No Worries

Meet Nick Vujicic
He'll teach you how not to worry and be happy.....


Nick Vujicic, No Arms, No Legs, No Worries! Part 3

Taking care of health

Taking care of health

Well, as you said, different people use different methods to stay in shape and in good health. Some achieved success while others failed. But apart from some genetic factors, “We are what we eat”, said Prof Hiromi Shinya, Pioneer in colonoscopy. After Prof Shinya examined the colon of some 300,000 people, he made the above conclusion. The Shinya’s 7 Golden Keys for Good Health have many followers around the world, including many head of states.


I’m also advocating healthy living by getting rid of “low body temperature”. There have been many research on the “low body temperature syndrome” in recent years (including that Prof Shinya), and I have been sharing this research findings with many people in Singapore in my talks. Though science tells us that we should have a body temperature of 36.5 to 36.8 degree Celsius, many people are living a life with their body temperature much lower than this, and this is dangerous!


“Healthy is by choice… Not by chance”! As long as we are mindful of what we eat and do each day, I believe we can remain healthy for many more years to come.

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Yes, excessive use of air-con not only lowers the room temperature, it also lowers our body temperature. This is not good because a drop of 0.5 degree Celsius in body temperature will result in a 35% decrease in our immune system! Apart from that, research also shows that cancer patients have very low body temperature, typically less than 36 degree Celsius. And you may want to note that cancer cells multiply most rapidly at a body temperature of 35 degree Celsius.


Changes in our lifestyle has resulted in a drop in our body temperature across the board. Ladies are the most affected group, with many working in air-con without physical exercises! Typically, people with low body temperature syndrome start with “cold hands and cold feet”, then spread to backache, neck and shoulder pain, headache, constipation and then spread to the other organs. This is what medical experts say.


Hope that all will pay attention to these seemingly little problems. At 50, we should not suffer from any of these tiny problems. If you do, change your lifestyle and get rid of them. Don’t rely on medications to remove them, they don’t and they will never. Medications only mask the problems, they numb your senses.


Hope that make sense to you and all.

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Our body is a huge chemical factory with thousands of processes going on, and each of these processes are controlled (and activated) by enzymes. Often we use up our enzymes and the chemical processes slow down and even stop. In one theory on enzyme potential, the body’s life ends when the enzyme potential is exhausted. So all enzymes are important, though some are critically important as compared to others. So his advice is to live a life so that enzymes in our body are aplenty and active. It’s interesting to read “The Enzyme Factor”.


Yes, being warm-blooded, we should be able to regulate our body temperature if our lifestyle remains as our body was designed to be. However, our lifestyle has been modified quite a lot:

· Stress

· Lack of exercise

· Taking too much medications

· Eating too much

· Drinking too much water

As s result of this combination of factors, the blood circulation in our body slows down, body temperature drops and immune system weakens. Prolonging this lifestyle will definitely bring about adverse and sometimes irreversible effects to our body. Health is a one-way ticket, so value it when it is still present.


Prof Shinya recommends diet and lifestyle changes for those who recognise the problems and wish to change.


Dr Hiromi Shinya’s Seven Golden Keys for Good Health

1. A good diet

· 85-90% plant-based foods

· 10-15% animal-based proteins

· Take herbal teas, seaweeds, brewers’ yeast, pollen, enzymes & multivitamins

2. Good water

· Drinking ‘good water’ such as mineral water / hard water

· Adults 6-10 cups everyday

· Drink 1-3 cups after waking up

· Drink 2-3 cups about an hour before each meal

3. Regular Elimination

· Start a daily habit to remove intestinal pollutants

4. Moderate exercise

· Exercise appropriately for your age and physical conditions

· Walking, swimming, tennis, bicycling, golf, muscle strengthening, yoga, martial arts & aerobics are examples of good exercise

5. Adequate rest

· Go to bed at the same time each night with 6-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep

· Don’t eat or drink 4-5 hours before bedtime

· Take a short nap of 30 minutes after lunch

6. Breathing & Meditation

· Practice meditation

· Practice positive thinking

· Do deep abdominal breathing 4-5 times per hour

· Wear loose clothing

· Listen to your own body

7. Joy and Love

· Joy and love will boost your body’s enzyme factor

· Take time everyday for an attitude of appreciation

· Laugh

· Sing

· Dance

· Love passionately and engage your life, work and the ones you love with your full heart.

Just to share with friends who understand and willing to take health into his/her own hands.



Best regards,

Meng Kwang

A Boy in Punishment - a Tribute to Teachers by Lee Fei Fung

It was a hot sticky afternoon, or it must have been so for a boy who stood in punishment in front of class Form 3. The teacher was sitting at her desk marking exercise books, while the lad was standing beside the blackboard at one corner,his body almost leaning against the wall, fidgetting in an uneasy manner. As for what reason he was made to stand in front of the whole class, I have not a clue now.

The teacher, in between marking her work , pushed up her spectacle from her nose, and with sharp piercing eyes, observed the boy.Then with a tinge of amusement , she remarked : ' You know something, I could tell what kind of a person you are by the way you stand...' The boy, whose body posture formed a 's' shape, and sometimes interchanged to '2' shape, looked alarmed at what the teacher was going to say.

' I think you must be a sloppy, and wishy washy person in your work , for you can't even stand straight.

The teacher continued : 'And I can also tell what type of person you are by the way you dress..." With his head down, the lad looked shameful and unbearable.A look at his shirt revealed that it was creasy, half tucked in and half falling out of his trousers from the waist. The teacher continued : ' I can tell that you are a very untidy and perhaps disorganised person.' her voice was without any malice, instead was filled with motherly concern.

Gosh, how the lad must have wished that there was a hole for him to hide in! The poor lad clung even closer to the corner wall, and his face red with embarrassment. Apparently he was extremely uncomfortable to be in the lime light. All eyes were focused on him.

I was filled with a mingled feelings of sympathy for the boy, and an awed feeling for the teacher's 'prophetic' power of character analysis. After what seemed a century long ordeal ( actually only a few minutes long ), the lad was finally ' released '. Hastily he fled to his seat,brushing me by and leaving me wondering what the future would hold for him after such a comment from a highly respectable teacher.

This historical account was so vivid in my memory that it was like a strong imprint in my brain.

Have you ever wondered who the boy was ?

