Category: Off Beaten Track Page 35 of 44

Simplicity

Saw this short documentary-style TV program on Channel 8 last night. Actually the TV was just left on after the News program, and in fact it was not even something I’d normally follow. The TV program was about the struggles of a young Singaporean man, 30 years of age, an aspiring amateur song-writer but also full-time cobbler,  and how he finally succeeded in finding his purpose for living.

There was a few things which I found to be quite remarkable.

The young man in the program mentioned that he used to loathe the weekend family gatherings (looked like a big family) because it was very noisy and seemed utterly pointless to him at the time. Now, he treasures every moment, because like he said: you never know how much longer such times or people will last for, after all. He also made a discovery while learning the craft of cobbling from his father. His father makes the best use of his limited tools and skills, yet he is always complaining the lack of this or that. Finally the most important realisation he came to, while sitting there watching his father work as pedestrians walk past them along the busy Orchard Rd (one of the premiere shopping streets in Singapore), is that he is willing to do anything. There is nothing that is too humbling or too humiliating for him to do, if the opportunity comes up. He is both happy and comfortable with himself. I really admire his courage and conviction. read more

Family stories

A few months ago, I had the bizarre idea of compiling the stories of women in my family.

Why the women, you may ask? And what is so special about their stories?

Pacification

I was watching a video CD “Samsara” this afternoon. The story (about a Tibetan monk) and setting brought back some thoughts I had during my Tibet trip about 5 years ago.

During the trip, travelling along the seemingly endless road from Nepal to Lahsa (which would have gone all the way to Shanghai, apparently), it seemed that God gave the Tibetans nothing but sun, sand and rocks. It really made me wonder how the Tibetans, as a people, managed to survive for all these years? To be able to face the hardships of their habitat, and yet remain so devout and, in many ways, docile?

Come to think of it, before Buddhism was embraced by the Tibetan kings a long time ago, the Tibetans were very ferocious warriors causing lots of problems even for the mighty Chinese empire. In fact, even during the Tang Dynasty, the Chinese emperor had to marry off his daughter to gain peace along the border. But what happened? After the Tibetans had adopted Buddhism, they seemed to have been pacified and lost all aggression it seems. read more

Touch

While queuing for my lunch at the canteen today, saw this girl in front of me who carried a bag with an interesting picture. The picture was that of a hand, with eyes at the tip of each finger.

Why did I think it was interesting?

Turn left, turn right

Just came back from the movie Turn left, turn right (see the cartoon version) tonight.

This movie tells the simple the simple of a lonely man, played by Takeshi Kaneshiro and woman, played by Gigi Leung, who live in the same apartment building. One way or another, their paths do not cross, even though they are always in close proximity of each other.

Although this may sound like the old cliche that parallel paths do not meet, etc., perhaps this is also a true reflection of the modern-day life in a big city (the story is set in Taipei). People meet and then lose contact for both the right, and the wrong, reasons. In our busy schedules, people these days can be so close and yet so far sometimes… read more

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