I am Thankful .......

I noticed a significant drop in the number of visitors to my site and the numbers of comments left over this last weekend. I wondered at first, why this was so. Then I realised that this was the Super Bowl XLII weekend in the United States. I do not know much about American football but it seems the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots.

I once watched the Canadian version of the game with a fan who was trying to explain to me why grown men get dressed and padded up to beat each other into a pulp over a ball. I remember most of the time, the game reminded me of two rams clashing horns and doing brain damage. I was also perplexed by the large number of times the referee/umpire blew the whistle. My friend explained that this whistle was for "offside", that whistle was for "stepping out of bounds" and the next whistle was for "movement at the back end" .....how fascinating. Then, another whistle and to my query, my friend replied,"Oh, that's the break for TV commercials." I have to say, I have never come across a game that is played to the timing of TV commercials.

Anyway, I digress. I wanted to highlight that Super Bowl Sunday is second only to Thanksgiving for the amount of food consumed. Here are some statistics from Associated Content : -

Americans consumed 15,000 tons of chips or equivalent of six feet of chips per American. Even though popcorn is almost as light as air, 5,000 tons was consumed; enough to make a popcorn string long enough to go round the world more than 5 times. 12 million pounds of avocado went into making 8 million pounds of guacamole. Approximately USD 55 million was spent on food for that day.

Interestingly, anti-acid sales on the following day at 7-11 outlets will go up by 20% and 6% of working Americans will call in sick on Monday.

The title of my post is "I am thankful....". I am thankful because this same weekend, I learnt about a very different food consumption story and I am just thankful that I do not have to eat mud pies.

I remember making mud pies when I was very young as a play activity and we would pretend to eat mud pies. It really upsets me to learn that for some people in the world, mud pies has become all the food that they can afford to eat on a daily basis.

I refer to the situation in Haiti where crop failures and inflation has forced many people to rely on mud pies because they can no longer afford the normal staples. Mud pies are made of dirt taken from a central plateau region, mixed with water, salt and vegetable shortening. The batter is shaped into thin biscuits and dried in the sun. Even the price of the dirt has gone up and costs USD 5 for enough to make 100 mud pies. The price of a mud pie or cookie at the market is only 5 cents as compared to 60 cents for 2 small cups of rice.

Let's be clear, this phenomena has arisen out of desperation amongst the poor of Haiti. Eating mud pies provides barely any nutritional value at all but it does help stave off hunger. People who eat it are likely to suffer other problems like stomach pains and in the longer term malnutrition. I hope that the world will wake up to the tragedy unfolding there and in so many parts of the world and act to end the disparity between those who have food to waste ( I get really annoyed at the wasteful food pranks on MTV Spring Break programs) and those who are resorting to feed themselves and their children dirt.

Can we stand by and allow food to be diverted from feeding fellow humans and set it aside to create biofuels to run our cars? What do we tell them? Sorry? Our cars got to eat too? The USD 55 million spent on junk food for a single Super Bowl Day could have bought 183 million cups of rice which would have been enough to feed every Haitian for almost a fortnight.

The famous saying attributed to Queen Marie Antionette of France, "Let them eat cake." , comes to mind. It has often been quoted to demonstrate her callousness and her lack of understanding or perhaps concern about the plight of the common people. I hope that our current generation will be judged similarly for allowing the Haitian people to "eat dirt".

I am thankful......that I have never needed to eat mud pies. Aren't you?

The hand of a woman is covered in mud as she makes mud cookies on the roof of Fort Dimanche, once a prison, in Port-au-Prince, Friday, Nov. 30, 2007. Rising prices and food shortages threaten the nation's fragile stability, and the mud cookies, made of dirt, salt and vegetable shortening, are one of very few options the poorest people have to stave off hunger. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Tag 5......again

Marja of DutchCorner, who is in New Zealand just to confuse us, asked me to do a meme based on 5. My first thought was de ja vu, cause I remember doing a meme called Tag 5 . As it turned out the two memes are quite different so I decided that to happily take this new meme on. However, if you are new to this blog and want to know a bit more about the Lone Grey Squirrel, I think you will find the previous meme quite informative also.


Part 1: 5 Weird Facts About Me

Strange enough, I have already done one called "Six Weird Things About Me". So you can get the details here, however just to tantalize a little, here are the six keywords;

1. Squirrels
2. White Food
3. Buffy
4. Graveyards
5. Bananas
6. Miracle

Part 2: 5 Places I Would Like to Visit or Visit Again (click links for pictures)

1. Banff National Park, Canada
The United Nations Human Development Index has named Canada the best country to live in the most in their annual report. Canada secured the best country status 10 times out of 20 reports. (Norway is second with 6 times at the top and Iceland the most recent winner in 2007). I have to agree. Of all the places I have traveled, I would chose Canada as the best place to live. The best combination of natural beauty and a young but caring society. For sheer natural beauty and space to feel free in, it has to be Banff National Park and all the other adjacent Rocky Mountain National Parks. I was there for just a week but could easily spend the rest of my life there.

2. Tepuis of Venezeula
For the adventurer in me, this is my dream destination. Tepuis are flat tabletop mountains with sheer cliff faces of over 300-1,000 m. The world's highest falls, Angel Falls comes off one of these tepuis. Rising out of the dense equatorial rainforests, they are often shrouded in mists. Visitors flying over them have described them as islands in the mists. These were the mountains that inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to write about "The Lost World". To go where few, if any, men had been before; to see rare and unique plant and animal species and to have an adventure...........this is where I would like to go.

3. Budapest, Hungary
Europe is a great place for culture, history and the arts. I have enjoyed Vienna and to be fair, have not been to Paris. Yet, it is this Pearl of the Danube that calls me to come back. I spent five days in Budapest when I visited and left acutely aware that I could have spent five times longer and still feel that I have more things to see and experience.
Highlights have to be the food, the people, their proud and unusual history which is quite distinctive.

4. Croatia (Dalmation Coast and Plitvice Lakes National Park)
I am kind of cheating here by using Croatia to cover both a place that I have been (Plitvice Lakes) but also a place that I would like to visit (Dalmation Coast). I have previously posted on Plitvice but suffice to say it is truly a natural wonder and a soothing place for a water spirit like me. Dalmation Coast from Dubrovnik to Split is a place rich in a period of medieval history that I know little about but find fascinating. Walled cities, castles and churches and all set into the ruggedly beautiful coastline.

