While driving back from lunch on Mother’s Day, my mom and I had an interesting conversation.

At first, we were talking about my idea for the new business. But for some reason, the conversation quickly morphed into the issue of me “settling down and starting a family”.
It’s a topic my mom and I had never talked about, simply because I was too young/too stupid/too unprepared to start a family. And that’s obvious.

The problem is, I am not exactly a kid now.
In a couple of months, I’m gonna be 27 years old. Twenty seven!
My father married my mom when he was around 27. My sister married when she was 27 years old. My brother too, tied the knot when he was 27. I am the only unmarried child in the Sia family. And every Chinese New Year I kena from my aunties and uncles.
Herein lies the problem. At 27 years of age, not only is marriage the last thing on my mind, I’m not even out actively there looking for a partner.
So I asked my mom jokingly, “Eh… you don’t mind if say, I marry at the age of 40 right? Four grandkids to play with enough already right?”

My mom is 61 years old and she’s very traditional in many ways. Knowing her, I half-expected her to launch into Auntie Matchmaker ModeTM, saying stuff like, “Neh, you know my friend Ah Lian’s sixth eldest daughter Ah Ling is also 27 and single leh. Why don’t you ask her out?”
That did not happen. What I got instead, was a stern lecture.
“You? YOU!? Looking at the way you live your life right now, NO GIRL WOULD WANT TO DATE YOU AT ALL.”
“Every day fly here fly there. Out of one month, gone three weekends. What kind of stupid girl is going to put up with that? If I am your girlfriend right now I’ll run far far already lor!”
Ouch. That hurts because it’s true.

At the rate I’m living my life right now, not even my mom’s friend Ah Lian’s sixth daughter Ah Ling would want to marry me.

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Dear papa,

It’s been four years since I last saw your smile.

How have you been doing? I can’t see you. Are you watching over me? Are you smiling from up above? I am missing you so much.

I have been busy. Things are going on so crazy right now. My head felt like splitting. There’s 101 things to do everyday. Before I knew it, the day is over. I am living the life of a workaholic right now.

In the past 6 months, there had been many changes going on in my life. I’ve got out of a relationship. Took a long break overseas. Got back. Became an uncle. Shaved my head bald. Took another long break and just got back with mom and the rest of the company from Japan.

The shaving-my-head bald thing was not for style nor fashion. 😉 I did it to raise funds for the SCCS and it went really well. The readers of my blog responded very generously. Part of me did it because I knew how helpless it felt to have someone I love suffering from cancer. So I dedicated my efforts to you, and I want you to know that you are still changing people’s lives for the better, even after you had long gone.

Don’t worry about the business. It is still going great. Kor kor is doing a fantastic job. The economy crisis didn’t hit us that much and besides, it’s not like we’ve never pulled out of a bad situation before. I have left the IT department earlier this year though,  because I have plans of my own. In fact, I am following your footsteps, starting my own business later this year.

I had a lot of assistance from uncle and the rest of the company. Right now, I am experiencing what you must had experienced when you started your business many years ago. I have been spending a lot of long hours reading different books, brainstorming ideas and coming up with plans. It’s a lot of hard work, harder than I expected. But it is good fun. I enjoy the challenge. I just hoped I inherited your business acumen. Time will tell whether or not I could be as good a businessman as you were. I hope I won’t disappoint you.

It’s been four years since you left us, papa.

It has taken me a while, but the reality has begun to sink in. I know you will not be coming back anymore. And I know will never see you again.

That does not, however, stop me from missing you so dearly, today, on the fourth year of your passing. Your voice, your smell, your smile… it’s still so fresh in my head. You are my pride. And not a day goes by without me trying my best to learn from the memories I have of you. So one day, I can tell people that I have grown up to be the man that my father once was.

Rest well up there.

I love you.

Your youngest son,
Kenny

Goodbye 2008. You suck.

As much as I am appreciative of all the wonderful experiences, rare opportunities and fantastic people I’ve met this year, I cannot help but to feel that at times life has been throwing me dilemmas after dilemmas as if to test my patience.
I hadn’t been in such a low state of mind since my father’s passing. That one hit me hard. This one comes pretty close.
I don’t wanna come across as “emo”, because the last thing I want from others is sympathy.

Depression hit me pretty hard several times throughout this year. It is difficult to stay upbeat amidst the demands, the expectations, the threats, the slander, the misconception, the accusations and the general lack of trust I perceived from other people and from myself.
Was I selfish? Or did I care too much for the wrong people? I don’t know. Seems like such an incredibly thin line separating the two.
So many times I felt totally hopeless when it comes to decisions I made with my career, my friends, my relationship. So many times I felt I was put into situations where it’s die die both ways.
Guess this must be what they call the quarter-life crisis.

At least I am doing well on the money side of things.
Despite losing a lot when the financial crisis hit, I saved enough throughout the year to finally be able to build a decent investment portfolio for myself. This is in stark contrast to two years ago when I had the bad habit of spending almost every cent of my salary. I have also learnt a lot about how to run a business, and with those skills I hope to start something of my own in the coming year.

For my new year’s resolution, I wanna:
1. Start a new business.
2. Run a marathon in less than 6 hours.
3. Double my investment portfolio.
4. Get less addicted to e-mails and Facebook.
5. Be happier.

