Happy New Year 2015

It's time to bid 2014 farewell and I'm sure we're not sorry to see it go, given the awful times we've encountered during the year.

There've been calamities and natural disasters the world over.  Severe flooding, snow storms, airplane crashes, fires etc.

Let's put them all behind us when 2014 fades out and let's cheer 2015 in with hopes of a much better year for everyone.

I wish everyone a Happy New Year and may you get all you wish for.

My Book “Poems for Children” Is Out!

There is no greater satisfaction than to see one’s writing in print. 

“Poems for Children” was written for children aged 5 to 8 and it is meant for parents to read to their young children.

 The easy rhythm and repetition make it fun for the children to listen to and it also makes it easy for them to recite as the poems are short.

The colorful illustrations were done by a good friend Chris Chong who is a gifted artist and this is our first collaboration.  The second book of poems will be out soon and Chris has agreed to illustrate these poems too.

It is available as a print book on amazon.com, published by Createspace, a company belonging to amazon.
I enjoyed writing the poems and Chris has equally enjoyed illustrating them.

Do please give your support as it means a lot to us and a review would be very much appreciated.
The book “Poems for Children” is available here.

Facebook

Who doesn't know Facebook?  From children to grandparents, all know Facebook.  This is the social media most used when one wants to look for long lost friends or to make new friends by either joining groups or simply by sending a friend request.

It is also very handy when you want to know what is happening with your extended family who are in different parts of the world.  They post pictures of happenings in their circles and you can get to see and share as well.   So it helps you to keep in touch.

One of my former students located me through Facebook.  Her classmates had gone off to different countries to further their studies and they were trying to locate their former classmates and teachers for a reunion which they had planned.  So she told me that it was a one off chance that she thought I might be on Facebook. Indeed she managed to find me and contacted me for their reunion which was the first for their class after forty years or thereabout.

However it has also been abused in that people commit identity theft and make postings purported to be from you, often with undesirable consequences.

Some people vent on FB without realizing that their comments could result in them losing their jobs!!

Correctly used, FB is a great tool, not only for business but also for socializing and making new friendships. I’ve seen members of groups sharing information, photos and videos.  These people are often located in different countries but similar interests bring them together.

In fact I could say that for some people, they have more friends on FB than in their real life.

Old Friends Are Gold

Getting together with dear old friends is always a great pleasure, no matter where they are, back home here or abroad. Below is a picture of three of us, Jennifer who is a former student and now a good friend. Our boys were classmates in school! She's now a good sounding board when I need another view. On my left is Yu Ling, a dear and close friend.

                                                                 Jennifer, myself and Yu Ling

 Companionship and trusty friends of long standing are a must in one’s life especially as one gets on in years. Sometimes it is only to bosom friends that you can share matters of the heart. Yu Ling and I go back a long way, ever since her daughter was a tiny baby in her arms and now that little baby is a mother herself to a cute and bouncy one year old boy.  Time has gone past, so swiftly, like the water under the bridge flowing out to the sea. Time gone can never be redeemed.

Our children, once small, are now adults with their own lives, away from us but the precious bond of our friendship remains, to paint new rainbows in our lives.

I remember when I was a young teacher, fresh out of college, posted to teach in a convent school that had high walls enclosing it. No cars were allowed to enter the grounds and the headmistress was a very intimidating Irish nun who wielded iron discipline and control over teachers and students. She didn’t believe in outdoor sports and I was given physical education (PE) classes to teach. She said I had to teach folk dancing and if I didn’t know how to dance, I jolly well had to go and learn!

Luckily there were folk dancing classes in those days at the Royal Selangor Club in Kuala Lumpur during the weekends so faithfully I learned a few folk dances, largely Scottish and Irish and taught them to the girls in school. However these days, I cannot for the life of me remember the steps and sequences in line dancing, the current trend among men and women.

Cheng Fong is now a resident in Australia and we meet only when I visit. We were friends when we taught in the same school. Later when I took my daughter to Melbourne where she was to study, Cheng Fong opened her home to us, giving up her room and also letting me have the use of her car. I used to send her to the station to catch the train to work and then I had the car to go wherever I wished.

I recently went to visit and our friendship picked up as if there had not been so many intervening years apart.

It's so wonderful to have good friends and keeping in touch with them is ever so pleasurable.