Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche - The golden mountain and its radiance

I was particularly touched when I watched this footage of His Holiness Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (1910 - 1991) who was a great Vajrayana master, scholar, poet, teacher and head of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism from 1987 to 1991. He was also one of His Holiness Dalai Lama's main gurus. 

In fact, every time I watch videos of him, I would start to tear.  I did not have the affinity to meet the previous Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche in this lifetime. I wish I did. His teachings have some how touched me. Perhaps I find him endearing because of the way he gave brilliant analogies in his teachings as well as coupled with beautiful poetic flair. 

Below are some random excerpts of his teachings I picked: 

On true spiritual friends

"Spending your time with true spiritual friends will fill you with love for all beings and help you to see how negative attachments and hatred are. Being with such friends and following their example will naturally imbue you with their good qualities just as all the birds flying around the golden mountain are bathed in its golden radiance."

On devotion

"Devotion is as precious as having a skilled hand that can accomplish all crafts. It is like a great treasure which fulfills all needs, the panacea which cures all illness. Entrust your heart and mind to the Three Jewels like throwing a stone into deep water." 

On practising Dharma

"If you truly put the teachings into practice, as the Dharma takes birth and grows in your mindstream, all your faults will naturally diminish and all your positive qualities will spontaneously blossom, just as the sun, as it rises higher in the morning, gradually spreads increasing light throughout the world." 

On practising Dharma

"Do not waste a single moment, like a warrior who, pierced to the heart by an arrow, knows he has only few minutes to live. It is now, while we are in good health and in possession of all our physical and mental faculties, that we should practice Dharma."

On faith and devotion

"Without being concentrated by a magnifying glass, dry grass cannot be set alight by the rays of the sun, even though they bathe the whole earth evenly in their warmth. In the same way, it is only when focused through the magnifying glass of your faith and devotion that the all- pervading warm rays of the buddhas’ compassion can make blessings blaze up in your being, like dry grass on fire."

On abandoning attachments

"If we cease to have strong clinging to our body, possessions, and relatives, we will naturally stop feeling aggression toward those we consider as our enemies and compulsive attraction toward those we consider as friends. A true bodhisattva makes no distinction between a person touching one side of his body with a silken scarf and someone cutting his flesh on the other side."

On the absolute truth

"When your realization of emptiness becomes as vast as the sky, you will gain an even greater conviction about the law of cause and effect, and you will see just how important your conduct really is. Relative truth functions inexorably within absolute truth." 

On renunciation

"A prisoner locked in jail thinks all the time about different ways of getting free - how he might climb over the walls, ask powerful people to intervene, or raise money to bribe someone. So, too, seeing the suffering and imperfection of samsara, never stop thinking about how to gain liberation, with a deep feeling of renunciation." 

On renunciation

"A bedridden patient only thinks about getting well again. He or she has no wish to remain sick forever. Likewise, a practitioner who yearns to leave the miseries of samsara behind will make use of all the ways in which that can be done, such as taking refuge, generating the mind set on attaining enlightenment for the sake of others, undertaking positive actions and so on, with a firm determination to get out of samsara constantly in mind." 

On death

"Mindfulness of death is a nectarlike medicine that restores you to health and a sentinel that watches over the discipline of your practice, never letting it stray into distractions." 

On emptiness

"Once you have understood the union of emptiness and the dependent arising of phenomena, you will see clearly how deluded and deceiving the ways of the world really are, and, like an old man forced to play children’s games, you will find them very tiresome." 

On emptiness

"When sunlight falls on a crystal, lights of all colours of the rainbow appear; yet they have no substance that you can grasp. Likewise, all thoughts in their infinite variety - devotion, compassion, harmfulness, desire - are utterly without substance. This is the mind of the Buddha. There is no thought that is something other than emptiness; if you recognize the void nature of thoughts at the very moment they arise, they will dissolve. Attachment and hatred will never be able to disturb the mind. Deluded emotions will collapse by themselves. No negative actions will be accumulated, so no suffering will follow."

The Boudanath Stupa in Nepal was continuously lighted with 100,000 butter lamp offerings near Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche's monastery during the 49 days of his parinirvana in 1991. _(i)_ 

HH Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (1910-1991)

The act of kindness from strangers

One of the best moments when I am volunteering is meeting familiar faces even though I do not exactly know them by name. This happened 2 weeks ago during the Grand Puja at MBS (organised by Gaden Shartse Dro-Phen Ling) when Zong Rinpoche was in town for the very first time. Being stationed at the booth all the time literally means devotees will come to me instead of me approaching them. 

