Sunday, March 16, 2008

The Malaysian Elections '08: A Reflection on Malaysia and its Racial Policies and Problems .....

So, as all Malaysians would be aware by now the Opposition (made up of PAS, PKR, DAP) have swept through the elections winning 5 states (Penang, Kedah,Perak,Selangor,Kelantan,and the Federal Territory of KL) crushing the BN's 2/3 majority in Parliament. To be frank, i wasn't interested in the elections at all given how its usually a ''show election' whereby the government (whom has been in power since 1957) inevitably comes back to power with a 90% hold of the Parliament...the Opposition, namely, the Islamic Party of PAS has only managed to clinch Kelantan and once Terrenganu and thats it....so it was really political history being made in Malaysia when the Opposition managed to take over 5 states including ALL the urban states and the most developed ones like Penang, Selangor, and even the capital city KL. It must have been a huge blow to the government as they've never lost so much support and so many states, despite still being able to retain power, in 50 yrs of Malaysia's independence....it gave me hope of signs of 'real democracy' being in practice for the first time in Malaysia as Malaysian elections are well known for their vote rigging and shady practices which consistently ensure that the government comes back to power.

Many reasons have been forwarded for the election devastation for the government but the single most agreed on reason is that the government lost the support of Chinese and Indian minorities (whom form 32% whilst malays make up 60% of the population)....I was very proud of Malaysia until late last yr when it suddenly hit me that Malaysia had really racist policies, and the minorities voted in protest against these racist policies which priviledge the Malay majority over the minorities.. u see, many people would say, how can i just realise that these policies are unfair when i knew and heard complaints about them before already? Well, the thing is, the policies never affected me or my family or indeed many of my relatives and friends...i led quite a semi-expat life in Penang and after leaving, obviously the racist policies wouldn't affect me cos i only went bck for holidays....my schoolmates were all expats or malaysians with money and foreign connections and so obviously it didn't affect them, my family was middle class and so like most malaysian chinese could afford to send their children to private colleges or overseas, my mother's friends were mostly rich(this is a slight diversion, but i got to visit their rich huge bungalows again during this CNY period for open-house, omg, its great to be rich!!), sending their children overseas for studies and being able to buy property without the 7% discount which is awarded to ALL Malays regardless of their economic status and denied to ALL ethnic Chinese and Indians again regardless of whether they were poor or otherwise...and my father's income is from overseas so once again the NEP policies of giving all government contracts to Malay businesses and quotas for Malay ownership in private business doesn't affect my dad....

But last yr, I started to hear about the Lina Joy controversy, the Indian-Muslim controversy, the Lingam controversy and the Indian mass rallies and it sort of jolted me from my rosy view of the place, Malaysia, which i called home....haha, u can see my August post last yr and it was still all rosy and complimentary of Malaysia (the Independence/Merdeka post i did in Aug 2007-check the archives) but then within a couple of mths i became very anti-BN and the racist NEP Malay Preferential policy which is simply Apartheid-Version 2008!!

Malaysians would be familiar with this policy but for those who don't, it would come as a huge shock to you that the lovely tourist destination of Malaysia is actually a nation under an apartheid system, ala updated for the new millenium. This means there is an OFFICIAL policy of positive discrimination for the MAJORITY race, being the Malays, and negative discrimination against the MINORITY races, being made up of mainly Chinese and Indians. This means there is an official government policy of giving 7% discounts on all property purchases to Malays, none for Chinese and Indians regardless of if u r dirt poor...quotas for places in university meaning entry to university is not based on merit in malaysia but on racial skin colour with disproportionately huge quotas reserved for malays meaning many chinese and indians either have to fork out money to attend private institutions or leave to study overseas, i;ve heard and my mother personally knows someone's relative who marks university entrance exams and being told to 'add marks' for students of Malay ethnicity to ensure they don't fail subjects or have enough marks to get into a particular course...for instance, the chinese press oftens prints stories of how chinese students with 7 As in their final entrance exams don't get a place in uni (or get places in not well sought degrees ie. agriculture) whilst Malay students with 4 As get a place in medicine at some university...this is why you see disproportionate numbers of Malays at campuses across Malaysia which do not reflect their 60% makeup in real society...and then there is the issue of govt jobs where there is the unwritten policy of ONLY hiring Malays which again explains why all government servants and departments as well as the police force are made up of 80% and over Malays when they only make up 60% of the population! Sounds like apartheid in S.Africa where only whites were employed by the public sector anyone?

