On to New Beginnings

We will soon be on our way to join our son as the date of his wedding draws near.

In preparation for the big day, invitation cards have been sent out.


We will be bringing along with us a traditional basket which will hold the gifts for our future daughter-in-law as per tradition.

The discussion over the gifts took place a while back when we went for the food tasting at the venue where the wedding dinner will be held. Our son's future in-laws' requests were simple and they didn't want to be tradition-bound. Nevertheless, I felt that at least the basics should be adhered to.

So there will be a red piece of cloth plus two red rosettes which will be placed over their doorway to indicate that a marriage will take place and that their daughter is leaving their home. There is a certain way of folding the red cloth which will indicate this. The groom's home will have a similar red piece on his door too to indicate that he is bringing back a bride.


The basket will contain the dowry which is an auspicious sum of money put into a red envelope printed with the word "Double Happiness" and also jewellery for the bride.


There will also be bridal biscuits but the bride's parents have said that there is no need for that as not many people eat these traditional biscuits anymore. However we will include a cake. There are so many delicious cakes available in the bakeries today. Instead of liquor we will give fruits.

Our younger daughter and her brother, the bridegroom, will be our emissaries presenting the gifts to my future daughter-in-law's parents.

There is also a token number of dinner tables to be given to the bride's side for the wedding. They have agreed to accept the eight tables. Eight is an auspicious number.

This is what will take place during the next few days.

Once the wedding is solemnised in church, followed by a light lunch for the invitees, the wedding dinner will be held that evening. There will be a tea ceremony too during which the young couple are introduced to the members of the family.

It is an occasion that we are looking forward to very much.

Unique Malaysians

Malaysians are a unique people and there are many endearing things about us. Let me share some with you.

No matter what race we belong to, we have some characteristics in common. One of these is our friendliness. It is so easy to strike up a conversation with someone you don’t know. Just smile and the ice is broken. Pretty soon we will be talking as if we are old friends, each having found out about our families, w hat we do, etc., etc. This would be considered as rude and intrusive in western society. I remember as a teacher trainee in the UK, we trainees were told that we should never ask strangers such personal questions. Cultural differences!

The other thing is the way we speak. We have our own lingua franca, or Manglish (Malaysian English) and this is unmistakable. No matter where we are, within Malaysia or abroad, the minute we hear Manglish, we know those people are Malaysians. Another way of putting it is Mangled English. Only Malaysians ( and perhaps Singaporeans ) can understand it. Others will not be able to make sense of it.

“Go stun, go stun, somemore, somemore..ok stop lah.” This is what you can hear when someone is giving instructions reversing a car. “Go stun” is to go backwards, or to reverse.
“Where got like that one?” Read “ How can it be?”
“You don’t know, meh?” Read “Don’t you know?”
“ Aiyah, can die one!” Read “ Oh dear, this is bad.”
“Wah, so nice. Can eat or not?” Read “ Wow, so delicious. Can I have some?”
“ Eh, long time no see! So stylo mylo now lah.” Read “ Hi, haven’t seen you for a long time. You’re very stylish.”
“ Your friend got come or not? Still wanna wait, ah?” “Read “ Has your friend come? Do you still want to wait?”

This is how Malaysians speak when they meet. However they readily change register when in formal situations. They will speak correctly. However, we feel very comfortable and at home with Manglish when we are with friends and family.
Another thing peculiar to us is that we always ask “ Have you eaten?” whenever we see our friends or elders. We don’t say “How are you?” Food is a very important part of our lives.

Malaysians will never want to be anything else.
It’s great being Malaysian.

More Fruits

This morning my marketing bag was full of fruits. My granddaughter had just discovered how delicious the Duku Langsat and Rambutans taste. So I bought three and a half kilos of Duku Langsat and two and a half kilos of Rambutans. This morning’s rambutans are very crispy and the flesh comes off the seed easily. They are also juicy but not too sweet.


I also bought one and a half kilos of Klenthong, a fruit from the same family as Duku Langsat. No this is not another name for the Duku or Dukong as it is called in Sabah. As you can guess, the Duku Langsat is a hybrid, derived from the Langsat and the Duku.

These three fruits although similar in appearance taste different. The Langsat has a thinner skin and it can be sour if you are unlucky.

The Duku Langsat is sweeter and the skin is slightly thicker than the Langsat’s.
The Duku is bigger and has a thick skin and it is also sweet. I didn’t see any Duku this morning or I would have bought some.


The Klenthong is also sweet and its skin is thicker than the Langsat’s too. However the fruit segments have a fragrance that is different from that of the Duku Langsat.

The papayas are for my daughter. She loves them but my grandchildren have yet to try eating them. They are not adventurous in trying out whatever is new to them.


I also bought some pink guava. These have seeds inside which are edible when the fruit is ripe. The guava is said to be richer in vitamin C than the papaya.

However the papaya can be eaten ripe or unripe. When it is unripe, it is usually cut into thin slices and then pickled in vinegar and sugar. This makes a very tasty appetiser.

The fruits, except for the papaya and guava, have to be eaten within 3 days or they will no longer be fresh and won’t taste good. The rambutan hair will wither and the skins will turn black. The fruit can still be eaten but its taste is not as good as the first two days. The duku langsat and klenthong will also turn brown and some will go bad.

We love fruits so all these will be consumed by tomorrow evening!!

How lucky we are to be living in a land of plenty. There is such a great variety of fruit that we are spoilt for choice.

Children bring joy. They grow very fast and before you know it, the toddlers have become pre-teens.

It was such a joy to see my niece and her toddler son when she flew in from Hong Kong for a short visit. The little boy has grown taller and can speak more than he could when I last saw him in March. According to his mum he can even scoot around on his new scooter.
His presence really brought sunshine into our days, especially those of his grandparents.


My niece in Melbourne just got engaged. It didnt seem that long ago when she was a teenager in school. Her parents have just flown off to celebrate her birthday with her.

Time really flies. My own grandchildren are in their pre-teens now. Eleven years have passed since they returned from the UK to live with us. We've had the privilege of seeing them grow out of babyhood into toddlerhood and soon they will be teenagers.

With the coming marriage of our son, we hope to have a grandchild by this time next year. That is really something to look forward to. My sister already has five grandchildren.
We ourselves have left the turbulent years behind us and now enjoy the autumn season in life. The other day in the checkout lane in a supermarket, we met a couple of friends whom we had not seen for more than a decade.

Keeping in touch with friends and family no matter how far flung they are in the world, is of utmost importance. Relationships are what matter most in life. They often define the quality of our lives. Nurturing them the way we nurture the flowering plants in our garden will lead to stronger friendships and closer ties.