It's the age of exploration for those above three years.

One moment the grandmother watched the cute little grandson jumping all over the place with a smile on her happy face enjoying the antics of the lovable little one. Then, barely five minutes after she turned into the kitchen, a crash broke the calm silence of the hall and that broke the old lady running back to the grandson, anxiety written clearly on her face. And she had reason to be for the young rascal had put a plastic stool near a shelf, reached up with extended hand and clumsily toppled a bottle of wine onto the floor, splintering it into a hundred pieces, staining the floor with its reddish-brown colour and permeating the surrounding air with an aroma some adults would certainly enjoy.

She threw up in despair at the scene that greeted her, shouting for the grandson to stay put and not move as sharp glass pieces threaten to cut into the flesh of the little one. Furthermore the floor was wet with slippery wine, certainly not a safe place for a little boy of three going on four years. In her worry she shouted and scolded. No longer was that grandson cute and cheeky but naughty and dangerous.

Wearing a pair of thick-soled slippers, she carefully move in towards her grandson, swoop him up and away from that dangerous splinter-strewn area. Looking all over the child, she was relieved to find nowhere a cut or bloodstain.

When she met me, she told me of the possible danger that could have been possible if not for the lucky stars that had shone upon her then. Yes, the child had indeed been lucky to escape unhurt and stars were not around then as it was broad daylight. Imagine what could have happened had the bottle hit the child as it dropped to the ground! And when the child fell off the stool he could have been cut by shards of glass from the broken bottle. With the floor wet and slippery, a fall like that could have broken a bone. So, without pain, a cut or even a fracture, this young explorer can be deemed to be real lucky.

Children at the age of three and four are curious little rascals who have to be watched at least twelve hours a day, relaxing only when such young explorers take a nap. When the young ones are awake, expect them to look for toys in everything that they set eyes on. Dangerous things such as knives and bottles must be placed out of their reach. Do not tempt them with a position they can reach with some ingenuity. Just like this grandson, any little boy would be able to come up with a stool, a chair, a block of wood, a box and a ladder to extend their hands to grab the things they want. Don't challenge their inventiveness or they will show you the amount of brain cells they already possess even at that tender age. In their curiosity, they would explore the whole house for the house is their first playground. So child-minders and parents must be alert at all times.

I know that is a lot of effort but then years would roll by and soon the opportunity to enjoy their presence will be lost forever. Their exploration keep us on our toes and give us the chance to be active and get some exercise in the process. So our children keep us young until one day when they fly away from the nest and we are left alone to watch television and grow old as the television takes it turn to watch us as our muscles gradually dwindle into fat. So, be glad the children are around to provoke some kind of action or alertness.

The laziness of some people.

My spiritual guru, Bapak as we fondly call him, has said that nothing in this world is evil but Man. He first told us about the spirits roaming the world and that such spirits do no harm to humans but humans make use of them and their abilities to harm other humans.Thus, it is not the spirits that are evil but humans who have evil thoughts and with that our Bapak told us that none of his disciples must ever do evil deeds or he will be answerable to Bapak.

What Bapak told us, I remember today as I read about the jellyfish in the waters of Langkawi. There are now too many jellyfish and it all began because of sea-water pollution as people dump waste into the sea, a convenient way of disposing waste at the cost of increasing the number of jelly-fish as the number of turtles decrease.

Turtles eat jelly-fish and in doing so control their number in the sea. Unfortunately, lazy uncaring people conveniently throw plastic bags into the sea and those bags are eaten by the turtles as they have mistaken those bags for jellyfish. The consumption of plastic bags cause the death of turtles and with less turtles to feed on the jellyfish, the jellyfish increase their numbers and being easily gotten into contact with human bodies, they react by stinging the bodies.

Humans are lazy and so often we see people throwing rubbish around rubbish bins but hardly into them although the bins are just one or two metres away. Why can't these people walk that extra one or two steps more to deliver their rubbish to the bins? And it is not that they did not want to be clean for they would not throw rubbish in front of their houses. And there are those who even throw their rubbish in front of other people's houses when such neighbours are not looking. And all that because of laziness!

People seem to be getting lazier and lazier. Take a walk along a beach and we can see the ice-cream wrappers, the paper-bags from food and all kind of plastic containers strewn all over, a clear sign of laziness of humans. Instead of improving this is one sphere of one lives which need looking into. Not that humans have not pretended to go into this problem. I remember the first time an anti litter sign was put up in Taman Intan, Sungai Petani. (That's where I live.) It stated that anyone caught littering would be fined a sum of RM5,000. It was in 1980 and I told my wife to think of the ridiculous sum of money that was stated. I asked her how many of the people would be able to pay such a fine. My pay then was approximately RM1,000 a month and if they were to ask me for such a sum of money I would most probably prefer to squat in jail and have free rice for a few months. Oh, no! As a government servant I cannot go to jail and so may have to see a 'Ah Long' or money-lender to get out of the predicament. What a ludicrous fine for littering!

Then, I gradually understood that it was just throwing fear at the residents as I found no one being caught despite numerous cases of littering. In fact the area around that anti-litter sign was full of rubbish thrown by people in and around the area. Perhaps people saw it more as a challenge than a threat and responded by fighting it. And it was not just happening to just this particular anti-littering signboard. Others elsewhere were also suffering from the same fate. That is what happens when authorities talk but never walk the talk. There was no enforcement and the law becomes a laughing matter.

So, if I am given the chance to be an adviser, I would say that the authorities concerned must have the enforcement officers ready before implementing any law. Give something for people to show their respect. That is the only way to gain respect. Unfortunately, not sufficient thought is usually put into an idea before its implementation.

Be active forever.

