Understanding poverty

"My Umi rationed food so we also have food at dinner too. I could take the rice with only planta and soy sauce, yes I could take that. I was irritated at the way my Umi would divide everything into small portion sfor each of us siblings. But I could deal with that. Also the quarrels and fights when my big brother would 'sapu' some of my portions too - but really, I could handle that as well. I could also shower without soap or not brushing my teeth and the bad breath in school.

But the psychological trauma of seeing my parents quarrelling over and over again angered me so much then. At times, an RM5 issue would throw the family into days of distress, pain, misery, anguish, fear and sorrow.

It was a pain that pierced right through my heart that even as I am writing this now, today, year 2009, when I am no longer living in poverty, tears are rolling and rolling and rolling down my cheeks. The tears just wouldn't stop. The brain is a funny instrument. It does not seem to know the difference between the past and the present. So the past becomes the present, just by thinking about it! God it was so tiring ... I feel tired now just thinking back!"

-Anas Zubedy in his book 'The Quran and I', recounting his childhood

Read more...

I'm officially a fan of Flavia de Luce!

"Inspiration from outside one's self is like the heat in an oven. It makes passable Bath buns. But inspiration from within is like a volcano: It changes the face of the world." This quote is taken from the book 'The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag' written by Alan Bradley. I like this quote for what it is, but it doesn't really give any idea on what the book is about.

The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag is the second book in the Flavia de Luce series, and I'm hooked! There's 4 books altogether now, and I will certainly look for them. This book started a bit slow, with the author style of giving every character the background story, but the pace picked up after one of the characters was murdered, which was about halfway through. Yes, it's a whodunnit. Did I mention that I love to read whodunnits? To me it's like a puzzle, where readers are supposed to guess, well, who did it. And Flavia de Luce is such a brilliant little girl! She's only 11 yet she's so good with chemistry and solving mysteries. Yes, I know she's a fictional character, but still I admire her nonetheless :)

The book is reminiscent of some of Agatha Christie's works, not because of the style of writing, but perhaps because of the place and era chosen as the background. Surprise surprise, a movie or TV movie is being made from the stories.

Read more...

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Credit to image source hachettebookgroup.com
No wonder the book won a Pulitzer Prize and has been dubbed a classic. It's a beautiful story, told beautifully. Set in a small town in Alabama in the 1930s, the story is told in a first-person narration of a young girl called Scout in the span of about 3 years. Although the crux of the novel is the trial of a black man and the crises and issues surrounding it at a time when racial discrimination and prejudice is prevalent, the novel offers so much more.

I love reading about the relationship between Scout and her older brother Jem and how close they are. I love reading about Atticus, Scout's father (who was also the defense lawyer of the abovesaid black man on trial), who is such a noble and righteous character and also a wonderful (single) father. The story told of innocent childhood, innocent thinking, coming of age.

And it's so true what I read once about that novels has a way of preserving history. It's fascinating to read about what it was like at that place at that time - the customs, culture, lifesytle, activities, etc. I have high regards for the book and its author, what a pity it's the only book Harper Lee had written.

Read more...

‘Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.’

These 7 words encapsulates Michael Pollan’s book ‘In Defence of Food’ that I’ve read recently. He didn’t start elaborating on what he meant by that immediately. The first part of the book is titled The Age of Nutritionism. I’m glad to learn that eating healthy does not mean that I have to master the science of nutrition. In fact, he went as far as suggesting that nutritionism could just be ‘bad science’. In the second part, The Western Diet and the Diseases of Civilization, the author elaborates on the changes that has happened to food and eating (specifically in the Western world).

The list of subtopics in the last chapter of this part may give some idea of what these changes are:
-From whole foods to refined
-From complexity to simplicity
-From quality to quantity
-From leaves to seed
-From food culture to food science

Although reading the first two parts had been interesting and enlightening, it is the third and last part of the book which I had appreciated the most, because this is where he had shared tangible advices and rules when it comes healthy eating. I’ll capture the points here so that I can refer to them in the future.

