.... seeing is believing

Yours Sincerely ( Y S ), being Thomas, has to see it to believe. So, Y S made a trip with some friends to the "Little Sisters of the Poor" at Batu Lancang, Penang. Seeing is indeed believing, the facade of the complex looks like a five-star hotel. It has recently been renovated, refurbished and upgraded.

The home is managed by the Little Sisters of the Poor, a religious order established in 1839 by Anne Jeanne in France. Their motto " Serving Jesus in the Elderly Poor" very much befits what the Good Lord teaches, " Blessed are the poor....... " Looking at this awesome home and the facilities for the aged poor " it is so beautiful to be poor, to have nothing, and to await all from God."

This is the Sister-in-charge giving a briefing.

There is a piano at the common area to soothe the ears of the aged. How blessed !

The home has its own salon to enjoy a hair cut. Wonder there is perming and setting ?

There is even a fully equipped gymnasium with facilities and instructors for physiotherapy.

Y S met and chatted with one of the latest intakes, 72. He had a stroke and is half paralyze.

She is a hundred plus - the oldest female in the home. The aged returned to their 2nd childhood, thus the teddy bear.

This is the oldest male and also over 100. He has lost almost all his senses and is existing. God might have forgotten him.

This is the only home where you get such a chair to rest in such a space.

This is the all stainless steel high-tech kitchen.

This is the pantry where the aged can chit chat in comfort over tea, coffee, Milo ....

They are really chit chatting. This is the only home where Y S could see the residents interacting . Y S wonders what they chatted about.

This is found on the door of every room. They are known by their names and not mere numbers. The photos are meant for them to identify their rooms.


The court yard in front of the home.

Y S forgot to photograph the library with inter-net excess and also a serene chapel. It is not easy to qualify for a place here. One has to be the poorest among the poor. Among the homes Y S had visited, this one is exceptional. It shows dignity for the aged.

However good a home for the aged is, humankind shows 4 stages : infancy, childhood, adolescence and obsolescence. To grow old is to pass from passion to compassion.


P.S. Y S will be visiting a charity home for the aged to see the contrast.

... time does not forget anyone

" My name is Bond, James Bond" - at his prime.

" My name is still Bond, James Bond." - at 70 plus.

This is Brendan Fraser in three phrases of his life. I like his show " The Mummy."

Yours Sincerely is preoccupied with the issue of aging. Y S does not know why. Perhaps it is because Y S is living out his "second life" and on "borrowed time." So, every day, hour, minute and second counts dearly.

No one knows what causes the human clock to wind down. As scientists begin to probe our life-sustaining mechanism, which are intricate, interlocking, and involve the very molecules that build our bodies, speculation abounds.

However, the signs and symptoms of aging never lie and time does not forget anyone : -

The Hair thins in both sexes, graying and balding follow.

The Ears lose hearing as the eardrum and the three tiny bones of the middle ear lose some of their ...fle... ( what did you say ) ............ xibility.

The SKIN wrinkles, dryness and dark spots appear

The BRAIN loses tissue is the cerebral cortex .... ( what was I saying....? )

The NOSE and Tongue lose their functions. You smell and taste less.

The EYES . The pupils' ability to control light entering the eyes diminish. The lens thicken. Muscles can no longer contract sufficiently to focus on objects close up. (Where are my glasses?)

The LUNGS lose elasticity, cannot inflate or deflate completely.

The ARTERIES' walls thicken. Cholesterol builds up along with calcium, reducing elasticity.

The BONES lose their cells, becoming more brittle

The MUSCLES mass decrease.

The HEART's walls thicken, putting more muscles into pushing blood through stiffening arteries.

The JOINTS' wear and tear results in osteoarthritis.

The teeth ... the teeth..... simply drop off. (Sob..sob... sad...sad. YS is very sensitive about his teeth.)

The list goes on and on negatively for every part of the body, except for, perhaps, the soul. Btw, does our soul also age??? Y S has seen many people age ungracefully and they carry with them unlovable, long, sour, bitter and sorrowful faces. Many simply stare into nothingness and are lost in their own niche. Many faces of such aged folks have sort of fossilized into a glum that they could never break into a smile anymore.

Should old age be like that ?

Y S is still on the subject, Tomorrow Y S is visiting an old folks home to find out more.

Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.

Let our old age sparkle and shine !

... ... of discarding babies

Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) stumbled upon a blog ( " Outsyed the box " ) which questioned why the Chinese and Indians do no discard that many babies as the Muslim Malays do in our beloved country. Good gracious ! Big joke ! Do we also need a quota or "affirmative action" on this matter ?

Foetus and baby dumping dominated the newspapers these few weeks and this had led the brain dead PAS Youth Leader ( Y S does not bother to remember his name) to "moronly'' commented that this is due to the permissive western decadent New Year celebration and also Valentine's Day that had led to "free love making" and hence the babies followed 8 or 9 months later. This is how one with limited grey matters put 2 and 2 to make 4.

