我小时候与朋友们玩耍，有一个遊戏叫‘mata lia chat’（兵捉贼）…. 如今我不再看到有小孩玩这遊戏了！
There was a conversation in a Hong Kong movie; a policeman was mean to a prisoner, that prisoner became angry and said, “Why are you so mean? If you didn’t have us criminals, you wouldn’t have this work.”
Another movie also made a crack about police waiting for robbers to leave before they dare appear!
The public security in Malaysia is getting worse and worse. There are serious threats to peoples’ life and money, but the government is not solving it seriously. Last week, there were three cases involving politicians’ wives and daughter; one got robbed & killed and two got robbed…. These were ‘big’ cases, so of course, they are high profile. So, people voiced up about stopping the rising crime!
Sure police should have their work to do, but we don’t know if they are doing more or not! And maybe, ‘police no enough’!
While in the school, the teachers wanted us to write ‘What I want to be…’. ‘Police’ was one of the things I wanted to be. Of course, I didn’t become one! Nowadays, I am not sure how many students would write that they want to be police. Even if some want to be police, maybe their parents would want them to change to another one…
When I was a kid, I played with friends; there was a game called ‘cops and robbers’…. I don’t see this game played by the kids nowadays!
After I wrote about donating blood, I wanted to continue writing about how some Chinese believe or have excuses, like you need to eat a lot of nourishing foods/supplements to gain back the blood; the whole body is a gift from the parents and it is not showing filial piety to destroy any part of it; it is bad luck if you go in a hospital; they are afraid of needles; and etc…
Steve’s sister, Sue, responded to me after she read my blog. I think it matches my thoughts, encouraging people to donate blood, so I will share her writing:
“I just read your blog about donating blood. LOVED IT! I have donated platelets, which are a component of blood. I like that I'm able to donate platelets every two weeks. They use platelets to help cancer patients whose blood (specifically their platelets) have been destroyed by chemotherapy. It's 1-2 hour process whereby they take the blood out of the body, run it through a centrifuge, keep the platelets and a little plasma, and return the red blood cells to the donor. When I donate platelets, I don't get as tired and feel as worn down afterward. I have never known who my blood goes to, but I just hope the donations I give help someone. I used to work at a blood bank, and I saw how much there was a need for blood. I'm glad you've donated. I'm on the registry for bone marrow, but the only time I've ever been called I was pregnant with Alec, and couldn't give. In the case of blood and bone marrow, I always give thanks that I'm able to be on the giving end, rather than the receiving end. I have much to be thankful for. Thanks for encouraging people to donate blood!”
当病者需要输血，通常马来西亞的医院都会要求其家人捐血补回血库，若补足那医院就不计病者所输血的账，所以有时候我会收到一些关於找人捐血的email。 以前我妈也曾住院需要输血，我在她床边一晚，早上醒来，我就去捐血的部门，我捐血完毕回到母亲病房时，突然眼前看到的都是‘星星’ ，我坐下来后昏旋感才慢慢消失，可能是没吃任何东西就去捐血的原故吧… 我曾捐血過，都没任何异状啊！后来，有一朋友的亲人需要输血，我到病者住的医院欲捐血，该部门人员检查我的血液后说，我的血压及铁质低，不能要我的血反而给我一点免费补药！ 其实我要告诉大家，我收到一位朋友珠珠的意见很建设性… “找人捐血應提供給欲捐血者的幾 點資料： 1. 病者的姓名。 2. 病者的身份證號碼、年齡﹙避免同名同姓者的混亂﹚。 3. 病者患的什麼病﹙大概的講即可，有時捐血部門的醫務人員會問到捐者無法回答﹚ 4. 病者最親近家屬的聯絡姓名、電話﹙捐者可以先向其家屬了解了才去醫院捐血，避免去到醫院找不到人，或病者已不需要血的情況發生，因為現代人都很忙，好不容易抽到時間跑去醫院又被拒、或落空而白跑一趟的﹚。” If a patient needs a blood transfusion, normally hospitals in Malaysia will ask the patient’s family to replace blood in their blood bank. If all of the blood is replaced, the patient is not charged for the blood used during the transfusion. So, sometimes I would receive emails from the hospitals looking for blood donors for a patient. My late mom had been in the hospital and needed a blood transfusion also; I was there with her the whole night. The next morning I went to donate blood, after that I returned to my mom’s room. Suddenly, I saw nothing but ‘stars’. I sat down a little while, and the dazzle slowly faded. Maybe it was because I didn’t have breakfast before I donated blood… I have donated blood a few times and nothing happened before! After that, a friend’s relative needed a blood transfusion and I went to the hospital to donate blood. The staff tested my blood and said my blood pressure and iron were low, so they couldn’t take my blood, but gave me some free supplements instead! In fact, what I want to share is my friend, CC, sent her comment (I translated to English) which is a good suggestion… “Those looking for blood donors should provide the following information: 1. Patient’s name. 2. Patient’s ID no. and age (to avoid confuse if they have the same name). 3. Patient’s case (a little bit of info because sometimes the staff asks the donor and he/she has no idea at all). 4. The name and phone no. of a close family member of the patient (the donor should call the patient’s family to discuss the situation before going to the hospital for blood donation, because the patient might not need any more, the patient has been discharged, etc. Nowadays, people are busy, and arranging a little time to go to the hospital can be difficult, and many hate wasting time if they are rejected or go for nothing).”
