Kiasu, Kiasi & Kiawhatever...

I first heard the word Kiasu (afraid of losing) & Kiasi (afraid of death / timid) while I was in the college in the mid 90's. I have couple of close Chinese friends who shared plenty of stuffs with me on these Chinese terms. I do not know for what reason, they told me that the twin K's terms were actually originated & referred to the Singaporean Chinese group. But nowadays, it has been widely use in the South East Asia countries.

It's quite interesting why these two terms are interchangebly use in particular to the Chinese community. I also wonder if the same terms appear in any other languages. With direct translation, those two words may seem to appear as negative or pessimistic. On the other hand, they also serve as the basis of attitudes to strive for excellence , never quite until you win & betterment of one social life standards.

Ironically, having raise in a semi-urban Malay family, these two principles do not seem to be awkward to me. My mother especially , had inculcated these two prionciples in our family. In fact, both of our parents were really paranoid about exam result. Since I was standard 1 until I graduated, my father had never missed a single review on my report card. There will always be an action plan after reviewing mine. This was one of the Kiasu in my family. My mother used to tell me that when all of us have grown up, she would not like to see large disparites amongst the siblings. I guess me, my brothers and sisters are considered moderate in our living, though one of my sister is filthy rich.

When it comes to Kiasi, I could deny that my parents were also paranoid of all of their children having involve in road accident, ended up non of us were allowed to apply for motorcycle licence. Even so, my brother, a law student, bought a motorbike (without my parents knowledge) while he was at the university, of course without a licence. A good start for a law student. On the other hand, my sister, who is practising law in Kuala Lumpur, has never drove a car to work. For more than 30 years, she used taxi. Her husband once joke that almost all the taxi drivers in Kuala Lumpur City know her. And my mother, the originator of the road and traffic "Kiasi", used to had her hand on the wheel but could not drive a car until now. Once, in the late 70's, when she was trying to reborn her driving skill, she had a duck murdered. A well bell -curved mark on that pity duck body.

These two simple Kiasu & Kiasi had actually shaped up our family in certain ways or another. I am actually glad that these two are actually positive and preventive measures for our own betterment and safety. I am honoured to pass down these kiasu and kiasi to my kids. Nowadays or in the recent few years, I am seeing more than Kiasu & Kiasi people , which I categorize as "Kiawhatever". People can go mad and do crazy stuffs , afraid of many things. Afraid of losing credibility, ethnicity, trust , money , jobsecurity , status and stuffs like that. That should be elaborated in the next blogging session i guess.

BMX in me.

Bicycle Motor Cross, that was what it was known, and is still famous today. Still nowadays, after three decades, youngsters still ride it as their symbol of teenagehood. For me, three decades ago, it was the symbol of respect amongst the boys. It all started with ET movie, then the Magic BMX. Owning one means getting the licence into the society of the never ending adventure (though for me, mom,s rule, it ends daily before Maghrib prayer). I was among the fortunate kid to own one, though it was not the high end version. It,s still a BMX.

My kids have yet to ask for all these stuffs. Partially thanks to Ipad and PC. They had their fun facebooking, gaming and ipading. Though i think may not be good for their physical growth. Things that worry me is that this stuff can get you far away from home. And today,s society are much too complex and unexpected. So, i hope my kids can take a good care of themselves. None of us became stunt man or professional motor cross champion.

While i was in Malacca town, i saw some early 20's with MP3 headsets on and a hybrid of a BMX and Mountain Bike, did some wheely and bike tricks. I do not know what they call that hybrid bicycle, but that remind me those days when we were like them except without the MP3 headsets. We used to perform those fancy stunts at the old dirt track which now had turned into housing estate. Raining season was the best as it produced more natural challenging tracks and muds bunkers. Neitherof us wore any safety protective equipment, i guess we were lucky as no one got seriously injured during the stunt.

Those bikes saw what we did, heard what we have said, puzzled with what we cursed and probably scared to death with our decision making. And those bikes saw each of us abandoned them, as time passed by, towards the next chapter of this life.
And one thing i remember, my father bought me the bike.

