For your immediate attention

This came in to my letterbox today. My father who usually opened the letterbox, retrieved my mails. When he entered the house, he quickly showed this to my Mom and both whispered between themselves. Just then, I came out and saw them. My mom said I got mails hesitantly. I thought what was the problem that was so hush-hush.

I saw the boxed message "NOTICE OF SUMMONS ENCLOSED", followed by "For Your Immediate Attention". When I saw the envelope was from Robinsons, I said "aiyah, chey". I told them it was probably some gimmicks from Robinsons lah. When I opened the envelope, the letter has another boxed message "THIS IS A DETENTION ORDER". Adoi.

My parents are like that. They still belonged to the era of black and white. So if any government agency, any ministry, any bank, or any institution sent any official letters, they got so nervous and overwhelmed. Much worse if the wordings were "cold and harsh". As if they had committed a crime. My father had probably thought it was a letter from the lawyer issuing me summons and chasing me for payment or something similar. And they actually did not want to let me know.

I am so used to all these marketing gimmicks. It was the advertisers' way of enticing you to open the envelope to discover their great deals, that's all. I myself, had been guilty of conjuring such slogans, taglines some time. But those were meant for corporate clients. I see no need for advertisers to resort to these measures to lure consumers. Consumers, laymen, would be happy enough if you enclosed some discount vouchers or free stuff. If advertisers offered anything "too good to be true", rest assured the public would be queueing up before your doors opened.

So, please, Robinsons, next time don't send me such harsh mails. I have a lot of explaining to do, you know. Just email me, ok?

Leave your comments

A fellow blogger, Rachel, has emailed me that she could not post a comment here. I have checked it out and should be ok now. Thanks, Rachel.

Hmm, no wonder nowadays nobody leave me any comments. Keep those comments coming!

喜喜 Double Happiness

I love this cushion cover which I found for my cushion on my leather chair in my bedroom. It was the word 喜喜. The Chinese usually like this auspicious character as 喜 in chinese means happiness. And to have 双喜 means two 喜, which in turn means double happiness. We usually see this character during weddings.

I have always like this character very much because it just make me feel happy, hopefully I would have many happy events, happy news, happy mood everyday. And I like this colour because it matches well with my green wall in my bedroom, and also matching that green night lamp besides my bed. In my bedroom there is one side of the wall which is this green colour, whereas the other 3 sides are pure white, because I like my room bright with greenish hues. My lucky colour. :)))

Sarporo Ramen Bishamon

I was in Bugis for a meeting. For a quick early lunch, I dropped in at one of the eating joints at the basement, Sarporo Ramen Bishamon. What a mouthful name. Anyway it was raining, it would be great to have piping hot soup in the ramen. They have a few ramen set meals as well as bento sets from $10.90 to $12.90. I ordered the Shoyu Ramen which was something like charsiew lean pork with some fermented veggies. The sides you could choose 2 types. I chose the fried chicken and California maki. It also cames with a hot or cold green tea.

For ramen, what I look for was the soup base. The soup was marvelous - thick, hot, flavourful. The ramen was a little disappointing, though. It was not Q enough, in fact a little too soggy. And my first bite of the charsiew, the porky smell was a bit too strong (think because it was frozen) although subsequent bites were ok. Overall the soup saved the dish. The fried chicken was nice, crispy and juicy and very hot. California maki was normal. Not bad for a set meal for that price. But I may try the other eating joints the next time.

Recently I was also nearby Bugis Village. I passed the Qi Ji shop, selling its popular nasi lemak and popiah. They also sell mee siam, all local food. For nasi lemak they have many different sets, some with fried fish, some with chicken wings, some with otah etc... I chose this combination normally. I do not like fried fish as it is difficult to eat. I like chicken wings, otah, the fried egg and I added the veggies, because I like my meals to have crunchy veggies. This set cost $3.90. Yummy.

When I turn old .... 当我老了

Recently, I had an encounter with a nun, who gave me snippets of advice. I was stunned about some things she told me about myself.

