World Cup 2006 - Lets Celebrate The Game!

World Cup 2006 (June-July) Baby Boom

There’s one phenomenon associated with the World Cup and the always-enterprising business circles looking very much forward to. The resulting baby boom 9 months after the euphoria and excitement had long died down. The thesis was that when one’s supported team won their match, the ensuing excitement would rub on one’s partner and it’s not hard to guess, that would instantly create just the right mood to make babies. Thus, the baby boom phenomenon. To comprehend how this phenomenon affecting the baby products business, read below excerpt from a leading online parenting community in UK, http://www.bounty.com.

World Cup Baby Boom Predicted

Britain could be in the throes of a baby boom in nine months' time and it's all down to World Cup fever. Officials from the baby products company Mamas & Papas say that it is already planning extra stock for next spring. The upmarket pram shop predicts that couples celebrating England's World Cup victories before they were eliminated will lead to an estimated 10,000 more babies being conceived. Mamas & Papas based its prediction on research that suggests the number of conceptions rises when England has been victorious. So the three wins England managed during the World Cup could have put thousands of couples in the mood to make babies.

The accuracy of the prediction cannot be judged until next March and April, when the 10,000 expected extra babies will be due. In the year following the 2002 World Cup, 30,000 more babies were born than the previous year, according to the Office for National Statistics. Couples lucky enough to become mums and dads next spring will be hoping their new babies don't cry as much as England's players did last weekend, or they'll never get any sleep.

Mamamia!! Imagine how many extra babies for the 2006 Champions, Italy if we consider 10, 000 extra babies just for England 3 wins!

The Nausea & The Vomiting

Due to certain circumstances, I’ve been able to watch almost the entire world cup matches live. And by the end of it, I’ve developed symptoms of nausea and vomiting, not unlike the morning sickness as confirmed by other half when I described it to her. Yan, in jest remarked maybe she’s conceiving as there were quite a few cases where the hubby would have the morning sickness during the wife pregnancy.

The most likely explanation however was that I had gastric ulcer. For almost the whole month during the world cup, I’ve had irregular meals and maybe that upset my stomach, triggering the symptoms. To lessen it, I have to eat whenever my stomach is empty or else the queasiness, and I can only have small meals. A bit more, then I would puke it out almost immediately.

Baby Inside!

By the end of July, Yan was almost 7 weeks late, which was not surprising since she has had her moments of irregular periods. However this time, she was quite certain something was happening and sure enough, when she went to the clinic and did the pregnancy test, she scored 2 clear blue strips out of three! A week later, scan test picture showed the new baby in foetus form clinging to the womb’s wall.

It was still too early though to tell whether Pie & Sara would have a baby brother or sister. By the way, they are aware there’s a baby in their mum’s tummy and still quite puzzled how the baby got inside there! They just know married couple would have babies and already Pie has a name for it, Z. Yeah, just plain Z. When I asked why Z, he told me that name came from one of the characters in the Power Rangers series.

Is our third baby among the thousands of world cup baby boom? I don’t know but one sure thing, I did score during the Germany World Cup 2006. And it will be another 7 months before we can celebrate it like Brazillians Bebeto and Co did in World Cup 1994!



How Home Pregnancy Kits Work?

I was wondering how this great invention can give instant results that could lead either to extreme panic, heart-felt relief or tremendous excitement. Below is the excerpt from Google search which I find useful and informative. Happy reading & Happy testing..

" Home pregnancy tests can detect the presence of a pregnancy hormone (called human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG) in a sample of urine. High levels of hCG are produced during pregnancy. The home tests produce similar results to the pregnancy tests done on urine in most health professionals' offices if they are used exactly as instructed.

When a woman becomes pregnant, the egg usually is fertilized by a sperm cell in a fallopian tube (conception). Within 9 days after fertilization , the egg moves down the fallopian tube into the uterus and attaches (implants) to the wall of the uterus. When the fertilized egg implants, the placenta starts to develop and begins to release hCG into the woman's blood. Some of this hCG also gets passed in her urine. In the first few weeks of pregnancy, the amount of hCG in the urine rises rapidly, doubling every 2 to 3 days.

A first morning urine sample (that has accumulated in the bladder overnight) provides the most accurate test results."

Happy 49th Merdeka Day!

Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!

The Merdeka Day is here again. Pie and Sara were quite busy for the past couple of weeks, drawing the flags, making Merdeka hats, singing the Jalur Gemilang and the evergreen Sudirman’s Merdeka songs at their nursery. I think the nursery did that more to occupy the kids than commemorating the Merdeka Day. Either way, they really did a good job.

