i want to lepak*!

*to hang out/to chill out.

It's a new Malay word I recently learned from Salman, when he asked me, "eh zeya, tmr wanna lepak not?"

I've heard it a few times before but didn't exactly understood its meaning. Actually, it's the same for many malay words, which I often hear my squadmates speak, but don't really know what they mean. All I could was to infer its meaning from the context and the tone in which it's spoken.

Well, it might sound funny, but I find this word 'lepak' super cool. hahahah.

So, anyone wanna lepak with me? haha.

unconditional love - part two.

It's really amazing how God created children with pure and distilled minds.

My niece came over to my house today. Actually her whole family did, except for the father. She is a mere 9 year old child who has impressively shown good maturity of thought through her simple words and actions. Perhaps, this is attributed to the fact that she hasn't seen much of this complex world. That isn't a bad thing, in my opinion, because that's when whatever she says and whatever she does accurately define her real personality and character. That's why I believe that kids like her never tell lies.

After I came home from going out in the afternoon, she asked me if I could bring her to the market nearby so that she can see what she can get for her daddy for Father's Day with the $12.70 that she had saved up recently. I knew it will disappoint her to reject her because I was feeling really exhausted; but at the same time, I knew it would pain me even more to deny her this concession to let her fulfill a duty as a daughter, at a tender age of nine.

Honestly, I could not even bear to turn down her request, because her pure intentions really touched me. So I agreed. And while we were shopping for things, she kept saying things like 'mm daddy got three of this already, so this one don't want' or 'daddy only likes blue or black colour'. She actually loves her father so much that she knows him probably even more than anyone else. She eventually bought a notebook which costs $2.70, and a plain white tee-shirt which costs $3.90.

Her pure words and actions are, in my perspective, atypical of the situation in our society today, where majority of young children at her age will persistently urge their parents to buy things for them that they hardly need. Well, I must confess I had been guilty of that, but my parents were firm in making sure they don't give in to me all the time. That, I must say, have instilled a certain degree of discipline in me, and a sense of maturity in differentiating between needs and wants.

So thank you, Farzanah, for showing me another form of unconditional love.

Here's to you - I applaud you! =)

unconditional love.

When I dropped by my friend's booth at the lime flea market last Saturday (Yes chienwei, I'm helping you to promote your 'Boutons' haha), I had initially intended to get something simple for a friend's birthday. Her booth sells basically simple accessories, which are almost entirely meant for the female community.

I could not make up my mind to even buy something for that friend of mine. Just as I was browsing the accessories elegantly displayed on the table, something else caught my eye. There were these two bracelets which I found appealing, bearing the word 'Sister' in cursive, on what seemed like a heart-shaped pendant, lined by colourful beads. Of course, I was thinking of buying them both for my sisters.

But then, something inside me compelled me to think - what for?

So I left the place without investing in anything. On my way back home, I could not stop thinking about the two bracelets and how they appealed to me. At the same time, I could not stop pondering about what reasons should I give them for.

Just then, something hits me in my narrow mind. Why does there have to be an occasion for me to give a little something to my sisters? There have been times when they bought my favourite food dapao-ed for me. There have been times when they graciously blessed me with things which I'm very delighted over. Why then, should there be a reason for me this time, if there hadn't apparently been any for them? If there should be a reason, it has to be this unconditional, somewhat unspoken love we share as siblings.

And it really brings happiness to my soul seeing their genuine smiles over the beautiful bracelets that I got for each of them. I guess I finally understood the meaning of unconditional love.

it's easier for lightning to strike me now. =P

Haha. that's just a lame blog title. you'll know why. just read on.

Khairul Anwar was my squadmate during my basic police training in the Home Team Academy back in January 2006.

Mathir Mohammed is my current squadmate in SOC, who is also the only other driver besides me.

Tiffany is my friend who was in VJ for the first 3 months, and who enlisted my help to deter some stalkers since we share the same bus ride every morning en route to school.

Dinesh Kumar is my secondary school good friend, who was also from the same CCA as me - NPCC. And now, we're in the Police NS together once again, but in different units.

These people have something in common.

Well, they happen to be the first people to see me in braces. They are the ones I ran into when I was on my way back home from my orthodontist appointment in town.

And I remembered one of my fellow colleague jokingly remarked that after I had fitted my braces, he wouldn't want to stand near me whenever it rains, for the not-so-obvious reason of not being strike by lightning. It made me laugh a good deal cos no one would really think of it that way. And I don't even think that's possible haha.

police day parade...

it was a last minute decision to include a SOC demostration on its equipments and tactics for this year's police day parade. other segments of the parade's programme include of course the parade itself, as well as demo by various police units such as yours truly, SOC, traffic police as well as a few others. while most of my squadmates regard this 'extra' duty as dready, i chose to see it as a blessing.

what this meant for us initially, was that we had to be committed for 3 full days to repeatedly rehearse our short segment. 3 full days - friday, saturday and sunday (which happened to be our off day). it was a different experience altogether being involved in the parade in this way, not as one of the spectators, nor as part of the marching contingent, but as a showcase of our SOC's capabilities. and to me, that is something very honourable cos you're representing your unit in showing the audience what you're capable of.

for our short segment during the ceremony, we were to roleplay a senario of a public order situation. my squad was to be the DTT, or the divisional tactical team, who are the ones who usually first attend to the situation. with that in view, our segment was to start by having two DTT PETRA (patrol escort and tactical response asdflkaj) vehicles drive into the Indoor Stadium. and I was driving one of that vehicle. =p after coming to a halt, our DTT troopers were to de-bus from the vehicle to form a horizontal cordon. however, the senario being played out was such that the public order situation was escalating and was thus no longer within DTT's capability to control. then while the DTTs left the scene, the PTTs (police tactical troops) took over. the PTTs are more aptly equiped with the necessary tactics to handle a public order scene.

a few riot drill formations were being showcased by the troopers, after which the situation was brought under good control. so that was it - the segment of the Special Operations Command.

here are some pre-parade pictures:

that's me cleaning the PETRA vehicle for the parade. it's quite saikang, but no choice.

that's me alongside abang nizam, who's part of the PTT for the demo.

the PETRA vehicle behind is the one I drive.

behind the wheels, literally in this picture. haha.

those're my squadmates prior to our parade segment.