Before the final few hours of 2008 melts away, I just have to say:
To all my true friends who stood by me especially when I needed you the most – thank you.
To all my business associates and acquaintances – for the precious opportunity to work with you, I thank you.
To all my readers whom I’d never met, yet came up to me to say hi, to shake my hand or asked to take photos – I am most humbled and appreciative.
To all the people in my life whose feelings I may have hurt, whose expectations I may not have lived up to, whose promises I may have broken – I am truly very sorry.
To all my haters, fuck you.

Happy new year, people. Hope your 2008 was less crappier than mine.

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It’s been a month since we’ve ended our relationship.

We broke up on the 27th November 2008. Of all time and places we could possibly had to end the relationship, we did it over my birthday dinner.
How ironic that in a blog entry I published earlier, I wrote that although we’re constantly breaking and patching up, that “we’re still going stronger than ever.”
Even more ironic was the day after, when her friend texted me to ask “if he can have her”.

Of course, it’s not like I didn’t see it coming. Our personalities were too different to begin with.
She’s a Scorpio. I’m a Sagittarius.
She’s 22. I’m 26.
She sleeps at 7am. I wake up at 7am.
She eats laksa, pastries and fried chicken wings. I eat sushi, salad and sandwiches.
She stays indoors. I stay curious about what the outside world has to offer.
She thinks I treat my friends too well. I think I treated her heaps better.
She prefers staying within her comfort zone. I am constantly thinking up new adventures and ideas on what to do.
She is a student with no fixed schedule. I find my free time so hard to come by that even which movie I watch, I’d choose carefully.

It was not that we didn’t try to make things work. I tried. We both tried.
For a long time, we were meeting up five times a week, spending time with each other. Me going home to my bed at 2 – 3am, waking up 4 hours later in time for work. I thought the longer we spend time together, the better we’d understand each other. We had our moments of happiness.
Had.

Looking back, I’m not sure if we understood each other better, but we certainly argued very often. We’ve virtually argued from the day we got together to they day we broke up. We argued so often that there was not even a single month where we had complete peace and quiet.
It would’ve been fine if we argued over new things each time. At least that would’ve still kept things interesting. But to argue and fight and explain the same topics over and over again each time is just way too frustrating for any human being to handle. It was like the sadistic version of Groundhog Day.
A relationship that needed so much work shouldn’t even be called “a relationship”. It’s a miracle how we even lasted so long. Two years to be precise. Considering how different we are, I am surprised it even went past the third month.
But as the old saying goes, easier to move a mountain than to change a person.

Ultimately, we are two different people, with drastically different lifestyles, different ideals, different philosophies, different aims in life.
The stress of being in the relationship overtook the happiness of being in one. The breakdown in communication and seemingly neverending fights and arguments prevailed.
Then came the realisation that after two years of dating each other, we still never really understood each other, still never seek compromise in our differences, and still feeling unjustified over the things one did for the other.

The day after the break up, I saw the losing of our quantum of solace. Not the James Bond movie. But the quantum of solace – tiniest amount of hope we could have for each other. Without which, there is no more hope, no more romance, nothing left.
When presented with an opportunity to salvage the relationship, I chose to let it slide. Better to disappoint now than to disappoint later, I figured.

For what it’s worth, I did actually love her. Still care for her.
But we were not happy for such a long time.
I guess I’m just not the type of person who is suitable to be in a relationship with anyone at this point in time. There are still so many things I want to do, so many goals I want to achieve, so many places I want to travel to before I settle down. Maintaining a relationship wouldn’t be at the top of my list, and it’s unfair to ask anyone to put up with that.
Perhaps when I’ve done all that I wanna do, without restrictions, only then will I re-examine my priorities.

It feels weird being single again.
Having been in the dating game for 8 years almost consecutively, I kinda forgot how to be single.
Instead of rushing out of the house to meet her at 9pm, I found myself scratching my head wondering what to do with my free time. Instead of appearing offline on MSN, I found myself chatting and catching up with old friends again, some of whom I haven’t spoken to for months. Finally I have time to do my own things and get the wheels rolling on the many ideas I have in mind, but never had time to put into action.
The flipside I guess, is that this Christmas, I’ll be spending it alone.
And then there’s still New Year’s Day, Chinese New Year’s and Valentine’s Day yet to come.

Ahhhh shucks.

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I find going through medical check-ups a funny thing.

It is like having a stranger ask you “Hi! How are you doing?” Except they actually lift your shirt up, put the stethoscope to your chest and really check how well you are actually doing.
It’s a habit of mine to go for a medical checkup once every two years. I take it very seriously in my case because of my family’s history of cancer. I’m not particularly worried about anything, but early detection is best form of defence, so better safe than sorry.

My previous blood test was two years ago.
The result came back confirming that I’m pretty much healthy, except my liver had too much protein. Whatever that means.

Two years have passed and I’m still feeling quite alright.
I’ve taken care of myself well this year. I don’t smoke, haven’t got drunk at all this year and spent a lotta time exercising and eating the right food. If I’m not healthy, someone better gimme a darn good explanation.

