Headlines and Deadlines

I OFTEN wonder if it's true that the more your hairline recedes, the clearer your thinking will be. Perhaps it's because when you had a headful of hair, you were too engrossed in looking after your locks, taking extremely good care of your crowning glory and in plain English, just vain.
In the twilight years, when the looks are no longer that important because the hair has seen better days, you begin to have more time to cultivate serious and more mature thoughts. In other words, you can think "clearer".
You no longer pay much heed on temporal stuff - the small stuff, if you know what I mean!
There's no fun in enjoying life if you don't know how to do it. It's okay to be silly and ridiculous once a while. When you are still a teenager, or on the threshold of adulthood, being reckless and sometimes dangerous is expected of you. Ah...they say, the hormones are on an overdrive.
However, when you are past middle age and you do something out of character, people tend to comment, "has that guy lost all his marbles?" Or even, I think premature senility has begun to set in.
Why do people say those things? My explanation is simple - they don't have the guts to do it themselves. I have for some time now pledged to myself that I will do all the "silly" things so long as they make me happy, have a good time and not break the law while doing them.
Age is not a factor in happiness. When you want to do adventurous stuff, just go ahead. Youth does not have a monopoly on doing anything. Anybody can do it. Follow the Nike motto - JUST DO IT!
On the other end of the personality spectrum is fulfilling your own ambitions. You often begin a new year or even early in the morning and tell yourself most sincerely that you just have to complete five tasks before the sun sets on the same day.
Then somehow during the hours of rushing in and out of your home, office and toilet, you miss two important assignments and you are left with the less-than-satisfactory feeling that you have not achieved your targets.
That's what deadlines are all about. These days because I have seen too many friends died in their prime, I pursued my missions of the day with a passion of a diehard mercenary. No work no pain kind of personal angst.
In fact, I often time myself on completing the tasks that I have assigned myself. Nine out of 10 times, I hit the bull's eye. In fact, I am trying to hit it on the head first time every time.
Life becomes less complicated and much smoother when all projects, tasks, assignments and other chores of the day are completed before your head hits the pillow at night.
This is one of the simplest things to accomplish - work that is assigned by others to you or jobs that you have given yourself. What's so difficult about doing it now and doing it like reflex action?
The problem starts when we develop an "allergy" towards completing things as if it is disease-related function. Most of us get easily distracted by gossip, coffee machine chit-chat and minding other people's business.
The downtime incurred at water machines and at minor detours on the way to a workstation can amount to several hours in a day. So the idea is to develop a kind of habit to complete it and get away with it as quickly as possible.
Journalists live by the maxim of headlines and deadlines. That credo has ruled the lives of many newsmen and women who didn't live long enough to enjoy their retirement benefits.
Life's more than a couple of personal obsessions. We need to overcome all the little hassles that seem to become an Everest because we allow them to become that way.
It has been said a million times - live as if you are going to die tomorrow. The problem is most of us are hard of hearing. We hear the words, we read the words but somehow its true meaning escape our attention. Why, I ask you.
Why does a person make a vow or vows just when he has been diagnosed with an incurable disease? Why wait till then? Live, live and live.
Every moment is THE moment. There's not time but NOW. Live it. That's how it was and still is intended to be. No need to plan to live like a millionaire. Enjoy life like a millionaire NOW.
This is the most beautiful world I know of because I have not been to Mars, Venus or any of the planets in our solar system. This is the most beautiful life I know of because I can't remember any of the previous lives that some people seem to be obsessed with.
So, here's a toast to life. May yours be as wonderful as mine.





The Other Rice Bowl

Stay a Cut Above all The Others

Your children - Que Sera, Sera

EVERY PARENT, bar none, wants his only child or children to be smart (preferably genius level), hardworking, disciplined and obedient. Personally, I do not harbour such unreasonable expectations.
I am one of those old-fashioned parents. I like my children to be happy, yes, hardworking too, joyful, organised, disciplined and have the never-give-up attitude. I find that children these days are either spoilt or too stressed-out by parents with unreasonably high expectations.
Sure, which parent does not want his offsprings to be successful in everything he or she does. All of us want that even if we didn't finish high school ourselves. Yes, we are unreasonable and we don't like arguments about that.
I find children who do not face too much pressure growing up becoming saner adults in later years. I have lectured my children on numerous occasions that it doesn't matter if they didn't win the Nobel prize but if they try their best at anything they do, I am satisfied.
There's only one condition: if they stumble, I would like to see them get back on their feet and carry on as if nothing has happened. I reckon that there will be many times in their growing years when they would "fail". It is only natural that such things happen.
Normal children should not be spared the pains of experiencing minor setbacks. Life is not a string of unbroken successes. What's there to learn then if that is the case?
So I have told my wife on several occasions that I rather have the children obedient, loving, lovable and hardworking than being arrogantly clever, unsympathetic, cocky and wasteful. If they have the traits of the latter group, they would break my heart.
It is terrible to have a grown up son or daughter who feels that you are like a dodo in matters of the world. It would even be more heart-rending if they treat you like a used tissue when you are old and feeble and you still love them despite their unloving ways.
I have seen parents who have children who belong to the obedient, not-so-clever, hardworking, filial category. It brings joy to my heart to learn that these parents are so lucky to have such children.
I have also seen parents who have given their children the best in terms of education and things they need in life. In exchange, the children have become spoilt, unreasonable and dreadful. They are ungrateful for the great things they have in life. They take for granted that they do not starve or have to struggle for a living because their parents are rich and belong to the upper middle-class.
Some of these parents have got beautiful houses but their homes are devoid of love and warmth. The parents are also unhappy and after a while care only of their own interests. Whose fault is all this? I am not sure but somewhere along the line, I feel the children lost their way because the parents were not walking on the right path themselves.
Children are ours to mould, but they are not our exclusive rights. They will grow up despite our best efforts. We can only guide them with our examples, teach them with our love and bless them with our prayers. The rest is generally up to them.
If one day, they come home to look after us when we least expect them to, then we have been successful parents. Love is the best course to take. If you love your children from cradle to grave, they will return the favour a thousand fold until they themselves become parents themselves.
Children and parents learn from each other. One teaches the other in ways we do not comprehend but children are our second chances to develop the wonder of growing up, something which most of us have forgotten while we were eagerly making our way to the top or in a hurry to be adults.





Don't fret and moan, just do it!

Call all knife knuts

Who wins - TV or newspaper?

THIS is an old debate issue that crops up now and then among broadcast and hardnews people. Sometimes, even communications lecturers join in the fray. Everybody thinks one way or the other.
Yes, TV has more visual impact. Nothing like an inexorable tsunami wave to wake you up from your stupor but you can't beat a full length feature of how a bored housewife became a desperate housewife who became a fly-by-night hooker in her own neighbourhood. Now that kind of story, you can't capture on the television screen.
Of course, you can watch a movie with that kind of theme but a real-life story in print has a strange hold on your imagination. And as you know, an overactive imagination is the devil's workshop. So I twisted that phrase a little, so sue me!
It has been established that since the debate issue surfaced a few decades ago, the arguments have been going back and forth and is now happily lodged in a stalemate situation.
Television is most useful when urgency is the order of the day. We are all visual creatures. What we see on the screen affects all our senses. Reading about it the day after only fill in the missing pieces.
Newspapers and magazines do serve a purpose. Try eating breakfast without that newspaper. We have taken for granted such a small luxury for so long that if tomorrow we were to lose that privilege, there will be hell to pay.
There was a time in the early 20th century when newspapers were scarce and the majority of the people were illiterate. That was okay because people relied on news by word-of-mouth or through gossip.
These days, information being so readily accessible and available is taken for granted like the sunsine in the morning or breakfast on the table. These days, some people tend to use the phrase "information overload". And they are right, too.
Television is turning out to be one of the most relevant modern conveniences known to man in the 21st century. We are practically born to be addicted to the telly. Children are born-again TV addicts. Too many of them are wearing glasses as a result of an overdose of TV viewing but that's another sociological and health issue.
Newspapers on the other hand have been around since the time, man first learnt to read. We want to read anything and everything to keep ourselves informed. Never mind, if three quarters of the stuff in those printed pages have nothing to do with us, and do not improve your lives in any way, it really doesn't matter because when you put the newspaper down you naturally feel you have benefited in somewhere from those long minutes of reading the things that have happened in your country as well as in countries thousands of miles away from your backyard.
In the end, we come to the conclusion that there's no winner in a tug-of-war between TV and newspaper because the two mediums are complementary. One is just as essential as the other.
In other words, all our jobs are safe. We don't have to think about being roadside burger sellers or being some kind of social escorts, not that we have any of the necessary qualifications!!





