The Wheels of Life

...go round and round. That sounds so Buddhist and karma-ish but I am actually commenting on this little illustration that was posted by one of my friends on Facebook today. 

It brought to mind my late mother-in-law's declaration that it is of utmost importance for a person to be able to eat and to walk in old age. Only then would a long life be meaningful. 

She used to be a nurse and so she had seen how important it is to be able to eat in order to give one strength and energy to survive...and to walk, which translates to independence. 

To live wheel-ey well in your old age you should, for a start, make sure you take good care of your teeth 'cos that will enable you to eat well. That, in turn, will give you the energy to avoid the two sets of wheels found in the bottom centre two squares of the illustration above. 

Unfortunately for my MIL, she could not avoid those two sets of wheels but it was not because she did not eat well. Even when she was ill she would force herself to eat in order to have strength for the day but towards the end of her illness, she was not able to walk as a result of a collapsed spinal column due to osteoporosis. 

We eventually bought her a wheel-chair but she passed away very soon after. She only used it for a very, very short period of time; barely a month if I am not mistaken. She was an independent and self-reliant person and losing her independence broke her spirit.

Some of us may avoid those two sets of wheels found in the bottom two squares of the illustration above but no one can avoid the last set of wheels; none except those who are ready when Jesus returns for His own. 

Why do Chinese people work so hard to succeed in life?

This is too good not to share. 

BTW, I am assuming that the author is Leong De Lu. If I am wrong please correct me. 

Why do Chinese people work so hard to succeed in life? Leong De Lu 

Here is the plain truth. 

#1. There are over 1 billion of us on this earth. We are like photostat copies of each other. You get rid of one, 5 magically appears (like ballot boxes). Yes, it is scary, especially for us. We acknowledge that we are replaceable, thus we are not particularly 'special'. If you think you are smart, there are a few thousand more people smarter than you. If you think you are strong, there are a few thousand people stronger than you. 

#2. We have been crawling all over this earth for far more centuries that most civilizations. Our DNA is designed for survival. We are like cockroaches. Put us anywhere on earth and we will make a colony and thrive. We survive on anything around us and make the best of it. Some keep migrating but others will stay and multiply. 

#3. NOBODY cares if we succeed as individuals or not. But our families take pride in knowing we have succeeded. Yes, some will fail. We take nothing for granted. We don't expect privileges to fall on our laps. No one owes us anything. 

#4. We know we have nothing to lose if we try to succeed. Thus, we have no fear trying. That is why Chinese are addicted to gambling. We thrive on taking risks. All or nothing. 

#5. From young we are taught to count every cent. What we take for granted like money management, I have found out recently, is not something other cultures practice at home with their children. It surprised me. But truth is not all societies or cultures teach their young this set of skills because it is rude to them. Yes, most of us can count because we are forced to and the logic of money is pounded into us from the beginning of time (when mama tells us how much she has spent on our milk and diapers). 

#6. We acknowledge life cycles. We accept that wealth in a family stays for three generations (urban myth?). Thus, every 4th generation will have to work from scratch. I.e. first generation earns the money from scratch, second generation spends the money on education, third generation gets spoiled and wastes all the inheritance. Then we are back to square one. Some families hang on to their wealth a little longer than most. 

#7. It is our culture to push our next generation to do better than the last. Be smarter. Be stronger. Be faster. Be more righteous. Be more pious. Be more innovative. Be more creative. Be richer. Be everything that you can be in this lifetime. Be KIASU. 

#8. Our society judges us by our achievements...and we have no choice but to do something worthwhile because Chinese New Year comes around every year and Chinese relatives have no qualms about asking you straight in your face - how much are you making? When was your last promotion? How big is your office? What car do you drive? Where do you stay? You have boyfriend? You have girlfriend? When are you getting married? When are you having children? When is the next child? When you getting a boy? Got maid yet? Does your company send you overseas? etc etc etc. It NEVER ENDS...so, we can't stop chasing the illusive train - we are damned to a materialistic society. If you are not Chinese, consider yourself lucky! 

#9. We have been taught from young - if you have two hands, two feet, two eyes, and a mouth, what are you doing with it? People with no hands can do better than you (and the OKU artists do put us to shame). 