Blogging with ipad

Testing the app i've just purchased for $1.99. Steve Job, you have done great job for the Apple stakeholders. No wonder i couldnt blog the conventional way. Perhaps, one day , when you died, those who wish to attend your funeral need to buy app for $4.99, lite version.

Kisah di sebuah hutan nusantara

Tersebut al- kisah di sebuah belantara, nun di pelusuk nusantara di mana para penduduknya merupakan binatang-binatang yang bijak berbicara dan petah berkata-kata. Pada ketika itu, Singa masih belum ditabalkan sebagai Raja Binatang, yang menjadi Raja kepada segala binatang pada ketika itu adalah Dinosour. Mungkin kerana Dinosour mempunyai kerangka otak yang lebih besar, usia hayat yang panjang serta jauh pemandangan sehingga berjaya membuat kerjasama filem Dinosaur terlaris seantero dunia.

Dinosour merupakan pemerintah yang bijak, haiwan-haiwan mendapat cukup makan termasuklah ulat di dalam batu. Boleh dikatakan binatang-binatang hidup senang tanpa ada masalah besar. Pada ketika itu, monyet-monyet mendapat projek-projek pembangunan dan pengurusan ladang-ladang pisang, pusat servis bulu dan kutu. Kucing-kucing terbiar mendapat bantuan Friskies (walaupun bukan Royal Canin). Tidak lupa juga anjing-anjing mendapat jawatan sebagai barisan pengawal hutan (macam dalam filem "UP") hinggakan tiada binatang yang dapat lepas lari walaupun khabarnya ada juga anjing senang diberi roti di tepi-tepi jalan. Pada ketika itu, Keldai dilantik sebagai hakim (kerana Keldai sanggup menanggung beban) dan banyak juga Chihuahua yang memegang jawatan peguam (kerana Chihuahua antara binatang yang paling hensem pada zaman itu).

Walaupun Dinosour pemerintah yang bijak, namun ada binatang-binatang yang sering menuding jari kepada Dinosour dan barisan kedinosouran nasional. Kambing Gurun asyik mengembek, Sang Serigala yang asyik menyalak kononya rindukan bulan. Pada ketika itu, bulan tetap berwarna putih dan hutan memang berwarna hijau.

Namun Dinosour tetap gah, membuat pembangunan hutan dan memberikan ilmu kepada hampir setiap binatang.Hampir semua binatang mempunyai akaun Facebook kecuali burung yang memilih untuk menggunakan Twitter. Suara Dinosour lantang, akal Dinosour tajam. Dinosour bukan hanya bersuara, tetapi pelaksana. Walaupun Dinosour digelar diktator atau kuku besi, namun Dinosour ada wawasan dan bergerak lancar atas landasan. Dinosour pada mulanya melantik Kuda sebagai penggantinya kerana Kuda bijak berbicara. Namun Kuda telah didapati bersalah kerana terlalu banyak memakan pil kuda, kacang kuda dan minyak Kuda. Mungkin juga kerana Kuda tidak sabar untuk menjadi pelakon utama dalam filem Jurassic Park. Kuda akhirnya ditempatkan di kandang sementara sehingga dos kekudaan menurun. Kata Dinosour, ini adalah rumusan Keldai-Keldai dan juga hasil bicara Chihuahua -Chihuahua pada ketika itu. Correct! Correct! Correct!, tiada kita tahu tahap kebenarannya, tanyalah nanti Keldai dan Chihuahua bila mereka pencen nanti.