Money is nothing. Effort is everything!

Call all knife knuts

The Butterfly Effect & the Mathematics of Chaos

THE JULIA SET - Image


THE MANDELBROT SET - Image






In the East, it was theorised thousands of years ago that everything that happens anywhere, anytime around the world will have an effect somewhere, somehow on the other side of the globe.
There are no known human laws to describe this consequential series of events. No scientific laws have been established to substantiate such a claim. Now in this age, and in our time, inexplicable events are beginning to cause a vortex of coincidences that are beginning to stir man's imagination.
It is a zone of no time and no space. It is in effect called the Black Hole of human reasoning because no of us has been able to venture there.
But the ancient ones in the East had been able to comprehend this effect to a limited extent. Lao Tze called it The Tao and it has remained as such over eons. The unnamed, enlightened ones who walked unidentified among us know the everything is linked.
For want of a better description, this is called the Butterfly Effect. The basic premise is that the fluttering of a butterfly's wings can affec the climatic conditions in the city of New York, half-way across the world.
Here is where the Mathematics of Chaos comes in. According to my limited knowledge, Chaos Theory was born one day when some scientists and mathematicians thought it would be fun to punch in numbers into the computer and watch the sequential numbers being generated and the patterns of its random behaviour.
Apparently, only computers can tolerate such a boring chain of events or the game as it is called. From the theory of chaos was born chaos systems. Again here, it was determined that chaos systems are not really that random. However, they are very sensitive to factors found at its birth. Thus, minuscule shifts at its fledging state can trigger enormous changes at its conclusion. Hence, the Butterfly Effect.
Scientists found out that Chaos Systems only appear to be disorderly. In reality, they are not. In fact, they have a sense of order. If you sometimes call the state of your workplace, an organised mess, you are in effect referring to the chaos system.
Picture this, two chess grandmasters are pitting their mental skills against each other. Over the long, silent hours, two minds match each other move for move. In the end, one surrenders, or it could be a draw when the end is inconclusive.
Kasparov, the Azarbajian chess grandmaster, has been known to refer to this intense state of chess play as finding order in the state of chaos. Now, are you getting the idea?
In the big game of mental gymnastics, mathematicians and scientists found out that there's an indelible link between fractals and chaos. It is recorded that fractal geometry is the geometry that paints a decipherable picture of the chaotic systems man finds in nature.
There are ways to describe geometry and fractal is the language that explains it. Fractal geometry is translatable by algorithms. It is a set of rules that point the way to fractals.
Computers being the unfeeling tangible structures explain the splendid images human view as fractal visions.
Then there's also the Euclidean Geometry. This branch of geometry deals with triangles, circles, lines and others.
The man who discovered this theory of chaos was a metereologist by the name of Edward Lorenz. He was trying to solve some problems relating to the weather and had lined up 12 equations. Just for fun, he experimented with the numbers and came up with different results.
Before you can shout his name Lorenz, he stumbled onto a fascinating avenue of mathematics that boggled his mind. And thus was born the theory of chaos. All this happened back in 1960. That's actually not so long ago.
From his magnificent discovery, Edward Lorenz later published his magnus opus work called the Lorenz Attractor. His mathematical solution was butterfly-shaped. So now you know. There's an order in his chaos theory, and it links science, mathematics and computers.
If you want to know more about this utterly fascinating subject, you should also read more about two other characters by the names of Benoit Mandelbrot and Gaston Julia. Mandelbrot is an expert in fractal geometry and Julia has been acclaimed as one of the forefathers of modern dynamical systems theory.
Now what am I leading to, you may ask. It's simple. Everything good you do will have an effect that stretches longer and further than you can ever imagine. So just think of some of the most ordinary good deeds that you have done or are going to do and think of all the wonderful effects it will have on earth and its inhabitants.
Just think about it this Christmas. That's your assignment!

The Butterfly Effect & the Mathematics of Chaos Pt 2

The above is an animated fractal called The Dragon Curve. The second one is called Koch's Island Fractal.





In the East, it was theorised thousands of years ago that everything that happens anywhere, anytime around the world will have an effect somewhere, somehow on the other side of the globe.
There are no known human laws to describe this consequential series of events. No scientific laws have been established to substantiate such a claim. Now in this age, and in our time, inexplicable events are beginning to cause a vortex of coincidences that are beginning to stir man's imagination.
It is a zone of no time and no space. It is in effect called the Black Hole of human reasoning because no of us has been able to venture there.
But the ancient ones in the East had been able to comprehend this effect to a limited extent. Lao Tze called it The Tao and it has remained as such over eons. The unnamed, enlightened ones who walked unidentified among us know the everything is linked.
For want of a better description, this is called the Butterfly Effect. The basic premise is that the fluttering of a butterfly's wings can affec the climatic conditions in the city of New York, half-way across the world.
Here is where the Mathematics of Chaos comes in. According to my limited knowledge, Chaos Theory was born one day when some scientists and mathematicians thought it would be fun to punch in numbers into the computer and watch the sequential numbers being generated and the patterns of its random behaviour.
Apparently, only computers can tolerate such a boring chain of events or the game as it is called. From the theory of chaos was born chaos systems. Again here, it was determined that chaos systems are not really that random. However, they are very sensitive to factors found at its birth. Thus, minuscule shifts at its fledging state can trigger enormous changes at its conclusion. Hence, the Butterfly Effect.
Scientists found out that Chaos Systems only appear to be disorderly. In reality, they are not. In fact, they have a sense of order. If you sometimes call the state of your workplace, an organised mess, you are in effect referring to the chaos system.
Picture this, two chess grandmasters are pitting their mental skills against each other. Over the long, silent hours, two minds match each other move for move. In the end, one surrenders, or it could be a draw when the end is inconclusive.
Kasparov, the Azarbajian chess grandmaster, has been known to refer to this intense state of chess play as finding order in the state of chaos. Now, are you getting the idea?
In the big game of mental gymnastics, mathematicians and scientists found out that there's an indelible link between fractals and chaos. It is recorded that fractal geometry is the geometry that paints a decipherable picture of the chaotic systems man finds in nature.
There are ways to describe geometry and fractal is the language that explains it. Fractal geometry is translatable by algorithms. It is a set of rules that point the way to fractals.
Computers being the unfeeling tangible structures explain the splendid images human view as fractal visions.
Then there's also the Euclidean Geometry. This branch of geometry deals with triangles, circles, lines and others.
The man who discovered this theory of chaos was a metereologist by the name of Edward Lorenz. He was trying to solve some problems relating to the weather and had lined up 12 equations. Just for fun, he experimented with the numbers and came up with different results.
Before you can shout his name Lorenz, he stumbled onto a fascinating avenue of mathematics that boggled his mind. And thus was born the theory of chaos. All this happened back in 1960. That's actually not so long ago.
From his magnificent discovery, Edward Lorenz later published his magnus opus work called the Lorenz Attractor. His mathematical solution was butterfly-shaped. So now you know. There's an order in his chaos theory, and it links science, mathematics and computers.
If you want to know more about this utterly fascinating subject, you should also read more about two other characters by the names of Benoit Mandelbrot and Gaston Julia. Mandelbrot is an expert in fractal geometry and Julia has been acclaimed as one of the forefathers of modern dynamical systems theory.
Now what am I leading to, you may ask. It's simple. Everything good you do will have an effect that stretches longer and further than you can ever imagine. So just think of some of the most ordinary good deeds that you have done or are going to do and think of all the wonderful effects it will have on earth and its inhabitants.
Just think about it this Christmas. That's your assignment!





There's a reason why you are clicking this!

