What can we do?

自從离開Penang來到美國，我对馬來西亞的新聞也隔断了一段時間。前天收到一位新聞從業員朋友的email關於母涉嫌殺女案！雖然我不知道该事件的發生，但乍然看到这些字眼，促令我感到震惊，我上纲到某華文報章追踪了一點有関報導，才知道前些日子，Penang發生一宗﹕母涉嫌殺女案！

啊…何僅是這件命案？報章上的命案，似乎越來越多，不時会有駭人惊聞的新聞… 當我看到這類新聞出現… 我的内心都會起伏不安一陣，惱海出現很多的？？…

很有質素的新聞從業員很多！在我人生中，我很高興認識这位新聞從業員朋友，让我與你分享她email寫的两段﹕

如果有人覺得鄭慧雯做錯什麼，她確實是要承擔自己的後果。但人世間的任何好或壞事，誰做了什麼誰都要各自承擔後果，這個天地法則恆古不變，何以輪到我們操心或浪費能量呵責或揣測鄭慧雯，何不把能量轉到“我們可以做些什麼”，在現有的條件底下去幫助鄭慧雯或整個社會。

在一系列追蹤報導裡，我們都致力於希望給當事人最公平的報導；文字和新聞都是質量的，無法度量，也許我們有所疏忽，在某些文字標題上出現對她不夠公平的地方。但做為新聞從業員，尤其報紙的影響力愈大，我們在下筆時更如千斤重，因為那將深深影響了整個社會的道德文化和思想，我們都沒有忘記身為新聞從業員的這份社會責任。

Since I left Penang for the US, I have lost touch with Malaysia’s news sometimes. Last two days, I received from a friend who is a press reporter an email about: A case in which a mother is suspected of killing her daughter! Though I didn’t know that the case happened, I felt shocked when I read about it. I went to a Chinese press’s link to trace and read some related news, and then I discovered that it happened in Penang a few weeks ago!

Ahhh… Besides this case, how many more murder cases are there? It seems there are more and more murder cases reported in the press. Sometimes, we get very shocked by the news… When I read those cases …my heart feels uneasy for a little while, my mind has many ? ?...

There are a lot of good quality journalists! I am happy to have a friend in my life who is a journalist, and I would like to share two paragraphs (in Chinese) from her email (I translated them into English and I hope the meaning came through):

*“If Jess Teh (the suspect in the case) did something wrong, she will bear the consequence. As with all good or bad in the world, the one who did it is the one who have to bear the consequence. This is an ancient unchangeable universal law. It’s not our business to waste energy judging or guessing the behavior of Jess Teh. Why not transform that energy to ‘what can we do’ to help Jess Teh or the community.”

“The writing is something qualitative, so it is measureless. In the series of reports, we (journalists) all hoped and tried to be fair to the person in the case. Perhaps we have neglected something and had some unfair words in titles (in press) regarding her. The effect of the newspaper is powerful. So, being journalists, we feel the pen is very heavy to us when we are writing. Because the article will affect deeply the morals, ethics, culture and thought of society. As journalists we cannot forget our responsibility to community.”

*I edited the translation on Aug 6.

31.7.07 5.34pm 晴热

A wonderful day

在St. Louis，很多公園都很寬大，這一回帶你們到Laumeier Sculpture Park。因為Steve约了好朋友Terri一起用午餐及介绍给我認識，而约見的地点是离家駕車约半小时的一間餐廳，這個公園离餐廳很近，也是Steve成長时住的地區。我們就先去這公園走走吧…你可以看到不遠就會有一個個的雕塑品，有大 有小， 很抽象、藝術… 我們邊走Steve邊告訴我，他最后一次來這里是25年前，那是他姐姐Sue结婚來这公園拍照… 走入樹林小徑，也有一些雕塑品，這像Penang的Komtar嗎？還有一座＇小橋＇…一邊裝有特别的玻璃… 嗯！有人如瞎子摸＇象＇，其實這公園，瞎子也可摸某些小模式及雕塑品的盲文介绍。你來溜狗，牠有做大＇生意＇嗎？請處理呵…有提供胶手套袋，很好的设備！这是什么雕塑品呢？…是Steve做完小＇生意＇啦！

