Last night I was at Theresa’s uncle’s place in Blackburn. After dinner there we all (Uncle, his wife and I) went to Camberwell/Surrey Hills to a restaurant to discuss the menu for a Chinese New Year reunion dinner Uncle was planning. By the time I got home it was close to 12am. That was when I realised I couldn’t find my mobile phone. The last time I had used it was when I replied Theresa’s message earlier that evening, probably around 4.30pm. Now it is no where to be found. This morning I emailed Uncle to ask if the phone was in his house. No, it wasn’t. He’d check if it was in the restaurant but that is very unlikely as I didn’t even fiddle with it when I was there. I tried twice to ring the number – it rang but no one picked up. I hope that means it is lying somewhere and no one is using it. Sigh…

 

2006 has officially kicked off as far as work is concerned. Everyone in office look and sound sluggish. I guess the first day back at work after a long layoff is always a challenge. It was a 2 week holiday which everyone in office had looked forward to. Most travelled. David and Lynette went to Western Australia, to Perth and Bunker Bay. Cordelia was out in the Grampians. Andre was in New Zealand. Tim was in Canberra. Young David was the luckiest fellow – went to Africa! He was in Morocco and South Africa. Vicky was at Anglesea and Lorne.

 

So I was the only one in Melbourne right through the 2 weeks. I had planned to visit Port Fairy/Warrnambool but honestly, I didn’t feel like travelling all by myself. I had thought it would be nice to be on the road by myself – do a bit of Jack Kerouac (is that the correct spelling…) but I guess I am too much of a family man by now. Every time I sat down to plan a trip, I realised no matter where I go, I’d miss my family and I’d much rather save any trip I was going to make, for another day when I could go with them instead. So I ended up staying in Melbourne the entire time.

 

I spent the first week mainly at the MCG watching Australia belt South Africa. Ponting, Symmonds and Hayden were fantastic, as were Brett Lee and Shane Warne. It was sheer pleasure to watch legends like Warne and McGrath work their magic. South Africa put up a gallant fight but apart from the application and efficiency of the Aussies, the South Africans also did not have luck on their side. Some of the decisions which went against them were quite bad.

 

The MCG is a great stadium. I had thought the Nou Camp in Barcelona was magnificent, especially when it was the site where Manchester United dashed Bayern Munich’s dreams within a minute in the dying stage of the game. I can never forget the slow sweeping motion of Teddy Sheringham following Giggs’ mis-kick to level the game. Ole’s toe poke to send the ball into the roof of Bayern’s goal was like a rapturous moment. Every time I think of that night in Nou Camp I still have chills running up my spine. A few of us walked all the way back to the La Ramblas after the game, stopping to order a bottle of champagne. The early flight the next morning back to KL did not tire me out, such was the level of adrenalin.

 

So to have the MCG up there to be mentioned in the same breath as the Nou Camp, must be really something. I felt something special in there. The atmosphere was fantastic. The cricket knowledge, the teasing of the fieldsman on the boundary close to Bay 13, the constant to-ing and fro-ing of the spectators between their seats and the bar, all add up to a special category of spectator sport sensation. Of course the match was a very good one too. Ponting hit a century in the first inning. Symmonds went to town with the ball to cement his claim in the side in South Africa’s second inning. Brett Lee with his blinding pace which first intimidated and threatened Kallis (number one batsman in the world at that point in time) and then snared Kallis next ball with a Yorker. Hussey’s magnificent last wicket stand with McGrath was extra special. How often does McGrath get a mention in a batting performance? It did not matter that he was very much the supporting act. It was a supporting act of the highest order – one which gave Hussey a chance to drag Australia out of jail, thus allowing Australia to win the match.

 

No – not as good as the night in May 1999 in Barcelona, but not too distant also-ran either. The MCG is special and I hope to make many more visits there, hopefully with ET and Theresa alongside me next time.

It has been a holiday period of sadness. Of course a large part of it all has to do with the fact that I am all alone in these festive days. Theresa and Kiddo are in Malaysia and here I am, mostly alone. I feel terrible.

 

Compounding it all – the spate of sad, infuriatingly stupid stories about Malaysia have been occupying webspace of sites I frequent to catch up with Malaysian events. There is of course the Moorthy affair. The late mountaineering hero could not even die in dignity, as the religious department was hell bent on flexing its castrated and vacuous flab in order to feel important. It resorted to making statements no one can challenge. Cowardly and despicable. It stooped so low as to deprive a grieving widow of her opportunities to bid her late husband farewell, to mourn him properly. I am a Christian and I have my own beliefs as to his destination but even I draw a line and stop short of playing fast and loose with a grieving widow’s right to grief and to grieve. Then the High Court, long impotent, still could not rise to be counted on to save that widow. It hid under a table and said it had no power. These are all 3-star institutions at best – no ball room. None needed because these are all ball-less institutions. Cowing is what it is good at. Spineless slimeballs.

 

Then there’s the side splitting tale of draping the ancient pyramids with the majesty of the Malaysian flag. Is there no end to the stupidity of the present Malaysian government? No less a person than the Deputy Prime Minister, together with the Ministry of Youth & culture and the government of Selangor, the country’s most developed state, thought it a splendid idea and voiced their support. Aiyoh……………

 

Khairy Jamaluddin buying shares worth RM9.2 million also made the news. Sure, it is obscene for someone so young, with a history only of public service, and having no traceable family wealth, to amass that sort of money for such an investment. But this is Malaysia… enough said. Maybe Messrs Lim Kian Onn, David Chua and Kalimullah were generous with the payment terms so that young Khairy gets a fair crack at making it… I don’t know, but maybe this is less newsworthy – it is not an entirely impossible tsk tsk sort of transaction.

 

There’s also the news of yet another person falling victim to the public hazard of terribly regulated construction site safety. This guy, a young entrepreneur making it in corporate Malaysia, was crushed by a boulder while in his car. Died instantly.

 

Proton and MAS making ever bigger losses.

 

The mullahs giving themselves more bullying powers.

 

Just what is Malaysia coming to?

 

I just chatted with Theresa on the MSN. She said a couple, church friends, were sending their child to a private school in KL. They live in Klang. This couple would have to sacrifice a couple of hours each day just to send that poor child to school. Burning fuel, wasting time, stressing themselves out. Why? The system sucks – that’s why. Good schools are as scarce as good truffles these days. So one digs deep to get a whiff of it and then pay some to get it.

 

What’s happening to the country of my birth and childhood…