I know you are not far

Today I visited my 97 year old Father after a lapse of 3 weeks. I know if Mother is still with us I would visit the house more often. I visited my Mother but when I was at the house, I missed my Mother. I used to get irritated when she grumbled at me and queried me on every detail. I wish she is still here to irritate me.

I wake up everyday
and I wonder where you are,
I cannot see you
but I know you are not far

Good food from good friends

Just when I was at a loss what to cook for dinner yesterday, my friend Miss Fu came to give me this plate of lovely roast chicken. Wow, it was really good! This morning she came with some lovely homemade scones and we had breakfast together in my house.

I am a lucky woman, always at the receiving end of such goodies. What will I do without friends like these? Maybe lose some weight?

:-) ke...ke...ke...

A great Mother, a good young man

I would like to share with you the real life story of a young man I had the privilage of meeting yesterday. He is 28, a qualifed Civil Engineer. He has younger a sister, a newly qualified Accountant, just started working 1 month ago, another sister, an undergraduate in biology and a younger brother still in college, studying engineering.

All of them stay with their Mother in a small single storey house in Klang. All their studies have been supported by the the government's PTPTN loan scheme.

At the young age of 28 he is now the main breadwinner of the family. He shoulders all the family's expenses, including food, utility bills and monthly mortgage payment for the house they stay in. He also supports his 2 youngest siblings' expenses.

After their father died when he was only 10 years old, his Mother brought them up singlehandedly. For many years She used to earn money by cleaning houses and washing clothes for several households in the mornings and selling fruits with a bicycle in the afternoons and the nights. She had to stop 3 years ago when she met with a traffic accident while on her bicycle selling fruits. "Fortunately at that time I just graduated, started work and could take over the family's expenses", he said.

A great Mother who has nurtured a good young man! May God continue to protect them and bless them.

Doesn't mean I want him back!

:-) ke...ke...ke...

A lady calls the police to report her husband is missing. The police arrive and ask for a description. She tells them he's 6 foot 2 inches tall, blonde wavy hair and has a smile that makes everybody love him.

The police then go to the next door neighbor to verify this report and the lady next door tells the police, "You can't believe her. He's 5 foot 4 inches tall, has no hair and he wears a perpetual frown on his face."

The neighbor then goes and asks the lady why she gave the police such a false report. She replies, "Just because I reported him missing, doesn't mean I wanted him back!"

Source: http://www.101funjokes.com/men_jokes.htm

To one thing constant never!

Met an old friend by chance in Nikko Hotel today. "Tell you a secret", she said, "I just got divorced". "What? At this age?", I asked. She retorted, "Is there a right age for divorce?"

Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,

Men were deceivers ever,

One foot in sea and one on shore,

To one thing constant never.

-William Shakespeare

Domestic Child Labour in Africa

You will cry with me if you read this...

When my master brought me from the village, he said that I will show that I deserved to go to school by proving my hard work at home. I was bent on going to school so I put my heart into everything I was commanded to do. I Swept, cleaned, washed, mopped, ironed, and fetched water from a public tap, two streets away, to fill the drums and basins in our house.

In-between these chores I had to go out and hawk sachets water in traffic and in the streets of the ghetto. I slept last and woke up first. I didn’t eat with my master, his wife and his children at table, I ate a small portion of food on the floor at the back yard, after they had all eaten. Sometimes I could not work because I was always hungry, but I had to work otherwise knocks and the Koboko cane will descend on me.’ An 8 year old Togolese househelp narrated.

‘After 3 years, my master registered me in a community school down the street. It was more like a place where street children passed time, the teachers hardly came to class. My chores and task were still a problem but I managed to deliver, so as to avoid any problem with my master or his wife. I liked school, I wanted to learn but I hardy had time to review my school work or do assignments and when I did poorly, my master or his wife would beat me like a thief. Sometimes I thought of running away, but to where? I wanted to go back to my mother, but how do I tell my uncle that, when the last time I asked about my mother, I was given the beating of my life, called an ingrate and denied food for two days. I wasn’t doing well at school, I wasn’t happy at home, I missed my mother, but I couldn’t do anything about it. All my mother knew was that her son was in the city and was in school, and will be a big shot.’

Read the complete article: http://en.afrik.com/article14712.html

Crimes by the Elderly rising!

In August, a 79-year-old Japanese woman went on a slashing spree in Tokyo's bustling district of Shibuya, wounding two female passers-by before being arrested by police.