I went to BP Diagnostic Centre again for my medical checkup, but this time at their Cheras branch. Apparently the BP in Cheras are heaps bigger than the one in Kuching, and they also have different definitions when it comes to their “comprehensive package”.
In their Kuching branch, their comprehensive package is just a blood and urine test that costs RM270 and comes in a report only 4 pages long.
In Cheras, their comprehensive package costs a whooping RM1,000. But it includes not just the blood and urine test, but a range of physical tests along with all the bells and whistles and Christmas trees.

Just kidding about the Christmas tree. That one you have to ask from Santa.
But the comprehensive package was very comprehensive alright. So darn comprehensive that the entire procedure took almost THREE bloody hours to complete. No pun intended.
It was strangely fun though.

First they sucked my blood.

Next they took my urine, and placed it into a container labelled STERILE.
Meaning the container is sterile. Not me.
I’m not sterile.

Then they put me on a super-canggih electronic scale and measured my height and weight.
I am 165.5cm tall and weighed 83.3kg. According to the nurse, my BMI reading is 30.4, which meas I am officially classifed as OBESE.
Bloody hell.
After that’s done, she brought my obese ass into the waiting room. There I found something interesting.

Among the stack of magazines there, I found a copy of FHM with Miss Malaysia 2005 Chermaine Poo on the cover looking sexy.
What dangerous object to put in a blood testing clinic.
Later people get high blood pressure how?

My first physical test was a hearing test.
I was led into this sound-proof room and asked to put on these huge pair of headphones.
Then my mouth went “du-buk-chi du-buk-chi du-buk-chi” while my hand did the spinning gesture like a DJ.
But then the nurse told me to be more serious, so immediately I kept quiet and went through the tests with her.

Next, I was led to this other room where there’s this bizzare contraption for me to insert my head.
A camera inside took close-up photos of my skin and it showed up on the nurse’s computer screen.

I was shown how much wrinkles, pimples and black spots I have on my face. The nurse also attempted to sell me some face care products, which I politely turned down. After all I still got heaps of L’Oreal freebies after my embarrassing experience as a CLEO Bachelor last time. Hehe.
Those tests were okay, but it was the next test got me a little scared.

It was an ULTRASOUND test.
Apparently it’s an important part of the test because the doctor will check for unusual lumps, size or shape on my internal machinery without going through X-rays.
I was introduced to a Dr Wee, who asked me to lie on the bed and lift my shirt up. He then rubbed this KY jelly-like lubricant all over my stomach and put his scanner onto it.

Suddenly I feel like a pregnant lady.
It would be really weird if the doctor scanned my stomach and this image came up on screen.

WAH. Confirm I run away from the lab immediately. KY Jelly on my stomach and all.
Thankfully nothing like that happened. But the tests did get weirder and weirder.
Blame me for choosing the comprehensive test, because the doctor didn’t just scan my stomach, he had to scan other parts of my body as well.
And that included my kidney, my liver, my bladder, my prostate and my… testicles.

It was the most awkward thing I ever had to do.
For about 5 minutes, my naked hairy balls were staring at the doctor while he did his job.
To him, it’s probably nothing. The doctor probably said hello to few hundreds of different shapes and sizes of testicles everyday.
But there I was, lying on the bed with my pants down to my knees, embarrassed, freezing like hell because the air-cond was blowing directly towards my KY jelly-covered coconuts.
And all I could think about at the time was don’tgetanerection don’tgetanerection don’tgetanerection !

Luckily I didn’t get an erection.
Thankfully the rest of the tests were pretty straightforward. I had to put my feet into a machine to test my bone for osteoporosis and blow into this gadget that measures my lung capacity.
There was also this interesting physical test which involves me running on a threadmill that goes faster and faster while strapped on to a heart-rate monitor.

I felt like I was in one of those superhero movies like The Incredible Hulk really.
Except in my case all I could see was my Incredible Bulk.

I did the tests way back in October. After three weeks, I finally got my test results from BP.
The good news is, I’m still healthy overall.
The bad news is, my report card has got HEAPS more red marks this time round.

In short:

• My red blood counts are too low
• My cholestrol levels are too high
• I seem to have contracted some sorta stomach bacteria called H Pylori.

Nothing that a few vitamins and antibiotics can’t fix.

And I really have to cut down on those butter sotongs to push my cholestrol levels back down.

The next ten pages consists of my physical test results and various images from the ultrasound scan. It was interesting, although I can’t really tell what is what.
The only thing I managed to identify was the ultrasound scan of my balls. Because I know what they look like.


They are really as big as coconuts.

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Twenty five things I did when I was twenty five:
#1

Bought my first Louis Vuitton and Salvatore Ferragamo. Before this, I have never even consider spending a single cent on high end luxury products because I belong to the group who thinks “why spend so much buying LV when Petaling Street sells similar stuff for RM50?”

#2

Exercised my right as a Malaysian citizen and voted for the first time ever in the General Elections.

#3
Got my license to practise as an insurance agent. Attempt to sell some insurance policies but realised it was harder than I thought.

#4

Learnt to surf.
And by that I don’t mean surfing the internet.

#5

Learnt to cook risotto, from a celebrity chef no less. But I still very badly undercooked it.

#6

Ate fried grasshopper in Bangkok.