"Nowadays, there are people who are so weak. And this neighbour of mine passed away at the age of fifty-seven years. Imagine that! When you think of this old uncle from Old Town (Pekan Lama) who could cycle so well at the age of ninety years. He came to our coffee-shop, his body erect and steady, not swerving or bending to the left or right; still so strong and healthy. Wow! Wish I could be like that," the lady told us.

"What was the old man's work?: I enquired.
"He was an ice-cream seller who would pedal his tricycle with the rectangular insulated box of of ice-cream to every corner of the town from late morning to evening with just an umbrella to protect him from the heat and rain."

Yeah, a fellow living a tough life with hardly any time for leisure and entertainment is compensated with a longer healthy life so that when his responsibility to his family is done he still has the strength and energy to enjoy his life, I thought. God has certainly been very fair to the guy.

However, that does not mean that those who have an easier life cannot find the strength and energy to enjoy his life when he eventually retires. I have known many people who live an enjoyable life after retirement, still having the ability to move around with ease. Of course, such people have been aware and do at least some of the things that are required for a person to be healthy and strong.

As I am one of these people, I discovered that muscles, tendons and tissues are constantly regenerated. In fact, according to my son, my muscles are still growing, especially the left arm which was not used as much as it is now. The muscles are still firm and strong due to constant use and exercise. My strides are just as long as before as I do run at speed and walk as fast as ever in my daily morning trek up the hill. Of course, I sometimes, in my enthusiasm as well as poor judgement, overdo it and strain certain tendons but a rest does put things right. Nevertheless, with consistent stretching of the tendons and muscles, they do not shorten even as I age.

Thus, it is not strange that a ninety year old man could still move around just as steadily as any forty year old. I strongly believe that with regular movement and stretching of every part of the body, the body will remain as flexible and strong as long as it is given the opportunity to remain so.

To remove and replace thoughts in our minds.

There are times in our lives when sorrow comes in, hoping to stay. It could be the death of a dear one, the loss of a beloved in a relationship or the inability to get close to somebody. Whatever it is, when it happens, there is bound to be sadness and possibly pain in the inner core of the heart.

It is good to experience such feelings for it indicates that we are just as human as any other. That we have such feelings is proof that we are capable of love, the most powerful and the most important emotion in our lives. Our lives are richer because of it. However, if the emotions stay too long, it may hurt us sufficiently to interfere with the right thoughts and working of our mind. Its negative effect may incapacitate us and our mind. We may lose all sense of balance in our lives.
Our mind would not be thinking of the future. It would not be thinking of progress. The situation has block further incoming thoughts on other matters. We only see a face and remember fondly the features associated with it. We see the beauty of the person. We recollect sweet memories of days gone by. We wish and pray for the impossible even as we realise it would all be in vain. However, such is the nature of all good humans that we will have to go through this phase. It just has to be thus.

The important point is how we can get out of this phase and move on with our lives. There just is no way we can empty those thoughts of the past. To remove what is past, we have to fill the mind with something new and consciously keep on filling the mind with fresh ideas and possibilities until the mind is tired and goes into sleep. To assist such rest, we could be involved in physical activities so that eventually we are physically and mentally tired, tired enough to fall asleep and forget the past.

Of course, it is easier said than done. Time is the assisting factor in gradually fading the past and moving in to new areas of interest or reaching into rejuvenating old interests. Even for someone who has no interest in any subject or matter, that person only need to go out and join the living again by mixing with people in clubs, associations or any group in any activity where the person can participate. When one is involved in an activity and is exchanging thoughts and ideas with others, the thoughts of the moment excludes all else, especially those which we wish to put away.
By involving oneself whole-heartedly in living life, concentrating on work, friends, people in and around the environment and being compassionate by assisting those who need help; even doing volunteer work in old folks’ homes or orphanages; we put our passion into life and living. We reach out to people and new horizons, enriched by the happiness and gratefulness of people whose hearts we touched. This, in turn, brings joy and a new meaning to life.

Nevertheless, life is for living and in the process we are certain to encounter once again the pain and sorrow of loss. However, having experience it once and survived the ordeal, we are more ready to accept it as part of life and, no matter how much more terrible the loss may be, we understand that life must go on and we ought to live life as much to the full as we possibly can, for that is life.

Gambling and its consequences.

Never ever be addicted to gambling. It has been the downfall of many.

I am not talking about just a game of cards to while away the time and having fun with friends as we celebrate something. When it is merely for fun or having a good time with friends, our aim is not to win at all cost, so the stakes cannot and should not be high. It ought to be as low as possible so that winning or losing has no consequences.

Once, as a bachelor in a rented house shared with other singles, we sometimes found ourselves with nowhere to go, no programme to fulfill, no work to complete. At such times in the evening, we would gather at a table with a stack of cards to play twenty-one. The condition was that the biggest winner would have to foot the bill for that night's supper. With such a condition, the winner sometimes end up the loser when the total cost of the supper was more than the biggest winner's winning. It was a good condition as it ensured that there was no greed, nobody wanted to win big enough to be the biggest winner. The smaller winners were safe and the smaller losers could be the winner, the cost of their food more than what they lost. In that manner, we enjoyed our gambling without being greedy, without thinking of gambling as a way to get other people's money. And that was a good way to prevent addiction to gambling. Of course, there were people who considered that a waste of time and effort. For us, we reaped comradeship and joy without any fear of financial problems. We gambled without fear of loss, except the loss of an adrenaline surge.

However, it is the adrenaline surge which resulted from the fear of losing and the excitement of winning that attracted people to gambling. It was the same surge that cause those people to be addicted. And how many people have gambled and consistently win. It has always been when the gambler wins, he hopes to win even more just to find that his/her winning streak is bound to change. And when the gamble loses, he gambles on, with a loan from someone perhaps, to hope for the losing streak to change but before the change comes, his/her financial resources has run out. Thus, most of the time, gamblers lose.

