Two hands

— in conjunction with Teachers' Day.

It takes two hands to keep in step,
the hands of teacher and child.
They move in tune, one with the other,
in a lesson made worthwhile.

The teacher speaks
the child will listen
The teacher shows
the child pays attention

The teacher asks
the child will answer
The teacher explains
the child will ponder.

The teacher leads
the child will follow
In teacher's steps
the child will shadow

The teacher prompts
questions to bring
The teacher helps
the child to think

Teacher's hand begins to slow
when child's hand begins to grow
Teacher's hand will move along
when child's hand is big and strong.

Two Hands
by Harold Huang
Thu 16May24 1122 hrs GMT+8
Upd. Fri 17May24 0630 hrs
#heartfelt #journeyinlife

Fond memories . . .

— in remembrance of a dearly beloved classmate who passed away this morning.

You left us with fond memories
through the years we've been apart
of enduring sincere friendship
and the kindness of your heart

You left us with fond memories
of good things you could do
from making pin-hole cameras
to calligraphy writing too

You left us with fond memories
of warm and friendly words
in your soft-spoken demeanour
not a slander have we heard

You left us with fond memories
that time can never erase
memories strong and vivid
we shall cherish all our days

Today you left us all for good
never to return again
in our remaining years on earth
our hearts will feel the pain.

Fond Memories
by Harold Huang
Mon 22Apr2024 1512 hrs GMT+8
#heartfelt #journeyinlife

A gust of grief

A gust of grief,
A storm of sorrow,
A hail of heartbreak,
swept through relentlessly.

All that I have stood upon,
believed in,
and held on to,
vanished suddenly,

leaving behind
bare bones of betrayal
in a dark dungeon of deceit
with crooked corridors of craftiness

I asked myself,
Why?
There was no answer.

A Gust of Grief
by Harold B Huang
#journeyinlife
Wed 27Mar24 0747hrs GMT+8

The Number Seventeen

I wrote these thoughts about the significance of the number seventeen in my life and posted them on facebook more than 7½ years ago, on 17Apr2015.

I think I should have it in this blog too, under the collection "Journey In Life", so here it is —

The Number Seventeen

The number 17 appears to mark significant milestones in my life.

I was born on the 17 day of the month. When I was 17 years old, I converted to Christianity.

In the same year, I was admitted into hospital for the first time, for pulmonary TB, an illness that I contacted soon after I was born, that I had unknowingly suffered for about 17 years of my life.

After I was discharged from hospital, It took me two years to finish the course of outpatient treatment, right until I completed Upper Form Six in 1978.

Then, in 1995, father passed away. It was 17 years after I had finished Sixth Form.

Credit : Image by Yeung Shing Hin — My drawing, Public Domain,

Link

Today, the 17th day of April 2015, marks the last day of work at my college. I go to hand over my official duties to my colleagues and return my ID card and office keys to the HR department.

I am now on official leave until the end of the month. Finally, on the 30th of April, will be officially retired, after working for 17 years and 17 days at this job.

When will the next milestone occur?

I do not know. I will put my trust and confidence in the Almighty One, the Creator of Heavens and Earth, who has granted His Grace through His Only Begotten Son, Yeshua the Anointed One.

---

"Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come.
'Tis Grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And Grace will lead me home!"

The day I lost Blackie

(A sonnet)

Blackie was a little puppy dog
He came into my life when I was ten
He was small but heavy as a log
For want of a name, we called him Blackie then

Blackie was so playful yet endearing
He'd steal my sock and take away my shoe
Up and down the house he'd go a-hunting
It seems there's nothing Blackie wouldn't chew

One day we had to pack our things and move
To a shophouse in another town
A pet dog the landlord would not approve
"No Blackie!" said my father with a frown

Oh how my heart broke on that tearful day
To see my beloved Blackie given away.

"The day I lost Blackie"
by Harold B Huang
Wed 27Apr22 2321 hrs GMT+8
#poetry #poetrybyharold
#heartfelt #journeyinlife #sonnet

Day 27 : "lost/found"
#mpwm22day27
#haroldhuang

Submit

One click of a button
On that little blue box called SUBMIT

Sets in motion a flurry of activities
a series of steps
a chain of events

in an unseen world
called cyberspace

Your name,
and credit card number,
its expiry month and year,
and three-digit verification code,

Your payment amount,
and product item code,

are all joined together
forming a string of characters,

each represented by
an American Standard Code
for Information Interchange

'A' becomes 65,
'Z' turns into 90,
'a' is changed to 97,
while 'z' becomes 122

65 is converted to 01000001,
and 97 to 01100001,
in that long character string.

each little binary '1' is stored
as a high voltage bit,
each binary '0' a low voltage bit,
with 8 bits to a byte
of ASCII character code.

