“I was a caretaker for monkeys and captive elephants for the Save Elephant Foundation.
Working in an animal ‘retirement home’, hundreds of miles away from civilization, I felt isolated, depressed and lonely. So I spent time talking to the locals.
From them (locals), I realized that these animals (that were saved) were rescued from a barbaric tradition of ‘breaking their spirit’.
The elephants undergo a cruel traumatic process called ‘Phajaan’, which distorts their natural instinct for them to be submissive to humans.
They eventually become working elephants, doing illegal logging, tourist rides, and street begging.
Thats why I feel humans are responsible towards animal aggression.
I repeatedly tell those who come to visit the sanctuary not to feed the monkeys because they will attack.
You see, first we destroy their habitat, secondly we put them in a confined area which we call it ‘home’ for the animals and thirdly we teach them to behave accordingly by shaping them to act like how we want them to be.
Just because animals don’t speak the same language as us does not mean they can’t feel how humans feel.” – Wendi Sia
Photo and story by Kelvin Mah Edited by Christine C
“A good friend (Evelyn) who passed away not too long ago was a pescatarian, so I decided to be pescatarian for her birthday month of April as a dedication to her.
Since I was in my 20s I aspired to turn vegetarian one day, but it is near impossible… My longest record was only 49 days.
If it isn’t for a special cause, I would never succeed. I needed a strong motivation and this is my gift to her. If I kill less animals, the merit is mine and I am dedicating my merits to Evelyn’s afterlife.
When I told Dennis (Evelyn’s husband) that I will lead this #PescatarianEve drive for a whole month, he agreed that it can be easily done; but he also said maybe not many people will join for such a long stretch.
Well, whether they join me for a meal, or a week, or a month, or a lifetime, it is entirely up to them… Each meal is a dedication of merits to Evelyn while it is a spiritual blessing for anyone who makes it. Better yet, go vegetarian.” – Poesy Liang
Poesy’s friend is the well-loved marathon runner Evelyn Ang who lost her life after a hit-and-run accident.
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(2/2) “That was one of the questions that people ask me today when they hear that I was a dancer in the 80s. People were surprised because a woman dancer in the performing arts industry was so (and currently is) conservative.
For all those with this question, firstly no ballerina walks on a street with her tutu on. It is a costume that is worn only during performances.
Secondly, I personally never felt that being a woman restricted me in anyway or felt the need to question my life choices.
If there is something you want to do, then go ahead and just do it. Do it with faith in yourself and don’t worry a cent about what others will think of you.
We women often spend half of our energy just thinking about what others will say. You will never really know how good you are until you put your foot in the water.
There will always be people who think you are right and those who think you are wrong. If someone gave me a dollar every time they doubted my decisions, I would be a millionaire by now.
As women sometimes we fail to realise our worth. It is time to stop that now and start reacting to issues that bother us.
For example, there are people out there who still think that women who get raped were asking for it. Or those who are showing too much leg or cleavage don’t mind being ‘taken for a ride’.
Personally, I find this mindset ridiculous and if there is something I would like to change as a woman, it would be this irrational attitude.”
(1/2) “I am 56 years old and still teach dance to young girls who one day want to conquer the world and I hope that they will do exactly that.
By training I was a lawyer but after finishing my law degree I took off to London to study dance which was a very unusual move for women to undertake back in the early 1980s. I enrolled myself at Laine Theatre Arts and back then, I was the first Malaysian at Laine’s, something that I am proud of even today.
Being at Laine’s was a tough yet wonderful experience. Until then I wasn’t accustomed to dancing rigorously from 9am to 5pm. At Laine’s we did it everyday.
We did it till our legs felt like jelly and our shins hurts to the point we couldn’t stand. On some days my body would seize up. I remember rolling onto one side and falling on the floor simply so that I could crawl up on all fours and get ready for yet another day of stretching and dance.
But three and half years at Laine’s prepared me for a whole new world of ballet and dance.
Graduating and ready to take on the world, I returned to Malaysia and worked hard for many years. I started The Dance Company with a partner, and we braved the industry as young aspiring professionals. The company is still around, though I am no longer a part of it.
Once I had kids, it was difficult to balance the two. I wanted to raise my kids myself and to spend my formative years being around them, which was why I left the commercial industry and focused more on teaching, and I don’t regret my decision at all.”
(Part 01/02) “I joined a few charity organisations and hoped to help out as much as I can, but I came to find out the severe lack of transparency and abuse of funds.
Hence, I decided to go on my own and make sure my contributions reach out to the people I care for.
I packed up my belongings and went to Nepal, helping out as much as I can to get the locals back on their feet while trying to understand the real issues faced by the community and how I can help efficiently.
After three months in Nepal, I came back to Malaysia and started a crowdfunding exercise to raise funds and buy mosquito nets for 300 families.
It was going to be summer and mosquitoes breed during that time. A mosquito net is something a lot of families cannot afford, considering that many have lost their homes and family members.
Thanks to my network of friends, I was able to achieve beyond my target and raise funds to afford mosquito nets for 889 families.
That’s when I realized, even as an individual, one can make so much of difference if he or she has the determination and right strategy.
