Remembering the Tsunami

It was a year ago today. Malaysia was one of the countries affected, albeit only slightly. Some homes in my wife's kampung, in Parit Buntar (northern end of Perak), were flooded with the river waters. No lives lost; just things getting wet.

Malaysia had it's share of grief, though nothing in the scale of other countries. Of course, the real story in Malaysia in the days following the tsunami was the lack of good local news coverage of the story.

The tsunami hit our shores in the morning of 26 Dec 2004. It was the morning after my company's X-mas/annual dinner, and when I got up, it was a normal Sunday morning. I only heard about the tsunami from foreign news programs (CNN, BBC) during the day. Which was strange, considering our northern states got hit. The news media really got an earful from the public after that.

I count myself lucky, not having been directly affected by the tsunami. But it did shake our world. Malaysia's no longer safe from the big natural disasters...

Alanis Morissette, Crazy?

Just heard Alanis' cover of Crazy (Seal, 1990) yesterday. Talk about going in a new direction. Didn't think I'd hear Alanis do something like this...

Star Wars! (Finally!)

I consider myself a Star Wars fan. Not a die-hard, or a fanatic. But a fan. And I'm probably the last Star Wars fan not to have watched Episode III. No, not some kind of protest. Just my "sacrifice" during my wife's pregnancy.

Anyway, yesterday I got the DVD as a b-day present. Woohoo! It's been hard not finding out everything about this movie before watching it. Finally going to get to see the conclusion of the pre-trilogy.

We're watching it tonight. After we put the baby to sleep. :-)

Apgar score

I was just photocopying A'isyah's "health book" the other day when I noticed her Apgar score. 9/10. Never really paid much attention to it, but something made me remember a friend asking me about A'isyah's score. So I checked it out here. I wonder where she lost the 1 point. :-) Doesn't really matter, cos she's a healthy baby girl.

Yachting in the monsoon

Ok, so maybe this Monsoon Cup is an interesting thing. And apparently, Pulau Duyung, the host of the event, has a tradition of boat-making.

Here's the VC of USM writing about the "creative thinking" that gave rise to the whole idea.

And the organizers are expecting between 10,000 to 15,000 spectators at the inaugural event.

So maybe it's a pretty good thing for the State, and maybe even the country.

Still, don't forget the turtles.

Baby pics - 4/4

This is on Eid, or Hari Raya Aidilfitri, as it's known here in Malaysia. She's wearing new clothes. Well, of course, duh... I mean, this was the first time she wore this outfit.

Baby pics - 3/4

My daughter at home. Actually, my mother-in-law's place. That's where we are for the confinement period. She's having a bad hair day.

Baby pics - 2/4

Here she is at 3 days. She's resting between two pillows on her mother's hospital bed.

Baby pics - 1/4

This is my daughter, right after they cleaned her. She's about 30 mins old at the time of this pic.

Putting Terengganu on the world map

Caught a sound bite on the evening news tonight. The Chief Minister of the state of Terengganu was saying something about how he hoped "this event would put Terengganu on the world map". "This event" is the Terengganu Monsoon Cup.

A yachting event.

Terengganu - Land of Turtles. That's what the state used to be known for, and what it should be known for.

With the dwindling number of turtles coming ashore, the place itself became less and less of an attraction. Rantau Abang itself has fallen into shambles with many of the outlets and some resorts have been abandoned.

As usual in this part of the world, realization and actions to remedy the situation is most always delayed or too little too late. One wonders if the title “Terennganu (sic) – Land of Turtles” is still apt.

Quote from http://www.abcmalaysia.com/tour_malaysia/trng_plcs3.htm; visited 10 Nov 2005.

A bit sad really...

Colgate toothpaste haram?

Latest halal/haram scandal to hit Malaysia. There's a flyer going around stating that 95% of the toothpaste sold in Malaysia is not halal. They’re targeting Colgate in particular, which is quite popular here, so I don’t know if there are ulterior motives involved.

I’ve just done a quick scan on the subject. Two websites of interest:
Colgate page on vegetarian products
website listing of halal and haram ingredients

Haven’t had a chance to really look into this. Hope to do so when I have more internet time.

Edit: Latest update on halal status of Colgate toothpaste, posted on 5/1/2009.

New Beginnings

I'm starting my blog today, and this coincides with the birth of my first child. She was born yesterday, just before noon. I've been meaning to start a blog for some time now, but I kept putting it off. Those who know me won't be too surprised at that. :-) But now, I just feel like sharing my good news with the world!

So, here's to New Beginnings! To my wife, who starts her life as a mother; to my baby girl, who starts on this adventure we call life; and to my online journal, may I bother to update it once in a while.