My dad has a passion for gardening, which, sadly, I don't inherit. He could just buy flowers or seeds and the next thing you know, it's starting to sprout flowers, and soon, bear fruits, before you could finish saying 'supercalifragilisticexpialidocious'.

But this post isn't about his passion for gardening. Well, not directly, anyway. It's just that the next door neighbour, who, apparently needs a long lesson on effective communication and respecting other people, decided to 'tuang pasir' in my dad's proverbial 'periuk nasi'..simply because the leaves had been growing all over the place. I'm not really arguing in anyone's defence, but in my opinion, whenever there is an issue to be settled, it is best if the interested parties sit down and talk about it. I mean, as much as the government's 'Budi Bahasa Budaya Kita' campaign goes, i see no budi, or bahasa from the aforementioned neighbours. What's wrong with saying 'Daun dah lebat sangat tu, baik potong yang mana patut, takut nanti nyamuk membiak.Sekarang kan musim denggi?' Is that so hard to say? But I guess the neighbour, Mr R and Mrs M, have problems communicating, cos the only thing they know is to pick up the phone and report to the Shah Alam Municipal Council. stupid idiots. I don't see the point of you wearing the tudung all the way to your navels if you don't know how to communicate nicely to people around you. It's such a waste, really. You send your children to private, religious schools. But you yourself don't practice the values promoted by Islam, rather than the five rituals. Bad decision, I tell you.

I guess, yes, good fences make good neighbours..particularly if we do care for each other, and try to respect each other's differences. It doesn't hurt to communicate and try to work things out before bringing in the third party, and , in addition, instilling distrust in yourself, against your neighbours.