CJ, Author at juesatta (CJ Photography)

Mar 24

请不要自卑一生

By CJ Wisdom

曾经自卑 (image from http://www.e-duzhe.com/)

小时候家里很穷，同学们有的东西，我总是没有，所以很自卑。

小时候觉得自己长得很丑，那些长得帅的同学老是得到师长们的好感，我却往往让他们踢到一边，变得更自卑了。

小时功课虽然还勉勉强强过得去，上了中学就不太好了，加上下了课还要帮忙家里到田里工作，便再怎么努力，也追不上其他的同学。我真的觉得自己很渺小。

每个人都有自己的极限

我的小学和中学便在自卑及自我感觉渺小之下过去，长大了，自卑便紧紧的跟我。

自卑让我不能说出我想说的话，因为我觉得我比別人差；自卑让我不敢做我很想做的事情，因为別人都没有去做，我何德何能？自卑让我连很想得到，也已经得到的东西（比如说：爱情）都不敢伸手去拿，因为我觉得自己不配。

听起来很好笑是吗？可是这就是我的前半生，而且还认识很多和我一样不断鞭笞自己一生的人。

我要走了很多痛苦不堪的路后，才发现原来我是可以不需要自卑的。

假如我功课或工作比不上別人，我只需要加把劲就好；追上他人很好，追不上他人也很好，因为每个人都有其极限的，就好像我怎么努力，我的歌都没法唱得比蔡琴好。

假如我很努力赚钱后，还是一个月只能赚1000元，我还是不需要自卑，因为我尽了能力，我就好好的享受我的1000元；因为自卑或自我鞭笞是於事无补的。

假如別人觉得我很丑，那也是没有甚么问题的，因为美丑是天生的，而且美丑也是主观的，加上美丑都是別人的看法。所以，別人觉得我很美，那很好；要是別人觉得我很丑，那也很好。

我就是我，我不需要別人的肯定来过日子。

假如你有孩子，假如你是老师，假如你认为你关心孩子，请告诉孩子们：人是可以不必自卑的。

请让下一代从他人的眼光下，活出他自己的一生。

星洲日报／副刊 ‧作者：大潘、吴风辉‧2010.01.30
[source: http://www.sinchew.com.my/node/150890?tid=3]

Mar 23

Baba Pongteh

By CJ Beautiful Melaka, Juesatta art, Photography

Baba Pongteh by Jason

When we speak of Nyonya dishes we are first to think of Nyonya Pongteh. It is basically chicken (ayam in Malay) or pork (babi in Malay) or both, with potatoes and mushroom braised in soybean paste.

If you google for Pongteh recipe on the web, there are heaps of result coming out. However, I tried a few web recipes and did not get the taste expected. The real Pongteh is always made by the authentic Baba (refers to male) and Nyonya (refers to female) folks.

2 months ago, Jason’s mother invited my mother and me to their place and to learn how to cook Pongteh and also for a lunch together. Jason’s mom was guiding and supervising us. Jason was interested in learning too so he did the cooking most of the time while I was helping him to prepare the ingredients.

What I could remember is, about 300g-500g of pork was cooked in water (to remove the strong taste of pork), cooled and cut into pieces. Another 300g-500g of chicken was cut. Ratio 1:1 of shallots and garlic were peeled and chopped, then fried with oil. A few table spoons of Cow brand soybean paste were added to the wok followed by the pork and chicken. Then the Pongteh was fried until we got a strong flavour and the gravy was thick. After that, a bit of water was added and salt, sugar, soy sauce, dark soy sauce were added to taste.

I didn’t take down any notes of the Pongteh we learned to cook; rather I enjoyed eating than cooking. And regrettably I didn’t take any shot of the final product of Pongteh because I couldn’t wait to eat when it was served. It was really delicious. Besides Pongteh, there were other Nyonya dishes cooked by Jason’s mother. They tasted not so different from those I had in Nyonya restaurants, yet as yummy.

Thanks to Jason and his mother for inviting us to their place and teaching me how to cook Pongteh. I would call the Pongteh I had at Jason’s place, the Baba Pongteh, as Jason the Baba cooked it. Below are some of the shots I took while I had time:

Mar 23

[News] ‘Man with the golden arm’ saves 2million babies in half a century of donating rare type of blood

By CJ Compassion

Mr Harrison, dubbed 'the man with the golden arm', is still donating every few weeks at the age of 74. He is thought to have saved 2.2million babies

An Australian man who has been donating his extremely rare kind of blood for 56 years has saved the lives of more than two million babies.

