The failure and fall of Great men!

The Failure of Great men the world over.

by Patrick Lee Song Juan on Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 8:41pm

The Failure of Great Men.....the world over!!

What is the failure of men? Career progression, job satisfaction or unhappy married?

Men can succeed faster in any field if they work extra hard. But no matter how great or how successful a man can be...if he is unable to rid himself of lust and desire, it will be his death knell waterloo! And women are men's nemesis.

Beggars die by their empty bowl! But great men die by the women's hole! That seductrous hole of sensuous sexual lust and gratification!

During the sixties, the greatest sex scandal of Britain's War minister Profumo and the famous courtesan Christina Keeler made him lose his job.

On the local front many years ago..one of our minister Dr Lee Cheow Meng former education minster in the early years of LKY's PAP government stepped down due to affair of the heart!

Can our politicians stay clean on lustful affairs? S'pore is unique. There are no known big cases of ministers involved in sexual scandals! The ruling PAP is very strict about that. And LKY will not hesitate to act on such behaviour involving his ministers then or even now!

Malaysia has its fair share of sex scandals staining the name of PM Najib and a Mongolian girl..till she was blown to bits and dead people tell no tales!

Today, it was breaking news or rumour that WP MP having an affair with an opposition party married woman..Let the truth be known if it was pure allegation !

The final truth be proved.

The truth and honesty of one's life , when our conscience are clear, nothing can harm our steadfastness. The ultimate truth must be unveiled towards accountability and credibility of WP and the opposition party.

Is this a hidden agenda to discredit a upcoming WP MP or is there some truth in it?

Nothing should be left to chance! Clear the conundrum and move on in untarnished water.

leesjuanpat

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Answer to Jammie Wong , the faceless Facebook personnel !

Answer to Jammie Wong , the faceless FB personnel !

by Patrick Lee Song Juan on Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 8:20am

JAMMIE WONG (FACELESS) questioned ME ON FACEBOOK..Her question below and my answers!

Jammie Wong's question of my intolerance......

LoL :) u seems to be more tolerant to anonymous whose view u share ....than one that questions.

12 hours ago ·

Patrick Lee Song Juan answers:....

Question is Ok as long as rational and in its proper perspective...for I am not one used to be gratified by others..As long as within the purview of political oneness and truth, nothing can be hidden in the closet.

I was at parliament when the ministerial paycut debate was on and I heard Chen Show Mao (CSM) spoke, a gem of delivery and steadfast..But before that, it was a real tactical error of PAP to put Ah Lian Lee Bee Wah (LBW) on the rostrum before CSM (you can really compared the vast difference of refined speech to sycophancy. LBW rattled her piece of 'milk of mother politics'..What is she trying to prove in a roundabout beat around the bush.

In a nutshell, she Lee Bee Wah (LBW) is only sucking up to say 'aye' to the pay-cut...Just say it and spared our agony in the public gallery to laugh at her TCSS.(talk cock sing song).

You should know Jammie, the greater truth of political intertwined and awakening is just around the corner and in the next GE...any party who is worth their salt will be voted in..PAP has lived its legend long enough to be a self-fulfilling party of elitist gain and higher echelon shares of tax-payers' wealth, leaving the poor falling far behind!

Do the average ordinary citizens have anything to look for with the high GDP and strong bottom-line?...Many of us looked forward to be taxed more and more!! Can the citizens after 52 years still stay that dense as having eyes but cannot see???...The class segregation of PAP turning its party into an elitist scholaristic empire of 'intelligent dudes' who totally lack the emotional intelligence to empathise and understand the voters needs and life struggles for the very motherland of theirs.

Do you think with all the 'emotional dilemma' of voters as Georgie Yeo said ..(before his famous BIG time lost,)...voters choice would be crystal clear! A political tsunami is on the shoreline reaching the very core of land, sooner than PAP can even transform their gaffs and bloopers and idiosyncrasies !!

Yet with all the foreigners turned citizen given the better option in many fields. S'poreans had endured too long , too disappointed with the 3rd and 4th generation of idiot dudes scholar MPs and ministers who just shot into stardom pulling on the main puppet string..