She told me to curb my temper at times, so that I would be more receptive to others' opinions and assistance. I need to overcome my little stubborn character and to take heed not to be too fussy about some things in life, but I have a kind heart. She said I am a very hardworking person but need to watch my spending. If I were to be more receptive, open up my mind, the good things would come to me naturally. Otherwise if I were to remain status quo, I would be unhappy deep inside. Actually I have already started trying to change for the better. She happened to be a guardian angel who appeared to remind me again. She asked me to continue chanting "om mani padme hum" (Guan Yin's mantra).

She also gave me this chinese article to read. I found the english translation too although I preferred the chinese version. It brought tears to my eyes and I am deeply touched (感动). Hope it motivates you too. May we continue to love our parents more, as well as loving your loved ones and friends.

当我老了，不再是原来的我。
请理解我，对我有一点耐心。

当我把菜汤洒到自己衣服上时，当我忘记怎样系鞋带时，
请想一想当初我是如何手把手地教你。

当我一遍又一遍地重复你早已听腻的话语，请耐心地听我说，不要打断我。

你小的时候，我不得不重复那个讲过千百遍的故事，直到你进入梦乡。

当我需要你帮我洗澡时，请不要责备我。

还记得小时候我千方百计哄你洗澡的情形吗？

当我对新科技和新事物不知所措时，请不要嘲笑我。

想一想当初我怎样耐心地回答你的每一个“为什么”。

当我由于双腿疲劳而无法行走时，请伸出你年轻有力的手搀扶我。

就像你小时候学习走路时，我扶你那样。

当我忽然忘记我们谈话的主题，请给我一些时间让我回想。

其实对我来说，谈论什么并不重要，只要你能在一旁听我说，我就很满足。

当你看着老去的我，请不要悲伤。

理解我，支持我，就像你刚开始学习如何生活时我对你那样。

当初我引导你走上人生路，如今请陪伴我走完最后的路。

给我你的爱和耐心，我会报以感激的微笑，

这微笑中凝结着我对你无限的爱。

◆When I turn old, I am not the original me: Please understand me and have patience with me.

◆When I drip gravy all over my clothes, when I forget to tie my shoelaces: Please remember how I taught you what not to do, and how to do many things by hand.

◆When I repeatedly tell you things that you’re tired of hearing: please be patient and listen to me. Please don’t interrupt me. When you were young, I told you the same story over and over again until you were sound asleep.

◆When I need you to help me bathe: Please don’t scold me. Do you still remember how when you were small I had to coax you to have a bath?

◆When I don’t understand new technology: Please don’t laugh at me or mock me.

Please think how I used to be so patient with you to answer your every “why.”

◆When my two legs are tired and I cannot walk anymore: Please stretch out your powerful hands to lend me a hand, just like when you were a baby learning to walk I held both your hands.

◆When I suddenly forget what subject we are discussing: Please give me a little time to recollect. Actually, it does not matter what we are talk about; as long as you are by my side, I am so contented and happy already.

◆When you see the old me, please don’t be sad: Please understand me and support me, just like how I was with you when you were young and were just learning to face life.

At the beginning, I guided you to the path of life. Now I ask you to keep me company to finish this last leg of my life. Give me your love and patience, I will give you a grateful smile, and crystallized in this smile is my endless love for you.

The dark horse

Hmm, I dreamt of Joanne Peh last night. I am not considered a fan of this actress, as I think I am too old for that and of "different generation". Although I never did have an idol, those celebrities belonging more to "my time" would be the likes of Zoe Tay, Fann Wong, Thomas Ong etc. I do not keep up to date with the current batch of Mediacorp princes and princesses.

However, from a very brief interaction with Joanne once, I do find her to be a very nice and friendly girl, with no snobbish air around her. More of the girl-next-door. She is someone who did put in extra effort in considering the feelings of people around her, which is something rare for a busy and upcoming top-rated celebrity. Belonging to one of the current batch of Caldecott princesses, I do find Joanne and the other princesses media-friendly, gracious and PR-savvy. Unlike the older days, where celebrities were deemed to be "beyond reach" and there was a mystified cloud around the big celebrities then.

