Uncertain Times

"No job. No food. No clothes"

Yours sincerely ( y s) came across this photograph in the net and since then it has been haunting him. Is the Global Financial Crisis that bad?! BBC, CNN and Aljaeera are full of news of retrenchments, layoffs, unemployment etc and the most scary ones are about the banks that went bust. Phooot, your deposit is gone with the wind, just like that? Never before in the history of banking has so much been owed by so few to so few and yet so many have to suffer! If I owe one million ringgits, then I am lost. If I owe fifty millions, the bankers are lost.

Should y s cash out the few hard sweat earned ringgits that he has saved and kept them under his pillow, or converted them to gold as some smart finanancial gurus preached?

Should the cash be converted into properties since the price is falling and property is aplenty, so says the property gurus?

Should y s cash out the few ringgits and go on a shopping spree with his better half? Shop and shop till we drop as advised by yet other financial gurus that liquid cash should be kept flowing to recover the global economy. The bank saving rates also say the same thing at 2.5 and dropping rate per annum.

Should y s go for a his new dream car, a Toyota Camry, 2.4 cc since the cost of petroleum has dropped drastically?

Should y s paint the town red, visiting night spots, to help activate the economy ?

We are living in troubled times. We are confused over what or who to trust in?

King David of the Book of psalms advises that at this troubled times, some trust in chariots and some in horses but the best is to trust in God. If you worry, you do not trust and if you trust, you do not worry.

The human race has pulled out of the Great Depression of the 40s and survived several other depressions and economic downturns, my faith in the human race is strong. We will be able to survive this one, too.

All sorts of people

Having survived several decades as a fellow earthling and now going on to the sunset years of life, yours sincerely ( y s) is looking hard at earthlings.

Someone observes that there are five types of people: those who make things happen; those who think they make things happen; those who watch things happen; those who wonder what happened; and those that did not know that anything has happened. It is like a herd of buffaloes in a stampede. Many do not even know what is going on. They are simply imbued with the herd and mob instinct to follow suit. This is common in certain countries where one can marshal a mob by just shouting out a few religious phrases or words, or inciting speeches. You can easily rope in bullish mob to stampede for you for whatever God knows reasons.

William J H Boetcker divides people into four classes: -

1) Those who always do less than they are told
2) Those who will do what they are told, but no more
3) Those who will do things without being told.
4) Those who will inspire others to do things.

Y s has to add one more class of those who stand around, do nothing but every ready to criticise those who do. This is particularly common in churches. The inbreeding of this category has given rise to uneasiness and apprehension among those who sincerely want to do. So, finally nothing much gets done for the fear of being criticized.

Buddha says that there are three kinds of people. The first are like letters carved in the rock: they easily give way to anger and retain their angry thoughts for a long time. The second are like letters written in the sand: they give way to anger also but their angry thoughts quietly pass away. The third are like letters written in running water: they do not retain their passing thoughts; they let abuse and uncomfortable gossip pass by unnoticed; their mind are always pure and undisturbed.

May we carve our letters in water.

A fool n his RM are welcome everywhere!

This is the biggest gold bar in this universe. One piece of this is "Kau team" (enough) to solve all the plights of poverty in any corner of the world, or to do all the evils in this world.


This is a USD with a true value big denomination and not one of those from the African continent or our neighbour, Indonesia. Ten pieces of this will make you a US millionaire. Btw they are only printed for the use of the US treasury and not for the public. Such big denomination would have made a certain individual in Malaysia ecstatic to carry them into Australia.

This a lady everyone loves to strip. She is pound covered.

So, yours sincerely ( y s) is musing about money, Ruppiahs, Ringgits, Reminbis, USDs, Pounds whatever.........

They say that money does not grow on trees, but when y s was a young boy, many, many years ago, money came out of my dear Nyonya mum's bra. Really ! That was where she safely kept her dollars and cents which were carefully wrapped in her handkerchief. No wonder there were no snatch thieves those good, old days. Btw she was wearing a size L not that she needed one but rather bras did not come with reinforced cups those days so the oversized were more practical, airy and comfortable, I suppose. ( So unbecoming of y s to talk about bras, eh?.)

Of course, y s does not expect modern females to keep their valuables in their bras these days. Anyway, no cup size can contain their cash, cards, IC, car keys, house keys, handphone, lipstick(s) , powder compacts, blusher brush, eyebrow pencils/touchups, (emergency) female towels, tissue papers, address book, trinkets, pepper spray, just to list a few. With so much paraphernalia to lug around, Gucci, Louis Vitton, Sach, Hilly, Giossad, Bonia ( the few I can recall from his better half's collection) have lots of handbags to market that certainly keep the "Mat Rempits" snatchers gleefully busy.

