My Stories: The Lord's Prayer

My Stories: The Lord's Prayer: Many prayers are said but not all of us, including myself, know how they should be said.  However, as if by nature, my prayers were not tha...

The Lord's Prayer

Many prayers are said but not all of us, including myself, know how they should be said.  However, as if by nature, my prayers were not that bad and I did not fare as badly as some of my friends.  Excuse me for boasting which is not allowed in front of God.
I learnt, the first thing that our prayers must have  is the acknowlegement of God. That is why, the Lord's Prayer which is a very good example, begins with ' Our Father in Heaven....'.  You may proclaim Him as Lord, Jesus our Saviour, Holy Father, Holy God, to name a few.
Then, you need to continue to give Him honour and praise with other acknowledgements like,'Holy be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven...' Then you will need to tell Him that you remember His will for you, as it will please Him. That is how we want to be when we come into prayer in His presence: pleasing, and in full obedience and submission 
The next point is that we need to recognise that we are not perfect and we need His grace to forgive us, as evident in the following verses ' Forgive our sins as we forgive those who sin against us, do not bring us to a test but deliver us from evil . Amen.' Then, it also says that we need to forgive,  but this is one thing we always forget.  We may say the prayer every day but it has become too mechanical for us to  be aware of what we are saying.  We are still revengeful.
When we study the Lord's prayer and its true meaning, we would realise if we really mean what we prayed, we would be better individuals.  Unfortunately, many of  us are self-centred even in our prayers.  We pray selfishly, for example ,praying for more wealth, not remembering those who are poor and suffering.  What do you think God will feel when He listens to such prayers?  He will definitely be very furious but I do hear some people praying like that. It is always 'I' or 'my', never  about others.  When our prayers are not answered, we get angry, disappointed and soon we begin to lose our faith.   God does not have to concede to what we asked for.  We don't tell God  what to do.  We just lay our requests and problems at His feet.  He will  answer our prayers in His own way, usually not conceivable to those who are not true and faithful Christians.  Perhaps, you may ask, 'How do you know?' 'Are you God?'  or 'Are you a Messenger of God?'.  Well, I would say, I can equate the situation to how a child make requests to his/her father.  Wouldn't it be the same?
The child approaches the father.  'Hello, daddy.  How's your day, daddy?  I love you , daddy.  You are the best daddy in the whole wide world. Daddy, I am sorry about yesterday. I know I have been rude.  I promise I won't do it again.  BUT daddy, I really need this and that.  Will you help me?  Okay, I can wait.  Okay, I will do whatever you like me to do as long as you help me, Daddy.'
See the similarity?  There's acknowledgement of the higher authority.  There's respect, honour, and love as the child proclaimed his father's name.  There's the same asking for forgiveness and admission of wrongdoing.  The promise of good behaviour analogous to 'the forgiving of those who sinned to us'.  The character of God is enacted in the character of our earthly father. Someone whom we must give reverence to.  God has ordained the duty to our fathers, though some of them are grossly imperfect but there must a divine reason for whatever happens.  God is using their lives and our lives for His divine purposes. 

My Stories: The Much Loved Leader

My Stories: The Much Loved Leader: I used to have a very good Sunday school lady teacher who was about 64 at about that time.  I admired her very much and would be very unhap...

The Much Loved Leader

I used to have a very good Sunday school lady teacher who was about 64 at about that time.  I admired her very much and would be very unhappy if I had to miss any of her classes.  She just had a wonderful way of telling the Scriptures that no other person could do.  Being a teeanger at that time, I had this funny behaviour of liking certain people very much and certain people would just put me off no matter how much my mother tried to put them in my good books.
Just before retiring due to her illness, this particular Sunday school teacher would often, during her lessons, mentioned about her recent weak health though not specifically.  I remember I was very unhappy about that and every time she mentioned something negative like her having sleeplessness, I would be very impatient.  In actual fact, I was afraid of losing her.  I had wanted her to stay forever as my Sunday school teacher.  Sometimes, I would ignore her and stopped her sharing her thoughts about her bad health. I really did not want her to be sick at all.
The day when she stopped coming to teach us had me stopping Sunday school too.  No amount of persuasion from my mother could bring me back.  I was very stubborn.  I was actually angry with God in a way.  My mother thought I was being disobedient to her.  Little did she realise that I was being defiant to God.  I was blaming God for taking her away!
It is the same with my children now.  I can see how unhappy when they hear me telling them about my bad health.  I can feel how they feel.  It is a sense of insecurity.  Therefore, if you are not feeling that bad, it is better to keep it to yourself, and not share it with your children too much.  They love you, no doubt about that but when they hear something bad about you, they will feel sad and sometimes, they do not know what to do especially when they are still young or teenagers.  Be brave for them and don't be a softie, moaning over little pains. Jesus had gone through greater pains than us!