5. Endau Rompin National Park, Malaysia
My first wild area. My first love. Pristine, beautiful rainforests with rich wildlife like tigers, elephants and rhinos. Isolation and relatively difficult to get to merely adds to its charms. Mountain tops with palm forests and swamps and islands amidst the cooling mists of the falls as well as numerous waterfalls and rapids makes this a top spot. Swimming in crystal clear jungle streams was an incredible experience.


Part 3: 5 Things I never imagined at 25

1. I never imagined that I would be married. I went through a phase and a way of thinking that did not include marriage.
2. I never imagined that I would be working in nature conservation. At that time, I was still thinking of a career as a mad scientist in a lab somewhere blowing things up.
3. I never imagined that I would have had the opportunity to study and live in Canada.
4. I never imagined that I would ever end up overweight as I was always scrawny until I was about 28.
5. I never imagined that I would still feel young at 45. Well, apart from the aches from various injuries collected over the years and fading memories.
   

Please if you are tempted to try this meme, do drop a comment to let us know that you are doing it. Ta ta for now.

The Stars Shone For The Forest

Last Saturday, I was at the Planet Hollywood restaurant in Kuala Lumpur. I really am a homesbody so that was my first time there. However, this was a special night. It was to celebrate a successful public petition campaign that my organisation had held in 2006-2007. The petition collected 80,000 signed postcards and sent it to both the Federal and State Governments which eventually led to the Belum Forest being gazetted as a State Park and protected from logging. This is an area about four times the size of Singapore and rich in large mammal species like tigers, rhinoceros and elephants.

This success could not have happened without the help of many partners and supporters and so this dinner and concert was to thank all of them and also to raise funds and awareness for our second campaign this year which is to ensure that the newly formed park will not be encroached upon by some proposed development and that an adjacent forest of equal size, Temengor Forest is also protected because the two forests are really one ecosystem.

That was the reason why the dinner was held but for me it was also an opportunity to pose for photos with pretty girls and to enjoy some great and varied music. Firstly, the picture above shows a rare phenomena of the Lone Grey Squirrel surrounded by beautiful women. Immediately on either side of me are two of the celebrity ambassadors who helped us with the campaign; on the left is Joanna Bessey and on the right, Lina Teoh. Joanna is a wellknown actress and director. Lina is an actress and a model and she was the second runner-up at the Miss World 1998 beauty pageant which was the highest placing ever by a Malaysian lass. Both Joanna and Lina also were the main stars for the long running sitcom Kopitiam on Malaysian television. At either end are my colleagues, Yvonne and Swee Lyn.

The entertainment included a traditional aboriginal native group from the Semai tribe. Note that the man is playing a relatively rare and unusual nose-flute.














There was also a band in the tradition of Malay bands which consist of a guitar, accordion, violin and drums.













There was also the percussionist group called the Three Drum Circle with one of them playing with his hands a form of a miniature Caribean Steel Drum.










There was the husband and wife team of Hassan and Markissa who sang a number of environmental protest songs which they wrote.




There was even tap dancing and belly dancing.


We really ought to celebrate more often.

Of Crooked Bridges and Crooked Lawyers

Recently, a friend, Tropic Temper, posted concerning a parody article about Malaysia which can be found here. I found the article quite funny although I suspect you have to have a good grasp of Malaysian culture, history and current affairs to really appreciate a lot of the "insider" jokes. Of course, it was also full of foul language and some jokes which were in bad taste, which often really detracts from the funny. However, as Tropic Temper pointed out, Malaysians and especially Malaysian Government officials have no sense of humor at all.

"...Uncyclopedia, a parody of online encyclopedia Wikipedia, has been labeled by the Malaysian government as dangerous. The Internal Security Department of Malaysia issued the warning today, saying that the site has "messages and information insulting Malaysia". (From Wikinews)

The same warning urged Malaysians not to distribute the contents of the site.

So as a good Malaysian, I have not distributed the content of the site. But then you already know where to go to read it for yourself. Ooops!

The Internal Security Department of Uncyclopedia responded by issuing a statement of their own which reads, "This article has been declared of PUBLIC CONCERN by the Malaysian Department of Homeland Security. This is because there is no word for "parody" in Malay." and went on to advise readers, "The Internal Security Department of the Uncyclomedia Foundation has identified Malaysia as a dangerous country which has messages and information containing insults, contempt and awareness of the content of Uncyclopedia. It warned its people not to use the country today."

The sad truth is that sometimes we Malaysians are so good at making ourselves look like fools that there is no need for parody at all. For example, we may be the only country (but I could be wrong), where a leader tried to exhort the country to spend billions to build a crooked bridge to replace an existing straight causeway, just to prove that we can do it and not listen to other countries that did not want a crooked bridge. Good argument. Please don't tell Malaysians it is stupid to build an escalator one mile high to nowhere which nobody wants cause then we will have to do it just to prove we can.

To the left: proposed discontinued straight causeway; to the right: proposed crooked
bridge to rejoin the Singapore side of the causeway.

In more current news, a Royal Commission is investigating the possibility of the high level fixing of appointment of judges and court cases. This is derived from a video taken using a cell phone that appears to show a prominent lawyer, Lingam who is on the phone. The audible conversation implies that he is offering someone to fix the selection of judges and the Chief Justice of the country. During the conversation he appears to refer to information that should only be known by just a handful of top personnel and should be considered as restricted information.

His defence may be summarized as " It looks like me and it sounds like me (in the video) but it isn't me. However, if it was me then it must be that I was drunk and if can be shown that I was not drunk then maybe I was just bragging to a potential client."

Honestly, I could live without such silliness. Here is an example of good parody and heck, I am even a fan of Shakira's but it is funny nonetheless. As all good parodies do, it invites us to laugh at the subject and then also at ourselves. My wish is that real life should be less of a joke.

You Make My Day, Bloggers of the World

Clearly, low on brain energy and imagination, the title of this post is actually derived from combining the words of two awards. To my surprise, it actually makes some sense and also happens to be true. Checking up on what's going on in the blogosphere is definitely a daily necessity which I fail to do only when extremely pressed for time. Anyway, these awards very pleasantly came my way a little while back and it is time for me to pass it on.