Kerana terlalu lama memerintah, Dinosaour terpanggil juga akhirnya untuk berundur. Atau mungkin berehat. Dinosour memilih Beruang sebagai penggantinya. Bulu beruang bersih, gigi beruang bersih (iklan ubat gigi Fresh & White) . Beruang juga nampaknya gagah dan berpotensi. Memang benar pada mulanya, banyak binatang menyokong beruang termasuk semut dan cipan. Namun selepas seketika, Beruang menuju ke musim hibernasi. Mungkin kerana usia beruang dan tahap kesihatan beruang. Berlaku pergolakan rusuhan binatang hinggakan banyak kerosakan alam flora dan fauna. Beruang pernah berucap "bulldog kata jangan...". Maka beruang pun menyerahkan secara tidak langsung pucuk pimpinan kepada menantunya iaitu Kijang Jantan. Kijang Jantan nampaknya bijak, mukanya segak dan berpendidikan tinggi juga. Namun binatang-binatang lain mula mengumpat (terutama yang tak hensem seperti lipan, cengkerik dan biawak). Banyak rungutan disuarakan, terutamanya dalam Facebook/youtube bilamana hasil hutan mulai merosot, kos membeli buah-buahan meningkat. Monyet-monyet pula tak dapat banyak kontrak import export pisang. Monyet hanya mendapat sedikit bahagian dalam pengurusan eksport belacan yang hanyalah "hype" semata-mata.

Dinosour turut campur tangan kerana barisan pentadbiran Beruang dikatakan tidak bijak menguruskan hutan dan Beruang sering berhibernasi sedangkan hutan pawana melanda. Dinosour mula menyerang beruang atas dan bawah, katanya sebenarnya bulu beruang tidaklah bersih, gigi beruang tidaklah seputih seperti iklan ubat gigi Fresh & white. Beruang mungkin harus bertukar kepada Zaitun, supaya rakyat boleh guna tanpa was-was.Akhirnya Beruang akur juga dan berundur dengan baik. Beruang pun sebenarnya nampak macam tak kisah, kerana yang penting jangan diganggu hibernasinya. Beruang pun macam Aiman tak kisah. Pengganti Beruang adalah Tenuk yang nampaknya agresif untuk cuba mengembalikan keharmonian hutan rimba melalui rancangan satu hutan. Namun pada hakikatnya rancangan satu hutan amat susah untuk berlaku kerana ada banyak spesis dan jenis-jenis hutan dalam hutan itu. Ada hutan rimba, hutan hujan tropika, hutan monsun tropika, hutan belukar dan lain-lain. Malah babi hutan juga tidak setuju, kerana apabila berlaku satu hutan, nama babi hutan sudah tidak lagi diguna pakai. Manakan sama babi hutan dengan babi bandaran.

Kuda yang terlepas daripada kandang sementara kini mengambil kesempatan untuk menerajui hutan, langkah untuk ke Hutanjaya. Kuda tetap agresif biar digalas pelbagai pelana cerca. Atau sesungguhnya memang kuda suka berpelana caca merba. Kita tidak tahu, pada ketika ini, masyarakat hutan juga tidak tahu. Tentu ada yang tahu. Sang sesumpah juga suka bersumpah-sumpah. Maka banyaklah spesis Sesumpah ini tampil membuat persembahan.

Apa arah tuju kuda sebenar? Apa Kuda, Kambing dan Serigala boleh menerajui hutanjaya. Apa ada dalam sejarah percintaan tiga segi ini berakhir ke jinjang pelamin. Apa ada kacukan Kuda, Kambing dan Serigala ? Apa yang jelas di sini Kuda memang agresif dan banyak pengikut terutamanya penggemar lumba kuda dan penjual pelana. Debat Kuda memang hebat, andai dilaungkan , mungkin lari Datuk Hang Jebat. Kuda mempunyai suara yang lantang dan tak mudah tumbang walaupun sakit tulang belakang. Siapakah yang akan menerajui Hutanjaya nanti, apakah Kuda, atau sebaliknya. Kisah kekudaan Kuda belum berakhir rupanya, wujud pula aksi Kuda bersama Panda. Tenuk dan rakan-rakan, termasuk Kijang Jantan harus cuba bertahan, apakan tidak nanti Tenuk mungkin di hantar ke Zoo Mongolia, atau Kijang Jantan di hantar ke mulut buaya, dan apa akan jadi pada Dinosour dan Dinosourismnya. Apa pula landasan untuk Wawasan Dinosour Dinosour.

