---
the cast : here are
a few people that I might refer to in my entries.
All names are 100% fake (except the cats), but the people are 100% real.
Except when noted.
---
MA
My brilliant mum, slightly playful, witty, open to the
both of us cursing and doing stupid things in the house, spends money with some
generousity. On the other hand, she's the kind of parent who's more obsessed about your
exam marks than the person actually taking the exam. But she's let me become my own person
with few objections and I respect that. Divorced my dad after much difficulty. I remember
the day of the verdict as one of the most gloriest days of both of our lives, and her
biggest smile in five years.
DAD
Slightly paranoid, very dramatic. The kind of father
who assumes everything and believes nothing of what you really say. Is quick to take me to
the clinic at the slightest hint of a cold. We have little in common, I've inherited his
quick temper but that's about it. We fight too often. Buys gifts to accentuate his
apologies (high in the Guilty Gifts charts: the Tag Heuer watch and the Playstation).
Despite the divorce he sees me almost every day.
ZA
My little sister by two years. Going through that phase
of life where imitation can be ordinary, music is Britney and gossip is a skill. Like most
preteens, she'll never admit to anything you knew she did. Is in the 'popular' clique in
school. Shows little concern in taking care of the cats and family. Has an addiction for
late night showers and pasta. Loves to cook (or rather, put a whole lot of things together
to call upon hell to her stomach). Collects Beanie Babies.
KAKAK FATIMA
In most parts of the world it's rare to have hired
help. But in Malaysia it's a pretty common thing. No matter how wealthy or poor you are,
it's the norm to have one person in the house to help clean and/or babysit. Usually the
children call them 'Kakak' (Malay for 'older sister'). Been with me for 11 years and
counting. She was all proper and nice in the first few years but now she loves to talk
with the neighbourhood's maid-network and go out. She gets more phone calls than I do at
home, and is a sucker for Indonesian soap operas on TV.
CATS (currently)
KENTOI:
aka. Senior Citizen, has a severe insecurity and depression problem, and a very crooked
tail.
COOKIE THE GERMAN HITLER: or
Pregnant Chaplin when she's raising a new army. Moustache. Bad temper. Strict mother.
LUKE SKYWALKER: aka Dope,
Loser. Beautiful but pathetic. Can't last 3 hours without some human lovin'. My mum loves
him endlessly, sometimes even more than she loves us. I am not kidding.
ASTIGMATISME: Was crosseyed
slightly. Has the most beautiful meow in the world.
WHITE: Astig's child.
Fractured lower spine badly, now walks with a permanent limp. Ugly natural-dirt look. Loud
voice, demands attention.
GYPSY GOLLIWOG: or Golly. Has
fur that looks black but is tipped almost henna brown in the sun. Shy-silent. Likes the
garden.
MISS MR HAHN: Named after
Linkin Park's DJ only to find out that she was female. Added another prefix.
HEART: Also German military,
has a black heart on her left torso and a broken heart on her right.
ARROW: Had a balding problem
where dots appeared on his forehead in shape of an arrow. German army.
BEAST: Makes ravenous sounds
during meals. German army, Heart & Arrow's sibling, Ju's youngest sibling.
JU-JU BONKS: MM Hahn's
brother, Luke's younger brother and part of the German's army. Crosseyed.
ALFALFA: aka Tubbs (of
the infamous Chubbs & Tubbs = Mum & Alfalfa watching TV together). Obese.
ARIANNE
If I bring her up at all, Arianne is an alias
I use on paper or online when I want to be drastically different and get away with it.
It's about as close as I come to a having multiple personality. I derived the name from
being an Aries, and the movies Ever After and The Truman Show. Her full name is Arianne
Danielle Truman, and through the many forms I've had to fill in online, she's turning out
to be a concrete person, fact-wise.
DAMIEN
Used to be my closest guyfriend ever. Met him online,
he turned out to be Soren's friend and in the same school. He finally walked up to me one
day and introduced himself near an ice-cream truck after school. We've done everything for
hours at a time, phone calls, online chats, emails, and face to face conversation. He's my
exact opposite in almost every way, but that's never gotten between us. He's now studying
in UK, and differences have separated us. Is fixated on his belief that I'm bisexual
(which by the way I'm not).
SOREN
The 'big brother' I never wanted, but loved anyway.
Knew him since I was in diapers practically. His mother grew up with my mother and they've
been friends from 17 till now (their early 40s). He calls me lyt chwaer, derived from some
sci-fi book he read, and 'gorgeous' during that phase when I needed to be convinced that I
was. Has a huge passion for martial arts and almost everything Japanese despite being
Malay.
MOLLICK
She's been in my form for years but now that we're in
the same class (and sitting next to each other) we've gotten to know each other really
well. It's amazing how much we have in common. Sometimes I even get the vibe that we're in
the same state of mind, which is such a refreshing change compared to my other friends.
Almost nothing we say to each other sounds stupid, and that's what I've been wanting to
find ever since I broke my all-guyfriends policy.
MR. NATHAN
My tuition teacher. As mentioned in one entry,
he's an old fashioned bloke who teaches in a
hastily-renovated room at the back of his house that always smells mildly (and quite
charmingly) of sewerage mildew. He has this aura about him that obliges all of us to call
him Sir, something from the 70s and 80s, and he still believes in making you write a
hundred lines if you can't answer the questions he asks at the start of each class. His
age is a mystery. He tells us he was once regarded all over as the best teacher in the
country. I believe him.
