Where are the recycle collectors

My place is getting smaller by days. The space in the living room has shrunk quite considerably due to the three 'buildings' of old newspapers that almost reach the ceiling. They have become a nice place for my children to play Hide-and-Seek, but a sore sight to my eyes. The third room is full with toys, boxes and many other things that I consider recycleable and also have 'sentimental' value, including our old TV. The kitchen balcony has been the place for bottle, tin, old washing machine 'collectibles'.

I'm into recycling, although not yet close to being a recyle freak. I like the idea of recycling. It reminds me of Grandma who had recycled almost everything... bottles, plastic bags, old towels, old clothes, buttons, you name it. It gives me satisfaction when certain things are used and reused to their maximun until they can't be used anymore. At least I feel I'm helping Kuala Lumpur from being a Garbage Metropolitant, although in a very small way. And it also thrills me to receive that few ringgits from the recycle collectors (thehehehe ... ). It's like the old days in the kampung when we (my siblings and I) sold kicap bottles for 30 sen. Thirty sen was a lot during that time.

Back to the cramped apartment, I feel quite angry with the management office for not allowing the recycle collectors to enter our premises. All these while, these people had helped us get rid of old and unused stuff, thus helping clear our houses. Now they are banned from our place.

In this recycling era, the ban is like 50 steps backward... no thanks to you, morons.

Michael Jackson - August 29 1958-June 25 2009

Hard not to feel anything about his death when you are one of those people who has grown up listening and humming to his songs, and admiring/hating his antics. Bad, Beat It, Thriller, Billie Jean, those energetic 'moonwalk' dances, one-glove-white-socks-glittered-jacket style, afro hair (when he was much younger), light-up shoes, the uniform ... bla bla bla, though I admitted these days, I have forgotten most of his songs' lyrics just like I have forgotten most of the lyrics of other singers' songs. But the melody of MJ songs remain intact in my mind. I could tell in seconds if a song is his or others'.

So, I would be lying if said I had not felt at least a tinge (really??) of sadness when I heard the news of his death this morning. MJ died supposedly of a cardiac arrest on Thursday at UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, at 2:26pm Los Angeles time (2126 GMT) (Friday morning in Malaysia), just weeks before his planned series of comeback concerts. He was 51. The news stunned his fans around the world and perhap almost anyone who 'knows' him. Why, MJ was the world's King of Pop, one of the most successful singers of all time with more than 700 million records sold and 13 Grammy Awards. MJ leaves behind three children and ironically, despite his once-big success, a mountain of debts.

Can't find a proper word to say about MJ and his life. But what British Foreign Secretary David Miliband posted on Twitter perhaps sums it all. "Never has one soared so high and yet dived so low." But I must add, despite all the bizzareness and eccentricities, he remains the most loved and intriguing icon in the music world, like it or not.

Browsing news and pictures about him in the wires with his Thriller song being played times and again on the office TV, my mind went back to my school days when MJ had been 'part' of our (my friends Ha, Ita and I ) 'hanging out' times, be it on trees, near the river, near the school's field, under the rambutan trees or on the small performance stage in the canteen. We would sing his songs and dance his moonwalk, trying our best to sound and look like him. Of course, no one got it right. But it didn't matter to us, we were just having fun and MJ was so 'in' at that time that we thought we looked 'cool' when we sang his songs.

And the most important thing about MJ in my life is, that I started liking English as a 'language' through his lyrics. His songs made me search for English words in Dictionary and thus started my interest.

Don't know if it's truth or simply rumours, but reports said he had converted to Islam. If he was, May Allah bless his soul. And if he's not, I still hope he will rest in peace.

Death is True. Famous or not, death comes to everyone...when it's time, it's the time!.

Life Is So Fragile

Life is so fragile. Just a few minutes ago you were laughing joyfully with your beloved one, the next thing you know, she's gone to see her Creator.

On Thursday, 3-year-old Isabel Cheong died on the spot, of head injuries, after her mother accidentally knocked into her while parking her car in Desa Seri Hartamas. It must have been vey painfully heartbreaking for Isabel parents' to see their beautiful toddler lying dead on the pavement in a pool of thick warm blood, when just a few moments before she had been so much alive and well. And it was also heartbreaking to see the grief-stricken mother craddle her lifeless toddler so dearly in her arm, probably hoping that she would come back from her deep slumber. But of course, that was not to be.

Life is indeed so fragile. Just one knock and she's gone. How would Isabel's parents find peace in their heart to go on living like they used to? The guilt would remain, like a ghost that would haunt their life forever.

The thought of such accident has always been in my mind when I think of driving. It has played a very big role in my being so reluctant in getting a licence. I am forever afraid that I would knock into someone. I sometimes dream about it. It has been one of my greatest fears. What if I hit my own children or someone's else children? A cat, a cow? An elderly? Nauzubillah. Thinking about it already makes me shiver.

To make it worse, I see horrible and gruesome accident pictures everyday. Sometimes, there are four or five cases per day, and many involves children. And I have also seen that of Isabel. And it's one of those pictures that would painfully linger in mind. You can't help but think how could God let a beautiful and innocent toddler like her to die that way?

Unless one has gone through such unfortunate event oneself, I believe no one could really share the grief Isabel's parents are feeling right now.

However, let's pray that one day, they will find peace in their heart and be able to forgive themselves and move on. May they have the support from those around them. May God give them strength to live on.

Children are like a piece of plain white cloth. So pure and sinless. When they die, God will send them to Heaven. I believe, Isabel is one of them.