Well......he is none other than our Dato Neo Say Yeow!

~~~~~

Hi, Say Yeow,

I wonder whether you remember this incident of your school days. We were classmates since primary 6 from Tah Tong school in Pontian Besar, remember? Thousand apologies if I cause you embarrassment by my article. The whole point what I want to make here is :- I am really glad that you proved the teacher ( Mrs Mathew ) wrong by your subsequent brilliant academic results, as well as your achievement in life.I tend to think.... perhaps it was Mrs Mathew's remarks that jerked you up, so that you pulled up your socks and worked hard, who knows....

( Hi, Say Yeow, I think I better be discreet before e-mailing the above to the ssp group, in case you may find it offensive or embarrassing. However, I can see that you are a humorous person who can take things with a pinch of salt in life, after all the incident was so long ago in the past. The above article is subject to your kind approval, amendment and/or ' censorship'. If it is ok, kindly forward th same to the ssp group.)

From : Lee Fei Fung

"Ayam" anyone? by Tan Kok Hua

3 years in the same lower secondary made SSP an ‘old’ boring school. But, somehow starting Form Four was like joining a new school. There were so many new faces and it was nice to meet up old TMIS mates too. However, some SSPians remained territorial e.g. ‘Charcoal’ (Choon) Seng who would occasionally pick a fight a two with boys from other schools. Just like the hala2 bell bottom pants of that time, a new trend in fighting styles also emerged. No more Chen Xing, Chen Kuan Tai, Ti Lung & Fu Sheng. In came, Lee Hsiao Lung. It was fun seeing Choon Seng posing like Bruce Lee when he fought this Pekan Nenas guy (forgot his name) who was much taller than him. Wah, just like the Game of Death, the final episode.

After the Form 3 examination, we thought Four Four should be a honeymoon year until we came to know the big gap between lower and secondary school subject depths. What the heck was Mr Wong Wee Boo trying to tell us when he plotted strange looking curves on the board and putting little delta Y’s and delta X’s all over the place. And, everyone failed the 1st Physics test in class, with the highest mark at 33. Only then did we know Mr Seet. Plotting curves using the flexible lead was indeed primitive compared with the calculators that my daughters use nowadays. Those stainless steel slide rules must be museum pieces now. And, there must be a better way to teach speed and acceleration than those ‘ticker’ tapes!


Our Form Four class was located at the block nearest the school entrance, just pass the bicycle shed. It was the left corner lot on the 1st floor. This was a perfect location to see the whole school went by during the change in sessions. For Tian Gee (SMB Benut) & others, it was just the right spot to screen those Form 5 girls passing by. We had to set up a code of ethics not to disturb friends’ sisters when Tian Gee unknowingly wolf-whistled at my sister’s group.


A less aggressive way to welcome new students and make new friends is through some sports activities. A group of us found interest in volleyball. Not sure who started those afternoon volleyball ‘friendlies’. There were primarily two groups of us. Those trained by SSP’s Mr Teng Peng Lam (our Class teacher in Form 2F & Form 3F, I think), and those from SMTK. Students in Mr Teng’s class would no doubt be influenced into playing volleyball for he was the school coach. [Mr. Teng wrote very well on the black board. He liked his writing so much that occasionally he would go to the back of the class to admire his work. How’s that for vanity?].


The ‘SMTK’ team was a tough one to beat. Of course lah since they have the best setter in Kim Teng [taught Economics to friends after volleyball – what a good example of selflessness] and the best spiker in Chee Peng. They also have better average height advantage in Say Ping, Meng Kwang and Bak Seng (Size XXXL), not to be mistaken with the other Bak Seng (Size M). It was difficult trying to block these SMTK spikers. We have to depend on Sek Siong, Seng Tee & Tat Cheong (where’s he?) to do the blocking. It was even tougher trying to squat and dig in those tight trendy trousers close to knee lengths. You also needed to dive to save those deadly net drop shots known as “ayam” probably because of the way it was executed.


If kung-fu had eagle & tiger claws, volleyball had chicken claws!


All these moves created much stress in the seams and we frequently ended up splitting our trousers. No wonder the feeling was always more free and airy when we cycled home. I also had to stop by Broadway (ok, ok, “Da Lu”. My Chinese is koyak becos’ a group of us preferred to sit at Lau Ong’s class instead of attending Chinese lessons) to re-adjust the ‘spiked’ spectacles frame. The winners had the privilege of first access to the pail of iced sarsi from Lau Ong’s canteen which is a luxury in those hot afternoons. Loosers also need to keep the net. I think after a while, we mixed-and-matched to have more even matches. Kiasu lah! We all learnt how to ‘ayam’ each other so frequently that it became too predictable. To those volleyballers, thanks for your friendship & the fun.


The SSP sports hall was also a basketball battle ground too. The best basketball match has got to be the teachers vs students match on Teachers’ Day. I remember hearing shouts of “sa hap pan, sa hap pan” (plywood in Hokkien) not knowing what it was about until I saw Mr Satthapan ‘dribbling’ and trying to control the rebound (nearly up to his height!). Quite a hilarious sight to see but his spirit of having fun was to be admired. What a gentle gentleman he was. I used to wash his car when he sent it to our petrol station for service. Other ‘teachers’ customers included Mr Prasad and Mr David ‘black&white’ Rabindran (easily the neatest dressed teacher in town).


So, that was a bit of story from Form 4 for your reminiscence.

The Spirit of Reunion

That just made the figure to 50!!

With that euphoric proclamation by Seah Yong Kwong, the dream behind the Dec 6 SSP76 Reunion Dinner theme 50-50: 50 classmates for having aged 50 has come true!

~~~~~~

Over the years, memories of our youthful days have always tugged at my heart. One morning five years ago during my stay at my sister's house near the back gate of SSP, I entered the school building which houses my fondest memories.It was a fine day; soft morning sun rays filtered through the fresh cool air, creating an ambiance of newness and hope which had once depicted the heart and spirit of youth in us when we were very young. My eyes fell lovingly upon the flowering plants nestling around the rock garden outside the common room. I sauntered down the corridor of the opposite block below my 5SE classroom toward the assembly hall, suddenly conscious of the lump in my throat. Expecting to recapture the mood which had evoked that sweet recollection, I was hit instead by a vast wave of emptiness! Astounded but undaunted, I climbed up the wooden platform where Mr. Laksman once stood and lectured us menacingly, daring us to defy his warning of disobedience with his huge piercing eyes. I still wonder how he managed to seem staring straight into each and every pair of his audience's eyes as if as Headmaster he had been bestowed with supernatural power.

Still, only forlorn desertion remained in the vast emptiness of the vacant hall. Trepidation crept inside me as I made another attempt in search of a fragment of time long gone. I climbed up the flight of stairs just as I must have done a hundred times thirty years ago. The door of 5SE was closed but not locked. I pushed it open gingerly, not daring to hope too much now, with a spirit dampened by my earlier disillusionment at the hall. With its rows of the same wooden desks and chairs the room seemed to remind me of something but mostly, 5SE was but another school classroom - indifferent and impersonal. Chagrin filled my heart. Nonetheless I made a final effort to relive my youth by sitting at my former place - third row front seat upon entering. There I remained and mused. My heart sank deeper down.

Without the rest of you SSP building is nothing but an anonymous building just like any others!

It is the people in our hearts that really matter to us. And here at SSP76, without steel and cement, the spirit of our youth comes flooding back to us all like a torrent as we celebrate friendship in the euphoric mood of reunion. Let this sense of elation explode and grow to imbue our sunset years with brilliance as bright as it had been in our golden youth!

To Sir With Love

Looking for a song to express our gratitude to our teachers?




To Sir With Love
(Lulu)

Those schoolgirl days, of telling tales and biting nails are gone,
But in my mind,
I know they will still live on and on,
But how do you thank someone, who has taken you from crayons to perfume?
It isn't easy, but I'll try,

If you wanted the sky I would write across the sky in letters,
That would soar a thousand feet high,
To Sir, with Love

The time has come,
For closing books and long last looks must end,
And as I leave,
I know that I am leaving my best friend,
A friend who taught me right from wrong,
And weak from strong,
That's a lot to learn,
What, what can I give you in return?

If you wanted the moon I would try to make a start,
But I, would rather you let me give my heart,
To Sir, with Love

Remembering Phang Hwee Kim

Yesterday I talked to Ng Bak Seng. He said before Phang Hwee Kim's departure, her father asked what was her last wish. She said want to see old schoolmates and her husband tried to contact other with difficulty as internet emails handphones were not so popular at that time.

