Messy And Ugly

I hope this will be the last renovation work to our house for a long long time . It's not completed yet ........its getting there but at a slower pace . Of course the dust was everywhere ........and messy as well and the noise ........





Anybody who had had their renovation work done to their house will know that any renovation is not cheap ........and we are expected to pay cash as the work progressed . Yesterday the contractor / builder called asking for another RM4000/- I have to check on the house again to determine and justify the amount he is requesting . So far we had paid three quarter of the total cost incurred .




This was how the kitchen used to look once the backyard was walled up . Welcome ..............




I'm not a builder ......because if I am I would have done this renovation improvement to my house as a DIY project . I might have saved money ........but I don't think it is easy as it looked on the TV .




Anyway , I don't have the expertise ...the technical know how nor the time to do so . However I am not ignorant of the fact that when one is doing such work , one should not ignore safety . A safe working environment hardly existed .................. among the contractor's workers .

There were no safety glasses used ....nor work gloves or any head protection .........no work boots .There were no face masks too........I saw them covering their faces with a piece of towel to protect them from the dust the moment they used the hammer , chisel or electrical equipment .

The noise ........hardly any hearing protection too . I hope they don't suffer from any permanent damage to their ears ......... In other words there is hardly any personal protective used by these workers . I hope and pray that no accidents will happen .




I wonder if the first aids box was available and that it was easily accessible . Perhaps there was one but I did not see it . Maybe it was under the pile of materials that had just arrived . Imagine if something happened and on one on the site could find the first aid box .


I wonder what was in the contractor's mind when he took up our renovation work project .........was his own safety and those around him important or was the project more important ?

The Work In Progress

Hello there !!

Remember this ? This was how the new house's backyard used to look . There was a fence there to mark the boundary of my house .

Notice the windows on the left ? Those are the kitchen windows while on the right are the toilet / bathroom windows .

The backyard was walled up with bricks thus creating the space for the new kitchen and my back door . Notice that we did not walled up the whole area .

This is another view of the backyard . The toilet / bathroom windows are on the left . I did not allow this space to be walled up as well as ............

outside these windows is the sewage main hole ............that is the collection point for the solid waste of the household . Now if I were to wall up the place this particular thing will be in my kitchen area as well . You get what I mean ? I don't fancy that at all ........its just gross........!!!!!!!!!!

When my neighbors did their renovation ...they walled up the whole backyard area ....and as such this main hole is sharing the space and atmosphere of their kitchen . To them the backyard should be maximized to create that needed space .

Oh well....this is my house ...and I need not have to follow what they are doing to their house . My kitchen area may be small as compared to them . One thing I do know ...I don't have to feel that " yucky " feeling within me should any member of the household started flushing away their solid waste and perhaps had a whiff of the " smell " escaping in the air . I don't have to worry about that any more .

Well , as for that space outside the toilet / bathroom windows , I tiled the floor ............ I chose a natural color tile that is non slippery and won't show dirt . I wanted to put a washing basin there ...then changed my mind ...and asked the contractor to create this solid surface for me to do my washing ......for my children to wash their school shoes etc . Come to think of it .......a wet area . Hmmmm........this area will be the place where I'm going to put the brooms , mops and buckets too.

That's all , folks !!! Will update you again .

Harvesting

It's a different scenery now as I drive my children to school . The vast acres of paddy fields are golden yellow in color . The rice stalks are ripe and ready for harvesting . They are all of uniform height .

I have not taken a walk on the narrow road that separates each paddy fields . I would like to feel what's its like to stand or sit quietly for a while amongst the ripening paddy fields . I would love to do that someday .




Ripening of the rice stalks means its ready to be harvested . So far I've not seen anybody collecting the crops manually using a sickle . I saw a harvesting machine though . Usage of this machine must have helped the folks a lot . I don't know how the machine actually works but I do notice that it strips the paddy grains from the stalks .and a truck is nearby to collect the grains .


What I can say is I don't see the process of the actual harvesting if done manually ...that is the process of cutting , handling , stacking and threshing and winnowing as well as drying of the paddy grains .


Someday if there is an opportunity , I hope to be friend the folks here and observe and experience the harvesting of paddy . Insyaallah .....( God Willing ) .


Salam to everybody . Take care and stay and stay safe .

Celebrating Chinese New Year

Hello there !

Just want to share with you my experience when my husband's family celebrated Chinese new year .

My mother in law .
She's a Melanau lady and a Christian .

Though father in law had passed away twenty years ago , mum ensured that Chinese new year is to be celebrated . Being a christian and a non chinese , she did not observe any of the traditional religious ceremony like honoring the god's of the household and the family ancestors , offerings of various kinds of food........so there is no altar in the house .

Mum in law married a Chinese man .
These are some of her children .

