Yvonne Foong

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. I just don’t know what to write. Anything worth a full article that comes to mind is either expressed in YellowPost, by having conversations with close friends, or overshadowed by academic activities.

Like yesterday, we discussed a 28-page article on Malaysia’s refusal to comply with International Law to grant refugee status to aslyum-seekers. Most “illegal immigrants”, namely the Rohingyas are rounded up and sent to detention camps without trial. Since Malaysia does not recognise the refugee status, Rohingyas entering Malaysia without valid documents are immediately considered illegal immigrants, irregardless of the fact that these people are facing threats and persecution in their own country. Malaysia deports them via the Thai border despite Burma’s refusal to allow the re-entrances of Rohingyas who fled. The article is then followed by claims and reports to the poor state of our prisons and detention camps where innates are purportedly mistreated and abused. Think Irene Fernandez.

Oh, and I’m supposed to finish reading Sun Tzu’s Art Of War for debate in Philosophy class this Friday.

Time to keep up with revising General Psychology too. The subject name sounds like a peace of cake. But trust me, if you’re a fanatic Psychology major, chances are, you’ll never look at the world the same way ever again.

With subjects like these, my own everyday concerns are quite petty to speak of.

It’s good to know many people and mix with different social groups interchanegably. Teenager Weng Lum was a scrawny elite back in school. Elite because I remember him often in the top few classes. Today as we zoomed pass moderate traffic to reach 1Utama in 30 minutes, that once celebrity scholar tranformed into a humble boy-next-door, with the entire package of worn t-shirt, shorts, and Japanese flip flops. I had to confirm with him our exact destination.

When we met YC an hour later, I almost choked the poor boy for the irony. Unlike Weng, YC was complete with meticulously applied make up, matching dress and accessories, topped with an air of sophistication. No prizes for guessing her exquisite taste of an interior architect and fashion designer. Receiving her support is both a blessing and an eye opener.

But never judge a book by it’s cover. Weng is a dedicated team player in event management. Last year’s charity fashion show at Passion Club was a success, partly thanks to his contribution in the organising committee. It is also because of him, that the first quarter of my yearly life is packed with exciting anticipation.

YC’s boyfriend is also lending us a helping hand. It’s a wonder how the people you never imagined crossing paths with end up on the same track as you.

Trust me when I say NF is much more than just an illness, unlike fever that all we have to do is take medicine. NF is almost a lifestyle, a culture on its own. People think that sometimes, I tend to react differently to certain situations, and they may be right.

The CTF Bulletin Board’s monthly topic for February was, “Questions I Would Like My Doctor Ask About NF”. Give it a read.

Someone said, ” If you KNEW you could NOT get all of the TUMOR….why did you ATTEMPT? ” Hah, there is so much to talk about on this alone. Maybe one day I shall write a full article based on my opinion.

When the idea of my fundraising project, HEART4HOPE, was first conceived, we needed buntings to put up at sales booths to capture the public’s attention. Someone introduced me to Luk, a young man in his late 20s, who was venturing into a new business. The prospect looked rather daunting at first, but Luk’s enthusiasm proved worthwhile when Dweey.com was mentioned in newspapers. Not long after, he sold Dweey badges at my Rock4Hope concert as contribution to my cause, and now he’s letting me promote Dweey Soft Toys for a generous commission!

This one is my favourite…

The ballet Dancer

All softtoys are made upon order and purchase.

This afternoon, YB Loh Seng Kok and a few other MPs came visiting me at home. They presented me a cheque worth RM2,800.

On 16th December 2006, a “Back to School” event organised by Jawatankuasa Penduduk Zon 1 was held at the Subang Jaya Uptown Night Market in SS15, Subang Jaya. The event was attended by MP of kelana Jaya, Dato’ Loh Seng Kok and ADUN of Subang Jaya, Dato Lee Hwa Beng.

photo by PCYEOH of USJ.COM.MY

Sime UEP sponsored 5 vouchers redeemable at the Sime Darby Convention Center restaurant. The organiser auctioned 2 out of the 5 vouchers to raise funds for me. So that’s how the RM2,800 cheque came about.

15 people were supposed to visit me today, but some couldn’t make it including Dato Lee Hwa Beng himself. Oh well, it’s Chinese New Year after all. I hope there will be a chance to meet him again.

Dato Lee Hwa Beng and his legion organised a golf tournament for me in December. They managed to raise a round figure of RM35,000 and another RM2,000 by selling my books at the prize giving ceremony. I had wanted to write a post specifically for this event, but the photos never came. Other issues cropped up, and the rest was history. But despite everything, burried deep in my heart is nothing less than gratitude towards the kindness of all these people.

At the golf tournament hi-tea, I remember Dato Lee showing me to all his friends, “this is Dato so-and-so”, “that is Dato so-and-so”. But I only had a genuine smile of gratitude to offer.

Sometimes, I wished I had been blessed with the natural ability of making small talks and socialize, because social butterflies are exceptionally capable of remembering faces. No one in my small family is into business, so I never quite cultivated socializing skills. Some people do. There was this one lady I met at a nightclub one day to discuss business matters. She discreetly pointed at a regular patron and whispered to me on paper, “See that lady there. I managed to make her lose RM50,000 one shot at gambling.” “Wah, how did you do it?”. “My words appealed to her lah *wink*”.

But I only have a genuine heart which I hope to reveal through my eyes. YB Loh Seng Kok brought along his daughter when visiting me today. Seeing the father and his young offspring, I realized the ministers we see so often in the press have families too, just like everyone else. That made me feel at home, without the barrier commonly present in social atmospheres.

