SUMMER LOTUS

A good respite for the mind in a hectic city

COVID-19 has resulted in an all too familiar scenario- closed shops, empty benches, smooth low traffic, reticent people. A general malaise has descended on the masses.

Under daily normal circumstances, I would be working then home to family and pets and travel for a couple of days in a month. I would spend a lot of time with my elderly siblings.

But now that work is almost at a standstill, I took the opportunity to explore. I checked out the shops at the city train stop which I have not been to eons.

The facades have changed. New eateries, nice showcases, new products entice one to buy. Some people still milled around but followed the guidelines of social distancing and other preventive measures of spreading the virus.

For the most part, people are heading homes as nightspots, bars, cinemas, etc are off-limits.

Still, it is nice to seek out a cafe with soothing music and a cappuccino at a designated seat. I wanted to contribute to the business no matter how small. My frothy cappuccino beckons with its aroma and the texture left a lingering smoothness in my mouth.

I have never really savored coffee this way. Most times, even the most expensive coffee is frittered away while talking over coffee. Most times I forgot what the cake actually tasted like when too engaged in conversation.

This morning, I noticed the cherry blossom like a tree blooming in my neighbor’s garden. I also became aware of the beautiful morning glory vines with the electric blue flowers glistening in the sun. COVID-19 has slowed me down and I think I need to. Where am I heading, rushing here and there every day?

With the mandatory social distancing, I have taken to walking around the estate looking at the neighbors’ houses. Many are ‘growing’ their houses skywards up to the maximum limit of four levels in our land-scarce country.

COVID-19 has changed lives as well as destroyed lives. But we all must remain hopeful, positive and prevail. Do what we can, give away some of your excess groceries to those who need them, help a neighbor purchase something online if they are unable to and give words of encouragement to those who are feeling down.

It is not the time to shower blame. It is time to alleviate the situation and help each other. It is time to listen to the authorities and experts to contain the situation.

It is time to reflect on what we have been doing. A second job may pull us through. Look at your strengths. A friend who lost his day job turned tuition teacher. Another friend who was forced to take no pay leave looked to retail to tough it out. There will be jobs available.

Having experienced retrenchment in the mid-80s, I can empathize with those who were given the pink slips in recent months. But stay strong and work at it. Back in the eighties when the internet was not popular, we had to go job hunting, even knocking on doors. Now with job websites, it is not impossible to find something to do meanwhile.

Hopefully, the authorities may amend the rules for the time being to allow moonlighting as long as there is no conflict of interest.

Trust that the authorities are doing all that they can. People are resourceful and this will pass. The havoc wrought is felt deeply.

Human beings wake up to the realization and reminder that life is indeed unpredictable. By learning from this disaster, future ones would be more effectively managed. Hopefully, we would learn the causation of this virus and emerge much wiser.

In any case, we must not lose our fighting spirit. When you lose your courage, the battle is lost as ideas dry up and loss of persistence give way to nonchalance and apathy. We are not made that way. From time immemorial, crises came and went. Each time, the human species became more united and unified and emerged victorious in the end.

I would be very busy making full use of this time.

It is unthinkable for me to become a homebody. I am busy as a bee so the prospect of staying at home if the authorities announce a stay at home order or lockdown is a dread to me.

I have never been able to stay at home the whole day. I need a breather even if it is just to go to the supermarket and look for an item to buy. That would be a relief to get out of my house.

In this unusual situation of COVID-19 infection, more and more countries are using lockdown, partial or total to resolve the spread. It began with China that had a complete restriction in Wuhan city and other Chinese cities. It seemed to have worked and soon other countries followed suit.

During this imposition, we have observed how people responded to this “incarceration”. The now-famous balcony singing by Italians was a beautiful gesture of solidarity and strength in these crucial times.

Many countries followed with their versions of Balcony singing in Germany, Wales, Israel, Malaysia, etc but the Italians are the clear winners.

Being cooped up 24 hours for two weeks at home can be very challenging.

However, one has to deal with it. I looked up some stories of famous prisoners and see what they did when they were confined. Of course, it is preposterous to compare home confinement to people who are put away for long periods and under very harsh conditions. However, there is something to learn from the latter.

