It is the last day of the antipodeans’ financial year. For the last hour or so, the office has been abuzz with an anticipation of a good lunch in a restaurant nearby, for the whole office. I guess this means the firm has had a good year. That is consistent with the Australian economy, I guess. I wonder though, what it’d be like next (financial) year. With crude oil prices asking Scottie to slow down, with John Howard’s version of industrial relation revolution, with a chronic shortage of skilled labour and of course, – everyone’s 600 pound gorilla – China’s juggernaut, how the economy would fare after today is a question no one dare ask loudly, I guess. For me personally though, I’d be glad if I still sit here this time next year, cranking out agreements, affidavits, pleadings, letters and such other exciting legal documents.

            I was in the city yesterday afternoon and just like all of my other visits, yesterday stoked a little fire in me, causing me to miss city-type of work. This office I was in was very similar to my last law firm in KL. Beautiful panelled wall with the name of the firm tastefully emblazoned across the wall separating the reception from the rest of the office, the set of plush leather chairs in the waiting area exuded charm and class. The office goes around to occupy the entire floor, and the meeting rooms all had charming oak or oak-like tables and gently aged leather chairs. Of course, all these are likely funded by associates and partners busily cranking up billable hours, probably at the expense of a “balanced lifestyle”.

            I recall the insane hours the associates and some partners in that KL law firm used to put in (and are still putting in). I’d leave around 9-10pm and still feel like an early one. Then there were the all-nighters, which thankfully I had very few of. Of course, in those days, often the only time I saw my kid was during the weekend. I remember often wishing I had the chance to be doing something else, just to avoid that sort of grind. And yet, here I am, thinking maybe I miss those days! I guess we tend to remember the good parts and forget the bad parts of every stage or experience of ours.  Maybe the fact that I’m trying to find my feet/ground myself in the legal circles here that I sometimes wished I could return to that sort of work. Later that night however, when I was home cooking dinner for the wife and daughter at 6.30pm, I was glad I wasn’t working in the city. It felt good to be sitting at the dinner table at 7pm with the family, eating and catching up, talking and laughing.

            God in His wisdom has provided me with this job. It wasnt something I particularly wanted or sought out, but it has turned out to be a blessing in so many ways. I guess I could do a lot worse than placing my future totally in God’s hands. I will just work on what he has blessed me with and leave everything else to Him.

Dang! This little grape on my foot hurts. It didn’t yesterday. Now it does. Strange one, this. My usual blisters are white. Or clear. This one was dark red. Wifey thought it was suppressed bleeding but why would that happen? This pair of shoes (an Adidas trail runner) has been good for me these past 6 months. Yesterday’s run was around a footy oval, on near flat terrain, mostly gravel. 16 laps of maybe 600m each. With runs to and from the oval, that was just a little over 10k. Not overly excessive. Certainly not enough to earn me a grape sized and grape coloured blister. I cant wait to get home and remove the socks to check on it…

My Boss left the office over half an hour ago. Said he was jaded and tired. He had to be with a client in a police station for over 5 hours yesterday (Sunday). His wife added that it was his second consecutive weekend caught up with work/work related matters (we were in a seminar last Saturday). This silly client was accused firstly of whacking super flue on doors/windows of shops next to his. When the police searched his house, they didn’t find any super glue (I would have thought THAT strange, as most houses would have that stuff, I would think) but found an item which was from one of the shops he was accused of vandalizing. He was then charged with theft of that item. I know how it felt to have your time “robbed” by clients who do stupid things. Back in Malaysia, I had a client who was accused of slapping a woman around, in public. High profile client (accused of) doing stupid things in a high profile manner. Guess what? Got front page headlines, of course. For days. Press wont leave him alone. He had text’ed me, around 2am, if I remembered correctly. Needed some form of help which I had to promptly attend to 7am the next day. High profile client who paid a lot of fees, so I duly obliged. When I contacted my big boss, of course he agreed with what I did. I’m glad in my present place, I wont have this client to deal with, especially if he is still vulnerable to like escapades. My present boss though, has to deal with strange characters like that. Sounded almost like a character straight out of John Mortimer’s pages (he of Rumpole fame). Know any lawyers with clients who do the strangest things? I guess lawyers’ occupational hazards can be great fodder for conversation pieces and that is one fringe benefit no one should begrudge us.