Back at home Pie would asked us to download all the states flags, sketched them on papers and he would diligently coloured the flags. His intention is to make a book out of them. As for Sara, give her a prompt, and she would belt out the “ Tanggal 31, bulan lapan, lima puluh tujuh…” with such spirit and gusto. Even the late Sudirman would have been proud! Well, I am! When we “balik kampong” a few weeks ago, her grandma, uncle and aunt were having quite a whale of a time, getting free entertainment listening to Sarah’s Merdeka song rendition. At 4, Sara still having few “baby talk” moments and her grandma found it hilarious when she was having difficulties singing the lyrics long words. Sportingly however, the grandma would raise one hand and shouted “Merdeka!Merdeka!” at the end of the song and gave Sara a big hug and kisses.

In previous years, we introduced the Jalur Gemilang flag as “Merdeka” to Pie and Sara, and they knew it as a colorful pretty thing with stripes, a crescent and a star on it. This year they can sense that there’s much more to it, something big, significant and joyous that calls for celebration, thus their interest in making the Merdeka paraphernalia.

Why Keranamu Malaysia since 2000?

I’ve been planning to take the kids and join others watching the Merdeka celebration procession this year but something is missing; the urge, the desire is just not there. As my sister once remarked in year 2000, “ tengok keadaan macam ni, dah tak seronok nak celebrate Merdeka” or “ in situation like this, it is not fun anymore to celebrate Merdeka".

Let us revisit the year 1999 to know why she said that. It was the election year and the Anwar saga was very much the issue of the day. In previous elections, the opposition parties could hardly attract decent size crowds to their campaign venues. The Anwar issue had let opened the Pandora’s box and since then people were more exposed to politics, good governance and their civil rights and gave the oppositions more opportunities to be heard. Not surprising then, they won many seats that year. And it was no coincidence, from year 2000 until now we have the same theme and logo for Merdeka Day, Keranamu Malaysia!! As if the ruling parties were saying “shut your eyes and be ignorant for the nation’s sake”.

Ohh!Ohh! Now you know which side I voted for in 2000. I voted for neither the Barisan Alternatif nor the Barisan Nasional. My conscience was clear, I voted for the people! (Yeahh.. spoken like a seasoned politician!). To cut the chase, I think the reason why the lukewarm response to raise the Jalur Gemilang is that people are dispirited and dismayed by government-of-the-day conduct. The message is clear, clean-up your acts!

Raising The Flag

Some people raise the flags to avoid getting summons from the local council enforcers. Some “lori hantu” and taxi drivers do to evade the JPJ or police officers scrutiny at road blocks.
Some do raise the Jalur Gemilang with the same spirit and resolve as the late Tunku Abdul Rahman had when proclaiming that famous word “ Merdeka! Merdeka!” 49 years ago.
Maybe I could raise the flag to entertain my kids and I hope someday I could bring them to the Hari Kemerdekaan parade and tell them what Merdeka really means.

Happy Merdeka Day!

Bagan Lalang - The Largest Swimming Pool in Malaysia

Hatching of A Plan .... Dec 2005.

Living in an apartment certainly came with some privileges. One of them was the irresistible urge to get out and spend the day or the weekend away from KL. Especially after the kids woke up early in the morning, fully recharged; running, jumping up and down, making mess all over the place and inducing headaches to us. It was not surprising then, at the-spur-of the moment we just packed up stuff and left for the serenity of Sungai Congkak, Tekali, Hulu Yam, Kanching, places within an 40 minutes drive from our home. As much as we liked those places, it had become routines and familiar that we simply had to venture out further and try out new destinations.

Once, at Sungai Congkak, I met a couple with 4 kids (age 9 to 1 years old) camping out there. The father told they always went for camping trips and that his wife and kids enjoyed it very much. I have been thinking to camp out with my family before but shelved the plan as Sara and Pie were still too young and Yan was quite fussy about travelling to places without decent amenities. That chance meeting gave me the impetus to carry out my plan. If a year old can spend a night out in the woods without a fuss, I guessed Pie and Sarah and most importantly, Yan could survive it too!

At the same time, we were looking to spend the weekend away at the beaches, ideally somewhere not far from KL. I have been to Morib before and it was not particularly appealing to me. On a friend’s recommendation, we had our day-trip to Bagan Lalang.