Over the years, I always meet the 'regulars' who appear only during the Grand Pujas as well as those I meet every weekend. Truly I'm thankful for and rejoice in their generosity in contributing to the Dharma.  My very first 'regular' devotee on the very first day of the event every Grand Puja would always be this lady named C. She would look for me and always contributed $500 or more, without fail.  

From the previous event, I remember a shabbily dressed thin old man wearing a cap who took a long time to unwrap his money from a tightly wrapped little plastic bag inside his worn and torn wallet. To my surprise he eventually forked out $50. This time round, he was here again, exactly the same, slow in movement but so generous in contributing his part. Besides money, he even sponsored a wealth vase upon my recommendation. I'm really touched by his support.   

Perhaps the most heartwarming experience this time would be the White Bearded Uncle. During the previous event, I had a hard time with him. Accompanied by a younger lady, the old uncle was edgy and sarcastic, asking me many questions. This time, I could not recognise him until the kind lady besides him asked me smilingly, "do you remember him?" .... It took me just a few seconds and looking at White Bearded Uncle, I exclaimed, "Oh yes!!! I remember you, uncle! The uncle who scolded me!", and I laughed.  White Bearded Uncle gave me a huge happy smile. He was incredibly nice this time and I made a friend. I guess they realised the benefits and merits of attending all the pujas in this grand event and I am happy they came back. 

Another acquaintance sent me a touching message in Whatsapp, thanking me for introducing her to a Rinpoche who is truly a great master and she found peace and joy at having found her guru finally. I have had many random friends/acquaintances whom I met thanking me for introducing kind gurus to them either from my blog or through our conversations. And whenever we meet, they would share with me their wonderful experience and they would sometimes shower me with little gifts or food/snacks or holy objects. It makes me feel truly blessed and thankful. 

All these encounters cannot compare to the material success/happiness, or the downs and disappointments we experience in the other aspects of our life. Sometimes it is ironical that those people who are strangers whom we do not know personally appear to be the most kind and supportive. When close friends or loved ones are supportive of you, it is kind of 'expected'. But when strangers are supportive, it is one of the greatest joys one could ever feel. Sometimes we don't even have the support of those we love so much, yet we get so much love and respect from those we don't even know. In fact, getting the 'endorsement' from strangers beats not getting the support from close ones a 100-times more. I hope to be able to continue to realise these simple joys and to be able to use such experience to help me understand the fragility of life in order to improve in my practice. 

A BIG thank you to all my 'regulars' for your immense support towards the Three Jewels, the Sangha community and the monastery! Rejoice in your merits and thank you for the slight brush of affinity with me in this very lifetime. Om mani padme hum! 

The sausage dog

Saw someone carrying this cute bag in the MRT train.  I have forgotten how I used to like sausage dogs, or Dachshunds, alot.  Years ago, while in my teens and early 20s, my buddy used to own a sausage dog called "Ah Girl".  She was stark black and quite an old dog when I first saw her.  I am not sure why, but I just like Ah Girl a lot.  

Everytime I hung out at buddy's house, I would take a particular interest in Ah Girl. I always wanted to play with her. However, the feelings were not mutual.  Ah Girl hardly noticed me or she totally ignored me, which was unbelievable because dogs are mostly an overly friendly bunch. Instead, buddy's Persian cat liked me more. She followed me around. But you know, I have a slight phobia for cats. Oh wells.  Ah Girl has since passed on many years back but today at this very moment, I remember her. 

A facade of memories

This was my primary school which had already been demolished many years ago, to make way for a new school building and a MRT station.  Somehow this building will remain etched in my mind forever as it brings back so much memories of my childhood.

Coming from one of the Methodist schools, I used to study in a Christian environment.  This main building had a row of classrooms on the ground floor and a hall on the second floor.  From primary through to secondary school, this hall brought so much memories of my school life.  

