Kiddo turned 11 last Thursday. On the actual day, we stayed home and baked a cake with her. Yeap – all 3 of us baked a cake together, with not too disastrous results. Went out to an Italian restaurant with some aunts/uncles/cousins, on Friday night. Food was quite good, prices were very good, but ambience was…ziltch. Very pleasant waitress though. One of the uncles chatted her up (not very good example for the kids, but I wasnt complaining) and found out she goes to Deakin Uni – nearby. Adjourned to that uncle’s house for drinks after. Am really glad wifey knows her way around very well now, so handed the driving duties to her for that night.

On Saturday, went out and got her her prezzie – a mobile phone. She opted for the Nokia 3105, on the Orange pre-paid plan. She is thrilled with it, so I guess all in all it was a good birthday for her, though expensive for us! Also took her to St Kilda beach, and took a long walk including the Fitzroy Road restaurants – passed the “Whisk” restaurant, Melbourne’s contender in Channel 7’s “My Restaurant Rules” program (one of our favourites).

On Sunday night, watched Man Utd demolish the Barcodes 4-1. So it was a great weekend!

No wonder today’s Mondayitis was exceptionally bad…

“So, I commend the enjoyment of life.” (From the Bible – really. Eccl 8:15)

This nice little suburban firm is different to some other law firms I have dealt with, Aussie context notwithstanding. The principal is intense, but can lighten up in a very fun way. He took us all (lawyers) out to lunch today, some Vietnamese joint (great food but man, was I thirsty for hours after that – cook must have been shoveling msg by the truckloads). No Friday drinks either, although from the conversations over lunch and other times, I don’t think there are any teetotalers around. Maybe it’s just a small suburban firm thing-Friday drinks was more of a city firm thing, I guess. Maybe I’m wrong. There’s this largish firm here in the suburbs, which may have that sort of thing. I’ve heard people deriding them though – something to the effect that they have grown too large and wanted only large corporate work. Smaller suburban commercial work doesn’t have priority anymore, it seems. Heck even in my place, larger corporate entities always get priority, simply because they pay larger fees! It’s business after all, suburb or otherwise. Especially a suburban firm with a principal who is a quarter Scots. Anyway, it’s been only 3 months since my family and I arrived. I may only be experiencing the trunk of the elephant now. The journey is still laid out in front of us, for us to explore and experience.

What do I like about working here so far? Things work so much better here. Examples: searches take – wait for this – 5 minutes. Imagine – no search clerks to cajole or threaten. I get my land or company search results within minutes online (I can almost hear Malaysian lawyers swearing). One can also search status of court proceedings online, within minutes. Snail mail is also fast by Malaysian standards. One usually receives a posted letter within 1-2 days. And, authorities are accessible – I have had authorities returning my calls within half hour. And when they say they need time to check and revert, it usually means they revert within the same day! Any written correspondence can be expected within 1 week. So, as far as the system goes, it works like a charm. Even then, the Law Institute and other such bodies are still working away to try and make it work even more. Here they don’t wait for things to break down before acting. I remember Shah Alam Courts being totally unworkable. Ditto the land office. I also remember extracting a couple of titles from the land office in Wilayah – took us 3-4 weeks and some inside connection (included taking care of some people), and I had to sit in on the officers every single day for about 2 weeks, before finally getting them out. I may have left the comfort of relatively senior positions in large organizations to practice as a junior person in a suburban firm, but the pains of dealing with the authorities is so reduced, it compensates somewhat. Sure, we pay taxes that hurt extremely badly, but the money is spent on things that benefit all people (like public service systems that work well). We don’t get our tax money going to mosques, for example.

“So, I commend the enjoyment of life.” (From the Bible – really. Eccl 8:15)

Saw the PM on TV today, with John Howard. He looked older and more tired than when I last saw him on TV, back in Dec 04 my last few days in Msia. He must be battling hard, maybe against his rivals in UMNO, maybe against corrupt members of his government, maybe against members of his family. One thing for sure, hats off to a battler – always. I wonder what the latest stories are circling KL, and all the warongs and mamak stalls, pubs and restaurants, all over the country. I hope it is more than the exploits of some EPL teams in England or Europe. I hope it is more than the latest movies or Jacko’s trial. I hope the stories making the rounds in KL and across Malaysia is – would Malaysia ever be more equitable, more efficient, and cleaner, ie less corrupt. I have been wondering about this since seeing the PM on TV this morning. It’s time for me to start praying, I guess. For Pak Lah, for Msia.

