Simple Maths...

.. or not.. especially when there's lending and borrowing of money involved? Justin recounted his experience in Primary 2 during dinner last night..

Boy: Hey, you have money? Can lend me?
Juz: I have one dollar
Boy: (Took the dollar and bought a Ribena drink for 60 cents).. Nah! Give you 40 cents!

The next day...

Boy: Here's 20 cents Justin. I pay you back already ah?
Juz: Er.. no, you still owe me 40 cents
Boy: But I gave you back 40 cents yesterday already what?!
Juz: That was the change from the one dollar I lent you
Boy: Yah! So I gave you back mah..
Juz: But that's MY money.. it's not YOUR money!
Boy: Aiya.. dunno lah

Several days later...

Boy: Justin! Ok I give you another 20 cents. I pay you everything already ah?
Juz: Still got another 20 cents lah..
Boy: Where got?!
Juz: Got..
Boy: Don't care lah! I pay you already..

I'm sorry to say that Justin never got his money back to date.. (6 years and counting).. maybe the boy acted 'blur' only.. because he eventually passed PSLE Maths?!! Life lessons learned the hard way...

Through Thick & Thin...

.. er.. more 'thick' than 'thin' in the literal sense in our case.. which has given me a better perspective of what 'giving a wide berth' means.. we DO need to give each a much wider 'space' now.. ha ha! 16 years of marriage is a LONG time in today's context of instant gratification.. compromised success.. and mostly selfish ambition? We were reminded of 'The Five Love Languages' at a recent Marriage Enrichment Seminar:

• Words of Affirmation
• Quality Time
• Gifts
• Acts of Service
• Physical Touch

On hindsight, I will add one more language.. if I may?

• Space

..unless this has already categorised under 'Quality Time'.. couples need to give each other some breathing room.. to explore different areas of spiritual gifting and mature in character. But give the flowers first, ya? (It was tulips this year.. purple being my favourite colour!). I hope and pray that we will be resilient and continue to go against the tide of the 'me first' mentality and live out a new trend.. that it's indeed better to GIVE than to receive! By the way.. American Express should have acknowledged Jesus' words in their past advertisement campaign.. instead of attributing it to 'Anonymous'? Here's a toast to a long and happy life together.. YA-UUMMM SS-EEENNGG!!!

CNY 2011 - The Year Of The iPhone

Sorry Mr. Rabbit.. you've been ousted by the iPhone this year! We had our usual large CNY family gatherings and the main feature was not the food.. but the latest food apps downloaded on the mentioned 'cool' device.. like Fruit Ninja.. Mama Cooking.. Bakery Story.. Restaurant Story.. Tiny Chef.. Sky Burger.. Vegetable Samurai.. Plant Vs Zombie.. etc. Even the tradition of photo-taking was enhanced and made more fun by the special effects afforded by Picture Magic or Photoshop. The kids no longer played with the fire-crackers and sparklers like we used to.. or pretend to do lion dance.. make paper lanterns.. but prefer Wii games like tennis.. boxing.. baseball?! But in terms of social development and family bonding.. I believe the good ole games of play-catch, hide & seek and basketball.. easily trump these high-tech gizmos.. because we have ACTUAL body contact with other people and REAL tactile experiences! The times have really changed indeed.. and creativity has flown out the window...