Marsha Maung: I write. I love. I live

For the first time, I am feeling like 40% patriotic about the coming National Independence Day tomorrow. What's my normal level for the past 40-odd years? About 0% ? 👀 Yeah, even when they made us recite the Rukun Tetangga every morning, sing the National Anthem, practise the darn marching parade thinghy for National Day, I wouldn't say I am the most Malaysian person out there. 😂 This year, although much like other years before this, is a little different. There's a little bit more hope, and I dare say the same for many other Malaysians who are now celebrating Malaysia's Independence Day for the first time under a new government. We don't expect everything to work like a well-oiled AI machine. It's not perfect but for the first time since Independence, we have a group of new people coming in for a makeover . Sort of. I don't have my hopes up very high because nothing's written in stone that Malaysia's going to be miraculously different overni...

I try to be nice as much as I can with strangers but sometimes, the world does not roll things out the way you want them to. Strangers can sometimes be the biggest asses. ' But still, try to be nice' , says the nice Angel sitting on my right shoulder. ' Bitch back' , scolds the evil Devil perched on my left. What we do to others is our business. What they do to us is theirs. We must realize how ridiculous all this worrying is. Being entirely dependent on others to experience  self-worth  is not healthy. There’s no point in being a  people pleaser  - 10 Brutal Truths about Life (Ideapod) I've stopped being dependent on what others think of what I do, not because I have become a decrepit, old geezer (woman-version, of course), sitting on my rocking chair being jaded and bitter about life experiences, nor have I become an anti-social hermit hiding from the world. I will have to put the boots on the ground to get things done around here. I've sat down wit...

This is an extremely tough topic for me. Do you know how long this "draft" has been sitting here? Ages. It's been like, maybe, 7 years? First off, we've all thought about it when we hit what we deem rock bottom. If you have never, you're really #soblessed and I am so happy for you. But if you have, you'd know that the topic challenges the best writer, singer, composer, artist when they're trying to depict it. If they were honest about it. Because I know for a fact that at one point in our lives, we have been suicidal or have known someone struggling with these thoughts. One in five people struggle with mental health issues - The Mighty I wanted to explain the feeling again when I heard of  Anthony Bourdain's suicide  but I never got around to it because much of me was still grappling with the why. The word "tragedy" has never been a bigger understatement. His and Kate Spade's deaths catapulted the world head-first into a vortex that ...

What a birthday means to me is now like a benchmark or a notch. Something you proudly mark against a timeline of goals. It's no longer about a flawless, graceful sunrise to greet you in the morning, a compendium of activities and a luminary of "important" people streaming in and out of your everyday life showering you with expensive gifts and glowing compliments, or a night buoyed by champagne, caviar, and limousine rides. You'll soon (I think it's around the age of 35 - lol) stop counting the number of years you've lived; when a friend asks you, ' So, how old are you ?', you actually scratch your head, pull out your smartphone's calculator and start punching in " 2018- XXXX = " Oh shit . 😅😅😅😂😂😂 I think it's more important to fill your day with the simple recognition that you've come so far past life's obstacle courses, mazes, and mirrored walls, and congratulate yourself on a job well done. That's why it...