Heavenly nuggets!

Sometimes patience is all it needs to savour the fruits God has bestowed on us.
My neighbours keep on plucking the unripe mangoes from the tree outside the compound of my house. I always feel that if they only waited for the fruits to grow in size and ripen, they would be able to enjoy the naturally sweet taste of the delicious golden flesh of the fruit. Indeed, fortune smiles on those who wait!

My divan! My life!

Life is like a divan. We can fill it with so many interesting, exciting and attractive items to express our creativity..... or we could just leave it bare and mundane. It is up to us!

The Ironies of Life and Living - E

E had four siblings. Their father was a short-tempered headstrong man with very little patience. As E grew up in the household observing his father’s traits and lack of charisma, he vowed that he would never be like his father. He would treat his wife with the dignity that she deserved and show patience to everyone he came in contact with. Years passed. E’s father passed away. E tied the knot and had a son. The first few years were bliss, but eventually, E’s temperament changed. He became short-tempered. He snapped at his wife for the slightest mistake she made. He was impatient with family and friends. Isn’t it ironical that having sworn years earlier that he would never be like his father, now people said that he was a chip of the old block?   

The Ironies of Life and Living - D

D had been trying hard to conceive after her marriage, but was unsuccessful. She and her loving husband spent thousands of dollars going for a few rounds of IVF treatments. Nothing worked. Even spiritual visits to churches and her constant prayers were not answered. Her teenaged niece came to stay with her while pursuing a course at a local college. Within a couple of weeks, her niece was found to be with child. D had never even known that her niece had had a boyfriend. She still seemed so young and innocent and now, she was going to be a mother? What made her want to engage in sex at such a young age? Did she ever consider that her proximity with the opposite sex would lead her to becoming pregnant? Her niece admitted that she had only done it once and was ‘caught’. Why was D never ‘caught’ despite the fact that she was ready to be a mother?

The Ironies of Life and Living - C

C was married to a successful medical specialist. Because of his independence and insistence that he wanted to make something of himself, he was estranged from his family while he pursued degree after degree in foreign universities. Despite his time away from home, C managed to father three children. However, he always felt that the second child was not his. His calculations told him that he was not with his wife when the child was conceived. Years later, while the rest of the family distanced themselves from him, it was only this second child who went out of her way to communicate with him and be a part of his life.  

The Ironies of Life and Living - B

B had a big garden with lots of fruit trees when she was young. There were papaya trees, mango trees, rambutan trees, chiku trees and star fruit trees.  She loved the fruits of all the trees except the star fruit tree. The tree was huge and it blocked her view of the road beside her house. She implored her father to have the tree cut down but he would hear none of it. She argued that the fruits were allowed to fall and rot since no one in her family cared for them. Her request fell on deaf ears. Years passed. B’s parents passed away. B stayed on in the same house. Her husband was going through hard times. B was forced to pick the starfruit for sale to earn extra income for the family.

The Ironies of Life and Living

Very often, we feel complacent about what is going on in our lives. Then suddenly something will come to shake us out of our reverie and we are forced to stop and ponder about the twists and turns in life’s story. Here are some incidents about the ironies in the lives of different people who will remain anonymous but be named in alphabetical order.

A was given away for adoption a year after she was born. She never ventured to ask about the whys and wherefores as she felt that there was no need to. What was done could not be undone. Besides it was all for the better as she was brought up in a loving home and eventually felt that she had learnt to be more caring and compassionate than if she had been in her original biological home. Both her biological father and her adopted father had passed away. Her adopted mother was in a nursing home as she needed round the clock medical attention. Suddenly, out of the blue, her biological mother asked her one day if she could come and live with her. Hello? Didn’t you give her away at birth?

