In the golden years of our lives, we can now look back with such sweet sorrow of the wonderful two years of our lives in Kirkby College where we lived in peace & harmony sealed in friendship & bond of love.
Look at the pictures as they were of the 1950/60’s environment.
Another part of the pictures will be the Kirkby Spirit & bond of friendship that persist till today.
When talking about space, there are areas which are normally familiar to the man in the street. There are indeed also indefinite concepts in scientific terms as used by geometers and physicists which we may not know or understand. Suffice for me to touch on some personal thoughts relating to peace & harmony, privacy, friendship, love & emotion . . . and space in the physical living or playing fields.
Even then there are confines or boundaries beyond which we may never know, and of course, there is that spiritual aspect of things where grace sets in.
In January 2007 when my friend CC & his lovely wife Phyllis were travelling & sightseeing in New Delhi to Taj Mahal in Agra, India, they passed through the countryside where some grand new villas were under construction. He noticed a large poster with these words:
Till today he remembers it well and often reflect upon those memorable words, sharing them with his friends, architects, developers and his soccer-playing grandchildren. According to him, life is often preoccupied with time & space and with grace giving us lessons in various ways.
Lately, while watching his grandchildren playing soccer, realisation dawned on him of the need of an optimum playing field where space is paramount for level play with ease or difficulty of attack & defence. He recalled & visualised the “space” concept in terms of a restricted number of 11 players & one goal-keeper in each team and where in winning the game all available spaces must be covered & exploited. Success in life to him means preempting the right positioning in space. His grandchildren are fortunate to have a grandfather with wisdom to impart.
In further extension of my thought:
Space is taken to overcome all boundaries, inhibitions & restrictions to explore & conquer . . . turning all adversities to victories. Space however is timeless as opposed to our limited existence.
Grace is herewith defined as a divinely given talent or blessing, the free & unmerited favour of God. It’s got to flow from God to fill within us & then exert forth to the external. Grace is unseen, non-materialistic and unlimited flowing from God for our faith & asking. As goodness grows, blessings flow.
From the womb to the tomb, we need space to grow . . . to equip ourselves in our daily life to intern, specialise and then to fraternise. As is said, no man is an island. We are by nature gregarious and cannot live alone. We need company. We need partner and that is why God provided Adam with Eve. Within the limitless space of the Garden of Eden, freedom & choice were available except for the forbidden fruit. What happened next resulted in the pain & suffering of mankind.
Freedom to chose & choice to make are really no option whatsoever. Inevitably, man by his own doing destroy the space & environment in which he lives. By our own strength we are powerless and though “impossible” is the word not to be found in Napoleon Bonaparte’s dictionary, not all things are possible with man. Only with God all things are possible. With “space to grow” we need “God’d grace to flow”.
Give grace some space, for man is no master of space. It sours the souls of those greedy for space by intrusion & exploitation, thereby destroying both peace & harmony . . . as exemplified by the turmoils in the Middle East & the Arab world. Under the guise of democracy, everything has gone crazy. The need for regime change is a nagging & ragging righteousness with no resultant merit except unnecessary death, pain & suffering. Nobody ever wins in a war!
Make friends not enemies. The irony is you may have but one enemy, you’re bound to face him everywhere! Negotiation rather than confrontation as with diplomacy opposed to being artless or tactless or hypocrisy. Give space to sovereignty, for aggression will meet with further aggression. Let every sovereignty grow & progress. Encroach not upon its nest.
Let moderation & good sense prevail and senselessness be assailed. LET GO & LET GOD. Don’t ever push yourself too hard. As is said in Ecclesiastes 3:17: “God will bring to judgment both the righteous & the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time for every deed.”
Here below is a laughable illustration on the question of “Value Vs Valuable”. With old things in Australia, we have a market for “Trash & Treasure” – what’s trash to you maybe treasure to others.
“Sir, anything you see down there is 75 years old.
I just bought this hat yesterday!”
There is a thing or two about the collection of old vintage, antique or classic. Amateurs will not be able to value such items – only the experts & antique appraisers are called upon for such valuation.
