March 28

On Saturday 28-03-2009, John and I supported the Earth Hour by joining in the Walk Of Hope initiated by WWF M'sia at Capsquare.
Well, for so long WWF M'sia has remained very quiet and inactive and I think this Earth Hour campaign is a good start..to create awareness on the need to conserve energy to save our earth..to save energy, making the country a better and less polluted place to live and work in. Although there was a good turnout for the event, the organizers failed to deliver the objective (if there's one). If the objective is to educate or raise public awareness about the need to combat global warming and saving energy etc. I could not find a single recycled leaflet being handed out with information on recycling or the like. The entire evening turned out to be more like a mini concert with celebrities and some TV personalities making their appearances and promoting themselves. And the Walk Of Hope which was supposed to be the highlight for the event was delayed an hour and half later and reduced to only a mere 300 metres walk!! It was a disappointment!
However, most of the lights were out from 8.30pm - 9.30pm.

As an individual, I believe I have and will always play my part in the little corner of my world to minimise usage of all unnecessary electricity whenever possible. As author Anne Jones puts it so appropriately, "we need darkness to allow us to see and appreciate the light. There is darkness in our world to let us value light. The force of light is stronger than darkness. When we switch on a light darkness will always, always disappear."
Therefore, we must make an effort to embrace this endeavour to use energy conservatively and efficiently, not only for that earth hour but everyday for a greener and sustainable lifestyle.
To many, the earth hour is the first step taken to fight against climate change and it is certainly a good move.

Remembering Jennifer

Yesterday I managed to catch up with Shih Ming. She is one of my childhood friends who used to be my neighbour. We shared and stayed under the same roof : her family occupied the front portion, while we took the back portion as our humble abode. We also happened to go to the same school, except that she went to School One while my sisters and I were from School 2. And there was always a saga between the School One and School Two even though they were the same school! Until today I still don't understand why?! Shih Ming took Bas Sekolah to school and I took public transport or sometimes 'jalan kaki' (by foot).

There were moments of melancholy when we started lamenting the passing of my sister, Jennifer. It's been exactly 3 years yesterday and she still resides very much in our hearts. Shih Ming and I chatted and wonder if she misses us as much as we missed her. For me, I recalled the bittersweet days of yesteryears, when she was around doing what sisters did together : growing up, playing games, going to school, singing in church, fighting and making up and then fighting again, laughing loudly at some silly jokes, griefing over the loss of our father, went 'ga ga' over the late Leslie Cheung, forgiving when forgiveness is due, getting married, rejoicing over the arrival of my little nephew, family reunions etc.
Time to cherish and savour, and presently just to remember.

Whatever - One thing remains very clear that no matter how we fought, we never failed to give support or help each other when help is needed. All goes to prove that the foundation of love that we learnt in our school (BBGS) is so strong that it has stood us in good stead over the years. Unfortunately BBGS no longer exists but for anyone who has a part of it, they must count themselves very fortunate. For me, BBGS has been one incredible experience of life and love, a blessing.

We pondered over the question, "Where is Jennifer now? Is she in heaven? Where is heaven if there's one?
The passing of Jennifer has somewhat driven my desire to bring me closer to nature in an attempt to get me to open my heart.
In his book 'Talking to Heaven' James Van Praagh describes heaven as such :
"I personally believe that heaven is the other side of our physical world and is very much like our physical world with similar sights and sounds, although more vivid and more colorful. I believe there are many levels to heaven, and we go to that level we have created by our thoughts, words and deeds while on earth. Those of us who have grown to the same spiritual level will reside with one another in the same heaven. Beings who are more spiritually aware reside on a higher level, and less evolved souls are on a lower level. We can never go to a higher level until we earn it. However, those beings on a higher level can go to a lower sphere, and in many cases assist those souls who are not as aware. We go to the heaven that we have created based upon our words, thoughts and deeds while on earth."

I am not all that spiritual to discuss about heavenly matters or anything related. What's important is the passing of Jennifer and also some of my friends recently has taught me to value and appreciate life. Like Randy Pausch mentioned in his Last Lecture, " Time is all you have. And you may find one day that you have less than you think."

"Live your life each day as you would climb a mountain. An occassional glance toward the summit keeps the goal in mind, but many beautiful scenes are to be observed from each new vantage point. Climb slowly, steadily, enjoying each passing moment; and the view from the summit will serve as a fitting climax for the journey." - Harold B. Melchart

Weeks of sorts

It has been a series of seriously depressing weeks.
The first thing I pick up to read every morning is a newspaper which is nowadays filled with nothing positive. From nude photos, sex tapes, police brutality, still on the Perak situation, RPK & ISA appeals, MBs suing each other over cows & cars...the list goes on. It's a rather sorry state of affairs and no one seems to be accountable for it. It would be tough to stay positive for the rest of the day.

On the personal front, I've just recovered from a fall and blamed it on my own clumsiness and carelessness. At 7 that morning, I laced up my running shoes and headed out to run. Everything seemed pretty normal except my running route (for that particular Saturday). My legs just took over slightly about 300 metres and before I knew what was happening...I was on the ground and flat on my face!! My nose was bleeding and badly bruised, so were both my knees and hands. Well, things like that happen to me sometimes and some folks even thought that I encountered a cycling accident cos' it looked like one. However, except for my scarred nose and knees, I'm glad I'm still in one piece and functioning.

Next - 10 days ago, John had a minor operation which the doctor (and the MRI show) interpreted as a foci of fat necrosis but turned out to be venous haemongioma below his tummy. Not serious but the operation would have been slightly different if the surgeon knew beforehand that it was a venous haemongioma. Poor John, he rested for a week and still recovering.
I guess the experience of any illness is often humbling, reminding us of human frailty. It demands us that we slow down and mind what is important in life. And then we'll bounce back again!

Viva life!