I used to get good marks in Malay in school, but I haven't been the most diligent student the moment I stepped into Melbourne. But these few paragraphs caught my eye and heart so much that I just had to put it up.

They are by A.Samad Said, one of Malaysia's literary laureate, a 76-year-old man with Dumbledore's beard.

“Murbawan Malaysia tidak senang dengan apa yang sedang berlaku di negara ini. Kita menghantar pesanan yang sangat waras. Demokrasi perlu murni dan terus dimurnikan.

Kenapa kita tidak boleh memperbaik situasi? Kenapa kita harus membiarkan demokrasi diperkuda oleh segelintir kuasawan yang tampaknya bermaharajalela?
Telah lama kita tidak senang dengan aliran demokrasi yang diperkuda ini. Telah lama kita inginkan demokrasi yang bersih, bergerak atas landas yang murni.

Kita sedar bahawa jalan ini tidaklah mudah. Maka itu, kita menjadi lebih berazam. Kita maklum bahawa gergasi media arus perdana kini sedang ikut garang menghempit kita dalam arus peristiwa yang semakin durjana. Kita sedang berlawan dengan keangkuhan yang pejal. Oleh media arus perdana ini, kita sewenangnya digambarkan sebagai kumpulan “siasah” yang sangat bercita-cita buruk. Lebih buruk, kita digambarkan sebagai kelompok yang sengaja ingin menggelorakan masyarakat seburuk hajat.

Kita tidak begitu. Kita ingin memperbaiki jentera demokrasi agar lebih berhati nurani.
Kita tidak menginginkan demokrasi yang kasar dan sombong; kita merindukan demokrasi yang tulus dan betul.

Inilah gerakan kita yang, sayangnya, terpaksa bermula di tengah keangkuhan kerajaan yang merasa segala-galanya sudah betul, malah sudah syurgawi, di tanah air ini. Kita sebenarnya masih dalam derita yang terus dicipta oleh tangan kasar berhati angkuh yang sangat bercita-cita.

Kita merindukan suara kuasa yang waras dan insani; suara pembimbing yang ikhlas dan mengerti. Kita tidak memerlukan suara angkuh dalam era yang sudah terlalu lama sombong ini. Kita mengharapkan tangan kuasa yang berhemah, sedia memimpin dan berdamai, turut bantu mencipta iklim demokrasi yang harum.

Memanglah kita mengkhayalkan dunia indah itu, walaupun kenyataan yang terserlah dan mengembang kini sedang menunjukkan di atas kepala kita sentiasa sedia terapung awan kelam yang menjanjikan tofan.

Jikalau berlaku, kita bukanlah kelompok manusia yang gamam berlari; kita, sebaliknya, adalah manusia yang cekal berdiri. Kita ingin memupuk demokrasi yang lebih berhati nurani.

Dua ratus tahun dulu seorang tokoh kecil Sam Adams, dengan kelompoknya yang kecil juga, telah mencurahkan teh ke dalam laut di pelabuhan Boston, Amerika. Kata Sam Adams: “It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set bushfires in people’s minds.”

Kita nyalakan unggun api itu pada malam ini!”

My dad used to say that words are stronger than a sword. And this just proves it.

7. bowlful of canned longans + canned sea coconut slices: dessert matchmade in heaven. Must be the boxfuls of canned longans my dad used to feed me when I was young. Always reminded me of the musty little grocery shop we had in the old part of JB town where it was always dark and draughty and forever smelled like salted fish. And I was always so fascinated by the old black thousand-year-old abacus my grandfather had on the counter in the shop. I would watch him click click click away on the beads with a lit cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth. And I would cringe but stare unblinkingly at the ashtrayful of dirty water and cigarette butts beside him. It's one of those disgusting sights that you know you should look away but you just find yourself morbidly fascinated by it. And there were always a couple of cats around in the old shop to keep the mice away. Grandfather wasn't exactly the 'pops' Enid Blyton described, he was a typical Chinaman: distant in his affections, few in his words. Even though so, I still regret the fact that I've never learnt that bit more Teochew. I've always wanted to experience that grandparent-grandchild relationship, but never had the chance to. And if he was still alive today, and if my Teochew still fails me, I would try and pluck up that bit more courage and sit beside him when he drinks his pot of tea after dinner everyday. We would probably be silent through most of the pot of tea but at the end when the tea tastes bitter and I'm drinking more of the tea dregs and less of the tea itself, I hope the air between us grows that bit more warmer. And then one day eventually, he would start telling me stories about him growing up, meeting grandma, surviving WWII, having a family. And I want him to tell me things that only a grandfather would know after so many years living life. He would probably tell me to study hard so I wouldn't end up like him toiling hard most of his life. He would probably tell me that the business world is one for the fierce and ruthless and one that is not for his granddaughter. He would then tell me how to choose my partner in life, to choose someone of that certain animal zodiac. He would then probably grill me in the duties of being a wife and mother, being traditional as he is.

Yes, I missed out on being someone's granddaughter.

of wintry foods and minced meat eggy goodness

Because it's uni term break now,
and because I should rightly be home Malaysia home right now with my family and homecooked food,
and because it's wintry cold and I thrive on sunshine,
and because almost everyone has abandoned the winter and me and left for sunny greener pastures,
and because I can,
I shall list my tummylicious comfort food for the winter.

1. porridge: plain ole' starchy mushy Chinese porridge. I can gobble a whole mangkuk down with a teaspoon of Chinese preserved shredded olives in under 5 minutes, and yes, I require no other condiments or side dishes to make it fancy. It's the simple things that make my tummy happy. It must be those potfuls of Sunday lunches made of good ole homemade porridge with the family.

2. cheesy pasta: 'nuff said. The more cheese(es), the happier I'll be. My go-to cheering-up food of all time.

3. steamed egg with minced pork: it's one of those dishes that remind me of my childhood dinners sitting around this small little table built right onto the wall in the old kitchen. The table was so small that all 4 of us was quite a tight squeeze. It's the simplest dish ever, but it's so homey that whenever I miss home, I just whip it up, steam the heck out of it, and every single time, a perfect yummylicious comforting eggy dish. And if I'm feeling a little naughty, I put in a wee bit of Chinese cooking wine.

4. sour/sweet plums: and preferably those that are seedless, thank you very much. I have this little annoyance with those itty bitty seeds. But, omg, what I would do to get a pack of those preserved plums. Must have inherited that rationale-killing unhealthy craving for plums from the mum.

5. tomyam soup: yes, I'm a Malaysian through and through and I need my soups to be spicy. And I'm of the female species so yes, I like my food to have a bit of that sour punch/kick to it. And since I'm a student and don't have the knowledge/time/mortar&pestle/grandmotherly instincts, I use the instant paste one, so sue me. But, it has to be that particular brand with the steamboat picture on the label, so don't say that I have no taste whatsoever. =) and yes, I inherited that particular knowledge from the mum. Again. She said and I quote (to something of this effect), " Never use any tomyam paste except this brand (cue serious unblinking Stare of Knowledge)".

6. yummy sugar-coated pastry: ditto.

shall continue this later on as I have a dishful of eggy mincymeat goodness to tuck into this cold wintry night.
be still, my fluttering heart and rumbling tummy.