The Site-Survey

After about 80 minutes drive later, via the Elite highway, passing through KLIA and the Sepang F1 circuit, we were greeted by the soothing sight of tall conifer trees lining the long white sandy beach. Taking shade under the trees, we saw colorful tents of various shapes and sizes, families having a picnic and of course, the compulsory sight of young couples dating.

We went swimming and found out that even almost a kilometer out to the sea, the water level was just about waist-deep. And that’s the main draw of Bagan Lalang compared to other popular beaches like Port Dickson (PD). At PD, 4-5 meters from the shore, even an adult would be completely submerge and that’s why the crowded beach. Here, you can have a thousand people in the water but still have space and privacy for your family, provided that if you do not mind the murky water. As a friend aptly put it, Bagan Lalang was the largest family swimming pool in Malaysia. Many dating couples could vouch for it too, as when the crowd intruded their personal space at the beach, they simply waded the water and continued their bonding sessions far far away into the horizon.

Restaurants, stalls, fresh fish market, car park virtually on the beach, 24 hours toilets and bathroom service. Seemed like the place would be ideal for our first camping trip. Furthermore, the Seri Malaysia Hotel, PKNK and other private-run chalets would come in handy in case of emergency. And soon as we reached our home, I set my plan in motion.

The Tiny Tent

The very next Saturday, we headed again for Bagan Lalang and this time, Pie, Sarah and if you could believe it, Yan, would spend the night at the beach, in a tent for the first time. The previous night, I had put up the brand new 6x6 foot tent in our living room and the kids had so much fun with it. Understandably, they were looking very much forward for the trip. Frankly, I just wanted to brush up my skill as it had been years since I set up one. The tent could accommodate the 4 of us comfortably.

We arrived around noon and had our lunch at one of the food stalls. Since the sun was still burning hot, we just let the kids playing sand under the shade. Later, we bought 2 kites and showed the kids how to fly them. Less than an hour, they got bored and it was time for their mother to take over and displayed her limited skill. No wonder there were so many kites stranded on the trees. At low tides, other than flying kites, you can stroll on the sandy banks for hours looking for crabs, small fish, shellfish, the horseshoe crabs (belangkas) in the small puddles formed by the receding sea. Pie had a container full of the poor creatures as his toys and rarely they could survive after he had satisfied his curiosity.

I hauled out our stuff from the car trunk and put up the tent. It looked big in the living room but when I looked around, ours was the tiniest on the beach that day. The high tide was coming when I finished unpacking and we then bathed for almost 2 hours in the water.

The New Friends

We had cencaru, squids and burgers char-grilled for dinner. I bought them from the nearby fish market earlier (opened until 6-7 pm). Pie and Sarah had finished their food and were back to examine their prize catch with torchlight when I noticed they were three other kids around them. Watching from a distance were their parents. I invited them to join our mini barbecue since I knew it would take some time to wait for the kids. With long hair and rockers-like appearance, I could not hide my surprise when I learned that the father was a lecturer in performing art faculty. The family stayed at the staff quarters in UM and always returned back to their home in Bagan Lalang on weekends. Obviously, they loved this place so much to have their home here. The friendly couple and their kids then left but not before inviting us over to their house.

MotoGP and The Morality Squad

Just before midnight, albeit in a much smaller scale, the Bagan Lalang Motor GP started. The local Mat Motors, very much influenced by their racing idols, strutted their motoring and racing skills. Loud noises and smokes from man, machines and hundreds of spectators filled the night and it only ended around 2 am, after a false alarm of impending police visit to the “circuit”. At last, we had our peace again. Or so I thought when we heard the sounds of metal screeching. I could not hold back my laughter when I saw a group of schoolboy with modified bicycles did the "wheelie" passing by our tent. The sounds came from the mudguards hitting the road tarmac. Well, seemed like they too had their idols.

Half an hour later, I heard imposing voices asking for identifications from campers nearby. I found out that the Sepang District Religious Department was conducting a spot check and after the officers taking note the details, I saw quite a few campers dismantled their tents, packed stuff and left the beach. The department had received complaints of immoral activities in the area and although the teenage girls and boys I saw were in separate tents, the officers were concerned that someone would get excited and somehow ended up in the wrong tent or the right tent, depending from one’s point of view.

Meet Martha & Palorma

It was high tide in the morning and we went swimming for hours again. After lunch, we packed our stuff and cleanup the mess. Just two more things left to do.

