Forced to be Parted ...

This (real) story was shared with me some weeks back. It rings in my ears now and so… I thought of writing it down before going to school.

The context is in Taiwan, and the story time-line stretches from about 30 years back till quite recently.

So… About 30 over years ago…
A married couple got together happily and in a few years time they got two baby boys, their ages only a few years apart.

In the boys’ young nurturing years, it may be noted..
Boy A : Very naughty. Caused many troubles at home and in school. Being caught stealing once. Rather rebellious.
Boy B : Very obedient. Study very hard and always get very good results. A model student.

Boy A had given the couple much headache. The couple had no idea how to handle the situation and was feeling quite lost.

有人说…
不懂就问人咯。
不然，也可以问神嘛。

Indeed, the couple approached a medium for explanation (for their child’s bad behaviours) and directions (to overcome the problem).

In brief, the medium said :
你这两个孩子，一个是来报恩的、一个是来讨债的。

And when enquired deeper, the medium refused to make it clear which is which.

So, the interesting couple went back home to observe.
While Boy A got from worse to worst, Boy B got more and more promising by days.

They were quite certain Boy A was the one that came to their family as their son to 讨债. That worried them quite a bit.
And this dear Boy B must be with them to 报恩. Boy B was their pride.

They made an unthinkable decision (but in those olden days, I was told such decision was quite common). What was it? They decided to give Boy A away. Yes, to give their bone-blood-flesh away to someone as a foster-child.

Oh well, the decision was made and Boy A was really given away to another couple (with no son) and literally disappear from their lives.

From then on, the couple’s lives only got happier, no more complaints received, only loads of praises about Boy B kept pouring in.

Many happy years had past.

Boy B continued to grow and later got himself a place in an university doing medical course. Not unexpectedly, he later graduated with flying colours too.

So.. Who says life isn’t a bed of roses??!! (Although roses have torns hor)

There were big plans for Boy B’s future too.

大家只是感觉到什么是前程似锦。
两位老人家也很安慰、感觉很幸福。

But.. just at such wonderful moment, Boy B was diagnosed with a rare illness. Immediate medical attention was needed. The medical expenses were so costly. But never mind, Boy B had got a dream to live okay! The parents sold one of their properties to cover the medical expenses.

Boy B’s condition did not improve and treatments dragged on. The couple needed to sell away some lands and properties they had to pay for the medical charges. But… As the weeks and months went by… the ultimate : the couple got to sell the house they were staying to cope. Downgrading was the only option then.

When their material wealth was thinned till such extent …
Not to mention that their mental conditions were challenged so extensively…
Not to mention how their pride, their hope seemed to be fading right in front of them…
Not to mention..

Okay, let me come back..
Just when blah blah blah…
Boy B passed away.

The old couple was left behind with nothing-ness.
How would they be able to cope with the sorrows and poverty state at such old age??

Just when things seemed so bleak, Boy A came back to them and acknowledged them. Boy A had no grudges that he was once being given away. Boy A took the responsibility to take care of his biological parents unconditionally.

到底谁是来报恩？
而谁又是来讨债？
是我们肉眼凡胎来判断的吗？

Boy B 耗尽父母的家产，而在父母最无助的时候悄悄的离开。同时也把他们两老的毕生希望砸碎。

Boy A 却在父母最无助的时候悄悄的回来。没有计较、没有丝毫埋怨，只有尽心尽力来照顾父母两老，让他们从拾对人生的希望。

- - - - - -

When any two people come together, as family members, as relatives, as friends, as colleagues, as… erm.. anything in fact, yes… even as enemies… and so on.. , there is a reason why.

Let’s call this 缘.

The fact remains 善缘、孽缘 no one knows ; 报恩、讨债 no one knows for sure too.

So how?

Simple.

若是善缘和报恩的话，我们就当珍惜与感恩。
废话！Who don’t know?! Haha…

若是孽缘和讨债的话，我们亦当甘愿与感恩。
废话！Type wrongly right??!! Not really. Let me try..

