Just Another Cold, Wet, Windy, Rainy Day In Melbourne

 

Colourful Autumn in Melbourne

Melbourne truly has it all, from snow capped mountain to beautiful beaches to colourful city, no wonder it was ranked the most livable city for multiple times.

This time we travel to Mount Macedon, about an hour's drive from the city to enjoy the colourful autumn wonderland this place has to offer!

A Different CNY During Covid

Today is the fourth day of Stage 4 Snap Lockdown in Melbourne and it is also the fifth day of Chinese New Year. As usual, there is not much new year atmosphere in Australia as it is not a public holiday. This ‘quiet’ atmosphere is magnified this year due to the snap lockdown. Everyone were told to work from home during this five days restrictions. As I look outside my window, there is hardly any car on the road as traveling are only allowed within 5km radius of where we live.

Watching the news for the past week made me realize that I am not the only one who is unable to be with our family back in Malaysia. There are a lot of Malaysians stranded in Taiwan, US, Europe and even those working in Singapore are unable to ‘balik kampung’ (go back hometown literally). Knowing that there are others who are suffering the same fate does not take away the frustration of not being able to go home. Although the authorities and experts keep telling us that we will be back to the so called ‘New Normal’ very soon, it does not help to remove the doubt at the back of our mind whether there is a normal to be looking forward to. The fact is that no one knows when we can get back to normal as each countries is at different position of how well they handle Covid cases.

The pandemic does push all of us into one corner and make us think hard about what matters most in our lives. Most Malaysians who migrated to Australia remains as Permanent Residents because we do not wish to surrender our Malaysian passports (it is required in the event we are to take up Australian citizenship). Malaysian government does not recognize dual citizenship. It is fine with us as most of us go back at least once a year in the past, we still get to see our family and friends back home regularly. After Covid, the situation has dramatically changed. Not only we can’t go back, there are tons of uncertainty ahead of us. Nobody can confidently say when this is going to end, if it ever ends at all.

Such is the dilemma faced by many who currently reside abroad and found themselves stuck. We can’t help but ponder upon the question whether we made the right decision to migrate in the first place. Sure most of us have valid reasons like children education, better environment to raise family, work-life balance, equality etc. But are the sacrifices we made worth it at the end of the day? Recently these questions sound louder and clearer ever since we found ourselves in this pandemic predicament.

Make Good Use Of The Time That Is Given To Us

Melbourne is forecasted to reach 38° maximum today. Bush fire warning has been alerted throughout the state of Victoria. People are advised to keep themselves hydrated and stay indoor if necessary. However, I won’t be surprised to find the evening news reported some mishaps happen at the beach where people would be suffered from heat stroke, this is no joke as it could be fatal.

A lot of us constantly putting ourselves in danger deliberately even though we are fully aware of the risk prior. People are complaining about how their freedom have been taken away from them when they didn’t even try to comply with the safety rules in place. In a not so serious situation, how often we found ourselves cursing inside our car while stuck in the traffic jam even though we know that would be the case if we chose to drive in that direction at that particular time?

Unfortunate things do happen which are not due to our fault and we have no control over them. But, we can reduce the unhappy incidents in our lives significantly by making the right choices. A lot of people suffered from poor health in our modern fast paced lifestyle. But is it really unavoidable? We can choose to have healthy diet and lifestyle but most of us just waste too much time on social media or binging on Netflix. Entertainment is good when we need to have some break but it cannot be let to take over our lives. Sadly, most have allowed their lives to be completely determined by which movies they should watch in the evening.

One of my favourite dialogue of all time from a movie is in Lord of The Ring when the wizard Gandalf advises the Hobbit Frodo: “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” Such a powerful advice to give especially when someone has doubt about themselves! Don’t take things for granted, GOD gives us this moment for a reason. Start making good use of this gift and stop wasting our lives on unnecessary and sometimes dangerous activities.

Stay safe in this scorching heat.