"Malaysia is a nation under Apartheid, albeit, an updated version of it..."

Further, it is common knowledge that although the government funds all the Malay schools, it only pays for half of the costs of Chinese and Indian language schools expecting the Chinese and Indian minority communities to come up with the other half which means you see many Malay colleges, highschools, primary schools with new paints or new buildings, whilst Chinese and Indian schools are run down,etc, apparently, even funding for Chinese and Indian teachers are limited and the government regularly posts Malay teachers to Chinese and Indian schools as they don't want to spend much money on producing Chinese and Indian teachers which will only help to maintain Chinese and Indian culture...doesn't that sound like the racist policies of the West in the 50s and 60s where minorities were expected to assimilate and 'forget' about their own culture, their own roots??? And i heard from sources that Chinese and Indian heritage sites are not well-funded by the government or heavily promoted in the tourism campaigns of Malaysia as it only wants to promote Malay heritage buildings and Malay culture...further, one of the most potent reasons for the Indian rallies last yr was because there is an unwritten policy of not granting any new permits to erect new Indian and Chinese places of worship whilst actively dismantling illegal (illegal only cos new permits are never given) Indian and Chinese temples...at the same time putting in lavish amts of money renovating all the nice mosques u see around Malaysia...

"In one word: Its Chinese Taxes Paying for Malay Development".

And anyone whom marries a Malay person must BY LAW become a Muslim, its a CRIMINAL OFFENCE, READ THAT, INDICTABLE OFFENSE, to not convert to Islam if you decide to marry an ethnic Malay, which is what happened to this poor Indian lady whom was muslim by birth and converted to Hindu when she married her Hindu husband...she was arrested and put in this 'faith reconciliation and healing' 'centre' (more like a detention camp for spiritual prisoners if u ask me!!) and her baby was taken away from her as the baby must grow up a Muslim...this was reported on AlJazeera and it was the very first time i was truly ashamed of my country and the first step towards recognising the shameful nature of malaysia's religious and race policies. The camp was to 'heal' her of her 'wayward ways' and so she would 'see the light' and become 'muslim' again....it reminds me of the horrible christian camps they have in the States whereby single mothers, gay people,etc are put in them to 'correct' their 'deviant behavior' and make them 'born-again Christians'....but in Malaysia, it is sanctioned and supported by the government whilst in America, these christian camps are privately funded. This is again similar to Apartheid whereby the races are discouraged from inter-marrying and if u do, u must give up ur ethnic identity and 'become Malay/Muslim'.

And if u think minorities have a hard time, well Malays dun have it easy too! A person of Malay ethnicity is 'born' Muslim meaning if u r a Malay, u are legally a Muslim upon birth and you have NO CHOICE to become Christian or Buddhist or even an atheist! This means all Malays in Malaysia are Muslims legally and thus cannot eat pork, etc...there is no choice, its the law, it also means Malay women must follow Islamic law too, they cannot choose to become non-Muslim and come under the Civil Law which is arguably more pro-women than the backwards Islamic family laws...

" It is an offence, a criminal offense, for a Malay to choose otherwise from being a Muslim. And so is it an offense for a non-Muslim to marry a Malay and not convert to Islam..."

Anyways, the minorities have shown their dissatisfaction in the present elections and even 5% of Malays switched camps this time and voted for the Opposition, mainly as a result of dissatisfactions with widespread corruption, croynism, and lack of independence of the judiciary in the Malaysian govt. The Opposition have already said they will scale down and reduce the NEP racist policies in the states they govern meaning that from now on, Chinese and Indian poor will be helped as well and that unfair policies helping the malays will be scaled bck (not eradicated as it is still sensitive to talk about abolishing the NEP as many malays are still unwilling to give up priviledges which are beneficial to them similar to the mentality of whites under Apartheid in S.Africa)...Lets hope for the better!!

Penang CNY Trip '08 (II)...槟城农历年之旅08(II).......ペナン春節の旅08(II)..

