My Sister's Wedding

With Ilya being married to the man she bagged 6years ago, the spotlight is inevitably on this lil sister. I dont need extra attention, but the spotlight simply means I get to philosphize more, and i enjoy making others look shallow.

Philosophy #1
Ilya is married because she's 27.
A lot of 27 year old women would consider themselves very unsuccessful if they do not already have a person to call 'hubby' by the age of 27. As much as I think the word hubby is disgusting, the idea of having a hubby is quite alright as long as u dont call him hubby. Generation Y (that's babies born from 1980 to 1995) however, no longer care so much about the age factor, but rather bagging the right guy. because believe me, u dont want to spend 3 years dating someone else's husband and find out about his status from his 20 year old son.

Philosophy #2
Ilya is married because she has been with her boyfriend for 6 years.
Thats forever! If a guy doesnt propose you by that time, leave him. It is however not as easy as that. When u have been with a guy for 6 years, it is very hard to leave him because by that time u are gam gajahly attached to him (and possibly his family). Besides, starting all over again seems like an endless process. But believe me, u dont want to have to change religion so soon out of a promise to marry, to find that 6 years later, with 2 illegitimate kids, the guy Still doesnt want to marry you. So be very careful if you're approaching ur 6th year of relationship. If there are no indications, leave.

Philosophy #3
Ilya has only been married for a week, gimme a break.
I'm not against the idea, but please, gimme a frikin break, the bunga manggars are still standing on my front gate for goodness sake. haha.

Philosophy #4
Most of my friends cant afford to give me my dream wedding presents yet. hahahahahaha. Okay2, main2 main2..

Apart from me being pissed off for just about everything related to work at the moment, I am thrilled and very very happy for my sister Ilya, for having elevated to the status of wife and I assure you my mom is the happiest person on earth right now. Thank God for your marriage Ilya, i can do whatever the annoying hell i like and not get scolded by mama, but i give her 1 month before being naggy waggy again.

I advise my friends to stop asking me out and start hunting for man because as much as hanging out with a marriage philospher like me is fun, hearing what u want to hear (that it is okay to be single at the age of 24) is bad for your health. =p.

Just Visiting

I'm a board game enthusiast, Mr. Monopoly will not beg to differ. In today's graceful development of computer games, i do at times play monopoly in the computer and that, my friend, was my numero uno substitute to reading statutes and reported cases in law school.

A lot of people can relate to my board game fetishism, i'm sure. [board games include: monopoly, scrabble, portable scrabble, chess, rubik's cube. hehe]

Monopoly rocks, as long as you dont roll doubles 3 times in a row and be sent to jail. If you have a get-out-of-jail card, then u'd be secretly wishing that you do end up in jail to stylishly irk the heck outta the other players. and by stylish i mean, to hold the jail card in between your index and middle finger [as if holding a cigarette] and handing it over to the banker with a tiny smirk on ur face. TOLDJA I'M A BOARD GAME ENTHUSIAST.

And then there's the "just visiting" moments where you miss a turn to frikin visit the jail, and That has caused you to once again miss passing through Park Place and Boardwalk that you are dying to get hold of and build houses and hotels on! GRRRR.

WHY DO PEOPLE VISIT THE JAIL ANYWAY??

I dont ask myself that question anymore. I now have answers to that question.

Having had the opportunity to visit the Sg. Buloh and Kajang prison and to interview the detainees therein for my legal aid training, I often get these questions addressed to me:

1. How can you talk to them without feeling any disgust towards them?
2. How do you manage to keep a straight face when faced with criminals of rape & buggery with animal?
3. Why do you want to meet and talk to them?

As legal practitioners, we often forget the cardinal rule applicable to these criminals. Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The detainess I met, be it for robbery, rape, possessing dangerous weapons, drug traffiking or prostitution, are people who have not even been tried by the courts and far from being pronounce as guilty of the offence.

Thus, the presumption that they're innocent apply.

That is how I manage to keep a straight face and not feel disgusted when I talk to them. Besides, when they talk to me, they were in their most vulnerable position, with hands cuffed and with the most inferior feeling towards free people such as you and i.

I am their last hope when no one else would even look at them in the eyes, what more to listen to their stories. Yes, they have admitted to me that they committed the crimes they are charged for, but it will not hurt to listen to their stories, lend an ear and look at them like they should be looked at- a human being.

I'm not on their side, but I do not want to punish someone before they get their official punishment from the judges (or from a lawyer who drafts the judge's judgment, boo you).

I'm begging you to consider the maxim innocent until proven guilty. If you want to say someone is guilty, you must bring forward facts and evidences that will strengthen your allegations.

Otherwise, we will be guilty of depriving their liberty.

And that is a crime against human rights.

So if you put someone who is innocent in jail, you are no different from them, a criminal who commits a crime against human rights.

So just because you're on the other side of the fence, dont you for one second think you have never committed a crime.

It is ironic for someone who initiated the building of Sg. Buloh prison to end up serving his sentence in that prison.

With no proof and jumbled up contradicting facts, he was nevertheless forced to pay for what he did not commit.

So before you even begin to judge these prisoners, consider the real criminals who are still on the loose.

And then VOTE accordingly. Heheh.