I remember Granny's stories of the Japanese Occupation when she was living in West Malaysia, then known as Malaya. How they had to hide their food. How the family had to hide the daughters from the soldiers visiting at odd hours of the night. How my late Grandfather suffered during that period.
I remember not knowing what the term Holocaust meant. All I knew then was that it was a bad word that meant something horrifying that had happened during WWII. It wasn't until I started reading more about WWII that it finally hit me what it really meant. Books by Corrie ten Boom were an eye-opener. So was Schindler's List.
As I was surfing through the site on Anne Frank, I was touched by the way she wrote her daily thoughts and how she wrote her stories in a poignant manner. Was a pity that I couldn't read her words in the language that she wrote. She had such a positive outlook despite the grim situation that she was in.
A lot of thoughts ran through my head. How horrific I felt at what the Nazis were doing. How painful and traumatic it must have been for the Jews and other minorities during that period. It's something that I cannot even begun to imagine, yet alone experience. But it does make me thankful for being given the opportunity that I currently have. Able to voice out my thoughts. Able to do many things in my life where I can make my own choices. Makes me humble in the process. Reminds me to be more tolerant and patient when dealing with others. Not to discrimate. Makes me think more about myself and my character.
Took some more videos yesterday of moving resins in a pressure vessel. Looks pretty neat. But my voice sounds so retarded. Argh! Mic was on the other end of camera.
Well, not on politics but on being on the scene with video footage of a fire rampaging through the nearby squatter colony in Tabuan Jaya/Stutong.
Driving pass the squatter community yesterday evening on the way back home seem uneventful. Until I reached home, that is. There was this plume of smoke with a lot of ashes rising above the back of the house. Thinking that it was the neighbour behind us burning his rubbish again, I casually mentioned it to Granny. Then, went to the back of the house to take a look. It was raging fire! Took a quick video shot(6.6MB) from the upstairs bedroom.
Quickly called 994 to inform the fire brigade but they said the vehicles were already on their way and that was at 7:10 p.m. Funnily enough, Sarawak Tribune reported that BOMBA reached there at 7:10 p.m. but could have sworn they only arrived around 7:30-ish. As for controlling the fire by 7:40 p.m., think it was only the front side of the fire. Further into the squatter, heading towards our house, the fire was still raging uncontrolled until around 8-ish. The firemen started to bring hoses towards the front of our house where there was another fire hydrant. Must applaud the crowd for lending a helping hand with the hose. Once the water shot out, a loud sounding cheer went up.
In between all the commotion, a lot of Granny's friends living in the squatter colony were busily moving their clothes and prized possessions to our garage as well as our neighbours. I must say that some were smart enough to bring out the gas cylinders out. When the fire was very near our house, we heard a very loud hissing sound. Think that was the sound of the gas escaping from the cylinder as a few seconds later, there was a loud explosion and a tall flame shot out into the sky! Here was the video footage(4.1MB) from my Granny's garden. It was about 3-5 m away. Luckily, it was raining this evening so the roof didn't catch on fire.
In one of the video footage, you can hear a loud explosion of the gas cylinder blowing up. Also, we heard a lot of firecrackers going off at various time intervals.
Fire was finally put out by 9:30-ish and alot of people whose homes were still standing started moving their stuff back. I must say that the fire brigade, civil defence and Red Crescent Society did an excellent job considering a lot of unwanted nosy people started coming to get a closer look, causing traffic jams and other accidents on the road. Heard that on the main road, a car hit a motorcycle and the motorcyclist was badly injured. It also didn't help that there was a traffic jam the whole day today because of curious drivers wanting to catch a glimpse of what is going on.
Anyway, there is a bit of confusion on how many houses were burnt. TV3 Nightline reported 12 houses, Sarawak Tribune reported 15 houses and the International Times (local Chinese Daily) stated 20 houses! Hmm... hard to tell by looking at the burnt debris. Houses were closely packed together that it's kind of hard to determine.
A lot of talk went about saying that the fire was started out of frustration of not being able to obtain free land. Think it was a week or a few weeks ago, the squatter families were drawing lots for land provided for by the government. Am waiting for the next news update in the papers during the next few days.
Liberated at
8:42 PM
Wednesday, August 20, 2003
...Kipas...
Yeah, it's another video. This time, the ceiling fan(12MB) in my room. With some music from a band called Shooglenifty. Very nifty.
First, it was the Enneagram Test. Now, a little revelation from Cainer. Uncanny.
Rowena * is a tough cookie. You can't pull the wool over Rowena's eyes and you had better not try! Rowena was born under the sign of the crab and she can deliver a very nasty nip! Cancerians may not be the fiercest creatures in the zodiac but they are blessed with a brilliant set of self-defence mechanisms. They have impenetrable armour and sharp, scary claws. Rowena's shell is especially strong. She won't let anyone come anywhere near to her heart unless she knows for sure that they mean no harm. Her impeccable instincts inform her of this and alert her to act accordingly. This is why the world around Rowena is divided into two sorts of people - those who don't know quite what to make of her and those who have been fortunate enough to meet the real Rowena *.
The real Rowena * is soft, kind, caring, loving and giving. So soft, so kind, so special as to deserve a sainthood. All praise to 'Saint Rowena the Caring.' 'Saint Rowena the Caring.' It has a ring to it does it not? It is fair comment, is it not? Indeed it is, as all who know the true nature of Rowena will willingly and eagerly confirm. There's only one problem with being a saint. It is what it does to your ego. Rowena * is a true saint and true saints are not just naturally loving and compassionate, they are also naturally humble. But true saints have a tendency to turn into martyrs. Sometimes, just sometimes, Rowena can be a little too good for her own good.
Hmm... nails me on the dot? Gotta ask my collegues at work about this. LOL!
Definitely influenced by Jikon, Najah and Dinesh. Perhaps too much so. ;p
Well, definitely a new look. Unexpected Liberation. LOL! Well, I like the fish escaping from the fishbowl. The splashes of water everywhere. :p And yes, it's still an orange look. Don't really like orange but the goldfish was calling out to me. Got it off from Elementopia. Couldn't change the template name of Unexpected Liberation so decided to keep it. Not so bad except that if you're expecting me to be a loud and 'ra-ra' kind of person, think again.
