The Essence of .....

When I was a little girl, I used to see mom drinking bottles containing brownish liquid. When I learnt to read, I found that the brownish liquid was called essence of chicken.

Of late, I had been extremely busy with my work. However, in between running from one property viewing to another, I would sometimes reflect and ponder. I realise that life would be made much easier if we could nail down the essence of a situation or what someone might call the crux of the matter.

For example, the essence of a lovely home would be the walls, the lighting and curtains! Amazing how you could buy the most expensive furniture or home, and if the walls were not smooth, the lighting inadequate and inappropriate, the cosiness and beauty of the place would be marred. If there were no curtains, it would be like a lady without a petticoat! Now I agree why some owners would go to great lengths to find beautiful curtains.

The essence of good education is understanding and analysis, not just rote learning and scoring in examinations. My ex-students were very focused on being given notes and more notes, and I told them that if they understood the literature, they would be able to remember the stories more easily, and would remember for a long, long time.

The essence of attractiveness is a good complexion with clean, healthy hair and neat clothes. Even without any make-up, a person with a good complexion can look very attractive.

The essence of a good meal is the blending of tastes. For example, for dinner if we were to serve nasi lemak, the essential ingredients would be the chilli sauce, with fried fish or chicken, and all other suitable ingredients that enhance the taste. We cannot serve nasi lemak with sharks fin soup and neither can we serve Hainanese chicken rice with curry chicken.

Great cooks will tell you that the essence of cooking is not merely following recipes to the finest details......it is cooking with your heart....feel for the food as you cook and most importantly, cook with love for your family or for your customers if you were a chef.

In Christianity, the essence is love! It is this love that caused God to send His only beloved Son, Jesus to die on the Cross for us. The essence of love is so vital that it is emphasised in the book of Corinthians where we are reminded that even if we could do everything, but have no love, it is futile.

Faith, hope and love, and the greatest of all these is love. Love....the essence of life!

Gan Chau