Monday, October 13, 2014
Monday, September 29, 2014
bits and pieces
Comparatively the lives of the Chinese writer Xiao Hong and American poetSylvia Plath draw a parallel resemblance in that both women came from a time when women were repressed and their voices echo across the chasm of space and time to show an outpouring of their inner demons,the struggle to get their literary effort recognised.Xiao Hong is more detached in her writings on the mundane lives of rural folks whilst Sylvia Plath is more of personal intensity.Time to dig out my novel Tales from the Hulan river for a rereading but as people age,I guess the interpretation would be different from what I found as a slow and dreary account in my younger days.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
design for clumsy,absent minded folks like me
I just found out that our Art and Design department has a 3D printer-wow'how cool to design and make prototypes of a person's own creations or customise designs that are not mass produced.
With the frozen shoulder and increasing stiffness of arthritic joints,why doesn't someone redesign the bra so that pain in shoulders can be spared turning and twisting to hook up the bra.Why can't the hooks be located in front or better still dispense with the hook and eye system and instead use those peel off plastic strips that are used for fastening school shoes.
The other dreadful inventions are the child proof twist tops that have a vacumn that you have to press on and twist at the same time.When you want to get the darn sauce and the lid doesn't budge ,you wonder which genius thought up such unuser friendly lids.
With the frozen shoulder and increasing stiffness of arthritic joints,why doesn't someone redesign the bra so that pain in shoulders can be spared turning and twisting to hook up the bra.Why can't the hooks be located in front or better still dispense with the hook and eye system and instead use those peel off plastic strips that are used for fastening school shoes.
The other dreadful inventions are the child proof twist tops that have a vacumn that you have to press on and twist at the same time.When you want to get the darn sauce and the lid doesn't budge ,you wonder which genius thought up such unuser friendly lids.
Monday, June 9, 2014
why call it middle age?
Aha! Middle age is when you have gained a lot not at the top (oops where did I leave the keys?)but at the middle.
When your sweetie calls you " The apple of his eye"",you can figure out it's your figure
When your sweetie calls you " The apple of his eye"",you can figure out it's your figure
Monday, April 28, 2014
What type of food represents the diverse cultures of Malaysia?
Jun brought some of his ASEAN friends home for an overnite stay.Great to be near young adults with boundless energy and curiosity except that I was a tad overanxious that the gals should go home with nothing but good memories (what lately with rampant snatch thefts on women ,our neighbourhood roads barricaded with road blocks and high fences and the petty crimes increasing).Luckily,they got to see what they wanted to see without any mishaps.I cooked a lunch of Nonya pie tee,ayam pong teh and assam prawns with pineapple cubes,bought some nyonya kuih and made cendol for them.Not surprisingly,the condiment they enjoyed the most was the sambal belacan with pounded dried shrimps.ASEAN cuisine shares a lot in common with fermented food like tempe,fish sauce,budu and fermented shrimp or fresh herbs like thai basil,daun kesum,lemongrass etc and spices like pepper,clove,star anise etc.Some curries are coconut milk based,some tamarind based and some tomato based.
What typical street food represent my country?
I would choose grilled satay with the piquant peanut sauce,curry laksa with prawns,chicken,cockles,brinjals and long beans and banana roti canai, nasi kerabu/ulam,pasembor,penang loh bak,and ais kacang.
Since the only thing I can cook at home is the curry laksa,I would need to look for a good food court that serves all of the above except that nowadays,half of the local hawker stalls are not manned by locals and the quality of food prepared nothing like what the old sifu prepared so I would need to master the art of cooking street food. There is a skill in control of the flames,the timing and the meticulous attention to cooking which is not found in foreign cooks.Aiya!Noone cooks like those old timers.I miss the food of the good old days.
What typical street food represent my country?
I would choose grilled satay with the piquant peanut sauce,curry laksa with prawns,chicken,cockles,brinjals and long beans and banana roti canai, nasi kerabu/ulam,pasembor,penang loh bak,and ais kacang.