So, when y s started his career, harsh reality set in. The RM210 salary as a college trained teacher needed a lot of stretching to cover all his expenses. This is where one has to make "sen" (sense) of every ringgit earned. This is where good monetary management comes in. This is also where frugality, thrift and prudence are deeply inculcated and instilled, and steer one out of financial crises.

So, save, save and save as much as you can and deny yourself the simple and legitimate pleasures of life. God forbids. According to Martin Luther, God divided the hands into fingers so that money could slip through, somehow. Many work their butts out and save for several life times. I like to say it in Hokkien : "Pia mia chooi lui" (work your butts out for money disregarding your health and leisure) in your youth then in your middle age or old age " pia looi chooi mia" (pouring out your money to seek life, treatment for sicknesses because of health neglect and abuse) Finally, all that one needs is a 6 ' X 6" X 4" pit !

Many save and save because they are worried that they may not have the RM to get treatment when they are sick in old age. They say: " What if I need a bypass, two bypasses, three bypasses etc. What if a need a kidney, a liver, a this and a that?" They spend three quarters of their lives slogging, labouring, slaving and saving hard, eagerly waiting to pay the doctors! Pathetic? (No wonder Malaysians are clamoring for Medic courses. Some go as far as Russia to somehow snatch one in the name of wanting to save mankind, true to the "Hypocrite Oath"....oops sorry..... "Hippocratic oath." )

Many more well-meaning parents scrounge the surface to save for their children and grandchildren as if they do not expect them to work for a living! Every child of theirs should inherit a house from them. They survive very spartan, basic, frugal, isolated, friendless, joyless, and self-centered life. The Hokkien say : "Si bo tak." ( To die pathetically for not living well)

Money is like manure. You have to spread it around or it smells. Don't be guilty of paying yourself first with the money you have EARNED after every payday. You deserve it!

Also beware that too many are spending money they haven't earned to buy things they don't need to impress people who cannot even remember our names. Never spend before you have earned it.

Many people have finally realised that money can't buy happiness. Now they are trying credit cards. Never believe the Credit Card companies. You cannot spend to save. How could you save more when you spend more? Use the credit facility and convenience promised by the cards BUT NEVER OWE THEM. These "Visa Long" or "Master Long" can be legally worse than the "Ah Longs" from Buklit Beruntung. They do not splash red paint on your walls, hang dead chicken on your door post , cut off your little finger or kidnap your loved ones but they can legally cause you nightmares, night after night until you go crazy! Remember that compound interest is the eight wonder of the world! Don't be subject to it.

Of course, money is important. Which fool says that it isn't? A Chinese proverb says that with money you are a dragon; with no money, a worm. But those who think money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money. Francis Bacon puts it correctly that money like fire is a good servant but bad master. Money is the most egalitarian force in society. It confers power on whoever holds it. The chief value of money lies in the fact that we are living in a world in which money is overestimated. I like what Henry Ford once said : "The highest capital is not to make more money, but to make money do more for the betterment of life."
Of course, you cannot take your money to heaven but you can send it on ahead. Ya?

" It is said that for money you can have everything, but you cannot. You can buy food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health; knowledge but not wisdom; glitter, but not beauty; fun but not joy; acquaintances, but not friends; servants; but not faithfulness; leisure, but not peace. You can have the husk of everything for money; but not the kerrnel." - Ame Garborg.

As for y s and his better half, WE ARE SPENDING OUR CHILDREN'S INHERITANCE.

Work, save n spend on. Life is for the living.

Part Two from the "Bucket List"

Wang Kelian has always aroused yours sincerely's curiosity. It is a new border crossing to Thailand in the middle of nowhere. So, on the way down Kaki Bukit, we took a left turn, accelerated the car up several very steep slopes, rounded a few hair pin corners and passing through numerous police and UPP (Anti-smuggling unit) check points, to finally reach the place.
It loomed in front of you very suddenly.

It was a Saturday, so parking was brisk and free. Being a stone's throw from the all Thai notorious border crossing, the aged car was triple locked and securely alarmed. Trust in God, lock your vehicles.

Wang Kelian is a shoppers' haven. There are rows and rows of makeshift tents and stalls peddling almost the same "brandy" things and at roughly the same price, all under the hot sun and behind the backdrop of a lush green pristine equatorial jungle. You sweat while you shop under your umbrella if you carry one. It was just "window shopping" for us, but, as usual, the better half was attracted to a few bargains and tit-bits which come in neat packets, three for RM10.00. So, a husband is also a porter, sometimes. Well, what is the use of having a 5 ft 9 inches tall and 85 kilos hubby! To carry things looor! A small advice. Work out your logistic. Don't buy on your way down. Buy only when you make your way back. You carry only one way. Less transportation cost. DHL concept. Don't worry the vendors will still be there.

