Happy Birthday Amani

Amani celebrated her 10th birthday. Got her these colourful cupcakes from lea-oven.blogspot.com to be shared with her friends and teachers. Celebration and presents? Maybe later. But I do know her wish will be coming true in a few months (ask her :D!), insyaallah... Here's a Jonas brothers' song for you, dear. I'm sorry if it's "sooo yesterday" coz mommy dearie is not really a Jonas bro junky! Hu! Hu!

Preschool - which one is best for your child?

I have 3 children and all of them went to different kindies (my term for kindergartens :P). No, it's not because of money (though I remembered a former colleague telling me that only her firstborn went to an expensive kindy, the rest ... you don't have to guess!). There are NO cheap kindies in Subang Jaya. Definitely no Tabika Kemas which would cost only RM 20 or so in monthly fee! The average monthly fee of kindies around SJ is RM 200++. Don't be fooled by the fee, though. The registration fee can cost you anything between RM 1 K to 2 Ks! Then there's the transport fare. Bus is the cheaper option (around RM 45) as opposed to van (RM 90++). So you can imagine how relieved I am, now that two of my children are in school :).

So, which kindy is best for my child, you might ask. Well, as they say, one man's meat could be another man's poison. What worked for my children might not necessarily work for yours. The factors that actually determined the choice of kindy for my kids (according to order of importance) are:

i) the children's personalities
ii) the teachers
iii) the kindy
iv) fees

Notice my emphasis on the humanistic aspect? So many parents (including me, the first time around) made the mistake of choosing the kindy first rather than analyzing the child's needs. They assume that if the kindy is good (normally based on reputation, testimonies or recommendations), their child would be assured of good quality pre-school education.

That was my assumption when I enrolled my daughter at Child Enrichment Centre (then, known as CEC; now known as REAL Kids). Other reasons why I enrolled her in that particular kindy: I wanted my daughter to have friends from all races, speak English more, be in touch with her multiple intelligences (which the kindy was promoting) and learn how to swim (she didn't, I did!). Although I didn't quite fancy the kindy's school-liked approach (they have homework and assessments), the daughter breezed through kindy because she was a fast learner. The teachers were kind except for the one she had in her final pre-school year. Obviously, that particular teacher - a retiree - was not cut to be a kindy teacher although she had taught many years in primary schools. She was grumpy, had no patience with the kids, and called them "dungu" (pronounced erroneously as "dunggu"! Hu! Hu!). I remembered a concerned colleague of mine, offered to report this to the kindy's exec, who was a family friend, but I did not encourage her.

CEC prepared her well for all the subjects taught in year one except for Agama. She got As for almost all of her subjects but failed miserably in her Agama! The school's JQaf programme did not help improve her marks, either. Therefore, I had to send her to KAFA classes. Because of this too, I did not send my son to CEC. I wanted him to have a good foundation in Agama so that he will not be clueless (like his sister) in year one. That's how Genius Aulad came into the picture.

This English-medium Islamic kindy is the first of its kind in Malaysia (some teachers need to brush-up on their English, though. He! He!). What I found interesting is that the kindy incorporated Islamic and sunnah practices into their lessons. My son was able to recite the doas in English and memorised all the ayat lazim for prayers (how the teachers did this, I don't know, but I respect them for that!). They also observed and celebrated auspicious days such as the Maulidurrasul on a grand scale: procession, TV-coverage and all. The only thing that I felt my son had missed out was the multiracial experience. Other than that, the kindy's approach was pretty much the same as CEC: school-like.

Why then did I not send my youngest son to Genius Aulad or CEC? Well, being the baby in the family, I knew instantly that he wouldn't survive in a school-like environment. So, during his first pre-school year, I sent him to Tadika Nurul Izzah. I pretty much know the teachers because they were the same teachers who taught my daughter KAFA and she liked them. So I thought the baby would like them too. Well, everything went smoothly at first. But after a fall and a bout of fever, he started to make excuses not to go to kindy. He threw tantrums, clung to his favourite teacher like a koala, found faults with his friends and did not seem to have progressed much in learning. So, I knew I had to find another kindy which was to his liking. From my observations, he craves for individual attention. So sending him to a highly-enrolled kindy was a no-no.

