The Lament of An Old Park Bench.

I've had just enough time to...   sit on an old park bench.

Taken of this old park bench on top of Maxwell Hill that has seen better days.

I met an old park bench

Looking kind of sad

Or maybe a little mad

From the way it blenched.

When I am about to sit

It shrieked “Don’t do it!”

When I asked “Why Not?”

It said “My purpose is lost”

“I used to be happy

To do what I do best

To provide a respite,

A little rest.

But when they prefer the grass

I know my time has passed,”

I sat down gently on the dirty bench

Cradled its arm around the bend

Sat with it silently into the night

Till it was just us, and the starlight.

The next morning I went back to the park

To where the bench and me shared a spark

But the bench was nowhere to be found

Just a puddle of dew left on the ground.

______

A sea of smile and a river of tears
A flood of memories
Imagination will take me back
(Chorus)
On an Old Park Bench
Old Park Bench
Old Park Bench
Old Park Bench
A summer's night, the stars aglow
Did more than light the sky
With fortune, fantasy, and fate
We dream on an old park bench
I take your hand in my hand
You hold my soul in yours
One touch becomes eternal
When falling in love

A Little Pebble To Create A Tsunami

I've has just enough time to...   throw a little pebble to create a tsunami

Taken while cruising Tanah Merah lake in Taiping, Malaysia.

I told them if -

I throw a little pebble into the sea

It could create a tsunami

But they would not believe me

They say -

Crabs walking sideways cannot learn to walk straight

The dodo birds cannot sprout wings and take to the sky

The lemmings who stop the march will get run over

Why rock the boat when it is still over the water?

Which ostrich can stop running from its own shadow?

Who will be the fool to shout “broken arrow”?

The silent men may get passage to the ivory tower

The rest will be used as cannon fodder

Courage cannot put a meal on the table

Suicide can be done without a knife

Go shoot yourself in the head

When you’re done shooting the toes

You will not live past midnight

Because you will not listen

The hollow men speak without moving their lips

Together all at once disharmoniously

I threw my little pebble out into the sea

Waiting for the waves

To blow them over!

Discarded Gloves, Where is the Respect in That?

I've had just enough time to...   sympathize with discarded gloves.

Taken of this pair of discarded glove on a boat in the West lake, Hangzhou China.

Used, Discarded

Reused, Discarded again

Where is the respect in that?

Like discarded gloves

On the dirty floor, felt like

Discarded gloves on the floor

Kept your hands clean, we did

Kept them warm in the cold

Protect your hands, we did

Protect them from the blows

Take the blows ourselves, we did

And we take on the woes

Now, we are worn

Lost our shine and colours from the weather

Dirty and soiled, disheveled and battered

And those hands we protect

Just threw us on the floor

Just threw us on the floor

Discarded gloves, where is the respect in that?

_______

I'd like to tell a little story
Thats been told time and time again
About the foolish men who chased me
My discarded men

They used to tell me they loved me
But I knew better than them
I'd find them looking around the corner
My discarded men

Eartha Kitt: My Discarded Men

Nature Has No Respect for the Monuments of Men

I've had just enough time to...   try to earn the respect of Nature and it is not impressed.

Taken outside a temple in Nepal of Men's imposing monument and its scan respect by Nature.

Nature has no respect for the monuments of men

Whether they be of Kings or Goddesses

It runs by its own rules and shall prevail

Even when it is overrun by men and their constructions

Do not lament the demise of nature and its destruction 

But lament instead the demise of men and their destruction 

For nature will still be here and prosper

When the last of men has long disappear

Nature as is its nature, patiently waits...

For the end of men to return to its true nature.

A Stranger Through The Eyes of A Child.

I've had just enough time to...   see myself in the eyes of a child.

Taken in Kunshan while wandering around

“He doesn’t like me”.

Maybe it was not because he does not like me. Maybe it was because I witnessed what he did. Or maybe it was because he was protective of his little sister. His sister, who was looking at me with questioning eyes.

“Who are you?”

“What do you want?”

“Why are you taking our picture?”

She could not figure me out yet. So she was hesitant with her response. Maybe she will smile if I say a kind word or two. Maybe she will run away. But I kept my distance. I have no right to intrude.

Her brother, he just glared at me. I am a stranger. I can be up to no good. I cannot do anything for them except getting them into trouble. So he challenged me with his look. If I put on a fierce expression. Maybe he will run away. Maybe he will call for his family. I am after all a stranger and an outsider. So I kept my distance. Smiled, and backed off. I am after all an intruder into their world and I have to respect that. (I was in Kunshan with a couple of hours to kill and I’m not going to do that watching TV in the hotel room. So I wandered out into the street where ordinary people lived.)

Earlier, I “caught” them playing with the stainless steel bolts and washers that they somehow dismantle from the railings of the steps and overhead bridge. I tried one with my bare fingers and found it to be fast secured. Maybe, they have found all the loose ones or maybe they did it with some tools though I did not see any. If they construct the railings so poorly that children can dismantle them, then it is not the children’s fault for you can expect a child to do exactly what they did. I did not want to encourage them though so I checked my smile and moved away wondering what did I learn from this encounter to have it so strongly registered in my memory.

The Newspaper Boy of Myanmar.

I've had just enough time to...   acknowledge the newspaper boy of Myanmar.

Taken on the way to the wholesale market outside Yangon, Myanmar

My Boy

He dreams

Of striking it rich and

Buying me a house to live in.

My Boy

He worries

About my health and

Saving to buy me new crutches.

My Boy

He wishes

To give more than love and

Love all the more because it is all he can give.

Meanwhile,

He wakes up early

Sells newspaper at the traffic stops

And dream of better days to be.

Safe In Your Arms, Mother Of Mine.

