To My Future Son:

:|

You may or may not exist in the unspecified future, but I have so much loving advice and nagging to give, and may not be around some times, so I shall write them here in advance.

To you who may or may not exist in the future, I will love you.

PS: If you're my daughter, I will love you all the same. I shall use "son" here because I identify better with the male gender. And it is spelt with only three letters instead of eight.

"Lost at Sea"

I haven't watched Life of Pi but I hope to one day (movie). It was the last nicest book I read(book).

Idle Mind

Lately, I have not been applying myself to anything. Many times in the past few months, I have felt strongly about various issues, but never committed myself to writing about it. There are a few reasons for this. Sometimes, after the moment passes, I convince myself that my thoughts about a matter aren't worth writing about. At times, I worry I might offend someone with what I write. I am aware that I am still naive about much of the world, and fear my childish take on things will invite wrath upon me; even now, I sometimes feel like deleting old posts. Then there is, of course, laziness, pure and simple.

I feel calmer now compared to a few years back, and have felt like I'm calming down gradually for a while. I do know I have been irritable and grating to be around, and have said many irresponsible things and done many irresponsible things. I can never take back what I have said or what I've done, I know. I can only say sorry (but as they say, 'sorry no cure'). The best I can do is ask that if I ever say something downright insulting/irresponsible/etc. in the future, slap me and let me know (if violence appeases you).

Of course, I hope people understand that I don't mean to say Slap Me literally.

Flower

This game is an experience.

Sights

A Day Walking

   Today, I saw a woman quarreling with a man at a hawker centre. The man was at a table with another man. The woman threatened to hit the man with a beer bottle she had seized from the table. I was eating my lunch, and I felt really horrible. People around were just looking. I hoped they didn't fight. I left without watching the confrontation play out.

   Today, at a playground, I saw an elderly man sitting on a bench playing with his grandson. The child looked around 1 years old. The man was wearing a simple sleeveless shirt and shorts, with both legs across the bench, with his grandson on his knees. He was singing a folk song to his grandson, while the grandson was looking around. It was peaceful. It was a hot afternoon a few birds were chirping around, and in the shade, there were only a few people passing by.

   Today, I saw a cat stalking a butterfly. The cat was orange, and reminded me of a cat I knew once. It had a blue collar; its owners must love it a lot because it looked clean and well fed. I watched as it stalked the orange butterfly across a grass field, with its shoulders hunched, its body close to the ground. The butterfly settled on a blade of grass. The cat stopped, retreated a little, and crouched. The butterfly slowly moved its wings, closing them and opening them, as if to test whether they were still working. The cat reared up; its hind legs aligned. It was preparing. The butterfly was still.

   The cat pounced. The butterfly flew away.

   The cat spared it a wistful glance, then lay down lazily on a nearby pavement.

   And then, I wondered - what am I doing in my life?

Rush

You know you're in deep shit
running out of time
everyone's in your way
no space to breathe
no time to think
They're catching up to you
on your coattails (what are those?)

come on, move it!
I see the end
chill, slow down
and then you realise
too late, too slow
you missed it

Goodbye

Watch this movie and I challenge you to not shed a single tear.





Hachiko, an Akita was born 8th in order in a litter on the 10th of November, 1923. His name is now synonymous with Loyalty in Japan. Well, it happened even before he died in 1935.


Hidesaburō Ueno, a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokyo, took Hachiko as a pet in 1924. They must have developed a very close bond, because at the end of every day, when the professor came back from work, Hachiko would be there at Shibuya Station to greet him. This happened everyday, until one day in May, 1925.

Shibuya Station in those days

On that day, Professor Ueno did not come. He had suffered a cerebral haemorrhage and died. Hachiko waited and waited, but still he did not come. Starting from that day, until the end of his life, Hachiko would wait at Shibuya Station for his master who would never come.


This story has been interpreted by many people as a story of loyalty. We see Hachiko's action as love and loyalty for his owner, and remember him for it. Though there are many other stories of loyalty from around the world (mostly regarding dogs, I wonder why), Hachiko's story seems to resonate the most with people. Well, it does with me, at least. Why?


Perhaps it is just that simple act of waiting and expectation. We will probably never know what Hachiko was thinking, but legend now goes that he continued to wait faithfully for his owner to return. It's that simple act of foolish innocence, that unwavering loyalty, belief, I think, that attracts us. If you were there, would you have admonished Hachiko? Would you have tried to make him understand that Professor Ueno is never coming back? If it was a child waiting for a father who left home, believing one day he would come back... would you feel the same?

Hachiko in his later years

Anyway, interestingly, the first bronze statue of Hachiko was unveiled before Hachiko's eyes, while he was still alive in 1934. Though this statue was recycled for the war effort later on (WW2?), a new one was erected in 1948. It's still there to this day - a memory, a story of loyalty.

There have been 2 movies made about Hachiko. One was made in Japan in 1987, and one was made in 2009 in the US, starring Richard Gere. I haven't seen the 'original' one yet, but I think they'd hit the heart in the same place. 

The music above is by Jan A.P. Kaczmarek, made for the American version.

PS: THEY STUFFED HIS BODY AND PUT IT ON DISPLAY IN A MUSEUM. His other remains were buried with Prof. Ueno.