A very funny observance is that many of the dumping cases happened not in the bigger towns and cities but in the more rural smaller towns and villages. There were cases of village school girls who were sorrily left behind to carry the burden under their school uniform after a rendezvous. Were these the celebrants of New Years and Valentine's Day ??? Certainly not, they were victims of innocence , puppy love , unsafe sex, jilted love, broken thrust, love exploited, and most of all unsupported by the " dis-compassionate" religion and society.

Of course, Y S does not condone the permissive morality of the urbanites. The urban waywards do dump their foetuses but not so crudely as at people's doorsteps, school toilets or rubbish bins. They, however, have resources to recourse to and are thus more discreet, like dumping it into the surgeon's kidney dish in the shabby clinics at the back alleys, or for the more affluent ones, they could do it in the name of " D & C" by reputable gynecologists. Many more would have passed with merit and distinction their " Bees, Butterflies and Beetles " courses so as to arm themselves with an array of anti-pregnancy arsenal which are as easily available as the 7 11 chain of outlets.

As such, there is no necessity to compare racial statistics but to search for ways and means to educate the society and to reach out compassionately to help the hapless victims.

One very vivid cause of baby/foetus dumping in a certain society is very much due to how that society views unwed mothers, and their view is, of course, related to their religious belief and value system.

In a society that condemns outright the sin together with the sinners, the latter has no refuge to seek besides being heaped with condemnation which under certain laws could even be stonning to death !!!. Gruesome !!!

A parliamentarian proposed and also immediately disposed an idiotic plan to set up a " School for unwed pregnant mothers. " You can imagine the publicity and stigma the students would get. "Oh, I graduated from the School for unwed mothers." LOL

The solution lies very close to our heart - compassion for the victims. Whatever help given without compassion is brutality. A change of mind set and , perhaps, a reinterpretation from the Holy Book. For God is not against us because of our sin. He is with us; against our sin.

.... of high cost of longevity

The quest to understand the nature of aging, and the corollary quest to avoid growing old dates back to at least biblical times, when the elderly King David was advised to allow a young virgin to warm him.

Chinese history from about 230 BC also recorded the search for the fountain of youth when Shih Huang Ti longed for longevity, had a massive tomb built for himself and filled it with all his earthly treasures, including his wives, concubines and loyal officials.

In the 3rd century, Taoist philosophers recommended ingesting cinnabar, the toxic ore of mercury, a prescription which had ended more lives rather than prolonging them.

In the search for longevity, sages, snake-oil medicine men, alchemists etc from all continents had had their hey days.

Today, cosmetic companies join in the race and rake in millions from their high pitch sales of all sorts of "age erasers," not to mention, pharmaceutical companies and also cosmetic surgeons.

Are longer lives necessary ? ( By the way, you have to grow old in order to live long ! )

How would future generations fare in a world where the elderly, no matter how beloved, refuse to depart or having been forgotten to be recalled by the Maker?

On one low key morning, Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) was on the tread mill and his mind started to roam. It dawned upon Y S that all those exercises, if they were going to add on to his years of living on this planet, would finally be a disservice for him since inevitably living the old age years could be very scary. daunting, lonesome and painful, too.

Who is going to care for me if the spouse goes first ?

What is the cost of a good "sunset home" ?

What about the escalating cost of geriatric care ?

Who would visit me ?

What if I lose my memory?

Oh, I hate "pampers"!!!

Many agree that exercise naturally induces many of the anti-aging mechanisms that scientists have been trying to understand through their studies of hormone supplements, caloric restriction, and longevity genes like age-1.

Exercise builds up muscles and burns fat, makes the heart and lungs work more efficiently, lowers the concentration of sugars circulating in the blood that can gum up the body's system, increases the flow of thought-provoking blood to the brain, and makes the bones stronger and more dense.

Well, Y S thinks that while we need to exercise on, we also have to accept the secret to aging well and that is to find a graceful balance between trying to stay young and accepting the ephemeral nature of life.

Age on ...... Life is " g o o d."

..... of the racist school principal in Johore

Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) read about the female racist school principal in Johore who landed herself in hot soup and ate humble pies with her apology to the students at the school assembly attended by some parents and Education Officers. She, however, was booed down by the students.! " Padan muka !!!" / ( She deserves it !!!) This is a shame and a spit on the honorable profession.

Y S read that a transfer has been recommended for her as if it could solve everything and "Let's say sorry, sorry and forget, forget...... ." and sweep everything under the carpet. "Oh, she was under pressure" " Oh, she erred. We all err." "Oh, she was misunderstood. Oh, misquoted." Oh this and oh that will be offered to save her shameless skin. For the students to brave themselves and report on her, Y S believes she must have been parading her racist misdeeds far too long and on too many occasions.

