Poems Pave Our Lives , livre ebook

POEMS PAVE OUR LIVES
 
A Poet Ponders on Personal, National,
and Global Issues as Challenges and Lessons!
 
 
 
 
 
MIRANDA P. YEOH
 
 

 
 
Copyright © 2022 by MIRANDA P. YEOH.
 

Library of Congress Control Number:
2022911440
ISBN:
Softcover
978-1-5437-7060-5

eBook
978-1-5437-7061-2
 
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
This is a work of creative nonfiction. The poems will speak to children, teens, and adults. The reader may consider this book a work of literature. Thank you.
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
 
 
 
 
www.partridgepublishing.com/singapore
 
 
To
 
The Y eohs:
E ppie,
Eliza beth,
Ei leen,
Es ther,
Collin, Evelyn and E llen;
The K hoos,
The Koays and
The Rambo huls.
 
Good Fri ends:
Pastor and fa mily,
Mary and Fid elis,
Debbie, Bee Suet,
PT and IT, the Em ises,
TS, SY , KM,
Edgar, Christine an d HC,
CNT, El Foong, El Siew, SB an d PY,
Jan, Siew Y., Beng E., Yen L., Opal, Jenny , SL;
CGL, PFS & UPM friends and beloved teac hers;
Colleagues of KHS, SMKSK, KMS, and RE CSAM;
Thanks for your love and pra yers.
 
I also dedicate this book to my rese arch
collaborators everywhere; and my neighbors/friends in the S outh:
Singaporeans. Some of you were once Malaysians. Ch eers!
In loving me mory:
Yeoh Guan Ghim,
Yeoh Cheng Lim,
Yeoh Cheng Nya,
Yeoh Cheng Pow,
Yeoh Seng C hong,
Koh Siew Lean, and
Margaret Khoo Gaik Suan.
CONTENTS
Prologue
Section 1: HUMBLE BEGINNINGS AND MEMORABLE EVENTS
1. How Did It Begin?
2. The Land of My Ancestors’ Sepulchers
3. Early Childhood Education: Who Are Our Giants?
4. Decisions Affect Our Lives!
5. We and Our Neighbor, Singapore
6. A Response to Poverty
7. My Secondary School Years
8. Why Pursue Higher Education?
Section 2: HOBBIES
9. Gardening
10. Sewing – A Hobby for Introverts?
11. Is Musicking a Universal Hobby?
12. Reading
13. Is Writing a Hobby?
14. Cooking – A Rewarding Hobby!
15. Brisk Walking
Section 3: BLESSED YEARS ON THE JOB
16. Teaching Young Teens
17. Lecturing and Researching at College
18. A Job or a Career?
19. Learning to be Patient
20. Blue Oceans of Abundance
Section 4: HEALTH ISSUES
21. Why Do I Feel Exhausted?
22. Insomnia or Depression?
23. Hyperthyroidism
24. Scoliosis
Section 5: SOME ISSUES IN OUR SOCIETY
25. Racism? In This Place?
26. Are We Fighting Racism?
27. The Pandora Papers
28. How Shall We Vote?
Section 6: THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
29. Out of the Blue – A Pandemic
30. Growing Food in the Pandemic
31. A Pandemic - and Another Catastrophe?
32. What Diet Helps in Pandemic Times?
Section 7: A WAR IN UKRAINE, 2022? INSANE?
33. The Beginning of a War
34. Atrocities and Sufferings in War – Why We Care!
Section 8: MY JOURNEYS AND ASPIRATIONS
35. A Journey to Veganism
36. A Journey to Minimalism
37. An Aspiration - United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs, 2030)
ALSO, BY THE AUTHOR:

Available online on several sites.
Partridge Online Bookstore
PROL OGUE
(A Message to My Readers)
Dear Readers,
 
We are all together in this journey of life:
busy with cares and duties,
managing our time and resources,
streamlining our needs and desires;
often refining our purposes.
We can lighten the burden of another;
we may have a hope to inspire,
realizing that Poems Pave Our Lives
and that each day may bring opportunities –
a present, a lesson that we may express in a poem!
SECTI ON 1:
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS AND MEMORABLE EVENTS
 
 
 
“I am not ashamed of my past; I am not ashamed of my humble beginnings.”
- Madam C. J. Wa lker
 
 
 
Source:
https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/madam _ c _ j _ walker _ 1099395
How Did It Begin?
This beaded table décor
is a family heirloom,
but more valuable than any other décor,
and protected from dust and wear.
It speaks of journeys,
and records my ancestry.
 
