo-bu, ca-ce-ci-co-cu, etc etc… Then you start with knowing words, short sentences, etc etc…Then some practice, of course! It’s better to be by the side of your children, not only can enhance the closeness between parent and children, but also is a very positive form of encouragement to your children, make them feel that they are loved and appreciated. And believe me, they will feel more involved in the activities that they are doing with you! Therefore, perhaps parents are busy and very tired after going back from works, yet perhaps a 30-minutes session is also better than none at all, right?

That’s what I can think about education. Therefore the child should be educated properly, knowing ABC and 123 is just too important for their development in the future…Therefore no parents should neglect their responsibilities in giving their children formal education. 再穷也不能穷教育！

And when looking at the children, a sense of pity suddenly arises from my heart. I start to think back about their bad experience…Imagine that these are your children, yet due to some bureaucracy procedures, you as the father just can’t have your name on their birth cert. Well, a bad thing not only for yourself, but also for the children…I wonder…hopefully they will manage to sort the legal problem out very soon…

Children are just so petite and cute…But after having the very bad experience with my nephew, this is not a suitable moment yet to get a child. I still have other more important responsibilities to be fulfilled. Studies, followed by obligation to my mom and my dear maternal aunty, then my obligation to my siblings. No matter how they ignore me sometimes, they are still my dearest siblings, I’m looking forward to see them each getting into the universities. Based on their present level now, I believe they can, now it really depends on each of themselves (individually) to open their mind and take the very important – ACTIONS!

A fussy long story on education. What’s wrong with me today??? Haiz…

Miri – still here…wondering…

***   Back to nest ZZZzzz   ***

Borneo Trip 6 - Still Marudi+ Kuala Baram, Sarawak

Haloooo everybody... again is time for my busy reporting again! Well, seems internet line is harder to access for me, I better finish m Marudi trip updates a.s.a.p. now!

So yesterday I have travelled to the Lubok Nibong. That's my mom's old village, about 50-60 minutes from the centre of Marudi city centre. Well, nothing much to comment really. Just that my mom's old school - Chew Nan Primary School, will be closed and shifted to Miri very soon. So I'm requested to take some pictures for my dear mom so that she can see the shapes and colours of her old school before it is demolished...(so bad...)

Then we're back to Marudi again. i'm not driving, but the hot weather really 'cooks' me like oven when in the car! Plus as you know, sunshine is always free and available everywhere in Malaysia, as it is situated soooooo close to the Equator! Well...but I don't have time for naps as I need to update my memory card's pictures. or it's going to have memory burst! (LOL, of course not so bad de lah, just that my counsin loves to take videos, that makes the memory card instantly half-full already~)

Then at night my lovely Kayan aunty cooks me Tapah fish (fried version), which is a type of freshwater fish. It is caught from the Baram River, and then straightaway sold in the fresh market. Then my uncle also immediately buy it! hence, the fish is never frozen at all. That makes the fish tastes so soft and good! It's very different, not like the fish that you eat at restaurants everyday. The texture and aroma is significantly different! Tapah fish is very expensive according to mu uncle. A single 1 kg will cost you about MYR 300!!! Wow! That's super-expensive! Yet as it is caught locally here, the price is significantly cheaper, loh~

***

This morning I wake up at 7.10 am. All my cousins went to school already. Later my aunty also wanna 'cabut' / escaped to her hospital already! Yet before that she prepared me a glass of hot milo, and then as I'm leaving quite soon at 2pm today. She adviced me to take care (jaga diri baik-baik), then she gave me a hug! Oh my God, a simple hug, yet I feel sooooo touched by it! She did that likes it's a normal practise, and that makes me feel even more 感嘆。。。Why human relationships can't just be so simple? Between friends and familes, a simple hug, a sincere heart, why not?