I will never forget their faces when we were distributing the mosquito nets to each of these families.
They have so much generosity and love even though they do not possess many things. Some of them live in very poor conditions yet they show much gratitude for everything they own.
That is something you can hardly find in the city, including the place I grew up in, Kuala Lumpur.” – June Moh
(Part 02/02) “They merely think of working odd job overseas to make ends meet.
I am working with a project partner in Nepal to come up with an avenue for them to market their products.
I want to help the local women to learn and expand the local businesses so that they can have a sustainable income source.
Nepal’s economy is mainly supported by women because men have moved to work in other countries including ours (Malaysia). Most women are involved in the agriculture sector but due to the lack of access to quality education, they don’t have the skills to increase their income.
My project partner teaches them how to make handcraft products while I work on developing a business plan to market their end-products to other countries, thanks to the wonders of the Internet. At the same time, I help them raise funds for any special projects or requests which can boost their income.
I believe this is the right way to help them instead of feeding them with funds or resources. It is to educate them about the importance of entrepreneurship and development. I hope they will understand that this is one of the ways to lead better lives.” – June Moh
“My mom’s the Italian and my father is a Malaysian Chinese from Sabah. It’s an unusual combination.
My mom said that it was love at first sight but dad doesn’t really agree with it. I learned that they met on a train and my father didn’t have enough money on him so my mother decided to pay for his ride. He couldn’t speak Italian and my mom’s English was limited too but they got to know each other during the train ride.
Eventually, my dad gave her an address where he was studying in the UK and told her to contact him if she ever came to the UK to visit.
In fact, my mom purposely flew to the UK to look for him and they fell in love then and there. After my dad finished his studies, he went to Italy to be with my mom for her final year of university.
After mom graduated, they decided to move to Kuala Lumpur and tie the knot here.
I dream that one day I’ll meet my own love in a way as romantic as my parents did. I would imagine myself walking on a beach or just strolling on a hill reading my favourite book “Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseini and I would bump into my prince charming who would turn out to be also a fan of the book. We would start walking, talking and falling in love.
“Tell us a bit about your siblings, growing up together.”
I have 2 older sisters and a younger brother. I love my siblings very much. I have so much fond memories with them.
Once, I remember it was the 31st of August and we were in Italy for Ferragosto, it was a summer welcoming celebration they have over there. We were looking up to a majestic sky full of stars together. We witnessed a shooting star right in front of our eyes and we all made our wishes in our hearts.
I’m a cat-crazy lady and I remember vaguely wishing that my cat would live forever and ever.
“What have you learnt about life, growing up with your unique upbringing?”
My parents always reminds us to see the beauty in everything around us and to be grateful of what Kuala Lumpur has been for us. I’m thankful for my education here, my friends, my social life and most of all my beautiful family and home.
I do get asked a lot about how I feel growing up here in Malaysia.
Most of the time, I just shrug it off by saying I don’t know but recently, I’ve been thinking about the question more. I imagine that If I’m in a room full of Italians and Malaysians, I would identify myself more with the Malaysian group because I just feel more welcomed when I’m with them. After all, I was brought up here all my life”.
Story and photo by Mushamir Mustafa Editorial assistance by Dao Hong
“When we wish to fire people who work in corporate jobs, instead of offering a severance package, we make life very difficult for them.
We humiliate them in meetings, we tell them they are not performing, we restructure the organization and reduce their seniority, and put junior people as their bosses. Eventually even the strong cannot ‘tahan’ and they will leave themselves. This is what they taught me in corporate, and this is what I did. But you don’t realise it all eventually comes back to you.
Sadly, the company is never short of its people to volunteer to do the dirty job of undermining their own colleagues, not realising that one day they may be the victim themselves.
If you are mid-manager level, it’s fine because you are purely operational. Once you get to senior manager position, that’s when the politicking starts. People get jealous of you, people backstab you and they would do anything to get rid of you. This is the ugly side of corporate culture and sadly the dark side of human nature too.
“Why did you quit corporate?”
One late night I looked through an old photo album of my family – of my lovely wife and children and I realised the past 20 years passed by in a blur. I could barely recall my children growing up and that my wife has become older – it was like I just woke up from a coma and I lost my memory. I regretted this bitterly and it was this moment I decided to make right of my life.
I’m grateful I’m given a second chance in life. This is my second chance.
Now, I operate a modest chemical business of my own. During the weekends, I also trade at a flea-market to sell our unneeded items, and have been a trader for two years.
I am actually saving up more money now, than when I was in corporate, as I’ve also learned to manage my finances more diligently and realized money was spent on unnecessary luxuries. For example, I thought I could not live without Astro because I used to watch EPL (English Premiere League football) every weekend. When I cut off Astro to save money, I realized I didn’t miss it that much.
So here I am, selling our unneeded items, things which we rarely used – sometimes only once or twice. I have three children – a boy and two girls. Two are in university and one just finished SPM. Once the last one goes to university too, me and wife will move to a smaller apartment.
Once you declutter your life, you can focus on the things that really matter.
During my corporate work, I reported to the board and I had up to ten bosses. But now I just have one boss. My wife! This is my life now, it’s a lot simpler, but I’m happier.”