Tapi apa pun kebenarannya, yang jelas masyarakat hutan sudah menuju ke arah yang berbeza daripada perjuangan asal bagi membentuk hutan yang sejahtera untuk semua. Hutan ciptaan Tuhan dicipta untuk pelbagai jenis binatang dan penghuni alam. Zoo bukanlah habitat sebenar penghuni-penghuni hutan ini, tapi bila tiada kesepakatan, tiada arah tujuan, terlalu asyik melayar hutan, terlalu asyik kekudaan, maka binatang buas yang lebih gerun sedia menanti untuk memiliki hutan ini. Maka tidak mustahil zoo menjadi kediaman. Tidak mustahil hutan belantara terhapus oleh kebakaran. Kerana pesan warisan kita, anak kecil jangan main api, terbakar hatinya yang sepi.

Dan mungkin ketika itu barulah sang penghuni sedar bahawa hutan sudah tiada. Dan pada ketika itu barulah sang Singa tercari-cari, ke mana mahkotanya selama ini. Tiada siapa yang untung bila tiada sagu lagi dari sang ruyung. Apa yang dikejar mungkin beribu tahun lagi. Kasihanilah penghuni kecil yang hanya melihat tingkah sang dewasa. Janganlah terlalu bernafsu seperti sesetengah binatang hingga hutan digadaikan, belantara dilenyapkan.

Sempena cuti sekolah ini, bawalah adik-adik, anak-anak, sanak-saudara melawat Zoo Negara atau menonton Kung Fu Panda bahagian kedua.

Kisah di atas hanyalah dongengan untuk fikir dan bicara, dan tidak ada kena mengena atau bermaksud mengena yang hidup ataupun mati terutamanya makhluk-makhluk di Zoo Negara , Zoo Taiping ataupun Parlimen Negara. Moga coretan ini menjadi bukti pada anak-anak bangsa, bahawa bukan semua pewaris-pewaris mereka sanggup menggadai negara, tidur dan alpa. Khas untuk Mohd Adam Fariz & Intan Denissa.

Knives Chronicles : Tarzan, Rambo, MacGyver, Bear Grylls

Since I was a kid, I love knife architecture so much. I do not know why, but it flows in my blood and always charge up my adrenalin. I remember my first ever knife , a plastic knife, a Tarzan knife that came together with a set of bow and rubber dart arrow. Eversince I watched the Tarzan cartoon character, somehow I felt like having a knife was a cool thing . Then I had my second platic knife, a sword to be exact, a folded half moon shape Ding Peng from the Hong Kong drama: Sword of Justice. I thought it would end when I grew up...hemmphh...it didnt turn to be that way.

Moving on to the next chapter of the knife story, back in the 80's, where Rambo came into the picture. Everyone who watched the movie talks about Rambo knife. Rambo is not Rambo without knife. Even my mom knew who Rambo is. I always dream to have a knife like Rambo. Survival knife, with Compas at the edge of the handle (or we call it pommel) , survival kit and a serrated edge for cutting barbed-wire. When I joined the boy scout in school, almost everyone carries a knife during the annual camp, that excites me the most whenever we had the camping activity. Those days, I bought few types of knives, a replica made in Taiwan Rambo knife of course and few other bowie knives. That sad looking Rambo knife was a bit of low in quality, after you sharpened it for few cycles, the shape turned to some sad looking piece of steal. But for a 15 years old, Rambo knife is still a Rambo knife, be it made in Taiwan or Made in US.

Few years back earlier, i guess in 1985, MacGyver fever has landed in Malaysia. Me and my elder brother were so influenced with MacGyver. The swiss army knife is a piece of cool stuff to have . My father bought one for my brother when we went to US in 1986. My brother had to hide the knife from me as I wanted to have it too. I had to sneak and search for the knife all over the house just to have grab hold and play with it. I never own one until again in 1991, my eldest brother went to Europe and bought one for each of us. Eversince then, I always have the swiss army in my belongings, in my pocket to be exact. I had also bought on my own couple of models ever since. Now I have 3 types with me (lost and got stolen some of it), the Basic, the utility model with scissors & saw, and the credit card type. Like Macgyver said " Never leave home without a swiss knife and duct tape".

The MacGyver fever had also made me to buy the 4 seasons DVDs of MacGyver (of course those in Batu Feringghi night market) , which took me 3 months to complete viewing.