That was when my husband's friend recommended us Alim Kids. Although the monthly fee was slightly more than the other kindies, we enrolled our son there because we were sure that he will get his much-needed attention: there were only 4 kids on the first day! First week: everything went pretty well. He liked the teachers, his friends (though he's quite rowdy for their liking! He! He!), and even the food. His teacher observed that he liked playing compared to studying. However, hubby was convinced, with the teacher's knowledge in child psychology, our son would be 'transformed', eventually. And 'transformed' he did. The following week, the son started to read and finished his Ladybird 1A in a week! I was impressed!

So, which preschool is best for your child? The answer actually lies with you and your child.

i) Know your child - his/her strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, idiosyncracies, etc.
ii) Know your preference - medium of instruction, enrolment, fee structure, etc.
iii) Survey the kindy - teachers, learning approach, facilities, etc.

Then as the saying goes, tepuk dada, tanya selera.

What makes your garden?

What makes a garden? Not just the well-manicured lawn, the burst of (flowers) colours, the rustic garden chairs or the white picket fences. A garden would be lifeless without life itself - the birds, butterflies and bees. Some of my Coolpix catches...

This grasshopper was as big as my thumb. Fed on the shoots of my Rangoon Creeper.

Butterflies making out at their love nest - my cuphea bush! Can you make out their heads or tails? :)

An 'unidentified flying insect' resting on my vanilla leave.

A caterpillar feeding on the daun limau purut.

...obviously not a living thing. He! He! The garden trap for the subterranean insects which I could do without - termites.

Besides these catches, there were misses - squirrels, hummingbird (yes!), frogs, chameleons, dragonflies, preying mantises, and God-knows-how-many bugs. They were too fast to capture ... or was I too slow?

Have you heard of Michael Heart?

I was driving home from work last week when I heard this new song playing on IKIM FM. At first, it was the acoustic guitar that caught my attention (have always been a sucker for this kind of music :D). Then I realized that it was a song about Gaza. Funny, I thought. Never heard this song before. Who's the singer, I wondered. I'll just google "Gaza tonight" (part of the lyrics which I managed to catch), I thought, when no information about the song nor its singer was given till the end of the song.

The "Gaza tonight" google led me to the song "We Will Not Go Down" by singer, Michael Heart. Another round of googling led me to the the singer's website. You can read all about him at : http://www.michaelheart.com. His infectious song can be downloaded for free at his website though he did request that after doing so, we should contribute to funds dedicated to alleviate the sufferings of the Palestinians particularly the UNRWA (United Nations Relief & Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East).

WE WILL NOT GO DOWN (Song for Gaza)
- Composed and performed by Michael Heart (Copyright 2009)

A blinding flash of white light
Lit up the sky over Gaza tonight
People running for cover
Not knowing whether they’re dead or alive
They came with their tanks and their planes
With ravaging fiery flames
And nothing remains
Just a voice rising up in the smoky haze
We will not go down
In the night, without a fight
You can burn up our mosques and our homes and our schools
But our spirit will never die
We will not go down
In Gaza tonight
Women and children alike
Murdered and massacred night after night
While the so-called leaders of countries afar
Debated on who’s wrong or right
But their powerless words were in vain
And the bombs fell down like acid rain
But through the tears and the blood and the pain
You can still hear that voice through the smoky haze
We will not go down
In the night, without a fight
You can burn up our mosques and our homes and our schools
But our spirit will never die
We will not go down
In Gaza tonight

Partial Solar Eclipse on 26/1/2009

We waited, witnessed and captured the partial solar eclipse in Seremban, yesterday. Equipped with only our digital compacts and vintage film negatives that were scavenged from old photo envelopes, abah and I spent close to three hours capturing the phenomenon. After all, you don't get to see this everyday, right? The last time a solar eclipse occurred was in 2002.

