MALAYSIAN HAIKU/SENRYU ECHOES 614: CHORES AND CHAOS

spring sweep in shelter

silvery strands strewn on floors

season’s stressful stint

chores choke at corners

dust and dirt dwell on hoarding

less to free chaos

throw-away buying

waste is private affluence

deprive others’ right

Note:

I read Erich Fromm’ book “To Have or To be” several decades ago (First Published in 1976). Recently I have seen my old wife doing Spring -Cleaning, when the house is not really dirty, not perfect, but clean enough. Many other housewives do the same, and then suffer the aches and pain of excessive work. I do help a little, vacuum the floors before she mops. I notice more silvery strands strewn on the floors, due to the stress. The more furniture and fixtures, the more one has to bend to wipe and sweep. We clutter and then declutter in this market driven technology and advertisement. In our modern world, having is a status symbol and shows ease of living. These days, most of the things are not made to last, otherwise factories will close down and workers out of jobs. We have advanced fast in science and technology, but inwardly we are the same 50 years or more ago. The entanglement of private property, profit and power are still the same, but expressed differently. (The Latin word for private means to deprive another.) Authority and its power are entangled in it. US and the advanced rich nations have the obsession to stay supreme, to be in control of industry. Human Rights and Truth are just excuses for them.

I welcome any comment and discussion.

The pictures are copied-pasted from the web, with appreciation to their owners,

MALAYSIAN HAIKU & SENRYU ECHOES 611: FICKLE FORECAST

dark clouds and drizzle

flash and thunder under trees

strike in heaven”s way

rain drops fall on head

drizzle on bright sunny day

turn back, shine again

living with changes

walk the way or swear at sky

mind, weather or wrath

Note:

We face all kinds of woe and misery in a post pandemic world. The simplest daily problem is the unpredictable weather, especially in the coming months with the election. For the seniors, the travel is challenged, not only by the rain and flood, but also by traffic jam, and finding toilets to pee. In Malaysia, it’s much easier; no one will video a senior doing their natural download behind the bush. The same cannot be said in Singapore. The walking tracks in Singapore are excellent, paved and anti-slippery, lined by slogans to remind citizens to greet another, and defibrilator on stand by, and lots of lamp posts and CCTV, but no toilets in some long stretches. It’s hard to even do it in the bush, with so many CCTV around, and busybodies ( they have yet to reach the age to understand such problems). The pets have more rights than seniors, only the owners have to pick up the poo, not the pee. Well, I walk daily, whether in Malaysia or in Singapore, and my geographical confine is limited by my knees and bladder problems, though my prostate is normal. I have to readjust and balance my exercises, not excessive, and yet enough to overcome sarcopenia and osteopenia, and the weight, and related heart, lungs illnesses.I walk alone, but some prefer in groups.There are relative pros and cons for each, but in Malaysia, we meet before depart to greet hello and chat,even to strangers and other races. We have toopen our hearts, for another to open theirs. Perhaps people living in big city are more concerned about privacy.

Many of my poetry comes to me during the walk; they come uninvited.

The pictures are all copied-pasted from the web, with appreciation to their owners.

MALAYSIAN HAIKU ECHOES 605: FALLEN LEAVES

落叶归(生)根

fallen leaves on ground

no earth for seedlings to grow

carry off by wind

prosper thy neighbour

seeds sprout into giant trees

with flourish garden

(Fallen leaves return to their roots– to revert to one’s origin)

hard to decouple

centuries of linked culture

beyond boundaries

Note:

I was amused my PM Lee speech in Chinese. He changed the third character of a common chinese proverb,落叶归根 (fallen leaves return to their roots as nutrients) to 落叶(生)根 (fallen leaves must be rooted to grow ). After their sojourn in another land, many Chinese will return to their home land (China). Of course, these are our ancestors (not my grand father, or father); for generations they stay in their new place as loyal citizens. There are reasons for their failure to get rooted and grow locally. Singaporeans, whether Chinese, Indians or Malays have no such concern , as long as the laws are fair and just. Malaysian Chinese wish to be rooted and settled in Malaysia, but, unlike Singapore, they face racial discrimination. The tribal war drum is sounded again. Dignity is lost not due to greasy hands, but others using chopsticks. The talented and rich ones migrate to Singapore and elsewhere. The problem is more relevant to us than to Red Spot.

The implication is Chinese must decouple their China link, and adopt a more local context and reference. (Uncertain the reasons why the other races were not mentioned at all.) I think such angst is over rated, for Chinese are always very practical minded people. I am English educated, but I enjoy reading Chinese poetry and literature, and even politics in China. There are no conflict in my interest.