Mondayitis of an “orange alert level”, I’m suffering today. I think. It’s the start of the school holidays, which will go on for 2 weeks. In Malaysia, this would have heralded a holiday trip to somewhere like Penang. It would have meant a few days together with the family in a beautiful sunny, warm and beautiful beach resort. It would have also meant a few days for Elysia to spend with her favourite cousins, Nicole and Isaac. We are however, in Melbourne in the middle of winter. The wife woke up this morning bemoaning the act of waking up to a 4 degree cold morning. She moaned and asked “why?” in a tone which made me wonder why we are here and not in Penang enjoying relatives, beaches and great food. About 2 hours after ruminating and aching the wife’s sentiments, I went into Elysia’s bedroom, told her I was leaving for work and another dagger pierced my heart. She was going to be alone for a few hours before I came to pick her and send her to Auntie Hooi’s. In Malaysia, she would have Lini (our Indonesian maid) look after her, or even better, she would have spent a few days with us in Penang. So why are we here… I keep telling myself my heart says to remain in Malaysia but my head tells me to move Down Under. I love Malaysia, but I don’t think that is the place for me and my family in the long run. Yes, yes – in the long run we are all dead, so said Keynes. For now however, I have to think these winter blues will subside to be replaced by a glorious spring, where the wife would be excited to be in beautiful Melbourne. I have to remind myself that after the morning cold thawed, when the limbs limbered up, we’d be glad to smell and breathe the crisp cold air instead of the muggy sweltering Malaysian humidity. I have to remind myself that those Penang holidays always come to an end, and we would be back in our office facing the corporate and business worlds of Malaysia, with its overwhelming corruption and bureaucracy making everything revolting. Invariably, Elysia leaves her cousins in Penang to return to a Malaysian school which will take her deeper into the forests of racially based progress in an increasingly limp education system. I have to remind myself that having an Indonesian maid for years had handicapped Elysia’s ability to look after herself better, something we have had to remedy for the last 9 months. Yes, the familiarity of Malaysia gave us much security. We need to rebuild that sense of security, here in Melbourne. We have taken the first steps, and must continue to strive on. Brave the winter mornings. Brave the absence of close relatives. Brave the new surroundings. And…brave Mondayitis.

It has been a cold and windy day. The forecast had said hail as well, but I have not been outside the office since getting in at around 8.40 this morning, so I have been spared. It had been raining as well, but that seems to have stopped. It was still only 8 degrees when Elysia and I left home this morning, with a forecast maximum 14 degrees. So finally Melbourne winter is here in its full splendour. I have not had a regular run for 2 weeks now, having managed only one in each of the past 2 weeks. It will be a challenge getting back into shape and do a satisfying 10k or 12k in the hour mark. I hope things look up. I feel like Gandalf muttering something along the lines of how dark the hour is and how there’s always hope, and there is always the nether world, and we should always strive on regardless. I guess there are benefits to the countless viewings of the LOTR series after all. The thing about this weather is how it is a parallel of how we are adjusting to life in Melbourne. It is often challenging, the cold and wind is to be lived through and gotten used to. Then hopefully when spring breaks we are in a position to cherish it ever more lustfully. Work hasn’t been all sunny for Theresa and I. We are not exactly in the twilight of our careers, but neither are we hot blooded novices, willing and able to cop all forms of bleeding abuse and efforts to get to the top of the pile. We have been through that and all we want now is to do work and spend time with the kid. That however is often not on the menu as being new to this country, we have to start all over again and repeat that process we went through over 10 years ago. We have to for example, put in the hours and not be the first one to rush out the door come end of the official day. We have to look and behave like hungry young Turks who are constantly seeking new challenges and wanting to learn new things. We do, but it’s hard to keep that hungry look. We need to be able to surge, take a fall, get up and wipe our asses and surge again saying, “Hit me!” Aren’t we too old for that sort of blood-letting corporate ladder climbing? I know though, that we must. Gosh it’s tiring. God, give us strength, we pray. And keep us warm. We pray.