“So, I commend the enjoyment of life.” (From the Bible – really. Eccl 8:15)

In Malaysia, I used to leave home before 6am everyday (weekend excepted, of course). Got home only around 9pm. Saw very little of my kid in those days. Now, I leave home around 8.15am, and am home by 6.30pm. I spend loads of time doing stuff with my daughter. From sitting on the sofa and have an Indonesian maid fetch her stuff, she now prepares dinner together with mom and dad, do the dishes after that with mom and dad, does her own bed, helps with the laundry, takes out the garbage…

If for nothing else, this move Down Under has helped us so much as a family, doing simple things together and being together so much. Mundane maybe, but WOW, so precious… LOVING IT!

“So, I commend the enjoyment of life.” (From the Bible – really. Eccl 8:15)

Havent had any entries for many months now – have taken time off to settle down, now that we have “relocated” to Melbourne, Australia. Yes, my family and I decided to take that plunge, to uproot and migrate Down Under. Very painful – it has taken me all these months before I am sufficiently settled to blog again. I hope I blog a little more after this.

Anyway, left Msia in Oct 04, returned for a month in Dec 04 and back again in Melb since Jan 05. Daughter happy in new school near home, wifey working in city with large retailer as an auditor, and I’m in a smallish law firm, enmeshed in suburban commercial life. Life is evolving into a new pattern, with life revolving around family almost exclusively. No more out drinking with friends, etc. No more late nights watching EPL or ECL games. Funny how I get to Oz and actually drink a fractionof the beer I used to drink in Msia, when the stuff costs maybe a third of what it does in Msia!

Will blog in more details some other time…

“So, I commend the enjoyment of life.” (From the Bible – really. Eccl 8:15)

The Star featured, On its front page today, a story on fake PhD’s. This has been going on for years.

I remember some 10 years ago when a colleague resigned to pick up more paper qualifications. We teased him if he was going to this particular university, something like Pacific Western or Western Pacific… This you see, was one of those institutions, where for a fee, you can be given a PhD based on “work experience” alone.

It was rumoured that a number of “corporate leaders” in KL took this route to “recognition”. Privately, I’m sure many laughed at their being so crass.

I think our society’s precccupation with paper qualifications, and “place in society” is simply laughable.

I think just as many “corporate leaders” or “community leaders” are given honorary PhD’s but use them freely, without attaching the parenthesis to tell the world these are honorary degrees. No honour at all… They even demand to be addressed as Dr So And So.

I personally worked for one once. He has international businesses, and because the Tan Sri title is not so recognised overseas, employees of these foreign businesses were told to address him as Dr So And So. It didnt matter that he wasnt one and should not be so addressed. He was after all, a businessman of immense, even legendary reputation in KL and must, come what may, be addressed in a distinguished manner. Dr So And So it was then, as opposed to plain old Mr. So And So.

Crass? Shivers.

“So, I commend the enjoyment of life.” (From the Bible – really. Eccl 8:15)

Today my office moved into its new premises. Big event for most people, except yours truly. I will be here for a grand total of 3 days, after which I leave. New office but same old people, same unpalatable management style.

New office located just a short walk up the road. Well sort of. Walks in KL often feel longer than they really are, due to the heat and humidity. Especially if one has just left an air-conditioned environment. Anyway, it is near enough. As the crow flies.

“So, I commend the enjoyment of life.” (From the Bible – really. Eccl 8:15)

The only surprising point about Khairy Jamaluddin’s reaction to the MCA Youth chest-thumping was how long it took. It’s the 100% expected response from the drum beaters on UMNO. The gem really is in Ong Tee Kiat’s reparte: Malaysiakini reported it thus “Responding, MCA Youth chief Ong Tee Keat, according to a Sin Chew Daily report yesterday, said mature politicians who understand the functions of democracy should know how to respect the freedom of expression.” Apart from this, it’s all a bit of a yawn, really

“So, I commend the enjoyment of life.” (From the Bible – really. Eccl 8:15)