Marsha Maung: I write. I love. I live

Sometimes, it's better to keep the bloody gob shut and just bear with any of those negative emotions some friends are giving you. When you know that someone is defensive and have an aggressive personality, isn't it better to just ' endure ' it? In the past, I am the kind of person with whom you won't want to eff around with, you know what I mean? I stand my ground and have my own personal opinion about things and if something wasn't right (or I felt it wasn't right) I would rattle my head off about it and the recipient may not stand a blinking chance in Hell of surviving or argue with me in that sense. But things are different now and I've become submissive. I rarely stand up for myself in the face of aggressive people unless I know that person well and know that he/she can take the shit. I mean, it's normal for people to have different feelings and ideas about things but it's another thing to step over that person all the time without consid...

Many parents should mortgage, re-mortgage and sell of properties just to get their kids through college. My parents did the same thing and in exchange for a law degree. With that, it’s natural for them to expect me to make something out of it. Hence, when I pounced on them with the news that “I am going to write for a living…on the Internet…not with a magazine, not with a newspaper, not with a renowned financial or law journal…but on the Internet”, my parents cried themselves to sleep every night for months on end. It’s natural for people to think that creative people are bound for the less-trodden hard-traveled road of poverty. Writing is a passion, as with acting, singing and painting. You’ll never and should never (according to some obscure, source-unknown folklore out there…it’s the X-files we’re talking about there) expect immediate return. If your writing brings you financial security, you better start thanking your lucky stars! Continue reading (Marshamaung.com - New Window)

Everyone’s got their very own ‘relax ritual’, right? And strangely and quite by accident, mine was ‘discovered’ one time when I had no where to sit to read a book. Do not underestimate the power of this little piece of foldable mattress because as far as relaxing is concerned, this is my palace…small as it may be. I could do a whole self foot reflexology here. I could file my nails or dream of caressing the bulging muscles of the hot bod of male model too. Piled with pillows and a soft (cheap) blanket I got from TESCO or something, I have everything I need to the side of this little corner, hidden behind the door. Perhaps because it’s hidden behind the door that sort of gives it the ‘I am out of the busy zone’ feeling. To my left, I have my bookshelves where all my favorite and yet-to-be-read books are. My DVDs are all there too together with my ‘yuck-yuck files’ (read: bills and statements). More importantly, to my right, there are piles of stuff that I could grab off the hook. For...

I consume books like crazy. MPH and Popular love me to bits because I spend an insane amount on money on books. Well, maybe you can challen me on that one lah. But not all the books that I buy are keepers. So, instead of putting up with the clutter, here's the answer to our shelving and storage problems. Malaysia Book Exchange is a (I think) new portal for book lovers who are just overloaded with books that they would rather do away with. Anyway, I've just started using it and don't have reviews on them but it looks pretty decent and well-organized. You can go check it out and maybe unload some of your books for a reasonable pricing. I would have recommended using eBay but eBay is so commercialized these days and they charge an exhorbitant amount of money and the selling process is complicated as hell, so....I say go for something more user-friendly and doesn't cost a bomb. The purpose of selling books is not to make money but make 'some' money so that we ...

I am not a Christian, but I believe in miracles. I think there are lies and false stories, but I would believe in inspiration. Whether this story is true or not, I would like to let it be. I've read it some time back before but I've forgotten it. So, when my aunt sent it to me, I read it and got goosebumps all over again. Whether you're a Christian, Buddhist, Muslim or a Taliban-ist, be touched (again) and let us be reminded that whatever it is, there is someone out there who's looking out for us. Click the file here . (It's PDF, by the way) It's actually quite lovely. BTW, at the end, it asks you to forward it to some of your friends and family members. I didn't do that because I HATE BEING SPAMMED and I only forward IMPORTANT things to my friends and family members. So, I didn't email it out. But posting it on my blog should be quite enough, don't you think? :-)

Once again, women are blamed for being raped, molested or taken advantage of . Sigh.... I am not alone in this. This guy here thinks like this and then there's this other guy here who thinks like this . This time it comes in the form of blaming the school uniform. What a load bull farking shite! Heylow.......!!!!!! When are they going to get it into their thick effing skull that women don't ask for rape and it's got nothing to do (maybe a little bit lah...let's be fair....but I'm talking about something along the lines of a bikini here) with the clothes they are wearing. I am sure most would agreee that the thin materials used for the school baju jurung and also the skin white top is a little bit....erm, revealing. But that's not their fault. Then deal with the balrdie material lah! But the issue is not that. The issue for me is that these people continue to put the blame on women and the clothes they wear - and continue to say that it's women's...

