Remembering teachers…

While most of you… especially Malaysian bloggers are busy having delirious tweeting, fb-ing as well as doing some live blogging on Thomas Cup and Uber Cup, please, excuse me out of the trending issue and kindly bear with me for wanting to stay out of it as much as possible and allow me to write about something that means much more than a smash, a serve or even a real sportmanship’s show between players.

I’m not interested in Thomas Cup… or football for that matter, unless I’m the one who is on the field kicking football or playing before the empire. I could tolerate such adrenaline much more than the suspense of merely watching a game that I used to play with cheeky schoolmates.

I could still remember. It seems like it was yesterday that I played football on the field with my classmates who often let me tag along with them when they play football in the field every evening after school. (Apparently, none of them treated me like a real woman until it was year 2002, damn you, boys. LOL…)

And it is also seems like just yesterday that my good classmate smashed a shuttlecock into my very head, giving me awful bumps that last for days and never did apologized for it. ( I wouldn’t want to talk about the damn football into my head… I’m still boiling!)

Those were the good old days. The good old school days where sports is not on twitter, fb, or even blogs. We played the sports, and sometimes, we experience the game firsthand by playing it.

I used to play badminton and football, as well as table tennis. I also had instructors and teachers who taught me the ways of the game, and in conjunction of Teacher’s Day, please allow me to say thank you to those teachers and sports instructors who taught me never to give up in whatever I’m pursuing and persevere. They taught me that nobody is weak as long as one is willing to stand up after taking a nasty fall, or in my case, after some nasty hit of a football on my head during an evening football games.

I am forever indebted to those teachers… those who taught me that it is all right to be myself and stays truthful to myself in whatever I do. You see…I’ve always been different and I still am different. I never follow trend and whatnot. I do as I please as long as it keeps me feel alive, for I hate to be a follower and enjoy a 15minutes limelight. And I have always feel that it is better to be a trend-setter rather than a trend follower.

While some teachers hate me for that, most would always tell me that it’s all right to be different and truthful to myself, and I’m in my greatest shape when I’m truthful to myself.

Thank you, teachers, for telling me that. I’m all grown up now and living in a superficial world, there’s not much people telling me that anymore, but life is coming to a full circle, I suppose. I am a teacher myself now, and I told my students that each time they doubt themselves and their abilities to chase their ambitions and dreams. Thank you for your encouragements and words, for I wouldn’t really be a courageous me without that.

Thank you teachers, for teaching me and giving me wisdom. Happy teacher’s day.

And a special thank you to a certain friend who sent me a Mother’s Day card, and to my students who send me sms as well as your beautifully decorated Teacher’s Day greetings as token of appreciation. 😀 ( And I’ve told you not to buy me gifts, kids, but thank you for your pressies. I will treasure them)


Cleffairy: Grrr… I am still pissed at you, Balbir Singh, for kicking the ball into my head back in 1998 and have the cheek to crown me ‘Header Queen of 1998’. And I still remember that stupid shuttlecock case too! And if you’re reading this, I will kill you for still laughing!

Continue Reading

Attention Seeking Whores: How to get rid of them



This article is inspired by loads of whores in my life. Dating from school, to my adult years. Credits ought to be given to them, and not to me.

Attention seeking whores. Three words that makes my life a complete mess. Working in the media line, my life is full of socialites wannabe and fame seeking whores sometimes, it’s sickening, because in truth, capable people does not really need to do many things to gain attention.

But I guess not many people share the same sentiments as I do. Some people like to be seen. And likes to show off. Likes to show how perfect they are. They are always on their high horses, and I wish I can tell them to repent, because God is greater than anything in the world, and nobody is perfect.

Besides getting sick and tired for the lack of freedom at work, that is another reason why I quit working with one of our national favourite newspaper. It’s full of bullshits and attention seekers. Did you know that some columns are bought by these attention seekers or people with intention to promote their products and make themselves look good?

Well, some columnist are not exactly chosen or hired by these newspaper companies, but the space was bought by columnists in question so they could use the space to express whatever they like, including advertising their products. Some, on the other hand, pestered the editors to give them some space til the editors get sick of it and give in to them.

