Affixes meN_i and meN_kan Part 12

For today's word to include in the series meN_i and meN_kan, I shall deal with 'cerita' [story]. Here are the six sentences governed by the rules I mentioned in Part I of this series.

1 Dia menceritai kami pengalamannya semasa berkhemah di dalam hutan itu. [Rule 1]
[He related to us his experience while camping in the jungle.]

2 Johan menceritakan pengalamannya kepada kami. [Rule 2]
[Johan related his experience to us.]

3 Kami diceritai nenek pengalamannya semasa pendudukan Jepun di negara ini. [Rule 3]
[My grandmother related to us her experience during the Japanese occupation in this country.]

4 Kejadian itu diceritakan oleh Ali kepada kami. [Rule 4]
[The incident was related by Ali to us.]

5 Ibu akan saya ceritai pengalamanku tadi. [Rule 5]
[Mother will I relate my experience just now.]

6 Kejadian itu sudah saya ceritakan kepada mereka. [Rule 6]
[I have related to them this incident.]

Affixes meN_i and meN_kan Part 11

For the 11th post of the series meN_i and meN_kan I will deal with the word 'tugas' (duty) and its affixes. These are the sentences I constructed to show how the six rules for the word are applied.

1 Encik Lee menugasi pekerja itu kerja yang ringan sahaja. [Rule 1]
[Mr Lee gave the duty of doing an easy job to the worker.]

2 Majikan itu menugaskan kerja yang berat itu kepada Hussin. [Rule 2]
[The employer gave the duty of doing a difficult job to Hussin.]

3 Krishnan ditugasi untuk menyiapkan laporan itu. [Rule 3]
[Krsihnan was given the duty of completing the report.]

4 Kerja itu ditugaskan kepada pekerja baru itu. [Rule 4]
[The job was given as a duty to the new worker.]

5 Adik akan saya tugasi untuk membersihkan halaman rumah kami. [Rule 5]
[My brother will I give the duty of cleaning up our courtyard.]

6 Kerja itu akan saya tugaskan kepada Ali. [Rule 6]
[That job will I give to Ali as a duty to perform.]

Affixes meN_i and meN_kan Part 10

For Part of the series meN_i and meN_kan, I shall make sentences with 'hubung' (connect) with its affiexes thrown in. Here they are:

1 Saya menghubungi Ali melalui e-mel. [Rule 1]
[Saya communicate with Ali through email.]

2 Jalan ini menghubungkan Kampung Baru dengan bandar. [Rule 2]
[This road links Kampung Baru to the town.]

3 Hassan dihubungi oleh kawan melalui telefon. [Rule 3]
[Hassan was contacted by his friend through phone.]

4 Tali ini akan saya hubungkan dengan tali itu supaya menjadi lebih panjang. [Rule 4]
[This rope will I connect with that to make it longer.]

5 Adik sudah saya hubungi untuk memberitahunya tentang hal itu. [Rule 5]
[My brother have I have contacted to tell him about the matter.]

6 Tali ini akan saya hubungkan dengan tali itu untuk memanjangkannya. [Rule 6]
[This rope will I connect with that to lengthen it.]

Affixes meN_i and meN_kan Part 9

Today's word for sentence construction in the series meN_i and meN_kan is 'maaf' (excuse or pardon).

Here are the six sentences constructed using the above word with suffixes thrown in.

1 Saya memaafi adik yang mengotorkan buku saya. [Rule 1]
[I pardoned my brother who dirtied my book.]

2 Encik Tan memaafkan kesalahan pelajar itu. [Rule 2]
[Mr Tan excused the pupil's mistake.]

3 Hassan yang menyinggung hati kawannya dimaafinya.
[Hassan who had offended his friend was excused by him.]

4 Kesalahan pelajar itu telah dimaafkan oleh gurunya.
[The student's mistake was excused by his teacher.]

5 Krishnan akan saya maafi walaupun dia menyinggung hati saya tadi. [Rule 5]
[Krishnan will I excuse although he offended me just now.

6 Kesalahan adik akan saya maafkan kerana dia sudah meminta maaf kepada saya. [Rule 6]
[My brother's mistake will I excuse because he has apologised to me.]

Sending off Kitchen God to see the Jade Emperor today

As a custom, the Chinese will be sending off Kitchen God to see the Jade Emperor today, the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month.

Usually the Chinese will be serving nian gao (a cake made of glutinous rice), fa gao (prosperity cake), tang yuen (glutinous rice cooked in syrup) and mandarin orange. The main item is nian gao which according to legend is to sweeten the mouth of the kitchen deity so that he will only report favourable things about a family to the Jade Emperor.

