Navigating Through The Fog

Each of us come across various numbers of people each day.

They can be acquaintances, colleagues, passer-bys, vehicle drivers on the road, silent fellow passengers on public transport, food providers, delivery personnel, health workers, politicians, friends, relatives, neighbours, commercial workers, influencers, school mates, hobby enthusiasts, club members, cruise passengers and more.

Most times, we only have transactional conversations with them in the way contemporary society is structured.  Increasingly, no voice interaction is even experienced, as finger driven text messages provide the communication channel.

Of course, we get to know particular persons better and in more intensity depending on the relationship involved.

There are individuals who also get to understand and know you better, or purposefully in a restrained and limited way.  There is a logic, rationale and purpose behind family and friendship.

How close or far relationships become can be tied to cultural norms, the sharing of various interests, the geographical factors underpinning viability to keep in touch, the over riding benefits or challenges in emotions and bonding of the parties involved and the opportunities to actually meet up in person.

Do individuals outside of an immediate family scenario persist to keep in touch despite having busy schedules?  

Do viable friendships make it so easy to catch up even after not having not caught up for a long time?

Do friendships wilt and ride off in the proverbial sunset as no effort is made to continue the previous vibes?

Whether or not we actually keep in touch in person is now supplemented by the parameters of social media, but not everyone takes part in this on screen availability.

Relationships used to be facilitated by residing in the same village.   These days we can be still be distant with people physically residing near by - but be more close with our special someones living far away.

Unresolved matters can degrade relationships with family, colleagues and others.  Whether things work out with past or present contacts obviously depend upon individual attitudes, the degree of intensity to maintain or improve a relationship, compatibility in needs or wants and the dovetailing or dispersal of common values or practices.

In a world facilitated by easier travel and mobility, are relationships threatened or enhanced by this?  Can virtual on screen meetings  be as effective as living nearby?

When populations migrate tp such an extent as we see today, are neighbours or friends in the same locality more dependable than family living overseas?

Individuals have varying levels of behaviour and pyschological make up.  We truly cannot change anyone, even as a spouse.  People develop their character and personality independent of our influence.

The most significant skill is to recognise what drives a specific person in day to day interactions with us.

Do they whinge to get attention, not wanting to increase their level of accountability or responsibility?

Do they behave like easy knock overs, never learning to say no and always ready to help when they need not to?

Do they swirl around in negativity and not even take a break to consider the bright side as encouraged by others?

Do they only need others to listen to their thoughts and have already made up their mind?

Do they just need to bully and bulldoze their way when dealing with others - and do not realise their ridiculousness as the proverbial Little Napolenons in their sickening little turfs?

Are they truly modest, humble and generous in consistent behaviour and approach, always considering the interests of the group above themselves?

Are they not able to appreciate the level of elegance, sophistication and refinement expected by so called high society?

Do they behave in a particular way and we cannot figure them out as we do not fully know their full story?

Do they have a consistent purpose in their own journey of life?

Are they easily influenced by others and tend to follow strong personalities?

Do their expectations entrap them in attachments which they may not even be aware of?

Do they interact with us only because they have something to sell to us, even if we are not interested in what they offer?

Do they drop us quickly like a stone once they have no use of us?

Do they break and not uphold well respected family and community values due to their twisted egos?

Do we judge people by a single mistake or act of unbecoming behaviour?

Do we not assume the burdens of negative and toxic individuals, as it is truly not our business to do so?

Do we not only help others to the best of our ability, without expecting anything in return?

Do we not realise that we have limitations in our own capacity and capability in helping others?

#yongkevthoughts

Happy 60th, Singapore

 Happy 60th, Singapore. 9 August 1965 to today.

A nation whose leader seriously reckoned would not last on its formation.

An island republic which has no natural resources, but gritly utilised innovative planning, its strategic advantages, technology, human skills and social harmony as imperatives.

An island that virtually imports most of its food.

An island that learns from her past but more emphatically prepares for the future.

An island with so much humidity but relies on energy sucking air conditioning.

An island that has thrived on free market trade and projections of financial governance.

An island that treasures cultures of her denizens - and values contributions of all, more on merit than on divisions.

Is this an island that already has become so costly in terms of paying for accommodation, health care and other aspects in life?

An island that values public transport for all over the trappings of a private car.

An island republic that treasures every inch of its small territory.

An island with a national airline that sets and maintains standards in a sector which is one of her national pillars.

An island that sees herself as a beacon to attract others on investment, educational and technology fronts.

A republic that does not sit still.

#yongkevthoughts

Snippets of War Observations

The USA government has so far never officially apologised for the nuclear bombs dropped on the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in August 1945.

No Anglo nation has been extensively firebombed in contemporary times from the 20th century to now, except for the United Kingdom.  Pearl Harbour was attacked, but not the mainland of the United States.  Darwin in northern Australia suffered more damage from the Imperial Japanese forces than Pearl Harbour, but not the rest of the Australian continental island.

Most of Europe incurred massive grief, destruction, personal loss and division in the reign of the Nazis under Hitler.