.Let us be really honest with ourselves...Is TPL (Tin Pei Ling) really MP calibre, or for that matter Josephine Teo,a doubtless YES-WOMAN- minister of state??..Her not paying attention in parliament on a question and wanted to be repeated 3 times, is a real pain in the ass and spoke for itself. I was at the public gallery laughing my ass off that day! And many others also laughed...that is the quality of Yes People!!

Grace Fu may fumble but at least she got that angst to hold herself, so is Lui Tuck Yew (Ah Tuck) sincerely trying to do his best (thought he had no choice, has he?)

In every facet of organization or party, there are smart people and too smart alecks who just want to prove nothing but speak just for speaking sake and that is the defeating point of an MP who want to act like a pierrot and poppycock !!...Regards!

patrick lee song juan

PAP is adamant about the high pay they draw!

Teo Chee Hean deliberated on PAP's right to draw high pay!

by Patrick Lee Song Juan on Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 2:19pm

Is DPM Teo chee hean talking CRAPS, yesterday in parliament? And Lee Bee Wah talking and drinking 'milk of mother politics'....really siao liao lah! Many in the public gallery laughed till tummy ache on that Ah Lian LBW...

DPM Teo chee hean said "Passion alone not enough to run country well. So money is the only temptation to run a country well right Teo ? He also said yesterday in parliament in pegging to the 1000 high income earners.....

"These are the kind of professions and positions that able S'poreans in their 30s and 40s would be in, or would aspire to within a few more years."...This group also shows the multi-faceted abililites and skills that a minister is expected to have."-unquote.

I wonder is he talking CRAPS...corporate world is a total difference ENTITY from running a country.. Is he suggesting that people like Saw Phaik Hwa, a retailer who knew nought about the mechanics of SMRT to be CEO and screwed up the whole maintenance process of the MRT system.

So people like Chan Chun Sing, and the like, co-opted from the army ..knows about corporate culture, human interaction and talk down on people right!!?? Just tell me how good is Tin Pei Lng compared with other opposition candidates. Or for that matter is Josephine Teo of that quality pegged to professionals pay ?? Poor ATTENTION IN PARLIAMENT to a MPs question....hahaaha! - repeating three times ???

WP's suggestion is sound in that , ministers should be pay 5 times MPs pay and PM , nine times MP's pay! and bonus should not be more than 5 months pay!

Come 2016, CITIZENS OF S'PORE WILL KNOW WHO TO VOTE IN MORE INTO PARLIAMENT, since WP have made their stands on SALARY crystal clear !

Please, DPM Chee Hean with due respect...DO NOT TALK CRAPS..and go and drink Lee Bee Wah's prepared mother's political MILK...I wonder is it from any COW coming home WITH THE BIG FAT PAY.....LOL !


patrick lee song juan

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Lawrence Wong and his 'water-colour' ways!!

Lawrence Wong showing his colour again, questioning WP's stand on the ministerial paycut!

by Patrick Lee Song Juan on Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 4:25pm

LAWRENCE WONG SHOWING HIS COLOUR AGAIN, QUESTIOnING Workers Party (WP'S) STAND !!

Lawrence Wong, the publicity and publication sub-committee chairman of PAP, asked if the WP change was due to a principled approach or 'political opportunism.'

This dude newbie was trying to say why WP pegged it to the MX9 pay grade. When formerly WP tried to peg it to the bottom 20 percent?

Why is this pierrot so uptight about the change? Why is he making a mountain out of a molehill, when PM Lee already summed up everything and approved by parliament after so much wayang debate.It was a foregone conclusion from the start...Just because of PAPs' dirt pay , they must be seen as working their ass off in parliament!

Is Lawrence wong trying to throw his weight around as a new entry coat-tail hanger-on, bootlicker, ABC...or is he having some hidden agenda because WP was voted in parliament legitimately?

Generally, WP perform well..especially Chen Show Mao (CSM)..Why don't you lock horns with CSM but to pinpoint on Gerald Giam .Lawrence knows he cannot hold a candle to CSM....Stop your 'rhetorics' and move on....young man!

We will be watching your performance till 2016...Don't just talk COCK and up YOUR OWN ASS.... So, you are minister-of-state for education and defence...To many, you are just a hanger-on to PAP....LMFAO!

You are just an ordinary human among us ( with a title and dirt pay), if not in PAP, YOU ARE NOBODY!!...So, stay discerning.

