The birthday of a great photographer... my dad

Today is the birthday of my beloved dad. Just skyped and wished him a happy birthday an hour ago.

Looking through my old albums, I couldn't thank dad enough for taking so many photos of me when I was young.

Mom's sister married dad's brother and in total there're 7 kids in the family... we're closed knitted and grew up in a shop house. I was mom and dad's first born, but there're 3 cousins who're older than me. So, I'm no. 4 in the family.

Mom said I was a happy baby. How could I not be happy when I have such a happy childhood?

"bao bao" 抱抱...

A cool baby...

I love this photo... as if I can hear the laughter of 2 happy girls (me & my cousin).

"Ha ha ha... don't be joking...you mean I'm gonna own a public listed company one day?! ha ha ha... you must be joking..."

Another addition to our family when my younger cousin was born. Who'd expect that cry baby would one day have a very good career (and a love for LV bags)?

A photo taken in the shop (dad & uncle owned 2 shops together...selling textile & cloth).

So, we're the "Material Girl"!

That's not a doll! That's my adorable brother!

My 2 brothers

Daddy's girl.

I'm truly blessed to have such a wonderful (& handsome) dad.

Happy Birthday, Dad.

Thanks for those sweet childhood memories.

I love you.

"School Pressure Contest"

If you have never heard of this contest before, enlarge the image below to find out who' was chosen to enter this "weirdest contest" in the world.

The "lucky contestant" is no other than my self-motivated, goal-oriented youngest daughter TZ!

Oh ya... she's very creative too! (Just see the way she drew up the contest guidelines)

Education, Migration and a Mother's Love

Many years ago a teacher told my aunty that she wished her daughter would not get a place in the university but go to the teacher’s college instead. Being a teacher, I’m sure she wanted her child to get the best education. Unfortunately she just couldn’t afford the fee. No wonder my mom said: “孩子笨，頭痛； 孩子聰明但負擔不起他的教育費， 心痛。” If your child is stupid, you got headache. If your child is smart yet you could not afford his/her education, you will have heartache”.

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We had a farewell gathering for an elderly neighbor recently. She is moving out from her son’s bungalow because his family is migrating to Australia soon. That old aunty will stay put in Malaysia, but her son has decided to rent the bungalow out to someone else. Hence she has no choice but to be “relocated” to a new house in Subang that is close to another child’s house. I’m sure it'll take her a while to adjust to the new life and new place... minus her son & grandchildren by her side. 孩子移民，表面風光？For the aging parents with children migrating, it may look good on the outside only.

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A friend of mine owns a beautiful bungalow. She’s a very kind and humble lady who’s very active in charity. She told me she purposely foregoes the chance to stay in an even more expensive bungalow inside Tropicana for the sake of her children. She doesn’t want her children to grow up spoilt. Some poor parents have to sacrifice their “Needs” for their children. 再穷不能穷教育 No matter how poor, children should not be deprived of education. Yet some rich parents out there are sacrificing their “Wants” for their children. 再富也要穷孩子No matter how rich, we should limit our children's material wealth but to enrich their soul & spirit.

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The young T-shirt designers

Yesterday kids were having fun designing their own t-shirts.

I bought this set of Fabric Marker for RM15.90 from the recent Toy R Us sales.

TZ invited her friend Michelle to have fun together.

I gave them the freedom to decide what to draw. Thought they would fill the white t-shirt with flower, star or teddy bear but I was completely wrong.

TZ's design

Michelle's design (She wrote "I Love Me" on the sleeve!)

I wanna add a "LIKE" to this design :-)

TH's design... based on TZ's request for confetti. My artistic daughter creatively modified one of the angry bird characters into a Party Bird!

I simply love the *Click*!

Today is TZ's birthday. I would like to wish this "new age girl" a very happy birthday.

Mommy loves you so much and you'll surely receive uncountable "Like" from mommy.

Being inspired...

A house without books is like a room without windows. ~Heinrich Mann

My hubby and I love to read, and we're happy our kids are book lovers too. Our house is full of books, some are about the great people whom have made the world a better place.

A courageous woman who fought against unfairness and helped many escape from slavery.