Affixes meN_i and meN_kan Part 8

For today's post,I will only deal with one word of the meN_i and meN_kan group of words for sentence construction. The word intended is 'hidang'.

The word 'hidang' (to serve with food) and its suffixes
1 Kakak menghidangi para tetamu minuman. [Rule 1]
[My sister served drinks to the guests.]

2 Ibu menghidangkan kek kepada kawan-kawanku. [Rule 2]
[My mother served cakes to my friends.]

3 Para tetamu dihidangi air sirap oleh kakak. [Rule 3]
[The guests were served with syrup by my sister.]

4 Kek dihidangkan oleh kakak kepada kawan-kawannya. [Rule 4]
[My sister served cakes to her friends.]

5 Ali akan saya hidangi minuman kegemarannya. [Rule 5]
[Ali will I serve his favourite drink.]

6 Jus oren akan saya hidangkan kepada Ali yang datang ke rumahku.[Rule 6]
[Orange juice will I serve to Ali who comes to my house.]

Affixes meN_i and meN_kan Part 7

I am sorry to be unable to write something in this post for a week. Here I am again, to continue my post on the affix meN_i and meN_i involving 18 words. Here are two more words whose sentences I will construct now.

The word 'hujan' (rain) with its affixes.
1 Pemberitahu itu menghujani menteri itu pertanyaan tentang projek itu. [Rule 1]
[The reporter bombarded the minister with questions about the project.]

2 Wartawan itu menghujankan pelbagai soalan tentang isu itu kepada pemimpin itu. [Rule 2]
[The journalist put forward various questions about the issue to the leader.]

3 Ketua itu dihujani pelbagai soalan tentang rancangan itu. [Rule 3]
[The leader was bombarded with various questions about the programme.]

4 Pelbagai pertanyaan dihujankan oleh penduduk kampung kepada penghulu itu. [Rule 4
[Various questions were put forward by the villagers to the village headman.]

5 Ketua itu akan saya hujani pelbagai pertanyaan tentang hal ini. [Rule 5]
[I will asked the leader various questions about this matter.]

6 Pelbagai pertanyaan akan saya hujankan kepada pemimpin itu.
[Various questions will I put forward to the leader.]

In the above sentences, 'menghujani' means 'shower someone with questions' and 'menghujankan' carries the meaning of 'bombarding questions towards someone'.

When it is silly to do direct translation from Malay to English, I used the active voice in the task.

The word 'bekal' (supply) and its affixes
1 Pekedai itu membekali kami barang keperluan harian. [Rule 1]
[The shop owner supplies us with things of daily need.]

2 Lembaga peperiksaan membekalkan kertas tulis kepada calon peperiksaan. [Rule 2]
[The examination board supplies writing paper to candidates]

3 Keluarga Ali dibekali barang keperluan harian oleh pekedai itu. [Rule 3]
[Ali's family was supplied with things of daily need by the shop owner.]

4 Barang keperluan harian dibekalkan kepada kami oleh pekedai itu. [Rule 4]
[Things of daily need were supplied to us by the shop owner.]

5 Adik akan saya bekali kertas untuk membolehkannya menulis karangan tambahan.[Rule 5]
[I will supply my brother with paper to enable him to write additional essays.]

6 Kertas akan saya bekalkan kepada adik supaya dia dapat menulis karangan itu. [Rule 6]
[Paper will be supplied (by me) to my brother so that he can write the essay.]

Affixes meN_i and meN_kan Part 6

Two more words will I use in this day’s post to construct six sentences based on the six rules I gave in my earlier post.

The first word is ‘nama’ [name]

1 Saya menamai anak saya Ali bin Hassan. [Rule 1]

[I named my son Ali bin Hassan.]

2 Mazlan menamakan Zaki bin Mazlan kepada anaknya. [Rule 2]

[I gave the name of Zaki bin Mazlan to my son.]

3 Kucing kesayangku dinamai Si Comel. [Rule 3]

[My favourite cat was named Si Comel.]

4 Si Comel dinamakan kepada kucingku. [Rule 4]

[The name of Si Comel was given to my cat.]

5 Anak sulungku akan saya namai Yong binti Hassan. [Rule 5]

[I will name my eldest daughter Yong binti Hassan.]

6 Zamri bin Rejab akan saya namakan kepada anak bongsu saya.[Rule 6]

[I will give the name of Zamri bin Rejab to my youngest son.]

