LAND BELOW THE WIND

• Sabah known as the"Land Below The Wind " is located at the northern part of the Borneo Island, the third largest island in the world. It has much to offer not only to the foreign visitors but also the local visitors as well. Much of Sabah is yet to be explored as it is being richly endowed with pristine rainfalls, wildlife and cultural heritage.


• For those who like Scuba- diving and snorkeling, we have places like the Sipandan Island and Gaya Island (just to name a few), for the mountain climbing, one can climb the Mount Kinabalu which is the highest mountain in South East Asia, for lovers of white-water rafting, one can have it at the Padas River, for golfers, we have places like the Sutera Golf Club, the Sabah Golf and Country Club, the Kinabalu Golf Club, by and large, the Borneo Golf Club is of World standard designed by Arnold Palmer and last but not the least, for place of visits, most foreigners will not bypass the Orang Utans and the Crocodile farms in Sandakan. It has also lots of other places of visits and eating places where one can taste the fresh fish, lobsters and prawns at every nook and corner in the towns of the West and East coasts of Sabah.


• The lifestyles and beautiful colourful costumes of the many ethnic groups coupled with their hospitability and friendliness will not only make the visitors feel like guests but will also bring back home their fond and unforgettable memories of the "Land Below The Wind".


• Incidentally, this year is the "Visit Malaysia Year" where we have lots of other interesting places to visit and enjoy as well in our neighbouring State of Sarawak and other States of Malaysia.
  
  

BIRTHDAY GREETINGS FROM MY BELOVEDS.

My 65th birthday is the most memorable one in my life and it will go down to my memory lane. My daughter as usual was the first to greet me "Happy Birthday, Pa" on that early morning. In the birthday card, there were the names of my beloved wife, children, their husband and wife and would you believe it, the names of our four pets which did not miss the greetings too. It was a Sunday when our regular " rummy kakis" were playing at our house. Out of the blues, this little girl known as Huong Huong greeted me with the birthday song followed by her parents too. "Houng Houng is the pet of our family and a favourite to my daughter and her husband. They will never fail to bring her out for some bites. "Houng Houng was particularly impatient this Sunday, so she called and asked my son-law's whereabouts but she was shocked to hear that he was in Kuala Lumpur attending to his company's conference.

My daughter represented the rest of the family members treated me to a wonderful "Birthday" dinner. Well, she does it every year on behalf of the family members who are scattered all over the world. To top it all, I received a most memorable call from my son, his wife and my two year old grand-daughter greeting me "Happy Birthday" in Cantonese from San Deigo the next day as it was the 25th of November there. Can you imagine, my grand-daughter who is only two years plus greeted me in Cantonese after her father and before mother. She could pronounce so accurately. To be frank, I have never felt so happy in my whole life. Lastly, I received another surprise e-mailled greeting from the "Badminton Central Forum" on the same day.

With such lovable families and friends around me, I am looking forward to more birthdays similar to this year to come. I am so, so proud as a father, father-in-law and grand-father to know that these people always care for my well-being.

Happy Birthday

THE SYMPHONY OF YOUR LIFE

An alcoholic found himself in a hospital, a case of psychopathics. He was placed in a room with three other patients who did nothing but scream. When night came he prayed to be able to sleep, but the screams continued.

Then suddenly he began to pray for his three room-mates. 'May God give you peace,' he said quietly over and over.

The screams stopped.

'Not only that,' the alcoholic reported later, 'it was as if something broke in me. Praying for them released my own tension. I was free.'

As it happened, at the next examination the doctor smiled and pronounced him well enough to go home. He was truly a free man.

Prayer is like a symphony and in it none of the instruments plays the whole composition. Each has its part, each being part of the whole.

'The prayer of each individual is prayer by one who is only part of a great whole. It can, therefore, be understood and seen in its true perspective only when linked with other prayers,' says Gaston Courtois.

STAMMERING.

Everyone is having a problem one way or another. It may be the need of this, that or the lack of certain things. These problems may be natural or created by circumstances. If a person is having a stigmatism or a paralytic limb, it is natural but if one has lost a purse during a travel it is because of circumstances.

