The Slap
A man hit another man in front of others in a big occasion. He became emotional. He apologised. His action appeared out of character. The man he assaulted was shocked. A day later he said sorry to the other man. In one stroke, everything seemed …
Seeing
Do you know the story of the blind boy and his sign? He sits on the steps of a building with a hat and a sign which reads, ‘I am blind, please help’. There are only a few coins in the hat; spare change from …
Gratitude
Have you heard of the ‘Mosquito Principal’? As you get ready for bed, you notice your room infested with mosquitos. You take a fly swatter and by some miracle you are able to kill all but one lone pesky mosquito. Chances are you will still …
Good Morning!
This morning, on a whim, I decided to say Good Morning to various friends via a Whatsapp message. While I did, I channeled the image of seeing each of them in person, and felt the warmth of such a simple morning greeting. The simple response …
Promise
Do you believe our lives hang on a promise? Even for those who don’t believe in promises. When we go back in time, there would be a point when we believe we would wake up the next day and life would go on. That we …
Two Lives
An American friend was sharing a recent experience, something we will be experiencing soon. Getting out of lockdown. Try not to read or watch too much news, he advised. “It’s tough. We don’t need to be reminded repeatedly how bad the situation can be. If …
Just Face It
From a safe distance at a neighbourhood food court, I was queuing behind a lady with a heritage-looking tingkat, when she turned around. Looking at her eyes, I surmised she was smiling widely beneath her mask, and nodded in polite response. She hesitated, moved to …
The Silver Lining
‘You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only option.’ I have read this line somewhere and I thought I knew what it meant. This year, two film projects brought me face to face with raw courage. One was for the …
Mr Frugal
This afternoon at the gym I had a chance meeting with a friend, someone I have not seen for a while. We decided to go for coffee. I told him I was looking forward to a cappuccino. We ended in Starbucks. Half jokingly, I asked …
Iris
Does she really remember me, as I walked to the meeting room, I asked myself one last time. When did we last meet? It would have to be in the early 1990s. Over twenty years, a few lifetimes ago. My assistant producer showed me to …