thin king

Do things wrong, try again; do wrong things, seek forgiveness.

Criticism from enemies are better than flattery from friends.

Good morning,

Fight to the death

In the animal kingdom, certain animals are deadly enemies upon an encounter. One of the well known pair is the cobra and the mongoose. Looking at the pair it is very difficult to guess the outcome of such a deadly duel. The cobra has fangs and its bite is fatal. The mongoose is an agile viverrine, with a curious and playful disposition. A mortal match between these two never look as serious as their individual intent. The mongoose appears to be playing with the cobra, peering at it closely and ducking away casually as the cobra strikes. The cobra will raise its head as high as it could with its hood spread out, intimidatingly, more defensive than ready to attack. A fight like this usually takes quite a while, with intermittent bouts of peering, lunging, ducking and more staring at each other. The cobra's strike is swift, swifter than its recoil. The mongoose's agility is much superior, both in ducking and reaction, and one bite at the cobra's head is all it needs. This will render the snake defenceless as it is unable to coil around the mongoose like the python does to strangle its victim. And this explains why the mongoose is known as the cobra killer, a gentle playful looking adversary, full of agility, outwitting a terrifying puffing serpent with fangs that can inject deadly venom .

There is another pair which is not as well known, the tarantula and the wasp. The tarantula's bite is deadly while the wasp sting is paralyzing. The skinny wasp is nowhere in size compared to the spider, yet it is it that seeks the spider. Its attack at the tarantula's back is easily foiled because so many legs can come up at once. The fight is akin to a kamikaze airplane attacking an aircraft carrier; it is difficult to figure out the why and how of the wasp attempts. But the attacks can be ferocious, with flurries of wings and hairy legs and tumbling. At times it looks like the wasp would not be able to sustain its own efforts, going under the spider and squirming away from the clutches of the legs, with sand and dust flying about. It is a small fight but nevertheless a very long and fierce one. Why would the wasp risk its life going under the tarantula. Well, if there is no risk there could be no gain. The wasp seeks to sting the belly of the spider, its vulnerable spot. And stinging its belly would render the spider comatose. And like other fights between different kinds of animals, the wasp naturally emerges the victor with a few stings there.

The wasp will not kill the tarantula. This is a purpose, as the wasp's job is not done yet.

After this the wasp will dig a hole in the ground and dragged the spider into it. It will then lay an egg on the spider. Having done that it will seal the opening of the hole. And with that its job is complete. When the egg hatches, the young wasp will feed itself on the comatose tarantula, and by the time its food runs out it will emerge from the hole, a fully grown wasp, ready to fly like its mother. This wasp is also known as a tarantula hawk.

Is not nature fascinating ?

Have a nice day.
Ronald

The measure of a man is not in what he wears but how he behaves.

A wise man knows more of ignorance as he gets wiser.
Give counsel to a wise man and he will be yet wiser.

Good morning,

The obscure steps of life

The art of living is basically choosing the steps of life.
Life offers its choices.
Making the right choices leads to progress and satisfaction,
whereas making the wrong choices result in setback and unpleasantness.

Some choices are obvious, some entail hard work, some are not discernible,
that explains why not everyone is jumping about in happiness.

Studying and fooling, is it a difficult choice ?
Work when young and study when older, how about that ?
To graduate first and then do National Service
or to do National Service first and then try to graduate ?

Which is suitable for a life partner,
a pretty/handsome dumb head or a capable gorilla/runt ?
A boy/girl who loves you or a girl/boy you love ?
A moneybag to begin married life with,
or a pauper for a promising future ?

To vote for the PAP with its upgrading programme
and free shares in lieu of GST,
or to vote for the opposition
and against GST in the face of stagnation ?

Some choices are easy to make but difficult to endure.

