Uncategorized

…… my interpretation

15/12/2025. 4 min read

author at Eikando, Kyoto 2014, autumn

春有百花

秋有月

夏有凉风

冬有雪

若无闲事挂心头

便是人间好时节

It is translated as;

In Spring, there are flowers

In Autumn, there is the moon

In Summer, there is the cool breeze

In Winter, there is snow.

If you have no worries on your mind 

Then it is the good time of the year

This is a simple, verse poem written by a monk named Huikai during the Southern Song Dynasty.

It does not merely describes the classic image of each season. To me, this poem belies a very important message.

It attests to the beauty of the perennial four seasons that surround us. Each season has its immense joys and benefits.

Even if it is Summer all year round, ravel in the wonder of this season fully. Some countries are fortunate to have four seasons.

In Spring, everything is refreshed from the rebirth of nature. From a chilly winter, fresh flowers bloom,  the gentle air rejuvenates, and the new produce of Sprng marks a vibrant change of mood and activities. 

A new beginning of life, a fresh outlook, and an ardent aim to achieve for the year.

Summer marches in with longer daylight hours and a healthy dose of Vitamin D to strengthen our bones.

It’s a delight to dress light, take in the breeze and explore more rigorously.

Walk in the verdant and vibrant shades of green, empowered and rejuvenated by sun bathing and the gentler waves of the sea. 

Autumn paints its way in gradually as the leaves turn color into a mix of yellow, orange,  brown, and even gold, creating a riot of colors. 

It is at this stage that I feel sedated, and relaxed, accepting change that slowly sweeps over me, a year older soon, a year wiser, a year stronger.

In a cosy, cooler state, I can learn to let go of any uneasiness and fuss and look forward to Winter, which heralds a dramatic change.

Winter,  this is a time when the air is clearer , the sky is infinitely bluer and the space seemingly broader from the white sparkling landscape.

Winter is a time of reflection, as nights are long and thoughts linger.

It is a time to build resilience for even in the frosty cold, living still goes on. It is a time of exhilaration when one feasts on warm food and drinks in contrast to the dastardly chill outside. But it is a season of high festivities as it marks X’mas day  to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ and the coming of a New Year.

Given the four seasons or even only a summer season in the tropics,  it is time of joy, beauty and hope. Even abundance.

In the last two lines of his poem, I interpret as;

If one is able to cast away worries that arise from self or of the world,  then every season and its moments are the best time of life.

Since our mind is ours to control, we can choose to view worries as unnecessary or solvable or fully accept their fate. They would then have lost their sting.

Let’s bask in the glory of each season. They come around only once a year and they offer opportunities to do what you may not be able to do during other seasons.

We should then enjoy every moment of our blessed life in the four seasons.

Then, what is there to worry?

10/12/2025. Poetry 1 min read

It all happened in a matter of seconds 

On the steps of an upward moving escalator

The drama had unfolded quickly 

My right knee with a recovering medial ligament tear lost its balance

As my right foot teetered at the edge, I fell backwards

The ascending escalator continued

Causing me to bend back further

The world went swirling for a moment 

I was about to be reckoned

The scene was about to turn upside down 

One guy I caught sight standing behind me, grabbed and pushed  me forward and upward

For a few moments we both stumbled back

He too was about to go topsy turvy

He went back down a few steps and held fort

Finally he straightened me up and I caught on the railing

We both ascended the escalator, panting

He was in shock, I was in a daze

I apologised for my carelessness, a weak knee and carrying too many things 

He was clearly flustered, I was relieved

“You should take the elevator”, he said 

I should stop dreaming, I told myself

On hindsight, I could have been more quick thinking;

To be more reactive in this case

To hold onto the railing properly in the first place

To let go of my stuff and grabbed the railing tightly when destabilized

To step back with my good left foot to restore balance and try to upright instantly 

My lesson; Be proactive! In whatever task I have in front of me, I must focus

an eventful time

7th Dec 2025. 3 min read

The author’s backend of the website showed that the articles were still there.

A horrific thing happened to me two nights ago. I had spent five years writing my blog, to the tune of about 300 articles, vanished! That evening, I was updating my website to make it remain functional.

The thought of my work gone hit me like a ton of bricks. My memories, lessons learned in my life journey, and my writing, had come to nothing!

I had only a beginner’s knowledge of operating a website thus it was not surprising that I would be stumped in some ways one day.

I had dutifully accessed the backend of the website to update the necessary plugins and other features like WordPress, security tools, etc. 

Plugins are software add-ons that allow various functionalities of the website. They are required to be updated regularly.

Due to the lapse of not updating regularly, I had somehow forgotten the sequence. Some plugins were successfully updated, but a few were not, so I sought the advice of the host team member who was astute enough to diagnose a common problem. 

