Tress’ parents left on Saturday. Tress and I drove them to the airport a bit after 1pm. We helped them with the whole process and we left the airport and got home just a bit after 4pm. We had a dinner with some old Klang church friends that night so on our way back we stopped to pick up a cake to bring along with us.

When we got back, we tidied the house a bit, fixed up kiddo’s room for her to reclaim use – she had so generously insisted that her grandparents should have the benefit of her double bed and more spacious bedroom and she had slept in the guest room – and generally put the house back in the condition we had been used to, before Tress’ parents arrived.

Of course, Tress’ parents were not the least unwelcomed in the first place. Their stay made the home even warmer (literally!) and although it meant extra work and more required more detailed attention from us, it was all great stuff. I enjoyed it.

This time around, they went to Canberra, Werribee zoo and mansion, a single trip to the city and that was it. They also made a couple of trips to Point Cook, where KJ and his family live but apart from that they were mostly at home with “soirees” to the local shopping centers and restaurants only (Chinese, of course). So it was a bit more relaxed than their previous trip. I think the only factor affecting their rest was the cold. Although it’s a bit warmish, it is still a bit too cold for them, especially for granddad. I have had to fill up water bottles and turn the heater up for them.

Tress’ mum however has been great in the kitchen. She whipped up fantastic Malaysian fares. She had Hooi and Marloney over with their kids and our house had a festive mood for a couple of nights with free flowing laksa, mee-hoon-kuey and pak kuo – wonderful stuff.

She also made acquaintance with Tress’ hairdresser and in the space of 2 weeks, went to have her done twice. I’d say she likes his craft… I have teased her a couple of time about making more appointments for her to visit Melbourne so that she could have her hair done.

I think they enjoyed their visit, and I know I did. I hope they come again soon, or maybe my mum would.

Last Friday I kept looking up the ASX website, fearing the end of the world is nigh. Of course, it isn’t. At least not just because our money is disappearing a lot quicker than it was made. It has just been an unrelenting downward spiral. I looked at the steep downward slope of the chart at the left hand side of the page and remarked to a colleague that it has been a while since I saw anything like that.

I recall hearing about the Oct 87 crash, while in Uni. My economics lecturer tried to joke about it but few laughed, not because we were all too shocked but because unlike now when information is so widely available, in 1987 Uni students didn’t have a clue about what was happening in the real financial world, until well after the event.

In 1997 however, the Asian Financial Crisis was in a different context. I was in a bank in Kuala Lumpur, so I was close to ground zero. Information flow was much more efficient then, especially for those of us who knew where to look and who subscribed to different forum which disseminated information which wasn’t available in the mainstream media. The bank I worked in pioneered online trading systems so online monitoring of news on markets and their participants flowed freely right onto my desk. PAL and MGG were my main sources, just like many in KL at that time. The late MGG Pillai was the pre-cursor to the present day RPK. While you had to sift through stuff which flowed through his forum, it was stuff which wasn’t available elsewhere. His “sangkancil” forum was something I followed closely, even contributed to.

11 years later and a few things are evident. Firstly, economic turmoil does come in cyclical mode, almost 10 years each run. I have now experienced 3 rounds. Secondly, information is crucial and those who seek it will indeed find, especially with technological advances. Nevertheless, that is a plus only to those who seek it. Most of my colleagues didn’t seem to be bothered that there was a bloodbath going on. Thirdly, when a financial disaster hits, it affects everyone whether or not you are a direct participant. The good book is therefore spot on to teach that we are not to lay up treasures on earth but to lay it in heaven. I say we shouldn’t hoard whatever God has blessed us with, and give it away as much as possible, especially for charitable causes.

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I’m now trying to follow what’s turning out to be an exciting last day of the first test between India and Australia in Bangalore…