When their retired teacher buddy did not turn up
at their regular Sunday morning coffee gathering,
his two good friends called on him.
They found him forlorn and dispirited.
After some cajoling he revealed that he had made a wrong choice.
"I agree with him when I shouldn't !"
They asked, "How does that make you so miserable ?"
"You know about women and horses ?" he said.
"Of course we do, but still ... ?"
"Well, he chose fast women and slow horses
instead of slow women and fast horses."
"Come on, don't tease us, please enlighten us."
He said, "The miserable truth is
that I agree to part with my CPF saving for this business venture of his,
trusting him and not knowing what it was.
Now all my money is gone !"

Have a nice day
Ronald

The more one gives the more one receives may seem illogical;
but not to the one who gives from the heart.

Familiarity makes one miss the woods for the trees.

Good morning,

Clever Intelligent Smart Stupid People

There are intelligent people;
there are clever people;
there are smart people;
there are also stupid people.
Who or what are they ?

Some people think and conceptualise the sugar refining plant;
some people build and operate the plant;
some people buy the brown sugar
at a lower price than the refined sugar
and sell it at higher price than the refined sugar.

Some people think and design the flour mill;
some people build the machinery and mill the flour;
some people buy the full grain flour
cheaper than the fully refined flour,
and sell it at a higher price than the fully refined flour.

Some people research and find new ways
to obtain better crops in a shorter time;
some people till the earth and produce them in quantities;
some people corners the market and make more profit.

Some people visualise the structures of boats and nets;
some people build the boats, make the nets and catch the fish;
some people buy the fish
and distribute the fish to fishmongers, quick and easy.

There are fishmongers who try to sell the fish at a high price;
when the fish are not sold as the day wears on
they lower the price else the fish turns bad and wastes.
There are others who buy the fish very cheap
only to find them not so fresh.
Never mind, cook the fish in curry, or fry them to a crisp, to be sold anyway.
And there are customers who have these for lunch.

Some people compose music and choreograph entertainment;
some people perform the dances, songs and the music;
some people enjoy the performance.

Now where do the clever intelligent and smart people fit here,
what or who are they ?
And where are the stupid or silly people ?
Got, meh ?


Have a nice day
Ronald

Expectations seldom get satisfied, a source of unhappiness.

Good morning,

Money has its way of moving into other keepers !

Scams come and scams go,
From Nigeria and other shores.
Scams milk and scams lie low,
And Singaporeans lose their dough.

There is one which is new to me and it works like this.

You get a letter saying you are very lucky.
Your name was drawn and a prize awaits thee.
Call a certain number now, it is also toll free.
Do what they tell you, the prize is guaranteed.

These prizes are major awards left from previous promotions
which they want to give away. They range from a 5.1 Home Theatre System,
Digital Camera or DVD player, Dream Vacation at 1000 Worldwide Locations,
7 Days Tropical Fantasy Vacation with Cruise USA and Bahamas
to the first prize Luxury Worldwide Cruise.

Fix an appointment and crack their safe for your prize,
No address is given, they will tell you where to arrive.
They give you 48 hours to call, so do not hesitate,
Else you lose your prize, and that is your mistake.

Well well well well well.
When I was in school our teacher loved to read us a poem.
It is called The Spider and The Fly, and it goes as appended below:

Have a nice day
Ronald

The Spider and the Fly
by Mary Howitt 1821.

" Will you walk into my parlour?" said the Spider to the Fly,
'Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy;
The way into my parlour is up a winding stair,
And I've a many curious things to shew when you are there."
"Oh no, no," said the little Fly, "to ask me is in vain,
For who goes up your winding stair can ne'er come down again."

"I'm sure you must be weary, dear, with soaring up so high;
Will you rest upon my little bed?" said the Spider to the Fly.
"There are pretty curtains drawn around; the sheets are fine and thin,
And if you like to rest awhile, I'll snugly tuck you in!"
"Oh no, no," said the little Fly, "for I've often heard it said,
They never, never wake again, who sleep upon your bed!"

Said the cunning Spider to the Fly, " Dear friend what can I do,
To prove the warm affection I've always felt for you?
I have within my pantry, good store of all that's nice;
I'm sure you're very welcome -- will you please to take a slice?"
"Oh no, no," said the little Fly, "kind Sir, that cannot be,
I've heard what's in your pantry, and I do not wish to see!"

