Korean exchange students

My Korean kids are at the brink of adulthood.They are curious to explore new places and are impressed by how modern our built environment is,the easy connectivity of the light rail transit,the 24 hour availability of food and the megamalls.They enjoy the local fruits,biscuits and village park nasi lemak.Some even said they wouldnt mind working in KL one day so they seem adaptable to diversity.when youths learn more about the vibrant cultures and economy of Asean,they will reimforce Aseans workforce with a global market.So the two most dynamic Asean members were Thailand and Indonesia until the leaders of Indonesia disengage from its proactive regional role in the bloc.Countries like Japan and China should have more cultural student exchanges with Asean as it fosters deeper understanding of realities on the grassroot level .Sports is another unifying factor like golf study tours or football vamps.. i went with my colleagues and persuaded them to try Turkish food which they surprisingly found tasty like pide ,grilled meat rice kabuli and braised lamb.the Lale Cafe in Centrepoint serves really delicious turkish cuisine.i love the sour cream dip that came with the pide.

Weekend warrior

Busy with work,i ensure i exercise at least 150 mins a week.Whether its on the workout machines,Qi gong or jogging. its so tiring when i do grocery shopping every 2 weeks for meat,fish,vege,fruit,condiment,baked goods and run 3 different places for bargains.if egg subsidy is removed,price of baked goods and even eating out will skyrocket again. at 40 cents an egg,its the fastest and cheapest protein so affordable for B and M40 group so if the budget impoverishes the middle class from food security. ,expect a backlash from the voters. i also need to clean the house and car at the weekend and change the kitty litter.this nasty kitty is so naughty and bad tempered.hes like a spoilt kid who wants things his own way.when i refused to let him into the living room,he howls loudly until i cant bear it.yesterday he made chaos and destroyed many potted plants on my balcony by overturning the pots as we refused to let him inside.the spilled soil is a mess .i really want to smack him for his tantrum like a kid bawling and rolling on the floor to make his demands.a cat with big catitude problem is big headache. im not destined to live a tai tai life .as a working mom all my life i try to balance the demands of home n work.now i do batch cooking and freeze it for the weekday.if iam too tired i cook rice and reheat the dishes like stew or braised meat. can i get a robot to do the cleaning and meal prep for me?

Asean plus 3

What DrM proposed to form EAEC has now evolved to Asean plus 3,China,Japan and South Korea.Why shouldnt Timur Leste be admitted as Asean member when they are a more democratic nation than Myanmar which should be expelled.But the lives of the Burmese ordinary citizens will be worsr off if economic sanctions are imposed on the junta.Now the only hope is. China which has considerable influence in Myanmar.Just as another pariah nation North Korea it is only China that can keep them in check to aid South Korea from falling into another civil war. Asean should remain engaged with the West so it remains true to ZOPFAN.The geopolitical issues need astute juggling of tensions between the superpowers. Asean collaborates to resolve issues as jaw jaw is better than war war.So why didnt Asean form a regional naval fleet to patrol the South China Sea.when it is a major shipping route to the West,why is there no Asean navy formed to combat piracy and prevent hijacks of ship and crew by terrorist hell bent on extortion to make a buck .Will Asean want a foreign power like an Asian Nato at its doorstep or rely on itself to ensure maritime security. Of course Asean members also want to protect its ocean sovereignity from foreign interference by non Asean claimant.so we need to work together to draw the line of our territory according to international law and not. refer to the self drawn 9 dash line that is clearly an ocean grab to misappropriate natural seabed resources like oil and gas and fishery.

Asian female author wins Nobel prize

Im so proud an Asian female writer won the Nobel prize for literature.it represents the diversity and inclusiveness of the Nobel prize so although socio cultural context is very different,the same human condition unites us.whether its positive emotions or negative the essence of literature shares the human condition of sadness,joy,disappointment,betrayal.tbe freedom of expression is a creative force of insights and nuances of language.Congratulations to Han Kang the South Korean author who has smashed the glass ceiling for winning this prestigious award.its a victory for Asian fiction and women writer.so,so proud of Han Kang

Teach an old dog new tricks

I attended in house training on use of educational technology .its so efficient and easy to use software for teaching and great motivational tool thro fun games. so who says you cant teach an old dog new tricks.its the chance to learn from young people and see how theyre so quick to adopt new technology.well ive learned to use zoom and microsoft teams so now im gonna pick up quizzez and kahoot.really interactive tools nowadays. At the end of the day the attitude of the learner matters most.Even in poverty stricken villages a simple chalkboard will do.Gadgets are just the icing on the cake.Sometimes they can be disruptive to the critical thinking process so that in Scandinavian countries,they are not letting students rely too much on smartphones but dumbing down of humans.

Quirky practices

The rise of social media influencers has exploded with live streaming.One can see the soft power of Video sharing sites and content creators who go for dangerous or deadly stunts to increase internet traffic to their sites. South Korea soft power is seen in tbe K pop culture that has extended the cultural influence of songs and dance to all kinds of Korean products from snail slime face mask,Cuckoo water purifier to Samsung smatrphones to make up.But the culture of mukbang or overeating large volumes of food online is very unhealthy and senseless. In China influencers compete to see whose waistline is the size of a wasp an A 4 paper or who has hollow shoulder bones that can hold a small fish .Such unrealistic body image leads to eating disorders and with peer pressure it is unhealthy practice.

Domestic abuse is criminal offence

What type of uncivilized society permits abuse of women in this modern times? The patriarchy feudal Chinese society has to reform its unfair laws that treat women as the property of her husband.When a girl marries a man who comes from another village,she is like water thrown out of her home,an outcast.So when the woman is divorced or widowed,she cant inherit shared communal wealth of her matrimonial home whether its the earnings from communal sale of farm produce and denied the villages allocation of government funds to those who reside in the village although she was born n grew up there.This is discrimation against females when Mao said women hold up half the sky in China. Now why are marriage rates falling in China?One reason is its so damn hard to get a legal divorce.A wife who had suffered physical abuse for 20 years is denied a divorce because the bullying husband wants to continue to enslave her and deny her freedom.The cheek of it is the barbaric husband threw the screaming wife over his shoulders to run out of the courtroom.I thought only the Taliban treated their women worse than their pets but the China laws are equally archaic. Must the law wait until the wife is battered to death or disability or end up in a cooking pot like Abby Choi of Hong Kong. Well i enjoy the freedom to be myself,not needing to please any man.I dress as I like,travel where I want,dance to my hearts delite,cook and eat whatever and whenever I like and not need to meet anothers expectations.Thats the freedom of choice. No need to be on an emotional roller coaster or get shouted at or sneered.nothing to tie me down.so the lyrics of You dont own me resonates with my soul as it sings of freedom to be me and self love is way more important than possessive love.