Reflections.....

Today....the second last day in June......i received a piece of good news. My niece Carmen has been granted the Malaysian citizenship after a waiting period of more than eleven years. She will be celebrating her twelve birthday next April. What a waiting period......there was much anxiety because it is better to be granted a citizenship when one is a minor. All thanks and glory to our Almighty God. Indeed He is the Alpha and the Omega...the beginning and the end....and He makes all things possible.
In fact, my brother and i were contemplating to see some politcal persons to help. We were just waiting for another sister to come back from Korea to go together. Meanwhile, i was praying that God would intervene in this case before we seek help from humans. Truly, he has answered my prayer in His time. His timing is perfect. Praise be to God.

Remembering........

Today...the last Sunday in June 2009. How time flies. We are now going into the second half year of 2009 in two days' time. Most of the time we would experience hot weather at this time but this year there is a significant change in the weather. The rainy season seems to have come sooner. The thunder and lightning are more frightening. The winds of course are stronger than ever......some roofs are even blown off.
Just hoping that the second half year will bring us finer weather, as plants will start to rot if there is too much water. The mango tree has begin flowering and this will not be good news. No mangoes to eat.
Will try to complete 2 of my patchwork blankets. Started doing them many moons ago but was kept away for almost a year. Life is funny at times. When Mum was with me, i was kept busy. But now that she's gone, i'm also equally busy with other stuff. Things that i can't seem to find time to do, i'm trying to do them all now. Also, i have been trying some recipes....well, the dishes turn out quite well too.... . Maybe after a few tries, i may be able to share in this blog.

Remembering........Michael Jackson/Farrah Fawcett

Today...it was a shock to learn of Michael Jackson's passing. I remembered the young boy who sang in the Jackson 5. That was in the sixties.....then we had black and white television sets in Malaysia. Obviously those days we did not have a T.V. set at home.....my parents couldn't afford one. If we wanted to watch anything on T.V., we would go to a neighbour who had a set. All of us would stand outside the door or peer through the window to watch the programme. So, those days i would remember the Andy William Show and the Ed Sullivan Show wihout fail. Since we only got to watch these two shows once a week. Amazingly, i could remember the day and time without difficulty. On the dot i would standing at my neighbour's door or window waiting for the show to start.
Only in the seventies could i afford to have a T.V. and watch these entertainment programmes at home. The only regret i have now is the fact that i did not have the opportunity to watch his live performance in K.L. I'm thankful that i shall be able to get some his videos. May he rest in peace.
I also remember Farrah Fawcet today. I had always enjoyed watching 'Charlie's Angels' too. May she rest in peace too.

Reflections.....

Yesterday i attended a meeting of the Christian Cemetry Committee meeting and a member of the Perak State Legislature. The main purpose of this meeting was to bring to the attention of the authorities that the Christians of Hilir Perak has run out of burial plots to bury their dead. Two weeks ago, a family had illegally buried their dead relative on a grave site belonging to someone else. This had caused the caretaker of the cemetry to make a police report, and the authorities realized now that for a number of years, the Christians in this area has been burying their dead relatives condominium style because of the lack of land for burial purposes.
A guy who is not a Christian suggested that the Christians should sell the burial plots to generate income so as to be able to buy more land for this purpose. The price of burial plots can vary from a few thousands to a few hundreds depending on the location of the land. Well, this sure can generate a great deal of money. However, he does not understand that the Christian cemetry does not make money out of a dead person. The fee collected is for maintainance only and it is a one-time collection. Moreover, the burial plots are marked accordingly so there is no expensive plots or cheaper ones. All are the same and no one can choose where they want to be buried. All have to follow the line. Well, it was sure interesting to attend such a meeting...one can certainly learn a lot .

Reflections.....