They don't call me blur for nothing....I didn't know, HONESTLY, didn't know that there was anything wrong with R. Kelly ! I thought he was behind the scene or decided to quit the entertainment business and all that, that was all. In fact, I didn't know that R. Kelly was in any way at all connected with Aaliyah , the young singer who died in a plane crash in Bahamas in 2001. Good Lawrd ! He makes Edison Chen look tame and sane. Sex with minors? *sigh* It just goes to show that life is all about the decisions that we make and the way we were brought up. Even if he had a shitty life as a child, he should be adult enough to make decisions for himself. Consider Timbaland for instance, I've not heard a bad thing about him. Not yet anyway and don't plan to anticipate one. I mean, everything I've heard about Timbaland are good things and although I hate to high heaven the song 'Beautiful Girls', I still think Sean Kingston is an amazingly intelligent and...

And people say that Internet fraud relating to credit card usage is on a rampant rise. Sure, we all know how easy it can be to just use another person’s credit card for online purchases but do you know that it’s just as easy to use it face to face? If you make a purchase using your credit card the next time, you should check if the sales person or the cashier even takes a glimpse of the signature and match it to the one of the card. I’ve got this debit card that I’ve been religiously using that I got from Public Bank. When I first got it, I couldn’t decide which signature I should use on the back of the card. Because of some confusion (screaming kids and naggy clients), I managed to get both signatures (I have two signatures, one official and shorter, the other fancier) on the card! I went like “ACK!!” The first time I wanted to use the card, I didn’t know what to do, so I came up with a long list of explanations that I could give the cashier when she asks me why it looks different ...

Some people ah....really... Ask me for favor, then don't update me wan!! Sheesh! I don't actually have to do it, you know and then this woman just don't care, don't care, don't update me or whatever when there's change, make me gelabah all the way only.... WTF lah, rite? Trouble me call her all the time, call her house, call handphone, call maid and ask whether tomorrow need me to 'perform favor' or not because never tell me anything wan. I tell you, starting to take me for granted liao. Summore her mother damn one kind, she knows my number what!! Dunno how to call me and tell me one. Everything also I organize for her (and her kid), might as well I become her mother lah. Super disorganized. I am hanging on a rope liao. If continue like this, I swear I am going to tell her off. No more Miss Nice Girl.... Marsha don't explode too often these days but when people treat me like SH, I also don't feel like giving face liao. She can take he...

When I was younger, badminton was a big part of my life. My father was a badminton coach, my brother was a big time badminton player….me and my sister, we could beat the shit out of grown men when we’re older. Now that we’re old, I don’t think I can beat the shit out of little men. But that’s beside the point. For the first time in a decade or so, we had a badminton gathering….of sorts. We played badminton together as a family…along with my kids and all….in a secluded ulu-ulu place in Damansara Perdana. Only two courts, splendid lighting, if you get my drift. But it was absolutely so fun. After the initial stage of the shuttle hitting the metal, missing shots, diving for shots that you cannot reach unless you move your feet, things got into a swing. I can’t believe my brother can still send a shuttle spearing through the air with his backhand. He didn’t even have to swing, bloody hell. All he had to do was flick his blardie wrist. I would have broken my back and arm to do that…pro...

Got a collection of photos (thanks to my cousin, Mandy) of Good Engrish, I suspect, taken mainly from China. And although it's not Monday and it's not a Monday Ha-Ha post, just couldn't resist this one. Remember, if anything bad were to happen to you, call the police.

“My mother has gone off again”, says this six-year-old girl who is a friend of my younger son. Out of generosity, I pick her up and send her back to and from school as a favor since she lived nearby. “Your father leh?” I asked. “Oh, he doesn’t come home anymore”, she says, nodding sadly. “What-?” “He lives in Singapore because he has to work there”, she explained. I nod but inside, I felt my heart clenching. During those times when this little girl’s mother has to go off on another trip (mostly to China) for work, one of their relatives would have to hold fort. She must have a high-flying position in the company and earn an obscene amount of money but strangely enough, I am not at all envious of her. You see, although the only place I can go in my career is from here to….here (?), I feel that my kids and me are a lucky bunch of people. We are together and we’re just happy that way, we’re stable and we’re just…you know, contented. We have enough dosh to keep us floating but not en...

Once upon a time, I thought having a stylus in one hand and PDA in another was a pretty cool sight. It seems to make the person look oh-so-important...poking into that machine thing in his/her hand. It's way cooler than punching in the keypad...the reason being....I was stupid. I am, therefore, now pretty convinced that some bunch of morons or money-hungry idiots are behind this whole stylus idea. If they were the kind of genuises that they so claim to be, why don't they create a type of stylus that is detachable and yet attached to the device. Something that forgetful folks (like yours truly here) and kids don't lose every so often. They're only creating a niche market for others to make money from us. I've lost or broken (don't ask me how) countless styluses....so many that I dare not count. My kids have their own Nintendo DS's and they come with the AMAZING stylus as well - and you know, kids being kids, they think styluses grow on trees. So, I've...