After all, in lockdown, there is plenty of time for contemplation and with the internet, I would choose to read up about the strong minds of those survivors in adversities.

We could draw inspiration from prominent figures in history. Nelson Mandela was one of the longest political prisoners in South Africa. He spent 27 years, imprisoned in three locations, the longest being Robben island.

I visited Robben Island in 2018 and saw his small cell without bed or plumbing and learned about his remarkable fight for the rights of those who were racially segregated by the apartheid government.

Despite poor conditions and hard labor, he continued to be the symbolic leader of the anti-apartheid movement while under arrest. He taught his inmates and continued to show his leadership.

How did he survive this long and maintained his sanity? He kept to his principles and continued to engage his mind. He influenced others into a positive mindset. He turned Robben prison into a place where intellectual debate could take place and there were intense discussions about politics, culture, and sport. In fact, Robben island came to be known as the University of Robben. There, many future leaders were groomed.

Nelson Mandela’s life was about persistence, integrity, diligence, composure, tolerance, forgiveness, intellect, leadership, wits and humor. He was an interesting man to interact with, bringing humor to others in an inimitable manner.

Despite such long incarceration, some of his eminent quotes were valuable for posterity. I have selected just five to internalize.

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can change the world.

If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.

Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.

I never lose. I either win or learn.

What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.

When Mandela was released in 1990, he walked out tall and dignified, unexpected of a man who had been imprisoned for 27 years.

He and de Klerk combined efforts to end apartheid and later Mandela became the 1st black President of South Africa until 1999. As an elderly statesman, he continued to serve his country through his charitable foundation until his death in 2013.

In the process of reading and writing about Mandela, I have already felt a great sense of motivation and encouragement to overcome any adversities that would come my way.

I hope to share the cultivation of our courageous human spirit with my friends who have been worried about what to do during quarantine or lockdown.

What are our peeves about life when some people have it a thousand times tougher? I would not allow myself to gripe about anything. Time can always be gainfully used.

If there is a protracted lockdown, I would use this time to read more about great men, their histories and their thinking to improve my mind. There are so many heroes and heroines in history that we can read about. Even if I can apply just one aspect, I would be a winner.

Indeed, most of us are so swept away by a daily routine that we sometimes need to reorganize our lives. Reading and writing would be an excellent activity to imbibe some wisdom and improve our lives during this period of confinement.

what a great fortune ! what a great time in the kitchen !

In my house, we are blessed with a “Michelin” chef. My domestic helper, Rohimah has discovered her passion over the twenty years that she worked with us——cooking.

She is a born cook as she has all traits of a good chef; tons of patience, curiosity, adventure, humility to accept feedback and intelligence.

Every meal is a delightful experience. My husband who cooks well himself would exude extreme exuberance when sampling her cooking. It is quite hilarious to watch how food can make people so happy.

I cooked too but lack some of her traits. So I set out to watch her and the following are important habits to cultivate.

1 Get all ingredients ready. Rohimah would first prepare all ingredients like garlic, onions, parsley, etc all chopped and set aside in small dishes. Meat are properly marinated and timed so that when ready to cook, the sauce would have infiltrated the meat.

2 Frying pan is always hot first. This is important because if the oil is not hot, you cannot saute the garlic and onions well and they need to be fragrant before adding the rest.

3 No short cuts— If a certain vital ingredient is missing, she would never embark on that cuisine. For instance, you would never think of starting to cook if you run out of garlic or onions and that dish needs these essential elements, would you?

4 Prepare with the end in mind. When food is ready, they are always served hot and placed in a dish that enhances the appearance of the food. Garnishes such as parsley, spring onions, chillies and fried onions, etc are good options. Adding some of these colors to food will make them appear more vibrant and vivid and even more palatable.

To date, she has at least 50 dishes under her belt. I would like to share one of her delectable recipes here.

I called it “Rohimah’s Signature fried chicken”. It could give KFC a run for the money and I wish you could taste them.

Ingredients; chicken parts, salt and pepper, coriander powder, corn flour, tempura flour, egg white.

Note: After washing the chicken pieces with salt and water, dry well on paper towel if you want them to be crispy.

Mix the ingredients into the meat and set aside for 45 minutes in the refrigerator.