Yesterday my church celebrated Parents' Day. This was the first time that i did not have a parent to celebrate with. I was feeling sad and a bit down, but then i pulled myself up and thank the Almighty God i had sixty odd years of mum with me. I had good memories of the times we spent together......going out for dinners and giving her an "ang pow"(i.e. the little red envelope containing cash). This would make mum very happy.
This makes me wonder how i would be spending Mother's Day in future. Christina will be settling down in Down Under. Unless i make a trip Down Under, i would be all alone. Thinking over, maybe all the mothers who have children working in other places can get together and celebrate this special day together. Well, we need not go out to a restaurant. Each of us can cook a special dish and bring it for the celebration. If there are ten of us, imagine the ten types of cooking we can get to sample. Thinking of it now makes my mouth wants to water because the ladies i have in mind are fantastic cooks. Yes, i think we shall have a wonderful Mother's Day celebration from now onwards. Thinking back, our parents will leave us one day and our children may have settled down in other parts of the world, yet we still have good friends around to celebrate together......what a wonderful feeling.

Remembering........

Today i had the privilege of helping in the Sunday School to prepare the children for a concert tomorrow to celebrate Parents' Day. The children of today are so fortunate.They have almost every thing that their parents can afford. Because of this culture of giving the best the parents can afford makes the children take things for granted. Truly i have never seen a bunch of kids so spoilt and indiscipined. They don't listen to their teachers at all and just do what they fancy. They keep shouting at each other and just walk about. The poor teachers had to keep on calling them to pay attention to instructions. I just wonder what these kids will turn out to be twenty years down the road. Any way, i just hope that every thing will turn out right tomorrow.
This brings me back to my childhood days where i too attended Sunday School. What a contrast....all of us just sat in our places quietly. We were so frightened of our teachers that when we talked to each, we whispered. What ever work the teachers handed us to do, we just did them without murmur. I remembered i just love to go to Sunday School. I'm thankful to all my Sunday School teachers for teaching me and disciplining me. A'm also thankful to all the Sunday School teachers who had taught Christina..my girl...and helped to mould her to be what she is today. She's a lovely young lady....helpful and caring.....someone who makes a parent proud of her. So a big thank you to all you Sunday School teachers. I now know that it is not easy to teach in a Sunday School as i found out today. God bless you all.

Remembering........

Today, i want to pay tribute to the woman who brought me up and gave me a chance to be what i am today. Mum was a woman who placed great importance in education. I attended two national schools while i was in Std. One to Four. In the morning, i went to an English school, while in the afternoon, i attended a Chinese school. For these three or four years, she would bring me lunch in a tiffin carrier, my Chinese school uniform and school bag to a friend's house opposite the Chinese school. When morning school was over, i would walk to this house. There i would have my bath and lunch, changed into my other school uniform, took the other school bag and walked to school. Then she would gathered up my other uniform and school bag and other stuff and cycled home. At the same time, she would also be carrying my younger brother on the bicycle too as there was no one else to care for him at home. Attending two national schools came to an end when the Education Department sent a circular to inform the schools that every student can only attend one national school. So i made a choice to stop my Chinese education.
The growing years was quite a struggle for all of us. Dad was out of work most of the time, so Mum had to work to support the family. She was a laundry lady for several households and in the afternoons she has to go back to those households to do all the ironing. By then, we were all in our teenage years. Many of our friends and relatives advised Mum to stop my schooling and go to work as a domestic servant. However, Mum was adamant that i should continue with my schooling as i was not a bad student....and she even went with me to the Social Welfare Department to apply for book loans. So for my generation, i was the only one who had the opportunity to go to college and trained to be a teacher.
Now i have a good life...and it is all thanks to my mum who cared so much for me. Thank you Mum.

Remembering........

It is almost a hundred days since mum passed away....the mourning period is almost over. It is fitting now that i want to remember mum before memories of her fades away. Mum is always Mum to me as she's the best person in the world. I truly thank God that i had more than 60 years of sharing my life with her. To see her getting weaker and weaker in her twilight years would always remind me that one day i may have to go through this journey too. I'm also afraid that i would have inherited some of her traits.....stubborness, independence, wilfulness. On the other hand, i would certainly hope to inherit her other traits....generousity, helpfulness, charitable, hospitality, the ability to love under all circumstances and to continue to hope even the circumstances seem so slim. Mum is always so hardworking.....i still remember the days when we were so poor.....there was always little food on the table....yet mum always worked to put food on the table for us. This is why now i learnt that the most important thing in the world is to have a roof over one's head and next enough food on the table. As for other things, they are just distractions. Mum, thank you for teaching me the most important thing to survive in this world. I love you always.