Call all knife knuts

Looking at 2006 and beyond

I guess now is a good time as any to take stock of my life and view what the new year can bring. Here I am guilty, like many others, of thinking what 2006 can give me.
Actually, I should be planning to make things happen, rather than wait for things to happen. I guess that's the trouble with blokes like me. We are on a constant quest for adventures to take place in our lives.
We should be able to make things happen. That would be more exciting. So I shall rephrase my first statement. My New Year Resolution is to make good and positive things happen to my life and also to other people's lives.
The world is now at the razor's edge of big, radical changes. Don't ask me what because I am not a clairvoyant. I just feel it. If it's not one of those earth-altering climactic changes, it would probably be another earthquake of biblical proportions.
Before somebody hit me on the head and ask me to get out of town, I must remind them that the facts would back me up. In the past 24 months, statistics have shown that geological movements of earth-shattering levels have been gathering momentum and are occurring on a rather alarming basis.
Notice the buzz among seismologists and watchers of earth changes. The media too have been playing up these reports but as usual, few people give much credence to these news items. I guess it won't be long before we will be knocked off our feet by some unusual occurrences that will capture our attention for months on end.
Take for example, the 2004 December tsunami. Nobody really expected it because it was a bright, sunny day when it took place. There was only one guy who was overly concerned. He was that Thai chap who actually predicted that such a tsunami will take place in 2004.
His announcement was made in 1998. His own people called him crazy and accused him of trying to ruin the tourism trade. Well, as we all know now that he was dead on in his prediction. In fact, the Thai authorities were so impressed that they have recruited him into the government.
The people of this planet have been complacent for too long and have taken for granted too many blessings that have been bestowed on its inhabitants. We have clearly been found guilty of misusing and abusing many of these blessings. Earth is a living organism.
After millions of years, environmental changes will take place. Lately however, these changes have been hastened due to certain consequences engineered by man. To claim innocence would be ludicrous. Thus, polar caps are melting at a drastic rate. Global warming has become a hot topic and powerful hurricanes and typhoons are now wreaking havoc the world over.
End of times? Well, that remains to be seen. If you are the praying kind, I suggest you be more earnest now. Before it's all over, more physical damage will take place. Frankly, it's not really all about the upheavals on Mother Earth, it is about man's relation to the environment he's in, how he treats it and how he protects it.
It is also about his attitude towards what is beyond earth. Too much materialism and a preponderance towards personal advancement have put man and earth on a collision course. We can of course argue this issue till earth reaches another Ice Age but it is now more glaring than the past two hundred years.
I recall reading somewhere that these so-called earth-altering changes have been occurring with much rapidity over the past 20 years compared with the past 200 years. Looking on the bright side, if these catastrophic level happenings were to take place at any time in man's history, now would be a good time because man has in his hands technology that could minimise the damage and make repairs at great speed.
So that's one advantage. That is a small consolation for those who will eventually end up as part of a long casualty list but being cold-blooded about the whole thing helps to put things in perspective.
I wish there was some other way to ameliorate the whole earth-shattering issue but that won't change the course of events that will certainly take place in our lifetime. Call me an alarmist if you wish but it is a wiser move to make preparations than go out and have the time of your life.
So what can we do to prepare for such changes that are going to take place on earth and the changes that will force us to alter our lifestyles before long? Get prepared, I say.
Monitor the weather reports on TV and radio. Get ready to move out of harm's way. You wouldn't want to be in the path of a humungus tornado or hurricane, would you?
Seek alternative sites for "second homes". Don't hesitate to get out of the way if the authorities sound the alarm bells.
It would be good to walk the spiritual path at this time of your life. It may help to explain a lot of things that are happening. I don't want to get into a heavy discussion about God and his plans. Too many people are touchy about this subject but for those who understand what I am getting at, you will know what to do.
Even if you don't, you could pray now and then to seek spiritual guidance. If you ask earnestly enough with sincerity in its unadulterated form, you will get the answers.
The good news is THIS IS NOT THE END. From where I am coming from, there's neither the end, nor there's a beginning. It's good to learn to care for others if you don't have time to cultivate that kind of habit for a long time.
You will be surprised what you can learn. Since you really have nothing to lose, you should really try it. For perhaps the first time in your life, play the role of the good guy. If you are already a good guy, keep at it. Do it sincerely, happily and willingly.
The earth suffers from a drastic shortage of good guys. Too many want to be the celebrity. Too few choose the "servant" role. The secret of happiness lies in the latter.
And on my part, I shall pray for the rest of the world.





There's something to be said about taking the initiative.

Call all knife knuts

Simplicity

There was a time in my life when everything was pretty simple. I woke up in the morning or anytime I felt like waking up, and that would be fine with my parents. If I was hungry, I would just howler and everyone would come running.
I had no need to follow fashion. I did whatever I wanted to do, within limits, of course. Those were the days when simplicity was the operative word in my life. That was also the time when I was a toddler.
These days, there are more things to think about, to do and to worry over. But I am beginning to crave for those times when things were much simpler. If you were to ask a wise man what advice would he give to a professional hanging on to dear life on the fast lane, his wise counsel would probably be: "Simplify your life!"
I believe it is true. We need to simplify our lives. We really don't need two cars when one will do just fine. We really don't need to go for overseas trips twice a year when once in three years will be fine.
We don't need to wine and dine every week when we can eat at home and share great jokes with the family.
Some of the happiest people on earth lead very simple lives. They have simple homes with furniture that are very ordinary. Their needs are few and they have low expectations about most things.
When you simplify your life, the looking glass from which you view life becomes crystal clear. You begin to see things in the right perspective. You will begin to realise that when you live life according to your own rules, you don't need to live up to other people's expectations.
In other words, you don't need to keep up with the Joneses. You don't have "to keep up" with anybody. You are not concerned with other people's opinions and all that.
If you need to go somewhere and you don't have the proper transport, you just walk or try to hitch a ride. It's as simple as that. We don't need to feel that we owe anybody anything. We will tend to feel for others. This means when you invite guests to your home, you treat them like family.
Since you don't envy them over anything, you begin to like people in general. You don't aspire to be the president of any giant conglomerate, nor do you want to be the prettiest or the handsomest guy in the region. You merely want to be yourself.
Living simply also means that your philosophy of life will take some life-alterating turns on the highway of existence. You will appreciate the finer things in life like walking, viewing the scenery and making others happy. You would not want anything from them. You would not want to make your family unhappy because if they are sad, you would be too, soon.
A simple life means you don't need to slave away to earn big bucks so as to maintain a lifestyle that is reserved for people who crave for them.
Will you be satisfied with a simple life? Many who have tried it, love it and do not want to return to their previous lifestyle. If you get to live up to 90 years old and the last 20 years of your life is plain and simple, then truly you are blessed.
There's a saying that was said many years ago by someone who is very wise. It states: "Simplicity is the natural result of profound thought." Verily, I tell you that nugget of truth if truly understood will guarantee you a lifetime of happiness.
Live a simple life. The choice is yours. If you can do it and enjoy it, you will be the envy of a lot of people.





Sometimes life is full of surprises

Call all knife knuts

Mind - the final frontier

THE final frontier is not space as Captain Kirk would have told all of us a long, long time ago. The real final frontier is our mind. Actually, the mind is merely the gateway.
If you were to talk to a yogi or a zen master, they will tell you that it begins in the mind, then it leads to a realm even words cannot describe. If you want to call it the "final frontier", that's fine.
It is just there. You can't really describe it. It is an experience. It is the end of what's real to you and the beginning of what truly exists.
Let me put it this way. Nothing real can be threatened, nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God. This sentence is borrowed from someone whom I admired very much. She has spoken of things that have reached deep in my soul and awakened knowledge that has lain dormant for ages until the right time.
Her name is Helen Schumann. You may want to know more about her in your own spare time.
On its most basic level, it is from the mind that light bulbs were found. Same goes for vehicles with wheels and aircraft with wings. Leonardo da Vinci had produced some of mankind's most startling discoveries from the playground of his mind. Leonardo has also painted some of the world's most loved pictures from his mind's eye.
Hence, it is without dispute that the mind is the motherlode of all this is bright and beautiful and enduring. But there are those who venture into the labyrinth of the mind and emerge in other worlds that only a chosen few among us know of or are privileged to learn about.
In time to come, this privilege will be the property of others as well. Nevertheless, it exists - this final frontier as we call it. Those who have experienced it live to tell of wondrous things that the human imagination cannot conceive.
The dominion, if I can call it such, is the stuff that only God knows of. Once you have entered the final frontier and partake of its offerings, your life here and now will never be the same again.
You will no longer look at a flower as a mere flower. Creatures like insects and animals will no longer be alien to you. There is no more barrier. All will be understood. The communication barrier between non-human and human will no longer exist. The veil of obscurity will be lifted forevermore.
It will be a time for rejoicing because there will be no time. Happiness becomes as real as breathing in and breathing out.
You will no longer be concerned with temporal stuff because you see them for what they are. They are just things of little or no consequence in the whole marvellous scheme of things.
Life on earth becomes bridge leading you to miracles. Everything will be crystal clear. There won't be any need for explanation. Doubts vanish. Just being there is sufficient.
Before you were asleep, now you are awakened and all is pure joy of unhuman proportions. Know that all this is within grasp. There lies the hope of all mankind amid the so-called uncertainties that occupy the pages of our daily newspapers.
You are not alone. You are not a nobody. You are a spirit and it is enough for now for you to know that love is the most powerful gift that has been bestowed freely upon the human race. And in the end, it is all there is. Peace, my friends.





