Time flies…
Isn’t it ironic that events in our younger days still vividly remain in our thoughts but the reality of the matter is that we are decades away from those innocent days, days where all we could think of were playing hide-and-seek, climbing rambutan trees and making a trip to the river side, eagerly throwing pebbles into the water while watching ripples forming on the surface then happily concluded it was a fun game to play?
I am a little innocent kid again..
I would like to imagine that blue sky and rolling white clouds are a little heaven on earth, raindrops on the roof top are the sound of poetry to my ears, life at this point comes to a standstill as I curl up in this little space of mine dreaming about golden sunset, evening sky and twinkling tiny points of light being the illusion of permanence.
I just want to dream about a little heaven on earth again…
As I am posting this I am instantly reminded not to procrastinate matters that we can do today to another day because of the swiftness with which time slips away, while playfully yet condescendingly invoking in us this lingering sense of the brevity of life…
Food for thought:
I don’t know why we are here, but I am pretty sure that it is not in order to enjoy ourselves.
- Ludwig Wittgenstein.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
A day of fang seng
The day that was : 6 March 2011
I have invited a friend together with her spouse and kid for a weekend activity of fang seng. As usual we went to the animal shop located in Inanam where we frequent quite often to purchase frogs and cengkerik (cricket) for fang seng. I always tell the shop owner that I need them for the sole purpose of feeding my pet fishes at home. I know I need to disguise my actual intention in a bid to discourage the owner to capture or purchase the insects/amphibians in large quantities knowing that there’s a regular customer who always come in to purchase the creatures in droves for fang seng purposes. I had gone to the shop alone the previous evening for the same purpose, but decided to come back with my friend to purchase the remaining small frogs placed in the shop’s aquarium tank as well as few much bigger sizes of the frogs which I noted the day before were crammed inside in a very small tank. I felt that if they were not quickly freed they would have died of suffocation and foul air amidst the dirty environment inside the plastic tank which made absolutely no room for their movement.
People these days are cruel to the well beings of others, knowingly, while others, blatantly and arrogantly ignorant. These poor creatures are not humans, yet deserve their very own right to fight for their existence and shelter, but some of us are sinners of lust and greed with gluttony in our desires; and material fulfillments our prime concerns, hence making profits the only motives on our daily agenda.
There was a time when after exiting the shop I was approached by a young man with the same purchases of plastic bags of frogs and crickets. He asked me what was the purpose of my purchases and I instead tactfully inquired as to why he would want to know. He replied that from my appearance I didn’t seem to be someone who bought small frogs and crickets to feed fishes. I told him that I have been adopting the act of saving life as part of my Buddhist practice and to my delight he said he was also doing the same. He further mentioned that he has been learning to release animals on small scales. I am happy there’s someone who shares my belief and in his young age he has already found his faith and is seemed to be diligently practicing it. This man proceeded to ask questions like where are the suitable place to release frogs and have I ever released crabs? I said yes. And where do we release these crabs? Is the beach a suitable environment for them, or swampy area?
I felt pleasantly amused by this young man’s eagerness to seek liberation and hence cultivate compassion for these creatures, I said “may be we could find the answer by surfing the internet? And would you like to join my brothers and I for today?” He politely declined saying he would keep his purchases in his house and only release them once he is back from outstation assignments. I bid goodbye without asking for his name, for I believe if there is `yuan fen’ between us, we surely will be able to see each other again.
Today my friend’s husband had to drive a long distance to Tuaran town after unable to find suitable places to release our purchases nearby. We then walked a long distance on a gravel road, then a suspension bridge before finally coming to the bank of a river, it was definitely a friendly and clean environment for these amphibians to call their home. Together we uttered a little prayers and chanted some mantras before releasing these creatures to where they belonged, and for them to once again embrace freedom..
Freedom, finally.
On the suspension bridge, with Moi & her kid, Ivy.