Then, who wins? You see, gamblers need a place to gamble day after day. They have to pay for it. In mahjong, they pay by the game. Then again, the loser have to think of the interest on the loan he/she took. The winner become the big spender of the day, thus lessening his/her winnings. In the long run, the wise ones who give out loans, those who let their premises be used to get 'rental', and the food suppliers are the real winners while most of the gamblers lose.

The unfortunate thing is that there are people who are not financially sound among such gambling addicts. There are even house-wives among them. When they do not have sufficient money to try and recoup their loses, they borrow. And when they have no money to return the loans, and so as to not let the household members or the husband know, they have sometimes no alternative but to trade with what they have, their body.Yes, from the guy who give out such loans, I have personally heard about how such loans are settled when it is just not possible to do it with cash. Depending upon the amount owed it is either cheap thrills or prostitution. For such women, it is sometimes the easy way out. (This is from true stories that I know.)

For the gambling men, there is no such easy way out. Unless they meet with a gay perhaps, they have to find the hard cash to repay the loan. We have often read of the dilemma of such men when they have to run away to escape the wrath of the people they owe.

I have personally known of a Chinese physician who borrowed so much to support his folly that he had to run off in the middle of the night to a destination unknown even to his own relatives, leaving behind his house, car and all other belongings. Imagine how desperate he must have been!

As it can be seen, gambling is one of the worst vices humans can have. Therefore, it is important that children be taught about this and prevented from being too carried away by the adrenaline surge from gambling. Give them other activities instead. Gambling is certainly not an activity to be encouraged or allowed free reign, even during a festive season.

Parents must constantly be vigilant.

Each year, we notice children who,instead of attending school as intentioned by their parents, play truant and loitered the streets or gathered in some places to avoid studying.

The cause of this could be an inability to follow the lessons any longer due to one reason or another. It could also be due to bad influence from the wrong people, possibly fellow students of the recalcitrant.

Whatever the reason for such behaviour from a student, the parents play an important role to prevent the child from sinking to a level where help may be a little too late. If, for example, a child had started taking drugs in the company of some bad influence, it could be difficult, although not impossible, to help the child out of problem.

Some children who play truant even change out of their uniform into ordinary everyday clothes so as to escape detection by any observer. In such a case, should not the parents realise that something must be amiss when each day that child must be putting extra clothes into the schoolbag or giving extra clothes to wash? Certainly, the child cannot be involved in some kind of physical exercise everyday of the week! Even if some plausible excuse could be given, parents could contact the school, school authorities are just one phone call away, to inquire about their child's presence in the school.

Then, there is the report card for each semester which parents are to scrutinise and know how the child is progressing in the school, know the child's strength and weaknesses in academic subjects as well as the total number of days he had attended school. Just a look at that report card merely twice a year is sufficient for the parent to realise how the child is progressing in the various subjects being studied and how constant the attendance has been. It certainly does not require a lot of work and effort to obtain such valuable information about one's child. And, even if the child does no produce the report card but forge the father's or mother's signature required in the report card, six months without a report card's appearance should certainly be a warning that something was obviously wrong and an investigation through just one phone call to the school authorities must be made.

If we find out early the problems of our children, it would be easier to help them to overcome those problems. Knowing this will not help unless parents take action to know how their children are doing in school. If it is truancy, a talk with the children to find out the cause may be reveal the truth but the children would understand that they have been found out and would most probably stop the truancy. Of course, once the problem is known, parents must monitor the activities and movements of their children to ensure they are safe from the many traps and dangers that awaits unwary children.

If it is weakness in certain subjects, then parents could get people to help with some tuition on the subjects concerned. Even if the children are unable to eventually catch up in those subjects, such an act by parents is clear indication to the child that the parents love them. That love is a major weapon against any danger that threatens from outside the home.

As it can be seen, it does not take a lot of effort to ensure our children are safe and not enticed by outsiders into undesirable activities. All that is needed is loving attention to them each and every day.

It's all up to us.

There is no end to complaints. Each day we hear them from people we meet. These days, the weather is often the subject for complaints. It is either too hot or too wet.

A semi-paralysed friend of mine remarked that it certainly is not easy to be God. Well, with a higher post comes greater responsibility. God is deemed to be the one in charge of the world and its happenings, especially those which are unfortunate. I remember one politician who was well-known for blaming it on God when unfortunate incidents happen. Looks like God is also an easy scrapegoat. Fortunately for us humans, God is beyond such petty things and so does not take issue with anyone.

Coming back to this semi-paralysed friend, he said it was clear that people blame God for almost everything concerning the weather. When it is hot, almost everyone, except hawkers selling drinks and coffee-shop owners of course, complains and prays for rain. When it rains, depending upon the time of day, there are still people who will complain, especially hawkers and people on errants.

Thinking of what my friend told me, is it not true that there is always something to complain about if we wish to find fault? There is not a single day when complaints are not heard. Yet if we look around more appreciatively, there is so much to be thankful for, the most obvious being the fact that we are still alive and able to sense all the things around us in this world.

So, how are the colours of your world? Are they the light shades of whites, reds, pinks, yellows, blues, orange, purples and greens and are they only the shades of grey? Who created those colours for ourselves? If we were to smile at ourselves and love the beloved face right there in the mirror, there can be no grey. There can only be grey when we start looking for wrinkles and blemishes.

Face the world with delight due to a gratitude to be still alive to experience another life-enriching day. Appreciation and gratitude for all that is still yours to enjoy can never bring complaints. Thus, it is up to us what or how the world is, a world full of thins to complain about or a world full of wonderful possiblities and probabilty. See, it is all up to us.