Neo Say Yeow

~~~~~

You caught me off guard yesterday when you brought up Hwee Kim's passing and the memories of her came gushing back without filter.. When Hwee Kim was terminally ill, Mui Cheng called me one night. Through the years, Hwee Kim kept in contact with some of us - she made special effort to send festive cards and all and so when Mui Cheng told me Hwee Kim was passing on and wanted to see me, I went. I was however not quite prepared for what Hwee Kim wanted to give to me. She was in Mt E, with her husband and children. Her face was ravaged by cancer and so so she couldn't speak. But she wanted to communicate and she wrote / scribbled what she wanted to say and I replied orally. She was easily exhausted and so we spent quite a bit of time in silence with each other just holding hands. We spoke about nothing very much in particular but there was this sense of peace of just being together. Yes when I was with her, she was very peaceful. That was her gift to me. Peace - there was no hysterics.

Before I left, she wrote that she wanted to see her Pontian friends. We spoke a bit more and there was comfort in knowing that we will see each other again, although it will not be in this lifetime. She gave me some advice on slowing down my pace a bit and spending more time with my family because she knew the kind of life I was leading then. Right to the end, she still know each of her friends as individuals. And then I left her with her family by her side. I called Yong Kwang almost immediately and told him Hwee Kim's last wishes as he has always been our contact point. I have been a bit of a recluse from the rest of you and didn't have any other contact numbers to call.

What Bak Seng said to you is quite correct. Also I remember something that Bak Seng said when we met during Hwee Kim's funeral not long thereafter. "We should make it a point to meet up more often during ordinary times and not just during funerals and the like". But I think I have not met Bak Seng since then.

SY, I do not understand the pyschology of this but even when we spoke last night after so long, there is this complete sense of uninhibited comfort and trust in conversing with you and a sense of homecoming although we may not have been particularly close to each other back then. That is why the tears flowed when you brought up the subject so suddenly. I can therefore understand a bit of why Hwee Kim just wanted to see her childhood friends again. If we had a loop like this, maybe more of us would have been able to sit with her for a while before she left.

Ling Lian Yin

~~~~~

Just to add on this subject, I was told by KC of Hwee Kim's wish but at that time. I was battling with my own family crisis. I wish I could be there for her. At least some of our friends were.

Chin Sik Fong

~~~~~

She was very brave to the last minute.
She was really very happy to see her former schoolmates.
And she was capable of making us feel happy even during her last moment.

Seah Yong Kwong

~~~~

You are right and that is how Hwee Kim may have wanted to be remembered. That is why I recall her passing with a sense of peace although it was tinged with sadness from the loss of a friend in this lifetime.

Ling Lian Yin

~~~~~

I knew about her illness very late, througha Pontian guy, KK Tan who was helping in a temple in PJ where her parents frequented. First I got her brother's hand phone num. When I called him, he was in China. Weeks or months later, when I got Hwee Kim's hand phone number and called her, she answered me she's in a meeting (could be with the doc?) and asked me to call later. Her voice was husky, so unfamiliar. But later I forgot about it. The next thing is few weeks later, my sister in Pontian called to inform me she saw the bad news on the newspaper. My sister went all the way to JB to give the ‘peh kim’ on my behalf.

So sad that I didn't manage to see her or at least speak to her for a while.

Tong Siew Bee

~~~~~

I drove down to JB with Ho Siow Foong immediately I received a call from Yong Kwong. Managed to spend an afternoon with her, together with Yong Kwong, Bak Seng and others. She was so brave and was glad to see us. I must admit that I was caught totally off-guard and unable to accept the situation then – to see her so helpless. She was on morphine drip…….but was consoled to see her family, husband and children, prepared and ready to accept the worst.

Tan Kui Chen

In Our Loving Memories Always

Dear Lai Choo

As I was reading your Tributes To Pu Long, I just couldn't controlmyself, I shed my tears.....

Though he's left us many years ago, I couldstill remember him vividly. He, an innocent and tidy-looking thin boy went to the same primary school as Sok Fong. Then, in the same secondary schools and in the same classes as I. And, grew up to be a handsome and stout young man, with matured characters and very sensible, properly being the eldest in his family. It's really sad and pitiful that he'd to suffer such severe painsand leave us so young. Truly, a great loss to me and all my friends from SMPN.We've not forgotten him. We'd observed a minute silence as a mark of respect to him during our grand 50th birthday gathering in July this year. He is always remembered as our sincere and trusted friend.

We allshare your grief and sorrow for his departure, please open your heart..like a lake. And I hope you'd move on bravely as you'd achieved by pushing yourself through the most difficult and saddest moment during the tragedy occurring at such a remote placewith no friends nor relatives to be by your side to hold your hand and to comfort you. I'm proud of your bravery.Occurrences of mishaps are most of the time beyond our control. Now let us face the realities in life and treasure every moment while we are still kicking and healthy.

With love

Hoi Eng

~~~~~

Dear Michelle

Your emotional trauma might have buried inside you for a long time. Once u get over the threshold, it would have peaked and the recovery stage should begin. Facing the past bravely and move along. The world continues with or without us.It has often been said, "Today is the first day of the rest of our life."You know what to do.

Yong Kwong

~~~~~

Read your blog on late Kenny Kok. I am so touched by what he and you have gone through during those moments and ordeals. It is hard getting out of it but I am sure there is just so much more you can do to live on.

Sam

SSP76 Retirement Village

My outlook for SSP76 has been long-term from the day I joined the group. I have brought up the idea of a senior citizen's village in Pontian comprising of about 30 units of self-contained houses customized for the aged. The ideal situation is for these units to be taken up by our batch-mates whose existence has a specially meaning to me. I am akin to planning for the future and I think it is time for us to consider aging gracefully and if possible in style too.

Loneliness and helplessness are two main sources of chagrin for those over 70. If we start building sincere and strong bond among us as from now, imagine the trust and intimacy we will have for one another in twenty years' time. If you sometime wonder about the reason behind my enthusiasm about the group's growth, growing old with people I am familiar with and esteem in a communal environment is the answer. In the merrier event of resting in peace before old age comes, I will consider my effort in the project a contribution to those who favour my idea.

Time flies, before we realize it, 60 will be upon us.


Michelle Ong


~~~~~


I concurred with you on the senior citizen plan. I do have my own retirement plan which I would like to share out with those interested. After travelling to many countries ,the preferred choice still Malaysia especially Pontian. I’m looking for a piece of land app. 5-8 acres at reasonable cost suitable for agriculture: herbs, vegetables and fruits all year round. chalets with common facilities. No concrete plan until the suitable land is available. I'm committed to this project n ensure that this shall be a model plan pioneer status of a non profit retirement village farm.



Any new /better idea are welcome.


Ng Bak Seng


~~~~~


I have been playing with the same idea for about five years now. I have consulted a district council executive officer with a mere broad outline of thought and he said about the same as you have. Locating a piece of land is the first thing to do and it is better to secure it in this time of economic downturn. Feasibility is the next step and all the rest should fall in place.


SSP76 is a huge pool of human resources and I have entered upon it in good faith. 'Search and you will find' - that has been my motto since 26 August, the day I joined the group. Three months into deep interaction with the crowd so far, I have witnessed much, much more goodwill then I have experienced in other contexts elsewhere in my entire adult life.


With pooling of financial resources and ingenuity, plus lots of goodwill and trust, I believe we can achieve efficient use of our investment through sound management of funds and labour. Alone I cannot dream of successful execution of this plan; with a cohesive group I foresee hope.



I call upon those who are similarly inclined to contribute their ideas.

