The joys and sorrows of speaking, etc.

I offended a girl today. I made an inadvertent insensitive remark about her appearance. It was about her hair. Bad mistake. Never make negative comments in public about a girl's appearance. She will not appreciate it. Trust me. We guys treat it as "constructive criticism", but they don't.
Guys seem to have problems connecting their brains to their mouths, especially around girls. We sometimes blurt out things we wish we could catch and draw back on a line before they reach anyone's ears, but life isn't so kind to us. More often than not, our blabbering lips unnecessarily land us in tight spots and in the bad books of others. I cannot measure the amount of trouble my wayward gab has brought me since the day I learned to speak.
It just shows that God knows best. It says in the book of Proverbs in the Bible: "Even a fool is thought wise if he holds his tongue". We would do well to take heed to that invaluable nugget of wisdom. Doing so would save us a lot of grief in our relationships.

Wedding dinners

The peculiar institution of wedding dinners, Chinese ones in particular, intrigue me. The pomp and bustle, the unspoken and unwritten rules and regimens, the many customs, formal or informal, and growing trends of wedding dinners make for a fascinating case study of evolving Malaysian Chinese society and culture.
First, the matter of its timing. It is an unspoken and unwritten rule that arriving on time for a wedding dinner is simply out of the question. Wedding dinners typically acquire critical mass to begin proceedings an hour, on average, after the scheduled time. I have never been to, or heard of, a wedding dinner that started on time; it just does not happen.
Then, there is the live band. Live bands seem to be must-haves at every wedding dinner these days. Somehow, most people seem to share a common preference for live music, regardless of quality, over recorded music. Obtaining a quality act for live entertainment during a wedding dinner is an important part of the wedding coordinator's responsibilities.
Another popular up-and-coming trend among the Chinese during wedding dinners is to have ongoing open karaoke sessions. This, I fear, places the guests in real danger of serious damage to their auditory systems, as no attempt is made at filtering the participants of the karaoke sessions. Everyone and anyone is welcome to take the microphone and sing their hearts out. It's all very well when they can sing, but it is unfortunate that, more often than not, those who participate are unable to even sing in tune, never mind with style. I am grateful that I am yet to have first-hand experience of this.
A firmly entrenched custom is the practice of giving ang pows or red packets to the newlyweds. This supposed gesture of courtesy is in actuality a way for the guests to help the newlyweds cover the cost of the dinner. Only married couples are expected to give ang pows. Since children, teenagers and single adults are not expected to give ang pows, prolific parents are expected to put more money into each packet.
All these elements, and more besides that I may have missed out, make the Chinese wedding dinner truly a unique experience.

This is me.

Introduction

After much deliberation, the powers-that-be in the control room of El, inc. have decided to set up a weblog to hone the writing and communication skills of its writers and to communicate the philosophies, ideas, ideologies, opinions, etc. of the members of El, inc. to the general public.
This weblog has been, by the consent of the majority, named elthinks, indicating the aforesaid principal aims and purposes of the weblog.
The Managing Executive of El, inc. Mr. ben-Isakh, would therefore like to extend warmest greetings to you, one of our first visitors. You are welcome to browse, read, and muse, and are heartily encouraged to send comments, questions, etc. to chozen86@yahoo.com.
Enjoy your visit. :p