Masalah besar

Conflict of interest;

I have always been a fan of nice stuff. And most of the nice stuffs that I like are expensive. No! Don’t roll your eyes just yet.

Well, me, being myself, are actually very calculative of things that I buy, expecially when it cost a bomb. For example, I will NEVER buy anything more than RM150 to put on my feet. In this case, I gave an exception to a particular Aldo sandal that I thought was really, really beautiful. Who in their right mind, would put RM1800 on their feet??? Even if I have the budget, I will not spend that much on shoes. I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing for those who have extra money to spare. So don’t get me wrong on this. This is just my own personal stand on material stuff.

Ok… So apa masalah besar aku sekarang ni? I WANT THIS :

Yes, I do own a few branded bags but 99% were gifts from my family.  Funky ain’t it?  Do I have the budget for this? I guess I can eat maggi for a month and the kids can just eat plain rice with warm water. What I’m trying to say is, boleh adjust la…

Apa isu sekarang ni? It’s the damn good intuition of rationalizing the whole value vs need. Do I NEED another bag? If you don’t, why do have to waste your money? Let’s say I decide to buy a bag, do I really NEED to spend that much of money on a bag? I can just get a good bag which cost a quarter of whatever THE bag is worth.

This is all Gossip Girl’s fault. All those rich socialite wearing all those lovely bags… Iskiskisk…

People say ‘kalau nak seribu daya, tak mau seribu dalih’.

Why? Kenapa?

Time orang sibuk guna jalan raya lah diorang mau kasi betul lampu/ tebang pokok/ siram bunga.

Alam flora/ DBKL/DBKK sepatutnya angkat sampah pagi-pagi buta. Start lah angkat jam 3 pagi, supaya tidak mengganggu traffic flow.

Why? WHY? WHYYYYYY??????

p/s: I was stuck in traffic for almost 30mins just because ada lori blocking jalan sebelah kanan sebab orang siram bunga time hujan lebat just now.

Don’t wake the sleeping dragon!

I snapped… I finally snapped.

Setakat sampai yesterday, rekod jiwa baik ku di bulan puasa tahun ni sungguh cemerlang. No fighting at the grocery store. No complaining or bitching about other people (not out loud at least). I was even  patient enough not to say anything when people cut line depan aku time bayar barang. Yes… It was glorious! I feel like a new person… until yesterday…

Kapowww!!!

• Jangan suka suppress orang!
• Jangan pandang rendah terhadap budaya orang!
• Jangan sekali-sekali menghina budaya sendiri!!!

Ini la orang melayu (mintak mahap banyak-banyak kepada sesiapa yang akan terasa)… Selalu ingat diri diorang satu level tinggi dari orang lain. “Takkan melayu hilang di dunia” konon. KONON!!!! Bahasa Melayu pun sudah hampir lupus, mana kan pulak bangsa melayu.

Sekian. Terima Kasih.

Save the cheerleader, save the world!

Topik yang tidak related dengan Heroes…

As ya’ll kno, I’ve been experimenting with all sorts of ways to cut down domestic waste di rumah. It started with the reusable shopping bag, which I have to say is a big huge success, since I have only 3 or 4 stray plastic bags lying around at home. And then, it was the cloth diaper with Khadeeja. Initial cost was huge but it was soon forgotten when I realized I haven’t had to spend anything for her diapers for almost 3 months. And just this week, di sebabkan cik kiah datang mengadap, I started myself on cloth pad. 

I kno the biggest concern with cloth pads ni is leceh. Well my friends, nothing good in this world is easy! And the second issue will definitely be kebocoron. Setakat ini, I don’t have any accidents yang tidak di kehendaki berlaku. For the time being (sebab pad ku tidak cukup), I only wear it when I’m at home and still use disposable pads time kerja. Currently I’m using cloth pads from Bellaposh. In my opinion, one of the best I’ve seen in the market sebab the pad is layered with non-bocor material and it looks sturdy (is this correct word to use?) enough to hold all those O+… Heh…  

So how do we start? My advise; get 6 regular pads, and 2 night pads. Depending on how regular you change your pad, 3 day pad throughout the day, and 1 regular + 1 night pad (change before you go to bed) will be good enough. Bellaposh’s pads cost about RM33 – RM35 each. Other brands cost more but since I haven’t had the chance to try other brand yet (which I will once I have the budget), I’m not sure if there’s any difference in the quality. But buat masa ni, it is very, very comfortable. Disposable pads sometimes can cause itchy-bawah or melecet. And I really hate those gel pads. Susah betul mau cuci. Anyways… What was I saying again? Hmm… Oh! Cost… Yes…

Again, the same with the cloth diapers. I think sebab kita pakai pun sebulan sekali, and don’t really mind paying, for me, it is also for a healthier vah-jay-jay. Have I mentioned that it is damn comfortable? If you want to use it day and nite, there are a lot of stylish wet bags/pad bags available. Messy and leceh especially time kita not in the house? Once you get used to it or you have a ritual for storing used pads, it should be fine.

