Into the fourth week of my self-declared and unforced alcohol-free world, the world is not exactly any different from before and the mind doesn’t feel as sober as I hope it would. There were people asking all sorts of questions and making snipe remarks, mostly well intentioned, I hope, ranging from “Are you ill?” “How…
Today is Ash Wednesday and marks the beginning of Lent, which traditionally for Christians is a period for deeper reflection on one’s weaknesses and on how one can improve oneself through prayers, alms giving and abstinence or fasting with a view to getting closer to God. Today’s readings at Mass remind us that when one…
I had an urge to write a supplement to my year ender, and when it did not materialize, a New Year message, outlining resolutions for the year and my outlook for the year and so on. There are a number of reasons for so doing, first among which is that this year would mark a…
Let me begin with a hearty and sincere greeting to all my friends in many circles both in Hong Kong and overseas, including some readers of my letters whom I might not know personally. I wish all of you out there and your families and loved ones a happy and joyous holiday season ahead. I…
Apart from Su who came to see me twice a day, a few friends came to visit me while I was in QMH. They brought reading materials, food and most important of all, love and laughter. I went down to the coffee shop with some of them and we had a great time. A friend…
By now I have been out of QMH for two weeks. The hospital never told me what caused my fever. I don’t know how many or what tests they have run on my blood samples, but I suppose no news is good news. There is a classic Buddhism teaching which runs like this: when a…
I left off with the news that I was allowed to leave Queen Mary Hospital (QMH) just when I described the circumstances against which I was admitted. Somehow I muddled through another ten days with the last three spent in; surprise, surprise; Kuala Lumpur. But let me get back to QMH, lest my first and…
I can hear it, “Queen Mary?” Yes, this is none other than the Queen Mary Hospital, which must be fast becoming an institution of Hong Kong, of the collective memory category. This was where both my children were born, where Rosita spent her last month and where I bade farewell to quite a few friends….
It is now almost three weeks since I came back from the Camino. I had kept enough notes on my fellow walkers and the three other friends who left us in Sarria that could fill up two letters of average length, but I decided not to put them in print because I don’t feel I…
I have a habit of making notes, or trying to do so, when I am traveling alone. It dated back to the days when I used to keep a diary, which was when I was an undergrad. I had an aspiration to be a scientist, which by definition is someone who is highly disciplined and…
