Chinese Name Calling

Went to a gathering with the relatives yesterday, all 40 of them. What can I say, my grandad was a busy man (or a bored man, depending on how you look at it). Now, socialising with The Siews is always a chore to me, not only because there are too many faces to remember but also because I have to address each of them in Chinese.

See in our custom, it is rude to address all your relatives as Uncle/Auntie. Each generation and each gender has a specific reference; oldest uncle we call Tai Pak Yeh, father's sister we call Ah Ku, father's brother we call Ah Sok and so on.

To some extent, it can get a bit confusing:

And people wonder why I try to avoid gatherings with the relatives.

Lunch With The Bosses

In the eyes of an intern:

Can't help but feel like I was on the menu too.

Back At Home

(While having dinner)

Bernice: Mmm~ spaghetti!

Ben: No it isn't.

Bernice: No?

Ben: No. I am scooping it up with my fork from my plate into my mouth and digesting it with my body. For that, it should rightfully be called, The Benjamin. You are feeding on The Benjamin, you are consuming The Benjamin! Now answer me, what are you eating?!

Bernice: The Bernice.

Ben: Has anyone told you that you have a huge ego?

Business Talk On MSN

Yesterday, I was chatting with Eve & Crystal about some companies disallowing the use of MSN in their offices. One of us suggested they should lift the band and even let business discussions be done on MSN instead of the phone.

It's a damn good idea right? It's so much more efficient than e-mailing and think of how much money the company could save on phone bills! But of course, the above business chat is more of an idealised situation.

If put into practice, a business talk on MSN is probably gonna look like this:


Still, at least it builds camaraderie.

The Annoying Intern

A bored intern and a full fledged white collar worker will never make good MSN buddies:

On a totally different note; HELLO WEEKEND!!

A Day Without My Laptop

The company took my laptop to site today so I am left Windows-less & Internet-less for the whole day in my cubicle. No worries though because I have found other ways to productively spend 8 hours of my time in the office:

I can now count the seconds accurately by heart.

The Day I Lost To A Woman

Don't let Christine's pretty face fool you. That woman can EAT!

Malaysians Are Known For Punctuality

The Hardworking Intern

*Pakcik Kuih - the man who drops by our company at 10am everyday with a van filled with Malay delicacies such as karipap, kuih ketayap and nasi lemak.

Even The Janitor Laughed

Malaysians & Free Stuff

When I saw that the spiders were almost done weaving their web at the sides of my pits, I figured that it was about time I started putting my social life back on track. So yesterday, I attended the F&N Freestylz event. It was mainly about painted cans and promotion of local artists. I was mainly there just to just to talk to someone, anyone besides Hammie (my hamster).

We (the nuffnang bloggers) were asked to be the alternative media where in addition to covering the event, we were also asked to interview the local artists; Joe Flizzow & Danny One. The interview itself wasn't that eventful but the lucky draw more than made up for it.

That's when I realised that the organisers were actually taking advantage of our money-minded Malaysian attitude! Another example was during the concert when the local artists took the stage. The songs were good but for some reason, the crowd wasn't that into it. Once again, the organisers found an ingenious way to hype up the crowd. By giving away free stuff midway through the concerts.


Now it's not to say that we are a nation blinded by greed and material possessions. I mean, look at how we, with no cost at all, involve ourselves in demonstrations to fight for freedom, peace and justice.


In most countries, money drives the economy. In our country, money drives the people. Heheh. Anyway, I had great fun that night. Free food provided by Italiennies and great company throughout the night. You guys know who you are!

Impeccable Reasoning

Being in the engineering industry for a few years now where problem-solving becomes a daily affair, my senior colleagues have all naturally developed a very keen sense of logic:

(While having lunch with colleagues)

Colleague: So, Ben.

Ben: Yeah?

Colleague: Why don't you smoke?

Ben: ... Well the right question is, why SHOULD I smoke?

(Pauses)

Colleague: To prevent SARS.

Ben: What?!

Colleague: When you smoke, you expose your body to a huge amount of toxins. Then after some time, your body will develop a natural immunity against the said toxins and even against some of the worse diseases.

Ben: Like SARS?

Colleague: Like SARS.

Ben: But... what if my body doesn't develop the natural immunity and I eventually die from the overload of toxins?!

Colleague: *Puffs a cloud of smoke* You sure you don't want a stick?

Ben: I'm good.

Getting Your Employee To Focus On Work