You have read the story of Michael Malloy,‘The man who would not die.’ in 'article of the day' provided by 'The Free Dictionary', dated 3 May 2009, a Sunday. To collect their insurance on him, the five villains had to resort to so many ways to kill him. They gave the alcoholic so many drinks throughout the day. Yet, he survived! They replaced his drinks with poisons such as antifreeze, turpentine, horse liniment and rat poison.He did not die! They made him eat raw oysters soaked in wood alcohol, carpet tacks and metal shavings. It did not affect him in any way. They even left him in the snow to freeze. He did not have any problem with that! Finally, in desperation, they drove a taxi at 45 mph into him. It only landed him in a hospital for a few weeks! It was, of course a fantastic story. How was it possible for a man to not die despite being given so many harmful as well as poisonous things to ingest? How was it possible with so many attempts on his life? Unbelievable! Yet, according to the story, it was true.
Eventually, he did die of gas poisoning in January 1933 when they used a hose to pump gas from a jet into his lungs. With that, the story illustrates very well how success was finally achieved through perseverance. If, at any one of their failures, they had given up, their scheme would not have succeeded!
In our lives, even in honest living, there are times we face hardship and problems which seem to dog us every step of the way.
For me, it was my poor health during the first fifteen years of my life. Fate dealt me what seemed a lousy card which turned out to be my lucky draw. Through having suffered the first few years and the trauma of having a medium walk over my painful body, I realized the importance of good health.
Good health is not easy to come by when one’s body is weak and often wreaked with mysterious kinds of sickness. It took many years of struggle to reach the health I enjoy today. If, at any time I had lost hope of turning my health around, I would have remained a sickly, weak person. And because it took so much and so long to arrive at this health, I treasure it even more.
My health is a part of my thoughts every day. I am constantly in search of ways to improve my health even more. Once I told a friend about the latest health research on a certain natural supplement and was making enquires on it; with the friend’s astonishment at my search expressed thus: ‘Come on! You do not need to think of improving your health any more. Look at you! What more do you want?’
Inventors are constantly trying out things to improve on certain things which they have their minds on. Sometimes, it is easy. At other times, it is tough. At such times, they have to persevere. If, for a moment, they become frustrated and drop their project, all their efforts would have gone down the drain.
To be successful in life, we have to learn to drop away frustrations and disappointments and continue to work at the things we want out of life.
Life’s like that. Isn’t that true?
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Monday, May 04, 2009
Abuse of knowledge.
For every child or adult, using knowledge gained through understanding of experience, can lead to praiseworthy, mind development.
Even for the naughty and the pampered, it is still praiseworthy mind development to be capable to use knowledge gained from everyday experience to manoeuvre their parents or to achieve certain goals.
But, sometimes naughty and pampered children with such intelligence developed through their experiences, may abuse the use of such knowledge with advantageous manoeuvre to their disadvantage when they manage to have parents allow them to be undisciplined and lazy.
I know of a child who would pretend to have a headache each time his sister wanted to tutor him on any school subject. He faked his headache so well that his parents were usually too worried to have him continue studying. It pained his parents to see their beloved child suffer just to complete some home-work or learn a new topic.
It started with a real headache one evening. His parents were worried at the sight of his contorted face expressing the pain he then felt. They were worried and got him to lie down while they searched for some pain-killer. His pain gradually went away with the help of some food taken before swallowing two tablets of panadol.
Since then, each time they wanted him to study, he had ready the perfect escape from his dreaded studies.
Unfortunately for that child, his parents were concerned but not knowledgeable enough to send him for a medical check-up. Perhaps, the truth could then be known, and remedial action could still be taken.
As a result of the child’s abuse of this knowledge of his parents, he avoided having to study as hard as his siblings and soon his results deteriorated. He ended up less literate than his siblings. As we can see, the advantage of gaining that knowledge has lead to the disadvantage of being semi-literate.
Thus, knowledge on its own, without the wisdom of farsightedness or that of knowing parents, is not necessarily an advantage.