Then my uncle fetch me to Marudi Airport. Hahaha, this is one of the good thing to be commented about! Hmm..Hmm...(clear my throat first)...It is one of the most important airport in the interior part of Sarawak, as Marudi Airport has flights (via MASWings) to connect Marudi to Miri, Bario, Bakelalan, Long Seridan, Long Akah, etc etc... Hence there is no surprise at all to see so many packets of 'keropok' / junk food, even canned drinks are brought home in cartons. I guessed that this is because it is very hard to get these so called 'easily-available-food' at interior part of Sawarak, especially when the road connection is just soooooo bad! Luckily we still have these marvelous flights! INTEGRASI NASIONAL! LOL~ And this makes me even appreciate more. Perhaps due to better tar road connection even in the interior part of Sabah (we have excellent road connection, hence Kota Kinabalu-Brunei-Miri-Bintulu-Sibu-Kuching road is established quite-long time already and has brought very significant development and improvement to the life quality of Sabahana and Sarawakians as a whole), hence my old airport at Keningau is closed already, and it is 'upgraded' to a Kara-oke centre now! Haiz, feel slightly sad when think about this...If Keningau got airport, the travelling time Kota Kinabalu-Keningau can be significantly reduced to just about 30 minutes!

Then it's time for my very own self-directed journey again! I travelled to almost the whole Marudi City. This time it's quite on my own, as my cousins are schooling now! I even travelled to the Te-Pe-Kong, the traditional Chinese temple here, the Dataran Marudi (Marudi  Square), and of course can't forget the most essential part, which is beside the tranquil Baram River, which is just beside the Marudi Port! The water may not be crystal clear, yet it is this yellowish water that has supported the agriculture, fishery, forestry and transport network here! (Kinda like the HuangHo / Yellow River at China huh? Yet I'm not very sure if HuangHo has played all the same functions or even more, ok??!!)

Then travel back to my uncle's house on my own, but get lost for about 15 minutes, and I have travelled in a big circle (hate this!) before I managed to get the right direction back to my uncle's sweet house, again! Phew! Well, that's fine...that's what quite-always happen when I am involved in self-directed journey, as I said before, my sense of direction...haiz...
\
And now I realised that my Geography knowledge is actually quite applicable as I always tried to link or to compare and contrast between different cities, such as Keningau and Marudi, Bristol and Kota Kinabalu, Bandar Seri Begawan and Kota Kinabalu, even Marudi and Kudat (Sabah)? That's good is it? Learn to use the knowledge that you have learnt! Therefore my travel trip is actually quite different from others. Well, usually what tourists do is to take pictures only at the hot-spot! For me, it's about learning how others live with other people, and how they interact with their surrounding, be it city, sub-urb, or even village! And sometimes I admit that I do pay attention to thye tiny details that seems so petty to deal with, especially for a tourist! well, isn't the tiny-tiny bits that has contributed to the perfectness of this world? For me, appreciate each detail, they do exist for some reason, huh? Haha~ So perhaps I should changed my profession, not a pharmacist, but a human geologist (physical geologist sounds of kinda crazy!)??? LOL, too bad, not now, plus I don;t think Malaysian Government pays high attention to this type of profession, although actually it's very important to understand the development of each city/area/state and how their development has contributed to the development of others!

I don't want to give a Geography lesson here. Later I'll be blamed for 班門弄斧！LOL~

To my friends that will have Penang Trip and Singapore Trip, (I know I know, plus Shanghai Trip right?) may you have a safe and enjoyable journey! (Wanna go to Peninsular also, yet due to time strain and budget strain, 算了啦)。。。

Till then, take care, guys!


Will love,
Jack =)

***   BACK TO NEST ZZZzzz   ***

Borneo Trip 5 - Marudi + Kuala Baram, Sarawak

It's my second day at Miri, 1st day at Marudi...Both are located in the Miri state in Sarawak, Malaysia!

From my sharp observation, which is significantly confirmed by my uncle later, Marudi as an interior city which is 2 hours away from Miri City by car, is one of the most important city in interior Sarawak. Hence there is no surprise at all to see so many government agencies and even complete sets of banks in its city! Here got Public, RHB, BSN, AmBank...etc...etc...

This morning I accidentally drop my cousin's hubby NOKIA E63, and that makes me feel sooooooo bad! Almost lose the strength to continue my next Borneo journey. I dropped it, so of course, I HAVE TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR IT! Although Ling keep telling me that's it's ok...yet I still feel very very bad...

