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This is to wish all my Muslim readers a Happy Hari Raya Adil Fitri tomorrow and thereafter. For my non-muslim readers, Happy Holidays to you too. I am in a holiday mood already looking at the photos and in a mood for some satay or ketupat. Incidentally, I have been invited by one of the company staff for a Hari Raya celebration in his house and he has given out Hari Raya cookies baked by his enterprising wife to most of the office workers in the office and one for me too. Of all the staff around, he has the best personal relations, remembering us during this festive season. I hope the balik kampung rush will not see too many accidents and fatal deaths like last year.

That phrase simply means I was not born rich! I come from a middle class family where my dad worked as a teacher in a Chinese remove classes and my mom helped in out in a family business that has since closed down years ago. With the little savings that we had, my parents could only afford to bring us up to SPM level. I did my A levels on a scholarship in Singapore and paid my way through university. My dad conveniently took optional retirement at the age of 50, being feedup with school work and bureaucracies when I just entered A levels. After graduation with much struggle, I worked in the secular world teaching Microsoft Office applications and did not contribute my income to the family. My dad was not too happy about this. I was earning about S$1,700 and had to pay my rental plus food and transport. With the extra that I had, I spent it on myself and this earned the ire of my parents who wanted me to contribute to home. Fast forward another 10 years, and I am now contributing RM600 a month to the household expenses. And my dad has threatened not once but a few times of not writing out his will equally amongst the 3 siblings. Such is my life and I had to work hard for my living. This problem is also compounded by the fact that both my parents lost a lot of money in the share market due to shall I say ‘greed’?

Mamma Mia! Does the mention of anything Abba send you cringing to a corner? Or are you already joining in and dancing on the tabletops? Maybe another few drinks . . .

In short, if you are not allergic to Abba, book your tickets now. If you are, why would you be reading this? At a pinch, it is worth seeing for Meryl Streep alone, who not only throws herself headlong into every refrain with unashamed gusto, but adds a touch of class and nuance to what otherwise could be a one-dimensional adaptation. Streep vacillates engagingly between playing herself and not taking herself too seriously. Pierce Brosnan just about keeps up, and manages more expressions than he ever did as James Bond. Colin Firth and Julie Waters trail behind somewhat. Yet Mama Mia! is a roller coaster of emotion, careering colourfully from the blue waters of the Adriatic, bursting ‘like Aphrodite’s Fountain’ into the lives of Donna (Meryl) , her lovers and friends, and her soon-to-be-wed daughter. It is the party spirit that says kick your shoes off and sing silly cheesy songs. Altogether now.

And yes – there’s a story. Donna’s daughter Sophie is getting married. To the buff-looking Sky. Only – where’s her dad? She’s never met him. A sneak-peek at Mom’s diary shows Mom had three lovers before Sophie was born and Sophie secretly invites all of them. This is a film of threesomes. Three past lovers (Sam, Bill and Harry). Three close friends (Donna and two best pals). And, not to be outdone, Sophie meets up with two other young girls at the start of the film.

The breakneck pace still allows for brilliantly put together shots. Like Streep doing a ‘Titanic’ with drapes blowing in the wind. Or a pier-load of young hunky stag night crew doing a dance in trunks and deep-dive flippers. Moonlit boats and beaches to “I Have a Dream.” Filmed on location, the views won’t disappoint. And like a favourite song whose ending we know, the drama is in the details and execution.

I am of a generation that can remember Abba-mania. The records would shoot to number one. Yet even then few people would admit to buying them. I used to manage a night club, and Abba was great music to ask a girl up to dance. My entire chat-up repertoire at that time consisted of, “Would you like to dance?” and “Do you want to come back for a coffee?” But girls would be so happy dancing to Mamma Mia they’d say yes anyway. I’d fall in love with a new girl each week. Ah, those were the days! Now there’s a new generation of Abba fans who have no need to ‘come out of a closet’. Abba is retro-chique. Even Madonna segued an Abba riff into one of her songs. From karaoke to hen nights. From ’70s’ nights to gay dance-floors. Dress up. Camp it up. Sing it up. Get sassy and cheesy. Or, if you’re old enough to remember, fly back in time to wonderful memories.

Mamma Mia!, whatever detractors might say, has been one of the most successful stage shows of recent times. Supported by the same director and original band members, the movie may well reach the similar fan bases. Or just the party spirit in all of us.

Today, I woke up early at 6:00am to check on my emails and company emails. Each day, I have several emails on work opportunities plus replying company mails. I guess I am addicted to the computer. I also emailed out several company quotations this morning after doing the calculations. Just yesterday, I had to draw a recreation park for a client in Penang using Autocad Architectural Desktop 2005. I had to use this old version as it comes with 3 CDs which I only know how to install. If you give me newer Autocad versions, there may be new steps and new sub programs to install before it can execute properly. The important thing is that I can deliver a computer drawing regardless of the Autocad versions. And it runs without problems with Windows XP.

I am using Windows XP on my desktop and Windows Vista on my new laptop. After 2 months, I still prefer Windows XP as my operating system as I can also install other applications like Autocad Architectural Desktop 2005, WS-FTP, WinZip plus a host of other programs which I cannot install using Windows Vista. In fact, installing such programs gave me some problems with Vista. Though Vista is newer with better graphics, it can only run on newer high end computers and yet it is not as robust as Windows XP. My only guess is that whoever programmed Vista, did a hurried job without checking all the functionalities and stability of the previous OS like Windows XP and there are many bugs that come with Vista. In the name of making more money and ‘improvement’, Vista is very much worse off than Windows XP and I will continue to use XP for a long time.

With the spiralling price of fuel and food, people are tightening their belts and cutting corners to face the challenges of increasing cost of living every day. Gone are the days when I buy things impromptu without bargaining much. Now I have to watch my spendings which amount to zilch each month from now onwards. I have whatever I need and more would be an excess. I don’t need extra space to keep the excess stuffs. My cupboard is already full of my clothes which I only wear a favourite few leaving the rest almost untouch. And to have more funds for my retirement, I am planning to sell of things that I hardly used.