Thursday, December 23, 2010

The Way to Get to Heaven ...by 5 Year Olds

I always love to talk to little children. Despite their youthfulness and innocence,
they always speak from the heart. If we really want to know whether we look good, ask a child, and he will speak the truth just like the child in the fabled story,
The Emperor's New Clothes. I received the following email from a friend, Elena Ho,
and would like to share with my readers.



The way to get to Heaven.......... by 5 year olds......


I was testing the children in my Sunday school class to see if they
understood the concept
of getting to heaven.
I asked them, "If I sold my house and my car, had a big garage sale and
gave all my money
to the church,
Would that get me into Heaven?"

"NO!" the children answered.
"If I cleaned the church every day, mowed the yard, and kept everything
neat and tidy,
would that get me into Heaven?"

Again, the answer was, "NO!"
By now I was starting to smile. Hey, this was fun! "Well, then, if I was kind to animals and gave candy to all the
children, and loved my husband, would that get me into Heaven?"

I asked them again.
Again, they all answered, "NO!"
I was just bursting with pride for them.
"Well," I continued, "then how can I get into Heaven?"

A five-year-old boy shouted out,

"YOU GOTTA BE DEAD."

Sunday, December 19, 2010

How Embarrassing!

My second sister Ean Ean had just called me on my mobile phone, and told me she
could not get through my home line. Upon checking I realised it was faulty. Hence
I called up Singtel and the operator confirmed that indeed it was out of order. She told me that she would send a technician to my home between 2 to 4 p.m. It was a
Saturday, and I was surprised at the efficiency of Singtel.

At 2.30pm a Malay technician came and he was so cheerful and amiable. Suddenly he
smiled and said, "Your phone is not working because the plug has been disconnected!"

I was so embarrassed and apologised profusely. I said to him, "Alamak, malu-lah! Saya sangat bodoh!" (Oh dear, how embarrassing! I am so stupid!)

"Don't say like that. It's ok, " smiled the cheerful technician. I told the technician that I have techno-phobia and when any gadgets go wrong, it is difficult
for me to figure out and do something about the gadgets.

About an hour later, he called me to check that my land line is working fine.

I am always so grateful that we have such great services and wonderful attitude in the various government departments.

Gan Cao

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

With Passion, Everything is Possible!

 

Our District 80 Governor Aziz Mustajab with charming Keynote Speaker, Pat Johnson, International President who came all the way from Canada!
 

One of the many lively and passionate toastmasters from District 80 with Pat
Johnson
 

Amelia Ching delivering her wonderful speech as test speaker
 

A pose with Dr. William Tan and his book "No Journey Too Tough". A neuroscientist and medical doctor, Dr. Tan is well known for his record-breaking attempt to race
in 10 marathons in 65 days across 7 continents.

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Frankly I had been somewhat hesitant at first to sign up for the District 80 Semi-
Annual Convention in Singapore 2010. Of late my health had not been good and I was
afraid of over-exhaustion. But I was glad I signed up. I had not been to any overseas convention, but would not want to miss the conventions in Singapore, as it
would be less exhausting for me to travel.

I enjoyed every moment of the convention. It was indeed a good time to catch up with
toastmasters from Singapore and Thailand. I was blessed by the speeches made by Pat Johnson as well as the inspirational speakers like Dr. William Tan and Foo Fung Liang. I had read about Dr. William Tan's tenacity in overcoming his polio and to carve for himself a good career. Most admirable is his zest for life and determination to help raise funds through his many marathons.

I also enjoyed the humorous speeches. I laughed so much that I could hardly take my dinner after the contest. I was proud of Amelia Ching, my good friend, for her confidence and poise in delivering her speech as a test speaker. It is not easy to be a test speaker, because after the speech there will be some seven to eight contestants evaluating your speech. It takes a strong person to have "arrows being shot at you". Nevertheless, it is a wonderful experience for we will improve
tremendously!

The convention ended with a sumptuous dinner at the Safra Club at Jurong. We enjoyed the dance items on stage as well as the inspirational speech by Dr. William
Tan. It is always wonderful to attend toastmasters' conventions because you will
always go back, enriched and inspired, and become even more passionate in your toastmasters' journey.

Gan Cao

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Yann's Creative and Cosy Home

 

 

 

 
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Recently my eldest sister and I visited Yann's lovely home. My sister was mesmerised
by Yann's lovely handiworks which are displayed all over the home.

Somehow Yann's home reminds me of the lovely homes I had seen in Canada. Likewise, many of the retired wives would often occupy themselves with doing arts and crafts.
Many elderly Canadians can knit and sew very well.

As my eldest sister also loves handiworks, she asked Yann for some of the ready-made
patterns so as to make toys, flowers etc. Yann also sews lovely curtains for her
master bedroom and her children's room. The cosiness in her home gives an ambiance of
a country home.

Though I enjoy looking at all these lovely handicrafts, nevertheless I will not have the patience to wait till completion. Perhaps in a few years time, when I have more time on my hands, I will venture to try out making some of these handicrafts.

Yann and her husband have just bought a corner terrace house which comes with a bigger piece of land. I look forward to her new decorations and designs. Whenever I am with Yann, I am reminded of the phrase, "A thing of beauty is a joy forever."

Gan Cao

Introducing Yann's Interesting Blog

 


Tuesday, December 7, 2010Handmade Cards
Recently I received my orders from Joann.com and Amazon.com. I was so happy and excited like children getting their new toys. There were my scrapbooking materials, fabrics and books. I just couldn't wait to start new crafting and sewing projects. It was tormenting for not having time to create with holidays and happenings around. After 10 days of long wait, I finally settled down to create.


With my beloved Aunt Choo Choo's birthday around the corner, I made her a card. No sketch, just playing around with my new puncher and stamps. The velvet ribbon and metal alphabet used on the card exudes class and elegance.

I still prefer hard copy birthday cards than e-cards where I can touch, feel the textures and read the hand written messages. Thus, I like to take the effort to handmade them for those who are dear to me. Something I had done since my high school days. When beautiful imported Hallmark cards were too expensive for me to afford them. My simple cards of drawings with watercolour on water color papers had warmed and touched hearts.


Today, with the availability of modern tools and art supplies, more beautiful and fancier cards can be made easil



 

Yann's travelling journals
 

Some of the interesting people Yann met during her travels
 
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The past two months had been busy months as many of my relatives were in Singapore for Ning's concert. I also flew back to Penang to celebrate my beloved second brother's 70th birthday, and just shortly after returning to Singapore, I went with eldest sister to visit her daughter, Esther, in Kuala Lumpur. We also took the
opportunity to visit my beloved niece, Yann, at her lovely and creative home as well
as to visit some relatives in the capital of Malaysia.

Yann has started an interesting blog in which she shares with readers about her travels to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. She also shares her creative handicrafts in her blog. The above are some of the pictures that have been posted in the blog.
If my readers are interested, they can log in at http://yannkam.blogspot.com

Wednesday, December 01, 2010

The Mesmerising Moon!

 

 

 

 
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My friend, Soh Yah sent me the above pictures of the moon. The pictures are so
well taken. I just love them! Hope my readers enjoy the pictures too.


May you always have work for your hands to do
May your pockets hold always a coin or two
May the sun shine bright on your windowpane
May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain
May the hand of a friend always be near you
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you
- Irish Blessing