September 18, 2009

A Treasure Chest

Yesterday I was given a treasure chest.

What do I have in this treasure chest? Let me count my treasures:

I have a very very great and special family of very exciting and loving personalities which I started 35 years ago.

I have two loving and warm hearted sons-in-law.

I have four sisters and a brother and a superb mother.

I have uncles and aunties and grand aunts and grand uncles who are still around to lend a helping hand as any extended family would.

I have cousins and nieces and nephews and in laws and my children's in laws who are God sent.

I have school mates and class mates and later varsity mates who made my pursuit of education a wonderful and long lasting experience; who paved my life's journey with extraordinary blessings .

I have good friends who come from different countries of the world and have adopted Sarawak as their home. They have special places in their hearts for me as I have for them.

I have teachers and missionaries who shaped my character.

I have a very large number of colleagues who helped me along the way to enable to become more mature academically and the kind of person I am today.

I have a churchful of brothers and sisters who are always praying for and blessing one another.

And I have students who call me "teacher" whenever I meet them at the most remote schools where they are teaching or in so many different places in Sarawak where they work. Whether they are VIP or UP (it is UP UP UP - one told me that he was Unimportant People) they are all people with good hearts. They have made all my classrooms very exciting and memorable. Our shared paths of learning have been rewarding.

Now I am counting on seven girl friends who are like a constellation of stars in my universe in Miri. They are like the rainbow in the sky...adding cheers after a rain and providing hope in time of need. (one is not in the photo last night). I am happy in the thought that there are other constellations in my universe so I am not ruling out my other friends....

They contribute laughter and quick witted banter. They are more than just makan friends. They make me feel like a celebrity all the time and enjoy my presence( without fear or favour). Like the vinegar and the sweet and sour sauce and the salt and pepper (AND CHILLI) we all come together to form something which can tintillate the taste buds of all those around us.....They can be counted on when I have a puncture in a lonely road or I have to rush to the hospital for an emergency.


There are other special friends too elsewhere (cyberspace too) who have helped me in more ways than I can think of or thank them enough.....

And there are
strangers who offered a parking lot when I had a sick child in the car and was desperately circulating the car park in the hospital
neighbours who brought lemang and curry;neighbours who feed my dogs and water my plants when I am away
acquaintances who cheered me on when I took part in joggerthons or helped with a campaign to raise funds for the needy..who lent a helping hand....
ordinary citizens who give way in difficult traffic
angels unaware who have said kind words to me and to one another to make our circle a better one.....

My treasure chest is filled with people's good deeds and kind thoughts. It is also filled with good thinking and saving grace. I want to think that it is full to brim and overflowing with God's love.

My cup runneth over today and every day of my life.


And here are some photos of our getogether last night.....and my treasure chest...

No you cannot find gold and silver in my treasure chest....you can hear laughter and you can feel love and good will....you can feel the warmth of relationship...you can smell that sourish sweat of hardwork that people have put in to make our lives better.......

At this round table we are all equal partners in sharing our opinions and thoughts...

I like to think that this candle light is God's light shining on our earth...and giving us life.

These are layers and layers of goodness contributed by friends and loved ones and glued together by faith and hope and love....I could taste the bitterness of chocolate and at the same time the sweetness of the sugar...Yes we can take what life gives us with courage....

This is the tou hoo....the greatness of the tou hoo depends on the ingredients which are used to bring out a good flavour....we need the collective efforts of friends and relatives..to bring out the best in us.

This is the lotus root...from the depth of the pond a chef can bring the best taste of a simple root vegetable out and help nourish the body....like the lotus root we too can help nourish each other in spite of the lowly muddy pond bottom.

Many of us are like the deer running sometimes directionless in the wilderness. Our sinews are tough and yet when we well marinated we can become a very charming and presentable dish. Definitely our Creator knows what we can do and what can be done for us.

This is deep fried soft shell crabs....there is greatness in softness and gentleness.

An inspiring friend.

A thoughtful friend who chose the meaningful longevity noodles....

A friend who has a heart of gold...she is worth a million carat....

A friend who is practical and hardworking - a role model (she can do everything all by herself and remains a beauty).

A friend who is appreciative and sympathetic with good judgement.

The lady in pink is a friend who stands by you. She is a good teacher and counsellor.

And I would like to make a toast to good friends....cheers....and thanks ...

