I have always told my staff that no one is indispensable.This week I realise that this is not altogether true.Mum had to go to Singapore for one week and the Ara family was thrown into shambles!Poor Aaron had to get ready early to go over to the other garndparents' house,his mum and dad had to adjust their schedules and Aaron had to adjust to his new environment.In the process he missed his half boiled egg,fish,vitamins and whatever goodies grandma gave him.On top of that he missed his walks in the evening and his morning bicycle rides.More importantly his sleep time ,tv time were all upside down.
For the adults we missed our home cooked dinners and the family chats after the dinner.For me eating out is no issue,can eat anything but poor Book missed all his healthy dinners like his steamed fish,vegetables and soup which mum would always make sure are there for him.
Yes ,there is somebody who is indispensable and that is mum!I'm sure the Ang family will enjoy her presence in Spore,so people tell her how much we appreciate her and how indispensable she is.She deserves it!And more importantly show how much she is being appreciated.!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
My lucky day
Sunday had a golf game with a few good friends at Lembah Beringin golf course.It was a beautiful day and we were all enjoying the game until the 6th hole a par 5.Richard Leong my good friend was behind me and I was actually beside a small tree when he hit his second shot.Bang! Something hit me on my right thigh and woo suddenly excruciating pain and the next thing I was lying on the ground suddenly realising I was hit by Richard's ball.
The friends came rushing over and I grinned at them and thought "Lucky Richard is not such a sharpshooter.The ball could have hit a bony part of a few inches higher I would be a eunuch!As it turned out he hit the fleshy part of the thigh and I was none the worse after a few minutes and the heck of it all continued playing.
Lessons learnt:
1.Never stand in front of somebody when he hits the ball.He can go anywhere but straight.
2.Wait for your turn to hit the ball.That's what golf etiquette is all about.
3.Do not be impatient when you play golf,its supposed to be your day off and you cant enjoy a round of golf if you are in a hurry.
The effects:
1.Richard felt real bad and called me up on Monday to offer to buy lunch but I told him it was just an accident and to forget about it.
2.I have a big blueblack mark on my thigh and I reckon it will be some time before it goes off and the pain is still there.
3.Mind can control matter,though in pain I finished the rest of the 18 holes because we had paid for the game and I did not want my friends to miss their Sunday golf.
The friends came rushing over and I grinned at them and thought "Lucky Richard is not such a sharpshooter.The ball could have hit a bony part of a few inches higher I would be a eunuch!As it turned out he hit the fleshy part of the thigh and I was none the worse after a few minutes and the heck of it all continued playing.
Lessons learnt:
1.Never stand in front of somebody when he hits the ball.He can go anywhere but straight.
2.Wait for your turn to hit the ball.That's what golf etiquette is all about.
3.Do not be impatient when you play golf,its supposed to be your day off and you cant enjoy a round of golf if you are in a hurry.
The effects:
1.Richard felt real bad and called me up on Monday to offer to buy lunch but I told him it was just an accident and to forget about it.
2.I have a big blueblack mark on my thigh and I reckon it will be some time before it goes off and the pain is still there.
3.Mind can control matter,though in pain I finished the rest of the 18 holes because we had paid for the game and I did not want my friends to miss their Sunday golf.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Life's blessings
Very often we bemoan the fact that we lack a lot of things and also the little problems that are bound to crop up in our daily lives.This kind of attitude will for sure make one unhappy or stressed.Why not look at the bright side of things of which there are so many?
Thank God that you have good health and be grateful that we have our loved ones with us or by our side.Look at the orphans ,the discarded old people in the old folks home sitting there with blank looks on their faces asking themselves how come their children have the hearts or none to put them there?Look at the vagrants sleeping by the roadside with no roof over their head,look at the millions of people starving without the basic necessities of life,look at those who share one little fish or meat or none at all with so many family members,look at the people who live in darkness and have never been to places which we are bored to go,look at those who cannot see,cannot walk,cannot talk or hear ,cannot walk ,have no hands or legs and you will then begin to appreciate the fact that you are so fortunate and that we take a lot of things for granted.
Think positive,always look at the bright side of things,look at the good side of people,value the things or the people who are with you and you will find that you yourself become a happier person and life becomes a little bit more beautiful!
Thank God that you have good health and be grateful that we have our loved ones with us or by our side.Look at the orphans ,the discarded old people in the old folks home sitting there with blank looks on their faces asking themselves how come their children have the hearts or none to put them there?Look at the vagrants sleeping by the roadside with no roof over their head,look at the millions of people starving without the basic necessities of life,look at those who share one little fish or meat or none at all with so many family members,look at the people who live in darkness and have never been to places which we are bored to go,look at those who cannot see,cannot walk,cannot talk or hear ,cannot walk ,have no hands or legs and you will then begin to appreciate the fact that you are so fortunate and that we take a lot of things for granted.
