Marsha Maung: I write. I love. I live

  2020 was one-of-a-kind. It presented us with a whole load of firsts. The first time anyone was ever ordered to work from home. The first time, cash is rendered dangerous. The first time I bought eggs online. The first time I got delirious at everybody (anybody) within earshot about not being allowed out of the house. It was also the first time the family ever had a birthday celebration via app. Now, my parents are not very tech-savvy people and my dad, he's the more tech-savvy one between the two, and the app he chooses to master for everything from texting, calling to videoconferencing was Whatsapp. So, while I may video conference people at work with Teams, Zoom, Slack, or Meet, with my parents, we do it with the laggy Whatsapp. We got a bit of a break from this lock-down hullabaloo between the end of 2020 to the middle of 2021 where the noose was loosened by our Malaysian government. With hopes of the vaccine coming in, we were in kind of a happy mood that we were finally allo...

Like every other parent, especially Asians (I am not a bigot because I am, after all, also Asian, so let me just be slightly jaded here), I signed my boys up for piano classes for years and years and years. I ferried them in and out of classes, pressured them to practice, paid the price for the expensive classes, and nothing came out of it.  Maybe it's me, maybe it's them, who knows?  I bought a piano (which I also loved and signed up for classes for) and I diligently tried to help them see the beauty of music. To no avail.  Later, Son 2 told me he had an interest in playing the guitar. Like a lightning bolt, we trudged through one music store to another, seeking out the right guitar. Bear in mind, I may know a thing or two about the piano, I know absolutely zilch about the guitar.  I had to take the word of the salesmen for what they were. So, we ended up with two guitars in the house...and no one playing them, gathering dust and absolutely unloved.  I signed S...

Let's do and keep this together, shall we? Image source:  Vonecia Carswell on Unsplash Here we go again...another close complete lockdown.  The good thing about Malaysia's MOH is that we are good at tiptoeing the line between being competent and being reckless. So, we're almost never completely ravaged by a Pandemic like the ones seen in other countries but we're also a little here-and-there-then-everywhere with our implementation.  It often leave the rest of us hooked onto the news for not just the latest announcements but also the latest changes of minds . There's good and bad in that.  As far as I can tell, most of my friends and family are reallyyyyyy up-to-date about the latest happenings around us.  So far, we've had some close encounters and since I am always in contact with frontliners, you could say that my awareness is always heightened. Plus, my immune system isn't what it was before and I have a sinus problem that scares the bejeezus out of ever...