Eleven's end

Basked in golden
Green leaves waving
Ever so shyly
In the wind

I thought of you
Thought you softly
I didn't even have to try

A tapir
White tiger
The zebras

Life is not often
in black and white
Yet it is clear
In this champagne sunset
It ends here

The only way to end
a year
that ends with eleven.

Tune of my heart

Adagio für Streicher

Samuel Barber

Sehr schön.

雨水流露我的心

雨季又来了

雨不停的在下

好想让雨水流露我的心

也许。

只有这样。

我的心酸
也可以随着泪水流走

***

Elephant chain

P told us about the story of the elephant who was chained as a baby and although he was strong enough to break the chain when he got bigger but he did not because he did not succeed before.

Sounds pretty much like something you have heard before. A bird caged up too long that it does not try to fly even when the cage door is open. P was drawing an analogy with some old men he has been working with - steeped in their experience, are not willing to try despite a change in times.

I wonder if I had become old before my time. I really hope not. I want to break the chains bravely and balance on a beach ball by the sea someday.

Violence is not always visible

There was a recent UN ad competition  - Say no to violence against women. Trine Sejthen from Denmark took the top prize for her work - Violence is not always visible (below). 

This is something close to heart, being a woman.

Off hand, I recall a couple of friends physically abused by their boyfriends. Although they have left their abusers, it was after much suffering and an awakening that this was not how they should be treated. It made me realise that might be many more girls in their plight and not knowing what to do.

At the time when they were hit, they must have thought it was an accident, believing it will not happen again. 

Ladies,

You know there is no excuse.

Once is warning enough

Ring the bell.

Talk to someone

Run while you can.

Everyone,

Spread the word 

Stop violence against women and girls.

***

If you need to talk to someone, you can contact Aware Helpline:

Mon - Fri

3pm - 9.30pm

1800 774 5935

***

Single-hearted

To be able to know what you want

And pursue it single-heartedly 

That is beautiful

Whenever I look at Danielle Kroll's illustrations, it feels like I am meeting her.

In a way, I feel like I know her.

Is that strange?

Nonetheless, it's so beautiful to see one pursuing their dream,

their passion

enjoying what they do 

everyday

***

不在乎。。。

Still from Sovil et Titus ad 

A beautifully written piece that made me cry.

Read it here

又寂寞又美好

by Jimmy Liao

Someday

Dream (not-so) auto-mobile
Picture by Danielle Kroll

Don't bring me down

By Danielle Kroll

If you have let it go,
Don't bring it down

It will be happier as it rise into the sky!

Don't be afraid

Taken from here

To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die;

A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal;

A time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh;

A time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones,

and a time to gather stones together;

A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and a time to lose;

A time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and a time to sew;

A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate;

a time of war, and a time of peace.

What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?

I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.

He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world on their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

- Ecclesiastes 3: 1 - 12

On Job

God's working all things together for the good to them that love Him, and how can you lose?

You just can't lose; there's no way of losing. The Church could just really find that out. If you could positionally find your place in Christ, then all these other things would just fade away like a shadow. Every one that cometh to God, that's true, must have the shadows, and temptations, and fears, and so forth, but just don't get all tore up about it.

What's a little suffering for a little while, knowing that the glory of God will be revealed in the last days when Jesus comes, when we'll be made like unto Him? He's just working everything together. Did you know, maybe if you were sick, or something happened to you, that God might've had to do that just to bring you a little closer to Him?

- William Branham on 'Job'

Wait

They that wait upon the Lord
Shall renew their strength
They shall mount up
With wings as eagles
They shall run and not be weary
They shall walk and not faint
Teach me Lord, teach me Lord, to wait.

Butterflies

What gives you butterflies in the stomach?

Perhaps it's someone?

Someone I know?

Club 29

*

I just got initiated today

&

thank you

for being my friend

 

 

***

O Youth!

Penguin turns 50!

I went to the exhibition with Xinyi and we had a chill time hiding at the end of the Level 1 aisle to have our dinner.

This year, in celebration of their 50th anniversary,

they published 50 mini classics and I just got myself Conrad's 'Youth'

I love Conrad 

(& Hemingway)

 (wait, and Sir Arthur too)

For something written at the end of the 1800s to still affect me the way it did just goes to show it's a classic true to its form. 

'-the feeling that I could last for ever, 

outlast the sea, the earth, and all men;

the deceitful feeling that lures us on

to joys, to perils,  to love, to vain effort

- to death;

the triumphant conviction of strength,

the heat of life in the handful of dust,

the glow in the heart

that with every year

grows dim, grows cold, grows small,

and expires-

and expires too soon, too soon,

- before life itself.'

It's poetic, isn't it?

In His Time

He hath made every thing beautiful 

in his time: 

also he hath set the world 

in their heart, 

so that no man can find out the work 

that God maketh 

from the beginning to the end

Ecclesiastes 3:11

Asia Literary Review - Spring 2011: Burma

I was reading the Asian Literary Review by Jack Picone today on the reportage on Burma and here is the part that did strange things to my heart:

'In a run-down border clinic I saw a 14-year-old boy, given only local anaethetic, having a leg amputated with a blunt saw. The boy had stepped on a landmine during his flight from Burma. He didn't utter  sound during the operation, but his eyes had the glazed expression of someone who is in such agony he is incapable of feeling more pain.
I realised then I had seen the same expression many time before.'

