How Much Longer?

All added together, I wonder I much longer can I last. Too much time taken, so much time lost. Time is ticking on me before I realise, it might be too late.

Have Been There

I don’t normally post about music or specific song here because there so much music that I can enjoy every morning and… Okay anyway, here it goes. One of the very few songs that have been through the test of time and still carries the same soulful tenderness and at the same time the intensity enough to shake loose the strongest bind, “You Don’t Know Me” by the genius Ray Charles.

Ray Charles, the original…

And here is one of the finest recent cover by Michael Grimm.

Michael Grimm’s cover…

More than just well penned song by Ray, it’s pure smack on- honesty. No man can lie about the meaning. Not even a single line. Period.

Common Sense…

… are not so common nowadays.

When The Fight Is Not Yours…

I was taught “Kalau dia beri sekilo, pastikan kau balas dia dengan berkilo-kilo…” In another words, if someone gives you a cheap punch, make sure you return him immediately with 10 more (minimum, 3 or 4) hard punches. The explanation, you don’t want to “owe” people anything, so you make sure you return him “generously”. Ouch, for him.

Rewind it 10 years back, I was 17 year old. So please bear with me of this small kid’s talk for a moment. There was an end year examination results about to be published where it would determine who will stay in the upper class and who will be demoted to the lower class. When the results was just out from the oven, I realised I was demoted to the lower class and at the same time it’s just a couple of marks that I needed to remain in the same class. That’s where a classmate of mine went begging to me. Well, to know why, flashback a couple of weeks. It was during our exam, I caught him cheating his Additional Maths all the way through and while the blind Ms. Nelly who was supervising the examination with the thick-blinding-glasses-that-made-her-even-blind did know anything about that. The thing is, I let him do it while I struggled all the way through the papers. Fast forward to a couple of weeks, there he was begging me not to let blind Ms. Nelly know about it and gave me all the reasons why he needed to be in the good class and how being in a good class is important for him. I could have told Ms. Nelly about it, and I would have not gotten the demotion. But instead, I took the demotion. I didn’t regret being in the lower class. From time to time, when I see him during recess he would be proud to be hanging out with the “leagues” but it didn’t even hurt my eyeballs one bit.

Last week, I had a call from another friend to visit him for Chinese New Year. Surprisingly, I met the guy who had been in the “leagues” after 10 years. No hard feelings. We catch up with each other as usual. One thing I realised, he wasn’t doing as well as where I am now. I’m not implying that I’m on the top of the pyramid of my life now. Well at least, I’m living comfortable enough and sound mind. Well, after all he didn’t do well in his SPM despite being in a good class. Still no hard feelings on my side.

I’m not trying to preach some karma talk here. I’ve seen enough (maybe little to those half-century guys out there) to say that sometimes bad guys are prospering and kept on doing better and better until they die than what other good guys can do. While good people suffer more and more. Don’t believe me? Open up the newspaper and turn to the politics section. There you have it.

The whole point is, “When somebody slaps you on your left cheek, give him your right cheek as well..” Something not easy for me to swallow but ponder…

Psalms 73:1-16

“For I Can’t Help…”

“Take my hand.. and take my whole life too..”

The simplicity of falling in love. When nothing else matters. But in that short, simple little words is also pack up with responsibility, commitment and a bonding covenant. The fruits of its result may not be immediate, but it’s for sure. “Love endureth all things…”

1 Corinthians 13:4-8