My good friend, "this is another fine mess that you have got me into" Claudia, gave me this award saying, "Squirrelly and I share a mutual horror for the tragedies of the world. Kenya, Burma, Malaysia… He’s one of the few people I know who can write as eloquently about the tragedy of ethnic cleansing and his love for great food. And through it all, he works to create peace in his life."

I award this to some of the blogs that I visit almost daily and have often made my day.

1. Josie at C'est la Vie cause visiting her is like spending time in a warm kitchen with fresh baked apple pie. Josie's always got the coffee brewing and there's always pleasant company gathered there. Great way to start the day.
2. Jessica at daysgoby cause it always feels like playtime at her blog as she welcomes us to the loving chaos that is her family.
3. MedStudentWife at Another Day in Paradise cause her crazy humor never fails to hit the spot and brush the cobwebs from my mind.
4. Becky at Words of a Wolfe cause her thoughts and almost daily meditations from God's word is like nourishing chicken soup for my soul.
5. Dave at In My Head cause when I drop in, it feels like we are off beachcombing the shores of life and finding treasures and curiosities along the way.
   

Marja, very much a blogger of the world herself, gave me and others this award saying, " The following people from all over the world are not only very nice they all have some deeper understanding about life."

I award this to some of the bloggers that I visit that make the world a smaller and better place by sharing their cultures and perspectives from their corners of the world and who are keen to learn from others too.

1. Meggie at Life's Free Treats cause she widens my mind with tales from a wide traverse of time and space with an Antipodean flavor.
2. Claudia at On a Limb With, Claudia cause there are no spectators at her blog. It won't be long before you are participating in something that will make you a better person and this world, a better world.
3. Evalinn at Stock City Girl cause she's a great ambassador for Stockholm and she's always exploring the world. Even now I am waiting for her to return from her South American adventures and to enlighten us about it.
4. Proxima at The Echo Tree cause she's a multi-cultural festival, a spiritual experience and an intellectual feast all in one.
5. Tom at Patterns of Ink cause he is both looking deep within his roots and is also expanding his view of the world today and we get to come along for the vivid experience.

But to all of you, thank you for making my daily blogging experience a wonderful and fulfilling one. Thank you for contributing to my daily addiction. (I am not above receiving donations for my rehab treatment).

WHAM! BLAM! KA-BLAM!

Sometimes life knocks you off your feet with a three punch combination which I like to refer to as the WHAM! BLAM! KA-BLAM!


I was expecting the Wham! For the last month I have been anticipating last weekend to be a rough one. The reason for this is that it was time for the quarterly assessment meeting at work and I knew that apart from being a very long working Saturday, it would be another round of the much anticipated showdown between bear and squirrel. The squirrel had been in training and though he was expecting to be bruised, felt confident he knew the technique to bring the bear down. As it turned out, the WHAM! was no more than a pin-prick. The bear failed to show up and the squirrel won by default. Although it did not carry as much satisfaction to have won that way, nevertheless the squirrel felt good about the rest of the weekend sans bruises to nurse.


So the meeting ended at about 6pm and I was in a happy mood. I called home and offered to get some takeaway from the neighbourhood shops. Food is so easy to come by in Malaysia that I thought nothing of going to three separate but closely placed shops to buy three different takeaways to satisfy the diverse food cravings at home.

I got to the shops which were all in the same block. I placed my first order, waited and collected it. Elapsed time was just 2 minutes. I proceeded to the next shop and it began to rain lightly. I was not worried as I had my umbrella and my car was not more than 30 meters away. I got my second takeaway. Elapsed time was about 6 minutes.

It was now raining very heavily.....I mean very,very heavily. Still with only one more order to make, I was not worried. I placed my order and it took just about 5 minutes for the dish to be cooked but in that time, the rain had been pelting down and I could see the water in the drains begin to swell up. I paid for the takeaway and was ready to make a dash for my car when......BLAM!

The shopkeeper did not have change for my payment. He had to nip over to another shop to get the change. He was not gone for more than 5 minutes but in that short delay, the drains overflowed and flooded the road with about two feet of dirty, smelly water. There was nothing else to do but when he came back with the change, I held all by purchases tightly, opened out my umbrella and stoically walked the 30 meters in 2 feet of smelly flood waters. When I got into my car, I thought that at least the day could not get worse. That was until "Ka-Blam!".


I got home, took a quick shower, changed and dried myself and then had dinner with my family. However, before the end of the dinner, I felt a sickly itch all over my legs. I knew this was due to the extremely dirty flood water that I had waded through. I went back under the shower and liberally soaped my legs and feet. It was because of the heavy lathering that I somehow felt my feet slip from under me as my whole body flipped to a horizontal position and I fell heavily on the bathroom floor.

KA-BLAM! I landed heavily on my buttocks and the base of my spinal column. I also hit my head and neck against the bathroom wall. I was truly winded and rolled about initially unsure of what was happening. The pain was intense and I was in shock. I was immediately afraid that I done some major injury on myself. It was a couple of days of bed rest before I was sufficiently recovered to walk properly again.

So, to re-cap, I was expecting WHAM! but that turned out to be a bit of a damp rag, a non-event. I underestimated BLAM! and was completely taken unawares by KA-BLAM! and I was out for the count. Friends, this is why I had no post up over the weekend and how I came about to be nursing some tender bruisers after all.

Hieroglyphics for Dummies

Two weeks ago, I had a post on the Two Ronnies showing how to speak English, the Swedish way. In the interest of promoting better global understanding and world harmony, I am posting this sequel which helps us ordinary people to understand some of our classical languages. In this case, it is Egyptian or at least hieroglyphics.

For a long time, hieroglyphics were a mystery. No one knew what stories were locked behind those wonderful symbols. However, the French were to discover a stone that had hieroglyphics on one side and other known languages on the other sides. This allowed the hieroglyphics to be translated against the corresponding word in the other language. This stone, the Rosetta Stone, was the key to unlocking the ancient language.

Fortunately, we no longer need to spend half our lives in musty University libraries to understand hieroglyphics, thanks to the availability of materials such as that famous series, "Hieroglyphics for Dummies". Here, the Two Ronnies present a video tutorial from the series.

Here Mijbil! Here Edal!

