Yvonne Foong

He asked me whether I believe in the possibility of a common faith. It reminded me of many instances where the ideal of unity was breached by greed of power and authority, humanity violated.

Communism, dictatorship, and totalitarian government are all flawed. The better systems in this day permit free will, individualism, human rights, and diversity. Because mankind is diverse, political systems cater to it. Yet, the fact remains. Diversity, dissension, and estrangement of nations is the root of evils and segregation of mankind.

But the present world order has come through many centuries of evolution. Is it possible to establish one common faith?

Perhaps it’s hard for someone living comfortably in the current system to accept. Because we have been taught that communism is evil. We have seen systems failing. Mankind is hurt. The wounded heart does not believe in ideals anymore.

In a recent post, Riverbend wrote in her blog about her family’s decision to leave Iraq. Many families had already left. Their decision was achieved after many months of consideration, because leaving is hard, possibly life-threatening to the Iraqis.

At the top of her blog, Riverbend wrote, “See you around the bend my friend, where hearts can heal and wounds can mend.�

Her desire is so simple, and yet so hard to achieve.

Our study today ended with me feeling surreal. When we are content with a system that may falter anytime, someone is in desperate need to break free.

Maybe the urgency is greater than I thought.

Due to the previous positive feedbacks, Yvonne decides to experiment with seasonings. Never before she ever cooked vegetables with seasonings. (is the last sentence grammatically correct?)

Okay so here goes.

sliced two stalks of spinach, two baby egg plants, half a carrot, and four lady fingers. Don’t forget two cloves of garlic. Mom said cooking garlic with vege is good for the stomach. Can anyone explain why?

Bring oil to boil in a wok. Then, lower the heat a little and cook the garlic. Fry them a bit, but not to much. You don’t want the garlic to burn.

Fry the sliced carrots with additional water. Without water, the carrots won’t soften.

When the carrots are soft enough (make sure they are soft enough before you proceed with leafy greens because the latter cooks very quickly), add the stems of spinach and stir.

30 seconds later, add a cube of fermented bean curd.

Finally, add the rest of the spinach. Don’t forget to stir and add water if there isn’t enough.

Perfect taste! Not too salty, not too bland. The carrots had the right softness, and the spinach were nicely cooked.

Next, glace the wok with oil, let more garlic to cook for about 30 seconds. Then, cook the egg plant. Add water when neccessary. Don’t wait till the wok is inflamed.

Then, add 1 1/2 tablespoon of bean paste, or taucu. The amount varies for different portion size so do taste your gravy and ration accordingly.

Add the sliced lady fingers, let simmer for… maybe 2-3 minutes, depending on the amount of heat you’re using.

Done! This taste was perfect as well. Egg plant at the right softness, so as the lady fingers. And the gravy wasn’t too salty or bland.

Yvonne can cook. Hehehe…

Once upon a time, a student named Alan from China used to stay with us. Alan loved cooking, and used to whip out authentic mainland dishes to share with me. I enjoyed eating his food.

Now, at that time, Yvonne was a very busy girl. Since cooking takes time, her own meals consisted of instant food and dishes that require simple preparation.

Sometimes, I specially request Alan to cook for me.

But one day, he jokingly said, “”.女人è¦?会煮饭”.

EXCUSE ME! When I don’t cook, it doesn’t mean I can’t, okay? Sigh…

My cooking depends on my mood and the amount of time available. I mostly cook very simple dishes. Like this.

My first time cooking Bayam. It wasn’t bad. Fried with oil, with no seasoning. I prefer my vege to taste natural

Today is one of those days I feel like cooking. I dove into the refrigerator and fished out celery, potatoes, and carrot.

My purpose of eating is to obtain nutrients for survival. So I don’t really care when it’s just a simple meal, as long as it is balanced.

For taste, I prepared an onion and a clove of garlic as well.

First thing I did was to boil the sliced potatoes, because potatoes take longer time to turn soft. Heat up the water until it boils, then insert the potatoes and lower down the heat.

Meanwhile, heat up some oil in a wok until you see smoke, then add the chopped garlic.

After a minute or 2, remove the potatoes from the pot of water, drain the water, then add them into the wok for a bit of frying.

But don’t fry too long. Once the potatoes are a bit burned, add water, and add the sliced carrots. Then, let it simmer in low heat for 5 minutes or so. This is when you should add any seasoning you want. I added a hint of black pepper and sesame oil.

Right before you think it’s ready, add the sliced onion. Make sure there is enough water left as gravy. Leave to simmer for a minute or two, then turn off the heat.

Done!

After scooping up the previous dish and all it’s gravy, I added a bit of oil to the wok, and fried the stems of the celery.

When they seemed a little burned, I added water and left it to simmer for a couple of minutes with a bit of thick soy sauce. Celery is quite tough so remember to simmer longer than you normally would do to other leafy vegetables.

