Not all VIPs are respectable.

There was a time I thought I could help to develop my part of the world into a better place. As some would say, and I wholeheartedly agree, that we should not just voice our grievances to just any Tom, Dick and Harry and expect action to be taken to remove my complaints. No coffee-shop talk and discussion for me. So, what did I do? I joined a political party.

If ever there is a path for our views to reach the ears of those who could make a difference, it ought to be the political path. Was I wrong! That realisation did not surface until I became the Youth Chief of a branch and the main committee member of a district. At that point, I thought I could put forward my ideas, get them implemented and make some improvement to my part of the world at the very least. Was I disappointed!

The leaders are not interested in ideas that has no part in their climb up the political ladder. Whenever something is proposed, it is put aside or shot down with all kinds of excuses. However, when leaders want things done so that their popularity and capability is enhanced, they expect no discussions, no criticisms but full support, no matter what is desired. That was certainly not my expectation and, of course, I was not too popular with them. For me, meetings are places where we discuss the pros and cons of ideas put forward regardless of their source, just another committee member or the top leaders.

And so everything was pushed through to formalise actions taken. Even things which cannot be approved were done and, unbelievable as it may seem, even passed through a show of hands. It just showed me how powerful those leaders were. Perhaps, you would understand the fantastic part of it if I were to relate what happened.

There was this annual general meeting in which secretaries pass out minutes of the previous annual meeting so that members could go through and based on it, question what had or had not been implemented. Then the treasurer had to let members know about the accounts, the income, expenditure and balance as well as how money had been spent throughout the year. This annual financial report was not presented. The treasurer could not produce the report but the chairman requested the members to pass the the unseen report. What a preposterous suggestion! Who could be so irresponsible as to pass an unseen financial report. What if there had been abuse of funds? Privately, many branch chairmen voiced their displeasure at such an idea but when the district chairman called for a vote only a few protested. Suffice it to say, only those few voted against the unseen report being passed. The many brave branch chairmen who quietly expressed their opposition to it cowardly showed their hands to support the powerful district chairman.

Since that day I removed myself from being active among such people. I despise not the poor, the weak, the labourers and anyone less fortunate but I certainly do not enjoy the company of cowards towards their own conviction, people who can only shout and talk big but when it comes to action, they fade away behind, quiet as mice.

How can I ever respect such people? As I look back, I understand that not all those who hold titles and authority deserve our respect. Respect has to be earned through proper use of titles and authority, and proper actions. People who use their authority to merely enrich themselves, using such authority to get government land and abusing their power do not deserve my respect.

Ah! The wonder of nature.

Have you ever gone into a wide open space filled with plants, trees and flowers?
Well, that was exactly what I did this morning. I woke up at the unearthly time of three-thirty in the morning in order to join my friends from the Art of Living to travel to Penang Youth Park to celebrate the 'Women's Conference 2011'

And so it was that I found myself in the midst of so much greenery at about five o'clock in the morning. I did not expect to find anything different from the usual happiness of being with friends and having a great new day to enjoy my life with. I did not expect the wonderful fragrance that beautify my senses as I stroll and enjoyed the greenness at that time of the morning. It was indeed a strange calm feeling as this unbelievably appealing perfume enveloped me as I stood there wondering where its source was.

Gradually, I realised that the scent came not from some human but the very surrounding plants and their flowers. How did I verify that? Well, I saw the flowers in the trees and I moved towards them. As I went nearer, the peculiar fact that struck me was that the fragrance recede and almost disappeared the closer I was to the trees and their floral display. To test this observation, I retraced my steps and moved further from the flowers. Again, the perfume became stronger. It was my first delightful experience. It is an experience I would not have the luck to enjoy had I not been out among nature at such an early part of the morning. It is something I hastily set on record upon reaching home so that others may some day have the same pleasurable delight I encountered this day.

At the age of sixty-four, I still find so much new pleasures in our fantastic world. Of course, this is not the only thing I enjoyed at Penang Youth Park today. I also learned how to make pancakes with Korean Kimchi as well as potatoes and had fun selling them, meeting all kinds of people in the process. Life is indeed beautiful and all it takes is for us to go out there to enjoy it.