Yesterday, as we were walking up the stairs to a bank, we met a lady that is paralyzed. One of her leg is gone. I couldn’t see if she is born that way or it has been amputated later in life. She was using her hands and butt to move herself, slowing inching over to the ATM. The man she was with did not help in anyway. He stood with his arms crossed, watching her from afar.

I wanted to use the ATM as well but I waited for her to pick the ATM she wanted to use and I’ll just use the other one. She asked me if this is the machine to withdraw money. I said yes. I saw as she slowly picked herself up, kneeling in front of the machine, trying to do what she had to do. I was done in a flash and was waiting for ndru to be done.

Suddenly, we heard a cry for help.

“Please, can someone help me. Please.”

There were 5 people in the bank at that time, me included. No one made a move.

“Can someone help me, please.”

I looked away. I was dying to help, but something in me made me stop. I looked outside the bank and found the man she was with went down the stairs, again with arms crossed, waiting for her.

She wasn’t in her best condition. Aside from being paralyzed, it is pretty obvious that she has not showered for days. Her clothing is not good either and there is a chance she may have been an abused victim.

We walked away after we were done. I genuinely feel bad for not helping her. But I was scared that she may just be an act and that I would be harmed for being good. It’s not an excuse, but I really couldn’t bring myself to helping her. Till now, I still feel bad.

I guess I’m not that good of a person after all. I’m still learning. Perhaps it was coz I was judgmental. The man with the crossed arms made me fear her.

I’ve been wondering, if given a chance to turn back time, would I have done differently? What about you? Would you have done different from what I did?

I just can’t.

It has come to my conclusion that it is indeed something really difficult for one to understand that in life, one of the crucial things one need to take note of, and it is a thing that can and have the power to get you places, is to have a good attitude. Without a good attitude, you are going nowhere. Unless maybe you have an IQ of a genius that it doesn’t really matter anymore if you are an annoying, OCD person like Sheldon in the Big Bang Theory. Your brain is all everyone wants. Otherwise, you are going nowhere if you are rude.

But seriously, does it really take a lot of effort to be nice? To be polite? To be well-mannered? Is it that difficult to a point where it is close to impossible for most humans to embrace it? Or maybe one simply thinks they are too good for anyone but themselves? Or…

You know what, this list could go on forever. I could be asking why until the cow comes home, and I’m still not going to get an answer. Final conclusion to end all of this, maybe it is me.

Besides, who cares really? It’s not that these rude people are going to rule my life. Oh well. Humans.

p/s: If you think you’re smart, I hope you will be in a realization that there will be another human that would be smarter than you. Just a note to those who thinks highly of themselves.

In November of last year, I received an email from Apple denoting that there has been a problem with the battery of  the iPod Nano 1st generation, and the one that I own may be in the list of impacted units! Apple announced that they will be doing a worldwide recall on all the affected units and a replacement program is set in place. At first, I thought it was a fraud. So I went online and did a google search on this replacement program and realized that it is true!

In Malaysia, in order to get a replaced unit, you would have to go through the official re-seller. In Penang, it would be Switch. I had to bring my unit down to Switch for them to examine if my unit is an impacted unit. At that point, I was still a little reluctant about replacing my iPod, simply because it has been one with me for so long! 6 years! And, I like the rotating scroll piece thing (I don’t know what you call them). I still think it’s cool! But on the other hand, if my unit has battery problems, I don’t wish for the iPod to explode in my face. After confirming that my iPod is one of the impacted units, for safety purposes, I decided to go ahead with the replacement program.

It is said in many forums that Apple would be replacing the units with another 1st generation unit. Some people were complaining about getting a new old model, but to me it’s fine. I was a bit uncomfortable at first about possibly getting a refurbished unit, but I thought to myself, better a good unit than a bad one which could blow up in your face.

Now, at this point, I was amazed with Apple’s after sales service. For a product that has been around for 7 years and has obsolete probably 5 years ago, I am surprised that Apple is still willing to do a 1 to 1 replacement. Although some people said this is a norm and that companies should indeed give a replacement, but I don’t think that necessarily holds true for many companies.

I was told that I have to wait for a good 4 to 6 weeks before the replacement unit arrives. The unit arrived a little late, and on the Friday before the Chinese New Year week, I received a phone call from the Switch service center to inform me that my iPod Nano has arrived. And it came with a pleasant surprise. It was not a 1st generation iPod Nano, but we have all been replaced with a 6th generation iPod Nano. Yes, you hear me. It was the latest model. I’ve known of this news through forums that they were replacing with the latest model, but it wasn’t until I see it that I truly believe that this was happening! Although I still prefer the design on the 1st generation Nano, this new one works just fine for me. I am not going to complain.

It is interesting how Apple is quick to change something which was going to look bad on them, having to have the problems with the battery, into a pleasant after sales service experience for their users. As I’ve said in my previous blog post about the experience I have had with Apple on my swollen battery, I would dare say that without a doubt, I would continue to purchase products from Apple. Based on the experiences that I have had, I strongly feel that Apple is here to provide all the necessary services to ensure that my experience of using their product is nothing but pleasant and safe.

For now, Apple, I shall be loyal to you.