我們在一間泰国日本餐廳，見到的確如Sue形容 – very kind and wonderful的Terri。她與丈夫Chris帶给我們禮物及賀卡，餐后他們又搶着付錢。俩夫妻真的非常親切，我們言談甚歡。

餐后Steve帶我到附近的購物中心，这間department store就是他認識Terri的地方，當年Steve只有16歲，曾在這里做過臨时清理工作員。Steve的媽媽、Sue、Terri皆分别在不同的部門工作，Sue和Terri也只是短暫的工作。Terri对Steve很好，把他當成弟弟般，她是Steve的其中一位好朋友。

我們逛了几間店，來到一间department store，正在大減价。某些物品，削价了兩、三次… 如我買的一件Levi’s牛仔褲，從原价US$38削減成US$12.49﹔假首飾有些原价US$20，18，15，12削減成US$1.99﹔也有些原价US$20，18，15削減成只是US$0.99… 怎么可能！？在Penang都不可能买到這么便宜的貨啦！我选了很多的假首飾，觉得要捨掉一些，不過Steve却帮我拿所有选到的去付錢。

回家后，算一算假首飾﹕有始以來，一次買了15件的假首飾… 我太瘋狂了！

There are many huge public parks in St. Louis. This time I will show you Laumeier Sculpture Park. Steve set up a lunch appointment with his good friend Terri to introduce her to me. We had to drive a half hour from home to the restaurant, and this park is near the restaurant. It is also the area where Steve grew up. Let’s go to the park…you can see a couple of sculptures in the distance. Some are big; some are small; all are abstract art… While we were walking, Steve told me that the last time he was here was 25 years ago, when his sister Sue’s wedding photographs were taken at the park… We followed a trail through the woods; there are also a few sculptures along the trail. Does this look like Penang’s Komtar Tower? And this is a small ‘bridge’…one side is made from special glass… Emm! Like the story of the blind men touching an elephant. In fact, in this park blind people can touch small models of some of the sculptures, which include descriptions in Braille. Are you walking your dog and it does its ‘business’? Please pick it up…with plastic mitts provided by the park! What is this sculpture? …is Steve out after did his ‘small business’!

We met Terri and her husband Chris at a Thai & Japanese restaurant. As Sue mentioned about Terri, she is very kind and wonderful. They gave us a gift and card, and they also paid for the meal. Both of them are friendly, and we had a wonderful meeting.

After our meal, Steve showed me to a department store in a shopping center, which was the place he met Terri. At that time, Steve worked at a part-time cleaning job when he was 16 years old. Steve’s mom, Sue and Terri all worked there too, but they were in different departments. Sue and Terri also worked there part-time. Steve became like a younger brother to Terri; she is so kind and became one of Steve’s good friends.

We looked around a few stores in the shopping center and then went into a department store. It was having a big sale. Some prices had been reduced 2 or 3 times already… I bought a pair of Levi’s jeans. The original price was US$38; it was reduced to US$12.49. I also bought some jewelry. The original prices were US$12 to 20, but had been reduced to US$1.99; some with original prices of US$15 to 20 had been reduced to just US$0.99… How could it be!? I could never find this stuff with those cheap prices in Penang! I chose many pieces of jewelry and thought to drop some of them, but Steve took all those I chose to the payment counter.

When we got back home, I counted the jewelry: This was the first time I bought 15 pieces of jewelry at one time… I am too crazy!

30.7.07 6.10pm 晴热

Love forever!

