Penang In Pictures

A fascinating place needless to say, Penang is simple and yet complex. Hoping these little photos and illustrations collected over the years would provide a wholesome picture of the Pearl Of The Orient.

Bird's eye view of Georgetown - the roofs are iconic of Penang

KOMTAR, the 30-year old tower is Penang on the grand scale

Walking deep into the alleys and hidden settlements - Penang in microscopic scale

Would very much like to boast of such artictic talents, but this was from Dad, to a Japanese expat. back in 2005

What is Penang without food, and the stories behind it? It is said that at any given time, half of Penang is cooking for the other half. Unlike many other places, you can't fool the Penangnite's tastebuds - a little less choosy about the quality of your ingredients will see you abandoned, no matter how famous you are before. This is Penang, where people can even sense whether the soy sauce is pure or you bought them in the Macro closing-down sale 3 years ago.

Chee Cheong Fun ala-Penang

Koay Teow Th'ng

Behind the scenes - a family of hawkers. Doing her schoolwork, having a late dinner, and (presumably) reading the Kids' section of a daily

In face of development - hawking is still a rewarding job despite hardships and long hours. Many second generation hawkers however are more in favor of modern careers than hawking

Gone with the wind - in months to come this scene will be replaced by 'more progressive development'

Pacing Into 20

The sedentary lifestyle coupled with plenty of sleep (though not necessarily quality sleep) and hours of idleness allows for some deep toiling over the matter of life. In less than a year I will be 20. The difference between 19 and 20 is much more significant than between 18 and 19 or even 17 to 18 (the legal age when you can consume alcohol; though they generally don't make a fuss nowadays). For example, you tell a really hot lady you're 20, and she has 50% of taking a second glance at you and perhaps continue with the conversation. Tell her you're 19, she will pretend not to listen and walk away looking upwards.
I was telling Beng Hong in our casual MSN chat the other day how I am becoming the typical boring adult male. Like any other adult, burdened by responsibilities and 'you should', I have no temptation in pursuing the uncertain anymore. I cannot allow more unknowns in my life - I have to get to the bottom of everything, without wasting time. In short, by growing up, I have lost the potential to look for joys in things unknown. I have to have information on every single thing before deciding - from how many seats the bus have to whether the internet kiosk has a printer, and whether the discount ticket I bought is mileage-creditable, I have to have an answer. Horribly, this is becoming more and more like Mum.
Pacing into 20, I am more and more confident of my own self (it's actually another way of saying I'm more degil and hard-headed now). I have my own principles and I do not allow others to challenge my opinions that easily. I loathe change, especially anything dubbed 'modern' - modern art, modern literature, modern language. My definition of modern clothing is stagnant at plain blue jeans with no extra embroideries or prints, and modern furniture being at most the Ikea types. I think it's slowly becoming a truth - I am starting to get out-of-date. Browsing for Chinese New Year clothing the other day, I notice it's more and more difficult looking for what I had in mind compared to a few years back. My favorite brands are now becoming 'common' - their huge tendency to use bright pestle colors, rugged design as if to give it a 'this is not a new piece of clothing'-feel. And I did found something I like eventually, but it's 3 to 4 times what I had to pay for 2 to 3 years back.
I am metamorphosing into the mundane and average urban male - I commute to university, stay there from 8 to 5 (occasionally only till 12 or 3), come home, hang around, go online, go for dinner, and then work (study) till bedtime. I travel twice every year, going home for the holidays. I have nothing to look forward to in life (perhaps graduating is something?). I earn and collect frequent flier miles, credit card reward points, member points etc etc but never seem to be on track to redeem something I really like. I read the news though it never occurred to me how I would be affected if Obama or Clinton or Edwards won (I'm more interested in which aircraft MAS would buy to replace their 737s though, MAS said they would announce by January). I go online everyday only to find every page I visited yesterday is still the same today. And Mum and Dad had slowly turned into creatures from another planet I can hardly communicate with them.
What is the purpose of life? This is a question constantly popping up under these circumstances. It's something like you throw a stone forwards, race towards it, pick it up, and throw it forwards again. That action drives you forward, but what are you running into? A better life? Or something you only dared to dream since childhood?
These days surprises don't surprise me anymore - most of the time I just smile to get over it. Frustration and anger get hold of me very often but I always think of it as some tidal wave - it'll soon be over. Happiness is only there when I seek it hard enough, and only when chances permits - a beautiful day, the car not breaking down, no Mum and Dad to call you every hour (even in the cinema), no stupid road geniuses overtaking you and you brake so hard you almost flew away, no AirAsia customer service calling to ask you if you wanted to buy the 'flight insurance' at RM2, and no television showing crappy programs cheating your time. Why has happiness become such a luxury? This is something to ponder upon.

