Year 2013

a short note for myself.
Year 2013
Many things happen, some of them, its really new to me, I have yet to come across before in my whole life, as they say, as you live, you learn along the way.....
Issues happened in Beijing, changes of environment, moving back to Malaysia, handling all this job related problems, problems that happened, and the whole learning curve itself.
ANd throughout the incident, the friends that came up, showed-up, supported and given a lot of supports. Also at the same time, you see how human beings behaved in situation like this.
Anyway, you face this on your own (though there are many supports given), and you have to face it, solved it within yourself, and I think the process itself has given me a lot of wake-ups........

It is not an easy process, and I have thanked many people throughout this process, and at the same time, deep in my heart, I think this is a big challenge for me. It also allows me to think, and rethink the actual issues about life, about Karma, about reflecting myself, my life so far, about what I want next, about human beings, just about everything in general.

In short, the bitter, the sweetness, the sour part, the spicy part, all that happened in year 2013, will remind me a lot of things. And I learn to value people as they are, friendships, the meaning of it, support the importance of it, and love, the true meaning of it.
I will face life challenges as they come along, and I believe I will go it well, going beyond.

Thanks for all, and thanks for the opportunity to learn about Buddhism and in guiding me about

Choong
31 December 2013
Kuala Lumpur

They Say....Mereka Berkata.....他们说。。。。。

I just saw a program, and the host said, when our parents passed away, the most hurtful and loss we felt, would be that nobody will be able to confirm, will know, will acknowledge the existence of our youth, our growing phase, our childhood, ....and we are lost sometimes, no matter how old we are.
I think this is real, and sometimes, I do feel, I am lost, because I do not have my parents, to say things about my childhood, to tell stories of my growing-up, my school results, my capabilities (always in the eyes of parents we are perfect), and my everything......
We are, forever kids in our hearts, yearning for this kind of attention from our parents, whenever they are............

当父母亲不在的时候，没有人再见证我们的童年。。。
Bila Ibu bapa kita meninggal dunia, maka tiada lagi sesiapa yang dapat menjadi saksi kepada zaman kanak-kanak kita....

And I do miss my dad, my grandmother......for all these..........

That is life any way, just a kind of my own thoughts after seeing this program......

It is a kind of pain only we really understand, really know and it is kind hard to explain....

Choong
Kuala Lumpur
27 December 2013

Oman-Muscat

Although I have been thinking of coming to Muscat when I first heard of this name (sounds like a CAt....), it was not really my real intention to visit Muscat. but it turns out to be a big surprise. People that I met up are nice, like Ahmed, Saleem, and the hotel staff are very cordial and friendly.
rooms are clean and service ware good.
And lucky me, most of the times, someone will offer me a lift  to somewhere, instead of paying a few USD dollars, hence I say it is a great blessing to me, haha.

And although the journey with the bus was not very nice, it was close to 9 hours to arrive from Dubai, and tomorrow, when going back, it is about the same, nevertheless, I feel, after seeing all the nice buildings, it is worth it. ONly that the attractions are too much too little in Muscat, and the entertainment places could be too small. Other than that, it is good, clean and I began to tell in love with Muscat.

Anyway, shall write more as I have not been able to download more.
IN short, I am happy to be here.
Sleepy now.

Choong
Muscat 2013
Dec22 2013-- Winter Solstice

Abu Dabhi

Arrived to Dubai yesterday, then my friend drove me directly to his apartment in Abu Dabhi. Along the highway, as I mentioned before, they are fully lite-up, which means it is bright even in the night time, feeling like we are in a fiesta.
Along the ride, I saw many changes taking place in UAE, many new buildings, and this morning, I can see that the roads are very clean, and all the plants are well kept (pruned and trimmed). I think there are a lot our city and town councils can learn from them. We are in equator, and yet, we do not take of our greens very well, and here in desert, they are trying to create a central part, can you imagine this?

And I was made to understand that not only the petrol is cheap, at RM 1.20 per litre, there is no income tax, no company tax, and car is also tax free, so, in all sense it is quite cheap in many things.
And they are quite open to immigrant workers, and they also build worships places, not only mosque as this is an Islam country, but also they build church, and temples for different religions, like Catholics, Hindus, Sikhs......
Here you can see many different races and origins, from Bangladesh, from various places in India, Philippines, Africa and Arabs too. And according to my friend, they treat these migrant workers very well.

Choong
Abu Dabhi

Dubai... Here I come

I am currently in Spore airport again (again here, as I was here two days ago).
This is the 3rd time going there, I am not sure exactly what I am going there specifically for, partly visiting friend, partly, Christmas vacation, and partly finding the answer for the question I have in my mind, for some ideas to guide me next in my living years on the Earth.
I have been traveling a lot on personal basis, with Beijing, Spore and now Dubai, in search for the answer.

