Observations

I wonder if humans are generally shy, nonchalant, bochap or downright inconsiderate.

Last week, an obviously pregnant lady got on a packed rush hour train with a companion. There were plenty of people sitting down and not one of them gave up her seat. I was squashed near the door and from my cramped corner, I could observe if anyone would do the kind thing.

Why I said she's obviously pregnant was because her condition could not be mistaken as that of being plump. She had, for goodness' sake, a protruding tummy - her stomach stuck out inches in front of her. She looked super tired too, and cast a glance around her to check if anyone would give up a seat for her.

No one did.

Not the teenager who was reading a magazine. Nor the working guy who was dozing off, BUT opening and closing his eyes at times to survey his surroundings. Nor anyone else.

Finally someone did. That was after 15 minutes. By then, I could hear her sigh audibly as she sank into the seat with relief.

Finally getting some space as the carriage cleared, I moved further along the train. There was this lady with a pram and a writhing, cranky baby in her arms. She was trying her best to soothe him but nothing seems to work. The mother looked tired and at her wits' end as the baby began to wail.

There was a girl who was busy folding a piece of paper, oblivious to the wailing baby just next to her ear. I would have given anything for a pair of ear plugs. By now, the baby was going off like a wailing siren.

When the train pulled into Sengkang station, the girl just turned around and presented the baby with a paper crane that she had just finished folding. As she got out of the train and waved at the baby, a look of relief crossed the mother's face as her baby played with this new toy.

Silence reigned in the carriage again.

Somehow, I'm just so heartened by what the girl did, by reaching out to calm a fretful baby and giving the poor mum a break from the incessant wailing. It's so seldom that I see kindness that I'm beginning to wonder if kindness is as dead as the dodo sometimes.

And So the Story Goes...

Really, anyone would have given it a break.

The incident occurred on May Day. The situation, thought to be resolved by now, blew up again - this time by someone who thinks that her feelings are hurt and seemingly wanted the whole world to know. And oh, ho! more parties are involved! More resources used! More tears! More dissension! More anger! The works!

This is getting better than a Taiwanese tearjerker serial, complete with villianess and victim!

And I thought the whole issue is resolved by now? It has been, what, almost 2 months? Certainly if you want to hold a grudge over a perceived slight it should end by now?

As I hear the whole story recounted, rehashed one more time, one thing struck me.

It's in moments like this when you truly realise that what a person says reflect what he is in the mind and heart.

It's not a pretty sight. In fact, it's downright ugly. And you wouldn't have guessed it coming from the mouth of a person whom many regarded as an okay person, something like the Jane next door kinda person.

I hope that it'll end here. Right now. Think those who stood on P's side are very tired of seeing the whole thing rehashed in its entirety ad nauseum, ad infinitum. Just like leftovers that's been thrown into the back of the fridge brought out and reheated and served again.

Sure, it comes in different variations but essentially still the same old story, nonetheless. Same old, same old leftovers. It's not fit for anything, but to be thrown away into the bin.

Even pigs won't eat it.

It's such a terrible waste of emotions and energy really. And for P's sake, I hope it'll end.

Chocolate Desire

Desires.

Don't everyone have them, at some point of time or other.

Illustrate with an example.

Somebody desires somebody. This 2nd somebody prefers someone else. And so it goes. The proverbial love triangle has thus escalated into a love rectangle, pentagon, hexagon and what have you -gon.

I guess desire (and the accompanying emotion of envy) springs from the usual grass is greener on the other side kind of thinking. What you have, you don't cherish. You are always craning your neck and looking at the next guy's triple deck, double Godiva chocolate, pistachio flavored sundae, while ignoring your equally luscious, triple chocolate, strawberry studded, silvered almonds, rum and raisin and orange sorbet ice cream medley.

Of course I'll look and envy, you shout, it's GODIVA chocolate that the next guy is having!

But yes, even if Godiva is not available, Leonidas is just as good. Or make mine Neuhaus. Okay lah, Royce. Just as good.

Desire. What a monster to slay.

Letting Go

Does letting go mean forgetting or remembering?

Can the grieving process be ever completed? Where the last ounce of grief is drained from you and you begin to know that, yes, this is THE end of it?

