Remembering......

In the news this past few days, there is talk of reconcilation among the various races in Malaysia. This is good as we should think of ourselves as Malaysians. We are decendents of various races but we do need to cultivate the idea of being Malaysians. As for me, i'm proud to be Malaysian. In this age of technology where one can receive instant news, it makes me realized that Malaysia is one of the best countries in the world. The various races here do practise tolerance. The citizens of this country do have good health care. The government provides hospitals in most major towns and health clinics in rural areas. Here we too have private hospitals to cater to the rich and famous..or if one can afford it....one can take up a medical insurance. In the past weeks, i have been following the news on T.V. that even though the US is the richest country in the world, the majority of its citizens do not have access to health care. This is indeed very shocking. So, Malaysians, you are indeed very blessed.
I just hope the leaders of this country realize that reconcilation is more of action than of words. They need to formulate policies that will unite all the people rather than segregate them. I still remember in my working days, we need to fill forms regarding our personal particulars. There was always a part that marked 'Nationality'. We were supposed to put our race in this blank, and i always wrote 'Malaysian' in the blank. This showed that no one ever read or check the forms as no one pointed that out to me that somehow i have made a mistake.
Interestingly, the people of Kenya too dislike the idea of stating which tribe they belong to in their registration form....i heard this over the news. Tribe or race is such sensitive issues these days.....so we need to regard each other as just people.....nothing more .....nothing less.

Remembering....31 August

Last week in August.....the country will be celebrating its 52 anniversary of independence on 31 August. I remembered so vividly the year 1957, 31 August when Malaysia got its independence. I was in year 2 Primary School. The Union Jack was lowered down from the flag pole and the Malaysian flag was raised and we all sang the national anthem. Obviously, we were taught the national anthem weeks before so that we can all sing the song by heart. Ever since that day, on this auspicious day, we had gatherings and parades on the town field. While in Primary School, i was always a spectator at the parades. When i entered Secondary School and joined the Girls' Brigade, i took part in the parades. I remembered also certain years we had beautifully decorated floats going round the streets of Teluk Intan after the parade in the field. Of course it was always the Boys' Brigade Band that led the parade then. How proud i was of the boys in blue. Our school has the only band in the town then.....the Anglo-Chinese Secondary School.
Many years down the line, on 31 August, i remembered this day my Dad passed away. It is already 22 years now. I too remembered this day so vividly. We were watching the T.V. when my nephew called me and told me that my Dad was gasping for breath and within minutes he was gone. So this special day will always bring back sweet and bitter memories for me.....the day the country celebrates its independence and the day my Dad chose to migrate to another planet.

Remembering......

I heard over the news last weekend that the NZ government is going to reverse its anti-spanking law for children. Personally, i think it is a good move. Children need to be disciplined. A little spanking would certainly not do any harm. As the saying goes...spare the rod and spoil the child.
I was staying with my sister in Klang for the last two days. My... i have never seen such undisciplined children in my life. I am talking about her two grandchildren. They fight over each other's things. When they can't get their ways..they bite each other or bang their heads on the floor. When they cry, they scream at the top of their voices ....i thought their throats may burst.
Coming back to my own childhood, we never cried unless we had had a good thrashing our parents. Maybe then we had nothing to fight over. Now as i recall my own girl and my other nephews staying together in the same house, they too hardly fight with each other. Of course, there were the usual disagreements but i don't they ever screamed their heads off.
So today i had a long chat with my girl. I remind her to discipline her future children if she plans to have any. I can't imagine my grandchild screaming off its head or creating a spectacle in a public place. Of course she just laugh the matter off. Anyway, i just shudder to think if i ever have such a grandchild....

River of No Return

I wonder how many of us still remember this song ' The River of No Return' by Marilyn Monroe? How apt this song is. Our life is just like the river of no return. Many things that are gone will not return . Happenings of yesteryears are just memories..... some are fond memories, others not so happy ones. Yet life goes on....like the river......the water never stops flowing. My other nephew asked me just now what is life all about. So i used this metaphor of the river to explain about life to him. I reminded him that whatever the situation we may encounter in, life is certainly worth the living. Life is very precious and should not be taken lightly as some people do. I recall someone one once told me in life there is always hope. No situation is ever hopeless.Yesterday a student asked me what keeps on adding and cannot be subtracted. The answer...our age. How true! As the days go by, we are getting older. This weekend i am going to Klang to celebrate my nephew Clement's eighth birthday. I know he is very excited..just waiting for us to buy him a birthday cake and all the goodies for him and his friends to enjoy. Only the little ones want to celebrate birthdays...we older folks will just keep our mouths mum.
I am looking forward to this weekend....meeting my family members after so many months. So, have a nice weekend everyone.........