The challenge of capturing the solar eclipse using our 8 Mp digital compacts made the whole exercise even more exciting. My sister who was in Teluk Intan for the CNY hols, however, was not so lucky. Her D80 was rendered useless because the weather was cloudy over there and she can't even see the sun. It's the case of not being at the right place at the right time.

Since our cameras were no DSLRs, we experimented.

A small strip of used film negative, taped to the camera lense made instant filter.

Triple filters. Two layers of used b & w film negative in front of the camera helped us capture almost crisp images of the sun and help protect our eyes, too.

Below are the images of the sun in its various stages of eclipse. But of course, a DSLR would have produced better images ...

Gong Xi Fa Cai

To all my friends who're celebrating Chinese New Year: May the Year of the Ox brings you happiness, prosperity and contentment. Don't forget to bring back those juicy honey mandarin oranges! :D

How far would you go?

In the wake of the Gaza attrocities and calls for boycott of American and so-called Jewish products, how far would you go to support the Palestinian cause and send your message across to the Zionist Regime and their supporters?

Are you willing to forgo your ...

Estee Lauder cosmetics?
Sidney Sheldon paperbacks?
kid's Power Rangers figurines?
tightest link - Google and FB?
comfy Levi's and Gap apparel?
weekly grocery shopping at Tesco?
Mark's & Spencer's shopping spree?
thirst-quenching Cokes and Pepsis?
reliable Dell LTs (plus the Intel inside)?
Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren perfumes?
favourite Starbucks ice-blended beverages?
finger-licking good KFCs, McDees and Wendy's?
not-to-be-missed TV shows and Hollywood Movies?
well-paying job at an American company (as suggested by a former statesman)?

Not so easy, huh?
To those who made an effort: Wow! That's a tough act to follow.
To those who don't give a hoot: you have your reasons. Nobody can force you to do something you don't believe in.
To the Palestinians: my doa and prayers.
To the perpetrators: I'll leave it to God.

Happy Birthday Amirul

The year started with a string of birthdays. Mumsie celebrated her birthday on the 3rd, followed by Abang (8th) and on the 12th, another 'Abang', my son - Amirul. Just a normal birthday celebration for a little boy, I would say - eating at a restaurant of his choice, birthday cake, presents. No birthday song from mama, only a piano cover of his favourite song (and the whole family) "What I've Done" by Linkin Park :D! Love u Chill!

EPF VS Pension

This one month (1st - 31st January 2009) will see some 66,000 government servants making their ultimate decision - whether to remain in the EPF scheme or opt for the pension. Yours truly will also be putting on her thinking hat.

Kudos to JPA and CUEPACS for organizing roadshows across the country to explain to interested parties about service circular no. 19/2008: Tawaran Opsyen Semula Kepada Anggota Yang Telah Memilih Skim Kumpulan Wang Simpanan Pekerja. I attended one of the sessions in Shah Alam, recently. The Director of Bhg Pasca Perkhidmatan (aka bhg. pencen) JPA, Dato' Yeow Chin Kiong himself, gave the briefing in fluent Malay.

I know that for some EPFians, this opportunity to change to the pension scheme is like a dream come true. Some of them claimed that they were not well-informed when they signed up for EPF years ago. Therefore, they regretted signing-up for the scheme.

Moi? I was fully aware of the consequences when I signed up. It's not about money. It's more about FREEDOM. I chose the EPF scheme because I did not want to be tied down to the job. I know most of my friends who chose the scheme had the same idea. Some wanted to leave once they have served their contract. FYI we were bound for 7 years, just like the Medic students! Anyway, the main reason I chose the scheme was I wanted to be able to call the shots should the need arises i.e. can resign anytime that I want and nobody can say no. Resigning is not that easy for those in the pension scheme because it normally depends on the "budi bicara Ketua Jabatan", etc. I actually came close to exercising my privilege in 2007 and at that time, I remembered feeling grimly satisfied that nobody could force me to go to some place I don't fancy. Of course, as fate would have it, I did not need to go to that extent after all ...

