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| So, just earlier this week, I found that the most talented English footballer, Mr Rooney actually named his child Kai Wayne Rooney. I am kinda curious how he came up with the first name, Kai, instead of using typical names like John, Steven, Robert etc etc. Don't he know that Kai sounds so Asian? Well, anyway, I am now one proud person who share the same name with a potential great footballer, if only Baby Kai inherits all his dad's genes and become an even better footballer.
Speaking of names, I have a collection of names or nicknames of myself:
1. Wong Kai Yeen: official name on the Malaysian IC, but since coming to US, Kai Yeen Wong is used more frequent. Well, relatives still refer to my full name, which I actually got used to it.
2. kaiwong: unfortunately, the University of Illinois decided to award me this netID which I was stucked with for 5.5 years and counting. And what a surprise when my company decides to award me with the similar ID for my email. T_T. Not that it doesn't sound nice, it just doesn't sound nice when it is pronounced together in cantonese... hahaha
3. Cuci kain: this one was like ancient history; friends used to call me that back in primary school. Kaiyeen sounds like kain... get it?
4. kayan: so, kaiyeen, kaiyen, kayen and finally kayan..... evolution goes on. Used mostly by my secondary school friends.
5. Wong: so since coming to US, I decided to choose an easier and shorter name, so I thought my last name might be a good choice; well, I could have chosen an English name instead.
6. Kelvin: the history for this one drags all the way back to when I was still a little kiddo. Kelvin Wong Kai Yeen does sound good thou. But to make it a little unique, I renamed it Kalvyn now instead of Kelvin.
7. Kai: and finally came this version back in 2006. I think I started using this name in my French class. Sounds a little japanese thou. And I have been using this version since then til now.
And there is still my chinese name, which I think I won't respond if you call me that. =)
Anyway, congrats Wayne and I hope Baby Kai will grow up well and healthy!
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| Imagine one day in the future, you would open a restaurant. And you need to apply for rights and pay royalty for certain dishes to be on your menu. It's like you have to pay certain amount of money to China in order to have szechuan chicken on your menu. Or having need to pay India a lump sum to sell an 80 cents a piece roti canai in mamak. Basically, that's what Malaysia trying to do now, patenting certain dishes to be originated from Malaysia. Perhaps, no royalties will be involved but to lay claim on the origins of certain food will be like 'mouth arguing with the nose'.
So our Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng claims that nasi lemak, laksa, bak kut teh, chilli crab and Hainanese chicken rice are truly Malaysian food. Let's see: nasi lemak, laksa and bak kut teh - yup, may be.... chilli crab? may be too but who can be sure. I am a little suspicious over hainan chicken rice thou. So Malaysia and Singapore are fighting over the rights of this dish. But isn't Hainan chicken rice suppose to be from Hainan, CHINA????? It's apparently obvious right? .... Perhaps, China gonna get involved soon to get the rights to this dish.
Well, for me, as long as these food taste good, I don't care whether its originated from HK, or S'pore or Thailand or even Malaysia itself. And for guys like me who have been away from home for such a long time, even a crappy char siew pao sold on roadside would taste better than a BigMac. Also, I personally would think that some dish that may originated from elsewhere would actually taste better after a local modification. Well, at least a local cook will know better the taste of Malaysians like me. Last but not least, although I might crave for roti canai now, I am definitely not going to pay 2 bucks for a roti canai to have 1.20 going to somewhere in India.
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| Taking this chance to wish everyone a Happy 09/09/09! Although I myself do not know why this date is so special, it is indeed a special date that will not come around in another 1000 years! Excited for some unknown reason, I even posted a shoutout right at 9:09 AM on 09/09/09 on Facebook (I kinda miss the 09 seconds by a whisker....).
Anyway, chinese do believe this date is auspicious for wedding because of its long 9s which means 'chiong, chiong gao gao' in cantonese or forever in plain English. I wonder what happened on the 01/01/01, 02/02/02..... 07/07/07, 08/08/08. Let me guess that they mean:
01/01/01: First day of the new millennium!!
02/02/02: A day where oxygen, O2 was abundant in the air....
03/03/03: Record number of newborn babies.... 3 means life in chinese
04/04/04: Die lor die lor....
05/05/05: Earth gonna be hit by a meteor and burnt by scorching heat from the fire... (fire sounds like five, get it?... lameeeee  )
06/06/06: Devils gate is open and its the end of the world
07/07/07: Seventy thousand seven hundred and seven people hit a 777 in various casinos around Vegas....
08/08/08: Buy lottery lo, wait for what..... sure 'kena' one!!
And for next year, 10/10/10 will be declared as steamboat day!! Everyone will celebrate by squatting down, eating from a boiling pot of soup. Lol.... See if you guys figure out why it is steamboat day...