My Stories: His Ways From Time Beginning

My Stories: His Ways From Time Beginning: The countless things that have happened in our lives were often never linked to the Divine Plan of our Almighty God.  We just completely fo...

His Ways From Time Beginning

The countless things that have happened in our lives were often never linked to the Divine Plan of our Almighty God.  We just completely forgot about it.  Fingers were waved at one another, hoping the bad thing that happened was never one's own fault but the fault of one who was meek enough to admit that he or she had something to do with it.  When something good happened, very quickly there was one or a few to take credit for it or to claim a right to it.
Sometimes we even hear people blaming God for bad things that happen to them.  How unwise to do that! To think that our Creator who has given us Life and put us to live in this beautiful world would at the same time let us suffer?  Perhaps, they have forgotten that there is what we called the Evil Forces or some people address 'him' as S.A. TAN. This is a 'party spoiler', and the cause of all the bad things that happen to you.  How is it that God, who has supreme power, cannot stop it?  In actual fact, He can but He just allows it to happen.  Cruel?  No, it is just part of His Divine ways.  It is a way of moulding our character, and most of the time, we do not see it.  It is those who walk closely with Him that can spot it easily and proceed to praise Him for the challenges or trials.  Those who walk closely to Him will be enlightened by His words in the Bible and will understand how He works.
  Wouldn't it be good that we read and ponder over His words that is so full of wisdom so that whatever that happens to us , we just know how to react? We will not  be so flustered and go around like a mad chicken blaming or hating everyone or your own self even when things go bad.  I used to put myself in such a bad demeanour when things do not turn out as happy as I hope to be.  Later, when God irons out things for me, which He always does finally, I felt so bad because God has always, never failing even once, been there all the time with me and for me.  God is really wonderful!

My Stories: As Good As Millionaires

My Stories: As Good As Millionaires: Often times when we were at a 'kopitiam' for breakfast, we were approached by a familiar middle-aged Indian man who would wave a stack of l...

As Good As Millionaires

Often times when we were at a 'kopitiam' for breakfast, we were approached by a familiar middle-aged Indian man who would wave a stack of lottery tickets at us and  would ask if we would want to be millionaires over  the weekend.  My husband used to patronise his small business, much to my disdain and he would be quite annoyed at my throwing cold water over his shoulders.  I would remind him that Christians are not supposed to gamble and he would give the excuse that he is not a habitual 'player'.  He would not admit that he was gambling but I told him that God is not going to look at it that way.
Habitual or not habitual is for himself to know because I have seen him trying his luck at other lottery 'games'.  God may be showering his blessings anytime now, he said.  I don't see it happening so far but I do see is tens of dollars going down the drain.  Pessimist? No, it is not that issue.  It is just something that is contrary to my beliefs.  People can cleverly make up all kinds  of excuses to justify their actions.
My father used to be a mahjong gambler. He was so addicted to it that he neglected his work and subsequently his family.  My grandmother used to be very disheartened at his behaviour and if not for the fact that she threatened him, my father would not have gone to work seriously but would have continued messing up with lady luck.  Sometimes some people do need some awakening before they realise what they are doing is not too right.
I know how much energy will be sapped away by gambling.  The suspense as the day of the draw of the lottery approaches is enough to distract your attention away from your work or whatever that is more important.  I have seen how much my colleagues used to engage in conversation about a certain lottery, when they should be concentrating on their work at the office.
Nowadays whenever I see that Indian man again, I will tell him in a joking manner that we are already 'millionaires'. We are satisfied with the wealth we have.  Yes, our blessings from Jesus is so abundant and unceasing. What have we to worry!
If we do buy any of the lottery tickets at all, it should be purely for charitable purposes and not for speculation.  Pray that most of us will focus more of our energies on something more 'natural'  than hoping for any windfall from a game of chance.