All she wants is her family to be together . A family affair and a time for reunion ...... regardless of whatever their religions and whatever her daughter in law and son in law's races are .

To get to my husband's hometown , we need to cross the river .
Years ago we used this ferry .

Now there is a bridge across the river .

She do observed some "do's " and " don'ts " associated when ushering in the new year . Like no sweeping , no lending of money , all debts to be settled before new year . The house is cleaned thoroughly before the New Year to sweep away the bad luck . She would remind me not to sweep or clean on new year day ....so that I don't sweep away the good fortune . Of course I respected her orders .....be respectful is important when you are married to another race and culture .

This is the house that my father in law built .

Its a good time for business too. People will dig deep in their pockets to spend and buy new cloths , food and decoration material s . Plus the fireworks and firecrackers ......and they are not cheap .

Her grandchildren - a mixed family of Muslims and Christians .

Everybody tried to make it home for the reunion dinner . So new year eve's dinner is usually large . Plenty of cooking to be done and plenty of washing up after that . Plenty of children in her house which on ordinary days is usually empty . A reunion indeed for her family ; of peace and happiness .

Cousins .......A mixture of chinese , melanau and malay

As for my children , they are rich in their understanding of the chinese culture and learned to be tolerant towards their cousins and relatives of another religion and race . Language spoken will be an assortment of local malay , melanau dialect , hokkien and english . Very , very rojak . Rojak people , rojak food and rojak language .

Getting ready .....

After dinner everybody tried to be awake till midnight . Normally we watched the TV programs or chatted ...keeping up with the current news on everybody's progress . Nobody played the mahjong game or took out the cards to gamble ............which is good ..............

The firecrackers .

New year is not complete without the setting off the firecrackers ; supposed to chase away the evil spirits . The doors and windows are to be opened to let in the good fortune .In our case ..some windows only ...........as to do so meant we would be inviting in the mosquitoes as well .

Fire crackers lighted up at the stroke of midnight .

At midnight , the whole sky is lit up by fireworks and firecrackers . The whole area seemed like a war zone . And you know what ? In a small town like that there is nothing the police could do to stop people from lighting them up . There were too few of them .

Too loud for comfort .....

I felt we were practically thumbing up our noses at them. If the police are to really enforce the rulings , the small police cell would be packed . And they can't arrest only one person from each household .....they have to arrest all .....as everybody is guilty ...and that includes households that have great grand parents , grandparents , father , mother ....grandchildren , great grandchildren ...aunties ...uncles .....

New Year's morning ...everyone had on new clothes ...red color.

Very early in the morning of the chinese new year , the children would be most excited . They greet their grandmother and received their ang pows .....money put in red small envelopes .

Getting the money makes the children happy . Everybody is on their best behavior . My children would be very rich on Chinese new year day ...as they received money from us , their aunties and uncles .

As usual the family photo . Multi racial and multi faith .
We co- exist together .

In the distance I could hear the lion dance . There would be a stream of visitors to the house . Mostly , my mother in law's relatives and their families ; who are either melanau - christians or melanau - muslims . There is indeed an air of warmth in the air ...of rekindling family ties and friendships . A time too for my children to meet and get to know their relatives .Indeed the new year celebration has been simplified ...very Malaysian ..........

Schools would be closed for a week and most shops too . I have not seen one that is closed for two weeks because nobody or businesses could take time off for that long .After a few days ........it is time to be back home .


Till then , good luck to you ..........stay safe .....and take care on the roads .

A Chinese New Year Experience

Its that time of the year again . The Chinese will be celebrating their new year soon ; on the 7th February to be exact . For us at the kindergarten , it was an opportunity to introduce another culture to the children . A chance to expose the children and let them experience the festival . We told the children how important this festival was to the chinese .

We decorated the class environment with paper lanterns and paper chains.
Red , red , red everywhere . A traditional lucky color for the Chinese .

Chinese New Year was the school's yearly theme . We chose this as this was an excellent way to learn about cultures . We hoped that at the end of the lesson the children will have a better understanding of the cultures and traditions of other people .

A cheery environment .
A chance for the children to compare family customs with those of another culture .

The unit was thoroughly planned . It was designed to be for one month . It must be a simple introduction so that these little children could easily understand when explained . We backed up the unit by showing pictures and slides about how Chinese New Year was celebrated .

The parents were supportive . They bought clothes in red for their children to use during the course of the unit .
We do hoped these children will learn to respect and appreciate other culture .

During the course of the unit , the students will be exposed to other subjects . They will listen to chinese songs ( music ) , color and make decorations ( Art ) and say some chinese words ( language ) such as " Gong Xi Fatt Chai " , " Ang pow " . Other symbols associated with the festival was introduced such as the fire crackers ( pictures only ) and the red packet ( ang pow ) . We bought tangerines or oranges for them to smell and taste . We told the children about the chinese customs as well ...the do's and the don'ts during the new year and to compare these to their customs .

