Ants

Lone diner

Yummy or Yucky?

Either way, please leave me alone and let me finish my meal in peace.

Is your God the same God as mine ?

I suspect that we (humans), on our journey in search of "the truth", are currently scattered near the base of a pyramid. We are nowhere close to the apex, where perhaps "the truth" may be situated.

We are all pursuing a common goal, even if we are reluctant to admit. We are thinking and behaving as we are, because we are only seeing and experiencing our respective sides of the pyramid. The other sides of the pyramid are equally relevant, although they may be different from our side - in look and feel.

The apex ... that should be the goal.

On each side of the pyramid, the scenery may be different, but the top point is the same one that is visible to all sides. We will never realize that we are indeed trying to reach that same summit, unless we acknowledge that there are climbable paths on the other sides as well.

In simple term, different religions are like the sides of a pyramid - each being differently landscaped but leading toward the same apex (God).

Invitation to Hell

Eighteen Layers of Hell...

Not a good place to be
Avoid at all cost

Hornbill in flight

This mighty bird needs neither introduction nor commentary.

Commandment #10

Commandment #10: "Thou shalt not covert thy neighbor's wife".

Does that mean it is OK for a woman to covert her neighbor's husband?

Wife, obey your husband

In a S.E. Asian country, a religious lady recently stated that "It would be perilous for wives who do not obey their husbands."

--

In the USA, a mainstream Christian denomination states in their "Article of Faith and Message" that

" ... A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation."

They passed the above having referred to the Bible.

--

Ephesians 5: 22-23

"Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord.
For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ
is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior."

Without malice or disrespect to any religious groups, but with great difficulty in accepting, I would like to ask the questions,

What does "obey", "submit" or "be subject to" mean, in our present day term?
Were not women and men created as equal - both being in God's own image?

Two fish ... and 41.6 hours

My "problem(s)" with churches: I often asked the "wrong" questions

For example (the miracle of 2 fish for 5000 people)

1. I asked if there were only two fish (as in "feeding 5 thousand").
The pastor said, "yes, it is written in the Bible".

2. I then asked "how long did it take to feed the 5000?"
"Not long", said the Paster.

Accepting that there were two fish, and the crowd size was five thousand, and assuming that each person took an average of one minute to eat and be full, then it would have taken 2500 minutes for the 2 fish to go through the crowd of 5000.

That was 2500 / 1440 = 1.7 day (41.6 hours).
And... there was the matter of the bread too ... each loaf probably took up a little time ...

The pastor was not too happy with my question.

Apathy

Apathy ...

Is it a virtue?
Is it a form of discipline?
Is it an excuse?
Is it a cop out?

In what segment of society is apathy beneficial or harmful
to oneself?
to society?

Cleanliness

Cleanliness is a virtue, as it tends to contribute to general good health.

But how does one ensure "cleanliness"
- in food served at restaurants?
- in food packaged for sale at supermarkets?
- in food meant for consumption by certain cultural and religious groups?

More questions ...

- How do you define "clean"?
- Would you consider food prepared in a "5-star" restaurant as clean?
- Would you consider food prepared by a roadside vendor as not-too-clean?
- Would you consider utensils used in a "5-star" restaurant as clean?
- Is a frying pan clean after it has been washed with detergent - after use in cooking?
- Is a frying pan clean after it has been washed with detergent - after someone urinated in it?
Would you have any problem eating food cooked in this frying pan,
if you are aware of its prior (mis)use?
- Is a halal (kosher) restaurant still halal (kosher) if its employees regularly eat and touch
non-halal (non-kosher) food elsewhere?

Questions ... questions ... questions ...
Has anyone any answer(s)?

Root - Origin of Self

We may now be beautiful

Famous and admired

But ...









We were once

Ugly and unnoticed

Let's not forget our "roots"

Destiny

Where besides Tanjong Lobang School could destiny be planned, shaped and fulfilled?

Where besides Tanjong Lobang School was there a will and skill to turn vision into reality?

Tanjong Lobang ... unique and tough

As this lone leaf was unique in the spring,

So too was Tanjong Lobang School unique right from the beginning.





When all others withered and dropped,

Tanjong Lobang School stood bravely and fought.







Cheers,
The Old Guy

Mrs. Philips ... my favorite teacher

Mrs. Philips ...

You were sympathetic ... while others were judgmental

You encouraged ... while others displayed seeming disgust

You kept asking, "How is M----?" ... while you always knew she was well and happy

Where are you, Mrs. Philips? You always were my favorite.

Cheers,

The Old guy

"Chain Gang" by any other name is still "Chain Gang"

I started this blog thing a while back, but was never really serious about doing much with it. My question was, "who cares about my thoughts anyway?" Consequently, it turned out to be a sorry excuse of a blog.


Now, inspired by the newly organized "Ex-Tanjong", and by a fellow Limbangian, I think I will put some effort into this exercise, and perhaps turn it into something worthy of a "blog".


So ... here goes





Back in Tanjong Lobang School (1961-64), when I as a boarder, I and other male students were required to participate in the after-school "work party". For sure, it was more "work" than it was "party". And this activity usually started after the afternoon "tea".


Work Party after Tea ... what a noble concept that was!


Students were grouped and assigned certain areas where weeds and other undesirable plants and undergrowth were to be cut or otherwise removed. Each student was armed with a special cutting tool, the parang, that was securely attached to a staff of approximately one meter in length. Each student would then be "safely" spaced, and swinging that special parang.

To this day, I still marvel at the fact none of the students had ended up losing his head (literally), for among the students were many descendants of the once-feared highly-skilled parang-wielding "Borneo Headhunters". My guess is: we really liked each other then. And this supposition, I am happy to report, is reaffirmed and evidenced by how we now treat each other within "Ex-Tanjong".

The "work party" was forced labor, in my work-party-humbled opinion, but it was a consistent and logical step for the school to execute nonetheless. There was (is) plenty of rain and warmth to promote rapid growth in the plant world throughout the compound. And it was a very cost effective method of achieving "campus beautification".

Does this remind anyone of a "chain gang"?

Oh well ... it did toughen us, and in the process it also taught us to be collaborative, considerate and caring toward one another.


I still think it was "chain gang" in disguise.


Cheers,
The Old Guy

Heaven and Hell

Waiting for my Sunday morning TV News program, and catching the tail end of a "tele-evangelist" program:

The preacher declared that his (faith group) is the only one that would help get a person "saved", and therefore on the right path to Heaven.

Suppose, referring to the diagram, "X" represents Heaven, and "A", "B" and "C" are different faith-based organizations, whose final objective is to get to Heaven . According to "A", members in both "B" and "C" will not go to Heaven (they go to Hell). Similarly, "B" and "C" each makes the same claim about members in the other groups, i.e., the others will go to Hell.

So, does it not stand to reason that according to "A", "B" and "C", all of them ("B", "C" and "A", respectively,) will end up in Hell? This is certainly a very sobering thought, and not a good selling point when attempting to recruit a new member into the "faith-based group".

Cheers.

Wonderful dilemma

In most countries where automobiles and/or other types of motorized vehicle are part of the transportation system, roads usually have signposts declaring the legal maximum speed beyond which motorized vehicles are not permitted to travel.

Supposition:
On a 6-lane highway (3 going one-way, and 3 going the opposite way). Six drivers, each traveling in one traffic lane and going at posted maximum speed.

Outcome:
A massive traffic jam will result.

Questions:
- Would the six drivers be breaking the law (legal, social, commensense, etc)?
- What would you do if you were behind one of those six drivers?

Cheers