Pantyliner (Sugarliners from Tiny Tapir), Regular pad (Bellaposh from Little Haven), Luna pad (Bellaposh from Little Haven)

Where to buy? All online babystores have it. But if you want to see and touch first, go to Tiny Tapir store in Ampang Point (no Bellaposh there but they have other brands) and also Little Haven at The Curve. I also love Bellaposh’s cloth diapers. It’s not bulky and very easy to take care of!

Sekian saja tips penjagaan bumi untuk hari ini. Save the cheerleader, save the world! Woohoo!!!

RM800?

Lagi-lagi issue pasal Indonesian maid.

My take on this:

• Average gaji maid di Indonesia sendiri ialah Rm300 (some gets as low as RM200!). Paling tinggi aku rekemen untuk gaji maid, kalau mau ikut calculation yang betul, increase la at least 50% of the average yang diorang dapat di negara sendiri.
• In return, instead of paying RM600/month, kita supply la barang-barang peribadi seperti sabun, shampoo, pad, makan, minum… Why I put this here? Sebab ada setengah majikan potong gaji bila beli barang-barang keperluan orang gaji. And bukannya kena beli tiap-tiap bulan pun!
• Also, give them allowance to make phone calls back home monthly. Example; I put aside RM30/month for my maid to make calls back home. Kalau diorang ada handphone sendiri, kita tolong masuk credit RM30. If they need to use more, barulah kita potong gaji diorang. Sending sms is cheaper than calling!
• So kalau kita betul-betul calculate;  gaji+makan+keperluan+call = RM600 (average cost).
• Kesimpulannya, kita bagi gaji Rm450, tapi support barang-barang lain untuk diorang, sebab end cost dia pun sampai jugak RM600!

So how? Agree with me or not? Moral of the story kawan-kawan semua, kepada kita majikan, jangan terlampau berkira dengan orang yang tolong kita jaga anak, masak, bersih rumah. They help us, we help them. And for Kerajaan Indonesia, don’t be too greedy!

Sekian. Terima Kasih.

A thin line between ‘Bersyukur’ and ‘Riak’

Bila kita rasa bersyukur dengan rezeki yang kita dapat, kita ucap ‘Alhamdulillah’…

Bila kita TAYANG amount duit yang kita ada dalam bank account, which we are definitely proud of due to the amount of kerja keras yang kita buat, itu namanya ‘BANGANG’…

• NEVER EVER put any account details (eventhough you blur-blur kan account number) in your blog or website, apatah lagi amount duit yang ada dalam tu. You never kno who reads your site.
• Sekiranya anda mau menunjukkan kejayaan anda dalam mengumpul banyak duit, tunjuk sajalah gambar kereta mahal/beg mahal/tiket ke luar negara yang anda dah beli. Orang mesti tahu punya la anda ada duit. No need to show the exact amount that you have.

Kesian jugak bila dipikirkan… The world does revolve around $$$!

Onde mondeeee!!!!

Onde mondeee!!!

If you want to stop supplying Malaysia with tenaga pekerja, go ahead! Kasi la makan sama rakyat mu yang berjuta-juta tu sendiri!!!!!

I’m a little bit pissed with the statements coming out from Indonesia punya government nowadays. With all due respect, this is going to be one nasty post. So I apologize first should anybody feel like I’m being too emotional (or too direct… SO WHAT?!).

First, it was the compulsory off day for the maid. Astaganaga… Of course la we give our maids off days. When I don’t let them out on their own, it doesn’t mean that they are locked inside the house, buat kerja 24/7. There are days where I will let my maid just sit around and do nothing at home (usually this is when I will bring the kids out). Bila aku tanya dia, ‘Kau mau keluar jalan-jalan?’. Dia punya jawapan, ‘Tak mau Kak. Nanti saya hilang di culik orang. Lagipun mau simpan wang, bukan mau belanja.’. Jawapan yang sangat bagus. Bila sudah keluar, nanti makin banyak la social problem created. Prostitution, pregnancy, lari dari majikan… etc… Lepas tu, kalau sudah orang yang kita jamin tu buat hal, kerajaan will issue a new statement; sekiranya pekerja asing anda mencuri/merogol/hilang/dibunuh anda akan dikenakan kompaun… Wanna bet?

Secondly, pasal statement kerajaan Indonesia ‘threatening’ to stop supplying us with maids. Pak Presiden, kamu nggak bagi orang kamu masuk Malaysia legally, orang kamu masuk Malaysia illegally. Orang kamu lagi sanggup mati di lautan, daripada tinggal di tempat sendiri kerana nggak punya wang untuk beli sesuap nasi! My advise to you Mr President, is to make sure all your borders are covered and no ‘leak’ from your side…

My mom’s new maid just arrived last Saturday and she told me sekarang, semua maid agency di Indon di tutup sementara waktu. She said it was because of the Manohara case and also sebab maid yang didera. I agree that a few bad cases makes our country looks like downtown Bronx but they forgot to mention the crime rates that are/were caused by the Indonesians in Malaysia. Lebih banyak kes-kes curi/rogol/bunuh yang berlaku daripada kes penderaan yang ada. I’m not condoning those who dera their maids (sudahlah orang tu tolong kau buat kerja, ini kau mau dera lagi. Dumbass!), but I’m just saying there’s always the other side of the story in any situation.

