Since the previous new moon, I have been touring various locations where earthlings gather, colloquially termed “watering holes”.

Observing your hidden resentment, and open conflict, I am reminded of one of the proverbs from your ancient sages from China:

“君子和而不同，小人同而不和。”

short stories

Allow me to present a few sketches of human behaviour, that I have dreamt about. Perhaps this might entertain you until the next new moon.

Graphic and disturbing imagery follows. Reader discretion is advised.

Harold

The wind flipped the pages of the Harold's book, but he did not notice. The pungent, smoky titillation that the Scotch whisky presented to his olfactory senses proved too captivating.

Gazing at the honey-coloured concoction, Harold marvelled that he had had an entire bottle of the delicate liquid to himself. Not too long ago, he had watched enviously as men in tuxedos poured a dram for casually-dressed, corpulent tourists from abroad, and now he, Harold McDonald, could have this bottle, all to himself, in the convenience of his lodging. What a little convenience that an inheritance makes.

But, unbidden, a memory came to Harold like a grainy video: long hair, flying in the wind — green leaves, rustling — laughter, tinkling like little windchimes.

Where was she now? The bottle of Scotch sat expectantly on the shelf before Harold, as if eager to please, while he roamed a restless hand across his bald scalp and frowned; how could he ever rid his mind of this video? Dang these thoughts!

It wasn't fair! He had retired! Everything his friends strove for, he now imbibed in excess! Private gardens! Famous acquaintances!

And yet — and yet — her voice came, floating to his ear of ears: “I'm getting married to Mark. This is goodbye, Harold. I don't think we should meet again.”

• fin

Siti

“Help me,” said the woman, sobbing piteously.

Sheena stopped mid-stride, looked up from her high heels, which she had been inspecting for dirt, and then noticed the woman: red puffy eyes, tear-streaked cheeks, mucus —

“What's wrong?” Sheena softened, and knelt down to where the woman was perched on the curb of road.

“My boss —” the latter choked out, “My boss —”

“My boss make me fuck men!” At this last burst of emotion, the woman started wailing.

Sheena found that a lump had formed in her throat, and she attempted to swallow it. What should I do?

“Let's go to the police station,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady. “I'll go with you. Can you manage to walk?”

The woman silently nodded. She has no bags with her, thought Sheena. Did she escape from her boss, in a hurry?

“What's your name?” asked Sheena politely.

“Siti. Siti Sri Bandar.”

A pause swelled into the conversation.

“I have a daughter,” continued Siti, “back home in Mujina. She's turning 10 years old, this year. Please don't tell her about this.”

Siti looked at Sheena, pleading.

“Your story is safe with me, Siti. But I want you to tell the police officer everything. This is not right, what your boss is doing. If they go after your boss in a criminal investigation, this may appear in the news. I hope the reporter or the judge keeps your name anonymous.”

Sheena paused.

“I'm so sorry this happened to you, Siti. Can I buy you a cup of teh?”

• fin

bookshelf

1. Editor: Margaret Thomas. “The politics of defeat: Preliminary chapters and the secret diary of Francis Thomas”.
2. Publisher: NVPC, Singapore. “Guide to Impact Measurement: from intent to impact, for non-profits.”

#lunaticus #CraftingStories

I have been attending so-called “town-hall discussions”, in various industries; and cherishing precious moments with friends, and (chosen) family.

I would like to present a haiku from a friend:

no one said the road was easy; but no one said it was not joyful

And today, someone lent me colour markers and I enjoyed myself by playing with them:

As an acquaintance has reminded me:

“Just an ordinary island, with ordinary people, living ordinary lives: what an extraordinary day!”

bookshelf

1. Will Guidara. “Unreasonable Hospitality: the remarkable power of giving people more than they expect”.
2. Dr. S.E. Aw. “Chats with Uncle Loh: First Aid in Theology”
3. Gail Sheehy. “Passages in caregiving: Turning chaos into confidence”.

That's all, folks! I wonder: what will the next lunar cycle look like, for you and for me? How exciting!

#lunaticus

People gather up the courage – or recklessness – to ask the pianist to play their favorite songs. Is the pianist up to the task of playing a song that he has, quite possibly, never heard of, until this encounter with a stranger who is now gazing at the pianist expectantly?

Now, then, gird your loins, (as the writers of 2000-year-old texts like to say), and let us investigate the scary ocean of Song Requests.

