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Julya Ooi/IGC/2

Contents :

Opening Quote 3
from the desk of ... an introduction 4
Opening Article - Feeling that same old 5
Inspirational Prose - The Lesson Of The Moth by Don Marquis 6
About Don Marquis 7
Living Life - Expectations 8
Minding Your Career - Career or just another job 9
Minding Your Career - Is it working? 11
Minding Your Career - What’s The Idea Of Making Money? 13
Feature Short Story - The Lottery by Shirley Jackson 14
Who is Shirley Jackson? 21
Beauty & Health - Being Beautiful & All That Jazz 22
Beauty & Health - Eating Well 23
Gardening for Desire - In the Garden of My Desire 24
Naturally Yours - The Magnificent Trees 26
Naturally Yours - The lonely Tree 28
The Ambiguous Artist - Starting with Charcoal 29
Journal Writing - Making your Personal Journal 32
Crafting from within - Making a very simple journal 33
Point & Shoot - Shutter bugs on a Shooting Spree 34
Artistic Humor - Apparently School by Shane Yee 36
Artistic Humor - Technology Technicalities by Edwin Kho 37
Heart of a Child - Mac, be Free 38
Food for the Mind - Music to My Ears 40
At the Movies - Cinema Paradiso 42
At the Movies - Bread & Tulips 43
At the Movies - Casomai - if by chance 44
Right Readings - The Old Man Who Read Love Stories 45
Right Readings - Lord Of The Flies 46
Right Readings - Of Dales & Tales 47
Short Story Submission - Carolyn Charles Mayer 48
Knowing the Know - Paperclips 53
Traveling Tales - What is Travel? 54
Traveling Tales - Taiping : City of Everlasting Peace 57
Making Space - Improving your home, improving your lifestyle 58
Closing Quote 59

© 2005 all contents written and designed by Julya Ooi unless otherwise stated or with byline
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from the desk of ...

love a good magazine in my hands. I love the thought of finding

something substantial and provoking in the material I read.

nd I love great photographs, artistic illustrations, witty

stories, inspirational poetry and prose and small doses of

reviews, recommendations and how tos. I couldn’t find them all in

one compilation so I did my own.

nd most of all I believe when you are in good company

everything’s just wonderful in sunshine or in rain.

njoy IGC as much as I have enjoyed creating it whether alone

or with your family.

ust remember, this is a magazine for friends.

 Julya Ooi/IGC/5

What is restlessness? Why do we sometimes feel that way? We know we

want something and we know we need to do something but we can’t for the life of us
understand or possibly know what it is. We could be feeling this in the office, at home
or in the company of others. It could also be anytime of the day whether it is early in
the morning, late at night or in the middle of the afternoon. Does this emotion come
only when we have absolutely nothing to do? Or a weekend when we had planned for
but not carried out, due to unexpected changes, unavoidable circumstances or may be
good old sloth? Or is it because we are buried too much in our work we just want out,
regardless of the consequence?
People who have gone through this weird distraction from life understand
very little of it and would rather ignore it if there was a choice. Once these feeling
surfaces from the depths unknown, we feel a little edgy, we look at magazines and
check the websites for something missing in our lives. Something that can fill this
void that lingers as and when it likes, robbing our precious sanity away and dumping
us in this pallid looking place with no light. Some of us try to join and participate in
societies and clubs and outdoor activities. Others transmogrify into couch potatoes and
computer cockroaches with television and games and online chat. And still for the rest
they avoid thinking or feeling this way by doing unimportant things that serves as a
temporary recreation.
However, sooner or later this unrelenting creature will come back with
more force, prodding us to acknowledge its existence or be engulfed by the sheer
magnitude of it. All in all the idea of restlessness is just not one of those days when
one has nothing better to do than to feel this way. It is more than a thoughtless
moment that we create out of boredom. Only some people, especially those who are
very sensitive about their individuality and those who take to trouble to know, can
find answer to the riddle of reluctance and mood swings. If we were to think about
it seriously it’s actually a sign from life that wants us to be aware of something or
someone. It could be a guiding light that tells us to go where we are supposed to go,
to wake up from the hypnotic trance we are all in and not take the wrong way out. It
could be anything from a career to personal emotions to a larger scale of decision-
making, to something deep down inside that tells us to change route. And if it was a
strong sensation, it could be sent from someone who is thinking of us affectionately
or a pain that needs to be healed or a communication to be reestablished. All these
matters need a solution and probably a fulfillment that requires our attention. So if the
emptiness thaws out of the freezing point we may have to confront it and acknowledge
it with a denouement.
There are times when we feel lethargic we hardly know what to do. These
are the times we should spend time to identify so as not to have it coming round and
round again to haunt us when we are not ready for it. It’s like taking care of a cut
before it festers into something we can’t control.
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the lesson of the moth and be bored all the while

so we wad all our life up

i was talking to a moth into one little roll

the other evening and then we shoot the roll

he was trying to break into that is what life is for

an electric light bulb it is better to be a part of beauty

and fry himself on the wires for one instant and then cease to

exist than to exist forever

why do you fellows and never be a part of beauty

pull this stunt i asked him our attitude toward life

because it is the conventional is come easy go easy

thing for moths or why we are like human beings

if that had been an uncovered used to be before they became

candle instead of an electric too civilized to enjoy themselves

light bulb you would

now be a small unsightly cinder and before i could argue him

have you no sense out of his philosophy

he went and immolated himself

plenty of it he answered on a patent cigar lighter

but at times we get tired i do not agree with him

of using it myself i would rather have

we get bored with the routine half the happiness and twice

and crave beauty the longevity

and excitement

fire is beautiful but at the same time i wish

and we know that if we get there was something i wanted

too close it will kill us as badly as he wanted to fry himself

but what does that matter

it is better to be happy archy

for a moment

and be burned up with beauty

than to live a long time Don Marquis

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about don marquis

Donald Robert Perry Marquis 1878-1937, was a newspaper columnist,

humorist, poet, playwright and author of about 35 books of which the

best known are books of humorous poetry about Archy the cockroach and

Mehitabel the cat. Don’s work appeared regularly in the New York Sun and

the Saturday Evening Post, among other places.