In year 2001, i nought a cool Parang for RM150. Took it to camping , the edge broke as I cut a tree. So I scrapped the knife. Pretty dissapointing for a RM150 piece of gadget. Then, in 2002, i bought a Rambo knife, still a replica but close to the original type, a fine steel with a complete survival kits in the barrel of its handle. I took it to one of my team building event. A friend borrowed it to cut bamboo tree , unfortunately it broke at the handle as it was a partial tang knife. The hollow part was not strong enough. I wasnt really upset actually. Luckily it broke when i dont really need it for survival purpose. So key learning, forget about the Rambo knife, as most of the models are half /partial tang. Partial tang means the blade is only half connected to the edge of the handle. Buy a full tang, safe and crisp. I bought an AITOR knife in a cheap sales Tackle store, quite solid full tang Made in Spain. I also have two scuba knife , Made in Japan, never really use for scuba. I dont even know how to scuba dive.

This recent years, the famous survival TV series, Man vs Wild has again captured my attention towards the "kniving world" . Bear Grylls uses knife for survival scene . I notice that he would use couple of different knives brand in each episode. I guess the common one would be the Gerber knife. I browse the web for almost each and every Man vs Wild series in youtube. Well, beside Bear Grylls knives, I also check out other stuffs like the Merrel hiking shoes, the Breitling Emergency Watch, The fire flint stome etc...all Bear Grylls Brand. I even uploaded the Bear Grylls survival tips for RM20 into my ipad.

Bear Grylls : Man vs Wild / Worst Case Scenario

I kind of obsessed with the Man vs Wild presentation and delivery of each episodes. Indeed, he is the World King Scout. Once a scout always a scout. I surf the web, again and again for all Bear Grylls related stuffs. Few months back, I went for a quick breakaway trip to Langkawi, Kedah. I found a scuba diving outlet where I bought the Gerber knife, not the Ultimate Bear Grylls Gerber knife (which will reach here in April 2011), but i grabbed the Gerber Infantry II (photo below) Survival Knife. It cost me RM550. It looks almost similar to the Ultimate Knife. Somekey differences are the Sheath (Cover), the sharpening device. It has no flint stone as the Ultimate Knife. It has a solid sharp edge steel for glass shattering. This knife is designed for urban combat. Means suitable for army / fire brigade for town/urban actions. I also bought a cute scuba knife, a cool looking gadget, a two in one knife and scissors. It is use for cutting ropes or plankton while scuba diving.

My next wish list for knife : Bear Grylls Ultimate Knife

That's the story of my hobby in collecting knife, from 1980's until 2011. If the Jedi light saber exist, I guess I would spend my money on that too. But in fact it exist as a replica, which cost RM600 plus. I guess not worth it buy that. It will not turn me into Jedi anyway.

School time for Mohd Adam Fariz

MOHD ADAM FARIZ ~ DARJAH 1 LESTARI

Both of my kids are now in primary school. Intan standard 2 and now Adam has entered the new journey of his life. It seems ackward to me that 30 years ago, when I first entered the schooling world, I was not as confident as my kids. School was like a Twilight Zone. Teachers were like monsters and the kids around me were like Zombies. Probably I had never had a kindergarten life prior to entering the primary school.

Unlike myself, especially Adam, he was so naturally assimilated to the environment even on the first day of school itself. One thing for sure, he enjoys having his own pocket money to spend during recess. He seems to enjoy the school environment and never reluctant to go to school each and every morning, even in the weekend. On the third day, since I was working, my wife went for a sneek on him. He tried to avoid parents contact as much as possible. When he saw my wife right in front of him, he told her stop tailing on him. "Mama just leave some extra money and can go back home". He just ran off with his friends. Imagine if he enters university later on.

I couldnt imagine how the life of a 7 years old during my father's time back in the 50's. I guess the world evolves too fast. I had no opportunity to explore computer during my time back in the early 80's, the nearest device would be a calculator and slot machine games. Today, both of my kids spend their time in front of the PC ~ either playing games, browsing the net or youtubing. Yet to enter Facebook / tweeter ~ but I guess not too long for that.