Remembering....

The third week in August, how time flies. Next week is semester break, a week of holidays for students in schools. A welcome break for both the teachers and students. After the break will be examination time for the students, one exam after another. Boy, aren't i glad i'm retired? No more stress....no more evaluation of exam results. Yes, remembering those days sure make me glad i'm retired now.
My nephew Clement will be celebrating his eighth birthday next week, on 26 August. He will be getting a PS2 play station and a carrom board for his birthday. This reminds me of how times have changed. Children of today always remember their birthdays. When we were young, none of our siblings remembered our birthdays. If mum ever remembered our birthdays, the child concerned will get to eat a hard boiled egg. That would be our birthday present. Anyway, i don't remember i ever celebrated my birthday until i was 21 when some of my friends celebrated my birthday for me. Then was my first year of teaching in Kajang. I still remembered the few friends who gave me my first birthday present....a gold bracelet. I wonder where they are now. The last i know May May was in Singapore, Siew Luan and Eddie in Klang. If i were to meet the three of them now, would i be able to recognise them? These three friends, wherever they might be, i just want to ask the good Lord to bless them and grant them good health. It's so funny ...the birthday of my nephew could bring back such memories. I guess this is what life is all about. So i wish everyone whose birthday falls in the month of August....'Happy Birthday'.

Readings.......

Today i need to rectify some mistakes that i told my friends about the Garden of Eden. There was never a tree of life in the Garden of Eden. There were other trees in the garden but the tree that Adam was instructed not to touch or eat of its fruits were the tree in the middle of the garden.....the tree of knowledge. The tree of life was only mentioned in the new city of Jerusalem in the book of Revelation...the last book of the Bible. Very sorry for the misinformation indeed.
Still on the subject, i began to ponder about temptation. It struck me that temptation is a very subtle feeling. It clouds our feelings, our sense of sight and create a desire of wanting something. What Eve felt when she saw the fruits of the tree of knowledge.....the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for....., i think this is the same feeling most women have when we go shopping. The modern pastime or hobby...window shopping....never did end up just that, window shopping. There is always something that catches the eye and we ladies will most of the time end up buying something home. We can never resist a temptation of buying because at that moment in time it is such a bargain and we just do not want to miss the opportunity. Well, maybe now we can learn to understand Eve and not ask the important question...Why did she eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge?

Reunion

Time truly flies. This the beginning of another weekend. I love weekends. This is the time where i can be on my own, doing the things that i like to do, or to catch up with some house cleaning chores or to do some gardening.
This weekend however, is a time for reunion. The Past Pupils Association of the Horley Methodist Secondary School is having its annual reunion dinner. This is truly an exciting time, meeting up with classmates as well as school mates. We also get to meet up with some of our teachers who have taught us so many years ago. I sure am looking forward to meet one of my teachers who is now more than 90 years old and is still strong and hearty. I wondered if he still remembers us...the class of 1965...the year we completed our secondary school education. Many of my teachers have since migrated to another planet, but he is still with us and his good wife too.
As for my own batch pupils, many too have left us. It will certainly be a time of recalling memoriesof the things we did when we were young. Many of us have since retired and living in different parts of the country. This will be a time of meeting in this town where we were born more than sixty years ago. The town of Teluk Intan has changed much....no longer a sleepy town. There is much economic activity in town, being an agricultural area. There are also many biscuits factories around the different parts of the town. I know many of my friends would be wanting to buy these different biscuits to take back home as gifts for friends and neighbours.
Not far from Teluk Intan are also many fishing villages. These villages are along the sea coast or the Perak River. Many of my friends will be going to these places to get their fresh fish, prawns or crabs. Yes.....sure am looking forward to see all my friends again.

Readings.......