I watched Chinese movie, Sword Snow Stride, and the protagonist defended on the idiocy of taking sides, either support one or the other, like the rest. He had the freedom to chose both (or rather his own) perspective , with his own creative reasoning and logic, with morals in mind. Maybe it’s an inclusive rather than exclusive choice, in the Tao of daily living. However, we could not have two sets of rules or double standards, as we observe in the politics of the confused talented. Otherwise the chaos will be endless. Personal or national interest are always hidden behind their bold statements.

Nature has taught us where there is death, there’s rebirth, or renew.

MALAYSIAN HAIKU/SENRYU ECHOES 604: LOOTING LEGACIES

wash dirty linens

bare family feuds and stains

strained, stubborn set in

Note:

Today I received a forwarded mail about two kleptocrats, darting at each other. It is a vision of a strange kind; not the failed 2020, but the mindset of failed leaders in falling states. Back luck to our generations of youngsters, for their rebirth here.

Some readers thought haiku must be about nature, but what is nature or what is really natural is not for the individual poet to write. It’s absurd to state that nature may be unnatural at times, and it is also subject to changes like all conditioned beings or events.

MALAYSIAN HAIKU/SENRYU 601: GREEN ESCAPE

varied shades of green

nature dominant colour

sooth and relax soul

landscape in mindscape

green variegated spaces

for brains to take break

green spaces restore

nature in eco system

and climate changes

MALAYSIAN HAIKU/SENRYU ECHOES 599: GRANDEUR GARDEN

MALAYSIAN HAIKU/SENRYU ECHOES 599: GRANDEUR GARDEN

elevated loop

step in shade of giant trees

stand tall for nation

serenity stroll

stress break from insanity

nature in good hands

Note:

Recently the infected people has soared to 20K +in Malaysia , an d Singapore fared no better at 10K +, but with more death in the former nation. The air tickets are expensive, and the risks of traveling are high. Since we have shifted to a condominium unit back home, it is safer for us to stay at Singapore, with more space and safety for us.

Yesterday we wore our N 95 for a two hour boardwalk at a more isolated section of Singapore Botanical Garden. The crowd peaks at weekdays , and not on a Sunday early morning. Scattered sunlight filtered through the thick foliage provides good ambience for a refreshing and serene stroll. Poets called it “windfall light”, “shivelight”, “shafts of delicious light”, or “God’s light” (for the religious minded). It is NOT the word described, but the feeling of elation and peace, in a chaotic world bombarded with covid 19 everywhere, and has no safe place to hide. An hour or two of relaxed walk in a park is a great escape in such turbulence – a change in a changing world.

In ex or post colonial nations, with exceptions of few anglophile countries, not many have done well in the pandemic (or endemic, if one feels better with the term). Outside the cool shade of towering giant heritage trees, I see my own shadow tails me from all all directions, appearing and disappearing without any mark.

MALAYSIAN HAIKUu/SENRYU ECHOES 598: COOPERATIVE ERE CRACKS

curve soar, not flattened

together but torn apart

drift away by heat

survive through the cracks

right at opportune moment

smart to be alert

Note:

Today is Chinese Universal Birthday for All, a shared dream or rather a shared delusion. Beijing Winter Olympic starts on 4th February, 2022, which is the first of 24 solar terms of Chinese lunar calendar. It brings the first warm breeze. There is nothing to hide that the “snow”is 100% artificial, certainly not the first in the world. Yet the Western Media made issue out of this, with poor intent. The superlative Olympian spirit of higher, faster and stronger in competition is merged with “Together We Stand”. The first three are obvious, but not the last most important principle. I think it is very brave and daring for Eileen Gu, an American Chinese to cross over as China athletes in a very controversial historical period. (The Americans conveniently forget about their own history on migration, when talents flock over there . A reversal has happened.)The young these days think very differently, and racial identity and discrimination are less on their mind than in the seniors, perhaps.

The pandemic figures of infected have peaked higher and higher to an alarming rate. The curve have soared, not flattened, as the experts falsely predicted. The strange thing is , we have more liberalization than in the past in terms of social and political control. Many have lost faith in the experts and their leaders. Yes, many understand herd immunity, and in most people are mild illnesses, but the mortality figures are higher due to the percentage. It’s OK to be better immune, if you still survive the ordeal. The conflict between nations arouse lots of heat, and soon the “snow”will melt and split, and once gain, the rivers are back. The cooperation will shatter and drift away. In such chaos within a pandemic , with so many ills (economic, social, health etc), we each have to learn how best to survive within the cracks. The last 3 lines were inspired by Lian He Zao Pao,(Morning Papers) Singapore, today, on news about a smart Jewish family, living in Shanghai survived through their turbulent years.