"Sweet creature!" said the Spider, "you're witty and you're wise,
How handsome are your gauzy wings, how brilliant are your eyes!
I've a little looking-glass upon my parlour shelf,
If you'll step in one moment, dear, you shall behold yourself."
"I thank you, gentle sir," she said, "for what you're pleased to say,
And bidding you good morning now, I'll call another day."

The Spider turned him round about, and went into his den,
For well he knew the silly Fly would soon come back again:
So he wove a subtle web, in a little corner sly,
And set his table ready, to dine upon the Fly.
Then he came out to his door again, and merrily did sing,
"Come hither, hither, pretty Fly, with the pearl and silver wing;
Your robes are green and purple -- there's a crest upon your head;
Your eyes are like the diamond bright, but mine are dull as lead!"

Alas, alas! how very soon this silly little Fly,
Hearing his wily, flattering words, came slowly flitting by;
With buzzing wings she hung aloft, then near and nearer drew,
Thinking only of her brilliant eyes, and green and purple hue --
Thinking only of her crested head -- poor foolish thing! At last,
Up jumped the cunning Spider, and fiercely held her fast.
He dragged her up his winding stair, into his dismal den,
Within his little parlour -- but she ne'er came out again!

And now dear little children, who may this story read,
To idle, silly flattering words, I pray you ne'er give heed:
Unto an evil counsellor, close heart and ear and eye,
And take a lesson from this tale, of the Spider and the Fly.

A smile is an outward sign of inward peace, smile !

Understanding and tolerance are fine instruments for peace.

Good morning,

The story of Chye Meng

Chye Meng had been a slow starter; he did not talk until he was two years old. But when he did it was as if he had not wanted to. He was fluent and lucid. It was like the less he opens his mouth the more he puts in his brain. After all, his name means talent and brilliance.

And he did his parents proud by topping his class through primary school. They had great hopes in his future. But his parents died in an accident when he was in middle school. His uncle and auntie cared for him for some time. Later they sent him to a distant uncle, Cheng Nam, in Singapore, the island of golden opportunities. Cheng Nam liked the boy and he treated him like his own kin.

Chye Meng was diligent; he worked hard on all his duties. He was frugal, but he did not forget to send part of his allowance to his uncle and auntie. As he grew up he shewed his capabilities and trustworthiness, and he was given more responsibilities. And in time he practically ran his uncle's business. Chye Meng could see business opportunities even in simple things like toilet paper, weed strings, bamboo leaves and other things that came freely from the earth.

Chye Meng also fell in love with his uncle's daughter, Seoh Tiang. His uncle was happy over this and he took a trip to Mountain Head, Swatow, in China, to visit his relatives, to inform and do all the necessary protocols for the wedding. While he was there he was extremely welcomed by Chye Meng's uncle and auntie. They expressed their gratefulness to Cheng Nam for what he had done for Chye Meng, nurturing him and turning him into a very capable and upright man. They also revealed to him that their good life and all that they had had come from Chye Meng.

Cheng Nam went to China a very happy man, but after he witnessed the situation, he was plagued with doubts. That was why he had not been specific, only agreeing to what was proposed about the wedding. He went there to settle the affairs of the wedding, and that had to be adhered to. However, he did not fixed the date with them, only saying that he would confirm with them as soon as he could check that it was an auspicious one.

Back in Singapore, Cheng Nam remained moody and morose. He had not paid Chye Meng that generously and he wondered how Chye Meng could have made his relatives so well off. He was puzzled and occupied with misgivings. He did not talk much about the wedding. He kept searching his brain for an answer.

Not long later, Chye Meng came to him when he was alone. He said, "Uncle, you look morose lately. Is this all because of what you have seen in my adopted parents ' lifestyle ? Please let me explain. They were poor, yet they fed me when I was orphaned. A filial son's duty is to return this care. You've paid me what you thought I deserved and I accepted all this with gratitude. I have lived simply and I am as poor or as rich as when I came. I am very happy because I have all I need. You have practically given me full control of your company; that showed your love and trust in me. I am happy to go on like this. I do not want more. You have treated me like your son, and I will be so as long as I live."