28 Facts about Ipoh

1. Ipoh is in the state of Perak.

2. The state flag has three equal horizontal bands of white, yellow and black.

3. The Perak emblem which is yellow and black depicts the Perak crest, the crescent and the rice flower.

4. Ipoh is named after a local tree called the Ipoh tree.

5. The town of Ipoh grew because of the rich tin resources found in the Kinta valley.

6. Today, one can see many disused mining pools on the outskirts of Ipoh.

7. Ipoh received its city status on 27 May, 1988.

8. Ipoh is famous for its easily accessible limestone cave temples.

9. Most of the hills surrounding Ipoh are limestone hills.

10. Gua Tempurung is an interesting cave to visit, to see its stalactite and stalagmite formations.

11. Ipoh’s only water theme park is called the Lost World of Tambun.

12. The oldest gardens in the city is the DR Park.

13. Ipoh is famous for its bean sprouts and chicken meat with white fat noodles.

14. Ipoh is the home of the Old Town White Coffee.

15. To savour Ipoh’s famous food, have your meals at the local food courts or hawker centres.

16. The night markets (pasar malam) are popular places for a good bargain for food and other products.

17. Morning markets found outside wet markets also offer good bargains.

18. There are no beaches in Ipoh, but there are waterfalls on the outskirts of Ipoh.

19. The nearest beach is about a two-hour drive away at Teluk Batik.

20. You could visit the fishing villages and enjoy the sunshine and beaches by taking a ferry from Lumut to Pangkor Island.

21. Ipoh is constantly hot (28 – 34 degrees).

22. To experience cool weather, one can take a 2-hour drive up to Cameron Highlands in Pahang.

23. The pomelo fruit is grown in Tambun, Ipoh.

24. The Taiping Zoo near Ipoh has more than 180 species of birds.

25. The Taiping Zoo offers a night safari as well.

26. The Perak Museum in Taiping is the oldest museum in Malaysia.

27. A popular tourist destination is Kellie’s Castle, the unfinished ruins built by a Scottish rubber tycoon.

28. The Birch Memorial is a clock tower in Ipoh built in 1909.

The Choirmistress' Role

I've been with the Latin Choir at St Michael’s Church Ipoh since 2007 as its choirmistress (the men jokingly say that I am their mistress!) and I am enjoying the fact that we can glorify the Lord in song in Church occasionally.

There are about 50 elderly people, mostly in their 60s and 70s in the choir. We have two accomplished organists, one in her late 70's and another who has years before she reaches 50. They are both versatile at the organ and clavinova and set the pace for what we do and how we present each hymn.

We are known as the Latin Choir but we sing English hymns as well. We sing for services in Church at least 10 times a year, not on a weekly basis. We come together for practices about 6 weeks before we are supposed to sing. 

At the moment, we are attempting the Hallelujah Chorus in four parts but it is not so easy going as 99% of the members are music illiterate. We can manage 4-part singing for other Christmas carols like Joy to the World, Silent Night, Ding Dong Merrily on High and O Holy Night. We are quite confident with those carols and sang them at the 8a.m. Mass on 8 January 2012. The parts were arranged by B.M. Remedios.

I don't have any basic knowledge of conducting. I used to fight shy of conducting the Negaraku during Assembly when I was a teacher. In this choir, I see myself as a coordinator between the organists and the singers, teaching them new hymns, how to get the melody right, making sure they get the correct pitch and timing, etc. Thus I make sure that everyone works together in unison to make our worship as a congregation at each liturgical celebration more meaningful.

I think that everyone has his own style of conducting. We have 4-5 choirs in our church. The congregation say that one conductor looks like he is frying ‘kuay teow’. Another looks like she is all out to go to battle. Another accomplished music teacher conducts at her own pace without listening to the beat of the organ nor being aware of whether the choir members are taking her cue. Another only knows how to conduct the stilted way, not bothering about whether the choir is following the rhythm. 

I have heard different comments about me. One says that I am a bit lifeless (compared to the one going out to battle) but someone else says that I am the best of all the conductors that we have in our church. Whatever they say, my duty is to get the choir and the organists and the congregation in sync for community worship. If that works well during the service, then I praise and thank God.