Don still had enough fans in 1978 that several dozen people assembled

in Port Townsend, Washington, to celebrate his 100th birthday. Among

the celebrants were Frank Herbert, author of the Dune trilogy; William

McCollum, Jr., editor of The Don Marquis Letters (Northwoods Press) and

the now-defunct Don Marquis Newsletter; Bob Lyon of The Non-Profit Press

who published Don’s play Everything’s Jake in honor of the occasion; and

Jim Ennes, author of Assault on the Liberty (Random House). The group

shared cocktails, dinner, conversation, speeches, stories about Don, and

Baked Beans Ambrosia prepared exactly as Don says beans should be

prepared in The Almost Perfect State.

http://www.halcyon.com/jim/donmarquis

L ife is full of expectations. It starts from
a very early age when babies don’t even
know the meaning of the word. Children are expected
to be intelligent, they are supposed to be child prodigies,
top scorers, all rounders, and the most likely to succeed in
everything for the sake of status. When children become
teenagers they are also expected to know everything there
is to know. Drummed into their pliable minds are the ideas
of making it big with assets to own, properties to invest in
and a great spouse that can help create a wonderful family.
Like cows to the slaughter everyone marches a silent death
to the throes they are about to experience but no one tells
them what it’s about; the real truth behind the mask of
being an adult.
Y ou fall in love and you expect the
other partner to be kind, courteous,
generous, understanding, tolerant to your needs. That’s the
ideal person you want but
that’s the kind of person
you are not. So you go
through life hopping from
bed to bed, hand to hand, searching the world for the right
one. Every time you think you got him/her he/she turns
out to be the wrong one. You hate compromising because
you sacrificed so much and yet the other person didn’t
offer as much, so this isn’t fair. So you go around hunting
the bars, match making services, parties and crowded
rooms for that one person who will fit into your lifestyle.
Before you know it, you wake up from a nightmare and
see the wrinkles on your face. Your friends are walking
down the aisle like there is no tomorrow and you get cold
sweat just thinking of it. Your friends and relatives look
at you from the corner of their eyes and you panic. You
decide now that its too late to begin all over again, you tell
yourself youth has abandoned you, so you go out and grab
that someone you need to fulfill the standards of society.
You reassure yourself everything will work out in the end.
You get by the years of trials and tribulations; some give
up, some just blind themselves to other worldly things. You
complain about it to someone close to you and you wish
things were different in your life.
Julya Ooi/IGC/8
N ow you know that money can be
made, status can be obtained but
some things will just be lost in the process of following the
guidebook of success. You will suddenly be faced with the
responsibility of being a parent, debts to settle, mouths to
feed, liabilities to maintain, careers to juggle and somehow
you have lost that youthful passion that once wrought
about you like a hand to a glove. And then you realize
you are not yourself anymore, but the person everyone
else wanted you to be. You find yourself lost in the crowd,
bogged down in your work and tied to every delirious
outburst that comes your way. You begin to feel there is
something wrong with you and you head for depression or
a nervous breakdown. You had it made but you don’t want
them anymore. People around you think you are crazy to
pass off a deal that will make you filthy rich or indescribably
famous but you say ‘no’. You’ve had enough. It’s not what
you want in life. You lost
the little things because you
were mesmerized by the big
picture for too long. You want
to start salvaging what you have lost but you don’t want to
give up the glamorous life you lead.
Y
our house is full of purchased items
from sales and you don’t even know
what to do with them. They are everywhere but you
keep on buying them because you can. Your living space
gets narrower and narrower and you are almost out of
breath. Your health starts diminishing and your mind
starts straying. There is no mission you want to undertake,
so you begin to join other communities for company
and direction. Yet, they bring you nothing but a false
perspective of life. Everything you see now is distorted and
you ask yourself how this could have happened to you.
You expect someone to understand but no one does, so
you seek for the truth everywhere you can find. Sometimes
you feel like you are at the end of your ropes and you
feel like giving up. Then all of a sudden you realize you
have been expecting everything to work out the way you
want them to, but you also realize that if you don’t expect
anything in life, they’ll work out just the same.

ow do we ever know how good we are
at what we do? One way is to open up
our eyes and see, listen to feedbacks (not necessary good
ones) and admit to all the mistakes we’ve done before
and prepare for change. They are just so many unhappy
people in the world doing what they hate. Someone (a
lot of someones actually) once told me that there is no
such thing as a job or career one enjoys. We just do what
we have to do and make the best of it. I was shocked
nevertheless, like someone coming out of the blues to tell
you there’s no such thing as life after death, or something
similar to that notion. But when I bring up successes about
people who loves what they do in life everyone tells me its
only one in a million. In other words they are telling me
not to dream. Their conclusion was only a selected few can
dream. I didn’t like that idea one bit. I always thought God
was a fair and generous being. If he favoured some races to
the others I would be an aeitist in a second. Ever since that
day I have been searching for that dream where everyone
denies themselves because of the ‘million’ excuses. Some
tell me they are born that way. Some claim to be in a
country where hope is beyond redemption. Some wants
to wake me up and save my soul back into reality. But I
refuse to be boxed up. If this kind of theory is acceptable I
can only identify three groups of people who makes up the
number of the population of the world.
he first being the cynics who has tried and
failed and given up and accepted life as it
should be for them. There is no way out and there is no
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way in. That happiness is watching TV, drinking with
buddies and gossiping about the world, the neighbours
and the whatchamacallit that they see walking down the
road. Their lives are centered on routine, tradition and
comfort. You don’t do me, I don’t do you sort of a motto.
n the other hand, there is the other group
that tries very hard. Too hard sometimes
to make things real. And because of that they suffer a
loss of memory of who they are and what they are after
in the first place. Eventually they lose everything because
they gained everything. They too pursue life with routine,
tradition and comfort but from another plain. Their
believe of some things are so strong they never want to see
it any other way. They are the ones who see the big picture
and will step over mines and booby traps to get to their
destination.
inally another group of people are the
ones somewhere in between. They see the
big picture and they also strategise. They know what’s
good for them and they take the journey wise sages take.
There’s a kind of balanced reality and make believe in
their lives, always searching, unlike lost souls, but reaching
for that something that will make life better one way or
the other. They leave very little room for complaints and
idle fantasies. Although they fall like everyone else they
pick themselves up try to walk again and again even if
they have to do it a thousand times over. No matter how
hard the journey, no matter how impossible the feat there’s
always a light at the end of the tunnel to these people.
They change not because they have to but because they
know that’s what life is all about.
ow that we know, where do you stand?
If we look around us we see a certain
kind of pattern of all sorts of people. Some indulge in
routine and yet loath them everyday of their lives but not
doing anything about it. Some crave routine because they
measure up very low in their defeated lifestyles. Others

