What I believe

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Last year when I wrote “Do you believe in ghost?”, someone asked me “Do you believe in God?”. That time, I did not response as I thought it was a bit sensitive to talk about the subject. Lately when I wrote “Gwai Cheet”, again someone asked me if I believe there is God. So let me tell you what I believe.

Do I believe in God? Not really … why? I feel there is something and I sense there is something (a force maybe) but I have not seen it. Whatever I have not seen I don’t really want to believe it exist. So, I don’t have a name for it. I don’t even know how it looks like … maybe one day if and when I see it, I will tell what it is called … that is, if I am still kicking. What others believe in, I have nothing to say about it. To them, God is the name … some others may have different names depending on what their beliefs are.

You can say I am not a religious person. On a few occasions when I tell people I don’t have any religion, they immediately see a red mean evil creature with a tail and two horns sticking out of my head, holding a long nasty trident standing in front of them. Look I don’t have a religion but please don’t look at me like I am a devil. Actually an evil person looks exactly like any other person around us … didn’t you read about people being murdered, burnt and dumped into rivers recently. The people who did this, they are the evil ones … do they look like devils to you?

When I say I don’t have a religion, it doesn’t mean I am anti-religion … as a matter of fact, I learn from all religions. I believe the teachings from all religions are good and I apply any teaching that I believe is good for me ... doesn’t matter which religion it is from.

I don’t believe in fate … to me, fate is for people who don’t want to make decision … so, they leave it to fate .. as they always say "It's fated".  Put it this way, I believe in what I decide and whatever I do will set the course of my life. Whether it is good or bad … I am responsible for my life not fate.

Once someone told me that I will go to hell … he said that if I don’t believe in fate and don’t belong to any religion, I have no heaven to go to, so hell is the only place. No worries and I am not losing sleep over it. I don’t know where the hell is hell but if the decisions I make and what I do is going to take me to hell, then let it be. Hey, when people say “It’s a hell of a place” … that sounds pretty exciting to me. I am looking forward to it already.

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I am not amazed by how much people make …

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How much can one person make? Millions, billions … trillions maybe … the sky is the limit. I read a lot about the rich and famous and I personally know quite a few. I salute them … they are all very capable people.

You know what? I am not amazed by how much people make … but I am surprised how little I really need. Having said that, it doesn’t mean everyone is like me. How much one needs is not for me to decide. Some are happy with the basics, some are contended with a little comfort while others must have luxury. I am only expressing my views and you don’t have to agree with me.

Look, I am not saying you should go hide in jungle and live like Tarzan. YES, be realistic … every family, big or small, needs money … for healthcare, for children’s education, for security and maybe other emergencies. My point is, when you think you have enough already, maybe you don’t need to keep chasing … maybe like me, you too will be surprised how little you really need.

I seek simple things in life now and they don’t really cost a lot. I don’t spend on expensive clothes, I don’t drive an expensive car and I don’t really go to expensive places. I can’t afford expensive stuffs to show off to people so that I “look good” ... I don’t need to anyway. Someone said this to me not so long ago “Shiek, you look old already, your hair is turning grey … you look so haggard lah". I don’t deny it at all … hey, I AM getting older and grey hair comes with age naturally. Some people don’t even get to live to see their grey hair. I am ok with whatever that is comfortable on me.

Really, how people see me from the outside is really not that important … whatever I do now is not to “look good” from the outside. What is important to me is how I feel inside. I feel healthy, I feel good, I feel happy … I feel GREAT! And to do that … I am surprised how little I really need.
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"Gwai Cheet"

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It is that time of the year again … the 7th lunar month of the Chinese calendar and just around the corner is what the Chinese called “gwai cheet” meaning ghost festival in Cantonese. And according to popular believe, during this period, the hell gates opened and all the “gwais” (ghosts & ghouls) will be out roaming everywhere. It is party time for those unearthly beings on the 14th day of the 7th lunar month.