One plugin may have a similar-sounding name as another plugin. Apparently, it was updated under another category, and not a plugin category. So I was flogging a dead horse. I managed to update the plugins in the right place.

Next, I went into the correct category and uploaded the necessary themes, activated them. However, I was shocked to find that at the frontend of the website, all the articles were missing.

I kept calm. I know that technology is powerful and can recover data. All the postings on the backend were still there. Something had gone wrong, and the results were not as before. 

With that in mind and the positive thought that everything will be resolved eventually, I turned in, as it was very late in the morning hours, and I had vowed never to let anything rile me.  

The next day, I posted in the class chat group about my predicament. My instructor was understandably busy with an ongoing workshop.

However, one member was astute. He wrote that I could have updated the wrong theme. As a result, the front page was not loaded promptly. He advised me to recall what theme I had last used.

I went back to the backend and saw that there were a few themes. I recalled using one of the themes for another of my websites, but the troubled one could have been authorpro. 

I bravely navigated to this theme and activated it, trusting that my data ( articles ) would not be jeopardised.

Lo and behold, the website came back!

I immediately thanked Leonard, the kind member from the chat group who had helped me.

I am glad for the following realisations;

1 I need to do my updates more regularly so as not to forget the protocol.

2 I had remained calm although I was vexed, but I had managed to put the matter aside and let it rest without disturbing my peace.

3 I learned to be more succinct in describing my problems and prompt others to point towards the correct solution.

4 There are kind people out there. Not everyone is nonchalant. 

As Shakespeare had said, “All’s Well That Ends Well”. That was truly a good feeling.

30/11/25. 3 min read

At the Orchard Pavilion, Holy Land of Calligraphy, Shaoxing city, China

Writers need inspiration. They need to be moved emotionally by people, situations and stories around them.

I have decided to write about the relevancy and lessons learned from my experiences. If it is of value to readers, then it is a purpose well served.

ShaoXing city 绍兴 is 20 minutes away by high speed train from Hangzhou. I have the good fortune to be inspired there. ShaoXing is known for her famous traditional cooking wine and cultural literati.

One of the most famous personalities is Wang Xizhi . He is to Chinese calligraphy what Shakespeare is to poetry and Da Vinci is to painting.

He was known as the Sage of Calligraphy in the 4th century during the Eastern Jin dynasty. His works had inspired many later generations of Calligraphers. Even Emperors collected his works and learned from his craft. Wang Xizhi’s art form involved various styles and he had excelled in all the scripts.

Works of Emperor KangXi and grandson, Emperor Qianlong(back) engraved on the same Steele. They were avid practitioners of Calligraphy and ardent collectors of Wang’s works.

Wang Xizhi was unique as he had breathed life and motions into the written words. It does not matter if I cannot read the inscriptions fully. Nor was I particularly interested in this skill until now.

I am greatly impressed by his spirit that went into the work he had created. For Calligraphy is not only an art. It involves discipline, grit and creativity.

Wang xizhi dedicated himself to learning Calligraphy from a young age, constantly training. Even without a brush, he would use his fingers to write on his clothes.

He practised so much that washing his brushes in a nearby pond turned it black.

His keen observation of nature led him to mimic the movement of geese that gave him insight into the fluidity and control of his brush strokes especially the semi cursive style.

Geese pond, Lanting, Shaoxing city

His most famous work is Lantingjixu or Preface to the Orchard Pavillion, in which he described a gathering of scholars and poets at the Orchid Pavilion, where they engaged in a poetry competition.

Cups of wine were floated down the winding water and when it stopped, the person next to it would drink wine and write poetry.

The poems were collected and made into a poetry anthology and Wangxizhi’s preface became the masterpiece of Chinese Calligraphy.

The stream where the preface to “poetry Anthology “ was created

This art is like meditation that builds character, no pun intended. You need patience, focus and calmness to indulge in this art. It connects one to the past which is a rich culture ans heritage of China.

Wang Xizhi’s legacy lives on today through his masterful works, which have inspired generations of calligraphers and art lovers alike.

We learn from him Character building through his art.

As they say, “The past determines the future”. What you have sowed, you will reap. It’s never too late to achieve what you set your sights on. Even if it’s not your ultimate goal, you will still harvest along the way.

Successful people have an air of nobility about them and it’s not just money that enlighten them.

The list is not exhaustive but they have at least three good habits that are enablers. And we are not talking about persistence here.

1 Simplicity

2 Humility

3 Kindness

1 ‘Simplicity is the ultimate Sophistication’— Leonardo da Vinci.

It is not simple per se nor does it mean you do away with many things and be spartan.

It is a concept where you achieve a high level of complex and perfect result through refining and simplifying. 