The newer breed of actors and actresses seemed to be less controversy-prone, and the media seemed "kinder" with their reporting. Relationship with the media is more of a pro than con, compared to the older days. For example, we remember the media's fracas over Fann Wong's contract woes, and Quan Yi Fong's public brawl. Although Joanne recently had a minor misunderstanding with the press, which accused her of over-declaring her vital stats...umm, assets, I think generally, the younger actresses have it quite good in today's relationship with the public.

Anyway, back to my dream. I was in some place indoors. I saw a friend, P, sitting alone on a bench. She looked sad, and her face was serious and subdued. There were quite a number of people around. When P saw me, she almost broke down and she quickly got up and hugged me. In the dream, I asked "what's wrong?". But I think I was in a hurry or something, so I continued walking.

Then I saw Joanne who was talking to her assistant excitedly, laughing and smiling. When she saw me, she quickly waved her hand and beckoned me over. As I went over, she said we should take some photos together and she instructed her assistant to go somewhere to do something for her. Then with a mobile phone on hand, she took snapshots of us. Then some fans began to fill the place, and also wanted to take photos with her. As she busied herself talking to them, she passed me the mobile phone. When I tried to view the photos in the phone, I could not find them. Haha! Another weird dream.

To me, maybe the dream is a premonition that Joanne might win this year's Best Actress award this month, for her performance in Little Nonya, as the pitiful and mentally-distressed Yu Zhu. To me, she is a dark horse this year as Jeanette Aw would be the more hyped choice and widely tipped to win this award.

Anyway, good luck to them all!

Effort?

A recent TV commercial made me grinch. Cannot tahan.

The commercial started with a scene in the office, and a lady in blue stressfully at work, and suddenly started suppressed and stifled screaming, her face contorted in different degrees. They were trying to prove she was so stressed that she could do without a chair, and flashed the word "much effort!". I thought it was an ad for laxatives or Viagra. Then the screen changed to another lady in red, very relaxed and smiling, eating a snack and flashed "little effort!" Then they showed the Soyjoy fruit bar at the end. Soyjoy is a nutritious fruit bar by a Japanese company promoting its bars made from soybean rather than the sinful candy bar.

The mere usage of these tags "Much Effort!" and "Little Effort!" made me grinch. Something was wrong with the English, somehow. From the intention of meaning to say "so much effort" or "lots of effort needed", they shrunk it to "much effort"! From "a little effort is all you need" or "it takes a little effort", they shrunk it to "little effort!" They could have used "Stressful!" vs "Effortless!" but it would be too "cheem" for the layman audience. Or "Too much effort" vs "Too little effort" would be a mouthful. Or "Real effort!" vs "No effort!"??

Anyway what and how does "effort" got to do with fruit bars? It was pretty misleading and simplistic. Are they trying to say it was so little effort to buy the bar that people could "afford" it? Or a little effort in a choice of snacks could make you relaxed and happy? While not eating the snack will make it "much effort" to concentrate at work?

Maybe if they had invited Jack Neo and his repertoire for this ad, it would have been easier for the local audience to stomach the disparity of usage of the "Much effort, little effort" using local slang, which I am sure the likes of Liang Po Po /Mark Lee /Henry Thia/ Pat Mok would be able to pull it off EFFORTLESSLY. One could easily imagine the lady in blue replaced by Henry Thia's enactment of "Much Effort!" and Mark Lee's or Liang PoPo's enactment of "Little Effort!". It would bring the house down with the comic relief, attracting all the aunties and uncles and children from all walks of life in throngs to try Soyjoy. Haha!

Anyhow, a commercial is just another way of advertising a product. How it influences the consumers' interpretation and perception is vastly different. The ultimate objective is the product get noticed and people are motivated enough to want to buy and try it. Then that makes a successful ad. For me to be convinced, they only needed an ad to show me simply the benefits of consuming snacks made of soybean compared to unhealthy candy bars. It is that simple. Then again, consuming too much snacks is unhealthy itself. Best is not to snack, (too) much effort.

