.... of a Birdie!

Today is a day to be celebrated !

Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) was golfing at Permaipura Golf Course near Bedong and this is the first time Y S hit a birdie from 150 meters with an Iron 5. It is a stroke to be cherished. Don't ask Y S how he did it , and neither could he do it again.

Practice is the best of all instructors. And practice does not make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect.

The birdie makes my day !!!

...... of "Dato Kong"

Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) is by nature very observant, and being observant, one cannot help noticing things. To the left of the main road by the side of Y S' house stands a shrine. It used to be a very samll one with just an urn of joss sticks and a plague identifying the "saint" as a "Dato Kong", simply translated as " Great Great Grand Father."

Of late a number of devotees are seen praying at this shrine. The site is kept clean. Once a year, a tent would be erected at the site and a feast is held in honour of the "Dato Kong." Some superstitious people driving by would clapse their hand in prayers respecting the shrine.

It did not dawn on Y S that this particular shrine is dedicated to a Muslim "Dato Kong" until a notice specifying the fasting times and prayer times at this shrine. Wow, what a great country we live in. This is 1Malaysia of the most unique kind. We can live together if we can accept one another at face value, and not be manipulated by those who seek to benefit from our disunity.

So, look around your neighbourhood. There are interesting things to discover.

.... of life and work

Two years and 4 months down the road of retirement, Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) has still been bombarded with the exclamatory questions in the Chinese Hokkien dialect : " Bor Choe kang ?" ( Are you not working? ), " Bo kang choe? " ( No work ? ) , " Mai choe kang ? " (Don't want to work? ), and " Mien Choe Kang? " ( No need to work? ) To the China man, life is work. And if you turn the other round, work is life! Both sides of the same coin. And also both words are 4-lettered !

When you are confronted with "Are you not working?" the questioner sort of expects you to work and not laze around or rather you are still too young to retire.

If you are asked " No work ?", the inquirer seems to be sympathetic with you that the economic downturn has caused so many to be unemployed and that includes you !

"Don't want to work?" implies that you are a lazy bone and refuse to work !!!

In fact, " No need to work ! " is Y S usual answer and you can readily expect the next very bold and odd question which any westerner would NEVER dare ask, " How much pension do you draw???" To this Y S would answer, if I don't have enough I will borrow from you !!!

Many more good meaning friends would also volunteer advice. These are among the many Y S received :-

" Ai yo,.... you have to do something. It is very boring sitting at home."

" You MUST do something to keep your brain active or else you get Alzheimer ( This is a dirty word among retirees.) !.

" You are still young, don't waste your time ! "

" My uncle retired several years ago, did nothing and died at 60 from a stroke ."

" Keep your brain active, play mahjong, or else your brain cells will die."

And the list goes on.

There are a few local private schools which pay retirees a stipend, thinking that these people are already receiving their pension. Many a retired teacher would make a beeline to such schools begging to be taken in as if there is no life in their retirement

Enjoy life. There's plenty of time to be dead. Retirement could be the best thing that happens to you. Live on.

..... of Dolly Parton "Pau"

Off the highways, Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) through the recommendation of a fellow blogger "Random Shot " @ http://amelia7.blogspot.com (do pay a visit to this blog, you will continue visiting after that) there are things to discover. We are so caught up with time constraint and speed that we lock ourselves from one toll booth to another and lose experiencing all the goodies the trunk roads have to offer. If you keep yourself on the highways you can only eat "nasi lemak" and "teh tarik." Be adventurous, take time and discover new things.

Y S golfed at Putra Golf Course, Kangar last week and remembered a recommendation by Random Shot. This special "Pau" ( ..er...... the Chinese version of BIG Mac) found at Kaki Bukit which is about 24 KM from Kangar. This a quaint small town which grew from the Emergency New Village set up in the 1940s and is full of Hakka speaking Chinese whose parents were rubber tappers and orchard owners.

So, Y S phoned up to book a number and made a beeline to the shop after golfing. Y S' golfer friends were astonished by the size of the "Pau" and as men were men and are still men, they Christianized the "Pau" as " Dolly Parton Pau." See for yourself !

.... of saying " NO "

Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) was not brought up to say "NO" to any requests asked of him. There had been requests which Y S sincerely could not fulfill but yet Y S agreed and then coughed and puffed trying to fulfill them. These misadventures had caused lots of stress and unnecessary tension in his life. Even when Y S was working often he stood up for his colleagues and went to the extremes to make colleagues happy.

As a fellow sojourner in the local church, Y S had ( Note the past tense used ) never said "NO" to any request made by the priests to the point of willing to sail into troubled waters where angels feared to tread in the Diocesan Pastoral Team ( The Bishop's Think Tank ) of the Penang Diocese. Y S survived " some beatings and tongue lashings " from the priests who feel that they are above reproaches and are very unteachable.

