Becoming stronger..

A little pal (S2) asked, “Mr Nanzi, will you be feeling irritated that I keep coming to you for (math) consultation?”

First, I must add that I am quite sure I was not wearing a I-am-so-irritated-expression at that time.

S2's expression was that kind of worrisome.
I know S2 is so stressed up (not just with the subject I am tutoring…)
I know S2 is trying hard (yet not performing…)

S2 aims high… and yet that becomes one of the primarily sources of worries. Mm..

Familiar?

I think we should aim high, as life without aims/purposes can be rather derailing in nature. Ha… I was told so many people can actually feel so lost, so xian, so lifeless during the golden vocation period between semesters.

But coping with our individual’s (high) aims seems to be another issue after all. But please still keep trying…

I believe in trying…
But most importantly, I believe in taking in (bravely) whatever outcome that comes along. To take it (the outcome, however negative) all in with a smile is not easy.
But what else can we do?

「顺」时是喜。我们会不会喜出望外，也容易得意忘形而成…
「逆」时是悲。人人总会是感伤万分，也容易怨天尤人而成…

想想看…
曾经处于「逆镜」的我们，是不是也从中学习了很多？
曾经处于「逆镜」的我们，
是不是更会懂得珍惜曾经被我们视为微不足道的「顺镜」？

使我们变得更坚强的往往是「逆镜」而非「顺镜」。

所以…
顺逆皆恭喜!!

So, I believe S2 will become stronger. :o)

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子离回墨子说：「多讲些话有好处吗？」

墨答子说：
「蛤蟆、青蛙、苍蝇、蚊子、… 不分日夜地鸣叫，
嗡嗡做响个不停，即使是叫得口干舌燥，人们被吵心烦意乱，
有时还会令人怒心横生，杀害它们呢！
但是，那每天为人们报晓的公鸡，
每天准时地在天亮之前长鸣数声，
就能把天下的人都唤醒起来，人们还会感谢它们哩！
因此，多讲话又有什么好处呢？
要紧的是要在适当的时机，讲适当的话啊！」

Just Weird..

(1)
An retired old man said (not to me, of course) :
I'm different. I am not like the others. If I like someone, I will say it. I tell you. I like you.

Oh well, you may like his frankness.

But how about when you know that this old man is already married? He is still living together with his wife and seemingly always projecting the image of a loving couple. He has a few children, all of which are older than me, I supposed.

Plus…
He is making such statement, declaring his love / affection to another married woman.

This is just weird.

But I guess, it is still nothing new.

In the past, I heard of some flirts proclaiming :
我没有错。
我心中有爱。我可以爱很多人。

Dotz…

心中有爱？
那为什么他们那一种爱反而会带来更多伤害？
人与人之间，应该不只是有男女之间的暧昧吧？


If you don’t find this old man weird enough, then I believe you will find the next girl weird.


(2)
The entire world tries to do their part in helping the victims in the recent China-Sichuan Earthquake. I think the world should.

Amidst all this, a young girl in China broke her silence and commented freely how she felt about the earthquake.

I find the clip weird, disturbing, just-not-right…
It actually provokes angry-of-sort…
I don’t even feel like embedding the clip here…
But I still got to direct you to the clip (or else you wouldn’t understand what I am saying or what I am feeling)…

The clip : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGKFY1yqc0w

Haiz…
Something is just not right…

Fast?

Fast : as a verb and not as an adjacent.

I choose to eat less(er) : mini fasting.
Light breakfast : some cereal and bread.
Light lunch : just fruits and a few pieces of biscuit.
Normal dinner : most of the times, even asking for less(er) portion.
Avoid supper : unless being jio-ed.

This had been going on for a few months.
Much like I am on a diet? Mm… Not really.
Much like I am hit by the economy? Mm… Haha.

I admit I do feel a bit of hunger from time to time. But I choose to let that wee bit of hunger lingers on.
If our muslim friends can literally fast from morn till dust for a month, then mine is such a small case.
If there are now so many people out there feeling ultimate hunger every minute every second, then mine is not even worth any mention. Indeed, there are so many people now not knowing when their next (proper) meal is going to come by… Haiz..