But anyway, I think the company should pay me for advertising for them here. Little effort. :P

A genuine gift

Accompanied Mom shopping and she was trying on blouses in Takashimaya. She took almost about an hour, choosing the blouses, marvelling at the different designs, plus an overly enthusiastic sales lady was on hand to ensure Mom discovered the "beauty" of EACH and EVERY blouse. After trying like 10 blouses, Mom narrowed down to 3 blouses, which I helped her choose. She was undecided which to choose as she quite like all three. So I said buy all, she said it was expensive and almost wanted to choose the cheapest of them all, and at the same time kept uttering "expensive, expensive". I told her if she liked all 3, I would buy 3 for her. She vehemently said "no, no, no!" I said treat it as an early birthday gift from me. Still she hesitated. Old people are like that. They just refused to let their children waste money. To them, everything is expensive. I told her it was ok, since she liked them, rather than I buy something for her birthday which she might not like. So with the help of a cooperative sales girl, she relented and let me pay.

I could see that Mom was happy with the purchase. Because I knew she really liked all pieces as the quality was good and the designs something unusual and more trendy than her normal garb. I could see Mom was genuinely pleased. So naturally I was pleased as well.

I have always been a person who liked to buy gifts for others, even if I have more money or when I am poorer. I would go the extra mile to find a gift which the recipient would like. When I buy gifts for others, I do not ask for anything or any favour in return. I do not just buy gift vouchers or just give an ang pow out of convenience (unless it was specifically asked for). I only asked that they genuinely appreciate the gesture and gift.

Once I bought a birthday gift for niece, something which I knew she would love to have. But she was not allowed to open the present because the mommy disallowed it. She disapproved the gift as it would be a great distraction for the girl as well as it was too expensive. Naturally the girl was disappointed. I was disappointed too because no matter how distracted or damage a gift could be, it was a matter of discipline which could be managed. Plus I had to spend more in the end, buying another gift.

Once, for Christmas gift exchange present and which the recipient wished for a pair of Creative speakers. I went high and low in search of the speakers. I found the model and bought another even better model of speakers at a higher price instead. I lugged the big box home, and had to wrap it with 2 wrapping paper and lugged it to the party. A little inconvenient but it was what that recipient wanted and I wanted to make the wish come true.

Another time, a friend lost the metal logo on her leather wallet of a known brand. It had dropped off accidentally and got lost. It was the first wallet she bought using her first salary in the company. Naturally she was a little upset. Not wanting her to feel the loss, I bought her another similar wallet on an occasion. She might have wished for another wallet by then, I was not sure. Anyway, all I wanted to do was to minimise her pain of losing that little metal thing.

Yet another time, in order to surprise a friend for her birthday. I ordered a bouquet of flowers to be specially delivered on her special day as it was a weekend and we would not be meeting anyway. I made sure I chose the type and colour of flowers she liked and specifically asked the florist to deliver early in the morning (I knew friend was going out). Who knew, she did not even get to see the flowers on the actual day, because she was too busy outside with friends. She did not even know. I was a little disappointed as it was meant as a surprise. To me, when I felt my gifts were not appreciated or the recipient did care about it at all, it made me a little upset.

Another time, I bought a christmas present for a guy friend. I bought some nice socks. Who knows, when he opened it, he thought it was some cheapo socks I bought. How I wished at that time, I really have bought those 3-for-$10 socks, since he thought it was cheap anyway!

Still another time, I bought a birthday gift, engraved it with the friend's name as well as "Stay Happy Always" as I knew the friend could do with a better model than the existing one. I just wanted this friend to be genuinely happy.

So when I buy gifts for friends or someone special, I really do try to make that person genuinely happy. When it turned out the other way round, I do get a little upset at times. Nonetheless, I would always ensure gifts were bought from my heart, and hopefully the person who received it, was really happy from the bottom of his/her heart, without questioning my intentions.

