Takers: I am a smooth talker?

Its one of those days that I wake up feeling like I am on some kind of sugar rush. Running around my neighbourhood didn't work this time. So I've decided something new to entertain myself till my appointments for the day starts---> Take part in a contest:D

And so I discovered there's a brand new contest in the market. Thanx Eric for notifying. And just for the heck of it, I've decided to take part. Sirens and Sony Pictures have a simple contest with a fun quiz. I love quizes:D.

So what did the test reveal me as? Smooth talker. Now that has me rather surprised. Me a smooth talker? I'm not shy but neither am I a smooth talker. I do get stuck in the 1st gear of conversation many times contrary to what people think that I can chatter on any topic:P LOL. 

I can well imagine the smooth talker being the best distraction any company or gang can have to divert attention. And I reckon that it will be quite fun to watch the expressions of the smooth talker. And yes the choice of powerful, emotional words that he can utter depending on the scenario. And since there is a smooth talker - TI Harris as Ghost in Takers, this is yet another good movie that I'll enjoy - character analysis:D

But it has been fun taking the test. Rather interesting questions beyond your regular character test. So go take it.

But really, my favourite character has to be Jack Welles played by Matt Dillion. OK Ok OK, I admit it, I do have  a soft spot for this bloke having seen him play varied characters from The Outsiders, Rumble Fish, Wild Things, To Die For and Crash (he was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actor). And how could one forget his role in "There's something about Mary which he acted opposite Cameron Diaz. 

But on a serious note, I've always like detectives:D Seeing how they put themselves in the shoes of victims and criminals when they try to solve cases. In reality am I like that? Perhaps a little:P 

In Takers, Matt Dillon plays Jack Welles an old school, tough no nonsence, workaholic detective. This naturally explains Welles' determination to track the bank robbers down.  

So what is Takers all about? Not just your regular bank robbery botched by a hardworking determined detective. Watch as the characters unfold when the robbery in question is a once in a lifetime US20 million heist. A lil romance. A lil of personal issues. The intense characters are acted by: 

 • Matt Dillon

• Paul Walker

• Idris Elba

• T.I. as Ghost, the smooth talker.

• Jay Hernandez

• Michael Ealy

• Chris Brown

• Hayden Christensen

this is a must watch.  Don't believe, watch the trailer.

And yes, check out the MTV by TI. It gives you an idea on the movie too. I am so going to get this sound track for my running play list:D

Now, contest details, in case you're keen to take part too:

(1) Visit www.sirens.com.my

(2) Take the quiz http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/takers/site/

(3) And then blog about your favourite Takers character.

(4) Email your published post (link:P) to contest@sirens.my . Closing date 21st of October 2010.

!!! Remember to credit Sirens Media and Sony Pictures at the bottom of your post

The 3 most creative blog entries will receive a Taker's goodie bags to bring home. 

And the one prize I am so happy to see being offered is 2 units of the Sony Walkman W Series (NWZ-W252/W) MP3 Player to give away as lucky draw prizes. Now I have to start feeling lucky...I want that lucky draw prize:D


The above mentioned contest is brought to you by Sirens Media and Sony Pictures!!!

Animal cruelty: STOP IT!!!

Its crazy! Its insane! What were these people thinking when they did what they did? Its inhumane and how could a human even do it? To inflict such pain is just not human. These are inhumane idiots.

Do visit Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better (MDDB) to know more of their efforts with rescues. And please support them in anyway you can. Its much appreciated:)

I've taken the following from:
http://malaysiandogsdeservebetter.blogspot.com/2010/10/cruelty-against-dogs-at-its-worst.html

MORONS!!!!!