I’ve dealt with that sort of people, and it’s funny sometimes that they are so persuasive that I barely can hold in my laughter. Well…such things speaks volumes, actually.

Weak editors who allowed such people to get into their pants is the caused why the newspaper in question lacks quality control. God, sometimes I just wish they could just use the advertisement section instead of columns. They have advertisement space for some reason, you know? Why do you want to cheat people and mislead the readers?

Anyway, I’m straying.I’m just so pissed, so bear with me. Those not so bright people are asking me to reconsider working with them again. 🙁 It upset me, cuz the environment is not for me as I’ve always believe that capable people does not need to do many things to get themselves noticed. Besides, I am happy freelancing for an international magazine right now. Why would I want to go for domestic while I can go international is beyond me. 🙁

I have always believed in that, even as a young child that capable people does not need to do many things to get themselves noticed. And that is why, when I grew up, I try to maintain a low profile, cuz for what it’s worth, being famous is damn easy. If I really want it…nobody could stop me.

Anyway, as of late, I’ve discovered something that I never suspected before. These attention seeking whore are actually mentally ill. Medically speaking. Yes, there is such sickness.  It’s a terrible illness known as Munchausen Syndrome.

Munchausen Syndrome is an attention-seeking personality disorder which is more common than statistics suggest. Munchausen Syndrome, named after a German soldier renowned for exaggerated tales, is a predominantly female disorder in which an emotionally immature person with narcissistic tendencies, low self-esteem and a fragile ego has an overwhelming need to draw attention to herself and to be the center of attention.

In Munchausen Syndrome, this is achieved by capitalizing on, exploiting, exaggerating or feigning illness or injury or personal misfortune. The opportunities for being center of attention can be increased if feigning victimhood through alleged victimization, isolation, exclusion or persecution is added to the equation; the Munchausen person can then depict another person (often a family member or friend) as a victimizer or persecutor and herself as the victim.

Presenting herself as a false victim is also a Munchausen trait. Apart from that, they would also do whatever it takes to be in the center of attention, including lying and using people around them to get attention. They would also, stoop as low as to using children to gain attention and achieve their goals. Terrible, right?

God, I wish I knew about this earlier… that all these while, I’ve been dealing with some terrible psychopath in need of professional help. It would have saved me from wasting my breath and attention each time they do nonsense.

I was told that to deal with these sort of people… with such disorder is just to ignore them. That is the best way to get rid of them. Never ever give them the satisfaction of being in the center of attention, because they never stop, and will never stop. They might not realize that they are doing it, but it will continue til they realize that they are in need of special care and attention from psychologist.

I’m sorry for the misleading title. I don’t have exact solution on how to get rid of attention seeking whores who are constantly getting on your nerves, but the next time they step on your tail, you could mention about this illness to them, and tell them to get some professional help.

Cleffairy: Do you have such tendencies? Please get professional help so that you can get rid of your Munchausen Syndrome and spare me the misery of dealing with you!

Continue Reading

Get your free books with Booksneeze



This is not a paid post, but rather something that I’d like to share with you bookworms out there.

If you are a blogger and enjoy reviewing books, you might want to check out this website known as Booksneeze. They will send you free books in exchange of honest review on your blog.

Yes, no catch. Sign up for their reviewer program, request for a book, write a review when the book arrived, and you get to keep the book. Sounds fair? It sounded fair to me. Besides, I get to request more books after each review is done.  I’m not talking about just one time deal over here.

For what it’s worth, I’m quite a hardcore bookworm who practically read for myself to sleep and I buy books more often than I buy my clothes, so getting free books in exchange of an honest review sounds really good to me.

How about you guys? Are you an avid reader? I read an average of 2-3 books/full length novels per week and my personal library is. How many books do you read per week?


Cleffairy: If you’re a blogger and yet not quite a bookworm or a Scrooge, I think Booksneeze is a good place to start a good reading habit.

Continue Reading

Never meant to be…

Mother’s Day Special.

I am not designed to be a good mother. I guess, I never would be, because I’m not the sort of mother who would coddle her child all the time, and sacrifice everything and ditch my life to be with my child 24/7 just because I cannot get a hang on separation anxiety.