At this point, I realized it’s a bit too salty a moment after adding some salt, so I scooped up and threw away most of the gravy, put in the leaves, and added a bit of water to the wok.

Fried the celery more for awhile… and tada!

You might have noticed my cooking is actually all very simple. I think it runs in the family. My maternal grandfather passed away when his youngest daughter was only a few months old, my mother seven years old. My maternal grandmother was a vegetable vendor who woke up in the wee hours of mornings, and was outdoors most of the day. Being children to a single parent in a poor family, my mother and her 6 other siblings were left to fend for themselves at home. They did not have much money, so the dishes they cooked were very simple but essential.

My mom learned from watching her mom, and I in turn learned from watching my mom. She never taught me how to cook, or shared any recipes with me. I simply grew up hanging around the kitchen and watching her cook.

Cooking is a lot of common sense. I hardly use any seasoning. But when I do in the midst of cooking, I usually take whatever bottles within reach after contemplating the kind of flavor they’d add to the dish. Common sense is what dictates if flavors match.

But Mom tend to overcook her vegetables. Therefore, I prefer to cook my own. One of her sister, my Aunt Lu Min prefer leaving her vegetables a little raw to preserve ithe nutrients.

Bet you have heard about her eldest son, my cousin brother, Yeoh Ken Nee - the olympian diver. Hasn’t he got silky smooth skin? Now you know why.

Pssst… I auditioned to become Malaysian Idol in 2004. Surprise! Okay, stop laughing please.

I remember taking the train to Berjaya Times Square early in the morning, queuing up for hours among hundreds of contestants, waiting in anticipation with Alicia and Eunice, all for singing before three judges that lasted less than a minute.

The following day, Eunice and I sat soberly in Music Theory class, destined to spend more time training our voices behind closed doors.

Although I didn’t get chosen, the event taught me a lot about perseverence and confidence.

These two words are so widely used, they’re becoming less meaningful nowadays. Even I, having been through major surgeries, only came to understand true grit last year while raising funds.

Physical challenge may be overcame by raising our threshold for pain and hardship. It partially owes to chemical reactions in the brain. On the other hand, perseverence and confidence are characters controlled by the mind.

To persevere and have true confidence mean to continue fighting and disregarding oppositions at all cost, because you BELIEVE in your goal.

During my first three surgeries, I had to put up with the pain of surgical wounds, complications, temporarily disabilities, tiring rehabilitation exercises, and being misinformed. I pulled through, because I had no other choice.

But when raising funds, I have the choice of giving up. Each time someone called me names, questioned my intergrity, and put my hopes down, I became insecure. Instead of retaliating, I gave detractors the matter of doubt, thinking that, maybe they were right.

But thanks to the detractors, because perseverence builds character. All that questioning helped me discover who I am inside.

Appearing on talent shows and reality TV feels a lot like that.

Everybody wants to be famous. But not many know what it takes to be one.

That’s why it’s important to BELIEVE. When you believe and have faith in achieving your dream, you will strive to achieve it at all cost, despite whatever oppositions that come your way.

This is something our Malaysian schoolbooks don’t tell you.

If God blessed you so much, consider sharing it with society. Grab your chance by joining the StarCeleb audition.

That. to me, is true celebrity.

I’m so happy. Yuin Yin posted our photo two days ago!

Go read her post here. CLICK

Which reminds me of the Hong Kong drama series, “Healing Hands”. I watched it in primary school. At the end of the first series’ final episode, Dr. Cheng read a book to his girlfriend who was in a coma state. Little Brownie, or something like that.

I vaguely remember the last sentence he read that went, “生活很精采”.

Although NF causes a lot of tumors to grow in my body, and I am forced to do many things that I otherwise won’t, yet NF has made my life colorful. Like a rainbow.

你活的精采�？

Reuben told me about going for scholarship interviews recently. Realizing one month had passed, I asked him about the outcome.

“Thank God. I got it,” he said in a humble tone.
“Was it tiring attending all those interviews?”
“Well, it’s their money. So I showed them my best and prayed they would see something in me they like. If they don’t, I’d keep on seeking for someone who does.”

I bet he was truthful. His expression showed no hint of apathy.

Reuben Koh is a Psychology major in Segi College’s American Degree Programme. His ambition is to become a Sociologist, who serves the bettermant of the world. I need not say much about his personality. It’s out in the open for everyone to see.

I don’t know about you, but I’m very touched. I attended a class with Reuben last semester. Everyday, I saw a blessed child with overflowing love for whoever crossed his path. But when this news report was published, I realized that he was struggling all along. But he showed no signs of worry at all! Not a single clue!

Patrick considered other ways I could raise funds. “Why don’t you approach MCA?,” he said.

Many have asked me the same question last year, including journalists who wanted to know why I chose to rely on myself instead of approaching the higher authorities for help.

I like to think of myself as different from fundraisers in the newspapers. My needs are not as acute as theirs.