#7

ICED my car!

And then crashed it. 🙁

#8
Broke up. Patched up. Broke up. Patched up. (repeat 100 times) Patched up now, and still going strong.

#9

Fly back-and-forth between Kuching and KL so frequently it’s as if I’m treating the airplane like a friggin’ bus!
It has come to the point where I was even turning down all-expense-paid trips to Langkawi, Krabi, Singapore and Macau. The worse thing is, this crazy lifestyle of mine shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. I just had a look at my calendar and was flabbergasted to find out that from now until the end of the year, I will be spending every single weekend of mine in either KL or Singapore.

#10

Had a man-gasm when I met Tony Fernandes, one of the few businessmen I truly admire. He completely surprised me by calling me on my phone after I attended his event. I am still amazed at how humble and down to earth this guy is even with all his successes.

#11

Met “fourfeetnine” Audrey, one of my favourite bloggers whose site I’ve been following for close to four years. A lot of people asked me how I got my inspiration to start blogging. Audrey is right up there.

#12

Met the Chelsea Football Team when they came to Malaysia and even got Luis Felipe Scolari to say “assalamualaikum” and “mualaikumsalam”!

#13

Went to Tioman. Saw some fish. Got nicknamed “Doraemon” by Joyce and Mary because I carried so many bags.

#14

Went to Bali. Saw some dolphins.

#15

Went to London. Saw the Big Ben.

#16

Went to Paris. Saw the Eiffel Tower.

#17

Went to Rome. Saw the Colloseum.

#18

Went to New Zealand. Saw my sister’s kids.

#19

Went to the MTV Asia Awards. Saw The Pussycat Dolls, Jared Leto, Leona Lewis, One Republic, Panic At The Disco, Stefanie Sun, Karen Mok!

#20

Met my one and only favourite Chinese artist, Jay Chou.

Twice.
Actually, there’s one story about my meeting with Jay Chou that I forgot to blog about. I didn’t wanna blog about it at the time because I reckoned it made me look kinda gay. But considering it’s been months since it happened, I think it’s safe now for me to say that…

I saw Jay Chou’s pubic hair.

It is true. I am most definitely, absolutely and completely serious.
To paint the picture for you, Jay Chou and I were at the tent backstage during his public appearance to promote his movie Kung Fu Dunk. I heard from May Zhee, aka “Malaysia’s No. 1 Jay Chou fan”, that Jay Chou doesn’t wear underpants. And it just so happened that at the time, he was wearing a pair of low-rise jeans so low it was barely hanging right above his pelvis.

So Jay Chou was just standing there looking idly around when one of his assistants approached him to tell himto get ready to go on stage.
With his back turned towards most people, and me standing in a position where I could just see what he was doing, Jay Chou unbuckled his belt momentarily to adjust its tightness.
And that’s when it happened.

As soon as Jay unbuckled his belt, all of the sudden he accidentally let his jeans slipped down by about an inch for literally a split second. But that was enough for me to spot the mound of black pubic hair peeking right on top of his jeans.
I was staring at Jay Chou’s thick, black, curly pubic hair. And my God, it was so thick and hairy, it would’ve made Gillian Hung and Cecelia Chung feel right at home.

I related the story to May Zhee and she subsequently went hysterical, bombarding me with all sorts of questions like how long it is, what texture it is, did I see his dick, etc etc like I was some sorta Jay Chou Pubic Hair Expert. I told her it was no different in apperance to any Chinese pubic hair out there, and I think she got kinda disappointed.
Anyway, continuing on with the list of 25 things I did when I was 25, I…

#21

Acted in a TV commercial for Mister Potato.

#22

Starred as one of the three judges for Malaysian Dreamgirl, the country’s first reality model search show broadcasted exclusively online.
Speaking of which, Season 2 of Malaysian Dreamgirl is coming soon and auditions are happening two weeks from now in Penang, Ipoh, Johor Bahru and of course KL.

#23

Cashed out my first cheque from Nuffnang.
One of these days, I must tell the story about my involvment with Timothy Tiah in the biggest revolution of blog advertising Malaysia has ever seen. There were so many things going on behind the scenes that were too sensitive for me to talk about during that time, but I think the time is right for us to look back and reflect on that. It’s a story of hardwork and integrity, I guarantee you it’s a tale nothing short of inspiring.

#24
Poured heaps of money into investments. Lost roughly RM10,000 when the financial crisis hit and the markets underperformed. Then poured MORE money into unit trusts because with everything so cheap right now, it is the best time to invest.

#25

Joined a beauty contest. For men.

Obviously, I didn’t win! I was at my fattest back in April. Good thing is, I have lost 8kg thanks to my marathon training.

Those are twenty five things I did when I was twenty five.
Today, I officially turn twenty six years old. 🙂

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Been doing quite a number of interviews lately!

It has come to a point where now I keep a file called Standard Interview Replies.doc on my desktop, just so I could copy and paste my answers to my interviewers.
(In case you wondered how come my interviews in different publications all sound the same, now you know.)
But occassionally, the writer is someone who knows me so well, she can skip the interview altogether and still do an ass-kicking write-up about me. JoyceTheFairy did just that in September’s issue of KLue magazine.

