Me and my past

Me and my past

What's left behind? All these photos?

I was so young and beautiful... Not anymore... old and ugly now...

Am I happy now? Did I make mistakes? Big? small?

Any regrets?

Have I fulfilled my own destiny? Or is there any destiny? At all?

The house's dying. This place is dying... and I'm dying, too...

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Oh... John... my husband... He was so sweet. He was a good man. At least he tried to be. And good men die early... How cruel he left me alone... for all these years?

My children... They lead their own lives. Are they going to be alright? Without me? Or better without me? I'm now a burden to them. It's better if I just vanish from their lives...

My sisters... I'm sorry for what I've done... I shouldn't have... Will they pardon me? Set me free? And set themselves free from rage of hatred?

My father... I'm sorry I ran away from home. I made mistakes. Had you pardoned me before you left this world? All these years...

Mom... I'm sorry about the tortures you had to suffer all these years. It's my fault.

I'm sorry...

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How am I going to be remembered? Will they remember me, at all? Or is it of any importance?

Will I ever meet John again? Where is he now? Heaven? Or hell? Where? Will I recognize him in next life? Is there next life? Reincarnation?

Is this what I have now? Memories of bitters and sweets? Questions unanswered?

What significant is my life? Or is it any important?

What now?...







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The house's dying. This place is dying... and I'm dying, too...








PS:
1) The story is about a lady; a lady in you and me.
2) Illustration taken from Gurbuz Dogan Eksioglu. Info of artist by Miki. Thank you, Miki!

Rain is here

Rain is here.

Hi my friends and family, how are you all? Things may not always go the way we want but there are always hope and faith that hold us hanging around. I wish you all doing well.

One of those important things that help us to be more responsible and lead a more meaningful life is the born of new birth. I'm happy, excited, scared and unsure to have become the father of Rain LEW(刘) Xinyu(歆雨). She was born on Sept 26, 2009. I thank God and the force of the universe and all the beings for her willingness to come to this sinful family, especially since I've sinned so much to have deserved her.

When I was at the National Registration Department to register the birth of Rain, I came across this poster board on a wall, facing public sitting and waiting for registration of both birth and death. It goes:


“Tahniah kerana menerima cahaya mata. Takziah atas kehilangan orang tersayang” which goes into:
“Congratulations because receiving light [of] eyes. Condolences upon loss [of] people beloved [the most]. ” which is pretty self-explanatory.

I was a little taken by surprise; that people waiting for registrations of both birth and death are together in a big hall, sitting side by side. Many parents brought along the newborn babies with them for registration of birth. And there were other people who seemed sad and indifferent/cold about the surroundings. I assume they were there for death registration.

On second thought, I said “why not?” Living and dying have always been in pair. All things material have life span. We come and we go when the time is ripe and right.

There is a saying:
“生亦何欢，死亦何惧，千年万年，白驹过隙。”
“Sheng Yi He Huan, Si Yi He Ju, Qian Nian Wan Nian, Bai Ju Guo Xi.” which translates into:
“Birth yet why joyful, death yet why fearful, thousand years ten-thousand years, white speedy-horse through small-gap.”

Why being happy and joyful having new birth or being alive? Why being fearful and sad when approaching dead? Tens of thousands of years may be a long time, but it's a blink of an eye like the speedy white horse passing through a narrow gap.

We may be philosophical and indifferent about birth and death, however, as mortal beings, we for sure cherish life/birth more than death. In a way it's similar to the way how different we treat our children versus elderly. It's all so wrong to treat our children and grandchildren like jewels but our parents and grandparents like dirt. For the jewels were from the dirt soil too, at one time.

Therefore the right attitude would be to treat our mothers, fathers, grandparents the way we treat our little princes and princesses. Coming life and approaching death are natural phenomenon. Why favour one another?

If you manage to finish up to here, I thank you for your perseverance and apologize if you find the piece uneventful. This is a little something that came to me at these moments; may or may not be worthwhile. And I haven't had much time to organise things better.


In my life of remaining days I wish to become a good father, a good coach, and a good friend of Rain. But right before that, I myself have to be a good example, to be a good son, a good companion, and a good friend to my mother, Madam Hoo Sew Pong . My die-hard wishful will.

Rain, welcome to the sad and chaotic world. Let's all make it a worthwhile journey.


Regards,

John LEW

Searching for something

Searching for something...

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“Searching for forever... turns out to be... forever searching..."