Those who believe that the unearthly beings do exist will avoid going out and try not to stay out late if they have to leave their homes, worried that they might bump into “lar char yeh” (dirty "things”) during this period. As if these people are not already scared enough, various TV channels will be showing horror “gwai” movies to frighten them at home. Radio channels will also be telling all sorts of ghost stories. And as usual, people will add more scary tales to hype it up.

Here is one I heard just last week … a couple of my trekking buddies were trekking a popular hill in Klang Valley (I am not going to specify which hill, you can guess all you want ok?). And as they were about to cross a bridge they saw a lone woman near the bridge. She did not look spooky at all, just normal looking. She asked one of my friends … “hor em hor yee tai ngor kor kiu” (can you bring me across the bridge). At first it did not strike my friend that there is anything odd. But when they crossed the bridge, the woman, who was following behind then said “em koi sai, lei they ng sai tang ngor lah” (thank you, you guys don’t have to wait for me). It was at this precise moment it dawn upon my friend that she seems to talk in slow motion. Then it struck his mind that it is the 7th lunar month period and may be, just maybe there is something spooky. That thought sent him a chilling feeling. He dare not look back, just waved and immediately increased his speed trekking out of the forest. It was only after coming out of the forest he felt relieved. Anyway, I don’t think it is anything spooky but just because it is the 7th Chinese lunar month, our minds sometimes pulled a fast one on us.

I won’t purposely avoid anything during this period. Whether these “gwais” really exist or not, I am not going to argue about it. I believe in the saying “ping yat putt cho kuai sum see, sam karng how moon yar put keng” … loosely translated, it means if you did not harm anyone, you don’t have to worried about your doors being knocked at midnight.

Talking about the “gwai” word, I find it a bit inconsiderate that generally the Chinese in Malaysia (not sure about elsewhere) call themselves as “torng yan” in Cantonese … “torng” meaning Chinese and “yan” meaning human or people. But when calling other races, for some unknown selfish reasons, the other races are inconsiderately tagged with “gwai” instead. I am sure most Chinese will know what I am talking about. I strongly feel that this is inappropriate and those who are consciously or unconsciously doing it should stop ... we are all “yan”.
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Of porcupines, bezoar stones and a tarred lung

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The last time I met my ex-colleague, he asked me “Hey Shiek, you trekked a lot of jungles right?” I said “Yes, why?” He then asked “Have you come across porcupines?” I thought why a sudden interest in porcupines, so I asked him “Why? Can eat arr? “No lah” he said. “But some porcupines have some sort of stones in them … they are called the bezoar stones” he added. “Huh? “What stone?” I asked curiously. He then showed me a brochure which contains pictures of a type of stone that supposedly have great medicinal value. It is called “hao zhu zhao” (mandarin) or bezoar stone in English. It was the first time I heard about the bezoar stone.

He then told me that many “lou sais” (big bosses) and “yau cheen lous” (rich people) are now paying thousands of dollars to buy these stones. Some Chinese medicine shops are selling it at RM1000 for just half a gram. Wow, must be some sort of wonder stone. Later I found out that bezoar is a mass of food, usually from consuming grass and herbs, found trapped in an animal’s stomach system and is historically used in Chinese traditional medicine.

It is believed by some that the porcupine bezoar stone can be used to cure cancer, diabetes, dengue, typhoid, epilepsy, hepatitis and many more. Really? Then why the hell all those scientists are still searching everywhere for a cancer cure … hey, search no further, we have plenty of porcupines in Malaysia! Porcupine bezoar stone can cure deadly diseases? Naaaah! I tell you what … I am not convinced at all until it is scientifically proven. Whether it really has fantastic healing abilities or it is just a simple gall stone, it is up to you to believe. If it really works for you … great, I wish you a speedy recovery.