Herein Lies Stupidity

I was having a great day hanging out with Soon Khen, Jiong Kit and Sheng Yu. That evening I was browsing the net through Streamyx, which capsizes every 2 minutes with the DSL indicator on the modem flicking on and off like traffic lights. Out of the packets and bytes my modem receives I managed to sign in briefly on MSN, and I find several anxious offline messages asking me to take a look at our bulletin board system (BBS). I was in good humor to think what had happened to cause such a stir-up - a plane crash on the school? Or the recent construction site had collapsed?
On asking a friend of mine to copy-paste the bulletin for me (I was in no mood to install a separate program in order to view the DOS-based system), I was shocked from head to toe. (In order to protect the image of the accused the bulletin will not be published).
As a result of a ticket regulation I can only get back to Taiwan on 19th of February, one day short of attending my classes. I bought the tickets during Malaysia Airlines' Merdeka Sales as it was significantly cheaper, but I have to obey the rules stating no traveling between 1 and 18 of February. At the time of purchase I had no information yet on when the school reopens.
Before going home I met She Who Must Not Be Named, and I informed her of my delay. She wasn't happy, but she tolerated it, as I get to go home only once every semester, and what's done is done. The conversation ended in a light tone and I was off preparing for my exams.
A few days later, You Know Who held a meeting with the entire class announcing they would be testing the names of the skeleton upon beginning of semester. Once again I went to see her and expressed my difficult situation, which she again tolerated by saying I can take a re-test on Wednesday (I'll be back on Tuesday evening). We all agreed and the meeting ended in a positive manner. My friend had, in conversation, revealed that air tickets bought earlier and later, could vary in prices up to NT$10,000 (approx. RM1000). This is sometimes true, but on this occasion it wasn't entirely.On that fateful night, You Know Who suddenly decided it would be fun to check on air ticket prices. A random search ran out prices as low as NT$9000, by Malaysia Airlines. Naturally You Know Who was both surprised and anguished to find out that her students lied to her. You Know Who composed the bulletin, fuming with blame, and posted it on the class board. The bulletin was a total self-embarrassment - exposing herself as such an emotional and illogical person unfit to be a university professor. She threatened us to submit our evidences or we will not be given the re-test upon return. She made the assumption that we were in Taiwan for a holiday instead of being there studying, and repeatedly accused us of lying.
Out of my most patient manner I composed a reply, attaching 3 pieces of evidences (I present one below). The prices of airline tickets are like stock markets - it fluctuates everyday. I presented to her the fact that airlines sell their tickets by the 'bucket' system, whereby they fill up the lowest and hence cheapest buckets first, and move further upwards. Therefore, it's vital and only safe to purchase tickets earlier. However, in some events when the airline found the flight is already profitable and that the remaining seats can be sold for reasons more than profits, they will quickly hold a last-minute sale. They may not make money from the remaining super-cheap tickets, but at least they gain popularity and attention from would-be travelers. This situation is what happening now. And hence the $9000 tickets is not a solid evidence that we were lying (and thinking back, why in the world is You Know Who having a hand in the money I pay for MY ticket at the first place?). I repeated my apologies should our previous conversation sparked misunderstanding and wished her happy holidays (which had turned sour now since her kaypoh-ness). I also included real-life examples - one of our English First Years (please do leave a comment to testify if you're reading this Wyatt) bought his ticket for $30,000+ due to a 'bucket' error. Of course, he subsequently returned the ticket and got a full refund (it was a full-fare economy ticket).
She Who Must Not Be Named did not apologize, as I predicted, her ego and stubbornness preventing her from typing the word 'sorry' into the computer. There goes an emotional tug-of-war for the next 2 days.
Yesterday, after a pleasant evening out eating steamboat, I return home again to find a new bulletin. On this occasion she appeared more composed and having a fragment more of self-consciousness than her previous post. She apologized for the word 'lie' which she deliberately used in accusing us not more than 48 hours ago. She substituted the conviction with 'we are pulling her leg'. (And it was here again when I asked myself 'why is she in this in the first place?') You Know Who emotionally said that she trusted her students and we should not, out of our clear conscience, 'pull her leg'. (And hello? How should I know my favorite airline is holding a grand ticket-giving bonanza 2 weeks before I fly? Are we so advanced we have WiFi implanted in the brain now?) She then stated that she had no further opinion on our tickets (sounds like somebody trashing in and shouting 'YOU LIAR!' and then, on the brink of shoving her into the asylum, she said 'I was just kidding!'). Right, if you have no further opinion, go mind yourself rather than us. We can be happy without trashing someone and ruining his holiday!
As a teacher, more when You Who Must Not Be Named is in a university, You Who Must Not Be Named is the role model of your students. You have the right to question your students, but you certainly have no right to second-guess and not accepting what's presented before your very eyes. These are facts, and I read more about airline business than you had about English. And not trusting what I said is like asking your boyfriend what's his favorite color and then add 'that's not true! YOUR favorite color is green!' (capitalized to emphasis YOUR being mistake-free. It's not 'my'). She Who Must Not Be Named further proved that she deserves no respect by not apologizing and act Samy Veloo in denying her charges. I'm sorry, I have no teacher like that. I will fulfill my duties as a student but expect no more than our regular student-teacher relationship.