孽缘也是我们的前世因果。
如果没有甘愿来承受，反而变本加厉，
那么这段孽缘并没有了断。
也就是说来世一定还会在相遇。

如果我们能甘愿来承受，
慢慢的就会自然了断这孽缘。
若有更高的智慧的话，说不定还可以把孽缘变成善缘。

In short, when things aren’t going the way we want it (especially in any human inter-relationships of all sorts), and if the only things we do are merely complain, curse, lament… and hope that things will suddenly become better. Mm.. Rather unlikely, unless…

若要有转机，明理的人要先开始。

TGIF..

看着电视机、听着收音机 …
都说今天是 Good Friday… 「耶稣受难日」

Few thoughts came to my mind…

耶稣为众所受的难 ：值得吗？
Mm… I merely asking myself.
Of course, such thought will never cross His mind.
因为，
圣人就是跟着上天的旨意来办事。
只要是上天的旨意，就一定值得。
应该说，就连值不值得也没有衡量过。
因为，
能为上天办事本来就是无比的荣耀，
而那一种使命感就有无穷的推动力。

今天是一个纪念日…
What have we recalled?
What can we feel?
What would we do after that?
If tomorrow is going to be just another day, then what is the purpose of today?

- - - - - - - - - - -



有一位作者这么说：

每个人都会遇到困境，重点是，如何突破困境。
绝处逢生的精神，成就了传奇，
困境，並不可怕，
可怕的是，不懂得突破。

An Impressive Old Man.. (Part 1)

I think T will admit proudly that he is an old man. He had retired already what..
Yet, recently he had just returned from conquering 大汉山 (Gunong Tahan). It was a grilling 8 day trip.

T talked about how he landed there in the first place. Interestingly amazing, really.

T was just on his way to meet his mother in M’sia. Along the way (in M’sia), he decided to detour a little just to do a bit of sight-seeing (since he has so much time with him).

Little did he know, this detour will give me an experience of a life-time.

In the detour, he first met 3 other Irish tourists in a boat ride. And coincidentally, they also checked in the same dome. The tourists later jio-ed him to join them in caving, since the guide (K) they employed can take four people at a time. So they happily went to see bats and all in caves nearby.

K is certainly a professional one and they get to know him better and better along the way. At one point, K mentioned casually that he has another trip coming up.

T : Where?
K : Gunong Tahan

T got interested. It was one of his many dreams to conquer 大汉山. K made an offer of RM1200 to bring him along. Mm.. That is an official price for a guide, anyway. Further negotiation brought down the price to only RM400.

Let’s get the facts right. T was only carrying a small haversack and a water bottle as his original intention was to visit his mum in M’sia. In that haversack were only some t-shirts and snacks, okay and some books. With that, he said “yes” to conquer 大汉山?! Alright, he added another RM50 to request the guide to prepare the food items needed along the way.

All was agreed..
But wait a minute. T has always got gout problems in his right leg. At times, the pain can be so bad he can’t even walk. And most of the time, he is limping. T was limping a little at the time when the verbal agreement was exchanged.

So.. When T handed him the RM50 to the guide a day before the departure, he added : This RM50 you take it and help me to prepare the food items along the way. If tomorrow, my leg is fine, I will join you and pay up the remaining sum. But if my leg is still painful, I will not be able to join you. You can then just keep the RM50.

The next day, T’s right leg was miraculously perfectly fine. He paid up the balance, and they (only K and T, one super strong, one really old) set off.

I think K is simply too brave liao. But wait till he shared more about his experiences, you will be more impressed with him, I believe.

I shall try to recount a bit. Again, through my silly writing, you can only sense less than 10% of his braveness.

(1) When he reached the starting point of the climb/trek, he had some astonishing findings.

a. The guide brought him to a congregation of a few tens of professional guides, all young and strong waiting at the staring point. So T is .. erm.. undoubted the odd one out, the special one.

b. The season was wrong. No one will ever think of conquering 大汉山 during the monsoon season. There will be so much rains. The rivers will swell. The paths will be slippery. The… alright you could just think about it. Remember few days back, many of us were complaining about the island-wide downpour for so long and so many days. Those were the days T were at 大汉山.

c. That trip was actually specially organized for professional mountain guides (only) from all over M’sia. K was actually reprimanded for bringing T along, because K is not supposed to. Yet K decided to, just to earn some spare cash.

d. There was a special mission for that trip. They carried long thick ropes. They were tasked to secure those ropes strategically to facilitate river crossing and/or steep slope climbing. They will also need to cut thick undergrowth and maybe to also clear the rubbish in the mountains. In other words, it was kind of house-keeping or maintenance trip by the professionals to prepare the routes for future use by tourists during the right season.

