An Island of My Own.

I've had just enough time to...   wish to retire to an island of my own.

Taken of a private island not my own in Tanah Merah Lake, Perak, Malaysia.

Out there I know

An island waits patiently,

For me to come home.

Each day

Squeezing through the crowd,

I am an island of my own.

The clock ticks

And with each impatient minute,

I heard my island calling me home.

_______

No man is an island,

No man stands alone,

Each man's joy is joy to me,

Each man's grief is my own.

We need one another,

So I will defend,

Each man as my brother,

Each man as my friend.

- John Donne

Know A Country By Its Arts.

I've had just enough time to...  witness the change in the Chinese Art Scene.

Taken by surprise in the Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

Contrast the previous painting (in the last post) done during the Mao Tze Dong era with this very large painting that I found in the arrival section of Shanghai Pudong International Airport. I have been in and out of China since the early 80s and what a change I had seen. From padi fields to high rise in a blink of an eye. From an universal grey to the latest French fashion. From a third world to one of the largest economy in the world. The speed and scale were mind-boggling.

Still it surprised me when I saw this painting in clear view just prior to the arrival hall. They will allow this suggestive painting in the airport? My friends from the West may think nothing of it. But most Asians are still conservative when it comes to nudity and suggestive portrayal in Arts. They have no problem if such paintings are displayed in studios and museums but have strong reservation when they are shown in public places in full views of children and their grandparents. And what can be more public than an airport?

China has come a long way in the last twenty years. How far? This tale of two paintings show the quantum leap. 

Reflection of A Red Guard.

I've had just enough time to...   ponder what a revolutionist could be thinking.

Taken in my favourite teashop in China where reflection is encouraged.

I reflect

On things I have done

Of things done to me

Of how I feel

When it happened to me.

Of how they feel

When it happened to them.

_______

Red Guard Song

Clear Water Too Clear to Drink.

I've had just enough time to...   take a drink from cool, clear water.

Taken in Bali where this beautiful clear water are too beautiful to drink.

The clear water was inviting

Promise to refresh,

Invigorating.

It is tempting

But too clear to drink

Too clear to drink.

_______

All day I've faced a barren waste

Without the taste of water, cool water

Old Dan and I with throats burnt dry

And souls that cry for water

Cool, clear, water 

Dan, can ya see that big, green tree?

Where the water's runnin' free

And it's waitin' there for me and you?

It's water, cool, clear, water

Cool, clear, water

Frankie Laine – “Cool Water”

Myanmar Is Changing!

I've had just enough time to...   see the beginning of Myanmar's transformation.

Taken in a Chinese shop in Yangon's Chinatown, Myanmar.

I found myself in the Chinatown of Yangon, Myanmar recently. While my colleagues were buying casual nuts, I took this shot from inside the shop, through hanging lanterns at the street outside. Chinese New Year was just round the corner. Though this is my first trip to Yangon, I could feel the change in the air. Myanmar is changing and it will never be the same again. 

This is the watershed year for the country. After decades of being trapped in its own time zone, Myanmar is finally opening up to the rest of the world. Democracy will follow soon. Business men already smelling profits are descending into the capital by the plane load. 

With the change, more freedom and progress will follow. But not all will be good. Some will find it hard to adjust to the change. The oppressors of the country will probably be the greatest beneficiaries. It must be hard for Aung San Suu kyi. Going after the perpetrator will plunged the country into a crisis, compromising for the sake of the people will let them get away scot free. Because she cared more for the living than the dead, she has only one option really. So the past must be buried for the future to have a chance. But the injustice of it all is quite difficult to swallow. The alternative is worse. 

If you can, visit Myanmar now. In ten years, it will change beyond recognition. Though it is all for progress and a brighter future, it is still kind of sad to see some old ways of Life changed and the country losing some of its charm and unique personality. Happy New Year Myanmar. May this be a happy new beginning for you.

How Deep Is Your Love?

I've had just enough time to...   witness a love in bold.

