My First Father's Day Card

Daddy, Happy Father's Day!

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Penang Floral Fest 2009

Mum, Dad and Sis were here during the weekend which the Penang Floral Fest was held. We took the opportunity to visit the fest but didn't stay for too long as Jie Ning just recovered from flu and the weather was real hot!

Took the chance to take some photos but due to the short duration, just got a few shots and here to share!

Orchid

Bee in a flower

Cactus

Orchid made from clay

Jie Ning with Gu Gu...

Wesak Day 2009

The Wesak Day celebration for 2009 fell on a weekend and we got the chance to bring Jie Ning back to Alor Star for celebration. Where else if not the Nikradharam Buddhist Temple :)

Temple Entrance

One of the shrine

Some close up

The Main Shrine

I was telling Ning Ning that I will be bringing her to bathe the Buddha and she was excitedly asking whether the Buddha need shampoo or not! :D

Ning with Grandpa, outside the main shrine

Inside the Main Shrine

Look at her face, a sincere prayer

Like Mother Like Daughter

Past Glory…

Mum and Dad were tidying up our house and decided to do away with the collection of trophies that my siblings and I accumulated throughout the years. For remembrance, Mum and Dad took the effort to arrange the trophies for a photo session. On stepping into the house, Jie Ning was already happily shouting, “Why so many shiny shiny things!!” :)

Yay!
(Photo by ST)

Fruits of Labour

The Water Apple Tree dad planted in our garden back in Alor Star started to bear fruits few weeks ago. With the first budding flower in sight, it officially signifies one of the busiest period for dad!

Why so? To prevent the bees from savouring the fruits before we do, lots and lots of fruits wrapping is needed. Thanks to dad's painstaking effort, everyone - us, our relatives, neighbours, friends etc. got to enjoy the succulent fruits of labour!

Recession or Depression

Are all those news and demoralizing forecasts rumours or for real? Are those mere warning signs or you are already feeling the pinch?

My first taste of economy going south is during the economic downturn in Year 2001 - with 5 days of forced leave for 2 consecutive quarters followed by a 10% pay cut. Sessions after sessions of communications, we were briefed on the conditions of the downturn. Expectation changed from V (a sharp dip followed by a quick rebound) to U (a dip, short recession and an upswing) and later on to a bath tub (a dip, long recession and an upswing). I was happy that it finally recovered and everybody was enjoying life again.

This time around, I was hoping it will be a V curve with a drastic dip but seems like it was not as what we have hoped for. This round of dip has seen some of my closest friends loosing their jobs and still struggling to find one. Former US president Harry Truman said in 1958 : "It's a recession when your neighbour loses his job; it's a depression when you lose yours" We understand the situation the best when we are the one experiencing it.

To my friends out there, all the best, don't loose hope and may the force be with you!

At The Playground

Jie Ning Turns Two (Penang)

Gua Gong, Gua Ma, Ah Ku, Yi Yi, Yi Tiu and Rachel made a visit to Penang during the Christmas holiday and yet another celebration was held for Ning's 2nd birthday. Mummy kept complaining that she did not get the chance to celebrate birthday so many times... :p

Jie Ning Turns Two (Alor Star)

The cheeky princess turned two in December and gets cheekier by the day... We held a simple celebration in Alor Star together with ye ye, nai nai and gu gu.

Happy Niu Year

It is that time of the year again. Time we set aside to be with our families and friends.

We ought to be thankful to those who have rendered a helping hand and offered us their word of encouragement when we are in need. We ought to be thankful that we are who we are today, count our blessings and make our blessings count.

At this auspicious time of the year, I would take this opportunity to thank you as a friend and wishing you Fortune, Prosperity, Longevity and Happiness in this Year of Ox!

For those who are celebrating, Happy Chinese New Year and Happy Holiday to the rest!


Regards,
Chia Wei & Family

Hatyai 2008 - Street Views

Cables here are all running wild...

Sawadeekap...

Famous toot-toot as transport

Hatyai 2008 - Songkhla Beach

Mouse and Cat Island (Mouse on the right, cat on the left)

Hatyai 2008 - Temples

My hat off...

You have probably read about the current Penang Chief Minister, YAB Lim Guan Eng who fly with MAS on economy seat and have dedicated your deepest respect.

At this challenging time, our respectable YAB has gone one step further. It' my honour to be on the same flight with YAB on Air Asia budget airline (my trip to KL on 20th November 2008). Probably too tired with his hectic schedule, YAB slept through his whole journey.

Keep up your good work YAB. My hat off to you!

Engineers are the Best Boyfriends

Received this "good" piece of "advice" from my engineering course mate. No offense to all those law, management, arts, medical etc. graduate out there :p Enjoy reading and so, what say you?!

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Let me tell you why girls should eventually marry an engineer over a Law, Management, Arts or Medical School Graduate. He has three distinct advantages over the rest of the graduates.