(I know I’m a bit late plugging the mag now, but we are KLue-less here in Kuching. The only KLue we have are in Starbucks, and even those are from April 2008.)
I was featured in KLue’s 20 Under 40, a list honouring 20 of KL’s biggest movers and shakers.

Seriously, I do not know how exactly I moved or shook KL.
If I remember correctly, the only moving and shaking I did was when I went jogging in Lake Gardens last time.
I was so freaking fat that every step I took, the entire KL moved and shook.

The 20 Under 40 list included more worthy inductees like Anwar’s daughter Nurul Izzah, MDG boss Jerad Solomon and Malaysian spaceman Sheikh Muszaphar. Alongside them, I look like a complete waste of space on page 61.
Still, it’s quite a honour to not only be mentioned, but also have the “Carrie Bradshaw of KL” write about me. I cannot think of a more suitable person to do the write-up, so thank you Joyce! 🙂

If I had to do an interview though, most of the time I still prefer face-to-face over e-mail interviews. It’s a lot more personal that way and I get to express my emotions a lot better. Like what I did recently with Georgette Tan.
The interview, which was published on The Sunday Post‘s POSTmag, has gotta be up there as one of my most favourite interviews to date.
(Although I reckon she could’ve chosen a better front cover picture of me that doesn’t look like a vampire version of William Hung.)

New Media Man
By Georgette Tan, POSTmag, 13 July 2008.
There’s scarcely an Internet savvy person in town or around Malaysia who doesn’t know who Kenny Sia is. The 26-year-old IT manager started a blog three and a half years ago for reasons most people did at the time. “It was meant to be a personal diary,” said Sia. “It’s kinda deviated from that since!”
Sia was living in Perth, Australia at the time kennysia.com was born. He then returned to Kuching because his fater was ill. He knew there were going to be hard days ahead and so the blog became an outlet, a way of recording the changes his life was going through and a means of letting his friends around the world know what he was up to.
“I’ve always wanted to start a website. The invention of blogs made things really easy,” he said.
As blogs have taken over the Internet and become an undeniable part of online technology, Sia has gotten invitations to share his varied experiences with college students. He even served on a panel of last year’s Singapore Writers Festival. It was an example of something he never expected to end up doing when he started blogging.
“That was crazy!” he recalled. “I went there, babbled through my session and got paid for it!”

But Sia recognises an appreciative audience when he is faced with one.
“I like talking to students the most,” he said. “It’s more enjoyable because being bloggers themselves, they are more interested and ask valid questions.”
Sia commented that he is more recognised in Kuala Lumpur than he is in Kuching. However, he is very much a Kuching boy at heart. A good number of his entries are about the prides and peculiarities of Kuching, especially during the first year or two after coming home from Perth.
“I’m very proud of Kuching,” he stated.
Sia’s blog has delighted readers everywhere because of his tongue-in-cheek style, which often pokes fun at himself.
“People need to laugh at themselves. There’s a time to let go and a time to stay serious.”
While some other Kuching blogs are only beginning to gain recognition as part of the alternative media, Sia has had to lay down some ground rules for himself to prevent advertorials from taking over his blog content.
“I want to focus on content, so I won’t do more than three sponsored posts in a month, but sometimes this is hard to control.”
He went on to explain that he may yes to three ads, but some jobs get postponed to the following month.
“It’s just one of those things,” he said. “People often don’t realise how many ads I had to turn down in a month.”
Sia has had several opportunities to play a member of the media, mostly on an official basis.

His first, however, was decidedly unofficial. He infamously crashed the Miss Tourism Pageant 2005 grand finals at a major hotel in Kuching, and came away with photos, videos, and a candid report.
“I thought it would be interesting to cover it for people who never had the opportunity to attend such an event,” he said.
Last year Sia wrote to Sarawak Tourism Board CEO Gracie Geikie to ask if he could cover the 10th Rainforest World Music Festival for his blog. He was thrilled when she sent him a media pass.
“All it takes is one event,” he said.
Since then, Sia’s been busy, blogging huge concerts (we’re talking Black Eyed Peas and Jay Chou), playing a cameo role in a Mister Potato TV ad shot in Thailand, and making guest appearances at various other events.

His favourite was getting invited to cover the opening of the Venetian Macao together with 2,500 other members of the international media.
“It was mind-blowingly awesome. I never expected to find myself in that position,” he said.
The organisers of that trip realised the value of a well-frequented blog. “A lot of people who went there were referenced by my blog,” Sia said.
“I managed to reach that audience that stays in front of the computer.”
Sia also got to be a judge for the Internet-based reality TV show Malaysian Dreamgirl.
“I had a small role in that, but I got to hang out with cool people!” he enthused.

He scored himself more infamous points on the show, slipping into the “Simon Cowell role” by the first episode, something that may have surprised people who know him to be a cheerful and friendly chap. It was also something that caused him to apologise profusely on his blog after the show was over.
“People started watching the show after they heard about what happened in the first episode,” he said, fully aware that any publicity is good publicity.
A second season of Malaysian Dreamgirl is in the works and Sia has been invited back as a judge. Regarding the show’s venture into uncharted territory, he feels that the whole thing is new and things could have been done better.
“But it’s a step in the right direction,” he concluded.
Sia also ventured into new territory earlier this year when he interviewed the then Bandar Kuching candidates Chong Chieng Jen (DAP) and Alan Sim (BN-SUPP) before the elections.
“I was lucky I got to speak to the both of them,” he said. “I think it’s important to know what they stand for and I didn’t until I talked to them.”

