The Golden Age-Happy Birthday A!

Mummy says to Maleeya: "That's right darling....life is a bowl of cherries.....you enjoy the juicy bits but you will need to spit out the pips. Swallowing them whole is not good for your system.."
(On her 2nd birthday. You were there remember, A?)

May 21, 2007

Happy Birthday, A!

Happy Golden Birthday!

You deserve to be among friends and loved ones today but nobody seems to know where you are. You did mention that you wanted to go AWOL/MIA but I didn't think you were serious. You turned off your mobile and we did not get a response from our text messages. Where are you, birthday gal?

Turning 50 is a golden landmark, at least that's what I thought when I turned "golden" a couple of years ago. And I would imagine you would want to celebrate it with loved ones and close friends.

I did, and although there was no big bang party that might require Bomba to put out the 50 candles, a cosy home affair with a little pulut kuning and accompaniments and the must-have birthday cake that my dad insisted on created just the right cosy atmosphere. So there I was right at home, and friends and family who remembered dropped by the house, even until late, and nobody made a fuss that there was no splashing birthday party. I had a great time even though it was very different from what I had planned years ago. The plan years ago was for a few of us turning 50 in the same year to make a trip to Hawaii (if married, sans spouse) to let our hair down at the site of Hawaii Five O. Only 50 somethings would remember the Hawaii Five O programme on t.v. many years ago.

Whatever your reasons are for disappearing today and leaving all of us, your siblings and your close buddies guessing where you are, those reasons must be good and valid. And justified, I suppose. But you will need to explain it to me so I can understand. I am guessing that you might be with your son, or perhaps with your daughter. But why is it necessary to be so secretive?

Since you are not here today and if you are browsing my blog journal, I am hoping that you will hop over to this one to claim your birthday greetings from me. I am wishing you a very happy ulang tahun and may the last 50 years serve you well over the next 50. May all your remaining dreams come true and that your kindness to me and my family be rewarded by the Almighty in this lifetime and the here after and that you will be looked after really well.

You are one of the most resilient persons that I have been priviledged to know. You probably think I have been a good shoulder to lean on and a great listener, but if you must know, you did me a greater favour than what you think I am doing for you. I learnt a lot about being resilient, about being strong and about never giving up against all odds just by being your friend and confidante. And I hope we will continue to be friends for a long time to come and that we can all be around for me to wish you another year of good health and cheer.

Again, Happy Birthday and Many Happy Returns. May all your dreams come true and you live to a ripe, mature age in good health and filled with all the happiness you deserve.

Lots of Love,

Azmi (and babies + Blackie)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

p.s. Just so you know, we have a cake for you and I had managed to get 5 sticks of extra long "sparklers" (bunga api-remember the movie Autumn(or was it Winter)in New York) to light up the cake. We will freeze the cake and light it up whenever you are ready to make an appearance. Do make contact with me or your siblings, if possible before my 3rd chemo on May 24.....you said you would pick me up from the medical center remember? If you take too long to make an appearance, the cake may also do a disappearing act.....you know me and my sweet tooth....!

Life - Simple or Complicated?

Someone e-mailed me the following story:
Quote:
A group of alumni, highly successful and established in their careers, got together to visit their old University lecturer. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the lecturer went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, some plain looking and some expensive and exquisite, inviting them to help themselves to hot coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the lecturer said: "If you noticed, all the nice-looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the better cups and are now eyeing each other's cups"

"Now if Life is coffee, then the jobs, money, possessions and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, but the quality of Life doesn't change. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it."

Life is really about enjoying the coffee and not let the cup drive you.

Unquote:

Hmmmm, simple but profound yes?

For me, at this moment in time, this is beautifully illustrated right at our doorstep.

I am simply awed by the Royal Wedding in Perak. Just think about it, the couple could have the most lavish fairy tale wedding ever, a highly educated, intelligent and beautiful couple, heir to the throne and may become our future King and Queen in the future. And what did they decide?



A Royal Carriage ride around the royal town of KK? No, waste of money, state coffers or otherwise.



A Grand Wave from the Royal Balcony of The Palace so the Raakyat can wave back ?
Good Lord, naah...what ever for?



A Mas Kahwin and Hantaran of a couple of millions, they can afford it surely, and shouldn't the whole country and the whole world know that our royal couple is loaded? Absolutely not, since the amount will not guarantee anything, so why not stick to a decent amount, right? And use the otherwise excessive hantaran to feed the raakyat and improve their lives. (Makes absolute good sense but makes one wonder if you really need an Oxford and Nottingham degree to come to such a simple yet sound judgement.)




A Grand Banquet in 10 different towns in Perak, so that Raakyat who couldn't make it to KK will be able to partake in the celebrations? No lah......The news will cover it and all the Raakyat will get to know whatever they need to know about the couple, the wedding and whatever. There is great trust in the Great Malaysian Grapevine (GMG).



The Royal Couple decided on a simple wedding. A complete wedding with all the necessary rituals honoured. No fluff. But a beautiful wedding nevertheless, one that will be remembered fondly and proudly by all the Raakyat, distinguished or otherwise for a long, long time, until the day they grace the coveted throne. A "beautiful" couple will make a beautiful wedding, regardless of how much energy or money is spent.

For a change, I am not embarassed reading about a wedding of our eminent personalities. This is the kind of headlines our media should be covering. And based on the newspapers and berita on tv, they have done so. And I can imagine the sighs of relief by parents and people of marriageable age. At last, it takes a Royal Couple no less, to knock some sense back into our local public opinion on this simple beautiful union called marriage. That the wedding ritual and religious requirements are central , and that the rest are useless fluff. So maybe more young ones will dare contemplate marriage now and not have to worry about outdoing the last celebrity wedding.