I last had a haircut in the first week of April. The one before that was a little under 3 months earlier, so I went for a number 2. It was also during a salon’s special, having just changed management. Despite it being located on the other side of my suburb, I drove there one Saturday and got clipped for $10.00. As it was a number 2, the result was pretty drastic and when I stepped into the office on the Monday after, everyone gave me “what-have-you-done-to-your-hair” looks. I consoled myself that for the equivalent of RM30, I had to get my money’s worth. After all, the Indian barber in Klang I had gone to for years had charged me RM6 for years before increasing it to RM8. I felt a little extravagant today therefore when I stepped into the shopping centre near my office (The Glen) and got my second Aussie clip for $15. And it wasn’t even a number 4. It was just a trim so that the ends and edges looked neater. I had it done during lunch today and so far (about 5.30 pm now), no one had said anything. RM45. That is 5.625 haircuts in the Indian barber in good old Eng Ann. That’s 8.4375 months worth of haircuts. How do I console myself? Well even in KL I had colleagues who went for RM35 haircuts, and I had seen salons in the same shopping centre charging rates ranging from $17 to $35. So I was still using the cheapest service. The Indian barber of Melbourne. The only cheaper ones would have been another salon undergoing a change in management or some Chinaman operating out of his home during his “special” (which expired sometime in March). I guess I need to find a book titled “Hairdressing for Dummies” and start mastering the art of self-administered haircuts.

Theresa was having her breakfast this morning when we turned on the TV, to be greeted by: “Breaking News – Michael Jackson Jury Reached Verdict”. Our busy morning routines meant we couldn’t continue watching the TV, but even the radio had live cross-overs, so when I heard, I rushed from the kitchen into the bedroom to let Theresa know, but she has heard it on the radio clock. No, she couldn’t believe it either. I wonder what the majority of Americans thought of the verdict. I know many Aussies found it incredible that he was ruled innocent of every single one of the charges, especially the minor (pardon the unintended puns) ones. Talkback radio programs have been enjoying a bumper crop recently. Certainly, news that Whacko Jacko has been declared innocent by “12 of his peers” was rich fodder for radio hosts. Just as in the Corby case of several weeks ago, MJ’s walk has attracted calls expressing disbelief and opinions of a legal system gone wrong. When I sat down with our daughter Elysia about an hour later, I told her the verdict. She just sat there without any form of reaction. I guess that highlights the difference in age between us. MJ appealed to us who started buying records in the late 70’s through to the 90’s. She would probably get into popular music starting about now. To her, MJ music was mom and dad’s music. When I look at my own photos with the obviously receding hairlines, I appreciate how old “dad’s music” must seem to her. Perhaps it merely reflects her tastes but when we introduced her to other stars of days passed such as the Carpenters or the Bee Gees, she was more receptive. She used to play one of our Carpenters’ CD over and over again in her room. MJ’s CDs however have been largely left unused, unexplored. So, I guess his acquittal means little to her. As would his guilt.

