Funding children's education

"Kitai ke apai-indai enda tau enda nyimpan duit ke anak kitai ngambi ke maia sida ke deka nurun sekula ke tinggi, kitai udah bisi duit kena nurun ke sida." Ya..ya..ya..easier said than done.
(We, as parents should save money for our children's education,so that by the time they go for their tertiary education,there's money for us to send them.)
"Simpan duit ba ASB,meli education insurance ke anak ke baru ada,ngambi ke apai indai enda kalat-kalat,begisai-gisai maia ke deka beguna ke duit nyengula ke sida iya."
(Save money in ASB,buy education insurance policy for your newborn baby,so that when the time comes for them to need the money for education, parents would not 'scratch here & there', going to a dead end road,so to speak.)
I'm merely repeating what some politicians or education motivators always said when they're asked to motivate students & parents be it in town areas or in the rural areas.
We did just that & we could send gay to Australia with D's insurance policy which he bought when we first got married. After 20 years,the policy matured but it was only enough to cover the 1st year fees,accomodation,food & misc expenses. Then for the 2nd & 3rd year fees & expenses, D had to sell his shares which he loaned.That year saw the exchange rate for $AUD 1 going at RM3.05. When she first went there,it was RM1.90 to $AUD1. Praise God,Berjaya Group of Companies funded her last semester's fees when she did training at their company. So..finished lah,the money.The savings was only good for one person.None left for my son to study overseas which he longs to do.I can sense the frustration,the disappointment & the let down. Still waiting patiently for the "second wave of development' as the politicians say, to drop at our laps,then & only then,we can talk. Son,if it's God's will,....................................
Every set of parents knows what to do & best for their children but there's just isn't enough money to go around,let alone,save. I always shared with si Kurus & si Pendek about saving money while their children are still small because once they have completed SPM, there's no chance for them to do any more savings as then that would be 'spending' time.Their answer was "No money to save except buy education insurance because this is forced savings."
A few friends take the ASB loan schemes and they can save but this works if you have a steady monthly income to pay the loan. This method,I find, is better than the insurance policy because if you cannot pay at the end, one can still get the money back, of course, minus some misc charges.
This is just sharing on how some parents save money to send their children for tertiary education. If you have any other way besides the obscene monthly income you get,please share with us.

It's tamu time!

Friday,16th Nov

It's Friday, again! if you are in Miri, do come and visit this pasar tamu ujung minggu.

Forgetfulness.....happens to old & young alike.

Joe,trying hard to remember the code to open his bag.

"Aiyaaaa!!! I forget the numbers to open my luggage bag."said Joe. This happened while helping Joe to pack his stuff 2 days before he left for England;can't remember whether it was Nelly,Ceceilia or I who closed the bag so that we could put the bag on my weighing scales just to make sure it was not overweight.(BTW,the bag was way overweight..we packed,unpacked & repacked,even on the morning he left,about 5am,Joe sms to me,saying that he had not finished packing...2 or 3 boxes yet to be sealed. Okay..okay..I'm coming,I replied. With a plastic bag containing cellotapes,scissors,etc., the work was done in a jiffy...was it really?)) Joe even called his mum asking her if she knew the code.None of us knew what to do,so the bag was left locked for a night until we could find a solution. Then Joe sms to me saying that somebody at the pasar ikan could unlock the bag. So off we went, taking the locked bag to the locksmith. We didn't go to the one at pasar ikan,we went instead to the one near to Fortuna Kedai Kopi. The locksmith fiddled with the lock and within a few seconds he asked whether '---' mean anything. Oh ya...my birthday & house number,he said. Despite all the drama,without fail,we had time for kopi and roti kahwin (toast with butter egg jam/kaya). Be Happy, lah! Don't worry.!

God's Creation - A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever

Friday,16th November,2007.

Bay Watch..where's Pamela Anderson? or Bare watch OOOppss..sorry..David hasselhof(?..that hunk of a guy)

Keeping the beach clean

The 'calm' before the storm.

The 'local' xmas trees. In the 60s til late 70s before China thought of making the plastic xmas trees, Miri people had these trees as their xmas trees.They went to the beach near Lutong or Kuala Baram & 'chopped' the trees. There were plenty,then.They put cut colour papers,plenty of cotton wool to make them look like it's snowing in equatorial Miri & not forgetting the balloons and lights. I love the smell of the leaves the day after when one places the tree in the living room. Almost every Christian family in good old LOS KOMPENI as pronounced by the residents of the lodges (company lodges built by Shell for their employees),Lutong had the standard xmas tree. Oh,by the way,this xmas tree is called the casuarina tree. Those were the days......my friends..da..da..da..la.la.lla..