Michelle Ong


~~~~~


In twenty years' time we will all become old folks.


My ideal of a center set up by us is to cater to those of us who for one reason or another, are not fortunate enough to have family who are able and willing to accommodate us. Day care is thus a luxury this segment of us cannot afford as we do not have a home with our own family to return to. As old folks ourselves in time, running this center delicated to us members will be similar to running an old folk's home. Meng Kwang's experience in this area at this point is thus valuable for our reference to assist in strategic planning as well as in inplemtation later. This should give us good council on meeting our physical needs including general wellbeing and medical care. The fortunate old folks' emotional needs are normally provided by their family members but in its absence, we have no choice but to turn to our close friends. Building close ties now within our group members is thus a reasonable alternative.

'Self-help' is the main theme of my vision for our center rather than enlisting governmental or societal assistance. With this in mind, the appropriate questions to ask at this early stage is 'What must we do now in order to be able to help ourselves?' Again, Meng Kwang's experience has made us conscious that healthy living now is crucial as a preventive measure. For those of us who are to eventually involved in this programme who also enjoy good health and willing to render their service to the weaker in the group, they will become the pillars who organize, operate and lead this center.

What I am driving at now is to do the necessary early to give us the power to exercise control over our lives before we become powerless to help ourselves.


Michelle Ong


~~~~~


Going to an old folk's home (OFH) should be the last resort!


But on the contrary, this trend is slowly creeping into our busy lifestyle.....from my observation, I noticed many OFH/retirement homes have been mushrooming in PJ & KL the past few years. Guess it is also true in JB & S'pore.


Have you guys watched "Money not enough 2"? There is a emotional scene depicting the children sending their mother to the OFH! Maybe the children have their 'valid' reasons.


Thomas Lim


~~~~~


Some suggestions about the retirement village:


1. To be at the sea side or on the hill, to have cleaner air and better energy (Qi).


2. The type of "si her yuan' like the olden days in China is good; four or more units sharing the same compound. Of course with modern facilities, attached bathroom, intercom to the nurse/doc/security..... etc. But with the old set up of people can gather around to chit chat, listen to music or play chess in the compound and under the trees, in the evening or morning.


3. Since this is done early, hopefully its not the type of hospital style of many beds in a room, the old folk is turned into patient over night!


4. Have some production or working space, so that those that know carpentry, tailoring, sewing, calligraphy, painting, baking, cooking ... or just fixing or packing work to earn income, more importantly to keep people busy and useful.


Tong Siew Bee

Health Care Behaviour by Dr Tan Meng Kwang

When it comes to health, there are four types of people:


Smart People - They understand the importance of health from a very early age. They invest on their long term health, just like monetary investments. The result is that they reap the benefits of their long term health investments. These people live healthily towards 120.


Understanding People - They pay attention to their health, and they save for their health, just like monetary savings. The result is that their health is safe, and they live a peaceful life to 90!


Ordinary People - These people take health for granted. They neither invest nor save their health. As a result, their health is devaluated, and they can only live sickly to about 70!


Ignorant People - These people are usually the top brains in their 30's or 40's, white or even gold collar. These people overdraft their health. They spend tomorrow's health today, very often 24 hours a day is too short for them. They live a concentrated life, and eventually their health is in debt, and they seldom live beyond 60!


Which group do you belong now? Which group do you hope to belong in the future? As we are fortunate to live life to this age, let us strive towards a better and healthier living tomorrow!


Wishing you good health, always!

Romancing Once More

Romancing Once More

Let's go back to the 70s just this once..........again






林鳳嬌發飆了(但還是一樣美麗)




Love......
劉文正-爱情





More Love Tactics....
崔苔菁-嗨！親愛的(電影：嗨！親愛的)





Ok, Ok, no more.... I have posted enough of these......

Seah YK

Thomas Lim - A Model at 49 by God's Grace!

I had lunch this afternoon at my regular haunt – Plaza Pelangi. The aroma from three fat prawns and a generous cut of New Zealand lamb sizzling on a hotplate at Stone Grill on level three made me salivate.


Somehow, despite the palatable food before me, I could sense something disconcerting within.


It didn’t take me too long to pin-point what exactly was amiss - Dr Tan Meng Kwang’s warning about healthy living now as a precaution for ending up in an old folk’s home sick and helpless.


Presently, oil oozed out of the sizzling meat copiously while I considered the amount of cholesterol in the shellfish.


Then a strange thing happened.


Through the smoke coming out of the grill, I could see a familiar face smiling at me! It was Brother Thomas standing on the opposite wall in a green shirt looking like a twenty-five year old smiling happily among a few equally happy faces.


OMG! God has sent His angel to warn me about my diet!!


With guilty conscience I nibbled at the food instead of savouring it. After everything had been eaten it was time for repentance. I prayed that the bad cholesterol and fat be siphoned off my digestive system so that my good health might be intact.


I walked closer to Brother Thomas and realized it was only a huge poster occupying one wall of the shopping mall. By God’s grace Brother Thomas has become a model posing as a young man at 49! The photo he has put up in the Facebook members’ page must have been taken by the same photographer who did the photo shoot for this advertisement. I have noticed a marked difference between that portrait and his image in the group photo taken during high tea at One World Hotel.


In a flash of clarity, I finally realized the exact spot that has changed about him.


In the opposite wall, the wordings on the poster read:


Beijing 101 Hair Care Centre

Photos of the 70s

Some photos taken during the Yesteryears

The Carefree Years






























Happy Go Lucky























A Group Photo Taken By The Sea Side























Cheers,
Kenny Lee

The 70s

The Yesteryears

As this group begins to remember its past, I thought I'd add in a little bit of nostalgia from the entertainment angle.

The 70s was probably the time when the estrogen and testosterone started its manufacture for our batch. I was told that girls knew things boys of the same age knew years later.........

The idols of that period were probably........





Chin Han, one of the main romantic actors. They were supposed to be suave, good looking and their hair-style and clothings were vigorously imitated. Can one imagine wearing a thick blue-denim Levis jacket in this hot and humid weather, like Pontian? What about the long hair that we tried to keep against our parents' wishes!!!


Here's a photo of Alan Tang Kwong Wing:



Now you can probably guess why the boys then parted their hair in the centre, instead of keeping the 'curry-puff' hairdo which required heaps and heaps of brylcreem to keep them in place.














The Pontian swampy beach was a favourite spot for the boys to bring their girl-friends to........ I now begin to wonder if there were other secret rendezvous ...........

Ah, yes the cinema..... lots of things to learn from the movies those days.




The main actors were always very cool. They always knew what to say to make those beautiful actresses smile. Despite having cried their eyes out, they still come back to the arms of the hunks.. They get to live happily ever after too.

Every New Year, we'd have new calenders of the latest stars and we sometimes keep them on the walls of our rooms....


Lin Ching Hsia is one famous actress whose fame lasted till now.








Run Lover Run was one of the popular love movies of the time... I can't remember the gist of the movie now but I wonder if it was "you can run but you cannot hide!!!"



Having a trim body helps right?



















Right: A cool Alan Tang.

Even during that time we already knew this:
"Behind
every successful
man
there
is
a
woman!"

As the film stars grew older, so did we. That's when reality sets in What was in the movies definitely did not work. The attention was switched to the swords-welding heroes.

Wang Yu was so popular in his "The One-Armed Swordsman" that there were so many sequels to it..... such as

"The Return Of The One-Armed Swordsman",

"The New One-Armed Swordsman".....


























There were other swordsmen movies like "Have Sword Will Travel", more like imitating the English cowboy series, "Have Gun Will Travel"














Of course this "Buddha's Palm" was very popular as it gave the gullibles then the HOPE that super-powers is a possibility!!






















Then ShaoLin Kung Fu came into play. Some teenagers then became interested in Karate and Tae Kwan Do. They became more obsessed with the birth of a new genre, a kung fu never seen before. A man they had not heard of... that is until his first movie came to the cinema.

He was Bruce Lee:


He was super-fast, super aggressive, super-good.


The kung fu lovers were awe-strikened with his "triple kicks - Lee 3 legs"

His second movie made the Chinese proud to be Chinese. It made the Westerners were more cautious. They thought all Chinese know kung fu.





Soon, we were all awaiting for his new movies to come to the cinema.......

The teenagers began to learn his kicks, learn the nunchakus, and they did lots of sit-ups, like the 2-finger sit-ups which he displayed.

And of course, we began training the body to look like the one on the left.... V-shaped body. I don't think the girls appreciated this type of body


Maybe they preferred Alan Tang's slim body and his smile more.... Or maybe they were already into something else when we were so mesmerized by Bruce Lee.....

This small little world that I lived in may not be the same as the rest of the guys. Nevertheless, it was a small little world that I did share with a few close friends. It is wonderful, if I may add, that those close friends of so many years ago ARE still my close friends NOW.....

I am proud. Yet I am humbled by the fact that they still treat me as their friend.

Stock Market

The Lake in Our Heart (contributed by Angie Ng & translated by Michelle Ong)

A monk asks his young disciple to put some salt into a cup and drink the saline solution.


'How does it taste?' he asked.


'Bitter!' the young man spitted it out and grimaced.


The master then asked him to put the remaining salt into a lake and take a sip of the lake water.


'How does it taste now?' he enquired again.


'Refreshing!'


'Have you tasted any saltiness?'


'Not at all.'


He took the opportunity to tell the young man the moral of the story:


'In life, suffering is like salt – not much but not little too. That's what we are bound to encounter. However, how much pain we experience depends on what type of vessel we put our suffering in….'


Thus, when you are suffering, open up you heart, DON'T BE A CUP, BE A LAKE.