Well, besides Penang, I also went to KL and Melaka (which i haven't been for more than 10 years, i know!!!) KL wasn't as developed as my memory serves me, its actually pretty chaotic...i was abit taken abck, or maybe it was cos of the Pudu/Chow Kit area which i went on my 1 st day, it was really torn down-looking and it looked quite undeveloped, like what i would imagine some other less developed South East Asian cities would be like...i went to some places thought not all which i intended to visit (i.e. missed out on visiting Batu Caves, etc) I did manage to take a quick tour of The Gardens which is really high-end, something u get in Singapore, Taipei, HK,etc and also, of cos, The Pavillion, (bought some stuff there, quite ex, its again towards the high-end market) and also other shopping malls like StarHill Gallery, Lot 10, etc...managed to see The Curve as well which was pretty new in its concept (open-space concept) and visited Central Market, Chinatown Petaling Street, etc..had Hainan Chicken Rice in Chinatown TWICE at this place called Nanxiang cos it was damn delicious so i had to have it twice before i left ...also went to Dataran Merdeka and the Sultan Ismail Station...very touristy i know!! (but heck, i've never been before k...)

Met up with some friends whom i've not seen for some time, including the girls i met on my Bkk trip in '06 when i was in Ayuttaya and finally got the photos we took then ( i know! even the girls themselves didn't get the pics until now, 1 1/2yrs later, even tho they all live in KL!haha..good thing i met up with them,if not, they may never get it!) We had dinner had Suria KLCC, the nightview of the fountain open space was indeed impressive...), also managed to meet this friend from Melbourne, whom used to live in the same student apart as me and we had dinner together every week night at the communal dining area...it surprised us how fast time had passed...its been more than 5 years since we last met as we started counting the yrs since (i lost contact after i moved out of the aprt and she finished her masters course and left melb soon after)..omg, it was just like yesterday...she hasn't changed much, if at all since we met, and she just got married too! Met her husband too later, he was nice...

Got to meet up with a blogger friend of mine too...altho i knew him in 06' but i didn't get a chance to meet him until this trip to KL, we met at The Curve, had lunch at Kluang Old Station, he was nice, intellectual as i imagined...had a nice chat, took me to Ikea and had a quick tour of the place and people-watching, and was nice enough to take me to the nearest station so i could take a lrt train into the city...abit embarassed as it meant him skipping out on his gym routine which he was originally planning to do after our meet up...

Melaka was nice..actually i enjoyed Melaka much more than KL!! I was not expecting much of Melaka cos i thought it was a small town with possibly next to nothing BUT i was amazed at how much fun it was....at least on a day trip! It is really really small and everything is squeezed into one area, definitely walkable...my cousin (the possibly gay one i was talking about in my earlier post rem? the one whom has huge muscles, has like nine different tatoos in nine different areas of his body, ..the med student) and my parent's friend took me around...visited all the usual places like Stadhuys, St Paul's Church, A'Famosa, incl. Jonker Street where i went both in the daytime and at night..i loved Jonker Street, it was really small and compact and i had the DELICIOUS Melaka-famous Chendol (google it if u dun know what's chendol, for my foreign readers).. NOW i know why 'gula melaka' is...well, called 'gula MELAKA'...i went to this stall (there are various ones on Jonker selling it) which is supposed to be famous and also had the Nyonya-style Curry noodles which was fantastic!!! Its different from the one in Penang and equally tasty! Also visited these two big new shopping malls in Melaka, forgot what their names are but they are superclose to A'Famosa and directly opposite each other,...had Old Town Kaya Toast with Orange juice (god, i love the kaya toast there) ...had a quick drive thru of Bukit Cina as well as the Melaka GH (where my cousin is interning now..i just realised alot of people actually do the medical course which is this twinning program between India and Melaka, was surfing the blogs when i came across someone else doing the exact same course, and also my parent's melaka friend also knows someone's son whom did that course too)...