Inspiring stories of 5 bold freedom fighters, including Harriet Tubman.

Book that inspires kids to dream the impossible dreams...

My little girl likes science experiment. I told her girl can be great scientist too.

Sample pages from YKid "Marie Curie". Very interesting manga. I enjoyed reading it too.

A book that emphasizes a lot on Mother Teresa's unwavering passion to serve the poor and sick.

Even though the artwork of this book is not as colourful as Marie Curie, my kids said they don't mind at all because they love the story.

I bought "Marie Curie" during Big Bad Wolf sales and it's only RM8. I fell in love with this series of book and found "Mother Teresa" in Border for RM32.90. I wish to buy the whole series including Leonardo Da Vincci, Mahatma Ghandi & Nelson Mandela. Kinokuniya carries "Nelson Mandela" but it costs more than RM50! Do we really have to pay such a high price for democracy??

I'm currently reading this book...it's hard not to salute this man.

My hero...

My hero...

Lee Ka Shing - The businessman we respect.

Lee Kwan Yew - I respect him even though I don't agree completely with him.

My brother lent me this book. So far, I've only read "I have a dream". Very inspiring.

Weak overcoming the strong... (children's book)

"In this cumulative, predictable tale of the weak overcoming the strong, the battleground is a tree stump in a forest, and the object in dispute is a golden apple. First discovered by little Wren, the fruit attracts increasingly larger animals, each of whom claims to be "king of the woods." In the end, little Wren proves victorious, and all watch in silence as she eats the worm that's been hiding inside this prized apple." (Editorial Review by Jacqueline Elsner, Athens Regional Library, GA)

The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it. - James Bryce

We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop. - Mother Teresa

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. - Mother Teresa

I would also like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to all the unsung heroes who attended the Bersih Rally on 9 July 2011. Even though there's no book (yet) about your contribution, you'll always be remembered for opening a new chapter in the Malaysian history.

My condolence to the family of En Baharuddin Ahmad. May his soul rest in peace.

Tough questions from my kids...

My kids asked me a myriad of questions, some caught me off guard. Even so, I'll try to give them honest answers, coupled with reasonable explanations plus some scenarios that make them foresee the consequences.

My daughters' questions:

1) Can I go shopping with my friends?

2) My friend invited me to nail spa. Can I go?

3) Is giving birth painful?

4) sex related...

My son's questions:

1) Can I drop Chinese (subject) because it’s pulling my (aggregate) mark down ?

2) Can I go to an international school so that I can study all the subjects in English?

3) Can I join a shooting club?

4) Can I buy an air soft gun?

5) Can I do a Molotov cocktail experiment?

6) Can I have a real tattoo?

7) Is dad your first boyfriend?

8) Can I date?

9) Why is dad driving a Harrier and not a Ferrari?

10) Can you buy me a car if I get a scholarship next time?

I could handle the above questions. However, recently there’re some tough ones that I truly don’t know the best way to answer.

Why police wants to catch those wearing yellow?

What is BERSIH?

Isn’t it our constitutional right to voice our opinion?

I’m truly impressed with my 14 year-old boy when he mentioned “CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT”. Son, you may consider a law degree… and OK...I'll to buy you a car if you get a scholarship*.

*Must be a FULL scholarship from an Ivy League university. Terms and conditions apply.

Kids are the real Transformers!

TZ's creation when she's 5+.

Last night hubby brought kids for Transformer show and they seemed to enjoy it very much. Times flies, it's been a few years since the first show came to the cinema.

Time to go down the memory lane...

In 2007, my little girl was inspired to transform her magnetic shapes & alphabets into a robot - according to her, that's the TRANSFORMER!

I was attracted by her creation and therefore used Photoshop's Neon Glow effect to transform it (I didn't do anything else to her original creation except just a click of button for the Neon Glow effect). It had created an unexpected result!

It's so fun that I started using other effects available. It seemed to be more menacing after I used the "Solarise" effect.

Transformer in action...the "Wind" effect.

A new "Heavy Metal species" that is fully equipped with armor and weapon. (Emboss effect)

Kids are truly inspiring...