That was what my dear paralysed friend was trying to say, that no matter how it is and who it is out there, even God, there is still so much to complain about if we search for something to find fault with. On the other hand, there is so much to be thankful for.

Have a wonderful day, my friends.

Praise be to god for such noble deeds.

Every human heart has kindness and beauty in its core. And this manifests itself in the charitable ways of our brothers and sisters of this world. This is especially so during a time of cheer such as the Chinese New Year.

This year, for example, The Art of Living, Sungai Petani, has some very noble ways of celebrating the new year.

First, there is a round of requests for donations from the members themselves so as to prepare red packets and food for the more than three hundred inhabitants of the Old Folks' Home in Bedong. For ordinary folks with no desire for any publicity to think of helping the old folks to enjoy together with the group, it is such a wonderful thought.

Then comes the idea of praying for our wildlife, releasing some of the wild birds, fish and frogs back into their habitat together with a prayer that they could find the way to rebirth into a higher form of life. Whether this is possible or not is immaterial. What matters is the thought that went into the action. The fact that these people think of those whom they believe are less fortunate at a time when there was no necessity to do so proves that they believe they are in a way responsible for not just themselves but for everything that is in their environment. If everyone in this world could come together as one in such noble thoughts, this world would have no wars, no killing, no unnecessary death, no unneccesary fear, no ugliness and life would indeed be beautiful or one and all in this world.

I happen to be one of those who still have some way to go to achieve such noble thoughts though I have realised for some time that this ought to be the way. I can only console myself that I am willing to learn to be as noble, willing to strive to be a better man. Well, as a nature lover, I am certainly never intentionally cruel to animals or things of nature. I used to pluck some of the leaves on my way up or down the hill and there was this lovely friend who obvilusly knew better how to care for nature and she told me not to pluck the leaves. Since then, I have realised that those plants could possibly feel hurt by my action and now I refrain from such an action. Thanks to the friend.

The benefits of a new year.

It is great that we look towards the moon to calculate the number of days in a lunar month and the seasons to get twelve months in a year.

However, why do we have seven days in a week and see the moon twice in a lunar month-on the first and fifteenth day of the month. Since it is a lunar month, why not put that as two months? Then we could have 24 months in a year. Well, I used to wonder a lot about such things.

However, I know the good reasons we have a new year day, be it lunar or Chinese, Muslim or any other kind of calender.

The first day of the new year gives us a new beginning. If the previous year had not been good, we can have another try at it. That is why people think of new resolutions, another chance, another twelve months to achieve what we failed to accomplish in the past year.

Besides that, the knowledge that the new year is just round the corner gives us the impetus to clean up not just the mess in improving ourselves, also the mess in our house. it gives us new vigour to remove all the cobwebs from the ceiling and hidden corners of our rooms. It gives us good reason to clean up the whole house as we know there will be visitors and our house-proud ego demands that our home looks presentable to all those who come.

And that is the reason the eve of the Chinese New Year is the time relatives come a calling or gather at one of the houses to have reunion lunch or dinner. Reunion dinners are important as it is the time of the year when all the close relatives get the opportunity to meet each other and overcome whatever distance that could have occured the last twelve months.

It is also the time for friends to have the chance to gather to exchange news and information about each other. Sometimes, we defer meeting with friends due to our presumably tight schedule. Thus, when the new year holidays come, we feel obligatd to visit, removing all excuses for not doing so. Sometimes, we just need such a reason to be closer with our friends.

Well, is not the celebration of a new year so beneficial to us? To all those celebrating the new year, let's look forward to better things to come.

You can be still young as long as.....

What caught my eyes in the news this morning was the true story of an 88 year old who beat 86 other participants in the 3-day Johor International Kit festival to win the Best International Kite Performance trophy. This Taiwanese, Robert Yen, who had competed in this annual competition for the last 14 years was the oldest participant this year. Although he was aged eighty-eight years, he looked so hail and hearty. I should be really happy to be that good looking at that age. What a marvellous start for the year!

I am pleased to note that it all started as a hobby at the age of eight years. It means that there is a passion for something in his life. That is important for then, there is meaning in still being alive after we have retired from the financial development part of our lives. to be still young; here I throw out those meaningless numbers, the chronological age of a person. It is more the energy we are capable of having, the strength to carry on with activities throughout the day and the desire to wake up each day with eagerness to perform in our passionate activities. If we have at least those, if not more, then we can consider ourselves still young.

Having a passion for some kind of activity is important to life. What is life without that but sleeping, eating, working and trying to last till the end of the day without any excitement or joy in the day's activities. To me that is not meaningful life. That is merely survival, living each day aimlessly.

Furthermore, any kind of passion for any kind of activity would keep our mind and body healthy. With the passion for an activity, the mind and its thoughts are consistently returning to the activity, thinking of how to improve on the activity, how to go further into it and participate in it to the highest level, maybe in competition. when the mind is active, the mind will be stronger and not deteriorate into amnesia in later years.

In any sustained activity, the body has the opportunity to maintain if not increase muscle mass. Whether muscle mass is increased or not depends upon the type of activity involved. If the activity necessitates increasing strength, then the opportunity to increase muscle mass will be there. Even for those people whose activity does not increase the volume of muscles, the urge to remain healthy and be strong enough to continue the activity can motivate the person to take up some weight-lifting exercises to maintain the muscles or increase its mass. When muscle mass is maintained or increased, strength will be improved and with some kind of impact activity, bone density will remain sufficiently good for agility and any required movement. Through activity, fat can be reduced. With more muscles than fat, the metabolic rate of our body will be better, preventing obesity. With activity, our aerobic capacity will remain better than those who are sedentary which means we will be not pant and become tired easily. Then, with activity, the body functions of removing toxic waste are in greater condition. Thereafter, with the right nutrition and rest, the kidneys, the liver, the big intestines and the skin will be in tip-top condition. And with strength, agility, good metabolic rate, less body fat content and a well regulated waste disposal system, we can be assured the body will be able to function just as well as any forty-year old, if not better. Thus, our body's youthfulness can be maintained, no matter which number we have reached on the chronological age level.

