Halloween and Cleopatra

This week, Princess of the House told me she would like to go “Trick or Treat” with 2of her classmates. I hesitated for a while before saying yes. Last year, after Halloween, I said there would be no more “Trick or Treat”. But I buckled.

I don’t believe in Halloween. But I do believe in allowing Princess some freedom to exercise a bit of creativity, and to have lots of fun. So every year, I am a dutiful accomplice as she takes her flights of fancy into the hollow world of Halloween.

Last year, I went over the top. To greet the neighbourhood’s kids looking for treats, I decorated our front door with a huge spider web, completed with a rubbery mother-spider with her baby spiders -- I even spun my own spider web made out of wool. The funny thing was, the real cob webs at my front door lent real spectacular effects to my Halloween decoration. Mum would have been appalled at my standard of house cleaning.

Halloween, it is not a Kiwi tradition, nor a Chinese one. This Halloween business is a result of globalization, or the Americanization of the world, whichever you choose to call it. Would we see an American kid carrying a Chinese lantern to celebrate the mi-Autumn festival? I don’t think so? But I hope Chinese lanterns will sprout over supermarkets all over the world, one day, near mid-autumn.

Cleopatra
The last few years, Princess went around in fairy outfits. I think she has outgrown this fairy thing. This year, she wants to be Cleopatra. Ah, Cleopatra – the most beautiful woman of Egypt. Or should I say, the most feared woman?

The little that I did know about Cleopatra from my limited history was that she was a woman of beauty; she charmed men and ruled an empire with a fist.

“Who did Cleopatra marry?” Princess asked Hubby.

“Huh? Hmmm…. Tutunkhamun??” Hubby replied.

Princess and I cracked up, roaring in laughter. Clearly Hubby wasn’t a history whizz.

Cleopatra trivia
Lately Princess of the House considers herself a bit of a Cleopatra expert. Her class has been learning about ancient Egypt. She has just read a romanticized version of Cleopatra’s life as a 12 year old, a book written by an ex-banker turned writer, Caroline Corby.

“Caesar first,” she quipped, “and then Marc Anthony,” she adds, still smarting from her victory over Daddy.

The Egyptians, Princess of the House tells me, invented eye make-up and the water clock. They invented writing and paper. They embalmed their dead, wore plenty of amulets.

Eye makeup
For now, Princess is most concerned about how to make herself look like Cleopatra using eye makeup – just like the ancient Egyptians. She had an “Egyptian” dress ready, one she made with her friend Holly during the school holidays – using a hot glue gun and lots of sparkly bits and fabric paint.

I wasn’t sure about that the eye make-up thing. And I wasn’t sure about Caroline Corby’s version of the romanticized Cleopatra who was all good and sanitized.
Did Cleopatra wear heavy eye makeup?

So I googled a bit. Cleopatra, as it seems, isn’t all sugar and honey. She was ruthless and cunning, and ruled to win.

She had two main lovers in her life – Caesar and Marc Anthony. Caesar, it was said, she admired for his intelligence; and Marc Anthony, probably out of sheer fatal attraction. Historical sites say Marc Anthony had his affair with Cleopatra while still married to his wife, Fulvia. And when he had a chance to marry Cleopatra after Fulvia died, he didn’t – he chose his rival Octavian’s sister (to secure political support), Octavia and continued his fling with Cleopatra.

Cleopatra gave birth to three children (one by Caesar and three (including a set of twins sired by Marc Anthony).

The Marc Anthony-Cleopatra combination as lovers was far from romantic. It reeked of fatal attraction, and cloak-and-dagger politics. It was about animal instincts, a woman’s need for love, a woman’s quest to secure a crumbling empire, and a matriach's desperate attempt to keep her family in power. What is most interesting is Cleopatra wasn’t even Egyptian – she was a Macedonian!

Hollywood's Cleopatra
Cleopatra, I imagined to be a woman of untold beauty. Ah, the Hollywood version of Cleopatra was a woman of Elizabeth Taylor-type beauty, with bangs on her hair, a sharp high-bridged nose, and almond-shaped eyes decorated with heavy eye make-up.

The more I googled, the more I found myself to be wrong. As it turns out, Cleopatra’s image, minted on coins, showed her to be somewhat plain, with a large hooked nose and not so beautiful. Apparently, in real life, she shaved her head and wore a wig with tight curls. Princess is convinced Cleopatra wore eye makeup.

