Stopping To Smell The Sweet Scent of Life

Stopped by to see an old friend of mine who runs a small but quaint nursery. Chatted for a while about the weather and family but found the last part of the conversation rather interesting. Though being an old schooled Chinese bloke, his description of what it means to 'care and nurture' his garden hit the nail spot on.

He may have expressed himself in uncertain terms but I understood what he meant. What he saw in his plants were not merely decorative ornamental moveables or innate objects but living entities..every single one of them.

It was my comment that sparked his simple yet profound response. I said that it must be nice being able to run a nursery. He retorted that my question one often asked by many. To this, came his reply, '..many people say that it must be good for my health and good for my eye sight to be doing manual while surrounded be greenery. Ayiah, but they don't know that a lot of pressure...so hard at times.' He must has seen the incredulous look on my face at his reply and continued before I could utter my confusion at his reply.

Then it became clear that he was referring to the worry he has to endure when some of his plants are not sold. He said that he feels sorry for those left behind and that puts pressure on him to tend them with greater care so as to ensure that they will look lively enough to attract the attention of a potential customer.

It was then that it dawned on me that he was somewhat referring to the age old English adage...'talking to your plants to make them grow healthier.' It is something which I totally agreed with him because, like him, I too believe that a plant is a living entity that responses not only to its natural surroundings but emotional as well.

This was the simple beauty of life that I cherish. Both of us, separated by age, culture, beliefs and education yet being able to arrive at the same conclusion that there is 'life' in every living things, a life that must be respected and cared for...even in a humble plant. What more then of God's other creation!

It is sad that most of us are blinded by superficiality of the material world, getting so caught up in the rat race and our own egoistical self. That is the reason why I choose to stop and smell the roses once in awhile, to remind me to see God in all.

So here's some simple photos of very exotic orchids that exuberates with the colorful splendor of life.

......O curas hominum! O quantum est in rebus inane......

To none I wish ill but to all I wish peace and love.

Thankful For The Little Blessings

Its so hillarious, the folly of men. Everyone has an agenda, an angle..some sort of self interest, be monetray, power, ego, political or religious. From global politics, the control of oil to who's to blame for the rapid decline of the Earth's environment. Its all the same to me....the large portion of the human race. We gripe, we compare, we complain, we lust for more but never really able to satisfy our greed and absorbtion with one's ownself. Hilarious to me because we are mere mortals who lives are a mere drop in the vastness of eternity yet we choose to live as gods.

It took a 'missing' 13-year-old boy and a fire at a village that brought home once again my sense of thankfulness and gratefulness at the little blessings and miracles in my life. The missing boy was mostly likely not missing but chose his own precept of freedom. Freedom from a broken and fatherless home dominated by a mother who is rarely around in his life and having admitted to have given up his three younger siblings to an orphanage. Or a 41-year-old mother with nine children to feed and to find her home completely razed to the ground. What a life...true yet tragic. I offer only my prayer that the boy and the mother find comfort, peace and compassion in their hour of despair and need.

So I choose not to complain or to gripe but rather count the little blessings I have in my life. No matter how small or no matter how insignificant they may be, I am thankful for what I have and the life I have been given. For those who have enriched my life and to those who have shown me the joy of being human, I am forever grateful.

.......Mater Memento Mori.......

To none I wish ill but to all I wish peace and love.

Things That Go Bump In The Night

Its said that we all see what we want to see and that the power of the mind is an awesome thing we still haven't fully grasp. In my opinion, that's very true for the recent run in with people and news reportings of things that go bump in the night.

About a week ago, a 7-11 worker asked me if I had read and seen the accompanying photograph of a purported ghost in a local Malay tabloid while I was getting my customary two packs of Dunhills. Curiosity got the better of my judgement and I took a look. It was about some bloke who claimed to have photgraphed an apiration.

Coincidentally, several days later, the same tabloid ran a story of some poor 15-year-old kid (the 11th child out of 12 in his family) who went 'missing' from home on two occasions. Though found on both occasions, the kid kept mum as to where he had dissapeared to or what took place.

In his latest Houdini act, the kid was said, as related by his parents, that he was kept 'hidden' by a fairy of Bunian.

As one who believes in logic and reason, I found the accounts rather humorous. Here we are, talking about becoming a nation built on science and conquering space, yet a large portion of us continue to succumb to sheer nonsense.

On one hand, I do not deny that the existence of God or spirituality but I can't accept the two accounts published in the main stream news. If there were such beings, then my question to locals living here is where are the thousands that had been killed throughout Malacca's long and somewhat violent history?

Ironic, but we don't have to go that far to be able to see 'ghosts' or evil. In my opinion, the real devil lies within man himself and we only have to look hard at ourselves in the mirror to see its reflection.

My believe lies in my faith, faith that my God is truly Almighty and that there is none above Him. He is my rock and defender and in Him alone shall I put my trust in.

.......Dominus Illuminatio Mea......

To none I wish ill but to all I wish peace and love.

Signs of the Times

Prophetic books and materials have always held a fascination for me. From biblical and other religious sources to so called modern day seers such as St. Malachi, Nostradamus, Edgar Cayce and Jeanne Dixon, the epoch of the end of our civilization as we know it is one that I find most intriguing.

I suppose it stems from reading of man's past. Based on scientifc studies and data, we, so called homo sapiens, really began to claw our way out of darkness to the light of knowledge shortly after the last ice-age about 12,000 years ago. It was roughly about 7,000 years ago that we mastered the art of cultivation and farming, writing and urban living.