Eat Food: Food Defined (food, as opposed to foodlike or food products)

Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food
Don’t eat anything incapable of rotting
Avoid food products containing ingredients that are a) unfamiliar b) unpronounceable c) more than five in number and that include d) high-fructose corn syrup
Avoid food products that make health claims
Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle (fresh food is usually placed at the peripheries and processed food in the middle)
Get out of the supermarket whenever possible (eg shop at farmers’ market, or in Malaysian context, pasar tani I guess)

Mostly Plants: What to Eat

Eat mostly plants especially leaves
You are what what you eat eats too
If you have the space buy a freezer (freezing unlike canning does not significantly diminish the nutritional value of produce)
Eat like an omnivore (diversify your food)
Eat well-grown food from healthy soils
Eat wild foods when you can
Be the kind of person who takes supplement (without actually taking any, unless you’re over 50) ie typically more health conscious, better educated, and more affluent
Eat more like the French or the Italians or the Japanese or the Indians or the Greeks (eat traditional food)
Regard non-traditional foods with skepticism
Don’t look for the magic bullet in the traditional diet (it’s a ‘package’)

Not Too Much: How to Eat

Pay more eat less (costs, both in terms of price and time/convenience to prepare) Eat meals (and avoid snacking in between)
Do all your eating at a table (and a desk is not a table)
Don’t get your fuel from the same place your car does (ie petrol station shops)
Try not to eat alone
Consult your gut (train our internal system to tell us when we are full)
Eat slowly
Cook, and if you can, plant a garden

One of my favourite paragraph: “If a food is more than the sum of its nutrients and a diet is more than the sum of its food, it follows that a food culture is more than the sum of its menus – it embraces as well the set of manners, eating habits, and unspoken rules that together governs a people’s relationship to food and eating. How a culture eats may have just as much bearing on health as what a culture eats.”

This is Michael Pollan’s website where he shares his archives or articles (I’ve just read 3 interesting ones and will probably go back for more). The article ‘Unhappy Meals’ which he wrote in January 2007 is the trigger which led him (encouraged by his editors) to write this whole book, so it actually contains a significant amount of the points he touched in this book, so head over there for a preview of this book.

Overall, a very satisfying read – interesting and informative. I feel so motivated now to improve my eating and cooking habits towards achieving a healthier life, I hope I’ll remain to be so consistently!

Read more...

Barrel Fever by David Sedaris

Credit to image source:http://agbookreviews.files.wordpress.com
Barrel Fever is divided into 2 sections, the first is Stories which are fiction and the second is Essays which were from the author’s own experience. This is the first David Sedaris book that I’ve read. A friend said he’s a really funny writer so when I saw his books on a friend’s shelf, I was eager to borrow because I was curious. But I’m sorry to say that I didn’t enjoy the read. It’s not that there isn’t anything that I like at all, but the crass and crude jokes far outweighed those. And most of the stories revolve around dysfunctioning individuals or families. I guess it just isn’t my type of humour.

Read more...

Obama: From Promise to Power

Credit to image source: britannica.com
Salah satu azam saya tahun ini adalah untuk menulis lebih banyak ulasan buku, biar pun pendek.

Bulan Januari sedikit sibuk (alasan!), saya Cuma sempat menghabiskan sebuah buku bertajuk Obama: From Promise to Power, yang ditulis oleh David Mendell, seorang wartawan yang telah mengikuti perkembangan Obama semenjak dia mula berjinak-jinak dalam dunia politik di Chicago. Saya juga seperti ramai orang lain di seluruh dunia, tertarik dengan karisma Obama, dan mengikuti (sedikit-sedikit) pilihanraya yang menyaksikan dia dipilih sebagai Presiden Amerika Syarikat pada tahun 2008. Dia, seperti lain daripada yang lain. Saya yang tidak pernah berminat mengikuti politik nagara Amerika pun jadi berminat untuk mengambil tahu lebih sedikit.

Pada asalnya, saya ingin mencari buku-buku tulisannya sendiri, The Dreams of My Father dan The Audacity of Hope. Tetapi apabila berpeluang meminjam naskhah buku ini daripada seorang rakan, saya rasa bagus juga membaca ulasan pihak ketiga (yang sepatutnya bebas dan tidak ‘biased’). Bab-bab awal meliputi latar belakang hidup Obama, daripada keluarganya yang berbilang kaum hingga ke pengajiannya di Harvard dan penglibatannya sebagai aktivis masyarakat di Chicago. Seterusnya, David Mendell menceritakan dengan lebih terperinci apabila Obama mula terlibat dalam dunia politik, bermula dengan sebuah pilihanraya tempatan. Obama kalah, tetapi banyak belajar daripada pengalamannya itu. Dia menang pilihanraya keduanya, menjadi seorang wakil tempatan di Illinois. Dia melangkah lebih jauh apabila memenangi pilihanraya menjadi Senator US pada tahun 2004. Buku ini ditamatkan (dan diterbitkan) sejurus selepas Obama mengumumkan bahawa dia akan bertanding sebagai calon Presiden Amerika Syarikat.

