a new dawn

It started with Tun Dr Mahathir quitting UMNO in February 2017 and setting up his own party, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia. In the run up to GE14, Pakatan Harapan proposed that Tun Dr Mahathir will become the new Prime Minister should they win, thereby paving the way for Tun Dr Mahathir to lead the Pakatan Harapan coalition for GE14.

On Tuesday, 1 May 2018, former finance minister (1985-1991 and 1999-2001) Tun Daim Zainuddin openly supported Tun Dr Mahathir at a gathering in Kedah.

On the very same day, Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, former international trade and industry minister (1987-2008), had called out to Malaysians to reject UMNO and support Pakatan Harapan. A no nonsense lady, she resigned as the Chairman of Supermax Corporation Berhad two days after its Chairman Datuk Seri Stanley Thai held a special press conference to apologise to Datuk Seri Najib for campaigning for the opposition in GE13.

Having all these veterans coming out of retirement to speak out against the incumbent government and go on a grueling campaign trail, I take my hats off to them. It was a very exciting time, like watching a team of Avengers being put together. And the end... the end was more than what we could hope for.

Below is my post-GE14 thoughts, taken from Facebook:

Yes Tan Sri Rafidah, I too was hopeful but didn't actually believe Pakatan Harapan or any other party/coalition would ever wrestle control over the federal government. I mean, it has always been BN and with all the gerrymandering and mid-week polling day... Seriously, Wednesday?! That was really frustrating for me because we're not based in Malaysia at the moment.

But the rakyat has proven me wrong, and I'm so so so happy to be wrong! This shows and prove to everyone who has ever said "aiyah, I'm only one vote" that the power truly lies in our hands. That exercising your vote wisely is one of the the greatest responsibility you will ever have in this life.

EVERY VOTE COUNTS.

I'm very very proud of all my family and friends who travelled near and far to cast their votes. When we were watching the live results, my dad and I was pleasantly surprised that the voters turn out rate was more than 70% for almost all Parliamentary seats. That's bloody awesome for a Wednesday polling day.

I'm so excited for what lies ahead for Malaysia. PH better do a good job. I'm sure they won't do worse than BN, but I do hope they will see through what they have promised us. If we can vote out BN, we can vote out PH too. So please make the next 5 years count.

My husband and I discussed what our future plans would be like if PH wins GE14. Would we return to Malaysia? Most definitely, when the time is right. Malaysia is being reborned and she needs talent to help her grow again.

My dream now is that some day, we Malaysians do not have to work/live overseas for a better future. Not just for monetary reasons, but security, education, health care, etc. My dream is that overseas Malaysians would now have a reason to return. And my friends and I would be able to sit round a table and have teh tarik, not only when we "visit" but whenever we feel like it.

Congratulations, people of Malaysia! Let's make Malaysia great again!

so, it's been a while

It looks like I've fallen off the blogging bandwagon.

Well, I was never really consistent in the first place anyway. It's just like the time I joined a gym. First month I go there 3 times a week. By the second month, maybe twice a week coz things are getting busy at work/life. By the third month, once a week or lesser. After 6 months, I just go there for a shower when I work late nights. It's one of those personal projects that was meant to end in a natural death.

I started this blog as a platform for me to practice creative writing, for fear that all I could compose in the future are formal emails and boring words. But in order to write, I have to be inspired to write. There must be something that I feel passionate and strongly about. Rambling on without a point is not my style.

I don't know why inspiration has been hard to come by. And even when I do find inspiration, I get lazy. You see, writing a post takes up a lot of my time because my words are thoughtfully selected (see above point on creative writing) and I try to include pictures and colours to make the post interesting. That's a lot of hard work when one has a full-time job and is a full-time mother outside of working hours. Even my Facebook doesn't get much updates so you can understand why my blog has been abandoned since October 2015!

Anyway, I'm trying to hop on the bandwagon again 😊 I haven't really figured out what I'll share or how much. Maybe some cooking posts since I cook so much now. Some family stories and anecdotes, maybe.

Hmm... I think I'll get the ball rolling with some sights around Singapore since I'll have visitors this week and I'm playing tour guide. I'll also copy and paste a post I made on Facebook on the phenomenal tsunami rakyat, for memory's sake.

Wait for them!