To many, you are what you are if not what you are not..understand Lawrence!!!

Silence sometimes is the best answer...only if you are the PM, you have the last say..are you??..Only an inexperience new entry into politics and want to teach others' grandfather how to suck eggs...LOL!

patrick lee song juan

Reason for Ministerial and Presidential paycut.

Why only NOW the ministerial and presidential paycut? It was on deaf ears??

by Patrick Lee Song Juan on Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 8:27am

Parliament sits again on Monday 16th 2012 to debate and Teo Chee Hean will deliver a speech and table for the paycut to be approved . Is it not a little Shakespearean stage display of the Merchant of Venice (a pound of flesh!) ?

Why? many will ask and be bewildered why PAP or for that matter PM Lee is so magnanimous to over-rule his father to decide what LKY had vehemently and with unreserved authority bulldozed the salary increase by at least a 60% jump after the 2006 GE. Even when then NCMP Sylvia Lim's passionate speech (one of the best) in parliament about why the ministers should not draw such obscene pay, came to no avail. But we could see that most minsters' shame dejected and guilty downcast look on their countenance. In those ministers mind, they got the message but they dared not go against or even utter a word against our S'pore IRON MAN LKY. Whatever he said was law..Though PM LHL was running the country, everyone knows LHL was in total consultation and obeisance to the father, the Iron Man of S'pore

It is a SAVING GRACE to reduce the ministerial pay after the 'mini watershed GE' in May 2011 when PAP lost Aljunied GRC and one of the strongest GRC to fall in one swoop. Many though George Yeo and his team was invincible..They were totally disillusion to have that surreal belief...because PAP had not tasted defeat before. And the devastating bombshell was dropped when WP's Low Thia Khiang made a brilliant tactical move to helm Aljunied and also brought in Chen Show Mao..With Sylvia Lim (WP Chairman) having that special harm to mesmerise any lau Ah Pek, (like me)...hahahaa!

The rest was history!

PAP lost small but actual BIG time (with bruised EGO) with George yeo's KO. Yet many cronies could not accept the fact that "such a nice guy" could lose...It was a real simplicity of people with such superficial thinking !! They forgot nothing is permanent in life! Only the integrity and dignity of a person in life and in death is permanent!

So, to cut many things short, A Review Committee was convened with of all person Gerard (the yesman) Ee to chair it...Well! a very pertinent question to all..Do you all think that if PAP did not lose the Aljunied GRC, they will go to this length to reduce their pay by one third and Speaker of parliament (a part time job from $1.1 million to $550,000 and president's pay by 51%?)....A tall order and citizens can hope till the ivory towers kept on multiplying!! hahaa!

PM LHL is not stupid and so are the citizens of S'pore. Many of us, simple folks know what is the next move on the 'intellectual chessboard' of PAP's game.

At this stage of political awakening, PAP is all out to pacify , to soothe and to even just swallow 'a dead cat' to the citizens albeit our rational 'demand.' They know the choice do not lie on the absolute power to bulldoze policies down our throat anymore. With due respect, Lee Kuan Yew (LKY's) legendary Ironman figure had reduced to a frail old man , the other day (9th of Jan 2012) when I looked from the public gallery of the parliament in session...My heart really aches for a great man strolling weakly out of parliament only after about 30 mins when he walked just as weak and slow in, no more the bold confident steps of yonder years . The ravage of time, regardless of the greatness of a human!

A calm and formless disposition of life devoid of clinging, desire, greed and lust...listening to the music of the sutta is a sure way to eternal bliss. My Iron lady Mom did that and lived to a right old age of 95 years and died in her sleep only two weeks ago...God bless!

The mantra of his life is to "LET GO" completely..LKY had (many may dispute,) done S'pore proud on the world arena...This credit cannot be denied! LKY just CANNOT LET GO! Many may comprehend his sentiments, many may not.

DESIRE IS SUFFERING , CLINGING IS SUFFERING, many of us empathize with his feelings..But PM Lee is seen as now capable of running the country with plenty of obligation to the citizens reasonable 'demand' and feedback. We can see, how the ministers have changed their attitude towards solving the bigger issues that affected S'poreans..Though a few up and coming newbie MPs or even back-door ministers behaved in great showmanship and 'softer-arrogance'.

