Saturday, October 31, 2009

When The Floor Collapsed


I was enjoying myself sipping a mug of hot tea.

It was 4.30 in the afternoon.

It was still drizzling.

The rain was very heavy for the past 2 hours.

The thunders were loud and the lightnings flashed incessantly.

The workers opposite my house had finished their works.

Apparently the floors were sinking and cracking.

I was told that this was a swampy area before.

Could it be a water bogging area? I was not sure.

Could it be a construction fault? I was not sure either.

It had been raining every afternoon for almost a week already.

I was sorry and worried for my neighbor who had to bear the misfortune.

It would be very costly to repair the whole thing.

It could be quite a strain on his family though husband and wife were working.

Many neighbors were also feeling terrible about the collapsed floor.

Could it adversely affect the nearby houses?

Everyone examined the floor with raised eyebrows.

With the present economic crisis and the high cost of living, news of the collapsed floor was rather unwelcoming.

But looking at the terrible natural disasters in various parts of the world... we had to consider ourselves fortunate.

....... Hopefully everything would be okay.... Sighs....

Monday, October 26, 2009

Rebellious Students


A fellow teacher related to me his agony in marking students' test papers.

He seemed very depressed. The exam papers had given him much headache and heartache.

I had known him for many years.

He was a very hardworking and inspiring teacher.

He was a high achiever, producing excellent result every year.

He was very experienced, and could always pinpoint the students' mistakes and correct them in time.

But this year he had a hard time with a particular class of students.

The didn't listen to him most of the time.

Some of them even escaped his class.

Some of them loved to make fun about his teaching and guidance.

Many of them didn't treasure his effort, desire, and persistence in helping them.

Then came the outcome of the exam.

He saw the same errors committed all over again by most of the students in the class.

He was brought to tears.

His heart was rent.

He was sighing deeply.

And he had a hard time relating his grievances.

It was not easy to behold the same mistakes over and again.

No one should commit the same mistakes twice.

I sympathized with him.

But I pitied those students more... for they didn't know they had a very good teacher.

Monday, October 19, 2009

An Unseen Story


He was carrying his sick daughter on his back.

He was walking along the dark and stony road.

It was middle of the night.

The wind was very cold and the rain was imminent.

There wasn't any vehicle around.

He was wearing a short and didn't put on any shirt.

They must be shivering cold.

He pressed on...

He must have been worn out...

But he must rush to the closest village clinic....

It was 10km from his home.....

There was no time to wait.....

His daughter was having a very high fever.....

Tears flew naturally from his eyes.....

But he gritted his teeth and pushed on.....

It was his youngest daughter.....

And she meant so much to him.....

He almost fell down and cried.....

.....But no, he must continue on.....

*******

Sad stories like this have always happened in quiet places....

Not many realized it.....

They just happened.....

They just died and gone.....

And this is always the price of development...

It seldom reaches the country home...

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

A Real Man


I have always aspired to be a real man.

From small, I was told that a real man is a real leader who knows just what to do.

Sometimes he delegates the tasks at hand to others according to their abilities. Sometimes he just quietly does everything himself.

Everyone respects him and many look up to him for advices and assistances.

To me, a real man is a real hero....

As I grew up, I have discovered that it is not that simple – A real man who knows what to do must teach others how to do.

A real man must be very meticulous and careful to impart knowledge and skills to others.

He must be very helpful and kind to guide and teach others every living skill he has learned and know.

And he must be very patience and must try to explain in length essential skills to those who are badly in need of them.

To me, a real man is a good teacher and not just a hero.

Then I discovered that a real man is compassionate but always bring everything under control.

He is emotionally strong, stable and reliable.

He will make sure that everything is in place and nothing goes wrong.

And he will minister to the needs of others first and make sure that they are okay.

He may break down and cry once in a while; he is still a human being. But he will recover soon enough.

He may join with the crowd, laugh and joke freely, and enjoy the moment of fun and joy. But he will getting very serious when there is a situation.

To me, a real man is compassionate, teachable and always dependable.

...............

It takes a life time to learn to be a real man.

It takes many toils and labors.

It takes many considerations before we are mature.

As I ponder, I discover.... and discover....

A real man is really a man who wants to be real... Eager to please the Almighty God and to love his fellow beings.

And so I believe that everyone of us can be a real man if we want to.

....Yeah, a real man.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Crying Silently Without Tears


It must be very heartbreaking to hold lifeless bodies in our arms. But that are what the surviving victims of the recent tsunamis do to their family, relatives, and friends. They shriek and scream and cry....

They are all gone....

They are all gone....

It must be very heartbreaking to behold the home blown to pieces right in front of our eyes, despite the efforts to secure the roof and strengthen its foundation. But that are what the surviving victims of the recent typhoons do. They sink to their knees and fall... They mourn and wail and cry....

No more roof for shelter....

No more roof for shelter....

It must be very heartbreaking not to be able to behold our loved ones who are buried alive during the recent earthquakes. The tall buildings have collapsed suddenly and they are all trapped. We can still hear them scream and cry through the phone...But how are we to rescue them with our bare hands.... We scream and mourn and cry....

All is gone....

All is gone....

We cry and cry....

We scream and scream....

We have all lost our voice...

Now, we are crying silently without tears...everywhere...every time...

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