Voilá,
A string of codes,
Little bytes containing little bits
of ones and zeroes

are sent by electric current
in data cables
by pulses of light
in optical fibre
and by radio waves
in thin air

all the way to its destination
website
to be recorded and processed.

Your credit card is charged
Your order is confirmed
And soon the item you purchased
will be delivered to your doorstep

All because of

One click of a button
On that little blue box called SUBMIT.

"Submit"
by Harold B Huang
Tue 26Apr22 2230 hrs GMT+8
#poetry #poetrybyharold
#sightandsounds #journeyinlife

Day 24 : "e-Xchange"
#mpwm22day24
#haroldhuang

My first flight

"Cabin crew,
to Take-off stations!"

The Captain ordered,
his voice stern and crisp.

Oh dear,
Taking off must be dangerous
Are we going to die . . . ?

Engines roared frighteningly
Aircraft lurched forward powerfully
I was pressed against my seat

Time slowed down
Every moment felt like forever
At last the huge rumbling aircraft
lifted up from the runway

We were airborne
and climbing above the clouds

Seated by the window
I became a little airsick
when the plane banked to the left
I got the feeling
that I was going to drop out
into the clouds below

Everything seemed amplified:

Louder
Stronger
Swifter
Higher
and scarier than it really was.

I was scared

that my feet were not on solid ground
but instead
on some fragile aluminium floor
thousands of feet up in the sky

Never have I been
so high up above the earth before

Thankfully it was a short flight
and I should be back on land
in no time

If only time would move faster

Suddenly
came a sinister announcement
from the captain:

All passengers must return
to their seats
and fasten their safety belts

We will be landing soon.

"Cabin crew,
to Landing stations!"

The Captain ordered again,
in words stern and crisp,
just like before.

Oh dear!
Landing must be dangerous
Am I going to die . . . ?

Thankfully, I lived.

"My first flight"
by Harold B Huang
Mon 18Apr22 2110 hrs GMT+8
#poetry #poetrybyharold
#sightandsounds #journeyinlife

Day 18 : "firsts"
#mpwm22day18
#haroldhuang

Daily News

"Today is a sunny day."
said Teacher to the class.
The sun was shining brightly
through panes of window glass.

"Today is a cloudy day"
said Teacher with a sigh.
Soft and fluffy clouds of grey
covered the afternoon sky.

"Today is a windy day"
said Teacher somewhat excited.
Pieces of paper were blown away,
branches swayed and fluttered.

"Today is a rainy day"
said Teacher to us all.
Little drops, and then a shower,
from gloomy skies did fall.

Every day about the weather,
Teacher would enthuse.
In simple words and sentences,
we wrote our Daily News.

---

"Daily News"
by Harold B Huang
Tue 12Apr22 2125 hrs GMT+8
#poetry #poetrybyharold
#sightandsounds #journeyinlife

Day 12 : "weather"
#mpwm22day12
#haroldhuang

The old Indian tea stall

Beneath the looming shadow
of Kishan Dial School,
Stood an old Indian tea stall
with a table and a stool.

I'll go there every morning
to buy my breakfast fare.
And sometimes in the afternoons,
tea time will find me there.

"Mau makan apa ini hari?"
The old man always asks,
his voice both warm and friendly,
his hands busy at tasks.

His tasty roti pratha
are fluffy, piping hot.
And thosai irresistible,
with chutney from a pot.

Some days he sells something,
to which I can't say no.
Sweet apam straight from heaven,
with coconut milk to go.

Memories remain in the shadow
of Kishan Dial School,
of the tea stall's friendly Indian,
with his table and his stool.

---

"The old Indian tea stall"
by Harold B Huang
Sun 10Apr22 2145hrs GMT+8
#poetry #poetrybyharold
#journeyinlife #sightandsounds

Day 10 : "local haunts"
#mpwm22day10
#haroldhuang

Background note:

In 1967, this teh tarik stall stood at the junction of Marsh Rd and Thambipillay Rd, Brickfields, KL in front of an old three-storey private school building called Kishan Dial School, just behind Lido theatre.