Have you already feel how out-of-place T must have felt?

(2) In the beginning, at the first congregation area, they were dispatched in small groups of about 4 to 5 people after a briefing-of-sort. I mean there was only one small speed boat but there were a few tens of people to be transported to another point (through shallow river) where they began the actual climb/trek.

T was dispatched at one of the last few trips.

When the speed boat stopped, they had to all jump down into the water of about knee-depth and they would walk to the dry shore and start they climb/trek immediately. The boat will then leave immediately to pick up the next batch.

T did something he shouldn’t.

When he reached the dry shore, he noticed his shoe and socks were soaking wet, making him very uncomfortable. He sat down to remove his shoe and soaks. He emptied the water in his shoe. He squeezed out the water in his socks. He wore them back and was ready to go. He stood up and realised he was all alone, beside a river, facing a dense forest on the slope of dear 大汉山. No one waited for him. He had no idea which direction they took. He had no idea whether they were splitted. He tried looking for trails left behind, but found none. He tried shouting to alert someone nearby, but got zero response. So technically speaking, he was lost before any actual climb/trek.

He knew he wasn't the last group leaving the first congregation area. But again, there was no guarantee that all the groups will have the same drop-off point.

Yet, he wasn’t really panicked. He noted that the speed boat journey took about 20 minutes along the rather shallow river. Worse come to worst, he just had to walk along the river and to track back the path the speed boat took.

He decided to sit himself on a rock in the middle of the shallow river and eat his snacks, drinking his water, and listening to the sound of nature in the immediately surrounding.

It was after quite a while, he sighted about two people walking nearby, walking slowly on the shallow river. He shouted to them and gladly those two people were also guides who were also in that same mission trip. So T requested to follow them.

According to T, luckily those two guides were really nature lover. They walked leisurely enjoying the peace around. T liked the pace, because that was the kind of pace he could follow. Haha..

At one point in time, one of the guides shouted to another. They seemed to have spotted something interesting.

What can be so interesting to have thrilled even the two experienced guides so much? When one of them pointed in a general direction to T about their finding, T couldn’t even figure out what was going on.

So the three went nearer (with a bit of climbing). They saw the largest and the most smelly flower in the world : Rafflesia.

Wow! The guides admitted that it was also their first time seeing the flower in full bloom. They had only seen them in the bud-stage in the past. Now, that was thrilling enough for anyone, yes, even the experienced mountain guides.

(3) T finally met up with the big group much later. They gathered together at the first rest point for the night. Maybe gathering is quite a wrong word. T said they worked very independently. They didn’t seem to communicate much with each other. They cooked their own meals. But K had to cook for T, since T was his customer. T is the only customer in that trip.

Anyway, usually cooking was only done during breakfast and dinner. For lunch, many survived with small snacks. Alright, some stopped briefly to cook instant noodles for lunch.

The first day/night went on just fine. It was quite an adventure ahead.

I am tired liao..
You must be tired reading such a long entry too..
To be continued..

A Bark for a Bark

Happen to meet F just last afternoon. I recall quite a funny event.

- - - - - -

We were resting…

Suddenly, 3 wild dogs approached K and F who were sitting together (but I was more than 10 metres away watching). The dogs looked a bit fierce and were barking loudly at K and F while approaching them. The dogs advanced nearer and nearer and continue barking. They were then only about 3 metres away from K and F.

3 dogs barking… Rather loud indeed.

I noticed K appeared a bit stern (but remain seated), or rather more focused as he was staring at the dogs anticipating their next moves. He later told me that he was ever ready to deliver kicks at the dogs if they dare to come any nearer. In any case, the dogs continue to bark at them.

I was wondering then : Do they need my help?

But when the thought crossed my mind, I saw F stood up and got ready to act. I felt a bit more relief. I thought I could learn from F to see how he would handle the situation.

