Musical Chairs, anyone?

When I was very young, I was rather shy and awkward. I was not a very competitive child. I remember I dislike playing games in a group because I do not understand what others were doing.

Just before school year is over there is always a party. One of the most popular games then is musical chairs. It is a simple game. The objective of the game is to find a seat when the accompanying music stops. The trick is that there is always one chair less than the number of participants. As the game progresses each person without a seat will be removed together with a chair. Needless to say as the chairs become less, there will be more frantic pushing, running and screaming. At the end there will only be one chair and two persons wanting to sit on it. And everyone of course will like to know who will get the ‘Chair’.

Congruently this is happening in the Perak State Government. Currently there are two Mentri Besar (State Chief Ministers) and two Speakers of the House. Likewise in the game there are a lot of shoving, pushing and noise. It will be very interesting to see who gets to sit down when the music stop.

Songs For My Mother.

Last weekend my friend Mok gave me a CD 'Songs for My Mother' by Ronan Keating. For the first time I played the CD in the car on the way to work. I am not a big fan of Ronan or boy's band for that matter. The collection of songs is perfect if you are over 40 because you will probably heard all of them before. Ronan sang 'Time after Time' a Cyndi Lauper classic. This song always choked me up. I am glad I caught Cyndi in Singapore many years ago. Ronan also sang 'Both Sides Now'. I remember my friend Walter Knight teaching me this song while sitting on the school field 38 years ago! Some songs are just meant to last.

Fresh Start

After several weeks without rain, the residents in Kuala Lumpur was just so glad that they had a downpour yesterday afternoon. The sudden deluge may caused inconvenience to some but I am sure they did not mind. The rain was a great respite to the unbearable heat. I missed this event because where I sit in the office is just too far for me to see and hear the falling drops. But in the wee hours of the night the rain came again. The loud drumming of the droplets against the windows woke me from my slumber. I dug deeper into the warmth of my furry blanket and within minutes was fast asleep again. Within that brief awareness, the clock told me it's only three something. The next thing I knew the pesky clock was insisting I wake up for work. From my bedroom windows I could see the ground was wet and I could smell the freshness in the air. As I walked to my car I can feel the insistent light caress of tiny drops on my balding pate. Wet cool mornings are my favorite and I hope the rain will come again, soon.