Goodbye 2021 Welcome 2022!

My granddaughter Kayla

Don’t cry because 2021 is over, smile because 2022 is about to happen. It’s the end of 2021 and 2021 will be gone in six hours’ time. Though 2021 has not been a good year for me, I still salute to the experiences I have in the year. I welcome 2022 with great hope, joy and anticipation. Before I say ...

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Passion In Our Life

My passions

A great boon to happiness is to have passion – whether it is reading, video games, photography, stamp collecting, singing, investing, or whatever. Your passion in life is an affirmation of your values, reminding you what’s most important to you outside of your other obligations. It allows you to enjoy something that’s all yours, recharges your life, and instills a deeper sense of meaning to your ...

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Election Fever Is In The Air

Election fever is in the air

Election fever is in the air, everywhere I look around Election fever is in the air, every sight and every sound But I don’t know why there’re so many candidates Some of them will lose their deposits as a matter of fact They’re there to make up the numbers Caught up in the more-the-merrier fever   Election fever is in the air, ...

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Death of a Red Heroine by Qiu Xiaolong

Death of a Red Heroine by Qiu Xiaolong

Qiu Xiaolong’s debut novel “Death of a Red Heroine” introduces Chief Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police and won the Anthony Award for best first novel in 2011. This is my first taste of a crime novel written in English by a Chinese author. I must say it is quite different from those written by Western authors. There is ...

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Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee

Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee

Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee is a grim book that focuses on the darker side of life with themes about the powerful and powerless. Published in 1999, it won the Booker Prize and the author was also awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2003, four years after its publication.  A 2006 poll of “literary luminaries” by The Observer newspaper  named the book as the “greatest novel ...

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Seahorses

The seahorse at Miri Waterfront

The seahorse is Miri’s official mascot. It is little wonder that you can see seahorse mascots all over the city. The biggest seahorse in Miri is the iconic 25 metre tall seahorse lighthouse located at Coco Cabana. It is one of the top favourite photography spots in the city. Another very popular seahorse is the one located at Miri Waterfront. ...

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Shiba Inu Dogs

Shiba Inu dogs

A breed of dogs is enjoying worldwide popularity thanks to hot meme cryptocurrencies. I am talking about Shiba Inu dogs. In 2013 the crypto world was introduced to Shiba Inus when Dogecoin, created by IBM software engineer Billy Markus and Adobe software engineer Jackson Palmer as a joke in response to other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, picked the breed as its mascot. The viral meme,  called ...

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My Wings Have Been Clipped!

Oriental pied hornbill

Under the revised MCO 3.0, outdoor photography is not allowed. As an avid photographer,  I feel like my wings have been clipped. I am going to miss “shooting” my avian models. I am going to miss my outings to Piasau Boat Club, Piasau Nature Reserve, Kuala Baram Wetlands, Miri Central Park and Coco Cabana. It is very frustrating not being allowed ...

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Wow! I Will Be A Datuk Very Soon!

Baby Scan

Within the next few days, I will be awarded the coveted title of “datuk.” No, it is not a title bestowed on me by the Sarawak Government or the governor of Sarawak. This is a title I feel really honoured to accept because I know that being a grandfather is a luxury not everyone is fortunate enough to enjoy. And it is a title that ...

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The Other Wife By Michael Robotham

The Other Wife By Michael Robotham

When clinical psychologist Joe O’Loughlin receives the call that his eminent surgeon father, William, is in hospital in an induced coma, he has no idea that his life would soon be turned upside down and everything he has known  about his parents would be shattered. Arriving at his father’s hospital room, he expects to see his mother by his father’s bedside but instead he ...

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