seriously?

the new breast cancer awareness campaign on facebook? why do intelligent women keep giving in to this nonsense. its pretty infuriating when there is no clear link between tricking people into thinking you are pregnant and actual breast cancer awareness... in fact if a breast cancer patient has had to have a mastectomy it can often leave them feeling less feminine.. so what does society do? rub pregnancy (which is pretty darn feminine into their face.. gee what a good idea) 

this is almost as tasteless as the last round of using 

sexual innuendo to raise awareness...


instead, choose to educate the masses, do some research, 
like:
 last year 1.5 million women were diagnosed with breast cancer
in australia, 1 in 11 women are diagnosed with breast cancer
remember to do a checkup once a month 
OR


http://www.cheekycheckup.com.au/

the migrant status

the awkward moment when the new asian kid says "1 2 tree"

the migrants: caught between the natives, locals and FOBs

(fresh of the boat)

sometimes we find ourselves caught in a limbo where we're not quite fresh off the boat, but:

-we still do things like bring our lunches in a thermos

-we speak a variation of english fluently, in my case,

manglish, when we're not in the correct "mode"

-our parents buy things in bulk eg. toilet paper

- our parents save plastic take away containers

-asian people are called aunty/uncle, white people are mr/mrs

-we do all our homework in school so we don't have homework/ go for tuition.

-people still think we don't speak english and

don't know where malaysia is.

-said people are shocked when you speak "good english"

-said people are super impressed if you speak in other language eg. counting in malay during maths (which we are supposedly good at)

-play the piano or violin

-my grandma almost sent me for chinese cooking lessons to find a nice chinese doctor boyfriend

( she said this jokingly but we all know it's not a joke, what popo or ah ma doesn't want a pure chinese bloodline?)

at the same time, i:

-worked in a bar in a pretty "bogan" area

- can't cook asian food to save my life

-didn't just hang out with the asian crew at school

-sound pretty convincingly aussie

-cringe when people talk to me in chinese and i have to meekly answer in english

-don't watch tvb or korean dramas

-didn't study chemistry

- am not a doctor/lawyer/accountant/dentist/engineer

(this constitutes what is known as: ASIAN FAIL)

now lately, i've been pondering about what it means to be a migrant. am i an aussie? or a malaysian? i'm turning 22 this year, meaning that i would have officially spent half my life in malaysia, and half in australia. i've surrendered my malaysian citizenship in favour of an aussie one, it wasn't a hard choice. I knew my parents came over to be closer to

family, but i also knew it was to escape a system where being a malaysian chinese, i would have always been a 2nd class citizen in comparison to the malays (bumiputras). oh yes, life would have been so much more different. here in australia, if i worked hard i almost had an equal shot as everyone else to get into a course at uni.

that being said, i think i owe my work ethic to the malaysian education system (all the good bits really), it made me work harder and gave me a greater appreciation for the education

system here. the pelthora of races in malaysia made it easy for me to get along with people from different races/cultures/religions and not making the rookie mistake of not knowing which hand to shake. ;)

i loved growing up in malaysia. it was a lot safer back then, and mahathir seemed like an okay guy. but every now and then, i'd have a sneak peek at malaysia kini, nutgraph etc to see how my homeland is doing, and i find myself in a state of sadness. see, as much as i sometimes crack a joke at the dismal state of malaysia.

eg obedient wives club it saddens me to see what has become of the place i once called home. EVERY malaysian knows the political situation is crazy and malaysia has finally had enough and are illegally marching for reform of the government. the bersih* rally on the 9th of July is where malaysians all over the world, from all races and all walks of life are gathering together to oppose a corrupt government.

reading the updates from facebook and various media outlets i can undoubtedly say i am so proud of the malaysian people. it can be said that sometimes the asian culture is to not become involved because it is more troublesome to do so, but the overwhelming number of malaysians who ARE doing something makes me so proud to be malaysian.

so yes, whilst i love myself a good barbie with a cracking cider in hand, should someone ask where i'm from, you can bet your bottom dollar that my answer will be that "i'm from malaysia"** because after all, where would i be without "negaraku"?