Members of the opposition party DAP have started utilising the blogging arena to further their cause. Sia believes that this played a role in their recent election victory.
“The Malaysian media is very strict, and a lot of opinions are not portrayed accurately,” he said. “Eventually, people stop believing in the mainstream news and started looking for other news sources. When you see things happening around the country, the opposition blogs become easier to believe.”
And then, other bloggers start talking.
“Most people keep quiet because they believe they are the only ones who think that way,” Sia theorised. “When similar opinions get aired on other blogs, they suddenly realise that they are not alone.”
The popularity of kennysia.com means that his blog is far from the personal journal it was originally meant to be. Although Sia had the choice of charging ahead regardless of who is reading, with viewers of all ages he decided to exercise sensitivity instead.
“Having to self-censor is the worst thing that can ever happen. The blog is not very personal anymore, but I give myself generous leeway,” Sia reflected. “And things can get out-of-hand and exaggerated online.”
This is why Sia is careful and checks with people to see if it’s all right for him to write about them.

“The toughest part is satisfying everyone. But no matter what you write, there will always be opposing opinions,” he said. And there are usually plenty of opinions and assumptions no matter what the subject.
Sia takes the pragmatic approach. “You can’t control what people say about you, but you can control how you react to it.”
However, he admitted that some opinions are more important than others.
“I value the opinion of people who know me. I would matter more if family and friends get upset. Apart from them, I have learnt to ignore the rest.”

Coincidentally, that issue of POSTmag was the final one for The Sunday Post.
I guess they ran out of people to interview, had no choice but scrap the bottom of the barrel and find me.

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Dear Papa,
Today is exactly three years since you’re gone. How have you been?

A lot has happened since I last wrote to you.
Kuching has changed quite a fair bit here and there. There’s been a lot of development, especially on the retail side. Yes, I know. 😉 But don’t you worry, Papa. Competition is always healthy and we’ve been doing many things to improve ourselves.
There’s a lot of new things to try out in Kuching now. Guess what? Even your favourite coffee Starbucks has opened up two outlets here. If you’re around, I’m sure you’ll be ordering takeaways from there everyday.

Do you get to read newspapers up there? Do you see the tribute I wrote for you in the papers. I hope you like it.
I wonder what kind of news they publish in the papers you get up there. I certainly hope they are not as biased as the ones we have here. 😉
Have you heard? BN lost heaps of seats in the last general election. Anwar’s wife is now Opposition Leader. Lim Guan Eng has gone from jail to Penang Chief Minister. And Chong Chieng Jen is still the only DAP MP from Sarawak. Wonder what you think about that?

The government are kinda blaming bloggers for the political change. Although since the elections, people are paying more attention to us. Many of the older people have started blogging. Even Dr Mahathir himself has hopped on the bandwagon. Can you imagine that? Haha.
Sister and her family is doing fantastic in New Zealand.

We went over to visit her during Chinese New Year. It’s been such a long time since we had a family reunion. We used to do it so often when you’re around. I really miss those times.
Baby Lecia is growing up just fine. She seems to cry a lot though. But she’s very cute even when she cries. Won’t you love to hold her tight?
Don’t worry about Jayden and Kirsten. They are goofy as always.

As for me, life has kinda turned on its head lately. Lately I’ve been getting a lot busier than ever. In the office, I’m diligently learning the ropes from my seniors, learning all the tips and tricks they use in business, learning how to negotiate a deal, as well as understanding all the legal and accounting terms involved.
Since the beginning of the year, I’m also getting invites to speak at various events left right and centre. There’s a lot of job opportunities that have come in for me, so much so that I had to turn down most of them either because I don’t have time, or because I couldn’t take leave off work.
I guess the good thing is that I’m getting a lot of recognition for what I do. On the downside, I am in danger of turning into a workaholic. As soon as I got home from the office, I’m in front of the computer again, replying e-mails and keeping up with my deadlines.

Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy what I do very much. The income is great and the people I’ve been meeting are wonderful. I just think that it is difficult being a 25 year old and having to juggle so many responsibilities at the same time.
But then again, who am I to complain right?
I’m sure life for you was even more difficult back then you were 25. I know, I know. 🙂 Back in those days, there were no mobile phones, no internet. You have to take care of your siblings when Grandpa and Grandma were at work. We don’t have to worry about those things now. We are incredibly lucky. And of course I appreciate it, Papa.
Thank you for working so hard when you were young. Else, we wouldn’t have enjoyed the life that we have today.

The more I think about it, the more thankful I am to you. In a lot of the interviews I did, people ask me who my biggest influence is, and I never hesitated a bit to say that it is you.
Come to think of it, I started blogging indirectly because of you too.
Now that I’ve found success in what I do, I stay motivated with you as my inspiration. Sometimes when I’m pulling my hair out stressing over the things I had to do, I think back at the image of you sitting alone at the study room at 1am, cigarette in hand, carefully looking through all the paperwork you pulled out of your briefcase.
That image of you is still so vivid in my head. And suddenly, it seems like my worries are all so incomparably small.