On the flipside are drawbacks caused by the lack of social skills. SIFE of Nottingham University is organising a charity fashion show where my t-shirts will be featured and sold at the event. I am also invited to give a speech. A friend and member of the organising committee, Weng Lum, is downright stressed this CNY holiday trying to secure a venue, invite the press and media, invite VIPs, direct a photoshoot, and so on. He asked me, “Yvonne, if you know anyone at Ruums please let me know. We’re also trying Zouk”. But I could only shake my head and feel sorry for my stressful friend. Then along came another friend with all the right connections who made me realize that, hey, certain issues require social skills or nothing gets done.

I was in awe of all the strings she can pull. “Wah, you know so many people. Makes me feel so naive!” To which, she jokingly said, “That’s because you’re not a hooligan like me”.

I believe, in reality, there is no absolute right or wrong. Whether you have a sweet mouth that appeals to many or a strong-principle-but-nothing-gets-done attitude, at the end of the day, it’s just one of the many personal choices each of us make in life.

Image Source: Thomas Hawk’s Digital Connection

In a lovely BlueMountain Arts wall calendar from Ari, one of the pages is painted with a lovely sunrise that captured my heart today. These are the words printed on it.

Celebrate Life Every Day

Look to everyday as a day of new beginnings, opening your heart to absolute hope and unlimited potential.

Take time to pull yourself away from all the noise and just look around you. Appreciate those who have enhanced the quality of your life, and remember that they have been a gift to you. Also realize that you’re a gift to them, too.

Look at the choices you’ve made, both good and bad. Accept your mistakes, you can’t change them anyway. Apply what you’ve learned and go on. Use these lessons to help you with your other decisions in life.

Embrace the universe. Enjoy the colors of the landscape. Soak in the atmosphere. Smile at the world. Don’t allow any self-defeating attitudes to creep into your consciousness. Feel the power of your own acceptance. Put a hopeful split on every thought you have.

Make every day special. Own it. Enjoy it. Bask in the glory of life.

- Donna Fargo

Funny huh. Chinese New Year is no longer what it used to be. This year, it is more of a time with God and spiritual growth. A whole bunch of books on my shelf needs to be read. Now is the time.

Say hello to Grace, Mom’s meditation groupmate and also our guest of honor this year.

… from the Foongs. This year we’ll be remaining in town throughout the week, so swing by if you like. Married visitors and their ang pows are very welcomed.

Fortunately, I’m not yet qualified for the standard young adult CNY embarrassment. “When are you getting married?”

Isn’t it a wonder how humans tend to grow as we age, by the people we meet, the places we go, and the circumstances we face.

When Philosophy class was first offered as a subject this semester, I jumped at the opportunity to study what I had once been fascinated with. The book, “Sophie’s World”, with a few frayed edges and pages that turned yellow, remains tucked away at a forgotten corner of my bookshelf. But as each class progresses, I realize how much time has changed me as a person.

In a discussion on Aristotle’s theory of form, VJ asked us what constitutes form. Is a horse a donkey? Is character equivalent to personality? Did the chicken or the egg come first?

Being hard-of-hearing means that I’m unable to participate in the discussion real-time. It may not be such a bad thing. Judging by the excitement that went on, I doubt anybody would have been pleased to hear my discouraging, one-liner contribution. “Does it matter?”

Unlike some people who would exclaim, “it doesn’t matter”, feeling apathetic and ignorant, my feeling of indifference is born out of acceptance. So, someday you discover that Yvonne Foong stole and used the identity of someone else. You realize the person you’ve come to know all these years is not really what her name says. Does that mean whatever time and experiences we’ve been through together automatically becomes null? If you discover one day, that your parents are after all not related to you by blood, does that reduce any of the person’s significance in your life? Does it automatically erase all the love, the memories, the times cherished together?

We now know by the discoveries of Neuroscience, that much of our character, temperament, judgement, and personality is determined by chemical reactions in the brain. Take the example of Phineas Gage, whose character changed completely after a 1.5 inch thick tamping iron penetrated the frontal lobes of his brain.

The human brain is so complicated. We can be altered physically and morally by a simple interruption to the brain’s chemical activities. When that happens, does it make you love the person any lesser?

Smilarly, what we see on the surface of a person can be physiologically altered in a split second. The forms that our eyes perceive may be altered by changes in vision acuity. The value of things and people may flex by emotional attachments. If so, what exactly is form?

This is reminds me of Grace’s story again. If you have missed it, now is the time to check it out.

Let me use Heart4hope as an illustration of my opinion. To be honest, there are plentiful of shirts more appealing than mine. Even some of those mass-produced earrings look better. And my writing isn’t all that great. What a simple form am I. But you support me, because to you, the form of my heart4hope design and my story is not independant from other elements of humanity.

This Valentine’s Day, I’d like to dedicate a special blog post to a friend of mine, who has been dating her current boyfriend in the past 7 years. At the time of writing this, she had just broken up with him for the umpteeth time. Truly can’t live with, can’t live without each other. The same old story has unfolded so many times, she can no longer find the words to describe the pain anymore. I wish she could just get over and done with it. Ah, alas… love is complicating. But what do I know? The best I can do is to share this song with her.

Go read the lyrics here and happy Valentine’s Day!

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Price: RM7 per pair
Limited Quantity:
White: 15 pairs left
Red: 15 pairs left
Black: 12 pairs left

Please place your orders by sending an e-mail to yvonnefmn(at)gmail(dot)com.