All the pictures were copied and pasted from the web with appreciation to their owners.

MALAYSIAN HAIKU/SENRYU ECHOES 595:REINVENTING RECREATIONAL PARK

jaunt through steep jungle

sky bridge span across fringes

with safe overhang

elevated mood

saunter by treetop flora

park par excellence

Note:

We brought along our pet for a walk at Holt Park. It has been upgraded into a grand recreational horticulture cum educational park. In a small city state, it creates lots of interconnected parks out of forest fringes, and rivers out of monsoon drains. In Malaysia, we have excellent natural parks too, but they are soon rundown by poor maintenance. We turn rivers into seas (flood), and when the water recedes, into rubbish drainage. One may comment that it’s not fair to compare, but the two nations started at par level, in fact Malaysia, with all the resources, fair much brighter then. However, Vision 2020 ended with disaster, and endless PM and cabinet changes. The dominant race thought the solution , and not the cause, is due to inadequate racial integration or assimilation. Times have change, my grand kids keep reminding us, if we attempt to make them think outside the box.

Holt Park is an excellent walk, but unfortunately does not have toilets for seniors on the way. I asked my two primary school kids, what would I do, if I had urge to pee. Do I wet myself or do in nature, watering the tress, and add nitrogen and urea to enrich them? They replied it’s best to wet myself and clean up later. I replied, you pick up the dog poo, but not the urine? They seep through the holes of the bridge. In other words, there are more dog Right than human Right, and prostatism in senior is seen as a sin. More importantly, there are busy bodies who would spy and took a video and show in social media, in order to discredit the victim, without finding the real causes. Anyway, it’s too difficult for them to understand the issues, until they have reached that age.

Holt Park is an easy walk, perhaps seniors have to wear their pads, for planners (the young) hardly ever think of them. I find many people do not wear their masks, esp in groups. No one seem to take video on them and put them on social media. So it’s a matter of interest for the young.

MALAYSIAN HAIKU/SENRYU ECHOES 588: VILE OLD MAN

MALAYSIAN HAIKU/SENRYU ECHOES 588: VILE OLD MAN

fingers as chopsticks

control by choking Chinese

cultural symbols

cuisine with mom’s tongue

cut by overhanging sword

of vile chauvinism

blade held by thin hair

power evokes own danger

plunge and torment all

MALAYSIAN HAIKU/SENRYU ECHOES 586: HUMANE HUMANISM

lofty lotuses
arise from mud untarnished
buds unfurl and bloom

thrive in scorching sun
majesty and purity
lures love in living

Note:

I was once a medical volunteer for Tzu Charity Charity Foundation for many years, until I gave up my APC (medical certification) in my retirement. The Charity has attracted people from all religion, race and regions. A friend requested me to write a haiku so she could quote it in her concluding talk for a memorial service for a fellow christian doctor who had rendered her services for many years. She read my haiku and wondered whether Christians could accept the symbolism and meaning of Lotuses. I told her to ask the flower its faith and fate. I am uncertain whether she received a reply. To hear nature talk, just sit and observe carefully, see the extra ordinary in the ordinary. You then learn that the worry (the thinking) fades away. Human beings (being means consciousness or awareness) are too divisive into race, religion, regional powers. We talk about compassion, but unaware that the word is rooted in suffering (passion); we share similar suffering or grief in our daily living, even during pandemic.

Haiku has 3 lines only, with 5,7,5 syllables in each. Syllables are how words are pronounced in English, with vowel or consonant sounds.There are 2 haiku there to show movement. Diction (choice of words, vocabulary) is important, with alliteration of consonant “l” , b ,s, h sounds. The metaphors are evocative. There is brevity in haiku; one either gets the message or don’t.

I hope poetry, in whatever format, would not vanished , or extinct like dinosaurs. If intellectuals do not support my effort, at least don’t kill it. I have not won any prize to show it’s worthy of reading.

I shall publish a long haiku here in memory of Helen Vailiant. It is in response to Hellene photo challenge ( a pitch dark picture) with the theme of QUEST, with the phrase, “into the dark”, and exactly 99 words. This haiku is in my third book, if you have interest to buy.

LIFE’S QUEST

step into the dark
fumble around to find way
out in the open

begin with a quest
interrogative word game
what is life’s meaning

differ across time
with fast changing perspective
hunger for insight

options and choices
risks within imperfect world
adjust and attune

inner rhythm prevail
whining is not rap music
singing without beat

heed dying regrets
forgive wrongs without forget
build strength on setbacks

good begets virtue
flourishing fraternity
merits move hearts more

school degree and skill
must match mundane market needs
fairness fail and fade

content and concede
fortune, fame, longevity
fate bless in good faith