PAP had gone a long way to meet the sentiments of the citizens since the day the pay increased but they always have their rhetorics of absolute argument on their right to draw such obscene pay!

Why is PAP as a party suddenly awakened and with the baptism of fire transformed into a people's party of listening and participating and not before?? And the biggest sacrifice is the pay-cut into their 'pound of flesh!' (Portia is a charming lady in 'The Merchant of Venice.')

On that note, we still think that if Aljunied GRC was not taken by WP...is there any political awakening and transformation of PAP ?? I would say...No Sir, Mr postman...

A parting shot, Transport minister (Ah Tuck) Lui Tuck Yew, is prime minister's calbre if the SMRT fiaso is handled in consistency and in full accountability to the citizens of S'pore. Not because of just that...He has the IQ and EQ in him.

The salary cut is a SAVING GRACE to try to win back the emotional anger and deep-set dislike of PAP who never listened up till now...and 'Is Now or Never.' for them to die die want to win back their lost and is that not a spat of 'kiasu-ism' in the hegemony of PAP? And for that matter, in any party who has ABSOLUTE control...SOLE POWER is a "HIV' positive disease. It is morbidly frightening to see how the might of SOLE control can manipulate and 'destroy' the lives of so many!

Is the ballot vote the answer to greater reform and rational performance of PAP and its ministers to listen loud and clear? When in the past, the citizens cry was deafened by the howling of Serengeti Africa wind in that vast wilderness of roaming beasts and animals !

THE VOTE IS THE ANSWER TO REFORM AND TRANSFORMATION and character change in PAP....I rest my case, your honour!

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The Erosion of Lunar New Year Traditions.

Lunar New Year is only days away....Nothing new about it but prices of everything , especially the 'bak kwa ' is going to sky-rocket. Many businesses take this apportunity to maximise their profit...The general global economy do not look healthy...

We must not be too extravagant on our spending. But think of the poor and penniless, especially the senior old folks who lived on their own..As the world move into the modern era...many traditions of our Lunar New Year have eroded into oblivion. Apart from the red packet-'ang pow' is a must, (money cnnot be obsolete!) other traditions of practice just vanished or not follow!

Fire -crackers were banned and it really affected the joyous noisy atmosphere. Now, each Lunar New year is so quiet, only noticable when children put on new attires and families bring the mandarin oranges to show respect to those older than them and their parents and grandparents These practice too is not strictly adhere to and we are losing the value of our family hierarchy of respect...Young relatives hardly visit their uncles and aunties to pay respect on the new year. Reunion dinners are a pathetic sight with , if you are lucky 4 members eating together..

.The days of big cohesive warm family during my Mom's time was over. My Mom bored 9 offspring. Today's family only have two siblings.We lost the value of our worth , forget our ancestor, hardly pay respect to close elder relative. We are moving towards a Lunar New Year of just fun and enjoyment for the new generation not the traditional festival of customary importance...The old world is superseded by the modern era of lost human values and traditional family values and practices...It is a sad world of change..yet we cannot fall back in the time tunnel!

patrick lee song juan

"Speak only if you can perfect on your silence."

The Humility, the Transformation, the Holy Baptism of Fire and the Change!

I was in the public gallery when parliament sat on 9th of Jan...it is just a coincidence that LKY walked out, he is old and frail now , needed rest. But the human mind and ideas worked wonders. And because of that people said at the back of their mind that LKY maybe ,snubbed her. Human are subject to their own 'deadly' thoughts and wide-ranging ideas.



I guess whatever was the reason Tin Pei Ling (TPL) entered parliament-which we all knew, on a string-attached....I personally conversed with her once during a function with Teo chee hean as VIP. organised by Health Promotion Board (HPB). She tagged along.



TPL was 'raw' in answering my question. I was doing volunteer work for HPB (involving healthy living and eating nutritious food for health) at Sengkang two months ago.



We disseminate our likes and dislikes of living and characters with an open mind. I believe as long as in the long-haul, TPL can really do something for the people of S'pore, especially the poor and senior citizens - be she in PAP or opposition party, it really does not make any difference...it is in the heart of a person , not the party..See Lui Tuck Yew showed sincerity in answering and seriously wanted to solve the SMRT fiasco. And dowager Saw Phaik Phiak (SPH) got 'phaik"- (slap) out.