We're searching for something, something so undefined, something vague. Yet we're sure there is something worth searching for in life. Many times we search for this very important something outside. We seem to believe this very important thing lies in the material and physical world.

And the thing is: It doesn't.

This very important thing that we've been searching high and low doesn't exist in the material or physical world. It's all in the mind. It's all in the soul. And it's always been there. There is no beginning, and there is no ending.

We've been searching for our soul. The purpose of our lives.

Our soul.

Our immortal and everlasting and perfect soul.

Once we find it, we will achieve permanent peace. And the purpose of our lives.

Note:

Comic strip from Johnny the Moron, http://www.lews.info/johnnythemoron/index-e.html

Sexiest Vegetarian 2009 by PETA

PETA's Sexiest Vegetarian Winners Cause Global Warming

By Karin Bennett (PETA)

Of course I don't mean that these sexy vegetarians contribute to the mind-blowing amount of greenhouse-gas emissions caused by the meat industry. Au contraire! The winners of our Sexiest Vegetarian Alive contest turned up the heat with their sleek physiques and radiant good looks. PETA’s affiliates also recently announced the winners of their international Sexiest Vegetarian contests.

And the winners are:

PETA U.S.

Kellie Pickler

Kellie Pickler shares more with the world than her stunning voice. When she went vegetarian, she was quick to share her decision with close friend and past PETA champ Carrie Underwood.

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Milo Ventimiglia

Mamma mia! How handsome is Milo Ventimiglia? There's really no question, judging by all the winning votes that the star of television's Heroes raked in.

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PETA Asia-Pacific: Australia

Portia De Rossi

Voters went gaga for gorgeous Geelong-born Portia De Rossi, who went vegan with her wife, comedian and television host Ellen DeGeneres. Portia says, "It feels like such a compassionate choice. We are such animal lovers, why stop short of cows and chickens? It didn't make any sense."

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Andrew G

Hunky Australian Idol host Andrew G. racked up the most votes for the gentlemen. He says of his decision to go vegan, "The cleaner I kept my diet, the more obvious benefits I felt."

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PETA Asia-Pacific: Asia

Barbie Hsu

Voters crowned beautiful Taiwanese actor and singer Barbie Hsu Asia's Sexiest Vegetarian Woman of 2009. Barbie says, "Lives are equal, eating meat is like eating corpses to me, and it makes me feel sick and sad."

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Shahid Kapoor

And Bollywood superstar and heartthrob Shahid Kapoor has won the title of Asia's Sexiest Male Vegetarian. Word is, he convinced leading lady Kareena Kapoor to go vegetarian while they were dating.

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PETA Germany

Lina van de Mars

The writing was on the wall early in the competition: The lovely tattooed television host Lina van de Mars won top spot for the women.

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Thomas D

Rap star Thomas D. of the hip-hop band Die Fantastischen Vier wrapped up his win for Sexiest Male Vegetarian.

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Now put your palms together, not just for these winners but for all the vegetarian hotties who were in the running for this year's title.

PS:

1) I'm quoting the PETA's blog posting by Karin Bennett on Sexiest Vegetarians! These beautiful beings on earth have learnt that animals are not food for human beings. And they walk the talk too. Let's all learn a little something from each other.

2) The original blog is at http://blog.peta.org/archives/2009/06/petas_sexiest_ve.php

Swine Flu and Herbal Prescriptions for prevention

Viral infections are actually better treated with herbal prescriptions. Many scientists use herbal active ingredients for treatments of viral-based diseases such as AIDS, influenza. Unfortunately they mostly base their research on microscopic level of one or two active chemical ingredients from the herbs rather than the overall effectiveness of hundreds of natural chemical compounds found in the herbs. And they have neglected the usage of these herbs based on traditional theories such as characteristics, nature, taste, target organs of the herbs and so on.

If we read newspapers in Chinese language around the world, there are plenty of info about herbal treatments as well as precautions of influenza, and influenza A (H1N1; formerly Swine Flu) belongs to one of them. Different body types require different prescriptions. And different stages of the disease manifestations require alterations to prescriptions too. Therefore, the timing is crucial.

For precautions or strengthening our body immune system, one can use a formula such as: 防风 (Fang Feng) 6g, 黄芪 (Huang Qi) 12g, 白术 (Bai Zhu) 12g, 大枣 (Da Zao) 1pc. This formula is good for those who tend to sweat relatively more and get cold easily. The tongue impression should be pale and a little obese and pulse being weak. This formula also helps for people of weak digestion due to weak spleen. By enhancing the energy production of spleen and lungs, our bodies thus are able to generate a layer of protection around our skins, preventing us from catching cold and flu. If the local weather is hot, add 菊花 (Ju Hua) 9g.

