thin king

Good morning,

The THIN KING of Sam Walter Foss

It is very rare for a person to prepare for a career by studying engineering and then after a few years jumped into an unfamiliar occupation. But that was what I did when I plunged into the computer world which was then almost unknown in Singapore, an industry which I did not know anything about. It was my performance in the aptitude test for this new industry which got me into it; I had no other advantage and was in no other way equipped for it at all. It was a new world, a totally new environment, requiring a different knowledge and thinking. There were many things to learn, and one great lesson I had was from a poem called The Calf's Path . This I append below:

Have a nice day,
Ronald


The Calf's Path

One day through the primeval wood
A calf walked home as good calves should;
But made a trail all bent askew,
A crooked trail as all calves do.

Since then three hundred years have fled,
And I infer the calf is dead;
But still he left behind his trail,
And thereby hangs my moral tale.

The trail was taken up next day
By a lone dog that passed that way;
And then a wise bell-whether sheep
Pursued the trail o'er hill and glade,
Through those old woods a path was made.

And many men wound in and out,
And dodged and turned and bent about,
And uttered words of righteous wrath
Because 'twas such a crooked path;

But still they followed - do not laugh -
The first migrations of that calf,
And through this winding wood-way stalked
Because he wobbled when he walked.

This forest path became a lane
That bent and turned and turned again;
This crooked lane became a road,
Where many a poor horse with his load
Toiled on beneath the burning sun,
And traveled some three miles in one.

And thus a century and a half
They trod the footsteps of that calf.
The years passed on in swiftness fleet,
The road became a village street;
And this before men were aware,
A city's crowded thoroughfare.

And soon the central street was this
Of a renowned metropolis;
And men two centuries and a half
Trod in the footsteps of that calf.

Each day a hundred thousand rout
Followed this zigzag calf about
And o'er crooked journey went
The traffic of a continent.

A hundred thousand men were led
By one calf near three centuries dead.
They followed still his crooked way,
And lost one hundred years a day;
For thus such reverence is lent
To well-established precedent.

A moral lesson this might teach
Were I ordained and called to preach;
For men are prone to go it blind
Along the Calf-path of the mind,
And work away from sun to sun
To do what other men have done.

They follow in the beaten track
And out and in, and forth and back,
And still their devious course pursue,
To keep the path that others do,
They keep the path a sacred groove,
Along which all their lives they move;
But how the wise old wood-gods laugh,
Who saw the first primeval calf.
Ah, many things this tale might teach -
But I am not ordained to preach.

Sam Walter Foss (1858-1911)

By all means argue,
but do it to set the issue right rather than to be right.

Good morning,

A little light musing on life

I have a body, thus I am
I have a soul, this I believe
In life the body grows and moves
In death the body stagnates and decays
When the soul is with the body, the body is alive
When the soul leaves the body, the body is dead
I notice these states as I live
And educe this relationship

Man is creative, man is the superior animal
Man can reason, and man can subdue all animals
Man can study and know the elements of nature
And man turns their power to his own advantage
Thus man grows food and staves off starvation
And man makes things and lives in comfort
Man travels in machines and moves in style
Around the earth and up the stratosphere

I have two nature, to be good or to be evil
One helps fellowman, the other exploits the same
I can be strong, and stand up to strain
Or to be weak, and succumb in fear of pain
I can pitch in and share a lesser load
Or sit on others and increase their burden

The state of man is all changing
Man comes naked and totally dependent
But man develops and acquires and gives in return
Failure, success, misery or happiness line the path of life
Yet these are transient and are nought when over
As man will come to pass and push up daisies from below

Have a nice day
Ronald

Good morning,

Want to get the best out of a pineapple ?

The pineapple is one fruit which is not easy to eat. It is not thorny but its cover is thick and uneven, with short tough leaves each lined with tiny troublesome spikes. Under the covering in the flesh itself are sharp black thorns, known as eyes. These can injure the tongue when being eaten if they are not removed.

Most people do not have the skill to skin a pineapple, which work is usually left to the fruiterer. The fruiterer takes the easy way out; he does it skilfully and effortlessly also. He uses a long thin knife, and holding the pineapple in the other hand, slices more than a centimetre off the outer layer of the fruit. He can do this in one continuous action, turning the pineapple as he slices, leaving the pineapple clean of everything including all the eyes. But then what is left is the inner core of the pineapple which contains a thick stem in the center. This in effect is the inferior part of the pineapple; the best part of the pineapple is the layer which contains the eyes and which has been cut off.