As I face new challenges each day, I look back at your life knowing that you have faced far greater challenges before, and that you never let them bring you down.
Sometimes I wonder how you managed it.
How are you able to find a woman like mom, who is so incredibly loving and supportive of what you do?
You spent so much time at work, yet everytime you come home, mom has given you the best home possible. I find that difficult to comprehend sometimes. A lot of women these days don’t like workaholic career-minded men. They think they would always be competing for their time and attention, yet they don’t seem to understand that a lot of what we do are for a better future.
I guess I knew why you married mom. Women like her are indeed rare these days.

It has been three years since you left us. The world has changed a lot around us.
Papa, the one thing that has remained unchanged is my admiration and adolation towards you as my father. Eventhough I feel sad sometimes that I don’t have a father to go to when I’m lost, I am grateful that you have done so much for us already when you were around.
Thank you for all that you have done. Thank you for all that you have taught us. I want you to know that you are the guiding compass in my life. And you are the perfect blueprint of the man I want to be when I grow up.
Don’t worry, papa. I will take care of mom. I will be humble. I will respect and treat my friends well. And I will keep my feet firmly on the ground as my hands reach for the stars.
You have my word on that.
Until next time, please take care of yourself. Stop smoking so much already and eat more healthy food, alright? 🙂

We love you always and we miss you very much.

Lots of love,
Your youngest son Kenny

I wouldn’t even know about this if Cheesie didn’t tell me.

For some strange reasons, Gua.com.my (“Malaysia’s entertainment and lifestyle portal!”) has named me one of the Seven Coolest Malaysians of 2007.
I don’t even know how I managed to get on that list.
Yalah, I was a bit suspicious when some guys kidnapped me and stuck a thermometer up my ass to measure how “cool” I was. But me as one of the coolest Malaysians?

I shit funny. From Bukit Bintang Automated Toilet Review

My first thought was that they must’ve made some sorta technical error and mixed up “Kenny Sia” with “Kanye West”. But still, to be mentioned alongside other justifiably more famous Malaysians like Nicol David, Maya Karin and space tourist Sheikh Muszaphar is, well, cool. 🙂
I am so cool I shall finish blogging the rest of this entry looking like this.

That was a nice gift on a special occasion for me.
Yesterday, the 4th of January, was officially kennysia.com‘s 3rd anniversary. And usually around this time of the year I like to take the walk down memory lane and reflect on the highlights of this blog.

When the nation was celebrating 50 years of nationhood, kennysia.com was celebrating something else

It’s quite amazing to think that kennysia.com has been continuously running for three years, especially considering my workload at the office had increased multiple-folds and also repeated protests from within my family to shut down this blog.
My family obviously thinks that my commitment in the office is more important. Of course I see my job and my blog as of equal importance. I don’t think one necessarily needs to be sacrificed at the expense of another, so I try to strike a balance and make some compromises. Though I must admit, lately it has become more and more difficult for me to juggle between the commitments of my job and my blog, hence the sometimes lack of content.

A huge part of kennysia.com this past year was devoted to Travel Logs. That’s hardly surprising considering I’ve been travelling every month of 2007. I didn’t even manage to stay in Kuching for a full stretch of 30 days.
To be honest, I’m not sure how well-received my travel logs are. (Please say you like my travel logs.) In any case, I sure hope people enjoyed reading my travel logs as much as I enjoy writing them, because I bloody well enjoy writing them. Just looking through the photos and putting my experience into words is enough to make me re-live the good times once again.

2007 was Visit Malaysia Year.
Although personally I think VMY2007 was a scam by the tourism industry to jack up hotel prices to record high (know any Malaysian who managed to get a cheap travel package in Malaysia?), there are some places in this country that I thoroughly enjoyed going to and blogging about.

By far, climbing Mt Kinabalu in Sabah was the best travel experience I had, made even better with the company of a new friend in Su Ann.
Coming in second, was my Ipoh trip which ended up unexpectedly interesting and memorable. I also did a guide on my Penang food hunting trip which I’m sure is gonna make a lot of people very hungry.

Outside of Malaysia, my Hanoi travel logs (specifically Sapa) are my favourite.
I also enjoyed travelling Jakarta like a local and visiting Bangkok’s Chatuchak market.

In my third year of blogging, I begin to see signs of bloggers being taken as seriously as journalists from the mainstream media especially during press events. That is something I really appreciate.
It all started with me e-mailing the organisers of the Sarawak Rainforest World Music Festival for a press pass and actually getting it. I have never received a press pass for anything before, and I was excited.

After that, I didn’t think it could get any better, but it did.
In August, I was flown to Macau to blog about the grand opening of the mindbloggingly luxurious Venetian Macao Resort Casino. I watched their grand opening concert where David Tao and Diana Ross performed, dined at their gala dinner and stayed at their RM2,000-a-night room way before anyone else from the public did.

Two months later, I was again flown to Bangkok to blog about Suki and Faizal’s interview with The Black Eyed Peas. As if getting the absolute front row spots during their live concert wasn’t good enough, I was even invited backstage to chat and shake hands with the stars.
All these just for being a BLOGGER! Can you imagine? I used to have to sneak into events to blog about them!
Now could you fault me for not following my mother’s advice and shut down this blog?