attempt to improve on their routine to make them variable
and adaptable. A time will come when we question
ourselves about what we do in life. One of them is our
career. If we find that we are stagnant in a job requirement
what do we do about it? Stay put, improve or try to look
for ways to make more money for retirement? One way
or the other the inevitable will swamp us one day. We
will try to balance the scale of success that we know and
still keep up with the lifestyle we intend on having. The
frightful word is change. We usually are so comfortable in
our world of fairy tales and fables we don’t really want
to change because it took us this long to find it. However
little do we know that change is good. It takes us to higher
planes of understanding and broader visions of truth and
reconstruct ideologies which may seem inconspicuous at
one point in life. The kind of change however varies with
each individual. It may be drastic and it can be minimal.
It can take the form of learning new things from night
classes, attending to one’s personal needs of character
building, rediscovering people close to our hearts or maybe
a totally new career switch.
f we combine forces of our heart, soul and
mind we can conquer the world. But we may
ask ourselves “Am I too old for a career change?”, age
should never be a hindrance no matter what, not even
physical limitations, geographical locations, and other
mentally challenging bits of deficiencies. If we can find
an excuse for something, we can find it for just about
everything. A career move should be wisely conducted and
not rushed into like seeing the big picture and charting
the journey. Of course there’s always a short cut to
everything, but that kind is left to chance and fate. If you
want something you have to go get it yourself, preferably,
because if you send a representative it makes you sluggish,
disoriented and full of wishful thinking. So why wait for
fate to bring you a step closer to your dream career? No
opportunities? Make one. Easier said than done? Better
now than never! Denied? The world is full of it so why
worry? How? Seek. Survey. Research. You’ll get there
Julya Ooi/IGC/10
someday, if not today.
irst of all gather up all your thoughts and
wishes and wants. Write them down and
eliminate the unnecessary, the mindless and the greedy.
Ask yourself what you would do if you had the chance
to start all over again? List out priorities and then the end
results. When you achieve that goal, what next? Once you
are quite sure of what to pursue, even if there is a list of
more than one, do your research. Find out more of where
that opportunity lies. Pick up a course that is related,
find an apprenticeship, join clubs or societies that offer
such training or do it yourself with books and tutorials.
Be realistic when it comes to costs and payment. Where
will it come from? If you have commitments how do you
go around it without jeopardising the world that revolves
around you? Sort it out, how are you going to get where
you want to go? Be wise enough to know what you want
but not be ignorant about it. Whatever it is never lie to
yourself, you’ll be a sorry friend and confidant/e if you
do. Once your aim or target or objective in life is clear, you
will be able to set a path towards it. One thing for sure,
everyone famous who started out did more or less the same
thing, they are no better and no worse than you. People
like Diane Warren, Stephen King, Mother Theresa, John
Grisham, Jewel, Mahatma Ghandi, Walt Disney, etc. Don’t
know who they are? It’s about time you found out.
lbeit there is no guarantee in anything
your heart desire that that will aid you
in your future, but I think that’s the best part. That’s the
mysterious journey we should all take and not expect every
predictable turn of event like a bad novel that trudges
along page after page with no surprises. But in doing what
one most want to do that in itself is already reward enough
for a good time and small joys. These are the moments
that make life exciting and worth living. Always keep the
faith going and believe with all your heart and expect the
worst but do hope for the best. Because no matter what
good things will happen in its own time. Bon voyage!
 Julya Ooi/IGC/11

that you should not ignore, but if you choose to then

this feeling of nothingness may linger on for the rest of

your life. Sadly, many of us rather cower up in a corner

isit amassed with cushions than to seek out what our rightful

Work ing? calling is in life. Still, one day an awakening will come.

What do we do when it does?

For one, you can choose to disregard it.

There are only a few reasons why we take
But if you still want to pursue this endless vocation of
up jobs that sometimes become our careers and some-
your life, then one of the first few things to do is to ask
times not. As we have all been taught at school and by
yourself what you want. If it were fame and fortune, then
everyone around us working is an essential part of living
you would have compromised your self worth for a price,
and we do it because it is tradition. By following this hard
which will fluctuate, as you grow older. But if you have
and fast rule we also get what we want, very importantly
worthy intentions to develop and surpass beyond material
money and this in turn will get us everything else we
gains then your objective will be unmistakable. However,
need in life. That was the old teaching and that is still
one word of caution as you trudge down the road to
the teaching today in the many gray areas of life. Most
discovery. You can be egoistic or you can be altruistic.
of us abide by this simple decree just to find that there is
Whatever you do in life if it is out of selflessness, your
no gold at the end of the rainbow. Not the way we were
doing will not harm you even if it is unappreciated, con-
promised by the wealth that we seek anyway. And this
demned, overlooked or denounced because you believe in
fallacy gets the better of us when the time comes where
what you do and you have faith to keep you doing it.
we wake up one morning and ask ourselves the inevi-

table question, why. Why am I not happy with what I am

These all sound very fantastic and unreal,
doing? What am I doing wrong? Why do I feel so out of
and it truly does in a world where no one has the time for
place and unproductive? Is there something more?
anyone. To do what is right does not mean to be unhappy

as you struggle to make ends meet. A concept as dramatic

To all those questions, one simple answer
as this only exists if we want them to. While making our
remains is the truth. What happens when the job or ca-
dreams come true we don’t have to be down and out and
reer or occupation or livelihood is not right for us? If we
depressed 24 hours a day. We do that only because we
misplace our priorities in life everything else gets entan-
want the attention from the world to empathize with us
gled with it, leaving trails of dissatisfaction everywhere we
and boost our egoistic morale so that there’s something to
go. If you know that all that you are doing is not evoking
write about in our memoirs. Things may be bad but they
your full potential then there must be something disagree-
will never seem that bad after all when we know what we
able here. When you know that you can do better and be
do is out of passion.
better than what you are now, there is only one legitimacy
 Julya Ooi/IGC/12

person or the action person?

The only way to find out what we want - what are you good at? do you want to use this to form

to do is to find out what we don’t want to do in the first the foundation of your career?

place. To not be afraid and embarrass about working - which area of expertise have you always been eyeing on

in all kinds of job environment is the best lesson in life. but never really ventured in?

While we can do it for the experience, we can also do it - what are you afraid of ? are you ready for the challenge?

to see if that is the kind of career we want to have in the - when do you think is the right time for you?

future. Without even trying we will never know what we - are you waiting for opportunities or are you going to

genuinely like by standing outside the office doors and make one on your own?

admiring it from a distance. And this simple act of faith

will eventually take us to where we belong. To ardently To sum up the choice of your career there
wait for the right job to come to us is unrealistic and na- are a few factors to look into that will make your decision

ive, because in every job there is a situation and in every and direction more focused. They can be broken down

situation there is a lesson to learn. If we miss that chance into jobs that require ideas and thought processing abili-

we may long for something that we have no interest in ties to solve problems, a hands on work with specifically

from the very beginning. Just because the grass is greener acquired skills, a natural likeness for human interaction or

and the water is sweet on the other side we will never be communication, a familiar routine with minimal apti-

satisfied with what we have if it’s not what we want. So tude, a personal and creative need for self manifestation

to know for sure what we might like to call our career ul- and finally something that is commercially viable that

timately we first have to taste and see what the other jobs captures the ideals of a man made world. Every kind of

have to offer. And in the process of finding out we will be job or work out there can be classified under one of these

better equipped with knowledge, skills and familiarity to categories and the demand varies in body, mind and soul.

make what we want work for us. The choice is up to us.