Heat up cooking oil ( if you drop some of the blend in the oil and it sizzles, it is ready. Cooking in oil that is not hot enough results in soggy fried chicken. Deep fry until golden brown then scoop up and drain on metal rack or thick paper towels.

To serve, you may garnish with dill, parsley or add cucumber and tomato slices at the side.

Voila ! Rohimah’s Signature fried chicken, crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. May you try cooking this dish and turn your family members and guests gaga ! Maybe you could embark on this business, next to KFC ?

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world “—–J.R.R. Tolkien

Watch this blog for the launch of Rohimah’s ebook on her cuisine, many of which are extremely easy to prepare……soon

watch your mood……

Everyday, we feel challenges, frustrations, provocations. Something will crop up and test your temperance.

The basic principle of physics — Every action is met by a reaction. Except that the reaction is decided by us.

Your temperance will determine what kind of day or life you are going to have. Unbridled, you will live to regret it — the hurtful things that you have said cannot be easily retracted, the actions that you have taken would be difficult to reverse and the damage done will be forever remembered.

So, from the start, why not realize this — your temperance is within your control so we should learn to exercise that. Living with joy is about controlling your temperance.

This realization was sparked when scrolling through the mobile, I found a lot of videos about rage, shot and uploaded by people. A simple incident, a bad mood triggered yelling amounting to a meltdown even a brawl. Is it really nice and normal for humanity to continue this way in today’s world?

I have watched videos of people helping others in dire circumstances and felt the love and warmth of humanity. Especially in the rescue of animals trapped in many ways, that is the display of true temperance at its best.

No amount of hollering, hair pulling and cursing alleviate the situation. Stay cool and work on a solution.

Videos are plentiful of how some rescuers often compose themselves and repeatedly battle through icy waters, swift currents or scaling steep walls to bring a stranded animal to safety.

Today, we have much more privileges and benefits than our forebears. Great discovery, better education, more freedom. Yet, something is elusive. Happiness is no where to be found. Humor is lacking. Tolerance is not existent.

Temperance is wisdom. People who exercises self- restraint often find solutions to a problem and succeed in overcoming obstacles.

It is an important trait to cultivate as it is a sign of maturity. It gives yourself and others confidence dealing with you. Yet, so many people have knee jerk reactions.

Temperance is also the key to long life. Naturally, a self controlled person is even tempered and we all know that anger or any extreme emotion is not good for your body.

If you want to avoid all the stress related diseases- high blood pressure, stroke, migraine,etc keep your cool. We will have more clarity of thought to solve problems.

Temperance is essential for happiness. Such a person is more attractive and dependable.

Life, good or bad is about temperance. If you want more peace and happiness at home and at the work place, be aware of this factor and watch your mood.

For pleasure, delight, peace and felicity, live in method and temperance. — Margaret Cavendish

It is a great era ! Opportunities abound for those who are fearless.

“ Your route guidance is now completed” My adopted sister, the GPS in my car had announced and I found that I had arrived after some mindless driving. You do not need to pay loads of money for your car GPS. Google GPS or yahoo GPS is a free app and will ensure you find that restaurant in your destination anywhere in the world. If you are buying a product that has no English words on it, just run google translate camera over it and viola, the ingredients are revealed !

‘ Tick, tick, tick,’ the computerized endodontic locator sounded and I knew I had reached the apex of the root canal that I had attempted to access. Before this, only x rays with the diagnostic file would measure the exact length . Now with the click of a mouse and a sensor, the picture appears on the monitor. No more developing and fixing of films.

In addition to taking great pictures with your handy phone camera, you can now animate your still photos making the clouds drift by, the rivers flow, the waterfalls spill over and so on. It is really a treat for the eyes.

Welcome to the world made by great leaps in technology and communication.

The examples given are not exhaustive. The advances have pervaded almost every field and industry and continuously evolving, it will take two lifetimes to enjoy them all.

Technological advances are giving more comfort and convenience to our lifestyles but for the uninitiated who do not embrace change, it can be a stressful time unless one embrace it like a love one.

Change has been the constant throughout our lives and is unlikely to go away .

Personally, I do concede that I find too much on my plate of change but I would still continue to dip my fingers into this ever enlarging pie.

