5.30 am

Daphne Whatsapped me at exactly 5.30 am this morning, which I assume was when she woke up for school, and that she didn’t stay up till then instead. :P

When I was in junior college, I woke up at 5.30 am to get to school by 7.30 am every day. Sometimes, when I passed a certain neighbouring block on my way to the MRT around 6 am daily, I would see this little boy sitting at the void deck, presumably waiting for the school bus. He looked like he was in lower primary, and judging from his uniform, he was probably studying in Nanyang Primary or Pei Chun Public.

It just so happens that neither school (two of the ‘better’ primary schools in Singapore) is anywhere near my estate. So whenever I spotted him, I always felt a frisson of sympathy. He should have been still in bed at that hour, even if only for a little while more! I chose my school, and getting up early was par for the course, so I couldn’t complain. But I was quite sure that he didn’t choose his!

That was nine years ago, so the little boy is probably in secondary school or even in a tertiary institution now. Occasionally I wonder how he turned out. Hopefully well. Am I the only one, or does anyone else think about the people they encounter, even for a fleeting moment – how are they now?

how to let go

from here

perhaps regret

Did you ever wonder…… what it could have been?

c’est la vie

This new year, some people get married, some get pregnant, some give birth, some fall down and are warded in hospital, and some die……

C’est la vie. That’s life.

december descends

And snow is falling on my WordPress blog……

time flies like an arrow

What? It’s December already???!!! :O

PS Read an interesting article about ‘time flies like an arrow’ here!

primary school leaving examination

And so the PSLE results were released this morning!

How exciting!

I received mine 13 years ago!

Time flies!

november arrives

Two months to the end of the year……!!!

final quarter

And we’re into the final quarter of the year……!!!

苟非吾之所有，虽一毫而莫取

前赤壁赋
苏轼

壬戌之秋，七月既望，苏子与客泛舟游于赤壁之下。清风徐来，水波不兴。举酒属客，诵明月之诗，歌窈窕之章。少焉，月出于东山之上，徘徊于斗牛之间。白露横江，水光接天。纵一苇之所如，凌万顷之茫然。浩浩乎如冯虚御风，而不知其所止；飘飘乎如遗世独立，羽化而登仙。

于是饮酒乐甚，扣舷而歌之。歌曰：“桂棹兮兰桨，击空明兮溯流光。渺渺兮予怀，望美人兮天一方。”客有吹洞箫者，倚歌而和之。其声呜呜然，如怨如慕，如泣如诉；余音袅袅，不绝如缕。舞幽壑之潜蛟，泣孤舟之嫠妇。

苏子愀然，正襟危坐，而问客曰：“何为其然也？”客曰：“‘月明星稀，乌鹊南飞。’此非曹孟德之诗乎？西望夏口，东望武昌，山川相缪，郁乎苍苍，此非孟德之困于周郎者乎？方其破荆州，下江陵，顺流而东也，舳舻千里，旌旗蔽空，酾酒临江，横槊赋诗，固一世之雄也，而今安在哉？况吾与子渔樵于江渚之上，侣鱼虾而友麋鹿，驾一叶之扁舟，举匏樽以相属。寄蜉蝣于天地，渺沧海之一粟。哀吾生之须臾，羡长江之无穷。挟飞仙以遨游，抱明月而长终。知不可乎骤得，托遗响于悲风。”

苏子曰：“客亦知夫水与月乎？逝者如斯，而未尝往也；盈虚者如彼，而卒莫消长也。盖将自其变者而观之，则天地曾不能以一瞬；自其不变者而观之，则物与我皆无尽也，而又何羡乎？且夫天地之间，物各有主，苟非吾之所有，虽一毫而莫取。惟江上之清风，与山间之明月，耳得之而为声，目遇之而成色，取之无禁，用之不竭。是造物者之无尽藏也，而吾与子之所共适。”

客喜而笑，洗盏更酌。肴核既尽，杯盘狼籍。相与枕藉乎舟中，不知东方之既白。

To read more about this 古文, including a modern Chinese translation, click here.

既见君子，云胡不喜?

杨过回忆数年前在浙西遇到郭靖夫妇、与李莫愁争斗、又得欧阳锋收为义子等一连串事迹，始终想不起眼前这少女是准。

他要吃粽子，却是另有用意，快吃完时乘那少女不觉，在手掌心里暗藏一块，待她收拾碗筷出去，忙取过一条她做衫时留下的布线，一端粘了块粽子，掷出去粘住她撕破的碎纸，提回来一看，不由得一怔。原来纸上写的是“既见君子，云胡不喜”八个字。那是《诗经》中的两句，当年黄蓉曾教他读过，解说这两句的意思是，“既然见到了这男子，怎么我还会不快活？”

杨过又掷出布线粘回一张，见纸上写的仍是这八个字，只是头上那个“既”字却已给撕去了一半。杨过心中怦怦乱跳，接连掷线收线，粘回来十多张碎纸片，但见纸上颠来倒去写的就只这八个字。细想其中深意，不由痴了。

金庸《神雕侠侣》第十五回

final third

And we’re into the final third of the year……!!!

fear not to grasp what fortune sends

On Facebook, many of my fellow alumni have been posting links to articles similar to this one and expressing varying degrees of sadness. I understand their feelings, but at the end of the day, this is life and change is the only constant. I do feel a little melancholy myself, but I think that this is going to be a really exciting time for my alma mater as a new chapter in her history is going to be written!

And so I posted this quote on Facebook, something to keep in mind when my alma mater eventually makes the big move:

I remembered once, in Japan, having been to see the Gold Pavilion Temple in Kyoto and being mildly surprised at quite how well it had weathered the passage of time since it was first built in the fourteenth century. I was told it hadn’t weathered well at all, and had in fact been burnt to the ground twice in this century.

“So it isn’t the original building?” I had asked my Japanese guide.

“But yes, of course it is,” he insisted, rather surprised at my question.

onward forward

What keeps me going

right now

is knowing that

opportunity

lies at the tip of my fingers

and that

I just need to reach for it……

on knowledge

古人说:

‘秀才不出门，能知天下事’

却又说:

‘读破万卷书,不如行万里路’

……