Precious Baby

"Open your eyes, ref!", "Referee kayu !", "That was a foul, ref!" These were the words that involuntarily escaped my mouth as I stood courtside, watching my daughter represent her school in the recent MSSD Petaling Perdana Under-12 Handball tournament. It was her debut in a team sport, and let me tell you, the rollercoaster of emotions was in full swing. With each goal she scored (three in total, to be precise), my pride swelled like an overinflated balloon. But alas, her school's journey came to an end in the group stage, winning one game and losing three.  As the tournament approached, I found myself in an interesting predicament. You see, I knew next to nothing about handball, apart from what I gleaned from sporadic TV viewing, usually during the Olympics. But armed with memories of my father, or as I affectionately call him, Papa, and his tenure as my field hockey coach, I ventured into coaching territory. Hey, sports are sports, right? So, I borro

 Let me first say, our lil' "baby" is no longer a baby (though we still call her that, which annoys her a bit lol), but is now a growing 10-year-old, going on 30! We as parents are truly blessed to have a little miss who is mature beyond her age, caring, thoughtful, friendly, and more importantly, fears the Lord. With her being double-digit in age, we know that the teen years are upon her and this brings new challenges and adventures. She has already planned where she wants to study at (university) and she is literally counting the days until she flies off into the "Rising Sun" (a little clue here on her favoured destination). On what she wants to study, well she's got that figured out as well, let me just say, Lara Croft and Indiana Jones has a new adventurer on their tails! Do I look at the future with trepidation or fear? Well, not so much; I will see where the road leads, but all I know is that when we follow His ways, it will come out well. I know that

Can you imagine that in 4 days time, 2019 will be upon us! Time truly waits for no man and it also amplifies how important it is for us to make the best of the time given to us. Imagine if one day, you were gifted with RM86,400, how would you spend it? Some would give it away to charity, while some would choose to invest, while some would spend it all on their heart's desires. Whatever one chooses, it is ultimately their decision and the ramifications that come after could be positive or negative. Now let me tell you that this "gift" has been given to us every day. All of us, no matter our status, creed, or colour are given 86,400 seconds a day to use how we want. Do you want to use this gift to sleep the day away? Or do you want to use this gift by changing someone's life? There is no right or wrong answer but be prepared to face the consequences of your actions. I'm not saying that sleeping is akin to "wasting" time as sleep is very important but

5 years, 4 months, 7 days... That's how old my precious daughter is now! Can you imagine, one day I was cradling her in my arms, and the next she wants to do everything on her own... That brings me to her studies. Me and my wife went to see her teachers today for a Meet The Teachers Day to talk about her progress... And to our delight, the teachers said unanimously that Stephanie Tia was a very polite, well liked, and smart student. The only thing was that she is playful and tends to drift out during her lessons.  Me and my wife don't want to pressure our lil one to be the next Einstein but to enjoy her childhood and experience an all rounded education. What we do not compromise in any way however is that teachers must always be respected and to beloved. Teachers to me are a special breed and it reminds me of the educators in shows like Mind Your Language, Dangerous Minds, and the classic To Sir With Love. May God bless all these wonderful people who take it upon themse

Fear - just the mention of it makes you think of your fears am I right? It can take the face of anything or anyone, from a rat, to a cockroach, to clowns, even water; fear is limitless and in extreme cases, can disrupt daily lives. It is documented that most fears stems from childhood experiences, for me, the fear of dogs came about when I was chased by mongrels when I was walking back from primary school. Thankfully I was not bitten but the psychological fear still remains. When I see a dog now, my heart beats a little faster and I can literally feel sweat running down my forehead. Will it go away? I really don't know as I really love dogs but at the back of my mind, the what ifs jump up...

Toddlers - I'm sure as parents, many of us have horror stories to tell right? I'm not saying my little Stephanie Tia is an angel, but thank God her terrible twos and now her threes are going kinda well. She has her moods now and then, but it's been pretty mild (plus me and my wife just need to give one glance, and she stops in her tracks). Another thing that I know we all notice, is that they want to do things themselves. From changing her clothes, to showering, to putting her own shoes, to eating; mummy's and daddy's help are not required. In a way, I am proud that she is doing things by herself but another part of me still wants to be the daddy  who helps her in everything. Watching her grow up, I sometimes long for the times when I was able to wrap her in my arms and rock her to sleep; but I have a front row seat at seeing my little baby grow up into a little lady and that is awesome too.