The “R” Word

I grew up in a place where your skin colour is a factor.

I grew up in a place where people also excelled based on their merits, in spite of their skin colour. You just have to work much harder.

Confused? If you are a Malaysian, you should understand what I am talking about.

Don’t get me wrong, Malaysians are generally very civilised and courteous people. You don’t encounter people throwing insults around in public just because of your skin colour. We live in harmony.

Your skin colour is only a factor “on paper”. It is justified because it is in the constitution and it is legal. We learnt about it in history during school and so, we live with it. It can get a little frustrating at times, but most of the time we tolerate. Those who could tolerate no more rarely fight back. Mostly they choose to become indifferent and simply leave.

Many weeks ago, I met someone who is pleasant. But as soon as I learnt where he is from, “someone who is pleasant” became “someone who may appear to be pleasant”. Because of his colour, my guards went up and I decided not to give him a benefit of a doubt with regards to his character and ethics. I gently closed my doors on him and decided not to “take any risks”.

The worst part of it all was he saw right through me and told me I am a racist.

I can justify my actions all I want – statistics, observations, instincts, stereotypes. That it was only self-defense. I can even say that I grew up in an environment that taught me to remember that race is always a factor.

At the end of the day, I did judge him because of the colour of his skin.

I realise I can be a racist at heart and I feel very ashamed.

Domestic Helpers

I was inspired to write this entry after reading a friend’s status on Facebook a few weeks ago. She is a Malaysian currently residing in Singapore.

In her status, she expressed frustration over her Filipino maid because “she wants weekends off like her friends in America”. Then, she went on to say that her maid is only entitled for one day off per month but she is already giving her another day extra and still, the maid complains.

I felt gutted…

Only two days off a month on one of the most stressful jobs – taking care of small kids everyday? With no specified daily working hours or job specification? I am sure taking care of kids plus managing a household is no easy feat, otherwise why would one need domestic help?

Is it because of the fact that she is a “maid” makes her undeserving of rest day(s) and personal time each week like any employee?

Even office workers, who get weekends off and additional annual leave complain of job-related stress. Why the double standard?

Is the ”maid” here to provide assistance as an employee or a slave? Or perhaps a robot?

Reading Genn’s observations, can these (often) young foreigners working in Singapore or Malaysia be blamed if they are not exactly “performing”? They are exhausted! 

Like any other employees (e.g. you and I), when unhappy with the job or boss (i.e. no job satisfaction), do you think they will have a heart to be dedicated while on the job?

One of the comments on her status read, ”Get Indons instead, they are more obedient and less stubborn”.

I don’t know what else to say. Food for thought.

What Would You Like On Your Eggs?

Sometime ago, I read this e-mail forwarded by a friend about a “mishap” which occurred live on a local Malaysian Radio show. The show was hosted by one of my favourites - Yasmin Yusuff, who was also crowned Miss Malaysia/Universe back in 1973.

I have always loved listening to her voice and wit on radio. This story is so good that it got stuck in my head until today, and possibly forever. Not too sure how true it is though. However, it never failed to make friends laugh when I tell it to them. So today, I am telling it to you

Yasmin was hosting her show as usual one morning and she posted a trivia live, prompting listeners to call her in with the answer. The first caller to answer correctly will win a prize. Her question that morning was:

“What is the common name for Sodium Chloride?”

In case you didn’t know the answer, it is simply Salt. About a minute later, this lady got through and attempted to answer the question.

Not knowing the answer, she asked Yasmin for a clue. Yasmin kindly responded, “This is something that you put on your husband’s eggs every morning.”.

Almost immediately after she heard the clue, the lady shouted excitedly on live radio, “TALCUM POWDER!!”

Yasmin went off air for commercial break for at least 10 minutes after that. Perhaps she should have said “This is something you put on your husband’s BREAKFAST eggs every morning!”

Bananas and Me

What comes to mind when you think of bananas?

Growing up as a Chinese who doesn’t read or write Chinese characters got me referred to as a banana myself. Simply because I have yellow skin (being a Chinese) but inside, I am practically “white” (metaphor of being a Caucasian). Yellow skin with white flesh….just like a banana!

I remember my mom telling me why she decided to send me to a national school instead of a Chinese medium school when I was a kid. You see, rasing a child in multi-racial Malaysia, parents have the choice of sending their kids to either a Chinese medium school, Tamil (Indian) medium school or a national school where the language of conduct is Malay and English.

During my mother’s schooling time in the 1960s and 1970s, Malaysia was under the British rule and going to a national school means attending all classes in English, following the British curriculum. The English-eds (English-educated), as they call it during her time were seen as the elites. The “better ones” as compared to those who attended Chinese or Tamil schools. My mother attended a Chinese school. Even so, the quality of education then was very high and my mother speaks perfect English even though she attended a Chinese school.