In the days of old ( just two months ago) Y S would say "yes" and then only think of ways and means to do it. When It was beyond his capacity, Y S even went to the extent to recruit others who had the knowledge and talent and worked together with them. NOT ANY MORE. The first "NO" Y S said was about two months ago.

The Parish Priest phoned Y S to represent the Catholics of Kedah to sit in the MCCBHT ( I hope I get it right. It is the Malaysian joint body of Buddhist, Christians, Catholics, Hindu, Taoist, Bahais etc etc etc and what have you) . You don't make someone a sacrificial lamb and land such a big duty on him by just phoning and without any guidelines and references.

Y S sniffed shirking of official duty. The body as all Malaysians know is represented by " high and higher" priests of sorts and Christians leaders with titles of "Rev so and so," Father so and so ," and "Swami what and what." It is like asking Y S to talk theology with the Dalai Lama, Pope, Billy Graham, Swami .. something ...something. Y S braved out the word " NO " and felt so nice about it. From that day the Parish Priest does not greed him in church anymore. This is the way of life even in churchy circle. You are a good sheep if you follow order but a bad one if you don't. But it is nice to be a bad one if you are right.

The moral of the story : learn to say "NO" if you really cannot assume the request. Y S is still feeling good about the first " NO " he uttered.

.... of change and the need to change for the better

The transformation of Puduraya Bus Terminal.

When Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) was a student, going to Kuala Lumpur ( K L ) from Pasir Puteh, Kelantan was by Mara Express Bus. This bus would stopped at the Puduraya Bus Terminal in the wee hours of the morning. Having no friends, kiths and kins in K L , Y S had to wait for the sun to rise before he could go about conducting his business. The old Puduraya Bus Terminal was dirty, polluted, stinky, unsightly, dangerous, crowded, messy and all the negative adjectives you could think of. It has recently been resurrected to be a first world bus terminal as you can see in the photos.

The moral of it is that a place can go through such transformation, can human nature do so ? Many a time, people commented that they were born and bred that way and there is no way they can change come what may ! " I am like that already " is a common statement.

There was a young female teacher whom Y S observed in a staff development session who spoke in hardly audible voice to a huge class of 45 students. When gently commented, she replied that she had used the maximum volume God had given her. Until today her pupils have to strain their ears to hear her. If the young feel that they cannot change then the older ones would feel hardened and fossilized.

Y S remembers his late 3rd sister who kept on to one fashion of dressing for all her life. The good lady had never tried blue jeans, pants or shorts. Some would never venture to try food cooked by other cultures but stick to their palate all their lives even when they are overseas. Y S has a friend who is still driving his 35 year old Mazda car ( The company had since defunct for years) , not so much for its antique value but rather his unchangeable human nature.

There are also friends who do not change their negative , quarrelsome, hot headed, selfish, unsavory, strongly opinionated, unforgiving and repulsive behaviors and mannerisms all these years. Many sadly carried them to their graves and were thorns in the flesh of many people when they lived.

Y S believes we must not only change but be prepared for changes. Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe once said that " Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must change and be prepared for changes." (Darkened words are Y S ' ) That is to change within us and also respond to the changes around us. If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we aren't really living.

In the final analysis, it is important to remember that we cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are. Change is inevitable if we are still above the ground.

Yours Sincerely observes that the Chinese Malaysians have a peculiar habit of "belanja" or treating friends or paying up friend's bills in eating shops. There are several types of encouters of this nature:-

The first is not the prearranged type but rather impromptu as when you happen to be at the same place and at the same time with him. He has finished his meal, stood up, called for the bill and gestured to the cashier to also include what you are eating in his bill. When you have finished eating you get the "pleasant" surprise of discovering that it has been paid for you.

The second is when a few of you decide to have a meal together and walk into an eating shop. After the feasting and when it is about time to leave, you call for the bill. And when the bill arrives, there begins a tussle to foot it. Sometimes, the tussle can be embarrassing and the more insistent one or the one who is holding up a bigger note wins the day.

At other time, while your bill is being mentally calculated by the cashier, everyone digs into his pockets, and indicates that he wants to pay. In this situation, you may find that the bill is jacked up because the owner of the establishment knows well that no one is going to itemize the bill, and you end up paying more ! How silly!

Of course, there are the free loader or the free " luncher " who always seems to lose in the battle to pay by either :-0

i. Being to slow to produce their wallet and money
ii. Producing small notes by sheer "bad arithmetic"
iii. OR always seem to visit the toilet at the right time when the bill comes. LOL

While such "custom" or unwritten ethics may be good, it can be embarrassing especially when you do not bring enough cash since you do not expect to meet friends. However, to be on the safe side, and since living in a small town, Y S always ensures that he carries a bit extra just in case an impromptu situation arises.

However, many a time, Y S was proud of himself when his former students who are now working or having successful businesses insist that they want to treat their teacher. These former students always make my day, not so much for the free meal but the APPRECIATION that they show. After all what else can a retired teacher delight in ???