Yvonne Foong

It was an honor for mom and I, for we were invited to attend Her World Women 2007 Gala Dinner, at Hilton K.L. last night. We drove to the train station and took the LRT to KL Sentral. We arrived 20 minutes late.

Outside the ballroom, guests stood and mingled with each other, while newly arrived ones were pulled aside to be photographed against a purple backdrop. You might spot our faces in the next issue of Her World Magazine.

Inside the ballroom, purple and blue-ish hues of maroon decorated from ceiling to floor and tables. Spotlight shone upwards from every corner prepped up the atmosphere with a sense of crowding in.

We sat at the left, front-most table numbered 16. On my left was a lady who finger-spelled her name as Mona. Next to her was Low Ngai Yuen. The both talked incessantly from start to finish. Mona and I exchanged the occasional notes and one-liners. It wasn’t awhile before I asked Mona why the lady next to her looked so familiar.

Yuen was winner of the 2007 Her World Young Achiever award, presented last night.

I seldom watch TV these days, because most channels are without subtitles. So it has been years since I used to see Yuen on the silver screen. Yuen was nice to have volunteered her email and number. But we didn’t speak much. One, because my mind went back in time and sunk into melancholy. I told Yuen that I used to watch her on 3R, her natural presentation and demeanor. It has been three years since I became deaf, and longer since I watched her or thought of her. But her voice, I still remember today.

I was unaware of Yuen’s latest work in movie directing and production, so imagine my puzzlement at the knowledge of a TV host winning a Young Achiever award. Why her, and not others?

I found out why today, all thanks to the internet.

The event last night could be an omen, you know. Because I am in fact, planning something I hope will be big.

And meeting Yuen the winner was like a green light, a kick in the butt from God. Who else could have planned the time and events to correlate so well?

Earlier today, Pinky replied my email unrelated to this blog post. She suggested that, as planners of the project I hope would be big, we should discuss whether we aim to win any more awards.\

Joyce hinted some, okay, suggested, the methods Ringo and Cindy employed to raise their chances of winning Malaysian DreamGirl.

Two days ago, I typed Joel an email detailing the definition of media conglomerates such as Times Corporation, the head honcho of Fox Entertainment and Harper Collins, just to name a few, and how the companies raise profit by shifting revenues among their interdependent subsidiaries. Balik-balik, profit still masuk the same pocket.

So, you spent RM15k to win Malaysian Dreamgirl? Foolish proletariats! Stuck forever.

Mom and I have been invited to attend Her World Women Gala Dinner at Hilton KL tonight.

I’ve never written much about mom except complaining her unkempt ways of rearing pets, and her habit of crowding up any space left unoccupied at home.

The truth is, I am alive and doing good today all thanks to my mom, who takes care of me without complain.

I will never forget the day she said, “Why study so much? Just relax. I’ll take care of you”.

That is certainly unthinkable, to simply depend on my mom, but the meaning behind her words are priceless.

Mom lacks in formal education and she’s socially reclused. But that also means my mom doesn’t mince her words or say things to make people think better of her. That’s why companies appreciate her as an upfront sales executive. I have watched her working at the hypermarket and I am amazed at the way shoppers willingly approach her to ask what she’s selling, while my mom simply stood around, her arms folded, as if waiting for an employee to turn up for work. While others would have to speak endlessly to convince shoppers, my mom simply reply straight to the point when shoppers ask her what the product is.

When she first started, she came home and told me how much sales she made that day. I thought she was fabricating. Until I saw her in action. The sight of shoppers stopping by for barely ten minutes, leaving with bottles of her product, is simply amazing.

That also means, when you speak with my mom, go straight to the point, especially by phone. Or she will get all confused and pass her distorted version of messages to me.

Mom does not write much and she hardly talks much. So I told Ms. Chong Sheau Ching one day that to understand my mom has been through, you need to hang out with her and try to understand where her character came from, both the good and bad. Sometimes, you only know the life of a person through conversations with them, by listening to their heart.

Check of Jessica’s story. It hints a lot about my mom’s experience and feelings caring for me.

You either become a Psychiatrist and view Psychological conditions like the plague that needs to be gotten rid of, by prescribing medicine and letting the patient to his or her own device thereafter.

This seems to be case in Malaysia, as far as I know.

Or you become a Psychologist, and think like me. View abnormal psychology as a temporary impediment, a developmental delay or stagnation. Regard human with the potential to grow in spite for present circumstances.

I saw my college’s summer timetable this afternoon. There will be Developmental Psychology: Early to Late Adulthood, and Cognition. YAY!

Who’s taking with me? Yvonne needs helpers and typists.

Time to dig out those half-read books on animal cognition, memory and developmental psychology tucked away in my precious Billy bookshelf.

That said, I am figuring out how to support this person newly diagnosed with Schizophrenia.

1. Seroquel. 1 1/2 tablets. Morning and Night.
2. Diagnosis based on interview with Psychiatrist. at HUKM
3. No fMRI.
4. No Psychotherapy planned.

As you can see, this kind of treatment plan is bleak. But it’s the common form of treatment here in Malaysia.

Being just a student lacking in qualification, I cannot dispense advice or help with medical/biological application. Social and Developmental Psychology strategies seem do-able. However, this case of Schizophrenia has advanced to a stage, where the person’s attention is lost most of the time. Cognition is also in question, as the patient does not seem to really ‘know’ if she feels hungry, or what she wants to do.

Are there certified Play Therapists in Malaysia?