气象预测墨尔本温度今天将达到38 °。全维多利亚州都已被视为火灾重区。建议人们多喝水，必要时呆在家里别出门。但是，如果今晚新闻报道有人在海滩上发生不幸事件或中暑，我不会感到惊讶。

即使我们事先已充分意识到风险，许多人还是会不断将自己置于危险状况之中。

确实世界上有很多不幸的事情是我们无法控制的。但是，很多时候在通过做出正确的选择，我们可以大大的减少我们生活中一些不开心的事。我们现代的快节奏生活中，许多人都因身体不好而遭受痛苦。但这真的无法避免吗？我们可以选择健康的饮食和生活方式，但我们大多数人却大多时间浪费在社交媒体上，或者在Netflix看一部接一部的戏。我们千万不能让娱乐占据了我们的生活。

我最喜欢的电影对话之一是在《魔戒》中，巫师甘道夫（Gandalf）和霍比特人Frodo的一番对话：“我们所要做的就是决定如何处理我们所拥有的时间。” 千万不要认为每件事情都是理所当然的，上帝给我们这一刻是有原因的。我们要开始善用这份礼物，停止浪费我们的生命在不必要或者危险的活动上。

Working From Home

About two years ago I went into a job interview. Towards the end of the interview I was asked if I have any questions about the work or the company. ‘Am I allowed to work from home?’; that’s the only question I was interested at that time to which the manager who interviewed me answered in lightning speed without having to give much thought; a resounding ‘NO.’ I’m still in the same company today but just amaze of the fact that how thing has changed since that reckoning day in that spacious meeting room.

When Covid-19 hit in 2020, ‘Working from Home’ became the normal practice at offices worldwide all of a sudden. The reason most businesses were able to switch to operating from home almost instantly was because of the advance in communication technology of the internet and mobile phones. So the capability was always there but most employers were reluctant to operate in that manner as they didn’t trust their employees will be discipline enough to continue producing work from home. They feared of lower efficiency and productivity might be greatly reduced. But when the government imposed hard lockdown to contain the spread of the virus, working from home became the only option to prevent the economy from total collapse. Ironically, it was this deadly virus that forced all of us to work in a smarter way even though we already have the technology to do so ages ago.

In the past, I never had the chance to drop my 10 year old daughter at school in the morning or walk her home in the afternoon. During the weekdays, I found myself always in a hurry throughout the day, rushing to the gym after work, work out as fast as I can then headed home for dinner. By the time I done all that, I was so exhausted that I have no more energy to spend with my family or reading bible.

Working from home has provided me opportunity to spend more time with my family. Now I can spread out my work and personal life throughout the day more flexibly. I no longer dread driving to office as I have the choice of working from home if I want to. For the first time after coming to Australia 8 years ago, I feel I have finally achieved work-life balance!

I want to thank GOD that I’m one of those lucky people who still enjoy a livelihood at this unprecedented tough period of time. Covid-19 is a wake-up call for all of us to reassess our priorities. It has also presented a rare opportunity for us to reset our lives for the better. I pray for our wisdom to walk on the righteous path and spread hope to every corners of the world.

两年前我去了一场工作面试。当面试快要结束时，那间公司的经理问我对这份工作或这间公司有任何疑问。当时我唯一想到的问题是，“我可以在家工作吗？” 该经理毫无犹豫的回答说：“不行”。今天我仍然还在这间公司上班。

当新冠肺炎在2020年大流行时，“在家工作”突然成为全球办事处的常规做法。大多数企业之所以能够几乎立即转型在家办公，大都因为我们有了先进发达的互联网和手提电话。之前雇主们不愿意以这种方式操作，原因是他们不相信自己员工会有足够的纪律来有效的在家里继续工作。他们担心效率会由此降低，生产率可能会大大减少。但是，当政府决定丰城以遏制病毒传播时，在家工作的模式在一夜之间成为了防止经济全面崩溃的唯一选择。

过去，我从来没有机会早上将10岁的女儿放到学校或下午接她回家。在工作日里，我发现自己整天总是忙个不停，下班后赶往健身房，尽我所能尽快锻炼身体，然后回家吃晚饭。当我完成所有这些事物时，我都已经筋疲力尽了，再也没有精力可以和家人享受天论之乐或阅读圣经。