James Harrison, 74, has an antibody in his plasma that stops babies dying from Rhesus disease, a form of severe anaemia.

He has enabled countless mothers to give birth to healthy babies, including his own daughter, Tracey, who had a healthy son thanks to her father’s blood.

Mr Harrison has been giving blood every few weeks since he was 18 years old and has now racked up a total of 984 donations.

When he started donating, his blood was deemed so special his life was insured for one million Australian dollars.

He was also nicknamed the ‘man with the golden arm’ or the ‘man in two million’.

His blood has since led to the development of a vaccine called Anti-D.

He said: ‘I’ve never thought about stopping. Never.’ He made a pledge to be a donor aged 14 after undergoing major chest surgery in which he needed 13 litres of blood.

‘I was in hospital for three months,’ he said. ‘The blood I received saved my life so I made a pledge to give blood when I was 18.’

Mar 22

Event shooting – blood donation campaign 21st March 2010

By CJ Involvement, Photography

Blood donation campaign at Mahkota Parade, 21st March 2010

Recently my friend, Wee-Peng was asking me about blood donation. Since the last time he donated years ago, he wanted to make another donation.

I read newspaper about the blood donation campaign which would be held at Mahkota Parade yesterday and I told Wee-Peng about it days ago. He immediately agreed to participate.

: “It isn’t pain at all”

Both of us went to the blood donation campaign yesterday. The response of the campaign was good. When we reached the venue, there were public from different backgrounds were queueing up for blood donation registration. We were delighted to be part of such a meaningful event.

The atmosphere was so peaceful. It was much more laughter than pain for us. Since local anaesthetic was used, the only pain we experienced was very minor. In fact, it was only 2 seconds when the needle injected to the artery. After that, we just sat and relaxed, waiting for the pint of blood to be filled up.

The minor pain we experienced was nothing compared to the trauma victims due to accidents and burns, heart surgery, organ transplants, women with complications during childbirth, newborns and premature babies, and patients receiving treatment for leukemia, cancer or other diseases, such as sickle cell disease and thalassemia who need our blood for a cure.

Blood donation is an act of kindness and makes us realise that this simple act could save lives. Every pint of blood donated can save up to 3 lives. It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Special thanks to the organisers, volunteers and donors who made this wonderful event going. I would like to thank Wee-Peng for giving me an opportunity to participate in this event together. May everyone be happy.

While Wee-Peng was donating, I snapped some photos to share the event with you:

Mar 21

A day at Kampung Jawa and Kampung Hulu with Dylan

By CJ Beautiful Melaka, Juesatta art, Photography

Days ago, Dylan Low (the last photo in this post) and I went for a shooting at Kampung Jawa and Kampung Hulu in Melaka. It was drizzling when we arrived, however we didn’t give up on our plan. Fortunately the weather turned out alright after some time of shooting.

Decades ago, Kampung Jawa and Kampung Hulu were considered few of the hottest spots in Melaka. Long before Mahkota Parade and Jusco were built, most Malaccan would do their shopping for things like shoes, clothing, dried seafood, groceries, or even a cheap haircut there. Besides, delicious multiracial food like rojak, wantan noodle, fishball noodle, cendol, etc. could be found there.

One of the reasons Dylan and I chose to go there was, we would see craftsmen like goldsmith, blacksmith, carpenter, sculptor, cobbler, tailor, etc. These craftsmen at Kampung Jawa and Kampung Hulu were really good and skilful in their profession, and sad to say that they were mostly senior citizens. Younger generation would not treasure these traditional handicrafts nowadays.

These are some of the shots I took:

Mar 20

[Event] Blood donation campaign at Mahkota Parade, 21st March 2010

By CJ Compassion

Blood donation advertising (Spanish) - by Dziesma

A blood donation campaign will be held tomorrow (21st March 2010, Sunday) at Mahkota Parade, Melaka from 10am to 2pm.

This event is organised by the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism.

Thanks to all area committee members and all volunteers for having organised and conducted this campaign. Public and readers please do come and give your support.

Wishing you all in good health and be happy. 🙂

CJ