Knowledge is only useful when correctly applied. Knowledge, just like fire can brighten our world or burn and destroy our future. Do you agree with that?
Even for the naughty and the pampered, it is still praiseworthy mind development to be capable to use knowledge gained from everyday experience to manoeuvre their parents or to achieve certain goals.
But, sometimes naughty and pampered children with such intelligence developed through their experiences, may abuse the use of such knowledge with advantageous manoeuvre to their disadvantage when they manage to have parents allow them to be undisciplined and lazy.
I know of a child who would pretend to have a headache each time his sister wanted to tutor him on any school subject. He faked his headache so well that his parents were usually too worried to have him continue studying. It pained his parents to see their beloved child suffer just to complete some home-work or learn a new topic.
It started with a real headache one evening. His parents were worried at the sight of his contorted face expressing the pain he then felt. They were worried and got him to lie down while they searched for some pain-killer. His pain gradually went away with the help of some food taken before swallowing two tablets of panadol.
Since then, each time they wanted him to study, he had ready the perfect escape from his dreaded studies.
Unfortunately for that child, his parents were concerned but not knowledgeable enough to send him for a medical check-up. Perhaps, the truth could then be known, and remedial action could still be taken.
As a result of the child’s abuse of this knowledge of his parents, he avoided having to study as hard as his siblings and soon his results deteriorated. He ended up less literate than his siblings. As we can see, the advantage of gaining that knowledge has lead to the disadvantage of being semi-literate.
Thus, knowledge on its own, without the wisdom of farsightedness or that of knowing parents, is not necessarily an advantage.
Knowledge is only useful when correctly applied. Knowledge, just like fire can brighten our world or burn and destroy our future. Do you agree with that?
Sunday, May 03, 2009
To share a beautiful story.
Today, I read a story which touched my heart for the second time. The first time was when a wonderful lovely lady told me about it. Although there were a few differences, the story was very similar.
Because such a story is good for our heart and our soul, I wish to share this with all of you. I believe you will be just as touched as I am. Perhaps you can share the story with your friends.
“Ai Wei, somebody told me this story and I immediately thought of you,” she began. That first statement made my day.
“It’s about this gentleman who was in a hurry to get a taxi. Another lady was waiting for a taxi too. Seeing how anxious he was to get a taxi, she asked him where he was going. Was he late for an important appointment? The man said no, that he wanted to go to a nursing home to see his wife.
The lady then asked about his wife, about her health. She was told that the man’s wife had been there for some years.
The lady thought the man must be worried that the wife would be upset if he were a bit late. She voiced her thought and the man sadly told her that his wife suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease, that the wife could no longer recognize who he was for many years.
The lady was surprised and asked, ‘And you still go every morning, even though she no longer knows who you are?’
The man smiled as he replied, ‘She doesn’t know me but I still love her.’
The lady was so touched that she had to hold back her tears and thought, ‘That is the kind of love I want in my life.’ ”
Is the story inspiring? Touching? Any stories to share?
Well, true love is neither physical nor romantic. True love is an acceptance of all that is, no matter what! Maybe I am a romantic but true love is forever. What do you think?
I believe the man lived on, his life still precious and meaningful because he had this wife to love. Thus, it is not strange that this man looks forward to each morning to see his love again.
Therefore, care for your partner well and nurture the love you have for time is too short to waste the love between the two of you. Love earnestly for we know not what tomorrow may bring.
Because such a story is good for our heart and our soul, I wish to share this with all of you. I believe you will be just as touched as I am. Perhaps you can share the story with your friends.
“Ai Wei, somebody told me this story and I immediately thought of you,” she began. That first statement made my day.
“It’s about this gentleman who was in a hurry to get a taxi. Another lady was waiting for a taxi too. Seeing how anxious he was to get a taxi, she asked him where he was going. Was he late for an important appointment? The man said no, that he wanted to go to a nursing home to see his wife.
The lady then asked about his wife, about her health. She was told that the man’s wife had been there for some years.