The irony is that many rich bosses are paying thousands of dollars for the stones hoping that they will cure them of their various health problems. Why the irony? First, these rich “lou sais” spend thousands on their excessively lifestyles. Believe me, I have seen so many of them wasting away their perfect health due to their over indulging habits. And when their well being began to deteriorate attracting a host of health problems, they then spend thousands on strange stuffs like the porcupine bezoar stone hoping to find some sort of miracle to solve their problems. Actually they are hoping for an easy way to buy back their health with money.

Hey, it is none of my business what people do with their money and their well being right? Look, I am also talking about myself. Many years ago I too wasted away my health. Not that I am a "yau cheen lou" but I over indulged in a poor man’s luxury … cigarettes! I smoked away one of my lungs. Those days I was doing three large packs of cigarettes a day and over the years, my lungs were smoked hard and brittle. One fine day out of the blue, one of my lungs decided to collapse and I ended up in the ER. Looking at the x-ray the doctor said “Tak nampak apa apa lah” (can’t see anything) and I said “Macam tu baik lah” (like that it is ok then, thinking that there is nothing wrong). Then he said “Tak nampak sebab semua sudah hitam lah” (cannot see anything because the lung was all black … probably full of tar).

An immediate thoracic surgery was arranged to fix the tarred lung that was punctured in five places. I was wheeled into the operation theatre on a cold stainless steel trolley (just like dead bodies being pushed in some CSI episodes). And just before they put the mask on me, I saw the “tunnel with a light at the end” and before I have time to figure out whether it is really a light at the end or a bloody on-coming train … everything went black.

I woke up with tubes all over me. Terribly in pain but was glad my good thoracic surgeon pulled me out of the tunnel. I realised I was in ICU, hooked up on a machine that was making an irritating “teet, teet, teet” sound. Though irritating but I know this sound means everything is OK … was really worried that it may just go “teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet” (then you won’t be reading this). While recovering in the hospital, my doctor took me to see a small girl and said to me “Shiek, this girl was born with a defective lung … she have no choice but to suffer but you were born with perfect lungs and yet you chose to smoked it away”.

I smoked away one of my lungs and now I do not have 100% capacity of it. I have to live with that for the rest of my life. I will not be able to do a lot of things that a person with a healthy lung can do. No matter how much I exercise or how many mountains I trek, I cannot bring back my health. Nor can I spend thousands to buy some miracle stones to cure it. I regretted it deeply.
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Friends change or change friends?

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When I left my last job, I wrote “Who Are Your Friends” because I am well aware that when I don’t possess the “connection” and “influence” in the corporate playing field, the many so called “pung yaus” (friends) and “hing tais”(brothers) will quickly disappear. Unfortunately that’s a sad reality. So many of these so called “friends” and “brothers” conveniently disappeared, some vanished mysteriously almost immediately … while a few (probably out of courtesy) continued to send me emails or an SMS or two with words like “stay in contact” or “keep in touch” for a while longer. Very soon, most of them too stopped corresponding.

True to the saying “lou yuen chi ma lik, yat kau keen yan sum” [meaning (in Cantonese) distance will test a horse’s strength and time will reveal a person’s heart], now I can clearly see only a few are worthy of a true friendship.

I have changed and because my status changed, my thinking changed, my lifestyle changed, my influence changed, my interest changed and my material value changed ... maybe people feel that I no longer possess anything worthy to be their so called "friends". Or maybe people just don’t understand or accept that friends change, so they change friends.

Only a handful who really meant it when they said “keep in touch”… really staying in contact, making an effort to catch up in between their busy schedules, genuinely concern and honestly keen to know about my well-being. Good to know they still value my friendship regardless the many changes in my life.

I am the old school type who values friendship strongly. I am lucky to have many good friends … some I knew not too long ago and some I knew for over 40 years (since 1969, from Standard One). At times we grew apart as we moved about to make a living and adjust our lives but we always kept in touch. We try to meet whenever possible. Along the way, we changed many things but we did not change friends. Whether old or new, good or bad, rain or shine, thick or thin … they still remain my friends and I remain as theirs. I value this friendship very much and I am sure they do the same.

