It takes skill to K.I.S.S.

red kiss neon light signage on dark lit room
K.I.S.S. (Photo by Tim Mossholder on Pexels.com)

It takes skill to K.I.S.S.

In Apathy, unfeelingly , I like what a fellow blogger, K.K. commented. “Short and crisp!” Not that it’s like crunchy potato chips, but it reminds one that it takes skill to K.I.S.S. (keep it short and sweet)!

potato chips
Crunchy potato chips (Photo by icon0.com on Pexels.com)

I used to summarize CVs ( 1-4 pages long) and lengthy abstracts to fit them into conferences’ program brochures. They were good exercises for me.

And if one can carry forth a point in 50 words instead of 500 words, I would prefer the shorter one.

Practise K.i.s.s.-ing!

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Quote:-

A writer should have the precision of a poet and the imagination of a scientist. – Vladimir Nabokov

Dual perspectives: Religion versus spirituality?

Dual perspectives: Religion versus spirituality?

woman wearing white off shoulder dress
Photo by Lucas Pezeta on Pexels.com

Religion or spirituality?

Both teaches one to be good and do good.

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Quote:

  1. “…This is why I sometimes say religion is something we can perhaps do without. What we cannot do without are these basic spiritual qualities (such as love and compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, a sense of responsibility, a sense of harmony, which bring happiness to both self and others. )- Dalai Lama

I am still learning how to cook

I am still learning how to cook

I saw an interesting recipe today.

I have never tried using sour cream in my cooking all my life. Tomorrow I will go buy a pack of sour cream to try this recipe.

You see, I am still learning … !

Cooking (Photo by Live on Shot on Pexels.com)

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Sunset-Is the town on fire?

Sunset-Is the town on fire? ( Poem- a haiku)

The sun is setting,
burning in the horizon.
before it exits.

Is it a fire in the horizon? (Courtesy of YH Tan, Athlone, Ireland)

My nephew took this picture in Ireland. It looks like a fire in the horizon!

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COVID-19, new social and environmental phobias.

COVID-19, new social and environmental phobias.

elderly people slowly going up the stairs
Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.com

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Try not to use the lift;
confined space, poor ventilation!
Let walk up, it's healthier!😐

Try to avoid crowded area;
social distancing, 
let not go at peak hours!
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Sigh, these people on the next table are talking so loud and non- stop!
(They took off their masks because they are supposed to be EATING!)
Let move to another table further away!
Avoid close contacts!
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https://www.who.int/images/default-source/wpro/countries/malaysia/infographics/three-3cs/final-avoid-the-3-cs-poster.jpg?sfvrsn=638335c1_2

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The daily COVID-19 number is not receding yet.

Subconsciously, I find that I am developing new phobias.

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Gift of life: Have you donated blood before?

Gift of life: Have you donated blood before?

blood bags on white background
Photo by Charlie-Helen Robinson on Pexels.com

That year, I took a group of nursing students to a blood bank as part of haematology clinical experience. Most of them decided to donate blood that morning. I did, too, upon their persuasion.

I was ashamed to admit that it was my first time. But it was a satisfying experience to have contributed to a gift of life!

Have you donated blood before? Do you even know what blood group you belong to, in case of an emergency?

hand holding cardboard sign at protest
Photo by Mathias P.R. Reding on Pexels.com

Quote:-

Donating one unit of blood may save the lives of up to three people. – the American Red Cross.

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Merging cultures, the beauty in diversity

Merging cultures, the beauty in diversity

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“I want four packets ‘nasi lemak’.

More ‘chilli and sambal please’!”

“It’s very, very ‘hot’, boy! Lu boleh tahan chilli? (you can stand the chilli?)”

“Bolih, Mak Cik, no problem!”

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Some pick with chopsticks

some with fork and spoon

or better still, with fingers

Oh, a versatile tool at hand,

only that, the food would slip

through my fingers

before they reach my mouth!

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Some are good in arts,

some in workman skills,

some have head for figures

some for business and economy.

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Over time, with adaptation

and enculturation

leading to a new cultural synthesis

in languages, pronounciations,

fashions, lifestyles, and food.

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Such is a beautiful melting pot

of differing elements

each has its own beauty and strengths

that one should respect and be respected.

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Quotes:

1. Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilization. ~Mahatma Gandhi

2. When everyone is included, everyone wins. ~Jesse Jackson

  • Nasi Lemak, please!

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I had a dream

I had a dream (Poem)

Last night I had a dream. I went bowling. I had many strikes and spares! Then the first thing I read this morning was ‘no dream‘! Here is my poem that echoes the song by Westlife : “I have a dream “!

I had a dream (Photo by Ron Lach on Pexels.com)

I had a dream, a series of ‘things’,
to carry on in blishful blinks.
If you see the wonders, of a fairy tale,
if you see the devils, in the darkness spell.
I believe in angels, that protect us in the realm of a dream,
‘cos in a dream, a dream’s a dream…

-Serena Chen@TPTan, 23 June 2021

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Students and their emotional baggage.

Students and their emotional baggage.

group of people wearing face mask
Young students and their emotional baggage (Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com)

I have taught diploma nursing students as well as degree and working nurses. The former group seems to have more unresolved issues than the latter. I got them to write an essay about their family and discovered the amount of emotional baggage some of them carried!

“I hate my lecturer parents! They are so strict! I have to go back home before 10.00 pm, and I can’t stay overnight at my friends’ house!” Some of the classmates agreed. But some explained that her parents were strict because they loved her! Now she is a successful entrepreneur and has teenaged children herself!

“My father used to beat us at home. He died of cancer when we were young. If God can give me my father back, I don’t mind being beaten a thousand times every day!” This girl got the whole class crying, including me! Now she is a nurse manager. She has two young boys.

Quote:

  1. “Emotional baggage is like the dead skin of a snake. If you don’t shed it, how can you grow emotionally?” ― Khang Kijarro Nguyen
  2. “…anger helps us repel forces that are detrimental to our survival and well-being.”- Dalai Lama

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Writing on an almost-deserted Covid-19 morning

Writing on an almost-deserted Covid-19 morning

I hung the clothes at the balcony. My family had reminded me to take my daily dose of vitamin D. But the sun was just rising. And the street lights were still on. So I stood and watched on.

joyful asian woman near rope with painted fabrics
Hanging clothes (Photo by Teona Swift on Pexels.com)

A lonely bus passed by. A lonely masked passenger slept against the window. She probably could not work from home.

I heard an approaching conversation blocked by the top of a tree. It seemed loud on a silent morning. Three men and a woman walked by leisurely as if they owned the whole width of the road! They skewered to the roadside at the sound of oncoming vehicle.

I was distracted by something darting about below. Two squirrels were chasing each other playfully around the pots of plants, while the morning birds criss-crossed up above. A lonely basketball stood at a corner of the garden, untouched for many moons already!

Where are the noisy school buses and the many parent- chauffeured school children? Where are the masked traffic-minders?

And I started to write on my mobile on this Covid-19 morning.

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