We were troubled to see the picture of two morons with a hanged puppy. But we are not surprised. Last week someone we know asked us for help. Apparently a puppy hanging from a rope was tied outside his friend's pet shop. Luckily, the puppy survived. We told them to allow the puppy to get over its ordeal before being vaccinated and handed over to us. Then about three weeks ago one of our adopters stumbled upon a dog lying by the side of Kesas Highway. The dog was dehydrated and suffered some internal injuries. The owner of a nearby workshop told the lady the dog had been knocked down at about 8.00am and it was almost 2.00pm when she saw the poor dog. No one, including the workshop owner, had even bothered to call for help. The lady rushed the dog to us and we admitted him to veterinary clinic. He died the same night. Then there is Jerry - he was crawling behind some houses in Taman Andalas, Klang. It is believed someone had hit him with a stick and injured his back - making him unable to walk. We admitted him to a veterinary clinic and he is still there and will be coming to our half-way-home soon. He still can't walk. Then there was the Terrier cross that was mowed down near PJ Hilton. No one bothered to help until a friend's sister and her husband spotted the dog. We rushed her to a veterinary hospital and she survived for over two weeks but died all of a sudden. She was wearing a collar - how did she get there? The vet says she had extensive internal injuries. The worst case is the puppy we rescued in Kapar. Someone living in the area had witnessed the puppy being kicked - he called us - we went to the scene immediately and rushed the puppy to a veterinary hospital. The puppy never regained consciousness and died a week later. How can you expect animals to be treated well by lay people when government bodies such as local councils condone and practice cruelty towards dogs?

Puppy being taken to hospital and at the veterinary hospital. Puppy was in come and never regained consciousness:-(

Dog ran down in front of PJ Hilton. Dies 2 weeks later suddenly.

Jerry was beaten up in Klang. His back is hurt and he still can't walk. He will be going of to MDDB's half way home soon.
These boys are crazy? Its not animal cruelty. But I am not surprised if they turn out to be crazy serial killers. Do you know them? They must be caught and due punishment meted out.

Usher _ OMG

I absolutely adored this song the first time I heard it, Needless to say its on my playlist during my morning runs and the recent Nike city 10K run:D

And this I think was one the song that JJ Hitz Fm had the crowd going OMG during the waiting time for the Nike 10 10 10 run.

Nike 10 10 10 - I did it:D

Completed my 5km of the Nike City 10k run:D I am really pleased with myself. Not merely coz I completed the run but more so, I ran from the start till the end without stopping. OK...I did stop to walk at the starting point when traffic was heavy and stopped to drink. There was no way I was able to drink while running. Either I was splatteringw ater all over my face or drinking through my nose.

Running with 10,000 people is not an easy feat. Not when you have people holding hands to run (not kidding this paktology couple), folks who walk on the right side of the road or folks who do a immediate stop in the middle of nowhere to tie their shoe laces! It was literally OMG!!!

OMG by Usher. I love that song to bits and was really happy when JJ from Hitz FM played that while we were all in line warming up and waiting to start. The mood was superb. The music and the folks in the morning was just stunning. And of course when the lights when off...it was another OMG!!! We were all almost glowing in our Nike tees as you can see from this pic that I borrowed from JJ's blog.

Run started at 715. And apparently my time as clogged by the red bib (I find it canggih like the beacon that we use on our cars during our track sessions) stuck on my shoe is 37.02. I know I should be able to do better. Lessons learnt which I supposed could help to improve time for my future runs:
• do not weave in and out to avoid the crowd. But then, what am I supposed to do?
• stand on the front line and hopefully I am fast enough to pull away from the main crowd (this one I seriously need to rethink on how feasible especially when I am only 5 feet tall). Not sure how large can my strides go...short person...short legs...you get my drift?
Any other suggestions?

I have to confess that while running, the right ankle was trying to protest at KM3. But the deal I had with myself was to run unless I cramped. So off I went on running or you can call it jogging all the way. Another factor that kept me going was "I hate to be smoked".

Yes I hate to be overtaken so I kept running and told myself to be consistent because when the other person slows down, my consistent speed should mean that I can smoke the person back. What is "smoke the person"? Its similar to "bite the dust". So did I get smoked? Yes I was smoked by the much faster (obviouslylah) and perhaps younger runners. I kept my promise to myself and smoked some who smoked me along the way. No hard feelings to anyone but that's the rascal in me that doesn't like to be left behind.

After the run, we were rewarded with water and bananas. Not kidding water and bananas! We were each also given a figurine. Mine was Jay. I think I chose him because he was wearing orange. Not sure what's my fondness for orange colour these days.