I have been told many times that I could appear heartless and somewhat cruel when it comes to raising my own flesh and blood, and I have never portrayed myself as a good mother. They call me all sort of things, and I distantly hear from people that I don’t know how to take care of my own child. (Oh…I think some people needs to look at themselves in the mirror. You judge me in 10 or 15 more years, all right? If my brat didn’t end up smoking, playing truant and mixing with some school gangster by the age of 15, that would mean you are the bad mum, not me, cuz unlike you, I actually manage to stop mine from turning into some bad shit and needs some knock on the head by someone else when he’s older.)

Anyway, I think some people are right about me. Absolutely right. I’m not a good mother in many ways. Because I’m not the kind of typical mother who would help her kid to stand up when he fall and scrape his knees, even when he begged me to help him up. I wouldn’t offer comfort. No. Would never offer him comfort and tell him I’ll always be there for him each time he fall, because it’s a blatant lie.

I would do nothing of that sort. When a child fell down, I would tell him to get up on his own because I wouldn’t be around forever to help him back on his feet each and every time he falls. But of course, I will applaud his effort and his success when he managed to stand up on his own and tell him how proud I am to see him do that on his own.

The child in question, might hate me for this, but he will thank me for it some day, because by not being a good mother along the way, I taught him something valuable, that one ought to stand up on his own each time they fall, because not everyone would help them and be there for them when they fall. Falling down is a part of growing up, and growing old. People don’t just fall down when they’re young. People stumble every now and then til they breathe their last. A child need to be taught the value of staying strong and persevere through life’s challenges.

I am also, not the kind of mother who would tackle things delicately. If a child ask me where do babies come from or how babies are born, they would probably regret it. I wouldn’t be explaining about it with the metaphor or birds and the bees or even storks carrying babies in their beaks, but I’ll let the child in question watch Cesarean section being performed instead. That ought to shut them up til they are old enough to understand what sex is all about and how babies are made. My dad did that to me when I was 5. And I was horrified enough to never ask him again about it ever again. After that I discovered the wonderful world of Harlequin and Mills and Boon it explained sex and intimacies to me when I was 12. Nature takes it’s course, I supposed.

I’ll never be a perfect and wonderful mother who lock their children’s mind and body in an invincible tower like what the evil witch did to Rapunzel. Or keep what could harm their body and mind away from them like what Sleeping Beauty mum and dad did just because I thought the world is a bad place or a spinning wheel could prick the child to death. Children needs to be exposed or told what’s dangerous for them so that they could learn how to handle certain issues properly. Children needs to see that the world is not a perfect place where everything would go their ways. If a child I kept in his own sweet little world where everything is perfectly prepared for them, how could they know, that the world is a nasty place? Gosh, maybe I’m wrong. I didn;t protect my child like typical mothers did. Perhaps I should just lock up my brat in some stupid tower and wait for some ding-a-ling smoochey smoochey princess to save him and free him from the tower so that I could be the goodie goodie and the in and popular mum? *snort* Nah, maybe not. That’s not me. Not hypocrite enough to pretend that I’m such an angel when I’m not.

I’m also, a badass of a mum. When I still had all the time in the world back then, I used to bring my brat to the orphanage back where they also cater all sort of children from all sort of background, just so that I could let my brat see how fortunate he is to have meals on his table and a roof over his head. I showed him reality, and taught him not to scorn those who were not as blessed as he is.

I taught him not to discriminate those who are less fortunate than him. Oh yes. I am a bad mum, cuz I let him mingle with ‘troubled’ children. And yeah, not to mention the gross thing I did to my brat when he was disgusted with disabled children with no leg. I told him, God could easily take his legs away from him, and instead of shying away from people who are less fortunate, he ought to learn to treasure what he have and use his legs for good before God decided that he is unfit for it and take it away from him.

Oh, yes… I’ll never be the Mother of the Year material. I am not designed for that. But for what it’s worth, I think I’m somewhat an OK teacher. I’m not hypocrite enough to adopt that as a profession and yet scorned the children for not being a perfect being. I just accept them for who they are, and what they are not though sometimes, I can be such a harsh task master.

Cleffairy: I am evil. Who in the Hell told you that I am sweet and kind? They are sorely mistaken. By the time I turn good, that would mean the world has come to an end. And by the way, only with darkness… lights will shine.