Steve很少会嘗試新的東西，一但用慣某牌子的日常用品或吃过喜歡的食物，他很少改換。就如前几次到Penang时，每次到我Penang家附近的咖啡店，他每餐的食物大多都是海南雞飯及F&N orange…老板娘熟悉到他要喝的飲料。后來有一次，我们與三位朋友＇zhou dai ti＇到凌晨一点… 輸者當然會要求羸者＇请客＇啦！我们只找到附近的mamak店… 我叫了roti canai给Steve… 從此以后，每次到我Penang家的那間咖啡店，他棄海南雞飯而选roti canai了…是因為他喜歡辣curry醬。那卖roti canai的印度夫妻看到我帶Steve去，印度佬就会很高興的送上两片roti canai给洋佬。

“你為什么不嘗試吃新的食物？” 我問了Steve幾回。他多數聳聳肩這樣回覆我，“ 我没有任何理由要嘗試吃新的食物…” 昨天我寫了blog之后，又再問他。也許他已煩不勝煩了，這次他說，“我一但喜欢上某个東西(或某人)，就只是喜欢它。 你应该很高興我是這样的人！” 我起先不大會意，愣了一下，才明白他的话中话…

當然，我希望我的老公對我是從一而忠啦！

Steve doesn’t much like trying new things. He prefers to use the same brands of sundries or eat his favorite food once he loves them. Like on the first of couple of trips to Penang, he ordered chicken rice and F&N orange every time in a restaurant near my house in Penang… That boss already knew what drink he wanted. But one day, we were playing ‘zhou dai ti’ (a playing card game) with three friends until 1am… Of course, the people who lost wanted the winner to buy food! So, we went out and could only find an Indian Muslim’s restaurant… I ordered roti canai for Steve… Then later, every time we were in the restaurant near my house in Penang, he changed his order to roti canai instead of chicken rice…because he loves spicy curry sauce. The Indians selling noticed I came with Steve; the Indian man felt happy to serve two pieces of roti canai to an American man.

“Why don’t you try new food?” I’ve asked Steve a few times. Mostly he shrugged his shoulders and replied, “I don’t have a reason to try new food…” Yesterday, I asked him again after I wrote a post. Perhaps he felt a little annoyed; this time he said, “Once I find something (or someone) I love, I will always love it. You should be glad I’m like that!” At first, I didn’t understand and blanked a little while, and then I understood his words’ meaning…

Of course, I hope my husband loves me forever!

26.7.07 5.51pm 晴热

Cooking

“你怎么没有煮這些食物给我吃呢？” 當我看到他有很多的烹飪書，我撒娇的问Steve。“你也没有煮给我吃？” 他也不甘示弱。” 我煮的食物是有海鲜的，你又不喜欢吃…” 嘻嘻！我只好假假这么说。有一回我问Steve，” 你為什么不吃海鲜呢？” 他說，”我怕我煮或吃魚、蝦时，牠们的眼睛瞪着我…”

我真的…太不像一個家庭＇煮＇婦… 慶幸Steve喜欢烹飪，可以為自己煮午餐… 他每次都是一次過烘做好幾塊的胸雞肉，然后放進冰橱。每天就帶一塊的雞肉去上班，用公司的微波炉烘热雞肉，這就是他的午餐啦。我奇怪…他怎么可以每天吃相同的午餐？我還有不同的菜餡味道嘛…

當我看了Steve妈妈和姐姐的家里厨房…西方人的家庭似乎都会有烘炉和微波炉，就好像東方人的家庭厨房少不了有飯鍋和炒鍋。

“Why you didn’t cook meals for me?” I asked Steve when I saw he has a lot of cookbooks. “You didn’t cook for me either?” He asked back. “My food has seafood that you don’t like…” He-he! I pretend to say that. Once, I asked Steve, “Why don’t you like seafood?” He said, “I don’t like the fish and shrimp staring back at me when I’m trying to cook or eat them…”

I am really…not a ‘cook’ housewife… Luckily, Steve likes cooking. He can cook lunches for himself… he cooks a couple of pieces of chicken together once awhile. He keeps it in the fridge after it’s cooked, so he can bring one piece of chicken with him to work and heat it in the microwave at his office. That’s his lunch everyday. I wonder…how can he take the same lunch everyday? I have different kinds of meals…

I noticed the kitchen in the homes of Steve’s mom and sister … almost every western family has an oven and microwave, same as almost every eastern family has a rice cooker and wok.

25.7.07 5.40pm晴热

Recipe?