I’m not saying people in the past are not engrossed with power, fame and money. It’s a human thing. We have this greed growing inside of us and if we don’t stop it, it grows out of hand. What I’m saying is, it’s disgusting to see how humans these days being so immoral when it comes to treating other people. Why? It’s not like we are ask to donate 80% of what we earn to charity. All we are asked to do is to be nice. Genuinely. Not faking it, not being an ass, just being another human being. What’s so difficult about that?

The group of people that disgust me most, is the group that has participated in learning about the teachings of a religion. The political issues that you see happening at a buddhist temple or a church is more than the issues you see in our government and at work combined. It’s sick. I thought these people who has learned would know what it’s like to treat another human with great respect, no?

I don’t know. It’s sad. Yes, I understand that everyone is selfish. But I don’t believe in living a live without proper ethics. It’s actually more tiring to do bad things than to do good. So why not do good?

Well, this is just my own thoughts.

We know. Or so we thought we know.

Honestly, we don’t know until we’ve seen it for ourselves. Not watching these things on TV or the internet mind you. It is experiencing and seeing it for yourself. It really does give you a whole new perspective to life. You hear their voices, telling you how they feel when they are punished, or when they don’t get enough money, or when the food that is served are rotten and basically inedible, or that the norm is to not have any form of safety protection in a place they call home. It is sad.

And then I log on to Facebook and read about all the smallest whining you can ever imagine. Me included. This whole experience hit me real hard. The things I’ve learned for the past 2 days have made me realized about the matters that I have been ignorant of. It has made me think more and understand about what life really means. To me. And to the people in the rest of the world.

We don’t know how it feels. That is until you hear the people who speak to you, sitting 2 feet away from you, to be able to feel their expression and their frustration, and to witness all of the things they have spoken about. It is a feeling beyond despair.

Well, yea. I’m glad that I get to go through this experience. It has been good.

p/s: ONE!

So get this. Picture your parents, or better yet, your grandparents writing up a profile of you, which includes your height, weight, salary, personality, and other relevant information, stick it to the back of an umbrella or a paper bag and showcase that profile of yours in the public park. Purpose? To find you a partner.

Yes. Parents and especially grandparents get so worried about their single children (or grandchildren) not being able to find a partner to get married to. Some of the single people that are showcased here are not young young (maybe in their early 30s), but most of them are around my sister’s age. I mean, mid 20s is still young! No?

The children are nowhere to be seen. Only the parents and the grandparents gather here at the park to do all the work. Some would sent their agents to this activity. There are people who would be showcasing the profiles while others would come by to take notes! There are quite a lot of discussions going on between the parents to get more information about these single people. What I got to understand from my colleagues is that the children usually don’t know that their parents are doing this. I think I would go absolutely crazy if I got to know my parents doing something like that behind my back!

It is a massive activity. Just look at the crowd! How can I not know about something this huge?

Half the time, we were cracking up over the things we saw at the park. There’s the normal section, there’s a section for the singles that are abroad in other countries, there’s a section where the request is for girls that have never been pregnant before, there’s a whole section for the older crowd etc. It is super funny.

Ahh… the things you see in China.

p/s: 5 more days. I’m getting there.

Swinging in a hammock tops it all.

Oh! Not forgetting a little friend I made while I was there. He reminds me of Mickey, who passed on recently (RIP Mickey). Since no one could tell me his name, I shall name him Gula Doggie. Super cute. Greets us with a huge smile and a big tail-wagged as soon as we arrived at the platform. Gula Doggie definitely loves a good pet and a good scratch.

So here he is, Gula Doggie.

I don’t mind going back to Kuala Gula someday. And I definitely don’t mind going back to see Gula Doggie again.

Having said that, I was glad I click the play button to this video.

It showed us all nothing but the truth that happened on July 9, 2011. I was disgusted by how our citizens were being treated by the police. It was tragic. This group of trained policemen, who holds the responsibility of protecting the safety of us citizens have turned their backs on us when we didn’t come close to doing anything wrong, beating us up inappropriately and folding their arms when a man of no threat was injured. They have brought nothing but shame to our beloved country. It almost felt like they haven’t got any compassion within them, only anger.

As mentioned in my previous post, I believe that there’s nothing wrong with Bersih. There’s nothing wrong with pleading for fairness. There’s nothing wrong with doing a peaceful rally with regards to this matter. The only reason why the authorities were so worked up is simply because they are afraid that the truth will be unveiled. All the lies our leaders have spoken of this situation have been nothing but disgusting. They are making a complete fool out of themselves and yet, till this very moment, they have not realized that fact. It is really sad.

The greed for money and fame and the temptation of possessing power decides to knock on some of our leaders’ doors one day, and that’s when our leaders were sucked into this stage of illusion that all of the above are good, where they lose their brains, leading to stupidity and moronic behaviors, where they will LIE for all of the above. This, is the faces of our leaders. The leaders that are supposed to lead us to a better future. But have they done their job?

At this point of time, after knowing all the ridiculous lies that have been told, how does one bring themselves to vote and support the government? Perhaps they fail to realize that they have made it so much easier for many to choose who to vote for in the next election.

*sigh*

Something I read earlier today moved me. It was written by a girl who went to the rally just to look around. Now, this is what I call a true 1Malaysia story. If only our leaders would see things from our eyes.

I am still a Malaysian. Though I feel much shame for our leaders to behave as such and I’m sad that this has got to happen, Malaysia is still where my home is. Let’s just pray that righteousness will be unveiled soon enough.