What else did I learn about Cleopatra? Well, her father Ptolemy was also a murderer –he beheaded his own daughter (Berenice) to regain his throne. Ptolemy then married Cleopatra (who was around 18 years old) off to her brother (who was around 12, according to one source) – all to keep the throne within the family.

This was getting too much for me. After her first lover, Caesar, was assassinated, Cleopatra used her relationship with Marc Anthony in various ways to have her hold over Egypt. In the meantime, Marc Anthony was using Cleopatra and Egypt’s finances and harvest to keep his hold over the struggle for Rome.

In ended in tears – Marc Anthony committed suicide (one source says he did so because he thought Cleopatra was dead) and lost his struggle for Rome to arch rival Octavian.

On discovering Marc Anthony dead, Cleopatra apparently chose to commit suicide too. One source says she allowed herself to be bitten by an asp (a poisonous snake) smuggled into her room via a basket of figs. The different sources that I read make me think that Cleopatra used Marc Anthony – yes she did have a soft spot for him -- in her struggle to keep her empire intact.

How tragic. This was the life of Cleopatra. A highly intelligent woman no doubt; brave on all accounts; an exceptional linguist I found; and a woman who can charm with her brilliant speech. Cleopatra of history was also a woman drunk on power and reckless ambition. A murderer and nasty piece of work by all accounts.

I shudder to think why Princess would want to go as Cleopatra in her Halloween outing. I’d rather she go as a fairy, with wings, a magic wand, and glass slippers.

Of ABBA, the sisterhood and, oh sorry mum!

We had a girls’ night out. It would have been nothing out of the ordinary for girls to have a night out. But we were a bunch of Asian women – six to be precise. We were a conservative lot, brought up the old-fashioned way by our mums who knew nothing about getting away. Our sense of the world is defined largely by how well we looked after our family.

We were also a bunch of gals who led busy lives. Some of the gals in the sisterhood had been through the worst time of their lives with family dramas of heinous proportions. I had just been through months of stay with Princess of the House in hospital.

I was brought up by a mother who dedicated her entire life to being a kitchen goddess, which means, she spent -- and still spends -- most of her waking moments in the inner sanctum of my parent’s home, cooking, cooking and cooking. Mum comes alive when she cooks. She also takes great pride in crisp clothes and spotless floors. Mum forgets about herself when she is taking care of us. We were never short of good meals or clean clothes. She never talked about time out. She never had time out. She never had a life beyond caring for us -- her family.

Defining success
I suspect my girlfriends have mums just like mine. But unlike our mums, we all had jobs, and modern machinery to help us with our chores. Like our mums, we tended to fuss over our family. Like our mums, we forget about our needs and focus entirely on how to keep the family together, in one piece, at all cost. Like a protective lioness, we guard our dens well. Like our mums, we define our success mostly by how our families are looked after, and how they cherish us.

But unlike our mums, we feel the attraction posed by our feminist sisters – those who fought for a voice, for equal opportunities, and also a time-out concept. We are not the bra-burning types and you won’t find us marching for women’s rights. But it didn’t take us long to feel the intoxication of the moment – of being free for one night, from cooking, scrubbing burnt pots, handling laundry, taking the garbage out and stacking dishes away.

This gathering of the sisterhood is good – especially when you have great company. We had a fantastic meal at this place called Eiji. To be that busy on a Friday night, the restaurant must have something special going. Our dishes were cooked to perfection. We ooed and ahhhed at how well everything was presented. We rolled out of the restaurant, happy as kids!

Then we headed off to a Mama Mia! We didn’t have sequin tops or platform shoes. But we had the cinema mostly to ourselves, truckloads of popcorn, icecreams and lollies. Only our reserve and conservatism kept us from total abandonment and jumping up to dance to “Dancing Queen” or “Mama Mia”.

What is it about ABBA?
What is it about a movie like Mama Mia! that manages to strike such a chord that box office receipts have totaled over US$440 million? Perhaps there is a dancer inside all of us, dying to surface? Perhaps inside us, we all crave the garishness of shinny outfits with plunging necklines, fancy furs, and platform boots? Perhaps it is the catchy tunes of ABBA, expressing our wish for eternal youth, romance in a complicated world? Who knows?

