The Malaysian Insider

FEB 7 — Just when you thought it was safe to go into a restaurant again, Chinese New Year (and its accompanying excesses) is upon us once more. Following on the heels of Christmas and New Year’s, one feels almost a little ashamed to be “celebrating”. Again.

I don’t know about you but I am already suffering from... how shall I put it? Celebration fatigue. Yes, Chinese New Year falls on Feb 14 this year but already I have had yee sang three times already.

So is it me or we are just overdoing this celebrating thing? I remember a time when I looked forward to Chinese New Year. It meant new clothes, angpows and mandarin oranges.

JAN 24 – Somebody wished me “Happy New Year” a couple of days ago. Technically a valid greeting since we are still in January but I returned her chirpy greeting with – I must confess – a rather Grinch-like one. I told her the year already feels tattered and worn out to me.

Thinking about it now, I feel a little ashamed for raining on her parade. She had wished me in all sincerity because she had not seen me since Christmas and there I was all grumpy and Scrooge-y.

The thing is, it’s been a terrible January. All this fighting, finger-pointing and attacks on places of worship.

It’s just all been a little too much. I keep hoping that someone (but who?) will call a time out and that people will come to their senses.

JAN 17 — Are you one of those people who spends hours at the computer, trawling the Net for all sorts of information? Participating in forums?

Sharing your point of view and even getting into arguments with other people?

You are? Well, I guess you like your news here and now. And more importantly, you want people to know what you think.

JAN 10 — I learned something about our country over the past week: we are shallow (79 per cent believe a person is defined by what he or she does for a living — Synovate Survey, 2008), Chinese people don’t mind bribing (58 per cent of Chinese, 23 per cent of Indians and 14 per cent of Malays admitted to paying bribes —Transparency International Malaysia, 2007) and we like feeling fresh before going to bed (44 per cent shower right before going to bed — The Star, 2009).

All this information is in the chapter titled “Surveys of Malaysians found that...” from the absolutely delicious Malaysia at Random published by Editions Didier Millet. They are the guys who gave us Malaysia: A Pictorial History 1400-2004, Chronicle of Malaysia and the beautiful Sketchbook series.

Malaysia at Random (MaR) is one of those books you can dip into... at random. Sorry, couldn’t resist that. But really, you can open this book at any page and glean the most delicious bits of information about... well, yourself.

After all, this book is about Malaysia, and to paraphrase from the book’s cover: facts, figures, quotes and anecdotes. While this may not be THE definitive book about Malaysia, it is the editors’ choices of what entries to include that makes MaR so charming.

In “What’s in a name?” I find out that a possible explanation for the name Damansara is that it could have come from two words: the Hindustani “daman” means foothills (which as the book says is a correct description of the area) and the Sanskrit “sara” which means water but in Hindustani means a mansion of wealth. Now, anybody who has been to the swanky Damansara neighbourhood will have to agree those words pretty much describes the area!

I daresay the book will be enjoyed by both kids and grown-ups. Anybody who has a curiousity about Malaysia will find this book most informative and entertaining.

Wait, here’s another bit of the country I never knew. Taiping? What do you know about this Perak town. If you remember your school lessons, you just may remember that this is supposed to be the wettest town in Malaysia as it supposedly receives the most rain.

But did you know the country’s first prison was opened here (Taiping Gaol, 1879), the first general hospital (Taiping General Hospital, 1880), the first library (the Reading and Recreation Room for Officers, 1882), the first museum (Perak Museum, 1883), the first post office (1884) and the first railway line (between Taiping and Port Weld, 1885).

And because we like to eat, there are quite a few entries about food: a whole page devoted to the Ramly burger and another page about the different kinds of laksa you will find in different parts of Malaysia. Yum.

At just RM49.90, this hardcover book — it’s not huge, just the size of your average paperback — can be toted everywhere so you have something to read while you are waiting. You never know what you might learn dipping its pages.

Perhaps in an updated version of the book some years from now, it will mention this dark period in the country’s history — churches attacked — as the time we learned about ourselves and came out the better for it.

I believe many Malaysians were simply shocked by these attacks. It revealed an ugly side of our collective psyche; it’s one thing to talk tough and say you will defend your idea of right with might but another to actually burn a house of worship.

Now is not the time to point fingers, or exact revenge. Now is the time to re-examine this ideal the Prime Minister has defined for the whole country for yes, 1 Malaysia is an ideal. Who among us does not want this ideal?

But wait... we — and I do mean we — have to work hard to achieve this ideal. And then, maybe then we will find ourselves in an updated version of Malaysia at Random as a multi-cultural country that truly celebrates its diversity.

JAN 3 — Are you one of those people who are good at making movies in your head? By that, I mean do you actually see the movie of the movie you are reading... in your head?

I guess most readers do. In fact, there are people in Hollywood whose job is to do just that. They read a hot new book and if they think it will be a great movie (preferably one that will make the studio gads of money), they will recommend that it be optioned. For a movie at a date to be determined later.

For me, I just prefer to read the book first... if I hear that some movie is based on a book, I prefer to get to the book first. Very often, the movie they make is far, far inferior to the one you have in your head.