PhotoCredit: Bill Lockharts (Ring of Bright Water)

I love this photo. It is entitled "Ring of Bright Water" which I do not know whether it was intentional but is also the name of a book by Gavin Maxwell. This book was written in 1960 but I somehow came across it in my early teens and it made a big impression on me. Perhaps my love for squirrels had its seeds here, for the book is about the life of the author and his friendship with a particular otter, Mijbil, that he had picked up as a pet from the marshes of Iraq.

Maxwell did not know it at the time but Mijbil would turn out to be the only living specimen ever found of what is now believed to be an extinct sub-species of the Indian smooth coated otter. The sub-species was named after him, the Maxwell Otter or Lutrogale perspicillata maxwell. The book were full of amusing misadventures as the inquisitive otter found new ways to create mayhem and social disaster. On one occasion, Mijbil brought a whole train to a stop by pulling on the emergency chain.

The message was clear. Even though Mijbil had a relationship with Maxwell, in its core, it remained a wild creature that belonged to no one but itself. Perhaps I was attracted to this, recognising that having any kind of relationship with a wild creature is a privilege and a blessing. Something that I recognised in my own relationship with my little circus of squirrels.

Maxwell developed relationships with other otters too which he covered in other books including "The Rocks Remain" and "Raven Seek Thy Brother". Today, the romping grounds of Maxwell and his otters are conserved and can be visited at the Eilean Bàn Trust and Bright Water Visitor Centre. There you will find a monument to Gavin Maxwell and a statue of another of his famous otters, Edal.

Perhaps, it may surprise you to learn this but till today, my favorite animal is the otters. They are such a joy to watch, both their play and antics as well as their underwater ballet of movement. I admit that I enjoy otters more than even squirrels but squirrels are far easier to handle. Or is the squirrels that know how to handle me? Hmmmm.

Edal at play (Photo from Ring of Bright Water)

World Food Spot 9: Vlaamse karbonaden

I did this. I mean I cooked this. It is one of the few dishes that I do reasonably well. I realise that this photo looks like a pile of *unmentionables* but that is more the fault of my poor photographic skills and poor sense of food presentation than any fault of my cooking. It may look a bit suspect in this photo but trust me, it is delicious. I last cooked this for a Christmas party and suffice to say there were no leftovers and it got many compliments.

My last "World Food Spot" post focused on Belgian beer and this dish is both Belgian (Flemish, to be exact) and uses beer in the recipe. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you, "Vlaamse karbonaden" or "Beef Braised in Beer".

Recipe:- (to serve 4)

1. 800 g of topside beef cut into 2.5 cm cubes.
   
2. dust with seasoned corn flour.
3. Fry 2 thinly sliced Spanish Onions in 50 g of butter using low heat until onions are golden in color.
4. Remove the onions with a slotted spoon and use oil in pan. Raise heat and brown the beef in the oil.
5. Return onions. Stir over moderate heat. Use some corn starch in water to thicken if necessary.
6. Gradually pour in 600 mL of dark beer. I used Guiness Stout.
7. Add bouquet garni consisting of 2 parsley sprigs, 1 thyme sprig, 1 bay leaf.
8. 1 tablespoon of tarragon wine vinegar.
9. Add sugar to taste (about 1 tablespoon)
10. Add Pepper and salt to taste.
11. Cover and cook on low heat for 1 hour.
12. Take a slice of brown bread. Remove crust. Spread a tablespoon of dark French Mustard or Honey Dijon Mustard on the bread.
13. Tear the bread into 3 cm square pieces and add to the pot.
14. Continue to simmer on low heat for another hour, stirring occasionally and allowing the bread to disintegrate and thicken the stew.
15. Check taste at end and serve.
    

The net result is that the beef melts in the mouth and has a mix of bitter and sour taste that works very well the beef flavor. I love this and I recommend this dish highly.

Happy cooking.

Crying for Kenya

I have met a number of Kenyans and two have been close friends. One of them, Mbithi, was a fellow colleague and student at my University in Canada back in the early 1990's. He is an incredibly hardworking and focussed individual. He was there for a couple years alone but with single minded determination, he studied, worked and saved enough to bring his wife and daughter over for the last part of his studies. He is currently a lecturer and a medical researcher at a University in Kenya.

I met Edwin while taking part in a study tour and although we were only together for three weeks, we grew quite close. He is a cheerful, thoughtful and altogether pleasant individual. At that time, he was working on reducing corruption within the Kenyan government that was resulting in medical supplies intended for rural hospitals from being hijacked and stolen before reaching their intended destinations and helping the people in need. More recently, he has joined the Kenyan Wildlife Service.

In both these cases, I was struck by the quiet determination of these men to make Kenya a better country and a better place for their people.....for all Kenyans. I grieve with them over the recent civil unrest, violence and murder that has been occurring across Kenya after the last elections. I have not heard from either and can only hope and pray that they and their loved ones are safe and well.

Below are excerpts from an interview with renowned Kenyan novelist and playwright, Ngugi wa Thiong'o with the BBC.

"The picture of men and women burnt down in a church where they had gone for refuge still haunts my mind. A child running away from the fire was caught and hurled back into the flames.

One of the few survivors was quoted as saying: "But they knew me; we were neighbours. I thought Peter was a friend - a good neighbour. How could Peter do this to me?"

I had heard the same puzzled cry from Bosnia. I had heard the same cry from Iraq. I had heard the same, same words from Rwanda: "We were neighbours; we'd married into each other. How could this happen?"

And now I hear the same cry from Eldoret North in my beloved Kenya. For me this burning of men, women and children in a church is a defining single instant of the current political impasse in Kenya.

And this must be separated from accusations and counter-accusations of rigged elections by the contending parties.

Rigged elections is one thing - it can be righted by any mutually agreed political measures - but ethnic cleansing is another matter altogether.

What is disturbing is that this instant seems to have been part of a co-ordinated programme with similar acts occurring in several other places at about the same time against ordinary members of the same community.

Ordinary people do not wake up one morning and suddenly decide to kill their neighbours.

Ethnic cleansing is often instigated by the political elite of one community against another community. It is premeditated - often an order from political warlords.

Or it may be the outcome of an elitist ideology of demonising and isolating another community.

Either way the aim is to drive members of the targeted community from the region.

Frantz Fanon, the intellectual visionary of the Third World, had long ago warned us of the dangers of the ideology of regionalism preached by an elite whose money can buy them safe residence in any part of a country.

