A Place in My Heart

The ice-cream seller wore a round white solid hat, the colour contrasting with his skin, darkened by the harsh equatorial sunlight. The freezer box sat on a tricycle placed against the grey-brown walls of the house. There were other vendors invited to cater for this children's birthday party, but this purveyor of frozen delights stands out in my memory.

The party was organised by the Lim family, supervised over benignly by a doctor who always wore fitting clothes and whose big eyes shone out behind her glasses. Whether adorned in her traditional kebaya blouse or in her Western fashion, she always provided a picture of orderliness, kind straight talking and a twist of humour. I loved going to visit her and her family on Sunday evenings, and also because I enjoyed interacting with her children. I also had opportunity to stay overnight at times with her sons, and her youngest daughter is like the sister I never had.

There were the picnics by the rather sheltered beaches of my home island - and I can recall the sandy mats, the tasty snacks and the bungalows beside the palm trees. Did we all dig for mussels, I wonder, and I think we must have. When I think of this lady, I recall dinners with braised mutton and steamed okras. When it was Chinese New Year in the latter years, I recall the pickled plums and other fruits. Weekend mornings in a teenage year meant the breakfasts from the coffee shops in the suburb of Pulau Tikus on Penang Island.

Uncle Harry is a keen sports shooter and I remember the fruit bats from across the channel. My memories of the Lim family come from the mists of my birthplace. Even in Australia, my fondness of events past but still in my heart include the peal of their laughter on lazy afternoons and the rhythm of piano music during relaxing parties. I still slip easily into the familiarity of friendship with May Lim when I return to my home island on visits, as though I had never left.

I am told that human beings leave a place in their hearts for what certain others especially do for them. I should not say I am told, becasue I know.

Goodbye, Dr Yeoh. I celebrate your life in my heart.

The Sweetness of Life

The weekend begins, but before I lose myself in the state of being voluntarily hanging in a state of nothingness, with no care for a sense of time and the rigour of schedule, I want to be thankful for some things today that are wonderfully important to me.

I have had my eyes opened and my mind broadened to rise above the apparent surface and regime of what life seems to be. Whilst I subject myself to the so-called requirements of a life, it is only fair that life subjects me to certain encounters that widens my perspectives and thereby liberates my attitude and thinking. And that experience has been gratifying.

I just had the opportunity to know that a close mate has been given the all clear bill in health, after persistently and patiently overcoming a growth that is not desired. I salute him in this welcome positive of events, and I admire the consistent and reliable care that his wife has bestowed on him.

Inside me, I begin to acknowledge more the efforts of individuals in my working environment to help create a fun atmosphere. Even if there are busy demands placed on all of us during business hours, it has been great for me to be able to exchange short greetings to be infused with their positive moods and demeanour. We then scurry back to our tasks with greater determination and motivation.

It has been good to be able to ease into catching up with individuals whom I don't get to meet very often, and yet they make me feel so at home at heart when we do. With a sense of humour, a bit of being adventuresome and with a smiling face.

When there have been difficult moments, I thank the friends who allow me to be articulate and expressive about them. Even when they don't have to listen, and may not agree, I appreciate those individuals who lend their time, ear and interest. Subconsciously they allow me to air my views, and by doing so help me better resolve the situation, and make me come to a sensible perspective. Each of them knows the power of being given a listening ear, and I only hope that I can return this favour to each of them.

Most special of all today is someone who listened to me with a mature intensity in a delicate situation. I want to especially remember the patient demeanour and focussed ear offered to me. I may not have deserved this attention, especially when it was topped up by a follow-up gesture of a drink that lightened my heart and illustrated empathy with me.

That, to me, encapsulates the true sweetness of life.

Be AWARE in Our Personal Time Management

After years of available time to practice, I am no master of this, the delicate art of time management.

Do I have a structured plan to do things as it should be? Not all the time. Do I actually finish off the more important things in a typical work day filled with must-dos, look-forward-to-dos and hijacked energy-draining diversions from people who do not care for me? Maybe. Do I feel totally satisfied by day's end that I have achieved what I set out for earlier at dawn - remember all that stuff about "tomorrow is another day" and a fresh start? Nope.

Effective time management to me is the result of a confluence of several things - attitude, emotional intelligence, planning, navigation and persistence to want to achieve mitigating the most risky items in the midst of environmental limitations, undue influence and how other human beings treat you. I still ride this journey of time management, and if I allow myself to experiment, observe and learn, I enjoy how to apply better aspects of it to different important stages and phases of my life.

My current views on this journey are to be AWARE of:

Anticipating my goals, small or big, and ensuring I plan, allocate and ensure good payback in utilisation of my time;

Weeding out spending time with things and people who bring me backward instead of encouraging me forward, and I never say that I am too busy to individuals whom I care about and enjoy being with;

Admitting to my inexplicable observation that with all the better ease in physical mobility, automated equipment operation and better ease of communication, I find myself with less time than I would like with the people I love and for the things I enjoy doing;

Reflecting on the magical moments, useful outcomes and unexpected positive experiences over the days recently gone by; and

Executing use of my time going forward with a flexible attitude when required, for I never under-estimate the value of chilling out and occasionally having the sensation of doing nothing with a close mate and letting the rain outside fall down in harmony with Nature.

A New Beginning

After the fun of test driving and developing patience over administrative processes, the long wait was forgotten as enjoyment set in - my appreciation to Danielle and Shane Campbell for joining me in this adventure to choose a new vehicle.

Goodbye Zoom Zoom

Hey what's this yellow Twitty Bird? Complimentary car from dealer while waiting for new car arrival