The second word is ‘pinjam’ [borrow]

1 Saya meminjami Ali sebatang pen. [Rule 1]

[I lent Ali a pen.]

2 Johan meminjamkan buku ceritanya kepada anak jirannya.[Rule 2]

[Johan lent his story book to his neighbor’s son.]

3 Azmi dipinjami Hashim sebuah basikal. [Rule 3]

[Hashim lent Azmi a basikal.]

4 Sebatang pen dipinjamkan oleh Suresh kepada Nathan.[Rule 4]

[A pen was lent to Nathan by Suresh.]

5 Rashid akan saya pinjami buku ini.[Rule 5]

[I will lend Rashid this book.]

6 Sebuah pembaris akan saya pinjamkan kepada Susan.[Rule 6]

[I will lend a ruler to Susan.]

Affixes meN_i and meN_kan Part 5

As promised, I will continue to construct sentences using two more of the 18 words given earlier. For today's post, I will use 'lempar' and 'serah'. 'lempar' means 'throw' while 'serah' means 'submit'.

The word 'lempar' with its affixes:
1 Penduduk kampung melempari pemimpin itu dengan telur busuk kerana ucapan menyinggung hati mereka. [Rule 1]
[The villagers threw rotten egss at the leader because his speech offended them.]

2 Saya melemparkan seketul batu ke arah buah mangga itu untuk menjatuhkannya. [Rule 2]
[I threw a stone at the mango to make it fall down.]

3 Pengemis itu dilempari batu oleh budak yang nakal itu. [Rule 3]
[A naughty boy threw a stone at the beggar.]

4 Seketul batu dilemparkan oleh Ali ke arah kolam. [Rule 4]
[A stone was thrown by Ali to the pool.]

5 Anjing itu akan saya lempari batu untuk menghalaunya. [Rule 5]
[I will throw a stone at the dog to drive it away.]

6 Seketul batu akan saya lemparkan ke arah anjing itu. [Rule 6]
[I will throw a stone at the dog.]

The word 'serah' and its affixes
1 Saya menyerahi pekerja itu tugas ringan itu.
[Saya gave the worker the light duty.]

2 Krishnan menyerahkan dompet itu kepada polis.
[Krishnan surrendered the wallet to the polis.]

3 Nazri diserahi tugas itu.
[Nazri was given the duty.]

4 Bungkusan itu diserahkan kepada kerani pos itu.
[The parcel was surrendered to the postal clerk.]

5 Adik akan saya serahi kunci keretaku.
[I will surrender my the keys of my car to my brother.]

6 Tugas itu sudah saya serahkan kepada abangku.
[I have surrendere the duty to my elder brother.]

Affixes meN_i and meN_kan Part 4

I am glad to know that this is the 1001th post of my blog. As long as I am still around, more posts will appear in this blog.

In this post, I will construct 12 more sentences using the words 'kirim' and 'kurnia' in Part of the post entitled 'Affixes meN_i/meN_kan'. Here it goes.

The word 'kirim' [post (a letter /parcel etc)]
1 Saya mengirimi Ali sepucuk surat kelmarin. [Rule 1]
[I posted a letter to Ali yesterday.]

2 Hassan mengirimkan sebuah buku kepada abangnya tadi.[Rule 2]
[Hassan posted a book to his brother just now.]

3 Johari dikirimi kawannya foto-foto itu. [Rule 3]
[Johari's friend posted the photos to him.]

4 Poskad itu dikirimkan oleh Azmi kepada sahabat penanya. [Rule 4]
[The postcard was posted by Azmi to his pen-pal.]

5 Nazri akan saya kirimi surat ini. [Rule 5]
[I will post this letter to Nazri.]

6 Bungkusan itu akan saya kirimkan kepada Muthu. [Rule 6]
[I will post this parcel to Muthu.]

Now here are the six sentences I have constructed for the word 'kurnia' [endow] and its affixes.
1 Tuhan menguruniai Amimah seorang anak lelaki. [Rule 1]
[Aminah was endowed with a son by God.]

2 Tuhan mengurniakan seorang anak lelaki kepada Siti. [Rule 2]
[Siti was endowed with a son by God.]

3 Asmah dikurniai Tuhan seorang lelaki. [Rule 3.]
[Asmah was endowed with a son by God.]

4 Seorang anak lelaki dikurniakan oleh Tuhan kepada Zaharah. [Rule 4]
[Zaharah was endowed with a son by God.]

5 Johari akan beta kurniai gelaran J.P. [Rule 5]
[I (assuming I am the King) will bestow upon Johari the title J.P.]

6 Gelaran P.J.K. akan saya kurniakan kepada pemimpin itu. [Rule 6]
[I will bestow upon the leader the title of P.J.K.]

Some clarification about awalan meN

I need to do a bit of explanation here as some readers may be wondering what meN refers to. Actually, meN is the collective term that refers to me, mem, men, meng, meny, and menge.