My point is … do you understand and accept that friends change or do you just change friends?
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"Fa Kuo San" or Flower Fruit Mountan

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I have heard of Gunung Bunga Buah or Flower Fruit Mountain or “Fa Kuo San” (in Cantonese) a long time ago. I first heard of this mountain when I was a teenager. My dad used to tell me that he and his friends often hunt for wild boars at the base of this mountain.

This mountain is also synonymous with the mischievous Monkey God of the well known Chinese legend “Journey To The West” … in the legend, the mountain which the Monkey God stays in is also called “Fa Kuo San”. Gunung Bunga Buah is one of the few high mountains among the various mountains in the Titiwangsa range just next to Genting Highlands.

I have wanted to trek up this mountain when I first took up trekking seriously but somehow never got to do it. So when Jean Soh messaged me and asked if I am interested to hike up this mountain, I am all for it. In no time I managed to convince my regular bunch of trekkers and we met in Kinrara, Puchong at 6.00am on 03 April 2010. After a quick breakfast, six of us started our journey heading towards Gotong Jaya in Genting Highlands. In about an hour, we reached our destination and parked just at the back of the rows of shops and restaurants.

Group photo before the climb

After a quick warm up, we begin our quest to conquer the peak of Gunung Buah Bunga. Jean Soh have trekked this trail several times so she was leading the way. From where we parked, we have to walk into a private farm. The trail starts from the back of the farm. We trekked up a slope through a small forest. After about 20 minutes, we got out of the forest into an old tar road. From here, Jean told us that we have to walk for more than an hour before we reach another forest trail that leads directly to the peak. The old tar road seems to have been abandoned for years. We passed an old quarry and the view of the quarry against the clear blue sky was spectacular. There were thick undergrowth along various parts of the tar road. And the leeches … on this day, armies of these suckers were out for blood! We have to constantly check our legs and bodies for these little buggers but somehow they still got to us.

   

The long old tar road, wild orchids (above) and the old abandoned quarry

After about an hour and twenty minutes, we reached the junction turning right into the jungle trail that lead straight up the mountain. From here we knew we have another 2 hours or so to trek to the peak. After a quick rest, we head into the jungle. The trail from here starts with a slight slope upwards for about 15 minutes. Then it was all the way down a valley. We must have descended at least 300 meters. My mind was thinking about trekking up this valley again on the return journey ... that would be a killer.

We reached the bottom of the valley, rested for a while and then proceed to hike upwards. From here it is mostly upward trek and after slightly more than an hour we reach a place with beautiful rock formation. Regular trekkers called this resting point the “rock garden”. It was a bit misty but from here we can see the buildings of Genting Highlands perched on the opposite mountain. We took a short break and then two from our group decided not to proceed due to exhaustion. They stayed at the rock garden.

From the rock garden, four of us continued trekking across some fairly tough terrain heading to the peak. It was getting a bit humid and we were all sweating heavily. I was drenched. The ascent from here is quite gradual only in a few areas we faced some steep slopes. Almost an hour later we reached the peak. We were the only group at the peak. We rested in a small open area at the peak and had our lunch. From the peak we saw the Klang Gate Ridge and the dam on one side and Genting Highlands on the other and lush green surrounding mountains and jungles. We stayed at the peak for about half an hour and then made our way down.

At the peak of Gunung Bunga Buah

The descent was a bit quicker. We joined the two waiting at the rock garden in just 45 minutes. From the rock garden we headed straight out to the old tar road. In about an hour we got out of the jungle. The weather took a change and began to rain as soon as we reached the old tart road. We have to trek in the rain and it was a perfect condition for the leeches to come for blood. While trekking on the tar road out to the farm, I must have got at least half a dozen of those blood suckers feasting on me … they are all over my legs. We walked briskly and by the time we get to the junction going down to the farm, most of us (except for the super fit Jean Soh) were totally drained. I began to feel the strain on my knees but there is still about half an hour to get out to civilisation.