One really should visit Jonker street at night! It was soooooo crowded and the atmosphere so lively too! There was even a stage performance of seniors dancing the cha-cha with tourists joining in too!! Wow! You can imagine all the old aunties dancing with the white caucasian tourist types...hahaha...

yea, so melaka was great...oh yeah forgot to mention, ASTRO!!! This is the cable network in Malaysia which has become even more fantastic now! They now have a hokkien channel which shows 24.7 Hokkien shows imported from Taiwan, its really cool! Its quite a popular channel and has a devout following now in Malaysia, and especially Penang...my mother likes to watch it too!!!! There was also a hidden gem, a new channel which most malaysians prob ignore, but which i loved....and that is Astro Kirana, the Asian movie channel!!!!! Its like the Asian HBO but what is really fantastic about it is that it not only shows well-known HK, Korean, and Japanese films but ALSO lesser-known Vietnamese, Thai, and guess what????? FILIPINO MOVIES!!!!!! Yes! I was SHOCKED to find it screening a steady line up of Filipino films every week despite there being next to no market for things filipino in Malaysia!! And whats more, all films shown have both English and Malay subtitles including the pinoy ones, so it was literally heaven for me!!!! I managed to catch some Filipino films in my short stay including 'lovestruck' which i was HOPING to find when i realised Kirana screens pinoy movies and guess what it did!!!!!! YES! I woke at 5 45am just to catch this WITH ENG SUBS (u can hardly find it even on dvd, i checked the internet hoping to find an eng dvd version to no luck) Oh...JennMark loveteam i STILL love u....why did they have to break up? why did jennylyn have to not only go out with the new guy (whom isn't even cute! mark herras is way more gwapo k!) but to get herself pregnant and unwed !...now the filipinos reading this should know what i'm talking about...and i caught 'Eternity' with Dingdong Dantes and Filipino beauty Iza (trailer:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnsZTJxTtOU)

as well as Oh! My Ghost with Rufa-Mae and the gorgeous Marvin Augustin (let me emphazise the word 'gorgeous') ...when the scene of him just out of the shower with a white towel wrappped around his waist and his bare taut chest came, i was sooooo turned on, nothing like a cute hunky bare chested guy with a white towel around his waist right! SUCH a turn-on..and then he jumps butt-up on to bed, seeexxyyyyy..)..Rufa-Mae, as usual, was sexy, does anyone notice that she has HUGE breast?? Heck, i am sure everyone does, even me, hehe.. (watch the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XA7mjKomxE&feature=related)

I also introduced Filipino films to my family and cousins, ha! the Phillipines government should pay me for being their de facto embassador....many ppl thought the films were Malay films cos we really dun know much about other South East Asian countries, least of all the Phillipines...i also caught 'Crying Ladies' with my mother and i loved it, Sharon Cuneta was great...and Eric Quizon, well he's most definitely gay! Everytime he plays a straight man, it just isn't convincing, he is just so gay, not effeminate, just gay...he's a talented actor too!...i missed Blue Moon, damn, i had to go to family reunion dinner!!! (trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrplF7IBenM&feature=related)

I know i am digressing here but i managed to catch one of the most romantic films in Filipino Cinema, which was Got 2 Believe (2002) by Claudine Baretto and the now-deceased Rico Yan, (mv/trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9QxgAV0zMU) soooo romantic...at first watch, felt it was not really impressive but its one of those films which gets better and better each time you see it...(at least for me it was!) and the lines in there was fantastic! I used to love the lines and meaningful quotes from Korean dramas ( i know many ppl think korean stuff are shallow and lovey-dovey but i beg to differ, there are many gems and meaningful quotes about life and love actually) but now Filipino movies are where i draw my interesting and inspiring collection of quotes from....for instance, in Got 2 Believe:
CB: Why?
RY: I don't know...
CB: You don't know?!!
RY: I don't know...it just hit me....i didn't even believe in forever Toni,......but....i think i found forever in you (this has got to be one of the most romantic lines i've heard all-time~~now, when oh when, will a man say that to me and sweep me off my feet???)....i'm sorry, i dun wanna seem like i am pushing myself onto you...
CB: You never say sorry for Loving Someone, You never say sorry for loving Me....

or Blue Moon: True Love Happens Only Once, But It is enough to last a Lifetime..

or... Moments of Love: In a sleepy lakeside town, time curves for two people to meet and part. In the end, all that is left are their Moments of Love.

gosh, some readers must be choking bck with laughter how i can think the above sappy lines can be meaningful or romantic but i dun care, i have never been embarassed at being a hopeful romantic nor having notions of love and life which may seem old-fashioned or conservative...

Currently reading: 'Asian Labour in the Wartime Japanese Empire'.
Another book currently reading: 'a Public Betrayed' as well as re-starting my self-study of Japanese which you can see is the textbook underneath the English book...


