So-called religious person can be plain nasty and treacherous

(Written on July 15, 2013)

No matter what religion a person says he follows, if he's a nasty/treacherous/bad person, he's still a nasty/treacherous/bad person. Doesn't mean that a so-called religious nasty/treacherous/bad person is better than a plain nasty/treacherous/bad person. 無論佢講佢信乜教，奸人始終都係奸人。 Mou leun keui gong keui seun mat gaau, gaan yan chi jung dou hai gaan yan.

Tamil for Better Language Understanding

(Written on June 26, 2013)

Tamil helps me to understand other languages better, because Tamil has the past, present, and future tenses of English, the flexibility of borrowing foreign language words like how Bahasa does, the nasal vowels of Portuguese, the sentence structure of Japanese with verbs at the end, the case endings of Russian, the respect language of Japanese, and a big difference between the formal written and colloquial spoken form like Cantonese. Tamil also trains phonetics because it has two R sounds and three L sounds, however it doesn't have F and Z sounds while J and H are marginal, and the writing doesn't distinguish between K and G or B and P. Vaalga Tamil Moli!

The day I stop caring, it means...

(Written on June 26, 2013)

The day I stop caring, it means...

講得啱，人哋係大人唔係細佬哥，佢做乜嘢都係自己擔當，我做得最多都係到此為止。 Well said, SbM.

You don't understand because you didn't listen (Tak faham kerana tak dengar)

(Written on June 20, 2013)

A lot of people don't bother to listen. That's why they can't learn. Dahlah sendiri tak faham, lagi mau lagak pandai. Masa I jelaskan, dia tak peduli. Entah apa dia buat waktu kelas. Patutlah tak tau. Tetiba pulak tuduh I tak ajar, padahal sendiri tak buat ulangkaji apa yang telah diajar. Ataupun dia sendiri tak hadir masa I ajar. Sila lihat cermin sebelum menuding jari.

Memorizing versus Understanding

(Written on June 20, 2013)

Some are good at memorizing sentences. Unfortunately they memorized blindly without understanding. So when I ask a question, they answer using a well-rehearsed sentence, not knowing that they are not answering my question at all. Knowing words isn't enough. You need to know how to make your own sentences according to the situation.

Yang dikejar tak dapat, yang dikendong berciciran

(Written on June 5, 2013)

Malay proverb: "Yang dikejar tak dapat, yang dikendong berciciran." It means you can't get what you are pursuing, meanwhile you lose what you have. Sad to see this happen due to one's rashness.

When You Say Nothing At All (Ronan Keating version) for learning English pronunciation

(Written on May 31, 2013)

A very soothing song, good for those learning English. Clear and proper pronunciation, meaningful lyrics, simple sentences, modal verbs, and predominant use of the present tense.

"When You Say Nothing At All"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuJrEBtmM1Q

If you want to improve your language speaking skills, you must speak!

(Written on May 25, 2013)

I've said it before and I'll say it again. If you want to improve your command of the language, you must speak it! Otherwise what's the point of learning? You can study as much as you want, but unless you use the language with others, what you learn will be "here today, gone tomorrow".

So you really want to improve? Start speaking now! Don't give yourself excuses such as "I'm not good enough," "I'm not sure about the sentence structure," "I don't know many words," "I need to study more first," etc.

I say, "Don't wait till you're fluent! Don't wait till you've memorized all the grammar rules you worry about! Just use whatever little you know. Otherwise you'll never start speaking. You can't escape making mistakes but they won't kill you!" Mistakes are inevitable. There's no shortcut.

If you don't speak, you'll never improve your speaking skills. Fine if you just want to read only, but why limit yourself?

And for those who are taking oral exams, please don't give one or two-word answers. Try to elaborate when you answer. How can the examiner give you high marks if you don't say much?

Do I need to translate all of the above into whatever language?

Healing Takes Time

(Written on March 30, 2013)

Healing takes time. It could be days, weeks, months or years. Most important is that it's complete. There will be setbacks, there will be flashbacks. In the darkest moments emerges the temptation to end it all. The key to survive this stage is to seek help from a reliable source. 好返需要時間。要幾耐就唔定嘅：唔知幾多日，禮拜，月，年。最緊要係好返曬。行呢條路一定有阻礙，有閃回。喺最慘嗰陣時會覺得好想離開呢個世界。要克服呢個困難，搵到信得過嘅人好重要。

Poem Translation: Abuse and lies ...