Ok… I’m all done with the rantings. Back to knitting to cool down all this anger…

HAPPY MONDAY everyone!

p/s: “Onde monde” is an expression like ‘astaga’ or ‘oh no’ used by orang Padang.

Saving electricity?

I’m in KK for a week already and almost everyday karen rumah kami di tutup for 3 hours.

According to my aunt, this is due to the projek bikin empangan somewhere here la. Since they need a lot of power to kick off their generators, the kerajaan is asking us all to ‘participate’ by reducing the use of electrical stuff and also by pencatuan tenaga. So each kawasan will not have power for at least 3 hours everyday. IMO, this is a good way to save power. Like it or not, for 3 hours each day you will not have any power at all. If we want to save the environment, this is really a good way. I mean, nobody likes it when they don’t have any karen at home especially when you have small kids. Kesian jugak, sebab panas and if it happens at night, gelap + nyamuk. But 3 hours is still bearable… Why not kan???? If people in KK can survive it in this bloody heatwave, why not the rest of Malaysia…

100 friends for the environment

I didn’t switch off my lights during Earth Hour. Reasons? Because Baby K refused to stay quiet in the dark. Also because I thought it was useless. Why? Good question… And I ask you back, why only for one night and one hour? Does it make any difference? Of course it did but if you want to start doing something about the environment, start with carrying reusable shopping bags whenever you go out.

I started refusing plastic bags this week. I carry 5 or 6 reusable bags when I go out for groceries. I ALWAYS have 1 reusable bag with me. I kno it’s hard and too petty to keep carrying these bags but once you train yourself to do it, you’ll get the hang of it. Here’s how we do it;

• Have a list of your groceries and decide how many bags you need to bring to the market/supermarket.
• Always put the bags inside your car so that you won’t forget. For me, every time after I kemas barang groceries, I will immediately put the bags back into my car or put it right next to the front door.
• Buy small foldable bag to make it easier for you to carry inside your bag all the time. I got mine in Tokyo, a foldable Roo shopper bag. You can also get it here. Or if you don’t want to pay a lot on a grocery bag, go to Daiso at The Curve (it’s like the 100yen shop), or the 100yen shop in Sunway Mentari or SS2. They sell it for RM5. But there’s no harm in being fashionably concious in our fight for the environment. Heh…

It’s okay if you don’t carry enough reusable bags. Even if you carry 1 reusable bag, you already refused 1 (or even more than 1 if your items are small) plastic bag.

Folded...

 

Big enough to carry a 3kg sabun cuci kain

I kno it’s not much and there’s a lot more that we can do to help with the environment (especially diapers, water, electricity…). But at least we are doing something. So, in the spirit of saving the environment, I pledge to make 100 friendship bands and give it to my friends who wants to be an eco-warrior and save the planet. To those who are interested, send your home addresses and I will mail it to you! Email them to ziah@rocketmail.com or sms it to me; +60178784008.

Hand made by moi!

If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make the change

- Michael Jackson, Man in the mirror -

Apa yang susah betul???

Kementerian Pelajaran needs to stop all this nonsense about teaching Science and Maths in English. Here are my opinions:

• Pelajar luar bandar banyak menghadapi masalah sebab English is not an everyday language for most of them.
• Pelajar yang tinggal di bandar pulak, menghadapi masalah dengan subject lain sebab ndak paham certain terms or penerangan dalam bahasa melayu.
• Adalah lebih bagus kalau kita belajar sesuatu di dalam bahasa ibunda dulu sebelum belajar dalam bahasa kedua.
• Budak yang masuk sekolah cina or tamil, belajar dalam bahasa cina or tamil. So what’s the problem with learning in BM?
• Science and Maths are FACTUAL learning. It means, kau belajar dalam bahasa apa sekali pun, 1 + 1 = 2 (one plus one is two… satu campur satu ialah dua… ).
• Di sebabkan Kementerian terlalu menekankan kepentingan bahasa asing, bahasa melayu sendiri sudah lintang pukang.
• Zaman kita belajar dulu pakai bahasa melayu, and we turned out to be FINE…
• Bukan mau cakap apa la jugak, most teachers yang di tugaskan mengajar science and maths in english pun mungkin kurang mahir sebab diorang dulu-dulu pun belajar benda tu dalam bahasa melayu. Unless they have a very strong background in english, which I seriously doubt (sorry again… just an opinion…)…

Kesimpulannya; gunakanlah bahasa kebangsaan kita… Jangan la susah-susah mengejar dunia barat. If the Japanese can, we can too! Banzaaaaaai!!!!!!!!!!

Sekian. Terima Kasih…

p/s: Harap-harap jangan ada yang terasa… This is just one person’s opinion…