Across Time and Death

Do you believe in reincarnation? (I do, as a Buddhist this concept was not at odds with what i was brought up to believe.)

This is a rather short but interesting read on the account of Jenny Cockell who grew up having dreams about her past life as Mary. 

Those dreams haunted her entire life, because Mary died at a premature age of thirty five years old, leaving behind a brood of kids under the care of an alcoholic and abusive husbands. 

Even as a small child she possessed maternal instinct and would worry incessantly about her children who she left behind. 

Tormented by maternal worries for her children, whom by now would be old enough to be her parents, she set out on an extraordinary adventure to find them all. 

It's a very good read, but it's a non fiction so don't expect the thrills of fictional stories. 

You don't have to agree with reincarnation to read about that book. Yes you will maybe end up doubting your faith, but as i have always said, a belief that cannot stand up to scrutiny and questioning probably isn't worth believing at all. 

The Age of Five

*probably of little value to you, more for chronicling than anything

Just finished these three books a few days back. 

One of my impulse purchases, but at least this time i called my brother and told him to share the cost before i splurged. He hasn't paid me though (yes i know you are reading, heh), but that's beside the point. 

Anyway it's Trudi Canavan's work and you can easily spot the semblance between the Age of Five series and her previous work (The Black Magician Trilogy). But that does not make the books any less exciting or more predictable. 

The gripping story revolves around Ithania, rather than Kyralia in The Black Magician Trilogy. 

It is called the Age of Five as opposed to the Age of Many. The War of the Gods in the past age killed every god but the last 5. The northern Kyralia worships the circle of 5 victors and calls themselves Circlian. I found it a ridiculous choice for a name, but i could easily overlook that soon enough. They even made the circle sign with both hands in greetings. 

The mysterious southern Ithania calls themselves Pentadrians, and worships 5 gods previously unknown to the North. An army is raised to conquer and convert the North to Pentadrian religion, led by their powerful Voices of the Gods who wield enormous power. 

The Whites, the Voice's northern counterpart, has to answer the call of war with armies assembled from their Alliance, but years of prosperity has lessened the number and weakened the will of their soldiers. And they do not have ferocious beasts such as Vorns (huge wolves) and the huge black birds to call upon. They will just have to make do with the Siyee, a fascinating new race capable of flight, created by the god Huan.

Facing a stronger enemy, they will have to rely on their latest member of the White, Auraya. Her strength, combined with the other Whites, will determine the victor of the clash, the first war in Ithania in centuries since the War of the Gods. 

Expect lots of elements of forbidden love, deceptions, betrayal, violence, gods and magics. It makes a really good read. 

Trudi Canavan's next novel will only come in 2009. 

For now i will have to be patient and wait till August, when Terry Brooks' latest installment of the Genesis of Shannara will be released. 

Until then, i have these to keep me happy.  

Thanks Ah Sir for the books! 

The Last Lecture

The Last Lecture. The video on his lecture can be found here. 

I spent this Saturday with Pacey and 2 other friends. After we had lunch in Raffles City, I saw MPH on my way to toilet. As always, i was unable to resist going in, only to come out clutching 3 books in my hand, and 40 bucks poorer. 

I really have got to stop this bad habit of impulse purchase now that i am getting more cash-strapped. 

Anyway 'The Last Lecture' is a really good read. Like 'Tuesday with Morrie', it is about a dying man. But unlike Morrie, Randy Pausch was a man at the prime of his life when he discovered he had pancreatic cancer, probably the cancer with the worst prognosis. To make the matter worse, his kids were all really young. The eldest boy was barely 6. The youngest toddler was so young that she probably would not have any recollection of what her father was like. 

He needed to leave a legacy for his kids. One day his children will grow up and yearn to know who their father really is. 

There is a tradition of professors in Carnegie Mellon giving their last lecture of their lives. 

He knew immediately that was what he needed. He gave his on 18th September 2007, his wife's birthday. The last one that would ever have him around singing Happy Birthday. 

His story was just so magnificent.  

It made me feeling foolish to be mulling over my failure all these days. It made me realise that there were more pressing matters in life than to mourn my failure. I was being so petty.  

Reading the book was like immersing myself in his wisdom, and i did so in awe. 

Below are a few excerpts that i would like to share. They resonated with my being. 

It has not always been easy to stay positive through my cancer treatment. When you have a dire medical issue, it's tough to know how you're really faring emotionally. I had wondered whether a part of me was acting when I was with other people. Maybe at times I forced myself to appear strong and upbeat. Many cancer patients feel obliged to put up a brave front. Was I doing that, too?

Too often we feel it necessary to put up a brave front. I certainly am guilty of that too. 

He remembers me telling him:"I know you're smart. But everyone here is smart. Smart isn't enough. The kind of people I want on my research team are those who will help everyone else feel happy to be here."

This sounds like a good piece of advice for all of us who are too full of ourselves. 

Start-up companies often prefer to hire a chief executive with a failed start-up in his or her background. The person who failed often knows how to avoid future failures. The person who knows only success can be more oblivious to all the pitfalls. 

Maybe there's a purpose to my failure after all. I was, after all, not looking out for pitfalls often enough. 

All in all this is an invaluable glimpse into Randy's wisdom and optimism as he faced his terminal disease. Especially for us who will be/are medical professionals. 

To Kill a Mockingbird

The cover of the version i have

My dad wanted me to study in Mandarin school, while my mum was more fond of English education. She even told me once that it would be ideal to have one kid (my elder brother) studying in Mandarin School, and another kid to 'tak ang moh chek' (study in English-medium school,in hokkien). My dad was adamant though, and in the end mum relented, sending me to Sum Sun Primary School.

Sek Ren is short for Sekolah Rendah, Primary School in Malay. The centre of the flower contains  the characters 三山  which means three hills literally, and where the name anglicised Sum Sun was derived from. 

I wonder how different my life would chart its paths had mum persisted. 

Lang Tengah, a pristine island resort adjacent to Redang. Could be where the founders were inspired to call my school Sum Sun, heh. What if there were only 2 peaks? Twin peaks sounds awfully female....

Anyway i had digressed, rather severely. All i wanted to say was that being brought up in a Mandarin language school my exposure to English classics was really wanting. I was totally absorbed in Enid Blyton's Secret Seven, Famous Five etc when i was in primary school, but those weren't the classics that i meant.

Reading 'To Kill a Mockingbird' was such a pure joy for me. I wouldn't even try to describe how beautiful the book is; just read it if you haven't. 

'Shoot all the bluejays ceejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird'  

-To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

Beautiful, isn't it?