The attacker reportedly said she was homeless, had no money and thought if she committed a crime, the police would care for her.

Read the whole article: http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=180405

Why married women heavier?

:-) ke...ke...ke...

Question: Why are married women heavier than single women?

Anaswer: Single women come home, see what's in the fridge and go to bed. Married women come home, see what's in bed and go to the fridge.

Source: http://www.101funjokes.com/women_jokes.htm

A woman's prayer!

:-) ke...ke...ke...

I pray for:

Wisdom, to understand a man.

Love, to forgive him;

Patience, for his moods.

Because if I pray for Strength I'll just beat him to death.

Source: http://www.101funjokes.com/women_jokes.htm

Professional Test!

This is a good one! Try to answer! :-) ke...ke...ke...

The following short quiz consists of 4 questions and tells whether you are qualified to be a "professional". Scroll down for the answers after you have thought about it.

The questions are not that difficult.

1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?

The correct answer is: Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe and close the door. This question tests whether you tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way.

2. How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator ?

Wrong Answer: Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant and close the refrigerator.
Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door. This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your actions.

3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference, all the animals attend except one. Which animal does not attend?

Correct Answer: The Elephant. The Elephant is in the refrigerator.
This tests your memory.

OK, even if you did not answer the first three questions, correctly you still have one more chance to show your abilities.

4. There is a river you must cross. But it is inhabited by crocodiles. How do you manage it?

Correct Answer: You swim across. All the crocodiles are attending the animal meeting. This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.

According to Andersen Consulting Worldwide, around 90% of the professionals tested got all questions wrong. But many preschoolers got several correct answers. Anderson Consulting says this conclusively disproves the theory that most professionals havethe brains of a four year old.

Source: http://www.101funjokes.com/clean_joke.htm

Praise God for our health

Had lunch today in PJ with a friend who underwent colon cancer treatment about a year ago. He is okay now. He told me he had gained back most of the weight he lost last year and doing a lot of exercise.

Also received news today that my sis-in-law in Melbourne underwent an operation for breast cancer yesterday. My brother wrote that she is in high spirits and will be discharged soon.

Look to your health; and if you have it, praise God, and value it next to a good conscience; for health is the second blessing that we mortals are capable of; a blessing that money cannot buy. Author: Izaak Walton

The baby gives the orders

Recently, I emailed my young friend Janice in London and enquired about her baby. This is what she wrote:

i'm good here n so is my baby. He is 1 year old now. can't walk but can talk a few words. tell u a story about him... a few days ago he saw a person ..... he waved n said "bye" (i suddenly realized he can say bye), then the person waved back to him n said "bye". After that my baby said "go go go". (ha ha... he shocked him n he really quickly went away) . And his mom felt so embarrassed!!

I found this little snippet really cute and amusing!

God loves us more than we knew

Met an old friend for breakfast today. We became friends 35 years ago in 1973 on my second posting upon my first promotion and she as a fresh recruit at her first job after graduating from University Malaya. Very fast, we forged a close friendship which lasted until today, although we worked together only for 2 years, after which we went on separate postings in the service.

Reminiscing on our past and the trials and challenges we went through in our life, she said to me "Do you remember...when you came to see me sometime in the past, with tears in your eyes...I did not know how to console you...but I did tell you God knows best? See, you are okay now". I told her "Yes...I have been okay for a long time now. Actually God loves me more than I knew". I was smiling, but still had tears in my eyes, and so had she.

ORDER OF THINGS

There is a rightful order found

Beyond the things that seem to be,

Something beneath the surface seen

Hidden behind prevalent schemes.

I know this fact through feelings felt

in such relief that come to mind,

When in life I do my bit

And leave results to Spirit's will.

There is a rightful order found

In which Spirit our lives arrange,

Giving us what we rightly earn

With precision in circumstance,

Designed to rhyme and meet somehow

In a rightful order, time, and place.

From the Book - Poems of Life

We have come round a big circle !

:-) ke...ke...ke... Source: http://www.hahahumor.com/funny-cartoons/funny-cartoons-3_3.htm

Happy at work!

This is FUNNY!

How to look Happy at work :-) ke...ke...ke...

Taken from: http://mr-desi.com/index.php/visual-jokes/how-to-look-happy-at-work.html


Take 2 paperclips and rubber bands. Fig 1

Assemble them as shown on the picture. Fig. 2

Apply as shown in fig 3.

Happy wedding anniversary, happy birthday and selamat hari raya!