How was it like to journey
from China to Malaysia
as a migrant in the early 1800s?
My ancestor sailed,
a long, arduous sea journey,
a single man among other single men,
to a beckoning island – Penang!
 
To himself, he was saying:
I’m young and hea lthy,
I have sufficient provis ions;
I have food and water to stay a live.
Plain rice porr idge
and some salted ra dish.
Oh! Land, land, land, at last!
No more cramped quar ters,
no more discomforts at sea!
I should not complain of discom fort:
More than happy to meet the c lan –
they’ll be frie ndly!
 
The clan welcomed him;
these folks had ancestors
who in the 1400s had settled in Malacca.
 
 

Grandma’s Beaded Peranakan Tape stry
But the descendants had journeyed on;
they moved north to settle in Penang,
when it became British Malaya.
 
The migrant learned words concerning
things in the new environment;
he had a journey in learning.
Working hard, he contributed to the clan.
His marriage to a Peranakan lady -
arranged by a matchmaker,
brought to his senses a journey
in savoring Peranakan spices
like lemongrass, turmeric, ginger, and chili peppers!
Yum, such sublime flavors!
Grandma said, Your grandpa is the fourth genera tion,
of his ancestors in Pe nang.
Your dad is the fifth genera tion,
and you are the s ixth.
But my ancestors arrived in the first wave.
That was about six centuries ago.
Grandma was teaching me history,
of things lofty, like my ancestry! 3
 
I said: We have assimilated Malay w ords.
 
Grandma replied:
We have more than common w ords;
we are inter-conne cted.
Always remember that!
It was fascinating to learn from Grandma,
about Admiral Cheng Ho and Hang LiPo.
 
I asked: What do you remember about Chen g Ho?
What else must I know concerning Hang LiPo?
 
Grandma replied:
Tall, brave, and wise was Chen g Ho;
he was a warrior and a dipl omat.
Cheng Ho was a legend in forging relations hips,
and protecting Malacca from ene mies,
like the Siamese and the Burme se. 2
 
LiPo came to this land to marry the king;
her entourage included my ances tors.
They came with their sk ills:
martial arts, building, nur sing,
Chinese medicine, sewing, bea ding,
Chinese opera - skills of Dynasty Ming.
 
The entourage, in the 1 400s,
settled in Bukit China, Mal acca;
they inter-married the lo cals,
thus arose the Peran akan.
Furthermore, traders from Fuj ian -
married local women and settled in Mal acca;
and Peranakan moved to Singapore and Penang . 1 , 3
 
The second wave of migrants arrived,
from Guangdong and Fujian.
Many came to Penang
in search of a better life.
Working in Malaysian plantations, in construction,
trading, and tin mining,
they achieved success and some ease.
Their children could study English
in schools run by missionaries. 3
 
That beaded table décor,
sewn by my grandmother,
is a reminder of her -
her words and wisdom are my treasure!
N OTES
1 . O h, Y., Razak, N.F., Wee, D., Ching, E., & Rahman, Z. (2019) . The development of Nyonya cuisine in the Malay Archipelago: Penang and Malacca Nyonya cuisine. J. Ethn. Food 6 . https://doi.org/10.1186/s42779-019-00 10-x
2 . Tong, G. (2018, March 18). CM: China protected Malacca in the past, why the fuss now? Malaysiakini. https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/41 6136
3 . Yeoh, M.P. (2022). The Land of My Ancestors’ Sepulchers: And the World of a Teacher-Researcher. Partridge Publishing, Singapore. https://www.partridgepublishing.com/en-sg/bookstore/bookdetails/821548-the-land-of-my-ancestors-sepulc hers
*This dialogue poem has three active speakers. The male ancestor was speaking to himself. The author and her Grandma were in conversation at a much later date. Dialogue poems are suitable for class reading and small group responsive reading.
*Beading is a Chinese skill; a Peranakan skill.
The Land of My Ancestors’ Sepulchers
Don’t even think I don’t belong,
don’t think that I bring no joy: no music, no song.
We know what we all deserve;
like my forebears, I work and serve.
 
There’s no need to question my ancestry,
nor my belonging in this country.
See for yourself the tombs and sepulchers
of my ancestors,
in this country, in this very city!
 
O Father God,