For those of you who have watched Mrs. Doubtfire, or at least know what the movie is all about, surely you'd know it's about this divorced father who's willing to go great lengths just to be with his three kids. With the wife gaining custody of their three children, the father dresses up as an old lady and gets a job as the kids' nanny, just so that he can spend more time with the kids.
Now what I'm about to talk about does not concern with the movie, nor to discuss how many of you fathers out there who are willing to do the same, should you are in the same situation as Mrs. Doubtfire?
It's more about, well, if Mrs. Doubtfire were to spend time with his baby kids around the shopping complexes in Malaysia, with dresses like that, he'd have no problems whatsoever gaining entries into our diaper changing rooms.
Why? Let me explain why. Occasionally, whenever my wife is working on weekends, I'd bring Ikhwan for somejalan-jalanor window shopping, even if it was just briefly. Of all the shopping complexes we've been to, we discovered that almost 100% of them were not father-friendly.
Why? Here's why.... as far as Malaysia goes (sorry, I still didn't have a kid while in overseas, so I don't know what's the situation like out there), most of the feeding-cum-diaper-changing rooms are restricted to females/mothers only. Understandably, of course mothers won't want any strange males to be around while breast-feeding their kids. But the thing is, the rooms to change baby's diapers are usually connected to the feeding ones. In one major shopping place, they are actually located inside women's toilets.
Now where does that leave us fathers? Where should we bring our kids to in the cases of major diaper crisis? Look, times have changed. Gone are the days where husbands not wanting to get involved in household matters. These days, husbands want to share marriage responsibilites with their wives, including raising the children, and this includes going out with their kids, even if wives don't tag along.
True, we don't want some pedophiles or sex maniacs lurking around, invading our wives' and kids' privacy (not to forget, safety) while they're in the feeding/diaper-changing rooms, but then, genuine fathers shouldn't be punished too. Perhaps it's time that shopping complexes should allocate diaper-changing rooms for fathers. What you guys think?
By the way, in the (unlikely) scenario that I do stumble upon a Mrs. Doubtfire (as what is shown in the cartoon), I wouldn't trust him with my life to change my baby's diaper :-)
Captain Ikhwan, the youngest man ever sent to space, was our Earth hero for defeating an alien (see other video: Attack Of The Giant Fingers....). Now, a video has leaked out to the Internet, which showed Captain Ikhwan's activites prior to his (fancy and colourful looking) space shuttle simulation at zero gravity. Even before the simulation started, he was already engaged in two of his experiments that had been scheduled for him to perform, when he was out in space. The experiment was to study how human's saliva would float in space, whenever our saliva came out uncontrollably due to excessive biting on stuffs. Captain Ikhwan also needed to study how the sounds of his toys would vibrate differently in space. Understandably, his experiments would revolve around his toys and, errrrrrrr............ saliva. After all, Captain Ikhwan had just turned 7 months last 01 November.
Here, another video on Captain Ikhwan. The video showed his Ayah (Captain Ikhwan's father) singing him a farewell song, a day before his take-off. It was a song taken from the Barney show.
The lyrics goes: I love you, You love me We're a happy family With a great big hug, And a kiss from me to you Won't you say you love me too? I love you, You love me We're best friends, Like friends should be With a great big hug, And a kiss from me to you Won't you say you love me too?
Captain Ikhwan looked dashingly cute in his chequered red shirt and light brown pants. One can imagine how heroic he would look like in his space suits.
One happy family...... photo taken last Raya. Oh yes,Ayah had his touch-ups while Captain Ikhwan and his Ibu were naturally cute and beautiful :-)
Let's make it clear - this blog is not dedicated to discuss about socio politics although in the past, I did discuss such issues occasionally. But this time around, I strongly feel like commenting on this particular speech made by this one son-in-law of this one so-called 'leader'.
During this one general assembly, this particular son-in-law made a speech. In it, he suggested that the government should scrap its fuel subsidy since the world crude prices had breached USD100 per barrel. Well, according to him, the subsidy represents about 25% of the country's revenue. He added that such an amount can be used to build two Putrajaya, nine Penang bridges and 500,000 low-cost houses. He said that in the past, our mega projects were Petronas Twin Towers, bridges and highways, but now our mega project is subsidy.
Now here's an absurd statement made by him, "Imagine those who refuel at the petrol stations. A pakcik (elderly man) in a small motorbike will pay only RM1.92 per litre, but look at those in Mercedes. They still pay the same price. Why do we need to subsidise those who are rich. If the subsidy is removed, and prices go up, the people will learn to use less fuel."
Huh? What an uncaring, insensitive politician with nothing in his head. Reading through the rest of the news article kind of strucked me how, putting his overseas degree aside, this is one really uneducated person.
