Tempting The God

When I was still in my twenties, I used to play a lot of badminton. I would play between 3 to 4 times a week without fail. I loved the game from my schooling days. But then I injured my right knee. A doctor I consulted put it quite prettily—the problem was mainly due to wear and tear. According to him, a possible remedy was to operate on the knee. It was not a very intrusive procedure; he used the layman term "keyhole" surgery. But that would've put me out of action for at least 6 months.

I reckoned that even if I decided for the surgery, I wouldn't have been able to play the singles (which I loved) for very much longer beyond the age of 30. And since I did not suffer any pain if I stayed away from badminton, I opted against the surgery. And that was pretty much the end of my hobby.

Since then, I've given up badminton totally. But the good news is that I've embarked on other hobbies which are also interesting and enjoyable. However, every now and then I still follow the news about the sports of badminton, though I must admit that these days I'm very much out of touch of the badminton world.

I had an interesting chat with a friend at a coffee shop recently. We were talking about our Malaysian doubles pair, Koo Kien Kiat and Tan Boon Heong. Normally, I am not a big fan of the doubles games in badminton. But the Koo-Tan pair is a bit of an exception because they have achieved quite a big feat in the world scene. They have been the world top-ranked pair, and if I am not much mistaken, they still are now.

I was quite amused by my friend's opinion about this Malaysian pair. He said, they were supposed to be the top pair in the world, not only in terms of ranking, but in real terms such as being the unbeatable pair the world over. The fact is this pair haven't been winning a lot of tournaments in recent years. They've been performing quite impressively to reach many advanced stages in tournaments all over the world (hence the high ranking). Yet they lost more times than winning.

In particular, Koo Kien Kiat did very well in 2006 and 2007. He seemed to take the badminton world by storm back then. He won quite a number of tournaments and swiftly rose to the top of the world ranking.

Koo is quite a fashionable young man. I can still remember seeing his coloured hair, and I said "wow!" to myself. Apparently, his hair meant a lot to him. But then one day, prior to a game in the finals, he made a stunning announcement. When he made that announcement, he was on an unbelievable winning streak. They looked so invincible, they practically bulldozed their way over all the top pairs in the world to win one game after another in succession! He said if he could win that game too, and hence the tournament, he would shave his head!

Then indeed they emerged champion for that tournament. And I think the whole of Malaysia was waiting to see his bald head. Days passed, still nothing. Weeks passed, still nothing. In the end, he cut his hair very, very short, but not bald. When asked why didn't he keep his promise, he said he had some kind of skin problem which prevented him to shave his head totally. I was thinking, if he knew that he had such skin problem, then why make that promise in the first place? Was that some kind of media stunt?

Anyway, if anyone had noticed, they went more or less downhill from then on. Of course they still won some more tournaments after that, but somehow lost the momentum which appeared so fantastic. From such a formidable pair, they suddenly turned into something quite at par with the other strong players from other countries.

My friend was saying that Koo was tempting the God when he made the promise to shave his head. And when the God gave him that victory, he did not keep his end of the bargain. And so he was punished. My friend said it's a good lesson—never tempt the God by making a promise you're not willing to keep!

Last week, Koo, together with his partner, Tan, reached the finals of yet another major tournament. And again they failed to win that tournament. I'm not a superstitious person, but maybe there is some truth in what my friend said, huh?

Man Woman

What makes a woman a woman?

Her body organs and how they function?

Her mind?

The shape of her body?

If a woman trains her body and achieves the physique and strength of a man—or even more than that of a man—does that make her less of a woman and more of a man?

Or how about if she cuts off both her breasts and nipples. Does that automatically turn her into a man?

Mountains Ahead

JJ received her report card on Tuesday. The good news is, she didn't get first, just as I had expected. So we don't have to buy her a kitten after all. In St James, she'd probably need to get something like at least 99% average score to have a shot at the top of the class. Well, JJ only managed an average of 94.75%, so she was only able to edge a bit from 8th to 7th in her class. However, when taking the entire primary 1 students into account, JJ got 52nd from a little over 200 students. Still a lot of room for improvement. Overall, I'm happy to note that JJ had improved from 20th during her first exams up to 7th.

Her mommy though is getting all worked up about JJ still not achieving at least top 5 in her class. Quite honestly, I don't know why all the excitement. 94.75% is perfectly fine as far as I am concerned. If she can keep her grades above 90% I would be a very happy daddy. But of course if she can get into the top 5 in her class with that score, that would be even better!

