Chinese New Year is here

 

  

Every Chinese New Year, it’s Back to Basics for my family.

We return to our kampung (village).

We gather in a small humble house with no air-conditioning.  

We eat our reunion dinner in the hot and humid kitchen. 

We sleep in the sweltering heat. Amazingly, we manage to fall into slumber.

  

Chinese New Year is a time to reminisce about our lives, offer thanks for our blessings and pray for good fortune in the coming year.

It’s wonderful to have the family together. 

Enjoying meals together. 

Chit-chatting in the kitchen. 

Sleeping under the same roof.

 Grateful for the rejuvenating moments!

My Maid's Hard-Earned Money

Photo credit: www.health.com

My part-time maid bought a banana cake at her neighbourhood shop and gave it to me as a token of appreciation. After she has left, I removed the cake from the packaging and was horrified to find mould on the cake although the expiry date was a week away. 

I rang my maid and told her not to buy anything for me in the future and that she should save every penny of her hard-earned money for her young children. 

The cake cost MYR 4.50 only and I thought of just tossing it away. But, my maid said she could exchange it at the shop and would come over to my house the next day to collect the mouldy cake. Unfortunately, I reached home late the next day - around 10 pm at night. My maid said she would come over the following day.  

While watching TV, a thought struck me. I can toss MYR 4.50 away without thinking, but to my maid that amount is hard-earned money. 

At 10.30 pm, I put the mouldy cake in my car and drove more than 3 km to my maid's house. She apologized profusely for troubling me but was extremely delighted to see me. 

As I was driving home, I felt grateful for the wisdom to show my maid that I value her hard-earned money.

Things happen for a good reason

Photo credit: www.jpost.com

There is a small glass table in my home. Right from the beginning, my mind was fixed that this table was meant for flowers and nothing but flowers. For years, a lovely floral arrangement sat prettily on this table.

A year ago, someone broke the vase that held the flowers. I was really upset. I wanted to run to the shop immediately to get a new vase, but work held me back. Yet, I did not want to leave the table undecorated. I looked around the house and saw a crystal salt lamp sitting on top of a cabinet. I decided to relocate the lamp to the glass table as a temporary measure.

When it was time for bed, I switched off all the lights. Suddenly, the whole house was caressed by a golden glow. It never happened before. I gasped in surprise. I quickly turned around to locate the source of the glow. It came from crystal salt lamp! My goodness, this lamp has been my companion for years, but I have never given it so much attention until that night.

I sat down on a chair to admire the lamp and its light. I realized that when it was sitting on top of the cabinet, its glow was restricted by its position. Now that it sits on the glass table, its glow reaches out in every direction.

I believe things happen for a good reason. The vase is broken for a good reason. I am glad I did not berate the person who broke it. If not for the broken vase, I would never have known that the crystal salt lamp and the glass table are meant for each other. Together, they fill my home with a golden glow, most distinctly at night.

Blogging and Fear Factor

Photo credit: www.flowjournal.org

On 03 Oct 2007, I was invited to a talk on Blogosphere & Digital Democracy by David Sasaki, Outreach Director for Global Voices Online, a non-profit media project founded at Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society.

During the Q&A session, my light bulb lit up when David said that the blogosphere is just another medium of communication. Which means I should not view it with doubt, anxiety or contempt.

I roll into blogosphere not because I happily jump into a bus and get relocated to new neighbourhood (like the ad on Astro). Rather, I'm pushed into blogosphere by the terrifying thought that if I don't do so, I might be considered unfashionable, outdated, ancient, or even a dinosaur.

David Sasaki talked of Fear Factor versus Tipping Point.

This is my view on the fear factor: In the past many years, there has been a great deal of negative coverage on bloggers, their blogs and their commenters. So much so that fear is driven into me that people will use my blog to bash me up or whack somebody else. And, if they can’t bash me up in my blog, they will whack me in their blogs. So, I better not announce myself as a netizen, then nobody knows that I exist.

After listening to David Sasaki, I thought of my bunch of friends who together with me are victims of the fear factor. I guess it’s the fear of receiving negative feedback. Well, what I know is that my buddies and I receive our share of negative feedback - sometimes on a daily basis - but we learn not to freak out. So, why should we freak out in blogosphere?

I visited Tom Peter’s blog and was amazed and amused. Tom Peter is the renowned management guru who sort of revolutionized management thinking more than 20 years ago. He is also the guy who promoted the concept of “Personal Branding” and was voted Second Most Influential Leadership Professional by Leadership Gurus.

After visiting a potpourri of blogs of different taste and aroma, it dawned on me that blogging can be fun. Like what David Sasaki says, “Blogosphere is just another medium of communication”. If I regard myself as a communicator, I cannot but embrace it.

I wish to thank the people at ALL-BLOGS for the invitation. Besides the fascinating talk, I also tucked into the sumptuous buka puasa buffet, and talked to interesting people from local NGOs, British High Commission and American Embassy.

A man's flat tyre and a woman's compressor

Gif credit: www.tenor.com

Many years ago, I bought a portable air compressor that pumps air into a flat tyre. 

Once, I drove over a rough road and ended up with TWO flat tyres. I got off my car, pulled out the compressor and set it to work. I relaxed, waited for a few minutes, and soon the tyres had enough air to enable me to drive to the nearest tyre shop. 

On another occasion, I saw a man struggling to remove a flat tyre and sweating buckets under a hot sun. I offered him my compressor, and taught him how to use it. I was in a hurry and could not wait for him to finish, so I told him to return the machine to my office later. 

Back in my office I began to wonder, “Would the man return my compressor? Why did I believe that he would do so? What if he had lost my address?”

I was careless not to have asked for his phone number and address. 

Two days later, lo and behold, I found the compressor sitting in my office! It was delivered with a thank-you note from the man – a real gentleman. 

There, it takes a man's flat tyre and a woman's compressor to reaffirm my faith in humankind. 

A Close Shave

Gif credit: www.reddit.com

It was a hectic day. I drove around town like a crazy woman, almost helping to improve the statistics in road rage.

I was rushing back to the office to call it a day when I felt an ominous sensation. I was approaching a road junction when my foot automatically stepped on the brake pedal. As I slowed down, a car whizzed out of the junction on my left and hurtled towards my direction. It swerved violently when the driver saw my car.

I stopped completely to watch the idiot's antics. I was hoping it would crash into the ditch that was on the other side of the road. Luckily, there were no other cars on that road at that time, otherwise I dread to think of the consequences.

That reckless driver might not want to live another day, but I want to live for another year at least.

Phew! It's a close shave.

Thank My Lucky Stars for the Narrow Escape

Photo credit: www.nst.com.my

I drove up to the tollbooth, handed some money to the collector, got my change and drove through. I counted my change and found I was given an extra MYR 0.50.

Without any hesitation, I stopped my car, got off and walked towards the tollbooth to return the MYR 0.50.

Suddenly, something came crashing down right in front of my face. It's the tollbooth bar!

It missed my nose by a fraction of an inch. Somebody shouted in horror. The driver of the car approaching the tollbooth gasped in horror. I was frozen in horror.

Then, somebody came running and guided me to the side of the booth. If I had walked a little faster, the bar would have hit my head. If it were not my head, it would have been my nose. I could have ended up in hospital with a bloodied and battered nose.

I thank my lucky stars for the narrow escape.