This followed with images not for the faint hearted. There was a picture of the operation where the fibula and tibia were jutting out like the two pieces of bone you get after cleaning off a chicken wing. It was crude and heartwrenching as the glazed look on the face of the boy on the mirroring page stared out of the page.

Can we do something? Anything at all?

MOVE

Watch it here

WOW.

Think of me

Think of me by Kim Min Ji - watch it here

A friend sent this to me and I like to share it to let all close to my heart know that I do think of you too.

Think of me

Think of me
Think of me fondly when we've said goodbye

Remember me
Once in a while
Please promise me you'll try

When you find that once again
You long to take your heart back
And be free
If you ever find a moment
Spare a thought for me

Think of all the things we shared and seen
Don't think about the things which might have been

Think of me
Think of me waking silent and resigned
Imagine me trying hard to put you from my mind

Think of the things we never do
There will never be a day where I won't think of you.

***

P/S: You're most welcome ^^

Endings

Today marks the end of a quarter.

For my Prof, it marks the end of a long career of teaching.

He told me that it is the start of doing what he likes, but I think it is a continuation of doing what he likes with more freedom.

I am at the beginning of something, I am not sure what really, but although it has been hasn't been easy, it's probably worth doing and I hope to give it all I've got.

Life's little surprises

Nature is fond of giving us plenty. 

Just open your heart and discover it

Over and over again

Nothing is by chance

...I realise that I didn't go into that café by chance; really important meetings are planned by the souls long before the bodies see each other.

Generally speaking, these meetings occur when we reach a limit, when we need to die and be reborn emotionally. These meetings are waiting for us, but more often than not, we avoid them happening. If we are desperate, though, if we have nothing to lose, or if we are full of enthusiasm for life, then the unknown reveals itself, and our universe changes direction.

Eleven Minutes, Paulo Coelho

Read from here

Criterion

The criterion is how you treat the weak.

The measure of civilised behaviour is compassion.

-

Sandig al Mahdi

Of judging a caterpillar

There's nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly

-  Richard Buckminster Fuller

The Democratization of Influence

The Time 100 - 2011

On Wednesday, in the midst of election fever, I came across this magazine, attracted once again to the resilient profile of Aung San Suu Kyi. When I read the article from the Editor's Desk, it resounded so well especially so in the current political clime in my country.

Excerpt from The Time 100 - 2011 Editor's Desk:

Influence is impossible to measure. It's a little like what social scientists call the butterfly effect: the idea that a tiny change in one part of a system can yield gargantuan changes later on. But often this is a romantic illusion; large-scale changes occur only when great numbers of people become restive over time, just as people in the Middle East have been moved to shake off decades of authoritarian rule.

What social media have done is to make us all more aware of what's going on — and offer a new avenue to organize opposition. We like to think revolutions rise from below, but through most of human history, it's the elites who have caused and led revolutions. Now, because of social media, anyone can communicate with everyone. We're seeing that in the Middle East, Africa and China. The democratization of information may actually lead to real democracy.

Read the full article here:
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2066367_2066603_2066605,00.html

We might not be quite there yet, but we have seen a breakthrough that I believe catalysed from the democratization of information. Let's move on - onward, as one united people towards a more caring and compassionate society.

Majulah Singapura!

Rainbow over the somewhere

By Castle

To be somewhere over the rainbow

Way up high

Where the dreams that you

dare to dream really

do come true

Where trouble melt like lemon drops

Way above the chimney tops

That's where you'll find me

If happy little blue birds fly

why, oh
 why, can't I?

Mr & Mrs Chiam

Taken from here

If there is a few good man left in the political scene of our country, one of them is definitely Mr Chiam See Tong. There has been a lot of shiftabouts in the party splits but at the end of the day, it isn't the party that I really think about, it is the person who has spent the last 27 years in service for his fellow country men. It takes quite a bit of guts too, and definitely a lot of heart.

And it doesn't hurt to have a lovely wife beside.

Miracle!

*

Christy just gave birth to two healthy little ones today.

Welcome Dabin and Subin

~

Congratulations my dearest Changmin and Christy

I am very very happy for you!

*

Prahran Market & around

Men at work

Turning the grey P-R-A to red

Market's closed but still looked festive

Quaint shops and great shopping.

Take 5!

A particular 5 year old

Being 5 years old gives you the right to lose some front teeth, terrorise sea birds, eat a lot of ice cream, stick out your tongue anytime you want and really hate playing with girls (spunky aunt not included in this case)

To be 5 again will be real nice!

Road along the Great Ocean

Sights that made me want to run along the hills and yodel like Maria.

These are a few of my favourite things

Chasing the birds is as easy as..

1, 2, 3...

Retail (Word) Therapy

Inside Sportsgirl shop

Some good advice

More good advice from French Connections

I have been warned of the racism in Melbourne, but I hardly felt it when we were there.We are always greeted nice and warm in every shop - 'Hi ladies, how are you doing?'