There are rules governing which one to use. The following is what meN pairs with:

me - pairs with words beginning with: l, m, n, r,w,y,z
mem - pairs with words that begin with: b, f (or with f dropped), p (or with p dropped),v
men - pairs with words with the initial letters: c, d, j, t (with t dropped)
meng - pairs with words beggining with: a,e,i,o,u,g,h, k (or with k dropped), q,x
meny - pairs with words that begin with: s (dropped)
menge - pairs with words of single syllabus:bom, cat, pos

Here are examples of the words for the above:
me - melompat, memakan, menanti, merasa, mewakili, meyakini, menziarahi
mem - membaca, memfokus, memahami, mempamerkan, memukul, memveto
men - mencari, mendapat, menjadi, mentadbir, menulis
meng - mengalih, mengelakkan, mengikut, mengolah, mengubah, menggunakan, mengkaji, mengarang, mengqada, mengX-ray
meny - menyusun
menge - mengebom, mengecat, mengepos

If you are unsure of the spelling, look up the latest edition of Kamus Dewan (4th Edition), the official reference for educational purposes.

Affixes meN_i and meN_kan Part 3

Welcome back to Part 3 of this post. In this write-up, I shall deal with two more words of the group. They are 'hadiah' and 'jatuh'. Here they are.

The word 'sudah' with its suffixes.
1 Lina menghadiahi adiknya sebuah telefon bimbit. [Rule 1 ]
[Lina gave her brother a mobile phone as a present.]

2 Saya menghadiahkan sebuah buku cerita kepada adik. [Rule 2 ]
[I gave a story book to my brother as a present]

3 Nazri dihadiahi sebuah jam tangan oleh abangku. [Rule 3 ]
[Nazri was given a watch as a present by my brother.]

4 Sebatang pen dihadiahkan oleh Muthu kepada Ali.. [Rule 4 ]
[A pen was given by Muthu to Ali as a present.]

5 Adik akan saya hadiahi sebuah kamus. [Rule 5 ]
[My brother will I give a dictionary as a present or grammatically: I will give a dictionary to my brother as a present.]

6 Sebentuk cincin akan saya hadiahkan kepada kekasihku. [Rule 6 ]
[A ring will I give to my lover as a present or grammatically: I I will a ring to my lover as a present.]

As for the word 'jatuh' and its suffixes, look at the following sentences:
1 Hakim itu menjatuhi pengedar dadah itu hukuman mati. [Rule 1 ]
[The judge passed the death sentence to the drug pusher.]

2 Hakim itu menjatuhkan hukuman mati kepada pembunuh itu. [Rule 2 ]
[The judge passed the death sentence to the murderer.]

3 Pesalah itu dijatuhi hukuman penjara selama dua tahun. [Rule 3 ]
[The wrong-doer was sentenced to two years' imprisonment.]

4 Hukuman selama lima tahun dijatuhkan oleh hakim itu kepada penculik itu. [Rule 4 ]
[The judge passed a sentence of imprisonment for five years to the kidnapper.]

5 Pembunuh itu akan saya jatuhi hukumann mati. [Rule 5 ]
[The murder will I pass the death sentence or grammatically: I will pass the death sentence to the murderer. (I assume myself to be the judge in this case.)

6 Hukuman mati akan saya jatuhkan kepada pengedar dadah itu. [Rule 6 ]
[The death sentence will I pass to the drug-pusher or grammatically: I will pass the death sentence to the drug-pusher.]

I hope you have got the hang of constructing sentences using the 18 words based on the rules I give in my earlier post. If not, keep following this blog until you have the chance of reading all the 108 sentences I intend to make before concluding the post.

Affixes meN_i and meN_kan Part 2

In Part 2 of affixes meN_i and meN_kan, I shall construct 12 sentences using two of the 18 words given. These are anugerah and beri.