Taken in a marriage registry just before an exchanging of vows.

How deep is your love? 

Will you wear it for all to see 

Or keep it deep within 

Only one to reveal?

_______

I know your eyes in the morning sun

I feel you touch me in the pouring rain

And the moment that you wander far from me

I wanna feel you in my arms again

And you come to me on a summer breeze

Keep me warm in your love

Then you softly leave

And it's me you need to show

How deep is your love?

How deep is your love

How deep is your love

I really need to learn 

'Cause we're living in a world of fools 

Breakin’ us down

When they all should let us be

We belong to you and me

The Bee Gees - "How Deep Is Your Love?"

Its Beauty Speaks For Itself.

I've had just enough time to...   appreciates the beauty of my orchids.

Taken of the orchids in my garden.

There is never any need to praise the beauty of an orchid, 

Its beauty speaks for itself, 

Silently and elegantly.

My Red Wheelbarrow Is Blue.

I've had just enough time to...   push a loaded wheelbarrow.

While on a factory tour in Kunshan, China; I spied a blue wheelbarrow that spoke to me.

“So much depends

On the red wheelbarrow

But I am blue

Has that make all the difference?”

_______

The Red Wheelbarrow

so much depends

upon 

a red wheel

barrow 

glazed with rain

water 

beside the white

chickens. 

William Carlos Williams

One Careful Step After Another.

I've had just enough time to...   take one careful step after another.

Taken while perfectly still of the cautious stock who is looking warily at me in Bali. 

Step carefully, 

There may be a mine under. 

Look carefully, 

There are dangers around. 

But what is more dangerous 

Is to stay rooted to the ground. 

Be careful where you step 

But step right ahead 

Even if there are mines around.

_______

A career is made and lost, 

in sorting out the devastation 

What you get you've got, 

the rest can be imagination 

And what you lose you've lost, 

here comes the instant separation 

Careful where you step 

There may be a mine under there

Saga - Careful Where You Step.

Footprints In The Snow.

I've had just enough time to...   leave my footprints on snow.

Taken in Seoul, Korea on a snowy morning.

I would like to leave my footprints on the snow

Where there were none before

And leave a path

Where none can be seen

In the early morning

After a heavy snow fall.

Maybe, it makes me a daring explorer

Or a seeker of truth

A sad lover or a lonely traveler

A writer searching for his muse or

A man searching for himself

Or just a lost soul in the wood.

But then I wonder

Is the snow calling for

The boy in me or the man to me

And will my steps

Be heavy or light

On that blanket of snow?

_______

Some folks like the summertime when they can walk about

Strolling through the meadow green it's fun there's no doubt

But give me the wintertime when snow falls all around

For i found her when the snow was on the ground

The Invasion of the Angry Birds.

I've had just enough time to...   eat a few angry birds.

Taken of the advance force of angry birds that I found in Bidor, Malaysia. They were eaten by me.

Once in a while, we will have an invasion by an alien force that swarm through all our defenses. We were fooled by their disguise, their cuteness and let our guards down. Before we know it, they are everywhere – in the bags we carried, the clothes that we wore, dangling from key chains, hanging from ceilings, there is no stopping them.

First, they stole our children’s heart, then their grannies’ pockets. They decimated our adult’s time and ate at their mind till they yelped at high scores and mourned when they could not bring a building down. They made them into zombies that could only move their fingers to pull at illusionary catapult to send angry birds flying. And crashing. And the monkeys have the last laugh.

I belong to the special force that tried to stem this invasion. I found some angry birds taking hold in a small town called Bidor in Malaysia that is famed for their herbal duck soup. Their evil scheme here was to take over the gastronomy delight of this small town and I was sent to disrupt their plan of conquest. So I did my part to reduce the population of angry birds there by eating them! But there are just too many. I tried my best and live to talk about it. I don’t know about you but I find angry birds rather yummy.

The World's Happiest Weather Vane.