The total escape from home into the world of Abba songs and the romance of the movie was most electrifying.

By the time the movie finished, we came close to midnight. No carriage awaited us. But like Cinderallas afraid our cars would revert to being pumpkins, we stepped into the dark Friday night to hurry to our separate homes. We weren’t on curfew but our inner programmes told us we were meant to head home now that we had our share of fun and laughter.

Sorry mum
Our ladies night out was a resounding success, we all agreed. The sisterhood plans to have another outing. Perhaps a get-away where our families can’t call. Only this time far more than a few hours in a night. Dare I? Dare we? For me, a sisterhood get-away weekend would be a brave new world. It would be like travelling on a train to Hogsworth, on a matrix that would spin me into a different world – that so far removed from what mum taught me – family above self, family above all. Mum, so sorry I have moved on. So have my sisters, I suspect.

Food fried with plastic added into oil?

I found this post on a blog called Malaysiabest.net. This little story has caught my attention because my friend told me of how she threw out a packet of fried ikan bilis (anchovies) bought at a local Chinese grocers because she had heard the Thai manufacturers fried them in oil mixed with plastics to make them crispier. Amazing! The moral of the story? Avoid eating snacks that come from a source you don’t trust.

Are the fears completely unfounded? Who knows but I would rather not take the risks. Here is a cut-and-paste from Malaysiabest’s post which he found from another blogger. It seems unscrupulous food makers/sellers are adding plastic straws and bottles to give their food more appeal. A lot like the melamine case. So, watch out for those fried onions and fried anchovies, or fried banana crisps.

Story begins...
Consumers’ demand for crispy snacks like goreng pisang and keledek (keledek = sweet potato) has allegedly caused hawkers in Johor Baru to literally coat fried snacks with plastic, creating a health scare.

Emails are said to have been sent out warning people to keep away from consuming extra crispy fried snacks or even chicken.
The emails tell how some hawkers had allegedly been seen adding plastic straws and bottles into boiling oil before frying their snacks.

The snacks thus produced would remain crispy for several hours, the emails said.
A factory worker, Rauf Hamdan, 24, claimed he actually saw a goreng pisang (banana fritter seller) seller in the city throwing a plastic bottle into boiling oil, causing the bottle to melt.

“When I asked the hawker about it, he just matter-of-factly said his customers had not complained of any health hazards from eating his goreng pisang.

“He also said this ‘recipe’ was now popular among many hawkers like him.”
Rauf said it was shocking that sellers of fried snacks were not bothered about the possible health hazards to their consumers.

Plastic bottles are made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) which can cause various forms of cancer and birth deformities, if eaten.

According to the emails, the trend allegedly started in Thailand, for frying ikan bilis (anchovies) and onions. It spread to Kedah and Perlis, then the rest of the country.

The sender of one of the emails said his uncle had allegedly seen a goreng pisang seller adding plastic drinking straws into hot oil in Perlis.

A friend said he had seen a hawker in Cameron Highland allegedly melt a five-litre empty cooking oil bottle in boiling oil by stirring it in.

Basket of goods in our cost of living changes

How things have changed. The basket of goods that is used to measure our cost of living has altered with the times.

Things such as video cassettes, photographic films and writing paper are no longer used to measure the cost of living in NZ.

Statistics New Zealand has also removed solid fuel burners, old style cathode ray tube TVs from the basket of goods it uses to calculate cost of living. This review is based on a survey of 2,600 households and their spending habits.

According to the number crunchers at Statistics NZ, food accounts for $17.83 of every $100 dollar spent ($17.38 in 2006) and $22.75 goes to housing/household utilities ($20 in 2006).

Heat pumps and Navmans
The new basket of goods include items such as heat pumps (which my hubby won’t let me have!), in-car satellite navigation units (a Navman, or Tom Tom would be good!); free-to-air digital TV receivers (which we don’t have at home) and digital music downloads (which we do partake of).

Items from the services list which has made its way to the new basket include lawn moving (hubby is the lawn mover); house cleaning (I am the cleaner, an auction services (wonder if this is all the Trade Me costs).