~~~~~~
In my minds eyes I see the Master beckon me to repeat what his disciple has done.

I put all the salt I have collected over the years of misery I have gone through in the lake.

He gave me a nod of approval, confident of the outcome of my rite he prods: 'Go on, take a sip of the lake water.'

I comply but spit it out abruptly.

The whole lake has turned salty!

The old man looks at me with compassion and sighs. Finally, he shakes his head and turns away.

There is nothing he can do for me.

BH by Tan Ban Hua

BH - This is the initial of BEE HENG and BAN HUA

There is a way to tell us apart:

- Botak Head : Well! Ah, he is a sort of and I am not.

- Both Handsome? : He thinks he is! I thinks! Just let him win, loh.

- Bohong: He can communicate with a dog?Sure, he can, he is a son of AH DOG, what I mean is Ah 9.

- Both Healthy: I am still functioning OK, not sure about him,still haven't check his yet!

5050: 50 Big, 50 Small by the Punters

Hi All

Tong Siew Peng was from Pekan Nanas. Her faher well known for driving his school bus at a turtle"s pace. Very slow. Never exceed 50 kmph! Very Safe.

Tan Jin Wah

~~~~~

Hi All

Those of you who are punters may be interested to know this:

a) Tong Siew Peng’s father bus that was used to ferry the school children has plate number 5050

b) …”speed never exceed 50” -- did I hear 50 again?

50 big and 50 small. Sounds fun? Maybe we should round up those in the Group that interested in sharing the buy. RM300 all-in for the actual # play.


Anyone?

Sam Loh

~~~~~


Hi Sam

Well, if 50 big 50 small strike, what is the prize for everyone ? ( Time is bad, may be I can "tumpang" your luck and make a fast one! )


He, he ..........

Angie Ng



~~~~~


Hi Angie

It is equal split if you are part of the punters’ Group (yet to be formed). BTW, you are the first one to ask about it. So, are you staking in?

It has to be punters’ group luck if the idea ever takes off.

No money no talk and no talk no money. Even talking is not enough anymore in such tough times Got to push our luck a little harder once in a while (but don’t count on it though).

Sam Loh

Caring for the Aged and the Sick by Dr Tan Meng Kwang & Tong Siew Bee

Having spent the last 16 years working with kindergarten children's education, I am now spending quite a bit of my time working with elderly people.

It is quite a challenge especially those who are weak and sick. I am contributing my time in an old folks rehabilitation centre where many of the folks are stroke patients. Many end up with dementia. It is sad to note that a lot of people take their health for granted. They do not invest in their own health. People as young as 50 are also in this centre. In fact, we have a father and son pair in the centre. These people have mobility problems and as many have slight brain damage, many soon will lose all their memories. We are organising programs to help them regain and reuse their brains but some of them are totally gone! These are the activities: colouring, fixing body parts and jigsaw puzzles, throwing softball into a nearby basket etc etc - activities i taught my teachers to conduct for kindergarten children as part of the children's development. But now we are applying the same principle on old folks - NOT for development but for maintenance!

I'm setting up a wellness centre here in Singapore catering to the needs of people (maybe sick or/and elderly) and teaching them how to live life healthily. Me too is thinking of developing a similar centre in Malaysia (bcos space in SG is too expensive) but not so much for retirement but perhaps for relaxing and rejuvenating life. In my opinion, elderly people should still live with their family members (if possible) rather than to be separated from them. They can come to sch a centre for a period, say 3 weeks or so, to relax/rejuvenate, learn new skills/lifestyles, and then go back to their own families and practice them and live happily and healthily. In this way, the concept of chalets will be applicable.

If you have such a centre in Pontian, I can organise these people to patronise your centre!

Cheers and best of health!

Tan Meng Kwang

~~~~~

I know a Catholic nun for more than a decade. I worked with her for many years implementing kindergarten programs. I helped her in IT-related areas as well as providing her teachers with training in early childhood pedagogies. After her retirement in late 2006, she was asked to head a Day Rehabilitation Centre to enhance the quality of the program offered. She took up the challenge and went into a totally new field at such an retirement age (she is closed to 70!). She asked for assistance, and I went in to help as a volunteer on a regular basis since early this year.

Running such a non-profit centre is tough, looking after the old and sick, and implementing a program to rehabilitate them is a challenge. But having worked with her in coming out with a program to benefit these sick and often poor old folks is satisfying. I've brought many friends, far and near, to visit the centre to see 'how important it is to keep our body healthy'. Some return to work as a volunteer, others vowed to be 'not like them one day'!

We also have retirement village in Singapore. The government have build blocks of studio apartments for the elderly. These are smaller units of housing (usually 1 room 1 hall) with facilities suitable for the elderly. These units are usually taken up by elderly people (usually couples) who are not living with their children (or having no children). They come with a shorter lease tenure - usually 30 years or so. So old couples sell away their own homes after their retirement, get their money and buy these smaller units which are more elderly-friendly, and hence have sufficient money (after cashing their more expensive houses) to live comfortably after that. I've been to one where there is a wellness centre located on the second level of this studio apartment block. It is run by a church and they recruited many volunteers to organise programs to keep these elderly (and usually lonely) people occupied. There are also other wellness and enrichment programs (eg. calligraphy etc)to keep these elderly folks occupied usefully. Building such a retirement village requires plenty of resources, and it is undertaken by the government here.

Those are bits and pieces of information I've gathered about eldercare in Singapore. Should you or any others in this list wish to know more about the above can contact me personally so that I can facilitate your visit to these places.