"Just behind the Lido cinema was the Kishan Dial Secondary School, possibly the first private school in the country to prepare students for the Overseas Senior Cambridge School Certificate."

• https://benmorais.wordpress.com/2018/04/25/la-salle-school-brickfields-kuala-lumpur/

Checkpoint Counter Two

In enthusiasm and eagerness,
and much excitement too,
I make my way with hurried steps
to checkpoint Counter Two

Twenty-four months I have waited
for this day to come,
At last, the border opens doors
for me to go back home.

Gingerly, I place my papers
On the checkpoint counter top.
Will the officer find a fault,
Will my journey come to a stop?

My papers are in order,
my passport is stamped in blue.
In high spirits, I walk away
from checkpoint Counter Two.

---

"Checkpoint Counter Two"
by Harold B Huang
Tue 05Apr22 2358 hrs GMT+8
#poetry #poetrybyharold
#heartfelt #journeyinlife

Day 5: charge(d)
#mpwm22day5 #haroldhuang

Another Yesterday

Yesterday,
all those lockdowns wouldn't go away,
Within our cities we were told to stay,
To wait for yet another day.

Suddenly,
all our hopes and plans were not to be,
Shattered dreams were all that we could see,
Oh yesterday from us did flee.

Why
we
had to go
through such times,
no one could learn.

How
we
wished we could
make it go,
never to return . . .

Yesterday,
life was such a happy path to take,
Now I seek another chance to make
anew, another yesterday.

. . . anew, another yesterday

(Sung to the tune of "Yesterday", a song by the Beatles.)

---

"Another Yesterday"
by Harold B. Huang
Mon 04Apr2022 2335 hrs GMT+8
#poetry #poetrybyharold
#heartfelt #journeyinlife

Day 4: after
#mpwm22day4 #haroldhuang

Ibukota Tersadai

Ibukota tersadai: a stranded capital city
I wrote this Malay poem, adapted from the lyrics of a popular song, after the severe flash floods caused by torrential rain in Kuala Lumpur city this evening.

(1) Sungguh ngeri pandangan panorama
Kuala Lumpur... Kuala Lumpur...
Ibu kota permai yang aku cinta
Ditenggelami air bah merata

(2) Rakyat bersusah payah balik kerja
Kuala Lumpur... Kuala Lumpur...
Berbilang jenis motor dan kereta
Tersangkut di tengah jalanraya

Chorus:
Tergendala segala perni-agaan
Baik yang kecil mahu pun yang besar
Pusat dan nadi perdagangan negara
Rosak dibawa banjir ketara

(3) Tidak lagi tegak, teguh dan gagah
Kuala Lumpur... Kuala Lumpur...
Bila lagi disayang dan dibangga
Tersadainya Ibu kota negara

(Sung to the tune of Ibukota Permai)

"Ibukota Tersadai"
by Harold B Huang
Mon 07Mar2022 20:53 hrs GMT+8
#poetry #poetrybyharold
#sightandsounds #journeyinlife

Reaching for new year's hand

The year is drawing to a close,
It is coming to an end.
Time moves on, and on it flows,
New year is 'round the bend.

I bid farewell to dear old year,
And reach for new year's hand,
To bring much happiness and cheer
For you my dear old friend.

Happy New Year!

Reaching for new year's hand
By Harold Huang
31Dec2021 22:45 hrs GMT+8
#poetrybyharold #poetry #heartfelt #journeyinlife

Kata itu kota

Fri 2021.10.22

(A poem about political frogs in the coming Malacca State by-elections)

Kata itu kota
Katak mau ikut kita
PRK Kota Melaka
Katak main suka-suka

Kata itu kota
Katak tak pegang kata
PRK negeri Melaka
Katak berlawak jenaka

By Harold Huang,
Friday 2021.10.22 17:07 hrs GMT+8

#poetry
#poetrybyharold
#journeyinlife

My Journey to Normal Weight

Thu 2021.0812

I'd like to tell you a story of my thirteen months long journey of weight reduction, from July 2020 to August 2021.

Once upon a time . . .

30Jul2020 : 87.7 kg
At the end of July last year, I was weighing in at almost 88 kg. With my height at 1.69 m, this worked out to a BMI of 30.8 which made me borderline obese.