Just when the citizens have been objecting with the government's decision to reduce their oil subsidy last year, which had given rise to the price of oil per litre and the increased price of everything else ever since, this fella is suggesting the ridiculous.
If the oil subsidy is maintained, for your information, the government is not only subsidising the rich, but also those in middle and lower income groups. When you say those in Mercedes, did you include yourself as one of them, Mr. Politician? After all, stories have been circulating over how much your asset is worth now and how you have exploited your position (surprising how being a son-in-law to an influential person can do to you eh?). There's a Malay proverb that says, if there's no wind, how can the trees move? So, if stories after stories leaked out about your reckless greed, how can (some of) them not be true right? We heard how your father-in-law defended you when our ex-prime minister criticised and accused you. The way he defended you sounded like he was acknowledging those accusations to be true.
So, you wanted the government to build two Putrajaya, nine Penang bridges and 500,000 low-cost houses using the money that the government has been using to subsidise oil. The question is, do we really need nine Penang bridges? Even the second bridge project is not needed by us (the Penangites said so themselves) and we all see it as a waste. Also, can you guarantee us that those low-cost houses would be built should the subsidy is terminated? Can you also confirm that what you have in mind is solely your people's well being, or you are actually eyeing on how those 'projects' can bring you money?
What? You want the people to learn to use less fuel? WTF???Do you think we people have nothing to do than driving around in circles with no specific destinations to go to? How stupid can you get? For your information, everytime we turn on our ignition, it's always because we need to drive to work, sending our children to baby sitters/schools/tuitions, buy groceries, run multiple errands etc etc.
I pray to Allah that you WON'T have the chance to pursue your political ambition to even the slightest higher level.
P/S: Hairan (a Malay word) is baffled, surprised, confused....
There was a new neighbour in the neighbourhood. Atan could not help noticing how his neighbour's cat made a lot of noises in the mornings. One morning, he decided to peek in and upon seeing his neighbour, Leong, trimming down the bushes in the backyard, he greeted him. Atan also saw Leong's cat, sitting down in the middle of the backyard, making the usual noises. Atan finally get to ask Leong why his cat was 'meow'ing all the time every morning. Leong then said there was a nail sticking out from under the ground. Leong was not sure how the nail got there but then, coincidentally that was his cat's favourite spot. So, everytime the cat sat down there, the nail would hurt his a**, and that was why the cat was making a racket.
"So, don't you think, he would not hurt anymore, if he just gets up and sits somewhere else?" asked Atan, more curious than ever.
"That's the thing, it's his favourite spot. I guess despite how it hurts him, he just bears with it...."
I heard this story (which I had modified here and there) quite a long time ago. Now, let's relate the story to how most of us feel everyday when we get up for work. How many of us dread the fact that we are getting up to something boring, monotonous and something that is lack of life?
Why is it that despite all the complaints and heart aches that we feel and experience, we still drag our heavy feet to reach that 'favourite' spot, the same spot that we sit/stand almost every hour of every day?
Why is it so hard to just get up and leave? Shouldn't we be pursuing something that WILL make us happy, something that is full of life and worth pursuing to?
Well, most of us choose to sit/stand at that same exact spot, and at the same time, we still continue on complaining and blaming about everything under the sun:
- we blame the price of crude oil that continues to rise; - we blame all those outstanding bills and loans; - we blame the past for haunting us; - we blame the society for judging us if we leave our career and educational background to pursue our passion; - we blame on how happiness is judged based on salary; - we blame the rise in the cost of living; - we blame the distance that we need to take to go the extra mile; - we blame the traffic for slowing us down.....
Dang it.... So, how about you? What else do you have to blame???
When your life revolves around your (first) baby, it's hard to blog about other things (despite wanting to do so) especially you get to witness all his/her developments happening before your very eyes.
After 8 days of taking a break for Hari Raya, me and wife were back at work on 18/19 October. It was a long working week for my wife, as she had to work the whole of that coming weekend and the following week. As for me, it was another quality weekend spent with my baby.
Other than having my wife off to work on both Saturday and Sunday, Ikhwan was down with fever and to make it worse, so was I. Imagine taking care of a sick baby when you yourself was sick…. Quite a challenge if you ask me.
Since he was born, Ikhwan had never fallen sick other than having some mild fever due to him getting his jabs. Even when I had two episodes of very bad fever with coughs and colds, Alhamdulillah, it didn’t spread to both my wife and kid.
But this time around, just before Raya, Ikhwan started to develop fever on and off (he didn’t catch it from me or his mother) and it went on until after the holidays. His breathing sounded rather coarse and heavy due to his blocked nose. He was also easily awaken from his sleeps due to coughs.