Continue Reading

My Sister’s Keeper

I’ve been curling up with a few good books as of late. Smallkucing and Manglish recommended this book, entitled My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult.

More or less, I knew the story of the said book. Bookworms everywhere have been talking about it, and they gave thumbs up for the story spun by the author.

It’s a sob story, and I didn’t bother reading it when it was a hot item and the in thing cuz I knew I would be a sobby mess after reading it, but I’m afraid, I finally gave it after reading it’s review by Manglish.

All right, My Sister’s Keeper  novel written by Jodi Picoult. It tells the story of 13-year-old Anna, who sues her parents for medical emancipation when she is expected to donate a kidney to her sister Kate, who is dying from leukemia.

Anna was conceived through in vitro fertilization to be a donor who could save Kate’s life. So practically, she was engineered to be Kate’s spare parts by her parents.

When she was born, her parents initially use Anna’s umbilical cord blood to treat Kate, and continue to use Anna as a donor for other bodily substances as Kate cycles through remission and relapse over the years.

Anna is usually willing to donate whatever Kate needs – blood, bone marrow – but a kidney transplant would be a major surgery for not only Kate, but Anna as well.

As much as Anna loves her sister, she began to think that it is time for her parents to stop harvesting organs from her for her sister’s sake. Anna then make a petitions for medical emancipation so that she will be able to make her own decision concerning donating a kidney to Kate, who is experiencing renal failure.

Sara, her mother, is an ex-lawyer and decides to represent herself and her husband in the lawsuit. She selfishly attempts to convince Anna to drop the suit and insist that Anna give up her kidney for her sister’s sake, but Anna refuses to do so.

This book promises surprises and unexpected turns. Quite a good read if you have the time to really sit and enjoy it. While many people would give a rating of 10/10 for the book, I’m afraid, I would only give a 4 out of it.

Why? Well, it’s simply it is not good enough for me, and from an author’s point of view, I feel that though this book have a great storyline and plot, the book tend to confuse the reader with too many point of view. When I started to read the book, I was annoyed that the author kept changing point of views, and I would have to say, her creative attempts annoyed me more than touched me. Each characters in the story took turns to describe events and etc.

I sort of get a headache while reading this book and I found it hard for me stay focus on the issues that the author tries to bring out in the open. It would have been a really good read to me if it’s only told in one point of view. I felt that the emotional part could have been expressed better if the author concentrate it on only one point of view instead of giving the limelight to every single characters in her story.

Anyway, the Hollywood made a movie out of this. If you’re not into books, you might want to have a look at the movie. Watch the trailer below.

Anyway, I have an ebook copy of this book. If you are interested to read this book and have yet to get your own copy, you can email me at cleffairy@gmail.com for a a pdf copy of this book, and I will send it to you as soon as I can.

Cleffairy: I’m not a hypocrite person. I wouldn’t pretend that something is good when I think it is not.

Continue Reading

Take back our country from right-wing tabloids



I attended an event last Sunday in conjunction of the Press Freedom Day, but I took no pictures because it was a forum/discussion for practicing and non-practicing journalists, and I was too engrossed ith the discussion to even snap any pictures. 😀 This is a rather outdated post, but please, allow me to share this with you:

The right-wing press, especially mainstream newspapers, are spreading lies, hate and thinly veiled racism to make people angry at their chosen scapegoats.

They…

  • Create mass hysteria about child abuse then claim children are allowed to run wild because teachers and parents aren’t allowed to control them – because they’d be accused of child abuse.
  • Misrepresent statistics to have the public under the illusion that everything is all right. Eg: Oil price, economical development.
  • Lie about political refugee and immigrants to stoke racial tensions that they claim immigration causes.
  • Use emotive language to spin articles to their agenda and write about alleged crimes as if they are guilty until proven innocent.
  • Use emotive language to stoke racial tension.
  • Claim to be environmental but side with big business that undermines the Mother Nature.
  • Being politically biased, and reported lies instead of truth, just because they’re under pressure.
  • Etcetera.

What could we do to make the public see this?

For years cigarette packets have come with health warnings, it’s about time some of the local mainstream newspaper came with similar warnings.