And I realised, looking for your pals in the sea of yellow people is not the easiest thing to do. Everyone pretty much looked the same. Finally found my running folks (the folks who are running with me for pledges to benefit our 2 chosen charities). We didn't managed to grab a pic together though. And I missed Lilian's picture too.

Here's Florence, Mambo, Gladys and I at the running grounds.

Jo and Charlie during our breakfast for King at El meson. Hungry after the run, I seriously wanted to eat more. Hehehe.

And here's pals Eric and Michael who didn't run but came to join us for breakfast. And let's not forget Fatty one half of a pair of adorable schnauzer sisters.

Hubby Dennis who woke up early and waited till I finished my run. Good pal Wijay came along to drop off his pledge for my run (THANX Wijay).

Malcolm Sze is a good pal of mine from BNI and has been encouraging me in my runs and practices. THANX Malcolm. *Muaks*

And here's some pics that I managed to grab after my run. Its a crazy fun run. And I think I am addicted to running:D

Celmonze...I am pleasantly surprised and pleased:D

Celmonze. Most of us would have seen this brand being around for some time. And the some time that I am referring to here is 30 years. Yes being around for 30 years does speak something of the brand, doesn't it?

And yes before I go one. Here's one for the dictionary.

Celmonze = cell reborn.

And I reckon that it does make sense since their products and services are aimed at helping our skin renew themselves as optimumly as possible.

The launch for Genetique was held at Monz in Damansara Utama (behind Starbucks and the same row as Wondermilk). The place was welcoming and cozy. First impression was "I am going to like this place". And true to the first impression as I will share later on, I did indeed enjoy the place.

Celmonze's new product is Genetique Stem Cell Synthesis. Stem Cell is not something new to many of us whether it is for health or even beauty.

But what makes Celmonze Genetique Stem Cell Synthesis different is its main ingredient. It is based on a rare Swiss apple. This tree is unique that it can heal itself even if its skin has been punctured. Oh. Even First Lady Michelle Obama is a fan of this rare Swiss Apple and its benefits. So you can imagine if we were to incorporate the potent stem cell, it could really assist our less than optimum skin renewal thanks to our lifestyle and of course age. I have not experience Genetique for myself but having seen Hanie's before and after the Genetique facial, I have to say her skin definitely looked good even without makeup! It had a clarity and glow to it. Seriously, I can't wait to experience mine next week. Will blog more when I have experienced mine.

Back to my time at Celmonze yesterday. We arrive early and post registration and receiving our goody bag (with a lovely home care traveling set) which I am looking forward to bring along with for my next mini getaway end of this month. I could use it now but I supposed a real test of a products efficacy is also when our skin is subjected to a different environment from the norm. So if it works well then, I reckon it'll be better for our regular days.

We were given a tour of Monz. Like I mentioned earlier, the first impression was warmth and coziness. And this extended not just from the welcome area but all the way into the treatment rooms. So when I had my session of the 1 hour relaxing facial (RM108) it was a combination of the ambience, the technique and the products that had me WOW!

Despite being in a treatment room smack next to the training room with the bloggers in full force of chats and guffaws during Hanie's Genetique session, I actually pretty much slept through my facial. Massages with aroma oil kicked start the entire session and pretty much set the "relaxed" mood. The right pressure and strokes were superb. There was no extraction in my case as my skin was not clogged.

I loved in particular the enzyme peeling that was used to rid my skin of the superficial dull skin and dead cells. While waiting for the enzyme to take effect, I was given yet another soothing shoulder and neck massage to ease the knots from the day's work.

A hydrating mask was deemed most suitable for my skin type by my therapist. She slattered it on and gave me a face massage which I fell asleep again. I woke up just when Yennee came in to take Rebecca and my pictures. Had a laugh (can't remember why) and LOL I fell asleep thereafter again. Soon enough my therapist came in to rinse off the mask. Facial ended with a suitable moisturiser and sunblock (yes, another shoulder and neck massage).