As we can see, with an interested activity, it is not difficult to remain youthful and active throughout life.

To stimulate the brain.

When we wish to proceed with a project, and we have settled the problem of giving time to it, then we ought to start with it immediately when we know what to do to achieve the necessary success. As we already know, we should start developing our children's brain, together with its body, the day the children are born, if not after the fourth month of conception in the womb.

The next question is what can we do to stimulate the growth and development of our beloved children. Yes, the aim is to stimulate so that the brain would respond and develop to accommodate the knowledge or skill necessary for the child's growth in every possible sphere.

Knowledge involves understanding while skill involves movement. Together they help the child to develop every part of him/her to the highest potential possible. Both ought to be developed together.

In stimulating the brains of our children, the parents are the most important people. They are the children's first and most suitable teachers. Teaching begins with them and they are the ones most knowledgeable or understanding of their own children. If, due to circumstances beyond their control, parents are unable to spend sufficient time with their children to make a difference, then these parents still have the responsibility to ensure the right guardians or child-minders are selected to do the job of stimulating the minds of their children.

Where does all the stimulation and training start? Well, the whole world is our classroom and all audio visual aids as well as practical training venues are found in it. How big your world is depends upon the time available and the expences needed. Everything else in here in this world.

For a start, the cot and the surrounding space in a room is the baby;s world. In it are also the parents, possibly brothers or sisters and grandparents. Of course, there are the toys hung above the cot.

Linguistic intelligence and interpersonal intelligence are the starting points. Parents and other humans who come into contact should speak in proper language and not baby talk which will be useless and discarded soon. Talk to the baby even though there is no responce. Greet the baby, ask questions or make comments on the baby's actions, smile, toys, food and the weather. We could talk as though the baby understands everything there is to say. Vocabulary is being registered in the brain. Later, all this will quicken the child's learning process.

Play with the child, get him/her to smile and laugh. Move the toy hung above the cot and get his eyes to follow the action as early as possible. The suitable toy should provide sound as well as moovement. Let the baby enjoy and register the sound of bells or any other clanging sounds.

Next, we can introduce texture to the child. Let the child know smoothness and roughness and any other textures available. Introduce the new words on textures. Allow the baby to mouth his/her fingers and toys after ensuring that they are clean and safe from dirt, germs and lead.

Then, there is movement. Get the child to move his hands and legs as well as turn his/her head.

Carry the baby and give the baby a chance to bond. Play with your baby. Let others bond with your baby too so that your child has an early start at interpersonal intelliegence development. Some children are so used to only their parents and siblings that they avoid strangers and find it difficult to enjoy the closeness of others.

From the cot and the home, the child widens his/her world into the garden and the neighbourhood. Talk about the new things he/she encounters here. Let the child experience the places. Parents' method of stimulating the child's brain for knowledge and skill is similar with slight variations. Again the verbal-linguistic intelligence is stimulated except that the child by now could start to ask questions which needed to be answered. If the parents can read up or learn in order to provide interesting and provoking answers to arouse curiousity, the brain would want to know more. Of course, the more is known, the more there is to know. If parents cannot provide the right answers, then the parents can take the child further afield to the library, the book-shop, the internet, the acquarium (At this point I still remember very well the little boy I saw at an acquarium shop who was full of questions for his delightful mother on all the fish and creatures seen in that place), the sundry shop, the supermarket, the wet-market, the public gardens, the zoo, art studios, musuems, the sea-side, the hills, the swamps, the rivers and any other place we can find in and around our town or village.

From here on, go and explore wherever and whatever is possible and within reach. Let the child know all there is to know within those six or seven years of his/her life.

Teach him/her to read and stimulate his/her love for reading. A love for reading is important as it is through books and the experiences of other people that we know and understand so many other things which is beyond our time and expenses to have.

Play is an important part of learning. Imagination is just as important. A child may discover the wonderful feeling of being able to cure others through pretending to be a doctor with a toy stethoscope and a stringe. Playing and taking apart watches and radios may anger parents as the expensive objects are destroyed in the process but it could be the result of curiousity to understand the workings of such things. We may be having an engineer or an inventor in our midst.

Talking about imagination, there was a time I saw parents dressing up their little children in graduates' attire and having them photographed. That was good, had the parents continued the process by telling the child that the first step to graduation is the ability to understand words well, read books and able to put thoughts and ideas on paper or in words. Then constantly remind the child of the path towards it with more stimulation towards whatever interests which could move the child towards that goal.

Many things in life require some kind of skill. For instance, a start could be made on skill development when the child has a bicycle. Show the child how to change a tyre or a bulb. Later, when the child grows up and is stronger, this child would know how to do it with a spanner and other instruments. Start with simple skills and go on to more difficult ones. Once a child has some skills mastered, he/she will be more than willing to learn whatever skills he/she comes across.

What about the child's bodily-kinesthetic intelligence? It all starts with walking, running, jumping, balancing, riding a bicycle, kicking footballs, throwing balls, bouncing balls; all of which leads to development of balance, agility, coordination, control, strength, stamina and endurance. With all these well developed, a child has the confidence to take on any sport he/she is interested in. He/She will not be left out in this field. Not only that, as many everyday actions require all these developments, he/she will find life so much easier to enjoy and be happy with. Almost anything would be within his/her reach. And the child will be stronger, healthier and fitter too. I wish to especially stress this point as an increasing number of parents think physical development not as important as verbal-linguistic development.