The word 'anugerah' with its suffixes:

1 a) Sultan itu menganugerahi ketua kampung itu gelaran J.P. [Rule 1]
[The Sultan awarded the title of J.P. to the village chief.]

b) Sultan itu menganugerahkan gelaran P.J.M. kepada Pegawai Daerah itu. [Rule 2]
[The Sultan awarded the title of P.J.M. to the District Officer.]

c) Pengetua sekolah itu dianugerahi gelaran P.J.K. oleh Sultan itu. [Rule 3]
[The Principal of the school was awarded the title of P.J.K. by the Sultan.]

d) Gelaran A.M.N. dianugerahkan oleh raja itu kepada pemimpin itu. [Rule 4]
[The title of A.M.N. was awarded by the King to the leader.]

e) Ahli politik itu akan beta anugerahi pingat P.J.K. [Rule 5]
[I will award the title of P.J.K. to the politician.]
[Note: I cannot use 'saya' or 'awak' here because the word 'anugerahi' is used for royal families when used in the first person. Hence I used 'beta' as if the Sultan speaks through me as the Sultan uses 'beta' when he refers to himself.]

f) Gelarann A.M.N. akan beta anugerahkan kepada pemimpin itu. [Rule 6]
[I will award the title of A.M.N. to the leader.]

The word 'beri' with its suffixes
1 Saya memberi pengemis itu semangkuk nasi berlauk. [Rule 1 ]
[I gave the beggar a bowl of rice with dishes.]

2 Krishnan memberikan sebatangn pen kepada adiknya. [Rule 2 ]
[Krishnan gave a pen to his brother.]

3 Kakak diberi seratus ringgit oleh ayah. [Rule 3 ]
[My sister was given one hundred ringgit by my father.]

4 Sebuah komputer diberikan oleh ayah kepada abang. [Rule 4 ]
[A computer was given by my father to my brother.]

5 Leman akan saya beri buku lama ini. [Rule 5 ]
[Leman will I give this book or grammatically: I will give this book to Leman.]

6 Kek ini akan saya berikan kepada anak jiran. [Rule6 ]
[This cake will saya give to my neighbour's son or grammatically: I will give this cake to my neighbour's son.]

We shall meet again when you frequent my blog for Part 3 of the posts to come.

Affixes meN_i and meN_kan Part 1

In the course of my study and teaching of the Malay language, I have discovered certain patterns in the usage of affixes such as meN_i and meN_kan which are added to words to form transitive verbs. I would like to share this finding in this blog of mine. This is the first part of my posts.

The words mentioned above are anugerah, beri, hadiah, jatuh, kirim, kurnia, lempar, serah, nama, pinjam, hujan, bekal, hidang, tugas, maaf, cucur, hubung, and cerita.

These are the rules for the above list.
1 meN_i + word is followed by person
Example: Sultan itu menganugerahi pemimin itu pingat P.J.K.
[The Sultan awarded the title of P.J.K. to the leader.]

2 meN_kan + word is followed by thing / matter
Example: Saya memberikan buku itu kepada Ali.
[I gave the book to Ali.]

3 person preceeds di_i + word
Example: Hashim dihadiahi sebuah album foto.
[Hashim was presented with a photo album.]

4 thing / matter preceeds di_kan + word
Example: Hukuman penjara selama lima tahun dijatuhkan oleh hakim itu kepada pencuri itu.
[Imprisonment of five years was sentenced to the thief by the judge.]

5 person preceeds saya / awak + i + word
Example: Abang saya kirimi buku yang diperlukan kelmarin.
[I posted to my brother the book he needed yesterday. Note: It will be odd to translate the above sentence into English. Hence I use the active voice instead]

6 thing /matter preceeds saya / awak + kan + word
Example: Batu itu saya lemparkan ke arah anjing itu untuk menghalaunya.
[I threw the stone towards the dog to drive it away.]

The wrong usage of 'dari'

Last Sunday, I was travelling by bus to Balik Pulau. Inside the bus, I happened to catch sight of a notice bearing these words 'Kami mengalu-alukan sebarang cadangan / maklum balas dari anda untuk meningkatkan perkhidmatan RapidPenang.' [We welcome any suggestion / feedback from you to upgrade RapidPenang's service.]

The preposition 'dari' is wrongly used here. 'Dari' (from) can only be used for Arah (Direction), Tempat (Place) and Masa (Time). The following are sentences showing its correct usage.
1 Angin kencang bertirup dari timur ke barat. [Strong wind blew the east to the west.]
2 Lelaki itu datang dari Ipoh. [The man came from Ipoh.]
3 Pekerja itu bekerja dari hari Isnin hingga hari Jumaat. [The worker works from Monday to Friday.]

In the above notice, 'anda' (you) is a person. Hence, the correct preposition to be used is 'daripada' which can be used for persons.

