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Book Review: Kebaya Tales by Lee Su Kim…

i am half Peranakan.

What’s Peranakan? That’s a culture which came about when Chinese traders settled down in Malaysia and Singapore. It is a unique culture with all its quirks, fab traditions, different language (Baba Malay) and sometimes outlandish Nyonyas and Babas (that’s what the womenfolk and menfolk are known as respectively). And i am proud to be a part of this rich culture.

However, it is a dying culture, with the younger generation (me included) knowing only a little about the old traditions and stories. Which is why i love it when a book like Kebaya Tales comes along.

Kebaya Tales is a collection of short stories which Lee has collated and written capturing the essence of the Peranakan culture. And the beautiful pictures of the exquisite sarong kebaya with its beaded slippers and golden kerosang (pins which hold the kebaya blouse together), and the lovely pictures of her family, all make the book a joy to read.

The 13 stories give you a glimpse into a world of laughs, sorrows and unexpected twists; all of which show different aspects of a mentality so special, the world would be lesser without it. There is a touch of the very personal as she re-tells some of these stories which she has heard over the years, simply because it is truly her people, her culture she is talking about.

i also enjoy very much the poems which are slotted in between the stories. i never knew that Peranakan poems existed and even though these took me a couple of readings to really understand their meanings, it was worth the effort.

So i highly recommend this book for anyone who would like a taste of the Peranakan culture and life in this remarkable group of people. Also great for anyone, like me, wishing to re-connect to your roots.

syc

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Sale for Zayne – Angel Tree Child 2015…

So 10 days ago, i wrote about Zayne, my Angel Tree Child for the 2016 Reece’s Rainbow Angel Tree Event.

Now here is my first effort at helping Zayne to grow his adoption grant.

Why would he need an adoption grant? Because in his home country, he is considered cursed and would very unlikely be adopted within his home country. Because an international adoption would be his most likely hope at having a family of his own. Because an international adoption costs a ton of money on the account of the large amount of paperwork and the number of bureaucratic hoops to jump through.

So let’s not allow the question of funds to stand in the way of Zayne getting a family of his own.

i have a dear friend who is very supportive of my advocacy for these precious children. She gave me a bunch of things and told me to sell them and use the money for the orphans. That’s where is these books, DVDs and toys are from.

Please have a browse.

Send me an email (sandra_chia(a)hotmail(dot)com) or comment below with your email address as to which item/s you would like to purchase. i will email you with directions for payment. Please note that there will be no postage charged as this is for charity, i am sponsoring the postage. This is to assure everyone that every cent you give goes directly to Zayne‘s adoption grant (10% goes to Reece’s Rainbow‘s administrative costs).

Thanks so much.

syc

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Finally… Permanent Swiss Driver’s License…

So exactly 3 years ago (well, 3 years tomorrow), i wrote about finally getting my provisional Swiss Driver’s License. Read about it here. You can read about the other steps here and here.

finallySwisslicense20151110TODAY, i am letting the world know that i have my PERMANENT Swiss Driver’s License! YAH!

Here in Switzerland, they really do make sure you are a safe driver and know everything you can know (without becoming a car mechanic) about cars and driving.

So after those 11 months of practical lessons, theory test, extra driver’s ed, i went for even more driver’s ed class in the last 3 years. Just 2 full day sessions but they did cost about CHF 800/. in total. Click here for total costs of getting a Swiss Driver’s License.

In the first session, which i took about 18 months ago, we learnt about stopping distances and other safe driving technics such as driving over slippery surfaces. We had to drive our cars through various situations and it was kinda sobering to see in real life the actual stopping distance of a car going at just 60km/h. It is further than i thought.

In the second session, which i only took a few weeks ago, we were asked to state how many kilometers we thought we had driven since getting our licenses and to give ourselves a grade from 1 to 5 of how well we thought we drove. Then we piled into the driving school’s cars and drove around the city. On our first go, we drove as we would normally drive. We were assessed by the instructor and by our peers in the car. Our mistakes were pointed out… or i should say, we were advised how we could improve our driving style. We talked a bit about driving in different situations which make us nervous and were shown a video about “Clever Driving”. Then we were shown by the instructor how to drive “clever” and were given another chance to drive, using the “clever driving” method. They had a special measurement device hooked up, which showed exactly how much fuel you were using. The comparison between the first and second drive was quite amazing.

What’s “clever driving”? It’s a way of driving which helps you to save fuel as well as be safer. One thing i learnt was that if i roll to a stop but hit the clutch too early, i am wasting fuel. i should roll to a stop in gear and only hit the clutch just before the car starts to shudder. Quite different from what i was taught before.

So it is all done! FINALLY! 😀

syc