Hamsters are not halal = Controversy

Of course, life isn’t always a bed of roses for me. One thing consistently plaguing me is that I seem to attract controversy, even when I do not mean to.
There are generally two types of readers on kennysia.com.
There’s one that prefers the old-fashioned, unapologetic, uncensored version of Kenny Sia who do not hold himself back by pandering to the public. Then there’s another one that thinks because a lot of people read kennysia.com, that I should censor myself and not blog about things that would make people angry, because y’know, with great power comes great responsibilities and shit.
Seems to me that the concept of blogs as an open personal diary is still difficult for some quarters to grasp.

When I blogged about a fatal car accident I witnessed way back in May, some people think I shouldn’t do it because I was being insensitive. Yet, I think I reserve the right to blog it because it was something extraordinary that happened in my life.
The ensuing debate ballooned to a dramatic 1,043 comments, until support for me came from the most unlikely of sources – William Liew, the husband and father of the victims.

Then there was this time I swallowed a beating heart of a cobra. A lot of animal lovers threatened to cut out my heart and swallow my blood in revenge eventhough I maintained that it was a once-off experience, and that I don’t normally feast on live seafood or animals.

And who could’ve forget that transvestite-boobie-baring incident?
After seeing so many people insulted me and accused me for disrespecting the transvestite, I finally believe that Malaysians have more respect for transvestite prostitutes than for bloggers.
Anyway, controversies are inevitable and haters are always gonna be there, but what I enjoy doing best is still making people laugh.

Remember the time when everyone was crazy about the movie Transformers?

How about when we found out that Dumbledore was gay?
But if I had to pick my absolute favourite blog entry out of all those, I’d pick the time when I beat the scammers at their own game in The Hong Kong Lucky Draw Scam.

That particular blog entry was passed around so much, it ended up saving a lot of people from heartache and losing their hard-earned money. And I’m glad it did.
So that was kennysia.com‘s third year in review. I don’t know what 2008 holds for this blog, but with the General Elections, the Olympics and the Eurocup all in this year, I doubt there’s gonna be a shortage of subjects to poke fun at. 😉 Man, I just wish I had more free time to blog.

Happy 3 years old, my blog.

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Twenty four things I did when I was twenty four.

1. Learnt to scuba-dive.


2. Learnt to play chess.
Some nine months later, I scored my first checkmate, against my mentor. 🙂


3. Saw the magnificent Great Pyramids of Giza.


4. Stayed at the ultra-luxurious Venetian Macao Resort during their grand opening.


5. Swallowed the beating heart of a king cobra, and washed it down with a dose of snake blood in Vietnam.

6. Met and shook hands with The Black Eyed Peas in Thailand, then got a media pass to watch their concert live.


7. Witnessed a fatal car accident for the first time.
William Liew, who lost his wife and two kids in that accident overnight e-mailed me again recently. As much as he is finding it difficult to get over his sadness and pain, he has decided to move on and begin a new chapter of his life in China. In memory for his family who perished, he has started a blog at williamscliew.blogspot.com


8. Sponsored a World Vision child.


9. Made my first reality TV show appearance in Nescafe Kickstart. Dance instructor Joo Nee Oh engaged my support, and she ended up winning the contest and RM250,000 richer.

10. Signed up for a 12-month exclusive deal with Nuffnang, signalling the beginning of the most significant revolution in Malaysian blog-based advertising.


11. Went on Deal or No Deal. Won the most pathetic amount possible.


12. Watched WWE wrestlers beat the crap out of each other live in Singapore.

13. Spoke to JJ and Rudy from Hitz.fm Morning Crew and helped them out with their Johor Flood Relief campaign.


14. Became an uncle to my sister’s third child, baby girl Lecia.

15. Gained a sister-in-law.


16. Was invited to give a presentation on blogging on several occasions. My most memorable ones are at DiGi headquarters, SEGi College and Swinburne University Kuching.
I was especially surprised to see the level of enthusiasm and excitement on these students when it comes to the topic of blogging. For the first time in my life, I was amused that students are actually wanting to attend a lecture instead of running away from it.


17. Met many new friends whom I’ve grown very close to.
Nicole, Timothy, pinkpau, Icy Queen Goddess – can you believe it’s only been less than a year that we’ve known each other? Time flies when you’re having fun.


18. Became a hamster pet owner.
Bought two. One ran away.
Got two more to replace the one that ran away.

19. Fell in love.

20. Lost 5kg. Gained back 7kg.

21. Began to set aside some money for my future.
I’m investing in Pacific Mutual unit trusts and it’s doing fantastic for me. And no, I’m not saying that just because I became a certified unit trust and insurance agent this year. 😉


22. Climbed Malaysia’s highest mountain.


23. Ran Malaysia’s longest bridge in a 42km marathon.


24. Had a simple birthday celebration on a quiet suite by the seaside, enjoying the company of my few loved ones.

Yeah, life has been hectic and I have been busier than ever. But I lived my twenty forth year in existence knowing that I did not waste a single day of my life.
Today, I turn a quarter of a century old.

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