Ah Ngoh's Food Ideas: Tapioca and Sweet Potato Kuih (Amy Beh's)

Ah Ngoh's Food Ideas: Tapioca and Sweet Potato Kuih (Amy Beh's): A good treat for tea.  Sweetness to be adjusted according to preference. 335g grated tapioca 75g grated sweet potato, rinsed and well d...

Most Misunderstood

Janice wonders  if there is anyone else who can be as patient as she is.  She is  not bragging about herself but truly, there have been too many times that she  has been commended as being very patient.  Sometimes, she has been told to be less patient, to be less 'saintly' and  has been persuaded to break a rule or two. She supposes God made her that way.  It is hard to change though she wished at times, she could be bolder and had insisted on having things her way.  If she does try at all, she thinks she  would have never liked the consequence.  To keep the peace,she would just give in.  Her dad used to commend on her easy going nature.
Some friends even thought she was being bullied but she refused to think so.  She believes she is  actually quite strong beneath all the so called sufferings.  Come what may, she will overcome because of her faith in Jesus who has never failed her but has always been around with His hands reaching out. There have been too many 'miracles' that happened in her life that are only explainable to Him.  And she wants to believe it is Him, no other.
Be patient with people who refuse to understand you.  Be patient with people who accuse you of whatever they like to .  Be  patient with people who are jealous of you and cause you to suffer. 
What does she care about all these people?  They are so small in the eyes of God.  What does she have to fear when she has the Almighty God on her side?

Gratitude

There are too many unhappy stories about parents, most of the time a mother, giving their hard  earned money to their children to spend when they had to skimp on their own little luxuries. How sad when their children take things for granted and never show any appreciation at all but to complain still.
Even sadder, most of the time too, the parents have themselves to blame.  They have to take the blame of not properly educating their children on the moral aspects of it.  Rightly, the children should be taught to 'earn' the money they have requested, for example, to do a certain number of hours of work in the house like washing the car, toilet or any part of the house.  They should be made to realise the equivalent in terms of work of the money they want to spend. 

My Stories: Thank God I have a Brother!

My Stories: Thank God I have a Brother!: Eventhough I have many complains against my elder brother, I am actually very grateful that I have him.  Without him I would not be able to ...

Thank God I have a Brother!

Eventhough I have many complains against my elder brother, I am actually very grateful that I have him.  Without him I would not be able to go to many places when I was a child of five or six years old.
It was him who brought me to play near the vegetable or livestock farms. It was him who brought me to the wild on his bird watching or hunting trips, when we also waded in streams and built our shelter out of huge banana leaves and sticks.  Sometimes he would let me join his group of male friends in a game of rounders, especially when they were short of one to make an equal number on both sides. I did not mind their laughing at me for my slowness or other incapabilities of a girl.  I was not as rough or as strong as them.  I enjoyed the game tremenduously because I felt proud to have learnt something from them.
 However my brother was not as proud as I was because he loathed the fact that he had to 'babysit' me when my parents went to work in their rubber plantations.   He hated me most when I cried especially when I fell after trying to keep up the pace with him.  Sometimes I felt he had purposely walked or ran quickly to make me scared.  To tell the truth, I was indeed very scared when he would just disappear from my sight when we were in the fringes of the jungle where we used to play without our parents' knowledge.
At times he allowed me to participate in card  games that he played with his male friends.  From them I learnt to play Black Jack, Poker and Gin Rummy.  It was in the game of Poker that they realised this little girl was a 'hell of a girl'.  I won in most of the games because they did not realise that  I was not as innocent as they thought.  I had them fooled, it seemed.  Boys being boys, they never really admitted they lost the games to me. Nevertheless, these games were better than any kindergarten lessons on numerals and simple arithmetic!
Much later in life, when I finished high school , I started to work and paid for my own part time study.  Seeing that I had no opportunity to go to a full time college, he must had felt much pity for me because in one of his letters to me, he promised to work hard in order to support me financially. Sad to say, his much dreamt about four figure salary did not materialise  fast enough to enable him to help me.  He went on his personal pursuits and as usual, I had not bank any hope on him at all because I knew it was one of his empty promises again.  I did not hate him for that as I realised that I was the one who should strive hard for myself and not expect others to help.