“The greatest gift you can give another is the purity of your attention.” Richard Moss

And giving the person the due attention is how I show my sincerity, whether he/she appreciates or not.

爱很简单

Akashi lunch

Had a nice relaxing lunch cum update session with Ah Mich and 2 other ex-colleagues today. We went to Akashi Japanese Restaurant. I had their signature Akashi Bento set. Wow, it was really value for money. For $20, you get grilled saba shioyaki fish, tempura prawns, tempura eggplant, tempura green pepper and sweet potato, few pieces of sashimi, few pieces of cuttlefish, a bowl of soup, rice with pickles and fruits. It was a huge bento set and I could not finish it. It was good.

This is the last meet up this week with yet another group of ex-colleagues. As usual, we asked this colleague, YC, who is the MD of the subsidiary of my ex company, about how we looked. YC is about the same age as me and he is well-versed in face reading, and normally in the older days in office, the girls would pester him to see the "energy" of their faces, and in regards to their luck in wealth/career, love life and health, as the energy changes from time to time. He usually gave us snippets of advice here and there. He said I looked good, and luck ok, and career not bad. He adviced what to watch out for. Overall it is quite good, he said. And I am glad to hear that!!! To me, YC himself has a fortunate face with good features, bright and high forehead, fleshy at the right parts, good nose, the typical look of a boss. And he is one.

彩虹天堂

3's a crowd and 8 is ...?

Just came back from dinner with 8 of my ex-colleagues. Most of them I have not seen for more than 5 years. Yes I was right, I do not really like catching up with big groups. Most of the time, many people were talking at the same time, and mostly were shouting across the table, the rest straining to hear what they were saying in the noisy restaurant. 8 persons with 8 sets of updates could prove mind boggling. Hence you got a little of this and a little of that, but I wonder how much went into our heads as we listened and talked? That is why I normally prefer 1 or 2 persons the most to have intimate conversations. At least the attention span is longer and focus clearer. We shared company stories, business stories, family stories and everything.

Anyway it was great to see all the pioneers of our ex-company again, which included me. We belonged to an earlier era in that company when things were much simpler and relationships and friendships were more genuine. I guess most of us have aged together and gained experience together and apart.

If I were to catch up with the later and younger eras of people of the company, I guess it would be a different feeling. Anyway, it still boils down to how close I was to each and every one of my colleagues. Let me arrange with each of those who mattered to me more and catch up again soon. So tired for now.

Like bees to honey

I am so glad my regular hairdresser moved to my neighbourhood. A few months ago when I visited her to do my hair, she was telling me she needed to move out of the shop as the lease was expiring soon and she has no intention to renew. She asked if I had any lobang, so I referred her to my bro-in-law. She asked where would be a good location, so of course I said "My place! You must move nearby my place!" as there was crowd potential there. And plus it would be real convenient for me. Indeed she was lucky she managed to find a shop there.

After I learnt she has moved, I went to visit her. She has just moved in less than 2 weeks ago. She told me business has been a bit quiet. I told her maybe her regular customers were not aware she was there yet, and advised her to give out pamphlets to nearby flats. I know there was definitely business potential.

Immediately after I came in to do my hair, another customer walked in, followed by another, then another, and yet another. She was only a one-man-show, at least for now. So her hands were full for the entire afternoon. I told her "see, I brought you customers". Hehe! Anyway, she could be my potential customer in the near future too. And I am sure she would call me.

