I welcome a brand New Year of 2013

A sketch of Tanah Lot, Bali, Indonesia.

The year of 2013 started on a mystical note, it seems. The message seems to be asking me to make time to slow down.

On the first day of the year, I was excited for a day out in Nature to cycle along East Coast Park. My friends were wonderful to make time for me. Then, barely less than ten minutes of cycling, when I was want to get down the bicycle to stop for a moment, I sprained my ankle. I had sprained that ankle more than a decade ago. Thankfully, I had made the decisions not to continue cycling. My friends were very accommodating, and one of them helped me to return the bicycle. Then I made my way to see a Chinese physician who specializes in sprains and injuries of the bones & muscles. Thankfully, this Chinese physician who specializes in sprains was available on a New Year's Day to attend to me!

Two weeks from New Year's Day, I am thankful that I could still make time to check out some places in Singapore. At the same time, I had to slow down physically. It was painful to race especially when I was told to wear an ankle guard until the pain at the ankle totally subside.

Over the past months, I was undergoing several treatments of Traditional Chinese Medicine medication and acupuncture. I was rather amazed how acupuncture could so amazingly help facilitate the body to work on healing itself. While I was healing from the sprain, I tried to get a few acupuncture treatments for the foot and the leg too. The treatments helped to relieve the muscle aches.

A few days ago, I had managed to get myself a simple copy of a handbook on acupuncture from one of the book-stores at Bras Basah Complex. The task at hand is to make time to read it.

I have a number of other books to read. Maybe the message is to slow down on some other aspects of my life so that I could free up time to read and to learn actively. Life has a lot to offer and for us to learn. It seems like I have started the year 2013 with a message that shall bless me.

One of the outcomes of slowing down was that I had the time to sketch, from a newspapers advertisement, an image of Tanah Lot, Bali, Indonesia. I felt a sense of inner peace during the process of sketching this. It is a blessing to appreciate the joy of sketching and making good art.

Year 2013: I shall learn to slow down a bit, to appreciate the present moments more and to make good art!

Places: OH! Open House 2013: What's our Happiness Index?

OH! Open House is one of the interesting annual art-walks in Singapore that take its participants to private spaces to enjoy works of art. I had checked out this event on 5 January 2013, and here's an account of my experiences at this event: OH! Open House 2013: What's our Happiness Index?

Places: A tour of Soon Thian Keing

As much as I am still uncertain which is the first Chinese temple in Singapore, my visit to Soon Thian Keing temple on 9 Dec 2012 seemed to reveal to me that Soon Thian Keing is Singapore's first Chinese Temple. Find out more about my visit to Soon Thian Keing temple at 19 Lorong 29 Geylang here: A tour of Soon Thian Keing.

Read: Emily of Emerald Hill

Title: Emily of Emerald Hill
Author: Stella Kon
Publisher: Constellation Books (2002)

After several visits to the exhibition, Emily of Emerald Hill: Singapore Identity on Stage, I decided it was necessary to buy myself a copy of Emily of Emerald Hill by Stella Kon and read it!

I had read it a few months ago. This one-woman play is a page-turner. I remember I had finished it within a relatively short span of time. Although there are a number of Peranakan Malay expressions found throughout the play, it is still accessible to read. My general sense of the play is that many scenarios were written in an open-ended way so readers like myself are free to draw our own conclusions on various incidents such as how did Emily's son actually died.

Some of the moving moments in the play as I read it were when there was a softening of Emily's attitudes towards her daughter, Doris, towards the end of the play. In addition, the kindness that Emily has for her friend, Bee Choo, seemed to reveal that deeper in Emily, there is an essence of humanity. What a stark contrast to Emily's persona that she seemed to be portraying during much of the play.

Reading this play has deepened my appreciation of the exhibition. I recommend visitors to the exhibition, Emily of Emerald Hill: Singapore Identity on Stage, to consider reading this book if they have yet to.

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Also see:
http://emilyofemeraldhill.com
http://www.emilyofemeraldhill.com/SKBooks.html

Happy New Year

Wishing you and your loved ones a Happy New Year.

I came across this wish and I have found it meaningful. "I wish you enough".

"I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much
bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish enough "Hello's" to get you through the final "Goodbye."
- by Bob Perks.

May the new year bring you good health, joy and peace.