#10. Ironically, the Chinese also believe in giving back to save their wretched materialistic souls. Balance is needed. The more their children succeed in life, the more our parents will give back to society (not for profit) as gratitude for the good fortune bestowed on their children. Yes. That is true. And that is why our society progresses forward in all conditions. 

Nobody pities us. We accept that. 

No one owes us anything. We know that. 

There are too many of us for charity to reach all of us. We acknowledge that. 

But that does not stop us from making a better life. This lifetime. 

Opportunity is as we make of it. 

So, pardon us if we feel obliged to make a better place for ourselves in this country we call home. It is in our DNA to progress forward for a more comfortable life. 

But if history were to be our teacher, look around this globe. 

Every country has a Chinatown (seriously) but how many government/countries are 'taken' over by the Chinese people. Don't be afraid of us overwhelming your majority, we are not looking to conquer. If we have moved away from China and Chinese governed countries, we are NOT looking for another country to administer. Our representatives are only there to look after our collective welfare. They are duty bound. We prefer to blend in and enjoy the fruits of our labor. We enjoy the company of like minded people of all races. After all, we are only passing through a small period in the history of time...so, use our skills and we can all progress forward together.

Ken Ray staff dons the cheongsam for Chinese New Year. We work hard, we also play hard.

Election Fever

I have been in the grip of election fever for the past few weeks. GE 13 is over but the after effects still linger.

It's been 5 days since polling day but the many irregularities and malpractices make it hard for me to accept the result.

For example, we sported blue index fingers after casting our votes but the indelible ink washed off with some hard scrubbing! That certainly left an indelible impression on us. 

There was much enthusiasm in marking our left index fingers with indelible ink. The officer made very sure the ink went under the nails!

20,669 days old

Today I am 20,669 days old. 

Which is 2,952 weeks and 5 days.

That's 56 years and 215 days, including 14 leap years*,
or 56 years, 30 weeks and 5 days.

In other words, that's 680 months.
Therefore, I am 56.6 years old.

I was born on a Sunday, my last birthday was a Sunday
and my next one will be on a Monday.

Can you believe it? After living all these years I would have thought that I have lived at least 100,000 days. 

What is man's life compared to eternity? We have jolly well be prepared for it 'cos that's where we're going to spend the rest of our life.

I obtained all the above information from http://www.korn19.ch/coding/days.php

Green Side Of The Grass

Some people didn't make it to see this morning so I thank God for today.

Lessons Learned From 2012

1. Don't be too quick to offer unsolicited advice or opinion. It is seldom well received and very often you are perceived to be a busy body. I will no longer suffer the indignity of having my helpfulness thrown back at my face, so I'm learning the art of "buat bodoh lebih selamat" (act stupid more safe) since "guna akai kena sakai" (use brain get clobbered). When they ask, then shall it be given.


2. When it comes to reminding anyone of anything, once is enough. Twice is still acceptable, because the person may not have heard you the first time, but thrice or more makes you a nag. I don't want to be a nag so I'm not going to repeat myself like a broken record, except with people who appreciate my good intentions. Take it or leave it.


3. Don't live your life around other people's schedule or non-schedule. There is so much of living to do and so little time left for me to do it that I'm no longer going to sit around waiting for life to happen to me. Carpe diem.


4. Enjoy your friends, the people who like you for who you are and not for what you have or have not done; the people who share your laughter and your tears and walk with you through all your fears; gracious people who choose to see the best in you and wish the best for you; people who enrich and energise you. This year I'm only going to venture where I'm wanted and really put time and effort into nurturing those mutually caring relationships that put a song in my heart. Let's sing harmony!

I'm A Rush-ian!

It's the time of the year when I become a Rush-ian. Rushing here, rushing there, rushing everywhere, and yet getting nowhere.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I have not bought any Christmas presents yet. Very paiseh receiving presents and not giving any in return. Gila masuk saje.

Before I know it Christmas would have come and gone. And from the look of things, Chinese New Year will just be another day.

Slow Me Down Lord

This morning I was led to this poem that is so timely as we enter into this season when the frenetic countdown towards Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year begins.

Slow Me Down, Lord

Slow me down,Lord!
Ease the pounding of my heart
By the quieting of my mind.
Steady my harried pace
With a vision of the eternal reach of time.
Give me, admidst the confusions of my day,
The calmness of the everlasting hills.