Since the only thing I can cook at home is the curry laksa,I would need to look for a good food court that serves all of the above except that nowadays,half of the local hawker stalls are not manned by locals and the quality of food prepared nothing like what the old sifu prepared so I would need to master the art of cooking street food. There is a skill in control of the flames,the timing and the meticulous attention to cooking which is not found in foreign cooks.Aiya!Noone cooks like those old timers.I miss the food of the good old days.
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Monday, March 17, 2014
what is news?
When the dog bites the man,that's usual
When the man bites the dog,that's news.
Which is more cruel? when the shark eats the man or when the man eats the shark?
When the man bites the dog,that's news.
Which is more cruel? when the shark eats the man or when the man eats the shark?
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Hope for the families of MH370
Our hearts go to the families of the airplane MH370.
As long as there is no news,there is still hope.
Hope and prayers
As long as there is no news,there is still hope.
Hope and prayers
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Friday, February 7, 2014
Dedicated To the one who has loved and now grieves
Life is like the dew drop
a gust of wind
the buds quiver
some will blossom
some will fall
into this world empty handed one enters
from this world empty handed one leaves
the bitterness has been swallowed,the honey has been savoured
forever with you will the memories remain
forever will the memories
remain with you
Beyond the mountain the sun sets
On the other side in the faraway world,the sun rises
Like day and night
shadows are cast only when there is light
If you feel your world is dark
one day the light will return
one day your world will brighten
the tears,the darkness
all these shall pass
one day
Friday, January 24, 2014
changes at macro level needs effective leadership
The ship has run aground in many nations or the nations are running on autopilot.
The business CEOs of Royal Philips and Google are looking into the crystalball with ideas of closed system of engineering and driverless cars that would transform the way we live,work and play.That would call to question that economic premise on factors of production that treat human resources as replaceable and infinite and resources like raw materials and energy as finite.Patterns of shared consumption and usage ,ideas of public ownership,use of public transportation,shared storage facilities ,communal areas of computer use and internet access,etcbased on community needs would come to mind.
But at the macro level,the missing link in the picture would be the implementation of those ideas by visionary leaders as which nation would want to start the ball rolling as drastic changes to the status quo would threaten their political stranglehold on power.
How would this political impasse be overcome in the new millenium to drive changes?
Hmmn,instead of vending machines that drop candies,why not vending machines that deliver miniature green vegetables like tomatoes,wax apples ,grapes,miniature pineapples in biodegradable containers which you can throw away into those same vending machines for recycling like pieces of waterproof paper containers that are like origami .The user takes a recycled paper and feeds it into a slot and robotic arms reassemble them into containers for ready made salads,noodles.Powered by solar energy and water that is recycled ,such machines could be deployed to zones of natural disasters to dispense food without the need to set up relief kitchens .
Self assemble your own meals to suit your own tastebud.
Talk about it,could I install one of the instant chef at home so that I don't need to slave in the kitchen ?
The business CEOs of Royal Philips and Google are looking into the crystalball with ideas of closed system of engineering and driverless cars that would transform the way we live,work and play.That would call to question that economic premise on factors of production that treat human resources as replaceable and infinite and resources like raw materials and energy as finite.Patterns of shared consumption and usage ,ideas of public ownership,use of public transportation,shared storage facilities ,communal areas of computer use and internet access,etcbased on community needs would come to mind.
But at the macro level,the missing link in the picture would be the implementation of those ideas by visionary leaders as which nation would want to start the ball rolling as drastic changes to the status quo would threaten their political stranglehold on power.
How would this political impasse be overcome in the new millenium to drive changes?
Hmmn,instead of vending machines that drop candies,why not vending machines that deliver miniature green vegetables like tomatoes,wax apples ,grapes,miniature pineapples in biodegradable containers which you can throw away into those same vending machines for recycling like pieces of waterproof paper containers that are like origami .The user takes a recycled paper and feeds it into a slot and robotic arms reassemble them into containers for ready made salads,noodles.Powered by solar energy and water that is recycled ,such machines could be deployed to zones of natural disasters to dispense food without the need to set up relief kitchens .
Self assemble your own meals to suit your own tastebud.
Talk about it,could I install one of the instant chef at home so that I don't need to slave in the kitchen ?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)