How to get rid of village bums

A certain rich man in a village lost a chicken.  Just a chicken out of his backyard coop full of chickens, but he went ballistic and had to blame someone for it.  So who should happen by but a village bum, a young man who had nothing better to do but spend his days hanging around the village shrine, fishing by the river or playing with the kids.  He argued and yelled and said he didn't even know there were chickens around the place! 

A crowd gathered round.

The rich guy was adamant he got the right man.  "Show us the proof then," said the villagers. 
The wealthy one couldn't get any proof, but he refused to let the young man go. 

Then the young man had an idea.  He suggested they go to the village shrine and ask the Tuapehkong.  He thought the Tuapehkong would favor him because he was always there taking care of the place.  The rich guy agreed on one condition.  If the young man was found guilty he will be banished from the village.  The bum said confidently, "OK, let's go find out the truth." 

Tuapehkong decided in favor of the rich guy and the poor bum was thrown out of the village. 

He had nowhere to go, so he hiked to the next county. 

The folks in the next county were fighting a war with several of their neighbors.  The young man was immediately drafted into the army.  They trained him.  To his own surprise he found he could do lots of things he never knew he could.  He learned fast and he fought well with different weapons.  He was always suggesting strategies to his captain and they kept winning battles against their neighboring county.  And they kept promoting him until he became a general.  Then they won the war. 

Years went by and the emperor heard about the young general of the county.  He summoned the young man and made him a general of the imperial army.  He won campaign after campaign, until the whole country was united under one emperor.  The wars ended and the emperor made him a governor of his own county.  It was good thing.  The guy had a desire to visit his home village again.

The first thing he saw upon entering the village gates was the little shrine and the Tuapehkong staring at him.  He stared back.  He ordered his men to tear the shrine down and throw everything into a vacant lot nearby. 

That night he had a dream.

"I want you to build a house for me right in the vacant lot where I am now." said Tuapehkong.

"Who are you to order me to do things?" asked the governor.  "You didn't stop them from throwing me out of the village years ago, remember?  They still think I stole that chicken."

"I did that on purpose.  If I'd told the truth you'd still be a village bum today.  But look at you now.  A word from you and things will be done." 

The governor bowed his head when he realized the truth of that.  When he woke up the next day he ordered the temple to be built.

The rich man who lost the chicken protested.  The vacant plot of land belonged to him.  The governor said, "I shall now pass a law that says all land not occupied or planted with food crops shall belong to the government."  Soon the rich landowners began to lease out their lands or hired laborers to plant crops instead of leaving them to grow weeds or became jungles.

And that was how the poor of the village finally got some land to plant their own food.


Moral of the story:  Some people have the potential to be great.  They just need a boot in the butt to get them going.

Smell a rat with this health check?

How long does it take our health authorities to smell a rat?  I mean, about a possible health scam.  4 years.  That's how long. 

Look at the front page of today's theStar.  And look at what my street-smart niece wrote in her blog HERE in the year 2005.  And don't forget to read what her experienced uncles, friends and cousins, among them a couple of doctors had to say about it.

Meanwhile, some people have already made a pile out of putting a scare on health conscious young or middle-aged executives et al, with money to spend, and laughing all the way to the bank.

Regrets, I've had a few...

Any regrets?

A nephew posed this sudden question while we were chatting about my path through life and how I'm currently getting on and what are my future plans. 

Well, I'm at that age when most folks are looking back more often than forward.  But I'd rather be looking forward than back because I'm now doing the things I really wanted to do in life in spite of the fact that there may be no economic returns whatsoever.  And even if that seems to be the only conventional means of measuring a successful endeavor, it doesn't mean I'm going to stop doing whatever I'm doing.

Looking back is inevitable.  Everyone does that in spite of saying it's pointless to look back when you're trying to move forward.  And if one keeps looking back then he's not moving forward.  And I'd say, 'Haven't you heard of a rear-view mirror?'  Take a glance or two sometimes.  We're not supposed to be looking back all the time.  We only need to find out if we are going in the right direction by knowing where the wrong directions are.

Well, I do have some regrets.  But when I really thought about it, those the were times when I had to make decisions based on the given circumstances.  I believe I wouldn't have done any better if I were to walk down that same path again with those very same conditions.  And I'd lived with what I've chosen.