A single instance of premeditated ethnic cleansing can lead to an unstoppable cycle of vendettas - a poor-on-poor violence - while those who tele-guided them to war through the ideology of hate and demonisation are clinking glasses in middle-class peace at cocktail parties with the elite or the supposed enemy community.

This crime should be investigated by the United Nations.

If it is found that a political organisation has run a campaign on a programme that consciously seeks to isolate another community as a community, then they ought to be held fully accountable for the consequences of their ideology and actions.

It is often easier to blame a government when it is involved in massacres. This is as it should be.

A government must always be held to higher standards, for its very legitimacy lies in its capacity to ensure peace and security for all communities.

But what about if such a massacre is inspired by a programme of an opposition movement?

This ought to receive equally severe condemnation from all and sundry, for being in opposition does not give an organisation the right to run on an ideology of isolation and hate targeted at another community."

15th Anniversary

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, BABY!!!!

from our first year of marriage (LGS)


YOU HAVE BEEN FOR ME....
(a poem by LGS to his beloved)

To think that there is someone special for each of us
Somewhere in this world, sometime in this life
Seems illogical to the mind, yet was our experience
You surely are that special one for me, dear wife.

From the beginning you intuitively knew all this,
But I was ensnared by fear of closeness and heartache
Yet your love gave me the courage to take the risk
To entrust to you my heart for to nurture or break

And now many long years have come and gone
Fifteen times the passing of the earth around the sun
Through all that time, our love’s kept growing strong
As we faced life’s challenges and problems as one

You have been for me, the eyes for my heart
Through you I have seen beauty and compassion
Witnessed love burning bright against the dark
Allowing me freedom to experience life’s passions.

You have been for me, ears that listen to my soul
My loftiest dreams, deepest thoughts and rawest feelings
You have been for me, hands that help, soothe, uphold
Hands held in prayer or clapping, cheering, encouraging.

You have been for me, the bosom to rest my head,
Warm, inviting, my source of calm and peace
My sanctuary from a world of turmoil and dread
Where love’s magic restores my heart to bliss.

You have been for me, my all in all, my everything,
And I thank God for these fifteen years as one united
For every precious moment, cherished memory and blessing
And for many more yet to come ‘til life’s journey’s ended.

Everyday Kindness

"It's another fine mess that you have got me into." I am addressing my good friend, Claudia who is always Out on a Limb and expects us to follow. Somehow I always give in to her as she weaves these ideas and memes. The latest idea that came out of her sparkling mind sounded so wonderfully great that I rushed in to volunteer to do it too and now I am in deep dodo.

I refer to Claudia's Everyday Kindness challenge and you can read more about it and about the other accomplices that have taken up the challenge here.

Basically, we have all committed to do one act of kindness for every day of 2008. So it has been 5 days, so how did I fare?

Day One: Bought donuts for everyone in the office.
Day Two: Took someone out for lunch.
Day Three: Took someone else out for lunch who was feeling lonely.

Hmmm. Do you see where I am in the deep dodo? I am trying to be on diet and the only act of kindness that I could think of had so far involved food.

Day Four: Fate intervened. I came to know of a friend's mother being ill. I prayed for her mother.
Day Five: Helped an office colleague with some work.

Already, I realise that it is not going to be easy. Partly because I meet so few people other than at work that I have little opportunity to interact with people. Even so, I am not giving up. I realise that I may have to plan my week so as to give myself opportunities to show kindness. So be it. This is a great challenge. If I make it to the end of the year, it will be quite and accomplishment and would have made me a better person for it.

If you want to join this challenge, declare yourself at Claudia's. Go on. Just do it!

English for Swedes

I enjoy listening to accents, especially those with a lilting melodic characteristic. The Welsh accent is probably my favorite with the Indian and Swedish accent close behind in this category. Malaysians' do not speak English with an accent as much as speak a pariah mix of English and Malay which we lovingly call Manglish. However, that is a topic for a different post.

Today, I'd like to share with you this wonderful clip from the British comedy duo of "The Two Ronnies" which illustrates how easy it is to speak English with a Swedish accent or otherwise known as "Lessons in Conversational English for Swedes". Before we proceed further, evalinn and other Swedish readers, please forgive the bad squirrel for posting this video and to the rest of you, enjoy.

Happy 2008

A Gift of Kindness

I was tagged by Kimber the Wolfgrrrl to do this meme which is in line with this season of goodness and cheer.

The instructions:
1) Post a note about a blogger you would like to see something wonderful happen for. Maybe one whose posts have touched your heart in one way or another. Include details as to why you admire them and what you wish for them. Be as supporting and affirming as you can.
2) Post your favorite memory around selflessness, giving, or doing for others. Something that has actually changed you.
3) As a postscript, name one thing you will actually do for someone in your life before December 31 that is born out of joy.
4) Tag 3 other bloggers who will play the game and find the spirit. Don't forget to leave a comment on their blog so they continue to share the good feelings.


Wow! This was the toughest meme that I have ever done. For this first section, I took the entire list of bloggers (more than 50) that I visit with some regularity and I mulled it over for more than a week. Finally I took a deep breath and managed to slice it down to 10. It took me a whole morning of trying to avoid making a decision and finally I narrowed it down to two and then finally one.

I wish something wonderful for Janice Thomson (Pursuance of Truth). If you visit Janice’s blog, you are treated on an almost daily basis to some pearl of wisdom or a beautiful and insightful poem; sometimes uplifting, sometimes humorous, sometimes deep and profound but always inspirational. As if that was not enough, she also treats us to a beautiful picture or painting which is an appropriate accompaniment to the prose.

Janice is clearly a person who gives of herself. She used to work as a nurse for mentally challenged adult patients. I admire all nurses but nurses doing palliative care or nurses working with the mentally challenged are in my opinion deserving even higher adulation.

In recent times though, Janice has faced a great deal of problems with uncertainty about her health and her abode. Yet, though there is an occasional acknowledgement of her problems in her blog, it is not long before she brushes it aside with more life affirming and life reveling prose. So I would like to wish something wonderful for Janice for the person that she is and for being an example of grace under pressure.