Sooner or later you are gonna find out money doesn't grow on trees!

Call all knife knuts

What is your purpose on Earth?

This question was asked once of me several decades ago when I was too young to know better and too old not to tell from right and wrong.
Now, I have the answer. It is to live as fully as I possibly can, give in return as much as I can afford and create as much joy as I can generate. And if I could and should do all these without taking my last breath, I can safely conclude that my life has been well lived and the angels are smiling as they welcome me in heaven.
Everybody's life must be for something. For one life to be meaningful, it must touch a thousand lives in a positive way. Who but us can do this and do it wilfully and joyously?
For is it not our pleasure to wait upon others? Has it not been said that it is in giving that we receive. So decrees the dictates of the laws of heaven.
Too many people harbour the notion that in hoarding as much as they can under the cover of the night, are they fulfilled. Countless others have fallen by the wayside, labouring under the illusion that to be frightfully rich in materialistic terms is to be successful. Is it not wiser to return as much as you can what you have received that you actually multiply your riches?
The spoils of the earth are as perishable as the food on your plate. It is in sharing that we partake in the joy of others. What profits a man who indulges in his own riches and not know the happiness he can create by offering his nuggets of happiness to others who may need them more than him.
The feelings of happiness cannot be erased by anyone. Once given, the joy stays. It becomes part of you and it eventually becomes you. If you have 10 million dollars, in real terms, the wealth accumulated is just paper. So long as the government of the day recognises its monetary value, you are deemed rich.
But then what is the definition of wealth? Wealth as compared to what? How do we label the very rich with the heavy security that they imposed upon their own physical lives as well as those who are close to them?
When material prosperity is equated with the shrinkiing of personal freedom, then where is the joy? If a rich man fears losing what he has already amassed in his lifetime and accumulated, then he has an equal proportion of fear to the volume of riches stored in the bank.
This naturallly leads back to the question: what is your purpose on earth?
If you are now 20 years old, you are apt to give a different answer to the above question as to when you are aged 60. A man at 60 has probably seen more, experienced more and lived more than a man of 20.
If at 60, you are still groping for answers to the eternal question, then it may be concluded that you have been trudging up the wrong avenue of life for a long time. If you gladly answered that your life has been well served by bringing joy and happiness to others, then others shall learn from you.
In our limited time on earth, the number of years lived is not important, even though many may diagreed. It is a life well lived, that others have benefited enormously that indicates a good life. How many of us can lay claim to this statement of life? How shall we account for our years on earth so far?
Life must surely be more than holidays overseas, cars, houses, money, family and loved ones. Many of us have all those mentioned and more but how many look beyond the obvious and see the light that shines from beyond our existence.
We are the walking lessons on this planet. We are the walking answers on this globe and we shall be the light that brighten up the world so created so that all is good will be fulfilled.
We must, we will and we can create the greatest version of the grandest vision of ourselves everyday of our lives on earth.





Maybe this is your destiny

Call all knife knuts

Born To Be Mild

Of course, everybody would like to be described as "born to be wild". Excuse me, but you are not a coyote so don't even try to entertain that idea.
But seriously, some of us think it's pretty cool to be labelled as such - "wild". Very few really know the connotations of born to be wild. If you are a member of the homo sapiens, then it usually does not carry very polite imaginings of that description.
If you are like me, you probably belong to the very broad belt of people who are "born mild". The meaning of born mild simply means that most of the time, you mind your own business.
You are definitely not the gung-ho type who are constantly on the lookout for emergency situations so that you can play the hero. If you find yourself smack right in the middle of the robbery in progress, you are apt to follow the robbers' orders to the letter, with your eyes closed and your head tucked between your legs.
Mild people are everywhere. That's why we generally have peace on earth. Those militant types will violently disagree with any general notion of being mild. Mild people usually make good spouses. They are not liable to exhibit sudden bursts of irrational behaviour or brave enough to get a mistress.
So that's pretty good, I guess. Mild individuals are also good providers because they are afraid to antagonise their better halves and get beaten up for being too "forward".
I am a mild person, or at least I think so. I haven't "rocked the boat" for ages. I normally agree with me boss in front of his face. I don't bad-mouth him behind his back because there are too many spies in the office. So I keep my opinions mainly to myself.
Besides, I am not sure if I will do a better job if I am sitting in his chair.
Born-to-be-wild people are unpredictable. They are so because it is in their nature. Just as it is in the nature of scorpions to sting. Count in the bees as well.
Wild people are fun to be with, some of the time. They are dangerous if you have them for company at a shady bar because if they provoke a fight, they are liable to protect themselves and leave you to the mercy of the burly others.
Wild people don't make very reliable friends, simply because they tend to act on their impulses. They are incorrigibly rash and have more adventurism in their blood than common sense.
A lot of people like wild individuals but they don't want to be them. They just want to join in the fun when all "hell breaks loose". Mild people have very mundance lives so they secretly crave for some unexpected happening, even if it has to be at someone else's expense.
Mild versus wild? You decide. If you survive a hairty situation. Write and tell me all about it.





Specially for the curious onlooker

Call all knife knuts

There's a master plan for you!

Very few people ever think that they are special but consider this:

* What if you have not been born in this particular family...
* What if you were born on the wrong side of the track in life...
* What if you are living in an impoverished country and were an orphan...
* What if you were born physically handicapped...
* What if you were born mentally challenged...
* What if you were a criminal destined to meet a violent end....eventually
* What if your wife had not met and married you, would she be as happy?
* What if you were not a father today and you don't have children to brighten up your life
* What if you had a different pair of parents and they are not as kind as the present ones
* What if you born to lead a labour-intensive life
* What if you were destined to walk down a life of many sorrows
* What if some of the people you know have not had their lives changed for the better because of association with you
* What if you were not around to give hope and joy to your closed friends, family members and other loved ones
* What if you were not around to lend a desperate person a hand, and this random act of kindness changed things for the better for that affected person
* What if you had not seen and experienced some of the finest cuisine ever laboured over in the kitchen
* What if you truly do not realise that you are indeed one of the luckiest people on earth
* What if you were not born to give others a chance to be good and kind
* What if you were not singled out to perform an act of extraordinary importance
* What if you were not the victim of some confidence trickster's deed and consequently did not learn to be a better man in future
* What if you didn't experience something traumatic and did not have a reason to alter life's priorities so that millions of others are the better for it