I was exchanging emails with an old friend a couple of days ago. He was an entrepreneur in Malaysia who was respected and perhaps envied. He built a valuable empire and achieved success very quickly, as his drive and ambition were potent forces which propelled forward not just himself but those around him as well. Unfortunately he was caught in a mire of the worst possible case of political (mis)patronage, corruption and utter greed. Powers that be wanted what he has built and practically stole it. He packed up, went abroad and started rebuilding. When the powers that be ebbed, he returned and re-invested in Malaysia and again proved very successful. He however, has been bitten once. His investment in Malaysia is now only a fraction of his other businesses elsewhere. And he no longer calls Malaysia home. He goes to Malaysia only for what profits his investment there can earn for him. He still has a tinge of bad feelings. He felt bad, I could sense, that his relationship with his country of birth is now purely business. He says he thought of writing about the economic malaise of Malaysia but no longer feels he cares enough to do that. Even as he said that, I could sense a bit of pain. He is hurting for not being able to show more love and devotion to his country of birth. If he wrote such a piece, I’m sure people would sit up and listen. I told him so. He was an economist, and probably still is. Investment banking chiefs still respect and consult with him. What was his complaint? Not that he was robbed, justifiable that may be. He is just tired of dealing with idiotic and corrupt bureaucrats, Bumi quotas, trust arrangements, and such other malaise. Another successful businessman who is now in Melbourne and whose company I am pleased to often share, has recently been saying to his associates in Malaysia: the biggest problem with Malaysia is now the NEP. Yes, I believe Malaysia can be world beater, but only if the NEP is given its due burial. No re-hashed, not revised, just buried. Forget about that baggage labelled “social contract”. Deng Xiaoping buried communism and said “Any cat, be it a black cat or a white one, which catches the mouse is a good cat”, Malaysia and its people should do likewise and bury that old garbage of a social contract and move ahead. At stake is its children’s future.

When does someone give up his private legal rights? I was exchanging emails earlier today, with someone who lives in the Klang Valley in Malaysia. He has been complaining about illegal billboards coming up all over the place, intruding on public areas like children’s playgrounds. The local councils play official thugs and would not give him or other complainants, light of day. The advertisements are by large corporations. My correspondent has written to these corporations, only to be confronted with the expected silence. Obviously something is rotten in the Council (sorry for stating the painfully obvious). Something is rotten in these corporations, too. He now intends to arm himself with spray cans and be a graffiti artist. His canvas is going to be these billboards. I thought illegally erected they may be, they remain private property. The advertising agents/PR companies/advertisers own these billboards. If my friend spray paints them, it is like he finds a car illegally parked and proceeds to spray juicy graffiti all over this car. The owner of the car can jolly well sue him to recover expenses incurred in undoing his artwork. So can the owners of these billboards. My friend contends however that this is the only way to invite action from otherwise contented (wonder why?) council officials. If I were my friend, I would be very cautious about breaking a law (private law against trespass and damage to property) in order to highlight the breaking of other laws. That would be coming down to fight on their level. Fighting in the gutter, I cannot. My friend however, has been a campaigner for a long time. He is known for it. Malaysian Ralph Nader, he is. Let’s give him our support. Let’s start with thinking about a good defence for him if he is sued. Can we mount this argument that as these corporations have practiced corruption leading to deprivation of enjoyment of pubic amenities, they are estopped from complaining against actions taken to restore such enjoyment? Have these corporations given up their private legal rights? It’s like the truck driver who rams into the car parked in his driveway. Can the owner of that rammed car be taken to have given up his private legal rights and is estopped from complaining against the truck driver? Sounds terrible. Truckloads of research required for this one… Luxury of a blog.

Disturbing tendency of populist sentiment to ride roughshod over established judicial processes? In this case unfortunately, populist sentiment seems to have ignored judicial process, and this is wrong simply because the populist sentiment is that of a foreign land’s. If that populist sentiment emanated locally, then the judiciary should jolly well ask itself why. Laws of the land should reflect the views of its people. If the masses think justice has not been done, judges are out of synch with the notion of what the public perceives to be justice. If the NST wants to use this sad saga to suggest leaders or judges know best, it is clutching at straws.

Xenophobic and racists? Unfortunately the NST is right to some extent. Large sections of Australians are xenophobic. However, if you look at the way Australia has welcomed foreigners and allowed them to participate in almost all areas of life without prejudicial laws or policies, you’d have to say Malaysia, in comparison, should recognise it lives in a glass house and should jolly well shut up.

The one thing Australians would never shy away from is to say and act the way it believes, annoying and rude that may often be. They act on their conviction. When they saw the horrors of the tsunami, they acted on it. Now they perceive (albeit by their own standards) injustice done on one of their own, they likewise, acted. Unfortunately, that is one thing I cannot say about my beloved Malaysia and its people.