GRACE
One of my first-ever girl friends. She buys several CDs
at a time (a luxury here), watches DVDs projected to a huge white screen (a movie feel to
it), has a lavish house where each bedroom has their own bathroom, a spiral staircase the
fantasy of romantic-sauntering-princess wannabes, and a kitchen to drive a skilled chef
into spontaneous orgasms. Her upbringing is nothing short of classy, and her family is
packed with insanely interesting people with equally interesting (AND insane) stories.
Effortlessly beautiful, commands a second look from almost every guy passing by. A
talented workaholic and a great person. Somewhat inspired my first ever bout of serious
depression last year, but was also part of its solution.
SPOOKY
An ex-boyfriend whom I broke up with years
ago. Has issues. Plenty of them. Awkwardly tall, silent, eyes dart around too much and has
violent tendencies, once trashing the back of the classroom, throwing chairs and kicking
tables, screaming. He could have hurt someone.
He's a stalker, and a very bad one. For a year or so after the breakup I felt him
near me everywhere in school. It was like he thought that the more I saw of him, the more
I would want him back or something. Now that we're still in the same classroom, he still
does it, not as often but still too close for comfort. Discreet enough for anyone to
consider it nothing out of the ordinary. I attempted to befriend him again a year after
the breakup and he was all over me assuming that I would feel the same way. It's paranoid
of me, but I swear that he still moves past my line of vision more than anyone else.
MIAKA
Classmate. She's big into art and anime and most things
Japanese (though she isn't Japanese), at the same time she manages to miraculously ace all
exams. I know the intensity and effort she puts into all four and I can't see myself in
that position anytime soon, we're too different I guess. Often sarcastic (probably the
ultimate act of it is in her occasional bursts of candy sweetness that manages to be
disgustingly adorable and how she ties her hair up with two ponytails to the back). It
adds a lot of spice to her bite, I love it (and her!).
DANTE
On-and-off guy friend. A grumpy grouch, but
after all those years, I'm still here, talking to him. We fight often and hardly agree on
anything. Our form of bonding is loving the same music. But his tender moments somehow
make up for all of the previous loads of bullshite. Some guys just do that to you. Used to
fancy him years ago but not anymore. All my other friends constantly try to matchmake the
both of us, but I can't ever see that happening.
NORAH
Acquaintance turned friend. We''ve recently
bonded this year. She is lucky and has found her True North (my nickname for her
boyfriend, just to annoy her). She's almost constantly brimming with genuine spirit and
smiles. You can't help but get infected by her contagious enthusiasm, and love her for it.
JENNY
Classmate for a few years. Focused,
intelligent, and has intense passion for business and makeup. Strongly believes that
straightening her 'fuzzy' hair has changed her life, and I'm inclined to agree with her. I
love her sensibility.
ASHLEY
Classmate. She has this young, cartoon-preteen,
high-pitch and occasionally nasal quality to her voice, without even trying. In fact, she
can't get rid of it. To top that off her personality complements her voice perfectly. Very
toddler-like. One second, she's playfully scribbling with pastel pens and giggling loud
and squeaky over silly things with comical facial expressions. The next time I look at her
she's cheek-to-table, arms covering her face and fingers loosely gripping a pink pen,
asleep. Look again, and she's up and bouncing, ready for action. Mollick and I find the
transformation amazingly child-like. We bully her a lot too, lol. It's okay, she still
loves us.
GEORGIA, CARLY, TESS, JIMMY, ROSS, AZIYA, JANICE, AND MARIA
My circle of friends at the News Straits
Times English Literature seminar from April till October.
Given the long durations of us being stuck together we've managed to bond pretty
well. I'm closest to Georgia, who's one of those free-spirited people I knew were out
there but have yet to meet. She's got brilliant taste in books, eccentric dress style and
the both of us speak our minds.
Carly is very hippy and also one of those people that I've been looking to meet.
She and I are probably the most opinionated people in the seminar. Tess and I can laugh at
nothing, Jimmy is the lovable-hateable joker who pinches cheeks and has a remarkably
soulful side, Ross is too serious, Aziya is sophisticated. Janice and Maria are both
decades ahead of me and very different. Janice owns a sandwich-store chain, Maria Wong is
a Swedish chain smoker, who married a Chinese (hence Wong).
MAC
Rarely mentioned (mostly in the poetry section). Also known as 'the muse'. Were best of friends a
few years ago, and to say the least, we grew apart and had too many irreconcilable
differences to ever patch up our friendship again. Inspired two pivotal changes in my
life:
- to write poetry (even though Spooky hated it)
- to break up with Spooky (major eye-opener)
FREQUENTLY
MENTIONED & FYI
KINOKUNIYA:
my favourite bookstore
MPH: a bookstore
chain, second favourite
SPM: Malaysian
equivalent of British O-Levels
KEDAH: a state north
of west-Malaysia. My mother's hometown and grandparents' state of residence.
JOHORE: a state south
of west-Malaysia. My father's hometown that I rarely visit.
MALAYSIAN EDUCATION SYSTEM:
7 yrs old to 12 yrs old - Standard One through Standard Six. High school at 13 yrs, from
Form One till Form Five (17 ys old). Streamed into Arts, Pure Science and Sub-Science
classes in Form 4. Three major exams, UPSR (Std 6), PMR (Form 3), and SPM (Form 5). I'm
going through it all a year younger because I skipped a year (new govt exam that they
decided to cancel after a few years).
THE NEWS STRAITS TIMES (NST), THE STAR:
two of the most reliable national English-language newspapers. THE MALAY MAIL is the tabloid trash.