Just when you thought there's nothing interesting

Call all knife knuts

Coming Home For Christmas

It is during the Christmas season that I think of all those who are either working overseas, or on foreign assignment. These are the people who celebrate Christmas, who also want to go home and be with their families but simply can't.
My thoughts are with them. Today, I think of those Christmases that I have spent away from home in my early years. I try to remember those occasions now because both my parents have passed away. No matter how hard I try, I will never be able to "go home again" because the home is now devoid of the people I love.
Strange how it is that when one's parents are around, one always takes them for granted. Then one day, they are no longer around. Life had been good to them but it was their time to "let go" and they did.
At first, we hold on to some of those loving memories. Soon the years washed away even that. The memory of their dear remembered features are dissipating in the mists of time. I look at their pictures and recall the little, poignant moments when I was growing up. I think of those times when I made their lives a bit difficult.
Now I think of my own children and think of how they would envision me, 30 years from now. The circle of life goes round and round.
Coming home for Christmas is a feeling. A desire to be loved. A wish to be remembered in the best way possible. I recall the happy times as a child. I slip almost unconsciously into a dream-like chain of events that transformed my memories into childhood experiences.
It is Xmas time again. There is no snow in my country. Mistletoes are few and roast turkeys are very commercialised. I see big posters at major hotels advertising the "big moments" for all those who can afford it.
I ask myself what about the millions who can't afford a good time. Then I remember my "going home" bit. It is not the money but the effort in making the journey. The buses I have to take to get home. The slow walk home, of how everybody is still the same.
Occasionally, I noticed that some uncles and aunties were spotting grey hair, then I looked at my own in the mirror.
Without realising much, I knew I too am marching unconsciously with the others down life's long and winding road. Everybody grows old. It is inevitable, but our walk down memory lane will always be pleasant if we so wish it.
Christmas time makes me think of all those old childhood friends I sometimes miss. How are they now? Are their lives happy? Do they too think of friends, just like I do.
In countries where the Christmas spirit is not as strong as it is in Christian countries, Christmas keeps a low profile. We are only reminded of its proximity by the TV shows and advertisements either on radio or television.
Priests are constantly reminding us to make peace with God, not that the peace had left us in the first place but the men of the cloth are only doing their duties. Christmas mass is probably one of the few times in a year for some Christians to get re-acquainted with the church.
We need to be in touch with the spirit of Xmas the whole year round. That way, Christmas will always be with us one way or another. I love the spirit that somehow springs up during this time of the year. It is as if we should and we must be "our good old selves again". Why must it be only at Christmas time?
To be having the spirit burning in our hearts and souls is in a way "coming home for Christmas". And all of us can do it too. Why wait till Dec 25? Why must it be confined to one solitary day out of 365 days in a year?
Christmas lives. There is no time but now. It is heaven whenever we wish it so.
Therefore coming home for Christmas is actually the time when we are at peace with the world and coming to terms with all that is beautiful and good with this life. It is a time and a feeling that friends and loved ones must be cherished because our time with them is limited, and every second of every minute can be made all the more wonderful because we choose it to be so.





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Getting hot under the collar

IT'S times like this when one pines for a more efficient 21st century air-conditioned system. It is Sunday and I am in the office working. Many others are sleeping over the effects of a late Saturday event or have awakened to march to church for the Sunday service.
Here I am, loyal as ever, slaving away for the greater glory of what shall not be mine and the maintenance crew are off because it is a Sunday afterall. Just when one takes the cosy conditions of a modern office for granted, the roof caves in, metaphorically.
It's no fun sitting in an enclosure that does not have a proper ventilation system because it gets quite stuffy after a while.
On Sundays, only members of a few chosen professions turn up for work. Among them are policemen, hospital staff, journos, priests, pilots and street vendors. Frankly, on most normal working Sundays, I love it.
Working on Sundays is different from the weekdays because the office is quieter. You don't get distracted by the usual noisy crowd of non-working employees. Work gets done faster on Sundays because everyone wants to get back on the road and go home to spend time with their families.
I find Sundays a good time for inner reflection. It gives me time to go over what I am about the do in the days ahead. I find the solace beneficial for the soul. The solitude helps clear the cobwebs from my mind and somehow my bearings get re-aligned by themselves.
I heard it once and has seen it many times that "when the mind is silent, the universe surrenders". This kind of happens to me on some Sundays.
There is no rest for the sinners as they say. I am not proclaiming on top of the dining table that I am a saint but I find that anything I love doing is not considered "work".
Work that offers not scope for personal enjoyment is a chore. Not in my more mature years, I find few things or assignments disconcerting. I guess I can "see" better and envision more pleasant things ahead. It is called being on the threshold of wisdom. Age is not a prerequisite for being wise. A child of 10 can be wise beyond his years, just as a man who is 80 may not have made his exit from his childhood era. Life's like that.
Right now, the temperature in this office is soaring. Outside the temperature is probably about 32 degrees Farenheit. Since this is an equatorial country, the humidity is high and his taken for granted.
There is a discernible slackening of activity on the usually busy streets of the city. Fewer people are found on the streets. Most of the working class are at rest at home, recuperating for the next bout of activity beginning tomorrow (Monday).
I welcome each Sunday as if it is cool breeze from the sea. It brushes across my heart and soul like a celestial wind that conjures images and feelings of heaven on earth. Sunday should be a day of rest, except that the term "rest" is open to interpretation. For me, it is restful because I get to do the things I want. It offers an opportunity to slow down on the fast track of life.
I think of old friends, write messages of hope and joy and watch the world spinning towards another day in the endless line of millennia. I know life is more than Sundays, or even weekdays. Sundays serve just like a pit-stop where each individual gets to have his bearings re-aligned and his mind a respite. We all need that. It is given to us.
Don't ever sing again "Never on a Sunday". It should be "make everyday a Sunday".





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Jet Li - born to fight

ALMOST all movie viewers have heard of Jet Li. Not knowing who is Jet Li is just like a Christian saying he doesn't know who Jesus is.
In Pinyin, his name is spelt as Li Lianjie. Li's dad died when he was just two years old. His mother understandably was very protective of her little boy and sent him to the Wushu academy when Li was eight years old.
Jet Li's career in martial arts started when he became a member of the Beijing Wu Shu team. The team was formed to stage martial arts demonstrations in the All China Games. Naturally, membership comes with training in China's biggest contribution to the martial arts world.
Li's inherent familiarity with the fighting arts thrust him into the limelight when he garnered 15 gol medals and one silver in the annual Chinese Wu Shu tournaments.
In 1974, Li received the best all-round gold medal in the Young National Athletic Competition. He also got two other gold medals for broadsword display and the empty-hand demo.
In the following year in the 3rd Chinese Wu Shu Championships, Li collected gold in the Long Fist category and silver in the spear section.
From 1977 to 1979, he continued to receive gold medals in various events. By now, the whole country began to take notice of this naturally talented young man who seemed to be the answer to Hong Kong's Bruce Lee.
Some of Jet Li's more memorable movies are Shaolin Temple, Once Upon A Time In China, Fist of Legend and the Fong Sak-Yuk series.
Some of his more recent movies are Kiss of the Dragon, Romeo Must Die, Unleashed and From Cradle 2 Grave. His latest movie is Fearless. Jet Li has announced that Fearless will be his last martial arts movie.
Jet Li was quoted by the Shenzhen Daily saying "I stepped into the martial arts movie market when I was only 16. I think I have proved my ability in this field and it won't make sense for me to continue for another five or 10 years. Huo Yuanjia is a conclusion to my life as a martial arts star."
Jet Li is married to Nina Li Chi since 1999. The couple have two daughters. The actor was previously married to Qui-yan Huang. They married in 1987 and divorced in 1990. He has two daughters from that marriage.
It is little known that Jet Li was a victim of the 2004 Tsunami that hit south Asia. He was holidaying in Maldives at that time and a piece of furniture hit his foot. The injury was not serious.
So far, Jet Li has acted in 33 movies, both in Asia and in Hollywood.
At 42 years old, Jet Li is in the prime of his acting career. His birthday is April 26. From the acclaim he has received the world over, Jet Li's acting career is on the ascent. He will probably continue with his present path until such time when it is no longer in his favour.
In his private life, Jet Li is humble and has an easy-going nature. He was quick to admit that he wasn't interested in taking part in fighting tournaments and that in a real fight situation, he would probably lose to the professionals who have made a name for themselves.
Even though the Beijing-born actor is not in the same mould as Bruce Lee, nobody in the martial arts world is doubting his prowess as a genuine kung fu exponent. His many trophies simply cannot be ignored.
The Chinese people as a whole recognise that fact that when a wise man confesses to his vulnerability, his words actually speak volumes for his prodigious talents in his chosen field.
We wish Jet Li all the good luck in his future endeavours.