My Stories: Magical River

My Stories: Magical River:  I regret  the disappearance of  the clear water rivers gurgling as they flowed down the mountains, of the shrinking of the enchanting virgi...

The Innocent Grass Snake

Very young children have no fear of snakes because they do not know what they are or rather, they do not know the harm that they can bring.  I remember an occasion when after the grass cutting around the neighbourhood, a small grass snake must had wandered off its usual tracks to come into my neighbour's compound. The youngest daughter who was only about two years old saw it first. She walked towards the snake which had found its way up a rattan chair and had its body twined around one of the armrests.  She must had thought it was a new toy for the snake was very attractively coloured.  When she was almost getting near to the snake, a lady from the house opposite who happened to see it shouted so loudly that the poor child stopped and started  to cry.  Immediately, the child's mother appeared and the snake which was about a foot long looked at the mother with gleaming beady eyes.  It had not understood what the commotion was about but it definitely knew its presence was not welcomed.  Very discreetly, it slithered away so quickly that the mother had not a chance to strike it with a stick.

Fishing with a Hook and a Line

One of the many things that I had always wanted to do when I was a child but did not get a chance, was fishing with a hook and a line.  I had followed my elder brother to a few of his fishing trips by a pond or a river but he never gave me a go at it despite helping him to carry his things for him.  Sometimes he would tell me to carry his 'cangkul' which was extremely heavy for my built then.  Yet, at the promise of the chance of having my own hook and line, I relented in carrying it for him.  He needed to use it to dig up some earthworms which he would use as bait.   Fortunately, he did not force me to pick up the squirming , hideous looking worms every time he needed them.
I would wait under a tree very patiently for him to let me hold the line once it had a bite but the chance never came.  All I got was having to put up with my brother's tantrums when he had a poor catch.  He would blame for making noise as I moved around or for being in the way as he had to be careful when he flung the line backwards once he felt  a bite.

My Stories: Dying , Yet with Worries

My Stories: Dying , Yet with Worries: I wonder whether all parents with children, very young or older, when faced with death have the same things in mind-worries for their childr...

Dying , Yet with Worries

I wonder whether all parents with children, very young or older, when faced with death have the same things in mind-worries for their children.  I have seen my own parents during the moments of their last breaths with worried looks in their eyes and with hands holding on to the someone whom they had entrusted responsibility of taking care of the household. Both of them had failed speech faculties during the last moments, and it was as if they wanted to remind the 'trustee' of what they had entrusted upon him. Onlookers were touched to tears and it also set the members of the family crying and sobbing as they bid their last farewell.  Strangely, they somehow knew  when they were going to die because later, as it happened in both of my parents' cases, they would just leave the world and never to be back again.  Both my parents died in our absence.  Perhaps it was because they would not want to scare us too much.  They would not like the younger ones to know at such a young age how frail a human life can be. This is how much our parents love us.  Even at their deathbeds, we were their 'babies', always needing their care.

