My Dad

I remember my father as a very devoted son to his parents and a caring brother to his siblings. He likes to chat with our friends when they visit and both my sister Soo’s and my friends enjoy talking to him.
I remember my father’s devotion to his daughters especially when I was young and always demanded to be carried. The only time that he was angry with me was when I once refused to walk and wanted to be carried. When he did not do so, I insulted his mother and was given a tight slap on my face.
I remember the day when my grandfather passed away and Dad was sobbing silently while a long line of mucus emerged from his nostrils which he did not wipe away.
Once when we dropped a ping pong ball outside the window and it landed on the parapet. Without thinking, Dad jumped out of the window with his clogs on, to retrieve the ball. He landed one storey down and landed on the ground floor, dazed and only recovered sufficiently to return to the apartment miraculously unharmed.
Dad had a checkered childhood which mum never failed to share with us. He was always into some kind of trouble and was constantly punished by my stern grandfather.
Once a monk came for a visit and was having tea with Grandpa in the visitors’ hall downstairs. From the floor above, my father could see the monk’s head as he looked down through a peep hole. He found it so irresistible that he spat right on target at the bald head of the poor unsuspecting Holy One deep in conversation with Grandpa.
On another occasion, he passed by some wonderfully washed and gleaming white linens hung out in the warm sunlight. Using his water gun which he filled with black ink, he aimed at the gleaming sheets and formed his creative patterns on those canvases.

Once he took me to my night class and to his dismay and horror,discovered that the English teacher in the classroom had been his deadliest childhood enemy. Without hesitation, he bid a hasty retreat, leaving the clueless man wonder why my father took off so quickly as though some mysterious powers had driven him!
Later, my father disclosed to me that he had many combats with the man who spoke only in English, something deserving of my father’s disdain.

Dad was the eldest son by my second grandmother when the first grandmother passed away leaving two sons behind. My father began a long line of brothers and sisters after him.
One evening, my grandfather was invited to attend a birthday dinner and before he left, he reminded his errant son, my father, to keep out of trouble as he was always into some mischief or another. No sooner, had the old man left, that my father could not resist the opportunity to go out to have some fun of his own. The billiard hall was just five minutes down the road and magnetic to the hot-blooded teenager.
My grandfather happened to return early that evening because of a stomach upset and on his return, was aggrieved to know that his wayward son had disobeyed his strict order and gone into the forbidden billiard room. My father was summoned back immediately with the old man bristling with fury. He lay out the butcher knife used for cutting meat and would have chopped off my father’s two hands had not for the pleas of grandmother and his younger siblings.

I remember how devoted Dad was to his almost religious fervour for mainland China whom he called his motherland.
Every evening at six pm sharp, the noisily and poorly tuned radio would rasp and come to life with the Chinese national anthems in bursts of loud and soft sounds.
Dad would not miss a single of those broadcasts, singing praises of Chairman Mao, the steer hand that steers the great Motherland. Father was drunk by the propagandas.
When the day came for Dad to visit his village in Swatow and also to get cures for his arthritis, he was filled with hopes and exhilaration.
Yet, a month later, when he returned to Singapore, he brought home a pair of stone lions silently,without much enthusiasm to share the experience of his long-dreamt for trip.

Dad had great hopes for his two daughters as Mum had not given him a son.
He longed for the day when I could be the prestigious lawyer as he believes what boys can do, so can the girls. Alas, I did not take up that honorable profession envisioned by Dad, only to end up as a school teacher.
However, Dad was still proud of me and wished that one day I would become a school principal.

I did not fulfill even that hope of my Dad, but dearest Dad, I did become a good teacher. By the way, my daughter Sarah has just completed law school and she is now the deputy public prosecutor/ state counsel in the government chamber of law. May your soul rest in peace, Dad.

Learning as a life-long process

Learning is indeed a life-long process. We cannot and should not stop learning at any stage of our life.
When we were young, we embraced learning as it prepares us to grow into maturity.
We took our first steps to learn to adjust to a new world we were born into, adapting and learning, having left the comfortable body of our mother.
We were enthralled by the sights and sounds of our new environment and as we familiarise ourselves with them, we move forward, one step at a time until we gained our independence at adulthood.
However, learning should never stop for there is much to explore and learn till the day we depart from this world.
I remember learning to cope with my studies, my emotional life, relationships, later, my career first as a teacher, then as the head of department.
I learnt to be a daughter,a sister, an aunt, a girlfriend, a wife, then a mother and the list goes on.
I pray and thank God for a curious mind and the world never fails to amaze me.
My impatience slowly gives way to more tolerance though I still find waiting irksome and impatience still my weakness. However, I learn that something is really worth waiting for. I recalled the time when I waited for motherhood and was really in despair after years of fruitless waiting. God however, has really prepared me well and what joy it was when finally first Lynn and then Sarah came along.
There were growing pains over the years but the wait for them has often reminded me how precious they have been for me.
For years too, I despair of my failure to bring up Lynn well to be God-fearing but again God never gave up on me. He teaches me to trust in Him and assures me that changes come only through Him.
Even my relationship with Hubby is growing and we both learn how to change and improve ourselves through the patience of the Lord with us.
We are not perfect yet for we are still work in progress.
The day when we finally meet the Lord will be some time in the future, though we know not when.Meanwhile, we have to continue to learn and glorify His name and trust in Him that one day His work in us will be done.

Our baby's graduation!