So, like old blue eyes, the rest of us could still sing that same old song:

'Regrets...I've had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do
I saw it through without exemption...'

Eventually, most of us could still say, 'I did it MY way'....

On spirituality

Sometimes we feel so small and insignificant and are totally helpless against the troubles that plague us daily.  It's not about religion.  Religion is a group belief and concerns more about rituals, code of ethics, and philosophy.  And usually it is more of form than substance. 

It is more about personal faith & belief in something bigger than ourselves that is benevolent, omnipresent and powerful that can give us the strength and tenacity to keep going and help keep our sanity intact.  It is the tie that binds us back to one that created us.  

It's what we think and do, and the results and the effects upon others around us that are important to all, here and now.  Too much preoccupation in preparation for the hereafter makes no sense.  When we go we take nothing with us. 

But we do leave an impression for those who stay behind.  I think it's important that we leave one that everyone would want to emulate.

Greed

One of the seven deadly sins is giving in to greed. 

Once you start taking what you don't earn from an honest day's work or a legitimate deal you get deeper into it.  And it's habit forming too. 

Unfortunately there are many nowadays who have no qualms about doing it.  Even those in public service.  When you're in that kind of thing it's difficult to get out.  There's no turning back.  They won't let you because you could squeal and give them away.  So they string you along with extra perks.  In the end it's like having sold yourself.  You're a slave to graft.  It becomes a way of life.  You keep doing it and you become pretty slick.  You start to believe you're pretty smart.  You cover your tracks well.

But one day you make a slip.  You think your so-called friends are covering your flanks for you.  You overlook some small detail.  But your friends think you're losing it.  You're getting too fat for your own good.  You let your guard down.  For you, they decide it's over.  You've become an excess baggage.  The public outcry is too loud.  Citizens are outraged.  The carpet's too small to cover your dirt. 

They let you walk into that trap...

Random thoughts 3

Everyone, it seems, no matter how high his/her station in life, has some feelings of inadequacy every now and then.  As I understand even the King of Pop himself often suffered from such low feelings.  Hence the need to find approval from among his peers and fans and the need to keep re-inventing himself.  Which was probably a good thing.  He kept giving us those great music, song and dance numbers and conscience nagging, earth shattering messages.

So to think I'm free of such feelings is to lie to myself.  But to know my own weakness and accept it is to face the truth and overcome such obstacles along the rough path of life. 

With that in mind I keep sober and get back to my drawing board.  Besides it's too early in the morning and it's been like raining since Noah's days...  I exaggerate sometimes.

A leech hitched a ride.

It was a wet day.  It was equally wet on the hill-slopes.  But since I've been avoiding the soggy tracks behind the hill, I thought I was safe.  I held a long chat with an old uncle (of course lah, I'm also 'uncle', but since he's in his 70s he says I'm a young man...) while we descended.  The slight drizzle didn't bother us.  We continued with our conversation until we got into our respective cars.

About a hundred meters down the road I felt a wee nibble on my left calf.  I reached down with my hand to find out what's causing the tickling and felt something soft and slightly sticky.  I realized immediately that was a leech stuck on my skin.  Errr...

I stopped the car by the roadside, got out and put on my reading glasses to see how deeply entrenched the critter was.  I tried to brush it off.  It refused to budge.  I tried to think of something to get it to let go of its grip.  Then I thought I could burn it. 

I pressed in the cigarette lighter to switch it on.  As soon as it popped out I grabbed it and put the hot element as close to the leech as possible.  It wriggled and squirmed but it refused to let go.  I repeated the heat treatment and even touched it with the hot metal.  Same result.

I swiped at it again.  It came off but clung to my right hand instead.  I flicked my hand.  It got stuck to my right leg this time.  In desperation I kept swiping at it until it dropped off.  I couldn't see where it went.  Somewhere on the grass I guess.  Just hopefully not my any part of my legs. 

I looked at my calf for the tell-tale sign of bleeding.  There was none.  No damage there, I thought.  Well, I was wrong.  Next day, the spot got itchy.  The bugger already sank its teeth in and started to apply anti-coagulant.  Which explains why it refused to let go. 

Bl**dy sucker... 

I must remember to pack some salt and keep it in the car.  The next one's gonna get a taste of salt instead of hot metal.