Oh, no worries, I still like food and enjoy eating very much. :o)
我只是选择让我的小肚子无时无刻都留下一点小空间…
随时能容纳… 容纳…
随时能提醒… 提醒…

I don’t think I’m in any sense feeling weaker. On the contrary, I feel just as good, if not even better. Oh.. On a lighter note : just yesterday morning, I took a walking test and I even broke my personal record, covering 2km well within 14 min. :o)

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有一位圣者这么说：

镜要无尘，才能照出黑白，心要无私，才能明辨是非；
玉要无暇，才能光泽耀人，心要无欲，才能悉通天地。

Back to the wheels…

Yes! I’m back to the wheels again.
I picked up my pair of in-line skate (which had rested for near to 5 months) and put it on again, and covered near to 20 km in just two days.

那里跌倒就要那里爬起来。
Yes, I glided passed the very spot where I fell (hard).

Nope. I have not fully recovered. In fact, I’m still undergoing treatment and certainly, I don’t think my right hand can support another fall.
Then, why not wait?
我浑身精力总得解放！哈哈。。
Just going slow(er) is always safe. :o)

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画面不一定很美
人物也不一定很美
可从他们专注的表情上
我还是看到了幸福

Strange Feeling of “what I left behind”…

These days, I have a strange feeling of “what I left behind”…

In 2004, a few months after I returned from Bali, the second bombing occurred right at the place I toured.

In 2006, about a week or so after I left for New Zealand, a rather massive flood occurred right here causing pretty heavy losses and inconvenience. And not too long after I returned from New Zealand, I learnt there were some floods happening over there.

Anyone following this blog may know I landed on Guangzhou and Sichuan just last year. The snowstorm at Guangzhou not too longer and the recent earthquake over at Sichuan very recently… Haiz.. It just feel different to see the land (and the people over there) I had just touched to be so affected and so torn apart.

And thus, the feeling of “what I left behind”…


灾难后的「善后」处理，真不简单。
还好有相当多的善心人士。
希望灾民们，虽然关关难过、还能关关过。

这些年来…
有没有觉得天灾人祸相当多？
难道是因果成熟的加速？你认为呢？

我也在想：灾难真的不能避免吗？
I shall leave the thinking to the individuals…


Anyway, allow me to share with you a bit of “coincidences” …

1 月25 日 : 雪灾 = 天灾 (1 + 2 + 5 = 8)
3 月14 日 : 藏独 = 人祸 (3 + 1 + 4 = 8)
5 月12 日 : 地震 = 地灾 (5 + 1 + 2 = 8)

And,
08 年 08 月 08 日 ：奥运会！
是巧合吗？

算一算，四川地震发生那天正好是距离北京奥运会还差 88天。

C9-L3

Strangely, I actually feel refreshing that I'm now officially C9-L3 Permanent.
Oh, that’s one of our army medical status.

就是有一种新鲜感。

This can be translated to :
..... Servicemen not required to take IPPT/RT.
..... Fit for operational duties at Bases only.
..... Not fit for field duties / exercises.

This verdict comes when I haven't even started my reservist yet. Mm..
Oh, not that I'm so looking forward to it, but... I'm just feeling a little different.

就是感觉有一点与众不同。

Somehow, I am now more determined to exercise, although in theory I can eat all I can, even until my figure expanded till beyond recognition. :P

在运动方面，我反而多了一点推动力。

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~ ~ 分享 ~ ~

Letting Off..

Vg had done wrong. He dragged Jd into his plot. Jd knew it wasn't okay, but found it difficult to say "no" to a friend. So, in theory both are "wrong".

在他们的面前，我没有隐藏我的失望。

If their deed were to be exposed, they could be as good as disappear from their college.

我也不过是实话实说。

I was merely painting the picture of the possible outcomes of their action (or rather an action initiated by Vg, but passively involving Jd). And... it kind of hurt me to see Jd cried. He is already a man of few words, then with tears slowly flowing down his cheeks, we can imagine just how silent the session can be.

《沉默》加上《眼泪》：我会融化。

When asked what should be the appropriate action, Vg suggested to let Jd off, and he shall be the one taking all the responsibility. That was brave. But things never work out in such a way in reality and Jd will never be let off of the "official hook".

I am also in moral dilemma .
我不能默默无声。要不然，他们可能将来会小过不断，而大过接踵而来。
我若是稍微吭声。很显然，他们铁定会被逐出校门外，而没有翻身之机。

左思右想 ...
I actually decided (in my own personal capacity) to let them off.
I know I'm wrong in all “official sense”.
But to see how poor Jd can be implicated in such a way, my heart somewhat softened and I chose to "cover up" for them.
There were a few criterions I specified that I expect them to do (of course).