The ensuing battles and efforts to bring Hitler down in mid 1940s Europe ensured further deaths of many civillians caught up in the meeting of Allied and Axis armies.

The Japanese Government has never apologised for the Nanjing massacre in Central China in 1937.

A significant number of residents of colonies of the world wide British Empire in the 20th century fought for the United Kingdom in both the two World Wars. These included residents of India, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Malaya, Canada, Hong Kong and the Caribbean.

American born Japanese volunteered in enough numbers to form the Nissei regiment which saw service in Europe fighting against the Nazis.

Germany has officially and profusely apologised for the gassing by Nazis of innocents in the death camps echoed by Auschwitz.   Not only Jews, but European Gypsies, gays and various nationalities whom Hitler wanted exterminated were gassed.

The extermination of many Armenians in the early 20th century is often under recognised, together with other genocides those in current power refuse to emphasise.

The executions of overseas Chinese in Malaya, the Phillippines and Singapore by the Japanese Imperial Army, when they invaded parts of South east Asia in the early 1940s, illustrated the intense revenge sentiment and behaviour of payback.  These overseas Chinese had sent funds and volunteers to fight against the invasion by Imperial Japan of eastern China from the 1930s.

Many Nazis escaped to Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay after the end of World War 2.

Jews fleeing from Europe did find refuge in Shanghai in rhe 1930s.  The invasion of China by Japan caused them to flee again, this time to New Zealand and eastern Australia.

No south eastern Asian nation permanently accepted boat refugees from Vietnam in the 1980s.  They languished in temporary camps mainly in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore until the Western countries offered permanent settlement.

Australia and New Zealand sent troops to Malaya to help British colonists fight communist insurgents in the 1950s.

The extreme cruelty of the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia extensively scarred an ancient society and culture of a nation already damaged by the American war in next door Vietnam.

Afghanistan remains a land which has fought off foreign armies, whether those led by Alexander the Great, the Soviet Union or the United States of America.

The rich resources of petroleum, religious tribalism and political interference in the Arab and Persian lands have proved to be two edged swords.

Southern and Eastern Europe continue to be frontiers where and when Islam, Christianity and Judaism met in fraught and intense historical experiences. 

Did Winston Churchill send Anzac troops to Gallipolli in Turkey in the First World War, preferring to save British troops from a rather hopeless encounter?

The most number of civillians and troops died for Russia in the battles against the Nazis in the second World War.

Commemorations continue to be held in France to remember the sacrifices by the Anglo nations in both World Wars of the 20th century.

Thailand and Japan were the only Asian nations which collaborated against the Allied countries in World War 2, together with Nazi Germany, Italy, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria.

The Australian Federal Government in Canberra for a few years hid the fact of Darwin being bombed by the Japanese. Australia prioritised the attack of Pearl Harbour as being more important in communicating with her own residents during World War 2.

Many surviving Caucasians trapped in South east Asia, as British, Dutch and French colonies were over run by the Japanese Imperial Army in the first half of the 1940s, suffered traumatic experiences as prisoners of war.

South west China became a hub of resistance, defence and preparation for the Chinese besieged by the Japanese Imperial Army in the 1930s and first half of the 1940s.

The invasion by the Japanese Imperial Army in the 1940s sparked off the urge for national independence by several colonies after the end of World War 2.

#yongkevthoughts

On Life and Death

 Caring for basic humanity has again in another year been stampeded upon by those possessing power of all types, yet prioritise other things.

Every one of us do not choose where, when or how we are born.

It can be the luck of the draw.

While on Earth,
we are still mostly responsible for what we choose and how we act.

Whether to look away, keep silent, earn what we achieve or take a stand. And continue to have not enough, enough or unnecessarily more. Sufficiency in various meanings and layers.

No human being takes away anything upon death, except reputation.

Ignorance, chosen delusion, concerted pretense, cultivated addictions and
embedded beliefs lurk in every corner while we are alive.

#yongkevthoughts

Thank You, Readers

 It has been 220 months since this blog commenced.

Time meanders, experiences accumulate and our hunches become embedded.

As around this end of July 2025, average statistics indicate around 4800 reads a month.  Some postings remain frozen as time capsules, that photo shot taken reminding me of a moment with Nature, the hearts of individuals I enjoyed company with and those I learnt from.

Or such capsules reflected my thoughts, values and emotions on a particular day - with this blog strewing like jewels in the sand what consistently are what gives me inner joy and what I consistently believe in.

It has been a privilege to share. It has been a blessing to get your time and effort to read my musings.  Human interaction is best when we can relate our views with mutual respect and understanding.

In a world increasingly of obsession with strong articulation of differences, whether in politics, community and behaviour, I call for emphasising on commonly shared values.  Better understanding comes more from realising and embedding our similarities rather than harping on our differences.

I encourage every human being to also develop our own spiritual development in the best way you see fit.   Let us grow our uniqueness especially in personal development in a positive way.

Writings and images can be as temporal as the breeze that passes by on what seems to be an ordinary moment. What is of more everlasting value is to add to what is the true meaning of our privilege to live on Earth.

#yongkevthoughts