Why Zest-Zipper?

In life there are many things that we ought to remember, to forget, to appreciate, to forgive and to repent. Fond memories and unforgettable incidents galloped past like dreams or dramas which will vanish with us into the unknown future. I wonder how many among us have personally and sincerely said “thank you” to our parents for their sacrifice so that we and our future generations are reaping the harvest from the land that our parents have toiled with their sweat and blood.

By a similar extension we ought to show our appreciation and gratitude to our forefathers as well as people around us who have been kind and helpful to us. If not for them, we may not be able to lead an easy and comfortable life which we always take for granted. Folks who worked in tin mines or rubber estates were the major contributors to the progress and the success of our nation building. No commoner, like you and I, is common as he or she is a very unique screw or nut that is indispensable to the locomotive of a nation builder.

It is with this awareness in mind that I started to write on a blog last June as a commoner for other commoners to read, hoping it will become a some sort of zipper to ‘zip’ together all the memories and incidents that a commoner could possibly recall at and reflect upon; to ‘zip up’ the lost contacts of former classmates and associates that I could update from time to time and to share with them what I have posted in my blog. It is with this fervent hope that I shall do it with extra zest that my blog was named as Zest-Zipper.

Sad to admit that I don’t ever remember I had uttered ‘thank you’ or showed my appreciation to my dear ones, my parents, elder brothers and sister inclusive and to others, for what they have done, in one way or other, to nurture me before I could stand firm on my own feet. Neither do I remember I had sincerely apologized to them for my wrong doings intended or otherwise. It is with this regret that I hope to repent in my blog. It is of course better to be late than never to express my feelings on this platform so that my conscience is clear before the words ‘rest in peace’ are carved on my tombstone. I do agree with Dr Hsu Dar Ren. In his letter entitled “Of the new 'monkeys' on the blog” published at Malaysiakini on June 2nd, 2008, he opined that ‘Blogging is really a test of one’s sincerity and conscience.’ It is with this sincerity and conscience that I try to express in my posts so that my readers will feel what I felt although my posts were written in a simple and plain language.

As a newcomer in the ‘blogosphere’, I would rather be labeled as a ‘non-team player’ like in the case of Dr Hsu Dar Ren as I do not intend to show any political inclination in my posts. I would rather relate my family histories and stories that I heard from my parents and eldest brother so that my children, nephews and nieces can have better insight of their grandparents, and great grandparents as well. My nephew, Phin commented on my posts saying that “Now I get to know about you and our family history more in detail rather than bits of story here and there from my parents. Keep it up!” Another nephew of mine, Boo Chung, was fascinated with the family histories and the living conditions 50 years ago. His interest on our family history was further aroused as he posed more questions for me to ponder and answer. Sunn, another niece of mine, went to dig out an old family photograph of her grandparents to show me. From this photograph which was one year older than me, I managed to write a post entitled ‘What the photograph doesn’t tell’. All these are a good testimony that children like to know their family history, the stories of their grandparents and great grandparents. Circumstances may forbid them to such exposures.

In my blog I did mention about ‘Good People & Good Deeds’. To those people who have helped me and my family before, whom I had no chance to thank them personally and individually, I would take this opportunity to show my appreciation on my blog. I wrote a post entitled ‘My Gratitude to Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah Fook Ling' to thank Tan Sri for providing scholarship unconditionally to my second daughter to study at Sunway University College. ‘My Consultant from the Fourth Dimension’ is my other post to show my appreciation of Madam Khadijah Bt Kassim for her help to reclaim my teaching allowance of Science and Mathematics whereas ‘Playing Ping Pong with the Wall’ is yet another post intended to highlight the high efficiency of the Central Provident Fund Board of Singapore.

If bloggers were labeled as monkeys by some ‘very important fellow’, then I don’t mind to be called a passionate monkey, passionate enough to write posts with conscience and sincerity.