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Smile, and be a friend

In my office, now and then there are strangers sitting in our midst. These are young men and women who want to spend their well-earned holiday breaks from college with us, old foggies.
In some circles, they are called interns. I see them all the time, sitting alone quietly in their little corners. Often, too shy to say anything to anybody and keeping to their own PC space for weeks.
It's almost heartbreaking to see them this way day after day, week after week. Occasionally, I go over and make a "nuisance" of myself. My mission is to let them know that not all office veterans are unfeeling dogs who are always too preoccupied to make new friends.
It gives my heart a little jolt to see young people not knowing what to do in a foreign environment. I am constantly reminded of my children who are more or less their age. "How would I feel if my son or daughter is in that kind of situation," I sometimes tell myself.
So I will be, half-questioning their motive for being there, and half-interrogating them about their ambitions in life (not that they have given it deep thought). But it's always fun after the ice has been broken.
Most of these interns are actually quite nice. They are just shy. Unless they have been exposed to the working environment for some time, most of them are too timid to make the first move in bridging communication with another person.
Sometimes, it helps to be an office dinosaur. Nobody dares to say anything because you are simply too senior to take orders from anyone else. It's not so much feeling sorry for the young ones but giving them a helping hand on this journey of life when they will be meeting strangers and later and perhaps hopefully these strangers will or can become lifelong friends.
Life's too short to be bickering about who are the right people to talk to. We should be able to talk to anybody and it is none of our business to judge others by their facial expressions or their body language. I have found out to my dismay on many occasions how wrong I had been on first impressions.
Most people are very nice beneath the surface. They are just waiting for the chance to express their goodness. The boys or young men usually perform better under these circumstances because society expects it of them. The young ladies tend to have a harder time because they perceive that society will judge them too harshly if they are "too forward".
In this life of limited years (it's always limited even if you live up to 150 years), we should not bypass opportunities to make new friends. The idea is not to wait for the right time. There's really no right time. Anytime is just fine.
Making friends is easy. Just imagine yourself in that kind of situation and imagine how you would like to be treated. Then go ahead and do it. In other words, if you are that shy person sitting in that little corner, visualise how you like others to treat you in the nicest way. Then you go ahead and be that nice person whom you have just imagined.
The rest should be easy. If you have no expectations of a friendship, then none shall be expected of it. It's actually karma.
He who acts out of kindness shall meet kindness along the way.
This little experiment which is currently my pet project has been going on for sometime now. I am thrilled by the results of my little experiments. They help me grow as a person and I am simply humbled by the ongoing experiences.
We are never too old to learn anything good. All we have to do is to imagine the goodness expressing itself in our daily, normal behaviour. Then somehow the opportunities and experiences will come knocking at our door.
Imagine the years you have wasted in keeping to yourself. What a shame. Think of all the nice things you miss. All those golden opportunities that have pass you by because you have allowed it.
Life is meant to be lived to its fullest and every minute of the day should be cherished like it's a diamond or something terribly precious.





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Wish List for Christmas

Actually, I pretty have everything I need but there are always a few selfish items that sometimes gives life that added spice.
I wish I have a bigger and better motorcycle. The present one is adequate but it's also ageing, so it is about time I think seriously abour retiring it.
I wish I have a second house. Now, I know that's greedy but the present one is getting all cluttered up. Perhaps it's time to do some spring-cleaning of the old house. Humans are so dissatisfied with all that they have. I guess you could say I am standing on the fringe.
I wish I can just get up and take the entire family for a good vacation across the border. But somehow, not everybody can just get up and go. We have to synchronise our schedules and perhaps even our watches. Work schedules do not permit a harmony in holiday plans but I am sure something can be worked out if we really sit down and think it through.
I wish I can get a few more great fixed blades and folders of my choice. It's a bit late in the evening to consider expanding my knife collection but there's never a really good time. Anytime is always a good time for me.
Yes, I am a knife enthusiast. Among my so-called circle, we are known as knife knuts. We appreciate all the well made sharpened tools. Now and then, we find one which we really like and purchase it. Then, we spent months playing around with it, staring at it, cutting paper with it and then putting it among the others in one of the many drawers in the house.
I wish I could help desperate people in a nice and unacknowledged way. That's the way to do it, isn't it?
Right now, I am feeling the effects of a shortened night of rest. I could do with a few more hours of sleep. I could be lying in a waterbed with soft music in the background and a fragrance that lightens the stress-load of the day and eases every tired muscle in my body. Ahhhh... that's life. That's one of my dearest wishes.
I wish peace will reign over the holy land, that there will be permanent peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis; that there will be a solution to the alarming AIDS situation in the African continent.
I wish that the dreaded Avian Flu will find its own journey's end soo. I wish there will be no famine-stricken areas in this world.
I wish that there won't be a repeat of the Tsunami anywhere around the world. I wish tornadoes, hurricanes and typhoons will be phenomena of the past and I wish the the troubled spots in the world will be swept by the winds of peace.
I wish Iraq and her citizens will find peace, joy, jobs, water and electricity all at one go.
I wish all the orphans in the world will find happiness and joy wherever they are. I wish every widow will not shed a single tear in their entire lives. I wish all criminals will return to the path of righteousness.
There may be alarming signs coming from the North Pole but I wish people are now living in the path of danger will find higher ground and be away from harm's way when the roof caves in.
I wish there will be better movies coming in the next 3 months and I wish I will never suffer a day of illness for the rest of my natural life.





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Isn't there any good news?

IT'S depressing to read the newspapers these days. The usual fare covers the regular suicide bombings in Iraq, Avian Flu, AIDS, child prostitution, violent deaths and gruesome road accidents.
I know all these make the headlines but sometimes I like to read Mother Teresa-type of stories. Ordinary people helping people who are worse-off than them. We sure could use some good news on a daily basis.
It's no fun coming across articles like one misguided chap, male or female, blowing himself up and taking 20 other innocent lives in the process. I want to read articles and reports that make me want to get up from chair and shout, "now that's what I call living!"
Newspapers are not only the harbingers of sad and bad news, it is also the hailer of wonderful discoveries, historic events and unusually lucky breaks for ordinary blokes. Magazines and newspapers have a responsibility to give people hope, joy and some peace of mind.
We don't want to read stories about how our neighbours staying two roads away had been murdered in their sleep and their house was burnt to cinders as well. Ordinary citizens don't want to learn all the safety measures to take when they go for a holiday, or how to keep their children away from drug dealers. What kind of life is that if we have to be on our guard all the time, or live in fear everyday of the rest of our lives?
Mothers want to know that their children can go to school safely and not be in any danger of being kidnapped. We want to keep our children away from pornography and other forms of smut.
We want to know there are saints walking among us. We want to hear stories about "angels" who carry out random acts of kindness and charitable deeds without claiming any knowledge of them.
Good news can make us want to do good ourselves. We are basically nice people. Most of us wait for a chance to do good. That shouldn't be so. We can do good without any prompting but human beings are such shy creatures. We need to be given a nudge or two.
No wonder some bibles are called Good News. For heaven's sake, we need good news. I need good news.
That is why the term "feel-good" has come into play in recent years. We label some movies that make our hearts jump for joy as "feel-good" movies. Some of us actually feel ashamed to call anything "feel-good", as if it is a crime to be label as such.
I recall back about 30 to 40 years ago, there were a host of movies coming out of Hollywood that were filled with all kinds of hopeful messages. They rekindled the confidence people have in their own kind.
I remember one most vividly. It was It's A Wonderful Life. It was so uplifting that years later I still pine for that movie. In fact, I am looking for a DVD version of it but have failed so far. It is a movie that every family should watch over and over again until the moral of the story is deeply embedded in their psyche.
The Canadian singer Anne Murray once sang a song that goes something like this: "There's only good news today...." I remember that song very well and I like it very much. It reflects my own philosophy of life.
Everyday, when I read the newspapers, I deliberately look for stories that have a positive spin. Stories like that remind me that there are good things happening out there without our knowledge all the time. Good stories serve as beacons of hope for all those looking for the light.
In such gloomy times of economic stresses and unnatural disasters, stories of joy, hope, happiness and peace are welcomed like warm blankets and hot cups of coffee on a cold winter night.
So let's pray for good news to come our way, everyday in everyway. Amen.





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How to live up to 120.....

