the incident that taught me humility
Many years ago, when I was still in secondary school, I always spend my school holidays at my dad's little factory, in a industrial building.
One day, I took the lift with the cleaner uncle who walked with a limp. I smiled at him, as my dad always did and followed with some small talk. The cleaner uncle smiled back and told me, in hokkien, words that I will never forget:
"Your dad is a nice and good man, he always chat with me whenever he sees me around. A man that does not look down on people like me are hard to find, somemore he is a boss who owns his own factory and business."My father is not a rich man, in fact, we are just able to get by, most of the time. He is just a small and tiny shoe manufacturer relying extensively on manual labour. A dying trade in Singapore.
The proud man counts his newspaper clippings, the humble man his blessings.Fulton J. Sheen
the difference between Citizen & PRs
i have something to
say complain about this.
the towns/estates that is full of U-Turns - update
I recently moved house.
From a HDB
flat pigeon-hole in an old estate to another HDB pigeon-hole in a
new five years old estate.
So nowadays while I am driving around the estate, I found that U can do a U-turn at about 90% of the traffic junctions there. Why are there so many U-turn allowed in this estate and the other
newer ulu estate?
Then I realised that there are no more turning right, cutting across the opposite road, in the middle of a road, to get across into carparks/perpendicular road. Get what I mean? If you don't, try driving around here and you will understand the bloody frustration of MAKING A U-TURN everytime you wish to get to the other side of the road. Especially, when there aren't really many cars on the roads there.
I think this may be the act of the the gahmen. They are so fond of making U-turns nowadays that they decided to enforce the practice of U-turning skills of the younger generation thru such clever traffic plannings.Sometime really buay tahan them one.
the 3rd time I worn the No. 1
Mr. Miyagi post on Starry Night has unfortunately brought back old memories of mine.
8 years ago, 2 soldiers were burned to death instantly, due to an artillery round exploded in the gun chamber, in a faraway land.
We were split into 3 batches for a live firing exercise, the first time in that faraway land.
My team operated the gun as the first batch and left the country before the 2nd batch arrived.He took over the gun that I had just used.
A round exploded in the chamber during the 2nd day of his exercise.
He never stands a chance.
I was there to receive his body when it was flown back.
I was one of the pallbearers at his funeral.
His mother slept beside his coffin every night during the wake.
I witnessed his mother crying her heart out while his father and younger sister fought to hold back their tears despite their sorrows.
I started to cry after seeing his mother running towards the burial hole, trying to jump in as they lowered his coffin in, wishing to be buried together with her beloved son.
He never chao-geng.
He carried out his duties & responsibilities diligently.
He was the most helpful guy I had ever known. He likes to drink coke.
He is the reason I believed that there are christian who practice what the bible preached.
He never complained about the army.
He was the best trainee. He was the soldier you will want to fight alongside with.
He would be ORDing in 3 months time.
He had a place in NUS reserved for him.
I would be standing in the same position as he was, if I were in the 2nd batch instead. I only thought of it after a few weeks had passed. But I never ever once thought that I was luckier than him.
All I know is that it should not had happened to him.
RIP, my dear friend.
the new town/estate that is full of U-Turns
Guess where.
the purpose of this blog
Several weeks ago, i tried to registered with Blogger to get my own blog up.
Being blur blur with this new blogger thingy, i created not 1 but
2 account cos i can't find the original one (i.e. this one) that i created. I started off with the
2nd account happily creaking my head over a title, blog address and started blogging while i sort of ignore this one. Cos everything set up
swee swee at the other one mah... also the other one is documenting on my son and daughter's developments/happenings.
Then when I read about our ex-President passed away and all the great narrated stories about him in the
cost-you-$-to-read-online-one, i realised i have my own views/says too but nowhere to shout. Cos nowadays my daily routine is sleep-eat-work-eat-pee-poo-sleep, not much socializing with friends. So i came back to this original one that i created but almost forgot one.
So here is what i have to say whenever i need to
shout! Thank you.
oh, i shall speak out for all i wan here until one day i
get sued for defamation by some Very Important Person.
till the next blog post... see ya.
WKW said
"We come into this world with nothing on our backs and we will leave with nothing... Before we leave, we return to society what it has given us. We try to treat every person as a human being."Ex-President Wee Kim Wee, 1915 - 2005
"Death is the leveller of all things - whether one is rich or poor, beautiful or ugly, famous or unknown, successful or a failure in life, at death we are all equal."Ex-President Wee Kim Wee, 1915 - 2005, narrated by Pastor Quek.
This 2 are the quotes that I pick up on ST print edition that I subscribe to at home.
This quotes are from a modern man who once held the highest office in Singapore and yet often choose to interact, encourage, shower concern to hawkers, students, nurses; common people that he takes the trouble to reach out to.
When he left the President office back in 1992, I read that his aides and staff in Presidential office were shedding tears on the last day, especially the police escorts that escorted him home on the very last day. I told my gf then (wife now) that this man must be a kind and caring man, for his subordinates shed tears of sadness on his last day in office.
When my children studied about Singapore's ex-presidents, I will tell them what Dr. Wee Kim Wee did and did not.