I remember that the one most important factor that removed whatever inferiority complex that I had as a child, was a strong and healthy body able to take on anythign physical as well as linguistic. With a healthy body, circulation is better and therefore, concentration is longer; and concentration is important in the classroom or the lecture room.

Well, all this will come to nought unless there are parents who would take on the job of developing their children's brains and bodies to their highest potential.

Understand your child's innate intelligence.

We have often heard of people who change their occupations after they have graduated from a university.

There was this man who studied to be a doctor and a surgeon but became a teacher instead. 'Stupid' could very well be the word in your mind as you read this. Perhaps, but then what is more important than happiness? it could be said to be mind-boggling should someone stop being a surgeon with nothing to fall back on or to work on/with. Now, this guy was not going to go 'hungry'. He has a job except that it is less lucrative. He is happier with his new job.

What could have caused this phenomenon? Well, it could have been the result of parents who have fixed their minds to what they want their children to be. Many parents I know of have to wish to see their children become doctor despite the fact that such children are not interested in that profession. The parents are interested, not for the growth of their children's innate intelligence but for the financial rewards such a profession can bring.

There was a time when parents sent their children to learn music and forced them to attend lessons despite protests from them. I have heard complaints from children who has insufficient intelligence in that area.

So, there is a need for parents, grandparents and guardians as well as educationists to understand that every child is unique in his/her own way. That is why parents must learn to look for the type of intelligence their child possess.

I have included educationist in my group of people who ought to be aware of children and their particular type of intelligence as there was a time;perhaps it is being in practice; when politicians get educationists to produce scientists who have no innate logical intelligence; when they put all bright students, even those who excel more in linguistic intelligence, in the science stream with the idea of producing scientists and doctors. The result has already been written in an earlier post. I have written about the child who ran away from his university to enter a college when he heard that his application to enter that college had been approved. The parents were flabbergasted at the move but the child was happy and relieved to find himself in the right place for his particular intelligence.

So it is time parents pay more attention to the innate intelligence of their child so that their child gets the opportunity to develope his innate intelligence potential to the full, so that he enjoys his work through being in the right profession or work.

In my next posting, I wish to discuss the various types of intellience children can possibly possess and help parents to recognise their precious children's potential. In my study of achieving the innate intelligence potential, I came across a name which is indeed inspiring for he found his born obstacle a motivation for him to realise his innate intelligence. From there he reached even greater heights in other spheres of life. And his story will follow the one on innate intelligence for there is a connection.

Do whatever is possible.

Laws are made by humans and they are certainly not perfect. However, laws are essential for safety and peace of the people. Safety and peace from inhumane adults can only be possible through justice. Nevertheless, justice must be dealt with compassion. Below is a letter written by me and published in the Star some months ago.


Have a heart for woman who stole blanket

I STRONGLY feel something is not right when a poor lady who steals a blanket for her ailing grandma because she cannot afford to buy one as advised by her grandma’s doctor, is jailed for five days and fined a sum of RM500.
Furthermore, if she cannot afford to pay the fine, she would have to spend more time in jail.
I understand very well that she has committed a serious offence and that it is the court’s duty to punish her.
However, considering that the court knows this person stole because she had no money to pay for a blanket and investigations had found that to be true, should not the court have some compassion?
I believe there are NGOs or government bodies who can help her.
I also wonder where she would be hunting for the RM500 to pay for the fine. Will she turn to the loan sharks?
And if she is the only caretaker of her grandma, who would care for the old lady while she spends five days in jail?

What do you think of the poor lady who stole a blanket?

I had to write about the poor lady whose circumstances caused her to steal. She was a caring grand-daughter who wanted to follow the doctor's advice to give her grandmother a blanket. Without money to do so, she was forced to steal to help her grandmother.

Despite knowing that she stole because she had not even enough money to buy a blanket, the court fined her 500 ringgit which would have been a big sum of money for someone who did not even have money for a blanket.

To add to her burden, she was jailed for five days which would have deprived her grandmother of this granddaughter's care for five long days. Yes, an ailing woman who needs help would find five days a little too long. It might have been too long for her to survive that number of days.

God bless us all. Fortunately, there are very kind souls in our world who form NGOs to help such people. You see, a day after the above letter was published by the Star, a representative from an NGO contacted me through the Star to find out more about the case. i supplied whatever information I could. I believed the woman did get help. Thank God!

As for me, I was glad that i did write that letter and brought attention to that lady. I did it because i feel it is everyone's responsibility to do whatever one can, in whatever way possible, as all humans are brothers and sisters. As we in the Art of Living say, "We are a One World Family".

Law Chu Hian- On positive attitudes acquired from cancer.

The writer with Law Chu Hian on the right

Below is Law Chu Hian in action.



At the Art of Living Centre in Sungai Petani, about two hundred and fifty people came to listen to a man who was full of humour and positive vibes. With his wit, he entertained the audience for an hour, possibly one and a half, with his talk of positive attitudes acquired through getting cancer.

The man was none other than the retired well-known popular TV7 Mandarin news reader, Law Chu Hian, aged 45 who found himself a cancer patient five years ago. Since his recovery, he had lived his life to the full. According to him, should he die after having utilised his time to the full, he will have no regrets.

One of the things he said was about making sure that the body can be helped to stay healthy by not getting angry. Anger only hurts the one who is angry. When you are angry, toxins will be sent forth from your own body.

