Guard for One Hour

Finally, with the consensus of the committee members, I decided to make the transition from the old security company to the new security company today, instead of a further date. The residents just couldn't take the unprofessional attitudes of the previous company anymore so for the safety of the community, we all decided to go ahead with this transition sooner.

Unfortunately, due to the last minute and very urgent request made to the new security companies, they did not arrive at the time the old guards left during the destined time. So I took over the role of the guards, alone, for an hour, while waiting for the new guards to arrive.

What seemed like a peculiar sight turned out to be an overwhelming experience of support. Loving neighbours came forth to 'accompany' me during my 'duty' time, chatting with me their views of the recent security issues and also to voice out their support to me. Some of them, actually stopped by to ask if I needed any assistance or help. I truly felt supported and appreciated at that point in time, especially when one of the neighbours got down from her car and repeatedly said, "Gerry, thank you so much.. thank you for all your effort."

I could now see an action or response out of love could bring such loving reflections. In truth, I did not do it because I felt I had to do it. When I arrived at the guardhouse, expecting that the old guard would have already left and the new guards to have arrived, the old guard waited a while with me but kindly asked my permission to be dismissed. He was one of the diligent guards. But with him alone, it was just not enough. Since no one was left to play guard, I felt inspired to just stand there by the guard house pulling the boom gate up and down ensuring the vehicles who came in and out of the neighbourhood were residents, enquiring vehicles who had no stickers where they were going and etc.. you know, the usual guard-checking stuffs. My brother's girlfriend who happened to drop by for a visit called me on my mobile and said, "eh, an overpaid guard?" I laughed... and had to put down the phone quickly because it was peak hour at that time. Residents were coming home from a hard day's work! Shortly before the new guards arrived, the rest of the committee members joined me too, supporting. :)

When I told hubby of what happened by the time I got home, he was too glad to hear of the support received from the neighbours. What I learnt today is that if I was doing something out of love, nothing could put me down. There was no way at all. I remember now that my thoughts then was just to do what I could do - and what I could do then, was just to stand guard for the safety and love of my community for that one hour. And for that, I not only am appreciated by others (at least by those who stopped by), but I am also full of appreciation for myself.

Having said that, I am too grateful to the supporting members of the committee members without whom I would have had the courage to make the next move to serve this community. But most of all, I am grateful for how my journey is always supported anyway, by an unseen power that guides me all the way... :)

Loving Him

Loving him when he is loving himself in doing what he loves... sighs... simply heavenly.

Thank you so much, Andrew Tai!

Moving Forward - Busy, Busy

I am going to be busy busy, with lots and lots of my plate.

But because I fully accept my part in God's plan for salvation, I trust that all will be done in divine time and manner.

La.. De.. Dum...

la de dum... going out with my bestie tonight... la de dum... with Puzzle... la de dum.... to Hai Siang... la de dum... for my berry favourite Chicken Rice... la de dum.. and to satisfy... la de dum... my cravings for... la de dum... Adrian's 3-layer-tea...

Welcome to the family, Puzzle!

Apparently, she is the FIRST black on the road... dunno how true... need to look for kakis to find out more about this new baby... ;p

P/S: - please don't ask me why her name is Puzzle. Thea named her. :-s

Bye Bye JayD!

You have served me and my family well. Thank you so much, for the times when you stood with me when I needed you most.

I love you and will remember you always... Eventhough to many, you may be just a dead-thing; but to me, you have always been alive, and will remain as such in my heart.

Love & Gratitude to you.

Jai Ho

Another of my berry favourite...

Jaclyn Victor

Again and again, I am swept away by her voice.. Really, thank God for YouTube.

Blessed Neighbourhood

I am truly blessed to be in a wonderful neighbourhood of caring and helpful neighbours. Last Saturday, there was an unfortunate break-in in one of our neighbour's house with lots of valuables lost. What is fortunate was that no one was home at that moment. However, it did shake the neighbourhood and the residents committee to look into possible attempts in improving the security around the neighbourhood.

Being a president of the neighbourhood, there was truly nothing I could do except to show concern to my neighbour. I took the initiative to call another neighbour residing opposite the unfortunate neighbour to request if we could view his CCTV recordings in the hope to find any suspicious vehicles which parked outside my unfortunate neighbour's house the night the incident happened. We were blessed by his willingness to assist and hence had managed to bring our unfortunate neighbour a step closer to identifying the thieves who robbed his belongings.

What I witnessed in myself and also in my helpful neighbour today, even my brother whom I had called for assistance to see if he could help to abstract the related recording for backup, was compassion. A sort of compassion that did not see my unfortunate neighbour as a victim, but as someone whom we were willing to put our hearts out to assist. And in my role as a president, I saw the necessary function that I had to take on, to ensure the well being of the residents residing in this neighbourhood.

Just the other day, I was arguing with my teacher about the definition of compassion. I saw compassion then, in the space of being superior to others, i.e. seeing others as victim. But in today's experience, I begin to realise that there was another quality of compassion that did not require me to do so. Although I acknowledged my neighbour's unfortunate experience, it has also brought me to a space where there was a kind of new responsibility to improve the security surroundings of the neighbourhood, so that the loving residents in the community are being taken care of, so as to perform their personal and societal functions even more efficiently. Can you imagine the impact to the society then? The well being of one is of such importance to the stability and well being of the society on the whole!

I am glad to be blessed with such experience, for I learned. Something that I may not have understood from school, or reading, or speaking to someone. It is pure experiential. Now I can fully take up my role as a president not worrying about what others would have to say. During a later discussion after the viewing of the CCTV recordings, my neighbours assured of their support of my future decisions. It was as if a sort of trust was bestowed upon me, something that I had lacked in myself for being unsure if I was really that capable despite already been given that responsibility. They said to me, "Gerry, we have put you there so you could do something about it. As long as you know in your heart that you are doing it for the well being of the neighbourhood, you don't have to care what others say even if there will be some who will complain." That was something that I failed to see. I didn't see it as a responsibility to make decisions for the community for their well being; I saw myself as someone who was just carrying out 'their' instructions onto me. How would I know that I am not capable except for the fear of being responsible for myself and others? And how do I know that I am not capable if I carried out this function with my heart, with love?

I am ready now. And I shall do my best, from my heart. What I give to others, I give to myself.

First Ever Retreat at Janda Baik

I have never attended a retreat before, but somehow Angel inspired me to make this move. She told me, "we can have breakfast together... take a walk together... sleep together... dip our feet at the river together...." Ah, magical imaginations already!!

If you look carefully at the pictures you will notice that I was no where meditating near anyone.. lols! because I was busy meditating with my camera! lols! But it was fun in a way. My favourite time during the retreat was spending time with Angel, listening to BB and LF share on the workings of the Mind and Wisdom, plus some really fun games we played together as a team.

Hope you like the photos! It's my first attempt to photoshop some of these photos. :)