The above post was composed by jysim. The article does not represent any stance or point of view of Sim Jun Yi and hence have no relation to him in person.

Sleep. Food. Shopping

It was a pleasure to know that my room is still as it is - mosquito-infested, sunny and warm; but it is rather appalling to note our house is gradually being invaded by new furniture and cushions and paraphernalia of every kind. The house computer has been reformatted, and I don't think it can last any longer; Our rabbit passed peacefully due to pneumonia a few months ago, and to wake up every morning not being greeted by his verocious eating is still rather weird for me.

A traditional paper ticket by Malaysia Airlines. Perhaps the last of its kind, this thing will become history in months to come.

The period ranging from the end of January to mid-February is the hottest and most heaty period in Malaysia. I land in Penang only to find my back covered totally in sweat before I exited the airport. Anyway, my arrival had been marked with an avalanche of food - first my cousin's wedding in Bukit Mertajam, and then a family gathering at E&O Hotel. With that amount of food and all the pampering, not to gain weight during the festive season would be a miracle.

The faulty engine on my flight back to Penang. It had to be manually ignited by the little truck in front of it. Rest assured, the rest of the flight was pleasant and uneventful, and safe.

True to my expectations, being at home means an abundance of time for things you can only dream of when you're at school where every second counts. I have been home for 3 days now and I have slept 1.5 days away. The humid weather coupled with my semi-paralyzed mind means idling time away at home without feeling guilty. It's 9.30 now and I haven't even took my morning shower. Mum would whack me for this a few years back (and still would now), but I don't mind the whacking since I'll be off to Gurney as soon as this is done.
In your more conscious and well-off senses you thank God for everything you have (or had had). You do always complain why things are so unfair towards you (like not having a girlfriend or not being as good-looking as Patrick Dampsey (McDreamy?) or not owning a Mac), but once you see those less fortunate than you, things around you become more precious than you ever thought. In the Sim family I'm the second grandson doing a university degree, and the first in generations to become a doctor. Yeah, I often wonder why I couldn't be Jieyang's brother and do my degree in London and enjoy all the luxuries in life at such a young age, but when you look back at your humble origins, you thank God because at least He granted you an opportunity.

The cheerful Sim family celebrating the birthday of our Elder Aunt and Husband of Second Aunt

It is both saddening and adventurous to note in a few years to come I would be spending every day out of the 365 days every year in a hospital looking after patients. Home will be slowly and forcibly detached from my soul. It might not be a bad thing at the end of the day, but this has been the norm for as long as human beings can remember - we always cope with it.

Where To?

The human being is a strange creature - things you want always turn out to be things you don't really want at the end of your pursue, and things you take for granted all the time always turn out to be those most appreciated when you're short of them.
For more than 3 weeks I was counting down to the day when I will board my plane home. I yearn the moment when the plane takes of back to the realm of home. Sometimes even in the blurry semi-consciousness of sleep I feel the accelerating speed and the moment when the aircraft is airborne. It is something like riding the roller-coaster - fantastic and scary packed together in candybar fashion.
At 9.55am on Tuesday, I handed in my Biostats paper along with the log sheet (we had log books for SPM, here it's only a log sheet). With my brain in hemiparesis (semi-paralyzed mode), I managed a smile to the teacher and exited the room, and the lesson. Today at 9.40 I did the same with Biochemistry, only this time it was an MCQ answer sheet, and I am in much ambivalence regarding the answers than Biostats. I hope for an A for Biochemistry, but whether or not God (or the group of teachers) allow for that I do not really mind anymore. I was 39% happy for the semester to end, and I am 27% contented with my overall self this semester. The many events and incidences had trained and sculpted me into a more wholesome, unafraid and versatile person. In face of difficulties I seem to (in my own humble opinion) grumble less (though my roommates would strongly object to this), and start deviation into looking fo a solution within a faster period of time.
I am also mildly amazed by how I manage to sail through this semester with so many other responsibilities on my shoulder besides tests and assignments. Although things were not completely perfect along the way, and we constantly made mistakes consciously and unconsciously, I think the most important thing is that we learn from past experience and find ways to stand up again. I am not optimistic of the next semester, as we will enter the realm of gross anatomy (the lesson cleverly named as 'Fundamental Outlines of the Beauty of Anatomy', which should just be called 'The Taxing Gross Anatomy'). With a strict and ever-demanding teacher, it would be hard to slack off once in a while in between. Nevertheless, as my senior once said to me, you plan beforehand, but you do not worry beforehand. Worries are to be kept until the moment when we are certain of its existance.
I'm still in the process of overcoming post-exam trauma currently, and I hope the following days of warmth and sunshine will do good before I depart home. My resolution for next semester - to look in front in life.