Lantern Festival

About a month before the Mooncake Festival or Lantern Festival as some will call it, provision shops in and around my village, during the sixties, would be hanging up in front of their shops colourful lanterns of all shapes and designs for sale.  At every opportunity I had when I passed by these shops, I would tugged hard at my mother's samfu  to make her stop and buy me one of those lanterns, especially the one that was of a butterfly shape , made of painted translucent red paper  and with a set of twirling antennae.  Yet, my mother refused to give in to my persistent demands and at one time , I had tugged her samfu so hard that the press studs nearly broke open to reveal her upper body.  That made her very angry indeed and after that, I knew better to keep quiet about buying any of the lanterns on display.
Finally, I had to be happy with a very ordinary cheap paper one of oval shape because my mother thought it would be a waste of money to get it burnt in the process of playing with it. No matter how I argued with her, no matter how I tried to convince her that I would be careful, my mother was adamant on not spending more money to buy the lantern that I had spotted hanging up in so and so's shop.
On the one or two nights before the night of the festival, my friends and I would bring out our lanterns to play.  My mother had helped to fix a stick to the handle of the lantern so that I could carry it without burning my hands.  I noticed my best friend and her siblings had the same kind of lanterns that my mother had bought me.  I was happy about that.  Prior to that, I was grumbling about my cheap lantern and had refused to bring it out to play.  We had them lit with candles and we would walk slowly and carefully lest they got burned.  One of the bigger boys suggested that the group of us walk to the furthest end of the village which was quite dark because it was where a farm was located.  At first some of us were quite apprehensive about it but after some coaxing and convincing that we were all going together and that there was nothing to be scared of, we finally gave in.
 We sang as we walked there ceremoniously. Everyone was proud to be in the group.  The bigger boys were well ahead and the younger ones were trying hard to keep up with the pace.  When we were almost there, someone shouted about something spooky in the bushes and before the younger ones knew what was going on, they saw the ones who were in the front turning back to run.  Someone stumbled and fell. There was crying and a lantern was burning on the ground. The remainder of the group was running back to where they came from screaming their heads off.  The adults who were sitting on stools and resting outside their houses got up to investigate.  It did not take them very long to realise that the older boys had just played a prank on the younger ones, making them crying and screaming in fright.
The night ended with the younger children wailing and the bigger boys sobbing after being scolded by their fathers.or mothers.  Everyone went back into their houses to wash up  and soon there was quietness in the village as the children  fell fast asleep, tired after the night's activity.

Magical River

 I regret  the disappearance of  the clear water rivers gurgling as they flowed down the mountains, of the shrinking of the enchanting virgin forests filled with incessant sound of cicadas, of the contamination of the pale beige sand along the beaches .  I hope there is some sort of a control or restoration.


I experienced the disappearance of one of the most memorable rivers of my life.  I do not know if I could ever be able wade in such a river anymore. It had river sand under my feet as  I stepped into its cool , clear  water  and it was a shallow river.  Many children would love to play in it.  I had many good times , wading and bathing in it.  The current was not strong which made it very safe for children.  Near the river bank, which was sandy, I could see some tiny river crabs.  I used to get hold of a few to bring home in a bottle but sad
to say, they did not live.  I supposed they died due to the lack of food.  They could not eat the pieces of bread that I threw in. I was too young to understand about plankton or other tiny organisms that they feed on.  Sometimes, my brother would bring along a rattan basket which he would use to push it into some reeds or waterweeds growing along the river bank.  As he drew out the basket, I would watch gleefully at the tiny  river shrimps jumping about as excitedly as I was.
Every now and then, we would be able to see silver fishes that darted past us like speeding cars along the freeway.  They had never once swam into us, though we were moving about in the water very much.
Those were the carefree days when mothers did not worry too much about child abductors.  Of course, we did have a few narrow escapes like encountering a poisonous snake but somehow God seemed to be very close by. 

My Stories: Playing 'House'

My Stories: Playing 'House': One of the many games that my childhood girl friends and I used to enjoy very much was playing 'house'.  Someone would pretend to be the mot...

Playing 'House'

One of the many games that my childhood girl friends and I used to enjoy very much was playing 'house'.  Someone would pretend to be the mother , whose duties involved cooking, cleaning and taking care of the children.  Others would be either children or the father.  Usually none liked to be father because 'he' did not get to do much.  'He' did not get to cook using improvised cooking utensils from empty tins which we salvaged from
the rubbish bin, and the most interesting part of all was the chance to make a 'fire' to make the cooking more real.
This we woud do by getting some dry leaves and after putting them in between some rocks, we would lit them up by using  matchsticks stolen from one of our mothers' kitchen. Very soon after that, our game which had reached the most exciting level , had to be stopped.  The smoke from the spitting fire would soon get into the houses and our mothers would be yelling at us for endangering the lives of all.  However, as far as I remembered, there was not a case of any wooden house being burnt down by little girls playing 'house', though there were many cases of  wooden houses burnt down by boys or men firing fireworks.