Pie and Sarah was practically begging to have a horse ride when we first came here last week. I promised the kids to have their horse rides on the next visit since I didn’t want them to run out of things to do later. So, for RM5 each, Pie had Palorma (male pony) and Sarah had Martha(female pony) for 2 rounds guided ride.

We dropped by our new friends’ house and after a drink and exchange of phone numbers and emails, we left Bagan Lalang with a heavy heart. Since then, we regularly camped in Bagan Lalang and it was the 6th visit on the last count.

Tips

For families with small kids first-time camp out, I would recommend this place, as the facilities and the safe children-friendly surrounding ensure that you and your spouse do have some quality time for yourselves. However, try to avoid early month weekends (hari gaji!) or long holidays (3 days or more) crowd! If possible, get a big tent with 2 entrances. Since the small tent had only one door, hence the heat and stuffiness even during the night, we have upgraded to a bigger and taller 8x9x5 1/2 foot tent with 2 doors, for much improved ventilation and space. It’s well worth it. You do sometimes have to bear the noisy Bagan Lalang MotoGP, but we only encountered it just once. Be prepared though for the occasional very strong winds at early dawn!

Vision 200200

Vision 200200 .. 18-07-2006

Last month, Yan had a phone call from Pie’s kindergarten teacher. She informed Pie was lagging behind the rest of his class and suspected Pie was having problem with his vision.

We then had Pie checked at an optical outlet where we were advised to go to a hospital for more comprehensive test. Off we went to the Tun Hussein Onn National Eye Hospital in PJ. An hour later, we were called into a darkened room and the ophthalmologist had Pie seated, donned him with the test spectacles and ran the standard procedure, replacing lens after lens after lens, while Pie read the wall chart reflected on a mirror. 8 minutes later, the ophthalmologist finished the test and rated his vision 200:200 and that was about it. No pointers for eye care and no counseling either, except for one little advice “ don’t watch too much TV “.

Personally I think, out of respect to the late Tun Hussein Onn who was bespectacled himself and to the imposingly named hospital (“National” Eye Hospital), maybe they should put more effort to improve on that soft skill.

To be fair, they still entertained us even though we came without any appointment. After paying the RM20 fee, we left for Mid Valley to get Pie the glasses.


The Price of Parents’ Guilt

7 months back, when Pie started pre-schooling in the new kindergarten, he had complaint getting headaches and sometimes could not see whatever his teacher wrote on the whiteboard. And what did we do about it? We just dismissed that as a common kid’s lack of enthusiasms going to school and we didn’t normally hear small kids getting any headaches.

Obviously we felt so much guilt for being ignorant and insensitive to our own child when it’s confirmed he had problem with his sight. When I first heard the term “astigmatism”, it sounded scary to me. So, I googled it on the net and found out Pie had the described symptoms!

“ Astigmatism Symptoms and Signs
What is a stigmatism? is a question that optometrists hear every day, but actually it's spelled "astigmatism." Astigmatism is the most common vision problem, but most people don't know what it is. If you have only a small amount of astigmatism, you may not notice it or have just slightly blurred vision. But sometimes uncorrected astigmatism can give you headaches or eyestrain, and distort or blur your vision at all distances. It may accompany nearsightedness or farsightedness. Usually it is caused by an irregularly shaped cornea (called corneal astigmatism). But sometimes it is the result of an irregularly shaped lens, which is located behind the cornea; this is called lenticular astigmatism. Either kind of astigmatism can usually be corrected with eyeglasses, contact lenses or refractive surgery. “

As if to make up for our shortcomings, we bought him the RM210 hardened frame, multi-coated, anti-computer glare pair of glasses and also the Mc Donald’s Sundae cone ice cream for a good measure. A new remote-controlled car unit would come later.

The Undesirable Legacy

To think of it, I couldn’t help but wonder whether the guilt we felt was more due to the belief that we did pass some bad genes to Pie. Yan had been wearing spectacles for years and my right eye sight was not that good either. And almost instantly, a tinge of sadness hit me as I saw him putting on the glasses for the first time and I was very sure Yan felt it too.

Note: Only one more question to ask, do we call an ophthalmologist a doctor?

Pulau Sibu Is Definitely Not in Sarawak!