1. Polski drogi (translated as: Polish Roads)
2. “She's a lady”, a song by Tom Jones
3. Theme from The Godfather (a film)
4. Aerith's Theme, from Final Fantasy VII (a video game)
5. “Tadhana”, a song by UDD (a Filipino band)
6. “Exodus”, by Maksim
7. Theme from The Bund (上海灘), as popularised by Frances Yip. A television series goes by the same name: The Bund (上海灘).
8. “Song of healing”, from Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (a video game).
9. Golden Hour, a song by JVKE.
10. Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You, a pop song.

#lists

No, this wasn't rock-climbing, this was bouldering – just like her colleagues have done, in Thailand.

But this time, she was stranded on an island in the Indonesian archipelago. She looked at her son beside her, who had just produced some faeces in his baby-blue pants; the poor infant had been born blind. He was howling.

In her hair was still the hibiscus flower her husband had given her, when he had tearfully waved goodbye to her at the ship-port. Where was her husband when she needed him?

Trying to massage the sense of panic that was rising within her, she chewed on the oily piece of bak kwa that she had packed.

Far away from the coastline, the ship's captain looked around him. He had told Chio Tee to jump overboard, together with her son. The ship, named The Unsinkable Giant, was going down, and he was going down with her. There was no way out of this disaster.

A quiet despair engulfed the captain from the depth of his bowels.

Around the captain were treasures from all over the world: caviar from Russia, cheese from Switzerland, and raw salmon sashimi from Japan. All of these were sinking down, down, down into the ocean, never to be seen by humankind, ever again.

• fin

Credits:

Appreciating Felix Cheong for hosting the session on Creative Writing, and for delivering the prompt: the soundtrack named “Jungle Drums”, from the 1990 film by Wong Kar Wai: 'Days of being wild'.

Kudos to Isabel Ng, Vivian Teoh and Janice Tan for venue support.

#CraftingStories

Someone in my chosen family told me: “Simplify your life. And then simplify again. Happiness follows.”

When I think about it, some things are best left unsaid and un-announced to the wider public. Everyone will be happier that way.

What news can I then bring you on this new lunar cycle, my fellow esteemed gaia-naut?

I know! Let me check the logs on my camera, (a beauty from the digital-camera manufacturers of the 2010s.)

snapshots

Note: the above has been edited with an app named Snapseed.

from another camera

tried a journal prompt: what I have learnt that I need in love

It's so strange that people around me, myself included, need a new useful language to advocate for what we really need. The language from my childhood environment is insufficient for my present-day circumstances.

To help me, I used a checklist from Dr. William Harley, Jr.'s book, titled “His Needs, Her Needs”. A striking sentence from that book is: affairs begin when someone in the marriage feels unfulfilled in their emotional needs, and looks elsewhere to fulfill those needs: co-workers, strangers and so on.

Dr. Harley, Jr. lists out ten different emotional needs in his book.

After working through some exercises, I have compiled a ranking of my top five emotional needs, out of the ten. In this particular order:

1. Gestures of affection
2. Recreational companionship
3. Words of admiration
4. Physical attractiveness of my partner (lest anonymous critics accuse me of sexism, I believe my partner would similarly love for me to look well-groomed and well-dressed.)
5. Intimate conversations – about fears, vulnerabilities and future hopes.

I wonder, dear reader, if you and your partner discuss whether each of you are meeting each other's needs? For me, I realised it takes substantial effort to even figure out my emotional needs in the first place – with the caveat, of course, that my emotional needs may change as time passes.

bookshelf

1. Sun City, by Tove Jansson.
2. The insanity of God: A true story of faith resurrected, by Nik Ripken.
3. Illustration now: Fashion, edited by Wiedemann and Heller.

resources

1. “Affection, sex and the 10 emotional needs”. By: Mark Jala. Retrieved from Happy Marriage Coaching on 16 April 2026. Also on Internet Archive.
2. Journal prompt cards, from Oliver Bonas, (which is the name of a chain of stores.)

#lunaticus

Uh... I have to admit I have to think a bit, for that one.

I know! Why don't I look up what others have already said about me?

I feel shy though.

Here's something from J, a poet:

Thank you for your gentle, kindly presence and the warmth you bring to every space you enter.

Thank you, J.

And, from O, a restauranteur:

You play the piano so beautifully.

Aw, you're gonna make me blush. Thank you, O.

Okay, I think that's enough.

snapshots

bookshelf

1. The Heptameron, by Marguerite De Navarre
2. The blood of others, by Simone de Beauvoir (translated from the French).
3. Developing the leaders around you: How to help others reach their full potential, by John C. Maxwell.

