Diary - Simple is happiness. Giving will reap the greatest harvest

6 April 2013 – Saturday Morning


The night earlier, whole family had a false alarm because Tong had a sprained elbow.  Fortunately, it was nothing serious .  Sean had been a good boy, accompanying me and Tong at Damansara Specialist Hospital.  He was patiently talking and consoling Tong that night, playing a good brotherly role and carried the bag for us.

On Saturday morning, Ye joined me for a morning hike at Bintang Hill. He was so happy to find that I had packed him his favourite nasi lemak. Fortunately there was no monkey on hill top that morning. He took his time to savior the rice on the hilltop. Shortly we made our way down as we wanted to start our first tuition at Kepong orphanage on time.

We were slightly late and were greeted by excited and anxious students at the gate. Luckily Ye was there to help out as there was hardly any moment passed by without students asking for help. An hour passed in a blink. Never felt so fulfilled after tuition class, haha, I felt that I was the receiver instead of a giver. Receiver of lots of respect and loves. I may have given numerous tuitions but this could be one of the first where I could felt abundance of students respect and loves. Gan En “ In giving, one receives much blessings”.

Bought doughnuts for the kids but when I offered them as breakfast, they politely refused telling me that they had taken their breakfast. Later I found out that they has some biscuits as breakfast. The doughnuts were reserved for later snack.

There was a 4 year old boy and we asked him to colour.  I was a bit worry when i loaned him my set of colour pencils, unsure whether he would make a huhha when i wanted it back.  To my surprise, at the end of the tuition, he put back all the colour pencils in place and returned the set to me.  Though they are living in basic needs, they have dignity and have really good manners.  They could easily put many kids to shame.

13 April 2013 – Saturday morning

The second tuition was provided by Tong and me. She was a good girl helping out to put sticker on completed assignments. This time I felt the absence of Ye as I had to handle all the questions myself but after the first tuition, I’m more prepared . The materials are properly organised in a box. Each assignment always manage to bring much joy and happiness. I felt almost intoxicated after each session. So much blessings felt. Kwee Yap was away this week as he has gone for a company trip. After picking up Ye, we rushed home for simple porridge and rushed to recycling centre to meet see chea for Rawang Trip. Our first trip to interview students selected by teacher for “Tzu Chi New Seedling scholarship”.

Initially i was not too sure whether i could make it due to the packed schedule but Ye said let's go for it.  haha, this is the 2nd time he pushed me into doing something which i did not regret.  The other time was to seek donation for Hurricane Sandy victims.  At that juncture, to me seeking donation should not be a hard thing but to my surprise i could hardly open my mouth to ask fr donation.  I realised then that it was much easier to give than to ask fr help.  Haha, learn to let go of self- ego and be more humbled after that incidents. 

Back to the Rawang trip,
I tailed gate a see shiong car and fortunately we had a smooth drive. The sinus I had since early morning suddenly disappeared when we started our first interview.

The first candidate parents are both working, total income around RM2K but could felt that the father is a responsible, proud and good man. He believed in doing good and even contributed to Jingshi temple construction.  When asked why he didn't push his kids for the school free meals, he mentioned that there are many more students in need and opportunities should be given to them.

 I was very touched by the second candidate family. Father was hospitalized since last year due to an accident whilst mother is not working. They are living on a tight budget relying on the mother sister for financial assistance. Ye looked at me with much concern and asked "how could they survive with no income?".  i could sense his great compassion.

Ye enjoying his breakfast at Bintang Hill Top

The 2nd family

Kepong Orphanage

The owner sitting on the sofa with some of the occupants

Donation for Hurrican Sandy

The 3rd family was more or less like the 1st except that the mother is not working. All 3 families are honest and deserving family. I prayed that their cases would be approved.

Sean told me to continue writing and one day he would publish my writing...how funny.

Superstar Libra Cruise – 24 March 2013 – 27 March 2013 (Penang-Phuket-Krabi)

Day 1 Sunday (24 March 2013)


Shan picked us from home around 6am (Sunday) and dropped us at Berjaya Times Square. Boys had half boiled eggs for breakfast whilst Kwee Yap had tau sar peah. Sky was still quite dark by the time we reached Berjaya Times Square. Almost 20 min later, we departed in a bus chartered by “Hwajing” tour and reached Penang Port around 1 noon. By that time, most of us were famished though we had nasi lemak at one of the stops earlier.

Boarded Libra around 1.30-pm. After obtaining the navigator and checking in to our cabin, we proceeded for afternoon tea at Mariners Buffet restaurant. I was most impressed by the sight of the majestic ship. It is 10 storey high.

We found the cabins quite comfortable and it has somehow exceeded my expectation. We had BBQ dinner next to the pool side while enjoying the welcome party performances given by the crews. We were also given a tour around the cruise as well as attending fire drill on the first day. By night all of us hit the bed as we were too tired. But we managed to catch a Chinese musical performance by Chung Hwa Seremban High School. They really did a fantastic job and we had a great time listening to the melodies. No wonder the emcee introduced them as award winning team. We could still catch supper at Chinese restaurant before calling it a day.

Day 2 Monday (25 March 2013)

The next day, we took tender boat to Patong Beach , Phuket. The sun was literally blazing down our neck and the sky was clear that day. Most of the passengers disembarked for window shopping. After a short walk, we felt most joyful when we see Mc D and sought shelter from the blazing sun. Soon after, Mum and Kwee Yap had body massage while I brought the kids to Patong beach. We returned to the ship just in time for dinner at Four Seasons restaurant (western cuisine). Passengers are given 3 choices to have their meal i.e Mariners buffet (international buffet) or Four Seasons (western cuisine) or Ocean palace (Chinese cuisine). At night time, Kwee Yap and I paid a short visit at the casino, followed by supper with the kids. As casino don’t interest nor tempt us much, we hardly played much games there. Mum and Ern Tong were too tired for the supper. Thinking back, I’m still quite amazed that I could join every night supper without fail. Most of the time, I would have congee for supper. Mum joined us for supper on the last night. Morning breakfast were usually spent at Chinese restaurant having dim sum and congee.

Day 3 Tuesday (25 March 2013)

Visited Krabi today. The drop off point was not as commercialized as Phuket. The beach was much cleaner than Patong beach though. It was a short sight seeing trip and before long, we board the tender boat back to Libra. Everyone dressed up for the Gala Night where we would be dining with the captain. It was fine dining at western restaurant and the foods were quite good.

Around 11.15pm we joined the farewell party at Deck 9, followed by supper.

Overall, this had been a great and memorable trip. What impressed me most , is that I understand that the multi-lingual crew hail from over 40 nations and all of them speak English. Most of them of very friendly and always put on smiling face.