In actual fact, I was a choir member years ago and gave it up for a spell. I rejoined the choir as I read somewhere that after 60 years of age, one’s voice deteriorates, That frightened me and since I like singing I took on the challenge of being choir mistress of the Latin Choir. The previous choirmistress who was a perfectionist was sickly and wanted to retire from the position. She used to be a good singer when she was younger but now has voice problems, asthma and other ailments.

Our young organist is fantastic on the keyboard and covers up most of our mistakes. We have a good time singing (not always sweetly). But I think, being a church choir, we always give our best to the Lord and He in turn rewards us in so many ways. Oh yes, the acoustics in our church is very good so these days we do not even have to use microphones.

The finer things in Life

When I think of the finer things in life, I associate them with things that money cannot buy, for example,

... a leisurely wake up in the morning

.... the sounds of birds chirping

... a drive with no traffic jams

... the taste of food 

... time spent with good friends

.. and good health.

Then again, having a little money does help one enjoy the finer things in life, too. For lunch, I had 

...... a McDonald's McValue meal (Fillet-o-fish .... as it is a Friday)

..... while eating french fries and sipping on coke

..... while watching a Malay movie on television

..... in the comfort of my own cosy living room 

.... in my cosy little terrace home.

It is one of the finer things in life as opposed to

.... sitting in a Chinese restaurant

.... waiting to gorge down a 10-course Chinese meal

.... amid loud noises of people chattering at the top of their voices

.... in an air-conditioned environment.

To each his own. I savoured every moment of it awhile ago and thank God for the experience.

Life & Death

I have always wanted to die young. Now I am too old to die young.  I have reached the age where I see and hear of people younger than me leaving the world. I regularly come across people older than me expressing their fears of having to go to the next world, if there is one.

My perspective on life and the eminent death is that we, as mortals, are here in this world only on a temporary basis, a pilgrim on life’s journey. Our stay, for some reason or other, could be cut short or could drag on endlessly. 

Only God knows how long we will be here. To some , this could be a blessing, not only for themselves but also for others. This stay will be filled with challenges, big and small, some of our own making and many beyond our control.

As a pilgrim on this journey of life, we will have to face these challenges with resilience and fortitude so that at the end of the day, we can feel proud that we had lived our life well. When we are gone, we should leave behind only good memories.

Misfortune

Is this the season for misfortune? So many friends have been experiencing bouts of ‘bad luck’ recently.

Friend A’s 37-year-old daughter has been given six months to live. She is suffering from leukemia. A compatible bone marrow donor was found but she has taken a turn for the worse and cannot undergo the operation.

Friend B’s 49-year old sister had her leg amputated because of diabetes. Doctors warned the family that she could have died on the operating table. However, she survived the operation. Now, she has to undergo bypass surgery on the other leg and if that does not work, she has to face the rest of her life without legs.

Friend C was conned into withdrawing her savings of RM37K. If not for the timely intervention of the bank personnel, she could have lost another RM70K. Now she lives in constant fear of phone calls and even has to handle the wrath of her insensitive husband who chides her continuously.

It is said that every cloud has a silver lining. All these misfortunes had that silver lining. If only there was more to it than the silver lining.

Ipoh’s landscape

Shopping complexes are sprouting like mushrooms in the Kinta valley. Do we need another shopping mall? Or is it more viable to have better and more convenient medical facilities around the area?

A new 10-storey building with an additional 528 beds is being planned for the main hospital which is in the heart of town. With the city of Ipoh being so spread out, would it not be more beneficial and convenient to the public if this medical facility were to be built away from the congested city centre? It could be more patient-friendly by being a five-storey building on sprawling lawns, away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

With an aging population and more sicknesses being diagnosed each day, the time has come for the government to focus on health issues. More areas should also be set aside for recreation. This could be the tasks of the various city councilors for the areas they are responsible for. They could gazette parks and recreational areas where healthy living and regular exercise could be promoted.

