爷

他们说，他很严肃。
他们说，他有功夫底子。
他们说，他写得一手好字。
他们说，他的数学算得快而准。
他们说，他虽然话不多，多用的语言是广东话。
他们说，他扎马步很稳，半小时也没问题。
他们说，他写書法用的墨砚，没保留。
他们说，我的名字是他取的。
他们说，他很疼我。

在我生命里短暂地存在过，记忆里却没有他的身影。
一個我真的好想好想好想认识的人。
哪怕只让我见识见识他的功夫与書法。
只恨我没有这福分。

U mad ah

他说我疯了！
Candy Crush 竟然玩到200++ level了。
对此，我只说了: I am not mad.
但事实是，我本来就是个疯子。
还须要问吗？

刚好朋友问我怎么玩得这么快。
她玩了数月的level，我却一天就搞定。
所以，玩game我算不错吧。

忠告。不想浪费青春的话，别玩。

In case of emergency...

A couple of days ago, 3 o'clock in the afternoon, I was reading the newspaper. All of a sudden my brother called my name, saying the neighbour was looking for me. And so begins, the incident which made me realise, how unprepared we are, in handling emergencies.

The story goes like this; well, from what I understood anyway.
One of my neighbours was cooking on her stove. She smelled gas. The fire from the stove grew enormous. She turned it off. Smoke coming out. She panicked. Ran next door for help.

Next-door-neighbour didn't know what to do, so neighbour asked next door, us.
This is where I come in.
"Erm... Who should we call? Erm... the guy selling gas?"
Really. My mom really did call that guy. But he didn't even have to show up in the end.

10 minutes of utter chaos. Nobody knew what to do.
We the neighbours were a hopeless bunch.
The panicking lady's 20-year-old son was at home with a friend. The lady they hired to do cleaning was also in the house when it happened. And then there were a few strangers lounging in the playground who were asked to help out; those daredevils went in and came out choking from the smell of gas.
So the son decided to take charge. He opened the kitchen door and turned off the main switch. Then called Bomba.
The fire brigade came within 5 minutes, though it took them a couple more minutes to find the address.

When other neighbours heard the siren, they all came out to see what happened.
Duh, who woudn't?

Firemen removed the gas cylinder, moved the stove out, and were gone 5 minutes later.
They move fast, don't they?

In the end, I don't really know what went wrong, the stove or the gas?
The stove was half gas, half induction cooker. When it was carried out, it was making a ticking sound. Then stopped after the firemen removed a battery within. The induction cooktop glass was broken and partly melted.

Whichever the case, this was a wake up call.
In case of emergency, what do we do?

Here's what I think I should do.
Scream! Get everybody out. Grab cellphone. And maybe wallet too? Turn off main switch. Get the hell out!

I'm kidding.
No, I'm not.
Ok, time to read a manual.

双失青年

[粤语]

知唔知么叫双失青年？

所谓双失，即係指，失学兼失业。

我已经成为一個。

“唔係呀嘛？！” 

係。当真。我唔係讲笑。

点解？

简单啲讲，冇心读书。

虽说我以前係名列前茅的好成绩学生，但种种因素，令我觉得真係读唔落去。

所以係时候揾工喇。做么好咧？

总之都係要由低做起，辛苦啲，工钱一定唔高。

其实冇么所谓，我平时唔会乱洗钱，屋企唔等我养家。

我老豆好型，佢话：“人地揸车，你搭车咯。唔使死唧。”

好想揾朋友俾啲提议我，做么工。

但係如今的我，不如往日直肠直肚。

因为真係好怕佢地嗰句“唔係呀嘛？！”

Packing my bags and giving the Academy a rain check - Imagine Dragons

Morning Walk

Pretty cousin once told me, there are 2 ways to fix an unhealthy sleep cycle. The gentle way: adjust it day by day, an hour earlier each day; the extreme way: stay awake for a day and sleep early the next, then stick with the sleep time.

Today I found a 3rd way, flip the 1st and combine the 2. To be more specific, sleep later & later each day, and you'll find yourself going to sleep in the morning, waking at lunch time, and going to sleep again at 9pm. So I woke up at 4 this morning.

And decided I need a run. But of course, I wouldn't go out THAT early,unlike my friend who used to go cycling at 2am and even left a message in my mailbox. CRAZY!!!

So I went out at 6am. There are so many older neighbours already out walking. And what do you know, I ran into my best friend's cute mom. A pleasant surprise, and very encouraging for the 1st (of many, I hope) morning walk around the neighbourhood. Love her <3

I said I needed a run; in truth I ran 2 minutes and walked 40 minutes. Hahaha. Ok, next time I'll jog.

I can't recall the last time I saw morning come, breathe the fresh air. This morning walk is an awesome experience. Seeing neighbours I've never met on their walks, neighbours stretching at the front of their house, neighbours getting to work; hearing the buzz of people getting ready for their day. Left side neighbour's son already off to work, right side neighbour's son just got home. What a contrast. Cars on the road, planes in the sky, buses picking up children.