I had my first performance in primary one on stage in the hall during Christmas, playing one of the Three Kings (or Three Wise Men) who visited Jesus Christ after his birth and brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. We also had our weekly chapels in the hall. It was compulsory to attend chapel unless you are a Muslim. We had our school camp during secondary school and slept in this hall too (I remembered the group of us slept on floor of the stage and pretended to sleep when our teacher was still awake), and we had camp fires downstairs.  It was quite eerie sharing ghost stories in the night in such an old rundown building. I attended many prefect induction ceremonies over the years but I guess the most memorable one would be when I became the head prefect in Sec 4.  I remember going on my rounds around the school compound every morning and especially at the gate to make sure my prefects are catching late comers. Hehehe.... 

The little small building next to this old building had only 2 classrooms, and it was next to a church. Then we had a very old and small canteen (we called it "the tuckshop" in those days) with only 4 small stalls (but very delicious food). In those days, we indulged in colourful syrup drinks and snacks. We played "zero point" in the tiny basketball court, and joined the mosquitoes at the monkey climb ( I hated it) on the grass patch behind the tiny garden. Then once a week, we took a stroll to the nearby public swimming pool for our swimming lessons in the afternoon, and feasted on ice cream and snacks from the mama shop (provision shop run by Indians). We had so much fun. 

I remember quite a few teachers fondly from primary and secondary schools. I think they had influenced me positively in many ways, far more than the teachers and lecturers from JC and Uni.  They are Mrs Elsie Quahe, Mrs Diana Ng, Mrs Jane Ng, Miss Shirley Nair, Mrs Angeline Khoo, and 林老师. I will probably write about them another time - they made up my precious innocent childhood memories.  

These (red) shoes are made for walking

It's the weekend! Everyday I go many places, most of the time in my trusty reliable red shoes.... you know, walk the talk.  Have a great weekend, everyone!!! 

Entering my transport.... :P

At a lounge...

At a reception...

On holy grounds....

At a convention hall...

In a lift....

At the Blood Bank....

Bai Fang Li, the trishaw peddler, the unsung Bodhisattva

It's never too late to be a Bodhisattva. 

Bai Fang Li started giving donation at the age of 74 in 1987, at an age when he was about to retire.  

After a visit to his hometown, Bai Fang Li donated his whole life savings of 5000 yuan to support needy children who were too poor to go to school. As soon as he returned to Tianjin, he went back to work, even though his children persuaded their father to enjoy a more relaxing life. Bai had always regretted being illiterate. So he hoped the next generation could change their destiny with education.

What turned his life around was, when he witnessed a tiny and skinny six year old boy on the street offering his service to an older lady to carry her groceries. He saw this little boy carrying the heavy grocery bags with a lot of struggle. There was a big smile on the boy's face when he had completed his task and received some money from the lady. This boy looked up to the sky mumbling something as if he was thanking God for the blessing that he had just received.

Bai watched the boy approached several ladies who were shopping in the market, and every time he received payment for his services, he would looked up to the sky and mumbled something. Later, he saw the boy going to a pile of garbage and dug into the garbage looking for something. When he found a dirty piece of bread, he was so happy. He cleaned the bread the best he could, and when he put the bread into his mouth, it was as if it was a piece of bread from heaven.

Bai's heart was extremely touched by what he saw. He approached the boy and offered him to share his lunch with him. Bai was wondering why the boy did not buy a decent lunch with the money he earned from providing services to the ladies. The boy said, "I will use the money to buy food for my siblings."

Bai asked, "Where are your parents?" The boy replied, "My parents were separating stuff from garbage everyday. However, one month ago, they disappeared and I have never seen them again. Thus, I have to work to feed myself and my two younger sisters."

Bai Fang Li asked the boy to take him to his sisters. Bai's heart was broken when he saw the two girls, 5 and 4 years old. The girls were dirty and skinny, and their clothes were very dirty. The neighbours did not care about the condition of these three children, because they were struggling to cope with their own lives too.

Bai Fang Li took these three children to an orphanage in Tianjin. He told the manager of the orphanage that he would bring all the money he made and give them to the orphanage to help the children get food, care and education. Since then Bai Fang Li decided to work harder and with even more determination in operating the trishaw.

Bai Fang Li, the man who led a simple life and gave all to the needy

At that time, he would start work at dawn and would not return until after dark in order to earn extra money. He earned 20 to 30 yuan each day. After returning home, he put his earnings in a place carefully. From all his daily earnings everyday, he put aside some to pay rent for his living space in a hut which he shared with many others, to buy two raisin breads for his lunch and a small piece of meat and egg for his dinner. The rest of the income was donated to the orphanage to help feed and care for the children. He was very happy doing all these, despite his age and constraints.