In the next 30 years, what would happen to them seeing their kids in the whole new world. Will the world be like the futuristic world as what we seen in Star Wars ~ androids / robots/spacecraft. What Iphone may look like in year 2041? Will my grandchildren need to go to ordinary school or perhaps a virtual school in the backyard of the house. Life's interesting. Hope I will live long enough to get to know the future.

Welcome Shaun Pororo to our family

Before I got kids in the house, I used to have cats around as pet. When my wife and me first got our first child, I decided to get rid of cats in the house. The last one was an orange cat that I called "Labu". My wife simply call it "Orange". She didnt like cat during that time. Having to raise a cat was like to have an additional chores. I disposed Labu somewhere near a shop , about 1km from where we live. 3 days after that, it came back. I had to transport it again to a farther area where it could not find it way back home. That was 10 years ago.

Recently, I had quit smoking. Not really quit in fact, but 90% reduction. Its quite an accomplishmet for me. Having an interval time between the habit, I started to look for something that I can busy with during the weekend. Out of sudden, I came across a pet shop. A newly open pet shop not far away from my house. I decided to check it out. There I saw few cats , persion breed that captured my attention. I went back home to let my wife know about my intention to raise a cat. Of course I need to get a partial agreement as she would be the one who are going to sustain the cat. I took both of my kids to the pet shop. We picked one cat, an orange persion cat. It was 3 months old. There were few other cats, but this one really had me due to its affection respond when I touched it for the first time. Though my kids love animal, but they do not really use to it. So it's a kind of excitement plus caution when they wanted to touch the cat.

I brought for the first time a new pet to our home. The cost was about nearly RM900. Including the gadgets, food. brush, cat litter and cat cage. There goes my budget for a new handphone. But I dont really mind about that. I dont have much desire to get a HTC Desire. Let's wait for the next model. At first, I wanted to name the cat as Ben 10 as we bought it on the 10-10-2010. But Ben 10 was a bit aggresive name and too common. Then I decided Obiwan Kenobi. Too long for the car to remember. So the cat remained unnamed for a couple of days. I asked my wife to name him something. Finally she called it Pororo. Still I think hard for the cat to catch that name, but its a cute name anyway, so be it. Pororo is fine with me. Then while watching TV, I saw Shaun the Sheep. Our family favourite animated show. So added Shaun in front of Pororo. So officially our cat name is Shaun Pororo.

The objective of getting the cat was to add the sense of responsibility and caring for my two kids.They were too addicted to internet and computer games. I wanted them to have the same experience as me while I was at their age. As I recall, my first pair of cats were Murad and Abu, I was around 4-6 years old. Then I had Nadia in 1981, a cat brought from Pontian Johor to Johor Bahru by motorbike. My eldest sister brought thay to us. Nadia gave a birth to Mickey. Mickey died of car accident. In 1983, while I was 9 years old, our home was overwhelmed with Cats. We had Tuty (from Pulau Sayak) Lito (from Bakar Arang Mosque) , Tom (from Haji Musa) , Fifi (cant remember) , Pak Itam, Belang , Rakun , Kiko , Dangdut and couple of kittens that died after few days of birth due to the serial killer - Tom the Paranoid cat. Also had a siamese cat given by a friend, Shahrul. Couldnt recall the name, it died because of road accident as well. We brother from KL gave one persion cat name Bubble, I have no idea what happen to Bubble.

So, that's the cat story that I wish to share. Hope my kids would love cat as much as I do. After the second week of having Shaun Pororo in the house, I could see both of my kids really love the cat. And so does my wife to a certain extend. In fact, we do have an unoffcial cats, a group of stray cats about 5 to 6. They come and go for food. Not like Shaun Pororo, he has its own house, confortable pillow and expensive food. But the treat is, Shaun has to face my two kids who will always pick him up and play with him like a Teddy Bear. I am worry a bit with Adam as he is a little rough when handling the cat. I just took Shaun for vaccination an hour ago. Now he is resting under the coffee table, his favourite rest and recuperation area.