I have invited a friend together with her spouse and kid for a weekend activity of fang seng. As usual we went to the animal shop located in Inanam where we frequent quite often to purchase frogs and cengkerik (cricket) for fang seng. I always tell the shop owner that I need them for the sole purpose of feeding my pet fishes at home. I know I need to disguise my actual intention in a bid to discourage the owner to capture or purchase the insects/amphibians in large quantities knowing that there’s a regular customer who always come in to purchase the creatures in droves for fang seng purposes. I had gone to the shop alone the previous evening for the same purpose, but decided to come back with my friend to purchase the remaining small frogs placed in the shop’s aquarium tank as well as few much bigger sizes of the frogs which I noted the day before were crammed inside in a very small tank. I felt that if they were not quickly freed they would have died of suffocation and foul air amidst the dirty environment inside the plastic tank which made absolutely no room for their movement.
People these days are cruel to the well beings of others, knowingly, while others, blatantly and arrogantly ignorant. These poor creatures are not humans, yet deserve their very own right to fight for their existence and shelter, but some of us are sinners of lust and greed with gluttony in our desires; and material fulfillments our prime concerns, hence making profits the only motives on our daily agenda.
There was a time when after exiting the shop I was approached by a young man with the same purchases of plastic bags of frogs and crickets. He asked me what was the purpose of my purchases and I instead tactfully inquired as to why he would want to know. He replied that from my appearance I didn’t seem to be someone who bought small frogs and crickets to feed fishes. I told him that I have been adopting the act of saving life as part of my Buddhist practice and to my delight he said he was also doing the same. He further mentioned that he has been learning to release animals on small scales. I am happy there’s someone who shares my belief and in his young age he has already found his faith and is seemed to be diligently practicing it. This man proceeded to ask questions like where are the suitable place to release frogs and have I ever released crabs? I said yes. And where do we release these crabs? Is the beach a suitable environment for them, or swampy area?
I felt pleasantly amused by this young man’s eagerness to seek liberation and hence cultivate compassion for these creatures, I said “may be we could find the answer by surfing the internet? And would you like to join my brothers and I for today?” He politely declined saying he would keep his purchases in his house and only release them once he is back from outstation assignments. I bid goodbye without asking for his name, for I believe if there is `yuan fen’ between us, we surely will be able to see each other again.
Today my friend’s husband had to drive a long distance to Tuaran town after unable to find suitable places to release our purchases nearby. We then walked a long distance on a gravel road, then a suspension bridge before finally coming to the bank of a river, it was definitely a friendly and clean environment for these amphibians to call their home. Together we uttered a little prayers and chanted some mantras before releasing these creatures to where they belonged, and for them to once again embrace freedom..
Freedom, finally.
On the suspension bridge, with Moi & her kid, Ivy.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Annual dinner & a trip back home
My company was having its Annual Dinner cum Family Day gatherings at Nexus Resort Karambunai in November last year. A warm evening of meeting up and socializing with co-workers and their spouses and children. It must have been an exciting outings for my co-workers especially those working in the plant, for being able to savour the taste of spending a night at the luxurious resort and enjoying sumptuouMy company s meals with their families, and having a relaxing day the day after participating in games and other activities.
I attended the dinner however did not stay at the resort and left early at about 8.45pm , trailing closely behind my colleague under heavy drizzles and flickering street lights. This was actually my first time coming to the resort and I worried about not being able to find the way out as it was drizzling and the guiding street lights were too dimmed. My colleague kindly led me until she turned to another junction thereafter I was left high and dry having to navigate on my own and I did get lost but managed to find my way out then continued a 2 hours’ journey back to the village. Something came up and instead of going back to my own apartment, I decided to make the long trip back to the village, at about 10.00pm when it had started pouring. It was the most nerve-wracking journey for me, I would have never imagined that the road could be this quiet this time of night, every once in a while a flickering light from afar indicating an oncoming vehicle brought a sigh of relief to me knowing that I was not alone but the rest of the trip I had to keep praying that danger would keep a safe distance from me. I am afraid of the dark and being in that situation had inevitably stirred my imagination as if in any instance beings with form and formless would come into my imaginary view and threaten my existence.
