My Saga Continuous Part 4 (The Little Prince and Old Town Ipoh)

“You can only see clearly through your heart”
– Fox, The Little Prince-

My third daughter, Allana gave me an illustrated version, hardbound copy of the book ” THE LITTLE PRINCE”.

It was so sweet of her to do that.

The Little Prince taught us that life is only worth living when it is lived for others, not for oneself and that it is important to look beneath the surface to find the real truth and meaning of a thing. It is the fox who teaches the Prince to see with one’s heart instead of just with one’s eyes.

Apart from that, “The Little Prince” taught me three valuable lessons in life.

1. SELF – DISCIPLINE

‘“It’s a just a question of self-discipline,” the little prince explained later. “First thing in the morning you look after yourself, you brush your teeth and wash your face, don’t you? Well, the second thing you must do is to look after the planet.”’

The Little Prince lives on his asteroid in peace, taking care of his volcanoes and watching his sunsets.

Do we get annoyed over the little and repetitive things that we are bound to do regularly?

How do we take care of the things that we have and the people around us?

Reading and writing require a lot of self-discipline. Over the years I learned that in reading you appreciate the value of “waiting” that eventually taught me to be more disciplined. When reading, I do not open the last page and sneak on the ending unless I read through all the pages. I wait patiently until the last page.  I also learned that reading will help us practice daily habits of discipline. Like for example, I do not jump on the next book unless I am done with the current book I read. Even though I must admit that certain books may not really be interesting at first, and you just want to simply drop it. But, no, don’t – every book no matter what it is bound to teach us a lesson or two.

Writing on the other hand taught me to value, appreciate, and take care of the things and the people around me. As I write carefully, I am as well very careful about how I treat people around especially my loved ones. I do not speak ill easily from them. My father used to tell me “if you have nothing good to say, just keep quiet”.

My children and I share the same passion and love for reading and writing. That may be the reason they have stayed grounded and disciplined despite all the challenges every single youth faces.

It would be really wise to teach our kids to love reading and be passionate about it.

We discovered an amazing bookstore last Sunday as we took another round of stroll in Old Town Ipoh.

Its “heaven on earth”  for book lovers like us. It used to be a bank back in the ’80s, and the shop has retained its original structure and even utilized the vaults as bookshelves.

And to my surprise, they are cheaper than most bookstores around, (mostly by 50%, I wonder why). I can stay there all day long and I wouldn’t mind.

They also house an amazing collection of specialized artworks, which is very interesting and pleasing to all lovers of art.

2. DON’T BE QUICK TO JUDGE OTHERS

‘“[My rose] filled me with her fragrance, she had brought joy to my life. I should never leave her. I should have recognized what a sensitive sweet soul there was under all her rather silly games.’”

Do we judge others based on what they say rather than what they do?
We are quick to judge people based on their appearance. But as I fell in love with Old Town Ipoh on my second visit, I realized that the popular saying “the first impression is lasting” may not always be true. It is therefore imperative that we take a second look at people before we create an impression about them on our minds. The Little Prince, was very quick to judge the Rose, but it was only when he left his planet that he realized how precious the Rose is for him;  and that no matter how many roses there would be in other planets, his Rose would only be the one made for him.

Do we need to wait until we lost the ones we love before we realize how much they mean to us and how much we need them in our lives?

Or are we so quick in judging others that we lose the chance of meeting and being with wonderful people who may help us get through life?

I had the chance to finally meet one of the founders of PERAK WOMEN FOR WOMEN SOCIETY over the weekend.
We discussed my upcoming project ( which I will announce here very soon) with them and in support of the foundation.
She is a very nice and amiable woman who’s heart is in for helping victims of violence and somehow ending it.

We live in a fast-paced world that helping others may be the least of our concern now, but Ms. Yip, is probably an exception, as she devotes most of her time running the foundation. This warms my heart. We still have people around who genuinely believe in giving and sharing, and that there is hope for humanity.

Living in a foreign country may be deemed to be very difficult at first.  We have to adjust to the culture and its people. And I just thought if I judge people so quickly here I would have probably missed one of the best opportunities I would have in my life: share my gift of words to those who truly need it.

The PWWS shop has been transformed into an amazing and colorful shop as they are soon to touch down on the ONE MILLION STAR.

It feels so good knowing in my heart that I am part of greater advocacy and endeavor.

A Sunday walk in Old Town Ipoh for the second time around has made me appreciate the place even more and witness its hidden beauty and treasure.

My meeting  (details of the meeting will be posted soon) with Ms. Yip ended on a very beautiful note as I took another stroll along Old Town Ipoh.

I discovered special gems like this local artist who creates beautiful tiny miniature houses.

There is also a “MINIATURE WONDERS ART GALLERY” which houses handmade three – dimensional miniature artworks depicting the OLD CHINA. It has “Terracotta Warriors and Horses”, “Tang Dynasty Royal Banquet”, “Along the River During the Qingming Festival”, and a lot more.

“Terracotta Warriors and Horses”

“Tang Dynasty Royal Banquet”

There is also a fancy tattoo shop in the corner.

3. RELATIONSHIPS MATTER (In fact it makes life worth living)

‘“What exactly does ‘tamed’ mean?”

“Well, it’s something too often forgotten,” said the fox. “I suppose it means: to make some kind of relationship.”

“Relationship?”

“Yes,” said the fox. “I’ll explain. To me, you are just a little boy like any other, like a hundred thousand other little boys. I have no need of you and you have no need of me. To you, I am a fox-like any other, like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, you and I, we will have created a relationship, and so we will need one another. You will be unique in the world for me… If you were to tame me, my whole life would be so much more fun. I would come to know the sound of your footstep, and it would be different from all the others. At the sound of any other footstep, I would be down in my hole in the earth as quick as you like. But your footstep would be like music to my ears, and I would come running up out of my hole, quick as you like.”

What kind of relationships do we have? How are we as a partner? Wife? Husband? Son? Daughter? (etc)

Relationships really do matter. It’s vital and important as we live our lives. And it is with this thought that I continue to support PWWS’s project “ONE MILLION STARS TO END VIOLENCE”. The deadline for the stars would be on October 31, 2019.