So, if one wants to get the best out of a pineapple one has to do the skinning oneself. This can be done with a little extra effort. Do it this way. Cut off both the ends first. Then put it on the cutting block vertically and slice off only the covering, leaving the eyes intact. After that use a small paring knife and dig out by slicing out small conical parts of it which contain the eyes. This will leave the best part of the fruit intact.

After this is done one can cut it into six or eight longitudinal slices, or across into any number of circular rings, or into cubes and serve it in any way one prefers. The very best part of the pineapple is that nearest the stem; thus longitudinal slices are fair while round slices are bias.

Have a nice day
Ronald

Hello,

Knock, and the door shall open
Ask, and you shall be given.

This works as simply as when AliBaba says Sesame. But to some it does not seem to work. Probably it did sometimes, but they could not see it. This is because they miss the woods for the trees. Just like in the case of AliBaba, the gold and jewelleries were there for him, but they were not packed and handed to him; he still had to go in, get it and risk his life to retain it.

What all this means is that what shall be given would not be exactly as what one expected it to be. Is it not enough to see a deer when one asks for food, or does one expect a slice of barbecued marinated venison ? Will one pass the examination without slogging but praying. A child does it better by throwing tantrums. Well, in some families it gets a whacking instead !

To those who view this saying positively, they usually got what they ask for, because they know how and what to ask, and they ask for the how and the what to do for what they needed. They ask for the way and not for a lift in a sedan chair to get to somewhere. They ask for the hows, the wheres, the whys, and the whens and not for the manna that falls from heaven.

The beggars in Singapore practises this well. They sell us tissue papers, kropok, sweets and ikan bilis, and not thrusting a tin can in our face for the money. They go to the food courts, and they do not wait on fivefoot ways, like cripples.

Two boys came home hungry. Their mother was sick and did not cook their meals. She told them what to do to make their noodles. One did as she told them and ate; the other was disappointed, he did nothing and stayed hungry.

There was this well told joke about a poor man. He kept complaining to God about not being made well-off despite being faithful all his life. He did not cheat, gamble, steal, or rob but did his job diligently, and all the while he lives from hand to mouth.

And even in his dream he complained.
Then God asked him, "Do you ever pass by the TOTO booth ?"
"Yes, God, I do," he answered.
"What do people do when they go to a TOTO booth ?" God asked.
"I see people giving money to the cashier", he said.

"I do not mind being the cashier !" he mumbled to himself.
He could not see himself giving money to the cashier.
He is still complaining.

Ask for help to do something ..... it won't be long in coming,
Ask to be given something ..... this needs enduring patience.
Pray for mercy ..... forgiveness is divine,
Pray for a miracle ..... needs perpetual hope.

Have a nice day
Ronald

Usefulness will not let its owner starve, all chefs know that !

Good morning,

Siau Yeenseon or Young Hero

Siau Yeenseon was the nickname given to the boy who extricated his classmates from impending punishment for stealing and eating the personal cache of dried persimmons of the strict teacher. After that Yeenseon was looked upon favourably by his classmates, and he became less reserved but outgoing and friendly.

In the same village there was a boy from a wealthy family named FarnChing. FarnChing was a chubby boy who used his wealthy position to get his way over the other kids. When they passed each other FarnChing said, "Make way for a better person." Yeenseon would step aside to let him pass, bowed his head but said, "Here's to a better person." And at the next encounter he would bow his head but say, "Here's to better arrogance." He would find different ways to say something, which of course did not bother FarnChing as he was more concerned with getting his way, and having other kids giving him deference. "Here's to better empty head", "Here's to better than peacock", "Here's to better than nothing", would greet him each time he passed by Yeenseon.

As time went by some other kids imitated Yeenseon; they gave deference to FarnChing as he came by, bowed their heads and said one of those greetings Yeenseon used. Then, one day, FarnChing passed by with his uncle, who was puzzled by what happened as usual. He asked FarnChing why. FarnChing replied, "They gave way to me because I told them to because I am a better person." His uncle understood the situation. He said, "Yes, they gave way to you but they do not respect you. Have you forgotten what you have learned in school ? Greet them civilly, they will respect you and also give way to each other accordingly."