Came across this poem by Luz Barbosa while browsing through a friend's Facebook status update. So I thought of translating it into Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, and did it.

Original poem sourced from
http://thelaststraw.wordpress.com/2010/03/16/abuse-and-lies-no-more-i-am-worth-it/

[Original English version]

"Abuse and lies … no more … I am worth it"
by Luz Barbosa

he tells me not to look that way
he tells me not to dress that way
he tells me not to talk that way
he tells me not to act that way

he tells me I better shut up or else
he tells me I am worthless
he tells me my no’s are meaningless
he doesn’t care that I don’t want to or that I am crying

he tells me he loves me
he tells me I am his and I will always be, that he owns me
he tells me no one will ever love me like he does

he tells me I am stupid
he tells me I am a hoe
he tells me I am ugly

he sucks the life out of me

I finally had enough
I could not continue to live this way
I realized these were all lies
I decided this behavior was unacceptable
I finally got out

I was young
I didn’t know any better
I kept it to myself
I was ashamed
I lived in fear

I refuse to be controlled
I refuse to be abused
I refuse to be miserable
I refuse to be a battered woman

I deserve to be safe
I deserve respect
I deserve to be loved
I deserve to be happy
I deserve to be free to be me
I deserve to be treated well

I am worth it!

=====
[Mandarin Chinese version / 普通話/華語/中文]

＂虐待与謊言。。。不要。。。我值得＂
作者: 卢斯·巴博萨

他告訴我別望那邊
他告訴我別這樣打扮
他告訴我別這樣講話
他告訴我別這樣做事

他罵我收聲如果不。。。
他罵我沒有價值
他說我的拒絕沒有意思
他不理我講不要還是我哭的眼淚

他說他愛我
他說我是他的，我永遠是他的，他擁有我
他告訴我沒有人會像他這樣愛我

他罵我笨蛋
他罵我妓女
他罵我醜樣

他拉出我的心靈

我終於不能忍受
我不可以這樣活下去
我覺悟全部是謊言
我決定這行為不可以接受
最後我出去

那時我幼小
我不知道有其他辦法
我全部藏在自己裡面
我很慚愧
我生活在恐懼中

我不要被控制
我不要被虐待
我不要被悲慘
我不要成為一個被虐待的女人

我值得安全
我值得尊重
我值得被爱
我值得幸福
我值得有自由成為真實的我
我值得被人對我好

我值得！

=====
[Spanish version / Version español]

"Abusos y mentiras ... no más ... valgo la pena"
por Luz Barbosa

él me dice que no mires por allá 
me dice que no te vistes así
me dice que no hables así
me dice que no te comportes así

él me dice ¡Cállate! si no ...
me dice que nada valgo
me dice que mis negativas no tienen significados
no le importa que no quiero o que estoy llorando

él me dice que me ama
me dice que pertenezco a él y siempre será, que él es mi dueño
me dice que nadie me encantará como él

él me dice que soy estupida
me dice que soy puta
me dice que soy fea

él saca la vida de mi cuerpo

por fin yo no podía soportarlo más
no podía seguir viviendo de esta manera
me di cuenta de que eran todas mentiras
decidí que este conducta era inaceptable
por último salió

yo era joven
no sabía lo que hacía
me guardé para mí
me daba vergüenza
vivía en el temor

yo me niego a ser controlado
me niego a ser objeto de abuso
me niego a ser miserable
me niego a ser una mujer maltratada

merezco estar seguro
merezco respeto
merezco ser amado
merezco ser feliz
merezco ser libre para ser yo
merezco ser tratado bien

valgo la pena!

March Equinox 2012

Today's the day where spring officially begins in the Northern Hemisphere. Today, the earth's axis is perpendicular to the sun. The sun shines directly on the Equator where your GPS shows 0°N. Day and night are almost exactly the same length, and the sun rises exactly in the east and sets directly in the west on this day.

Read more about it at http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/march-equinox.html

Guy by the Riverside, Face Buried in Arms

[1:35 pm, Tue 29/1/2012] Saw this guy in office attire with a laptop-sized backpack sitting alone at the riverside under the blazing sun, face buried in his arms. He sat there for ten to fifteen minutes. I felt worried for him. Could he be suffering from depression, worries, or other troublesome thoughts until he can't feel sunburn? I wanted to reach out to him, to suggest that he seek shelter under some trees nearby. But I couldn't - I was in a building with sealed windows. Thank goodness he put on his footwear and made his way towards a building, which he entered.

First Post of 2012

Today's weather: cloudy day, light rain in the evening.