Baby talk

This entry is all about my baby, Rayden, who turned 16months old this month.Warning to those who can't stomach reading mushy motherly ravings on her precious baby...get out before you regret reading this!He is just so cute with his endearing baby language that I could not resist posting some of his special words here.He calls me 'mummy' and 'mama'. At first he loves uttering 'mummy,mummy,mummy,mummy' non-stop but now when I ask him to say mummy or mama, he cheekily shakes his head and say 'daddy'.Now, he just loves saying the word 'daddy' repeatedly and has called pictures (of any kind, framed or even in magazines) 'daddy' just because once I pointed out a picture of his father and told him it is daddy.He loves to watch birds and he would point at any flying animal, bird or butterfly or insect or even a lizard on the wall, and calls it 'boehrd boehrd'.
He also loves to play ball and everything round is considered a 'bahl bahl' including the round lamps lining the ceiling of my apartment building.He can differentiate between cats (meow) and dogs ('daegy') but when it comes to bigger animals like horses and cows, he insists that those are

also 'daegy'.
He loves oranges and tomatoes and each time he spot me opening the fridge, he would rush over and ask for 'o-eng' for orange or 'toh-toh' for tomatoes.

For such a young kid, Rayden is turning into a regular bookworm as he loves his collection of colourful boardbooks. Often, he would stand next to his cupboard and point at the row of 'boohk boohk' to choose a book to 'read'.

His current favourite is a pop-up book featuring a tiger so naturally, the book is now called 'tai tai guh'.

The list actually goes on but I better don't continue or else anybody who chance on this blog might throw up from all this mushy gushings over a baby!

Qs and As

I have been getting odd personal questions from out-of-touch friends, acquaintances, ex-colleagues, ex-schoolmates, ex-classmates and ex-whatever so I am posting some of the answers to any future questions I foresee (let me look into my crystal ball first...).

To those who have not kept in touch in the past ten years or so:

1) yes, I am married - a guy, my sweet photographer hubby, actually wanted to spend the rest of his life with tomboyish, serious, plain old me.

2) yes, I have a baby - hard to believe as it may seem considering I wasn't in the least motherly last time, I actually did went ahead to go through the many challenges of looking like a beached whale for ten months, undergo painful labour to have a bouncing cute baby boy. Frankly, he's worth all the pain I went through and all the lost in sleep and peace thereafter.

3) yes, I am now a journalist - hardly surprising to most of you who knew me in school since I always loved scribbling short stories when I am supposed to be doing homework / paying attention in class....

4) yes, I am still in good old Penang, work here, bought an apartment here, married here, have a baby here and will probably grow old and die here.

To those who knew me at work:

5) yes, I am now working for the company named after the sphere of scorching, hot gas in the sky called 'tai yang pao' in mandarin.

6) yes, I still go out on assignments and though you don't see me around much, it doesn't mean I am desk bound!

7) yes, I still have trouble matching names to faces except for those I knew for years...

To those who have not seen me for a few years:

8) yes, I am fatter than when I got married in 2003 but I can assure you I am probably fitter than most of you cause I can climb the stairs to the 15th floor at my apartment without getting out of breath. Besides, gimme a break, I had a baby for God's sake and it's not easy to lose all that pregnancy weight!

9) yes, I am now dieting and trying to lose all that pregnancy weight but please bear in mind, I am not a supermodel, my income and job does not depend on how skinny or fat I am AND importantly, my hubby doesn't mind. So please get over it and stop telling me how fat I look!

10) no, I am not having a second baby YET! Again, gimme a break, my son is barely two and you want me to think about having a second child???? When the time comes, I am sure you will be able to see, after all it is impossible to hide a pregnancy!

11) yes, I have a tattoo on my left leg and yes it is so permanent that it will probably be there still if I was murdered and chopped into pieces and my leg is the only part left of me.

12) no, the tattoo is not a flower or a plant or an animal. It is just some creative one-of-its-kind design by tattoo artist, Ono. He did the design freehand, without sketching it down or anything, so I am probably the only one with this design. And no, it is not faded, those faded parts are actually creative shadings made by the talented Ono.

13) no, the tattoo is not new. I have had it since 2003 or 2004....don't quite remember the exact year.

14) no, I won't tell you how much it cost to have the tattoo done but if you really want one, call me and I will give you Ono's number although I am not sure whether he is still doing tattoos for new clients. (he is very selective)

15) yes, I am still as sarcastic as ever and sometimes can be quite bitchy with a temper to match but all in all, I really meant no harm and no, I do not bite.

As for any questions that went unanswered, too bad! My crystal ball must be outdated and could not predict the questions. Send me an email and if I feel like answering it, I will.

Male chauvinism and sexist remarks

At the risk of sounding like an over-zealous feminist, I could not find it in myself to keep quiet about this issue at hand currently.

In this age and time and despite widespread awareness campaigns and whatnots from the NGOs and even the government, I do not understand why there are elected representatives out there who are total chauvinists and actually thought their sexist remarks are not sexist at all.

I almost punch the chauvinist idiot right in the face when he insisted he was not being sexist when he voiced his so-called personal opinion that there are sexual violence cases against children and women because of the way women dressed.

His exact words:
"Kalau tak percaya, you pergi tengok kat 'ABC place' (the name of the place have been changed to protect it) waktu malam, banyak wanita yang berpakaian tak senonoh. Seluarnya begitu low that kalau dia tunduk, boleh nampak semua. Saya lelaki, saya faham kalau lelaki nampak, tentu ada rasa ingin." (If you don't believe me, you go to 'ABC place' at night, you will find many indecently dressed women. Some of them are wearing such low cut pants that if they bend down, we can see everything. I am a man, I understand how other men will feel if they saw these)
He went on to say that it is this type of 'environment' that gave rise to men giving in to their lust. (thus causing sexual harassment/violence cases)
Of all the archaic, stupid, brainless and totally chauvinistic sexist thing to say! If he is some uneducated buffoon of a poor excuse for a man on the street, I may just pass it off for mere ignorance (though it is still inexcusable) but an elected representative????

The people actually voted for this idiot?

If that is not bad enough, he actually insisted that it was not a sexist remark at all. Yeah, sure, blaming the women for their dressing is not sexist in any way...what century is he from?

However, kudos goes to the several other male elected representatives (and also female, of course) who tried to put him in his place. The best comebacks are of course these very impartial and fair statements:

"Evidence clearly showed that the issue of dressing is not related to rape and molest which also happens to children and the elderly. The basis for sexual violence is because of unequel power relations between genders. Many chauvinistic men also brought about unfair and unequel actions and practises."

Another one:

"Women should not be blamed at all. It is the men who should control themselves. If their minds are pure, things like this would not happen at all."

And finally,

"These sexual predators are sick in the head and mentally unstable. They are the ones who should be punished and blamed, not the victims."

Need I say more?