...hubbies were managed, in those days...

'Tis a season of weddings. Actually there are no specific season for weddings. Everyday is a good day to get married so it seems. But no, to some ethnic groups there can be days that are 'pantang' or forbidden, a definite no no haha. In some societies, the wedding day could be determined by other factors, natural, or unnatural as the case may be.

Oh well, again, as I was springkleening, throwing old documents, as a matter of discipline (hmmm) or ritual..ya..that's more like it, ritual, I stumbled upon this fotocopy of an unedited extract of a 150th anniversary of the Straits Times (1845-1995). Published on May 1, 1885 in what was at the time 'The Straits Times and Singapore Journal of Commerce'.

I have been to quite alot of wedding invites lately and there's a few more to come actually, hehe so I thought reproducing this article on my blog, might provide some pointers to the newlyweds, to the bride (hehe) especially, in managing their hubbies in the old fashion way hehe. oops sorry.. for both, the bridegroom too, hehe. Here goes:

"The Management of Husbands - Men as a rule, marry women for love, yet we see everyday these one-time happy doves drifting apart and acting as though separation would be the happiest end for both. To marry for love simply, is absurd. Unless there is a large amount of respect on either side, the flame of love soon dies out, leaving a barren manor for the dwellers thereon. However, supposing you had a husband whom you wish to twirl round your little finger, you must love him "with all your heart, with all your soul. " etc.; and love you feel will make it possible to put up with all those little discrepancies which crop out in man's nature when you come alive with him. In the first place, should your husband be a man in business, who comes home tired to death, cross, and worn out, do not at once entertain him with the trouble you have gone through the day. Meet him with a smile, take his hat and overcoat from him and let him severely alone until he has toned down with a good dinner, after which he will be in a position to listen to any thing you may have to say; but I always found it an excellent plan to hide disagreeables entirely from a husband's notice. Men don't want to have a repetition of annoyances at home when they have so many in their daily path outside, and believe me, the effect of keeping household squabbles out of your husband's knowledge wonderfully enhances your value as a wife. You don't know how a man appreciates a loving welcome and a good dinner after the toil of the day. Men are gregarious animals, and will wander in spite of allurements, but they are selfish enough to remain where they are best treated, and the years that follow will, as a rule, find the husband always glad to go back to the pretty home where smiles await him and the dinner I spoke of." -unedited extract May 1, 1885

Ya ya ya..you may say 'ala itu zaman dulu punye stail' (that's the ancient way). But then again, why not? Give it a try. You never know, sometimes the old ways work better (wink2x). Yeah, all those macho men out there (endangered species i dread to think they may one day become, if not already are..haha)...think you can handle it like your grandpa did? My apologies ladies, I know times have changed. That ancient write-up by today's standards, may sound a little offensive and chauvinistic but hey...it has alway been a two-way tingy, right? wink2x...

we treat you like maharajas...

Its christmas holiday today! Merry Christmas to all my friends who celebrate it, wherever you may be. Just don't forget that the last tsunami (2004) occurred on boxing day and that is tomorrow (wink). So if you are enjoying yourselves at some beachfront somewhere out there, just be mindful ok? hehe.

We already had our short break, my family and I, at rebak marina island resort (go google it heehee) about 15 minutes fastboat ride from Port Langkasuka (5 minutes from Langkawi Airport). A private property owned by DRB-Hicom and currently managed by the Taj Leisure Hotels & Palaces Group, India.

Oklah, my idea of deStress and deTox. Quiet retreat and great breakfast haha while checking out my new toy. Not the usual mainstream you knowlah why people go to Langkawi meh? (wink). Other than LID or LIMA or busloads of shoppingspree types at Kuah...ooops sorry. We had a great time at Rebak. Had wanted to check it out for quite sometime now but I forgot about it. I shall not comment or make any reviews of the place for now, you can read plenty of it on TripAdvisor on the internet (wink).

I was reading the two issues of The Taj Magazine ( The Romance of Food, 2008 Vol 36 No 2, and The Splendour that is The Taj, Spring 2009 vol 37 No 1) in the room, splendidly published, laminated, hardbound, classic and obscenely lavish...and I remembered a joke the late Tan Sri Khir Johari shared on a few occasions we met. He said in those days when he was a minister, he used to fly Air India...and the tagline for Air India at the time was '..we treat you like Maharajahs' Then one day he said to the cabin crew...jokingly of course, "...ya rite i know how you treat your maharajas!" hahaha (wink2x).

Most of the guests were foreigners, some longstaying. There were Brits, Frenchmen, Flemish Belgian couple, Dutch, Americans, Canadians, Middle Eastern and of course many from India. A mixed of retirees or otais like me and no less hoards of honeymooning couples haha. Some have been here before, they like it and came back again. Some, whom I spoke to, were first timers to Malaysia and they love it (hmm standard politically-correct statements huh?..haha) but I want to believe they genuinely like our country and would not hesitate to come back visit us again and again.

My point, we have plenty of great heavenly places right at our doorstep and we let others elsewhere enjoy it. I don't blame them, in fact I welcome them, please please do come with lots of money, come invest here haha...its really very cheap for them. We aspire to be a high-income economy, like the rest of the advanced nations. Whether that means we will be able to nanti visit their places and throw away hard-earned money like a lord (wink2x) or everything will get to be more expensive for all of us, well not all, for the man-in-the-street at least ...remains to be seen. Moral of story? haha go visit the Kilim Geopark Langkawi...the family will enjoy it. And if you 're afraid of the CURSE? haa..the spell's long broken..haha and definitely no white snake lady ok? (wink2x). We did. Enjoy the long weekend folks....

of undemocratic moderateurs...