Statistics are beyond my comprehension. But what I do know is the cost of living in Auckland has gone up tremendously – starting with parking! When I was working in the city, it used to cost $7 per day to park my car. The last time I went into the city, the average cost of a full-day carpark was $14 to $16 dollars. And some Wilson carpark magnate has set draconian rules such that if you choose to call yourself an “Early Bird” at a Wilson carpark, you must have your car in by 9.30am or thereabouts but can only leave after 3pm or 4pm, not before, to enjoy this offer. How stupid is that?

Real imagination
Managing a household budget takes real imagination. Kudos to the grocery shoppers out there who take the extra effort to brave Pak n Save or Lim’s Groceries – it is also a jungle out there but things are much cheaper.
Hubby complains I stock up too much. But why not? Things on sale are worth hoarding. Free range eggs were going for $3.99/dozen at Nosh 2 weeks ago, pity there are only 3 of us and Princess doesn’t eat eggs.

More melamine in the food chain? This time lactoferrin

Another case of melamine contamination or just a tiny bit of scare? Princess and I were having dinner with some friends when we were discussing this news – Tatua’s product has been fouund to contain traces of melamine, and Cadbury has withdrawn 11 Chinese-made products, including chocolate eclairs sold in Australia, after tests found melamine in them.

Waikato's Tatua Co-operative Dairy Company has voluntarily suspended exports of dairy protein lactoferrin after tiny amounts of melamine were detected in its products in China.

China this month stopped production at Fonterra joint venture Sanlu after its baby formula containing melamine caused the deaths of four infants and made tens of thousands of babies sick. (Source stuff.co.nz)

Lactoferrin
My google search tells me that South Korea has also found melamine in its lactoferrin. It remains to seen which other countries will come up with the same findings. What is at stake is the export of a high value protein that is extracted out of milk.

Tatua didn’t know of the contamination until one of its agents told it so. The CEO of the company Paul McGilvary said the company called in the New Zealand Food Safety Authority after a customer highlighted to Tatua of the discovery of a trace of melamine.

In boffin-speak, tests results showed contamination of less than four parts per million. The authority will take action at 2.5 parts per million but five parts per million is generally considered safe. According to an NZPA report, NZ food watchdog the NZ Food Safety Authority has no legal maximum residue level (MRL) for melamine in milk, even though in June it published MRLs for melamine at 0.3mg/kg in sheepmeats, and 0.15mg/kg in poultry and eggs. The funny thing is regulatory authorities are only coming to terms with how to set melamine limits for dairy products, including 2.5 parts per million in Hong Kong and McGilvary understood the US was using 10 parts and China was thinking about five parts.

Tatua now has to repair the international damage done to its lactoferrin. What it has to do is to retrace how melamine got into its product. It says its milk is unadulterated, and its process impeccable. Could it be the packaging? The insecticides use? Or the fetilizers? It will take at least a month to come out with some answers. What is also at stake is Tatua’s proprietary manufacturing process, which it sold to another dairy company Westland – also a producer of lactoferrin.

A satellite lactoferrin plant at Westland Milk Products in Hokitika has also found as having low levels of melamine contamination, and food safety officials said they were looking at the possibility that the contamination is being introduced by the manufacturing process (Source: Food and Beverage News)

Lactoferrin, which sells for about $500,000 per tonne, is used in baby formulas and dairy-based drinks. Fonterra also makes lactoferrin.

Mr McGilvary said Tatua, which has 112 suppliers, exports about 30 tonnes of lactoferrin per year, and he could not say when the suspension would end.

Series of unfortunate events
This is unfortunate for a dairy company hailed as one of the most successful competitors to Fonterra – Tatua has just announced record payout for milk solids for its farmers.

What is an acceptable level of melamine for the human body? Who knows! This phenomena is only just beginning to unravel. Now we know how fragile the human existence is. In the past, the hunter gatherer learnt of what to kill/what to eat and what to forage in the forest. Now, we have the benefit of science to tell us what is safe and what is not safe. Let’s hope the boffins are right.

Mom used to tell me not to microwave plastics. I used to ignore her. Now I have stopped using plastics to microwave my food – I am getting more paranoid by the day. So, better safe than sorry. I am microwaving only in ceramics/corning/glass.

Footnote: he NZ Food Safety Authority had on Sept 30th released a statement to say this:

With regards to the industry reports of the presence of incidental trace levels of melamine in lactoferrin, NZFSA confirms that one result from four tests of lactoferrin has returned a result at around the limit of detection of 1 ppm. This does not constitute a health hazard, particularly as lactoferrin is used as a minor ingredient and is not consumed as a food on its own.