I am leaving now, as departure time is close now, and the boarding gate is quite far away.

Merry X'mas.

Choong
Spore airport

Singapore Revisited

Oh dear, I promised to write in my blog but just haven't found the time to do so. I need to write more. I guess because nowadays, you can just write send messages via your mobile phone, that uploading your photos into your laptop prior to that just does not sound attractive and convenient anymore. This could be one reason, and next, between Android and your Mac system, it is another issue to tackle. Putting this aside, I just want to record a bit of my recent trip to S'pore.
I think S'pore, which I have never really like in terms of its size and what it is able to offer, has really changed me, with my recent trip. I guess with the current situation in Malaysia (politically, and our current living environment in terms of safety) and after coming back from Beijing (where the air quality is a problem), you tend to look for all these aspects as part of your basic living conditions, and I think this time around, S'pore really gives me a different feel, or I would rather say it is a very positive ones.

Cost of living, not converting to other currencies, based on your purchasing power, I think S'pore is still very good, in fact I think it is better than what we are able to get in Malaysia for now. A plate of Nasi Lemak is just SGD 3-3.50, and a glass of teh tarik (tea is of good quality yeah, mind you) only cost 80 cents. Even if you were to convert this in Malaysian Ringgit, it is still relatively cheap.
Living environment, is clean, with all the greeneries well kept, plants are planted in all housing areas, which you can feel the atmosphere very relaxing even if you were staying in an older HDB flat. Only thing that is very pressuring everyone is the high cost of the private condos (Presently, the same problem is felt in Malaysia, is this not true).

I have a chance to go to an old enclave, that is Changi Village, and I felt like I was "lost" in Spore. It is like back to another era, very much like Taiping lake, with lots of plants, trees, and the houses and shop lots are very much like what we used to have in the 80s, but still well kept and maintained.

And here you feel like all races are living in harmony and each has their own place and space to express themselves well.
I felt like I have fallen in love with Spore this time around......may be our perspective change as we grow older....for me, I think son

HOTLINK- Is it legal I am asking you

I am not sure how many of you are using Hotlink prepaid. I am currently a user, and I think I need to highlight this. I am deeply dissatisfied with it, I feel cheated. You see, quite often you will receive messages from them, and one of them is like (I deleted it last nite), if you do not send in the reply like "STOP LINE " or something like that, then automatically, they will charge you RM3 per SMS. Is this not day light robbery? WHo gives you the right to charge without my consent? I mean is this legal? Tell me, please Maxis, hotlink,,,,, what consumer rights are we having, if you have the rights to charge, if we do not reply NO, then you take it as YES? WHat kind of mentality is this.

I feel cheated.

Choong
KL

Seruling Di Lembah Sunyi.... As I recall

This Seiring bersama alunan bunyi
seruling di lembah sunyi
Disana ku duduk seorang diri
mengenang di malam hari
Terkenang ku akan seorang kasihku
yang tlah pergi entah kemana
Oh angin sampaikanlah salamku
ku nanti dilembah sunyi
Seindah alunan seruling senja
begitu cintaku padanya
is the first full song I learned to sing with my music teacher (pardon me, I forgot his name, and I am trying hard to recall). Until now, I still remember the lyrics, the music, the pitch, the tone and how to sing it in proper way....that was the time how we used to learn in schools.



To my former music teacher, thanks a lot. For a boy like me, who has no musical background and do not know how to read notes, your teaching had helped me a lot, and that was how I learned to appreciate music in totality.


Choong
3 Dec 2013

Leaving....

May be, as we age, as we grow older, at a stage where you are neither young nor can be considered senior citizens, it is an age where some people will think you are too young to die.....and too old to be considered young and still young.......you tend to know and appreciate lives more.....or not taking lives for granted.

Within these few weeks back to Malaysia I have heard so many friends' friends, family members passing away due to cancer. And they are in the forties and early fifties. And back to when I was in Beijing, I also see a lot of them died because of cancers....it seems like cancer is every where and more and more people's lives are shortened because of cancer?

In this age with a lot of new technologies, a lot of scientific researches, aren't we suppose to be more healthy? Are we losing to technology? Or have we forgotten about the basic needs of lives, or how to live well.?
I do not know what the answers are, just that, sometimes, the more issues about our lives cropping up, I tend to understand, appreciate every and every thing I learned about Buddhism, and what Buddha has explained about sufferings, about lives.........

Hope everyone try to do more good deeds, get more merits, and live a better quality and meaningful lives.

Namo Tasha.


Choong
KL-2nd December 2013