Tan Meng Kwang

~~~~~

Two weeks ago, we had a talk by the 110 yr old lady from Singapore, Sister Teresa Hsu. The topic was "with love, I forgot to grow old". Sister Teresa went for nursing care training at 47, formed an old folks home at 67, started to learn yoga at 69 and at 100 she was working hard on Mandarin. She spent her entire life helping others. At 80 she was still doing the cleaning and caring stuff for those 60's and 70's younger folks. I wish to do the same, volunteering until drop dead at 100. I have found the right place, Tzu Chi Charity organisation, have started there part time for 5 years+. What M Kwong said was true, we have to be smart to take care of our health at an early age. I would like to add, living a life with meaning, purpose and self worthiness only can stretch to 90/100, also only its worth to be still around, haha! Oops, I am speaking for myself, no offence to anyone.

Tong Siew Bee

No Lion and Leo but Dog and Puppy Stories - Epilogue

Last night, one of my neighbours must have taken all five of Molly’s puppies away when she was elsewhere hunting for food.

Today, she slumps by the empty den all morning looking desolate. There is much grief in her eyes as she muses listlessly, wondering what kind of life a dog’s life is.

Alone again, naturally.

Age of Innocence and Breaking Free by Sam Loh

Today Yeo Sek Siong responded to my text message I sent to him a few days back. We had some message exchanges. I kept him informed of the Group's email and the dinner event. I will need to follow up on him again for his decision to join the dinner. He curiously asked me what the "B" in my name stands for -- Benjamin, bo-heng, botak??



I am more inclined to accept it as "botak" though "Bee" is the correct version by birth. I figure that if I am going to cruise over the 50-yish barometer it is probably acceptable to be botak; for some of you, you probably may have to live with whatever there is left (if any if left at all). I was telling Goh Wee Ser in one of our 1:1 emails that it is not that bad afterall. You lose some, and you win some ==> ooh my gosh, you now realized that you have a big forehead!



I was not born in government hospital but in a downtown clinic in Pontian.I was the fourth addition to the line of children (final count = 9). I was told my father could not find a suitable name for me. He ended up naming me Bee Heng, a name he took from a goldsmith shop that was overlooking on the other side of the clinic. For a while during my teenage years, I thought it was too girly a name because the Bee ("Mei") in chinese character means beautiful. For nearly 50 years now I live with this name and constantly reminding myself that I should be thankful that I was not named any others. I could have landed with Ah Beng or Ah Terr or Kar Chern (buttock). Probably will be poked at if named Loh Kar Chern as it will end up as "Bo Kar Chern". I can't imagine anyone born without Kar Chern.



But then, there were just too many other distractions then to be too concern with name thingy stuff --> keeping long hair was cool, parting it left or right was lagi chill, grease lightning hair cream kau kau was acceptable. I wanted to dress to kill in school but with the only one white color long pants that I have. Wearing jeans was rugged. Come to think of it, did anyone in Group happen not to return the bell-bottom Wrangler, Levis and AMCO jeans that we swapped to wear? I am still looking for it after 49 years. The "bell" may still work. Loud music and parties were the in-thing; gate-crash normal. Big was fanciful -- songs were recorded in Catridge before cassette came into the market.



It was an age of innocence breaking free era and how I miss all those years. We all sebok for different things when we wanted to break free. We may have to live with some of our live challenging decisions, consciously or unconsciously made then.

Why Chinese shouldn't have Christian Names by Ng Bak Seng

This is hilarious ...

Anne Chang => Dirty (Mandarin)

Anne Chin => Keep Quiet (Mandarin)

Faye Chen => Dusty (Mandarin)

Carl Cheng => Buttock (Hokkien)

Monica Cheng => Touching your buttocks (Hokkien)

Lucy Leow => You are dead (Hokkien)

Jane Tan => Frying eggs (Mandarin)

Suzie Leow => Lose till death (Hokkien)

Henry Mah => Hate your mum (Mandarin)

Corrine Tai => Poor fellow (Hokkien)

Paul Chan => Bankrupt (Mandarin)

Nelson Tan => Bird laying eggs (Mandarin)

Leslie Tong => Rubbish Bin (Mandarin)

Carmen Teng => Leg hair long (Hokkien)

Connie Mah => Call your mother (Cantonese)

Danny See => Squeeze you to death (Hokkien)

Rosie Teng => Screws and nails (Hokkien)

Pete Tsai => Nose droppings (Hokkien)

Macy Koh => Never die before (Cantonese)

Washington =>I go back first(hokkien)

Favouritism

Favouritism in School

This is just a thought that recently a friend discussed with me about. So I thought I'll just put these thoughts on the blog.

Favouritism is everywhere. In politics, in society, at home, in schools and if one wants to add in selection of food, it is there too, though it is of a different form.

I'd like to mention here on favouritism in school as this is a schoolmate blog. Some of us may not feel that it was there before, maybe because they were the favourite students of some of the teachers themselves. Of course this prejudice works the other way too. Certain teachers are some students' favourite, possible reasons being that they were 'good' teachers, or they paid more attention to those students (for whatever reasons you can put forward for their special attention), or they were great motivators to them, or they were simply more good-looking, prettier, sexier (??).

It was there, right? The favourite didn't know it, obviously. It was those who felt 'left out' who can swear that those teachers didn't even know that they were in their classes.

So is this fair? No, the world is never fair. In Capitalism it is not fair. The rich are super-rich, the poor are dying poor, and how many hardworking people can really make it. In Communism, it is also not fair. The hardworking gets the same as or even less than the lazy. So, we have to accept unfairness as a way of life.

So why is the world the way it is?

Our likes and dislikes. Anything that we like, we want more, resulting in greed, and anything we don't like, we want to get rid of, the faster the better, causing much aversion. If we are not careful, we become responsible for as much of the inequalities in society as the politicians.

So ......... the point being touch on here is we all see things from our own perspective. It is mostly useful to see things from another person's perspective.

Anyway this is still merely my perspective and perception. I don't want to be an 'I' specialist. And by the way my memory of the past could now well be a 'photoshop' version. We remember the good, justify the wrong and continue to forget. Photoshop copy of photographs often looks better than the original, doesn't it?

TMIS Revisited by Sam Loh & Tan Kok Hua

I have the chance to be back Pontian yesterday. Went for breakfast at "Ah Kwang" coffee shop located opposite Pei Chun school (Jln Teo Kang Sui). Next to my were some old folks but turned out to be TMIS school teachers - Mr Chua/wife and 2 others (did not get their names but 1 lady from TMIS 2; the other TMIS 1). I was taught by Mr Chua (now of age 70) b4 but he could not recognize me. He even thought I was my mum's son-in-law. The whole Cik Gu gang crossed over to my table and we caught up with some long lost time during their teachings days and how some of the teachers have broken rank by moving away to other places. 2 have even left earth --> Mr Teh Hong (very tall, fair and with slight curly hair) was riding on his motorbike when he had an accident. He was returning home 1 night after a game of mahjong. He remained single @ time of his death. The other 1 (also mahjong king, thin, tall n a chain smoker with thick dark glasses) is Mr Lee Chan Weng whose wife operated a hair salon). He was the one who expected me to win my high jump during my primary 5 days but I "keh kiang" jumping like afrog before the actual event n lost my elasticity to spring thereafter.

Mr Chua (he stays along Teo Kang Sui)has vivid memory of his class of students. He was able to recall numerous students including Sik Fong, Ho Siew Fong, Yong Kwang, Lee Chow Leng, Tong Siew Peng, Ling Lian Ying (whose father played mahjong with him too) and even Donald Hwang whose father operated Hwang Dispensary b4 migrating to OZ). I added some to his recollection list and it seems so much of touching moments for him. I reckon it has to be so. At his age, he probably knows by his finger tips the remnants of the surviving few peers/colleagues of his time. Mr Chua is keeping himself busy with daily jogging but even then, he intimated that doctor has advised him to slow down and switch to brisk walking. I advised him to swim but he said the biggest pool you have in Pontian is the coastal mud water sea which is too dirty/polluted. I agree with him too. Probably become an orang minyak each time he finishes his swim. The club pool in Kukup apparently is out of order or closed for renovation.

I am glad to have met him and the other teachers. They are such a rare gem if you think about it -- quality in them as a teacher. They are weathering their time well -- imagine from the time they retired at age 55 and being 70 now is a gap of 15 years. U can't do much if u live on Govt pension and I doubt their pension amount is even pegged to Cost of Living index (CPI). They probably count on each day as a blessing for themselves and for the fact that no buddies are missing for their ritual breakfast or morning walk. I wonder what I would be doing by the time I hit that age. If you are unable to move around no more and no children or friends to do a-calling, maybe stay at home and listen to the pouring rain when it pours, and if it does pour.

Sam Loh Bee Heng