“… One thing I can not tahan is looking at your picture of chocolate pie and vanilla ice cream…yum yum … if Steve can share the recipe? ...” 哈哈…有人看到喜愛的甜点禁不住寫email给我，要它们的recipe了… 這是出自美國出名的cookbook﹕chocolate pie是從The America’s Test Kitchen Cookbook，ice cream是從The Dessert Bible。Steve說這两本cookbook內的recipes都非常好，很仔细！Steve拿给我看chocolate pie and ice cream的recipes。哗…真的咧…不只是提供材料數量，還有長文仔细教你如何製作！

我本來想將recipe寫在我的blog，但這畢竟是來自别人的recipe，還是不好將它們寫在我的blog啦… 不過我可以私下email它們的recipe给想要的人…哼哼…我有條件的哦… 就是你必須帮我賺＇稿费＇囉… OK boh?

“… One thing I cannot ‘take’ is looking at your picture of chocolate pie and vanilla ice cream…yum yum … if Steve can share the recipe? ...” Ha-ha…someone emailed me after reading about their favorite desserts, asking for the recipes… They are from two well known cookbooks from the US: the chocolate pie is from The America’s Test Kitchen Cookbook, and the ice cream is from The Dessert Bible. Steve told me that these two cookbooks have very good recipes with a lot of details! Wow…they really do…they not only provide ingredients with quantity, they also teach you in great detail how to make the recipe!

I thought to write the recipes in my blog, but they are not mine, so I better not… But I will write the recipes in email and send to those who want them…hm hm…I have a request… That is you need to help me to earn my ‘writing fee’… OK?

24.7.07 4.07pm晴熱

Kansas City trip...

话說我們這次去Kansas City拜訪Steve家人﹕

星期五，我們準備好衣物包包，並把食物﹕mostaccioli裝进塑胶袋及把chocolate pie裝进塑胶盒后，就開車出發囉… 我們路經一市镇，正是午餐时间，我們就在一間Chinese buffet restaurant用餐。我很貪心吃多了幾片的西瓜，走出餐館，我才發覺肚子很漲、很辛苦... 我要求Steve﹕ "以后别再去吃buffet了…" 他只對着我笑！他怎么會相信我呢？

因為最近Steve媽媽的脚受傷，行動不便，所以這次拜訪他們，我们是住Steve姐姐Sue的家。我们抵達Sue的家后，Sue就去帶媽媽過來。Sue家養着三只大狗，棕色雌狗叫Katy、雄狗有参色的叫Beans、黑色的叫Ace。這星期她又帮朋友看护两只小狗…哈哈！你可以想像我们在Sue家時，人、狗熱鬧的场面。媽很高興Steve帶來他们喜爱的食物，Sue讓媽享用了一点mostaccioli，她也吃了一些。過后她把那包mostaccioli放在厨房… 没想到就這樣，整包的mostaccioli被報銷了… ＇凶手＇是誰呢？

當天我們留下五只大小狗在家，我們一家大小就出去附近西餐廳享受豐富的晚餐。用完餐回到家，才發覺大小狗在家開party… 吃完整包的mostaccioli！最可疑的＇凶手＇就是高頭大馬的Ace啦… 一定是牠從台上＇拿＇下來與朋友們分享豐富的一餐… Steve告誡Ace﹕”下一次我帶來的mostaccioli會有辣椒醬，很辣的…”

第二天，我們去一间很大间如IKEA般的家用品shopping。我們看上一台价錢不錯的有鏡子之物橱，但太大件不能用車戴回，只好作罷… 不過我們還是有收獲，这一件東西跟我们回家了！傍晚，我们從Sue的家，高速路車行约40分钟去市区，到出名的P. F. Chang’s China restaurant用餐。是Chinese restaurant嗎？我怎么没看到有華人(除了我)客顧呢…招待員也不是華人啊！媽第一次学用筷子…

Penang市区街上有三輪車让遊客兜風，Kansas City市区街上却有不同装飾的马車兜風… 漂亮的鐘樓、噴水池…

這一次的拜訪讓我感覺＇腰酸背痛＇…在Sue的家有trampoline，让我童心未泯上去弹跳… Sue的家附近有小泳池club，三年已没游泳的我，不免要乘機下水炫耀我的＇泳術＇给Steve的家人看…哈哈… 我在泳池时，似乎聽到Steve在告訴媽媽和姐姐關於我曾經参加過Triathlon，即三項賽﹕游泳、騎脚車、跑步。