Think positive,always look at the bright side of things,look at the good side of people,value the things or the people who are with you and you will find that you yourself become a happier person and life becomes a little bit more beautiful!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
The simple things in life
So often we get caught up in the daily hassle of making a living we forget the simple things in life.When was the last time you stopped to look at the beauty of nature?The trees,the flowers,the sound of birds and the beautiful sight of birds in flight,(I love the smell of freshly cut grass when I play golf).Feel the refreshing water when you take a shower and feel how good it makes you feel after that.
A simple meal with people whom you love and care for is so tasty and fulfilling,looking at little children play and their squeals of delight,the innocence of their faces are joyful things to experience.
Ever enjoyed the cool breeze at night outside the house or just take a little walk in the cool night air?Ever looked at the plants you water and see them come alive?
Indeed we have become so materialistic that we forget that there are simple things in life which do not need money to buy but which can nevertheless give us so much .Now and then we need to remind ourselves that there is more to life than the mad chase for materialistic satisfaction.
People go round the world only to realise that the best place in the world is your own home.Dont we ever get the feeling when we travel that we want to come home?And we miss our home however simple it may be?Why so ?Simple ...our house is also our home with all the people whom we care for there.Imagine staying in the most posh mansion with you as the only occupant!A super house but an empty home .I would prefer a small little shack but with all whom I love rather than a big posh mansion with no one.
Look at the people in the kampongs,how they live.They are poor relatively but happy.That makes the difference.
Go back to a simple life,revert back to age old values which our parents taught us and we will find perhaps a little bit more meaning in our lives,feel better and look at things and people around us in different perspectives.
A simple meal with people whom you love and care for is so tasty and fulfilling,looking at little children play and their squeals of delight,the innocence of their faces are joyful things to experience.
Ever enjoyed the cool breeze at night outside the house or just take a little walk in the cool night air?Ever looked at the plants you water and see them come alive?
Indeed we have become so materialistic that we forget that there are simple things in life which do not need money to buy but which can nevertheless give us so much .Now and then we need to remind ourselves that there is more to life than the mad chase for materialistic satisfaction.
People go round the world only to realise that the best place in the world is your own home.Dont we ever get the feeling when we travel that we want to come home?And we miss our home however simple it may be?Why so ?Simple ...our house is also our home with all the people whom we care for there.Imagine staying in the most posh mansion with you as the only occupant!A super house but an empty home .I would prefer a small little shack but with all whom I love rather than a big posh mansion with no one.
Look at the people in the kampongs,how they live.They are poor relatively but happy.That makes the difference.
Go back to a simple life,revert back to age old values which our parents taught us and we will find perhaps a little bit more meaning in our lives,feel better and look at things and people around us in different perspectives.
Monday, June 21, 2010
The art of listening
How many of us know how to listen?Most people like to talk and maybe know how to talk but few know how to listen.The ears are like a receiver disc ,they take in whatever sound coming from anywhere and through understanding of language the sounds go to the brain for interpretation and through this process comes understanding of what the sounds mean.
To be a good listener you have to focus on what the other person is trying to tell you and to do this you must listen.After this you have to analyze what is being said and think about it and accept it if it makes sense.But if you dont even know how to LISTEN in the first instance how do you get the message and how do you learn through listening?
I have come across people whom you feel are not with you whenever you talk to them.Its because they dont give you the impression that they are even listening to you.How so?When you talk to them they dont look at you or are fidgetting with something or their eyes are not looking at you.These are the people who are not listening and people who dont listen are the worst people to talk to.
So if you want to be a good listener learn how to look at the speaker,stop whatever you are doing and focus,then you can think about what he is trying to tell you ,digest it and in the process you will learn a lot of things.People will not waste time talking to you if they feel you dont LISTEN!!!!
To be a good listener you have to focus on what the other person is trying to tell you and to do this you must listen.After this you have to analyze what is being said and think about it and accept it if it makes sense.But if you dont even know how to LISTEN in the first instance how do you get the message and how do you learn through listening?
I have come across people whom you feel are not with you whenever you talk to them.Its because they dont give you the impression that they are even listening to you.How so?When you talk to them they dont look at you or are fidgetting with something or their eyes are not looking at you.These are the people who are not listening and people who dont listen are the worst people to talk to.
So if you want to be a good listener learn how to look at the speaker,stop whatever you are doing and focus,then you can think about what he is trying to tell you ,digest it and in the process you will learn a lot of things.People will not waste time talking to you if they feel you dont LISTEN!!!!