To Go Home Checklist

General Characteristics
Name: Sim Jun Yi
Student ID: 95311153
Dimensions - Height: 175
Weight: lost count
Performance: One partially-idle mind, approximately 4 hours of studying everyday, efficiency 40%. Great tendency to wonder off and slack. Weather to be blamed.

The Checklist
Prestart Checklist
Logics report (5 reports measuring 500+ words each, DO NOT DEVIATE from lecture content, be extremely careful on ideas of certain topics, especially those involved with Eastern-Western culture clashes) - completed
Biostatistics presentation (insane project consisting of combing through a research paper looking for relevant statistical information, prepare Powerpoints for it, and get criticized silly because you couldn't cover all information in 15 minutes) - erroneously done
Medicinal Communication research project (distribute questionnaires regarding the reason behind certain people preferring Chinese medicine to Western, and why would you rather get punctured all over the body (acupuncture) than to take pills and sleep and get over with it) - just completed, not submitted
History of Science Assignment(s) (scribble scribble, copy, paste, express your views, and spend 10 cents per piece on printing a sheet the teacher will only read once) - completed but not submitted
Life and Medicine (boring report for a boring lesson, though I am amazed by what I managed to churn out, 3 pages in Chinese) - currently ancient history

Takeoff Checklist
Medicinal English (mark accents with capitals: abdOminal pain, urInary system, hematOemesis, encephalOpathy etc etc) - God bless my language nerves on Monday morning
Biostatistics (tell me the logic - you spend your life calculating whether or not there are significant differences between A and B, or whether C and D are interrelated and suggest endless possibilities and figures to solve the problem, when in truth global warming will tear everything apart in 10 years to come and we'd might not even live to see our results) - calculator present and on, a clear mind
Logics (again tell me the logic - you spend your life stripping everything down to A is caused by B and C is hence part of D, but in truth everybody does what they thinks the best and we are still living in misery everyday) - let there be light
Biochemistry (MCQs and structured questions. My only wish is to have an A for this subject) - grueling and yet boring
German (what have I learned this semester in German class? Only that the train station in Cologne is right beside the beautiful and mysterious Cologne Church, and Germans are really tall and good looking in an Asian way) - last examination of the semester

Cruising Checklist
Passport - still lying in the drawer
Air ticket - sleeping uneasily in my file in between my most precious documents. My air ticket is, sometimes, my pillar of strength when I'm facing difficulties
Home - always there
A wedding dinner - couldn't recall the last time I had a Malaysian Chinese wedding dinner anymore
Friends - taking off one by one, but looking forward to seeing them, many perhaps for the last time in years to come
Chinese New Year - there be no words to describe this joyous rebirth - I've lived to see 2 Rat years now!

I know this is weird.