Life is not about materialism, depicted by big tall buildings and shopping complexes. The people of Ipoh need more user- friendly environments for a healthier lifestyle.

The focus on English

Many parents want their children to be taught Mathematics and Science in English. More hours spent on English will definitely improve their command of the language. However, improvements could be made in the teaching of the English language itself, focussing not only on grammar and vocabulary as the basis for language improvement, but also encouraging more creative minds by drawing students’ attention to scientific and mathematical concepts, historical ideas, philosophical issues and the like.

When learning a language, one starts from its grapheme-phoneme orientation and its phonology. The sounds sometimes would take precedence over the text, but eventually, both are necessary for excellent language skills, especially in reading. With these basic skills, one goes on to build confidence because of the vocabulary and grammar that one is exposed to in language learning.

It is therefore not important whether English is the medium of instruction when teaching Science and Mathematics. It is also of little importance as to how much time is set aside for teaching English as a subject. What is imperative is the methodology and the quality of materials used for the teaching of English. The objectives for the teaching of the English language should be clear in the minds of all teachers. Ultimately, the aim for teaching English should be to have a more learned society which is able to express its ideas and thoughts coherently in the language.

Action research, the way to go!

Today, all primary school teachers, who are diploma holders and below the age of 45, are given a chance to become degree holders. By the droves, they register at the various institutions that offer 'recognised' degree courses. With their friends, they attend classes and do assignments. Of course, there is a lot of plagiarism. They are expected to know better, being teachers, but what happens is that they are in the company of friends. They have to excel, they have deadlines to meet, they have stressful and time-consuming jobs at school and they need to graduate with their peers when the time comes. So the easiest and fastest way to get their work done is to 'plagiarise' in one form or another.

In the first place, most of these teachers do not have the calibre to be graduates. They may have the years of teaching experience but when they were accepted for the diploma courses in education, it was because they were not eligible for degree courses. How is it that now, after a few years, they are eligible? Does teaching experience alone qualify one to be more eligible to become a graduate?

Instead of generalising and making all teachers graduates, it would be more beneficial for the teachers (and their students) if they were sent for training to improve their individual basic skills, to improve their teaching methodology, to change their mindset, to make them more creative so that these skills could be passed down to their students over the years. With all their existing pressures as teachers, simply undertaking an academic course and making them graduates will not benefit the children that they are teaching.

What would be more practical would be to get existing teachers to carry out action research in the classroom so that their concept of education, their attitude of service and their sense of creativity will be developed and nurtured. A teacher working under the guise of a degree-holder will not change the world. His personal sense of self-improvement needs to be revamped so that he will be able to move mountains!

Action-research would help the teachers to reflect on their own teaching methods with the group of students that they have. Through continuous reflection, supervision and discussion with others teaching a similar subject or the same calibre of students, the time the teacher spends in the classroom can be of greater quality.

This is what the Ministry of Education in the Malaysian government should be advocating. At present, it envisions that by merely allowing all teachers in the profession to become graduates it will improve the image of the teaching profession. However, the teachers are wearing themselves out by trying to fulfil the demands of the course they are undertaking and carrying out their teaching tasks while the stakeholders, namely the students, will continue to be the victims of the education system. In the long run, no one will benefit!

A beautiful poem

I wish you health
So you may enjoy each day in comfort

I wish you the love of friends and family
And peace within your heart

I wish you the beauty of nature
That you may enjoy the work of God.

I wish you wisdom to choose priorities
For those things that really matter in life

I wish you generosity so you may share
All good things that come to you

I wish you happiness and joy
And blessings for the new year

I wish you the best of everything
That you so well deserve"

by Charlotte Anselmo .

A New Year, A new Beginning

As the new Year unfolds, it is time to ponder on life. Watch this short inspirational film based on the book Finding Joy by Mac Anderson.
"Life can be pretty complicated, but happiness is really simple..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hECUfKVxXJ8&feature=email