February 22, 2013

commendable act

One morning a few days ago I took a lift in my block to go down. As I entered the lift I saw a piece of tissue paper at one corner on the floor. Then the door closed and the lift started to go down.

It stopped at a lower floor. The door opened and an elderly man who runs a stall at the wet market downstairs pushed in a trolley stacked with some goods. I greeted him happy new year and he returned the greeting.

He saw the tissue paper and did something I didn't expect him to. He picked up the tissue and placed it on top of one of the boxes on his trolley as if it was the natural thing to do.

I wanted to say something to show appreciation of his thoughtful act. Before I could think of what to say during that few seconds, the lift reached ground level and we went out.

February 15, 2013

大地回春

The artistes in the pictures in the video are Singapore Cantonese opera performers. 
There are 34 of them.

February 12, 2013

Miscellaneous 2

Which of these two statements sound stronger to you?
' I think he is innocent.' or 'I believe he is innocent.'
For myself believe is stronger than think because 'believe' is based on faith rather than on reasons; just like you believe in God.   


I think your feelings towards Chinese New Year are not the same when you were 10 years old, 30 years, 50 years or later when you are 70, assuming you are 50 something now. This is because we look at things in different ways as we mature.


We should not be too easily upset or annoyed by inconvenience and discomfort. When I was a child there were floods in my area during heavy rains. I remember we also had water rationing during droughts though it was rare. My parents and neighbours took these as part and parcel of life, sometimes cursing the bad or dry weather. As a child I didn't mind the floods and not bathing for a day was no big deal. 


In our daily life we may face inconvenience and discomfort, like having to walk a long distance to a bus-stop or the air con in our office is out of order. Learning to accept that such things do occur will make our life more pleasant. We should not let them make us unhappy or affect our job. 

February 04, 2013

Miscellaneous


Several years ago I bought an LG DVD player. It was the first time I bought an LG product. There were glitches a few weeks after using it, not serious ones but recurring ones which were annoying. Because of this experience, I have no intention of buying other LG products. Perhaps this is discrimination. Maybe I will reconsider if friends or visitors to this blog tell me they have used LG products and highly recommend them. Anyone of you?

I feel that many things that we like or dislike, for example an opera video on Youtube, are also favouritism and discrimination. Sometimes there are no good reasons for it.


I believe the mother of the two kids who were killed in the traffic accident also blames herself for allowing the older kid to go and fetch the younger kid on a bicycle. Imagine two young kids on a bicycle on a busy road. I think they were too young to be aware of the danger and young kids can be playful. They could easily lose their balance and fall.