“It is NZFSA’s belief that this trace level may have arisen out of this specific unique process and is continuing to work with the industry concerned to better understand the biochemistry as to why this is happening.

“From all 116 tests there is clearly no indication of any deliberate adulteration whatsoever and based on results to date we are confident that all New Zealand dairy products are fully compliant.”

Obese? Blame it on your mom!

This is the best piece of news for those who constantly battle with their weight. We are fat because we could be genetically pre-disposed to being fat. I found this in an article on the Aug 20th issue of a weekend magazine. Now I don't feel so bad carrying that extra 5kg!

The article points to the risks of children being obese due to “metabolic imprinting” from their pregnant mother's high blood sugar levels. This imprint goes on to affect these babies’ weight, apparently.

Fat because of your genes?
We are also fat because evolution makes us predisposed to being so. The body’s weight command centre, at the hypothalamus, is calibrated to preserve rather than eliminate fat. Ah, so, no need to feel guilty about trying to shed the last 5 kg – it was always going to be hard.

Researchers also found that a genetic defect in your brain’s command centre could also affect as much as 70% of the variation in your weight.

Inside your brain is one little soldier receptor (melanocortin 4 receptor) that tells you to stop eating by triggering the feeling of you being full. If that soldier malfunctions, you are going to be eating, and eating.

Fat because of a virus?
That’s not all. Apparently a kind of virus can also make you fat. We have Nikhil Dhurandhar (an associate professor at Pennington Biomedical Centre in Baton Rouge) to thank for figuring this one.

Some 20 years ago, while treating obesity in India, he drew the link between obesity and chickens that died from carrying an avian virus (SMAM-1. He found these dead chooks to contain lots of fat in them.

Later when he worked with a human virus (adenovirus 36 or AD36), he found that in his lab, every specie of animal infected with AD36 became fat. This virus is present in 30% of obese people (is this a conclusive study? I don’t know. My guess is not.) and affects 15-17% of the human population.

Want to know if you have this fat virus? There is a company in Richmond (Virginia, USA) called Obetech that can conduct this test.

But what's the point? They haven't figured out how to get rid of the virus. This very smart professor Dhurandhar, he is now working on a possible vaccine for those infected with the AD36 virus. Bless him.

So, don’t beat yourself up if you are pre-disposed to being fat. The extra serving of pudding and extra serving of fatty meat may be the cause. But you can blame someone else now – your genes, your mom, and the bloody virus.

Underneath all skin - we are all the same

A friend of mine sent me this a few weeks ago. I think it is a very good read, for those of us who love to live in harmony; who love the ideal of being one race, one people, one nation, one world. I have taken the liberty to reproduce on this blog. Hope the owners of the content don't mind.

Race and prejudice in Malaysia
Sep 26, 08 6:22pm
teh tarik

MCPX The TehTarik sessions are the brainchild of a group of young Malaysians
at Cambridge University who desired a non-partisan platform to foster open
discussion on burning issues. Sessions are open to all as long as they have
a shared passion for Malaysia. The following is based on the discussion that
took place over a hot cup of self-made teh tarik.



The all-too-familiar tourism advertising gimmicks portray Malaysia as a
multi-cultural and pluralistic society, an emerging democracy where people
of all cultures, races, and religions live and prosper together; a society
where cultural differences are honoured and enduring ideals of humanity can
thrive. However, how far do these perceptions differ from the reality of the
Malaysian social fabric?

In Malaysia, the third question succeeding name and gender is almost always
regarding race. We are identified by our race and the fact is, for better or
for worse, the concept has been institutionalised. Though possibly relevant
historically, the current generation must ask whether these
institutionalised concepts are still appropriate.

At the time of independence when races served different economic functions,
leaders would have envisioned the country moving away from such divisive
concepts. But looking back 51 years on, it seems that divisions have
persisted and we have still not moved forward.

Notwithstanding the methodological limitations of opinion polls, the results
of the Merdeka Centre poll on race relations reveal a lack of understanding,
poor interaction and strong stereotypes across races.

A mere 36% of Chinese respondents as compared to 89% of Malay respondents
said they understand Malay culture. Interestingly, 84% of Chinese
respondents thought that Hari Raya Puasa is a Malay New Year celebration.