However in an auction where collectors assemble, bids can go higher than the estimated value. It all depends on “What is it that you really want? And what’s the price you are willing to pay for it?”. When it meets with the heart’s desire, it becomes priceless!
In another light, to me the question of sentiment is held topmost in my mind & heart. When I was in college those days in England, I did woodwork as an option subject. For it I chose to do a needlecraft work-table out of teak, all crafted with joints only. Though not an exceptional skilful handyman, I laboured with all my heart and was credited in giving it to the girl of my heart, who became my wife. Now . . . how would you appraise such a priceless piece of art?
This needlecraft work-table will always remain in my heart
The spirit of adventure has always charged both men & women to seek out the highest mountain, the deepest seas or oceans, the greatest caves, and places where angels fear to tread. Here in another sense, we can quote a line or two from Alexander Pope‘s Essay on Criticism: “No Place so Sacred from such Fops is barr’d, Nor is Paul’s Church more safe than Paul’s Church-yard.”
In the South of Brazil there is a spectacular dormant volcano that has always captured the interest of adventure-seekers.
If you are one of them but are hindered by time, money & distance or that your level of physical fitness do not allow such an adventure, then sit back, relax and watch this amazing trip inside Earth.
Be more than just an armchair traveller as modern technology affords you virtual realistic travel to places beyond your wildest imagination.
But do not ever think you are one of the first stepping into this amazing inner river, pools, stalactites and stalagmites. There are traces of man ( human skull & skeleton) being there some thousand years back.
This is truly amazing!
. . . trees & greenery, streams & waterfalls, pools & lakes, caverns & tunnels, strange geological formations etc. . . . all hidden away waiting to be discovered!
Now . . . who’s perfect for thinking that God won’t use you!
These Biblical greats as above-mentioned were not perfect and yet God used them mightily, nor did they have all the abilities & skills. Herein is a lesson to be learned – it’s all a question of availability rather than ability that God seeks.
If God can overlook our imperfectness, who are we not to do likewise? God alone is perfect. He alone can be judgemental about us. Whoever we are we ought to be submissive, obedient, loyal and faithful to our tasks – undertaking them responsibly.
In our personal relationship, we should not be unkind to our own kind. This ironically is the truth in practice . . . we seem to see “perfectness” in others and hate the sight of “imperfectness” in our own kind. We can be so hypocritical appearing to be kind & courteous to others but to our own kind most unkind consciously or otherwise. This is all putting on your “Sunday Best” as in church.
Let me share a story here as an illustration:
“When I was a kid, my mom would prepare special breakfast every now and then. And I remember one night in particular, after a long, hard day at work. On that evening so long ago, my mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and extremely burned biscuits in front of my dad.
I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed! Yet all my dad did was reach for his biscuit, smile at my mom and ask me how my day was at school. I don’t remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him smear butter and jelly on that biscuit and eat every bite! When I got up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my mom apologise to my dad for burning the biscuits. And I’ll never forget what he said: “Honey, I love burned biscuits.”
Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he really liked his biscuits burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, “Your Momma put in a hard day at work today and she’s real tired. And besides – a little burnt biscuit never hurt anyone! You know, life is full of imperfect things . . . and imperfect people. I’m not the best at hardly anything, and I forget birthdays and anniversaries just like everyone else. What I’ve learned over the years is that learning to accept each other’s faults – and choosing to celebrate each other’s differences – is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship.”
Herein lies the key to life’s happiness . . . learning to accept each other’s faults and laying them at the foot of God, the Perfect One.We could extend this to any relationship . . . husband-wife or father-son/daughter or friendship. Understanding of this basic fundamental key will see us through to a life of happiness.
Lovers of opera would have heard of Enrico Caruso, Beniamino Gigli of the era gone by and of the present great Three Tenors of whom Luciano Pavarotti is lately deceased. Andrea Bocelli can be counted in the same rank.
However, he’s gifted with a golden voice. Though without the blessing of sight, “he sings beautifully in colours”. God is great! He takes away one thing but endows you with another even greater!
Remember too, this is the only prayer that comes directly from God!
