Why Clean When It Will Be Dirty Again?

I've had just enough time to...   clean and clean again.

Taken of the boatman washing his boat in Kuala Selangor, Malaysia

Why clean when it will be dirty again?

It is a question the boatman does not comprehend

He cleans it because it is dirty

Not whether it will be dirty again

He does not think of the effort of cleaning

Just that the boat should be clean

And he will clean it as many times as it takes

The one asking the question

Thinks it wasted effort

And suffers the pain of cleaning

When the one cleaning does not

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!

The Small Boy And His Boat.

I've had just enough time to...   see the small boy again.

Taken off the coast of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

I saw the small boy in his boat struggling with the oar twice his height. He is too short to sit and paddle, so he sat right at the edge. Leaning precariously backward for leverage, he used his entire frame to push the oar against the water. He has not yet mastered the finesse of paddling. His awkward movements rocked the boat as he forced it forward.

There was no one to help him. No one to guide him. It was just him alone and the wide water. I witnessed his struggle. I saw courage. I saw heart. I saw determination. I saw him learning with every stroke.

As I walked away, the image of the small boy in the wide water floated in my head. It reminded me of another small boy a long, long time ago.