Do you believe in Magic? I do. But not the Harry Potter or David
Copperfield kind of magic. I believe in the magic of human kindness.
Magic is about making a seemingly impossible task possible, magic is
about wow-ing everyone watching and magic creates hope. Now, I am going
to invite all of you to be real life magicians by doing all of the
above.
The Magical Project:
Fundraising for Lee Ah Mooi Old Age Home (LAMH).
Background:
LAMH is expanding it's nursing home care to it's 2nd home in Silat
Avenue. The home needs $2.6M funds to renovate wards, install lifts to
aid residents' mobility, build a garden and create a conducive
environment where pioneers can age with dignity and respect.
Why Help Lee Ah Mooi?
Lee Ah Mooi Old Aged Home is a family run nursing home that does not
receive any subsidies from the government and unlike other profit-driven
nursing home, LAMH's mission is to provide quality nursing care at
affordable price. Over the years, they have relied on generous public
donations to keep the operations going and absorb increasing operating
costs without compromising the quality of nursing care or increasing
fees for the residents.
The Home epitomises the true spirit of
giving, as cemented through the legacy of the late Mdm Lee Ah Mooi, who
started bringing abandoned Samsui women and Ma Jies to her home to care
for them. They are also very welcoming of volunteers to host charity
events at the Home.
How can we help?
The current
crowdsourcing campaign stands at $19k, which is less than 1% of the
intended target. Let's give within our means to help them get momentum
going for this project. If you can only spare $1 or $2, it is also good
enough because a million of us donating $1 is one million dollars.
Link for donation:
bit.ly/SupportSilat
If you can't donate due to tight finance, then help to create more
awareness for this project by sharing this post. You may just share it
with someone who wants to donate so never underestimate the power of
share, especially in today's increasingly connected world.
If you don't wish to share on your wall, you can leave a comment or #supportlamh
because every comment you leave is seen as an engagement by Facebook,
which will bump this post up in the group and has more chance to appear
on our member's wall.
Everyone can help play a part in
supporting this project in the simplest of ways. I assure you that the
magic will appear when the donation figures started increasing, achieved
through our collective efforts in creating awareness.
We all
will grow old someday and become reliant on other's help, isn't it nice
that we give some kindness while we are blessed with good health? Isn't
it wonderful that we can do something nice for someone who probably
won't find out or has a chance to repay us? When the renovation works
are completed, you and I will own a part of the Home.
Thank you for your love and kindness !
PS: As LAMH's kitchen will be closed for a year due to renovation, they
need sponsors for meals and snacks like biscuit and milo for tea
breaks. If anyone is willing to sponsor or know of sponsors, pls sound
out! Home bakers are welcome too, cheers
Monday, May 29, 2017
Don't Let Fear and Worries Rob You off the Happy Moments you have Now
Let's say you just bought a pet goldfish, he is so adorable, respond
to you when you are near. You love the goldfish so much and feel so
happy that you are blessed to have this goldfish as your pet.
Then, a thought entered your mind, "What if I lose my goldfish one day?" So, everyday you spent a portion of your time worrying and let fears and insecurity fill you, dreading about the day when you will lose your goldfish.
The same principle applies in Life. We sometimes fill ourselves with so much unnecessary worries that rob us off precious time to seize the moment. Actually, there is no need to ask the "What if" questions because we will lose what we have someday. Everything has an expiry date, including ourselves.
Worrying may get you slightly mentally prepared but you cannot possibly cover all angles and it will not prevent things from happening anyway. If we live in the moment and live everyday the best we can, there is no need to fear the day we lose what is precious to us because we have make full use of every opportunity to cherish what we have.
When a negative thought fills your mind and makes you worry about losing what you have, don't waste time engaging the thought. Instead, shift the focus to making full use of whatever time / opportunity we have to create beautiful memories and to treasure what we are blessed with. Cheers.