Two Weeks To Go

Two weeks from now I will be jetting through South China Sea in a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 747 flying from Taipei to Kuala Lumpur. I will enjoy all the luxuries on Economy Class and watch all the up-to-date movies on Select, Malaysia Airlines' Inflight Entertainment Program. I will sip red wine and pop little tit-bits onboard and.....(sound of gramophone being tuned out) "stop daydreaming Sim Jun Yi!"
Two weeks from now I will be lazing at home enjoying life - waking up at 9 everyday, gobbling down a big McDonalds breakfast while reading through 'The Star' (even the ads), spending the entire day at GSC watching movies (I doubt Mum and Dad would allow me to do that), and mutate my room into MY room once again. I will drive through the orderly chaotic streets of Penang honking at every slightest provocation or delay, and I will.....(sound of gramophone being tuned out again) "if things go on like that you'll end up in additional winter classes instead of back at home 2 weeks later! Now go back to your book!"
Traveling is not easy for the unprepared. This is what all overseas students have to learn from experience, and things don't get better especially in a highly-populated state like Taiwan. This time back I literally have to hold a gun and threaten the internet ticketing system to churn out a train ticket for me to get to Taipei on the last day of the semester. And due to listless limitations on airplane tickets I will come back one day after school starts, which is kind of scary, as we have 'Fundamental Anatomy' on the first day of school. In order not to publish a 'tak apa' attitude to the prof., famous for her criticisms and demands, I will have to buy her a 36K gold plated surgical knife (with a note attached beneath 'please don't fail me just because I skipped the first 4 hours of class').
This semester had been by far the busiest semester in my university life (and mind me mister, you've only been in university for 1.5 years). Juggling with SCOPE, choir, Miharasi Medical Camps and my studies all at once, I really felt challenged. I literally have to milk the full value of every minute at times - drifting from one place to the next for almost the entire day. Consequently there are also times when I just sat in front of the PC and did nothing for the entire morning. The ups and downs in life just floated through this semester (and it usually does). There are times when I can feel the pressure of my blood rushing through my head - I panicked quickly when I am in face of emergencies, and I feel the urge to shout out at somebody. And live on MSN now is one Ms. Ongg who is telling me I should be less egoistic and try to approach people in a more lowly manner. This is life I think - you keep learning to be better and you annoy and please different categories of people at the same time.
I realize of my shortcomings and I am in no mood to make promises for improvements now since all 3 of my roommates are asleep and I should really go off now. I guess this is evolution - the good ones survive and the bad ones are eliminated, and hope I'm so.
Two weeks from now...

The Greatest Journeys Are The Ones That Bring You Home

This was one movie I watched during our International Students' Countdown night. Thoughtful, sentimental and straightforward, it captured my heart instantly. The story spans 3 generations - from a well-to-do Bengali family in Calcutta in the 70's to the modern day Indian-American in New York. Ashoke Ganguli came back from New York to Calcutta in search for a wife. After pronouncing that living in freezing winters halfway across the globe is all right, Mrs. Ganguli starts life afresh in The Land of Opportunities. Holding tightly to her tradition and values 12,000 miles away from home, she gave birth to Gogol Ganguli, named by his Dad after the intelligent but insane Russian writer Nikolas Gogol, and Ashima.
Gogol grew up to be a typical American teenager - marijuana, girls, and 'hey guys' which highly displeases his mother. They spend a summer in India, in which Gogol (now Nick for Nikhil) finds the Taj Mahal fascinating and inspires to be an architect. Life goes on and the second generation Ganguli's live in dire ignorance of their culture. The sudden passing of his father forces Gogol to confront his fear about culture identity, and he went through several ups and downs with love in the process. Mrs. Ganguli finally decides to embrace her freedom, coming along with widowhood, as Gogol makes peace with his culture and circumstance.
2008 marks a new and revolutionary year - many of us 2005 graduates will leave Malaysia for the first time in pursue of higher education. Time flies, and I was swimming in pages of philosophy report when Zi Yi banged in on MSN. It was then that I recalled, he was already in Michigan, a place farther away from home than mine. And I started to recall how it seem like yesterday when we sat together on Mdm. Mok's car weaving though the 1.30 traffic to get home. Time flies, and all of us are taking off.
While we are blessed by every relative and friend with our departure, we do know that our future in a foreign land will not be a bed of roses - there will be slip-ups, and you'll have to overcome it alone; culture shock, and you'll have to adapt and swallow it, alone. The important thing to take note is not to lose our identity and our core values in a foreign land. We are what we are truly inside, and whether you like it or not, it will be embedded on your bodily features for your entire life, so make peace with it and know who you really are and what you really want.
The movie discussed family traditions which I find close to heart, and hence the motivation to recommend this novel-adapted movie here today. The values it aspires are what we so often propagate all these while - to be true to yourself. Only those who won't be swept away by tides of cultural change will truly find peace and happiness in a totally different environment.
'The Namesake' is just like any other movie so gallantly made of late - someone went abroad for a long long time and came back, and found himself not the original him anymore. The only reason I liked it was the mysterious Indian elements as well as how the film makes time look weightless, and time IS weightless.
A few months more Soon Khen will also be somewhere far away from home. And I will start spending less time at home. I dedicate now, the 21st minute on the 2nd day of 2008 to bless everyone - no matter where you are, be true to yourself. Home is where we come from.