Golfaholic - a golf sickness

One exhausting and frustrating month and five golf coaching sessions down the lane, and imagine how time flies. Yours sincerely ( y s) has been at the driving range on all days ending with " y." I could not imagine how this game has obsessed me. Waking up at 6.30 am to prepare myself and driving there at 7.00 pm to practise until 10.00 am. No wonder Arnold Parmer, the guru of all golfers, says that "Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated, it satisfies the soul and frustrates the intellect. It is at the same time rewarding and maddening - and it is without doubt the greatest game mankind has ever invented. " As for me golf is so popular simply because it is the best game in the world at which to be bad. The worse part of it, by far, has always been hitting the ball. And how badly you play, it is always possible to get worse. Golf can be defined as an endless series of tragedies obscured by the occasional miracles.

Is golf a quiet game? The trees taunts you, the sand mocks you and the water calls you names, on the course. Not to mention those golfers behind you ! This is the only game whereby those better than you are behind you. Yet some claim that golf and sex are about the only things you can enjoy without being good at. They call it golf, probably because all the other four letter words were already taken.

You think that prayers help? Bill Graham himself confessed : " The only time my prayer are never answered is on the golf course."

You have to reverse every natural instinct and do the opposite of what you inclined to do, and you will probably only come close to having a perfect gold swing. And that could be the umpteen time your coach has repeated his instruction. When every lesson is like a new lesson, you start to be stressed and frustrated. Anyway, it is good for the soul since you get so mad at yourself that you forget to hate your enemies. Bob Hope, a comedian, once put it correctly that golf if you watch the game is fun. If you play, it is recreation. If you work at it, it is GOLF!!!

And to the wives of avid golfers, the golf widows, many have willed that if they die, bury them at the golf courses so that their husbands can visit them often.

As for me, I cannot agree more with G.K.Chesterton when he said : " I regard golf as an expensive way of playing marbles." L O L

And tomorrow, I will be at the golf course again.

"The earth belongs to the living, not to the dead." Thomas Jefferson.

Life is short. There is plenty of time to be dead. Live when you still have life.

"makan golf," "tidur golf' "berak golf" !!!

The driving range at Royal Kedah Club

They say that the quickest way to become an old dog is to stop learning new tricks. So as not to become one, Yours Sincerely ( y s ) has picked up another new skill . He has always marveled at this " adult game of hitting a small ball into a small hole and you dressed up to walk all over the place with people following you and carrying all your paraphernalia." This game of GOLF has been known to make many wives "golf widows," not to mention absent fathers to children and runaway fathers in many a family.

Getting into this " game of hitting small balls" can be challenging, as you pit your skills against yourself. Being a person born with two left legs and who is hopeless on the football field and also the dance floor, this game throws a big challenge. Having invested a handsome sum on the attire, accepted irons given by my son, procuring the service of a Pro Coach and promising friends here and there that y s would be joining them ASAP on golf trips there and here, it is no turning back oleli (already). So, y s " makan, tidur and berak golf" for the past month.

The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in one's determination.
I like what Josh Billings says : " be like the postage stamp. Stick to something until you get there." " The tragedy of life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach. " Benjamin Mays.

This is y s addressing the ball._____________________

This is a " Nike Sumo big head driver # 1" which promises to give extra distance. Y s needs it, ya? If only better racquets make better players !!!, or better microphones make better singers. Then the world will be full of tennis players and singers. KA Ka Ka Ka (Observed that bloggers use this for laughters !!!) Anyway, it is good to give yourself a present once in a while. Pay yourself and you will appreciate yourself more.

Anyway, if y s fails to make it to the green, at least he has a reason to wake up in the morning to enjoy the fresh air and the green at the diving range. Y s also has met many well-intentioned and meaning "self-appointed coaches." Golfers enjoy a strong fraternity and are gentlemanly. It is different from swimming where one changes, dips into the pool, changes again and goes home. Golfers stay back. They drink, eat, "belanja" here and there and talk about their kills. The widening of social circle in retirement gives y s a new breath.


This is a practice mat from which y s hopes to graduate in a month's time. It is not that easy to get a good swing ( and sometimes you miss the ball to the amusement of the golfers beside you !!33@%4#7^), not to mention to hit 100 yards or 15o yards. In golf, practice does not make perfect but perfect practice makes perfect.

Another one from my "Bucket List"

Let's get busy living.