Advantage 1: Secure lifestyle
An engineer boyfriend can provide you with a secure lifestyle. At 27 years old, an engineer probably has a respectable, stable job that gives him a high income to own a car, invest, have a comfortable life, and get married and buy a house too.
Law graduates are still working as a lowly apprentice in law firm.
Most management graduates have just failed on their first business plan.
The arts graduate is still looking for a job.
And the medical school graduate is still living in a hospital.

Advantage 2: Unmatchable industriousness
An engineer boyfriend will dedicate an unimaginable amount of his time and effort to understand you. Engineers strain really really hard to understand their work. You can believe that they will try really really hard to understand women too, just like how they understand their work, once they believe that you are the one. So even if they don't understand you initially, they will keep on trying. Even if they still do not understand, they will figure out the correct method to keep you happy (e.g. buy diamond ring = 1 week's worth of happiness.) And once they find out the secret formula, they will just keep on repeating it so that the desired results appear.
Unlike the Lawyer who will argue with you.
The Management graduate who will try to control your spending.
The Arts graduate who will 'change major'.
And the medical school graduate who will operate on you.
And you know what, it's really so easy to make engineer s believe that You are the 'one'. Say that you like one of their project and they will be hooked to you forever.

Advantage 3: An engineer boyfriend will never betray your trust.
Let me first tell you what is wrong with the rest of the others - The lawyers will lie about everything.
Management graduates will cheat your money.
The arts graduate will flirt, and you probably just look like another cadaver to the medical school graduate.
Your engineer boyfriend is either too busy to have an affair, and even if he does, he is too dumb to lie to you about that.
Hence, an engineer is the most secure boyfriend that you will ever find - rich enough, will keep on trying to understand and please you, has no time for affairs, and too dumb to lie to you.

So girls, why procrastinate?
Get an engineer as your boyfriend!

I have a dream...

I was in the US when the last Presidential Election took place in year 2004. As I was travelling alone, TV is my only companion in the hotel room after work and hence I was following the election progress quite a bit but who really win doesn't really bother me. At that time, I was just hoping that whoever took over the White House, can treat us more nicely - at least speeding up the secondary screening whenever we were to enter the US. During my first trip to the US, I have been waiting for 5 hours at the LA airport for the secondary screening process and in the end, missed my flight to Denver.

I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican supporter. But for the 44th Presidential Election that has just end, for the first time in my life, I rejoiced that Senator Obama made it to the White House!


The Kenyans got to enjoy a day of holiday due to Obama's victory, Indonesian school children gather to celebrate the success of their senior who once sat at the same desk and Japan's Obama town dances for US namesake. Well, some politicians in Malaysia celebrate the fact that Obama's brother-in-law is actually a Malaysian based in the states - well, that is a better reason to celebrate than announcing to the world that the reigning Miss Georgia 2005 have half a Malaysian blood (father is from Johor) and the big hoo-haa!

History is created as the son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas, the Democratic senator from Illinois sealed his victory by defeating Republican Sen. John McCain in a string of wins in hard-fought battleground states. Barack Obama was elected the United States first black president in a historic triumph that overcame racial barriers as old as America itself.

" I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today."

-- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer. It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America"

-- President Barack Obama

Martin Luther King's dream came true; the American's dream came true. When can the Malaysian's dream be realized? I pray that it won't be far.

新职员到岗

老板：万分欢迎，没有你们的公司肯定大不一样！
职员：如果工作太累，搞不好会辞职的
老板：放心，不会让这样的事情发生的！
职员： 双休日可以休息吗？
老板：当然了！这是底线！
职员：平时会天天加班到凌晨吗？
老板：不可能，谁告诉你的？
职员：有餐费补贴吗？
老板：还用说吗，绝对比同行都高！
职员：有没有工作猝死的风险？
老板：不会！你怎么会有这种念头？
职员：公司会定期组织旅游吗？
老板：这是我们的明文规定！
职员：那还需要准时上班吗？
老板：不，看情况吧
职员：工资呢？会准时发吗？
老板：一向如此！
职员：事情全是新员工做吗？
老板：怎么可能，你上头还有很多资深同事！
职员：如果领导职位有空缺，可以参与竞争吗？
老板：毫无疑问，这是我们公司赖以生存的机制！
职员：你不会是在骗我吧？

进入公司后 到真实的一幕（从后往前读）

Yin Nong and Swee Ping's Princess

Yi Ting came to this world at a weight of 3.35 kg. My first impression when i received Yin Nong's sms announcing the good news was "Wow! It is a huge achievement for Swee Ping to naturally deliver a baby of such weight as she is some how skinny :)"

Boon Seong, Boon Ee, Tian Poh and I made good use of the Deepavali holiday to pay Yi Ting a visit and here are some photos to share! We sure feel happy for the proud parents!

The proud parents with the baby