Many of my friends who really know me would know that I am not particularly concerned about brilliant exams results. I'm not saying it's not a good thing. If my child can achieve 100% in her exams, I would be pleased. However, experience have taught me that not all of these brilliant kids can do well when they finally reach the job market. The practical aspect has more or less been left out from the education systems. Quite often those who didn't do too well in school can end up becoming more successful when they leave school.

If I can develop the thinking habit in JJ, I would consider that as more of an achievement than, say, 12 As in the SPM, though again if she can also get those 12 As, that would be nice too.

Today, Mia went to JJ's school to buy some new books for next year, i.e. primary 2. And this evening, after completing her run at the gym, she rushed home, had dinner and shower; and then embarked on scrutinising what's in store for JJ in primary 2.

When I went in for a bath, Mia was already comfortably sitting in bed with all the books around her. By the time I got out of the bathroom, Mia was already prepared to report her findings to me. If at the beginning of this year (primary 1) her main concern was Chinese—and Chinese was the subject that pulled JJ down to 20th in class during the first term—this time it seems that the major concern is with Bahasa Malaysia (BM).

Mia is a bit worried after reading a few pages of JJ's text book. She said the standard is just too high for primary 2. She read some paragraphs aloud and kept shaking her head. I have a feeling that Mia won't be able to help JJ very much in BM. For a person like Mia who's Malay is quite comical at times, I can imagine why she's worried. I mean, her standard is so low to the extent of translating "big shame" to "besar kemaluan" in Malay. So you can understand what she's feeling now.

I foresee that I will be spending a bit of time to help JJ with her BM next year. Luckily I know the language as if it's my first language. I am very much at home with BM. But I can expect that JJ will be struggling because she has very little foundation in the language. That's probably because we've been speaking almost exclusively English with her since she started to talk, and then a bit of Mandarin when she started school.

So JJ has a lot of work to do in Primary 2. Perhaps extra tuition classes can also help. And beyond that there will be many more mountains to scale in the years ahead.

In the mean time, Mia has already embarked on finding the best formula for JJ to break into the top 5 in class. And I am constantly reminding her not to make this about her. Let's not forget that we want JJ to do well in her studies, first and foremost, for herself—not for us. We're only here to help if we can. Mia said that goes without saying. But why am I not convinced?

Chicken & Duck In The Office

When a Malay speaks to a Malay, he will speak in Malay. When a Chinese speaks to a Chinese, he will speak in Chinese. But when a Chinese speaks to a Malay, what language will be used?

In Malaysia, the national language is Bahasa Malaysia, which is actually Malay which has been "Malaysianised". Bahasa Malaysia is widely used in most Government offices throughout the nation. But in the private sector, English still prevails, both in the spoken and written sense.

However, sometimes it is difficult to use solely English when speaking to some people because they're simply unable to speak the language. So there will be times when Malay is used instead. But not everybody is well versed in Malay too, so some people have no choice but to speak a mixture of English and Malay.

In my office recently:

Chicken: "Bikin dua copy" (Make two copies).

Holding a piece of document and speaking to the office girl.

Duck: "OK..."

And then a little while later, the duck comes back with two cups of coffee.

To those who still don't know it, COFFEE is KOPI in Malay.

Singapore Marathon—Tapering

Well, it's less than 3 weeks to the Singapore Marathon. Last Sunday, I ran my peak long run of 35km. I ran much slower than all the other long runs before that, and I finished those 35km within 0:04:10. I am quite pleased with myself, but what's bothering me now is that even at such a slow pace, my legs were still sore for 2 days after that. Obviously that's not a good sign, and I'm running out of ideas on how else to run the 42.2km under 0:04:30.

The good news, however, is that my short runs during the weekdays are still holding steady at the usual pace, i.e. about 6 minutes or less per kilometre. And earlier this evening, I ran the scheduled 9km within 54 minutes even though my legs were still a bit sore. I have no idea how I'm gonna do the 6.5km pace run tomorrow, but hopefully after tonight's rest, my legs will be better tomorrow. Then another 8km on Thursday. This Sunday, I'm so glad that the long run will be reduced to 20km only, so I should be able to survive that quite comfortably. Besides, I don't have to wake up a 4am.

The tapering process is such a relief! Next week, I will cut down my distances even further to 6.5km, 5km, 6.5km and 13km (Sunday). But as I get closer to the actual marathon, there is that anxiety again. I had intended to improve on the 0:04:40 I achieved during the recent Borneo International Marathon (BIM) in October. But from my runs this last week or so, I did not feel that I have it in me to do any better in Singapore. For one thing, I have a feeling the weather in Singapore will be much hotter than what we had in KK during the BIM. And in terms of speed and stamina, I can't say that I have improved since October. So in all likelihood, I will be struggling even to maintain that 0:04:40!