The lady thought the man must be worried that the wife would be upset if he were a bit late. She voiced her thought and the man sadly told her that his wife suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease, that the wife could no longer recognize who he was for many years.
The lady was surprised and asked, ‘And you still go every morning, even though she no longer knows who you are?’
The man smiled as he replied, ‘She doesn’t know me but I still love her.’
The lady was so touched that she had to hold back her tears and thought, ‘That is the kind of love I want in my life.’ ”
Is the story inspiring? Touching? Any stories to share?
Well, true love is neither physical nor romantic. True love is an acceptance of all that is, no matter what! Maybe I am a romantic but true love is forever. What do you think?
I believe the man lived on, his life still precious and meaningful because he had this wife to love. Thus, it is not strange that this man looks forward to each morning to see his love again.
Therefore, care for your partner well and nurture the love you have for time is too short to waste the love between the two of you. Love earnestly for we know not what tomorrow may bring.
Saturday, May 02, 2009
Clever little rascal!
Children can be clever little rascals! Here is a true story about one of them.
Once upon a time, there was a little boy who was sleepy on a warm, windy afternoon. He was nodding off in his chair when his father saw him. It was evening then and the father did not want him to sleep at that time as it might cause him to be less sleepy at nine o’clock that night. So, the father told the little boy, he was taking him to the coffee-shop nearby to have something to eat.
The little boy, upon hearing of a bicycle ride to the coffee-shop, instantly lost whatever sleepiness he had and quickly followed. It was not every day that the little boy had the chance to go to a coffee-shop. In fact it was a luxury as his father was far from rich. Although the trip there was somewhat bumpy, he enjoyed it. After all he got a free massage which loosened every joint in his body and jolted him awake.
At the coffee-shop, the father ordered some iced mixed fruits and ice-kacang. (Ice-kacang is a bowl of ice shavings with red beans, nuts and maize as well as a beautifully coloured syrup promising a real sweet treat.) He enjoyed the food so much that he was truly glad he did almost dozed off; thus attracting the attention of the father. It certainly was a dream come true!
With the youthful wisdom that what had taken place could happen again; at approximately the same time, he sat in the same chair and pretended to doze when the father was heard approaching.
As expected, the father told him not to sleep but to follow him to the shop again. Again, he got to enjoy the tasty food served there.
His knowledge of handling his father had gained him lovely treats at the shop. He did not waste that knowledge but made full use of it for quite a long time. Experience had taught him parents did fall for certain tricks and here was one which worked miraculously for many years to come.
I know the above did happen because I was that clever little rascal who made full use of the situation.
You see, children can understand and benefit from situations. They can test adults to see how far or how long the knowledge can benefit them. In a way, we can say that children can use and manipulate adults to achieve certain needs or wants.
Every child does it, the good, the naughty and the pampered; (the good, the bad and the ugly.).
For every child, especially the good ones, this may lead to harmless, praiseworthy mind development. Certainly, it takes intelligence to manoeuvre one's parents. Don't you think so?
Once upon a time, there was a little boy who was sleepy on a warm, windy afternoon. He was nodding off in his chair when his father saw him. It was evening then and the father did not want him to sleep at that time as it might cause him to be less sleepy at nine o’clock that night. So, the father told the little boy, he was taking him to the coffee-shop nearby to have something to eat.
The little boy, upon hearing of a bicycle ride to the coffee-shop, instantly lost whatever sleepiness he had and quickly followed. It was not every day that the little boy had the chance to go to a coffee-shop. In fact it was a luxury as his father was far from rich. Although the trip there was somewhat bumpy, he enjoyed it. After all he got a free massage which loosened every joint in his body and jolted him awake.
At the coffee-shop, the father ordered some iced mixed fruits and ice-kacang. (Ice-kacang is a bowl of ice shavings with red beans, nuts and maize as well as a beautifully coloured syrup promising a real sweet treat.) He enjoyed the food so much that he was truly glad he did almost dozed off; thus attracting the attention of the father. It certainly was a dream come true!