Pic on the left: Mei's daughter (in green) and niece

Pic on the right: Mei's brother in law Bing who was a well known personality in the broadcasting

industry in the 70s and 80s. Last year he helped me in officiating my son's wedding. His wife is behind him.

My friend Mei and her husband had a triple celebration in their house today. It was Mei's husband's birthday, their wedding anniversary and celebration to mark the end of Ramadhan. The food was good so was the company.

Eid ul-Fitr

Yesterday was Eid ul-Fitr or Id-Ul-Fitr (Arabic: عيد الفطر ‘Īdu l-Fiṭr), often abbreviated to Eid, a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting.

Following our family tradition, yesterday members of the family invited their friends to the house for some refreshments. It was a busy day for me. Second son and daughter in law (in matching shocking pink outfits, pic on extreme left) were the first to arrive.

Older people will increasingly play a critical role

Do you know?

Today, 1 October, is International Day of Older Persons

Do you know?

The world is getting older. in the next 50 years, the number of older persons will nearly quadruple, growing from about 600 million to almost 2 billion people. Today, one in every ten is 60 years and older. By 2050, one out of every five will be an older person, and by 2150, one third of the people in the world are expected to be 60years of age or older.

Extracted from http://www.un.org/events/olderpersons/

Do you know?

Older people will increasingly play a critical role - through volunteer work, transmitting experience and knowledge, helping their families with caring responsibilities and increasing their participation in the paid labour force.

Already now, older persons make major contributions to society. For instance, throughout Africa –and elsewhere - millions of adult AIDS patients are cared for at home by their parents. On their death, orphaned children left behind (currently, 14 million under the age of 15 in African countries alone) are mainly looked after by their grandparents.

It is not only in developing countries that older persons' role in development is critical. In Spain for example, caring for dependent and sick individuals (of all ages) is mostly done by older people (particularly older women); the average number of minutes per day spent in providing such care increases exponentially with the carers' age: 201 minutes if the carer is in the age group 65-74 and 318 minutes if aged 75-84 - compared to only 50 minutes if the carer is in the age group 30-49 (Durán H, Fundación BBVA, 2002).

Such contributions to development can only be ensured if older persons enjoy adequate levels of health, for which appropriate policies need to be in place.

Extracted from http://www.who.int/ageing/events/idop_rationale/en/index.html

Rendang making day

Rendang making day. This took more than 5 hours to cook. Wonder if it justifies the effort.
:-) Ke...ke...ke...

Making friends

A few days ago I was in the wet market when I noticed a woman following me around for a while and trying her best to catch my eyes. At last, she spoke "You are Chinese ah?" . "Yes", I said. "Aiya..do you notice we are the only 2 Chinese in the market? This area full of Malays". She said. I gave her a weak smile. Then she gave me a business card. "We must make friends...lah...come to my house in Section 7...I am new in this area...I just shifted in ...this area full of Malays only lah...", she said.

I must have dropped her business card by accident. I don't need it anyway because making friends based on the colour of the skin alone is not my favourite pastime.

Siblings

A rare visit from second brother Tai Kam who migrated to Melbourne some 30 years ago, now working in Manila, and soon will be working in Jakarta. Although he comes home to the country quite often, I think he last visited me in the house probably about 7 or 8 years ago! He was accompanied by sister Wan Lan and her husband. We had a pleasant dinner in a Chinese-Thai restaurant not far from the house.

I remember he was always my late mother's favourite. In fact at bed time, he always got the coveted spot right next to her, having to hold onto her arm tightly before he could even fall asleep. That was more than half a century ago but some memories will always be with us.

Our siblings. They resemble us just enough to make all their differences confusing, and no matter what we choose to make of this, we are cast in relation to them our whole lives long. ~Susan Scarf Merrell

My White Lady Anthuriums in full bloom

Pictures of my White Lady Anthuriums in full bloom !

All flowers have a meaning. The Victorians used to use flowers as a symbol to express their feelings. White Anthuriums, it seems, mean "Think of Me". :-) ke...ke...ke..

If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom. ~Audra Foveo

Recycling 1 ton of newspaper saves 17 pine trees!

Today as on every Sunday third week of the month, I send my recyclable materials to the SS2 recycling collection point. Here one can see many selfless volunteers who sacrifice their precious Sunday, receiving and sorting out the various types of recyclables, ranging from old newspapers, old clothes, bottles, alluminium cans to computers.