FarnChing learned a lesson or two from his uncle that day. When he passed Yeenseon again, he said, "Good morning." Yeenseon was surprised, he stopped in his track in what he was about to say. Standing aside clumsily he responded, "Good morning."

To FarnChing, his uncle's advice worked. To Yeenseon, he had one less unpleasantness. Siau Yeenseon was the young hero.

Have a nice day
Ronald

Good morning,

Pride is known as the father of all sins.

Pride makes one a peacock. One becomes two dimensionally enlarged and mosaically colourful, like a fan spreading hot air all around. Pride gives one an air of inflated self esteem, enarmoured with a layer of golden aura of greatness, impervious to further improvement. One becomes so elevated that one can only see above the heads of others. Thus one cannot see any goodness or usefulness in anybody's qualities or love, loses respect of others and views them with disdain.

Poor Master Pride, who then can be your friends or your companion. Like a man who has reached the apex of Mount Everest, you are so aloft, who can reach up to you ? Your friend Miss Advice and companion Mister Counsel will stay below and keep their distance. Without friends where will your goodness go ? Without companions where will your greatness shine ?

Oh yes, Miss Narcissism will stay with you and not ever forsake you. Miss Narcissism has other siblings, Mister Intolerance and Miss Loneliness. They will love you and adhere to you; and being so weighed where will you move ?

Yes, Master Pride, only downhill !

Have a nice day
Ronald

Good morning,

Believe it or not, hibernate off high blood pressure !

Bears are known to hibernate. They do this not only in winter but also in warmer climates. The main reason they hibernate is to conserve energy when food is scarce and also because they do not migrate. When they hibernate their respiration rate drops to as slow as eight breaths a minute during deepest sleep, like chipmunks. Bears also do not need to wake up to eliminate body wastes. Instead, they metabolize their body wastes into usable products and obtain the food they need from their fat reserves.

Human beings are not like bears; yet there are well known stories about man being buried in the ground and survived when they were exhumed, such as The Master of Ballantrae by Robert Louis Stevenson and No Coffin for the Corpse by Clayton Rawson, a very good mystery thriller. These are just novels, but were the authors telling us that man can also hibernate. H. G. Wells, Jules Verne and other famous authors have also written about inventions which were eras ahead of their contemporaries. There was also Chester Gould who told us long ago about two-way television wrist watches, in the Dick Tracy comic strips, which are coming into existence. It turned out that they were not dream makers.

So, can man hibernate ? Actually we do, in man's way. Jigong and Taiji masters do this; they do it for good health only though. They tell us how in the way of breathing, the breathing we were born with and which we lost as we grew. When a baby is born, it breathes naturally by extending its lower abdomen, not by expanding its chest, easily, smoothly and calmly. And they tell us to extend the duration of each breath and lower the breathing rate to about six to eight times per minute, which is what the bears do. People normally breathe between fifteen and twenty times per minute, which is a bit kancheong or excitedly.

Jigong and Taiji practitioners also tell us something else; they tell us that people who practise these exercises regularly do not suffer from high blood pressure. These exercises are in the form of slow deliberate unrestrained natural movements of the whole body and which are aimed at improving blood circulation and maintaining proper qi in the body. The Chinese in China had in the 1950s extracted an eclectic combination of twenty four steps from the original Taiji exercise which comprises over a hundred steps, and called that the 24 Steps Simplified Taiji. This basic and easy to perform form of Taiji is being practised by countless people every day. There are very old practitioners who looked like centenarians. What does that say ?!

It is easy to know the veracity of the Jigong or Taiji masters' claim about maintaining proper body blood pressure. Trying it is one way.

Have a nice day
Ronald

Good morning,
Is the tower crane the national bird of Singapore ?

It has been said that the national bird of Singapore is the tower crane. This crane is all over Singapore. So, is the statement apt ?
Well, if it is, then this crane also belongs to other developing countries, ha ha ha !
Anyway, the tower crane is not a real bird. It is a large machinery use in moving heavy things at construction sites, upwards and in any other direction.

We all see them, yet has any body ever wonder how these cranes grow taller. They sit on a tower and lift things; so, do they lift themselves ? If they do, how ? If not what lifts them ? Otherwise, what ... ?

The tower crane arrives at the construction site on tractor-trailer rigs. The crew uses a mobile crane to assemble the jib, the horizontal arm, and the slewing unit, the machinery section, and places these members on a mast (may be 6 metres sections). The mast is a large, triangulated lattice structure (may be 3.2 meters square). The triangulated structure gives the mast the strength to remain upright. The mobile crane then adds the counterweights, and the crane is ready for operation.

