FISH LEMON BAKED

POINT TO PONDER

Yesterday, I received a whatsapp from a former student. I am not sure whether the term suits him as he is actually postponing his studies due to his condition. He met with an accident last year and thus he becomes an invalid. The family seems to believe that he will go back to normal. (I suppose any parents would have the same thoughts.)

          In his whatsapp, he told me about the insurance money. He wanted me to advice him. Unfortunately, my knowledge on that matter is pretty slim. So, I asked him to contact two other personnel as they would be able to explain to him better.

          Before we ended our conversation, he apologized for disturbing me. (He is a very polite person.) Of course, I told him that he was not disturbing me at all. It was a pleasure helping him (in any way I can). Personally, I believe in the Malay proverb that goes like below:

                       "Segan bertanya, sesat jalan"

Basically, it means that if we do not know something, we should ask. If we do not ask, we will never know.

         Recently, my eldest daughter received a letter saying that she was to study at a place which I vowed not to send my children. To make the matter worse, the course given to her did not sound good at all. From the day we received the letter, both of us just could not sleep. Not knowing what else to do, we prayed to God - seeking for his guidance.

         It was two weeks before Eid that I felt the urge to make a few phone calls. The first call I made was to the godforsaken place. I did not know who to call so I browsed its website and found a name that I believed would treat me nicely. (Thank God, the person did  treat me nicely.) I  talked to the person and seeked her advice. Unfortunately, she was not of the field that I was referring to. So, she gave me another number to call and I did. I tried a few times but there was no answer. Nonetheless, while walking towards my class, he returned my call. (How nice!)

          From the man, I found out that the course definitely did not suit my daughter and he advised me to go private. He said that sometime we need to pay a little bit for us to get what we want. However, money seems to be a real problem for me.

          So, after the phone call, I became more upset. Then, I called one good friend of mine - seeking her advice. She scolded me instead for not allowing my daughter to have a lot of options earlier. Feeling really sad, I told her that I did not have the motherhood manual. Thus, mistakes were bound to be with me. I suppose after that she pitied me. She advised me to meet some people. "Do not just call. Go and meet them. Let them see your daughter."

        That exactly what we did. It was surely embarrassing because we appeared to be like beggars. I called the HEAD and requested for an appointment. She replied almost immediately and invited us over. Both my husband and my daughter went up to talk to her. She told my daughter precisely what to do - in which they forgot to give me the detail.

        It was the week that students started to register that I received a call from my good friend. She urged me to appeal and talk to the HEAD again. Our plan to go for the March intake was not a good idea, she said. So, I quickly drafted the letter and emailed it to the HEAD. The faculty approved our appeal but the STUDENTS DEPARTMENT did not. My daughter called and pleaded her case. They looked into it again and, in a matter of hours, my daughter was asked to register.

        The moral of the story is that NEVER EVER feel shy to ask. Some people without doubt are like lioness but what could be the worst thing they could do to us? They would shout or scold us but we will still be alive. The shouting and scolding are nothing. Perhaps, they just do not know how to say things nicely. So, we should pity them instead.

        Most important of all, we should PRAY TO GOD. Only God can really help us. I believe it was God wonderful work that make those people wanting to help me and my daughter. God is great.

INGREDIENT

2 Whitting fish / Senangin (clean the fish with tamarind juice. Then coat it with salt. Not too much though)
1 yellow capsicum
1 red capsicum
1 onion
2 stalked of celery
2 thumb-sized ginger
(slice them not so thinly)
2 cloves of garlic (slice it thinly)
8 Small chilli (just crushed them)
coriander leaves (for garnishing)

1. You need a baking dish. Arrange the vegetables first.
2. Place the fish.
3. Cover the dish with aluminium foil.
4. Put it in the over. If you are using the kind of oven I have, it would be (a) traditional baking (b)200.
5. Leave it for 35 minutes.
6. Eat it while it is hot.
7. You can serve it with white rice or bread with butter.

MY THOUGHTS

My husband does not quite like it as it is not that spicy. He loves everything to be chilli hot. The hotter the better but if the temperature is hot, he will complain.

My sons do not seem to mine. I suppose as long as I do not serve rice, they are alright. Nowadays, we hardly have boiled rice for dinner. So far, we feel lighter even though we still look chubby.