It has been a month since my last column but it feels
like only 2 weeks has gone by.
Moving is a time-warping experience, in my book. Like
being in a bubble in a world of your own. But it is one of the best
ways to keep you alert and aware.
Aside from the being the opportune time to clean up your life. Away with unnecessary baggage. Discard stuff you have outgrown or maybe have outgrown you.
It is also discovery time. Just as we discovered a missing slipper lodged under the family area sofa for maybe a year? Or two? Who knows.
I don’t consider myself to be very organized but I treasure the comment the movers exclaimed when it came to move the stuff in our bedroom – “This is the most organized room of all”. Wow! “Sabi nga” in Pilipino – “Nakakataba ng puso”. He he. Cheap thrills!
Of course, it must be a standard line they give to all their clients. One really finds out things about oneself in the midst and flurry of going back and forth.
Sorting out things. Keeping track of where and which boxes. Figuring out the better way to transport my plants with the least trauma to them.
Thinking back on it, I cannot imagine how I got through the whole process. Actually, after the planning and decisions, “hindi na ako nag-isip”. I just went on from one thing to another. The ongoing mantra was “next”.
And before we knew it, here we are — all settled and still enjoying the tail end of summer (or is it the beginning of fall rather?). Either way, It was a well-worth experience which, seemingly mundane as it was, contributed to my enjoyment of life.
Speaking of enjoyment – you may want to read the book “Lee Kuan Yew: The Grandmaster’s Insights on China, the United States, and the World by Allison, Blackwill and Wyne.
No, it is not written by Lee Kuan Yew, but it is a great book that encapsulates the kind of mind that the founding father of Singapore had. The book is a collaborative work of 3 authors who put together the answers of Lee Kuan Yew in several interviews and also some speeches Lee Kuan Yew gave.
Singapore grew from a third world country to a first world one in less than 50 years and has the world’s fourth highest per capita real income.
Incredible! Lee Kuan Yew has written a book I have lined up for at the Toronto Public Library – From Third World to First: The Singapore Story: 1965-2000. It sounds “mayabang” but he deserves to have done so. Singapore, that, literally, tiny country is what it is today, thanks to Lee Kuan Yew.
What kind of mind does a man have who steered this tiny, turbulent found-
ling country in the early 60s into the powerhouse that it is today? What were his driving thoughts?
These were what I had in mind while searching on youtube for videos on him. Thi is where my quest started during this age of covid. I wanted to find out more about his supposed controversial thoughts on democracy was. It was definitely an eye opener.
Through my research, I have also learned more about the pros and cons of the concept of democracy. At least, the western kind of democracy which we were taught by the North Americans and Europeans.
I am not saying that this or that is right or wrong. I just find it interesting that there is more to learn about the concept of democracy. There is more to it than meets the eye, as the saying goes.
Anyway, hopefully, I am now the 8th in the line up for the book. 2 weeks ago I was number 14. Let us see. Perhaps, it is now my time.
In the meantime, let me tell you about Mulan, a good old-fashioned (old-fashioned in a good way) action and adventure movie which my family and I watched on Disney +. We enjoyed it thoroughly.
I would recommend it highly to all others as well. It is different from the animation and rightly so. The animation version has its own unique charm just as the live action one has its own different appeal.
But all in all, I would enthusiastically encourage everyone to watch it. Personally, I would have preferred that it was in Chinese with English subtitles. But then, this is a Disney movie.
There is also a Chinese movie on this true to life story of Mulan. I like watching Chinese period movies with fight scenes, complete with flying moves. Exhilarating, if I may say so myself. There you are. Take it from me – watch Mulan. Or don’t take it from me. Just see for yourself if it is worth it.
While on the subject of worth and exhilaration. Change is afoot. I smell autumn in the air. One of my favorite seasons. The temperature is just right. Not so hot and not so cold.
New seasons also for tv shows. Time to hunker down into your comfy duvets again and binge watch. Time for school to start.
Time for my plants to bloom harder for one last time. This is what I think makes
countries like Canada different and makes one hardier in the process – the change of sea-
sons.
In tropical countries like the Philippines, we have it so good that we take most
things for granted. We have sunshine most of the year and become complacent.
But here, we always have to be prepared for the change of seasons. It is a matter of
survival. In the process of surviving, though, we hope to learn to be both tough but compas-
sionate. After all, no man is an island. “Sabi nga ng isang kilalang” Zen master – we inter are.
Or in the words of the English poet John Donne – No man is an island, entire of itself.
I somehow often reacted to this concept. Maybe because of the aspect of dependence. But when I realized lately that it is more the aspect that what one thinks or does affects others, I understand what Thich Nhat Hanh and John Donne perhaps mean.
Or at least, this way of understanding this universal concept is more acceptable to me. Am I talking to myself again? Ha ha. Please forgive or allow me to indulge in spoken thoughts.
More from me next time. Please stay safe and allow others to keep safe as well.*