Will there be a day where you think that the end of the tunnel is near, only to take a stumble and fall into a bottomless abyss of sadness all over again?

It's now July. If all things went well, perhaps, we would be welcoming a little bundle of joy at this moment, cradling him in our arms and making funny faces at him, watching him grow up and playing with him. The proud parents will be so fond of him - he'd probably be spoilt silly by so many of us!

It's certainly not easy days for those who lost a loved one. It's just as painful and heart rending to see people grieving and wracked with sobs, to hear them say that it was just not meant to be.

But perhaps it's easier to let go and to move on and let God heal this pain, which no doctor could ever do.

Cling Wrap

Cling Wrap (also known as Clingfilm or Saran Wrap in US). (noun): a thin, clear, stretchy plastic that you use to cover food in order to keep it fresh.

Except, in this case, the clinger is neither clear (in intentions), nor stretchy, though certainly plastic. And the cling-ee or the clinged-upon (if there's such a word), is certainly no food!

Sigh.

The Stiff Upper Lip

What a difference a day makes.

Make it less than a day. Less than 24 hours after London beat off other contenders to clinch the bid to host the 2012 Olympics, the city was struck by bombs.

Tony Blair's statement captured exactly the indomitable spirit of the British. The famous stiff upper lip has never been more stiff than now - grim and determined to combat this problem that has suddenly descended upon them. Somehow, it reminded me a little of how Sir Winston Churchill would rally the British people during the days of the Blitz, when Hitler's forces were pummelling Britain with daily air attacks.

Our prayers and thoughts are with you.

Afternote
Friends are working from home, as security experts are trying to secure and check the areas of suspcious parcels/baggage in the buildings that they are working, before signalling the all clear.

Fragile

True to concerns, it has finally happened. London was bombed.

Communicated with my friends whom I bunked in with while there. Aldgate and Liverpool Street tube stops were bombed, a double decker bus was ripped apart. At last count, there were 6 explosions and the streets were cordoned off. It was absolute mayhem.

Thank God Meng and Kingsley are fine. I was so anxious, as Aldgate and Liverpool Street were the areas that both were working around. According to Meng, she was two stops away from Aldgate when the bomb went off. And she was unexpectedly delayed when heading out to work today - otherwise, she would have caught the train and stopped at Aldgate at the time the bomb went off.

It was so scary. Russell Square was near the British Musuem (where I spent a fair bit of time there), and Aldgate and Liverpool Street were stations that I would have gone past as I take the bus from Kingsley's home to town daily. Kingsley was right - he has warned me time and again not to take the Tube unnecessarily for fear of bombings, but even he could not have imagined that bombs were also placed on a crowded doubledecker bus.

The same kind of bus that I would have taken to town.

Twisted metal, wrecked buses and train carriages, smoke-filled tunnels, walking dead, bloodied, screaming, disoriented people. Innocent folks like you and me who would be heading out to work, perhaps scanning their morning newspapers or hurrying to work on the streets with a cup of coffee in their hands. Never expecting what would normally be an ordinary day, could have turned out to be something so horrific. So needless, so shocking.

So senseless.

I guess terrorists wanted to make a point in telling the world that you could stop a country in its tracks and render it helpless, just when it is hosting the G8 and won the 2012 Olympic bid. It's like bringing a giant to his knees, humbling and letting him whimper in pain.

Damn them.

Fragile
If blood will flow
And flesh and steel are one
Drying in the color of the evening sun
Tomorow's rain will wash the stains away
But some things in our mind will always stay

Perhaps this final act was meant
To clinch a lifetime's argument
That nothing comes from violence
And nothing ever could
For all those born beaneath an angry star
Lest we forget how fragile we are.

- Sting

Felt A Little Rusty...

but as I went on, it got better. And better.

Missed it but am glad am doing it again now. Even if it's for a little while. If only I could combine travelling with it and make it pay!

Perhaps LY is right - it does suit me. And I like it. :)

Poems

Was delighted to receive a little note from LY, whom I've always regarded her as a very good friend and career guru.

The words within were encouraging, and the poem, hopeful and optimistic, yet somewhat melancholic and wistful in its undertones.

Love is a place
and through this place of
love move
(with brightness of peace)
all places

Yes is a world
and in this world of
yes I live
(skillfully worked)
all worlds

- e. e. cummings