From news to me

News from Kuala Kangsar, Malaysia

A 5 year-old boy died with his head trapped in between a table's legs..his scream of pain was ignored as his 27 year-old father thought it was normal for an active boy like him to scream

One of the comments read:

Making babies is easy, caring for them wholeheartedly is something parents seems to be failing miserably nowadays



I agree with this..so many young parents nowadays..were they prepared to be parents before they are? For me..childhood is the golden period of one's life..if I dun have a great childhood..i will spend my older days regretting it..and there is no turning back..are u prepared to give ur child a wonderful childhood before having one? Can u ensure that ur child will have fond memories of their childhood when age spots develop on their skin?

However I also think that its so though to be the perfect parents that everybody demand them to be..its so hard to draw a line between over-protectiveness and irresponsibilities..Im glad that my mom has done the perfect balance..never ask too much of my personal things..that makes me glad to take initiative to share my stories..no strict curfew..but whenever i goes back too late she will make me guilty (unintentionally) by staying awake to wait for me (when she is supposed to sleep much earlier)..the best thing is..she never exert any pressure on me..its me who is always stress up myself..and she has to remind me just to do my best

I remember sharing this in Lifegroup on Mother's Day..when i said this to everyone..my tears were lingering in my eyes..and after the sharing session we sang Celion Dion's 'Because You Love Me'..and i tried so hard not to cry (well i feel touched very easily)

Of coz my dad is equally good..i dun have to talk to my parents as if they are my superior..although the way i talk to them seems a bit impolite..but that's because im too close to them..for me..politeness create distance among people (thats only apply to family members, bf and maybe super bestie)..our way of communciation..makes me feel really like me

What better things that i could ask for when i have such a good family and such a great childhood?

Spring=Sinus=(

This is the pre-productive hour..Whenever i wanna start studying/doing tute questions/doing assignment etc..my little stubborn and rebellious heart objects soundly..so i have to waste an hour on facebook, hotmail, my monash( yes, despterately looking for mails just because i dun wanna start my work yet), news(sometimes), friends' blog and my blog..till i finally feel the strong guilty and start doing something useful(unwillingly)

I meantioned before that i love spring..but kinda felt cheated in the beginning of the spring..wore less thick jacket out but the strong chilly wind blew..ouch..chill all the way to my spine..when i was cursing that the so called spring wasnt a spring..i overheard a girl asking: 春天在哪里？(where is the spring)..agreed with her instantly

What worst is that..my sinus came back!!! ARGHHHHH...day and night..at home or at uni..i have to keep blowing and blowin my nose..in the middle of the night i have to wake up to rush to the toilet to 'release the rebellious mucus from my nose'..can't sleep well because of nose drip..taking medication and heaps of vit c tablet but i havent stopped being tortured by sinus..someone told me its normal during spring..when flowers release pollens..i didnt know my nose is allergic to pollen too!!! Why?? When i finally get to enjoy the warmer weather..another part of my body goes wrong!!!

So i gonna survive the spring with a seemingly swollen red nose..this remind me of the song..Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer..thats one of my favourite song that i have sung for carolling a few years ago

Politics?

Had a Raw lecture yesterday..yeah your eyesight hasn't deteriorated and it wasn't a typo..i just had a RAW(Research and Writing) Lecture yesterday..and while the lecturer was talking two girls giggled with earphones on and eyes staring at the laptop screen..

Lecturer asked: Facebook?

But then we realised they were following the election counting closely

And it heated up the class atmosphere

Few minutes later one of the girls shouted: Yes, Gillard!!

And there goes Australia's 1st female Prime Minister(Julia Gillard as shown in the pic)..congrats!!

The Labor Party won 72 seats and the Coalition won 73 seats before the 3 independents casted their votes to the Labor..so the Labor won by just 2 seats..

Well i wasnt interested about politics in Australia at all till i read an email from dad one day:

Australia has its first female Prime Minister one day..who knows one day u will be the first female Prime Minister? haha..just joking

At that instant the only thing in my mind was:

Dad can u don't joke with this? DO u know that i have failed a test and an assignment and are struggling to get all my units past for this Sem? I have no time and no courage to have this dream!!

Well i admit that im always lack of confidence but i just don't hope my parents have any high hopes on me..Eventually i did not fail any unit last Sem but im still struggling this Sem..this is the sad story of a not very smart,easily distracted, unable-to-focus-on-studies-law student living in a big big competitive world

Anyway this post isnt for how sad the story of a law student could be..but about Australian politics..