The time for change will come if we listen I always feel that work should be adventur-

to our hearts. They will tell us when. But you’re got to ous and exciting most of its life span, however long that

first believe you have a heart. When you are finally ready, takes. But if the routine gets you down and you feel like

here’s a list of things to think about before you take a you’re in a rut, perhaps you could try manipulating it

plunge into the unknown. optimistically for it to work. Yet, if all else fail, it could be

- what are you priorities? what comes first? a sign to let you know that it is time to move on and go

- what are the goals you want to achieve before a certain for greater things.

age?

- is this going to be a long-term haul or a short-term stall?

- what drives you to work most? are you the thinking

 Julya Ooi/IGC/13

What’s the idea of making money?

Why do we want to make it in the first place?
Who started this infernal ambition?
Is it wrong?
Is it right if we have too much of them stashed aside?
Is wanting it bad for the karma?
The soul?
The sanity?
Do we work for it or gamble for it?
Take risks to try and double and triple the amount?
When we’re done are we kings and queens or merely clowns?
How much is enough for a man to have before he is greedy?
How much should it be given away to be admirable?
Is it better to lose the soul and gain some money?
Or can we have both and still be charitable?
I don’t want too much of it to make me cold.
I don’t want to stick to it and grow too old.
Is it possible to strike a balance
instead of going off tangent to both extremes?
Does it all matter in the end
whether I did my best to make the million that I sought
or should I be duly contented
and live frugally until the day I dream of God.
 Julya Ooi/IGC/14

“Dellacroy”--eventually made a great pile of stones in

one corner of the square and guarded it against the raids

of the other boys. The girls stood aside, talking among

themselves, looking over their shoulders at the boys. and

Lo ttery
he
the very small children rolled in the dust or clung to the

T hands of their older brothers or sisters.

Soon the men began to gather. surveying their own

children, speaking of planting and rain, tractors and

taxes. They stood together, away from the pile of stones

in the corner, and their jokes were quiet and they smiled

T
rather than laughed. The women, wearing faded house
he morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with
dresses and sweaters, came shortly after their menfolk.
the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers
They greeted one another and exchanged bits of gossip
were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green.
as they went to join their husbands. Soon the women,
The people of the village began to gather in the square,
standing by their husbands, began to call to their
between the post office and the bank, around ten o’clock;
children, and the children came reluctantly, having to be
in some towns there were so many people that the lottery
called four or five times. Bobby Martin ducked under his
took two days and had to be started on June 20th. but in
mother’s grasping hand and ran, laughing, back to the
this village, where there were only about three hundred
pile of stones. His father spoke up sharply, and Bobby
people, the whole lottery took less than two hours, so it
came quickly and took his place between his father and
could begin at ten o’clock in the morning and still be
his oldest brother.
through in time to allow the villagers to get home for

noon dinner.
The lottery was conducted--as were the square dances,

the teen club, the Halloween program--by Mr. Summers.

The children assembled first, of course. School was
who had time and energy to devote to civic activities.
recently over for the summer, and the feeling of liberty sat
He was a round-faced, jovial man and he ran the coal
uneasily on most of them; they tended to gather together
business, and people were sorry for him. because he had
quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous
no children and his wife was a scold. When he arrived
play. and their talk was still of the classroom and the
in the square, carrying the black wooden box, there
teacher, of books and reprimands. Bobby Martin had
was a murmur of conversation among the villagers,
already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other
and he waved and called. “Little late today, folks.” The
boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest
postmaster, Mr. Graves, followed him, carrying a three-
and roundest stones; Bobby and Harry Jones and
legged stool, and the stool was put in the center of the
Dickie Delacroix-- the villagers pronounced this name
 Julya Ooi/IGC/15

square and Mr. Summers set the black box down on it. population was more than three hundred and likely to

The villagers kept their distance, leaving a space between keep on growing, it was necessary to use something that

themselves and the stool. and when Mr. Summers said, would fit more easily into he black box. The night before

“Some of you fellows want to give me a hand?” there was the lottery, Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves made up the

a hesitation before two men. Mr. Martin and his oldest slips of paper and put them in the box, and it was then

son, Baxter. came forward to hold the box steady on the taken to the safe of Mr. Summers’ coal company and

stool while Mr. Summers stirred up the papers inside it. locked up until Mr. Summers was ready to take it to the

square next morning. The rest of the year, the box was

The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost put way, sometimes one place, sometimes another; it had

long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool spent one year in Mr. Graves’s barn and another year

had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, underfoot in the post office. and sometimes it was set on a

the oldest man in town, was born. Mr. Summers spoke shelf in the Martin grocery and left there.

frequently to the villagers about making a new box,

but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was There was a great deal of fussing to be done before Mr.

represented by the black box. There was a story that the Summers declared the lottery open. There were the lists

present box had been made with some pieces of the box to make up--of heads of families. heads of households in

that had preceded it, the one that had been constructed each family. members of each household in each family.

when the first people settled down to make a village here. There was the proper swearing-in of Mr. Summers by

Every year, after the lottery, Mr. Summers began talking the postmaster, as the official of the lottery; at one time,

again about a new box, but every year the subject was some people remembered, there had been a recital of

allowed to fade off without anything’s being done. The some sort, performed by the official of the lottery, a

black box grew shabbier each year: by now it was no perfunctory. tuneless chant that had been rattled off

longer completely black but splintered badly along one duly each year; some people believed that the official of

side to show the original wood color, and in some places the lottery used to stand just so when he said or sang it,

faded or stained. others believed that he was supposed to walk among the

people, but years and years ago this p3rt of the ritual

Mr. Martin and his oldest son, Baxter, held the black box had been allowed to lapse. There had been, also, a ritual

securely on the stool until Mr. Summers had stirred the salute, which the official of the lottery had had to use in

papers thoroughly with his hand. Because so much of addressing each person who came up to draw from the

the ritual had been forgotten or discarded, Mr. Summers box, but this also had changed with time, until now it

had been successful in having slips of paper substituted was felt necessary only for the official to speak to each

for the chips of wood that had been used for generations. person approaching. Mr. Summers was very good at

Chips of wood, Mr. Summers had argued. had been all this; in his clean white shirt and blue jeans. with one

all very well when the village was tiny, but now that the hand resting carelessly on the black box. he seemed very
 Julya Ooi/IGC/16

proper and important as he talked interminably to Mr. get started, get this over with, so’s we can go back to

Graves and the Martins. work. Anybody ain’t here?”