Had it not been for chairing commitments in Kuala Lumpur, I would have taken an extra week off and hop northwards to explore Beijing even though the weather was getting harsher at minus zero levels. At some point it was reported that snowfall was in bigger quantities than usual. Well, Beijing can wait.

I thought I only had to moderate a panel session at the 2009 KL Takaful Conference (KLTF) at Nikko Hotel but oh no...I forgot that I had agreed earlier, to chair a whole day session of M2Asia's conference on Managing Performance Culture and Talent at JW Marriott, Kuala Lumpur. It turned out that the panelist session at Nikko was cancelled and I was having a really great time at the M2Asia conference at JW Marriott. But I left after lunch to be at the KLTF.

Really great stuff and excellent knowledge sharing at JW Marriott with speakers from Hewitt Digi, Toyota Motors et al.

I must have been doing quite alot of conference chairings that I kinda like it. I think I am in my elements when I chair conferences, seminars, colloquiems...especially if the subject areas are those that are close to my heart or that I have a passion for...hehe. One speaker candidly remarked just before he made his presentation that I have made the sessions much more enjoyable and interactive and that at times I seem to speak more than the speaker hahaha. Hmm, that's not very good isn't it? Ok ok... i must learn to reduce my interjections and not disturb the speaker/presenter hahaha....

But it's nice, being in control of the situation (wink) and I can tell you I am not very democratic when I am chairing or moderating hahaha (evil wink). You have to check with the conference organisers as to the feedback I get from participants. One will somehow know if one is not call upon again to chair hehe. If there is repeat invite...you can second guess, right? But all these are time sensitive I suppose. Constant exposure does wear out you know? heehee.

shanghai joe II...

Tourist guides normally have plenty of stories and excellent jokes too sometimes, to tell, to sustain the interests of their guests/tourists. And David had, like the rest, one too many haha. Yes David the English-speaking oh well the american-accent tourist guide that was waiting for us at Hangzhou.

I said I was going to tell you about the legend of the white snake lady in my earlier blogpost (shanghai joe...). I am not sure if I can recall all of it but it goes something like this. We were on the boat at the famed West Lake at Hangzhou and David began to describe the history of the Pagoda in the background. That's when the story of the white snake woman came about. In ancient times it seems (that's how long the pagoda had stood there on the hills yonder...) there were 2 snakes, one white and one black. The white snake transformed into woman and being immortal, it could transform back into a snake. To cut the story short (haha) the white woman met a handsome young man married him and of course did not live happily ever after. She was immortal and she had to decide, if she wanted to be with her man, her immortality would have to be taken away. You guess right, she chose the man, and whoala she is no longer immortal.

But a priest, oh well, monk, as the legend goes, was looking for her. Captured her and kept her away in the pagoda. After thousands of years, in 2002, the pagoda caught fire (like many times before?) and when it was reconstructed, somehow rather the archaelogist during the excavations, unleashed the white snake woman... so she now roams west lake looking for her man...

I hope she didn't follow me back to Kuala Lumpur....hahaha... Trying to tell the story again, which I think I may have miserably failed hahaha.

Ok folks the airasia that was due an hour ago from KL has just landed..gotta get into the aircraft now. Will continue my blogpost when I get home...

shanghai joe...

Automechanika Shanghai 2009

winter at west lake hangzhou

After the privacy statement I made recently, I just got a little lazy to blog. Now I am not too sure if I had done the right thing. I mean, it was good in a sense, like a wake up call so you won't be doing things you thought was ok but it was not ok for others. Now I am not sure if I want to share photos of my travels. Maybe I should say less, and share less too perhaps. What's the point of sharing when others don't believe in sharing? (wink). Some even think or say out loud that you're showing off! I am confused.

Anyway, see? I am beginning to even lose my relaxed and jovial writing style..haha. Beginning to be rather serious and conscious if anyone will sue me...hehe. Where was i? oh yes I was invited to speak at Automechanika Shanghai recently. 3 of us from Malaysia sharing the collision industry experience. China has its own peculiarities, style and they have the critical mass from within and really need not bother about other markets so to speak.

This is my first visit to Shanghai. The last time I was in China was in 1999, Urumqi and Turfan in Sinkiang Northwest China autonomous area. While in Shanghai I thought it would be a good idea to visit Hangzhou as well (the favourite winter retreat of Emperors throughout thousands of years of various dynasties and of course a favourite retreat for chairman Mao too I was told).

But the more interesting are the tales, legends, stories our english-speaking tour guide (graduate of Zhe Jiang University...the 3rd oldest university in China) shared with us. I particularly like the story of the white snake lady...hehe. Its freezy this time of year at west lake, hangzhou..(go google it if you want to read more)... I need some sleep now before pushing off tomorrow morning for a short family break hehe. Oh yes, I will narrate that white snake lady story in my next posting...nanait my frens, and enjoy the long weekend.

Caution: big brother is monitoring you online...

Dear friends, fellow bloggers, casual visitors,

I have just been formally informed via email, advising me to remove some of my postings be it articles and/or photos which may have intruded into other people's right to privacy as well as perhaps some material confidentiality issues that may arise thereupon. I like to apologise if at all, I have violated any of your privacy and shall endevour to seek your permission first before uploading or publishing your photos on the web. I have already removed those that were referred to. But should there be anymore which I have not done so, I would be only too pleased to delete/remove them. Or if it makes everyone feel alot better, I shall discontinue blogging or perhaps maintain it but for private viewing only. Any direct or indirect injury, discomfort or agony I may have inadvertently caused, is very much regretted.