I remember several years ago when I received from my husband the gift of an iphone followed by an ipad which to most of you are regular items.

Back then, I was actually quite happy with my now defunct nokia phone and a physical book. However with these two products, a whole new world had subsequently opened up that led to functions like banking on the mobile, surfing on the go and free messaging to my heart’s content just to name a few daily activities. These days, I also book good cinema seats, read any novel and shop online, anytime and anywhere.

I believe that there are many more functions but I do not have enough time to explore.

Change is inevitable. It is the present and the future.

I have tried to convince my senior relative to learn the useful functions of the ATM machine and online banking but he still carries wads of cash with him.

I have tried to get my sibling to change his decade old fridge for an environmentally and energy saving one and he finally did. I managed to teach him youtube and HBO and netflix. He says he has found reasons to live longer given all the old movies and songs at his disposal now. His world has become so fascinating.

I have tried to encourage my friend to use the playstation that has many fun genres of dancing as she was too lazy to use the gym. I remembered using Jane Fonda dance laser disc. Now you have Nintendo switch that can guide you with great music and moves that you could follow in your own room to have fun and burn calories.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is equivalent to magic — — — Sir Arthur C. Clarke

Change is important. It is the very essence of the human spirit, to innovate, to create and make life better, faster and happier.

Not welcoming it is tantamount to going back to old ways of doing things. Why would you want to do that?

Do you still want to wait in long queues if you can resolve your transaction over the internet?

Do you still want to get something done in hours when you could use a software that allows you to complete your task in a jiffy and at your leisure?These days, workers may work from home if they can produce results.

Do you not want to wallow in silence while your friends are discussing the latest gadget and having loads of fun every day?

Hence, brace for more changes to come.

Robots are a familiar sight doing butler services in hotels, cleaning spaces on office floors and playing an active role in space, manufacturing, medical field as well as in the military. Robots would be able to serve in industries where the jobs are mundane and repetitive freeing humans for more creative jobs.

Electric vehicles are getting better, driverless vehicles are still being worked on so that they can be totally reliable and totally autonomous. You would be able to just sit back, catch up on your work or take a nap.

Touch commerce is getting more common as more people discover the convenience of online shopping, varieties of products and competitive pricing. This is a huge challenge to the brick and mortar models. Anyone today with a good product, knowledge of bringing it online and marketing it well can reap profits. It can even become a second career to your 9 to 5 job not to mention opening a whole new frontier to your learning and interests.

Just three examples and we are skimming on the surface of many marvelous changes to come. Many are just mind-boggling and these show how innovative human beings have become.

Everyday, I feel the change around me. Getting older throws me a greater challenge but I am determined to ride this wave of transformation and enjoy its perks.

How to embrace change.

Be open minded. Human beings are naturally resistant to unknown territory ( I remember how I rejected the free iphone )Yes, first feel it in my bones, know it is something spectacular to explore and dive into it. These days, when there is a new gadget or idea which I think would be of use, I would adopt it. Dabble in it. Understand it. Then apply it.

Do it. My most recent venture was to learn how to create a wordpress website. Intimidated at first by my younger fellow classmates, I persevered, resitting the class till I understand how the backend of a website works. Creativity is not my forte but I think the course triggered this sleeping part of my gray matter.

To my surprise, I managed to complete my dentist website though it could not be compared to ones done by paid professionals in terms of quality but I have met most of the objectives of a good website. Now, I am trying to learn about SEO, another new terrain for me but I believed that I would be able to optimize it in due time without having to pay for ads.

BeCurious and continue to learn. Like my cats but I believe that I would not be killed if I acquire the knowledge. It is not possible to know about many changes or the latest development in every aspect of our lives but along life’s journey, it helps to get interested in something and learn in depth. Then you will discover the benefits. The more one dip our hands into this change, the more natural it would feel.

Reason to do so. When they say that these days, there are people who have fallen through the cracks, I believe that it is not just economically but technologically as well. Without embracing change, when we step out of the house, we would become inconvenienced and disadvantaged and feel archaic. With mass migration across borders and people are getting more savvy with the latest developments that enhances their work performance, the competition for jobs would only get keener….as a dentist, I am not spared too even though I have been in practice for more than 30 years.