Friday, June 18, 2010
health and wealth
How many of us take good health for granted?Good health like wealth is an accumulation of various things over the years.What Things?
1.Exercise..a fit body is a healthy body.
2.Food.Eating the right kind of food and always in moderation are the right principles to always keep in mind.
3.Rest and sleep.The old maxim "Early to bed early to rise" makes a lot of sense and more so when we practise it.
4.Water.Make sure we drink a lot of water as its the best detox and flushes out the unwanted waste from our system.
5.Fruits .Brocolli,carrots,apples, oranges,bananas,tomatoes...you never go wrong with these.
6.Daily supplements.A must.For me for years I have never failed to take my Pharmaton,E,C and now fish oil.Our body needs the extra nutrients to cope with today's hectic lifestyle.
7.Mental relaxation. Give yourself a few minutes everyday when you just sit or lie down and let the mind go completely blank.See how refreshed you are after this little break!.
And at the end of the day take time to do your regular medical check up.
1.Exercise..a fit body is a healthy body.
2.Food.Eating the right kind of food and always in moderation are the right principles to always keep in mind.
3.Rest and sleep.The old maxim "Early to bed early to rise" makes a lot of sense and more so when we practise it.
4.Water.Make sure we drink a lot of water as its the best detox and flushes out the unwanted waste from our system.
5.Fruits .Brocolli,carrots,apples, oranges,bananas,tomatoes...you never go wrong with these.
6.Daily supplements.A must.For me for years I have never failed to take my Pharmaton,E,C and now fish oil.Our body needs the extra nutrients to cope with today's hectic lifestyle.
7.Mental relaxation. Give yourself a few minutes everyday when you just sit or lie down and let the mind go completely blank.See how refreshed you are after this little break!.
And at the end of the day take time to do your regular medical check up.
Crazy golfers
Thursday three of my golf kakis from Ipoh decided to come down and whack the old man.We fixed the venue at Tasik Putri Golf course near Rawang .It was a long drive from Ipoh but the thought of slaughtering me was enough motivation.
We teed off at 9 am .The weather was beautiful ,cloudy and cool.The tee boxes were dragged far behind and it was terribly long from tee box to green.My friends were delighted as they all hit further than me a fact which I have grown to accept but I told myself " play your own game ,go for the bogeys and they have to play par to beat you"
Thus mentally strengthened I played and played and through 18 holes ended up a small winner.I thought after 18 holes that was the end of the day but NO......One of them said "I cannot stand the thought of having lost to an old man!Cant drive back man!"
So he suggested we one more round at Lembah Beringin about 1/2 hour drive away.That decided we drove there and managed to get a flight.When we arrived at the first tee imagine my delight when the tee boxes were in front and the course was dry.My advantage cos their length was not much an advantage now.We had a close fight until the last hole where everything was to be decided and lo and behold I played a BIRDIE on that hole.You should see their faces.....To me it was the joy of beating the younger people and on the 27th hole.That money cannot buy!
Lessons learnt:
1.As a friend you always follow the crowd to a reasonable extent.Any old man would say no to one more round of golf but seeing they came from so far I had to make them happy.
2.Never say die even though the odds are against you.Your mental strength in the things you do will carry you to unreachable and unimaginable heights.Life is full of set backs but what distinguishes the man from the mouse is how the man faces setbacks and overcomes them.
3.When you play anything dont be afraid of losing.I always congratulate my friends when they beat me'You played well ,I did not so you deserve to win".Words like this go a long way in making people happy!
We teed off at 9 am .The weather was beautiful ,cloudy and cool.The tee boxes were dragged far behind and it was terribly long from tee box to green.My friends were delighted as they all hit further than me a fact which I have grown to accept but I told myself " play your own game ,go for the bogeys and they have to play par to beat you"
Thus mentally strengthened I played and played and through 18 holes ended up a small winner.I thought after 18 holes that was the end of the day but NO......One of them said "I cannot stand the thought of having lost to an old man!Cant drive back man!"
So he suggested we one more round at Lembah Beringin about 1/2 hour drive away.That decided we drove there and managed to get a flight.When we arrived at the first tee imagine my delight when the tee boxes were in front and the course was dry.My advantage cos their length was not much an advantage now.We had a close fight until the last hole where everything was to be decided and lo and behold I played a BIRDIE on that hole.You should see their faces.....To me it was the joy of beating the younger people and on the 27th hole.That money cannot buy!
Lessons learnt:
1.As a friend you always follow the crowd to a reasonable extent.Any old man would say no to one more round of golf but seeing they came from so far I had to make them happy.