At this point I couldn't really see how I looked as the room lights were low. Once we stepped out, I saw Rebecca's. Her skin looked gorgeous! And she looked at mine and said WOW while I said WOW on hers, we both went off to search for a mirror to look at ourselves. It was certainly a WOW! One hour of relaxing facial and my skin looked clearer and radiant. I actually went off for another 2 more gathering with some pals minus the makeup since I was glowing from the facial.

With the amazing results I saw from Celmonze 1 hour versus the result that I get from Sothy's 2.5 hours facial, I think I am hooked on Celmonze and I can't wait till I have my session of Genetique to help my skin recover from my sun and aircon abuse.

Some lil tips that I know but rarely follow, I am quite determined to adopt seeing the trainer Adeline (a mother of 2 almost adult children and who certainly didn't look her age of 48 years old) shared with us. A few of the tips:

• Always use a cleansing milk or makeup remover to remove the sunblock and before our regular cleanser. Unless our skins are properly cleansed and ride of the makeup etc, we won't benefit from our creams, serums etc that we use on our skin.
• Cleanse, tone and moisturise is a must no matter how lazy or tired we are. If we are lazy, our skin is bound to pay the price for it.
• Our skin is also a reflection of our health. If you have coloured spots like pigmentation on your cheeks area, it will be a good idea to also have a look at you uterus. More so if you also suffer from painful mentsrual cramps.
• Our skin renews in a 28 day cycle. So while our regular skin care at home contributes to helping us achieve 70% optimum renewal, our once a month session at the beauty salon of 2 hours with salon or professional products will help with the rest of the 30% required for optimum youthful skin renewal.
• Its important to sleep between 11pm to 2am. That's when the skin's renewal is at its most optimum.

Conclusion? I've really enjoyed my visit to Celmonze. And definitely benefited from its products. Can't wait to see what Genetique can do on my skin:D

And if you want to try it out and see your transformation, head down to Monz:

105, Jalan SS21/1A, Damansara Utama

47400 Damansara Jaya, Selangor

Get Directions

03-7725-9925
••• Landmark - same row as Wondermilk and sort of opposite OCBC.

Quinoa, Marmite & Cod Fish

Had ulam quinoa for dinner last night at Country Farm Organics in Bangsar Village. So it wasn't half strange that I dreamt of it last night and obviously woke up thinking of quinoa. However, it was strange that the dream was vividly with Marmite and cod fish.

++

I love quinoa for its nutty & beany taste. But more so because it is a complete protein source under the plant category (great on my vegetarian days). Its easy to cook - cook it like rice or I learnt yesterday that we can steam it too. Having tasted the steamed variant at Country Farm Organics I would say, steam taste much better.

I obviously twittered my thoughts and Marsha asked for the recipe. Hence this blog thoughts today. And I'll have to cook it quite soon least it occupies my mind non stop. And in case you want to try it, please don't kill me if it does not come out the way you anticipated. The following is from my memory of the recipe rather than the actual which I have stashed somewhere.

Ingredients:

• 2 pcs of Cod fish (of course since I only cook for hubby and I)

• Grounded black pepper

• Fresh rosemary (dry is acceptable though the fresh ones pack more ooopmh)

• 2 tbsp Marmite

• Sugar (optional)

(1) Marinade cod fish with rosemary and Marmite for 10-20 minutes.

(2) Pan fry cod fish.

(3) When cod is almost ready, add the rest of Marmite with black pepper with 3 tablespoon of water to make sauce. Sugar gives the final dish a slightly caramelised feel.

(4) Add into cod fish and cook till done.

Serve the above with mash potatoes and salad. Of course now that quinoa came into my dreams, I'll be serving the Marmite cod fish over a bed of Quinoa mixed with some cashew nuts with a salad on the side:D

And in case you're looking for Quinoa, you can grab them at Country Farm Organics in Bangsar Village or any good grocer. Add a little extra extra virgin olive oil  or flaxseed oil for flavour. 

What I will be doing one of these days will be to steam the quinoa till it looks like this:

Then add some flaxseed or extra virgin olive oil to it. Toss in some roasted cashew nuts. I can almost visualise what the dish will look like with a side dish of salad. Yummy. I promise I will upload pics of the finished dish as soon as I cook it.