Why?
Because F lived in kampong during his childhood days well up to his teenage-years. Naturally, he would have more experience handling dogs, or even wild dogs. K on the other hand is very much a city person throughout his life.

But.. What F did was.. erm.. beyond my imagination.

He stood up and “bark” at the dogs. OMG! Haha..
On one side, we have 3 dogs barking at K and F ; on the other side, we have F “barking” at the 3 dogs. I know F was trying to scare the dogs away. But I tell you, the scene was so comical. It looked more like he was talking/communicating with the 3 dogs in the dog-language (bark).

And obviously F doesn’t know the dog-language well enough. He only made the dogs confused and barked ever louder. Haha..

I was thinking : Cham lah. What are you doing? Why challenge the (wild) dogs this way? *shake head*

It was then I think I need to go to their assistance.

I just walked calmly (but quite briskly) toward them (the 3 dogs, K and F). But my eyes were fixed firmly on the dogs, without blinking and I was carrying a disapproving look. When I was approaching nearer and nearer, the barks of the dogs got softer and softer. And when I was just about 2 metres away from the dogs, I waved lightly with my hands and they all kept quiet and quickly walked away.

Anyway, ...

(1) We were the one intruding into the dogs' space, I think. You see, we were not the first time there. At that timing, those 3 dogs were often found resting on that spot. That day for some reasons, K and F were resting on the resting spot for those dogs and of course when the dogs came by and saw their favourite resting spot being taken up, they became a bit furious.

(2) Whenever K talks about the event, he will always remember it as 4 dogs barking, not 3.

(3) Ha.. Am I fiercer than the (wild) dogs? :P

- - - - - - - -



有一位圣者这么说：

有形的富贵终必衰败，唯有无形的富贵，才能万古长存。

世人以为有财势则富，有地位则贵，
其实这是后天的富贵，也就是有形的富贵。

圣人以有德学则富，有才智则贵，
这才是先天的富贵，是属于无形的富贵。

所以，凡夫只重于有形，而圣贤这重于无形。

Till Such Extent??

A stall tucked away at a corner was about to start business.

Someone (L) in front of me ordered : 请给我一包烧饭。

The reply was… erm… you might be surprised.. (highlight the region after the colon if you think you are ready for it) :
对不起，你是第一位客人，不可以要炒饭。
你叫别的好吗？




L : Huh? 为什么？

The reply : 因为。第一位客人要炒饭。等一下通通都要烧饭。

L : Orh.. 你们 Pun-Dang 是吗？

The reply : Err.. 是咯。Mm.. 不然你让后面的先生 (referring to me) 先点菜。那么就可以了。

If I was in my playful mood, I would have ordered “2 packs fried rice please”. Haha..

Dotz…

I don’t get the logic actually.
Isn’t it the same? I mean it’s all business. What’s so wrong about all ordering fried rice? Mm..
Okay, I try to imagine…
If really all are going to order fried rice, that would mean…
- they need to cook unusually more rice..
- the noodle, kuay teow, hor fun they (pre-)prepared will be untouched..
- the (pre-)prepared ingredients for many of their dishes will be untouched too..

Mm..

Fine..
They just hope to earn a decent living, and do not hope any other invincible force to interrupt unnecessarily.

- - - - -

I know many people are superstitious in many ways. But to let it manifested in such an extent puzzled me quite a bit.

Are you superstitious too? :o)

We may do what we don't believe in (at times.. )

We know "x" is a rather complex concept to grasp (for newbies). Yet many times, I see many people introduce the concept the same way they were being taught.

I asked some fellow colleagues…
“Did you all find "x" a difficult concept to learn?”
“Did you all grasp it immediately the first time that it was introduced to you when you were a student?”

The reply was (of course) expected …
“No. We don't understand during the lecture. We only understand the concept after… blah blah blah… ”

I enquired again…
“Then why are we all still lecturing the same way we were being taught in the past, knowing full well the students are not going to get it anyway?”

I am not saying I have much more effective method or I am more effective in introducing the concept. But since there is now an opportunity of sharing, I thought such is always a good question to keep in mind.

有人说「己所不欲勿施于人」...
相信我们不时都得做一点调整...

- - - - - -

I have heard of too many people complaining about their naggy parents.

