June 21 - Happy 14th Birthday Amir

Today Amir turns 14. Happy Birthday Sweet.

Notwithstanding the colicky early weeks, you have made the last 14 years the most wonderful time of our lives. I have always looked back with a tinge of regret when I think about the growing up years of Along, Angah and Ayip. There were lots of things I could/should have done differently.Or I wasn't always there for them, but with you I pretty much have matured as a person and a mother and I am quite happy with my performance. How you will turn out depends entirely on you.

Your expected delivery date was a guesstimate. June 21, 1994 came but I wasnt ready. The OBGYN , Dr. Byron Holt, tried to induce birth but wasnt successful. So we had you via Caesarian Section. .
You easily tipped the scales at 8 1/2 pounds but was ICU-ed with the other preemies.
I didnt see you then but everyone said u stuck out like a sore thumb among the teenies.

I had wanted to name you Munir, after Dr.Munir Majid but was vehemently opposed by eveyone. In hindsight , I'm glad. You see, he sometimes wrote articles for NSt and from what I read he seemed, like a smart guy. Later he was involved in the expensive art fiasco as the MAS chairman.

A a 1-yr old toddler, you potty trained yrself! well almost. I just took the easy way out and slapped on the disposable diaper but no, u refused to wear it, except for long journeys. Not only did I save on diapers, I had leftovers from the US made ones.

You're also quite witty ! This is the kid who gave us gems like 'lovely nightmare', 'James Bont', 'the sauce of it' and 'Ice Burp (you cooked this up at age 4 when you had to endure 3 hours of Titanic the movie). There were many more like 'compe-TAY-tion' or 'the Toppest boy' etc.

But you're a little too shy and too 'considerate' for your own good. It's okay -Go ahead and grab that last cookie. You dont have to ask lah. You're our baby after all.

Fuel Price Increase

Last thursday the govenment increased the price of petrol by whopping 40% and diesel by 63%. This is an inevitable move by the govenment in view of the skyroketting price of crude. We are now painfully paying for the government previous sins.
The government has rightly advised the rakyat to 'change your lifestyles'. There have been many calls from the rakyat for the 'government to change its lifestyle' too!

The government must practise prudent management of the rakyat's money. Top of the list is an integrated, comprehensive and efficent public transport system. In fact this was promised during the last fuel price hike but I dont know how much improvement has been made since I dont use the public transport system. But judging from the many letters to the Editors of newspapers, I think the government has been guilty of making empty promises.

The government must make concerted efforts to help the disadvantaged and lower income citizens in these difficult times. Already calls from diverse groups like lorry operators to accountants to nasi campur sellers seeking to increase their prices, are heard. They will increase their prices but I hope not by 40%! Most middle-class salaried workers will adjust their lifestyles - like planning their trips, eating at home more often, defer unnessasary purchases - and they can ride through. But the low-wage earners like the security guards, taxi and bus drivers should be taken care of. I dont know how - may be food coupons or free public transport? But the government must ensure that leakage through abuse or corruption is minimal.
Repeat-The governement must practise prudent management of the rakyat's money. Do away with unnessasary spending. The national service is one such example. It has failed to achieve its main objective which is to foster racial unity; although its minor objectives like improving selfconfidence, independence etc have been easily met. As Najib said, alot of people (ie. cronies) are involved, they cant just stop it. Then compensate these 'alot of people' so that they can still make their returns on thier investments but at a much lower rate. In fact, a personal friend of mine is directly involved in this and I dont want her to suffer any losses.

We all hear about cases of corruption in the government involving politicians and beureaucrats at the highest levels. The government must be very serious in its belated delivery of tackling corruption.

I hope those people using the argument that Malaysia is an oil producing country so then our petrol should be subsidised, would shut up. They are confusing the ordinary people and giving false hopes. The best for us is to accept the fact that oil is expensive, adjust and move on. But the government must take steps to spend the savings from the subsidy removal for the betterment of the people.

The Week That Was

This has been a rather eventful week.
First, was the wedding of Shaik, Uncle Habeeb's son on Sunday. Shaik is Angah's age and is the heir-apparent to Uncle Habeeb's businesses. His sister, Zakiah, who's of Along's age, has a 5 year old son already.

Then, mid-week the government announced the fuel price hike. We now have to brace ourselves for tougher times ahead. The subsidy has become a double-edged sword for us. We were happy to enjoy cheap oil and had become 'complacent' because of it. There was no need to frugal with this cheap but depleting resource. The state of our public transport has not improved since perhaps the 70's. Why should it? oil is cheap, let the people buy cars and build more tolled roads.
The price of fuel is the linchpin of the economy and everything will rise in tandem with it. Wil probably write more on this in another post.

As if that's not enough. Our ofice computer got infected with the Antivirus 2008 virus. How it got past the Mcafee antivirus I dont understand even though it was explained a few times to me. It has to do with unknowingly downloading an infected program, but then what is the mcafee for? The computer is ok now, but I'm worried about this notebook.

Busu Norsham and her family came back from umrah on thursday. Will visit them soon.

This weekend pulak we have a couple of weddings and also next weekend.

Amir's Guitar Recital

Yesterday Amir and his Yamaha Music buddies gave a concert. His teacher, Felix sportingly, sang all the songs to accompany the musicians. Tapi Amir keras aje. Tak sway to the msic langsung.
Here's some pictures of the concert.

Dr.Nor Fariza Abu Hassan - Port Hedland Here She COmes

Today ALong goes to Port Hedland, a rural town, a 3-hour-plane ride north of Perth.
As usual, I wont let my maternal worries get the better of me. It should not,because you have proven yourself to be an intelligent and a responsible person and and wise beyond your years. I hope your assignment there is an educational and enlightening experience and not too boring.

Asthe risk of sounding like a broken record, take care and be safe always.