It was interesting, I noticed whenever I walk into an empty shop to browse, or go into a restaurant to eat, or just walk into any ulu shop, it would definitely be followed by other walk-in customers, into the otherwise empty shop. So I always joked, "see, I brought customers and business to the shop". Or rather I was the "honey" which the bees followed. Haha! Perhaps, it is because I have lots of water element in me, and water in fengshui meant "wealth". So the shop owner benefitted. Hmmm.... but why have I myself not strike it rich yet? :D

"Goreng" days

Had a good time catching up with 2 of my ex-salesguy friends over biryani and teh tarik at a joint called Teh Tarik. One of them, an Indian, has already graduated from post graduate studies with a MBA. He is a jolly jovial person whose laughter can be heard from blocks away. He is an ideal sales person, because he can talk and smile sweetly, a fun guy. He was the one who attended dharma teaching with me once, as he has great respect for the Buddha. He is very localised, a very untypical Indian, I would say. I even think he was a Chinese in his past life,because, well, he is very Chinese in many ways. Haha!

The other sales guy is still in my ex-company, and doing well with his sales projects and product which is selling like hot cakes now. Like all sales people, we are all looking for better opportunities if and when the times are better. We recalled all the fun sales meetings we had in the past, being grilled and "goreng" hard by our beloved boss and we imitated all his anecdotes. In a way, we have learned the stressful selling cycle of sales and marketing in a fun way and with the company of a great team. Those were the days, my friends.

The perfect stranger

I got to know a lady friend online - a perfect stranger. She is a very pretty girl who looks like a model or celebrity from Japan or Korea. She looks like a character out of a Qiong Yao novel (琼瑶小说). Naturally she has many online male admirers. I must say my first impression of her was not exactly flattering. Because she added many friends online (including me), I am sure almost 90% were strangers to her and probably 80% were men. One thing about the internet, there is a thin line between privacy and being very public. I saw many overzealous guys' comments to her, some almost lewd ones, which to a normal person, would have taken offence. I wondered what was she trying to do. I pictured a pack of rabid wolves hovering around a sheep, ready to devour their victim (hehe). Normally a good-looking person would avoid too much attention upon herself as she would have no lack of admirers. So I did not have a good impression. I asked "do I know you?" and she said she just wanted to be friends. Nonetheless I did not bother much because she was just a stranger anyway.

By chance I got to chat with her online. Out of curiosity, I asked her some questions - her nationality, her job, the industry she is in, some usual stuff. I actually even suspected her pictures were not the real her and I told her. And as I expected, she dodged some questions initially, or gave monosyllabus or one-liner replies. But through the conversations, I realised she gave one-liners, not because she was avoiding something, but she is a really serious and no-nonsense person. Someone with not much humour, someone who does not make effort for small talk, someone who does not warm up to people easily. So unlike her looks. She is half Jap and she is not in the entertainment industry, but someone who is very stressed and busy at work preparing reports and endless meetings. I even told her point-blank she sounded like a very serious person even though I have not met her personally. She was surprised and said "You also think so? People have told me the same thing." So unlike her looks. She said some people actually found her fierce when she is serious at work. And from her character, I gather she is a very quiet person, and I also checked out her birth details (Disclaimer: I do not profess to know about bazi, lest I am being scolded, but I do have the habit of checking and analysing people's bazi so that I can test whether I can get along with that person or not). To my amusement, what I gather was true. It is true she is very quiet and really serious, a person with not many words. That is why she is not and cannot be a sales person. She is really quite the opposite from what I initially thought.

Then the topic got into all those online overzealous males. I did not want to sound offensive so I asked a few questions indirectly until she kept asking "what you mean?", then she finally realised what I was driving at. Her reply "if I behave myself and be serious, people will not try to be funny." I was a little taken aback and surprised at her reply, as I expected her to dodge again. I told her to be careful. So after a few rounds of chatting, I think my impression of her has improved. She too, has lightened up and can even joke a little now. At one stage, she even joked at my question marks, and exclaimed "Are you giving me a job interview here?" Haha! She even told me "do not judge a book by its cover.' Yes I learnt a lesson well. We should not judge a person purely by his/her looks. It is the personality within that makes a person shines. I believe some people (be it strangers or loved ones or angels or enemies) are sent to us to teach us a lesson or two in life.

Should we burn everything to recreate everything?

