February 2014 – w w w . x e .s . c x

CNY 2014 went well. We were in the Klang Valley most of the time except for one day where we had to travel to Mentakab to meet some of my wife’s relatives. I spent most of my time eating or playing with Finley, my cousin in law’s son.

Finley’s urinal. So cute!

The only thing that marred our CNY celebration was when my sister in law’s bag got snatched at Damansara Uptown while we were having lunch. She had unfortunately left it behind her seat. A young man in helmet grabbed her bag and ran toward a motorcycle driven by an accomplice. By the time I got out from the restaurant, they were already far away. She was supposed to go to Medan for holiday in the evening but her passport was in her bag! She also lost a quite a lot of money, a Samsung Note 3 and an expensive hand bag. We spent our afternoon in the police station (which was just a street away from the restaurant!). The bastards got away.

Our reunion dinner was at one of the Chinese restaurants at Seri Petaling. It was just my dad, my wife and myself. Mum decided to boycott the place cause she didn’t want to eat there. wtf. Fortunately, she didn’t kick a fuss when we had dinner at Chili Padi on the second day of CNY.

On this rare occasion, Aussie boys Umeng, sLoonG and Jin Han were back this Chinese New Year. It’s been a while since the three of them were in the same country at the same time.

Umeng on his first night in KL.

At WK’s house.

We spent quite a bit of time “playing cards” and attending open houses. My luck was almost the same last year. I won most of my Blackjack games against the banker. However, I lost all my dosh when I became the banker!

Speaking about open house, we had one at our home on the 4th day of Chinese New Year. We bought curry puffs, Nyonya cakes and mee siam for everyone. It lasted from 1pm to 1:30AM. I was so exhausted by then. Different groups of people come at different times!

I am glad that I made it to En Peng’s Pai Tin Kong session at his house on the 8th day of Chinese New Year. I’ve been attending it since high school and I thought I shouldn’t miss it at all. Attendance this year was sightly better with WK, Kiang, Mandy, Ping, Yoke Chin and myself. We folded some offerings while waiting for En Peng to serve the roasted pork. [Edit: Unfortunately, this is my last picture of En Peng’s father. He passed away on 28 February 2014 after a heart attack. May his soul rest in peace]

Kiang got told off by En Peng’s dad for wearing a cap while praying. Caught En Peng’s dad in action Haha.

Burning offerings

Firecrackers!

It’s our turn to organise CNY dinner with my sisters and their family. We had steamboat again.

Group picture taken with my camera phone. I broke my dSLR after I fell off the tripod! ARGH

It was a rather happening Chinese New Year. The year of the Horse will certainly bring joy, luck and happiness. HUAT AH!!

2013 had been a good year. My practice was doing well. My book got published. I don’t remember any bad thing that happened that is worth a mention here.

The Firm

I had more work than last year. I don’t have many litigation cases but I managed to defend a patent infringement case in the High Court and successfully defended it in the Court of Appeal.

I also managed to get some large corporations as my clients. I think my ability is win work is not due to my media features but based on my reliability and likability. I always return calls, emails and messages within 24 hours. I am contactable 24/7. I am easy with my clients and not calculative. I will do what I promised. I think these are the keys of winning clients. Media features and articles are just a method to increase leads and educate potential clients and clients of my skills.

This year also marks the departure of my partner, Dymphna, to greener pastures. My previous intern, Chia Ann, rejoined me as an intern after her return from UK for her studies.

Books

This year also marks the first time I went on a reading rampage. I’ve never enjoyed reading books until last year. I always thought I don’t need to read any books since I read case laws and contracts everyday. However, this year I read more than 20 books.

Karpal Singh’s book made the biggest impact on me. It made me rethink of the death sentence. His description of a mother dressed in black outside the prison waiting for her son to be executed was a sad thought.

Former High Court’s Judge, Ian Chin’s autobiography, “Justice Encounters”, was a good read too. This book comes with a CD of few hundred judgements written by him. The late PG Lim’s autobiography, “Kaleidoscope“, was also a good read. I love how she described her life was in the 1920s and 1930s.

I also bought some old antique books. I have a copy of a 1942 copy of Frank Swettenham’s Footprints in Malaya. His description of old Malaya is intriguing. He met Yap Ah Loy (third Kapitan of Kuala Lumpur) for a meal and he knows the guy who discovered Cameron Highlands!

The Last Eunuch of China – Life of Sun Yaoting has great insight of the Forbidden City during the Ching Dynasty. Sun’s story begun with him castrated by his own father. He was there was the last Emperor was kicked out from the Forbidden City. Of course, I read the Puyi’s, the Last Emperor of China, autobiography as well.

January

Visited Beijing, China. It’s my first time in motherland. Finally got to touch and climb the Great Wall of China.

March
I was elected as a Kuala Lumpur Bar Committee member. I was appointed to chair the Kuala Lumpur Bar Information Technology Committee.

April
Visited Singapore to give a talk on Malaysian data protection. I also attended the Startup Asia Conference. The conference was a great eye opener. It was great to see innovation at its best.

May
13th General Election. Disappointing results. But great build-up before election. It was my first time attending rallies in Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu.