Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Bricky Brick!
I dun do this often... but I think this is worth sharing.
*****
THE BRICK
A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down
when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no children appeared . Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag's side door! He slammed on the brakes and backed the Jag back to the spot where the brick had been thrown.
The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up againsta parked car shouting, 'What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing? That's a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?'
The young boy was apologetic. 'Please, mister...please, I'm sorry but I didn't know what else to do,' He pleaded. 'I threw the brick because no one else would stop...' With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car. 'It's my brother, 'he said. 'He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up.'
Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, 'Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me.'
Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out a linen handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts. A quick look told him everything was going to be okay. 'Thank you and may God bless you,' the grateful child told the stranger. Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the boy! push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home.
It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door. He kept the dent there to remind him of this message: 'Don't go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!'
*****
THE BRICK
A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down
when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no children appeared . Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag's side door! He slammed on the brakes and backed the Jag back to the spot where the brick had been thrown.
The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up againsta parked car shouting, 'What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing? That's a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?'
The young boy was apologetic. 'Please, mister...please, I'm sorry but I didn't know what else to do,' He pleaded. 'I threw the brick because no one else would stop...' With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car. 'It's my brother, 'he said. 'He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up.'
Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, 'Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me.'
Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out a linen handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts. A quick look told him everything was going to be okay. 'Thank you and may God bless you,' the grateful child told the stranger. Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the boy! push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home.
It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door. He kept the dent there to remind him of this message: 'Don't go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!'
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
In Memory of Pak Suharto (1921 - 2008)
It’s a little unnerving when a whole bunch of people start to die in the beginning of the new year. I mean, of course, people die everyday… but, you know what I mean. I've been wanting to go to the Indonesia embassy to write in my condolences, but coz of the 10am - 4pm time allocation for such business, it looks like it ain't gonna happen.
There have been so many different news articles about his death… some of them so obviously bias… but I think I liked BBC’s version best, rather neutral, it was. What to do, they are one of the top news agencies around.
I spent a month about 2 years back in Indonesia on a political science study trip. While there, we met up with ex-presidents, ex-army heads, current ministers, political party leaders, activists… and I heard many different opinions about former Indonesian President Suharto.
While there were differing opinions about whether Pak Suharto was Indonesia’s saviour (getting rid of Sukarno and reviving the economy), or whether he was an evil corrupt army dictator (human rights abuses, favoritism towards family and friends), all of them did agree on one thing: Indonesia’s development would still have been in the stone-age if it wasn’t for him.
On that note, here’s cheers to one of ASEAN’s founding fathers and a good former Indonesian president (that’s my opinion)… rest in peace.
********
These past few days have been exhausting physically, mentally, and emotionally in so many levels… I’m looking for that sunrise on the horizon.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Heath Ledger... one hell of a great actor (1979 - 2008)
In case you haven't heard, Heath Ledger has passed on.
I'm not an actor groupie... I remember the names of some actors, but it's mainly because i enjoy their acting and know that any movie with them in it, I shouldn't miss.
Heath Ledger was one of those... I never really knew much about him, until I watched him in 2005's 'Brokeback Mountain.
The whole racket over the homosexuality theme I felt was a little overrated. To me, it was about tolerance in society, the harshness of social conventions. And Heath Ledger stood out because his role didn't have many lines, but rather, required the actor to show the pain his character felt through his facial expressions and body language. In that, the actor shone.
Of course Heath Ledger played many other outstanding roles, but I'm just mentioning 'Brokeback Mountain' here coz that's something many would be familiar with. I do hope to watch 'I'm Not There' in the near future, where Heath Ledger played one of the many Bob Dylans. And of course, Heath Ledger played 'The Joker' in the upcoming Batman movie.
There's many news articles about his death, but I liked this one best.
Anyway, here's to a great actor of my generation - you don't get that many of them these days unfortunately,
I'm not an actor groupie... I remember the names of some actors, but it's mainly because i enjoy their acting and know that any movie with them in it, I shouldn't miss.
Heath Ledger was one of those... I never really knew much about him, until I watched him in 2005's 'Brokeback Mountain.
The whole racket over the homosexuality theme I felt was a little overrated. To me, it was about tolerance in society, the harshness of social conventions. And Heath Ledger stood out because his role didn't have many lines, but rather, required the actor to show the pain his character felt through his facial expressions and body language. In that, the actor shone.
Of course Heath Ledger played many other outstanding roles, but I'm just mentioning 'Brokeback Mountain' here coz that's something many would be familiar with. I do hope to watch 'I'm Not There' in the near future, where Heath Ledger played one of the many Bob Dylans. And of course, Heath Ledger played 'The Joker' in the upcoming Batman movie.
There's many news articles about his death, but I liked this one best.
Anyway, here's to a great actor of my generation - you don't get that many of them these days unfortunately,
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
When asked “Are you happy?”, what would your answer be?
I had that question posed to me about two weeks ago, right out of the blue. And my first thought was, “Of course I’m happy! Why would you even think otherwise?”
When I asked him why he had such a question, he said it was because sometimes I didn’t look happy.
I thought that strange, because while I couldn’t say that I was a happy camper 100% of the time (we’re all human) and hence couldn’t possibly always have a smile on my face, I mean, I was happy…. I didn’t have to be smiling always just to show that I’m happy, right?
Over that weekend, that incident came back to mind, and I had the peace and quiet and security of my bedroom to think it over.
And I thought, what is it to be happy? How do you define happiness? And following from that, so, are you happy?
I’m sure people view happiness differently.
For the simple-minded (and perhaps most fortunate of the lot), happiness can be found in just being able to get your favourite ice-cream bread, seeing a lovely flower etc.
For others (probably most S’poreans), happiness is having that car, condo, en-bloc sale, holiday, MacBook Air (I want!), handphone, bag, pair of shoes, jewellery… and the list goes on for the materialistic ones.
Then you have those who’ll tell you that happiness is going home and seeing your family, being able to spend time with friends… and so on.
It’s very easy for me to type and say, oh some people are happy when they have this, other probably will be happy when they have that. But the truth is, it’s not that simple a question to answer.
My initial response when posed with that question was ‘Yes, I am happy’. But the more I thought about it, the more I started wondering, am I really happy? I started thinking, “Well ok, I’m happy when this happens, but when that particular bit occurs, I get upset.” I found, I was happy whenever I got a certain item (happiness based on materialistic desires), happy when with family and friends and dogs, happy when eating, happy to look up at night and see loads of twinkling stars… if I could easily be happy/unhappy based on so many things, was my happiness then a fickle thing?
I realized, no, that’s not true happiness. You can say you FEEL happy, but BEING happy is a separate, more in-depth concept.
I found, in my mini journey of self-discovery, what makes me happy. It’s not having things, being in a certain place/time etc… those are just manifestations of happiness, you could say. Rather, I’m happy when I feel I’m being true to myself.
Of course the whole ‘being true to myself’ bit warrants another blog piece… but essentially as a simplified definition (for myself at least), being true to yourself is about following the principals, morals etc that you have.
Our society is such that one does that to follow certain social norms and conventions, there’s no escaping that. And some of them might offend your principals. But on the whole, if for most of your life you’re living it by doing what you want, then I’ll say you’re being true to yourself, and in turn, you’re happy.
It looks so simplistic I feel I’m insulting the topic… but I no longer have the energy to write a philosophical thesis… so ya, that’s it in a nutshell.
For myself, I’ll admit that there’s some things I wish I could do/improve upon, but on the whole, I am happy… because I’m doing what I want to do in so many aspects of my life. Some of my other dreams haven’t been fulfilled, but I’m not too worried about them. I know it’ll come along quite nicely.
For example, I’ll say, I want to go back to Nepal, spend some months in Europe etc and I believe I’ll get the opportunity to do that in the future… and that’s not being materialistic… but more, fulfilling the part of me that believes that you have to see as much of the world as you can, experience different cultures. You may end up not agreeing with some of them, but at least you can tell yourself, “I’ve had an idea of what’s it’s like, so hence I an ‘qualified’ to say that I dun like it.’ And I’m happy just knowing that at least I’ve set that as a future plan, than to not have any plans at all to fulfill some of my desires, which have been borne out of some of the principals by which I have set for myself with regards to how I should live my life.
So my question to you now is this: are you happy?
It’s a very important question, you know… it might help you get your life on the right track… coz there’s no real point in living if you’re not happy. You’ll just be wasting precious oxygen.
So ask yourself that. After all, Plato did say that the unexamined life is a life not worth living.
If you’re not happy, I hope you’ll find your happiness one day… and live to the fullest… like these people:
In Memory of Sir Edmund Hillary (1919 - 2008)
I read this passage once, and for some strange reason thought of him:
He who bends to himself a joy,
Does the winged life destroy.
But he who kisses the joy as it flies,
Lives in eternity’s sunrise.
And then, there's this dear lady.
Have a good evening, folks!
I had that question posed to me about two weeks ago, right out of the blue. And my first thought was, “Of course I’m happy! Why would you even think otherwise?”
When I asked him why he had such a question, he said it was because sometimes I didn’t look happy.
I thought that strange, because while I couldn’t say that I was a happy camper 100% of the time (we’re all human) and hence couldn’t possibly always have a smile on my face, I mean, I was happy…. I didn’t have to be smiling always just to show that I’m happy, right?
Over that weekend, that incident came back to mind, and I had the peace and quiet and security of my bedroom to think it over.
And I thought, what is it to be happy? How do you define happiness? And following from that, so, are you happy?
I’m sure people view happiness differently.
For the simple-minded (and perhaps most fortunate of the lot), happiness can be found in just being able to get your favourite ice-cream bread, seeing a lovely flower etc.
For others (probably most S’poreans), happiness is having that car, condo, en-bloc sale, holiday, MacBook Air (I want!), handphone, bag, pair of shoes, jewellery… and the list goes on for the materialistic ones.
Then you have those who’ll tell you that happiness is going home and seeing your family, being able to spend time with friends… and so on.
It’s very easy for me to type and say, oh some people are happy when they have this, other probably will be happy when they have that. But the truth is, it’s not that simple a question to answer.
My initial response when posed with that question was ‘Yes, I am happy’. But the more I thought about it, the more I started wondering, am I really happy? I started thinking, “Well ok, I’m happy when this happens, but when that particular bit occurs, I get upset.” I found, I was happy whenever I got a certain item (happiness based on materialistic desires), happy when with family and friends and dogs, happy when eating, happy to look up at night and see loads of twinkling stars… if I could easily be happy/unhappy based on so many things, was my happiness then a fickle thing?
I realized, no, that’s not true happiness. You can say you FEEL happy, but BEING happy is a separate, more in-depth concept.
I found, in my mini journey of self-discovery, what makes me happy. It’s not having things, being in a certain place/time etc… those are just manifestations of happiness, you could say. Rather, I’m happy when I feel I’m being true to myself.
Of course the whole ‘being true to myself’ bit warrants another blog piece… but essentially as a simplified definition (for myself at least), being true to yourself is about following the principals, morals etc that you have.
Our society is such that one does that to follow certain social norms and conventions, there’s no escaping that. And some of them might offend your principals. But on the whole, if for most of your life you’re living it by doing what you want, then I’ll say you’re being true to yourself, and in turn, you’re happy.
It looks so simplistic I feel I’m insulting the topic… but I no longer have the energy to write a philosophical thesis… so ya, that’s it in a nutshell.
For myself, I’ll admit that there’s some things I wish I could do/improve upon, but on the whole, I am happy… because I’m doing what I want to do in so many aspects of my life. Some of my other dreams haven’t been fulfilled, but I’m not too worried about them. I know it’ll come along quite nicely.
For example, I’ll say, I want to go back to Nepal, spend some months in Europe etc and I believe I’ll get the opportunity to do that in the future… and that’s not being materialistic… but more, fulfilling the part of me that believes that you have to see as much of the world as you can, experience different cultures. You may end up not agreeing with some of them, but at least you can tell yourself, “I’ve had an idea of what’s it’s like, so hence I an ‘qualified’ to say that I dun like it.’ And I’m happy just knowing that at least I’ve set that as a future plan, than to not have any plans at all to fulfill some of my desires, which have been borne out of some of the principals by which I have set for myself with regards to how I should live my life.
So my question to you now is this: are you happy?
It’s a very important question, you know… it might help you get your life on the right track… coz there’s no real point in living if you’re not happy. You’ll just be wasting precious oxygen.
So ask yourself that. After all, Plato did say that the unexamined life is a life not worth living.
If you’re not happy, I hope you’ll find your happiness one day… and live to the fullest… like these people:
In Memory of Sir Edmund Hillary (1919 - 2008)
I read this passage once, and for some strange reason thought of him:
He who bends to himself a joy,
Does the winged life destroy.
But he who kisses the joy as it flies,
Lives in eternity’s sunrise.
And then, there's this dear lady.
Have a good evening, folks!
Saturday, January 12, 2008
If I had done this back in my school days...
Monday, January 07, 2008
The first week of 2008 was not all that eventful…
I mean, ok, so I had some great time with Him, but for some reason, we always expect the first day/week/month of the way to always have some sort of bang factor to it, like as though the new year MUST produce something totally fantastic in order for it to count as the new year.
Overrated, I say.
Still feeling quite tired, not very sure why… maybe it’s my body telling me I should start considering cutting out the 5-6 hours’ sleep each night and give serious consideration to 10 hours of beauty sleep.
Or maybe I just need to eat better (Sashimi, anyone? Lol)
Or maybe… it’s just work stress… we live in sg after all.
Things do look brighter this year, work-wise… but still, it’s hard to shake off the negative thoughts when they come along. The past few months spent living in hell haven’t exactly made me a more positive person… but I try, I try.
I was chatting to a friend yesterday and she was all for interfering into my private life. She’s really big on new year resolutions and so she asked me, “what’s your new year resolution for this 2008?”
I answered along the lines of ‘resolutions are fuck all useless and only for the pathetic’… politely, of course.
She didn’t really get the hint though (darn, I was too subtle) and started rattling off a whole bunch of areas of my life I should consider examining.
There was health – “all girls want to lose more weight! I always have that in my list of ny resolutions!”
Family – “I think we should all try to spend more time with our families.”
Work – “Let’s motivate each other lah! Aim for promotion this year! I’ve been stuck on this rung for ages!”
(I snugly informed her that I did get a promotion end-Nov 07)
And let’s not forget, love.
How do I say it? I think that if I do not judge your moral standards, you shouldn’t tear mine apart in return. After all, we all have different opinions, right?
So if, as an example, I wanna keep fucking a man who social conventions say I shouldn’t be fucking, what’s it to you if I decide on such a route?
“I think we should all be better people lah… you should be more, like, proper lor. It’s improvement what! And there are lots of nice guys around still!”
blah… nice guys dun fuck nice.
Then she offered to set me up on a blind date with some male friend of her boyfriend.
Woohoo! New record! Blind date offer just 7 days into the new year! I was only expecting them during CNY from relatives.
I wasn’t really pissed off with her or anything.. I mean, she’s nice and all and does love animals (that’s how I differentiate b/w good and bad people; good people like animals, period).. I just tolerate all her other weirdness.
But I guess what surprised me was how she came to the assumption that I sleep around, and that I probably date very very bad boys or older men…. Not that it upsets me or anything, I’m old enough to look beyond such crap, and it is a fact after all, lol… but it is curious.
She’s not a close friend, so she knows jack shit about my personal life, except that I’m vanilla-single. Yet, somehow…
Lol, I must be emitting some sort of vibe.. makes me wonder.. do ‘promiscuous’ (for want of a better word) people have a different sort of look about them? Maybe we have more of a glowing complexion in comparison to others – it’s a scientific fact that more sex = more glow.
Or maybe it’s just my general attitude towards life and the things I’ve said before on certain issues.
Whatever it is… if anything, that conversation just served as a reminder to me not to judge people too quickly and force my morals down their throats... a sort of 'resolution' for the new year...
Make love, not war, people… more love!
My dear close friends, thank you for not judging me and for accepting the path I’ve chosen.
I mean, ok, so I had some great time with Him, but for some reason, we always expect the first day/week/month of the way to always have some sort of bang factor to it, like as though the new year MUST produce something totally fantastic in order for it to count as the new year.
Overrated, I say.
Still feeling quite tired, not very sure why… maybe it’s my body telling me I should start considering cutting out the 5-6 hours’ sleep each night and give serious consideration to 10 hours of beauty sleep.
Or maybe I just need to eat better (Sashimi, anyone? Lol)
Or maybe… it’s just work stress… we live in sg after all.
Things do look brighter this year, work-wise… but still, it’s hard to shake off the negative thoughts when they come along. The past few months spent living in hell haven’t exactly made me a more positive person… but I try, I try.
I was chatting to a friend yesterday and she was all for interfering into my private life. She’s really big on new year resolutions and so she asked me, “what’s your new year resolution for this 2008?”
I answered along the lines of ‘resolutions are fuck all useless and only for the pathetic’… politely, of course.
She didn’t really get the hint though (darn, I was too subtle) and started rattling off a whole bunch of areas of my life I should consider examining.
There was health – “all girls want to lose more weight! I always have that in my list of ny resolutions!”
Family – “I think we should all try to spend more time with our families.”
Work – “Let’s motivate each other lah! Aim for promotion this year! I’ve been stuck on this rung for ages!”
(I snugly informed her that I did get a promotion end-Nov 07)
And let’s not forget, love.
How do I say it? I think that if I do not judge your moral standards, you shouldn’t tear mine apart in return. After all, we all have different opinions, right?
So if, as an example, I wanna keep fucking a man who social conventions say I shouldn’t be fucking, what’s it to you if I decide on such a route?
“I think we should all be better people lah… you should be more, like, proper lor. It’s improvement what! And there are lots of nice guys around still!”
blah… nice guys dun fuck nice.
Then she offered to set me up on a blind date with some male friend of her boyfriend.
Woohoo! New record! Blind date offer just 7 days into the new year! I was only expecting them during CNY from relatives.
I wasn’t really pissed off with her or anything.. I mean, she’s nice and all and does love animals (that’s how I differentiate b/w good and bad people; good people like animals, period).. I just tolerate all her other weirdness.
But I guess what surprised me was how she came to the assumption that I sleep around, and that I probably date very very bad boys or older men…. Not that it upsets me or anything, I’m old enough to look beyond such crap, and it is a fact after all, lol… but it is curious.
She’s not a close friend, so she knows jack shit about my personal life, except that I’m vanilla-single. Yet, somehow…
Lol, I must be emitting some sort of vibe.. makes me wonder.. do ‘promiscuous’ (for want of a better word) people have a different sort of look about them? Maybe we have more of a glowing complexion in comparison to others – it’s a scientific fact that more sex = more glow.
Or maybe it’s just my general attitude towards life and the things I’ve said before on certain issues.
Whatever it is… if anything, that conversation just served as a reminder to me not to judge people too quickly and force my morals down their throats... a sort of 'resolution' for the new year...
Make love, not war, people… more love!
My dear close friends, thank you for not judging me and for accepting the path I’ve chosen.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Have a good one this 2008...
It's the first day of the new year 2008 and guess what? I'm sick :(
What a way to usher in the new year...
But anyway... I hope all of you had it better than me, save for those who over-drank and are now being punished with hangovers.
I spent New Year's eve at home with the family... cooked a great turkey (pictures to come soon!). Counted down to 2008 by hyperventilating while Taufik sang and grooved away on tv... He.Is.So.Sexy.
Lol...
Here's wishes to one and all for a great 2008, one of happiness and good health, where all your desires come to pass.
Now's the time to get rid of the extra weight you piled on during Christmas and NY celebrations... CNY is barely a month away! *screams in horror* How exhausting... and we're gonna be baking our nonya pineapple tarts again!
Some family traditions... you've just got to keep.
Anyway... here's a little something for you guys... one of my favourite singers/composers... he's classic, man! Plus the fact that he's baba, lol...
And while we're at it, why not one more?
And on that note... that's all, folks! Good night... I need to recover!
What a way to usher in the new year...
But anyway... I hope all of you had it better than me, save for those who over-drank and are now being punished with hangovers.
I spent New Year's eve at home with the family... cooked a great turkey (pictures to come soon!). Counted down to 2008 by hyperventilating while Taufik sang and grooved away on tv... He.Is.So.Sexy.
Lol...
Here's wishes to one and all for a great 2008, one of happiness and good health, where all your desires come to pass.
Now's the time to get rid of the extra weight you piled on during Christmas and NY celebrations... CNY is barely a month away! *screams in horror* How exhausting... and we're gonna be baking our nonya pineapple tarts again!
Some family traditions... you've just got to keep.
Anyway... here's a little something for you guys... one of my favourite singers/composers... he's classic, man! Plus the fact that he's baba, lol...
And while we're at it, why not one more?
And on that note... that's all, folks! Good night... I need to recover!