Favorite Memory Around Selflessness, Giving and Doing for Others. I have actually already shared my personal favorite memory about selfless giving (Juliet, Juliet, Wherefore Art Thou?). However, I would like to tell the story of someone else that I met. Her name is Mariliana Morales. I met her when I took part in a special study tour organized for representatives of non-profit organizations in 2005. The reason why I want to share her story is that I have always felt an empathy for prostitutes but unlike me who have done little to act on this feeling, Mariliana has put her whole life into helping them.

Mariliana was a successful business woman in Costa Rica and she was married to a successful businessman. Although a Christian, she was not an active one as running her business was her life. However, one day she just felt that there had to be more to life than being a slave to work. She turned to God in prayer for direction. Then as she was driving, she looked out and saw written in clouds in the sky, the word “Prostitutes”.

She pondered and wrestled with her vision for awhile and finally told her husband that she wanted to give up her business and work amongst prostitutes and to help them. The husband was supportive but incredulous. Mariliana was in the upper echelon of society. Until then, she was not even aware that Costa Rica had prostitutes. She told her husband that she would not even know how to start looking for a prostitute.

PhotoCredit: - LGS Chowing Down on Maine's Best Clam Chowder (Mariliana -second from right)

Before long, someone knocked on her door. It was a young girl who had been physically abused by a client and was on the run looking for sanctuary. It was the defining moment. Mariliana did not hesitate but took her in. Her first prostitute.

She went on to look for a place to house prostitutes, protect them from their pimps, provide re-training for another job, take in their children and give them education. Thus was founded the Rahab Foundation on November 12th 1997. In the first month alone 30 prostitutes found their way to this sanctuary. Many of them testify that they had prayed to God in their despair and had received a vision to look for the Rahab Foundation which was virtually unknown at that time.

In the last 10 years, thousands have benefited from Mariliana’s and the Foundation’s work. Today, they provide sanctuary for over 500 seeking to escape prostitution and to make a new life. Over the years, 70% of those who have come through the Foundation have found freedom to live a new life.

In my short interaction with Mariliana, I surmise her to be a strong, intellegent woman with a sharp business acumen and organizational skills but the prominent characteristic that all who have met her would go away with would be the sense of her spirit of servitude for others. She reminds me that I could do more for others too.


To do list before 31st December. Well, I plan to just come in under the wire and invite a friend who has been feeling a little down after her relationship with someone fell through to a little group caring at a gathering of old friends for a New Year’s Eve Party. She has not seen many of us for quite a while and I am hoping that our meeting will be like returning to a loving, strong and supportive touchstone.

Tagging others. I think I will have to decline tagging others as it would be unfair for them to try to do this meme before new year which is just a few days away.

Not Missing the Point

A little joke that I heard;

Three men died on Christmas Eve and were met by Saint Peter at the pearly gates.

"In honor of this holy season," Saint Peter said, "you must each possess something that symbolizes Christmas to get into heaven." The first man fumbled through his pockets and pulled out a lighter.

He flicked it on. It represents a candle, he said. "You may pass through the pearly gates", said Saint Peter.

The second man reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. He shook them and said, "They're bells." Saint Peter said, "You may pass through the pearly gates."

The third man started searching desperately through his pockets and finally pulled out a pair of women's knickers. St. Peter looked at the man with a raised eyebrow and asked, "And just how do those symbolize Christmas?"

The man replied, "They're Carol's."

Ba-da-Boom!

And singing carols is exactly how I spent Christmas eve and Christmas day. On Christmas eve, I went to a friends home and the husband and wife played host to family, friends and even neighbors. Everyone brought something along so that the hostess was not too worn out with the practicalities of providing for about 50 people.

The highlight though was that we put together a small band consisting of a pianist, 2 guitarists and a drummer and we all got together to sing Christmas Carols. I was made to be the song leader which I did with much enthusiasm. Being warm Malaysia, I was soaked in sweat by the end of the singing. I also shared a little about how Christmas was about God's gift of love and hope to men in their darkness, the gift of Jesus Christ. Today, Christmas may come up all wrapped up in gift exchanges, Santa Claus, Christmas trees and such like but to focus on that and not on Christ is like getting excited about the gift wrappings and ribbons but forgetting about the present itself.

On Christmas Day, our church actually took over a small actor's studio and stage and held a service attended bu about 300 people. There were two plays presented; one by the Sunday School kids of ages 10 and under and another by the youth. Both plays and the subsequent message focussed on the thought that we should not miss out on the most important thing about Christmas.

I found the play by the youth especially good. The play started in Bethlehem on that first Christmas and it focussed on how busy the innkeeper and his wife was because the hotel was full. So busy that they did not play with their children or tend to their needs. So busy that they did not notice the stream of shepherds visiting the baby in the stable. So busy that they failed to notice the choir of angels in the sky proclaiming the Saviour's birth.

The play then shifts to modern days and we see a young couple who have no time to play with their kids. They have too much work, too much church activities and too much other activities. So busy with buying presents, with cooking, with throwing parties that they miss out on the most important aspect of Christmas.....Christ himself.

I had a great Christmas. I hope yours was also wonderful and blessed.

Unburied Nuts from 23rd December 2006; "Not a Creature Was Stirring"

What Creature Stirred and Left These Mysterious Trails....

photocredits: Deep river

"Twas the night before Christmas,
when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring,
not even a mouse…….."
(Excerpt from poem by Clement Clarke Moore; 1822)

Snow had fallen thickly during the night and the wind had blown fiercely with its own melancholic howling through the trees. I was glad to have
been tucked in bed that night safe and snug. Christmas was a couple of days away and when I drifted off to sleep, I was soon in a dream world filled with the visions of the expected wonders of warm fellowship and the joys of the season.

I awoke the early the next day while the morning light was still dim, feeling fully rested and fresh. I excitedly went to my small basement window and as expected the night’s
storm had dusted everything with an inch or two of snow, creating a wonderland. The distant street lamps were still able to cast sufficient light on the newly fallen snow that everything seemed to sparkle like diamonds.


It was then I realized that someone had already been up and about before my eyes had opened to the new day. Just in front of the window was a wooden walkway and a small bush. Both were coated in snow but clearly visible all around them were tiny tracks. Spikey had already come by.