~~~~~~~

Hi Bee Heng

Your little story does bring back some memories. If memory serves me right, Mr Chua taught History, the late Mr Teh Hong was a Geography teacher. Can't remember what the late Mr Lee taught but I think he was quite active in basketball. The late Mr Teh Hong was a very strict teacher who disciplined students through his famous cane with rubber band knot at its whipping end for that extra 'kick'. No doubt, our "Kukup Gladiator" (Chee Peng lah, of course) will remember him well. I can't remember the name of the other gladiator whom Chee Peng used to bash up. I still remember my 1st day in Standard 1. Our class teacher was Mrs How who wore a cheong-sam and a beehive hair-do (how many inches high, I can't remember). I think Hui Guan was one of the first few friends I met. All the boys smelled of Brylcream or Tancho (ooh boy, this was heavy duty grease!..and green too!!). Hui Guan was more stylish than me of course with his little "curry puff" creation while mine was just a simple full swing to the (was it right or left?) depends on how dad or mum combed it that morning. Recess time was of course the best time. Our play things were soft drinks bottles caps, even duku skins and used ice-cream lolly sticks which I remember Chai Eng (a.k.a. "botak"? oops, sorry if I was mistaken) had bundles of. The old chicken feather shuttle cock (usually a double-layered round rubber base nailed into a bundle of 3-4 feathers) was a favourite thing to kick and keep up in the air. There's of course the good old hop-and-catch game which Yong Poh and Hui Guan were the kings. Tian Soo liked to think he was fast too. Well, he was but maybe not as fast as these 2. Yes, that was the time we first learned ABC & how to sing the national & state anthems after the daily ritual "goooood mooooorning....teeeecher". However, you would have gotten into trouble if you had used this monotonous way to greet Mrs Chacko. You had to say "Good morning, Mrs Chacko" in a crisp and alert manner. What a wonderful change! We were in Std 4 when man first landed on the moon in 1969, and I remember ponteng from school a few days when we heard (falsely or correctly) that the KL race riots had spilled into Muar. Going to school to me was by the beca. My beca man was a one-eyed (he only had one good eye) Malay man but he was fast. It was fun when the becas raced each other after school. What the beca became a bit cramp, I upgraded to a more luxury mode of transport by enrolling as a passenger on Cheong Ee's dad's school bus!
There was also this event called the "standard sports" where everyone had to participate. All of us have to do the push-ups, chin-ups, jumping etc. and achievements recorded. Most of us do tens of chin-ups and some struggled to do even one with the legs kicking mad in thin air. Then, there's the famed Kukup Gladiator again doing 100s of chin-ups until someone had to tell him to stop due to the long queue behind. He probably thought that the bar was the fishing trawl net he used to pull at home!

During Sports Day, the 100m dash was always a battle between Hong Koon and Kamarudin Ahmad. Yong Poh was the champion long jumper. Can't remember much about Sports Day although I do remember being in the TMIS gymnastic team smelling the wet socks of the guy who stepped on my shoulders during the pyramid formation (3 or 4 people high). So, being tall in the early years can be a disadvantage apart from being overtaken by peers in secondary school. On high jump, you were definitely the favourite representing the Green House, coached by the late Mr Lee. It was scary seeing you jumping so high hours before the event and moreover the other 2 jumpers, namely Hanafiah (now Pontian Besar Petronas station owner) of Blue House and Abdul Razak of Yellow House were also very 'beng'. Due to your over-practice, you became "bo-lat" during crunch time and I have to thank you for the only sports medal I won at TMIS!! - the bronze medal for that long jump event! [Hanafiah won Gold and Razak the Silver.]

The last days of Std 6 was tense. Of course, 'we' were TMIS 1 and then 'they' were TMIS 2. So, a grand finale had to happen. Thus have I heard that Choon Seng, Ban Hwa and their TMIS 2 gang were going to bring 'nan-chuks" (that Bruce Lee weapon). Headboy (Kim Huat) must be busy planning contingencies in case a big fight ensue. I think nothing much happened that last school day. Maybe these kids were just 'harnging' ("intimidating" in Hokkien) each other. To our horror, most of these same trouble makers from TMIS 1 & 2 ended up in Form 1F in SSP! But, to our delight, they became friends immediately...these politicians! What a noble thought to invite old teachers. Although I will not be there, I do not mind chipping in for the teachers.
Lastly, I swear the TMIS school toilets near the mangrove swamps were definitely haunted. But then, which school toilets were not!

