Reunion

Today i make a trip to Ipoh to meet old friends of mine...a couple. It is really good to be able to keep in touch with each other all these years. Imagine to my surprise i was treated to a lovely lunch to celebrate her husband's birthday. As i look round the table, i can't help but realized that we are indeed getting on years. I just wonder how many more birthdays can we celebrate......so we must learn to enjoy each birthday that we celebrate. Anyway, a very happy birthday to my dear friend.
Tomorrow, we shall be saying goodbye to another good friend of ours who will be flying back to Down Under. Though the time we spend together is short but it is certainly good to see each other again. Will be looking forward to tomorrow when we can enjoy the famous food of Ipoh and have a few hours of fellowship together before she flies off to Singapore and then to Australia. Well, i hope to see her again when i next visit Sydney in the distant future. She has promised to fly down to Sydney from Brisbane when i go to Sydney next year if i let her know well in advance.
So, i wonder how the three of us will spend our time together tomorrow.........

Responsiblities......

Finally, i met up with my friend from Down Under. It has been ten over years that we last met. Actually, she comes back to Malaysia two or three times a year, but we can't seemed to find the time to meet up. The real reason is that we have to take care of our loved ones at home. ....and there was no one else who would help out. Though our hometowns are only an hour's drive away from each other, it was quite difficult to make time to meet. Now that my mum has migrated to another world, it's possible for me to meet her. However, she has her own responsiblity to care for her brother who is almost blind and immobile. I truly admire her .....she is willing to fly back to Malaysia few times a year just to take care of her brother for a month then fly back to Australia. Her two brothers here in Malaysia would not take up this responsibility of taking care of this younger brother. ...so this guy is left alone in a big house to fend for himself. Every trip that she came back home, she is more depressed than ever with the family situation.
When we met yesterday, i told her that i too am in the same position as her. Even though mum has gone, i still have to take care of a nephew who is a schizo. It is not easy taking of sick persons or someone who is an invalid. We have lots of adjustments to do. I have learn to take things as they come and not presume too much.....learn to keep the mouth shut and not to offer any advice or opinion, lest this will lead to arguments or quarrels. I also learn that sick persons have their own personality too and we have to respect them as they are.
Well, the learning process is a ongoing process. I guess it will only stop when we stop breathing. If we are willing to learn each time we encounter a problem and learn intelligently, i guess life is certainly beautiful and worth the living.........

Reunion....

Today i'm meeting an old friend whom i have not seen for almost ten years. She left Teluk Intan in the early eighties and migrated to live in Australia. Though we met once or twice in between the years, this is the longest period since i last saw her and her family members. It is indeed very exciting when old friends meet up. From the photos that she posted in the computer, she still looks the same....as young looking as ever. All her children are married with 2 or 3 children and so she is a grandmother already.
I just wonder how the meeting will turn up to be...after such a long time. I'm sure we will have a lot of things to talk about....... how our lives turn out to be like after almost 30 years. If she had stayed in Malaysia, will our lives be different? I wonder how she will react when we asked about many of our mutual friends who had long departed from this earth and migrated to another planet. Certainly lots of things have changed since then. The town of Teluk Intan has changed too....the roads in town are all one-way. If you make a wrong turn, then you would have to make a big round to go to your destination. So it would be better for you to plan all your errands, park in one central place and walk. This way, it is faster and saves a lot of time instead of going round and round.
I am planning in my head where to take her for breakfast....I wonder whether she would like to have 'chee cheong fun' which is the famous food in T.I. 'Chee cheong fun' is just batter steamed with a bit of fried filling and rolled up like a sausage. It served plain or with some chillie sauce.

Reflections.....

Living in this modern world is certainly not what i would have imagined some years back. Those days i imagined a peaceful world....one that every living person would want to live in. Today, however, when one turn on the T.V. or open up a newspaper to read, one couldn't help but hear or read about wars, violence, bomb blasts and so on. I sometimes wonder why human beings like to kill or destroy each other. I believe there are better things for them to do than to think of ways and means of destroying each other.
This week, Teluk Intan was placed on the Malaysian map. There were pictures of a gruesome killing of a local resident......naked and with many stab wounds. Seeking peace and settlement with dialogue seemed out of the question. The only way of seeking peace is through the gun or the sword.
The town of Teluk Intan is so different now. Vice is just at every corner. Neighbours keep to themselves and hardly greet each other. Most houses erect high walls and gates to 'protect' the people living in them. The Teluk Intan of yesteryears was so different. Neighbours protect each other. Most houses were left unlocked and nothing was missing. Nowadays, one cannot even leave a pair of new shoes outside the door.....you can be sure that it would be missing the next day. What has the world come to? I certainly don't know. Can someone please enlighten me?