Later on, to increase his effort to raise more money, Bai moved to a simple room near the Tianjin Railway Station. He waited for clients 24 hours a day, ate simple food and wore discarded second-hand clothes he found.
 
For almost 20 years, Bai Fang Li donated continually to the orphanage (since 1986). He had never asked anything in return from the orphanage. He did even know who were the children who had benefitted from his donation.

He felt that it was a luxury that he had a place to live, food to eat and clothes to wear. He was always thankful for what he had. Bai Fang Li worked as trishaw peddler 365 days a year, regardless of the weather, even when it was snowing heavily or when the sun was scorching hot.

When asked why he would sacrifice so much for the orphans, he always said, "It is OK that I suffer, as long as the poor children have something to eat and can have the proper education. I am happy to do all these things."

His daughter recalls “He suffers throughout his life, saving on food and drinks, stitching his torn pants over and over again. When you throw away his old pants and buy new ones for him, not only that he does not want to wear them but he also gets angry.” When the elder peddled trishaw, his clothes, shoes and hates all did not match, as if he was a beggar.

"I had never bought any clothes before. You see, the clothes that I wear are all picked up from the clothes people threw away. Look at my shoes, they are different, even the socks inside are different! The same applies to my hat; it was also collected from dumpsites.” he said.

He picked up a bun and said to his children “What is so hard about this? This bun is the product of the farmers’ hard work. People throw it away; I pick it up and eat it; isn’t this a way to reduce wastage?”

It has been calculated that, over the years, the distance Bai Fang Li has peddled was equivalent to going round the Equator 18 times.  Somebody attempted to find the list of students sponsored by him but he only found a photograph of him with a few children, and that was the only photograph ever taken. When asked about what he expected of the children, his humble reply was “I only want them to study hard, get a good job, be a good person and to give back to the country.”

Xu Xiuxiang, one of the workers of his Education Support Fund, said: "He never forgot when to give money to the schools and often urged us to give his earnings to the school. Each time he gave the money he felt very happy and said he had completed his mission again."

Bai Fang Li died in hospital at the age of 93

At the age of 90, he brought all his savings of about RMB500 (about US$80) that he has stored neatly in a box to the school named Yao Hua that was run by the orphanage. Bai Fang Li said in a sad voice, "I am too old and weak to operate trishaw now. I cannot continue with the donation. This could be my last donation...." All the teachers in the school were touched and cried.

In 2005, Bai Fang Li was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.  He passed away at the age of 93, in poverty. All in all, he had donated a total of RMB 350,000 (about US$53,000) to the orphanage and the school that was run by the orphanage. Hundreds turned up at his funeral.

The children whom Mr Bai has helped supported turned up for his funeral

Bai Fang Li kept none of his earnings for himself. He gave his all despite being very poor. He worked hard for the benefit of others, in order to improve the lives of others. For 20 years, he has helped and provided for the orphans in their daily living expense and helped them complete their studies. What he left behind was his selfless spirit and unfailing love for mankind.  A true Bodhisattva.

Vintage treasures found! 1960s OCBC bank book & more..

Was doing some major spring-cleaning recently. Came across some really old stuff which belonged to my late grandparents. I found a truly old OCBC bank book from the 1960s! It was my grandmother's. OCBC was one of the largest bank in Singapore since the 1930s. I was guessing why my grandmother had a OCBC bank account. One of the reasons is probably she was related to one of the founders of OCBC Bank.  

The bank book is longish and printed with English and Chinese on the front and back respectively. It came with a pastel blue plastic cover, embossed with both English and Chinese too.  The logo is the familiar Chinese Junk Ship. 

Inside, the T&Cs were in chinese. The date was stamped 30 Dec 1963.  Is OCBC Bank or the Museum interested to procure this?  Hehehe...

Grandmother also kept a short Colonel Sanders' pencil! It was probably a freebie from the then Kentucky Fried Chicken.  

This kind of old school beaded purse was so common in the 1960s-1970s.  

Wow, a vintage metal round container which was used by the goldsmith when you purchase jewellery.  Nostalgic and beautiful! 

A photo of a hardware shop in the 1960s, I think.  Or was it a post office? 

