May you rest in peace Swee Len, I will miss you dearly my friend...

This blog is written to pay tribute to a primary school classmate whom tragically fell to her death on 14 January 2011 at Radisson Hotel, Amsterdam. The late Chin Swee Len was my primary school classmate for six years in Convent Primary School in Kajang, and thereafter we were schoolmates when we went to Convent Secondary School, Kajang. Frankly, I don't really know her very well as we were not very close when we went to school together, however, I can say Swee Len was a very sweet and nice person.

Swee Len's untimely and shocking death has jolted many of us who knew her from our school days to a surreal and brutal reality that in this rat-race and materialism-infested world, quality balance in life could be worth nothing at all. Swee Len, like many of us working-class people often would have to endure many hardships in order to "make it in life".

My heart aches terribly  for her family who has to endure her untimely demise. There are no words I could find to describe this loss as only a friend, I cannot imagine the kind of immense impact it will have on Swee Len's family, especially on her husband and her only child. All I could do is pray and hope that her family will be able to come to accept her death and be at peace with this unprecedented blow of fate.

Swee Len and I found each other on Facebook in 2009, when I was then working as an administrative officer in a Malaysian public university and Swee Len had been working for Malaysia Airlines System (MAS) as a cabin crew. We managed to communicate on Facebook 18 years after we left school to chart our respective career paths. I was actually very happy to have found her and many other friends whom we went to school together.

I'm so lost for words that I really do not know what to say. Swee Len, I really wished we could meet each other face-to-face after such a long time but now it's just only a wishful thinking. May you rest in peace my friend and I know you will take care of your husband and child as how you would when you were alive. And I would like to offer the following prayer to you and your family:

My soul rest in peace in God alone;
    my salvation comes from Him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation;
    He is my fortress, I will never be shaken.
Psalm 62:1-2

Amen.

Review: The Longest Trip Home: a memoir by John Grogan

Title : The Longest Trip Home: a memoir

Author : John Grogan

Year : 2008

ISBN : 978-0-340-97899-3

The Longest Trip Home: a memoir by John Grogan explores the journey of the author's life in an intimate manner. Grogan told a story about his life growing up in a devout Roman Catholic working-class family in a suburb near Detroit, Michigan in a candid manner.

His life although being brought up by his extremely strict and religious parents, however, Grogan's childhood had an interesting and out-of-the-ordinary twist to it. As he grew up during the counter-culture era in America, Grogan managed to chronicled some milestones he had witnessed while growing up that would eventually shaped the country's social and cultural landscapes.

Grogan was also being honest in telling the challenges and problems he faced with his parents while growing up and it was a story many readers who grew up in a similar era to the author would be able to identify and relate to. He has managed to keep readers spellbound as an excellent story teller, a skill Grogan picked up during his high school years of being the school's newspaper editor. Grogan's journalistic pursuits bode well for him as they proved him to be an excellent story teller and great writer of our time.

This book is highly recommended for readers who enjoy reading real life stories about ordinary people and the challenges these people face in their life. Books about real life would often impart some moral and universal values in which readers like me could learn to apply them in life and for a valid reason too.

Review: The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling

Title : The Tales of Beedle the Bard
Author : J.K. Rowling
Year : 2008
ISBN : 978-0-7475-9987-6

The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling is a collection of wizarding children stories not unlike muggle (non-magical) children stories, which inculcates moral and universal values. This book is actually a spin-off from the Harry Potter series, i.e. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The list of the stories found in the book are:

• The Wizard and the Hopping Pot
• The Fountain of Fair Fortune
• The Warlock's Hairy Heart
• Babbity Rabbity and Her Cackling Stump
• The Tale of the Three Brothers

Out of the five stories, The Tale of the Three Brothers was told in full in a chapter in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The other four stories were only passingly mentioned in the said book. These stories is a refreshing change from the usual muggle children's stories like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, The Three Little Pigs and Goldilocks and the Three Bears; with equal emphasis on moral and universal values.

Fans of the Harry Potter series will find The Tales of Beedle the Bard a delightful read and addition to this series. Rowling has managed to weave her unique brand of magic yet again to keep readers spellbound and entertained with this book. What is more, a portion of the sale of The Tales of Beedle the Bard would benefit The Children's High Level Group, a non-governmental organisation in which Rowling had co-set up to help disadvantaged children in Europe.

My verdict of this book is it should be a must-read for children and adults alike. Everyone, including myself would be able to learn at least a value or two from this book; just as how we have learned moral and universal values from reading muggle children's stories as young children.