Bon appetite:D

63 years of marriage: Lee Kuan Yew's eulogy for his wife

"Without her, I would be a different man, with a different life. She devoted herself to me and our children. She was always there when I needed her. She has lived a life full of warmth and meaning."

Here's the eulogy that Senior Lee delivered for his late wife Kwa Geok Chew.

Its touching. 63 years of marriage is remarkable. But I found it more remarkable, the character, strength and pillar that she was in their marriage and his political career. How she has influenced him and the decisions that were made.

It is such a marriage that is made in Heaven. Even in her last ailing days, the love and care was there. Its as if they were still dating. The love being fresh everyday. Read the following eulogy which I have taken from AsiaOne

The last farewell to my wife

Ancient peoples developed and ritualised mourning practices to express the shared grief of family and friends, and together show not fear or distaste for death, but respect for the dead one; and to give comfort to the living who will miss the deceased.

I recall the ritual mourning when my maternal grandmother died some 75 years ago.

For five nights the family would gather to sing her praises and wail and mourn at her departure, led by a practised professional mourner.

Such rituals are no longer observed. My family's sorrow is to be expressed in personal tributes to the matriarch of our family.

In October 2003 when she had her first stroke, we had a strong intimation of our mortality.

My wife and I have been together since 1947 for more than three quarters of our lives. My grief at her passing cannot be expressed in words. But today, when recounting our lives together, I would like to celebrate her life.

In our quiet moments, we would revisit our lives and times together. We had been most fortunate. At critical turning points in our lives, fortune favoured us.

As a young man with an interrupted education at Raffles College, and no steady job or profession, her parents did not look upon me as a desirable son-in-law.

But she had faith in me. We had committed ourselves to each other. I decided to leave for England in September 1946 to read law, leaving her to return to Raffles College to try to win one of the two Queen's Scholarships awarded yearly.

We knew that only one Singaporean would be awarded. I had the resources, and sailed for England, and hoped that she would join me after winning the Queen's Scholarship. If she did not win it, she would have to wait for me for three years.

In June the next year, 1947, she did win it. But the British colonial office could not get her a place in Cambridge.

Through Chief Clerk of Fitzwilliam, I discovered that my Censor at Fitzwilliam, W S Thatcher, was a good friend of the Mistress of Girton, Miss Butler.

He gave me a letter of introduction to the Mistress. She received me and I assured her that Choo would most likely take a "First", because she was the better student when we both were at Raffles College.

I had come up late by one term to Cambridge, yet passed my first year qualifying examination with a class 1. She studied Choo's academic record and decided to admit her in October that same year, 1947.

We have kept each other company ever since. We married privately in December 1947 at Stratford-upon-Avon. At Cambridge, we both put in our best efforts.

She took a first in two years in Law Tripos II. I took a double first, and a starred first for the finals, but in three years. We did not disappoint our tutors.

Our Cambridge Firsts gave us a good start in life. Returning to Singapore, we both were taken on as legal assistants in Laycock & Ong, a thriving law firm in Malacca Street.

Then we married officially a second time that September 1950 to please our parents and friends. She practised conveyancing and draftsmanship, I did litigation.

In February 1952, our first son Hsien Loong was born. She took maternity leave for a year.

That February, I was asked by John Laycock, the Senior Partner, to take up the case of the Postal and Telecommunications Uniformed Staff Union, the postmen's union.

They were negotiating with the government for better terms and conditions of service. Negotiations were deadlocked and they decided to go on strike.

It was a battle for public support. I was able to put across the reasonableness of their case through the press and radio. After a fortnight, they won concessions from the government.

Choo, who was at home on maternity leave, pencilled through my draft statements, making them simple and clear.

Over the years, she influenced my writing style. Now I write in short sentences, in the active voice. We gradually influenced each other's ways and habits as we adjusted and accommodated each other.

We knew that we could not stay starry-eyed lovers all our lives; that life was an on-going challenge with new problems to resolve and manage.

We had two more children, Wei Ling in 1955 and Hsien Yang in 1957. She brought them up to be well-behaved, polite, considerate and never to throw their weight as the prime minister's children.