Yesterday was supposed to be a very relaxed day but for some reason, it was very stressful indeed. The only consolation I had was that I spent the evening eating dinner at my sis' and bro's place nearby. Cooked some char-siew and fish and headed over for our potluck-style dinner. Very yummy (since it's been some time I've eaten my mother's cooking) and relaxing in a lot of ways. I did not manage to escpade the cruel onslaught of work and housework...too bad. Not because I didn't want to but I couldn't. Shikes....I know. I shouldn't have. I should have learned how to say 'no way, Jose!' but.... Anyway, today is back to normal and catching up with the loads of work that was backlogged before. But relatively fine. But one thing, though....how come some people tend to think that I am so darn free and should be fine with the running around when I work from home. I just can't crack that nut over there, you know. It's like...they have a brok...

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there. I would like to congratulate you on the strength that you've been able to find to bring joy to the lives of those around you, for giving so unconditionally to those who loves you. To all you mothers, you are a pillar of strength when times are tough and the soft duvet that we can count on in times of need. Yet, mothers help make sense of the world, sometimes, when things go haywire. Mothers give a lot to the world in the form of dedication and love far beyond what men are capable of. Mothers, I salute you (in the process, I am saluting myself too :-)) and congratulate you for a job well done. No work on mother's day...just enjoy being pampered and being around those whose hearts think you are the world. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Don't you agree that it would be great if Blogger had this private posting option that only CERTAIN people can access with a password? I had a wordpress account earlier until the buggers there booted me out because some A**hole flagged one of my post as being politically laced....which it wasn't! Wordpress had such an option whereby you can mark the post as private and give it a password. If friends or family members wanted to access the private posts, they can email you for the password and you can pick and choose the 'applicants' lah... :-) But Blogger doesn't have...which is strange since it's bigger and supposedly better than wordpress. In all honesty, I think wordpress is a whole world better than blogger and I have no idea as to why people flog to blogger and not wordpress. wordpress is also far more flexible in that sense...that you can tweak the blog to the extent that it looks and feels completely like a website. You can have individual 'contact...

Maybe I am a little weird, but I dunno….ranting’s on the cards today. You see, I am a bit of a feminist. I might offend some women out there with my thoughts and ideas on the rights of women and where we should stand in the society, so please if you are woman who agrees with the following, don’t read. Your primary aim in life is to find THE RIGHT guy who can provide for you for life so that you can swipe his card and go shopping, high tea, and pedicure with your girl friends all day. You think that traveling on someone else’s account (especially if you’re an admirer of the opposite sex, regardless of relationship) is the greatest thing on the planet You can’t imagine wearing loafers to work You think that high heels are the greatest invention on the planet You think that chipped nails warrants suicide Going out without makeup is a big no-no Tornado, earthquakes and world starvation is less important than a sale While it would be great if a man pulls out a chair or opens the door for ...

“ So….when are you going to try to pop another one, a girl this time to complete the package ?” someone asked me earlier during a family gathering. I choked on the heated reply boiling on top of my head and managed to cringe politely. “ No, no. No thanks. Close shop indefinitely. Tutup kedai ”, I answered. I don’t know what it is with people. When you have two of a kind, people look at you and have the tendency to suggest that you pop another loaf out to ‘complete the package’. There’s nothing to complete. A family is not a package. To have 2-of-the-same-kind is pretty much the same as having 1-of-each-kind, don’t you think? In case you’re STILL wondering what I am yapping on about here today, it’s about having both sexes for kids. I have lots of friends who have one child (of, apparently, one sex ) and two or three kids of the same sex and they have related to me the same predicament. Every family gathering or friendly meeting yields the same result…people would be asking you (if...

Each of our five senses have a role to play in changing our moods. For instance, when I wake up early in the morning, I hate to hear the traffic outside....I live near a school and many insane (and possibly sleepy) parents like to blare their horn freely. That affects my mood so I shut all windows and doors when I wake up in the morning. I hate to, also, see people treating other people badly. I hate to see kids stranded. I hate to see dogs being run over. That affects me. On the other hand, I love to see greens and flowers. (Typical, I know!) And music affects me just as much. It's a well-known fact that music and sound, for that matter, can change your mood from 'Hallelujah' to 'WTF?' in a matter of a nanosecond. But what affects my mood the most is....smell and touch. That explains why I am obssessed with aromatherapy (July is my birthday, for your info! Hee hee hee....), perfume and softtener (yes, yes...the laundry one). I don't wash my clothes WITH...