The unique nature of Neurofibromatosis is UNCERTAINTY. Despite the present stable condition, nobody knows for sure if I will ever stop needing medical treatments.

Unlike babies needing heart transplant or children with lung complications for instance, my needs are not always urgent, but they are neccessities.

Even I tend to forget my own health condition sometimes. Whenever I see someone raising funds for lifesaving surgeries in the newspaper, I feel guilty for keeping so much money for my own treatments. I wish to help them too.

I am not in a life-and-death situation. I can still go to college and hang out with my peers. But I must always remind myself about what sets me apart from others.

On the surface, I look fine, but inside me are many ticking time bombs. This is a fact that I should not run away from. The tumors along my spine, the brain tumors, and even tumors under my skin might suddenly grow rapidly. The symptoms of NF are hard to predict. When my left Acoustic Neuroma was discovered, doctors told me not to worry as it was likely to grow very slowly. But fate had it that I lose my hearing within a year.

Presently, some tumors in my body are slowly growing, some remained unchange in size. Nobody knows what will happen tomorrow. The best I can do is live life to the fullest and keep close tab on my tumors’ conditions.

That means being under the care of experienced Neurosurgeons, Neurotologists, and Neuro-Ophthalmologists. I also need good MRI scans and other diagnostic tests. These are essentials. Without good diagnostics, we run the risk of overlooking abnormalities. If we don’t give timely medical attention to our sudden acute needs whenever they occur, our bodily functions may suffer irreversible damages. When that happens, no amount of money can buy our body back.

That’s the difference with NF. Our needs are not always urgent, but it’s a continuous neccessity.

So back to the question, why don’t I approach the higher authorities for help?

Because I’m still able

I enjoy going to college. I want a career in Psychology, so I may help others. I gotta keep reminding myself that, Yvonne, you need to take good care of yourself. You don’t want all the money that goes into buying a better quality of life wasted.

Always remember, Yvonne. Dreams can come true.

“There’s class this Wednesday. No class next week,” he typed out what our Biology lecturer said.

“Hutang 3 classes,” he added.

I chuckled upon reading that. Hutang I never thought of it that way. It’s always about students owing to a person’s teachings, and not the other way round.

“Must replace mah.”

Right, I’m so glad to have Kenrick back. He’s the other person in Segi College, besides Mr. Liew Ban Hong, who knew me since the days I could still hear. Being in the same class with him againt brings back memories. He knew the sixteen year old Yvonne, saw me struggling with weakening legs, not to mention the swollen ankles, bloody wounds… ah the list goes on.

Cordy once mentioned that some people tend to judge me based on what I write. But those who knew me before I became a public person would always remember the real Yvonne.

Thank you guys! It means a lot to me.

Ah, same old Kenrick. Hutang 3 classes.

Update (June 16, 2007): Thank you everyone for the kind concern. Yuin Yin is back home recuperating from last Wednesday’s surgery. A Parotid Gland Tumor that measured 25 X 19mm was removed from her neck region. Some tissues that spread across adjacent lymph nodes could not be removed surgically, and will require chemotherapy.

When I visited Yuin Yin in SJMC yesterday, she is in good spirit and a jovial mood. “Just a few tumors won’t kill me.” she said.

She texted to tell me the result of her biopsy result this morning.

“It’s cancer.”

My head jolted, my eyes teared. I soaked in the vereberations of the sudden shock throughout Expository Writing class. My head burned and ached.

“Why? Why her?,” I asked in disbelief.

Last month. Eddie and I were out strolling in Koreatown,, when I saw an imported Korean pop star magazine. I imagined her immeasurable joy receiving it as a gift.

It’s now time I give it to her, but not in the way I imagined it to be. I’ll be handing it to her in the hospital. From now on, her life is forever changed.

Silly girl, you want to be a doctor, don’t you? You go to medical school, study hard, in hopes that one day your dream will come true. You love children. You want to heal the world. It is now time. Among the many aspiring doctors out there, God has chosen you. I told you before you went into surgery, that everything happens for a reason. So don’t be afraid. This is how God molds you. You will learn hands-on what it takes to fulfill God’s purpose in this world. You will be the best doctor, you will heal many children. You will build orphanages, the way you’ve always dreamed.

When I look back, how Yuin Yin came into my life again last year, tirelessly and passionately helped me sell t-shirts to raise funds for surgery, I am baffled as to why God always choose the least likely people to suffer. But then I think again. The least likely ones are also the most suitable. Because they have hearts of gold. Now God’s furnace will change gold to platinum.

Dear all SM Subang Jaya alumnis (C’mon, leave a note. I know you read my blog!). The cute Yuin Yin is back and will be in town for the next three months. So do drop her at note at www.yuinyin.com and say, “Dearie, I miss you so much. Let me buy you Starbucks coffee, with Yvonne in tow.”

Here’s the scary thing. Yuin Yin reminds me of Tremayne.

Don’t you agree?