Just as Mr. Summers finally left off talking and turned “Dunbar.” several people said. “Dunbar. Dunbar.”

to the assembled villagers, Mrs. Hutchinson came

hurriedly along the path to the square, her sweater Mr. Summers consulted his list. “Clyde Dunbar.” he

thrown over her shoulders, and slid into place in the said. “That’s right. He’s broke his leg, hasn’t he? Who’s

back of the crowd. “Clean forgot what day it was,” she drawing for him?”

said to Mrs. Delacroix, who stood next to her, and they

both laughed softly. “Thought my old man was out back “Me. I guess,” a woman said. and Mr. Summers turned to

stacking wood,” Mrs. Hutchinson went on. “and then I look at her. “Wife draws for her husband.” Mr. Summers

looked out the window and the kids was gone, and then said. “Don’t you have a grown boy to do it for you,

I remembered it was the twenty-seventh and came a- Janey?” Although Mr. Summers and everyone else in the

running.” She dried her hands on her apron, and Mrs. village knew the answer perfectly well, it was the business

Delacroix said, “You’re in time, though. They’re still of the official of the lottery to ask such questions formally.

talking away up there.” Mr. Summers waited with an expression of polite interest

while Mrs. Dunbar answered.

Mrs. Hutchinson craned her neck to see through the

crowd and found her husband and children standing “Horace’s not but sixteen vet.” Mrs. Dunbar said

near the front. She tapped Mrs. Delacroix on the arm regretfully. “Guess I gotta fill in for the old man this year.”

as a farewell and began to make her way through the

crowd. The people separated good-humoredly to let “Right.” Sr. Summers said. He made a note on the list he

her through: two or three people said. in voices just was holding. Then he asked, “Watson boy drawing this

loud enough to be heard across the crowd, “Here year?”

comes your, Missus, Hutchinson,” and “Bill, she made

it after all.” Mrs. Hutchinson reached her husband, and A tall boy in the crowd raised his hand. “Here,” he said.

Mr. Summers, who had been waiting, said cheerfully. “I m drawing for my mother and me.” He blinked his

“Thought we were going to have to get on without you, eyes nervously and ducked his head as several voices in

Tessie.” Mrs. Hutchinson said. grinning, “Wouldn’t have the crowd said thin#s like “Good fellow, lack.” and “Glad

me leave m’dishes in the sink, now, would you. Joe?,” and to see your mother’s got a man to do it.”

soft laughter ran through the crowd as the people stirred

back into position after Mrs. Hutchinson’s arrival. “Well,” Mr. Summers said, “guess that’s everyone. Old

Man Warner make it?”

“Well, now.” Mr. Summers said soberly, “guess we better

 Julya Ooi/IGC/17

“Here,” a voice said. and Mr. Summers nodded.

“There goes my old man.” Mrs. Delacroix said. She held

A sudden hush fell on the crowd as Mr. Summers cleared her breath while her husband went forward.

his throat and looked at the list. “All ready?” he called.

“Now, I’ll read the names--heads of families first--and “Dunbar,” Mr. Summers said, and Mrs. Dunbar went

the men come up and take a paper out of the box. Keep steadily to the box while one of the women said. “Go on.

the paper folded in your hand without looking at it until Janey,” and another said, “There she goes.”

everyone has had a turn. Everything clear?”

“We’re next.” Mrs. Graves said. She watched while Mr.

The people had done it so many times that they only Graves came around from the side of the box, greeted

half listened to the directions: most of them were Mr. Summers gravely and selected a slip of paper from

quiet. wetting their lips. not looking around. Then Mr. the box. By now, all through the crowd there were men

Summers raised one hand high and said, “Adams.” holding the small folded papers in their large hand.

A man disengaged himself from the crowd and came turning them over and over nervously Mrs. Dunbar and

forward. “Hi. Steve.” Mr. Summers said. and Mr. Adams her two sons stood together, Mrs. Dunbar holding the slip

said. “Hi. Joe.” They grinned at one another humorlessly of paper.

and nervously. Then Mr. Adams reached into the black

box and took out a folded paper. He held it firmly by one “Harburt.... Hutchinson.”

corner as he turned and went hastily back to his place in

the crowd. where he stood a little apart from his family. “Get up there, Bill,” Mrs. Hutchinson said. and the

not looking down at his hand. people near her laughed.

“Allen.” Mr. Summers said. “Anderson.... Bentham.” “Jones.”

“Seems like there’s no time at all between lotteries any “They do say,” Mr. Adams said to Old Man Warner, who

more.” Mrs. Delacroix said to Mrs. Graves in the back stood next to him, “that over in the north village they’re

row. talking of giving up the lottery.”

“Seems like we got through with the last one only last Old Man Warner snorted. “Pack of crazy fools,” he said.

week.” “Listening to the young folks, nothing’s good enough for

them. Next thing you know, they’ll be wanting to go back

“Time sure goes fast.-- Mrs. Graves said. to living in caves, nobody work any more, live hat way

for a while. Used to be a saying about ‘Lottery in June,

“Clark.... Delacroix” corn be heavy soon.’ First thing you know, we’d all be
 Julya Ooi/IGC/18

eating stewed chickweed and acorns. There’s always been After that, there was a long pause, a breathless pause,

a lottery,” he added petulantly. “Bad enough to see young until Mr. Summers. holding his slip of paper in the air,

Joe Summers up there joking with everybody.” said, “All right, fellows.” For a minute, no one moved,

and then all the slips of paper were opened. Suddenly, all

“Some places have already quit lotteries.” Mrs. Adams the women began to speak at once, saving. “Who is it?,”

said. “Who’s got it?,” “Is it the Dunbars?,” “Is it the Watsons?”

Then the voices began to say, “It’s Hutchinson. It’s Bill,”

“Nothing but trouble in that,” Old Man Warner said “Bill Hutchinson’s got it.”

stoutly. “Pack of young fools.”

“Go tell your father,” Mrs. Dunbar said to her older son.

“Martin.” And Bobby Martin watched his father go

forward. “Overdyke.... Percy.” People began to look around to see the Hutchinsons. Bill

Hutchinson was standing quiet, staring down at the paper

“I wish they’d hurry,” Mrs. Dunbar said to her older son. in his hand. Suddenly. Tessie Hutchinson shouted to Mr.

“I wish they’d hurry.” Summers. “You didn’t give him time enough to take any

paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn’t fair!”

“They’re almost through,” her son said.

“Be a good sport, Tessie.” Mrs. Delacroix called, and

“You get ready to run tell Dad,” Mrs. Dunbar said. Mrs. Graves said, “All of us took the same chance.”

Mr. Summers called his own name and then stepped “Shut up, Tessie,” Bill Hutchinson said.

forward precisely and selected a slip from the box. Then

he called, “Warner.” “Well, everyone,” Mr. Summers said, “that was done

pretty fast, and now we’ve got to be hurrying a little more

“Seventy-seventh year I been in the lottery,” Old Man to get done in time.” He consulted his next list. “Bill,” he

Warner said as he went through the crowd. “Seventy- said, “you draw for the Hutchinson family. You got any

seventh time.” other households in the Hutchinsons?”