Cheng Nam looked at the young man; he replied, "Look at me son, am I morose ? I have been unable to think of a suitable present and the auspicious date for your wedding, that's all !".

Have a nice day
Ronald

Hello comic lovers, any ?

"To be useless is to be useful, to be useful could be useless" in Zhuangzi says, the comics created by Tsai Chih Chung, the man who left school at the age of 15, and for the past 15 years his annual remuneration exceeds NT$10 million, ever increasing.
So, who is CCTsai ?

CCTsai was born in 1948 into a Catholic family in Chunghua County, Taiwan. He was one of seven children, and having five siblings died before him, his parents only wish was to see him growing up healthy. CCTsai spent his early years, from 1 to 3 years old, in a church nursery where he listened to stories from Creation to Judgement Day according to the Old and New testaments.

As a child at 3.5 years he woke up before 3.5 am to keep his mother company cooking food for the pigs and feeding the ducks. Progressively he woke up earlier and earlier and then always at 1 am. He says that his best time is 2 to 3 am and his worst time is 3 pm, and he predicts that he will die at 3 pm with his left ear to the ground.

At 3.5 years he knew he could think, and at 4.5 years he was very clear that he wanted to draw. He did not know about comics, but his early ambition was to paint signboards. At 5 years he became interested in movie posters. At 9 years when comics was popular in Taiwan, he aspired to be a comic artist, and at 15 years he quit school and worked as one in Taipei. He does not agree that one should spend too much time in school, or 4 years to learn Calculus.

He produced cartoons in 1970, and his Older Master Cute won a Golden Horse for best cartoon in 1981. He pioneered the comic of Chinese classics. In 2005, he participated in animated Chinese Classics such as Sun Tzu's Art of War, Water Margin, and other Chinese philosophers like Confucius and Zhuangzi.

For a man who left school at the age of 15 years how was he able to understand the Chinese classics which even scholars studying Chinese find it difficult and to induct people of all ages, especially adults, into the world of ancient wisdom and philosophies through his writings and drawings.

He reads. Once he locked himself in for 42 days reading all sorts of things and pondering. Another time he shut himself up for 7 years to concentrate on learning Physics and Mathematics so that he could portray motion in his drawing. He says that content is more important than technique, and that comics are drawn not with the hands but with the mind. That is why readers see in his work most appear simple yet are profound in thoughts.

40 million copies of his comics have been printed, translated into 23 languages and published in 38 countries. Some of his works were made into college textbooks in Japan and South Korea. He is planning to publish a series on Calculus and Geometry.

Tsai Chih Chung knew what he wanted to do at 4.5 years old; he is the Master of Chinese comics. He is a recipient of several laurels.

Have a nice day
Ronald

Here are some of the many titles that Tsai has written.

* Tao Speaks: Lao-Tzu's Whispers of Wisdom.
* Wisdom of the Zen Masters: The Quest for Enlightenment.
* The Dao of Zhuangzi: The Harmony of Nature.
* Confucious Speak: Words to Live By.
* Zhuangzi Speaks. The Music of Nature.
* Zen Speaks: Shouts of Nothingness.
* Sunzi Speaks: The Art of War.
* The Illustrated Heart Sutra
* The Illustrated Dharma Sutra
* Roots of Wisdom
* Sayings of Confucius
* Sayings of Mencius
* Sayings of Lie Zi
* Sayings of Han Fei Zi
* And many others

Money stays with those who can budget.

Good morning,

A home aquarium with minimal cost and maintenance.

For relaxation, one will have difficulty finding anything to match an aquarium. Watching the fish and their antics will very quickly let one forget about everything except what one is looking at.

For a grand scale view, there are the Undersea World, the beautiful display aquariums of the vendors, or the exhibition aquariums at classy establishments or shopping centres. For all these, one has to make a trip.