This was our family trip to Kansas City:

We went on Friday after we packed our stuff. We also packed the food: mostaccioli in a plastic bag and chocolate pie in a plastic container. We were ready to go… We passed a town around lunchtime, so we had lunch in a Chinese buffet restaurant there. I was greedy and ate many slices of watermelon. After the meal, we left the restaurant and I felt very full and uncomfortable… I told Steve, “no buffet next time…” He laughed at me! How can he believe me?

We stayed in Steve’s sister’s house this trip because his mom’s legs were injured recently and it would have been inconvenient for her. Sue went to bring mom to see us after we arrived at her house. Sue’s family has three big dogs: Katy is the brown female, Beans is mixed color male and Ace is the large black male. This week Sue was dog-sitting two small dogs belonging to friends…ha-ha! You can imagine how crowded Sue’s house was with all the humans and dogs. Mom felt happy knowing that Steve brought their favorite foods. Sue ate some mostaccioli and gave mom a little. After that, she put the bag of mostaccioli on the kitchen counter… We didn’t know the bag of mostaccioli would not last long… Who was the culprit?

We all went out that evening, except those five dogs. We went to a restaurant nearby where we enjoyed a good dinner. After we returned home from the meal, we found the dogs also had a party in the house… they ate all the mostaccioli! The prime suspect was the tallest guy: Ace… we think he was the one who took it from the counter and shared a good meal with his friends… Steve told Ace, “I will bring spicy mostaccioli with chili sauce next time…”

The second day, we went to shopping in a big furniture home store; the size is similar to IKEA. We found a dresser with mirror at a reasonable price, but it was too big to load in our car. We couldn’t get it on this trip… but at least we bought one thing! That evening, we went downtown to a well known Chinese restaurant called P. F. Chang’s. It was a 40 minute drive on the highway from Sue’s house. Is this a Chinese restaurant? I didn’t see any Chinese customers (except me)…the waiters and waitresses also were not Chinese! This was the first time mom tried to use chopsticks…

The tourist area in Penang has trishaws for sightseeing; downtown Kansas City has some decorative horse-drawn carriages… a pretty bell tower, a fountain…

This visit made my back & arms very sore… There is a trampoline in Sue’s backyard; I felt like a kid while jumping on it… Sue’s neighborhood has a little swimming pool. I haven’t swum in the past three years, but I wanted to show Steve’s family I am a ‘swimmer’…ha-ha… I think I heard Steve tell his mom and sister that I competed in a Triathlon, which is a tournament that includes swimming, cycling and jogging.

23.7.07 6.20pm晴

Mostaccioli & Chocolate Pie

Steve在煮着… 明天去拜訪Steve媽媽的食物，這次Steve做了兩種他家人愛吃的食物﹕mostaccioli和chocolate pie。什么是mostaccioli？哦！原來是番茄醬pasta… 看來這食物很容易做…材料也不多，番茄醬加酒及一点調味精煮熟…

Chocolate pie就比較多材料… 先用Oreo餅攪碎加牛油烘成pie皮。做pie的餡，則須将牛奶、cream、蛋黄、糖、cornstarch煮熱，然后加牛油、chocolate和vanilla extract… 這是出自有名的cookbook做出來的美食。

Steve was cooking… we will be taking the food when we go to visit his mom tomorrow. This time he made two dishes which are family favorites: mostaccioli and chocolate pie. What is mostaccioli? Ah! It is pasta with tomato sauce… This food looks easy to cook…and not many ingredients. Just to heat the tomato sauce, wine and a little bit of seasoning…

The chocolate pie needs many ingredients… blend Oreo cookies and mix with butter; then bake it to be the pie shell. And to make the pie filling… you need to heat milk, cream, egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch. After that put in butter, chocolate and vanilla extract… This is a delicious food made from a well known cookbook.

19.7.07 8.53pm