Anyways.. back to Penang!!!! Yea, enjoyed my trip, though i must be looking more and more like a foreigner cos so many people thought i was a foreigner when i was bck! At the airport when i asked for something, the saleslady said to me: in yen? I was taken abck, do i look Japanese?! And she was like yeah...and many others would ask where i was from...haha...so i ended up speaking Malaysian style English and Hokkien most of the time so ppl wouldn't think i was a foreigner...they say its my fair skin but i think its the 'aura' i give off and dress sense which seems 'not malaysian' cos there are plenty of fair skinned chinese in malaysia so that can't be it.... My 'Chinese Chic' High Collar Top:)
Oh yeah, one last thing, beside stocking up on the clothes (did abit of shopping) and underwear shopping, i also managed to make a chinese-style top from a tailor! Its my first real one (i have many chinese-inspired ones but none authentic) and i emphasised with the tailor the fastening must be from the side and must have a super high mandarin collar...i wore it once to gurney plaza expecting people to be staring (cos i really looked like i just stepped out of 1930s Shanghai or 1960s Hong Kong with my high collar qipao top and a cardigan on top) but to my surprise no one really looked at all:)) I'll post pics up when i get the chance...
I bought two frames of new glasses on this trip bck, one black for the 'intellectual look' and one red for the 'stylish, designer look'...hehehe...


oh yea, also bought a new digi camera too AND i missed the Mardi Gras this yr, cos of all the bad luck that happened upon my arrival in Sydney...sigh, hopefully i'll be able to join in the fun again next year:)

Anyways, thats all for now:)

Thursday, March 06, 2008

Penang CNY Trip '08 (I)...槟城农历年之旅08.......ペナン春節の旅08..

Hi All....

Back in Sydney after my much-needed break back in my hometown of Penang Island, Malaysia.
Was back for CNY (thats Chinese New Year) for the first time in 2 yrs. Met up with relos, some after many yrs ( in fact one cousin whom i've not seen for 10 years!!) got red-packet money, ate, ate, and ATE...god i miss cheap and not to mention delicious Penang food...assam laksa (this is different from the more famous 'Singapore laksa' sold in Singapore and Australia, and far more superior!!), char koay kak (heaven, i tell you:)), soybean milk, malay curry sotong n ladiesfinger w/h rice (my MUST-have everytime i am back in Penang and one of my all-time favourites in malaysia), not to mention the delicious italian pasta at belissa row, Japanese 'gekikara' ramen at Yataimura, kaya bread with ice lemon tea at Ipoh Old Town Kopitiam....and too many more to mention...

I also went to visit many places which have sprouted out of nowhere in Penang since Aug 2006 when i was last back..indeed, even small-town Penang has changed markedly since 1 1/2 yrs back....like there are so many apartment blocks now, especially the luxury kinds, like this one along Gurney Drive which is where my mother's old neighbour whom is 80 something year, stays now (she used to be extremely poor and sold eggs at the markets but of her many children, her two sons are now multi-millionaires and the eldest son has bought a bungalow and this high-end apartment for her, it costs RM 1.8 million (roughly A$550,000) and this isn't including renovations yet!) and another one called 'The Mayfair'. There is also Wawasan Open University which has this amazing architecture, fusing in a heritage protected mansion with a taller modern glass panelled building behind it...it was incredible really, i mean the architecture is simply one of the best i've seen and something i didn't expect to see in Malaysia (i'd expect this kind of fusion of heritage buildings with modern ones more in places like Europe i admit!!) and this univ wasn't even there in 2006!!!! Then there is which is Penang's newest shopping mall akin to KL's Midvalley Megamall...and 'G' Hotel which is this new hotel with the coolest lobby i've seen in Penang (its so classy, i was blown away, i expected something less impressive in penang, i guessed i underestimated the class of penang..haha..the lobby is something similar to what you get in the west) and not to mention the new wing (the high-end branded goods wing!) is due to open later this yr as well....

For those whom live in Penang or travel bck often, the development in Penang may not seem impressive, but for those of us whom reside overseas or whom seldom travel bck, Penang has indeed changed significantly...

