Monday, March 03, 2008
Random "Conversations"
3-MAR-2008:
One evening, during bath:
Dominic looked up my nose and said "Dirty, dirty ... eeeee .... yucks!", complete with facial expression and hand gesture. I said "Where?". He said "Dirty ... nose ... yucks." I was ... speechless 
.
Early one morning, weekend:
Dominic just woke up, was still in bed and rubbing his eyes. He couldn't quite open his eyes fully yet, but the first words that came out of him was "Thomas train!".
Weekend, at the bus stop, watching cars go by:
Me (asking daddy): How many people do you know here in London who own two cars - one each for husband and wife?
Daddy (shaking his head): None that I know of.
Me: You see? In Malaysia, everybody we know has two cars. It will be unusual for husband and wife to share one car. So isn't life better in M'sia? (Trying to convince daddy to move back, buy a nice, big house, nice cars and possibly hire a maid).
Weekend, planning for something to do:
Daddy said we were going to visit his friend (the friend who moved from London to some small town near Cambridge). His friend had just moved into a 3-bedroom house with his wife and son. According to the friend, the house is nice and spacious with a garden and costs only £750 per month (we are paying £1200 per month for a 2-bedroom flat).
So we took a train on Saturday morning. I was expecting a big house with a big garden, like the ones you see at the country side. As it turned out, the house was double-storey. The ground floor had just enough space for a small kitchen and a 4-seater dining table. The first floor had 3 rooms, yes - the largest room was converted into a spacious living room (this was the best part of the house). Then there was the master bedroom which was pretty basic but nicely furnished. Finally, the baby's room, which was half the size of Dominic's room. Well, I guess in London (or around the perimeter), if you can get something like that for £750, it would be considered a huge bonus. Again ... Malaysia is still loads better in that sense.
Tuitions classes:
When I was a kid, I couldn't count how many tuition classes I attended. There was English tuition twice a week and then there was the "regular" tuition for all other subjects 3 times a week. And then there was piano classes once a week. And art classes once a week. There wasn't one day that I didn't have to attend any classes. And then when I was in secondary school, there were tuition classes for the normal Malaysian syllabus and there were also tuition classes for the S'pore O'Levels (because I was preparing for the ASEAN scholarship). I was awarded the scholarship in the end but turned it down because of some family issues. Boy, that was a terrible year!
Anyway, I've yet to meet a parent here who sends his/her kids to tuition classes or piano classes, etc. Again, what does this show? I'm not sure if all those classes that I attended were any good for my childhood (it wasn't very fun, for sure) but I believe it was a privilege.
At the end of it all, I realized that my "perfect" academic results didn't get me very further ahead than my other classmates. I realized that it is important to obtain good grades which will give you a good start but it's not necessary to be the best or to get 100% marks in every paper. Having a rich dad who can fund your tertiary education is more important than having straight A's. 