This morning, as the three of us were having our usual walk round the field, the subject of human nature came into the conversation. As always, the fall of the human nature is an inevitable topic. I was listening to these two friends of mine relating the fall of Man in the Garden of Eden. It never fails to amaze me how people interpret the story of Adam and Eve. My friend A was telling my friend B that Eve ate the apple from the tree and asked Adam to have a bite. Somehow the apple got stuck in Adam's throat and that was why all men have the Adam's apple at their throats. It was so funny and the three of us was laughing hilariously.
Suddenly, Friend A said to me," Soo...since you're a Christian...you should explain the story to us". Yes, I'm a Christian but i'm a low profile one. Since they asked me, i tried to explain the story as i understood it.
First of all, the fruit in the Garden of Eden was never recorded as an apple. It was simply stated as a fruit of knowledge. There were two trees in the centre of the garden....the tree of life and the tree of knowledge. If Eve had defied the serpent and taken the fruit from the tree of life, i guess all of us would never die. However, Eve chose to listen to the serpent and ate the fruit of knowledge....so sinned against God. And this consequence is separation from God...and finally death. If one study history, one would realize that the human race may have reached the pinacle of knowledge in the present time.
Coming back to Eve eating the fruit in the garden....this has resulted Man to be born with the sinful nature eversince. We always blame other people for our own mistakes. When we have done something that is not right, we never account for it. In fact, most murderers always plead not guilty.The famous last words..."you are only guilty until you are proven guiltly".Human nature... i wonder who can explain in a better way?

Reunion.....

This weekend has been a time of reunion. It is good to attend the anniversary of any occassion as it is a good opportunity to meet up with old friends. I was indeed very blessed to meet up with friends that i know i would not have made an effort to look them. The Chinese Methodist Church in Teluk Intan celebrated its 90th anniversary yesterday and i had the opportunity to meet up with the different pastors that i had made friends with. It was certainly good to see the pastor who baptized me more than forty years ago. I also met the pastor who baptized my father and later conducted his funeral rites. There was so much catching up to do and so much to talk about that we found that time was indeed too short. Most of these pastors serve in a church for a few years and then move on to serve in other churches. Meeting them is always by chance. One good point about these gentlemen of the cloth is that they might not remember your name but they can always remember your face and guess which church you belong.
During the dinner party, i also met up with many friends who have left Teluk Intan many years but came back to attend the dinner and also to meet up with old friends. As i look around, i noticed that we do not change much in our physical appearance but we have lots of silver threads on our heads. Guess we are all getting old.....i just hope we will all grow old gracefully.

Reasons.........

Today, the little town of Teluk Intan has been hit by the so called disease swine flu. Many students have been tested positive of the H1N1 virus. This has caused even one of the schools to be closed for a week. Many other schools are placed on high alert. Students are advised to stay at home if they have symtoms of coughs and high fever. Some schools even asked students to wear masks. This terrible disease certainly put fear into every one...teachers and students alike.
We are finding reasons how this could happen to our town. Obviously there are none. Lots of things can happen without we finding out the reason why. Many people travel about, that's for sure....but in these times we need to be careful and vigilant. We must not take things for granted...we need to learn to take precautions even for the smallest things. Parents who have to travel about on business have to exercise some degree of caution. Many people seemed to have forgotten the proverb......Prevention is better than cure.
Many weeks ago, two of my friends who had terrible flu symtoms were quarantined. One of them took the initiative of self imposed quarantine because she was in Singapore for a reunion with her brother who came back from Melbourne. The other guy was attending a retreat in a hill resort with a small group and one of members was tested positive of the H1N1 virus. This caused the whole group to be quarantined by the health officials of the various states. The government is certainly taking this disease seriously thank goodness. Many of us are still looking for reasons why this virus can 'travel' here.....but there seems to have no answer.

Reunion

This weekend was certainly a hectic weekend. Going from Ipoh to Ayer Tawar and back to Ipoh again in a matter of hours. The time spent with old friends was so very, very short. Howeever, we had a good time together...eating the famous food in Ipoh and talking. It made me realized that true friendship is so very precious. Though we are so busy with our individual lives, and we are seperated by sea and distance, the moment we got together that's so much to share. We are not shy or ashamed to unload all our feelings to each other. We talked about our lives' journey these thirty years.....our children. We really can't believe that all our children are already in their thirties...almost all of them are married with children too. This year my own girl, Christina is getting married at last. In a couple of years i hope to be blessed with one or two grandchildren. The next round of meeting there will be more to share then.
We shared some tears when we share about our trials, our pain and tribulation. As we share with each other, it made us realized that we are more matured now, more understanding and have empathy with each other. We now know that every one has their fair share of problems and we should never judge a book by its cover. We should learn never to judge others or be critical of others.....instead learn to be more understanding and tolerant. Well, it is easier said than done,but if we never try, we will never know.
When we recalled our past days ......there was much laughter. The silly things that we did when we were young. How could we have done this thing? we asked ourslves and really had a good laugh. Life is ongoing.....never stagnant. We need to learn from our past and try to improve on our future. Life is certainly worth the living........as we are all in our sixties now.......we have to make the best of everything.