#271 begging

Of late I met some strange ways of begging. Yesterday at a bus stop, a Malay elderly lady didn’t flag the bus when the only bus that ply along the road arrived. I was waiting for a friend. When the bus passed by, this elderly lady carrying a ten dollar note on her left hand and fifty [...]

#264 possible quake predicted 2 years ago

No one expected an earthquake to break out in Haiti even though she was warned 2 years ago by scientists a quake was possible. No one believed this could happen as there was no quake for the last 200 years in its natural history. No one was prepared for this tumultuous magnitude. The 7.1 magnitude [...]

#259 true champion athlete

After watching the interview of Marion Jones-Thompson on the Oprah Show here in Singapore today, I was moved to tears as Marion stood out a true athlete and a champion. Yes, she went to prison on March 2008 for six months for lying to Federal agents about UNKNOWINGLY taking performance-enhancement drugs during the Olympic Games in Sydney and [...]

#245 hiv positive: suffering silently

I’m grateful to Shane, a New Zealander, for sharing his journey that he was HIV+ on this   ‘Death Diminishes Me’   [produced in NZ] on BBC World radio on 17 July 2009: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/documentaries/2009/07/000000_global_perspective_death_diminishes.shtml Trust that this will speak to those who champion and are proponents of the homosexuality and gay community rights which is a controversial issue and a taboo subject for the [...]

#239 oldest person in the world

Can you imagine living to 130 years old? From the news on the BBC, I read and viewed this — Sohan Dosovah from Kazakhstan, the oldest person in the world — her eyes still bright and alert: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7992696.stm. Kazakhstan’s famous ’130-year-old’ By Rayhan Demytrie BBC News, Karaganda, Kazakhstan “Do you remember Tsar Nikolai’s era? When [...]

#214 food scare

Milk, an essential for babies and now cup noodles, the popular fast food for adults especially the elderly who found this convenient to prepare. All one needs is to pour hot water into the cup and wait for several minutes…voila, the food is ready for eating! Mind you, the price for a cup noodle is not that [...]

#197 amazing children saved mothers’ lives

Amazing what a child understands and does in times of emergency! In England, James Cooke reports A three-year-old boy came to his mother’s rescue by dialling 999 after she had an epileptic fit. Jack Thomson called the emergency services from his mum’s mobile phone. When the line went dead he found another phone and dialled [...]

#195 dream fulfilled @ 16

Yip Pin Xiu, swimmer Congratulations to Singapore’s first gold medalist swimmer, Yip Pin Xiu, 16 years old suffering muscular dystrophy and is a student at the Bendemeer Secondary School [unfortunately I couldn't find the newsbit I read yesterday to verify some information at the time of writing] at Beijing Paralympic 2008. Muscular dystrophy is a rare [...]

#191 disabled perform

When I look at these performers, I’m humbled and I couldn’t tell or see any difference from us, the abled. It appears their performances and their dispositions are so like us, that often times we just forget who they are when we become irritated and unappreciative. At the same time, they put many to shame for their verve [...]

#190 paralympics opening ceremony

It was sad I could not view the opening ceremony of the Paralympics at all…and neither the competition as this was not broadcast on our television screen. I copied this slideshow (not sure if I’m allowed, if not, please let me know. Thank you.): http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/photo/2008-09/07/content_7005821.htm. I read this from chinadaily.com.cn where this 12-year-old Li Yue, [...]