However, during her teens, she still used to envy the English-ed girls who ride the same school bus as hers, speaking confidently in flawless English to each other while she hung her head in silence, feeling inferior. She said she vowed to ensure her kids to be English-eds so that they could “hold their head up high”. What she didn’t realise was, during my time (1980s and 1980s), Malaysia was no longer under the British rule and national schools were conducted in the national Malay language with occasional English lessons instead. Somehow, the term “English-ed” stuck on.

And so my elder sister and I grew up as bananas. It wasn’t too bad though, I speak Cantonese as this is the language I grew up with at home. My sister is much better than I am. She taught herself how to read chinese characters by reading Chinese newspapers on her own during her free time. Amazing eh? Not me though.

My biggest regret is I can’t speak Mandarin properly and I certainly cannot read or write in Chinese characters. Although schools do offer additional and optional classes for pupils who wish to learn their mother-tongue languages, I pleaded with my mother to let me stop attending them because, “It’s too hard, ma!”

Yes, now I regret it! Fortunately, I managed to learn how to write my name in Chinese characters. To be fair, I still think Chinese characters are not easy to learn! Did you know every stroke in a character must be written in order, similar to spelling? Or else, you’ll be “drawing” characters instead of writing them.

Maybe in the near future, I should really put in some serious effort to learn up this sophisticated language that is supposed to be my mother tongue and shed off my banana image.

Have You Heard Of Yunalis Zarai?

Yunalis Zarai is a Malaysian singer-songwriter. I have seen her name appear in the Malaysian blogosphere many times before but never paid much attention. I thought she was just another teen pop sensation in the Malaysian music industry.

However, a few days ago, I read that she had gotten a contract with Fader Label from New York USA and has been actively performing around the US to promote her debut album Decorate. Decorate features songs in English and a few tracks in Malay language (Bahasa Malaysia), written entirely by herself. Her talent caught my attention, and if she could make it this far, I thought maybe she isn’t just another teen pop sensation.

More googling revealed that she has been an independent artiste, writing her own songs in her own unique style since she was 14. In 2006, 19-year old Yunalis Zarai, or better known by her stage name Yuna, gained popularity with her homemade music videos on her MySpace account, featuring herself singing her own songs with only her guitar. She has since graduated with a Law Degree, and started performing actively in acoustic gigs around Malaysia, singing in both English and Malay. She also went on to record an album which won her several music awards in Malaysia.

I decided to check her out to see what the buzz was all about this tall, slender and young singer with a conservative yet modern Muslimah (female Muslim) image. In fact, I was most impressed that Yuna did not compromise her Hijab (headscarf) wearing image to look more “commercial” as a singer and performer. I guess when you are as talented as Yuna is, all you really need is your voice and your music.

When I heard Yuna’s voice on You Tube, I was immediately reminded of the sounds of Norah Jones and Diana Krall. Perhaps a little of Colbie Callat too. She has such a distinctive smoky and sultry voice which is really captivating. Her style is jazzy (definitely not pop!) and her songs are very pleasant to listen to. Her lyrics tells stories. Yuna is no doubt a very talented artiste, a fresh flavour to add into the very much saturated music industry – both in Malaysia and the world. I hope she goes far

Here’s a very recent clip of Yuna performing her song Decorate live at Chicago’s IMAN Community Cafe. You can listen to more of her at YouTube, just search Yunalis Zarai. Enjoy her unique sound….!

P.S. She blogs too!

Women’s Right To Skincare Products

Hi, my name is Tien. I am a skincare products addict.

*Caution: Girly post ahead!

People always say there are typically two types of women. They are either the “handbags type” or the “shoes type”. While I am definitely a big fan of shoes over handbags, I rarely ever spend over $50 for a pair of shoes, no matter how pretty they may be. And trust me, there are some really pretty shoes out there!

Are you into handbags or shoes?

If there is one thing I ever splurge on, its skincare products!

My mom brought me up with her motto, “As a woman, there are two things in life you should NEVER put a price on – your health and your FACE!”

Mom is a big fan of obsessed with skincare products herself. Whenever she decided to buy a new skincare set, she would pass on leftover expensive creams and serums to me and my sister. Therefore, we were “trained” to use serious skincare from as early as 13 years old. Living in Malaysia, my mom swears by sunblock creams and I understood SPF before I even understood Biology. Really.