“The Lord’s Prayer as sung by Andrea Bocelli and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
Sublime, magnificent, powerful, amazing, and breathtaking! Simply heavenly! What a marvelous piece of music and arrangement. When one needs to calm thyself or to reflect on what is good in this world, this piece of beautiful, heavenly music is perfect.”
This short & simple prayer, well translated into hundreds of languages, was given by our Lord Jesus Christ according to the Gospel of Luke which records Jesus being approached by “one of his disciples” following the Sermon on the Mount with a request to teach them “to pray as John taught his disciples.”
With over 5 million units sold worldwide, Sacred Arias became the biggest-selling classical album by a solo artist of all time, and with just under 20 million units sold worldwide, his 1997 pop album, Romanza, became the best-selling album by an Italian artist ever, as well as the best-selling album by a foreign artist in Canada, and a number of other countries in Europe and Latin America. The album’s first single, “Time to Say Goodbye“, topped charts all over Europe, including Germany, where it stayed at the top of the charts for fourteen consecutive weeks, breaking the all-time sales record, with over 3 million copies sold in the country. He is widely regarded as the most popular Italian and classical singer in the world.
When I first saw the painting of Mona Lisa in the Louvre Museum in Parisin 1959, it didn’t strike or fascinate me nor any of my friends. Yet this is undoubtedly one of the most famous paintings of Leonardo de Vinci. What then priced thevalue of art? Is it because of the known artist?
a prized photograph auctioned off for $4.3m. Have a look & see
if this photo is really worth that much?
Photo by Andreas Gursky
This is what was reported by The West Australian:
“A 1999 photograph of the Rhine River by German artist Andreas Gursky has sold for $4.3 million in New York City, setting a record for any photograph sold at auction.
Titled “Rhein II”, the chromogenic colour print, which is face-mounted to acrylic glass, had a pre-sale estimate of between $2.5 million and $3.5 million.
It sold on Tuesday at Christie’s, but the buyer was not disclosed.
The previous record for any photograph sold at auction was Cindy Sherman‘s “Untitled”, which fetched $3.8 million at Christie’s in May.
Gursky’s panoramic image of the Rhine is one of an edition of six photographs.
At the abattoir, quite often strange happenings of animals crying go unnoticed by human beings. I was talking to my wife about the story below “of a sorrowful buffalo suddenly standing still, refusing to move forward, kneeling on its two front knees, and with tears streaming from its eyes,” when she recalled of her young days living in Taiping, Malaysia. She too had observed in the nearby abattoir of cows awaiting to be slaughtered crying aloud, seemingly knowing their fateful demise.
But this water buffalo had real tears that touched the hearts of the butchers & changing their lives!
The Buffalo was standing still, sad and frightened to tears.
According to China’s People’s News, whether people believe it or not, this incident actually happened in Hong Kong. TheWeekly World News reported that a group of workers were bringing a water buffalo into a packaging factory, ready to slaughter it to make steak and beef stew.
When they approached the front door of the slaughterhouse, the sorrowful buffalo suddenly stood still, refusing to move forward, kneeling on its two front knees, and had tears streaming from its eyes.
How could the buffalo be aware that it was going to be slaughtered, before entering the slaughterhouse? This shows that it was even more alert than many a person. “When I saw what is believed to be a stupid animal actually crying, and when I noticed that its eyes were full of fear and sadness, I could not help but shiver.” Extremely shocked by this, butcher Shiu Tat-Nin recalled: “I quickly called the other people to come and see, and they were as surprised as I was! We pushed and pulled the water buffalo, but it would not move; it just sat there crying constantly.”
Billy Fong, the boss of the Hong Kong packaging plant said, “Mankind has always thought that animals are not like people who can cry, but this buffalo is really sobbing like a baby!”
At that time there were at least a dozen strong, burly men present, but their hearts were softened by the buffalo’s crying, and those who were responsible for killing water buffaloes were even more touched by this, tears welling out of their eyes.
Buffalo weeping non-stop – When workers from other slaughterhouses heard the news, they also ran to the crying and kneeling buffalo, and the site was soon crowded with people who were astonished at what they saw. Three of them were so shocked that they said that from now on, even when they slaughter other kinds of animals, they will never forget that buffalo’s tears.