Secara keseluruhannya, saya berpendapat bahawa penulis seimbang dalam memberikan gambaran tentang karakter Obama. Kedua-dua aspek positif dan negatif disentuh dengan jujur. Penulis juga banyak menceritakan pengorbanan dan sisi kurang menyenangkan yang terpaksa dihadapi Obama setelah nekad membuat keputusan menjadi ahli politik, spesifiknya kekurangan waktu untuk diri dan keluarga (privacy) dan tekanan, terutama kerana Obama menjadi begitu popular melebihi selebriti. Membaca buku itu, saya juga dikenalkan kepada budaya berpolitik di Amerika, yang sebelum ini begitu asing bagi saya. Barulah saya tahu bagaimana kompleknya dunia politik. Bermula dengan mencari sokongan politik dan kewangan dan peranan staf-staf kempen yang diupah, bacaan daripada satu buku sekadar membenarkan saya ‘mengintai’ dengan singkat. Yang pastinya, realiti sebenar pasti jauh lebih kompleks dan sukar difahami.

Read more...

Angela's Ashes and 'Tis by Frank McCourt

Angela's Ashes was firt published way back in 1996 but I've only managed to read it recently. It's a memoir of the author's difficult and poor childhood in Limerick, Ireland. It's very sad to read such hardships, and I cried a few times, for example when his sister and brothers died. I had 'Tis with me as well, so I was fortunate to be able to continue reading about Frank's life in his next book. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy 'Tis as much as I had enjoyed Angela's Ashes. In the first book, the author, as a boy, seems to be strong and brave, intent on helping his family survive and get out of the poverty. But in the second book, when he starts having a more comfortable life, and his family is much better, he seems to be a bit confused and at times almost 'aimless'. It is not my intent to judge him, it's just that I felt, his story became an ordinary life story in the second book. Even the part about his teaching career wasn't very inspiring. There were several instances when he shone as an inspiring teacher, but in general he seems quite ordinary in his struggles dealing with uninterested students and low wages. I guess I wouldn't be looking for the third book Teacher Man.

The other thing that ticked me off a bit while reading both his first and second book is the details he went through when describing his 'excitements' and 'adventures'. I thought, what would his wife and ex-wife be thinking and feeling when reading those? On the positive side, I guess it helps me to understand how easily boys get excited and hence appreciate more on how Islam manages this, by giving guides on covering (aurat), behaviours, boundaries etc. I also gain further appreciation of Islam's ruling against drinking alcohol, reading about how the father's drinking habits had such an impact to his family. It's difficult to understand how a father, supposedly the head of the family, could drink all his wages away and let his family starve and beg.

All in all, I'd still recommend Angela's Ashes as a good read. Borrowing a sentence from the Wiki link above, "Despite all the hardships, many passages of the story are told with wry humor and charm."

Read more...

Inspector Singh by Shamini Flint

OK, I'll start by declaring - one of my favourite fiction genre is whodunits. A whodunit or whodunnit (for "Who done it?") is a complex, plot-driven variety of the detective story in which the puzzle is the main feature of interest. The reader is provided with clues from which the identity of the perpetrator of the crime may be deduced before the solution is revealed in the final pages of the book. The investigation is usually conducted by an eccentric amateur or semi-professional detective. From Wikipedia.

My favourite author for this genre is Agatha Christie, surprise surprise. This Inspector Singh series written Shamini Flint belongs to this genre. I’ve been curious and eager to read this book since I heard about it last year. I’ve just finished reading the first book, A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder, thanks to a friend’s friend who generously lent it to me. My verdict – good! Here’s the blurb:

Inspector Singh is in a bad mood. He’s been sent from his home in Singapore to Kuala Lumpur to solve a murder that has him stumped. Chelsea Liew - the famous Singaporean model - is on death row for the murder of her ex-husband. She swears she didn’t do it, he thinks she didn’t do it, but no matter how hard he tries to get to the bottom of things, he still arrives back at the same place - that Chelsea’s husband was shot at point blank range, and that Chelsea had the best motivation to pull the trigger: he was taking her kids away from her. Now Inspector Singh must pull out all the stops to crack a crime that could potentially free a beautiful and innocent woman and reunite a mother with her children. There’s just one problem - the Malaysian police refuse to play ball?

