I Love You Ah-Ma

My grandmother passed away yesterday. All of 88 years old. The last time I saw her was exactly a year ago, at an old folk's home in Ipoh. She was no longer lucid, and caring for her required professional assistance. All that remained was her instinct to love her loved ones, and to defend herself. While she could only muster an uncertain though caring smile for any family member, any nurse that got near her incurred her wary wrath in the form of a stinging pinch. Feeble as she may seemed then, but one could see plenty of skin agonizing in the grip of her thumb and index finger. Her alertness and reflex towards the nurses did not wane for two whole days. In the end, she had to be brought back to an aunt's home to be supervised by a live-in nurse.
So caught up was I with my life, I did not pay her a visit since, merely enquring about her well-being through my parents. Then mom called, telling me the news in between her sobs. Mom was most fond of ah-ma for being a non-imposing mother-in-law. Gathering my siblings, we made the trip back to Teluk Intan. It was great fun bonding during the 3 hour drive, reminiscing our experiences with our father's mother.

To many visitors and well-wishers, it could have been confusing arriving at my aunt's house where ah-ma (grandma in Hokkien) was laid in rest. The first sight was a significant number of telekung-clad ladies milling about. Then the boisterous greetings and chatter were peppered with equal amounts of English, Malay, Tamil, Hokkien, Cantonese and Hakka. But yes, they were at the right wake. That's the family that my ah-ma raised, a true Malaysian smörgåsbord. It was organized chaos, four generations in all. Isn't it ironic how a death in the family brings more relatives together than weddings and births? Still, it was such joy to get together, to catch up and renew the ties that bond us. Ah-ma had apparently mused some years ago, that she wished for her funeral to be a warm affair and not the sombre occasions of which she had attended plenty. She got her wish. Though her clan is in sorrow at her passing, we were joyful for the kindship reaffirmed.

Ah-ma had the Holy Bible held to her chest. It was the Chinese version, so I had to ask an aunt which verse it was opened to. It was Psalm 23:

1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever

Ah-ma had many prayers dedicated to her by all her kin who practice different beliefs. I believe she is truly at peace now. I feel her love still.

Of Law and Justice, and a boy who murdered yet set free.

Five years ago, I read in disbelief, of a murder committed by a 12 year-old boy. He was repeatedly called 'Fatty' and a spat ensued between him and the 11 year-old daughter of his tuition teacher. They were alone in the teacher's home. He snapped and attacked the girl with a sharp weapon. The girl died from massive loss of blood resulting from four slash wounds and twenty stab wounds.

In the intervening five years, from the magistrate's courts to the KL High Court to the Court of Appeal, the prosecution and the defence did their thing. All while the boy spent time in prison. Yesterday, the boy, now 17, was set FREE.

The court said it had no choice. (Read about the facts and technicalities here.) This is one of those occasions where one goes 'Huh?' and ponders about the world we live in. This is the law. But is this justice? A question asked too many times around the Courts of Justice. Courts of Justice?

Most would accept whatever outcome as decided through the channels of law and order, even if it seems obviously skewed. Some have felt disgruntled enough to carry out themselves the justice they deemed more appropriate than that ruled by the law, breaking another law in the process.

There is the law and then there is justice. The law is laid out plainly in black and white, albeit with exploitable loopholes and interpretations. As loose as it may seem, it IS laid out in letter and cast in stone, so to say. Justice, unfortunately, is largely a concept, an opinion. More so to parties on opposing sides of any issue or case. They may accept the rule of law, but the absence of justice may still be perceived.

In this particular case, the boy and his family may feel that justice has been served rightly. And it is understandable that his victim's family are shocked at the sheer lack of justice. The public at large may offer a myriad of other views on this, very likely colouring the entire spectrum from freedom to the death sentence.

We all want justice. But given the nature and variance of the human mind, the law is all that we can rely on. If everyone should get the justice they want, it could throw us back to barbarism in a free-for-all world. Justice can be continually pursued. But it must be done within the law.

PS
And if we still feel that we did not get justice, there is always Judgment Day. No lawyers needed.

Re-branding exercise

MUCH PONDERED PONDERINGS. The title has bugged me since 2005. In a rush to publish my first blog, I settled for that lame title. In a fit of shame, the original blog was deleted along with the title. Then, when the itch of blogging overwhelmed, I started a new blog in haste. Still with the same crappy title! I suppose it is unfavourable feng-shui for the blog having that name as I did more pondering than actually typing. Heh-heh, it's good to apportion blame on the defenseless.

