Covid 19

interesting how our lives just change in a few days. So restricted travel has been enforced in Malaysia. Some are still unaware of the seriousness of the situation. Do we need a major disaster to make us serious?

Last night was the whole drama of people trying to go back to their villages. Then the need to get permit from the police for interstate travel. The road jammed up, the police stations were crowded with people and bus stations too with people trying to get public transportation. Hopefully this crowd will not worsen the situation in Malaysia.

As life is put on hold, there are those who face difficulties physically and medically. Julie is quarantined due to TB. I wonder how is she coping. Bernie is home bound due to stroke and old age. She’s very frail and has difficulty moving. Her dinner is catered. So that takes care of her meals. Got her a tray of eggs n cooked her some stew which she can keep n steam for any of her meals. There’s Lee Yoon who has mild stroke and just admitted to GH. Her mother is bed ridden and now the brother has to divide his time between home and hospital.

Some can’t even live a normal peaceful life. For what I have I am thankful for my lot.

No worries

Another beautiful poem to remind me that God is in control. I shouldn’t be worried. This is taken from Streams In The Desert. 

O Thou of little faith,

God hath not failed thee yet!

When all looks dark and gloomy,

Thou dost so soon forget─

Forget that He has led thee,

And gently cleared thy way;

On clouds has poured His sunshine,

And turned thy night to day.

And if He's helped thee hitherto,

He will not fail thee now;

How it must wound His loving heart

To see thy anxious brow!

Oh! doubt not any longer,

To Him commit thy way,

whom in the past thou trusted,

And is "just the same today."

God is with me

Is it raining, little flower?

　Be glad of rain;

Too much sun would wither thee;

　`Twill shine again.

The clouds are very black, `tis true;

But just behind them shines the blue.

Art thou weary, tender heart?

　Be glad of pain:

In sorrow sweetest virtues grow,

　As flowers in rain.

God watches, and thou wilt have sun,

When clouds their perfect work have done.

　　　　　　　　　　─Lucy Larcom. 

Margin

margin refers to the space on the edge of a page where there is no text....James Bryan Smith (The good and beautiful God).

I always gets upset when students write into the margin which I call it Mt Space. Some have so much to write that they just go on and on and on.

Just like my life ....I’ve filled it up with so much that work, kdrama, housework...overflows into the margins of my life.

In this new soul training James Bryan Smith is suggesting that we take time for margin....leisure, me time, rest and time for God, family n health.

So I’ve found some time for margin today. One of the leisurely thing I used to enjoy was reading poems. Today I rediscovered Christina Rossetti.

Here’s one of her poem which is so dreary but true. I don’t mind it being read at my wake.

When I am dead, my dearest,
Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head,
Nor shady cypress tree:
Be the green grass above me
With showers and dewdrops wet;
And if thou wilt, remember,
And if thou wilt, forget.

I shall not see the shadows,
I shall not feel the rain;
I shall not hear the nightingale
Sing on, as if in pain:
And dreaming through the twilight
That doth not rise nor set,
Haply I may remember,
And haply may forget.

Blogging today is another margin. 😀😀

Soul training

One of the soul training exercises that I’ve to practise is taking time of to enjoy nature. This is what I’m doing now. Appreciating the sky, the plants, the breeze, the birds and the various sounds from bird chirping to the washing machine.

So the evening started with a cup of coffee (with a trickle of Kahlua). 

The flowers are not too great looking like before but they are still pleasing to the eye. 

Birds flying above. 

Suppose to catch a plane flying above. In fact I saw two planes passing by. 

Listen to the sounds. 

And  just like that, dusk has come. 

The orange colours of the sky is gone. 

It’s getting dark now. Mosquitoes are out!,,,,

Sky Mirror

23.2.19
Adventure for the month of February was the trip to Sky Mirror, off Kuala Selangor. Had always wanted to visit this place so when Ms Liau invited to join a tour, I jumped at it despite disliking joining tours. Tours as tours are.....I still dislike it except for the Sky Mirror and the paddy museum. Anyway back to the topic....will only focus on the Sky Mirror experience.

The jetty is in this place called Sasaran. The boatman looks young and his assistant is even younger. Only 18 apparently but looks much younger.

This fishing village is by the swamp. Full of egrets. 

Boats by the jetty. Around this time...10.15am many boats left the jetty to Sky Mirror. 

Took us about 25 minutes to reach the destination. Felt the boatman sped all the way there. He did slow down a while to show us some dolphins but I couldn’t see where I was seated. 

When we reached there were already other boats around. I believe there were almost 500 people on land. I The boatmen were turning here and there waiting for the tide to go down. We could see the difference in the water....the brownish water shows where land would appear while the greenish water is the deeper end. Finally saw some people coming down at the further end. The water was slightly below the knee. 

Then we were allowed to come down. The water was around the ankle. Went down with only my hat and hand phone. We were warned not to touch any of the sea creatures as they could be poisonous. Being in the middle of the Strait of Malacca, I believed him.  The sight of tide going down and land appearing was pretty awesome. 

All over the beach can see sights like this. The boatmen and assistants preparing the place for photography. Smmothen  the beach, make a little puddle and set up the tent like structure for lighting purposes 😂😂. Very innovative. 

The full group photo. 38 of us ....then we broke up to three different groups. Following different photographers. We followed the assistant from our boat. I offered him my iPhone X..of course I had to stay with him. 

The Seremban group. 12 of us. By the way....we met Mrs Öng...the children’s piano teacher. We stayed on the beach for an hour. Waiting for our turns to take pictures....groups, family, individual and couples. In no time time was up. 

The trip back was pretty awesome. When we were close to the village, we entered the mouth of the river with swamps on the left and right. I though it was a different route but it was the same. The scene was different because of the low tide. The swamps were swamped with egrets and we even saw a huge monitor lizard. 

A closer view of the swamp with the monitor lizard. 

Well, the whole excursion ended about 12.30pm. Pretty impressive and awed by God’s creation. The Almighty has indeed given us a beautiful earth. I was pleased when the boatmen told off a smoker not to throw the butt on the beach. Yes....they are playing their part to preserve the sea from pollution. It’s us...urban people who are ignorant and bring pollution even to the middle of the sea. 

Nights of Rain and Stars

This is the title of the book written by Maeve Binchy. One day during my Nilam class (a total waste of time) I saw a 12 year old student with this book. I was totally excited as MB is one of my favourite author. I thought I’ve read all of her books. Apparently not! 

This is MB. Very sensible and down to earth writer. Her style of writing is easy to read. Talking about normal people with their everyday lives but she spins tale out of normal living. There’s something real and honest in how she writes. It’s interesting too how she moves from one character to another or one place to another.

In this book she introduces us to four main characters running away from life and how a chance meeting with an angel like character brought changes to them. 

Issues like manipulation, expectations and domestic violence are touched on. I agree with her that one should not be dictated on how they should live. We need the freedom to live our lives and make our mistakes. Only then can we learn and be better people. But her conclusion is a bit over simplistic. Life in reality tend to be more complicated and sticky. 

The character David reminds me much of the kdrama Sky Castle. Expectations from parents and how to child yearns to be free from it and live his own life as his own person. 

People say love is blind (which I disagree)...through Fiona’s character she shows how a level headed person can be blinded by what she thinks is love for her man to the extent of allowing him to abuse her physically, emotionally and verbally. We can’t tell a person she / he has made the wrong choice. She has to discover it herself. 

An easy reading and entertaining book to pass time. 😀

Now I wonder if a 12 year old is able to read between the lines and come with these conclusions about life.