Increased confidence. In a gathering with friends and colleagues, I no longer feel lost when topics veered towards digital gadgets and useful softwares. I made it a point to let salespeople demonstrate their latest technology whether it is related to dentistry or not. Investing in good gadgets turn out to be a great help in my career. For instance, the digital dental camera is a fantastic marketing tool that provides instant images on the monitor and is very educational to the patients to provide the optimum treatment plan to them.

Gain respect. I feel that I have been able to bridge the gap with my children who are incidentally in the IT business. At 62, I have created my own dental website, learned about photoshop, learned about e-commerce and SEO though I have not exactly figured out how to use the latter to my advantage yet. But keeping in touch with technology usually puts one on par with your kids and your colleagues and friends. There would be common and current topics to talk about. You may even impress your boss!

Wonderful retirement awaits me. Bustling with ideas, I envisage myself being busy with all the latest technology that I have chosen to adopt and hopefully, I can enjoy every waking moment.Second careers would flourish. Now that I have discovered medium and many apps that could help potential writers write better with more ideas and accuracy, it is indeed a going to be great fun.

My assertion: Let’s all embrace change and enjoy our lives!

Live each day happily but do not forget to record the moments

As I looked through my old albums, I am glad for one hobby that my family has. It is photograph taking. Though we were not rich, we would always take pictures. I remembered my dad carried this old camera box and occasionally take random shots. On weekends, my parents, two older brothers and I would go out to any part of Singapore and my dad would take pictures.

My brothers seemed to inherit this interest in photography. Later, they would even develop the photos in their own makeshift dark room. The black and white pictures were pristine for amateurs. I became one of my brother’s ‘model’ as we went out on weekends to places and he would take more photos.

Looking back, the photos evoke a lot of memories — Our family activities, the good times, the old places of Singapore that are now transformed, the fact that we were once so youthful and now getting on in age but still enthusiastic about life.

All these hobbies became very important in their future careers. Both brothers became designers of sorts. One started his own business and had to take good pictures of his products. The other sibling took good pictures for his company’s portfolio. They had no formal training but constant dabbling in this hobby brings out some sense and proportion in the art of taking shots.

Today, as I travel, I would never fail to take random shots and am very happy to use some of these shots for my articles in medium. You can even submit what you feel is a good picture to a photo competition websites, hopefully to win a TOP prize.

Our memories have dimmed but photos bring them to life. I remembered my mother in her last days while in her hospital bed. Nothing could make her smile until I took out the album about the few cruise trips we had together. She remembered the cruises, the buffet spread, the sundeck at the upper floor, the shows we had watched in the cruise theatre.

Suddenly, she smiled and said, ‘This ship is so big!’ and pointed at the high ceiling and the surroundings of her ward. We knew that she was delirious but those were happy moments for her. That was all that mattered.

The best thing about a picture is that it never changes, even when the people in it do.” — -Andy Warhol

People change but photos are for posterity. The significant images of the past and present are forever kept in our archives.

Pictures capture the glory of my beloved home that is Singapore. From a fishing village slightly over 100 years ago to the modern city it is today with state of the art architecture, great food and culture. It is what makes Singapore a top destination in the world. Thanks to avid photographers, the many beautiful perspectives of this island country is forever recorded and appreciated all over the world.

Photographs are proof of what we had done together as a family. Looking back, I only wished we had been more discriminate in the taking of pictures as there have been many retakes, one looked better than the other. Hence It would take a long time to discard superfluous shots and I have still have a truckload so to speak. But we continue to tote our phone cameras with us.

My spouse used to emphasise that if the kids ever complained that they had a dull childhood, he would toss all these albums at them! Evidence of great family time!

Photographs are a record of our activities, progress and achievements in our lives. I have always said that in a fire, I would rescue the photo albums where possessions are concerned. They are the treasures of time and our lives.

Time has flown and will continue into eternity. But whenever I wanted to freeze time, I would revisit my albums.

Live, write, capture the moment- that is what makes life so meaningful as we evolve through the ages.

Photography shows the beauty of our world, the intellect of humans as they make life ever more progressive and leave a legacy for many generations to come.