Image source

The fact that the book is using a local scene works two ways. It’s interesting in the sense that many things mentioned in the book are familiar or something I can relate to. But at the same time, I could get defensive as well, on the nation and religion pride. In the book A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder for example, the man who whose murder was being investigated, was in the middle of a custody battle with his divorced wife. In a (supposed legal) twist, he was presented in the court to have converted to Islam, and the wife claims that the conversion is not genuine, just a plot to win the custody. The religion card can be a bit sensitive naturally, but I try to keep an open mind. And to be honest, I do feel that the author was fair when writing about Malaysia and its laws and enforcement.

I think the story is convincing and believable, and the author has managed to insert light moments and humour that created an entertaining read. In short, I’ve enjoyed reading it and I look forward to reading the next books in the series: A Bali Conspiracy Most Foul and The Singapore School of Villainy. I wonder where the next book will take place in?

Read more...

Fantasy fiction

Image source

I have just finished reading the book Dark Alchemy, which is a compilation of 18 short stories on the theme of magic and wizardry. I’m not the biggest fan of fantasy fiction, it’s more MH’s favourite genre rather than mine, in fact I had bought the book for him. But there are a quite a few of the stories that I had really enjoyed! (There’s also a few that I don’t quite ‘get’.)

Somehow I found myself assessing how I generally accept fantasy fiction written in English compared to the ones in BM. I think there is some sort of mental or cultural ‘block’ if I read a BM fantasy fiction, especially if the story uses Malaysia as the backdrop. My mind would be quick to think – nah, this is so unconvincing or illogical. But if it’s a story written in English and in some far far away places, I somehow don’t ‘judge’ the stories because I have no expectations and knowledge and they are all so distant.

Read more...

The Time Traveller’s Wife

This book is an absolute must-read! I was hooked from the first chapter. The Time Traveller’s Wife was written by Audrey Niffenegger. The story revolves around Henry who could time travel (albeit involuntarily - he had no control) and his relationship with his wife Clare, and their attempt to lead a normal life. Clare first met Henry when she was 6 and Henry was 36. Henry first met Clare when he was 28 and Clare was 20. The main premise promises this to be an interesting story - when one can time-travel, the boundary between cause and effect, between what has already happened or not, between what one knows or not, becomes blurred. Examples of new context of the word when that I found amusing: ‘I wake up and I find that he’s gone. He must be elsewhen.’ And ‘When are you from?’ A warning, this book contains illicit scenes that deems it suitable only for mature readers.


Another interesting bit about this book is, because it’s written in a first-person view for both Henry and Clare, at different ages, the author has taken care to write in a such a way as to show how a 6-year old or 12-year old Clare sees things differently compared to say a more grown-up Clare. I’ve always find it interesting (I think I use the word interesting too many times) with this method of writing. Two other good examples are The Harmony Silk Factory by Tash Aw where the story is told from 3 perspectives, and hence the narrative style differs in the three distinct chapters. The other book is Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, where the protaganist undergo scientific experiments that altered his brain and mind, and this is illustrated indirectly in the first-person narration.

One of the things I learnt (or rather I’m reminded of) is to appreciate my moments more, my here and now. I don’t time travel (duh), but there could still be tendencies to look backward or forward beyond reasonable limits. Not anymore. Here and now. Here and now.

When I really like a book, I usually try to promote it to my family (depending on suitability). To my sister I said: “Nanti saya pinjamkan kat awak, ok?” (not “Awak nak pinjam tak?” hehe, so pushy). She was skeptical. “Hmm.. taste kita tak berapa sama.” I answered, “Don’t worry, it’s a love story! Sure you’ll like it.” When I offerred this book to MHH, he was reluctant “But it’s a love story.” I answered “But this guy time-travels, it’s interesting!” Haha, different pitch for different taste :)

I'm aware that the film made based on this book is out, but I'm not interested to watch it because I already know the story and how it all ends. I'm also aware that Audrey Niffenegger's second book titled Her Fearful Symmetry is already published and THAT - is in my wishlist :)

Read more...