Imagine the damage she has done to the young innocent minds and how many more minds had she poisoned before this case was bravely reported and revealed by the brave and selfless students. AND HOW MANY MORE SUCH PRINCIPALS ( and teachers) ARE LOOMING IN THE HONORABLE PROFESSION, getting away with their racist attitudes, remarks and actions just because the students are too coward to report ??? ONLY GOD KNOWS!!!

Y S taught in a Chinese majority national school with hardly 3% Indians and 7 % Malays, and yet at every available opportunity these students were made to feel very much a part of the class and school.At every questioning session in class , their names were called. At every group work session, they were made to lead. School programmes never failed to include them. Presentations on Speech Day. Items on Teachers' Day. Etc etc If we do not start integration in school, then where else ?

A transfer for the errant principal is an easy way out. She deserves the sack if we are really serious about 1Malaysia and all the crabs.

YS is always 1Malaysia.

.... .... of life in various bottles

Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) read an article that partitions life into Birth, Puberty, Coming of Age, School Graduation, Career, Marriage, Midlife, Retirement and Death. Being a retiree, this division of life is very daunting. Retirement being so near to death. Unacceptable and unbelievable!

The father-in-law of a colleague of Y S outlived two wives and his retirement life was way longer than his 32 years of working life. He died at 103 !!! The Pension Department " Si pun si loor" / loses like mad paying out his pension !!! He did not die of any diseases but he simply expired in his sleep.

On the contrary, a friend sent Y S the above picture of life in various bottles. Well, Y S is beyond the Coke bottle and fluctuating between the Whiskey and Mineral Water bottle. Well, this is more acceptable. Y S' earnest prayer is to skip the Drip bottle and go straight to the Maker if He so granted. Many kiths and kins skipped the Whikey and Mineral Water bottles and landed with the Drip bottle before they went back to the Maker. No chance at living out their retirement and golden years. How unfortunate!

Many more do not even get to enjoy the Whiskey bottle or to think about it. They are too busy saving and saving for the Drip bottle which according to them is inevitable in old age and could be very expensive.

Is life worth living if one only keeps thinking and be bugged by the Drip bottle. A common saying among the Hokkien Chinese, " O, siew choe lau pun" meaning to say, " O, I'm saving for my old age capital " that is to pay the doctor's bills. So pathetic. Does life move in the procession of the bottles??? Does old age necessarily bring along diseases and sicknesses???

Y S dreads to think of the long list of sicknesses that doctors attached to ageing.

Until that day.................................,

let's live as if this were the first day we had ever seen and the last we were going to see.

Let 's live rich rather than to die rich.

Let's endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.

Let's live our lives and don't let our lives live us.

Let's begin at once to live, and count each day day as a separate life.

Let's live our lives as exclamations and no explanation.

And let's NOT for the sake of getting a living forget to live.

"Life" is a 4-lettered word : "G O O D."

....... of "Joining them if you cannot beat them"

Y S' golf set is very married now.
Better Half picked up golf very fast.

Yours Sincerely woke up one morning and observed the woman who has been sleeping beside him for the past 35 years. How time flies ! It has been 35 long years since Y S last said " I do" and signed the life sentence. We have been "very married." It dawned upon Y S that it would be hard to sleep alone if his Better Half were favoured by the Almighty and called home first. So, Y S had been preoccupied with the thoughts of trying not to be "so together" with the Better Half. We had to learn to survive on our own so that " parting will not be that woeful" !

That started a spat of " you do your own things " and " I do my own things." Then, golf came along and Y S could really tear himself away from his Better Half for hours upon hours. One day, Y S got a call when he was four hours away on the golf course, " Hello ! Not finished yet? " Y S realised with a tinge of guilt that his Better Half missed him. A friend with 45 years of matrimony advised that time is running out so grab the remaining seconds, minutes and hours, and do whatever you can together. Good advice to think about.

So, as they say " if you cannot beat them, join them." Better Half got herself a brand new golf set and signed up for golf coaching. LOL

We will be golfing together soon. Back to togetherness again.

..... of golfing at KB Golf & Country Club

This is Peter Teoh, an ardent golfer and a good friend of Y S .


Yours Sincerely ( Y s ) used to spot golfers busily checking in their equipment at airports while going on holidays. What a great inconvenience ! Y S sniggered at them . Ar....but then.. to golf at courses away from home is really a rare threat. Y S joined in the fun as they say if you cannot beat them join them.

This time it was not an exotic course overseas but one in Y S home state of Kelantan by invitation from a friend, Peter Teoh. Surprisingly this nine kilometre 18-hole course is quite interestingly challenging. This is one thing Y S one never thought of because it is in his home state. We always sing praises to things foreign and far away, but not those easily available to us.


This is the most threatening Hole 17 with Index 16 which cost Y S two balls in the lake !! Ploopm....!!!

This is another threatening t-off. You have to be straight and clear 180 yards at the very least or else.......ploomp...... !!! There goes another ball !!!

The elusive golf ball can enthrall you for hours hitting it straight and accurate!

Another one off Y S' Bucket List.