Yours sincerely and the better half also crossed over to the Thai side without any passport stamping formality. Just smile and walk across, and smile again when you come back. Sometime, when the immigration officers are in their foul mood, I was told, they may demand to see and record your Identity Cards' particulars, or else it is plain walking across and back. Cool,
eh?

The Thai side is equalling a sprawling of tents, canvas and taupaulins. Also more or less offering the same goods. BUT THE VENDORS ARE FRIENDLIER. They greet you sweetly and offer you their service. NOT WITH THE MALAYSIAN SIDE. It is "Mau beli beli. Tak Mau Beli, Berambus!" (Want to buy, buylah. If not, get lost!)

More and more stalls that extend right to the foothill. Strangely, we saw a good num,ber of Causasians milling with the crowd. Some were with their young children whom we, Asians, would rather leave them safely at home with their baby sitters or grannies. They start to see the world at such a very young age. I admire their parents' sojourner spirit.

I have been to Wang Kelian!

One more from my "Bucket List"

Graffitis on the rock etched by half or three quarter evolved visitors

One item in Yours sincerely's "Bucket List" is to visit or to revisit historic, geographic or touristic nooks and corners in Malaysia. It is paradoxical that his better half and him have gone jetting to other continents when he misses out places so close to home. As for the revisiting, it brings sweet memory of the days the children were younger and how they enjoyed the trips.

Saturdays have been designated for day trips because for the past 28 donkey years, yours sincerely had been fully occupied to the hilt on Saturdays, teaching classes after classes. It is with an unforgiveable vengeance that Saturdays have been picked out to day trip around.

Saturday 21st was for Gua Kelam in Perlis. This time around, with time on our hand, we took a real slow drive, savouring the scenery and detouring into any small towns and villages on the signboards that ever aroused our curiosity. So, we turned into the small fishing village of Kuala Sanglang and gazed at the fishing folks who also gazed back at us. We also detoured into Kuala Perlis which was quite deserted at this time of the year.

The one thing which I try hard to understand is why people like to scribble and leave graffiti of their names or initials on plants and rock surface like this. It is through Yours sincerely's observation of his Pincher ( a small dog) that he has come to this conclusion : these people have not been fully evolved as homo sapiens. Like dogs which urinate on things and at nooks and corners to leave their markings and demarcate their territories, these vandals, having not been fully evolved, have to do the same. Lucky thing, graffitis and not their urine.

This is the most presentable stall which I had meticulously picked to stop for a break along the way to Kaki Bukit. The proprietor was too glad to post for me before his delicatessens. Anyway, his "Cendul n Pulut" in scrapped ice was thirst quenching on hot February days. In the background is Yours sincerely's better half slurping her "Cendul n Pulut." Two bowls for RM 5.00. Inflation has reached the kampongs.

So, along the road leading to the cave and by the side of the man- made pools you get stalls enticing your children with toys, t-shirts and floats of all types. Well, we have no more young children to be enticed. Looking forward eagerly to pamper grandchildren!

This is the entrance to the limestone cave. No change after all these years only that the metal railings have badly corroded. We walked through the cave and observed the limestone stalactites and stalagmites of various shapes. The centre lump of limestone which was better formed used to be glistering wet those days, fifteen years ago, is now dry and dull, perhaps due to the dry weather. I hope so. And not due to environmental degradation.

I like to observe old Chinese new villages. This is one long row of Chinese homes which are shop like, some are half opened , you can see at Kaki Bukit, a stone's throw from Gua kelam. They still have rusty corrugated zinc roof. The houses seem to be forgotten by time but trying to stand proud, testimony to the good old days. Really good? Peering into a doorway, yours sincerely saw an old grey haired "Ah Pek" sitting on an equally old rattan chair with a palm hand fan cooling himself vigouriously and staring into the thin air. He did not even realise that he was being observed.


There are several pools like this, enough for a waist deep dip for both children and non-swimmer adults. The area is shaded by the trees, suitable for children to wade, splash and swim.

Viva life. Live on. Life is for the living.

Musings on LIFE

This is "La Penseur" or "The Thinker" by Auguste Robin, a popular French sculptor who revolutionised the art of sculpture in the modern age. This statue is yours sincerely's favourite as it reflects much of his contemplative thoughts which battle within him in a power struggle.