Last year, there was a great air show in St. Louis, but it was the final year for that show. This year, we heard there was an air show in Illinois, so we took a one hour journey by train to Scott Air Force base to see the show. If compared, this air show did not have as many plane exhibitions and the performances were not as good…
Happy for No Reason! We watched a talk on PBS by Marci Shimoff, an author promoting her book and DVD, she shared some good points:
1. Take responsibility for your own happiness
2. Practice forgiveness – yourself and others
3. Focus on gratitude
4. Don’t believe everything you think
5. Practice meditation & mindfulness
6. Live a life inspired by purpose
7. Cultivate nourishing relationships
This year’s Mid-Autumn/Moon Cake Festival (the 15th day in the eighth lunar month) is very quiet here. I like to have fun and at least want to eat moon cake… So, I encouraged Steve to try making ‘koong chai paeng’ (a type of moon cake), then we could have a small celebration! They looked pretty but the taste and texture were not so good. We might try again next time.
早上吃了水果后，麵包已成为我日常的早餐。Steve分別做了各類的麵包，都非常可口… In the morning I like to have fruit, and then my breakfast is normally bread. Steve has baked several different kinds of breads; they were delicious. There was potato bread, English muffin bread, wheat bread and multi-grain bread…
While I was a counseling volunteer, I used to be a workshop helper for a group of students counseling in a Chinese high school. I like to have friends and did not consider their age, so I like teenagers too. I gave them my contact information and some of them keep in contact with me. They call me ‘姐’ (elder sister - Chinese has different words for elder and younger sisters) and I love to be an elder sister. Since I was the youngest in my family and must call my elders, brother or sister, I always felt I was lowest. So when I heard them call me姐, I felt ‘bigger’. I have a friend who is younger than me, and he always calls me ‘老大’ (big boss). I asked him why he calls me 老大, and he said my character was a little similar to the role of a “big boss” in a western gangster in a movie; that he respected that kind of big boss. I am not sure why his impression of me was a “big boss”, but when I heard he called me老大 I felt a little bit heroic. Haha…
Let’s talk about the teenagers who keep in contact with me. After four years, they are in colleges…. There are two who still contact me through email since I moved to the USA. I was surprised when each wrote to me about love relationship issues last month…. Of course, it was my pleasure to reply to them. Now, I think to share part of my reply with you:
1. I mostly talked about my experiences (self-disclosure, a counseling skill), ‘…that time I was in my 30s, still didn’t have a boyfriend, and I felt lonely. I attended a group-psychotherapy, and I had a chance to talk about my doubt – why don’t I have a soul mate yet? During a conversation with the teacher, Christopher Moon, who is a westerner, he told me, “Do you know, the one who has you is the luckiest.” He said, “Write a list of the essential requirements* for your soul mate, like age, specific characteristics, etc. Keep it in your wallet and when you meet a man, take it out and see if he matches or not. I personally did this and I found mine after eight years, I think you will take less time; you will find him in three years. How long you need depends on you.” I was very confident and I wrote the list. Everyday I thought “the Universe will guide me and I am sure I will meet the best soul mate.” … After three years, I really met him (my husband now)…. My sharing is to let you know that your issues were helping you to learn more. You need to learn to love yourself first and build your self-confidence. If not, you might not work well for a happy relationship.’
2. Mostly provided guidance, ‘…Yes, maybe he doesn’t know how to communicate with your parents. Maybe your mom didn’t understand this about your boyfriend. Haha, I think your mom might be resentful you would side with boyfriend! But don’t say your mom is resentful; if you do, she will get defensive and get mad at you again! After all, who wants to listen to people criticizing them? If you say more good words to your mom then it might be different. She might think you are more understanding, happy, and love your family more since you have a boyfriend. The same goes for your boyfriend. Do not tell him he needs to do this or that, but talk more with him about your family and happiness, so he might feel it is easy to approach your family. In short, expressing your love to both parties, they will change their minds because of you.’
*In the list of essential requirements I wrote, I forgot about nationality and race! I unexpectedly met my soul mate, who is from the other side of the earth! If you are single and want to try doing a list, I advise you to write as specifically as possible…whoo-hoo!
