No stories about the stupidity of religious extremists, my war exploits or the state of the media for my column at The Malaysian Insider this week. Just good old father-daughter time!

What a laugh!
By Zan Azlee

AUG 19 — Aristotle said that all babies laugh for the first time exactly on their 40th day of existence in the world. So when my daughter Athena’s 40th day of existence came around, I took off from work just to be there when she bursts out hysterically for the first time.

After all, laughter plays a major role in my life. My films have comedy in them and so do my writings. In fact, even the lectures I give are hilarious (or so I think!).

I also tend to laugh like a mad man on a regular basis and the act itself is very important to me. Life would be boring without it. In fact, it is also one of the reasons why people always think I’m 10 years younger than my actual age (really!).

Now back to my daughter’s 40th day of existence and her anticipated guffaws. As soon as she woke up that day, I started my mission.

The first thing I did was to make funny faces and stick out my tongue at Athena. The only response I got out of her was a big yawn. I didn’t give up there. So I tickled her belly and blew under her armpits. But still no luck. Instead of bursting into laughter, she drooled all over herself. [Click to read the full article]