Sarah's four years of hard work finally culminated in her final examination and she achieved her target result of second upper and managed to get into the legal system as deputy public prosecutor.
The week after she started embarking on her career saw her morose and seemingly stressed out and tense.
It could be a matter of adjustment and also her busyness in helping a friend to plan her wedding.Over time, she seemed to relax a little and we attended the commencement on Friday morning to celebrate her graduation.
The little baby who was always smiling with little hands clung to mine has blossomed into a young lady. Her chapter of schooling has completed while a new chapter of career has just begun.
In her busyness, I just pray that she continues to trust in the Lord and knows that He is sovereign and He is with us no matter what.
I remember reading in Isaiah how prosperity sometimes blinds us from the love of God as we become complacent and full of false security, relying on our own wisdom instead of on His.
As we rejoice with our baby's achievement and progress, we continue to pray that God will lead her back to a closer walk and more intimate relationship with Him. Amen.

The day at the Shenandoah National Park

After the 6-day long Heat Wave and the never-ending flu, we finally realised our dream of going on the scenic roadway Skyline Drive at the Shenandoah National Park.
We left Gaithersburg to travel for two hours before we arrived at the Front Royal North Entrance Station.
After paying a yearly subscription of $30, we entered the Park roadway and before long, we were at the Shenandoah Valley Overlook and were awed by the lovely sight around and below us.The beautiful sights left indelible marks in our minds.
From there, we went on to the Dickey Ridge Visitor Centre where we picked up some maps and a Shenandoah CD to play in the car.
The beautiful straight tall trees all along the road and the beautiful scenes at the various lookout points took our breath away.
We walked along the short trails and met various like-minded people who were inspired by the beautiful sights before them.
We turned back after Skyland as it was already five pm in the evening and had to abandon our plans to visit the Dark Hollows waterfalls. On our return trip, we stopped to have another look at the various overlooks and tried hard to imprint in our minds the beautiful sights of God's creation that lay before us.
With gratefulness for God's blessing, we bid Shenandoah Valley National Park a fond farewell and pray that we would one day return to visit His wonderful gift to all of us.

Beautiful Sunday

After the long day at the Shenandoah National Park yesterday, we had a good night's rest. This morning, we went for an hour's walk around the estate before returning for a simple breakfast.
We decided to go for Sunday service with our sister Soo at the nearby Church of the Redeemer.
The church was located just outside where Soo lives and next to a Muslim mosque.
We were in time for the 11am service. The congregation was quite large, made up of many African Americans as well as Americans of different races.
The special guest speaker Pastor Robert Barriger gave a wonderful sermon based on 2Chronicle about God's servant who was honourable,suffered pains and prayerful.
He then elaborated on what it meant to be honorable, using the Unknown soldiers at the Arlington Cemetery as an example of those who died unknown, yet known to God only.
The service took about an hour and was soon over.

Sick on holidays!

How miserable it is to be sick on holidays!
The weather outside is so hot - everyday it is 90 degrees and above and here I am nursing a bad cold with snuff nose, teary eyes and tired bones.
I took both Chinese and English medicine to speed up the cure but it does take time.
I visited the library at Germantown with Soo Chan and Lek and got some books to read. I finished the book Spirit Bridges, a memoir written by Li Mo which chronicled her childhood in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei and even Madrid during the 60s and Cambridge MA in the 70s.
I also browsed through some of Chan's Chinese books, and especially like the Taiwanese writer Chen Luo Si's autobiography about her life in Taipei, Hong Kong,America and Mainland China.I'm not sure if I want to read the book in greater detail, especially the part on her political experiences.
I also played the piano in the morning and spent the rest of the day on the Internet and reading and resting in bed.
The hymns and praises were indeed up-lifting as I listened to them on youtube- You are my hiding place, in His time and Give thanks. I also listened to some operas and other songs.I did my Bible study in the morning- finished my homework on Isaiah chapter 35 and also on 1 Samuel Chapters 13-15. These three chapters reminded us to be obedient to God and trust in Him with all our hearts.
He does not want us to be rebellious and revolt against Him.
I know that I am often guilty of disobeying the Lord and pray that He will lead me away sinning against Him.
Your way and not mine.

Here in Gaithersburg, Maryland,USA

Finally, the June holidays are here and we managed to get some cheap air tickets to fly to New York.
The long flight took us a total of 23 hours to reach New York and we stayed at Verve Hotel in Long Island City which is quite convenient for us to move about.
We visted Central Park as suggested by the front desk and had some simple sandwiches for dinner.
The next morning we woke up early to take the subway to South Ferry White Hall to take the ferry to Staten Island, on the way we saw the Statue of Liberty.
We only stayed a while at Staten Island and was soon walking towards the Brooklyn Bridge entrance near City Hall station.
Many people were on that bridge that morning and we were awed by the engineering feat of those early engineers.
From there, we walked towards World Trade Centre in search of Century 21 to buy the cosmetics for Sook Ying and company.There was a madeshift memorial to exhibit the photographs of the deceased of the tragic twin tower. We stopped at the St Paul Chapel for lunch and to meditate on those who died in the senseless disaster.
After going to Century 21, we took the subway to Time Square to check on the tickets to the Broadway Show but did not find anything suitable for us.
From there, we went back to Canal St, Chinatown to get some take-away dinner and some cherries.
We also checked on the place to take the Bolt bus to go to Washington.
We arrived in Washington at about 4pm and were taken to Soo Chan's place in Gathersburg.
We went to the gardens the next day but the weather was really very hot_99 degrees fahrenheit!
We took the subway to Smithsonian and spent the day moving from Washington Monument, right up to Lincoln Memorial and finally to the Holocaust Musueum before going back to Olive Court.
Lek fell ill after that long hot walk in Washington DC and I was down with flu the next day.
We enjoyed the parks and mountains but not the weather.
We just pray for cooler days ahead so that we do not have to stay indoors so much.
Stayed indoors to read, eat and luckily, Jasmine was able to get the computer working.