Back in 2004, we had a trip to Langkawi. We spent 4 days and 3 nights there. That was our first vacation trip together since I wanted the kids to be a little bit older to be able to appreciate the new experience and surroundings. In fact, Pie and Sara enjoyed very much our time there that whenever they saw islands and beaches on the Travel & Living channel, they would yell in excitement “ Langkawi! Langkawi!”. I can tell, more than anything, the kids just simply loved the whole time being together with their mum and dad. The whole 96 hours to be exact! So, in July 2005, we had our second trip to an island, and this time we headed for Sibu Island, Johor.

The Welcome Surprise ..

Since we wanted to avoid the weekend crowd, we decided to spend the three days time starting from Wednesday to Friday. We started our journey from KL on early Wednesday morning and about 6 hours later we arrived at Tanjung Leman jetty. 15 minutes speed-boat-ride later, together with a family of Mat Salleh and a few Singaporeans, there we were at the Sibu island jetty and what a surprise it was for me!

From the jetty, we walked towards the reception house, and guessed what (?!), 6 persons band, armed with guitar, tambourines and shakers greeted us with “Selamat Datang” songs and some refreshing drinks, reminding me of the scenes from the Fantasy Island series popular in early eighties. After the songs finished, a porter threw all our stuff into a motorized trailer and dispatched them to our chalet.

I had thought that we would be greeted by the idyllic sight of some chalets punctuating the shoreline, with a small reception counter and a couple of people running the whole place. But this was a full-fledged whole-island resort, with modern chalets, swimming pool, spa, gym, coffeehouse, restaurant, tennis court and you named it.

It was about 2.30 pm, when looking out from the chalet balcony, I saw a spotted deer wandering under a tree nearby. I went down and fed her a piece of apple, and since the deer seemed so friendly, I shouted for Yan to bring along Sarah & Pie and some more apples. Turned out that the resort had about 20 deers and a couple of rabbits roaming freely around the island. Looked like they were all well-fed and catered for. They also had a minizoo with chickens, peacocks and goats. Later that afternoon, while we were having some snacks on the beach, about a dozen of the deers surrounded us to get their share of chocolates and biscuits Pie and Sarah were eating.

Amsterdam.. the Pride of Holland.

Halfway from our chalet to the beach, there’s this kiddie swimming pool complete with the water slide. So, twice a day, once after breakfast and once in the afternoon, we would spent about 40 minutes at the pool, another 40 minutes swimming at the beach, then back again to the pool. Yeah, that’s our main activity on the island for three days.

At the pool, we met a Dutch with his son, same age as Pie. Being truly friendly Malaysians, we started the usual casual small talk like hi, how old is your kid, how long you’ve been here, where do you come from and et cetera when Yan told the Mat Salleh I had been to Holland before. The Dutch got excited and asked which part of Holland. His excitement was cut short though when I told it was Amsterdam! After an awkward silence moment later, the Mat Salleh excused himself and retreated to the adult swimming pool.

The Snorkelling Trip

The next morning, together with a few Singaporeans, we had a snorkeling trip at Pulau Kukus, about 7-10 minutes boat ride away. When we reached there, the boat man dumped us, told us he would pick us up in 2 hours and immediately left.

So, there we were, left stranded, and seemed like nobody had any idea where to start, which part of the island water safe to explore and whether there’re sharks waiting for us down there! I helped Pie and Sarah with their lifejackets and goggles and slowly the four of us got into the clear water. When the water at shoulder deep, we saw the colourful fishes swimming in droves around us. And what a sight! Unfortunately though, the background was flattened and crushed dead corals.

We couldn’t go far from the shore as the sight of open sea overwhelmed Pie and Sara and that made them uncomfortable. We headed back to the beach, and had our breakfast. Then, Yan and I took turn, entertaining the kids and snorkeling. Since we could not get Pie and Sarah to the fish, we decided to bring the fish to them. We threw pieces of breadcrumbs and fried rice into the water, and lo and behold, hundreds of them came flocking!

The Wedding Night

When we turned up at the restaurant for our dinner, we were quite surprise to see the place was packed with other holidaymakers. Where were they during the day? A three-piece music band would come and sang to each table and our kids enjoyed it very much.

The resort was popular with honeymooners and the management usually had their hands full on every Saturday nights, as they would honour the newlyweds with traditional Malay wedding ceremony complete with kompang and silat show. We were lucky to watch the special event as it was Thursday night. A blushing Korean couple was on the altar and during the ceremony, they had the pantun session translated to English and Korean. But of course, the silat movement and grace stole the show!