Grey Squirrels do not hibernate. They remain active during winter and are most active during the daytime when it is warmer. I had continued to feed Spikey during winter with nuts. Initially, I left them in a pile on the wooden walkway. However, I soon realized this exposed the poor creature to the blowing wind. I eventually found a large rock that was suitable as a feeding table because it had a shallow hollow on its top surface which was ideal for placing the nuts. I placed it next to a small bush.


I had chosen the bush because its network of leaves and branches created a scaffold for the snow to layer upon creating a snow igloo of sorts with the interior spacious
and ice-free. Spikey was able to enter and shelter under the snow-covered bush and feed while reasonably protected by the elements. The bush was also within easy view of my window which enabled me to observe squirrel behavior throughout the winter.

At the Feeding Station

photocredit: drroz2

Drawing from Anonymous. Animal Tracks, Stackpole Co., 1954.



The tracks of the grey squirrel in the snow is fairly easy to recognize and has been described as the double exclamation marks, “!!”. This pattern stems from the gait of the squirrel who first plants its two small front paws in the snow and pushes himself forward before his hind legs land in the snow, just ahead of where the front paws first was planted. The long strokes of the double exclamation mark is made by the relatively long hind paws while the front paws provide the periods for the exclamation mark.


For me, seeing a trail of “!!” was a real heart warmer on a cold winter’s morning.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Lights and Sounds of Christmas

As Christmas comes nearer, I am trying to put aside the distractions of the world and to really enjoy the season by remembering it is all about celebrating God's love for all of us. I am trying to see, hear, smell, touch and taste Christmas. In doing so, I hope to share with you some of the things that make Christmas real to me.

I am going to start with the lights of Christmas. There is something magical about Christmas lights especially if reflected on the white snow. It also reminds me that Christmas is about light entering into a dark world to give us hope. I think also of the star that led the wise men to Bethlehem to see the baby, Jesus. There is no snow in Malaysia but I still try to get the Christmas lights out and decorate the tree (again no real pine trees so I miss the smell of pine) and it gives me a sense of warmth watching them flicker in the quiet of the night.

This following video might be a little overboard on the lights but I admire the guy's spirit and his artistic creation.



Then there are the sounds of Christmas. For me carol singing and some seasonal songs are essential parts of Christmas. I enjoy singing along. With this next video I hope to capture part of the special sounds of Christmas. The song by the Drifters is one of my favorite popular Christmas songs.



Finally and perhaps most important for me is to also find some silence to remember the birth of Christ and to honor and worship him. This last video has Sarah MacLaughlin singing a very interesting version of my favorite carol, O little town of Bethlehem. The phrase "And in Thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light, the hopes and fears of all the years are met in Thee tonight" reminds me of what was at stake with Christ's birth. I am reminded that God loved us and He gave light to our darkness and hope for our despair. Have a Blessed Christmas everyone.

Sinking Feeling

Malaysia started 2007 with a splash with what turned out for the southern part of Peninsula Malaysia to be the worst floods for a century. Not only were the flood waters extremely high (one village was swept away when waters rose 100 feet above normal) but in some areas it did not recede for almost a month. The financial costs to the Government alone for repairs was over RM1 billion or over USD 350 million. The reason for the floods was cited as extremely heavy rain and unusually high tides which caused the waters in the rivers to back up.

Now it seems that Malaysia will end the year with another set of record breaking floods. While it is too early to see if the damage caused or the duration of the floods are comparable to the January floods or even worse, the total area affected seem to be much bigger. Again extremely high sea levels and high tides are said to be the main contributing factors.

Flooding was an annual event with the onset of the Northeast Monsoon until the 1970's when the building of bunds, proper drainage and irrigation and other engineering efforts brought the flood waters under control. That is until now. After more than thirty years of controlled flooding due to these engineering measures, why are these record setting floods occurring now? Can all of you say, "Climate Change" and ........"rising sea levels"?

If I Were God . . . . . . .

If I were to put myself in God’s place,
And desired to reveal myself to all mankind,
Whom might I choose as champion or face,
To bring an image of God’s nature to mind.

For God’s Almighty Power or strength,
To show what Divine Might is about,
There is no need to think at length,
It would have to be Hercules or the Hulk.

God’s power and His domain is over all nature
Over the living and all physical matter, the Lord of the Universe
Able to create or destroy, past, present and future
Calling up storms and throwing thunderbolts, it has to be Zeus.

When it comes to portraying God’s justice
To show that God’s law is all-important, His judgment right
Judge Dredd executes swiftly without prejudice
Allowing no excuses or remorse for all is black and white

And what of God’s Glory, its brightness and its radiance
The King of Kings, surrounded and worshiped by the Heavenly hosts
Perhaps Cleopatra with her subjects prostrate in her sight,
Adorned from head to toe with finest gold and jewels might come close

But now, how to show the softer side as well,
That God is also qualities like love, merriment and happiness,
They amongst the Greek and Roman pantheons dwell
Let the good times roll with the likes of Aphrodite, Pan and Bacchus.

But I am thankful that God is greater and wiser than me
That He does care for man and to show Himself, He had a plan,
God’s power, might, divinity, justice, glory, love, shown clearly
Not by warrior or king, not in gold and finery or mighty men,
To serve and not to be served, in humility came as a baby,
To save and seek the lost, the journey started in Bethlehem.

“For there was no other way, the God of Love could find,
To reconcile the world and save a lost mankind.”

Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God with us.

Putting Words to the Pictures

With reference to the previous post, here is the answers in words for all you bloggers to lazy to burn a few brain cells.

1. The answer is boldly written for all to see. I wonder how old you thought I was. One blogger had previously thought I was a teenager. At first I thought that it meant she thought I was youthful but then again maybe she thought I was immature. Hmmm. Incidentaly if you look at what is written on the car bonnet or hood, that is what I would like to do with my next birthday. Any ideas how to do that?

2. Actually there are a whole bunch of places I would like to go to but this just happens to be flavor of the moment. It is Dubrovnik in Croatia. A World Heritage Site. History, spectacular scenery and warm Mediterranean waters. Plus it is still slightly off the beaten path.

3. Lake Louise. I was in Canada for about 3.5 years. From my base in Ottawa, I managed to see Toronto, Quebec City, Niagara Falls, Alqonguin Park, Muskokas, Kingston, Burlington, Gatineau Park, Vancouver, Kamloops, Banff, Yoho, Lake Louise and Calgary.