Aung San Suu Kyi - beautiful people do not just happen

I had been wanting to blog about one person whom I respect a lot for a while. In fact, my unfinished post was lying in draft mode for a few months.  Since the release of Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, 67, from house arrest last November, I had wanted to write about her but just did not get about to doing it. She has spent 15 of the past 20 years under arrest.

  

A couple of weeks ago, on 20 June 2012, the two of my most favourite persons, Aung San Suu Kyi met His Holiness the Dalai Lama for the very first time in London, on her 67th birthday. Both are Nobel Prize icons. 

HHDL to Aung San Suu Kyi, "I have real admiration for your courage. I am very happy we've been able to meet."

His Holiness presented a Buddha statue to Aung San Suu Kyi. What an honour for Aung San Suu Kyi to receive a Buddha from the Living Buddha of Compassion! And what an apt gift for a deserving recipient. 

I love this photo very much - the two faces of Humanity.  His Holiness told Aung San Suu Kyi that just as her late father had shown great dedication, he was confident that she too would be of great service to humanity.

 

The wax statues of both Aung San Suu Kyi and His Holiness the Dalai Lama standing side by side at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in Bangkok. Welcoming her release, the Dalai Lama had said: "I welcome the release of fellow Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. I take this opportunity to appeal to freedom-loving people all over the world to support such non-violent movements."

Aung San Suu Kyi accepted an honorary civil law doctorate from Oxford University. "During the most difficult years, I was upheld by the memories of Oxford".  She said young people in Burma were not able to have a similar college experience like her because their university life had been "shattered". She received a two-minute standing ovation at the end of her minute speech.

Aung San Suu Kyi met Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall before planting a Magnolia tree in the gardens of Clarence House on June 21, 2012 in London, England. “Every kindness I received, small or big, convinced me that there could never be enough of it in the world. Kindness, can change the lives of people.”- Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi with husband Michael Aris and sons in London in early years. They were separated for most part of their marriage, and she did not get to see him for the last time when he passed away.

Aung San Suu Kyi was detained in her own country in 1989 and spent 15 of the next 21 years in detention before finally being released from house arrest in 2010. During the brief times she was not being held, she refused to leave the country because she feared she would not be allowed back. The mother-of-two did not even travel to Britain to be with her husband when he was dying of cancer in the 90s.

Aung San Suu Kyi: "As I travel through my country, people often ask me how it feels to have been imprisoned in my home --first for six years, then for 19 months. How could I stand the separation from family and friends? It is ironic, I say, that in an authoritarian state it is only the prisoner of conscience who is genuinely free. Yes, we have given up our right to a normal life. But we have stayed true to that most precious part of our humanity--our conscience."

Dedicating this quote to Aung San Suu Kyi. May her aspirations to benefit her people succeed immediately.

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” - Elisabeth Kübler-Ross.

Pull your ear!

I was just moping about having 50 draft posts in this blog, which are all half written and I am simply too lazy to complete them. Or rather, I lost the momentum of the said topics to write more. Lost inspiration. 

I realise that nowadays I blog whatever that came to my mind. I must quickly post my chain of thoughts, otherwise if I proscrastinate, it will remain unfinished forever.

So here's a random post, about... my earlobe. Haha!   I have always love my ears and especially my earlobes. They are long and fleshy and smooth. When I was a baby/toddler, I would be drinking from and holding my milk bottle on my left hand, and my right hand, I would be rubbing on my earlobes. All babies have a habit of touching or rubbing a soft toy, or corner of blanket, or something when they are sucking milk. For me, it was the earlobe!  It felt so  calming,  rhythmatic and soothing, that I had be asleep in no time!

Raging thoughts like turbulent waves

Sometimes it's so hard to contain negative emotions. The world seems to crush down ever so often. We have been taught that all these negative thoughts of persons/events that upset us are all due to our own mind. Everything is caused by us, no one else. Yes, that I know. But it's the 'tuning' of our mind that is the most difficult. So hard to overcome it. It is our (lack of) ability to transform our mind. We meditate on it. We go for retreats. We (try to) think happy thoughts. We even go (window) shopping to distract ourselves sometimes.  

