Christmas is here!

Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.

Mother Teresa

Caught a short CNA report about how young people in HK become depressed and lonely during 'holidays' like Christmas. Somehow, there is this great need to have a special date with a special person for Christmas.

I bristle at the reference to Christmas as a 'holiday'. And I really do not like how romaticised Christmas has become by people who do not understand what Christmas is really about.

Have been ruminating quite a bit on various things and one of the themes was the 'first Christmas'. Talk about being lonely. It must have been lonely thinking about the appearance of the angel and being told, out of the blue, that you will bear a child. And it sure must have been lonely to know that you have to be responsible for your future wife and child when you don't fully understand what is going on.

(here)

Yet, Mary and Joseph 'kwai-kwai' just listened to the word of God and obeyed. ' Be it done unto me according to Thy Word.' Wordless Joseph must surely have had the same thoughts. Again and again.

(here)

I hope all lonely people find comfort and peace, hopefully through the un-lonely people who have the love in their hearts to find and embrace these lonely people.

Peace to all.

(rumination = the act or process of chewing cud. ha.)

Comments

True train school

‘Having eyes, but not seeing beauty; having ears, but not hearing music; having minds, but not perceiving truth; having hearts that are never moved and therefore never set on fire. These are the things to fear, said the headmaster.’ How would you like to have such a headmaster? I finally re-read (read it first as a teenager) Totto-chan, The Little Girl at the Window , a ‘school story’ by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, translated by Dorothy Britton. Totto-chan is the name Tesuko Kuroyanagi called herself, and the book is about her life during her school days at Tomoe Gakuen. Totto-chan was expelled from her first elementary school because of her ‘disruptive’ behaviour, which included constantly opening and closing her desk top (because she was so thrilled by it), ‘vandalising’ her desk (because there wasn’t enough space on the piece of paper to draw) and standing by the classroom window waiting for street musicians to pass by or talking to swallows. Her mother, although probably alarmed about the ...

No wonder

According to a poll of about 300 people, reported in yesterday's Sunday Times, (how come nobody ever asks me these things?) , the Seven Wonders of Singapore are (in order of merit): 1. The Esplanade (a whopping 82 votes) 2. Changi Airport (53 votes) 3. Sentosa 4. The Merlion 5. The Singapore River 6. Food 7. Mount Faber and LKY (tie - 10 votes each) Some 'offbeat choices' which didn't make it to the top 7: aunties selling tissue paper at coffee shops, Singlish, kiasuism, 4D-Toto outlets and Newater (said someone of Newater: 'We are probably the only country with branded recycled sewage.' Well said, ha ha.). Maybe it's a personal bias but I feel that a 'Wonder' must also have strong historical and cultural/social value (so I'm rather miffed that Angkor Wat didn't make it to the 7 Wonders of the World; in fact it was never in the running for the top 7). Therefore, these choices are a little too modern for me. The Esplanade, for example, is a...

He like dat say one meh?

Apparently, that 'English as it is broken' book has been topping the charts at our local bookstores. Actually, I'm not too interested in that book but this other one may be worth getting my hands on. The article about it, as published in Saturday's (1 Sept) ST: In the world of international diplomacy, the best-chosen words or phrases can leave an audience laughing, bewildered or simply lost in translation, an insider has revealed. Undiplomatic Activities, a yet-to-be-launched book by Mr Richard Woolcott, who ran Australia's foreign service for four years, points to the pitfalls of translating thoughts into different languages. Take the Australian diplomat in France who tried to tell his audience that as he looked back on his career, it was divided in two parts, with dull postings before life in Paris. 'When I look at my backside, I find it is divided into two parts,' Mr Woolcott quoted the diplomat as telling his highly amused audience. Ex-Australian prime m...

my ajumma notes

Search This Blog