Escaped from the Crowd

On the last day, when we were about to leave the resort, we saw the music band again. This time not to sing us the farewell songs but instead welcoming 2 ferries loads of oldies, parents and lots of kids ( petronas dealers family day, if I recall correctly), about a hundred of them. I turned to Yan and told her how lucky Pie and Sara were, as they virtually had the kiddie pool all to themselves for the whole 3 days! In all, we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Pulau Sibu Resort if not for the 6 hours drive back to KL.

The Pain of Separation.. June 2000

The Plan

Kuala Pilah. It was Sunday and Yan’s maternity leave was almost over. Tomorrow, she should be working again. A few days back, we have had a lengthy discussion over my plan to leave Pie under my sister care. There were two reasons for my decision. First, it would give Yan some breathing space. Going back to work with two kids to look after could be very taxing. Second, I hoped Pie will learn to be more independent and the new environment could help build his character. Somehow I managed to talk Yan into the arrangement and she reluctantly agreed. Pie was to stay in Kuala Pilah for two months before joining us again.

We arrived from Masjid Tanah on Saturday at my sister’s home and spent a night. She had three school going sons. She and her husband were very keen to have Pie for company, they just loved kids. And that affection rubbed off on my nephews as they were very good at entertaining kids. In short, I knew Pie would be just fine under their care.

The moment finally came. That Sunday noon, after many long kisses from his mother and me, one of my nephew took Pie away to the back door. They were going to buy sweets and some munchies and then saw the neighbor’s rabbits. Poor Pie, that handy old trick got him again. I quickly dumped all our stuff into the car and ushered Yan and our newborn baby in. After a quick good bye to my sister and her family, I shifted to first gear and we were on our way back to Kuala Lumpur.

When it rained, it poured!

About 5 meters away, barely into the 2nd gear, the sobbing started. I had a quick look at Yan and told her to be strong and that we would be seeing Pie again soon. And my words worked their magic. Immediately, the flood gate opened and oh dear, when it rained, it really poured! I dared not say a word more. Looking straight ahead, I saw the road became more and more blurred... must be the clouds in my eyes! A month later, we went to Kuala Pilah and spent the whole weekend with Pie before heading back. I managed to shift into the third gear and cleared the first junction before it started. Another month passed, and this time Pie joined us back to KL and since then he has never been away from us again

The Rivalry Began

Battle for Affection

At my mother-in-law’s home, Masjid Tanah. It was 3 o’clock in the morning, when my slumber was disturbed by a noisy commotion. It was Pie (18 months old) crying, smacking Sarah (barely 3 days old) with his tiny fists. Yan was frantically shielding Sarah who was wailing, trying to figure out what had hit her. It turned out that Pie had woke up moments earlier and tried to snuggle close to his mother. Yan turned him away since she was afraid Pie might smother his minute sister, and that bothered him very much to a boiling point.

I grabbed Pie away from the scene and he just kept wriggling and twisting, trying to get back to his mother. Their grandma simply shook her head in disbelief witnessing the uproar. Luckily, he stopped crying when I opened the car door and seated him next to me. For 15 minutes, I drove aimlessly around the town until Pie was sound asleep. Officially, the siblings rivalry had begun and we didn’t have the slightest clue it would start that much sooner.

Indeed Blood is Thicker Than Water!

As they say it, family ties are closer than any other relationships. Gradually, Pie warmed up to the new situation and accepted his sister presence in the family but with lots of conditioning and brainwashing from Yan and me. And in the coming days, I didn't have to drive out in the wee hours of the morning anymore.

Baby X - The Predicament

What’s in a name?

Yan was in the last stage of pregnancy, expected to deliver within a couple of weeks and I still didn’t have a clue what’s to name our baby girl (we knew beforehand from scan test result). A father’s duty started even before the baby was born, and finding decent sounding and meaningful name for your kid would be a good warming-up exercise (spoken like a pro with a dozen of kids!).

The criteria were simple; name with good meanings, hasn’t been used already by our (mine and Yan’s) family and close relatives, and lastly, it would give a decent short calling name. The first step was quite simple enough. I bought a book listing Islamic names and their meanings and scouring the internet. I ended up with more than 20 to 30 names that I liked (did this pretty easily). Second step, cancel-out names that have been taken up(did this effortlessly). My only predicament was that there wasn’t any left on the list.