It's unbelievable that it is often the ones closest to us that can cause us so much unhappiness, sadness and grief. Or, is it? It is precisely our craving for the attention and love and support from those we deem as 'loved ones' that make us miserable. Having expectations - expecting everything to have a reciprocal action, be it something tangible or intangible - cause us to be so unhappy. But I guess this is natural. This is samsara, the very bane of our cyclic existence.

Not too long ago, I received an encouraging note from a friend. It was so touchingly written. I felt so happy. But in the next moment, within a span of 24 hours, a misunderstanding occurred, just before friend's birthday. It took me two weeks to get over it.  Another incident in the past, I think I took 3 years to get over it.  It makes me feel very fragile - that life is so unpredictable. There are so many issues to grapple with and to overcome in order to control and manage our monkey mind.

All these incidents happened ever so often. In a way, it got me thinking.... how the very closest to me are actually not that close. Instead, those not so close friends, acquaintances and even strangers seem to treat me even better at times.  With Dharma practice, I seem to contemplate alot more than I used to. Last night, I even tweeted, "Sometimes I wonder why I can see through everything so clearly. But how nice if everything remains in a veil of delusion?".  Sometimes the truth is so hard to accept. But as I keep mentioning recently, ripening of obstacles may not be all bad. It is in fact, good news.  
 
This morning, I received an email from a Dharma brother. He has sent me a Groupon voucher for a meal. It is an advance birthday gift. What a pleasant surprise.  Although we do not meet often, we do share our views of Buddhism and stuff. However it is still a surprise he remembered. While I pay extra attention in choosing and lavishing gifts on those I love, nowadays I seem to receive many little gifts from the people I least expected instead.  It is a funny world.

For now, I have decided to create an album in my Facebook, called The Gratitude Box, where I will post photos of all the gifts I have received from anyone, big or small. It is not so much of showing off or placing emphasis on material stuff, but rather, I hope in a way, it will help me be grounded and be reminded of the kindness of everyone I meet.  I should learn to treat those who treat me well with extra respect, and for those who didn't, I should not dwell too much over the lack of. And I know I have the blessings of the Buddhas and protectors who watch over me. I need to study and practice harder.


Garchen Rinpoche said, 
"The cause of all suffering is the self-centered mind, and all the negative emotions. When you recognize this, your faults will be exhausted.When you recognize that the only cause of happiness is a pure and loving mind, your qualities will increase like the waxing moon." 

"An intellectual understanding is already a great merit. However, an intellectual understanding will not dispel the root of our suffering, our negative emotions. It certainly helps, but in order to truly pass beyond suffering, we must practice, gain a living experience. When we gain a personal experience, we will directly see how love is so precious. Knowing this, based on experiencing it directly, one will not let go of it at any cost. Not letting go of love, we will habituate to it to the point when it becomes effortless and always remains naturally. Then we have created perfect peace and happiness and have finally passed beyond suffering."

端午快乐！

Today is  端午节 (Duan Wu Festival) or otherwise known as Dragon Boat Festival.  So the Chinese celebrate this festival by eating dumplings. 

I still prefer the traditional dumplings, or Bak Chang, which include ingredients like fatty pork, water chestnut, chinese mushroom, and sometimes with bean paste and dried shrimp, all hidden underneath glutinous rice and wrapped with bamboo leaves. I like Nonya dumplings too, which are more mashed up lean meat and mushroom and taste sweeter than savoury Bak Chang. In fact, I love anything glutinous rice.  

When I was a kid in primary school, I really look forward to having Bak Chang, especially in my Grandma's house. There were usually mountains of bunches of dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves and tied with strings, all gifted by relatives and friends. What Grandma did was hanging all the bunches of dumplings on sturdy bamboo poles (where we hang laundry)  just below the ceiling of her huge kitchen of her attap house.  The aroma of the Bak Chang was so addictive, and even more so, when we heat them up.  We could be having Bak Chang for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

These days I can only eat one or two Bak Changs a day.  Then, when I was a little ravenous kid, I love Bak Chang so much that I could eat about 6-7 Bak Changs a day!  Even my Grandma was shocked. The horror.

端午快乐！

Heartbreaking post: What are you grateful for today? 22 reasons why you should be. #gratitude

It doesn't take very much for us to know how very fortunate we are, is it?  Everyday, I witness people who would definitely prefer a better life. This is a random series of what I captured in Singapore and overseas. What are you grateful for today?