Remembering........

Many months ago, i wrote something about Carmen my niece. Today, i have something good to share about her. This little girl was born in Indonesia in April 1998. Ever since that day she has been the holder of an Indonesian passport. When she came back to Malaysia that year, i took her to the Federal Registration Office and applied for the Malaysian citizenship. Since that time till now, we have waited for more than 10 years. In June this year, we received a letter from the Ministry of Home Affairs that her application has been approved at last, and the citizenship certificate will be ready for collection within 90 days. This is something which the Soo family is always very thankful and a big 'Thank You' to the Malaysian Government.
Carmen is a very bright young girl. She is now in Primary 5 and next year she will in her last year in Primary School. The future is in front of her and i know she can go very far if she puts her mind to it. Right now, she only needs encouragement and guidance.....that is why i always encourage her to attend Sunday School where she can learn values which will help her to be a better and responsible person. As her aunt, i will certainly help her along this journey....and it is not an easy road to travel. With help from the Almighty, i am confident i can take up this challenge.

Reflections.....

So many days had passed by. Had to send the computer to the shop. Just pressed the wrong button and the whole screen went blank. As i have observed, the young kiddos are so much better at the computer. Why are the more elderly persons so inapt at the computer? Maybe, the action and reaction of elderly persons are slower....the co-ordination of the limbs may not co-ordinate very well. The many times that i pressed the wrong buttons and had to send the computer to the shops really embrassed me. Thank goodness this time there was nothing wrong with the computer.
This week, i realized again that friendship is as thin as a sheet of paper...thus a Chinese saying goes. It looks as if there is no one on earth that one can trust.....so have to be very careful when cultivating friendship.

Reflections.....

It is very true when people say that everyday that we're alive, we are learning. The learning process never ends. Today i learnt that the person you thought you could trust most is the person who in the end rips you off.......financially or emotionally. The people of today is just out to out best each other, and after that they just move on to find other people whom they think they can try the same trick again. I remember someone once told me that no one can force you to do what you don't want to do. How true...no one can force us to do what we don't want to do. However, when your good friend approach you for something and you are in a position to help, of course,you will help. That is what friends are for. I always remember this proverb which i learnt in my primary school days.....A Friend In Need is A Friend Indeed. Nowadays, this proverb does not apply anymore. You can help a friend in need but be prepared that that friend may not be your friend indeed. I have learnt that if i help anyone....that's that....expect nothing more. Get on with your life and be happy. Life is too short to mull over all these unimportant things. One thing i have learnt...there's plenty of people out there who would like to be your friends. Isn't that nice?

Relationships....

This morning, while we taking our usual walk in the Speedy Road field, one of my friends commented about her relationship with her daughter-in-law. This brings to mind how are we going to form an amicable relationship with our daughters-in-law or sons-in-law. To be able to get along with other people is so important. If we don't cultivate the art of getting along with other people, then we will not have many friends. This is very sad indeed as no man is an island. The human nature is such that we need to interact with other human beings. To have few friends or no friends is indeed a sad existence. Some are friends..that is just friends. Other friends are only your friends if they can get something out of you...sad isn't it? Thank goodness there are others who are more than friends. They are closer to you than your own brothers or sisters. They are always there when you needed them most. They will call you up when they don't see you at the usual place and usual time......they show concern for you. They care what happens to you and make sure you are all right. Thank God for such friends. You are truly blessed if you have such friends. I confessed that i'm truly blessed today because i have such friends.
My girl, Christina, has got herself engaged. From today onwards, i not only have to cultivate a good relationship with her but also with Peter, her fiance. One of my friends commented...' hi..soo..so you are going to be a mother-in-law, hah...' I quickly replied,' no..no...i'm going to be the mother-out-law'. From now onwards, i just want to have a good relationship with Christina and Peter, and also with all my nieces and their spouses.