I shamefully admit that i only knew about Julia Gillard after reading my dad's email..gone are the days when i would flip through newspapers at least few time a weak..i have forgotten about the existent of newspapers since i came to Australia (save papers, save trees,save money for food)..i could have read news online but my fingers would automatically type 'f' whenever i go online and miracously the facebook page would pop up within 2 seconds..my fingers were never trained to type 'news' in the google search column

Then one chilling morning at 5am i walked out of my house to the train station..not knowing the 'politics' that i gonna get involved..well i went for the Power Shift Summit at Geelong from 14 to 15 August..i thought it was a completely environmental thing..expected very little of political elements..however..

On the 1st day, i found myself dozing off all the time in all the workshops (not my fault coz dozing off easily is my nature)..all the workshops are designed for people who are passionate in climate issues to pick up some skills to promote the awareness on the importance of 'green votes'..federal election was approaching at that time so the main issues were how to influence the voters and the politicians so that they support environmental policies..

On the next day three politicians from Labor, Liberal and the Greens were on stage for a panel discussion..the passion of the kids and the teenagers on politics heated up the atmosphere..The defensive Liberal rep talked like an iron lady..keep attacking other parties during her speech..she was criticised the most..someone critised her for attacking other politicans too much..another asked those who thought Liberal's policy was bullshit to raise their hands..in response most of the kids and the teenagers rose their hand up in the air..there were non-stop booing and cheering when the politicians spoke..it was interesting..i have never really got involved in sth like this..even though i was only an observer all the time..even though i felt odd as i wasnt even eligible to vote..it was really fun looking at the arguments and the expressions..despite being teased and challenged harshly..the politicians remain calm..if this situation was in some other countries i might haven been dead under random chairs or tables thrown by some politicians

Later we went to the street to "make some noise"with all kinds of musical instruments..we shouted some environmental slogans to attract the attention of the people..at the same time we handed out some election scorecards(a list of green policies each parties supported) to the voters..the highlight was the moment we stepped into a shopping centre..shopkeepers, shoppers stuck their eyes on us with scorecards on their hands..screaming, the security guard was trying to stop us in vain

Back to Melbourne..i started to follow the elections..handed out some score cards by my own and discussed about the election with a fren (who is a PR and was gonna vote)

I didnt really get involved in Australian politics but the events drew me closer to it..our effort did not go wasted as The Greens got quite a number of seats which means the voices which are fighting for the environment are gonna be louder..good job everyone!!

P/S: This is not a blog post with critical political comments..its just an account of the relationship between me and the Australian politics..Well im concerned about politics a little but im just not knowledgeable and critical enough to be a critic..therefore i never talk much about it

Julia Gillard said that she hope every little girl who sees her on TV would say that:

One day i wanna be like her!!!

P/S: I wont be that 'little gal' daddy!! (my parents did not really have high expectation on me..we were just kidding)

Floody and Muddy

This is not a picture to reflect the actual condition of the flood in Benalla but just for exaggeration purpose!!! =P

100 people forced to flee as rising lake splits Benalla

This was one of the headlines on the Age..one of the popular newspapers in Australia

Guess what? i might be one of the 100 people!!!

Broken River hit the major flood level..A swollen Lake Benalla split the city..this was the first time i was not merely reading the stories of some random unfortunate strangers on the news..but i was one of the unfortunate victims myself!!!

I have spent three days two nights at a place which is 3 and a half hours driving distance from Melbourne..fed my hands with dirt and immersed myself in mud..working hard to restore natural habitat..and there we were attacked by the nature itself..

Why? I'm really passionate about environmental issues..no whys..its our mother earth..the urge of protecting it is within me for so long..i can't bare thinking about our children breathing polluted air everyday..i can't bare imagining the landfill as high as mountains just because humans don't bother to recycle..i can't bare looking at the greeneries..the blues..the wonders of the nature..being destroyed day by day just because we think that they are none of our business!! Why can people ignore all the changes around them? Why can people think that they are here just to live,enjoy and die and let the people affected live suffer and die?

Just because we don't see it now..just because we don't feel it now..we could just pretend that nothing will happen and everyone will live happy ever after and call the environmentalist paranoids???!!!

We love the fairy tales in which the prince and the princess live happily ever after..but if the animals are dying..plants are withering..when we are surrounded by man-made mountains made of rubbish..can the prince and princess live happily ever after?

I just can't bare all these..so no matter how muddy the tree planting site was..no matter how boring the journey was..no matter how bad the weather treated us..i have no regrets spending three days just to plant trees despite the heavy workloads of my course..to do something..just to do something..for the nature..

Rain..flood..mud..worms..nothing unpleasant could stop us..the most memorable moment is the time when we looked back and got amazed by how many seedlings we have planted..how many lives we have brought..and how many hopes we have left behind..

I joined the Monash Biological Society for the Regent Honeyeater Tree Planting Project..i was honoured to be the only law students among all the science students in the group..the tree planting plan goes on every fortnights on weekeds..

Check the website for more information about the project

http://regenthoneyeater.org.au