In my case stammering is the biggest problem. I don't know how it has occured but it is there and I have to grow with that. I am growing more and more conscious of it as I grow in age. Since I stammer, I am unable to mingle freely with others of my own age. They react differently, most of them mock at me and very few have sympathy. While the ideas roll, words do not at the same speed. So very often I blink which means I am taken for a muff. Since I stammer, I cannot retort and my contribution in a company will be so little; so I have to be very often an idle spectator. It is not because that I cannot give my ideas but I am unable to speak fast enough.

So it has developed in me an inferiority complex and nowadays I shun company.

How to overcome it, is the most biggest liablility. I have heard of a great Greek Orator, Demosthenes who was once a stammer, as a child he was able to overcome it with some form of exercise. It was told that he put pebbles in his mouth and stood on the seashore where he used to cry loud. As a result of it, he overcame his stammering. But in my case, I have not tried that. What I would normally do nowadays is to gather ideas and slowly put them without repeating a word. I am successful to some extent but I cannot say that I have overcome it completely. One thing for certain is that this stammering of mine has blocked certain employment opportunities for me, for instance, I cannot become a lawyer nor a platform speaker. Though I like music and enjoy it, I will never become a singer. It is a pity that I am deprived of all these opportunities.

I have come to the wise conclusion that one must put up with that which one cannot improve. Since Mother Nature feels that I should be in this category, I have no choice but to live with it for the rest of my life.

A LONG VACATION

Once in the stream of life, we ground to paste as it were by the pressures of work coupled with anxiety, apprehension and doubt. So the senses are benumbed and we become a cog in the big wheel. That is the price we pay for modernity. Ask any office and factory worker, he will have a story to tell. The same dull routine for five days a week. Very often he has no time to talk to his parents, to look after his children. To take the edge out of it, there must be periodical vacation.

But the vacation to be of any meaning must be long enough. Ideally speaking it is not to idle away one must seek a vacation. It must be an occasion when something useful could be done. Of course it may not be out of compulsion or pressure from outside but one chooses the vacation so that a good thing may be achieved.

What I have in mind is something like this. When someone chooses a long vacation he must have a plan for spending it. One must go on a long pilgrimage visiting places of historic or religious interest or for the Muslims to go on Haj pilgrimage. While others may want to spend their time with their children, married children and grand-children who are now staying in a foreign country. There it is best that they travel in a leisurely way. Seeing places and perhaps getting into the spirit of it, unlike a modern tourist. A vacation spent on tour must be different.

Again, some vacations are utilised for some useful study. It may be specialising in any branch of the discipline in which one is interested. For instance, if one is interested in archaelogy one may visit the places of interest. This may take him to the libraries, familiarise himself with the thoughts on the subject. Those who prepare a dissertation do that way.

May be the vacation is taken for some constructive work. One may go to the village and look to the repairs of the ancient family house.

While the vacation may be worthwhile it must be free from constraints or restraints otherwise it loses the spirit of vacation. It is the mental attitude which is very important. When one returns after the vacation one must look fresh and full of life and not jaded like a storm mariner returning home.

After what all has been said and done the outcome must be a happy one.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A FARMER

Ahmad is a farmer by profession and feels proud of being one. Although his holdings are small but he feels they are enough for him.

He owns a few acres of good land, two pairs of bullock and a small cottage. His fields are fed with water from a stream. As a modern farmer he has a pumpset for pumping water so that his fields do not go thirsty. He grows mainly paddy, in a small patch of land he has the vegetable garden. He has a milch cow.

He gets up in the early morning when he starts his pump and waters his fields. He goes round to see that the water does not overflow. He removes the weeds from the plants and later goes into the vegetable garden to see if there is any pick of he day. He trims the hedges, digs the plots or dresses them up for the next planting. He is fond of his flower pots of which he has a few. He takes pride in them.

After these morning rounds he takes his breakfast. He meets others and takes part in the village gossips. Even though he cannot read, he learns about the morning news. As is common nowadays, he discusses with his friend about the day's politics. Sometimes, the commission agent will come and our friend will talk to him about the market prospects.

In the afternoon after the wash and a lunch, he stretches himself for a mid-day siesta. He gets up and after a cup of tea, goes to the fields and sees everything in in order. Then he takes a stroll in the bazaar and makes some purchases for the house. That is also the time for him to meet friends and exchange views.

He returns home and has an early dinner. He plans for the next day. Sometimes, it may be taking the grains to the market, it may be transplanting and other times it may be taking the bullocks to the blacksmith to be shod. Thus he leads a simple life of which he is contented.