Millionaires' Row,Luak Bay

Mang sms(ed) me yesterday asking whether I'd done my homework,i.e. to snap pictures of Miri for her daughter,Kristen. You see, Kristen's been selected to spend 2 months in Spain under some Students' Exchange programme(something like that). Her mum said that she's required to do a presentation about life in M'sia,so that's where I come in,taking pictures which I haven't done successfully because my co-pilot doesn't really know how to 'click' my camera. I can't take photo and at the same time drive so, I have to wait until I can get somebody to drive while I take the pictures.
Ala Spanish villa..saw Ini orang putih having her siesta when I took this photo. (Top) 16 Nov

One of the mansions in Luak Bay.

This is just the fencing of the owner of 'that' hypermarket in Miri.


Playground a Taman Selera,Brighton Road.

A rundown wooden house.

Taman Selera







supposed to be Marriot Hotel taken by co-pilot

House for Sale

Jumau, aku bisi muai minyak ke Luak Bay lalu tepeda ke rumah baru tu for sale. Enlarge nuan gambar tu,bisi phone number sida dia. Manah ndar Lot number,288..manah feng shui. Sepiak rumah tu,rumah kawan nuan,Jane...bedau pindah. Sema ti nuan meli tu,ngena coastal road ari BTU,datai tikau,munyi ko sapa(?)

Why is my blog mainly in English ?

My blog is mainly in English because Joe a.k.a. Joseph Charles Willits reads my blog and even though he knows how to speak Iban,there would be quite a bit that he would not be able to understand. That's one reason..the other is that,after years & years of being a housewife,a seasoned 'kopi shop' regular & the circle of friends I hang out with,my spoken & written English has gone down the drain. It is a pity,really, to have forgotten how to spell certain words without referring to the dictionary or click to the abc icon on the computer to check the spellings. Most times I am 'lost' for words. Years ago,I thought in "English", like, when I wanted to say a little prayer,words in English flowed unceasingly. Now,I think in "Iban" even though I still struggle when I have to put my prayers in Iban and I always find difficulty in translating the prayer points from the pew news as I do the Intercessory Prayer during the Iban service because my Iban is sub-standard,according to my tutor,my critic & my husband.
I blog because I want to 'exercise' my memory. Of late, I have been so forgetful, like, I do not remember what I did a few hours ago,like,did I remember to switch off the lights, did I turn off the gas knobs,you know, things like that. BUT if you were to ask me about my childhood, things that happened in my early years,I can still remember most happenings but not all of them. I'd be lying if I said I could remember all. That's why I have the "AS TIME GOES BY" series. HmmHmm! OK you guys see you later! (to quote Florence....American accent,pls)

Sinu Ngenang (As Time Goes By) Part 6

Pictures taken in 2000..ya,here we come carolling...& choirs from both Anglican churches came for our 20th wedding anniversary gathering on 20th December.
a much younger & slimmer Fr. Edward,full haired Rayang,Voon & Fr. Ugas & SD Noel

Irene Ugas,Ayang& mum,Shirley Damu & Rose

Deacon Damu,Patrick Labon & Fr.Kendu

Deacon Damu,Fr.Stanley,Edward & SD Roland



St. Columba's choir

Good shepherd's Carollers Very soon,it's carolling time again. St. Columba's will start carolling from 3rd Dec..so get ready,folks to welcome the carollers.

ATTENTION! may I have your attention,Air Asia & MAS,please?

Yes, Tony & Idris, may I have your attention,please? PLEASE x1000000000
Could you people explain to us Miri folks why the Miri - Kuala Lumpur sector is so 'o bladi o blada' expensive?EXORBITANT!! MAHAL!!MAR!!What National Integration? Looks more like National Dis -integration!(correct?) It seems cheaper to fly from other sectors and not this particular sector. Do you see $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ in the Mirians? No, no,no, not all of us have our tickets paid for by the various oil & gas companies or timber companies that do business in Miri. There are still poor folks around,you know. It is so ridiculous that a single journey last week from Miri to KL cost RM600 using MAS. This week and next week, a lot of Mirians will be going to KL for their children's UiTM convocation. Some had been 'hunting' for super savers but could not get any so they had to resort to getting from "Now nobody can fly" which were as expensive. And then,out of the blue, last Monday week,MAS offered super savers and some managed to get the seats. Of course,those who have had already got their tickets had 'smoke' coming from their ears when they heard some of their friends who had no plans to go to KL got the super savers' fares. I have friends who're LIVID, fuming mad at such unfairness. That friend cancelled her trip to KL because she had to pay more than @RM3K for 2 adults & 2 children for the Miri - KL _ Kch _ Miri sector. Yes, NOT FAIR, so said Tim or was it Atan who said that?I heard the news report that about 50% of airlines in Europe 9or is it the world) mislead people with their sale gimmicks. At the end of the day,the fares are NOT that cheap as they claim to be.