Where as for people whose bodies are lacked of energy and inner fluid, the following formula can help to retain fluid in the body so as to prevent inner heat. They are: 党参 (Dang Shen) 12g, 麦冬 (Mai Dong) 9g, 五味子 (Wu Wei Zi) 6g. People with this body type tend to have less fur coating on the tongue and complain of dry mouth.

In terms of creating a shield around the skin to prevent flu infection, former prescription is more powerful. The later serves better in preserving yin fluid to prevent onset of sore throat, headache, itchy throat and so on.

There are also those whose bodies are of the heaty and mighty type. For this category of people, they can afford to take prescriptions that are more cooling and detoxifying: 夏枯草 (Xia Ku Cao) 15g, 板蓝根 (Ban Lan Gen) 9g, 金银花 (Jin Yin Hua) 9g, 紫花地丁 (Zi Hua Di Ding) 12g, 蒲公英 (Pu Gong Yin) 15g, 连翘 (Lian Qiao) 6g, 生甘草 (Sheng Gan Cao) 6g. This formula is also suitable for people who live in high-risk cities as it's very effective against viral threats. Do bear in mind that the cooling and bitter nature of these herbs can hurt the stomach and spleen functions if used for unnecessarily long period. Alterations is necessary to suit different manifestations due to local climate and seasonal changes.

Health Minister LIOW wins PETA award

Health Minister LIOW wins PETA award for promoting veg diet

Malaysian Health Minister Datuk Seri LIOW Tiong Lai, a vegetarian himself, has won People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Asia-Pacific’s Proggy Award for promoting a vegetarian diet. Congrats! “Proggy” stands for “progress” and PETA’s annual award recognises animal-friendly achievements in commerce and culture.

“I would emphasise more on prevention and healthy living instead of curing patient and health,” said Liow in a statement. “I’m concerned about the health of the people in the country, especially with regard to the healthy lifestyle,” he added.

Meat consumption has been conclusively linked to heart disease, strokes, diabetes, obesity and several kinds of cancer. Adopting vegetarian is the key in preventing a variety of diseases, including today’s leading killers, he said.

Vegetarianism is certainly good for the environment and for your health.
A recent UN report (2006) determined that raising animals for food generates more greenhouse-gas emissions than all the cars, trucks, ships and planes in the world combined. The report stated that the meat industry is ‘one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global’.

“Liow is promoting healthy living and we commend him for leading by example,” said PETA director Jason Baker, adding that going vegetarian “is the best thing we can do for health, animals and the Earth”.

Vegetarian diet was also one of the best ways to fight against the abuse of animals raised and killed for food, he said.

PS: Story compiled from writings of Maybritt (www.klue.com.my) and WONG Wei Hwang (www.thestar.com.my), early April 2009.

Link: http://www.petaasiapacific.com/feature_proggy_malaysian_moh.asp

Bad breath: Simple Chinese herbs

For bad breath in general, we can use fresh reed rhizome (鲜芦根; Xian Lu Gen). Use large amount of fresh reed rhizome and boil it in 3 litres of water. Consume it as replacement of daily intake of water.



For chronic respiratory diseases that give rise to bad breath, lily bulb (百合; Bai He) and green mung bean (绿豆; Lv Dou) can be boiled into soup for regular consumption. Lily bulb is sweet and slightly cold. It nourishes the lung and clears away heart-fire whereas mung bean is cooling and helps to detox inflammatory factors. This combination is also good for cigarette smokers.



For chronic gastrointestinal problems that give rise to bad breath, fresh hawthorn fruit (生山楂; Sheng Shan Zha) and tangerine peel (陈皮; Chen Pi) are two proper herbs to be used together. Hawthorn fruit, sour and sweet in flavour and warm in property, acts on the spleen and stomach channels to remove retention of food and resolve blood stasis. Tangerine peel, pungent and bitter in flavour, warm in property, has the effects of eliminating dampness and resolving phlegm. Together, they get rid of food retention and dampness that contribute to bad breath. A little rock sugar adds good taste to it.

Our coldness in winter

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Help this poor old man~ Please~~
It's freezing here~

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Poor old man... Oh...
I'll miss you...

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Note:
1. Comic strip from Johnny the Moron, http://www.lews.info/johnnythemoron/index-e.html