Church's Special Event - Parents' Day

As with all Catholic events, it MUST start with a high mass. The parishioners were delighted by the presence of His Lordship, the Bishop of Penang Diocese, Rev Anthony Selvanayagam; the Monsignor, Rev Stephen Liew; Rev Michael Dass, Rev Nelson and the Parish Priest, Rev Jude Miranda.

This were part of the parish's youths - the torch bearers of the future. Alas! They are getting fewer and fewer. We are not multiplying fast enough to replenish the aged and the deceased.

Mr Chang Seng and wife presented a Chinese number. An appreciative son, James, presenting MUM with a bouquet.

These were the people who worked behind the scene. " The Marthas" They sweated and toiled to produce several hundreds pieces of "tosai'' and "capatis" on the spot to whet the prishioners' appetite. Y s takes his hat off to these "Marthas." ( Sorry the pic is very blurr.)

Lots of "hello", catching up, tete-a-tete and fellowship.

Interactive games for the fathers. "Hei, I'm short by only one mark!!!" "Haiyo...no complainlah. You lost means you lost looor....!"

The happy fathers coming home from their shopping trip.

The happy mothers lining up for their games.

This is an article written by yours sincerely to "Herald" about the parish event and some photos for you to view.

Church Of St Michael's, Alor Star, First Special Event

Alor Star, 8 May, 2008.

The parishioners of the Church of St Michael, Alor Star and their sister Chapel of Our Lady of Good Health, Jabi Estate, celebrated their first special event, Parents’ Day, with the view to strengthen filial responsibility and mend strained relationship between parents and children since the families are the essential cells making up the various BECs.

The event started with a Eucharistic Celebration concelebrated by His Lordship Bishop Anthony Selvanayagam; Monsignor Stephen Liew ; Rev Michael Dass and Rev Joseph Nelson, from the neighbouring Church of Risen Christ, Sg. Petani; and Rev Jude Miranda, the Parish Priest. Several touching testimonies on parents and their sacrifices were given by the parishioners . A video presentation on a caesarian child delivery wetted many eyes, but the numerous video clips on parents' profiles in the parish brought laughters. These were the projects of the youths.

In his sermon, the Bishop spoke at length and with a generous dose of humour, on the crying need for parents to be strongly rooted in Christ like the vines and their branches. He congratulated the parents for taking up the challenge of parenthood and exalted them to enjoy their parenthood by being strongly rooted and integrated in Christ. He further challenged the parents to be surprised by God if they faithfully remained in Him. “Live that full life with your husband, wife and children. Falling is natural. Getting up, struggling and continuing the journey is even more natural. Pay the price and accept the challenge of parenthood,” the Bishop encouraged the faithful. He further suggested the formation of a “Parents’ Group” in the parish to share, counsel and help each other in parenting. The sermon was translated to Mandarin by Monsignor Stephen Liew.

Numerous family interactive games were played to strengthen inter and intra family bond. Carolina Fay, the game chairperson, commented that she had been encouraged by the interest and participation of the parishioners from across the language groups and BECs. Many pairs of parents presented inspirational songs on family and children. A lovely couple, Sivan and Anne Lotey, presented the song “When you tell me that you love me” to the delight of the audience. The parishioners also celebrated Rev Fr Michael Dass’, a frequent visitor to the parish, birthday with cake cutting and songs in the midst of colourful fireworks. To appreciate the co-operation of the parishioners in the recent Diocesan BEC Census taking, Clara Victor was awarded the Oldest Mother in the parish and she received a prize from His Lorship.

Maria Arokiam, the Organizing Chairman, was glad that this year’s Parish Special event also saw a lot of enthusiasm and involvement of more youths. He commented that “ Perhaps, this is their way of showing their appreciation to their parents.” Rev Jude Miranda’s closing speech included a heart felt appreciation to the parishioners of Jabi Estate for preparing a variety of delicious food and also elaborately serving them on banana leaves for those above 65.

By

Thomas Chua

..of friends

Yours sincerely ( y s ) received a phone call from an old friend down south, Johore Bahru. This is a friend whom I met during my teacher training days in the early 1970s. The marvel of modern communication enables long lost friend to catch up with us out of the blue, and y s was delighted by his kind gesture. He made my day. I was uplifted to cloud nine. He remembered me !

If you need to make that phone call to a friend, JUST DO IT. Don't delay. Make someone's day. Delight him / her.