Many of us feel that environmental problems are beyond our control. Of course problems such as global warming, hazardous waste, loss of rain forests require government and global intervention. But there are some things we as individuals can do. Our waste reduction and recycling efforts can make a difference.

Do you know?

• Recycling a 4-foot stack of newspaper produces as much paper pulp as a 40-foot pine tree.
• Recycling your daily newspaper for one year would provide the pulp equivalent of 2/3 acre of commercial forest.
• Recycling one ton of newspaper saves 17 pine trees.
• Recycling just one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for 3 hours.
• Manufacturing cans from recycled aluminum produces 96% less air and water pollution than manufacturing cans from raw material (bauxite).
• More than half of all garbage produced by a household can be recycled.
• Plastics are made from petroleum, which is a limited, non-renewable resource. 5 recycled two-liter plastic bottles make enough fiberfill for a ski jacket.
• Each pound of aluminum recycled eliminates the need to mine 4 pounds of bauxite ore - another of our valuable natural resources.
• For every pound of steel that is recycled, enough energy is saved to light a 60-watt light bulb for over a day.
• Tin and steel are sold to manufacturers who produce bicycles, automobiles, refrigerators, steel beams for construction and other materials.
• Making new glass from recycled glass uses 32% less of the energy needed to make glass from raw materials.
• Using recycled glass to make new glass cuts related air pollution by about 20%.

Extracted from http://www.louisvilleky.gov/SolidWaste/IWantTo/Know+the+Benefits+of+Recycling.htm

They would bend his toes back until they heard his toes crack!

In North Florida, USA, a Baker County court found Martin and girlfriend Suzette Stevenson guilty of child abuse and sentenced them to 15 years in prison.

Martin and girlfriend Suzette Stevenson were first arrested in November 2007 after the boy, then seven years old, was found wandering the streets in Osceola County with injuries consistent with severe child abuse. He was admitted to the hospital in a critical condition.

Detailed reports of the abuse say they would tie the boy by his wrists to light fixtures on the wall to force him to stand up for several hours each time. Food was withheld from the boy and he was forced to drink shampoo as punishment. They would bend his toes back until they heard his toes crack and he was kept out of school for fear teachers would see the marks and injuries on the victim’s body.

"This is one of the most horrific cases of long term abuse I’ve seen," said Sheriff Dobson.

Read the full article: http://www.northfloridanewsdaily.com/News/2008/0915/crime_and_punishment/175.html

The child's eyes had chemical burns!

In Salt Lake City, USA, a man, Derrick Lee Crispin was charged in what police termed one of the worst cases of child mistreatment they had seen.

Crispin was arrested in January 2008 after doctors found multiple cuts and bruises, broken bones and missing patches of hair on a 2-year-old girl, who was Crispin's girlfriend's daughter.

The child's eyes had chemical burns and were swollen shut, and she also had missing teeth, prompting one police official to remark that it looked as if someone had gone after the toddler with a weed-whacker. The child, who has since turned 3, is now in the custody of her biological father.

Read the full article:
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700259146,00.html

You were my teacher?

Reproduced from http://www.sticksite.com/old_folks/index.html

Have you been guilty of looking at others your own age and thinking... surely I cannot look that old? If so, you may enjoy this short story.

While waiting for my first appointment in the reception room of a new dentist, I noticed his certificate, which bore his full name. Suddenly, I remembered that a tall, handsome boy with the same name had been in my high school class some 30 years ago.Upon seeing him, however, I quickly discarded any such thought. This balding, gray-haired man with the deeply lined face was way too old to have been my classmate.

After he had examined my teeth, I asked him if he had attended the local high school "Yes," he replied. "When did you graduate?" I asked. He answered, "In 1971. Why?" "You were in my class!" I exclaimed.

He looked at me closely, and then asked, "What did you teach?"

The World's Like a Flower

My refurbished terrace garden. Instant garden. :-) ke...ke...ke...

The World's is like a Flower

Reproduced from http://www.send-flowers-india.com/flower-poems.html#my-pretty-rose-tree

The world’s like a flower

Either fallen or grown

The leaves cover secrets

And the pedals are shown

We're like a flower

The world's like a rose

Every rose has its thorns

If we make a mistake

The skin gets torn

We're like a flower

The world's like a daisy

Pretty and bright

We all have our colors

But in a way we're just right

We're like a flower

The world's like a flower

All the thorns will pass through

The world's like a flower

Just waiting to bloom