Many years ago, my paternal grandmother passed away when I was in Secondary 4. It was about 3-4 weeks later when I dreamt of her. It was a short dream. I just dreamt of my grandmother standing at one corner. As I walked towards her to greet her, I saw her thin frame with her bun up hair, standing there without a word. As I got closer, I noticed that there were no eyes on her face. Yes it was a scary sight and I was shocked. I immediately woke up. When I told my parents, they quickly arranged to burn the existing glasses of my grandmother to her.

In some chinese traditions practised here, the families of the deceased normally would burn paper house, paper car and even paper mobile phones to the deceased, to ensure that the deceased would still continue to possess the "material" stuff they had on earth.

Would the deceased really get to use the stuff which was burnt to them? Read on. The below is adapted from TheDailyEnlightenment.com.

Many Chinese believe that all will be reborn within hells in the afterlife, which is imagined to be a mirror image of this world. However, only those who have created very negative karma are reborn there, while there are five other possible realms of existence - realm of hungry ghosts (and wandering spirits), animals, humans, demi-gods and gods. Hell is also not an 'interchange terminal' between every two consecutive lives. Since it is a realm of suffering, 'requisites' such as money, houses, cars and handphones are not relevant. There is also no proof that incinerated paper items like such can re-materialise into solid items.

Also, money is useless without trade, houses without land, cars without fuel, just as handphones are pointless without telcos! If life in hell requires everything in our world via burning, we would need to burn the whole world, as every thing is interdependent on every other thing! The custom of burning is thus illogical. Burning expensive paper items not only wastes paper, money, time and energy, it also pollutes the environment, and is damaging for plant, animal and human health. Ironically, much fire, ash and smoke might also displease unseen beings, just as they irritate many humans.

Sometimes, the deceased are so attached to paper items that they manifest in dreams to ensure they are burnt – even though they are not needed at all. In such cases, it's okay to burn a little if 'counselling' fails, but it's more important to do charity in the name of the deceased to help them create merits for better rebirths. Another possible reason for such dreams is that the family of the deceased are attached to the idea that paper items must be burnt, thus creating such dreams out of guilt, fear and worry. We should also offer prayers by chanting to share the Dharma, ideally urging them to be born in Amituofo (Amitabha Buddha)'s Pureland.

Burning what shouldn't be burnt destroys blessings,

it doesn't share them.
Burning paper offerings is likened to sending bouncing cheques,

at high costs.

Venerable Chodron's teachings

Venerable Thubten Chodron is in town and her teachings start this weekend. For more details, go to her website.

April 4: Buddhist Library 7.30pm-9.30pm
Dharma Talk: “Transforming Adversity Into Joy and Courage”
Address: No. 2, Lorong 24A Geylang Road

April 5: Buddhist Fellowship 11am-12.30pm
Dharma Talk: “Cultivating a Compassionate Heart”
Address: Pah Em She Temple, 9 Chwee Chian Road

April 6 - 8: Tai Pei Buddhist Center 7:30pm-9.30pm
Teachings: "Becoming Friends with Ourselves"
Address: No.2 Lavender Street map

April 9: Tai Pei Buddhist Center 7:30pm-9.30pm
Public Talk: “Buddha’s Advice for Living with Uncertainty,”
Address: No.2 Lavender Street
Performance by Bodhicitta Group at 7 pm

April 10: Wat Palelai Buddhist Temple 7:30pm-9.30pm
Public Talk: "Taming The Mind"
Venue: 49, Bedok Walk, off Bedok Road
Singapore 469145.

April 11: Tai Pei Buddhist Center 9.00am-6.00pm
One-Day Amitabha Buddha Retreat (Registration Detail)
Registration Closing Date: 6 April
Address: No.2 Lavender Street

May 2: KMS-PKS Temple 7.30pm
Public talk: "Does Happiness Really Depend on the State of the Economy?"
Address: 88 Bright Hill Rd

May 3: KMS-PKS Temple 7.30pm
Public talk: "Overcoming Procrastination: Getting Ourselves to Do What We Want to Do"
Address: 88 Bright Hill Rd