"We call that person who has lost his father, an orphan; and widower that man who has lost his wife. But that man who has known immense unhappiness of losing a friend, by what name do we call him? Here every language is silent and holds its peace in impotence." - Joseph Roux

There are no strangers in this world, just friends we have never met. Y s met a stanger from Nigeria in the waiting room of the Chest Clinic at the General Hospital (GH) in Alor Star. The stranger's friendly smile attracted me. A smile is the key that fits the lock of everyone's heart. And a smile is also a fortune which you can't sell, can't buy and can't steal it, but it isn't good to anyone until it is given away. So, I smiled back and all people smile in the same language. English ? Mandarin? Bahasa? Tamil? French? No. Humanity.

He is Martins from lagos, Nigeria. He is studying for a degree in Nursing from Lincoln College, Kuala Lumpur and is undergoing his training at the GH in Alor Star. He turns out to be a Christian and we had more to talk about. His father is a lawyer and Mum a nurse. Fancy that Martins had completed his first degree from a Theological University in Rome and found no vocation in him and decided to do nursing. He could talk about religious issues and practices like a lecturer from the seminary. Then, he asked to join us in the weekly mass.


This is Martins from Nigeria and y s getting ready for the parish's first special event - Parents' Day. ( Don't be shocked by my new shirt. In fact, I have revolutionised my wardrobe. No more long sleeved shirts and ties. It is free and easy shirts now. For that I won a prize for the event for being the BEST DRESSED FATHER. LOL) ) According to Dale Carnegie, you can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get people interested in you.

Recalling all the friends, new and old, and near and far, they come into our lives and quickly go. Others stay a while, make footprints on our hearts and we are never, ever the same. A true friend also walks in when the rest of the world walks out. A Latin proverb says that " a loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives." The greatest gift is not found in a store nor under a tree, but in the hearts of true friends.

To all my friends, including my cyber friends, I can only say THANK YOU for crossing paths with me in this life. All of you have touched my life in one way or another. Your constant visits, either physical or through your forwards, emails and blogs have always made my day.

Let us work harder to build humanity and make this planet a better place to reside in.

Life is for the living. Let's live on.

Keep within the flight of your Guardian Angel !!!

The aftermath of my stupidity. Y s' vehicle was hooked to the coach's fender and dragged.

Life is full of the unexpected, either favourable or unfavourable. Yours sincerely ( y s ) met with an accident a fortnight ago. Few people would agree that accidents, are not actually accidents, they are caused by our carelessness, recklessness, and in y s ' case, sheer stupidity on his part !

We have read enough of reckless bus drivers causing injuries and even deaths to bus load of sleeping passengers in the wee hours of morning, denying their responsibilities for the accidents but blaming them on the vehicles. Brake failure is the most common accusation when plain, pure logic points to carelessness, recklessness, lethargy and the most scary one - "Tidak apa" attitude of the driver. If only vehicles could talk back and defend themselves !

Y s learnt an expensive and risky lesson - don't drive faster than your guardian angel can fly. Don't squeeze into a narrow space, especially beside a gigantic vehicle. And, to give way to bigger vehicle. If you have to bully, may be pick on a "Kancil." LOL , just joking.

Y s let the models do the talking and you can guess how stupid I was !!! In "Phua Chu Kang's English " don't play-play with the 'DURIAN BURUNG' DOUBLE DECKER. Its wheels are bigger then my car door. Scarry !

This is a split second before my stupidity took effect.

This is the commence of my stupidity.

This is the result of the "play-play" with bigger vehicle.

This is the part that was hooked on to the fender of the bus.

This is the damaged hind left fender of y s' vehicle.

The damage to the wallet = RM 600.00.
The scolding by the better half = "I told you oleli to be careful...``++&//??!!@#$$%&^8*...."
The physical damage = NIL
The spiritual damage = NIL
The lesson learnt = PRICELESS
The most important thing = I AM STILL ALIVE n STILL BLOGGING
Total damage = ZELO (ZERO)

Life goes on.

"Don't drive faster than your guardian angel can fly."

FORgiveNESS

"Let's forgive and forget....."

They say that if God were not willing to forgive sin, heaven would be pretty empty. But, many would say "I can forgive, but I cannot forget." This is another way of saying, "I will not forgive." Henry Ward Beecher once said that, "Forgiveness ought be like a cancelled note - torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one." Ah..., but then, memories are not papers, easily torn, burnt and tossed away. Some wicked ones remained etched in your subconscious and just when you think you have forgotten them, they surface like feasting maggots on some rotten flesh. Yours sincerely ( y s) finds that to really forgive and forget, one needs to contract chronic Amnesia.