One of his ways to be positive and happy was similar to the teaching of the Art of Living: Live for the present moment. Enjoy and be happy with whatever the present moment presents. "The present moment is a present for you," he said. And that carries a lot of truth. Be grateful that you are alive and able to enjoy the present moment. That is a lot to be thankful for. Many people live in the past, constanting bringing back unnecessary pain and unhappiness experienced; while some lived for the future, dreaming of what is yet to come, nothing possibly concrete; when everyone should be living in the present, doing the things to be done now, planning what is feasible.

He also joked and talked of gratitude. He told us that we should be grateful for all the things we have. Be grateful for whatever we have. Do not envy people who have big cars. If you have an old car, be grateful that it could take you wherever you want to go. If you have a motorcycle, be grateful that you do not have to walk to your destination. If you have no vehicle, be grateful that you have legs that can take you around, and perhaps be grateful to take a ride in a bus with a driver to take you some place.

When a person had cancer and recovers, he knows that he has been given a second chance in life. Everything is so very precious. Be grateful to the people closest to you, your wife or husband, your children and your relatives. Communicate with them. Do not say you do not have the time to sit down and communicate with them.

Another point he made was, 'Accept situations as they are. For some people, have wife/husband, also bad. No wife/husband, also bad.' It ought to be 'Have wife/husband, that's good. No wife/husband, that's also good. Be happy with whatever you have.

He also talked on stress. He joked about a chap in a queeue at the post office who was so stressed while waiting for his turn. He told us about the complains of a wife made at a Valentine's dinner which he attended although he is a bachelor. He told us that the next year found the man at the valentine dinner with another girl. So, do not complain. Appreciate the fact that someone loves you and is romantic enough to take you to the dinner.

And at home, appreciate whatever is done, for someone had put in time and effort to make your house a home.

(Blogger's note: Mr. Law Chu Hian spoke in Mandarin, a language this blogger did not learn in school. My Mandarin Language proficiency is only 1.8 out of a hundred. Thus, it is shamefully low. Through the help of an interpreter friend at the talk and my low language proficiency, the above is what I gathered from the talk. Any mistake in the material is due to my weakness. A thousand apologies to all of you.)

Good prenatal care and parent's health can prevent brain abnormalities

A week ago, a friend complained about her maid and the agency which provided her with such a maid.

According to her, the maid just could not learn to do the simple house work that is required of her. Although taught for two months the use of the washing machine, the drying of the clothes and other daily necessary maintenance work, she just could not perform without supervision.

According to the lady, the maid has no brain for learning even the simplest things.

I understood very well her frustration at having to supervise every move of the maid but I also could not help but feel sorry for the maid who could be suffering from some kind of problem due to an abnormality in her brain.

The proper development of the brain determines the future of the child. The child who has abnormalities in his/her brain will have to go through life suffering the scolding and disgust of disgruntled parents, teachers, spouse and employers.

A pregnant mother may discover from her gynecologist that abnormality in the brain may occur at prenatal stage due to poor prenatal care or the health of the pregnant mother.

Other than this, too much shaking of the head or a fall with the head striking the floor hard can cause damage.

Cerebral palsy, dyslexia and dyscalculia are the possible problems that may arise due to some abnormality of the development of the brain.

According to medical science, cerebral palsy which impairs the flow of messages from the brain to the muscles is an injury to a foetus' brain during late pregnancy or the first two years of a child's life.

Dyslexia is a learning disorder due to difficulties in recognising and understanding written language. This is not due to low intelligence or brain damage. It is believed to be due to an abnormality in the brain. According to medical science research, reading therapy has been able to stimulate as well as correct the brain.

Similar to dyslexia, is a mental disability known as dyscalculia which has to do with a poor ability at figures in arithmetic.

We are fortunate that medical science has been able to pinpoint the problems and their origins. It is up to the parents to prevent them. When faced with such problems, immediate action to consult the relevant specialists must be taken to overcome them to help the child get a better chance at success.

Believe that it can be done!

When our children want to take on any challenge, be it an elocution competition or an English commentary on a Japanese movie, encourage them. This is especially so when our children themselves voiced their wish to go for it.

As parents, we ought to understand that every challenge our children willingly takes on must always be considered as a step towards self improvement.

I know there are some who would like to point out that our children may fail in the challenge. “So what?” I would say. After all, is not life always full of challenges? Are not failures a part of the learning process? And if our children are not allowed to face challenges they believe they have the opportunity to succeed in; then, when are they going to know their potentials, when are they going to know their limits and when are they going to improve? How are they going to learn everything about their capabilities when they only see the possiblities and the probabilities but not the certainty? How are they going to know themselves well?

It is not the failing that we ought to fear, for it is the attitude towards it that matters. In life, if we fear failure, then we will never try anything. Then, what possible thing can we get out of life? For, in all ventures that we ever made, there is always the chance to succeed or fail. Nevertheless, without any attempt, how are we ever to know which will be the outcome?

Take falling in love. If we do not allow ourselves to do so, how are we ever to know the outcome? Even if we fail in our first love, that should not deter us from falling in love again. What is important is the ability to face failure, take it as a part of life, learn from it our own weaknesses and go on to live another love. Those who commit suicide as a result of such a failure are those whose minds are unaware that one love does not a make a whole life-time. They have never known how to face problems and challenges in life. Maybe, they were never given the opportunity to face life's challenges. Even if love matures into marriage, marriage does not guarantee happiness forever. Marriage merely gives us the opportunity to help each other to reach happiness through love. The possibility and probability of happiness is there. The challenge lies in the sustenance of love. (I shall go into that in a future post for it's a subject I have thought deeply about.)

In every competition our children take part in, there is always the chance to fail to emerge as the best. No matter how good our children are, there could always be someone better at a particular time. However, that is not true failure!

What is failure to us? It depends upon how you look at it. For example, is being in second place a failure? What about third place? Fourth place? To me, so long as they benefit from the participation, they have won something. They have gained something. Do you agree? Please think about it.