In darkness very often, I lose my ability to rationalize.
The fear however did not dent my resolve for I managed to reach the safe haven that is home two hours later. At exactly midnight.
The following day my sister brought me to Beaufort town to buy some fishes for `fang seng’ . Again hoping to save more lives with the same amount of money, I have to tawar-menawar with the fish mongers, one of whom is a a former schoolmate.
As I drove back to KK in the afternoon, I thought about how it had been such a worthwhile trip, albeit having to drive at night under heavy rain with hardly a single soul on the road, and having to chant `Namo kuan se yin pusa’ along the way to calm the nerves, it had been all worthwhile nevertheless to think that I managed to spend some quality time in the village with people matter to me most.
Travelling at broad day light on the same road, fear was now a stranger but happy thoughts were the dear friends of a contented soul nestling in an oasis of tranquility, peacefully and light-heartedly humming away happy tunes…
Some photos:
Lovely colleagues at the reception desk : Mordiana,Fenny & Karen
The team responsible for organising the function.
Standing fr. left : Jessie, Christnie, Fenny; sitting:Stephanie,Lorita,me
I attended the dinner however did not stay at the resort and left early at about 8.45pm , trailing closely behind my colleague under heavy drizzles and flickering street lights. This was actually my first time coming to the resort and I worried about not being able to find the way out as it was drizzling and the guiding street lights were too dimmed. My colleague kindly led me until she turned to another junction thereafter I was left high and dry having to navigate on my own and I did get lost but managed to find my way out then continued a 2 hours’ journey back to the village. Something came up and instead of going back to my own apartment, I decided to make the long trip back to the village, at about 10.00pm when it had started pouring. It was the most nerve-wracking journey for me, I would have never imagined that the road could be this quiet this time of night, every once in a while a flickering light from afar indicating an oncoming vehicle brought a sigh of relief to me knowing that I was not alone but the rest of the trip I had to keep praying that danger would keep a safe distance from me. I am afraid of the dark and being in that situation had inevitably stirred my imagination as if in any instance beings with form and formless would come into my imaginary view and threaten my existence.
In darkness very often, I lose my ability to rationalize.
The fear however did not dent my resolve for I managed to reach the safe haven that is home two hours later. At exactly midnight.
The following day my sister brought me to Beaufort town to buy some fishes for `fang seng’ . Again hoping to save more lives with the same amount of money, I have to tawar-menawar with the fish mongers, one of whom is a a former schoolmate.
As I drove back to KK in the afternoon, I thought about how it had been such a worthwhile trip, albeit having to drive at night under heavy rain with hardly a single soul on the road, and having to chant `Namo kuan se yin pusa’ along the way to calm the nerves, it had been all worthwhile nevertheless to think that I managed to spend some quality time in the village with people matter to me most.
Travelling at broad day light on the same road, fear was now a stranger but happy thoughts were the dear friends of a contented soul nestling in an oasis of tranquility, peacefully and light-heartedly humming away happy tunes…
Some photos:
Lovely colleagues at the reception desk : Mordiana,Fenny & Karen
The team responsible for organising the function.
Standing fr. left : Jessie, Christnie, Fenny; sitting:Stephanie,Lorita,me
The cheeky trio : Henry,Nazrul and Wellie Siong
Me with the ever playful IT executive Fazillah Awang
A blurred picture of me and Sharifah Aini look-alike Jessie
Adorable kid of a colleague
Dotting fathers: co-workers with their families.
Production manager Mr.Law
Award presentation on stage
Karaoke session : Paulinus in action
Johannes Jimmy belting out a melodious number
A presentation of poco-poco dance
Family day activities on the following day
Photos in the village:
Papa and koko in an engaging talk with a neighbour
Fang seng
Ikan keli
Ikan karuk
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)