Well, one can always have one at home. And it needs not have to be very costly if one knows how. Go to any vendor, and he will quote you a grand or so for a 4 by 1.5 by 1.5 feet tank. For those who know how, they will just need a couple of hundred bucks or so. No tricks here ! One can buy a second hand fish tank for $10 to $20 from Cash Converter to begin with.

Naturally, fish needs water to live in and food to survive. So, provide the water and the food. The significant requirement is that the water must be well maintained. In an ecology, fish produce waste and carbon dioxide; plants in the water exchange the carbon dioxide with oxygen and use up the waste, and grow. The plants in turn need sunlight; sunlight is with us the whole year through. With this knowledge, all that is required is to create the same environment in the fish tank, right ?

Yes ! I have had a 4 by 1.5 by 1.5 ft. aquarium for over thirty years, without special lighting and aeration. It has a 2 inch layer of coarse sand, some plants, and a few decorative rocks and corals. It is in my car porch, exposed to ambient sunlight, that's all. To control the growth of algae, I have a couple of vacuum cleaners, algae eating fish or other, and snails.

The sunlight cares for the plants, the plants care for the water, the water keeps the fish alive. All I have to do is to provide the fish food. Once in a couple of weeks I put in a dollar's worth of tubifex worms; these live in the sand until, you know how, they disappeared. At other times, I serve them hard boiled egg yolk or messed up steam fish. Kitchen wastes, like the discarded parts of prawns, fish, meat, squids, vegetables and okay, expired vitamin tablets, are my ingredients for making my own fish food. My backup for fish food, when I am lazy to make the fish food, are the colourful commercial pellets which cost more than what we eat. Plants do not need to be replaced; in fact, one has to reduce them regularly. The cost of the fish depends on how extravagant one wants to be.

Over the years, my tank has been the world for breeding angelfish, all kinds of tetras, zebras, sword tails, mollies, discus, moon fish, lobsters, and whatever the vendors had, according to my fancy and the time I could spare. The piranhas were outlawed, the oscars splashed out most of the water when they spawned, and the lobsters made a mess of the whole tank; they burrowed and churned up all the rocks like bulldozers; imagine about eighty bulldozers at work. The tetras are the best; there are so many different types, and they are peaceful community fish. The zebras can zip very fast and turn around about itself.

There is nothing more relaxing than viewing the fish in an aquarium !

Have a nice day
Ronald

Good morning,

Friends, friends or bear friends

There is a well told tale about two travellers who met a big bear on their journey. One of them quickly climbed up a tree. The other one did not know how to climb, so he ask his friend for help; but his friend climb up higher without helping. Frightened to death this man collapsed by the tree trunk, like dead. The bear came by, sniffed about him for a while, and then went away. It seems that bears do not eat dead bodies. When the coast was clear, the first man climbed down. He found his friend alright, uninjured. He asked, "What did the bear say to you ?" His friend replied, "The bear told me not to travel with a friend who deserts you at the first sign of danger."

There are friends; there are bear friends; and there are friends.

These friends do any of these:
Coax you to join in a pyramid marketing venture.
Ask you to take part in a money making scheme.
Bring you to a shop and encourage you to buy regardless.
Use rhetoric in front of a senior, or put you down nicely subtly.
Agree with the one with authority, treating you like a small brother.
Invite you to a trip when it would be more trouble than enjoyment for you.

Remember, if there is money to be made,
would people ask friends in and reduce their share ?
They would certainly make the money first
and then tell you how smart they had been.

I remember an incident in a golf game. I hit a kind of bad duck hook shot, a shot where the ball curved to the left. The ball hit a caddie from a following flight on the back of his hand. It was his fault; he should not be there. Luckily, it was a poor shot, not a real duck hook, and it caused only a bad swelling. He was sent to the hospital for treatment. My three flight mates went along with their game unconcerned, as if nothing untoward had happened.

That day I had three bear friends.

