Sept 06, Kundasang, Sabah: The View From Here

Dec 2003, Cambodia: A Cham Girl At Roussei Chrouy outside Phnom Penh

Dec 2003: Battambang Market, Cambodia: Beef Soup With French Loaf

Dec 2003, Cambodia: A Cham Girl

2004: Kraburi, Thailand: Kra River Overlooking Myanmar

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Penampang, Sabah, Early 2005: Nina 9, Ajai 7, Sara 3

Bringing Up Sara

My little 'un is no Princess,
For I'm no Yang Di Pertuan;
Of her Dad, she seems to agree,
But of herself, she thinks she's one;
Admittedly, in abetting the case,
I'm guilty;
What can I do,
I have no plea,
Sara is only three.

Between queenie and subject loyal,
Between Dad's attempts futile,
To get the tiker to mend her style,
And give up her ritual,
Of being a little tot feudal,
There develops daily a battle royale.

The battle field is the settee
In front of the tv,
Which she hounds,
Refusing to give ground.

This is where she pitches
Her ensemble of imaginary
Pots, pans and dishes,
Made up of my toiletry,
Stationery and gadgetry.

This is where she scrimps,
Eyes glued to the screen,
Grubby fingers wiggling
To find the mouth;
Half enters, the rest goes south;
Mopping up is Dad's deed
Mashy, messy but necessary.

RC in her free hand,
She commandeers
All the cartoon channels,
Disney, Nickelodean, CN.

In the shadows Dad
Stands back, egad,
His is to nibble,
The dry biscuit Sara swivels,
Signalling his lot
Is not to quibble
Over the stuff from the pot
Or the missed tv news slot.