“Watson” The tall boy came awkwardly through the “There’s Don and Eva,” Mrs. Hutchinson yelled. “Make

crowd. Someone said, “Don’t be nervous, Jack,” and Mr. them take their chance!”

Summers said, “Take your time, son.”

“Daughters draw with their husbands’ families, Tessie,”

“Zanini.” Mr. Summers said gently. “You know that as well as

anyone else.”
 Julya Ooi/IGC/19
ground. where the breeze caught them and lifted them

“It wasn’t fair,” Tessie said. off.

“I guess not, Joe.” Bill Hutchinson said regretfully. “My “Listen, everybody,” Mrs. Hutchinson was saying to the

daughter draws with her husband’s family; that’s only fair. people around her.

And I’ve got no other family except the kids.”

“Ready, Bill?” Mr. Summers asked. and Bill Hutchinson,

“Then, as far as drawing for families is concerned, it’s with one quick glance around at his wife and children.

you,” Mr. Summers said in explanation, “and as far as nodded.

drawing for households is concerned, that’s you, too.

Right?” “Remember,” Mr. Summers said. “take the slips and keep
them folded until each person has taken one. Harry, you

“Right,” Bill Hutchinson said. help little Dave.” Mr. Graves took the hand of the little

boy, who came willingly with him up to the box. “Take

“How many kids, Bill?” Mr. Summers asked formally. a paper out of the box, Davy.” Mr. Summers said. Davy

put his hand into the box and laughed. “Take just one

“Three,” Bill Hutchinson said. paper.” Mr. Summers said. “Harry, you hold it for him.”

Mr. Graves took the child’s hand and removed the folded

“There’s Bill, Jr., and Nancy, and little Dave. And Tessie paper from the tight fist and held it while little Dave stood

and me.” next to him and looked up at him wonderingly.

“All right, then,” Mr. Summers said. “Harry, you got their “Nancy next,” Mr. Summers said. Nancy was twelve, and

tickets back?” her school friends breathed heavily as she went forward

switching her skirt, and took a slip daintily from the box

Mr. Graves nodded and held up the slips of paper. “Put “Bill, Jr.,” Mr. Summers said, and Billy, his face red and

them in the box, then,” Mr. Summers directed. “Take his feet overlarge, near knocked the box over as he got a

Bill’s and put it in.” paper out. “Tessie,” Mr. Summers said. She hesitated for

a minute, looking around defiantly. and then set her lips

“I think we ought to start over,” Mrs. Hutchinson said, as and went up to the box. She snatched a paper out and

quietly as she could. “I tell you it wasn’t fair. You didn’t held it behind her.

give him time enough to choose. Everybody saw that.”

“Bill,” Mr. Summers said, and Bill Hutchinson reached

Mr. Graves had selected the five slips and put them in the into the box and felt around, bringing his hand out at last

box. and he dropped all the papers but those onto the with the slip of paper in it.
 Julya Ooi/IGC/20

Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost

The crowd was quiet. A girl whispered, “I hope it’s not the original black box, they still remembered to use

Nancy,” and the sound of the whisper reached the edges stones. The pile of stones the boys had made earlier was

of the crowd. ready; there were stones on the ground with the blowing

scraps of paper that had come out of the box Delacroix

“It’s not the way it used to be.” Old Man Warner said selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both

clearly. “People ain’t the way they used to be.” hands and turned to Mrs. Dunbar. “Come on,” she said.

“Hurry up.”

“All right,” Mr. Summers said. “Open the papers. Harry,

you open little Dave’s.” Mr. Dunbar had small stones in both hands, and she said.

gasping for breath. “I can’t run at all. You’ll have to go

Mr. Graves opened the slip of paper and there was a ahead and I’ll catch up with you.”

general sigh through the crowd as he held it up and

everyone could see that it was blank. Nancy and Bill. Jr.. The children had stones already. And someone gave little

opened theirs at the same time. and both beamed and Davy Hutchinson few pebbles.

laughed. turning around to the crowd and holding their

slips of paper above their heads. Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space

by now, and she held her hands out desperately as the

“Tessie,” Mr. Summers said. There was a pause, and villagers moved in on her. “It isn’t fair,” she said. A stone

then Mr. Summers looked at Bill Hutchinson, and Bill hit her on the side of the head. Old Man Warner was

unfolded his paper and showed it. It was blank. saying, “Come on, come on, everyone.” Steve Adams was

in the front of the crowd of villagers, with Mrs. Graves

“It’s Tessie,” Mr. Summers said, and his voice was beside him.

hushed. “Show us her paper. Bill.”

“It isn’t fair, it isn’t right,” Mrs. Hutchinson screamed,

Bill Hutchinson went over to his wife and forced the and then they were upon her.

slip of paper out of her hand. It had a black spot on it,

the black spot Mr. Summers had made the night before

with the heavy pencil in the coal company office. Bill

Hutchinson held it up, and there was a stir in the crowd.

“All right, folks.” Mr. Summers said. “Let’s finish

quickly.”
 Julya Ooi/IGC/21

Who is Shirley Jackson?

hirley Jackson (1919-1965) was born in San Francisco,

California, her mother a housewife and her father an

employee of a lithographing company. Most of her early life

was spent in Burlingame, California, which she later used as

the setting for her first novel, The Road Through the Wall

(1948). As a child she was interested in writing; she won a

poetry prize at age twelve, and in high school she began

keeping a diary to record her writing progress. After high

school she briefly attended the University of Rochester but

left because of an attack of the mental depression that was to

recur periodically in her later years. She recovered her health

by living quietly at home and writing, conscientiously turning

out a thousand works of prose a day.

n 1937 she entered Syracuse University, where she

published stories in the student literary magazine. There

she met Stanley Edgar Human, who was to become a

noted literary critic. They were married in 1940, the year

she received her degree. They had four children while both

continued active literary careers, settling to raise their family

in a large Victorian house in Vermont, where Hyman taught

literature at Bennington College.

ackson’s first national publication was a humorous story

written after a job at a department store during the

Christmas rush: “My Life with R. H. Macy” appeared in The

New Republic in 1941. Her first child was born the next year,

but she wrote every day on a disciplined schedule, selling her

stories to magazines and publishing three novels. Jackson’s

best-known work, “The Lottery,” is often dramatized, and

televised.
 Julya Ooi/IGC/22
understand why we do the things we do, perhaps it would
be easier for us to get rid of unproductive tendencies for
the unnecessary. One may call it addiction or denial or
ignorance, but a prolonged negative fixation of anything
is unhealthy to say the least. We become freaks of our
own nature once we indulge lustfully into them without
thought or concern.