Break the tensions of my nerves
With the soothing music of the sighing streams
That live in my memory.
Help me to know
The magical restoring power of sleep.

Teach me the art
Of taking minute vacations of slowing down to look at a flower;
To chat with an old friend or to make a new one;
To pat a stray dog,
To watch a spider build a web;
To smile at a child;
Or to read a few lines from a good book.

Remind me each day
That the race is not always to the swift;
That there is more to life than increasing its speed.
Let me look upward
Into the branches of the towering oak
And know that it grew slowly and well.

Slow me down, Lord,
And inspire me to send my roots deep
Into the soil of life’s enduring values
That I may grow toward the stars
Of my great destiny.

Wilferd A. Peterson

Everybody, Somebody, Nobody & Anybody

Found this among my collection of stories, illustrations and what-nots.

Once upon a time, there were four people;

Their names were Everybody, Somebody, Nobody and Anybody.

Whenever there was an important job to be done, Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.

Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.

When Nobody did it, Everybody got angry because it was Everybody's job.

Everybody thought that Somebody would do it, but Nobody realized that Nobody would do it.

So consequently Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done in the first place.

Author Unknown

Acceptance

Acceptance. It is the true thing everyone longs for. The one thing everyone craves. To walk in a room and to be greeted by everyone with hugs and smiles. And in that small passing moment, you truly know you're loved, needed, and accepted.
~ Rena Harmon

It is very sad when you have to be someone you are not because the person you love cannot accept you for who you are.

It is very, very sad that when you are real they think you are faking it so you have to fake it and be someone you're not in order for them to accept you as real. What an irony!

The danger of such prolonged fakeness is that:

“There comes a time when you have to stand up and shout:
This is me damn it! I look the way I look, think the way I think, feel the way I feel, love the way I love! I am a whole complex package. Take me... or leave me. Accept me - or walk away! Do not try to make me feel like less of a person, just because I don't fit your idea of who I should be and don't try to change me to fit your mold. If I need to change, I alone will make that decision.”
~ Stacey Charter

So True

31 Questions for the New Year

We are already into the third day of the New Year but it's still not too late to start on...

31 Questions for the New Year
by Dr. Ray Pritchard

The first day of a new year is a good time to stop, reflect, refocus and consider where we are going. The question for today is not, "Where are you going?" but rather, "Where will you be when you get there?" This morning all of us are taking the first steps on a 365-day journey. Where will you be when you arrive at December 31? What will you do with the gift of a new beginning that God has given you? In order to help us think about this in a practical way, Don Whitney has put together 31 questions. There are 10 basic questions and then 21 more--one for each day of the month.

If you are married, I urge you to discuss these questions with your spouse. If you are in a small group, take your first session this year to go over these questions. Thinking through these questions together will help make 2009 truly life-changing for you.

1. What's one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?

2. What's the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?

3. What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?

4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?

5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?

6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?

7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?

8. What's the most important way you will, by God's grace, try to make this year different from last year?

9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?

10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?

In addition to these ten questions, here are twenty-one more to help you "Consider your ways." Think on the entire list at one sitting, or answer one question each day for a month.

11. What's the most important decision you need to make this year?

12. What area of your life most needs simplifying, and what's one way you could simplify in that area?

13. What's the most important need you feel burdened to meet this year?

14. What habit would you most like to establish this year?

15. Who do you most want to encourage this year?

16. What is your most important financial goal this year, and what is the most important step you can take toward achieving it?

17. What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your work life this year?

18. What's one new way you could be a blessing to your pastor (or to another who ministers to you) this year?

19. What's one thing you could do this year to enrich the spiritual legacy you will leave to your children and grandchildren?

20. What book, in addition to the Bible, do you most want to read this year?

21. What one thing do you most regret about last year, and what will you do about it this year?

22. What single blessing from God do you want to seek most earnestly this year?

23. In what area of your life do you most need growth, and what will you do about it this year?

24. What's the most important trip you want to take this year?

25. What skill do you most want to learn or improve this year?

26. To what need or ministry will you try to give an unprecedented amount this year?

27. What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your commute this year?

28. What one biblical doctrine do you most want to understand better this year, and what will you do about it?

29. If those who know you best gave you one piece of advice, what would they say? Would they be right? What will you do about it?