To rise to a new height, the crane grows itself one mast section at a time! The crew uses a top climber or climbing frame that fits outside the mast, and that climbs up to the top of the mast and to the slewing unit .
Then the following process takes place:
1. The crew first hang a weight on the jib to balance the counterweight.
2. Then they fasten the climber to the slewing unit and detach that from the mast.
3. Then they use large hydraulic rams in the top climber to raise the jib and the slewing unit up a section height (6 metres).
4. The crane operator then uses the crane to lift another mast section (6 metres) into the gap opened by the climbing frame.
5. After that they bolt everything back in place.
And with that the crane is (6 metres) taller ! How clever !

Once the building is finished and it is time for the crane to come down, the process is reversed. The crane disassembles its own mast, section by section, and then smaller cranes disassemble the rest.

Any doubt why man is the king of creation.

Have a nice day
Ronald

It is easy to blame a man for his violent action,
but the root cause is the one who made him act thus.

To be able to do things is a great talent.
Not to make use of this gift is sheer waste.

Who is Right ?

Four young men were arguing for some time
without getting anywhere. So, when a family
man came by, they consulted him.

"It is the long and thin that gets right in,"
said the first man.

"It is the short and thick that does the trick,"
the second man declared.

"Contraction and expansion satisfies all passion,"
countered the third man.

"Art and skill , king and master of thrills,"
maintained the fourth.

The family man shook his head and said,
"I am 44 years old;
I married when I was 24;
I now have 14 children;
my youngest child is 4 months old.
Now, what are you four arguing about?"

It is a quirk that some in need of help wouldn't be helped.

Good morning,

An observation of a little creature

A desert lizard was climbing up a steep sand dune, whatever for; the desert was so vast and barren. As it wriggled up about a foot or so the sand slid almost as much downwards. Nevertheless it gained a few inches upwards. It persisted in its journey, struggling upwards a little height each time. At times it appeared that it would give up the attempt, but it did not, pausing and sizing up the situation after every few moves. Observing it doing this is akin to watching an act of futility, an event unlikely to end successfully fruitful even if it did manage to get over the dune; there would just be other similar dunes, all equally barren. What was the lizard working at, surely it knew much more than its observer. And as it turned out, it finally got up to the ridge of the dune, looking great with its head raised high, like a conqueror of Mount Everest.

This story serves more than one purpose.

Firstly, it is a struggle for survival for the lizard. There is no certainty that there is food on the other side of the dune, yet it must get over for another situation or die anyway where it was. This fighting spirit is a lesson for survival.

Secondly, if a small animal knows how to struggle to survive, does it not open the view that the world does not set the table of dinner for us. Is not the sand dune somewhat like the difficulties we face in life ? Setbacks are always with us, they just make our efforts a little more challenging and worthwhile. Else what is there to achieve and to glorify about.

Thirdly, it is the basis for a riddle. On the basis that the lizard's climb is consistent, the sand dune is 12 feet high, and each time the lizard gains 3 inches for a 12 inches move, how many moves must the lizard make to reach the top ? Remember, each time it moves up 12 inches it slides down 9 inches, gaining only 3 inches.

Have a nice day
Ronald

The answer is sevomevifytrof.

Good Sunday to all,

The Divine side of Jesus, the Son of God.

The Annunciation of the Conception of Jesus

The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary.

And coming to her, he said, "Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you."
But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."

But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?"

And the angel said to her in reply, "The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God."

Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

The Baptism of Jesus

After all the people had been baptized by John the Baptist, and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened and the holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."

The Transfiguration of Jesus

Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them. Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus.

Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, "Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified. Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; then from the cloud came a voice,"This is my beloved Son. Listen to him."

The Resurrection of Jesus

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow. The guards were shaken with fear of him and became like dead men.

Then the angel said to the women in reply, "Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, 'He has been raised from the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.' Behold, I have told you."

Then they went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce this to his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage.

Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me."

The Ascension of Jesus

Then Jesus led them as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them.
As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven, and a cloud took him from their sight.

While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, "Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven."

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day's journey away.


Ref; LK 1. 26-38, LK 3. 21-22, MK 9. 2-7, Mt 28.1-10, LK 24. 50-51, Acts 1.9-12.

Have a nice weekend
Ronald