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| Malaysia just had its 52th birthday but it is one celebration that's clouded with questions and glooms for the future. Don't get me wrong; I still love Malaysia for it has been my home and my heart still lies with it although I have been away in the states for more than 6 years now. In fact, I always have my long term plans back in Malaysia in the future. However, I have been disappointed with some incidents that happened recently back in my 'tanah air'.
First of all, the reverting of English as the medium for the teachings of Science and Mathematics. First thing that comes to my mind when this was announced is that Malaysia is taking another step backward after a successful half a step forward. Yes, the students are having a hard time adjusting but they aren't complaining. In fact, even if they don't have to face the difficulties in learning those subjects now in English, they still have to face the switch when they choose to make it to college. Come on, they are not going to find any books on the newest sciences on BM! I bet you 10 bucks if you can find me a book with the title Fizik Kuantum or Nanoteknologi with all the contents translated well. I have nothing against BM, in fact I am proud to still be able to speak my BM pretty well (although my written skills has deteriorate tremendously since SPM). It just that Malaysians need to open their eyes and see further in the future.
But the most heartbroken scene that I would like to highlight is the "cow head" parade incident in section 23.
see link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzZnzgXfyQY
I could not believe that after years of promoting interracial harmony, there are still number of 'barbaric' people who will thoughtlessly insult other people. I believe however, not everyone in the riot are 'cavemen', perhaps only the extreme ones. But you know, 1 bad seed spoils the whole pot. Yes, they have the rights to voice their thoughts but do they actually think (may be they are just plain brainless) before they act? How would they feel if other people perform similar action in condemning their religion? I think if the other way happen, it would have been a massacre. Instead of putting up an insulting riot, they could have done it the proper way, the more humanly way. Actually to think in their shoes, perhaps they have numerous appeals and complains rejected before they resorted to protest and riot. But still, to insult others in order to have your voice heard, definitely not cool.
Disclaimer: This post is not intended to offend anyone. It's just a voice of opinion. At least I don't do it with an animal's head. I am an animal lover - but perhaps I will do it with a cockroach head. No matter how Malaysia has become, I will always love you, for you have been my home, my tons of memory and the place where I would return to be.
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| Have you ever thought of what factors ever contribute to what you gonna dream of later that very night? Or is dream just occurs randomly without voluntary control? Wikipedia describes dream as a "series of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations occurring involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep". - mind the word involuntarily. Well, this suggests that thus far, no scientist nor mathematician or even any psychologist manage to come up with a proven theory on dream control. I am no theorist but below is what I think might be true (may be somewhat true) on dream control.
First of all, something that you work on or even more specific, something that gets you stress out during daytime may be bought into your mind unconciously (in malay, it is called terbawa-bawa) during sleep. For example, let's say you are working on a project and the dateline is fast approaching. If some difficulties come up and get you all stress out, probably for that very few nights, you would dream about working on solving the very problem. I believe that this is a unconcious-self-defence-involuntarily-problem-solving (US-DIPS) brain-mechanism which is similar to the "study in dream" technique where you do your books when you are sleeping (never know if this study method works, but Dayo Wong says that it is the best way to study.... that is to do it in your dreams!! 'siu pan yau' out there, please do not try this at home..... papa mama will scold!!). In one way, the US-DIPS method helps us to learn and to solve problems during our sleep. I believe that great people like Mr. Einstein might just wake up from his sleep one day and make a great discovery.
This US-DIPS method might sound good in one way, but it prevents the brain from getting the rest that it needs. Imagine you have been hard at work during daytime one day and when you come home, hoping for a good night sleep, you dream that you are at work again. It means that you have been working more than 24 hours straight. I personally experience this before (it's not even because of making dateline or solving problem), thus I believe that this theory is somewhat true.
So I attempted some experiments before I sleep. I tried looking at certain things (don't think dirty!!!), or more specifically pictures of someone I would like to appear in my dream, just before I sleep, hoping that I could prove some sort of control for my dreams. However, no matter how hard I tried, she never appeared. On the other hand, when I am not trying too hard, somehow she will appear!! There must be some 'dream trigger' that I have yet to discover..... may be that shows 'min keung mou hang fook'
On side note, somehow these days, I have always been dreaming of exams back in high school. Just like this morning, I dreamt that I had to sit for Bio and Chem exams and I was so not prepared for it. I thought that I am so toasted this time. I thought that I am done with exams since graduating but somehow it returns to haunt me. I have never had such dreams even back in high school that time and I am wondering why it appears now. Somehow, these dreams become more frequent after I work. Thankfully, I manage to recall to myself that I am already working during that dream itself. However, it ended before I could take control of the path of my dream.
Thus, as to answer the above question, I believe that there is some sort of a control to what you want to dream, voluntarily or involuntarily, but trying hard to gain control doesn't always work. In fact, it doesn't work 99% of the time. Dream is just like love, don't force it too hard but enjoy it when you got!.... 
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