Tan Kok Hua

~~~~~~

Hi Kok Hua

This is a pleasant surprise from you (please write more often). You really drilled to the micro level of memory that stretches till day 1 of school. I thought I have memory of an elephant but yours is fit for a dinosaur level, upgraded version.

You have shared numerous names of teachers which I have totally forgotten but Mrs Chacko rings a bell now. Good that you are able to recall Hanafiah and Abdul Razak. Malay classmates are totally out of my memory radar. Hanafiah is another lanky guy with a cool temperament. Will try to check out on him one of these days.

I always associate you as being "Esso's" tau keh's son, and the only son. The other thing that stands prominently in my mind is that other than your father and you, the rest of your family members are all ladies. Though never had a word with your mum, she somehow gave an impression of being a very capable business entrepreneur.

Over the weekend, I was able to pull out some old photos taken during primary days. Few other teachers was in it - En. Mohaini (BM teacher, always smartly dressed n wears black specs - sometimes can be mistaken for being a blind person), Mr Goh (Health Edu), Mrs Lim (Geography, hubby is a dentist @ Pontian govt hospital), and Mr Kua (History, handsome and sportsman). I will be uploading this up to the site soon. Mr Kua is in Pontian, still keeping to his sportmanship (predominantly tennis) and giving tuition classes.

You are right about that spooky toilets. I was schooled with the same thought and impression too. It was wooden structure and painted in black and one hell of a dirty. No choice but have to use it with fear each time. You got to do what you had to do then but for obvious reason "biz" was done quicker than usual. It was plain eerie. In fact, Tan King Hwa and Mr Gladiator Ong Chee Peng even influenced us to believe that one of the undulating fields was once a burial ground for war soldiers. Belief it or not but trust we have in their words then because they were the leaders of the pack in terms of muscle and ability to influence.

Talk about feather shuttle cock with rubber stump and your name will surface. You probably had cosistently proven to be the defending champion. All those games you mentioned are what we grew up with.

We were born in that era and that is how we live and make good of the time of our life during our growing years. If Tan Kok Hwa was borned today, he would probably ask for mobile phone, Nintendo DS, laptop, and other electonic gadgets by the time he is 7 years old. He may even offer to help fix/setup his dad's handphone. Sometimes we think that children today are luckier for reasons that are due to our over zealous inclination to give them what we have done without. The truth is simple: we were just borned in different era of time.

So, probably "luck" is not the right word to use. Anyway, I suppose they will have to thrive in this new world abound with speedier changes and freedom of a different kind. The world as an oyster is here and gone tomorrow. It is for everyone's grab. Fasten your seat belt, pal. It is for the fast and the furiuos. This freedom is terrifying -- it is no longer life in the fast lane; it is playing in traffic.

Sam Loh Bee Heng

Do you believe what you believe?

Belief

I've often wondered why people believe the things they believe. Did they decide to believe a claim and later stay with that belief without necessarily having to find out whether it is true, or do they simply hold on to the belief till it is disproved? Maybe for some, they believe a proposition to be true and adds 'logic' and 'supporting evidence' and disregards 'unsupporting evidence' in order to substantiate that belief?

People used to believe that the world is flat and that belief stayed for a long time before it was found to be untrue. However there are certain claims that would be hard to prove or disprove. Examples of these are the existence of God, gods, dieties, ghosts, afterlife, rebirth or even ultimate reality. The agnostics believe that those claims will not be able to prove or disprove and so they do not believe. This view is not to be confused with the atheist who simply do not believe in the existence of god.

Then there is another group who believe that there is no purpose in existence and that it is without intrinsic value. They assert that there is no objective morality in existence and thus claim that it has also no intrinsic higher meaning. They therefore claim that there is no reasonable proof that there is a higher ruler or creator. These nihilist view is opposite to the Christian faith.

The Christians are monotheist. To them the scriptures in the Bible is authoritative as they believe them to be God's words. The death and resurrection of Jesus are considered to represent the possibility of eternal life after death in this human life, Some say that there is no God as you cannot see one, but others will tell you that since you cannot see your brain therefore you don't have one. The believers will tell you that they know, the way that believers know. However a sincere believer in the flat world theory does not know that the world is flat.

We have been told not to listen to rumour, but sometimes it is difficult to differentiate between rumour and truth. When a statement is repeated once too often, people starts seeing some truth in it - no smoke without fire. Traditions are also easily believed, and so are scriptures of the ancient. We tend to believe certain things based on our logical thinking and especially if it is biased towards our accepted consideration.

So what do we believe? How to believe? Belief is afterall a psychological statement for a proposition to be true. Belief is knowledge only if the belief is true. As we all know, our understanding of the world around us, and more importantly within us, comes through our six senses; the eyes (sight), the ears (sound), the nose (smell), the skin (touch), the tongue (taste) and the mind (thinking). However we know there is this optical illusion and the limitation of the eyes being able only to see within the colour spectrum and not beyond, like the infrared or the ultraviolet. The working ears can hear a frequency of between 20 to 20000 hertz. Can we say there is no sound beyond these frequencies? Our ability to understand the things around us is limited to what we have learned so far and we can thus be biased towards things we have no inkling about. So how convinced are we about what we believe?

To illustrate this, let me quote from a book called 'The Black Swan'. Before the discovery of Australia, people of the Old World were convinced that all swans were white. The sighting of the first black swan might have been an interesting surprise for a few ornithologists, but that is not where the significance of the story lies. It illustrates a severe limitation to our learning from observations or experience and the fragility of our knowledge. One single observation can invalidate a general statement derived from millennia of confirmatory sightings of millions of white swans. All you need is one single black bird.

Now, what do you believe? Do you still believe what you believe? Or are you waiting for the Black Swan?

Seah YK

Ambiguous Victories and Sweet Defeats

At eighteen, while I was preparing for sixth grade pianoforte examination conferred by the Royal School of Music, one of the exam pieces was by the famed Polish composer, Federic Chopin. My inability to keep time accurately to render 1/16 of a beat discernible by the human ear often provoked my brother, also my music teacher into letting out a long tirade about my deficiency. In defiance, I quitted piano lessons and remained a mere fifth grade holder. This is to be one of my early defeats which has remained a lifelong regret.

Last year, more than thirty years later, I bought a piano to take up the challenge once more. After a month’s laborious attempt to get familiar with the long forgotten keys, I embarked upon an ambitious attempt on my favourite piece - ‘Fantasie-Impromptu Op. 66’ with audacity. I was in high spirit and jocularly called the feat ‘Battling Chopin’.

Failure hit me with full force immediately. Undaunted, I turned the newly bought music book to the page containing ‘Polonaise in A flat major Op. 53’, another favourite, only to face a repeated defeat. I closed the music book feeling dejected, inadvertently came face-to-face with Chopin’s portrait on the book’s cover. The maestro, immortalized by his masterpieces, seemed to glance at me coldly; through his melancholic eyes he seemed to mock: ‘Still can’t do it, uh?’

But for my resolve to fulfill my dream, I could have humbly chosen to play less formidable pieces by Richard Clayderman. I deliberated on my failure and ascribed it to the tempo of the two Chopin pieces. In my third attempt, I wisely chose a slower one – ‘Nocturne in C sharp minor Op. 15’ - theme from the movie, The Pianist starring Adrian Bodine. Finally, I made it; though by normal standard, I had played it twice slower and haltingly too with lots of mistakes all over. I am well aware that by a concert pianist's standard, my triumph is but a horrendous defeat. My triumph lies in the fact that at long last it is a Chopin’s piece that I have played and that I actually enjoy the interludes which I do play well. Despite careful consideration, I am still ambivalent about whether to deem the attempt a sweet defeat or an ambiguous victory.

Over the years it has become a habit of mine to take up big challenges to fulfill an ideal despite negative signals from logical thinking about the high probability of failure. My mind hollers: ‘You can’t do it!’ But I retort just as loud: ‘What have I got to lose?’

Indeed, the worst aftermath scenario in such stalwart attempt is to get a chance to enjoy the process of doing what I want to do. Whereas a positive outcome is most desirable, a negative one makes me feel that I have given my best to gratify my wish; my best may not be good enough for others but it is for me.

Today, one year after taking up piano again, I humbly revert to Clayderman just to enjoy the wonderful uplifting sensation of soaring with the music I make; now that the battle with Chopin has been ambiguously rendered won.

Ambition wise, I have embarked on an attempt to formulate a novel way of looking at life and thence test it by living it out. The time frame I have allotted to it is five years starting from now. This endeavour is a repeat of my feat of battling Chopin. It is not difficult to foresee the pain and struggle lying ahead of me – a person of average caliber. I am fully prepared to accept a negative outcome gracefully by calling it a sweet defeat. A great comfort is that I can be assured of the availability of over two hundred virtual shoulders to cry on from SSP76 (when all the lost sheep are found). That alone gives me enough courage to launch the project.

There is no need to fear for me the possibility of any dire situation I may end up in in terms of frustration and psychological damage, for a true adventurer never omits to build in a buffering mechanism to soften the blow of defeat. Assuming I am to remain in JB’s Pelangi area, I will probably invite some of you for breakfast at Lavender, lunch at Togugawa and dinner at Gianni so that the pleasant ambience and the gastronomical delight can make up for the less entertaining content of the conversation about my failed attempt.