Around that time, I suffered from a bout of gastro easophageal reflux disorder (GERD), along with shortness of breath and heart palpitation. The internal medicine specialist whom i consulted referred me to a cardiologist who carried out some scans and tests and diagnosed mild coronary artery disease. In subsequent follow ups the specialist remarked that my weight was still very high.

I was already taking regular 5 km morning walks then, but my weight wasn't going down fast enough.

17Sep2020 : 85.5 kg <--- 20 km daily cycling
By mid September, after losing about 2 kg, I resumed my old hobby of long distance cycling, a hobby that I had neglected for more than a year.

However, I did not pay much attention to my food intake and I continued to overeat all the time.

01May2021 : 83.3 kg
Another eight months passed, with regular 5 km morning walks and frequent 10 - 20 km cycling, but my weight dropped by only about 2 kg and I was still badly overweight at 83 kg.

19May2021 <---- 8 km/day walks begin
Sometime later that month, I decided to increase my morning walks to 8 km a day. That seemed to help because I managed to bring my weight down by almost 2 kg in two weeks.

The month of May was the turning point in my battle against obesity.

04Jun2021 : 81.5 kg <--- Light meals begin
By early june, my weight had gone down to 81.5 kg. I had lost a total of 6.2 kg in the eleven months from end July 2020 to early June 2021.

However I was still overweight by about ten kg and it was time I paid some attention to my food intake. So starting that day, I decided to have only three light meals a day: breakfast at 6 am, lunch at 12 noon, and dinner at 6 pm, taking less than half of my usual servings.

No tea, no snacks, no supper: I had to slowly get used to feeling hungry all day long.

Initially it was difficult. Time passed slowly. I had to sleep it off by taking long afternoon naps. After a week or two, I got used to the hunger pangs and it didn't bother me much anymore.

10Jun2021 : 78.8 kg <--- crossed 80 kg
It took only about a week of light meals coupled with daily 8 km walks for my weight to reduce by another 2.7 kg.

For the first time in many months, my weight had crossed the 80 kg mark, going down to 79 kg.

17Jun2021 <---- 10 km/day begins
The following week, I decided to increase my daily walking distance by another 2 km to 10 km a day (about two hours walk at 5 km/h).

18Jul2021 : 73.6 kg <--- crossed 75 kg
After about a month of longer distance walks, my weight was down to 73.6 kg, crossing below the 75 kg mark.

24Jul2021 : 72.6 kg <-- crossed 73 kg
The extended 10 km morning walk (sometimes combined with a 1 km jog) helped me lose another kg in the following week.

In the ensuing couple of weeks, however, my weight loss slowed down a little.

There were times I'd lose half a kg over a few days only to gain it all back again in one day. Most of the time such setbacks occurred because I ate more than I should. Food intake seemed to have a stronger effect on body weight than exercise.

Nevertheless, I pressed on towards the finishing line. It didn't take long for me to reach my target BMI < 25.0.

12Aug2021 : 70.65 kg <--- crossed 71 kg
Yay! After many months of being overweight, at last today 12Aug21, I have returned to normal weight at 70.65 kg, with a BMI = 24.7.

I have completed my journey. I have reached the finishing line.

Summary of total distance walked:

• May2021 : 226.0 km
• Jun2021 : 268.1 km
• Jul2021 : 294.9 km
• Aug2021 (01 - 12Aug): 112.5 km

I have walked more than 900 km in the three and a half months from early May to mid August 2021.

From 87.7 kg on 30Jul2020 last year, my weight decreased to 81.5 kg on 04Jun2021, and finally to 70.65 kg today 12Aug2021. All in all, I have lost about 17 kg in thirteen months.

The road ahead:

After today, I will settle down to a "new normal" of moderately light breakfast 6 a.m., lunch 12 noon, dinner 6 p.m., with some light tea / fruits but no supper. It is imperative for me to maintain my weight within the 70 kg to 71 kg band.