As a lawyer, she earned enough, to free me from worries about the future of our children.

She saw the price I paid for not having mastered Mandarin when I was young. We decided to send all three children to Chinese kindergarten and schools.

She made sure they learned English and Malay well at home. Her nurturing has equipped them for life in a multi-lingual region.

We never argued over the upbringing of our children, nor over financial matters. Our earnings and assets were jointly held. We were each other's confidant. She had simple pleasures. We would walk around the Istana gardens in the evening, and I hit golf balls to relax.

Later, when we had grandchildren, she would take them to feed the fish and the swans in the Istana ponds.

Then we would swim. She was interested in her surroundings, for instance, that many bird varieties were pushed out by mynahs and crows eating up the insects and vegetation.

She discovered the curator of the gardens had cleared wild grasses and swing fogged for mosquitoes, killing off insects they fed on.

She stopped this and the bird varieties returned. She surrounded the swimming pool with free flowering scented flowers and derived great pleasure smelling them as she swam.

She knew each flower by its popular and botanical names. She had an enormous capacity for words.

She had majored in English literature at Raffles College and was a voracious reader, from Jane Austen to JRR Tolkien, from Thucydides' "The Peloponnesian Wars" to Virgil's "Aeneid", to "The Oxford Companion to Food, and Seafood of Southeast Asia", to "Roadside Trees of Malaya", and Birds of Singapore".

She helped me draft the Constitution of the PAP. For the inaugural meeting at Victoria Memorial Hall on 4 November 1954, she gathered the wives of the founder members to sew rosettes for those who were going on stage.

In my first election for Tanjong Pagar, our home in Oxley Road, became the HQ to assign cars provided by my supporters to ferry voters to the polling booth.

She warned me that I could not trust my new found associates, the left-wing trade unionists led by Lim Chin Siong.

She was furious that he never sent their high school student helpers to canvass for me in Tanjong Pagar, yet demanded the use of cars provided by my supporters to ferry my Tanjong Pagar voters.

She had an uncanny ability to read the character of a person. She would sometimes warn me to be careful of certain persons; often, she turned out to be right.

When we were about to join Malaysia, she told me that we would not succeed because the UMNO Malay leaders had such different lifestyles and because their politics were communally-based, on race and religion.

I replied that we had to make it work as there was no better choice. But she was right. We were asked to leave Malaysia before two years.

When separation was imminent, Eddie Barker, as Law Minister, drew up the draft legislation for the separation.

But he did not include an undertaking by the Federation Government to guarantee the observance of the two water agreements between the PUB and the Johor state government.

I asked Choo to include this. She drafted the undertaking as part of the constitutional amendment of the Federation of Malaysia Constitution itself. She was precise and meticulous in her choice of words.

The amendment statute was annexed to the Separation Agreement, which we then registered with the United Nations.

The then Commonwealth Secretary Arthur Bottomley said that if other federations were to separate, he hoped they would do it as professionally as Singapore and Malaysia.

It was a compliment to Eddie's and Choo's professional skills. Each time Malaysian Malay leaders threatened to cut off our water supply, I was reassured that this clear and solemn international undertaking by the Malaysian government in its Constitution will get us a ruling by the UNSC (United Nations Security Council).


After her first stroke, she lost her left field of vision. This slowed down her reading. She learned to cope, reading with the help of a ruler. She swam every evening and kept fit. She continued to travel with me, and stayed active despite the stroke.

She stayed in touch with her family and old friends. She listened to her collection of CDs, mostly classical, plus some golden oldies. She jocularly divided her life into "before stroke" and "after stroke", like BC and AD.

She was friendly and considerate to all associated with her. She would banter with her WSOs (woman security officers) and correct their English grammar and pronunciation in a friendly and cheerful way.

Her former WSOs visited her when she was at NNI. I thank them all.

Her second stroke on 12 May 2008 was more disabling. I encouraged and cheered her on, helped by a magnificent team of doctors, surgeons, therapists and nurses.

