The Old Feeling

Sharing from the heart

Dad woke up very early last Sunday and insisted on a walk to his favourite spot in town. The idyllic ethos of Muar is a good getaway from the busy city and it is during such moments that matters of the heart are best shared.

Even from his school days, this has been the spot where he would spend hours as an angler hoping for a catch for dinner. He told me that the town by the seaside and close to nature is in tandem with his heart's desire to retire in. The next thought quickly came in : "What about the children?" They would not like to stay here. Dad retorted and said "Do you expect them to stay with us?" Yea. I forgot they are not ours to hold and cherish forever. Have I not realised that this is reality? I forgot they are already adults. But dad... we must be around for them whenever they need us; so we must be close and near enough and yet not exactly with them? How far can we shield them?

Then dad spotted these fishes. He told me that he just learnt their name through a documentary in National Geographic a couple of days ago...the Archer fish. Why archer? So unique. He told me that it is because of the way they catch their prey. Whenever a possible prey is within reach, the fish would spurt out water from its mouth as if to target its victim by paralysing them. Believe it or not we saw it happening before our eyes ! We saw the spurt of water but it was a futile effort as it could not catch its prey. Nevertheless, I marvel again at the way God has created them and given them a way to fend for themselves. Every creature created has a defence mechanism which will see them through life. I must remember that.

In the middle of the river, we saw this barge. Dad very convincingly told me that it is a sand barge. How did he know? He told me that when he was building the Santubong bridge connecting Damai Beach to the mainland in Sarawak, he used to stand on top of the barge making sure that the sand is probably discharged for specific use. True enough we spotted traces of sand as it moved closer. He shared that the barge was most likely transporting sand to Singapore...oh; not another issue of contention again, I hope.

Then he told me that there was a tug boat in front of the barge. It was probably helping the vessel to move against the current and to make sure that the barge is carefully manoeuvred when going under the bridge. There was another smaller tug boat pushing from the opposite end; both are efforts to push and lead the barge. Don't papas and mamas also do the same thing? We hope and pray that our children would not go astray with wrong decisions and take all possible precautions to align them to the right path. We work against currents at times but we are not afraid of hard and tedious effort so long as the end is achieved. But at the same time we have to allow them to make mistakes and give them room to grow when mistakes are made. We can only pray the mistakes committed are redeemable ones; a result of tireless guidance. Somehow, good teaching will not be in vain; right decisions will still prevail and our children will still turn out fine.

Look at the concerted effort of the tug boats...finally but surely the barge successfully made its way under the bridge and 'bingo' all the way south to its destination. We also want 'bingo' moments for our children.

Strolling along the easy town, pa says the owner of this little corner unit is clever to create a niche...little cafe. Come drink coffee and be happy.

"Siow, siow" ... meaning the little one is captivating in its ethos. The next time in my retirement days I may just visit the place with my friends. Strange, I really have not 'yum-cha' with anyone before. No, I am not an anti-social; I need to be more sociable only.

Retirement in Muar? Let me think about it.