At the end of the day, a parliament, as Workers Party (WP) said must be First World, which I believe , putting more alternative opposition voices into it will be the ultimate answer to PAP's dominance and past arrogance!



I view the political process of any country as, when a government stepped beyond their rational ordinance and over-subscribed their importance and not heeding the feedback and grouses of the very people that voted them in - is when it is time to REMOVE THEM ALTOGETHER.....That is the reason 60-40% ! Lucky for PAP, not 100%..wishful thinking lah... me!



LIBYA would be a good example why Col. Gaddafi was removed in the Arab Spring uprising in the Arab world. When the citizens are suffering with great emotional stress and struggling with their daily life and the government turned a deaf ear. Living in 'nonchalant comfy' in their luxurious ivory towers and many citizens are pushed to the cliff.



In the world of politics, as you rule and dominate, "it is not the power of control but the power of letting go"... (that statement I emailed George Yeo in 2006 when PAP swept the political scene again!)... that is the paramount mantra of a good government...For when any government stays on for too long....their absolute power would have emboldened their sense of arrogance and defiance that no one can beat them to the finish line. A deadly mental block!..And that is the time to totally extermination that kind of mental deficiency of thinking...because then the drawing is on the board to change for a better government..And the political cycle of change moves with natural transformation....the voters decision!



Hence, the lost of Aljunied GRC was a catalyst of change not because PAP wanted that change (due to their blindness to see their absolute control) but by the power of the people who voted wisely in Aljunied GRC, the whole of S'pore begins to breathe some fresh air of relief. I am also a resident of Aljunied and I am so proud of the great decisive change!!! and I voted in the right party for Aljunied GRC !! A political awakening for everyone, more for PAP !!!!! Is that a sarcasm ?



Would PAP ever listen when they were in full control all those years to the peoples plight and feedback ????_NO !



Now is the awakening...the holy baptism of fire _see how the personality and character of the party and its lofty-headed ministers can be so congenially accommodating...WP is the catalyst for the change..and the citizens of S'pore catalysed that strong infusion and combustion...PAP is now guarding their arses..not to break wind in the wrong direction.Our S'pore atmosphere is too crowded with the foreign influx already!



Ah Tuck is a good example of a working minister who is the change for PAP..I will not 'tuck you'...Mr minister -everything is in your HEART not in or with your party. One up on your performance!!! Regards.

Emptiness

Emptiness is only an illusion and delusion of our own mind. When we detached ourselves slowly into the reality of life and death, we will understand that there is no clinging to the impossible.

It is only a human emotional inclination. The degree of sadness all depends on one's disposition of thought. Life is death , Death is life.

In fact , at a right old age of 95 with no major sickness ..it is a bliss to be in the kingdom of heaven..dancing with the angels..We are all blessed to send our mother on her eternal journey with no suffering and pain..Hence we do not cling on to life impermanence !

patrick lee song juan

The Fall of a pseudo Iron Lady - Saw Phaik Hwa

The Fall of a pseudo Iron Lady

by Patrick Lee Song Juan on Sunday, January 8, 2012 at 1:39am

2002 (or 2001 ?) was the GE year and PAP maintained the majority with the same two opposition MPs in parliament! The political might perpetuate on yet again by the ruling party. 82 against 2.....Only two birds chirping to their heavy metal band!!...But life goes on hard and tough for many under our 'efficient and honest' government.


Last year, 2011 was a political renaissance. An emotional watershed . And WP won 6 seats against 87. Yet again PAP increased from the last GE another 5 MP seats..When will they stop putting more numbers (MPs) in a small island S'pore...Why do we need so many part time FAT paid MPs, ($192,000 a year) who just tag along with the flowing tide of the ruling PAP. Wayang here and there during CC and RC functions with grandeur!


Little did they ever dream that in 2011, a political awakening, not might of the voters forever changed the course of the formidable, impenetrable fortress of PAP's dominance.And it is that year of 2002, a 'tomboy' single lady by the name of Saw Phaik Hwa (SPH) joined SMRT as CEO albeit having no engineering background but a not so successful retailer from DFS..Why I said so?... SPH was retrenched from DFS and catapulted to CEO of SMRT. Is it her merit in meritocracy S'pore or by some powerful connection?...no one really knew!?