Her nurses, WSOs and maids all grew fond of her because she was warm and considerate. When she coughed, she would take her small pillow to cover her mouth because she worried for them and did not want to infect them.

Her mind remained clear but her voice became weaker. When I kissed her on her cheek, she told me not to come too close to her in case I caught her pneumonia.

I assured her that the doctors did not think that was likely because I was active. When given some peaches in hospital, she asked the maid to take one home for my lunch. I was at the centre of her life.

On June 24, 2008, a CT scan revealed another bleed again on the right side of her brain. There was not much more that medicine or surgery could do except to keep her comfortable.

I brought her home on July 3, 2008. The doctors expected her to last a few weeks. She lived till October 2, 2 years and 3 months.

She remained lucid. They gave time for me and my children to come to terms with the inevitable.

In the final few months, her faculties declined. She could not speak but her cognition remained. She looked forward to have me talk to her every evening.

Her last wish she shared with me was to enjoin our children to have our ashes placed together, as we were in life.

The last two years of her life were the most difficult. She was bed-ridden after small successive strokes; she could not speak but she was still cognisant.

Every night she would wait for me to sit by her to tell her of my day's activities and to read her favourite poems.

Then she would sleep.

I have precious memories of our 63 years together. Without her, I would be a different man, with a different life. She devoted herself to me and our children. She was always there when I needed her. She has lived a life full of warmth and meaning.

I should find solace at her 89 years of her life well lived. But at this moment of the final parting, my heart is heavy with sadness.

Sweating for a cause

I've been waking up early and training daily. And the motivating factor for Nike City 10K run in KL is the fact that some pals have agreed to pledge some funds for every km that I was running. Then chatting with a few more pals, we decided why not the group of us run together and get more for charity?

So here we are - Gladys, Jo, Lilian, Charlie, Mambo, Florence and I who will sweat it out this Sunday for

• Hope Malaysia

• Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better (MDDB)

Our runs are cheap (yes at RM10 per km), the total money isn't a lot but it will make a difference for HOPE and MDDB I hope that you can pledge a minimum of RM10 for every km that we run.

Ken Chin KCAT Services an accountant / auditor friend of ours will be auditing the account for the funds and ensure that the monies received will be split in equal share to:

• Hope Malaysia

• Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better

A bank draft will be issued to both the said bodies.

The bunch of us and our distance are:

• Gladys Lee (5km)

• Jo Lee (10km)

• Lilian Yeo (5km)

• Charlie Chia (10km)

• Evelyn Ang Loo (5km) (Me:P)

• Mambo Ng (5km)

• Florence Lee(5km)

So basically you can opt to pledge for either one of us or perhaps all of us:D. The maths works out as follows:

--> If you sponsor me (Evelyn Ang Loo or missyblurkit as some of you know me) who is running 5km
= 5km x RM10 per km

= RM50

--> If you sponsor all of us:D
= 45km x RM10 per km
= RM450

A bank account has been jointly opened by Jo and I:

RHB 1-14138-0040592-3 (Evelyn Ang Gek Suan and Lee Sook Mun)

Please bank in your pledge and email us at Nike101010@evoke.cc with your reference number and the amount you have banked in.

Closing date: 17 October 2010.

Every Ringgit makes a difference. So folks, be generous:D Will we complete our distances? YES YES YES even if we need to roll or crawl our way to the finish line.

Ring the bell

I learnt about this campaign via Pixel Project twitter account PixelProject. Pixel Project uses social media and online strategies to combat violence against women globally.

Its as simply as ringing the door bell and asking "Can you tell me the time" when you hear a woman or a girl being abused next door. 

Of course I realise that this is possibly a way to interrupt any violence against any human or animal. So folks, don't be shy. Ring the doorbell and ask "Can you tell me the time" or "Is there something I can help you? I hear some strange noises."

The whole idea is to break the chain of action. And to inform the perpetrator that the people around are watching and listening.

Remember, your action means a lot. It may well save a life because violence may take a life literally or even "lose" a life. I've seen my friends and relatives turn insane from such act of violence. And needless to say heard of how many animals have died "courtesy" of animal abuse. So don't wait. Act now. Ring the bell when you hear strange noises!