MBG Fruits, LG Floor, Mid Valley Megamall, KL. Size Does Matter.

New Year came and went. Another year, another list of unfulfilled resolutions. Flip the papers, depressing news. Surf the internet news portals, MORE depressing news. Job sucks. The continuous need to code switch and use so many languages at work is driving me up the wall. There's an expression Spiderman would love to use. Maybe I should get bitten by a radioactive spider and learn to stick on the wall. Effortlessly.

Aren't you amazed by the ability of Malaysians to politicize everything? I for one am sick of politics. How can we talk about politics if we cannot even come to any common ground on where to start? How can we discuss anything when both parties are not rational and everybody is so confrontational? We say the westerners are rude and pride ourselves for being well bred, good mannered and religious. It doesn't show at all. Words like bastard and big ape used in Parliament. Everything is threatened with blood shed. At least Wendy Wright did not threaten to kill Dawkins and cursed that snooty academician to an after life of eternal suffering and damnation when they debated about creationism and intelligent design. Nor were there threats of blood shed and death to atheists. And Dawkins did not use words like stupid and unable to tolerate idiocy, despite being a godless heretic. They were behaving rather civilly despite being passionately militant about their causes. Politics in Malaysia often drive me to a Kafkaesque angst. Trudging through life here is like living out The Castle.

Political scavengers from BOTH sides of the political divide just love to circle around issues like vulture around carcasses. And inevitably the ones that makes the most noise will be the has beens or the minions that are looking for an opportunity to rise up and be noticed. Bearing no other talents and obviously lacking in intellect, they can just rise up and bay, bay, bay. Howl and thump their chest in front of the pack and reject civilised debate and dialogue. Same rhetoric, day in day out. Sort of reminds me of a T-shirt I had which has a picture of a Chicken calling the cat "Pussy" and the cat calling the chicken, well, "Chicken!".

How come when it comes to race and religion, there are so many defenders. MCA defending the Chinese, Hindraf defending the Indians... When it comes to the specifics like the homeless, drug addicts, school dropouts and hospice patients, nobody wants to rise up and defend them. Nobody organizes any rallies to highlight the welfare of the old and feeble, lack of welfare for the handicapped? The media coverage both in the MSM and the Internet for SMILE campaign was so, so,so much less than an idiotic politician making an inflammatory remark.

If there is anybody who needs some defending, it would be me. A Secularist, Humanist, Wagner loving Kant worshiper who believes in the preservation of Mak Yong has to be listed in the endangered species list in Malaysia. Just in case you guys accuse me of being a snobbish anglophile, I would like to set the record straight by saying that Latin should be the lingua franca of the world. At least while trying to conjugate both the verbs and nouns (which is as pleasant as trying to ease yourself while suffering from hemorrhoids) at least there is some time to think and reflect, instead of spewing out the usual rhetoric of venom and hate.

Guys, just stop fighting one another. The country needs some serious governing. Our education system is in shambles, our borders are porous with more people getting in and out illegally everyday, more than the nether regions of a whore in Chow Kit. Crime in the streets are driving the residents of quiet suburbs into paranoia. Highways that turn in carparks on bad days and are car parks at their exits on normal days. Housing for the poor? Affordable housing for the middle class? The list is endless.

Amidst the babble and cacophony of mindless rhetoric, at least Khairy seems to be making some intelligent media statements that are intelligible to the sushi munching, macchiato sipping crowd. Only time will tell if it is just a matter of political survival, shifting his support base to middle class urbanites who are getting more opinionated. Perhaps he finally realizes that those he had banked on for support last time would drop him like a hot potato when a taxi permit is dangled in front of them.

Amidst the gloom and doom and uncertainty, fueled by the general nastiness of the politics in Malaysia, where can a ravenous, chronically stressed, Sage junkie Android find solace?

At the most unlikely place. A fruit store in Mid Valley and a sight for sore eyes. Lusciously sweet and fragrant and definitely the ideal snack while watching some soppy Korean tele-drama. After eating, the taste of strawberries lingered on in my mouth for a long time...

Mangoes from Australia. Look at size of 'em MFs. Again, sweet, fragrant and delicious to the last bite. Nectar for a disillusioned Android.

Bing Cherries from Australia. Humongous, sweet and luscious. Sweeter than the Rainier in the previous post. Cherries. See? We need diversity. If Australia never existed and we insisted dogmatically that winter months must be in December, then we will not be getting these large, beautiful Cherries now. The wonder of living in Malaysia is the nation is never paralyzed during festive season. During Chinese New Year, the Mamak Stalls are open. During Hari Raya, Chinese Doctors will take over the running of essential services in Hospitals and Malay Doctors can take a break.

Growing up in the 1970's in a small town was so idyllic. Climbing up trees and running aound fields, oblivious to the political turmoil both in Vietnam and Cambodia. As I grew up and started watching movies like the Deer Hunter and Killing Fields, I begin to realize that there were so many atrocities committed so near Malaysia. All of the despots were ultra nationalists. So many lives were lost. The Genocide was especially worse in Cambodia where the first to be killed were the intellectuals. Gifted singers such as Ros Serey Sothea and Sinn Sisamouth were interred in concentration camps and later executed. (Just a diversion, Ros and Sinn's version of psychedelic grunge continues to inspire until today. A rock band known as Dengue Fever is inspired by Khmer 70's rock and has produced 3 albums to critical acclaim)

Peace is so fragile, please be careful and responsible. As I walked away from MBG, all i could think about is Fellini's Dolce Vita. Instead of Anita Ekberg dancing away at the Trevi Fountains, mine version was her, stuffing strawberries seductively into her mouth, playing with bananas and mangoes at a fruit stall. My version of modern morality in the midst of consumerism.

I walked to the car park after having stuffed myself with the RM18.80 set meal at Crystal Jade, sipping the beautiful Caramel Frappe from Austin Chase with my hands bogged down by the fruits. I felt better. I now that the traffic will not improve, the scary Politicians will still be there, the toll rates will just rise and rise. Life may suck at times, but is still relatively good. Of course it can be better. But at least I for now, have good food and beautiful fruits to cheer me up. Happy New Year, Malaysia. May you continue to grow and prosper. May your custodians walk their talk.