我为什么要这么做？
我又不是邀功，那么多事干什么？
我一只眼睁、一 只眼闭不就相安无事了吗？
我这么做值得吗？
万一我也被牵连呢？

我是在《包容》还是在《纵容》？
若是一味的《包容》也是一种《纵容》...

Since I had already decided doing so,
I have to take it as my responsibility to ensure their growth, I think.
如今，这一件事，
我唯一能得到安慰的便是他们的成长与进步。

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~ ~ Hopeful ~ ~

Another Flat Tyre : Some Lessons Learnt.

It started from taking a route that otherwise need not be taken. Mm…

Skipping the details of the irrelevance..

I realised the steering-feeling of my car at a carpark seemed so odd. I decided to come down and check. Bingo! I was right. The front right tyre was flat flat flat. Mm…

It was 9pm and I was already quite exhausted from the toll of the day.

Nevertheless, without much hesitation I folded up my sleeves, I emptied my car-boot, took out the spare tyre and the necessary tools… but but.. only to realize my right shoulder hasn’t really regain the power. So how to change the tyre myself??!!

Felt strangled.

Idea struck.

I called ComfortDelgro 24-hr hotline for breakdowns and towing (6553-1111). The operating lady asked if I am a kind of member of whatever. I anyhow hamtam-ed that I am a UDRIVE member (without any idea how relevance that piece of information was), and they said the promotion is still on and therefore they shall sent the mechanics to me free-of-charge.

Felt lucky.

They promised the mechanics shall reach me in 45-min time. That was bearable. I took a book and went to a nearby stall to la-kopi, relaxing. I needed a break. The mechanics reached before 30 min was up.

The mechanics was efficient. All was done by 10pm. After the tyre-switch, he simply took down some details from my self-print-out-udrive-membership-card. (Yes the membership card is a self-print-out-card as the membership is also free mah.)

Looking at the silly thin spare tyre on my M3 gave me a weird and insecure feeling. But it was already 10pm and hence… wait a minute. My concern must be a common one. Or rather, my concern must have all written all over my face. Before the mechanics left, he left me a contact saying a place not too far away provides tyre repair from 8:30am till about 1am everyday, if I was that worried.

I was game for it. I took down the general directions : one end of Balestier Road, near Quality Hotel, near one of the exits of CTE, near Fragrance Hotel, in front of a Chinese temple. I went down immediate after that. Not difficult to find. But the information on Fragrance Hotel was the most misleading as there are many Fragrance Hotels along Balestier Road, one more fragrance than the other perhaps. Haha.. Anyway, that company is Lee Huat Tyre & Battery Co.

The attention was immediate. I learnt that getting the spare tyre patched may cost $10. If the tyre is “un-patchable”, changing the whole tyre is another story.

Not too long after, I was on the road again, feeling good and more secured with 4 proper tyres once again.

Some lessons learnt :

(1) Many tyre designs nowadays usually flatten slowly unless the damage to it is really big. It is suggested to drive in to petrol kiosk to pump up the tyre and then drive to the nearest “rescue” workshop. If the journey to even the nearest “rescue” workshop is also quite far away, we may even consider pumping up the tyre a few times at petrol kiosks along the way.

(2) ComfortDelgro 24-hr hotline for breakdowns and towing coupling with Udrive membership proves useful. Free leh and rather efficient too.

(3) Unearthly hours to driver’s rescue is available (at Balestier Road). Pricing is also rather fair, I think.

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有人说爱情是一杯茶，时间一久就淡了
也有人说爱情更像是一个煲，时间越长越有滋味

Time-Tight..

Softly uttered into our ears …
我知道大家都很忙碌、时间也很不够用。
可是这是我们的责任，我们还是要做的。

The rest went pretty silence…
We must be thinking of the piles of work (already) awaiting us.

该做的还是要做…

「忙碌」是不是现代人生活的写照？
不管我们从事什么，我们似乎都会相当忙碌。
只好选择要忙碌于什么。
不同的选择将会有不同的「收获」。

Responsibility seems to grow when we grow or when we know more.
长大了就要有所担当。
知道了就要去发挥。
明理的人就有责任。

I believe all of us wish to have more time at hand to fulfill our roles and responsibilities (and wishes, of course) meaningfully.
But…
On the note of equality, I remind myself none of us have a minute more or a minute less per day.


事情总是做不完...
也不一定做得好...
只要还是甘愿的来付出、就那一份心意、就那一份真心...
能接受！

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孩子
他们是落入凡间的精灵
那笑是可以让人忘記烦恼的