You can print these out onto A4 self-adhesive label sheets (available from your local stationers) to stick to the front of the newspaper in question and spread the word.

Sticker downloads

Cleffairy: The reason why I quit being a journalist is that I was forced to report lies. I worked in one of Malaysia favourite mainstream newspaper before, and yet, the newspaper body itself lacks quality and the editors were always under pressure from you-know-who. If I were to work for such newspaper, I’m better off working for a tabloid.

Continue Reading

My annual bragging rights…



I’m back, I guess, from a not so long MIA, and you read it right. I’ve earned my annual bragging rights. Manglish posted up his bragging the other day, and now it is my turn, since I’m kinda back from my MIA. Hahahahaha… what? You can’t seriously thought I’ll opt out of my little fun, do you? LOL… here goes…

EXT. SCRIPT FRENZY STADIUM – 30 DAYS LATER

THE YOUNG WRITER thunders toward the finish line, manuscript under arm.

The writer sneaks an over-the-shoulder glance and sees DOUBT, FRUSTRATION, and FATIGUE fade into the distance.

They turn back toward the finish line too late to avoid a BLOCK laying in the way.

The writer leaps over the block, but TRIPS.

MANUSCRIPT PAGES flutter in the air as the writer CRASHES to the ground.

Doubt, frustration, and fatigue nearly close the gap.

But the writer CRAWLS toward the FINISH LINE, and with a final push, LOBS one RAZOR-SHARP PAGE through the FINISH-LINE TAPE:

FADE TO BLACK

LOL… hey… I don’t brag or show off often. I don’t even plaster my ugly face on the net for people to see. So I guess, this is the closest I can get to showing off. It’s only once… or twice a year. LOL…In case you people have no idea what in the world I’m talking about.. kindly bear with me while I boast some more.

Before one of you tells me off and ask me to admit myself to an asylum, this entry is about winning/completing Scriptfrenzy. 😀 I did it, I did it! Yes, yes, yes! I did it. I wrote not only one script, but two completed scripts in 30 days!

It’s amazing that I was disciplined enough to do it. 😀 I guess my teachers back in school was right about me. I can achieve anything I want as long as I put my head and my heart into it. It is just too bad that I wasn’t motivated enough when I was a student, though, or I would have ended up being a highly respected scholar today. 😀

I didn’t win any money for winning Scriptfrenzy, but I’m definitely satisfied with the outcome cuz it boosts up my confidence and motivates me tremendously. I also made many friends of all age along the way while working my butt on two of my scripts. 😀 It doesn’t hurt at all too that I earned 2 more cert to mark my achievements as well.

One cert for the  adult Scriptfrenzy Program. This one is for the script with the working title ‘A Jar of Love’.

And another cert was conferred for the script that I wrote for the Script Frenzy Young Writer Program, ‘A Thousand Paper Stars’ as an educator.

I’ve hosted a couple of online as well as offline write ins, and as Malaysia region Municipal Liaison, I’d like to thank you for coming and participating in those write ins. You guys really rocks. And I’d like to thank parents who allowed their kids to participate as well. Without your moral support, none of us would pull it through. Thank you very much everyone, for making the crazy literary event a huge success. I’ll see you guys next year, all right? 😀

Cleffairy: Nothing is impossible. Even in the word impossible, there’s IM POSSIBLE in it. 😀 Anyway, did you know that being a writer is like being in charge of your very own personal asylum? LOL… it’s just bizarre, in a good way. 😀

Continue Reading

It’s interesting to note…

This… have a look at this. It’s something that I learned while I was writing away today.


Cleffairy: The moral here is, folks, it is all right not to be perfect and make mistakes, as long as you learn not to make the same mistake twice. We’re just human, after all.

Continue Reading

It’s interesting to note…

This… have a look at this. It’s something that I learned while I was writing away today.


Cleffairy: The moral here is, folks, it is all right not to be perfect and make mistakes, as long as you learn not to make the same mistake twice. We’re just human, after all.

Continue Reading

It’s interesting to note…

This… have a look at this. It’s something that I learned while I was writing away today.


Cleffairy: The moral here is, folks, it is all right not to be perfect and make mistakes, as long as you learn not to make the same mistake twice. We’re just human, after all.

Continue Reading