Time to consult the other half. Naturally, Yan had had a few. No go, too fanciful a name ( note: I expected this already, that’s why I dare not ask earlier!Sorry honey! Same goes to kids grandma, I didn’t want to end up with names like Kuntum, Kembang, Kuncup... well you got the idea!). And time sure did fly. Before I knew it, there was this baby girl in my arms. I should have a name, and for that time being, the name was X, baby X. To make it worse, I had to register the baby to the NRD within 2 weeks ( if I’m not mistaken) or pay the fine. Finally, 10 days after we had our baby girl, after a lengthy soul-and-net searching, I found THE name. The one I’ve been searching for, Izzah Maisarah. Izzah means might, power (strength); Maisarah means wealth, richness (prosperity). Looking at our baby face, I knew the name matched her very well. Sarah was the nickname.

Morning 14th June 2002, a proud father of two stepped into the local NRD office, ready to announce to the whole country the new additional Malaysian citizen, the one that would serve the nation well …only to be met with a long queue and forms to fill in.

A Rose by Any Other Name Is Still a Rose?

Yes and no. Yes if you know it is a rose. No, if you don’t have any idea it is a rose in the first place. I’m sure you have encountered the embarrassing awkward moments when the person you addressed as Cik Norizan on the other side of the phone, corrected you and introduced himself as Encik Norizan. Turned out that Norizan was a thorn, not a rose that you have imagined!

I read it in the newspaper years ago in mid eighties, one proud father, very much consumed by the prevailing patriotism spirit, presumably encouraged and fueled by the constant airing of patriotic songs, poems, documentaries; named his son Muhammad Nasionalism Shah (the birthday coincided with the Independence Day). I respect his choice but then.. why oh why? !!Right, since we are in the age of consumerism, would you ever name your kid, Abdul Konsumerisma? After all, we are becoming more and more a slave(abdul) to consumerism! What am I talking.. off to bed then!

The New Kid On The Block

Biodata

Name: Izzah Maisarah
Nickname: Sarah
DOB: 04-06-2002 10:45 pm
Place of Birth: Melaka General Hospital
Baby Serial No: 020606-04-2002

Man Can Only Plan.. 2001

.. and that includes family planning as well. After having Pie for a while, there we were ( me and the other half) looking at him cozily sleeping in his mother arms. We have reached to a resolution that the next baby would have to wait until Pie could talk and communicate to us his basic needs like being hungry, thirsty, sleepy, going to toilet etc . That meant until Pie's age somewhere around 2 1/2 to 3 years old. By this, we hoped we could give the best to each of our kids until they were ready to accommodate the next new-kid-on-the-block. Noble intention.. but being true to human nature though, we could barely managed to stick to that ideal resolution.

On one romantic night, in the heat of the moment, without any protection..... and the rest was history. To us, it's beginning of another chapter, another family member coming to life.

The Waiting, the Enquiries and the Electronic Board..

Yan broke the water bag around 4 pm that day and immediately admitted to the maternity ward. I drove from my work place in PJ to Melaka in a hurry and I did suspect some of the drivers on the highway that day were thinking " what's the rush mate .. it's not like your wife about to give birth'' or something to that effect. So, in no time at all, there I was at the hospital.. and made to wait for 4-5 hours before Sarah came out into this world.

Since it was virtually a spanking new building block, with modern and updated equipment, we expected the service level would be of some quality( unlike other crowded government hospitals especially in Klang Valley) . And luckily we figured it right. The nurses there were always helpful and chirpy. I always think, under conducive and comfortable working environment, even the grumpiest government servants would give their best to the customers. If there’s ever any complication that called for the experts or for that matter, the operation theatre, they could be available literally just a few meters away. The lower bill and expenses didn’t hurt either.

Then again, we could not have it all. Once Yan was admitted into the maternity ward, I could not see her until the baby was borned and only after they have finished stitching, cleaning and what not. So, I made it a point to pop up at the ward counter every 30 minutes, playing the “sudah ke belum” game!

There were other expectant fathers outside the ward, but somehow they were not that eager to strike up conversation. Too anxious, maybe. To kill the time, I imagined myself as one of the hospital managers assigned to provide comfort and help for us, the waiting husbands. Immediately I could envisioned a very bright colourful large electronics board notifying the expectant fathers, churning out words “ Congratulations Encik Polan.You have a brand new family member! Puan Polan and your baby girl are in excellent condition!Again, congratulations!” and ideally the message should come interspersed with one or two Smiley faces. There were other ideas I could have explored but damn, it’s time to check at the counter again!