Have a nice day
Ronald

Hello,

The magic of a personal computer today

By the time I retired I had spent a good one third of my life, over twenty years, in the computer industry. And on being retired I resolved not to use a computer again, except to play my favourite computer game, one called DIGDUG or DIGGER, a very challenging game where dexterity, speed and foresight are required.

The reasons I had then was shared by all others who had been in the industry long enough, an industry well known to turn ones hair white in a short time. Being an industry where hardware, software and wares of all sorts kept obsoleting themselves rapidly, keeping up to date was like doing undergraduate study continuously. So retired meant fully retired for me, just to play DIGGER or other games.

And for about two decades, no amount of enticement by people who were hot on the Personal Computer (PC), considered an IN-THING for the brainy, could draw me back. They told me one could learn anything from under the sun from the INTERNET, or do undergraduate study without having to go to the university.

Well well, I was doubtful, so just to test them out, I asked one or two to show
me what is a bombardier beetle ?
It turned out that nothing about it could be found on the WorldWideWeb.
So much for so much claim !

A Bombardier Beetle is a small beetle about three cm long and a cm round. See the attachments. It will eject two separate streams of liquid from its rear when attacked. These combined to form a powerful chemical to hit the predator, like a toad, causing it's tongue to swell immediately, making it release its prey and allow the beetle to escape. The fascinating spectacle about this event is to see the toad huffing and puffing with its bloated tongue hanging out.

But an ostrich cannot bury its head in the sand for long, as the saying goes. As time went by, the PC offer its great uses by banks and other establishments etc.; and it enables one to do things from home. And worse, computer illiterate people will not be able to get things done, or get served, in time to come.

Fortuitously, a hand-me-down PC came into my hands over a year ago. The task of relearning everything from scratch was daunting as my knowledge of the big main frame computers was not applicable to the PC. And it was a great revelation to face what the Internet and its Worldwideweb offer today. So much had come into being; one can read the whole Bible there, over a thousand pages of text; or find the spelling and meaning of any word; it offers the whole dictionary.

These aside, besides a lot of others, like answers to questions, it is the things that other Internet users put in to share that is most interesting. Just for a mention, I have received and forwarded respectively more than a thousand mails since I corresponded; these include short movies, slide shows, pictures, quotations, poems, stories, etc. and jokes galore. Some of these are so unique and rare, inspiring and touching, revealing and eye-opening, marvelling and entertaining, including amazing works of personal creativeness.

One cannot get all these just from books, and as easy as they came.
They are truly treasured; they are archived.

I know there are colleagues who still keep clear of the PC or the Mac; they cannot be convinced. These do not know what they missed.

Have a nice day
Ronald

Good morning,

Relax by the swimming pool, and no further, okay ?

Someone forwards an email warning that chlorine harms the lungs and eyes, so one has to be careful when one goes in the swimming pool; and swimmers beware. Actually, there are many many people who avoided the swimming pool. Why, because it is some sort of a cesspool. No doubt, the water is filtrated and cleaned all the time, ie. continuously. But so is urine and spit being discharged in the same way too. And now there is extra worry about chlorine beside the urine ?

Inexplicably, swimmers have been accustomed to urine and chlorine since swimming pools were built. Swimmers will draw the water into the mouth and spit it out. This is all natural and normal in there, there is no need to care about the urine.

And the big question is why people do not mind drawing urine into their mouth ? And why do they urinate in the water they swim in in the first place ? This is the mother of all puzzles.

I remember, over thirty years ago, that there was a suggestion to introduce some chemical in the water so that whoever pees will leave a trail of red coloured water; this idea was to discourage indiscriminate peeing. But the suggestion was thrown overboard on the speculation that people will challenge each other to leave a longer trail, as a game, like jet planes do in the sky.
Ha ha ha !

While people will check and wipe crockery at the food courts, discard food that has dropped onto the table, shrink away from the sight of urine and yet swallow swimming pool water is most baffling, puzzling and yet amazing.

Surely we would like to think that these must be different people.
That could be the simplest answer !
So, Hooray !

Have a nice day
Ronald