Furthermore, being in fourth place is not being a failure. It merely means that at that particular time, three persons managed to prove themselves better. It could be they have more experience, more knowledge and longer training in attaining certain required skills. Of course, we should not make these our excuses. However, given the same experience, knowledge and training, the fourth placed person may turn out to be even better than the present best. In true life, we see it happen all the time. They move up the ranks and become the world's best in time to come.

Even if your child does not get a placing, he/she has learned something. He would have understood himself/herself better and know which field to enter in future.

The wonderful thing about challenges and activities which our children want to face in their youth is they give our children the chance to understand and know their own strength and weaknesses, their potentials and their limits. And if parents give them the encouragement by appreciating their aspirations and their efforts, they can develop great attitudes, excellent resilience and a strong character.

To know our weaknesses, limits, strength and potentials is important as with that knowledge, we know in which career or sphere of life we would be able to excel. Let us face the fact that no individual can be excellent in everything. Some cannot excel in science but are fabulous in arts. Every one of us can, with the right knowledge, be successful in many things but the chances of being successful are much better in areas where our strengths and potentials lie.

Just as a general with knowledge of his army’s strengths and weaknesses can plan a suitable strategy to win, so can our children if they understand their own capabilities and weaknesses well.

All of us have our weaknesses and limits. Some among us, I am one of them, cannot excel in singing or dancing, although we are among the best in other matters. If we know our weaknesses in singing, we can put some effort into overcoming it and thus, still have fun or be fairly good at it but we know we can never be another Elvis Presley or Cliff Richard no matter how much we train or how many times we go onto a stage.

Never mind, just be like me. I can still sing to myself to my heart's content in my bathroom. I am my own best fan!

Actually, there are many adults who do not fully know their own strengths and weaknesses or potentials and limits. For our children to have this knowledge, we ought to encourage them to try out whatever they want. This is the kind of knowledge that will indicate which direction probably leads to success and which possibly takes them to dead-ends. Such knowledge is similar to a map which shows dead-end roads as well as all the roads leading to success.

So, should we not encourage our children in whatever dreams they have?

Antenatal care is essential to the fetus' health.

Do you know that antenatal care can minimize premature birth? Abnormality in the brain can occur at antenatal stage due to poor antenatal care or the health of the pregnant mother. Since a healthy brain and body, to a great extent, determine the future of your child, prenatal as well as pregnancy stage care is of great importance.

When my wife went into hospital for Cushing Syndrome, she was asked what medicine she was taking. When the doctor was told that she was not taking any other medicine except that given by the hospital, they asked a number of times whether she was taking any over the counter tonic or medicine. They suspected that whatever tonic or medicine which she had taken must have contained steroids. However, she did not. Doctors at the hospital did explain that most cases of Cushing Syndrome result from taking medicine containing steroids. Sometimes, taking such medicine is unavoidable in order to cure another sickness. In such a case, Cushing Syndrome is a side effect.

Medicine and its side effect can cause us serious sickness. Imagine what can possibly happen should our unborn child were to consume such medicine through the mother. After all, at this time, all fetuses get their nutrition from the mother. And, whatever medicine or chemicals in the bloodstream of the mother goes to the fetus as well.

What are the possible problems that come with abnormality of the development of the brain? We have cerebral palsy, dyslexia and dyscalculia.

According to medical science, cerebral palsy which impairs the flow of messages from the brain to the muscles, is an injury to the fetus’ brain during late pregnancy or the first two years of a child’s life.

Dyslexia is a learning disorder due to difficulties in recognizing and understanding written language. This is not due to low intelligence or brain damage. It is believed to be due to an abnormality of the brain. According to medical science research, reading therapy has been able to stimulate and correct the brain.
Similar to dyslexia is a mental disability known as dyscalculia which has to do with poor ability at figures in arithmetic.

However, should such problems arise, parents should not play the blame game but take positive immediate action to consult the relevant specialists to help their children overcome them and lead a normal life.

Language learning through singing.

Songs are an important aid to language learning. It is effective because it brings joy too. Through the enjoyment of the musical rhythm and the rhymes in the lyrics, words and sentences in songs are remembered easily. Good sentences in songs help your child to remember correct sentence structures; thus helping him to construct good sentences.

Today, we have karaoke video compact discs in which lyrics of songs are given. In following the lyrics, the child is reading words. If the child is encouraged to sing a variety of songs using such karaoke discs, the vocabulary expands as more words are encountered.

As singing is an enjoyable activity, with the assistance of karaoke discs, children can read and gradually remember words as they sing. The remembered words are used again and again each time the child sings. Such type of ‘homework’, remembering words in songs, is a pleasure to do and because it is so enjoyable, this remembering of words is performed so often.

Imagine the amount of benefits parents derive from this activity. Children respond willingly to such learning. The activity can take up a lot of time without the danger of boredom, giving parents time to finish their housework. Words are more easily remembered and learned. It helps the child to express themselves as songs tell stories (folk and children songs) and express love or frustrations (love songs).

And if your child happens to have good vocal cords, he/she may become a singer. Success, popularity and money can soon be on its way. You would have put your child on the road to her success, and a change in your future!

Ah! But do not do it for your future. Do it for his/hers. It is the child’s development and safety that count. Develop the child’s talent without force or haste. Let the child enjoy his/her childhood as well. Many parents fail at this point and we have singers who miss out on this part of their growth. They are forced to mature too soon. Missed forever is a part of their lives. Don't you think so?

That is not important? Well, we will never know for sure. But, I do know that there were young singers who had found fame and fortune, resorted to drugs and a few even committed suicides. Could missing that part of their lives be the cause? Had they taken on too much stress too early in their lives? You are the loving parent. So you decide.But, do think about it!