I Am Good

My boy is coming back after a year of intensive study at a college. When I visited him about a week ago, I was reminded not to come early. "Take your time, mum." said he.

In contrast, my friend's daughter, who is also expected to join her family soon; has reminded her mum to be at the gate (of the college) one minute before her exams are due to be over.

God! It's either because he is not a girl...hence, he possesses a different set of hormones; or he knows how I dislike driving very fast, I only reach 140km/h; or worse still, to him- coming back home is a nightmare!

No, no, no. He's my boy... home is the place he wants to be.... and mum is the best chef...hehehe..

Shhh! Listen....

Talk about labelling people....

No, I hate it when people label others ....yes, you bet... I don't get any pleasure listening to someone babbling about how irritating another person is. At the same time, I'm easily bored by praises about others whom a person has just known for a few days, or worse still- a few seconds. I believe that we must reserve the good comments only to the deserving ones... and don't blurt it out too soon...

Having said that, recently, I was rudely awakened from my comfort zone. I was partly to be blamed but I find it a blessing in disguise. One person confronted me with a misconception of how I deal with people... as I was listening to this person's 'frank' comments about me, I realised that the battle was already half-won because I was able to 'pause' and actually listen to this person.

Moral of the story, be positive. Secondly, learn to forgive others (every night) and finally, listen more , and people will listen to us.

The Ill, The Old and The Shaky

Ever heard of labelling?

When people are ignorant, they tend to label others at the slightest mistake made by the latter.

This could be prompted by the lack of genuine information about the different cultures or perhaps this is the result of improper behaviour of a certain group of people which (unknowingly) has brought about a distorted picture of their true way of life.

Sadly, some people choose to sneer at the act of others without understanding the underlying reason for it.

Having said that, it's not for me to blame these people. The fault actually lies in the lackadaisical attitude of everyone involved in projecting (or rather, not projecting) the true image of the believers of our (respective) religion. But, hey, is it not safer to take some time to reflect on an incident before making any comments? Give it some due consideration before 'flashing' your potentially hurtful remarks?

In retrospect, this reminder is surprisingly what I wish to write today despite being ill and shaky at this very moment, not to mention the other one, the.....

Just A Transit

In 1986, on my way back to the Oz country, I met an old friend of mine at the Changi Airport during a transit. I was glad to meet him as we were classmates (in fact, my first classmate) during our matriculation years. The following year, we went separate ways until our class farewell party which was held at one of our friends' house. There, I realised that we were, in fact, still good friends.

Today, after 25 years, I must admit that memories of my younger days keep flashing sporadically.

Faces of friends and my former students could greet me unexpectedly, both in reality and rarely, in my dreams. Though I wish I could be 'warmer', I simply can't spend much time with them anymore.

It's bedtime now, good nite. I told you, it's a transit before I am alive again tomorrow.

Free At Last

Being an adult gives me the freedom to make my own decisions.

Yes, I am free to decide whether to cook chicken or fish, to sleep or to read an article, to watch tv or to mark my students' books, or whether to take a walk or to clean my bathroom..............phew, none of these sounds appealing to you, right?

But, that is it! I am free!

Nevertheless, I must shoulder a number of responsibilities along with this joyous freedom.....

Having said that, I am glad my parents had pushed me enough (when I was much younger) so that I would deserve this freedom now. Thank you............

2011

Welcome 2011. I thank God for allowing me another new year to explore.....

So far, 2011 has been an eventful year.

Apart from making a lot of mistakes (to err is human), I have been given the opportunity to look at life from another window. This time, I am one of the players in the drama of life.

Secondly, my interests have been re-ignited, believe it or not? Where have they been all these years?