2.Never say die even though the odds are against you.Your mental strength in the things you do will carry you to unreachable and unimaginable heights.Life is full of set backs but what distinguishes the man from the mouse is how the man faces setbacks and overcomes them.
3.When you play anything dont be afraid of losing.I always congratulate my friends when they beat me'You played well ,I did not so you deserve to win".Words like this go a long way in making people happy!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Games children play
Was at the playground with Aaron yesterday and whilst he was scrambling all over made some interesting observations:
1.Children today play with all artificial gadgets.The swings are there ,slides and playing fields are there.
2.There was hardly any kid who was not closely watched either by nannies or parents or grandparents.
3.All of them who had toys which were bought from toy shops.
4.They all had their routines eg whenever AAron gets there he would make a run towards his friends and then pick out one or two of his pet games like chasing after birds(real ones) and then up and down the slides and then run around again.
What a far cry from the time when we were children.We used branches cut from trees as our guns.We made and flew our own kites and kite fighting was practised .Turning the strings used to fly the kites into cutting machines was a skilled job and you need to used bulbs crushed and mixed with what we called "cow hide gum" and then coated on to the string so that it became coated with sharp glass wo you have a kite cutting string.Any kite that was cut would be picked up and whoever gets it becomes the owner.
We made our own tops and the top choice of wood to make your tops were the branches from the Jambu or Lime tree as these were the toughest wood.Wonder how many of today's kids know this?The top game was to knock your opponent's top out of the ring and in the process you can smash it if you know how to whack it from the top!Top spinning is or has become a lost art!
Catapaults or "lastics " as we called them were made from tree branches appropriately shaped.We had to locate the trees and the branches and climbed the trees to get the branches.Cant imagine our modern kids doing this.
Bottom line you cant help but notice the big difference between today's children and that of our generation.We never saw doctors ,never had hot water showers,ate whatever was on the table,got whacked with whatever was in hand when we were naughty ,never knew what an air cond room was like ,never rode in air con cars or even cars.I remember the first time my dad took me out on a bus and he said we were going to "makan angin" and the first thing I did when I got up the bus was to open my mouth >My dad asked me what I was doing and I innocently answered "Makan angin ma!"
That's how naive we were !
Yes indeed times have changed so much!But its my belief that the older generation is much tougher because we were not pampered and we were brought up the tough way.
1.Children today play with all artificial gadgets.The swings are there ,slides and playing fields are there.
2.There was hardly any kid who was not closely watched either by nannies or parents or grandparents.
3.All of them who had toys which were bought from toy shops.
4.They all had their routines eg whenever AAron gets there he would make a run towards his friends and then pick out one or two of his pet games like chasing after birds(real ones) and then up and down the slides and then run around again.
What a far cry from the time when we were children.We used branches cut from trees as our guns.We made and flew our own kites and kite fighting was practised .Turning the strings used to fly the kites into cutting machines was a skilled job and you need to used bulbs crushed and mixed with what we called "cow hide gum" and then coated on to the string so that it became coated with sharp glass wo you have a kite cutting string.Any kite that was cut would be picked up and whoever gets it becomes the owner.
We made our own tops and the top choice of wood to make your tops were the branches from the Jambu or Lime tree as these were the toughest wood.Wonder how many of today's kids know this?The top game was to knock your opponent's top out of the ring and in the process you can smash it if you know how to whack it from the top!Top spinning is or has become a lost art!
Catapaults or "lastics " as we called them were made from tree branches appropriately shaped.We had to locate the trees and the branches and climbed the trees to get the branches.Cant imagine our modern kids doing this.
Bottom line you cant help but notice the big difference between today's children and that of our generation.We never saw doctors ,never had hot water showers,ate whatever was on the table,got whacked with whatever was in hand when we were naughty ,never knew what an air cond room was like ,never rode in air con cars or even cars.I remember the first time my dad took me out on a bus and he said we were going to "makan angin" and the first thing I did when I got up the bus was to open my mouth >My dad asked me what I was doing and I innocently answered "Makan angin ma!"
That's how naive we were !
Yes indeed times have changed so much!But its my belief that the older generation is much tougher because we were not pampered and we were brought up the tough way.
Monday, June 14, 2010
On to blogging
As part of my self development programme I am now on to blogging.It seems like a fun way to express your thoughts on so many things and more importantly to be able to share with your family and friends your thoughts and views.
Of course things have to be organized and planned so that one's blogs does not indicate the ramblings of someone senile or nyayuk!
Watch out for more ..........
Of course things have to be organized and planned so that one's blogs does not indicate the ramblings of someone senile or nyayuk!
Watch out for more ..........
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)