Welcome to Swinging By

These are the places of interest that I've been to and I would like to share them with you. I hope you find them interesting too.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

At a Loss?


Do you know that when you are trying to write an article or even a short essay, the hardest thing is the beginning?


How to write? How to begin? This is the situation that a person faces even though he already knows what he wants to write about.

One way is just to write down anything that comes into your mind. It can be a word, a string of words, a sentence. It doesn’t matter. Do it for 5 minutes. After that, look at what you have jotted down. You may see certain words lend themselves to a group or a cluster.

Then you can begin to write your sentences, expanding on these words. These may be your first paragraph. Once you have begun, the rest will flow steadily.

After you have finished your piece, you can read it through and edit. You may want to rearrange your paragraphs, change a few words here and there. Voila! You have your article or essay.

Similarly if you are at a loss wondering what you are going to do the next day,
just jot down a couple of things that are outstanding which have to be attended to. Or if nothing is urgent, decide to take a morning walk or just look at the plants in your garden.
Believe you me, you will soon find yourself busy doing what you never thought of in the first place.
That’s how you can get things done.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

But for the Grace of God...


But for the Grace of God, I may not be swinging by now.

This morning, I had my usual "monologue" with God as I left my home. I prayed for the Lord to cover and protect all members in my family and my siblings' families, to take me safely to where I was going this morning and to bring me back home safely.

I went to the British Council for some discussions after which I made my way to the multi-storey carpark. I had to cross a one-way but two lane street. The cars had to slow down at the raised ramp near the junction so I crossed the road further down, away from the junction. As I was halfway across, I saw this car rushing towards me and I thought, " Oh God, it's going to hit me! I'm either going to die or be badly hurt."

I couldn't backtrack as there was another car coming. I just stopped, frozen as I waited for it to hit me. All of a sudden the car stopped right in front of me. I quickly walked past the car and I looked at the driver.

It was a woman driver who didn't even turn to look at me. I asked "How can you drive so fast?" but of course she couldn't hear me because her window was up and as I said she didn't even look at me. She just zoomed off.

I quickly uttered a short prayer of thanks to God. Indeed He had been covering and protecting me all the while, every night and every day. This morning's incident had made it very clear. Only God could have stopped the car. It had been coming very fast. Obviously the ramp didn't slow her down. She must have swept across it in a hurry to get somewhere.

It was only after I got to my car, that I truly felt the impact of the last few minutes. If I had been knocked down, would I have lived to tell the tale? If I had survived, how badly incapacitated would I have been?

Ironically my second place of call was to the gym at the Golf & Country Club where I was going to exercise on the stationary bike. Doctor's orders after I fell and hurt my knee. I go there three times a week to cycle. Today I did my exercise and then headed to the supermarket to buy some vegetables and fruit.

This mundane chore helped me to calm down a bit but I suspect that when I next have to cross that street in town, I will be more than doubly careful.

Praise the Lord for a safe drive home this morning.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Old but Still Trim



As we age our bodies change and we find fat in places where we didn’t have any when we were younger.

Our metabolism slows down and the digestive system doesn't work as well as it used to.

Hormonal changes in the body can also affect the shape of our bodies but one thing that which doesn’t change is this. If we eat too much food and drink too much alcohol we will gain weight.

Some people say that being over weight or fat is part of growing old but this is not true. There are many elderly people who are still slim, fit and healthy.


It is actually our lifestyles that have resulted in the bodies we now have. Poor food choices throughout our life have made us fat and we have compromised our health because of poor nutrition.


However all is not lost. We can improve our nutrition and begin an exercise program to reduce our body fat. Cycling is one exercise anyone can do.


No matter how old we are we can benefit from improved nutrition and exercise.
This will enable us to enjoy a better quality of life.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Qing Ming, Honoring our Ancestors


Qingming, Cheng Beng or Sweeping Tombs Day falls on April 5 this year
but people can observe this ritual within ten days before or after this
date.

It is an annual festival celebrated by the Chinese regardless of which country they are living in.


I remember when I was young, accompanying my parents and siblings to pay our respects to my late paternal grandparents on a weekend. Their tomb is located on a hillside in Klang, in Peninsular Malaysia. This site is deemed auspicious because it is on a hill, so with its good feng shui, our families will be blessed.

We usually set off very early in the morning so as to avoid the heat and the later crowds. During Qing Ming, the cemetery is crowded with people all homing in on their ancestors’ graves to clean up and to pay their respects. Besides it’s a long climb and we have to locate the graves among the hundreds of others that are now there.

The first thing my father did was to clear the weeds together with his younger brother. Then they would repaint the Chinese characters on the tombstone using the red paint they had brought along. Meanwhile my mom and aunt would lay out the food that had been prepared as offerings to our late grandparents.

There was whole steamed chicken, whole slices of roast pork with its crispy skin, fruit, special steamed pink cakes and other food favoured by them. There were bowls of rice, cups of wine, spoons and chopsticks all in threes. Then after the grave was spruced up, we, the children, were instructed to lay coloured pieces of paper on the grave anchored by stones so that they would not fly away.

Then my father, being the eldest would lead in offering prayers. Candles and joss sticks were lighted and prayers were uttered, asking for blessings and abundance and good health for our families. Then my mum and aunt would pray and then it was our turn.

Some time was given for our ancestors to partake of the feast laid out before their headstones. During this time, we children busied ourselves playing around the semi-circular tombstone. It was quite big as my grandfather was a prominent person. Meanwhile the adults had their own conversation. This was a time of bonding.

Then my father prayed again and tossed two coins into the air. If they came down, one head and the other tail, this meant that our ancestors had finished their meal and were satisfied. So we could burn the hell money, and other offerings that had been brought along.
In those days, we usually burnt hell money but these days, we burn other material things as well, e.g. paper clothing, shoes, handphones, etc. It is our belief that when the ashes of the burnt joss papers and hell money fly high in the sky, our ancestors are well pleased.

After that, we ate the food. This indicates our respect for our departed ones and the balance of the food was taken home as there was a lot.

These days only my three brothers and one sister go to clean our ancestors’ graves as I no longer live in Peninsular Malaysia. They have my paternal and maternal grandparents’ graves to clean and make offerings. Then it’s back to my youngest brother’s house to offer prayers to my late father as his ancestral tablet is kept there. He doesn’t have a grave as he was cremated and his ashes scattered in the sea as per his wish. Since my late mum was a Christian, we visit her grave on All Souls’ Day.

This practice of cleaning our ancestors’ tombs, making offerings and saying prayers is a good way to honor and remember them for without them we would not be here. It also continues the tradition of filial piety and respect towards our elders. As a child, I knew that my siblings and I had to pray at our grandparents’ graves and it was a yearly event. In this way the tradition was inculcated in us and to this day when we are already middle-aged, we still continue the tradition.

However, I believe that this practice will die out in our family as the young ones, meaning my children, and my siblings’ children, do not go to clean the graves and offer prayers. Some of them are Christians who will not participate in this although there are hundreds of Christians who still do. The others have migrated to other countries. So I do not know what will happen in the future years to come when our generation passes on.

It is quite a sad thing to reflect upon. Maybe it is our fault for not insisting that our children go with us when they were still young. That is probably why they do not know how to value this tradition.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Howdy!


Know what day is today? If you don't know,make a guess.



It's All Fools' Day or April Fool's Day!!

Have a great day!