4. Chili Crab or Sweet & Sour Crab. Mmmmmm. It has to be done with mangrove crabs though. The meat is sweeter and more abundant. I've posted on this before on my World Food Spots.

5. Nothing special here. I was born in this old missionary hospital (today it is a private hospital) in the early morning. My Chinese Zodiac sign is a Tiger. An early morning tiger is a sleepy, contented tiger (i.e. not fierce) cause I should already have eaten.

6. Place where I live.....the Petronas Twin Towers, once the tallest buildings in the world. Well, okay, I don't actually live there. It is meant to represent the city which I live in but I live near by. Well, okay, not that near but I can still see the towers in the distance from where I live!

7. I grew up with about three dogs in the house at any one time but they were always my mother's dog or my sister's dog or my brother's dog. I only ever had one dog which was my dog and it was an Alsatian mix. The name was given by my Mother and as the picture shows, it must be some exotic East European name. Losing this dog was very traumatic for me in my childhood.

8. Again I have many good friends rather than one best friend. I chose the one with the most interesting nickname. The picture show the natives of Papua New Guinea who helped ferry wounded Australian soldiers along the infamous Kokoda Trail during World War II. The Aussies gave these men a nickname. This also happens to be the name of a bear in children's stories and is the nickname of my friend.

9. What can I say? My first name sucks.

10. It was in a water quality test laboratory on a project to develop rapid methods to be used in poor, inaccessible rural areas to detect water contamination.

Picture Me This

Once again, another meme which I have stolen from Jess.

THE UNCREDITED GOOGLE IMAGE MEME
(Just type the answer to the following questions into Google Image, then pick from the first page.)

1. Age at My Next Birthday:-


2. Place I'd Like to Travel:-


3. Place I've Been:-


3. My Favorite Food:-

5. Place where I was born:-


6. Place where I live:-


7. Name of Past Pet:-


8. Best Friend's Nickname:-


9. My First Name:-

10. My First Job:-


Feel free to join the fun. (Answers in next post).

Scratches the Gypsy

Enchantress by Andrew Artoshenko

It has been awhile since I wrote about the world of squirrels that I encountered in Paradise. To recap, there was the original rapscallion, the everyman squirrel "Spikey", then I spoke of his nemesis, the big muscular bully "Speedy" and then I introduced Spikey's love interest and in fact mate, "Loonie".

The next squirrel I met was a young female. It was late autumn and I was walking through my small garden when I heard a squirrel barking off an alarm from the small tree at the corner by the sidewalk. I looked to see if it was Spikey but it was not. Instead, I saw a scrawny squirrel on the trunk of the tree with its head facing ground-wards. Just a few feet below and pacing excitedly was the landlady's Persian cat. The two of them were staring each other down.

I am sure it comes as no surprise that I responded immediately by shoo-ing the cat away. Being an aristocratic Persian, it did not run away but kind of sauntered away casually as if to imply "I was getting bored anyway."

Both the squirrel and I watched the cat disappear round the corner and into the house. When that happened, suddenly the squirrel came down the tree until we were at the same level, "face to face" as it were. She lifted her head towards mine, our noses just inches apart and she scrutinised me. I, in turn had a good look at her.

She was much smaller than Spikey, scrawny even. Her fur was not even and in some parts appeared mangy and bare. It gave the impression that she scratched herself until the fur fell out. However, these patches did look old and new fur were already growing round the edges. Nevertheless, I dubbed her "Scratches".

Scratches had a very distinct personality. My relationship with her seemed quite established from that first meeting. Whenever, there was a cat around, she would climb a tree, call out her alarm and wait for me to answer her call and come out to rescue her from her feline taunter. She soon figured out that I was at her beck and call.

Her relationship with Spikey was also interesting. I don't think they were related but Spikey being the gentleman probably tolerated her presence. She did not cramp his style. He would shamelessly go into his dance and begging routine to get peanuts from me even when she was around. Interestingly, although Scratches would also take peanuts from me, she demurred to Spikey when he was around and kept her distance.

However, what she did do was to follow Spikey around once he got the peanut. Spikey would often hop around the garden with his peanut, sniffing the air before deciding where to bury the peanut. Scratches would follow him at a respectable distance of a few hops. Spikey would then bury the nut and return to me for another. Scratches would then dig up Spikey's nut and eat it.

She reminded me a bit of a alluring gypsy girl. Wild, spirited - a blatant thief and yet you feel good that she stole from you.

She also expected me to give her undivided attention at times. Sometimes when we were in the garden together but I was not paying attention to her as when I was birdwatching, reading or quite likely sleeping, she would put her teeth round the back of my exposed ankles and bite gently but with increasing pressure until I responded to her.

In a way, she was closer to me than even Spikey. One cold winter morning, I came out of my hobbit-like apartment and into a winter wonderland of freshly fallen snow. I was off to the bus stop to catch my ride to work. However, Scratches was up and about too that early morning. When she saw me, she barked a greeting. I said "Hi" and proceeded to trundle my way down the road.

Scratches came down the tree and ran after me, caught up and gave notice of her presence by trying to get her teeth round my ankles. I paused turn round and told her to go back and then started off again to the bus stop. Scratches ran after me again. Again I stopped and told her to go back. Anyway, I kept walking and to my surprise Scratches walked along with me. She was following me to work!

I had to stop make a U-turn and lead Scratches back to the apartment. I went in. Got her some peanuts and then said goodbye and went off again to the bus stop. This time she did not follow but with peanut in hands, she climbed a tree and watched me go off.

I felt great and I had a super day after that. I felt like I had come under the spell of the gypsy squirrel - the Enchantress.

The Truth is Way Out There

As a public service, the Lone Grey Squirrel has risked life and limb to reveal the truth behind some common icons of modern life. Be warned, the truth can be stranger than fiction! In fact, the "truth is way out there". It will shake the foundation of your world view and beliefs. Are you sure you are ready? Don't say I didn't warn you. Okay, the Lone Grey Squirrel presents the awful, shocking truth behind...............

......how electricity is really supplied to buildings!!!

........how the ATM machine really works!!!

.....who really makes that cup of coffee!!!

.......and who really is responsible for Wikipedia!!!!

Stay tuned for more investigative reporting from the Lone Grey Squirrel who is currently investigating how they found actors and actresses small enough to fit into a TV set........because inquisitive squirrels want to know!