I have heard about longans the size of ping pong balls but it was only yesterday that I finally came across them in a shop near Tasty Point in Miri. The longans were touted to be Brazilian longans and were selling for RM12 a kilogram. I could not resist buying a kilo to try them out. Because of their big ...

I brought my mum to the tamu at E-Mart in Miri as she has never been there. We saw a lot of salak and decided to buy some to try. The fruit, with its reddish-brown scaly skin, looks disgusting at sight as the fruit peel resembles scales of a snake. Known also as snake fruit, the ugly fruit is such ...

During the sixties and early seventies, I was a kid living in Binatang. Life then seemed to move at a snail’s pace, compared to life now. There was definitely much less stress then. Traffic jam was totally unheard of in Binatang as there were so few cars.  If a modern day teenager who grew up with the internet, smartphones, iPad, ...

Like Regina Brett in her book “God Never Blinks”, I sometimes felt that at the moment I was born, God must have blinked and thus missed the occasion, unaware of my birth at all. I felt like the poet who wrote that he was born on a day God called in sick. Shortly after my birth almost 55 years ago ...

Pandelela Rinong has written her name in Malaysia’s history book by winning the bronze medal in the Olympics women’s 10m individual platform event at the Aquatics Centre early Friday. Her bronze medal was Malaysia’s first-ever Olympics medal in a sport other than badminton, besides making Pandelela the first Malaysian woman to win an Olympics medal. The 19-year-old from Sarawak garnered ...

I was born in Binatang, a small town with a predominantly Foochow population. Anyone growing up in Binatang would almost invariably be able to speak Foochow with an acceptable level of fluency. I am no exception. I am a Hokkien but I too can speak Foochow. My birth certificate and my Malaysian identity card carry Foochow names and my wife ...

“Don’t be dismayed at good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends.” – Richard Bach Friendship is something we should treasure in our lives but often due to the increased demands of the ‘real world’, friendship often wanes and we slowly lose contact with ...

July 7 was D-Day for the Bintangkian Lau Peng Yu Reunion. Though I went to bed at almost 1.30 am, I was wide awake by about 6.30 am, after about 5 hours of sleep. As it was still early, I read “The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest” for about 15 minutes before taking a quick shower. At about 7.15 ...

To join the Bintangkian Lau Peng Yu Reunion, I applied for 2 days ‘ leave from my company. I flew by MASWings from Miri to Sibu at 8.35 am on July 6 but due to oversight during my online booking, I had to transit in Bintulu and only reached Sibu at about 10 am. I wish to express my sincere ...

Pint-sized and endlessly musical Malaysian singer-songwriter, guitarist and ukulele player Zee Avi will be performing a special homecoming concert on July 7 at the Miri Indoor Stadium courtesy of the Sarawak State Government. I am a fan of hers and I would love to attend the concert. Unfortunately I will be in Bintangor on July 7 for the Bintangkian Lau ...