And every now and then I would to take a peep at my treasure chest and say " the world is good and God is great!" and I thank a friend for sending me a message yesterday first thing in the morning...."there are still good things out there...."

9 comments:

Ah Ngao said...

cheers..! good friends are like old vintage wine - taste real good.

Ensurai said...

Hi Ah Ngao
thanks for visiting....cheers to good friends...
Count your blessings every day!

Anonymous said...

Cikgu
I am sure you had a great day...
Wishing you all the happiness you deserve.
You are my inspiration...don't forget that.
I will be celebrating my Raya in West Malaysia...no open house this year here.

Hope to see you in December???
K.

Kamaliah

Yan said...

Don't forget yourself - you are one of the brightest jewels in the treasure chest of our Abba Father! I am honoured to be one among the jewels in the same treasure chest!

Ensurai said...

Yes You are the beautiful sapphire in my treasure chest...I am honoured to have you in it....I know just one phone call away....always cheers...

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

As I read your profile, I am sure that your birthday has changed. I even checked the wikipeadia to see when the dates were for Virgo as I don't follow the stars. I was right. You just had a birthday. Happy Birthday.

I think our lives must have been connected like what the Chinese say,"YU YUEN" and most of the time on me. Besides the fact that our dads were good friends.

You never knew it, you were this senior when I first started secondary school. You were sitting on the stage as a prefect, (was it head prefect) and you were the house captain of St. Marks. I was this green horn, who was never very good in the athletics. It was the first sports meet, and I couldn't clear even the first mark of the high jump. You and Peter Law were there encouraging me. Peter law said," Hard luck", the first time I ever heard those words. I was what you would say," It is more important to participate than to win."

You left school never know there was this little girl who never ceased to admire you.

I bet you were very surprised to get an email from me out of the blue. It was three years ago when I was doing research on rubber, and I came across your post. I was so pleased that you replied.

May be I am another of your treasures in your treasure box. Given the circumstances of how I "found " you again. I was actually following up the "Plight of the punans/penans" a topic that my anthropologist brother Henry had shared with my family email loop. I google searched and found your site. How happy I was, the more I read the more certain that you are you.

Your writing on the Boys Hostel of Methodist School on some of the boys like Billy Abit, Jamut brought me back to when I was 13. These boys and I were up in Kapit on our schools performing arts club to perform," Gypsy Queen." On the night of the production, I got sick and was nose bleeding profusely. Some of the senior boys carried me to the Kapit Methodist hospital (I think, because I spent the night there). I was quite embarrassed about this incident and told nobody. I thought it was all forgotten.

Apparently, it wasn't. Fast forward to 1999, my year's students had a 28th reunion. We had invited our teachers to revisit Sibu. Miss Jackie Fries stayed with me, before and after going to Sibu, when she was in Singapore. One of her ex students Cheng Hua Chuang invited her for lunch and I tagged along. During the lunch, they talked about Billy Abit and James Jamut. Then they talked about the Gypsy Queen, they talked about this little girl who got sick and how the boys had to carry her. I was embarrassed again, and admitted I was that little girl who was sick. Hua Chuang even suggested that I write to tell those "Iban" boys and thank them.

CY, reading your posts make it seem that I am a time machine and teleporter. Back to a land I left 35 years ago.

Ensurai said...

Gosh! Ann...
6 degrees of separation- yu yuen - fate - destiny - you call it whatever...we are kindred spirits just separated by age gap...which can be narrowed...

Correction - The Title of the play was :Gypsy Baron - If you check Sarawakiana you will find Maimunah's name there...and you would remember Jong Kong Chung as one of the generals...He was a cool looking guy...and how the Chinese girls were looking/ooooogling at him (cos he was one of the few Chinese stars)!!

those were fun days...

My dad loved chatting with your dad and they shared many good stories....about education etc. Unknown to them they would have one daughter each married to an indigenous!! I wonder if they were alive now what would they be talking about!


Thanks for bridging some of the gaps...We are indeed a fine pair of cyberfriends now.

thanks and God bless....

Ensurai said...

Kamaliah
Hope you have arrived in KL. And drive safely too if you are driving.

You are in my treasure chest - for being the cheerful and positive young student and always ready to learn and acquire knowledge....and being the helpful one.....

easechen said...

Is one of your friends Chris Lam from Sarikei (the one in black)?

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