#lunaticus

And, on a more than one occasion, a butterfly has floated past me, like a visitor from a far-away planet. I recall a humorous quip: “Life is like being stuck in a traffic jam, and moments of beauty are like the butterfly that floats past your windscreen as you stew inside your car: rare but much-needed.”

new-to-me stuff

1. the Bhairav scale, in an Indian raga. What is a raga? If a musical composition were to be a painting, a raga seems to be a kind of colour palette.
2. EPK is an acronym for Eka Pada Koundinyasana. In the field of “yoga”. I use inverted commas because yoga used to mean something else, a long time ago; but, these days, people view yoga as a kind of stretching exercise for the physical body.
3. If I write a sentence in Indonesian language – say, I want to write, “I gaze below, looking” – I could use either aku or beta to refer to myself. i.e. Beta menatap ke bawah. Or: aku menatap ke bawah. However aku seems to be the de facto choice among modern-day Indonesian people. Could beta be an anachronistic word today, though it may have been the fashion, a mere fifty years ago?

bookshelf

1. Malcolm Gladwell. The tipping point: How little things can make a big difference.
2. Simon Grigg. How bizarre: Pauly Fuemana and the song that stormed the world.
3. Roman Koshelev. (2023). Peo. Semela. Sefata: A philosophical tale.

#lunaticus

How should I begin to tell the tale? Perhaps the lyrics of a jazz classic might express it more concisely. Presenting Nature Boy:

There was a boy A very strange and wonderful boy he travelled very far, very far over land and sea

Then one blessed day he came my way we spoke of many things fools and kings food and dreams beyond the endless seas

and then he said to me the greatest lesson you can learn is to love and be loved in return

Nature Boy, as you have never heard it before.

I have recently heard about Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development. (A table, with explanation, is there.)

Question for myself: if conventional schools and often-dysfunctional families are failing to support, or care for, adults who are capable of raising healthy, empowered children, what could be a skillful response that I could do, here and now, that would be fruitful to society and which would be least costly as possible?

To that end, I have been exploring opportunities – and conversations – with a few stellar individuals – who, flawed as they may be, have put ideas into action.

1. Daniel Tay, from Fridge Restock Singapore
2. Genevieve Ong, from Forest School Singapore
3. Kuik Shiao-Yin, from Common Ground Civic Centre
4. Thubten Chodron, from Sravasti Abbey.
5. Audrey and Siew Ling, from World Without Orphans (South-east Asia)

The above list is non-exhaustive.

To conclude a post that began with the premise that words can never suffice to describe the past one year – I give thanks for: enough rain to quench my thirst, over the past one year, and I give thanks for enough fertility of the neighbouring soil, which has nurtured fruits that have, in turned, nourished my body thus far.

As a wiser individual has observed: “Even the king eats from the fields.”

And, sharing some food for thought from a little nephew:

no rain, no flowers.

• fin

But kind souls are holding space for me to soothe this pain, in community. Feelings of gratefulness and gladness wash over me.

Some nice things that have helped me to navigate surges of sadness and other emotions:

• gelato
• sharing my sorrows with a friend whom I feel emotionally safe with
• impromptu sing-along sessions with strangers at public pianos (featuring pop songs with sad tear-jerking lyrics)
• long solo walks, on both quiet nights and sun-drenched days
• Anne Lamott's (hilarious) book: “Some Assembly Required: A Journal of My Son's First Son”.
• organic vegetables at dinner-time

I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

May I direct you now to Anne Lamott's Substack (e-newsletter). She's like an auntie who stays far away, lucid-eyed and pithily humorous when she comes over suddenly and gives you uncomfortable kisses that you never asked for, but which you appreciate anyway.

https://annelamott.substack.com/

#lunaticus

With the help of a few wonderful and illustrious women, I managed to serve them with salad, and lentil soup, and pizza, all of which were vegan or at least vegetarian. They left behind a reasonable amount of local currency, as a reciprocal gesture.

“We are big eaters,” one of them said, cheerily.

They requested information and I looked up some online resources to furnish them with. The following is a non-exhaustive list:

1. https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/dining/home-cafes-singapore-coffee-matcha-trend-465956
2. https://www.wired.com/1993/04/gibson-2/
3. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268504712_Generation_Names_in_China_Past_Present_and_Future
4. https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-detail?cmsuuid=d937e20c-d28d-451b-a661-951a056c8c33

After the night ended, one of their party sent a message: “So nice to meet you. Let us keep in touch.”

And so concludes one chapter in the book that is their life-sojourn. It is my undeserved privilege to have been part of their story, which has had many twists and turns, I am sure.

snapshots

bookshelf

1. Michael J. Fox. (2010). A funny thing happened on the way to the future: Twists and turns and lessons learned.
2. Editors: Ong, Zhang et al. (2023). Assault on the body: Sexual violence and the gospel community.

#lunaticus