The Sumerians, Egyptians, Greeks, Olmecs, Chinese and Indians are amongst those that have a legacy that still reveberates through history. Yet on a geological time scale of things, we have been around a mere fraction of a second compared the age of Earth and its former creatures that once ruled it. Fancy that!

It was back in 1988/89 that I began keeping track of the happenings that were taking place around the global. This include global political evolution to gradual and almost rapid climate changes. It does seem we have almost reached critical point in our evolution with something momentous about to give way. It doesn't take a rocket scientist or Captian Obvious to tell us that.

At times, I wonder whether it is a blessing to be living generation that is likely see the coming upheavals. I suppose its like the half empty or half full glass of water, depending on which way you view it. As for me, its a question of faith and the believe that everything happens, not by random chance, but for a cosmic and divine reason.

So till that fateful day comes....I shall love and live life to its fullest with as little regret, to soak in as much beauty life has to offer as though it was the last day here on Earth. Have you hugged a loved one today or merely appreciate the simple beauty of a sunset?

............Amor vincit omnia.........

To none I wish il but to all I wish peace and love.

......Veritas Vos Liberabit.....

As a true blue Malaccan of Baba-Nyonya and Portuguese ancestory that goes back almost 500 years, it was certaintly a proud moment when the ancient port city was inscribed as World Heritage Site.

Growing up in a city steeped in history and heritage, I naturally developed a passion for man's past. Many may be familiar with Malacca's history dating back to the Malacca Sultanate Empire in 1400s, the coming of the Portuguese, Dutch and British prior to Independence in the mid 2oth Century.

However, not many know that the city continues to hold some of the most intriguing and unanswered mysterious found not in the pages of the standard school history books but in recorded annals of various writers over the ages who meticulously documented what they witnessed of Malacca.

The blog will take visitors on a journey covering Malacca's mysteries such as unexplained stone alignments and undeciphered stone carvings to strange objects, Freemasons including legends of gold and the possible fabled mines of King Solomon.

From works of Eredia, Sir Roland Braddel, J.V. Mills, Munshi Abdullah, oral accounts of credible local personalities such as Tan Sri Aziz Tapa including personal interviews and treks to various sites, the blog presents the facts as they are without conclusion but merely a personal opinion.

It is hoped that these postings over time would lead to a quest for a better understanding of the mysteries. The like minded are welcome to share their thoughts and to shed more light on the Malacca's past.

To none I wish ill but to all I wish peace and love.

A White Stone or Black Stone Day....

Thank God for small wonders. Had a hard time trying to upload photos taken during the state's World Heritage Day celebrations including accessing Yahoo. Guess now I know why my much younger collegues (who are light years ahead of and old fart like me with regard to computers, blogging and the world of cyberspace) term streamyx..snailmyx instead. So much for the hallabaloo over out country's broadband capabilities compared the more advanced countries in the region.

Just some food for thought. If I am not mistaken, the Greeks had a unique way of recording the level of happiness and contentment of a person's day. Each home kept a large jar which was filled with either a white stone or black one. The white stone represented a good day while a black stone, a bad one. At the end of each day, an appropriate stone was dropped into the jar, depending on whether it was a good day or otherwise. At the year's end, the jar would be emptied and the person would separate the stones and count them to determine if he or she had a relatively good year or a bad one. Neat ya....a personal happiometer.

It was certaintly a white stone day for me, being a lazy Sunday. Finished the household chores which I set out to do. (vacuuming, mopping and of course washing the layers of dust, grim and bird pooh off my trusted 13 year-old Proton). Even managed to take my on and only handfull of a daugther (five this coming August 15) for a good dip in the pool.

Though the sun has set, there still some time left for my own quiet time with my guitar. Just me and my music (going try some James Taylor and see what Pintukopak thinks and whether it will be pirated)

Definitely a white stone day for me...hope it was for others too.

To none I wish ill but to all I wish peace and love.

Washing Away The Dust Of The Soul......

What a day...another chapter in Malacca's long and illustrious history. Spend the entire night till way pass midnight at the heart of the ancient city's centre working to cover the launch of the celebrations to mark its inscription as a World Heritage Site.

Feet hurts like heck and prespired a bucket of sweat in the sweltreing heat but still had a memorable time. Managed to take a few shots (actually tons but only few turned out decent enough for keepsake)/

Shoes are off, in my sarong and just chilling out with some of my favourites ballads ( Bread, Bill Withers, Jim Croce, Chicago, Billy Joel) and before crashing. Read somewhere that music washes away the dust in the soul...how true.

Back to the incessant heat over the past few days...all I can say is the term global warming is no more an abstract term but a reality that can be felt and seen. Have been keeping track of the weather and even the common Joe on the street will attest that its going off sync.

That brings me to the recent vector borne diseases that have been plaguing several states. Incidents of Chikukunya and Dengue viral infections have been on an alarming rise recently. Just today, two collegues have had a friend and family member were warded for dengue. Pray they recover. Experts have predicted that there will be a rise in vector borne diseases corresponding with global warming. The alarm bells have been ringing for years now..yet we have ignored them and gone back to sleep to the obvious.

So much for the folly of men...fighting, grabbing and jockeying for power and position when it really all comes to naught owing our mortality. All it takes is a humble mosquito and a virus to bring home how frail life is.

So, live life to its fullest with as little regrets. Take one day at a time don't forget to spread some kindness and love around....the world we live in today can surely use some of it.

To none I wish ill but to all I wish love and peace.