30. What's the most important new item you want to buy this year?

31. In what area of your life do you most need change, and what will you do about it this year?

I Also Want

I don't need it but if it's free then I must have it!

So kiasu.

The Velveteen Rabbit

Children's stories sometimes speak to adults at a deeper level, very much like the parables of Jesus.

That comic strip reminded me of the wealth of truth found in the children's classic "The Velveteen Rabbit" by Margery Williams.

The story begins like this:

"There was once a velveteen rabbit, and in the beginning he was really splendid. He was fat and bunchy, as a rabbit should be; his coat was spotted brown and white, he had real thread whiskers, and his ears were lined with pink sateen. On Christmas morning, when he sat wedged in the top of the Boy's stocking, with a spring of holly between his paws, the effect was charming.

The boy loved the rabbit for at least two hours, before relegating him to the toy cupboard where he was snubbed by the more expensive and mechanical toys, the latter of which thought that they were real.

Then one day he found out a secret while talking to the Skin Horse.

"The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others. He was so old that his brown coat was bald in patches and showed the seams underneath, and most of the hairs in his tail had been pulled out to string bead necklaces. He was wise, for he had seen a long succession of mechanical toys arrive to boast and swagger, and by-and-by break their mainsprings and pass away, and he knew that they were only toys, and would never turn into anything else...

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become real. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

We live in a world of phonies and we are all phonies to some degree. One of the blessings of life is becoming real and knowing that people actually like the real you.

But we can only drop our masks and become realies with people who love us, accept us for what we are - uglies and all - and yet, care enough to nurture us to be all the best that we can be.

The latter part is very important because there is no point being a real but horrible person. We should aspire to be real and good.

That is why becoming real and good takes time and once it happens it doesn't matter what other people think of you.

When we come to God we are assured of His love, nurturance and patience with us. That's why we can all be like the Velveteen Rabbit who eventually became real. It takes time but God makes all things, including you and me, beautiful in His time and in His sight.

Let us let God do His work in us so we have more realies around.

Click here to read the rest of this delightful tale. Enjoy!

Meteor Melinda

"I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark should burn out
in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me
in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
The proper function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time."
- Jack London

I read this quote and somehow my thoughts went off at a tangent to those brain-dead patients who are being kept alive by machines.

What's the point in living if you're being kept alive by a machine? What is so alive about that?

That's why I'm a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) proponent and I am definitely against the use of any machinery to keep me alive. At my age, I don't believe in prolonging the agony for myself and my loved ones. I also don't believe my loved ones should be wasting all that money that would be better channeled to those who are living. If it's God's will that I should live then I shall live, with or without the machine.

After all as Christians, what is there to fear about death?

Having said that, and in case you think I'm getting morbid, let me end with:

Dum loquimur, fugerit invida
Aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero

- Horace, in Odes Book I

which translates as:

While we're talking, envious time is fleeing: seize the day, put no trust in the future.

Yes, let's seize the day, and live! And when it's time to go, let's go!

Kazoom! I'm a meteor.

Money, Time And Energy

There was a comment by Tan Han Chong, senior vice-president and senior head of UOB's personal financial services division in The Star on January 24, 2009.

In the article he made some perceptive observations. He wrote:

My own beliefs of how our lives in the 21st century seem to run their course (and resulting in regrets too often, too late) can be simplified to 3 basic elements:

When you are young and studying,
You have time and energy, but no money.
So you can't afford your pursuits.

When you are grown up and working,
You have energy and money, but no time.
So you postpone your plans.

When you are older and retired,
You have time and money, but alas no energy!
So you can no longer enjoy your interests.

I am in phase 2 of my life cycle – all grown up and working. I find myself having some money and enough energy, but there are times when I truly feel that a day needs more than 24 hours!

I will not delude myself that I can do everything. I certainly do forego some of my plans or interests but I constantly remind myself that life is short and precious. And while sacrifices have to be made so that the bacon can be brought home, it must never be at the expense of health or family.

Annual family holidays will be made, but maybe to nearby places for shorter periods. Blackberry will be checked occasionally at home but not in the middle of a chat with my wife or when I am playing with son.

*******

Those are words of wisdom!

Wealth is only meaningful and fully enjoyed
in the context of loving relationships and good health.