At the point when a buffalo is crying and people are crying as well, we can all be sure that none of them will kill the buffalo now. Then the question was how to take care of this matter. Finally, they decided to buy the water buffalo with cash, and then they sent it to a Buddhist temple, for the monastic to take good care of it, so that it could be assured of living out its life peacefully.
When this decision was made, an amazing thing happened again: “When there was an assurance that the buffalo would not be killed, it finally agreed to move, got up, and it’s here with us.” How could a water buffalo understand human words? Shiu said: “Whether you believe it or not, this is really true, although it sounds really incredible.
Undoubtedly, this buffalo has changed the lives of these butchers.
It’s said that some are born rich, others achieve riches and
still others have riches thrust upon them.
It’s found however, that if you’re gifted with a special talent
then riches will be yours to have.
Ten of the world’s richest persons are without college degree. They range from sportsmen, actors, singers, technologists and others. The common denominator is talent or special skill.
Now the question is whether education is at all essential for the road to riches. Not necessary so. There are evidences of professors or highly educated persons ending in poverty. In short, education is supposed to equip you for the life ahead of you. Really education is an unending process, that is why from the womb to the tomb, you’re always learning. Knowledge is dynamic & expandable.
Here are some questions to consider:
Need you go to school from the cradle to the grave?
What benefits do you hope to get out of education?
Will you really be able to apply your acquired knowledge to your life’s practical activities?
Can skill, talent, attitude & other positives be acquired through education?
In a word, will education ensure riches?
The following Ten are some of the world’s richest persons:
Most ‘First Grade’ students get technical seats, becoming Doctors . . .
. . . and some others ending as Engineers
The
Here’s to show you the ‘Irony of Life’ :
Most ‘First Class’ students get technical seats, some become Doctors and some Engineers.
* The ‘Second Class’ pass, and then get MBA, become Administrators and control the ‘First Class’.
* The‘Third Class’ pass, enter politics and Become Ministers and control both.
* Last, but not the least, The ‘Failures’ jointhe underworld and control all the above.
And those who do not attend any school, become Swamis and Gurus and Everyone goes to them.
Shenzhen was voted by ForbesChina in 2010 as the most innovative city in mainland China. It virtually started from scratch.
Shenzhen in the 1970s was but a small village. Its metropolitan cityscape is the result of the vibrant economic growth made possible by rapid foreign investment since the institution of the policy of “reform and opening” establishment of the SEZ in the late 1970s. Both Chinese and foreign nationals have invested billions in the Shenzhen SEZ. More than US$30 billion in foreign investment has gone into both foreign-owned and joint ventures, at first mainly in manufacturing but more recently in the service industries as well. Shenzhen is now reputedly one of the fastest-growing cities in the world.
Shenzhen continued to top the list of the most innovative cities on the Chinese mainland this year, followed by Suzhou and Shanghai.
Shenzhen continued to top the list of the most innovative cities on the Chinese mainland this year, followed by Suzhou and Shanghai, according to the latest list of the 25 Chinese mainland cities with the strongest innovation capabilities released Monday by Forbes China.
with the municipal GDP of above RMB 43.6 billion yuan (US$6.84 billion) in 2010
also the number of patents newly applied for (per capita and total number)
the proportion of sci-tech expenses to local fiscal expenditures (including expenses on trial development of new products, intermediate experiment allocations and subsidies for important scientific research projects).
In 2010, the value-added of Shenzhen’s high-tech industry rose 17.1 percent to RMB 305.9 billion yuan, while the total output value of high-tech products made in Shenzhen hit about RMB 1.02 trillion yuan, with 60.1 percent contributed by products with independent intellectual property rights.
The Yangtze River Delta region retained its predominant status this year, with 15 cities edging into the list. Jiangsu province alone has 11 cities included. Five cities from the Pearl River Delta moved up into the list, while no cities from Western China appeared there.
Statistics show that China’s smaller cities are amazingly eye-catching for their innovation capabilities with more than half cities on the list being county-level and prefecture-level cities. Of the top ten, there are 4 county-level cities: Wujiang, Kunshan, Changshu and Zhangjiagang.
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