The development was not only on the island, which is where historically all the development has been, but it has also extended on to the mainland....in fact, one of the unexpected marvels of my trip bck was visiting 'Autocity' this one-stop car and entertainment shopping district in the middle of practically nowhere ( the developers were clearly taking a big financial gamble by placing the entertainment centre near the highway with no residential area nearby)...the place was pretty high-end with nice fancy restaurants serving up thai, korean, chinese, western,etc as well as had coffee bean, starbucks (???), and even a big Haagen-Dazs cafe...now who said mainlanders couldn't afford Haagen Dazs?? (this is what we islanders refer to people living on the mainland, the state/province of Penang is divided into Penang Island and Penang mainland/prai) Now i initially didn't want to visit Autocity as in my memory, ( well the last time i went to mainland Penang was AGES ago) the mainland was always extremely backwards compared to the island, so why would anyone want to go to the mainland when you have all your material comforts on the island?? Well, boy was i wrong...Autocity really was much better many places on the island including the new 'New World Park' complex which again is one of those entertainment/dining areas which came out of nowhere and didn't even exist in 2006...'New World Park' is similar to one of those foodcourt places you find in Singapore, very clean, nicely lit, and hygienic, and it also has a classier section with a french restaurant, new york style seafood place, indian deli, etc..worth a visit!!

Besides all these shopping/eating places, i did manage to do something which local penangites most definitely do NOT do, that is visit touristy places and cultural heritage sites (god, am i becoming a 'foreigner' in my own homeland/hometown?? Maybe, it bcos i've left penang as a resident for too long, 7 yrs?).. i visited the Cheong Fatt Tse Mansion, otherwise known aptly as the 'Blue Mansion' by the locals and tourists alike and omg! the tour guide i instantly recognised was this gay penang guy whom was educated overseas and speaks french...now don't ask how i know, its kinda silly, but i've met him on both trips bck to Penang in '06 and in '08 again...now could that be yuan./fate or just small penang? He's ur typical gay asian male, very built gym body in tight white shirt with sarong pants, talks exquisitely and he can be quite expressive with words too, not to mention having a subtle but sharp tongue (like how he decided to stop talking when one of the guests was on the phone and he said he'll just wait till she finishes talkin)...oh yeah he's also the manager of the boutique hotel located within this historically protected-heritage building... anyways back to Cheong fatt Tse mansion, its really pretty good and worth a visit if u happen to drop by in Penang sometime...

I also went up Penang Hill, the lights at night are amazing, my mother says better than the Victoria Peak night view of HK's scenery..there is now a restaurant up there (yes, with the view!!!) but i didn't get a chance to eat there, it serves western cuisine of steaks, chicken snitzels,salmon seafoods,etc)...and also went to the 姓氏桥 Clan Quays during the Hokkien Jade God Processions on the Ninth Day of CNY whereby there was a procession of offerings to the Jade God...the Clan Quays are where the 海上人家 live (boatpeople, yes we have that in Penang also, not just in Hong Kong! these people are special in that they live together on a particular quay made of wooden planks up above the sea by clan surnames, meaning people with a particular chinese character surname live on the same quay.) It was a nice experience...
I also went to The Esplanade for a visit with my parents on Chap Goh Meh ( the last day of CNY and traditionally known in Malaysia as 'Chinese Valentines'. We managed to come across the official state sponsored entertainment show which was nice, with dances, chinese songs, and even a 'dondang sayang' of one chinese, english, and one malay song by a group of kebaya clad matrons..er..i meant ladies..hahaha..

Also visited Kek Lok Si Temple at night where there was the traditional CNY light-up of the temple which was amazing at night, with all the glittering lanterns and lights on the hill at night....!!

PS: Alot of things occurred on my way bck , but the bad thing was i lost my mobile on the flight back to Sydney which means all my photos of my Malaysia trip is gone now! (Not to mention all my previous photos AND more IMPORTANTLY all my previous videos of the Mardi Gras in '07, the APEC meeting '07 in Sydney and the Comfort Women rally i attended last year!!!)
And also i found out one of my housemates tried to steal my stuff when i was gone tho he didn't in the end as there was first, nothing there worthwhile for him to steal and second, he was caught by another housemate whom informed me of this as my room was in perfect condition as when i left it so i couldn't have known....but despite all the bad-luck, i'm determined to move forward:)
so, now i am looking to move out to another place, if possible in or near the cbd...so if anyone reading my blog has a fully-furnished room to rent or knows someone whom is looking for someone to rent, do let me know:) Thanks k!:)

to be continued....