I like the clever retail concept and choice of colours and words.

Go on, make her laugh.

I've got peace like a river

Peace

This is the start of a series of pictures I wish to share from my recent vacation. I hope it brings out the emotions I felt - within you too.

For this one, there is such a stillness in the picture, such peace.

All quiet on the western front

Farewell gifts

After 9 months at the western most end of our little island, I nomad towards the east.I had to leave some very dear friends whom I have grown to be quite fond of.

I didn't think I did very much during my short stay here and after being at the receiving end of so many kind little compliments, gestures, notes and gifts, I feel all the more undeserving. Was at the verge of tears in the taxi home. There was a little book of handwritten notes from my friends, a notebook & pen set from Dave

& a whole book of wonderful craft papers from Jas-the-Man & Prof Cai (in colourful spotty giftwrap!)

Thank you for the gifts, but more for your friendship and memories!

A moment of tranquility

St. Kilda's beach

When I first arrived in Melbourne for the start of my holiday, I received a msg from H-san that he was fine ans survived the tsunami and earthquake. Pictures of the devastation from the news channels did little to allay the worries I had for my dear friend. It felt decadent to be on a holiday while many so much turmoil going on in Japan, Libya and now Burma.

As I stood looking out to the calm of St. Kilda beach, watching my sister in law and nephew walk out towards the sea. It was a sharp contrast to the images I had witness on the news.

The terrian of Life does throw some arresting changes here and there, hardly to be anticipated.

Sometimes, it's a really nice surprise, a smooth rolling hill - bringing new opportunities and experience. Sometimes, it's a bit of a battle and uphill trudge.

Whichever you are going through now, you know the terrain will not remain the same forever.

Keep going~

Take care P!

Gambatte H-san!

A morsel of goodness

Schubert's Sonata in A Major, D664, Op. 120 -II-III

Canadian pianist - Claudia Chan

A couple of Fridays ago, Neighbour invited me to the SSO concert - Notes from America.

The pianist, Nelson Goerner was such a favourite that we saw him back for encores. The second encore moved me very much, I finally found which piece it was using the lead from here.

It's Franz Schubert's Sonata in A Major, Op 120 - second movement.

Beautiful beautiful music.

With beautiful company too
Thank you again Neighbour~

Paul Rand

Designed by Paul Rand

Can you guess?

Advert for Westinghouse

I like Paul Rand's design style. It's really quirky and cute don't you think?

Check out more here

Wishing you love

The above love-ly pictures from here

To those who have found yours, keep them warm and close. 

To those who have yet to, keep swinging!

Happy valentine's day!

A beautiful girl

Happy Xin 

(Stockholm Summer'06)

There are some people in life that are simply God-sent.
I know in my heart Xin is one.

As she turns a year older, my wish for her is that she will always keep the happy times we experienced together and may more happy times follow her and her life partner.

Our quiet conversation

(Baltic sea off Bornholm, Denmark)

For me, I will find it very difficult to forget the best of times.

May we have more of such together!

viva la luna

my luna

When you look up to the clear night sky and see countless stars and in a distance - a breathtaking view of the moon - clean and slim, what can you do but keep that image in your heart and reproduce it in private.

My luna pales and pales against the original but it reminds of that beautiful night where the stars looked down on me and the moon shone good and bright. I don't see the moon and stars every night, but they are there and very much alive, even in the day.

And even though you don't see me everyday, and even if you don't see me at all. I am here and very much alive and I can only hope that when you see me, it will half as as illuminating as that moonlit night.

Poetry in purple, pink and everything in between

In Singapore, you must visit this place

Because quietly beautiful flowers will meet you here

Sometimes they are just huge

Sometimes they are little

But if you like the huge ones, there are plenty

See what I mean?

They love to sun tan

So that from a mere bud

They  can bloom and grow!

That is the reason you must visit 

- this charming little place :)

All the best, H-san~

H-san has finally found his heart's desire.

He will start work in Tokyo from next week.

My best wishes are with you!

Anniversary

Yoshitomo Nara

It's coming to a year that I

stepped out of Level 23  

into a brave new world. 

Something then, told me I had to leave, 

but where do I go?

I am now 

somewhere 

but am I - there?

Leaving was probably not easy 

and it is harder when you have very great friends

 to say goodbye to. 

I count my blessings to still be in touch with 

the ones closest to heart 

- through this, through here.

In the past week, the very vibrant Ms. Sabun has left 

and I just learnt the Prof Cai will soon too.

Leaving is probably hard.

But I just found out that -

staying to watch the leaving 

isn't quite so easy either.

***

Latte from Loysel's Toy

Loysel's Toy

There's a new kid on the cafe block - Loysel's Toy.
We found the place after getting lost in the rain (thanks to me) and fetching a cab to bring us there (thanks to Neighbour)

The ham sandwich was delightful!
Neighbour had a latte, very much like the one pictured.

You can try it too by visiting them at:

66 Kampung Bugis 

Nearest MRT station - Lavender