在家工作为我提供了更多与家人在一起的时间。现在，我可以全天候灵活地分配工作和个人生活。来到澳大利亚八年后，我第一次感受到自己终于实现了工作与生活的平衡！

我要感谢上帝我还有一份工作。这疫情呼吁我们所有人要重新评估我们人生重要的地方。这也是一个难得的机会，让我们的生活更加美好。我祈求我们有智慧走在正义的道路上，并将希望传播到世界每个角落。

How To Avoid Depression When There Is No International Travel

Still can’t believe that we are almost three weeks into 2021. Come 1^st February, we will be marking the first anniversary of Australia’s international border closure. We may have survived 2020 but we are yet out of the woods. This is confirmed by Dr. Brendan Murphy, Australia’s Health Department Chief today. Dr. Murphy foresees that there will be no international travel for Australian in 2021. Although the Australian government has planned to bring forward its vaccination plan to end of February, it does not mean that everything will be back to normal as soon as we put that needle into our arms. Dr. Brendan Murphy based his prediction on scientific ground. He is confident about the effectiveness of the vaccines to prevent us from being infected. However, nobody is currently sure that those who have been vaccinated cannot still infect other people.

It is an understatement to say that I was disappointed when I first read the news. Before Covid-19 hit, I used to travel back to Penang, Malaysia from Melbourne every year. Last year needless to say I was stuck in Australia and now realized that I may have to spend my 2021 Christmas in Melbourne again. If there is one common thing that Covid-19 has done to all our lives is that we can’t make plans anymore.

I’m sure that I’m not alone in this situation. There are lots of other people all around the world being separated from their loved ones thanks to the pandemic. We basically have two choices, one is to feel helpless and depressed, or there is a better way. Instead of focusing on things that we can’t control, why don’t channel our energy onto something we have control of, the way we response to the situation. We can take this opportunity to slow down and ponder upon our lives. Take this extra time that is now made available since we can’t fly to re-prioritize our personal values and goals.

If I have to name one positive thing that comes out of this pandemic, I’ll call it reflection. We now have the luxury of reflecting on ourselves and explore inwards to investigate what our lives are all about. It definitely isn’t about running around like a headless chicken which we used to do daily in pursuit of materialistic goals. For me, I realized that Covid-19 taught me to cherish family even more from now on. It also gives me opportunity to reassess my relationship with others and with GOD.

The reason why depression is common illness in modern times is because people overestimate in themselves and constantly aiming for higher achievements simply because others around them are also doing it. It is this Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) that makes our lives so competitive and stressful. Too much attention has been focused on ourselves and we believe that everything is within our grasp and control. Covid-19 has proved to us that regardless of how positive minded or rich you are, we are all vulnerable when facing this invisible enemy. It turns out that we are not so great and powerful after all.

Christians believe that GOD is the only ONE who has control of everything. Accept that we are vulnerable, start praying and open our ears. You will be surprise what you can hear when you open yourselves up. Whatever your faith is, rest assured that there is a greater force than all of us. Make use of this down time to tap into that universal force and start healing our souls. Stay safe and pray for each other.

我仍然不能相信，我们已经差不多进入2021年的第三个星期了。2021年2月1日将是澳大利亚关闭国际航线的第一周年。我们虽然已辛苦的度过2020年，但我们仍然还没有走出困境。澳大利亚卫生部局长布伦丹·墨菲（Brendan Murphy）博士今天证实了这一点。墨菲博士预测澳大利亚将不会在2021年重新开放国际边界。尽管澳大利亚政府计划将其疫苗接种计划提前到2月底，但这并不意味着一旦我们接种一切就会恢复正常。布伦丹·墨菲（Brendan Murphy）博士的预测基于科学根据。他对疫苗预防我们被感染的有效性充满信心。但是，目前尚无人能确定已接种疫苗的人不会感染其他人。

这新闻令我很失望。在Covid-19之前，我每年圣诞假期都会从墨尔本回到马来西亚的槟城。去年很明显我不能回去，现在看来今年圣诞节又得在澳洲度过了。

我深信我在这种处境下并不孤单。全世界还有更多人被逼与亲人分离。我们基本上有两种选择，一就是感到无助和沮丧。或我们可以将精力集中在我们可以控制的事情上。我们可以借此机会放慢脚步，沉思我们的生活。