For the near future, I will pay attention to the following self-defined alert levels for my body weight:

• 70+ kg Normal weight
• 71.0 kg High Alert
• 71+ kg Critical

It is also necessary for me to add some strength training and muscle building exercises to my daily routine. I have just recently embarked on the following exercises in addition to my daily 10 km walk and jog:

Indoor training, especially when it's raining, 3 sets of the following routine:

• 8 push ups
• 12 sit ups
• 10 - 15 squats
• 30 reps biceps 2 kg lift each hand
• 10 reps triceps 2 kg lift each hand

The Endless Game

Yesterday we all were free to wander
Went downtown, had joyrides in our cars
Suddenly, came movement control orders
They made our spirits drop like falling stars

And the people, they're all locked down
While the daily numbers aren't coming down
We're captive in this lockdown all the time

We can't go out, we can only look,
As numbers stay the same
And go round and round and round
. . . in this endless game

(Sung to the tune of The Circle Game by Joni Mitchell)

By Harold Huang
Tue 2021.07.06, 21:21 hrs GMT+8

#poetry #poetrybyharold #KerajaanGagal

A disappointing smile

A song about the pretentious smiles of lying politicians who announce endless extensions of lockdowns:

Smile, a disappointing smile
Your smile can bring bad news to me
Don't let my TV find you on,
'Cause that would bring a tear to me

This land has lost its glory
We need a brand new story
Now my love,

Right now
Just as in other times,
Your smile can't show me how, my love

Talk in ever twisting words
And complicate them all for me
And I don't need such words in life
Don't ever try to call to me

We know that you don't even mean
A single word you say

It's only words, and lying words you have
Please take them all away . . .

(Sung to the tune of "Words", Bee Gees)

By Harold Huang
Sun 2021.06.27 21:41 hrs GMT+8

#poetry #poetrybyharold #KerajaanGagal

Welcome to Club Sixty-one

It's my sixty-first birthday today and I'd like to write a poem about reaching sixty-one.

When you have finished six decades of your life in this world
and you begin your first step into the seventh
you're in Club Sixty-one

When being long-sighted and having to wear multi-focal glasses
has become a norm rather than a bother
you're in Club Sixty-one

When having HIV means hair is vanishing
and black hair is something to dye for
you're in Club Sixty-one

When you can sing heartily while brushing your teeth
because those are your dentures in your hands
you're in Club Sixty-one

Club Sixty-one
The place where you heave a sigh of relief
that you have pulled through sixty years
of difficulties and insurmountable odds

Club Sixty-one
The place where you look back with pride
at sixty-years of personal achievements
whether big or small, notable or obscure

As you leave behind six decades of your life
and put your best foot forward
into the seventh,
Welcome to Club Sixty-one.

Reminiscence

After more than fifty days under lockdown, my mind seems to be going back in time. Last night I couldn't sleep. As I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, suddenly a wave of recollections hit me.

In a way, it felt like my whole life flashed before me. Well, almost, but not quite.

I was brought back all the way to the years 1967- 69, to vivid memories of sitting on long benches in my primary school hall together with many other students learning new songs from my Headmaster, Mr Wong, during the weekly Chapel Service.

Some of the songs that I recall learning during Chapel service in those days in Primary School were:

(1) Thank you Lord, for saving my soul.
(2) Joy, Joy, Joy, with joy my heart is ringing
(3) Only a boy called David
(4) Jesus loves the little children

Tonight, I'd like to share with my Christian brothers and sisters this song of thanksgiving which has stayed unnoticed at the back of my mind for more than fifty years, until now.

(1) Thank you Lord for saving my soul,
Thank you Lord for making me whole
Thank you Lord for giving to me
Thy great salvation so rich, and free.

Thank you Lord for saving my soul

Nagging questions

Nagging questions.

Are state governments allowed to make their own regulations and to impose additional restrictions?

For example, under the CMCO, can a state government insist on limiting vehicles to single occupancy only? Can they continue to restrict movement to 10 km? Can they continue to enforce 10 pm to 6 am curfew on private vehicles?

If one thinks so, then could each state government have imposed their own stricter version of lockdown right from the start of MCO on 18Mar20? e.g. allow markets and shops to open only once a week?

And if so, could each state government have declared their own lockdowns earlier than 18Mar20?

Finally, do state governments have the authority to continue with their own lockdowns indefinitely when the MCO is eventually lifted by the Federal Government?

/// "Prominent lawyer, Datuk N. Sivananthan is of the view that state governments could not refuse to abide by the CMCO which has been gazetted to run from May 4 to May 12 as it supersedes the provisions of MCO4.

He said state governments have no lawful authority to refuse to comply with the CMCO as instructed by the federal government." ///

#covid19 #pandemic #lockdown #malaysia

Can state governments choose to defy CMCO?