Luckily thank God. HE does send me some mesenggers to cheer me up again! From Miri we travel down to Marudi, a small city situated beside the Baram River. It's 2 hours from Miri City by car, or 2 hours by ferry, or 20 minutes away by airplane (MASWings!). Well, choice is really yours...which in turn depends on your time requirement and your budget...

We are welcomed quite warmly by my Marudi uncle's family. It's a very unique family that I should say can be seen nowhere. My uncle is a Chinese ( of course ), and his wife is a typical traditional Kayan woman. They have two sons that seems stilll quite 'innocent'. The uniqueness is, my uncle and his wife chatting in Malay, later the sons talk in Chinese with their dad, and in Kayan with their mom! Wow! My lovely cousins know at least 4 languages due to their soooo called unique background. A harmonious blend of cultures and religions, real reflection of 1 Malaysia. That's why I love Sabah and Sarawak. Not much whatever so called 'issue', and free to talk to other friends even if they are Kadazandusun, Murut or Kayan! Suddenly make me remember when I still schooling at Ken Hwa during my Form 5. That's what really happen. 1MALAYSIA. PERPADUAN KAUM. INTERGRASI NASIONAL. And still remember Keezya Ubong, another my Kayan friend that shares the same root as me, everything is just harmonious blend... :)

Then at afternoon, a small incident happen, really makes me think back for a while, really should have no feelings already...I don't wish my each action is interpreted with thousands meanings...perhaps...may be...probably...silent is the best policy now...

Then I'm served with whole lot of traditional 'kueh' ordered by my Kayan aunty...Kuih Mawar, Kuih Mihun, Kuih Kapit (nipis-nipis~), in return I give them 'chun1 juan3" from Tenom, Sabah, Kuih Cincin and of course the Thorton's chocolates that I bring back from England far-away.

Then at night more traditional plus delicious food come as dinner. We have 'black soup' / chinese herbal soup aka 'ba1 zhen1 tang1' special in Sarawak. Then got fried 'long mirin' (a traditional vegetables), 'rebung' (bambooshoots), plus babi hutan (wild boar) and ikan air tawar (freshwater fish, caught from Baram River, very famous at Marudi)...

Then at night my uncle go for an acupunture treatment while my cousins bring me hanging around...a significantly smaller town that my hometown ,Keningau, Sabah...yet that's why I love Marudi, Sarawak again, everything is within walking distance, gone to almost the whole Marudi already! Perhaps Marudi is not as modern as Kangar or Keningau, yet does that really matter? Why don't appreciate the peace and tranquility available free to us on this marvelous land of Sarawak? Together with a cool terrestrial breeze...plus my innocent counsin's friendly chatter...everything turns out to be simple...and that's absolutely lovely (super deeeeee duper)!

Then later we're back we're served with more fruits. There is starfruit, dragonfruit, papaya, apple and the most wonderful thing, durian! Plan to eat long time already after back to Malaysia but my first attempt with durian is actually at here! Haha~ again, as metting with Pei Ru at BSB, Brunei, UNEXPECTED, LOL~ But I can't et some of the fruit, LOL~ (again...)

When I wanna close my 'tirai' for today, suddenly realise that my handphone is full of message already.

To my dear aunty at BSB, thousand thanks to raise me up since young and teach me how to love. We're not your children but we get te best care from you that some other real mom can't provide to their child. Deep in my heart, may you blessed with health and happiness...Great to see that you are living a simple yet quite-happy life at BSB now...Thanks again for everything...you are a great aunty...I know you should never visit this tiny corner of your nephew...hahaha...that's fine...=)

To Rou, again is a mixed mixture of remorse and confusion? Real friends will understand you and bless you with support. Balance your time, as before. Keep your studying pace, as before...When you seems confused, perhaps you actually already got the answer in your heart, just that you wanna confirmation from others. You can't be blamed in this case, that's kinda of human nature. No matter what, this is your 1st month. Don't push yourself too much. Just try your best. And do the things that you feel should be right. Remember, confidence =)

My real blessing to all my friends and family =)

With love,
Jack =)

- Lubok Nibong tomorrow -

 

- Back to nest ZZZzzz -