With regards to stereotypes, 60% of Chinese and Malay respondents agreed
that Malays are lazy. 60% of Chinese and Malay respondents agreed that
Indians cannot be trusted as compared to 20% of Indian respondents. A
majority of Chinese and Malay respondents agreed that the Chinese are
greedy.

The conceptions of racial groupings have often been controversial for
scientific as well as social and political reasons. While the general
consensus favours a biological basis for such divisions, it is possible for
a Chinese to be genetically further apart from a fellow Chinese than a
Malay.

Furthermore, the definitions of race have been fluid. For example, whilst
Arabs may be considered Malays in Malaysia, they would be Arabic in origin.

Take the path of most resistance
Race concepts have been reinforced throughout the colonial era and used as
powerful organising tools for western governments. In Rwanda, divisions
between the Tutsis and Hutus were non-existent until the arrival of the
Belgians, who started classifying them according to the size of their
anatomies.

Unlike ethnically Malay countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia
where races are not rigidly defined within the confines of religion, the
definition of Malay is uniquely enshrined in the Malaysian constitution as a
Muslim who speaks Malay and practices Malay customs.

Nevertheless, the term bumiputera has never been formally defined in any
official documents. The late Tunku Abdul Rahman in his answer to the
parliamentary debate of November 1965 stated that the term had no legal
meaning except to denote the natives of Malaya and the Borneo states,
Chinese and Indians who have been born locally for several generations, and
natives less able to compete with others.

He was eventually pressured to accept the definition which excluded all
Chinese and Indians, a concept used politically. Subsequently, the Malays
and bumiputeras possess special rights under the constitution. However, the
constitution is equivocal as to whether the rights are permanent or remedial
and transitional. It is also silent on the time frame. These are contentious
issues at the core of race relations in Malaysia.

Studies suggest a cultural basis for race where segregation stems from
perception and evolves through differences that are humanly defined.

When the Americans first arrived in Japan, they perceived the Japanese as
lazy. Probably there was no economic reason to be hard working in a then
slow-paced and isolated Japan. Today, the stereotypes pertaining to Japan
are anything but lazy. Similarly, any form of racial stereotypes should not
be accepted by Malaysians as a given but as a man-made construct or
misconstruct.

Perhaps the way forward for racial integration is the path of most
resistance. Perhaps everyone should be compelled to learn the all the
languages of other races in schools to facilitate greater understanding
amongst races. This is not impossible if we look at countries such as
Switzerland where citizens are fluent in three official languages.

Also, education curricula should be revised to provide an impartial
perspective of subjects such as history. The original objectives of the New
Economic Policy (NEP) to help the needy regardless of race should be
strongly advocated and not manipulated to the whims and fancies of certain
parties.

We're suspicious of one another
The problem of racial strife is that of perception. Remedies suggested have
always involved major political changes which are beyond the reach of any
one individual. However, we need not be too ambitious and underestimate our
roles in the civil society. The fact is not so much that there exists
interracial animosity but that we are suspicious of one another.

This is partly because we did not have the opportunities to develop
friendships with people of other races at the personal level. Many are
brought up from a mono-racial background and attend vernacular schools.
Instead of defining ourselves against other races, we should endeavour to
place ourselves through the lenses of the other races and empathise with
their situation. The quid pro quo approach would be the first step to racial
integration.

For the non-Malay, would you be willing to sacrifice your special rights if
you were Malay? For the Malay, would you give up vernacular schools if you
were non-Malay?

It is argued that one cannot discuss racial issues without touching on the
ill-fated May 13 incident. Although politicians have taken the stance of
ignoring the big elephant in the room, perhaps the only way we can solve the
problem of interracial distrust and suspicion is by digging out and
examining old skeletons. The question is, are we willing to be objective or
do we continue to have a chip on our shoulder?

_____

JOSHUA CHU and MOHAMMAD A HAMID anchored this session. Chu is an alumnus of
St John's College. Mohammad is an engineer by training, currently taking one
year off from work to pursue masters degree after 10 years in the industry.
Interests include voluntary work with young people and writing.

WILLIAM TAN edited this article. He is currently reading chemical
engineering. An arts and music enthusiast who plays the piano during his
leisure, Tan also takes interest in and discusses passionately about
economical, political and social issues pertaining to Malaysia.