I chanced upon this old man wearing dirty clothes along a busy main road along Sims Avenue, searching and digging in the dustbin for food. He found a half empty yogurt cup and ate what was left. He also found a used cigarette and took a puff.

These two Thai siblings in Chiangmai hanging out in a tourist area begging for money. Whether they were pretending to look pitiful or not, I am sure they did not ask to be born in a situation to suffer this plight.

Years ago, when I just arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, this little boy and his father, who is blind, kept begging us (sitting inside the coach), for money. How could I forget his look of desperation?

This lady was walking in front of me somewhere in Kitchener Road. I noticed her whole body was covered with lumps of flesh and spots protruding. They were all over her face, neck, arms and legs. Are you still thinking of plastic surgery to make yourself even more pretty when you already have perfect skin and a beautiful body?

This couple were in a coffeeshop somewhere in the east of Singapore. The man was feeding his wife, who had difficulty walking. The woman's face was full of sadness. Her husband slowly fed her, held her arms and led her gently when they left after lunch. What more could you ask for in a companion?    

Sighted this elderly lady outside Waterloo Street temple. She caught my attention because her face was touching and hugging a tree.  Would someone who is in a right mind do that?

This Indian man was travelling in a wheelchair along the roadside in Jalan Besar. He lost one of his legs. If not necessary, would a disabled man move around without proper transport?

I always associate Chatuchak Market in Thailand, with this.Little animals like dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, chicks are captured in cages waiting to be sold.  The condition of captured dogs was worse, who hardly had space to move about. Why are we so cruel to animals and do you not know that we could very well be reborn as an animal in our next life?

This man approached me somewhere in Bencoolen Street when I was having wanton noodles.  He asked for $10 to buy food.  I did not give it to him because he was holding a packet of cigarettes and smoking. If he could afford cigarettes, why couldn't he feed himself? And he asked for $10. I would not have minded buying him a plate of wanton noodles. Maybe he did not deserve sympathy, but what if it was your own father doing this?

Somewhere in Gullimard, I saw this Filipino lady soliciting a guy. They were touching each other all over the place. I was sad she had to resort to this for extra bucks or maybe just for companionship? 

I blogged about this old man before. He looked like a deranged man, hanging outside the MRT station. What caught my attention was the tattoo on his arm.  It read, "女人是祸水"(loosely translated means, "Women are trouble."). Whatever his experience was, it must have been quite tragic.

Two men were napping inside the Buddhist Lodge temple. Whenever I see beggars or homeless people sleeping on the streets, my heart went out to them.  If given a choice, weren't they have preferred a roof over their heads and sleeping in a comfy bed?

This couple were quite intimate with one another, and chatting and laughing in the MRT train.  No, I was not displeased. Instead, I was happy for them, for they were not a physically abled couple.

At Changi Airport, this man was hoarding the entire row of chairs near the check-in counter on a busy crowded morning. I am not sure if he was travelling but he certainly made it look like he was.  He had a trolley of dirty looking bags, and he was lying down and trying to sleep on the chairs. He did not allow anyone near him, nor his chairs and would scream at those who did.    

This boy on a special wheelchair was begging outside the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He was quite persistent. I really felt sorry for him. He had no legs or hands.

From my hotel window in Lucerne, Switzerland, I saw this elderly lady sitting on the quaint balcony of an apartment opposite. Nothing unusual about this, but somehow, something struck me, that she must have been feeling very lonely. Ponder over how lonely you are when you are alone sometimes and you might be more grateful for those around you.

A beggar outside the Vatican City, being questioned by the police. I did not know what he had done wrong as he was pretty defensive. I thought he only wanted a drink from the free spring water.   

This young boy manning the camel waiting for customers in Cappadocia, Turkey. He did not look very happy. In fact he looked angry and grouchy when I took his photo. Does he have other means of earning a living besides doing this every day?  What will his future be like?

This little Malay girl in wheelchair was having a day out in Orchard Road, accompanied by her mom, who showered her with care and attention.  Such is the great love of mothers. 

An elderly man was searching in a dustbin for stuff which people had thrown away, to recycle and to re-sell for a little pocket money.  Notice his trolley full of old items?

Man in wheelchair performing at an underpass tunnel. Competition abound from other performers in wheelchairs nearby.

Man in a MRT train ride, minus an arm. 

When you wish life could have been better, you realise it is already not too bad.  Have a good weekend.