Okay, I was just kidding. But you can lead a relatively trouble-free life, as far as illness is concerned, by following a few simple rules.
Number one, you should take long walks. I don't care where you go and how you do it, so long as you walk, walk and walk. You can actually do it in shopping malls, airports and shopping arcades. Doctors will tell you that 10-minute walks will do your body a lot of good.
Two, condition your lungs and body to take in deep, restful breaths. Slow down the deep breaths, too. Researchers recently found out that long, deep breaths do wonderful things for your blood pressure and immune systems. The ancient ones in the East knew about this a very long time ago. That's why you read about it in kung fu manuals and see the movements in tai chi and qigong exercises.
Three, drinks a lot of water but don't drown in fluid. Ordinarily, people don't drink enough. Some people drink all the wrong fluids. Plain water is just fine. No need to sweeten it.
Four, free your mind from worries. This takes some doing but try it anyway. You should learn to drop at least one persistent worry a day. If you can keep it up for two weeks, you would have lighten your mental burden by a large margin.
Five, feel the love that is inherent in your heart. Don't be afraid to care for people. Some people are so afraid to feel for others. They are frighten that others will take advantage of them, or their feelings will not be reciprocated or that they will be open to abuse or get hurt easily.
If you feel the love in you, that feeling will remain a constant and nothing, absolutely nothing can hurt you or it. That is a promise by God himself. Surely, you trust him, don't you?
Six, do not care so much about what others think of you. For goodness sake, there are so many people in this world. It is quite tiring to live by the dictates of others. Just be yourself. Challenge yourself all the time. Don't let others challenge you. You live your life. Don't let others live it for you.
Seven, don't abuse your body by eating everything and anything in sight. The idea is moderation. You can eat almost anything you like but know your limits. The body is just an organism that has to live by the rules of anatomy, so there are limitations. Recognise them and then, live and eat wisely.
Eight, smile often. It is called conditioning. It is something that triggers the feel-good gene in another human being. It is the innate good habit that lives in all of us, young and old, big or small.
Nine, try to live as simply as possible. Do not crave too deeply or too passionately that may not be good for you. For example, try to emulate John Travolta's life by having two planes parked on your porch. Look, there can only be one John Travolta or maybe one other person similar to him. Just be yourself.
Also, don't aspire to be another Howard Hughes. Look what happened to him? Being a billionaire can be a horrendous way of living a life. It's not for everyone. Yes, Bill Gates may be having fun but he too has problems that may be similar to yours. I keep telling friends that millionaires are always living a life of quiet desperation. Why they are desperate, I do not venture to guess but I know they are "desperate" in their own way. Also, money can't solve a lot of things. Believe me, I know.
Ten, nourish your soul. Even if you are an agnostic, be realistic and know that there's a world beyond this one and there are other things that man the intelligent being does not know. Albert Einstein was clearly in awe of the unknown and God. C.S. Lewis the famous British author also knows much about religion.
If these very clever people are so humble about things they don't know much about, we shouldn't behave as if we know too much already. Be humble. Make humility part of your persona, and you will be fine.
If you know anything more, email me. I am here to learn, just as much as you are.





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What it's like to be a teetotaller

IF YOU are a drinker whether a social one or habitual, then this is not an issue with you. However, if you are a non-drinker, it means you can be persuaded by the occasion or by peer pressure.
At the bottom of the totem pole lies the Teetotaller. Why is he so lowly? It's because he's the pariah of all drinking sessions and a disgrace to the Press Corps, so it has been alleged.
In this world of an expanding legion of alcoholics, the teetotaller is someone not welcomed in the company of those whose breath can set the room ablaze with the tiniest spark.
I have been a teetotaller for as long as I know. It has not been an easy journey. My colleagues make fun of me. Some gave me grudging respect but it was fleeting. Women who have daughters of marriageable age cast strange looks in my direction. My friends said to me it could be the "vetting look".
Recently, I was in the company of some drinkers and they were merrily downing one glass after another of some of the finest wines that Australia has to offer. Of course, the experts among twirled the precious liquid with their tongues and sniffed the fragrance of the matured juice with a skill born of much nocturnal sessions.
Opinions were exchanged and the facts and figures of weather, soil and the climatic conditions of the time the grapes were harvested were duly traded to substantiate the rebuttals.
I could have been standing in a room of wine connoisseurs and be totally befuddled by the academic intercourse. It transpired that a number among the small crowd noticed that I adroitly avoided the filled glasses.
One small question revealed that I am a non-member of that esteemed club. They looked at me, not strangely, but a little puzzled. I just told them it was a personal decision made a long time ago. What I had not added was that the decision was made since I was born.
The thing about drinking is if you know you had enough then it will be great but often when the conversation is stimulating and the company you are keeping is so exhilarating, you tend to forget the number of glasses that you have consumed.
If you just happen to be a party animal, your senses will abandon you after the 9 glass, although you will later remember that you only had five. The dangerous consequence of drink driving is that you are clearly not in a position to commandeer any vehicle.
Your sense of judgment has obviously been impaired. If you are unlucky, nobody really cares too much for your health, or the others around you are in a similar situation. The horrible effect of all this is someone may pay with his life for your bad judgment.
This situation has happened so many times, it does not call for an expert opinion.
In countries where society takes a liberal view towards the consumption of alcohol, accidents and tragedies linked to the bottle abound in news reports and television news. Still, people in general are secure in their own beliefs that they are immune from such consequences.
Since time immemorial, homo sapiens have a penchant for drinking themselves to oblivion or walking around with beet root-coloured faces for hours until the effects wore off. Do we really care? No, not really, unless it happens to someone close to us. It's only then our protective behaviour comes into play.
When I was little, I realise for some inexplicable reason that I shouldn't drink. Not that I had any reason to avoid wine, champagne, beer or the illegal moonshine. Nobody in my family has any particular liking for the bottle. We were not known as drinkers. Partly, it's because we couldn't afford to anyway.
In my more mature years, I saw the pitfalls of drinking to excess and the subtle road to personal ruin for some unlucky blokes. A few of my friends ended up as alcoholics without admitting to themselves.
These people began a gradual decline to skid row without any loved ones issuing any warnings or sound advice. All these anecdotes only strengthened my resolve to stick to my course.
So I am a teetotaller. I have no burning ambition to convert anybody to my cause or preference. I only know I do save some money by avoiding alcohol and women colleagues trust me when I drive them home. At least, they know that my hands are steady on the steering wheel. And when I talk, I won't slur or say anything embarrassing to them or embarrassing for myself.
Being a non-drinker spells out to be a journey without the related hitches that could have otherwise complicate my life. It is not a surefire way to a life of everlasting happiness but it is one way of not having an extra burden that could later make my journey of life a troublesome one.





Try this if you're are bored

Call all knife knuts

The Grand Illusion

The common denomintor among all living human beings is the desire to own as many material treasures as one can amass in a single lifetime. While this can be rather challenging experience if one is up to it, the passion for acquiring tangible items can also be a trying experience of intensive-care proportions.
Many of us, at one time or another, envies those who belong the super rich category. We think they "have arrived", "have made it", "have touched base" or "simply have nothing to worry about".
How I wish I could agree with all those notions. If wealth is the factor that determines happiness or peace of mind, then only the rich will have those qualities. Strangely, a lot of rich folks are seldom happy. Most of the time, they are worried about losing their money or how to keep it a secret.
Thus, the purpose of this life is to find out the secret of a meaningful eartly existence, and NOT how to get rich in the shortest time possible. If we think in the latter, then we will join the majority in the unhappy camp.
Thus, it is all a grand illusion. I mean this pursuit of fame and fortune. Yes, it can be quite thrilling to buy anything you want, go anywhere you want and live anywhere you desire. But surely, we humans are born for nobler things. How many superduper toys do you want to make you happy?
If you think about it seriously, most of us are quite infantile in our wants. Our needs are limited. We need food, shelter, a bed, some money and a few other minor stuff.
Basically, the ordinary human being is greedy. We are seldom satisfied. Many of us are conditioned by society without realising it. Most of us don't need a million dollars but we want it nevertheless. Forget the fact that most of us actually don't deserve it. We think we do but we don't. That is a moral issue, of course.
Therefore, the grand illusion of life is that we human beings need all those big cars, huge houses, beautiful clothese, fantastic families to achieve happiness. Truth be told, these are all perishable stuff, much like vegetables. Ask yourself, how many plates of vegetables can you consume in a single sitting.
I also have heard of the line, "I have been rich and I have been poor. It's better to be rich." It's a nice line to use during a conversation because it seems to have some semblance of truth in it.
The enlightened ones among us will reserve judgment on this one because to comment would be to invite a reply or rebuttal. Either of which won't contribute anything beneficial to the conversation.
So next time when you are browsing through a brochure of beautiful things, ask yourself what do you already have in your drawers, cupboard or storeroom. Also, don't forget to check how many of the things you have bought that you actually use.
If you are like those people who buy for fun and forget to use the items they have purchase, it's time to re-assess your priorities. It's really no fun to buy, buy and buy. After a while, it can become a mini obsession. By then, it's no longer funny.
The last that I want to pen here is: Take what you need and nothing more.