 

We saw several large milipedes and a HUGE (almost the size of my palm) spider on the way down

It rained as we got to the tar road on the way down

We continued down the slope into the farm and finally we got to our car. We were dirty, itchy, tired, swollen, exhausted, wet and hungry … down but not out. A quick freshen up at the nearby shops and we were all glad that the next and last agenda of the day is FOOD! So with only one thing in mind, we drove to nearby Bukit Tinggi for dinner. We went to the same restaurant that we ate on our previous trekking up Nuang (from Janda Baik). A big steamed tilapia, “kung po” wild boar meat, extra large plate of stir fried sweet potato leaves and egg “foo yong” plus soft drinks for all cost us less than RM80 (six pax) … we were more than happy to pay our share. Then we went to the nearby market to buy some organic fruits and vegetables and headed straight home with another peak to add to our trekking list.

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Living a little healthier

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The word “organic” is probably one of the most mentioned words in the natural health business. But not many people know what “organic” actually encapsulates. When asked, the first thing that comes to the top of our mind is that organic means all natural traditional farming. Well you are not wrong but that is not just it. Organic encapsulates more … organic farming does not mean going ‘back’ to traditional methods. It still uses many traditional farming methods that are still useful today but also combines them with modern scientific knowledge. Organic farmers do not leave their farms to be taken over by nature; they use all the knowledge, techniques and materials available to work with nature. In this way the farmer creates a healthy balance between nature and farming, where crops and animals can grow and thrive.

From a TV programme I came to know of an organic farm situated in Kampung Titi, Negeri Sembilan called Titi Eco Resort. This farm was created out of a strong passion for healthy living by a husband and wife team in the mid 90s. And after some research on the internet, I convinced a few of my friends to join me for a visit to the farm and checked into a programme to learn more about the concept of organic farming and healthy living.  

 

The vegetables, herbs and fruits planted in the organic farm

Well, don’t expect 5-star resort style living … it was a very basic, simple, plain, natural and healthy programme. The programme offers valuable information on organic farming of herbs, spices, fruits and vegetables in harmony with the nature. Also included in the programme were healthy eating tips, medicinal benefits of some common herbs and plants as well as common organic animal husbandry. We were taught the “6211” consumption method ... what’s that? Simple … it just means 6 parts fruits, 2 parts vegetables, 1 part carbohydrate and 1 part protein. If you can apply this formula to your eating habits, you are on the way to a healthy lifestyle.

Farmers for a day ... Shiek, Chin Keat, Guan Toong, Hwa Poh and Meng Leong)

 

Some common plants with medicinal benefits

 

Preparing herbs for mosquitoe bites and trying my hands in making organic bread

Do you know your vegetables? How do you go about buying vegetables? This is what you should know … vegetables are generally divided into 4 types … those under the ground … potatos, peanuts, yam, etc . Then those that are above the ground … the leafy types, flowers and fruits. Then there are those growing out of fresh water eg. lotus and water crest and finally those that grows in salt water like seaweed and algae. So if you rotate the 4 different groups when you are doing your weekly market visits, then you will get the best of all types of vegetables with their relevant benefits. And of course the colours … it is good to also have a mix of colours not just green all the time. And I found out that our national flower, the hibiscus is edible! Hibiscus salad anyone?

Honestly, how many of us can totally avoid un-organic (is there such a word?) food? It is not realistic but we can try to reduce our intake of chemicals, preservatives, toxins, acids and other stuffs not compatible to our body. With a little bit of education of what (and what not) to eat, what should we eat more, what should eat less, a little bit of restrain on our taste buds, a little bit of determination and a little bit of consciousness on how we feed ourselves, then we can live healthier and enjoy a bit more from what life have to offer.

