Agora

Have you ever experienced leaving a place for many years and, upon your return, feel that you've never left? Unfortunately, it feels that I've been gone a long time from my home country, Malaysia. I feel some form of friction at the workplace, with the language, culture, sensibilities and norms. This is expected and what I perceive to be a natural process of re-acculturation and re-assimilation - re-settling myself into this place I call home . However, the stakes are a lot higher for me and I've got a set of goals for myself. I'll try to highlight one aspect per entry, so this post will be about the process of 're-learning' and 're-education' here in Malaysia. Having worked at a law firm for two months and now in a political party as a researcher, I've got some serious catching up to do in terms of catching up to speed with the pulse and current affairs of this nation. As I devour books, articles and writings that shed light on the many events t...

Sitting here in a deserted section of the study lounge, I'm feeling the urge to write about an interaction progressing and unfolding in front of me right now. At the risk of being offensive or politically incorrect (ala Alexandra Wallace from UCLA), I'm just going to say it here that this post is about someone whose culture I'm still trying to grasp and understand. Allow me to explain. I write to achieve an end, it's sort of unspoken, but when I write I'm usually trying to understand something better or to arrive at some sort of epiphany (there's my A. Wallace again). Anyway, here goes. A young Chinese girl, maybe 19, is seated about 5 feet away in front of me, long hair with blonde highlights (I think), sporting rimmed spectacles, clothed in a Star-patterned pink knit-sweater, blue jeans and fur Winter boots. That's her physical profile, but I'm honestly more interested in the activity she's engaging in. In between mouthfuls of Mcnuggets, she is h...

I've found it difficult to blog or write these days. This is partly due to a lack of inspiration, but it is mainly because I have come to realize that most of my thoughts are not developed fully enough for a coherent composition. If I'm to attempt a blog post, my ideas will come out as a string of disjointed sentences, not doing justice to the various shapes and textures of the issues which I'm grappling with currently. However, I've motivated myself to try and get some thoughts on paper, on this brand new canvas which is the New Year. New Place Settling into my new place was not without its difficulties. Fortunately, I had many friends who were kind enough to lend a helping hand, and I received a tremendous amount of support from them: labour, morale, Christmas gifts, cards, house-warming presents, sleeping bag (for the week without an actual bed or mattress) and so on. My landlord, Pin, is also a very accommodating individual who is efficient and tolerant, much of...

Having finished my last exam, I can finally breathe in some free and unburdened air. I must also now face the upcoming challenge of moving into my new apartment in Brooklyn, and this will be an entirely new experience for me, especially when it comes to furnishing or decorating my living space. More on that after the move. I will be away from home during the holidays for the first time, partly because of some commitments here in the city, and because airfare to Vancouver is not as affordable as I'd thought. I've only been away for 4 months, but I've only begun to realize how much I miss Vancouver and my parents. My mother's birthday was two days ago, December 13th. I dedicate this post to her because not being able to be with her reminds me not to take her for granted, and my experiences here have taught me to cherish my previously strained relationship with her. One morning about a week ago, I boarded the A express train as usual from Penn Station down to West 4t...

Three months in New York. I have not been away from home for a longer period of time. Much has happened this past month of November - the hurricane, power outages, the usual grind at school. I wrote a long post on post-Sandy blues but I have yet to retrieve it from my phone (penned it on a plane), will unveil it once I transfer it over, which is as simple as emailing it to myself, then copying and pasting it onto this box here. Maybe a short and light post to revive this blog is much preferred over a rather heavy reflection on post-hurricane devastation. As I enter my first law school finals period, much of the stress and workload has necessitated the need for me to step back from my books occasionally and just explore the city. Usually the biproduct of said explorations involve delightful conversations or interactions with strangers. Often, strangers would approach me when I'm sketching at a particularly scenic vantage point, overlooking the gleaming parapets of lofty skyscrap...

Having been here a month, I'd say that I've acculturated to the pace of life and have gotten into a comfortable routine. On weekdays, this involves catching the trains to school, sticking around after class to get some studying done and then hopping on the evening train back home. Sometimes, I'd opt to eat in the city instead of home, but this usually involves the company of friends or classmates. Otherwise, I'd much rather go home to rest, relax and read. Weekends are fun here in New York. One never runs out of things to do here especially on a Friday or Saturday night, the highlights so far are the bars in Williamsburg or Brooklyn, gallery hopping in Chelsea, eating out in Chinatown or just chillin' and having a meal or drink in the Village. Admittedly, I'm trying to cut down one expenditure so that means less alcohol and eating out. I've also been making full use of my membership at L.A. fitness, since the NYU recreation centre is a little too overcrowd...

It has been such a frantic week or so here. I'm writing this as I take a break from the copious amount of readings assigned in law school. A quick summary of what I've learnt so far (in general chronological occurence during a typical day) 1. Setting 3 alarms to wake up is efficient and effective 2. Showering the night before and laying out clothes for next morning allows me to reach the train station in 12-14 minutes, 15 minutes is cutting it. 3. The 7:52 am train is also a good option if you miss the 7:34 train in New Hyde Park. 4. When Penn Station-bound, sit in the last 2 cars of the LIRR so I'm closer to the 8th avenue ACE trains to West 4th Station. 5. Food portions are extremely large, so anything within $6.99 is very very adequate expenditure for my individual consumption. 6. Haggling has saved me upwards of $40 when riding cabs who don't charge by meter (outside of Manhattan). 7. Sit in the middle back rows of the class so I won't be called on ver...