Yours sincerely finds that the game of life is a game of boomerangs. Our thoughts, deeds and words return to us sooner or later with astounding accuracy. So, keeping the right spirit is vital to keep away idle and negative thoughts. Fulton J. Sheen says that it is like a cash register, in that every account, every thought, every deed, like every sale, is registered and recorded.
Or that life is an echo, what you send out - comes back!

Sometimes I hear somebody sigh, "Life is hard." I am always tempted to ask, "Compared to what?" Life is to be enjoyed, not endured. So, enjoy life. There is plenty of time to be dead. Life is not a dressed rehearsal! It is the real thing. Some people go around saying that the world owes them a living. The world owes no one anything. It was here first! I like what Aung San Suu Kyi says " It is no simple matter to decide who are the more fortunate - those to whom life gives all, or those who have to give all to life." We are here to add what we can to life, not to get what we can from it.

In living, it is not doing the things we like, but liking the things we do that makes life happy according to Goethe. Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact. John Burrough says that he still finds each day too short for all the thoughts he want to think, all the walks he wants to take, all the books he wants to read, and all the friends he wants to see. Strive to do the common things of life uncommonly well. I like what I read on the wall of Hong Leong Bank at Jln Teluk Wanjah, A. Star : "If better is possible, good is not enough." You will get life's rewards.

Yet, we see many people are so busy day in and day out. It is not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is : what are they busy about? William James says that the great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it. And make sure that the thing you are living for is worth dying for. And also a man who has nothing that he would die for has little to live for. Martin Luther hits the nail on its head when he says that our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

In life people ask and ask, why do bad things happen to good people. Our clergies cook up all sort of theologically sound answers only to be doubted. Well, expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is a little like expecting a bull not to attack you because you are a vegetarian. Life is a blend of laughters and tears, a combination of rain and sunshine. And do not complain about life's unfairness. It is never - at best, it is impartial. We learn the rope of life by untying the knots. William Shakespeare puts it right that life is a tale told by an idiot - full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Slow down and enjoy life. Pull to the left lane of "Ikut Kiri Jika Tidak Memotong." It is not only the scenery you miss by going too fast - you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.
Abraham Lincon says it very accurately that in the end it is not the years in your life that count. It is the life in your years. It is not its length but its depth. The earth belongs to the living, not to the dead.

The Cherokee Indians once say that when you are born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice. I always wonder how so many Christians sing so many beautiful hymns of heaven and lament how they long to go there , and yet so many Christians are afriad of death, even the mere mention of it is a taboo. It is also paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old does not appeal to anyone. You only live once; but if you live it right, once is enough according to Adam Marshall. Quite true, eh?

Anyway, don't take life too seriously, you will never get out of it alive but also remember that every man dies; not every man lives.

I climbed Pokok Sena "Everest "

Inspired by a fellow blogger "Random Shots" and yours sincerely's very own curiosity, I went to check out the Hash House Harriet's trek at Pokok Sena labelled as "888." You know la, when it comes to Chinaman's enterprise's number, it has to be 888. That includes his vehicle and possibly his handset or even his house. Blessedly I checked it out fast, as you can see a part of the picturesque hill is "oleli" shaven bald, waiting for a housing project. So, this part on the way down looks like another lost planet.
The occasion was never better timed with the visit of my son, Albertus, who is on a month leave before joining his wife, Adeline, in Kiwi Land, New Zealand. BTW you are confused, I know. Adeline is my daughter and Albertus is my son. I have done away with the term "in-laws" so that I do not "out-laws." We are all in a family. It is family. Well, sounds a bit like the Italian "Mafia," eh? It is good to climb a hill with your son, you get protection every inch you go. Going up, he was behind you, just in case you fall down. Going down, he was in front, just in case you fall down.
This shot is not well taken. But it is part of the vegetation.

This is a good friend and a member of the HHH who led us that day. He has a mighty good stamina. No puffing and panting. He easily slid up and down.
This is your sincerely, changing gear and stressing his gear box to climb up. His heart banged hard against his rib cage. His asthmatic lungs wheezed like a whistle. But it was a good challenge, sort of like the golfers' handcaps. A doctor friend says that if you can make the climb successfully, then your heart is ok, better than doing the stress mill. I made my way up and down, at my own time, of course. The t-shirt, track suits, stockings and also .......... underwear were soaking wet with sweat. You get a sense of achievement. You made it. Well, I am going again next week. This time to the hill in Jitra, Bukit Malau.

Viva life. Get out of your couch. Sweat it out. Too much rest is rust.