Spending a couple of days in the organic farm certainly taught me to relook at my eating habits and make some necessary changes. It is not going to totally change my entire lifestyle but it is going to get a bit healthier and a lot better … I am sure.

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The great footballers of the world

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The hype is getting loud and everyone is talking about it. The whole world is waiting for the kick-off on 11th June 2010 in Johannesburg, South Africa. YES, I am talking about the FIFA World Cup 2010 … a great event that only comes every four years.

Lately, to promote the coming World Cup football, our local TV channels have been showing some of our very own football greats. I am sure you have seen (Dato’) Soh Chin Aun, Santokh Singh and James Wong on TV lately. I hope there will be more to come. If not, I would like to mention here our other great footballers such as Mokthar Dahari, Arumugam aka Spiderman, Wong Choon Wah, M Chandran, Shukor Salleh, Yip Chee Keong and Chow Chee Keong. And there were others like Sergebeth Singh, Zainal Abidin, Dollah Salleh, Wong Hung Nung, Lim Teong Kim and of course many more.

If these names don’t ring a bell, then maybe you should ask your dad (or grandfather) about them. These great footballers of Malaysia made us proud, putting our country first and making Malaysia a country to be reckoned with, back in the glory football days of Merdeka Cup. Sorry to say, today’s football in Malaysia is not a bit close to what it used to be.

And talking about Merdeka Cup matches played in the historic Merdeka Stadium, do you remember those “kacang putih” (fried nuts and beans) sellers with their wooden table and trays of various “kacang putihs” packed in little cones made from old newspaper? You see them peddling their stuffs in various entrances and corners of Merdeka Stadium during matches. Let me step away from football and tell you a funny story related to the “kacang putih” sellers. You see, one time I went with my friend and his dad to watch a football match at Merdeka Stadium. During the match, my friend’s dad went to buy “kacang putih”. My friend and I waited for him but he did not return so we went to search for him. We found him standing beside a “kacang putih” stall looking really mad, cursing and swearing. We soon found out that he wanted to buy some “kacang putih” and had given the seller a fifty dollar note. But the “kacang putih” guy did not have any small change so he told my friend’s dad that he will go out to a shop to change it. But you know what? That guy did not come back. Why? My friend’s dad finally figured out that the whole stall … the table, trays and the “kacang putihs” (lock stock and barrel) cost a lot less than fifty bucks. So that guy just ran off making my friend’s dad looks like a big fool … no joke, this is a true story!

Do you remember who is who?

OK back to football and great footballers ... what about other great footballers from the around the world? One of the first few names I first came to know (back in the early 70s) was of course Pele and his famous “banana kick” or what is known today as “bend it like Beckham”. Do you remember Kim Jae-han, Cha Bum-keun, Maung Maung Tin, Johan Cryuff, Sepp Maier, Gerd Muller, (Masakuni) Yamamoto, George Best, Franz Beckenbauer, Michel Platini, Osvaldo Ardiles, Mario Kempes and Sócrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira or simply known as Socrates? Of course many will remember Diego Maradona and his controversial “hand of god” goal against England in 1986. What about Artur Antunes Coimbra? Maybe the name Zico sounds a little more familiar. Hey, remember Peter Shilton, Paolo Rossi, Gabriel Batistusta, Dino Zoff, Kevin Keegan and the famous top scoring goalkeeper from Paraguay, José Luis Chilavert? The list goes on.

Do you have any names to add? I am sure you will remember some of your favourite footballers from around the world. Even my 11 years old son is all excited and throwing names of famous current players like Ronaldo, Rooney, Drogba, Messi, Eto, Torres, Fabregas, Gerrard, Anelka, Lampard, Kaka, Malouda, Van Der Sar, Ballack, Arshavin and the list goes on. Maybe he will remember these names in the future.
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