Many were surprised that she was chosen to head a big corporation without the relevant experience or degree! But within a short frame of time, she proved her worth by building not the core operations of the SMRT system but the retail sector of the vast space of SMRT in the underground stations into Retail Exchange Mall. And that saw the profit of retail rental of SMRT space accounted for 45% of total profit. But SMRT is a public service transportation of people not a retailer ??The board of Directors may have given SPH a free hand to 'manipulate' her expertise in the retail business...Nothing matters..only results!
She sailed in smooth sea....until the 'mighty ferocious tide' shattered her dreams with the first break-in of the depot followed by a second break-in in another depot.


We then had a taste of her public relations.when she started pushing the fault to the security company and acted so 'raw' in handling the incident which was, we can say a threat to national security...What happened if an explosive was planted in any train?? The consequence would have be disastrous ! She was adamant to push the blame to others! Not befitting a CEO.


Before that when commuters complained the trains were always crowded, she bluntly said 'people can choose not to take the MRT...' OMG! she failed miserably in public relationship as a CEO ! Even internally, her staff labelled her the Iron Lady and she used her power to bring in many ex-DFS staff into SMRT..and older and experience SMRT staff left in disgust..short of a mass exodus. How can such happening goes unnoticed to the Board? Is it just the bottomline that the Board of Directors are looking only to cover an eye on the bigger issue of staff resigning and replaced with inexperience cronies of hers ??A failure of operation on the highest level, so to speak of a public listed company. The Directors got to answer too..Chairman Koh Yong Guan would be one of them.



So, SMRT was running on 'casual internal maintenance'' until a total break down one after the other. The truth may be a negligence of expert and thorough maintenance check...It was impossible when in the aftermath of a serious breakdown..61 rail faults and 13 train faults were uncovered. Expert or even ordinary folks can form a picture of such unbelievable neglect !!
The public needed an answer. Public outcry of anger, incredibility and frustration. Demand for her resignation or sacked came fast a nd furious...And in the end (without elaboration on details, which all knows) ...The Iron Lady tendered her resignation on 6th January before Monday's parliament sitting with such precise coincidence.



She was 'most probably coerced to resign, to put less pressure on the sure debate and enquiry on the SMRT fiasco in parliament come Monday 6th.



Can Transport minister Lui Tuck Yew (Ah Tuck) save his skin to answer with transparency and accountability the truth on why such massive breakdown? And I know NCMP Gerald Giam will want an answer for the people come Monday. And with jubilation from the highly charged public, THE FALL OF THE IRON LADY which even the "solid structured of the system of the establishment's Who's who, cannot save her bruised soul...The uncovering of the 'covered truth' of high level inefficiency, yet covered up so efficiently.


It was Singapore's pure good luck or SMRT's shinning lucky star that no one was injured or died in that gigantic breakdown...or else whose head should rolled apart from fall iron lady CEO Saw Phaik Hwa.And we are waiting patiently for the Committee of Inquiry (COI) for the truth !!Monday's parliament will be very interesting..



We bid good bye to million$-coloured hair Iron Lady Saw (the Dowager of SMRT)..And another special position is waiting for her to fill ...You beg I will be right!! Heads I win , tail I win. Does that sound familiar in such setting?



The ruling system of S'pore works 'too well' now . We just cannot wait, come 2016 !!.
We need more transparency to see through her, oophs! (We men feel shy to see through her leh!)...I mean see through the system with accountability and answers.

leesjuanpat

A Real Iron Lady !

A Real Iron Lady -my Grand Matriarch Mother.

by Patrick Lee Song Juan on Monday, January 9, 2012 at 3:34am

At 95, my beloved mother Low Kuoi Ying passed off peacefully in her sleep at 5.30am in the wee-morning of 3rd January 2012. My dear mother lived a fulfilled life of simplicity and we are a coheisive family of 9 siblings. My father died much younger in 1976 at the age of 65 years

My mom's years were real hardship years but happy. My dad was only a barber and they both 'single-handedly' brought all us up with my mom the housemaker. In those days, you hardly can find wives working. Looking after 9 children was no easy task. But mom always managed that well. Our lives were really poor but we were happy and we grew up among the 'lallangs' in the kampong. We had plenty of open free space to play around and run wild and free!