Then, a thought entered your mind, "What if I lose my goldfish one day?" So, everyday you spent a portion of your time worrying and let fears and insecurity fill you, dreading about the day when you will lose your goldfish.
The same principle applies in Life. We sometimes fill ourselves with so much unnecessary worries that rob us off precious time to seize the moment. Actually, there is no need to ask the "What if" questions because we will lose what we have someday. Everything has an expiry date, including ourselves.
Worrying may get you slightly mentally prepared but you cannot possibly cover all angles and it will not prevent things from happening anyway. If we live in the moment and live everyday the best we can, there is no need to fear the day we lose what is precious to us because we have make full use of every opportunity to cherish what we have.
When a negative thought fills your mind and makes you worry about losing what you have, don't waste time engaging the thought. Instead, shift the focus to making full use of whatever time / opportunity we have to create beautiful memories and to treasure what we are blessed with. Cheers.
My Blessed Childhood
One of my vivid "childhood memories" is visiting hospitals, GP, TCM,
to treat the various ailments I had as a child. My parents were lowly
paid blue collar workers and medical expenses aside, it is draining for
them to keep seeing different doctors yet unable to find a cure. I
considered myself blessed because I eventually outgrow them and they
were neither major illnesses nor life threatening.
However, not all children are as blessed as most of us, in particular those suffering from cancer. All parents will want their child to grow up healthy and enjoy a memorable childhood but a major illness like cancer turns their world upside down. The parents, with their immediate loved ones, suffer together with the child who is sick.
We can do a little more to encourage them, by pledging our support to Children Cancer Foundation (CCF). CCF helps many Singaporean families whose children suffers from cancer to deal with the hefty medical bills as well as offer emotional support for the immediate family members.
I have done a small part in making the bald statement to raise awareness for childhood cancer, donations for CCF and to encourage children cancer patients that it is okay to be bald.
https://www.ccf.org.sg/giving/fundraisng_event.php?id=fundraising-for-children-with-cancer
As we shower love onto our own children, let's give a little bit love to the children who are suffering from this illness. I hope more of us can come together to do something for them and their families. The annual Hair for Hope is coming up in July, so please support your friends, especially the courageous ladies, who shave their heads for this event.
We help because we can, we help because we are more blessed, we help because we can build a more caring and gracious society with kindness. And eventually, we will all benefit from the seeds of kindness we sow today.
However, not all children are as blessed as most of us, in particular those suffering from cancer. All parents will want their child to grow up healthy and enjoy a memorable childhood but a major illness like cancer turns their world upside down. The parents, with their immediate loved ones, suffer together with the child who is sick.
We can do a little more to encourage them, by pledging our support to Children Cancer Foundation (CCF). CCF helps many Singaporean families whose children suffers from cancer to deal with the hefty medical bills as well as offer emotional support for the immediate family members.
I have done a small part in making the bald statement to raise awareness for childhood cancer, donations for CCF and to encourage children cancer patients that it is okay to be bald.
https://www.ccf.org.sg/giving/fundraisng_event.php?id=fundraising-for-children-with-cancer
As we shower love onto our own children, let's give a little bit love to the children who are suffering from this illness. I hope more of us can come together to do something for them and their families. The annual Hair for Hope is coming up in July, so please support your friends, especially the courageous ladies, who shave their heads for this event.
We help because we can, we help because we are more blessed, we help because we can build a more caring and gracious society with kindness. And eventually, we will all benefit from the seeds of kindness we sow today.
Give Yourself Many Reasons to Be Happy
You and I, we are so different. We have different outlook in life, different priorities, different goals and different dreams.
Yet, we are so the same. We yearn to be loved, we hope to receive encouragement when we are down, we seek to find meaning and purpose in life and lastly, we want to be happy.
I am just like everyone else, I have bills to settle, I face issues in life and I am not spared from experiencing anger, stress or any negative emotion, either self-inflicted or bestowed by someone.