For eg, a sophisticated design is achieved through repeated deliberation, experimentation, and optimization. If a product requires one step instead of three steps to reach its goal, that is a simple product that is sophisticated.

It is very commonly applied to lifestyle these days—pursue a simple life through elimination of unnecessary material and information and you emerge simple and sophisticated.

This leaves room for clarity in vision and more creative thinking.

2 Humility is an underestimated virtue. The tendency for a person who has attained success is that he becomes proud and elated on his pedestal of success. He who lets success gets to his head never progress further. His cup has  runneth over.

A humble person is open to more ideas and learning, understanding that there are far more capable people than oneself.

He sees the strength in others and one’s own shortcomings. Correction of one’s deficiencies results in more success. 

Humility draws people to you from whom you can learn more as everyone has his or own unique talent.

A good example is Jack Ma.

He is the humble billionaire who never fail to share his many failures and he overcame them with persistence and strategy.

He suggested a big heart and a small ego. 

He is humble enough to surround himself with people better than him hence building a strong team.

3 Kindness is the willingness to help others without expecting anything in return. 

We see acts of kindness from renowned figures in history but we also see ordinary people in our daily lives that manifest kindness.

A call to a friend who is down, a helping hand to lift somebody out of his gloom, and giving money and goods to a charitable organisation.

An act to lessen somebody’s stress or trouble.

Kindness heals the person being helped but it also brings mental and physical benefits to the giver including self satisfaction and more social connections in society.

Being kind does not mean that we take over the problems of another. If we can first give a good listening ear to someone who is troubled or dejected, we can help them view issues from another perspective This will encourage or bring about a solution to the troubled person.

Life has a way of rewarding a kind person and it could mean an inner happiness that money can’t buy. 

Let us imbue these three traits into our daily lives — simplicity,  humility and kindness. Life can be as smooth as you have never imagined.

27th Oct 2025. 3 min read

One would call it Karma for not heeding warnings. The car, being an intelligent vehicle these days are programmed to warn one of undue mishaps. It’s time for service but I had not heeded it.

Finally, it broke down at 5 pm in the bustling city area downtown, like a dead fish, cold as ice smacked at the traffic light.

I was glad that I had no agitation, and felt that I have transcended myself in terms of emotional reaction. The first thing that crossed my mind was how to pass my time productively during the lingering wait for the emergency tow truck.

Like a well programmed robot, I switched on the hazard blinking light, then went to the back of the car to hang the car warning sign.

I sat in the car and figured who to call. First was the tow truck from Automobile Association of which I am a member,  then my mechanic to say that I will have my car towed there. 

Subsequently, I notified my husband what had happened and how I would handle it myself without disrupting his meetings. 

I wanted him to know that his wife had faced multitudes of hiccups along life’s journey and always handle with calm and grace without alarming anyone. 

There will always be incidents that would irk me because patience is not my virtue. I see this inconvenience as another possible trigger.

What I learned after a phone call again to determine when the emergency truck would come was that I was not supposed to sit inside the car to wait as some unknowing vehicle may crash into me.

The emergency truck came earlier than I had expected. The driver waved, I waved back and smiled. I reckoned it was near his off duty hours as it was nearing 6.30 pm

After fixing my car for towing, I got a chance to sit in the tow truck which had a high vantage point and sitting next to the driver gave me an opportunity to understand his work.

He was an Indian Malaysian named Rawa with a pleasant disposition. The day’s schedule was always full. 

He would drive across the crossway from JB in Malaysia to Singapore every morning after leaving the house at 6.30 am to escape the morning traffic jam.

Work finishes around 6.30 , sometimes delayed as the request to tow vehicles may come in late.  Then he might have to return to JB in Malaysia as late as 10 pm. The work cycle repeats itself except for one off weekday.

Every job has its challenges but to do it with a smile is winning the game of life.

Every hiccup in life also allows one to win at life by dealing with it calmly. The driver was a good example of one whose spirit was not dampened by a late work request.

From the truck, I noticed scenes which I otherwise would have missed.

There was a serene canal along Nicoll Highway with glistening water. There were many new shops and eateries along the road to the workshop which would not have been noticed driving each day in my car.

The vehicle was smoothly towed to the mechanic’s workshop where Rawa parked with military precision. I tipped him handsomely for his cheerful and professional service. Rawa’s face lighted up. 

He thanked me, took the pictures of the vehicle that he had safely delivered to the workshop and sent to his office as a report.

I handed my car key to the mechanic who subsequently diagnosed a flat battery the next day and fixed it.

Few years ago, I might have acted utterly annoyed at what happened.

I had made it a non event.  I am happy things turned out the way that  I wanted it to, no drama, racing of heart nor swearing.  Just a day of calm, unfazed by life’s little interruptions.