It was a wonder to reminisce those early years, how Mom can manager by herself all nine of us without a single help. Our meals were simple fare. But we were well-fed and never went hungry. Our age was like stepped ladder..only one or two years different from the next. And I have a pair of twin sisters (the sixth and seventh siblings).

Compared to then and now, there is really nothing now that can called our own, even we are living more comfortably. We cannot play marbles, fly kites anywhere. We had fruit trees like rambutan, guava and papaya growing wild for plucking. Space was never an issue. Happiness was the benchmark word though we were really poor.

We nine siblings grew up and father's load was lightened. Mom's life also changed for the better. Mom's never 'say die attitude' and sacrifice to bring us all up was a real effort and she never complained. And it was and is a blessing that she was naturally healthy. Mom ate simply and hardly saw a doctor. In fact when she was 89 years, we siblings gave a grand celebration during her birthday in the restaurant. And as far as we remember, that was the only time during her birthday we ate out of home.

The family's support and the many children surrounding Mom, was able to give her the warm and harmony of a big cohesive warm family. Today's family nucleus is a sad sight of one or two siblings!

Till her last day, on a head count, our family members including many great grand children was 60 members. And my Mom was particularly proud of my second sister who sacrificed her education years (those years poor families, girls would opt to help their mother's at home.) My Mom was proud and happy because my second sister's younger son (she had two only -stopped at two), was a police scholar and is currently now the Deputy Commissioner of Police at 39 years old. My nephew went on a scholarship to England and also attached to Scotland Yard during his study there.

Our Matriarch mother embraced Zen Buddhism since she was 80 years old (was Ancestor worshipper) and always listened to the chanting of the 'Zen suttas' and practised moderation in her life till her death on 3rd Jan 2012. She lived a full blessed life and stayed with my no.8th sister in a HDB flat. She loved simplicity and also practised non-extravagance.

.Mom's final sent-off at Kong Meng San on Saturday &th Jan 2012 was smooth and non-eventful, (not like VIPs who did it with grandeur.) We are all human of the world but many of us human are different.

On 31 Dec 2011, Saturday, the last day of the year 2011, Mom requested to see everyone of us at sister's home. She was not having good appetite. But love bird-nest. We all congregated to my 8th sister's home in Ang Mo Kio to see her. Mom's was alert and sharp and spoke to us..We had a maid to look after her. Without any ailment and never hospitalised, only wheel-crhair bound for the last 4 yeas because of her weak leg due to bone osteoporosis (maybe). Apart from that she had no other sickness. It was a real blessing !

As a meditation practitioner for many years, I sensed Mom's intention to see us all. I told my sister Jong subsequently to be more prepared. People her age, Mom knew how to prepare for her passing and in Buddhism, many of us would know our time if we had a deep devoted practice. And sure enough, on Tuesday morning at 5.30 am..when the maid wanted to wake her up for morning chant and breakfast, she did not wake up and slept her eternal slumber.

God is great. Amitabha Buddha! Nibbanam Paranam Sukkham!

Our grand old matriarch Mom lived a complete life of simple happiness of great 'riches' , not of monetary terms but of spiritual wellness and moderation. No greed, craving and adhere strictly to her simple half vegetarian meals.We all will miss and love our beloved Mom.

My final citation to the tremendous sacrifice of Mom :

"All of us 60 members are in one mind our matriarch mother will always be 'numero uno' - and no words can compensate (surely not great riches ) her great sacrifice for all of us."

Mom live a full life and in the final days of her living, she planned so well and passed off peacefully, having seen most of us. A perfect good blessed death in Buddhism terms.

And last but not least, to add in the famous verse from the Bible."'from dust we come, unto dust we go" and "in the valley of death she fear no evil." For Mom had lived a complete fulfilled simple happy life.

We all will miss her but we will feel her presence and protection moment to moment. We, siblings from great grand children salute our beloved mother, grandmother, great grandmother, (all in one).

Rest In Peace beloved Mom...Buddha is with you!

leesjuanpat.