But I try to live my life a little differently by constantly reminding myself of the many blessings that I have and this makes me happy. Every blessing that I count is a reason of happiness. For example, it can be as simple as having a good night rest on a comfortable clean bed and waking up feeling refreshed.
If Life can give me 10 reasons to be unhappy, then I give myself 100 reasons to be happy. When you can give yourself so many reasons to feel happy, I can assure you that your mind will treat your current issues as a passing raincloud. On the other hand, if you choose to focus on your issues only, you magnify them and make yourself feel miserable. Very soon, you will let your issues define who you are.
I share with you how I live my life as a reference, I am not expecting anyone to be me because we are all born differently. But amid the differences, all of us deserve to be loved and to be happy.
Yet, we are so the same. We yearn to be loved, we hope to receive encouragement when we are down, we seek to find meaning and purpose in life and lastly, we want to be happy.
I am just like everyone else, I have bills to settle, I face issues in life and I am not spared from experiencing anger, stress or any negative emotion, either self-inflicted or bestowed by someone.
But I try to live my life a little differently by constantly reminding myself of the many blessings that I have and this makes me happy. Every blessing that I count is a reason of happiness. For example, it can be as simple as having a good night rest on a comfortable clean bed and waking up feeling refreshed.
If Life can give me 10 reasons to be unhappy, then I give myself 100 reasons to be happy. When you can give yourself so many reasons to feel happy, I can assure you that your mind will treat your current issues as a passing raincloud. On the other hand, if you choose to focus on your issues only, you magnify them and make yourself feel miserable. Very soon, you will let your issues define who you are.
I share with you how I live my life as a reference, I am not expecting anyone to be me because we are all born differently. But amid the differences, all of us deserve to be loved and to be happy.
The Best Gift We Give to Our Loved Ones is Our Health
The best gift we can give to our loved ones, other than our time, is
to take good care of our health. Because we are not the only ones
suffering when we fall sick, our loved ones suffer together with us.
Taking care of our own health seems like an easy and straight forward thing to do, but it actually requires discipline and hard work.
Take for example, if you have time on the train to take a short rest, will you choose to surf the net or FB instead? When it is time to sleep at night, will you sacrifice your sleep to catch the addictive korean dramas? When it comes to eating, will you choose the soupy/ steamed dishes or will you choose the oily, flavourful and deep fried? When you are hungry, will you think that it is okay to delay your meal for an hour or two because work comes first? When stress and anger come, will you learn to let go or dwell on negative energy and make yourself feel worse?
I never believe in taking shortcuts to good health, we need to moderate ourselves in every aspect, physically and emotionally. Less of the negative stuff (fatigue, unhealthy food, sugar, negative emotions) and more of the positive stuff (exercise, rest, water, clean vege/fruits, positive vibes) and we will all do fine.
Our loved ones need us to be healthy so we can all care and love one another. Without you, everything will be so different, just like no matter how big and magnificient the jigsaw puzzle can be, missing one piece makes a world of difference.
Taking care of our own health seems like an easy and straight forward thing to do, but it actually requires discipline and hard work.
Take for example, if you have time on the train to take a short rest, will you choose to surf the net or FB instead? When it is time to sleep at night, will you sacrifice your sleep to catch the addictive korean dramas? When it comes to eating, will you choose the soupy/ steamed dishes or will you choose the oily, flavourful and deep fried? When you are hungry, will you think that it is okay to delay your meal for an hour or two because work comes first? When stress and anger come, will you learn to let go or dwell on negative energy and make yourself feel worse?
I never believe in taking shortcuts to good health, we need to moderate ourselves in every aspect, physically and emotionally. Less of the negative stuff (fatigue, unhealthy food, sugar, negative emotions) and more of the positive stuff (exercise, rest, water, clean vege/fruits, positive vibes) and we will all do fine.