The habits we have accumulated through the

years of growing up must have had been acquired for a
Whether we like it or not, we are stuck with the
reason. They could be influences from friends, commer-
body we are born with. Not including the fact that we can
cials, pressure, stress, anger, frustration, boredom, and
alter parts of it through surgery. Our main body frame;
weakness to resist. If you have come to the point where
stocky, lanky or round, make up the basic category for
enough is enough and are ready to fight back to get the
distinguishing. Once we know the fundamental shape of
kind of life you deserve, the dependency has to go. What-
our body frames everything else that comes with it will be
ever it is that keep us bogged down and sleepless with
better understood and appropriated. Men basically have
worry has no place in our lives. But mind you, always
three main types which are ectomorphs (thin and wispy),
look for a solution that will sort out the mess and not
mesomorphs (athletic and muscular) and endomorphs
divert it to another, otherwise there will be never ending
(rounded or stout). Women on the other hand has six
excuses to destroy everything we once believed in.
kinds of frames they belong to, namely, the A frame, the
V frame, the H frame, the ruler, the 8 frame and the oval
The human body is very fragile and yet resil-
frame.
ient and adaptable at the same time. Whatever abuse we
inflict on it will eventually be healed and the way it over-
To even begin to understand how our body
comes diseases and sicknesses is more than an amazing
works we need to first understand what our body needs
miracle itself. If a body is well taken care of emotionally,
and doesn’t need. The basic food category and exercise
physically and psychologically, it will maintain its func-
is what we need but what about the things we could do
tionality from birth to dirge. In a world full of chicanery
without that doesn’t help? Although everyone knows it,
sometimes we don’t even know what’s good for us any-
very few want to do anything about it. Smoking, drink-
more. The thin line drawn between bad habit and good
ing, overeating are just some of the bad habits that should
sense seem to have crossed borders with new findings and
be avoided completely if one intends to build a temple
contradicting researchers. So the best advice is for us to
with strong foundations. To hang on to negative routines
take everything in moderation, and use our natural judg-
for a moment’s pleasure is like fooling ourselves into
ment to tell us what is and what isn’t right. What should
believing that we can bring youth back through plastic
be and what shouldn’t be. What we need and what we
surgery. Yet, how many people would actually forgo them
really don’t. After all, we are survivors and deep down
even before shaping up and laying down their ideals for
inside we know what we know.
a healthy living? Though easier said than done, well ...
it still needs to be done, somehow. Anyone who harbors
habitual impulses to go to extremes should rethink life as
it were if they want to rejuvenate a youthful body. If we
 Julya Ooi/IGC/23

If you’ve never liked fruits and vegetables since you

were younger, there’s no reason to still not like them
for all the wrong reasons. For health and beauty’s
sake, you’ve got to learn to appreciate them for their
properties, taste and even design. One way to open up your affection
to these great and subtle produce is to make a pilgrimage back to their
origins.

First of all let us look at their peculiarity in design. Vegetables and

fruits come in various designs in a form of leaves, bulbs, stems, seeds
and roots. Artists have found them magnificent for their still life to
study on the basics of shapes, colors and textures. Extracting from the
most common fruits like apples, oranges, pears and bananas, to the
more exotic, there is so much one can admire about their peculiarity.
If you’ve never noticed them before, probably it is high time you did.
You’ll be astounded to see the artistry that is carved on their skin or
surface. Coverings with smooth silky finish to those that are coarse
and unpolished make very interesting objects to observe. And no two
fruits or vegetable are alike.

Some fruits and vegetables taste better than the others but then again
that is relatively speaking. It depends again on who is tasting it. Just
like a piece of art, taste is rather subjective, sometimes they just seem
to be naturally appealing, and sometimes they need to be acquired.
Age also plays an important role in determining what one likes and
dislikes. A raw tomato may taste horrible to you as a kid, but you may
like the juicy soft pulp and gelatinous seeds that make it what it is now.
A good way to start appreciating the marvelous gifts of nature is to
make salads which includes fruits and vegetables, and there are liter-
ally hundreds of recipes everywhere for them that will be able to give
you the kind of satisfaction suited to your taste. Light, heavy, fresh,
canned, sweet, sour, whatever the desire fruits and vegetables will
definitely help with your diet, health and beauty.
 Julya Ooi/IGC/24

In the garden of my desire

I wish to plant all things

s gardening for everyone? It should be. It has to get grime underneath our fingernails. For people with

always been a farmer and gardener’s duty to little time to tend to gardens they can afford to look at

produce fodder from their toil with the earth and nature. hardy plants that have high resistance to insects and dis-

The obligation that comes with sowing and harvesting has eases. And for those who have too little space for a plot

never been many people’s idea of fun or pass time. It in- of garden, the alternative would be potted ones, ranging

volves handling dirt, manure, worms, backbreaking chores from size to bloom. There is also the choice of miniatures,

and a full body workout. However, with modern technol- indoor, outdoor, soil-less, colorful, and a world of ideas to

ogy and manipulation of plants in shapes, sizes and yield, sow the garden of our desire.

many people are able to create small gardens in their own nce you get an idea of what kind of plant

yard for pleasure and profit. But gardening these days is you want situated in the home or its vicin-

more fulfilling than anything anyone can offer to indulge ity, the work to begin creating Eden commences. Necessary

in to kill time. Gardening is all about nurturing. The art and inexpensive tools can be bought and kept trustworthily

of caring for flora and fauna is simple and straightforward in a box or container or a place away from reach of chil-

but the creativity that it generates is much more than just dren and readily available when we need them. If cleaned

mere germinating seedlings from one end of the bed to frequently and kept well the tools can last for a very long

another. Trials and errors, like so many other pastimes, will time without having to repurchase them regularly and add

eventually open another world of possibilities for us who on discarded garbage to the world. Choosing the gears can

dare to care. be a fun and rewarding experience what with the strange

he first thing that one should do is to visit and peculiar looking weapons to work with the natural en-

a nursery to check out the plants that ap- vironment. Smaller tools will be much easier to handle for

peals to them personally, if not, a walk through the forest minimum gardening and larger ones for vice versa.

reserve, a saunter to the florist or the park may also help

determine which area of interest one prefers. The good fter you have determine the spot in or out

thing about gardening is that we can start very small or of the house where your garden will grow,

go on a large scale, of course with both our hands ready the next thing to do is to think ahead of the design that
 Julya Ooi/IGC/25

you want to create. Books, magazines, displays and a visit do to us in the long run. On the average we gaze more at

to the suggested places will give you an inkling of what idiots boxes, movie screens, game consoles and computers

plants, shrubs or trees to purchase. The best thing to do than we realize in a day. Times that with the months and

before you even plunge into the whole idea of perfecting a years to come, we would have either wasted or lost a huge

corner of the house with greens is to start small. It would quantity of our youth being distracted by technology. And

be unwise to spend a fortune on pots, plants and acces- the saddest instant of our lives will be the fleeting moment

sories just to find later that there’s too much clutter and when we wake up from the stupor of ignorance a second

everything is a mismatch. As the desire to expand and rein- too late.