我们可以反思自己，并重新探索我们的内心世界。绝对不要再回去我们过去为了追求物质目标而每天迷糊奔波的日子。对我来说，我意识到Covid-19教会我更懂得去珍惜家人。这也使我有机会重新评估我与他人和神之间的关系。

在现代社会中，抑郁症是一种常见疾病，其原因在于人们高估自己的能力，不断追求更高的成就，因为周围的人也是这样做。正是这种对错过的恐惧使我们的生活充满竞争和压力。太多的注意力都集中在自己身上，我们相信一切都在我们的掌握和控制当中。但是Covid-19向我们证明了，无论您有多积极向上或有多富裕，当面对这个无形的敌人时，人人都非常脆弱。事实证明，我们毕竟不是我们想象中的那么伟大。

基督徒相信只有神是唯一能够掌控一切的。我们必须接受我们的脆弱，开始祈祷并睁大耳朵聆听神的话。

Can Malaysian Brain Drain Be Stopped?

 

Thanks to ease in travel and modern technology, Brain Drain is now a global phenomenon where people especially those with talent will not think twice as soon as they discovered a better place for them to thrive. However, the situation is much dire in Malaysia. A study by World Bank in 2010 shows that 1 in 10 skilled Malaysians choose to move to a foreign country. These people have the skills that a developing country like Malaysia desperately need to grow. 

The government set up Talent Corp to attract thousands of talents back but only a handful hundreds accepted the invitation. So why with all the incentives and benefits offered, people still do not wish to come back to Malaysia?

First, let's look at why people leave in the first place. We can explore this issue by looking at an organization; why people leave a company? I'm sure all of us have been in that situation before where we resigned in order to work for another company. The motives behind our decisions can be simplified into three common reasons:

1) We feel that our contributions are not being acknowledged and appreciated by the current company.

2) We realized that there are other companies out there in the market who are very keen to hire us.

3) Low salary and limited career development in the current company.

Although the above are 3 common reasons why people resign from a company, it can also be applied to a country.

Most people who migrated to other countries based their decisions on one of or all of the three reasons above. Everyone feels that they are not being appreciated in Malaysia with the constant political rhetoric telling them that they don't belong to this country. A lot of them realized that their skills are highly sought after elsewhere, most of people in this category chose to work in Singapore. The third category are those who are looking for higher salary overseas. They move to Singapore and Australia. In the case of Australia, some went legally as Permanent Residents while they are a lot enter the country illegally.

Migration records in Australia shows that Malaysians have been migrated there as early as in the late 60s. That is a mind boggling 5 decades! So clearly this is an open secret that people are leaving the country and the government knows about it. Have they tried to stop it? Yes by setting up Talent Corp but the political will is clearly not serious enough.

There are a lot who choose to leave because they see greener pastures elsewhere, but all of them left because of reason number one: they felt that they are virtually invisible and not being appreciated by their own country. This reason alone will prevent most of them from coming back regardless of how attractive the financial benefits might be, the failed Talent Corp project is the clearest indication of this.

Does Malaysia needs to stop the brain drain? Yes, if the country is to come out of its 'developing' status to become a developed nation.

Can Malaysia do it successfully? Sadly, not in the foreseeable future.

Phillip Island

Went to Phillip Island before Christmas for a short weekend getaway. All Melbournian can't wait to go to regional Victoria to reclaim their freedom after the harshest lockdown they experienced months before. We didn't manage to see the penguins this time due to it being fully booked. However, Phillip Island has a lot more to offer besides the penguin.

Amaza 'n' Things - illussion that makes the kids looks much bigger than the adults.

Today's Special is Human Head 

Feel the heat without getting burnt.

Cowes Beach

Milk The Cow

On the way to Phillip Island is this wonderful farm and cafe that allows visitors to witness cow milking in action - Caldermeade Farm and Cafe.

Giant Fibreglass Cow perfect for instagram photos!

Cow patiently awaiting their turn to enter the milking machine.

Melbourne Is Back!

After 111 days of hard Stage 4 Lockdown (the harshest in Australia), Melbourne is finally back!!!

Flinders Street Station - Australia's busiest train station.

Melbourne Christmas Light Show

 

Melbourne Town Hall comes alive for Christmas

Melbourne Lockdown - Public Art

 

Melbourne Lockdown - Streets and Laneways