Let's see if this new title will bring forth a healthier 'flow' of posts. OK, I do acknowledge it is still lame.......

My Recent 24 Hours In New York

Herald Square
And thus, I eschewed sleep (as demanded by the body-clock) for the full benefit of taking in NYC. First destination was the COMPUSA store on Broadway. I have been itching to get myself a MacBookPro but the prohibitive price of admission has so far thwarted me. Hopes of a super sale were soon dashed. It's even more expensive when the 8.25% municipal sales tax is factored in. I then drifted along Broadway until Macy's. That's where I snapped the picture of The Empire State Building on the left. It was on that spot, too, where I suddenly felt peckish. Aimlessly walking, I found myself quite tempted by this kosher deli.



Perusing the menu for five minutes without any commitment, I decided to walk on. There were many hot dog and bagel joints by the roadsides. And this time round, I noticed there were a lot more Halal stalls. However, I felt that I needed a full meal. Like two or three hot dogs. My legs just carried me along as I anguished over what to eat, wondering what happened to the meal I had on the airplane three hours prior.



Along the way I saw this:


It's a common sight all over NYC streets. Africans flogging 'branded' handbags and sunglasses.

Soon, I found myself walking past the AMC 25 Empire Cineplex on West 42nd Street, with the Loews Cineplex Regal Theatre across the street.


I took this picture,
and saw a sight at once heart-wrenching and heart-warming. A pair of Siamese twins who were joined at the head walked pass me. One twin was about the size of a 10 year-old and had no use of her legs. She was perched on a trolley-like contraption. Her twin-sister provided the mobility. But barely. Manoeuvering the trolley with the heads joined must be difficult, to say the least. Yet, they were smiling and talking to each other. They are somewhere in this picture.

(The following day, I saw a picture of them in USA Today. They were among the many guests of honour at the re-opening of Ripley's Believe It Or Not Odditorium in New York. I had probably missed the proceedings by a few hours.)

Then I met Mr. Morgan Freeman!

Well, his likeness in all his waxed glory, anyway. Waxed glory.... you know what I mean. 'He' was standing in front of New York's Madam Tussauds


A couple of minutes later, the Naked Cowboy of Times Square comes into view.



That's the cool dude with the guitar in his white briefs and ten-gallon hat, in the bottom right of the photo.

People actually tip this man to just to have a photo taken of or with him. I've seen him in winter, peddling his umm, talents in the sub-zero temperatures here in Times Square. Attired exactly the same! I'd have tipped him a buck then for his tenacity but getting to the warm sanctuary that the Virgin Megastore is in winter took priority . On my previous trips, I've seen a lot more curious admirers around him. The novelty must have worn off, I thought.



Walking past the singing half-nudie, I crossed the road and found THIS very compelling signboard outside the Hawaiian Tropic Zone.

There was actually a queue of five eager-looking guys outside the restaurant. It did cross my mind to dine there and get myself an autographed souvenir. It was around 2.30pm local and jet lag was probably impairing my judgment. And taste.

"Naaaah!", my inner voice told me, "What's the big deal about a woman taking off her clothes?" Yeah, and I'd have to pay an inflated price for the meal AND the magazine . And to what end? Laughing at myself for even considering the whole thing I walked on towards Virgin Megastore, my favourite stop in Times Square.

Just before I reached the entrance to this must-go place of mine, someone caught my eye from across the street. Could it be? Sure looked so. I dashed across the street, thanks to a red light further up. And there she was:



The Naked Cowgirl! I didn't know the Naked Cowboy had his counterpart. This lady had so many more fans. Male and female tourists, families, all thronged her. That explained the dwindled fuss around the poor dude in briefs. I joined in the jostling, too. Played tourist. It was all in the interest of this blog, of course. Found out later that she has appeared at Times Square for quite a while now. Pretty enterprising, this lady.

Eventually, I made my way to the massive music store and had spent an hour browsing when I abruptly remembered that there was unfinished business. By then, the munchies had deteriorated to near-starvation.

And so I hi-tailed down East 51st Street to my favourite burger joint in Manhattan:





After gobbling down two cheeseburgers, medium rare, I straggled back to the hotel five blocks away on Lexington Avenue. The subsequent warm shower relaxed my time-zoned-out muscles. Easing into the nice king-sized bed, the comfort was oh-so heavenly. As I was slipping out of consciousness I thought, "What's the big deal about a woman taking off her clothes, anyway?" My inner voice offered: "Maybe some, if she plays the guitar and earns money while at it...."And the last thought I could recall was: "The cheeseburgers were superb."