Several of us from KK will be there in Singapore. Dr Helen and Dr Liaw will be there, the latter apparently all set to achieve 0:04:15 this time. Dr Helen, as usual, will be running for the sake of running and not for the time. Judy Liew will be there too, and I hope she'll give me face by not beating me too badly. Johan Amilin will be there for the half marathon, and so will Claire Andrew and Mia. Oh! and Dr Felice Huang will also be running the 42km, though I really can't imagine how she's gonna complete it. I hardly ever see her doing her long runs. She turned up last Sunday for her long run, but had to leave after only 20km because she had a scheduled C-section on her patient that morning. So quite a number of us freak runners from the East.

Now the next thing to do is to find out where we should go and celebrate after the marathon. That should be exciting to look forward to. Johan, I think this is where you come in!

Manhunk

From today's The Borneo Post (click on picture for clearer view):

The above are those who aspire to be the next supermodel and manhunk (who on earth came up with this weird word anyway?). These are only from the first "Tawau selection of the Sabah Supermodel & Manhunk Search." So I suppose there will be many more people from all over the country getting selected soon.

I wouldn't dare to comment on the women in the picture. I guess at my age, most young women would look sexy and beautiful.

I don't know about you all, but these men don't look like "hunks" to me. If anything, they look more like sissies.

But what is a "hunk" anyway? Well, here's the meaning of the word according to my Oxford English Dictionary 6th edition:

hunk: noun. 1 a large piece cut or broken from something larger. 2 informal a strong, sexually attractive man.

So we can safely assume that we're referring to the second meaning above. I just wonder if by "sexually attractive man", it means sexually attractive in a feminine way.

Bracing Up For Typhoon Diana

Mia and I will be going to Singapore for the Standard Chartered Singapore International Marathon from 5th to 7th December (the marathon is on 6th December). We will be flying home to KK first thing in the morning of 7th December, which is a Monday. And I’m taking 2 days leave from work that Monday and Tuesday.

Typhoon Diana is now set to strike again in the evening of 7th December, at approximately 7pm. So we will be home before Diana’s arrival. I can foresee an exciting Christmas and Chinese New Year in the weeks ahead, and I’m sure my siblings are all ready for a lot of bickering and back-stabbings amongst themselves. As always, I will be having lots of fun watching them with all the commotion.

Mom comes to visit every few years’ intervals. But of course between those visits we do keep in touch with each other through phone calls every now and then. Mom has a special talent in causing turbulences among my siblings. So amazing is her talent that she can cause those turbulences even from as far as Vancouver, Canada, by remote control. This is just one such example of her talent. Needless to say, that amazing talent of hers has an even more potent effect when she’s near at hand.

Mom is not one who’s evil-minded; who enjoys seeing or causing disasters. Most of the time, she’s driven by her concern for our well-being. She’s after all only wishing for all the best for her children. I think most mothers can understand that. So she tries to “organize” some things in our lives which she thinks have rooms for improvements. It is something which we children should be thankful for. Yet ever so often we find that her “ideal” solutions to our “problems” are not so agreeable to us. Then what?

Now I don’t have to mention here that most mothers are very sensitive creatures. If the children disagree with their ideas, that can amount to ungratefulness and disrespect. Mom can feel unappreciated; she can feel unwanted—that her presence is such a nuisance to us children. And unfortunately, there might be some truth in the latter too.

Mom thinks that our children should have their proper afternoon naps. They shouldn’t be eating junk food close to dinner time, because that will spoil their appetite for dinner. And when they’re not eating properly for dinner, then of course that will deprive them of the essential nutrients their growing bodies need. Not too much TV games and cartoon movies too, for those will spoil their eyesight and make them forget about their studies. Not too much candies because that’s bad for their teeth.

Oh if only we know how to bring up our children properly, that would absolutely please mom. Mom’s sons shouldn’t be doing the cooking for their lazy wives even though they’re doing it willingly and gladly once in a blue moon.

And so, we are eagerly waiting for the typhoon this December. When it’s all over, there will inevitably be a trail of destructions, and my siblings will be there to pick up the pieces.

Thankfully, I am immune from the power of the typhoon. This is my life, and I shall live it the way I want to. I shall not be shaken by the typhoon, however powerful it is.