Violence Against Women

The past few days have seen a rash of violent incidents targeting women, women who have been victims of snatch thefts and armed robbery in car parks, open as well as in shopping malls. There were also instances of two women, torched out of jealousy and they succumbed to their horrific burns.

This violence has instilled fear in women and many prefer not to venture out of their homes on their own.

Why are the perpetrators doing this? Some people have said that unemployment and being under the influence of drugs are the main reasons. These are no excuses for the crimes being committed.

Being unemployed does not give one the right to deliberately inflict injury and rob. It is more the case of being lazy and taking the easy way out instead of buckling down to an honest day’s work which can be tough if one is working under the sun as a labourer. It is much easier to ride a bike, slash the defenceless women and snatch their handbags, without any conscience. Such criminals get away with their crime for it has been difficult to apprehend them. Those who are caught, are prosecuted before a court of law but more often than not, the penalty is too light to deter other would-be hit and run robbers.

There doesn’t seem to be any place that is safe, where a woman can walk without fear, without having to look over her shoulder, without tensing each time there is a motor bike approaching. Having a companion is no guarantee of safety either as has been reported in the media.

This malaise of the times needs to be addressed immediately not only by the men in blue, but also by the law makers who need to amend the existing laws so that harsher custodial penalties including whipping be the norm for such crimes. A minimum of ten years behind bars and ten strokes of the cane should be mandatory for snatch thefts and if the victim died as a result of the crime, then the perpetrator should be handed the death penalty. I think this is more than fair.

The community at large should also play their part to apprehend the culprits instead of being apathetic or ignoring the crime because of self-preservation and the attitude of non-involvement. Remember, it could happen to your loved one any time.

Tweet

Then and Now

Two days ago I received an email that sent me back to the period when the computer didn’t exist, no mobile phones, no tablets, no smart phones.  This email detailed what most of us ( baby boomers ) did, how we entertained ourselves, the way we mixed freely with our friends of different races and cultural  backgrounds, how we shared our food and played together out in the open, whether it be marbles, kite flying and kite fighting, spinning tops, and yes, spinning the little wooden disc nailed to the ice cream vendor’s  container which had small nails and figures written on it.  For 5 cents, you could spin it once and see where it stopped. If it stopped at 2, then you get two ice-cream potong ( ice cream lollipop ) one of which you then give to your friend.

I recall how we would cluster eagerly round the ice-cream seller to see which of us would be lucky enough to get two sticks of ice-cream.  Boys and girls played games together, enjoying the company.  It was safe to play outdoors.  We never feared for our safety and our parents didn’t have to be paranoid like the parents of today.  We didn’t have to barricade our windows and doors with steel bars and it was either catching the public bus or walking to school.  The thought of being kidnapped never surfaced.  We were safe walking along the streets and footpaths.

We could  visit freely our neighbours’ homes, during the festive season.  There were no concerns such as whether our friends’ food or mothers’ cooking was halal or not.  We respected our friends’ beliefs and practices and we enjoyed the food laid out for us.

Today, things have become so different that we would prefer to meet outside the home lest we offend the sensitivities of others where preparation of food is concerned. We hesitate to invite colleagues of other races to our homes for a meal. This is to save them the embarrassment of having to decline as well as our embarrassment at being turned down.  I wonder when and how this came about. To me, this is a sad thing.  Our children are missing out on what we used to enjoy in the past.  Freedom from fear, from prejudice and most of all, simple, clean fun and a great camaraderie among friends and neighbours.

The loss of all these --- is this the price of “progress” ?

Tweet

Creativity, Passion and Teamwork

These three factors, creativity, passion and teamwork resulted in a product of exquisite beauty, a 5-tiered wedding cake. It was also a labor of love by two talented cousins who baked this wedding cakefor their cousin who returned to Kuala Lumpur to celebrate her wedding with friends and relatives.

Without love, creativity, passion and teamwork, I’m sure this first attempt to bake and create a wedding cake would not have succeeded as well as it did.

It goes to show that success comes only with love and passion for what you do. Creativity is needed so that your product will stand out as unique and teamwork is essential as more often than not, a single person may find it very tough to work under constraints and may just stop short of achieving what he has envisaged.

This wedding cake is unique in that every layer of cake is real and different. Hotels usually provide a dummy cake with a small portion which is real so that the bridal couple can cut it. Tiers 1 and 2 are Victoria sponge cake filled with butter cream icing and raspberry preserve. Tier 3 is mocha cake with salted caramel,  tier 4 is rainbow cake with white chocolate ganache while tier 5 is chocolate cake with dark chocolate ganache. This is truly one wedding cake of its kind, unique, and the decorations are lavender sprigs and flowers in lavender color, the reason being the bride will become Mrs M L Lavender after taking her marriage vows.

I'm very proud of my two beautiful and talented nieces and their superb wedding cake.

Tweet

Age is Just a Number

Age is just a number these days. You are as young as you feel. So if you’re still in your twenties but feel as if you are fifty, then you are old! Similarly if you are in your swinging sixties but still feel that you are sweet sixteen, then you are sixteen at heart.

Time always appears to be at a standstill for those who feel forever young. Such people have an advantage over the rest because they are happy and it shows. There is a spring in their step, a smile on their face and they radiate positive vibes.

However, there are others who emit negative vibes and they can drag you down by depleting you of your energy. For them, life is always a round of complaints.

Whichever group you belong to, time still passes by. Have you noticed that for the young and the old, time appears to be spinning past faster and faster each year? Look at this year. It’s already past the halfway mark. June has stolen in stealthily before we are aware of it.

It wasn’t too long ago that we were on the cusp of a new millennium and I remember that many people were very apprehensive of the YK2. Some wondered if all the computers would crash. What would happen to the banks, the aeroplanes? Thank goodness the new millennium came in without a hitch and here we are, already in 2012.

Life is wonderful. Enjoy each day as it dawns and appreciate the beauty that surrounds us and be thankful for family and friends that make our life what it is for we never know when our number is up. There are so many obituaries in the papers each day. Some lived to a ripe old age while others left in the prime of their lives. More saddening are those who left before they had the chance to bloom and realize their potential.

Tweet