While driving back to KL from hometown, I did feel slightly under the weather and my health got worse that weekend. Not sure though, whether I caught the bug from Ikhwan or due to tiredness with all the driving or probably I ate too much grease and oil during Raya, haha... Guess, Ikhwan’s father’s immunity is much more frail huh, compared to Ikhwan himself…. Hmmm….
Putting all those bugs and (wife’s) emergency cases aside, it was still a special weekend for all of us. For a start, I could feel the father-and-son bonding between me and my baby growing so much stronger and closer.Ikhwan also had ‘grown’ and ‘developed’ tremendously after that weekend. Oh yes, speaking of growing, he already have two teeth, both at the lower gum.
A special night also happened that weekend. As usual, it had been a tiring day for all of us. Although it was still quite early, my wife had already fallen asleep on the couch while watching t.v., while I too was asleep after putting Ikhwan to bed (not sure who slept first though, haha). Since Ikhwan was still feverish, he slept next to me.
Then he woke up. The noises that he made had awaken me too. The distinct noises that came from his mouth were in the forms of “bu……bu…..” He uttered this like a dozen times, before finally he said it “Ibu…….” for four times (Ibu is a common name among the Malays for mother. The other is Mak. I call my mother Mak).
Excited, I immediately got up and called my wife. Staggering, my wife entered the room and lied down next to Ikhwan. Ikhwan continued saying “bu……bu…..” again to the extent that my wife thought I could have imagined it. Just as she was about to resume her sleep, Ikhwan said it again, loud and clear, “I..BU…….” My wife was very delighted upon hearing that and I was also happy knowing that I wasn’t imagining it, hehe…
Before Ikhwan was born, I joked with my wife that I would call myself Papa and Ayah alternately and let him decide which one would he like. After he was born, I always taught him to call me Papa and hardly used Ayah.
A few months ago, Ikhwan uttered “Papa”on two separate days but we both agreed he could have said it randomly, without having meant to what he said. But lately, Ikhwan had been calling me Ayah. I guess it’s going to be Ayah then considering that's what he picked up, hahaa….
Nowadays, we often hear Ikhwan says “Ibu” and “Ayah”. He knows the difference between the two, and he means what he says.
P/S: Ikhwan had also been trying to follow me reciting/singing “Lailahaillallah, Nabi Muhammad Ya Rasulullah”and if you were to listen to him closely, you’d agree that he’s getting it…..:-)
The Oxford Dictionary says "boulevard" means wide city street, often with trees on each side. As for me, "boulevard" is the path that I thread my way through in life. At times, the trees give me protection from the hot sun above. While at other times, no amount of trees can comfort me when it pours. Come rain or shine, the road continues to provide me with the journey of life until it reaches its destination.
People say I'm sweet, kind, a gentleman, caring, romantic and observant (let's just concentrate on the good attributes). I love those who matter to me, and care about things that count. I'm a Malay Muslim and proud to be one. I DON'T think Islam should be judged by those nasty followers. Islam should be judged by the religion itself; its teachings and the purpose behind them. I mean, humans will still behave like humans right? Usually, regardless of religions that they embrace. It is also in my nature to please, since I believe that TO PLEASE EVERYONE IS AN IMPOSSIBLE FEAT, BUT NOT TRYING TO PLEASE ANYONE OTHER THAN ONESELF IS A POSSIBLE DEFEAT (own quote). Apart from sharing the things I read, watch and listen to, I'd also share my thoughts and feelings, and express my views on certain issues. Last by no means least, I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM EVERYONE OF YOU OUT THERE ABOUT ANYTHING! If we knew each other 'in the previous life' and had lost contact, or we hardly contact each other nowadays, do email me or comment on my entries. Feel free to explore my blog & website (http://members.fortunecity.com/abdunmy/). Cheerio & Wassalam.
Sometimes, to boldly go (where no one has gone before) at warp speed may cause you unnecessary troubles.
Own quote, based on Star Trek
Lesson from the quote: Rushing to reach your destinations or goals may get you there fast, but may not always be the smartest thing to do!
"Note The Quote (Malay translation)"
Kadang kala, perjalanan (ke tempat yang tidak pernah ditujui) pada kelajuan maksimum boleh menyebabkan kesusahan pada diri sendiri.
Rekaan sendiri, berdasarkan dari Star Trek
Pengajaran: Terburu-buru untuk sampai ke destinasi atau matlamat hidup mungkin boleh membawa kita ke sana dengan cepat, tetapi langkah itu tidak semestinya yang terbaik!
You have to find something that you love enough to be able to take risks, jump over the hurdles and break through the brick walls that are always going to be placed in front of you. If you don't have that kind of feeling for what it is you are doing, you'll stop at the first giant hurdle.
George Lucas (Film Director and Producer)
"Favourite Note The Quote 2"
A sign in a mosque on the need to switch off handphones:
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Penguin Rush
