May 4, 2013
-
Of dashed plans
Came up with an elaborate plan for
Mother’s Day weekend with Mama -
tickets booked; scents picked out.
Then I remembered that I will be
in Laos for work a week from now.
Oh, Neens, you scatterbrain.
xx
Of young ambitions
“Did you know that the word kugiran
stands for Kumpulan Gitar Rancak?”
“… That would have been an awesome
name for our brother-sister project.”
“With your singing? Yeah, no.”
At this point, Abang probably
recalled all those times in London
I spent standing in his living room
and presenting my case on why
we should embark on a musical
roadshow as a brother-sister act.
“But this could have been us!”
I gestured to the car cd console,
where Jesse and Joy were playing.
“No.”
“But – “
“NO.”
My shower tiles would beg to differ, thanks.
Because, let’s face it, we are all guilty of
having held private stadium rock concerts
in the confines of our bathrooms, aren’t we?
xx
Of the soul
Sometimes bila solat I don’t
quite know what to talk about,
or ask for, to calm this horrible
sense of unease in my chest.
“Minta hati tenang,” kata Mama.
“That’s all you should work towards.”
I’m trying. But this is frightening.
xx
Of roadside observations
Do you space out sometimes while
driving? It’s like there is this internal
autopilot button that switches on and
gets you from Points A to B without
realising how you finally got there.
(In hindsight, I really hope this
isn’t the case for everyone else)
On the drive home from work yesterday
evening all I remembered was watching
two young pups by the roadside, wet
from the unforgiving downpour, as I
waited for the red light at a junction.
They looked like street dogs; scruffy,
fur ridden with dirt. One had taken
cover in between the shrubs while
the other pattered by the road
side, disoriented from the rain.
As cars drove past the shaken pup
would yip and cower by the curb.
Finally, the other young puppy
darted out from its temporary
shelter, nudged his friend up,
and herded him back to the
safety of the shrubbery.
My light turned green.
As I drove past, they were both
looking back out into the street
from under the wide cover of
a massive leaf overhang.
Way to go, canine comrades.
xx
Of PRU 2013
Will be going back to Sekolah Agama
Rakyat Melawati tomorrow morning
to fulfill my civilian obligation for
the grandmother of all elections.
As of today I am undecided on
which is the lesser of two evils,
but by tomorrow I will hopefully
be crossing out my ballot with
a better sense of certainty.
My friends and family will be
crossing different boxes because
they genuinely believe that one
particular leader and party will
bring this country forward, and
resonates well with their values
and beliefs. The truth is that we
will never really know who will
keep to their promises, or what
really resides in their hearts.
But we can do our part, right?
Stay safe, friends.
