Oxymoron In The Tropics

 I am not a musician... the highest claim I have to being able to play is possibly assistant cheerleader and key-presser for my son when he had his music classes once upon a time.  The young man is a six footer now and hasn't needed any keys pressed for him for quite a while now, so that already says much about my musician skills.  However I totally adore music.  Especially music that is multi-layered, spins stories in my head and weaves magic around my ears.  So you can imagine how I feel about a lot of mainstream music nowadays. Thankfully I came across this prodigy who has restored my faith in young musicians.  The most exemplary Dimash Qudaibergen.

 When I mention 'the other side', I am talking about the stroll down the hill towards retirement.  I am no longer in the prime of my career ... if there is such a thing.  I am freaking out my colleagues by doing stuff like digging out old boxes and tossing files and telling them I am preparing for retirement.  But I am also doing stuff like learning new teaching and learning techniques and I might even set up a YouTube channel.  After all, I am looking ahead to a new phase of life where I have more say in what I do with my daily hours.  I cannot fathom going through a day where I don't learn something new or create something that wasn't there before. Post pandemic years feel weird.  Especially when I am now in the group preparing for retirement. Priorities went upside-down, new habits were formed, perspectives changed irrevocably... and I feel that I am having to adapt to an existence that might look the same as it used to but is vastly different in unseen ways.  It'

I can't say much. So I'll just share lyrics from a song. 'Life Will Pass' Moments full of happiness Of sweet youth days, Nothing to do, you cannot bring them back, Fate is not to be controlled, it is not. Those days will be a thing of the past, Where dreams and fantasies are intertwined, Everything will remain an echo, When the time comes to think. The life passes, passes, Fleeting like a river, May your star never go out, Until the cherished dream is achieved. The life passes, passes, Everything in this life is in vain, May your star never go out, Until the cherished dream is achieved. When the fog will cover the soul, When happiness will leave you, When you're alone in the world, Will there be someone who will understand you? And your blooming youth, It will turn into a mirage someday. No matter how you deceive yourself, but in the end Your fate is in the hands of the Almighty. The life passes, passes, Fleeting like a river, May your star never go out, Until the c

 I blog less when ... - I'm busy with interesting things. - I'm overloaded with work. - I haven't got things to complain about. I'm all of the above right now but I decided to try and make a few blog posts.  

 Be very careful when you get calls informing you that your IC has been used to open a company or register a phone line or even sent to an address in a box.  These calls are usually from scammers because police or LHDN ppl will ask you to go to the office or station.  They will not discuss such things on the phone. A lot of these calls are done on public holidays or weekends or times outside working hours.  They will sound very reasonable and tell you that you need to go to a police station or some where.  My personal experience is that I have been required to go to a police station in Seremban or Ipoh.  Yes, I am very unfortunate to have received two of these calls.  The first one was during lockdown in 2020 and it was from Pos Malaysia (so they said).  They claimed I sent my bank card and IC to an address in Ipoh via Poslaju.  They asked me if I knew it was a crime to send such items via post.  I said it is a moot point because I would never do such a thing.  How would I get money ou

 I've been 'away'... although not very far.  And I've decided to return... even though it's a very very different world now from the world in my last post. Don't ask me about 2018... but Life started to skew sideways at the end of 2019 when news started to trickle out regarding a strange new virus.  Then clips of people walking down streets and suddenly collapsing started appearing in chat groups.  At first I thought it was one of those fake clips.  Or maybe cut from a film about  zombie pandemics or insidious alien attacks.  Alas, I was wrong.  Then by March 2020, for the first time ever, I experienced a pandemic lockdown.  Schools were shut, shops closed.  Roadblocks sprouted up like mushrooms to deal with those who still didn't believe the reality of what was happening.  The government floated an app that looked like some sort of controlling mechanism.  Well, fast forward to October 2021... that app is now required for entry to most public spaces.  It hol