Mind

"Mind your head"
The signboard says,
telling you to go through
the door with care.

"Mind your step"
Say the bright yellow words,
painted boldly at the edge
of the long flight of stairs.

"Mind your language"
The teacher warned,
telling the talkative student
from foul words to refrain.

"Mind your manners"
A mother reminded
her child at dinner time,
good behaviour to maintain.

"Mind your mind"
The writer quips,
while thinking of a plot
for a story
that's hard to find.

Submitted to MyWriters PoetryPrompt 24/2019
On 20190929

A Long Journey

A long journey

I am reading a long-winded story
As I travel onward bound
for a busy crowded distant city
from my sleepy little town


Across peaceful quiet valleys
and a vast expansive plain,
I'm seated in this sturdy coach
Of a rocking rolling train.

It is a book that I had bought
Almost a year ago
Which I have read but less than half
Of all there is to know

So at last today I'm coming back
To resume from where I left
I've made progress in six good hours
And will finish it all by myself.

Haze, Dude

The haze is all around us in Malaysia . . .

Haze, Dude, don't make it bad,
It's been so long, yet not gettin' better.
Remember who let all the fires spread,
Only you can start to make things better

Haze, Dude, we're so afraid,
You were supposed to put out the fires.
The minute you let them burn all your greens,
Then you'll never begin to make it better.

And anytime you feel our pain,
Hey, Dude, refrain,
Don't carry the fires upon your jungles.
For well you know that we're no fools,
Who asks you to
Start making our world a little cooler.

Nah, nah nah, nah nah, nah nah, nah nah . . .

I Wish - Malaysia Day 2019

I wish

I wish we speak Bahasa Malaysia
As much as we speak our own mother tongue.

I wish we sing our NegaraKu
As heartily as other songs we have sung.

I wish we raise our Malaysia Flag
As proudly as we raise our voice

To tell the world that we are one people,
Of one nation, in which we rejoice.

I wish I can tell everyone
everywhere
at all times
that we are all Malaysians,

As we stand up for one another,
we stand tall among all nations.

Selamat Hari Malaysia ke-56.
20190916

Submitted to star2 @ thestaronline
for #OneWithMalaysia feature column.

I wish - for Malaysia

I wish, for my country.

I wish we all speak the same language
when we go out with one another,
While we speak different languages
within our homes
with our family members

I wish we all stand for the same anthem
and sing it proudly with one another,
While we play and sing our own favourite songs
when alone,
with our friends at leisure

And I wish we all identify as the same people
when asked to what race we belong,
While our food and attire and traditions may differ,

We tell everyone,
everywhere,
at all times,

that we are Malaysians,
Forever.

20190916
#PoetryByHaroldHuang

Submitted to star2 @ thestaronline
for #OneWithMalaysia feature column.

He who jumps

Jump

He who jumps to conclusions
risks falling into error

He who jumps with excitement
will fall back into the mundane

He who jumps at an opportunity
may fall into disappointment

He who jumps through hoops,
leaping over hurdles,
and
skipping past hindrances

to make a dream come true

will be filled
with lasting satisfaction

Submitted to MyWriters Poetry Prompt 23/2019, 15Sep19.
On 20190916

Lost

MyWriters Poetry Prompt
22nd prompt of 2019
08 - 14 September

Some things are lost
because we had them
in our possession
at one time

A prized watch
A pen
A pendant for a necklace

that can no longer be found

Other things are lost
because they passed by us
before our eyes
in full view

An invitation
An offer to hold office
An opportunity to a better occupation

that can no longer be revisited

While one can sometimes be found again,
the other will remain lost forever.

Submitted on 20190914 1909hr

When cashless payment fails

20190914 1149hr

Mobile cashless payments in Malaysia: is our telecom infrastructure ready to cope with the rising demand?

I was queuing to pay at Guardian Pharmacy Station-18, when the cashiers encountered difficulties processing the Touch n Go e-Wallet transaction for the gentleman in front.

After a long wait, they told him that the transaction wasn't going through. He asked them if he could use Boost instead. I couldn't hear their reply clearly, but it had something to do with more difficulties of another nature.

In the end the gentleman politely moved aside and kindly allowed me to pay for my items first, while waiting to resolve his situation.

I had encountered similar difficulties using Touch n Go at Tesco near my home some time ago. After a long wait involving several retries, the poor cashier had to ask me if I could pay by cash instead.

A teenager's suicide, and her mother's grief

20190914 1238hr

A teenager's suicide: is it always the parents' fault?

I came across an article about a mother's grief over the loss of her teenage daughter through suicide, excerpt and link below:

"Published in 2019 by Ethos Books, Loss Adjustment is a personal reflection by copy-editor Linda Collins on her journey with her husband, Malcolm McLeod, after their daughter, Victoria, committed suicide in 2014. 

Collins, 60, works as a copy editor at the political desk of the Straits Times. McLeod is deputy picture editor at ST. 0 

Victoria was their only child. 

Three years after the incident occurred, Collins recounts her 17-year-old daughter’s suicide in this book, weaving in her daughter’s diary entries, personal memories and accounts from the people in her life"

https://mothership.sg/2019/09/loss-adjustment-suicide-daughter-book/ 

Some of the comments on the original post in facebook accuse Victoria's parents of neglect, and of not reaching out to her when she was in pain.

Was it necessarily so?

I agree with those who say that the bond between parent and child could have been fractured long before the suicide took place. And that sharing meals together did not help alleviate the pain in Victoria's hidden life.

However, at the same time, we have yet to ascertain the origin, the circumstance or series of circumstances that brought about the silent "wailing of a bruised and battered heart".

It may not be entirely the parents' failure to reach out,or should I say reach in, to her. Her decision to end her life could perhaps be avoided if she had reached out to her parents for help instead.

After all, her mother was kept in the dark throughout the years.

Blinding flash of lightning

MyWriters FirstLiner
Week 37/2019
09 - 14September

"A blinding flash of lightning nearby, followed by a deafening clap of thunder made Jeff desperate, as he held on for dear life."

Submitted on 20190909 1833hr

Bewitching witches be watching watches

20190905 16:18 hr

In response to a "Word Wednesday" prompt on a facebook page,

"If two witches watched two watches, which witch would watch which watch"

Which witch watching which watch
depends on
which other witch was watching which other watch.

For the witch watching over one watch
is a different witch from
the other witch watching over the other watch.

As the one watch watched by one witch
is not the same as
the other watch watched by the other witch.

Whatever the witch watches,
whichever the watch watched,
comes down to
which witch first watched which watch.