Try this if you're are bored

Call all knife knuts

Being proactive about passive income

This is a subject that is close to many of our hearts. Who doesn't want to earn money with the least amount of effort? Practically, nobody!
Now if you are the heir to a billion-dollar empire - that's passive income. Thank god for a rich dad or granddad. However, very, very few of us are born with a silver spoon in our mouths. In fact, we are all born crying for various reasons.
For many of us, the crying stops soon enough. Then we go through life thinking of striking rich with the jumbo lottery. That's quite okay, except a few million others are also having the same thought.
Hence, today in this modern world, plenty, I mean really plenty of people are always entertaining ideas of making it in life with nominal physical exertions. In other words, sleep and earn money.
Actually, only a chosen few in this world are accorded this privilege and that too they are born with that kind of destiny or fate.
These days, the passive income syndrome is a privilege of a selected few among, say, a million of people. The good news is it can be done. The bad news is you are probably not the lucky one.
Now people say luck comes to the most prepared person. Some smart alec actually coined that phrase. And it's true. You are "lucky" if you have done your homework, or have worked countless hours towards achieving a certain destiny.
I, for one, would like to know how it can be done. I know it can be done but the knack is I don't have the secret formula. A lot of people think they have the secret formula but normally what they want is to "ride on your back" so that you can "carry them across the river".
Realistically, life's like that. Nobody is going to come up to you and say "here's a million bucks. Take it. I am feeling generous and you are the first random person I have chosen to enjoy my hard-earned fortune. Phooey! This kind of scenario belongs to television.
A friend of mine has thought hard and long about this. Both of us have agreed that this can be done. The problem is both of us have absolutely no idea how to do it, just yet.
Now that's the dilemma. I wish the passive income formula will appear to me in a dream but I always dream of silly things. So that doesn't count.
If I discover the secret, you can be sure you won't be the first to know. ha. ha.





Try this if you're are bored

Call all knife knuts

See through a child's eyes

One of the greatest compliments I received recently was "It's amazing that you can still be wondered!" I take it to mean that I continue to find new things in life that amaze me.
Why shouldn't that happen to other people as well? Is it because most of us are now jaded? Have most of us really seen and experienced everything that is worth experiencing?
I believe the best times in life have yet to come. Have you ever seen a child looking at things which are new to him. He is wide-eyed and his attention is intense. Later on in life, we sometimes hear the remark "that wide-eyed kid". That is not supposed to be a compliment.
That's a crying shame. All of us need to be wide-eyed kids again if we are ever going to drink from the holy grail of life. We must treat ordinary things as being extraordinary and look at friends, loved ones and office colleagues in new light.
It's a wonderful experience. We have so long taken so many things for granted that our grasp on life has slackened. It is not good news that we can no longer be surprised; that we can no longer be amazed or astounded or be stunned by new discoveries.
There are so many things that can and should continue to jolt our presence state of mind. Yes, many of us have spent decades on earth. If we are humble enough, we would admit that there's much we have not seen. This is God's earth and it holds endless stream of new happenings, discoveries, creatures and intangible beauties that we have not yet experienced.
We should tell ourselves that the next time we look at something which may seem ordinary, we should become a kid again, staring at it as if we have not seen it before. We try and absorb every visual atom of that subject before our human eyes. We take it the multitude of colours and the vibrancy of the object. Most importantly, we should take our time learning about our new found discovery.
If we can do that and enjoy it all, we shall never again be bored, be sad or be unhappy for the rest of our days on earth. The secret of longevity and child-like happiness lies in the way we look at life and all things related to life.
Be like a child and live forevermore.





Try this if you're are bored

Call all knife knuts

Just Get Up And Go

SOMETIMES, it is a terrific learning experience when one ventures beyond one's own country. Recently, I had the opportunity of wandering the fair city of Melbourne, Australia for a couple of days.
It is always fascinating to wake up in the morning, popped into the street and get blasted by a rush of cold air, quite unlike that of one's own country. At 22 degrees, the atmosphere is simply exhilarating.
One of the positive effects of such climatic conditions is that a person doesn't sweat so easily even hours of walking. Melbourne's weather is generally cooling. The sky is always clear. Well, it is spring afterall, and not even summer yet.
The sun is bright most of the time but it is not humid and it is dry. I reckon all the humidity we get in the tropical region activates our sweat glands and thus the surface of our skin is always moist.
A friend advised me to apply moisturiser on my skin before my "whole face falls off". Fortunately, I didn't stand long enough in the beautiful city to get the full effect of the dryness of the place.
Nevertheless, Melbourne being a foreign city opens up a vista of visual delights. Motorists are surprisingly well mannered. I thought...shame on those I find on our own streets. Pedestrians are always given the right of way. What a wonderful experience, just by walking on the streets.
There are quaint little lanes that offer respite in the form of tiny cafes and charming stalls that sell memorable souvenirs. Strangely, there are no many elderly people walking about. Where did they all go? Probably, at home reading or resting.
Young people throng the streets at all hours of the day. They walk fast, talk fast and generally seem to be in a hurry all the time.
If you are an Asian who are used to spicy food, Melbourne will take some getting used to. The food here is oriented towards the Western palate. Not that they are not good but they are just different. But Melbourne is diversifying in the culinary sector.
There is a profusion of cuisine from different cultures due to its expanding cosmopolitan personality. There is also the mushrooming of fusion food. That means Japanese sushi goes together with Aussie kangaroo meat and king prawns cooked Chinese style all on the same table, served together with red or white wine or green tea.
Perhaps it might not be wise to order all those dishes at the same time. One might have to make an unscheduled visit to the Gents room.
Social behaviour comes as a bit of a cultural shock. Shop assistants are constantly enquiring as to your desires and wishes but you know that they have been programmed to talk like that. At certain places, they sound almost like a tape recorder.
However, there are other places where the workers are more down-to-earth and friendlier. City tends to make people a bit more impersonal. I guess it's the concentration of so many people within a given square kilometre. But people are generally the same everywhere, if you smile or crack a joke, they will respond accordingly.
For example, at the Melbourne airport, the airport check-in officer was a jovial chap. He must be delighted by my choice of Aussie cowboy hat because I was one of the few guys around donning a genuine leather hat made in Australia. He asked how was my day, and I greeted him heartily with a "very good" remark. We exchanged some pleasantries and parted like old friends.
Melbourne is definitely one of the better cities around the world. In fact, last year in a survey of 130 cities, Melbourne received the thumbs up as the No. 1 city to stay in the world. Now, that's quite an honour.
It was my maiden voyage, so to speak, to the State of Victoria's finest city. The pleasure was all mine. I am glad someone almost gave me a kick in the behind to push me on this journey of a thousand delights.
Sometimes in life, one has to wander outside one's boundaries to discover the loveliness that abounds beyond one's shores. If I can, I will make a return visit to this city of 3.5 million people. It has an excellent mix of people, many of them are quite colourful.
I didn't feel the tension or the stress that exists in some other cities. It has a relaxing air of an easygoing metropolitan. Australia is proud of Melbourne in so many ways. No wonder Asians who are able, make Melbourne their No. 1 choice outside their own city.
G'donya, you Aussie mates. I will be keeping my fingers crossed for a return visit soon. What a marvellous city you have got there. Well done and keep it up.