Walked past my teacher's house, thought of school days, when I used to wake at 6, and I miss my friends again. Wish I see all of them often, but it's geographically impossible.

Exercise reminds me of the days I used to learn Wushu. Those Saturdays I fooled around with comrades. Both school & wushu made me remember a quality I've forgotten in a long, long time: Discipline.

And that speaks volumes.

I shall retain the music playlist accompanying my morning walk, for the words they sing to me, and for me.
OneRepublic Stop and Stare
Linkin Park Breaking The Habit
Coldplay Lost
The All-American Rejects Move Along
Coldplay Speed of Sound
Eason 夕阳无限好
Jason Mraz You Fucking Did It

无事不登三宝殿

我自认是个不错的朋友。以前的我。
中学毕业后，朋友们分道扬镳，见面的机会少了。

我是很被动的人，自己不会主动联络人家，除非有事情需要帮忙。所以，我在朋友们的心目中，是不是这样的人呢？ 无事不登三宝殿。有事来找你，没事无踪影。

今天去找朋友吃午餐，也跟她要了一本past year papers。
她说:“这本东西好伟大。“ 讽刺我!

自我检讨的结论就是，朋友们听好咯!
我以后没事也会kacau你们的!!! XP

Muhammad Yunus

On 8th of December, I had my 1st encounter with a Nobel Laureate. Professor Muhammad Yunus, economist, pioneer in microcredit, founder of Grameen Bank. He along with Grameen Bank were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 "for their efforts to create economic and social development from below." He visited Malaysia and somehow HELP University managed to invite him over to give a talk.

I have always wanted to read his book "Banker to the Poor", though I have not bought it yet. HELP libraries have none of his 3 books! Erm... no wonder so many students have no idea who he is? Somebody actually said that they were invited to attend but chose not to go because they didn't know him. WHAT?! Ask your friend GOOGLE.


I was very intrigued, of course I had to go! My first impression of him was that he is a humble man, dressed in a simple punjabi suit, with a quiet and gentle voice. He'd make a great story teller.

It was a simple speech--just over half an hour long-- about the beliefs and motivations driving his career. He started off by introducing the environment he grew up in. A poor community in a Bangladeshi village, where loan-sharking was prominent. This is where he developed a "worm's-eye view", seeing things from close range; as opposed to the "bird's-eye view" he learnt in university. According to him, problems are not as threatening when you see them up close. Interesting, that.

The problem he saw, was of course, poverty. Banks cannot lend money to poor people, instead, they lend money to people who already have a lot. This is a wrong design. This led to his decision to create a bank with his ideology. How did he do it? Learn from conventional banks and do the OPPOSITE. (So cool)
For instance, people always go to the bank, so the bank should go to the people. Banks want collateral for borrowing, he omitted it. In his words, "Collateral is a CONSPIRACY against poor people." "CREDIT should be the equivalent of TRUST." "Banking systems are built on DISTRUST."
Grameen bank lends money based on trust, therefore they don't require collateral. This is why they do not need any papers/legal documents, and therefore do not hire lawyers. For some reason, the audience was impressed by this statement. Don't like lawyers? haha

Now I should mention that 95% of Grameen Bank is owned by the borrowers, of which 97% are women. They also claim a loan recovery rate of 96.67%. I got this off Wikipedia.

"Poor people are like bonsai", he said. There are nothing wrong with their seeds, they just don't have enough space to grow. Society has limited their space, all because of the conceptual framework of Capitalism, which misunderstands human beings. We have all been taught selfishness, and turned into money chasers. But we are not robots; we are multi-dimensional. We can be selfish and selfless at the same time. (Contradictions, contradictions...) So we should express our selflessness, not selfishness. "Everything is for others."

That leads to the concept of social business--building companies to solve problems. Money-making business creates power, and this power can solve problems. He pointed out that it is different from charity--the money doesn't come back. (wow) Note that his problems are always associated with poverty.
Well, it seems I need to read his other books about social business too. My cousin tells me "it's pretty good stuff".

At the end, I had one big question in my mind.
So what the heck am I doing in university, learning all about capitalism?
Hahaha.
His courage and persistence is admirable. He had a simple dream and he found a way to make it happen.
There are, however, some criticisms against microlending and Grameen Bank, questioning its effectiveness. So is the simplicity of his framework its flaw as well?
I shall leave this question for another day...

What do you want?

This is something that has been sitting in my 'Drafts' for weeks. I thought I should just post it.

A friend innocently asked,
"Then you should choose the way you want to be right?"
Privately, I was thinking,
"Is life so simple to you? Everything clear-cut? Have you no complexities? Ever heard of contradictions?"

In truth...
The real question here is, what do I want? And since I've been told that I'm the greedy sort who wants all kinds of things --to which I agree-- the more relevant question is, what do I want more?