But as the saying goes, "you win some, you lose some". When I convert to the pension scheme, I will lose my 'license' to resign-at-anytime-I-want. I will also need to return the government's portion of the EPF contribution. In return, I will get my monthly pension when I retire, plus medical benefits for the whole family. Other than that, I'm entitled for gratuity and the "Golden Handshake" (If you have doubts about this, feel free to check with Bhg Pasca Perkhidmatan, Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam).

Anyway, unlike some EPFians, I did not regret choosing the EPF scheme all this while. How could I? I've amassed a decent amount of money in my EPF account :D and most important, the choice that I made earlier, had sort of forced me to plan my finances from day one - retirement plan, education funds, insurance, etc. That's quite an achievement for a shopaholic! He! He!

So, why then did I decide to convert to the pension scheme? This time, it's for the children. If anything happens to me, my children will be the beneficiaries of my pension till they are 21 years old. If nothing happens to me and I live to see my retirement, the pension money would come in handy when hubby and I globetrot around the world, like my globe-trotting parents! He! He!

What about FREEDOM, you might ask. Well, I'm bound for another 3 years (thanks to another scholarship) and am waiting to be bound for another six years (hoping for yet another one! Hu! Hu!). So, I'm 'jailed' for life! One consolation, though, my job is not too bad after all ...

Plants for 2009

They say 2009 is going to be worse than 1929 - The Great Depression. But do not despair, folks! Although most of us will be living frugally that doesn't mean that you can't have the garden of your dreams. Yeah, maybe you should forget about engaging the services of those expensive landscape designers. But no, don't trade those flowers for cow-grass - or worst, cement - YET! Here are some easy-to-grow, value-for-money flowers, which will brighten your homes and may just bring out the gardener in you (if you're the hopeless type :D).

Zinnia Angustifolia @ creeping zinnia (3 for RM 10.00*)

My favourite flower. Comes in a variety of cultivar and colour such as off-white, pale yellow, orange and pink. It's a hit with ladybugs, bees and butterflies (what is a garden without insects?:D). When the blooms aged, and become dry and brown, pluck and scatter them on the soil as seeds. Seedlings will grow in 1-2 weeks and will last for 3 months or more. You can also keep the seeds to be sowed at a later time. (more of this, later). The Zinnia's enemies are those white grubs (don't know their scientific name, yet) and grasshoppers.

Torenia Fournieri @ Wishbone flower @ Bluewigs (3 for RM 10.00*)

Comes in blue, purple and pink. The lifespan of the plant is short - about a month. However, new plants will germinate from the dried blooms which fall on the soil. You will have a steady supply of the flower all year round. Its enemy are also those tiny white grubs. When you see a bunch of them clinging on to the stem, just cut the affected area. Sometimes you might have to throw the whole plant! Don't worry, new plants will sprout in no time.

Cuphea Hyssopifolia (4 for RM 10.00*)

Comes in white, blue and purple. It breeds easily - I'm not quite sure how, but in time you will see 'baby plants' (am a dummy when it comes to horticulture terms :D) sprouting. So, you can just dig out the anak pokok (sapling?) and plant it elsewhere. The plant makes great borders. However it has to be trimmed in order for it to thrive. The plant is a hit with butterflies. Yeah, nice to see the butterflies roaming your garden for a while, but not so nice when the plant becomes their love nest. The plant will be swarmed with those tiny,furry caterpillars. Kalau nasib tak baik boleh togel cuphea ni jadinya ... argh! That's the time I'll turn into a nasty Edward Scissorhands - cut! cut! cut!

Well, there you have 'em, 3 plants for the frugal gardener. In your frugality though, don't forget to water the plants at least once a day. If it rains, then it's your lucky day. Fertilize only once a month (I don't religiously practise this, though). Normally it's just a teaspoon of fertilizer scattered on the soil, far from the stem. (More on the fertilizers, later).

So, to all you hopeless gardeners out there (been there ... he! he!), try planting these flowers. Who knows, they might just be the magic plants that will turn your fingers green!

* the price quoted might have gone up in 2009. The plants are cheaper in the nurseries near the Sg. Buloh hospital.