We called the Lion Dance Troupe to perform at the school .

The high light of the unit was the lion dance . I called up the association and made arrangements with them for the performance at the school . I did not pay anything . It was free of charge as the association was just too happy to show their culture to a group of non chinese children .However I provided transportation for the troupe and ensured their food and drinks were taken care of .

A memorable day for everybody .
A first hand experience to witness the lion dance .

Before the show starts ........a warm up session for every child . They were allowed to touch the lions head . Peeked at the large eyes ......

Tried out the lion's costume ....as many as possible ....and how it felt to be in the costume .

Some kids refused to come out of the costume .
Wow !!! What an experience !!!



Other kids were happy to use the cymbals ......

and beat the big drums with their bare hands .
Ohhh...what a riot !!!!



Preparation for show time .
The lion's body .....Its just a costume .....in red color ....




The lion dance needs two people to carry the lion's costume .
During the dance , the performer must hold the lion head above his own . To shift direction , he will lift , sweep , thrust and dip the head . Another performer is under the 3 meters of lion costume .

Peek a boo !!
Obviously , there were people under the costume . We could see their legs and feet .

The Chinese believe that when you do the lion dance , it will drive the evil spirits away .
The dance is accompanied by the beating of gongs , cymbals and drums .




The lion's head is large . Those big eyes can blink . The mouth snaps open and shut . Looks menacing to some children .

Now , where do you think are you going ?

Greeting the children in the class ....to their delight .

There were squeals of delight ...happy faces ...brave children ...amidst loud noises !!!

Indeed it was a day to remember . An excitement to the children , the commotion , the noise .....wow!!!! what a way to remember Chinese New Year !!!!!!

Gong Xi Fatt Chai to everybody !!!! Take care !!!!!

My First Day At School

1968 . It must be early January . I will never know the exact date . It was my first day at school. A Primary One student . I was seven years old . In those days especially in my town ....kindergartens were unheard of .

There was no dress code for the children at the kindergarten where I used to work .
Reason being ....I would like them to be comfortable in whatever they chose to use ; for self confidence actually ......as long as they were happy to turn up for school .

Attending school meant I had to use the school's dress code . That meant using the school uniform for five days a week and for four and a half hours daily . A white blouse and a brown skirt . I 'm proud to say they were made by my mother . She was good in sewing .

On top of that I had to use white socks and white shoes . I liked wearing the socks because it was not all the time I could use it especially when you are in hot , sunny Malaysia . I remembered I had short hair though I can't remember if I ever used a hair clip .I must have looked neat , prim and proper .

I encouraged parents sending their child to school especially on their child's first day . Do stay for five to ten minutes ; give the child a little hug and a kiss and assured he / she that you will pick her up when school is over .

My father did not send me to school as he was at work . Nor did my mother as she had to look after my younger brother and sister . So that task fell on my elder sister because we went to the same school !!! She was good ; she showed me my class ; made sure I had a seat ; lingered outside the class ..then she was gone . She was in standard six at that time . Knowing that you had a big sister around eased the anxiety of being alone in a room full of strangers .

A word of caution . I had seen parents who lingered too long outside the child's class . Lingering caused problems for the child , the teachers and other children . If other children saw you ..they would be asking for their own parents as well ....it actually started a chain reaction of crying and screaming for parents .

I didn't cry on the first day at school . Not on other days too .

At times a child will cry and cry . No matter what the parents and teachers did or say , it will not stop the child from crying .

Some cried and screamed of course ...........and their parents walked on and left them .

Exhausted ...after too much of crying . We let the child sleep . He must have woken up early ; bright eyed and eager for school .

Anything can happen on a first day at school . That included the desire to run away . Teachers had to calm them down ...that was what teachers are supposed to do .

I remembered there were lots of parents lingering outside the classroom ...peeking in and peeping in now and then . I looked for a familiar face too . And saw my sister doing the same thing . I felt good and safe .

Clingy children should practise separations . Leave child with friends or relatives one or two hours daily ........this exercise is good for both the parents and child as some parents do show worries and emotions . This indirectly increases the child's anxiety as well .

I remembered there were not many things to do on the first day . I was amazed with so much crying and screaming . Enrolled on that day too were one set of twin girls . When I bumped into them a couple of years back , flashes of them kicking the class door and screaming at the top of their voices stayed on in my mind.

First day at school must be scary for these twins . I thought having your twin with you make one feel secure . A new environment , strange and unfamiliar faces and they missed their parents .

Somehow I survived the first day at school . And I'm proud to say I didn't cry .