I've had just enough time to...   catch the breeze with the weather vane.

Taken of a building among the padi fields in Ubud, Bali.

In the distance on top of a buiding among padi fields, I spied a weather vane made of flimsy wood, rusty metal and the dried branch of a coconut tree. It was the happiest wind vane I have ever seen. It caught the slightest breeze and waltzed along with it. When the wind leave, it let it go free and waited for another breeze.

And the happy couple on the wind vane did a celebratory dance every time the wind came a-calling with such joyous movement that I swore there are spirits in the figurines. Or my eyes deceived me.

“What is it you’re looking?”, they asked.

“Oh, nothing. Just the wind dancing free.”

“Tagai” No Fishing! Just Fish Massage.

I've had just enough time to...   enjoy a fish massage.

Taken in the Moroli river in Kampung Luanti, Ranau in Sabah, East Malaysia.

About three hours away from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah; is a small village called Kampung Luanti in the district of Ranau. The local Dusun community imposed a “tagai” meaning “no fishing” along this stretch of the crystal clear Moroli river. Instead, they trained the “Ikan Pelian” (Malaysian Mahseer) to give you a massage you will never forget.

The minute I cautiously stepped into the water, the fishes swarmed round me nibbling at any dead skin. Except for a sharp nibble now and then, it is painless and you quickly get used to it and even liked the sensation.

“Go on, get into the deep end. Submerge your whole body in but watch out for your exposed nipple!” I knew my friend was joking but I kept my hands closely to my chest until the rubbing of slippery scales against my skin relaxed me and made me forgot I was ever in any danger, exposed nipple or not. Having dozens of fishes deliberately rubbing against you is an unforgettable experience.

I bought some fish pallets, cupped it in my hands and have the fish sucked right out of it. In the cool water with all the fishes slipping in and around my body, I could close my eyes and imagined I was in another world of peaceful coexistence. So if you are on your way to climb Mount Kinabalu  or to visit the national park, do not forget to drop into Kampung Luanti for a sensational fish massage.

All The Lights In The Windows.

I've had just enough time.   to add one more light to the windows.

The lights in the windows in the City of Kunshan, China.

To all the lights in the windows,

In the dark, you are all I see.

And if you look back,

You will see me.

Lights in the windows,

In the dark, that is all we see.

Planting Rice Is Never Fun.

I've had just enough time...   to see rice been planted.

Taken in a kampung in Cilegon, Java, Indonesia.

This field of ripening padi that I took in my visit to Cilegon in Jakarta is no more. It has been bulldozed over and converted to another factory. All in the name of progress.

It is easy for me to say this is bad. That the old way of Life should be preserved. But I know how difficult it is to walk in deep mud. And how back-breaking it is planting padi under the scorching tropical sun. And I remembered that nursery rhyme that I sang as a boy –

“Planting rice is never fun,

Bend from morn to set of sun.

Cannot stand and cannot sit,

Cannot rest a little bit.”

And I hesitated and reserved any hasty judgement. And I find the only thing I can condemn outright is – “poverty is bad”. Progress? It has two faces. But I sure miss the undulating field of ripening padi dancing to the wind.

Those Were The Days, My Friends.

I've had just enough time...  to drink to those good old days.

Taken in one of the cities in China that I could not remember after too many drinks.

Those were the days

When we toasted our dreams

With the crash of glasses.

Under the illumination of the streetlights,

We sang our pleasures

To the moonlight.

Those were the days

When tomorrow is always another day

Of a future that is too far away.

But the future is here today

And the beer taste no less bitter

Than those “good old days”.

 _______

Once upon a time there was a tavern

Where we used to raise a glass or two

Remember how we laughed away the hours

And think of all the great things we would DO

Those were the days, my friend

We thought they'd never end

We'd sing and dance forever and a day

We'd live the life we choose

We'd fight and never lose

For we were young and sure to have our way

La la la la la la

La la la la la la

Mary Hopkin - Those Were The Days, My Friend