I think it is true. Not many people like to be nagged at.
We questioned the logic to nag.
We prefer some private spaces and certainly enjoy as much air of freedom as possible.
We don't quite like to be told what to do and be reminded almost constantly.
We think we know what we are doing.
We think we are mature enough already... and so on...

Interestingly, I live long enough to witness how they themselves grow up to become naggy parents themselves. Haha..

Maybe we don't have to wait till we become parents ourselves to know it.
Just observe how we treat our (much younger) little siblings, maybe we have some clues about it already.

其实，一切都是出于一片爱心与关怀...
那一种苦口婆心、那一种耳提面命 ...
如果有一天忽然间没有了... 如果 ...

- - - - - - - - - -

是不是想出去解放一下那有一点紧绷的心？

Not-so-Pretty Locals...

I know this time, I shouldn't be here. But.... Suddenly I just feel like writing, writing about anything, just feel like writing anything that comes to my mind....


Imagine : The train (MRT) is very packed. The kind of usual "pack-ness" during peak hour. The seats are all occupied and of course there are many people standing.

Not difficult to imagine right?

Alright..

It was under that kind of scenario when a very pregnant woman (much like going to delivery anytime kind) and a very old Ah Mah (easily above 70 year-old) walked into one of the train cabinets. They stood almost side by side, while the stronger and younger ones sat very still in their seats ignoring their presence.

A while later... okay, finally one person that was sitting stood up. We may think he was taking the lead to demonstrate good civic-mindedness to give up his seat to the very pregnant woman and hopefully another will follow what he had done and gave up his or her seat to the very old Ah Mah. But not really. He stood up and walked to the nearest door because he was preparing to alight at the next station.

Then, there was only one seat right in front. How?

Pregnant Women to Old Ah Mah : Come, let you sit.

Old Ah Mah to Pregnant Women : No need lah. Thank you. You are so pregnant. You need it more than me. You sit. You sit.

Pregnant Women to Old Ah Mah : I am okay. I am so used to standing. Ah Mah, never mind you sit.

This "give-the-other-more-deserving-person-your-seat" play went on for quite a while.

Eventually, 姜还是老的辣 ...
The Pregnant Women "lost" and took the seat. Haha..

But.. but..
What made me feel very uncomfortable was that the play was unfolded in full view to all the people in the entire train cabinet. Those seemingly stronger and younger passengers merely sat still and stared at (with full alertness) how those two women were trying to give up their opportunity. Heh.. Now. Jus twho is really stronger and who is truly younger?!

The only good thing was : 鹬蚌相争、渔翁得利之事没有发生。

I know everyone is tired.
But it only takes a wee bit of common sense to understand there are people who need the seats more than we do. Maybe it takes more than common sense? Heh..

It wasn't a pretty sight.
What can we then conclude on the locals? Mm..

~ ~ She and her Shadow ~ ~

我们能不能从我们的一举一动来看到我们的影子？
看到可取的，是否有想来进一步的加强？
看到不良的，是否会想办法来痛改前非？

Okay, good night morning. :o)

Fallen Dead

It could be me, but not me .. erm.. at the moment.

I was careless that my phone slipped from my hand and fell onto the hard ground. The fall was just about from knee-cap height and yet.. haiz.. the entire screen when fuzzy and eventually went blank.

While the phone was in the screen-blank state, I still left it in the ON mode. I could still hear some messages streamed in. Of course, I couldn’t figure out the messages or whoever the messagers were. I could still make calls if I know the number. But… nowadays, just whose number we remember by heart?

With the screen gone, I figured the phone was as good as dead. I switched off the phone. Ha.. Just hope those messages that streamed in were not of urgent basis.

The SE K770i phone is just too delicate. Unbelievably so! Argg…

Will I also go through those horrible experiences of servicing hand phones, that I heard from friends or learnt from forums?

So..
My phone has “given way”..
My shoulder has had “given way”..
My throat is that sore and is somewhat much like “given way”.
My.. erm… What’s next man? Heh..

- - - - - - -

Things don’t seem right..
I can be that disappointing..
很想化为微尘
隐于世界的小角落
不是逃避
而是修复
好让能继续走完前面的路 ...