Mahatma Gandhi once said that " The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." Our strength is shown in the things we stand for and our weaknesses are shown in the things we fall for. In the face of a situation that begs forgiveness, the human ego surfaces instinctively and snatches away the humility in us. The egotists, as we all know, is an I specialist. He is also one who thinks that if he hadn't been born, people would wonder why. As long as the ego, especially the super-ego, is alive, we cannot forgive well, and continue to live on miserably on the pain and hurt of unforgiveness that could eat out our souls, rob us of our joyfulness and impoverise our life.

And for all we don't know, the people we are begrudging do not even have a minute gram of memory about us, or worse still, have deleted us completely from the hard disk of their brain. LOL

It is said that he who cannot forgive others destroys the bridge over which he himself must pass. If you are the husband, sometimes be blind, if you are a wife, sometimes be deaf. We forgive to the extent we love. Forgiveness is man's deepest need and highest achievement.It is like the fragrance a flower gives AFTER IT HAS BEEN STEPPED ON.

Still we say that we CANNOT forget. If we want to test our memory, try to recall what we were thinking about one year ago today. Chances are that we cannot remember, but how come we cannot forget those whom we claim to have been forgiven by us. Y s concurs that we really cannot forget BUT WE CAN REMEMBER them WITH A DIFFERENT EMOTION, FEELING, REACTION AND STATE OF MIND.

POSTED ON A CHURCH BULLETION BOARD :

" Do come in - tresspassers will be forgiven."

My constant prayer :

"Oh, Lord, grant me the senility to forget those who have wronged me........."

Change n Changes

This 42 inch Toshiba Redza Full HD LCD is the latest addition to yours sincerely ( y s) sitting room after the expiration of the older Sony 34 inch. You won't believe me if I were to tell you that tvs do have spirit and soul. When the older Sony 34 inchi was in service, y s used to lament on its durability and how it prevented y s from progressing to an LCD. At one stage, y r planned to sell it off cheaply so that it could make way for an LCD. It must have felt and been hurt by
y s's lack of appreciation.

So, one fine day, on the third of the new oxen lunar year, it fused and simply would not work. Three months in the electronic workshop could not recover him and finally the technician diagnosed that it needed a complete set of main board that would cost plus and minus RM500 excluding workmanship!!! So, that gave enough reasons to acquire a new set.

Fancy how electronic appliances plunge in pricing. Y r was salivating for the same LCD last Christmas and the price was RM4650.00. With strong advice from economically sound friends and in view of the Financial Downturn, the purchase was delayed. The itch to acquire one got worse last Chinese New year and the cost was RM 4250.00 Then, came April, 2009, y s though of buying himself a birthday present and upon inquiry the price was RM3750.00. The better half cautioned to hold on and wait some more. But, y s could not hold on anymore. What if my eye sight deteriorate ? What if I contract cataract and cannot view the LCD clearly ?? To be crude, what if I go blind? What the heck !!! Get one and enjoy it.

The craving was very strong, very much like the one y s felt when he decided to get married, many, many years ago. We cannot wait so long for the ships to come in until the pier rots and collapses. "Just do it " says Nike. This time, the price descended to RM3400.00. That's it. No more waiting. Y s grabbed one.

It changes your visual sensation and watching tv takes on a new visual experience. Watching an original DVD on this set is ...... o...la...la............. .

Yours sincerely ( y s ) observes that in most homes, the furniture never change their position. They sit at the same spot year in and year out, and when they have expired, the new set comes in and sit at the same spot again. Change does mean acquiring a new set. Well, if one can afford it, why not? This is, afterall, your home. "Home Sweet Home." Your haven.

Change can also be affected by moving the same old furniture about a small bit or a big one, if you have the space. Y s and his better half create a space for tv viewing away from the familiar sofa set which in most homes must always face the tv. The same old furniture but they give you a certain freshness and make you look forward to get home and happily sink youself in them.

According to Ben Franklin, the Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself. And many people would rather be certain they are miserable than risk being happy. Take some risks. Wash your car in the rain. Jog in your rain coat (provided there is no lightning and thunder. Drive that golf ball to 200 yards with a big head driver. See things in different perspective. Understand new ideas. Learn new skills. ( It took me a week to fully understand the functions of my new hand phone. I read the manual like The Bible! ) Meet new people. Life is interesting.

" I have no money, no resources, no hopes. I am the happinest man alive " Henry Miller.


This is the humble old becomes new " tete-a-tete" space, away from the distraction of the tv. Well, it is awaiting your visit. Do drop by.