..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.