I've had just enough time to...   remember I was safe in your arms, mother of mine

Taken in a sculpturing workshop in Hanoi, Vietnam

I remember though the world

May be crumbling down all around

I was safe in your arms, mother

Safe in your arms, mother

But now I am grown

And can do things on my own

Won’t you let me leave you arms, mother

Let me leave your arms, mother

______

Mother of mine when
I was young
You showed me
The right way things
Should be done

Without your love,

Where would I be?

Mother, sweet mother of mine

We Always Reap What We Sow.

I've had just enough time to...   continue sowing...

Taken during near a river bank in Kuching, East Malaysia.

“We reap what we sow”

Not always

But it should not be for lack of trying

It should not be for lack of hoping

It should not be for lack of sacrificing

We do what we can

And hope for a bountiful harvest

Not always

But we should not give up

We should not give in

We should just sow some more

And hope for a bountiful harvest

Not always for

It may not be what we hope for

Nor the harvest we look for but

“We always reap what we sow”

_______

The Harvest Song

《丰收歌》女声合唱·中央民族乐团合唱团

A Dog In The City Of Cats.

I've had just enough time to...   be a dog in the city of cats.

Taken while wandering around in Kuching, the City of Cats.

I’m a dog in a city of cats

But they don’t seem to mind

I find it easy not to chase them

When I could be the one to be chased around

I turned my attention to mice

But I wish they were of rabbit’s size

My woofs now contains some meows

And I licked my fur the cat way now

I sing shrilly to the hanging moon

And add a howl or two as I croon

I learn to appreciate the smell of fish

No longer holding my nose in anguish

But not lifting my leg to pee

Require some effort you see

For I still do that quietly

When no cat is watching me

I’m a dog in a city of cats

And they tolerate me

But I always wonder -

What if I’m a cat in a world of dogs instead?

Here Comes The "Kok Kok" Candy Man!

I've had just enough time to...   taste the Kok Kok Candy Man's sweet again.

Taken in Jonker Street in Malacca, Malaysia.

We heard him before we saw him. “Kok Kok! Kok Kok!” We rushed out of the house to the back lane to greet the arrival of the Candy Man.

Riding somewhat unsteadily in his old bicycle, the old man weaved his way to where his young customers were eagerly waiting. He usually arrived in late afternoon but the days when he arrived did not fit any regular pattern. Maybe it was because in those days, only the children of the rich has pocket money and if he came around too regularly, there will not be enough paying customers. He needed to space out his visits for them to save enough dimes to pay for his sweet.

When he got off his bicycle and parked it, the cover of a large round aluminium tray secured at the back was lifted displaying a single large piece of candy filling almost the whole tray except for those edges that had been chipped away. With two pieces of metal, he will strike the one shaped like a wedge with the other that looked like a hammer producing sharp metallic sound “kok kok! Kok kok!” Even those of us who could not afford to buy will crowd round him to watch. Sometimes, one of our richer friends may give us a small piece and make our day. But more often, we were taunted and had to swallow our saliva instead.

The candy man disappeared from the scene as the country modernised. We thought him extinct for a long while. But there is a revival of interests in traditional snacks and we found him again after all these years. And every time I hear that “kok kok” sound, it reminded me of my youth in a bitter sweet way.

How Can A Heart Hold So Much Sorrow?

I've had just enough time to...   hold some sorrow.

Taken in Taiping, Malaysia under the Rain Tree.

The still water 

Beneath the Rain Tree

Gathered the tears 

Of a thousand drops

Of hanging leaves 

Distressed by August tales

Of wandering clouds 

From a distant land

Where morning songs

Were drowned 

By thundering hooves

Stirring up a dust storm

Swept through the land

Into every home

Choking and stifling

And when the rain came

It was no salvation

Except burying everything 

In mud

Hidden 

Except for the tales 

Carried by the wind to 

The drifting clouds

Caught by the Rain Tree

Coalesced 

Into the pool beneath it

How can a heart hold so much sorrow?

The Young Boxers of Lumpini Stadium.

I've had just enough time to...   watch young boxers fight for their family.

Taken from the ringside in Lumpini Stadium, Bangkok of the young fighters.

“Violence is not the way to a better life.”

Try telling it to these children from the slum.

“It is not!” You insisted “The solution”.

Do you have a better one?

“But it is not right! Having children to fight!”

No it is not. But you live in a different world.

You do not know hunger. You have a roof over your head.

They do know love. Their fists look after their family.

Ironical isn’t it? Love, I mean.

Bashing the daylight out of your opponent so your family gets to eat.

They will bash you too if you get into their ring.

You know what is wrong but you do not know how to put it right.

What good may I ask, is that?

So leave this world of broken noses and bloodied lips,

So you can get some sleep,

In your world where children don’t have to fight to eat.

______

In the clearing stands a boxer

And a fighter by his trade

And he carries the reminders

Of ev'ry glove that layed him down

Or cut him till he cried out

In his anger and his shame

"I am leaving, I am leaving"

But the fighter still remains

Simon And Garfunkel The Boxer

Make A Wish, Make It Quick!

I've had just enough time to...   make a quick wish.

Taken when all the lights were switched off in a stadium in KL

Make a wish

Make it quick

Before its light is extinguished.

When it is made

Blow the candle, leave the place

Go! Fulfill the wish that you made.

For a wish is not a prayer

Nor is it a wishful thought

But a seed waiting to be planted.

Dig a hole, put in the seed

Water every day

And may your wish come true.

A wish is something to do.

______

Make a wish, it's up to you

Find the strength inside

And watch your dreams come true

You don't need a shooting star

the magic's right there in your heart

Close your eyes

Believe and make a wish

Pokemon: Jirachi Wish Maker - Make A Wish.