Our loved ones need us to be healthy so we can all care and love one another. Without you, everything will be so different, just like no matter how big and magnificient the jigsaw puzzle can be, missing one piece makes a world of difference.
An Act of Kindness Creates Positive Energy and Happiness
Saw an elderly Auntie at Mcdonalds asking around for someone to buy
her a cup of green tea but was rejected a few times. She looked kind of
embarrassed that no one was buying her a drink so I decided to approach
her and do the honor. Though the green tea ($3.50) costs more than my
fillet-O-fish burger ($2.50), the more important thing is that it made
the Auntie happy. When you have the ability to make a person happy, you
will be happy as well, especially when you see that the person is so thankful to you.
Maybe this action alone is not going to change the world, but at least it creates some positive energy, it creates happiness and when I share this experience, maybe it will inspire you to do likewise when you are in a similar situation. If everyone starts giving a little more love and kindness, it will definitely make our society a better place to live in.
We are all surrounded by so much negative energy, e.g. stress from studies, workload, financial burden, rising cost of living, news of gloomy economy...etc. All these negative energy inside us will not disappear by themselves, they transform to frustration and anger, and it only takes a spark to ignite a big outburst. We need kindness, we need to give kindness, because only then can we diffuse the negative energy and live happier lives.
Maybe this action alone is not going to change the world, but at least it creates some positive energy, it creates happiness and when I share this experience, maybe it will inspire you to do likewise when you are in a similar situation. If everyone starts giving a little more love and kindness, it will definitely make our society a better place to live in.
We are all surrounded by so much negative energy, e.g. stress from studies, workload, financial burden, rising cost of living, news of gloomy economy...etc. All these negative energy inside us will not disappear by themselves, they transform to frustration and anger, and it only takes a spark to ignite a big outburst. We need kindness, we need to give kindness, because only then can we diffuse the negative energy and live happier lives.
Our Society Needs More Kindness & Tolerance
The recent video on an elderly being bullied by a young couple got
many netizens angry. Some netizens condemn the actions and are keen to
identify the couple to public shame them. This also led to some distress
for a lady who was wrongly identified.
While public shaming seems the easiest way to achieve an agenda (get even, seek justice, send out warning), I hope we understand that we are using negativity against negativity, which is probably fuelled by another negative emotion called anger.
Somehow, I think this incident wouldn't have happened if there is more tolerance, understanding and kindness, i.e. more positive energy. If the seat is "choped" and taken, the young couple could have shared the table or at least gently tell the Uncle it is taken. Of course, it takes both hands to clap, Uncle could have shifted elsewhere if the table had no more seats left, when politely informed by the couple that the table is taken. When everyone can respect one another, there will be peace.
I hope we achieve some positive outcome out of this incident. Amid the stress and pressure we face daily, together with all other negative emotions like anger, frustration, let's try to be more tolerant, treat others how we want others to treat us and give a little more kindness. It makes our community better and makes us happier. Because in an incident like this where negative emotions were overflowing, no one (young couple, Uncle, Uncle daughter, netizens) wins.
While public shaming seems the easiest way to achieve an agenda (get even, seek justice, send out warning), I hope we understand that we are using negativity against negativity, which is probably fuelled by another negative emotion called anger.
Somehow, I think this incident wouldn't have happened if there is more tolerance, understanding and kindness, i.e. more positive energy. If the seat is "choped" and taken, the young couple could have shared the table or at least gently tell the Uncle it is taken. Of course, it takes both hands to clap, Uncle could have shifted elsewhere if the table had no more seats left, when politely informed by the couple that the table is taken. When everyone can respect one another, there will be peace.
I hope we achieve some positive outcome out of this incident. Amid the stress and pressure we face daily, together with all other negative emotions like anger, frustration, let's try to be more tolerant, treat others how we want others to treat us and give a little more kindness. It makes our community better and makes us happier. Because in an incident like this where negative emotions were overflowing, no one (young couple, Uncle, Uncle daughter, netizens) wins.
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