At last, the nurse manning the counter told me Yan safely gave birth to a healthy 3.9 kg baby girl, and I guessed the nurse must have been so relieved that the waiting was over for me. Soon after, I met Yan and then saw my lovely daughter for the first time.

Of Dragon and the Sacrificial Goat..

The Drama

While Yan was in the delivery room and had yet to deliver, the doc would almost hourly checked the "opening" to start the "push". We've been waiting for that positive mark for hours. Later, the doc administered an injection to induce labour. Accordingly, Yan should be able to give birth within one to two hours. Almost 2 hours later, still no significant progress. Then the doc dropped the bombshell; Yan possibly have to be C-sectioned. He would wait for 15 minutes more before making the call. Minutes passed, and the doc punctually came and assessed the situation. " Let's wait for another 15 minutes and we'll see how". It ( the 15 minutes wait) went on and on until Yan safely delivered normally. Phew!!

The Promise ( "Nazar" ) Behind the Scene.

As Yan was having her "jihad", I asked for divine intervention for my wife and the unborn baby well-being and made a promise(nazar) . I promised to have a goat sacrificed and the meat sent for the orphans if Yan hadn't have to be C-sectioned and deliver the baby safely. You might think what a lame offer it was, but as desperate father-to-be in desperate situation, that's the only reasonable thing I could think of. Or maybe I'm a little bit of old-school kind of guy.

There you have it. Almost four years later, I finally made good of my promise. Why it took so long? That 1001 lame excuses again! Thankfully, God Almighty gave me the opportunity and long life to serve Him. Some time in 2004 I bought a goat, had it slaughtered, picked up the processed meat and sent it to an orphanage just nearby the Seri Menanti Palace, Kuala Pilah. I think it was just enough for one serving to the whole 50 orphans there! (Note: This orphanage could do with some help as their secluded location deprived them the donations badly needed).

For others who could be facing similar situations, don't go for goats, sheeps, cows or anything like that. My advice is better have it in cash term as it would be more flexible and importantly more useful to the orphanage homes as they can use it for their other urgent needs. For information, we bought the goat for around RM350 and paid another RM50 to have it slaughtered and processed.

Millions thank to my sister, her hubby and family in Kuala Pilah for their help and perseverance in facilitating me to perform the "nazar". They dealt with the goat keeper and found just the right orphanage.

Little Dragon - The Beginning

Biodata

Name : Ahmad Syafie
Nickname : Pie
DOB : 08-12-2000
Friday 12:11 pm
Place of birth: Pantai Medical Centre, Ayer Keroh.
Baby Serial No. : 001208-04-0429

Pie- The Beginning

After seemingly a very long long wait; agonizing, huffing and puffing in and out the delivery room for almost 20 hours ( the above only applicable to me, father-to-be .. as for my wife, I wouldn't dare to imagine), the much awaited cry reached my ears. Sense of relief? No.. not yet!! Is my wife,OK?? Is my baby OK?? Then, a nurse came out smiling with the news and the moment I saw my wife and my baby, I thanked God zillionth times.. ( I have to admit under some special circumtances I really really really thank our god.. ).

So, that was the beginning for our first child, our baby boy, Pie. (Note: I've considered to be with my wife during the delivery but opted out at the last moment.. Yan told she was glad I wasn't there because she couldn't imagine seeing my expressions during the ordeal.. he! he! hee!)

The Little Dragon

There was also a lady in early thirties about to give birth but no.. not that soon. She was very adamant and persistent to have it on that particular day, on the 8th December, 2000 .. year of the Dragon. And she had her way when the doc agreed to force the baby out by"vacuum suction" technique. Interesting! Let see what that was all about.

The Wisdom of Chinese Horoscope:
" The Dragon is a creature of myth and legend. A symbol of good fortune and sign of intense power, the Oriental Dragon is regarded as a divine beast . In Eastern philosophy, the Dragon is said to be a deliverer of good fortune and a master of authority. Therefore, those people born in Dragon years are to be honored and respected ".

Sure thing! .. especially for the " master of authority" part. Till now, Yan, Pie's mother falls subservient under his demanding authority. I'm still looking for concrete proofs for the " deliverer of good fortune" part though. Maybe I've to wait a bit longer.. sigh!! Then again, I should count my blessing to have a healthy, naugthy cute boy.

As for Muslims, Friday is the holiest day and Ramadhan is the holiest month. Double bonuses, what more can I ask!!

Irregardless, any parent would hope the best for their kids and an auspicious day of birth could certainly be a good start.