With the youthful wisdom that what had taken place could happen again; at approximately the same time, he sat in the same chair and pretended to doze when the father was heard approaching.
As expected, the father told him not to sleep but to follow him to the shop again. Again, he got to enjoy the tasty food served there.
His knowledge of handling his father had gained him lovely treats at the shop. He did not waste that knowledge but made full use of it for quite a long time. Experience had taught him parents did fall for certain tricks and here was one which worked miraculously for many years to come.
I know the above did happen because I was that clever little rascal who made full use of the situation.
You see, children can understand and benefit from situations. They can test adults to see how far or how long the knowledge can benefit them. In a way, we can say that children can use and manipulate adults to achieve certain needs or wants.
Every child does it, the good, the naughty and the pampered; (the good, the bad and the ugly.).
For every child, especially the good ones, this may lead to harmless, praiseworthy mind development. Certainly, it takes intelligence to manoeuvre one's parents. Don't you think so?
Friday, May 01, 2009
Creativity or nastiness?
As the head of the English Language department in a secondary school, Sekolah Menengah Kota Kual Muda, one of my duties was to encourage the use of the language.
One of the ways of accomplishing that was to label whatever could be found in the school. With that in mind, I pasted ‘Girls’ toilet’ on the door of one of the toilets.
A week later, an angry lady teacher came to see me.
“Do you know what your students have done?” she asked.
I shook my head for I was not able to understand her annoyance. “What happened?” I enquired.
She was fuming so badly that instead of answering, she dragged me by the hand to the girls’ toilet.
There, on the door was my label with the apostrophe and the letter ‘i’ whitewashed with liquid paper fluid. It was changed to ‘Girls to let’.
I wanted to smile at the creativity of the students. Yet, it would be insensitive of me to do that in front of this furious teacher. So, I restrained myself and told her our students are quite a cheeky bunch. Putting on a serious demeanour, I told her I would certainly look into the matter.
You see, as I have said before about accepting differing views, this situation calls for that kind of acceptance. For some people, they are of the opinion that such deeds indicate a lack of respect for the women. It could be consider that if the miscreants were adults. When I questioned the students, names were not given but according to those students I believe in, it was a fun thing. Some students were merely being creative with words. If you look at it positively, they were learning English. They were just playing with words. Those students meant no harm. I just accepted the explanation. To the teacher concerned, I assured her the cheeky students were apologetic.
Children can be mischievous. At such times they could merely be showing their skill at something. If that is so, should not the teacher accept their deed as praise-worthy. What do you think?
One of the ways of accomplishing that was to label whatever could be found in the school. With that in mind, I pasted ‘Girls’ toilet’ on the door of one of the toilets.
A week later, an angry lady teacher came to see me.
“Do you know what your students have done?” she asked.
I shook my head for I was not able to understand her annoyance. “What happened?” I enquired.
She was fuming so badly that instead of answering, she dragged me by the hand to the girls’ toilet.
There, on the door was my label with the apostrophe and the letter ‘i’ whitewashed with liquid paper fluid. It was changed to ‘Girls to let’.
I wanted to smile at the creativity of the students. Yet, it would be insensitive of me to do that in front of this furious teacher. So, I restrained myself and told her our students are quite a cheeky bunch. Putting on a serious demeanour, I told her I would certainly look into the matter.
You see, as I have said before about accepting differing views, this situation calls for that kind of acceptance. For some people, they are of the opinion that such deeds indicate a lack of respect for the women. It could be consider that if the miscreants were adults. When I questioned the students, names were not given but according to those students I believe in, it was a fun thing. Some students were merely being creative with words. If you look at it positively, they were learning English. They were just playing with words. Those students meant no harm. I just accepted the explanation. To the teacher concerned, I assured her the cheeky students were apologetic.
Children can be mischievous. At such times they could merely be showing their skill at something. If that is so, should not the teacher accept their deed as praise-worthy. What do you think?
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