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.