I was blessed with clear, acne-free and fair skin all through my teenage years. I think I owe that to those expensive creams from mom. By the time I turned 15, I started noticing freckles on both my cheeks. I still have them, and I adore my freckles. They are my thing I have seen girls drawing on fake freckles on their face using brown eyeliners, so I am certainly blessed!

My mom wasn’t impressed by them since day one because according to her knowledge on dermatology, from all the books she read, freckles are onset of pigmentation. See, I told you she was is obsessed. While I adore my freckles, I do realise that my mom is right. Therefore I use sunscreen everyday without fail to keep my cute little freckles from spreading to become ugly patches of pigmentation (pigmentation is catalysed by sun damage). Just to keep them in check. Certainly not to “erase” them!

Being a typical asian female, my absolute priority skincare concern has always been about whitening. Some of my significant skincare splurges over the years include:

1. Biotherm Bioresource range – rectified my very dry skin during my late teens to normal/combination skin now. Loved the Aquasource Non-Stop moisturiser!
2. Murad, the Pomegranate range – my most exorbitant skincare purchase ever! Couldn’t bring myself to buy the second set after spending a third of my monthly salary on the first one. Plus, results wasn’t anything to shout about.
3. Clinique Derma White range – after two sets I see no results…..at all! Didn’t think it’s worth a third set. I continued using their All About Eyes eye cream though, love it!

Then there were random splurges on night creams, face masks, anti-aging serums of various (again, expensive) brands every now and then.

Then I found Shiseido! I’ve always dodged Shiseido because it is super expensive in Malaysia! I took the plunge and never looked back! I loved it. I have used the White Luscent range and The Skincare range and they are both awesome. Most importantly I saw results before the first bottle finished. They keep my freckles in check instead of erasing them too

I have been a loyal fan of Shiseido ever since. In New Zealand, Shiseido has very good value sets for sale along with fancy and practical free gifts. I get all giddy whenever my bottle of toner or moisturiser finishes because then I get to shop for new ones and get free gifts.

My recent Shiseido splurge

Last week, I treated myself with a brand new White Luscent promo-set ($86 dollar savings!) which came with a cute makeup bag. To qualify for the 9-piece gift set, I picked up another face massage cum deep cleansing cream (I had to buy at least 2 Shiseido products to qualify). The lady over the counter must have seen me cringe at the total price and offered me a further 15% discount. Sweet!

My 9-piece gift set: travel size Shiseido skincare, makeup and fragrance products, plus the bag too!

Yes I splurged but it’s all worth it and I’m happy!

Que the L’Oreal TV commercial (ironically for my Shiseido buy instead): Because you’re worth it!

What’s your favourite skincare brand, if you have one? Do you have a skincare product you swear by? What’s your skincare regime like? Share your secret girls!

Scumbags

The lowest a person can go is when he/she decided to inflict pain and suffering unto another being. What more if the victim is a helpless animal puppy. In my opinion, these people are scumbags, much worse than murderers or thieves….cowards!

The Malaysian news is currently tracking two monsters involved in a horrible case of dog abuse which was captured on video. The 15-minute video shows how a man (Scumbag #1) was slapping, punching and throwing a toy poodle around while trying to make him stand on 2 hind legs, punishing it each time it failed to do so. Yes for a full 15 minutes! All this while his partner (Scumbag #2) films the whole ordeal without any intention of rescuing the poor puppy.

The video spread like wildfire on Facebook and soon the identities of the scumbags surfaced – Allan Tan and Doreen Loo. You can both rot in hell…! (Excuse my language)

I feel reluctant to embed the video here but I would want people to know how mean and cruel these scumbags are. So click this link if you would like to watch how Sushi the toy poodle was abused and bullied. But be warned, it is very very very disturbing. I need not watch more than 2 minutes to know they deserved to be punished heavily! I only made it to 5 minutes. I couldn’t bear to watch anymore.

Apparently Doreen has another shih-tzu which she claimed on her Facebook account “can stand up too”. People are concerned Sushi is not the only victim. The SPCA is investigating and working very hard to get the culprits arrested and put to justice. But when I read the Malaysian Law against Animal Cruelty, my heart sank. The most the scumbags are getting is a fine of 200 MYR (~65 USD) and 6 months imprisonment.

In comparison to the penalties enforced in other countries, Malaysia has a LOT of catching up to do. These scumbags deserved more serious punishment for what they had put Sushi through. It’s an embarrassment if you ask me. I hope the Malaysian government will look into this seriously. This is not the first and will not be the last case of animal cruelty in Malaysia. Ammending the law to impart heavier penalties would at least create more awareness towards animal rights. They have rights alright, and it’s up to us to defend it.

How developed a country is may be partly judged by the way her government treats the animals, Malaysia!

Please sign this petition for Sushi.