*bersih is the malay word for clean, tying in with the whole idea that malaysians everywhere are calling for a clean and fair election. the rally is on the 9th and people are showing their support by wearing yellow. i'll be at a camp in the bluemountains in sydney but i WILL be wearing yellow on the 9th of july. to those of you going to the rallies and wearing yellow, god bless, and wear good running shoes so you don't get caught.

** to my malaysian and singaporean homies, you'd get this version: "KL LAH!! you LEH?"

the plan

when i was 7 (i'm assuming i was 7) i was planning to build a massive house on a ranch with a massive lake. i remember thinking that if the house didn't come with a lake, it'd be man made. next to the said lake there'd be a house for mum and dad and a house for my in laws on the opposite side of the lake. there was also a jetty for dad's boat. oh and i forgot to mention, i had horses and i was going to be a world famous artist and i was going to change the world. oh and i was going to have a pound and have a billion pets. all this in malaysia..

fast forward to 15 years later.

i've decided that my future house will have a grass roof. a) because it'd be nice to have a rooftop garden and b) it's amazing insulation. everything in it will be energy friendly but extremely stylish, just enough of a mix for it to look stylish but casually thrown together. oh and we'll have a veggie patch cause we'e so gosh darn gourmet but will inadvertently kill all the plants. mum and dad have already bought their future retirement house in a pretty harsh neighbourhood cause they like the view and they love the people there. dad keeps talking about his hypothetical boat but is in love with his classic Alpha Romeo. I'm 6360 kilometers away from my hometown doing a course which the 7 year old me would have never even known about. I've been incredibly blessed. realistically speaking, staying in malaysia, i might have ended up in a more creative line of work. i'd be happy being provided for, I wouldn't have had worked at a bar. i wouldn't have winter clothes.. i wouldn't have met mr b, miss t and LV.

but.. i think i will still be having that myriad of animals.

the amphibians have their names sorted.

how have you changed?

coke

what is love..

sometimes, we forget. Hollywood feeds us misconceptions about love. what is love to me? when i forget to call for days because i'm drowning and i feel guilty, wondering if you felt like i didn't care. love is when you send me a message after the storm telling me you love me like no other...

i talk, i always talk.. but you always listen

loveispatient

what is love? when we went out one night whilst i was on the verge of a breakdown. we walked on the beach, talking about what massive dreams we have. then you took me out for cake.

i love that you got me flowers to keep me going and when i needed them most even though you didn't know it.

loveiskind

to miss t, the big g and mr b. i could not do life without you both.

mucho amore

theres something in the water

sometimes i sit on the beanbag outside on the deck at night. Its quiet and ruby falls asleep with her chin on top of my feet. I think she instinctively knows that i like having warm feet.I like how dogs are like that, just knowing. Today felt empty. I think i like being around people more than i know. I woke up at 11. fluffed around... went back to sleep at 4. woke up at 6. had dinner. and then nothing. i think i need to move somewhere.. even the city would be fine. oh i also trolled the internet for glasses.. found the PERFECT ones. picture coming soon i think

4 days too late..

so, thus begins the final year of my epic struggle with uni. according to statistics 90% of this(context) affects the reader more than the 10% which makes up the layout. I learnt this at my 4 day intensive last week. I also learnt a lot about people and the people around me. Its sad, to think that in those 4 days we as a group connected so much more on such an intimate level than we ever have in our

3 years at uni. I've learnt a lot about life and it amazes me how dedicated M is with her kids. And the fact that she is still so up there with uni work. How M.A and N make what's been happening in egypt so much more real. I love that i slip into my hideous malaysian slang with the girls in the back and we have a good laugh about it. How L made me laugh when i really needed it. How X had to deal with my wolf child and that A makes the perfect clinician. And i lov

e that for a few days we saw into each other, past the faces and saw what lay behind. So, to the Feb block of ECP, thanks for those 4 days.

For once in those 3 years,

i loved uni.