Come the next holiday, Yvonne needs to start on a book about Schizophrenia she got at Barnes and Nobles, Long Beach, last August. What was the mall’s name, Eddie? Some giant shopping mall. Biggest in where, SoCAL?

My classmate wrote me a note containing topics that our final exam would cover. This is the list, apparently taken down verbatim because it’s identical with another student’s copy.

1. Roger’s and Maslow’s need.

Fine.

2. Personality and health, and it’s link to illness.

Okay.

3. Personality health and stress issues.

Alright.

4. Alder.

Very well.

5. Erickson’s Psychosexual Stages,

You mean, Erickson’s interpretation of Freud’s theory?

6. Eysenck’s Hierarchical Model
Personality.

Something is very wrong.

Better text someone.

What sets those like me apart from beggars is our desire to be contributing citizens in spite of adversaries faced. Life is likened to a game and we are the players. Sickness is an obstacle for some, while others undergo safety threat, bankruptcy, political persecution, natural disaster, and so on. Adversaries slow down your progress, during which time, you either turn setbacks to your advantage and grow or remain stuck forever,.

On the other, beggars act as though the world owes them a living. The above key chain was sold to me by a youth stronger and more able physically than I. While many are finding ways to make this world better, he strives on a minor disability for personal gain.

I don‘t remember the words exactly. But the card he handed out roughly said, “I am deaf by the trick of fate…..” He implied that we should buy because he’s deaf.

At once, I cringed and almost corrected him.

Many physically challenged individuals do innovate for a living. But these people are fundamentally no different from those healthy and strong.. They innovate, believing that they CAN, just like everybody else.

A girl I knew at Life College named Sia Ling Ling is one fine example. Do you remember her? The winner of 2006 AYA Dream Malaysia ‘Most Outstanding Youth of the Year’ award.

Ling Ling was born with Muscular Dystrophy that forced her legs into a bow and her fingers curled. When she’s not on a wheelchair, Ling Ling needs to lean onto something to remain standing for short periods. But that skinny and seemingly timid woman stubbornly left her family and the village alone to make a living in Kuala Lumpur. She handmade and sold souvenirs using wires at the night market, while refusing financial support from her sister who lives in the same city.

Through perseverance and never wanting to give in, Ling Ling not only found a job in the office, but the love of her life where she works now.

A very impressive individual, considering the little village she used to live where unthinkable and degrading insults were once hurled at her.

If you watch NTV7 regularly, you would spot Ling Ling on Saturday evenings, dancing on a wheelchair. The sensuous ballroom dance she performed with her standing instructor at the 2007 AYA Awards Night sent the auditorium roaring with applause.. When I saw her that night, I felt proud and glad to have nominated her the year before. Not forgetting is the fact that this girl used to sell handmade key chains at the night market. Many might have mistaken her as a beggar. If they meet her again today, I hope they would understand the difference between a beggar and this physically challenged innovator who believes that she can be normal.

Sometimes, people mistakenly consider fundraisers like mine parallel with beggars under the guise of ‘charity’. Let’s not neglect to consider the underlying motivation, which determines how far one would go and how much we can do in life.

Ling Ling selling handmade key chains was to serve as a temporary financial relief, a stepping stone towards an independent and competent life. Now she works for a monthly salary at Beautiful Gate Foundation, infecting her colleagues with smiles and laughter. Her success is to be measured by the number of souls she touched and changed by first overcoming her personal challenges. And that has set her apart from ‘beggars’ under the guise of ‘charity’

Businessmen who don’t understand this, will always be searching and yet not know what he is searching for.

Preparations began on Sunday. A tucked away idea, a mental representation gradually took shape and materialized. By Wednesday, the Powerpoint presentation was ready, so did my idea became 70% real.

Time to write the proposal. By penning down my hopes and dreams, and the goals I want achieved, this idea at first so distant, became a part of me. It made the Powerpoint no longer consistent, somewhat.

Thursday evening, time to present. Upon meeting and chatting with the prospective partner, it occurred to me that spending four days on the PowerPoint was unnecessary. My written proposal explained it all plain and direct.

While I finished up my cake, he read my work and liked it. At that point, our parallel wavelengths became apparent. I mentioned Starbucks Coffee in there. Without knowing, he brought along their CSR brochure to show me as well.

Unbelievable.

The presentation and proposal was an honest and direct showcase, of my passion, my creativity, or just plain me. Maybe he would not understand, so I wrote at lengths. The brief report spanned five pages.

“It is better to over explain than to under explain sometimes,” I grinned sheepishly.

How glad, realizing I could have saved tons of saliva. So, when presentation time came, I felt a little awkward, as if I talked down at him who already knew it all too well.

But better to be transparent and show who you are, than to play the guessing game.

I also felt at ease. The last two hours had proven to me, this guy is intuitive toward all things entrepreneur, Not your typical chinaman business.

When we parted, my mind felt as if all it’s contents had been laid out on the table, minced and overwritten. Now empty, I need to fill it up again. I won’t do it alone this time.

The empty feeling was unexpected. Perhaps, this is how all great minds work. Always emptying itself to be filled up again and again.

I am talking about Joel Neoh.
One wonders if he would sleep well tonight after hearing my damn honest opinion about his projects. Sorry, it was unintentionally controversial.

This blogger was born on 5th June 1986. That makes her a Gemini. Check out my incomplete biodata.

I am in the midst of preparing a non-academic project presentation and decided to introduce a lbit about myself. Yvonne the Gemini kept writing until the list expanded to dominate half the presentation. Oh, this isn’t right. I doubt he would be interested in grandmother’s story.

So I post it here instead. Is my Gemini characteristic telling?