The corrected notice should have been worded as follows:
'Kami mengalu-alukan sebarang cadangan / maklum balas daripada anda untuk meningkatkan perkhidmatan RapidPenang.]

Pressing acupuncture point 'he gu' to relieve sinus allergies

I read of a way to alleviate sinus allergies whose symptoms include runny nose and heaps of sneezing. It is really very simple. All you need to do is to press the acupunture point called 'he gu' for 72 times daily.

To locate the point, just press you thumb against the forefinger. The tip of the raised portion is the intended point. Just press it withu your thumb until a sensation of numbness is experienced.

Another way to achieve the same effect is to put 10 'Xin Yi Flower' in a cup and pour boiling water into it. Drink this water regularly and the sinus allergy can be reduced.

Two civic-minded Malay girls

I was travelling by bus with my brother when I was touched by the act of two teenage Malay girls.

We were on our way to Balik Pulau to see our 86-year-old mother who stays with our sister there. The bus was packed and we had to stand. After a while, the two girls in front of us rose from their seats and offered them to us. By the way, my brother and I are senior citizens and they must have known that acted accordingly to show respect to us in this way.

Moral education works better in real life situation.

Thank you girls, whatever your names are.

The slight difference in usage between 'baru' and 'baharu'

Menurut Kamus Dewan Edisi Keempat, the word 'baru' and 'baharu' can be used to mean 'new'. For example, a new car can be rendered 'sebuah kereta baru' or 'sebuah kereta baharu.'

The word 'baru' is used when it means 'just'. For instance, 'I just e-mailed him the file he needed.' can be worded as 'Saya baru meng-e-melkan fail yang diperlukannya kepadanya.'

Recently in Malay is 'Baru-baru ini' and not 'Baharu-baharu ini.'

The difference between 'keturunan' and 'penurunan'

In Malay, affixes are added to words to carry different meanings. For example, the word 'keturunan' means 'descendent' while the word 'penurunan' means 'fall or drop in something'.

Let me construct two sentences to show the difference in meaning between these two words.

1 Gopal berasal daripada keturunan India.
[Gopal is of Indian race.]
2 Penurunan harga komputer membolehkan lebih banyak orang memilikinya.
[The drop in the price of computers enables more people to own them.]

The mood of CNY is in the air

You can always feel it - the approach of Chinese New Year.

The roadside stalls are selling CNY decorative items.

'Three for ten ringgit!" shouted one vendor as I passed his stall.

Ribbon cakes and arrow-head fries are already on sale although CNY only falls on 3rd February.

Soon you can see 'nian gao' - something like the Malay dodol being displayed on the stalls. This food is always offered to the Kitchen Dewa to bribe him so that he will report good things about the family.

CNY songs are also being played in some of the stalls at the market place.

I like to experience the cool breeze of the morning when the northerly wind is blowing.

He aced the test

In English, you can economise the use of words. For example, instead of saying 'He got an 'A' in the test.', you can simply reword it as 'He aced the test.'

If you are ready to listen to someone, you need not say 'I am ready to listen to what you have to say.' Rather, just say "I am all ears."

If you laugh until you bend your body forward when you watch something really comic or funny done by someone, you need not say 'His comic act really made me laugh until I bent my body forward.' Just say 'His comic act had me in stitches.'

Practising our religion in our daily lives

You can practise your own religion in your daily life. For example, if you are a Buddhist, you can always practise Buddhism quietly. For instance, the chanting of the name of Amitabha Buddha can be done mentally while waiting for a bus. You can also do it verbally while doing your work such as sewing, planting trees and so on.

You need not tell people that you are a Buddhist. By your good behaviour and compassion shown to people around, you are walking the path of the Buddha.

Keeping the ball rolling

I regretted not being able to sustain my continuity of the posts in this blog last year and I hope to blog every day for this year except the time when I go travelling again.

Sometimes I had many things to say in this blog but at times my mind was blank and did not what to pen at all. This happened last year and I hope it won't repeat this year.

Keeping the ball rolling is to let an event such as a party continue by planning non-stop programmes. Blogging can be likened to this situation too. You need to write every day so that people will come to read something new from you.

Let us hope for the best for this year.

Happy New Year

I wish all readers of this blog a very Happy New Year.

I really hope everything you wish for goes your way throughout the year.

For me, I wish to have good health, enough money to lead a decent life and happy all the time.

Spiritually I hope to be a better human being, caring and showing concerning to the needy as well as cultivate good karma.