Ballons

The brightly colored Helium gas filled balloons floating around a candy stall caught my eyes, as I walked past after dinner at a shopping mall some Friday nights ago. Immediately I thought of getting a couple for my twin nephews. Imagine how thrill they would be!

So I stopped by to check with the stall keeper if those balloons were on sale. Indeed they were. Excellent!

"How much each?" I asked.

"Sixty." She replied.

"What?!" I could not believe what I just heard.

"Six-zero?" I confirmed.

She nodded, smilingly.

"That's pretty steep, isn't it?" I said to stall keeper, which was an absolute understatement. What actually on my mind, I didn't think it was appropriate to tell her.

She nodded again, this time sheepishly.

What was actually on my mind that I wanted to say to her?

"What? Are you high on something? Or do you think I'm high on something that you can charge me such an atrocious price for a bloody balloon?"

I couldn't say that to her, could I?

I walked away.

I Swear

What is the best way to clear one’s name when it’s being dragged through the mud? The best way to do it, frankly I do not know. But the fab way nowadays, that I certainly know, it’s swearing in the name of the Holy Quran.

First, the alleged sodomy victim, M Saiful Bukhari Azlan did it to show the seriousness and weight of his allegation, that he was sexually violated by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, his former boss, the former deputy prime minister who now the de-facto leader of the opposition party.

Then there were calls from various quarters asking Anwar to do the same thing to counter-clear his name. Unfortunately he did not do it. Well, not yet anyway.

Later, the current deputy prime minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, did the same thing to deny any link of himself to the high profile murder case of the Mongolian lady, Altantuya.

Now, the Perak state UMNO chief Datuk Ser M Tajol Rosli also ready to do the same thing, the clear his name from being accused of master-minding the arrest of the two Perak State assemblymen, from the opposition party, by the Anti Corruption Agency, ACA.

Well, I'm not a muslim and I'm certainly not an Islamic scholar. But somehow I have a feeling that all these swearing on the Holy Quran things are not sitting right. It's gimmicky. It's cheap. And dragging religion into the mess, it's disrespectful. Hey, we all know politicians are spineless and gutless liars. Who would actually buy their words, even if they swore by the holy book?

Gee, I wonder who's next swearing on the Holy Quran?

"Congratulation Beijing"

16 days of sporting competition of the 29th Olympic Games celebrating humanity, friendships, peace and dreams was finally drawing to a close. 

The opening ceremony was spectacularly amazing, the closing ceremony was just equally magnificent. 

Quoting Jacques Rogge during the opening ceremony.

"祝賀北京"

Job well done in hosting the greatest sporting event in the world.

Beijing, you rock!

Stuff I Saw In Mauritania, Africa

I saw a kid asking for leftovers at a restaurant while the waiter was clearing the table. I also saw families feasting on mechoui, a whole lamb slowly roasted for 8 hours to perfection.

I saw old junk cars, literally readily falling into pieces any moment packed with people roaming the street. Heck I even saw donkey carts on the road. I also saw monstrous 4x4s and big ass SUVs and fancy wheels like Jeep and beamer 5 series.

I saw kids running around in dusty and crusty old over-sized shirts. I also saw ladies wearing beautiful and brightly colored malaffa, a cloak wrapped around the body from head to toe, flowing gracefully in the wind. I also saw men wearing boubous,  a long robes with intricate embroideries and costing a bomb.

I saw a family living with their goats and chickens in a flimsy shed built from scraped metal sheets and tarps, needles to say with no running water and electricity. Life is certainly tough. But a 180 turn around I saw Jeep driving into a garage, door remotely controlled, of a solid brick house, fenced up by a 6-foot high wall.

I saw men coming back of the day from the violent Atlantic drenched in sweat and sea water and smelling like fish. I saw ladies in their pretty malaffa, all dolled up waiting on shore to pick up the freshest of sea produce.

I saw men sitting by the road in the scorching heat of mid day by the road, selling cell phone credit reload cards. I saw men setting up his sewing machine under a tree next to the main drag sewing for a living. I also saw men in the pin-stripe suits and silk ties sitting in front of the desktops typing away or discoursing away in meetings, in a air-condition office.

I saw kids with their little faces infested with flies. I saw ladies with faces delicate and smooth with cosmetic products.