vent the space into something more spectacular increases,

then perhaps more items can be brought in to propagate. he adventure of gardening should be

he most beautiful thing about gardening is enjoyable and appealing, it needn’t be

the care and responsibility that is needed monotonous or laborious. Make it interesting. Recycle

to tend to them before you can see the bloom. It teaches containers that probably could be made into pots or plant

us patience, creates relaxation and brings out the inner joy seedlings that you find along the way home, teach children

that is usually very fulfilling. Gardening should not be tax- especially to identify common plants that are within the

ing and frustrating because it is not beyond our control. It house compound or if you love cooking start by planting

also helps us to be discipline and keep a constant workout, your own frequently used spices. Plants also make the

be it heavy or light, and away from machines and technol- most wonderful gifts for any occasions or we could always

ogies for a brief moment of time. Too much time is spent prepare a plant for festivities that has somehow become

hiding in homes and offices in front of screens, and away essential through commercialism. As we progress onto

from the sun, unless of course it’s a blue collared job that bigger things, we’ll appreciate the smaller ones. Whatever

requires the opposite. But to many of us, being cooped up your aspiration, just remember that you will reap what you

in a confined place for at least eight hours or more a day sow. Green the earth and purify your home.

is a common occurrence and you can imagine what it will

beautiful, fruitful, wonderful &delightful

Julya Ooi/IGC/26

In 50 years one tree recycles more than $37,000 worth
of water, provides $31,000 worth of erosion control,
$62,000 worth of air pollution control, and produces
$37,000 worth of oxygen.
Two mature trees provide enough oxygen for a family of
four.
Trees help reduce the “greenhouse effect” by absorbing
CO2. One acre of trees removes 2.6 tons of CO2 per
year.
Forest planting is one of the most cost-effective ways of
reducing CO2. To remove 1 pound of CO2, planting
tree costs less than 1 cent, developing more energy
efficient appliances costs about 2 1/2 cents, and
developing more fuel-efficient cars costs about 10 cents.
By cooling the air and ground around them, the shade
from trees helps cool the Earth’s temperature.
Trees are good noise barriers, making a city and
neighborhood quieter.
Trees help prevent city flooding by catching raindrops
and offsetting runoff caused by buildings and parking
lots.
Hospital patients heal faster, require shorter stays and
less painkillers if room windows face trees.
A tree-line buffer between fields and streams helps
remove farming pollutants before they reach the water.
Well placed trees help cut energy costs and consumption
by decreasing air conditioning costs 10-50% & reducing
heating costs as much as 4-22%.
Julya Ooi/IGC/27
Trees are the longest living and largest living organisms
on Earth.
People who plant trees become healthier, better looking,
richer, and have more friends (well maybe that’s
stretching it a bit) - plant a tree and find out!
In deserts, leaves absorb moisture from the dew and frost
of the cool nights and release it to cool the air during the
warm days.
Trees enhance the aesthetics of our environment. Their
grandeur, tenacity, and beauty are probably the most
enjoyable aspect of trees.
Tree bark and fruit have many medicinal properties,
which are still being discovered. *In 50 years one tree
recycles more than $37,000 worth of water, provides
$31,000 worth of erosion control, $62,000 worth of air
pollution control, & produces $37,000 worth of oxygen.
Two mature trees provide enough oxygen for a family of
four.
Birds and animals use trees for their homes and shelter
and as a source of food.
One person causes about 10 tons of carbon dioxide
to be emitted a year. One tree removes about 1 ton of
CO2 per year. Planting 30 trees per person will remove
each that person’s carbon debt for the year.
Trees increase property values by 5 to 20% due to their
landscaping value
http://www.treeinabox.com/Tree%20Facts.htm
 Julya Ooi/IGC/28

If I had no arms & legs

I figure I’d be a lonely tree.
If I had a heart that skips in love
would that tree stump still be me?
If I wish away all my wealth & fame
in lieu of open plains & prairie.
Grow strong & bold & unashamed
will I still be as dreary?
 Julya Ooi/IGC/29

the support of the grooves to hold its loose particles though

some of the lightly textured papers will work just as well.

The range of today’s papers is quite unbelievable in terms

of variety. It is sometimes quite hard to tell whether a

certain paper quality will fair better than another without

first having them tested out. The other consideration when

choosing paper is the cost. Not all papers are priced ac-

cordingly to give you good finish. So to begin a venture

with what charcoal sticks or pencils can do, economical

Charcoal sticks or charcoal pencils are as read-
newsprint or art blocks will suffice. Beyond that an artist
ily available as most art materials in a reliable art or sta-
will know what’s best when the time comes.
tionery shop. They come in various shapes and sizes and

work basically in the same manner. However, sticks that

Other drawing materials are putty erasers,
are thick and compressed are usually harder to handle
torchons (or paper stumps), craft knives or sharpeners, a
in terms of expressive works. They tend to hold back too
drawing board, crocodile clips and fixative. Putty erasers
much and create lines and tones that may be too stiff and
are soft and kneadable, and will provide you convenient
hard edged looking. On the other hand, thin and softer
cleaning of mass areas to tiny amendments. The torchon
sticks give you good splashy strokes but they break and
is simply rolled up paper for giving that extra blend that
pulverize easily, sometimes leaving a trail of dust, which
fingers might not be able to produce. Some drawing books
could smear and mess up an art piece. Though charcoal
suggest keeping away from finger smudges because they
pencils are better choices, they have their limitations to art-
tend to be oily and can cause an artwork to be unevenly
ists who may want to make use of the entire stick to cover
fixed later on. Even so, many artists still prefer to use as
large areas with broad tonal works. To find out what suits
much of themselves as possible when it comes to making
you best is to make trials and errors of the mediums and
their personal masterpieces. The alternative to this is also
experiment with them in differing styles and techniques. It
soft white bread. Arguably not a very decent thing to do, it
could be anything from hatching, stippling, smudging or
offers quite the same effect as that of the putty eraser.
smearing, eraser-drawing, shading and blending.

For sharpening the pencils, craft knives, avail-

After making your choice on the medium, your
able in all kinds of numerous forms, or a reliable pencil
next experimentation should be on the papers themselves.
sharpener ranging from an inexpensive one to that with
Basically there are two kinds of paper that is divided into
special features can be obtained. Charcoal pencils that
two categories. The textured and the smooth. Powdery
need no sharpening are also very convenient where the
media goes well with the textured paper because it needs
outer lining can be uncoiled once the lead gets too short.
 Julya Ooi/IGC/30

A drawing board’s function is mainly to support the paper imagination. Learn by moving your hand freely on the

when only a single sheet is used. Anything smooth, light- paper. Large strokes, full expressive gestures and dramatic

weight and solid would do the job to keep the paper from bulks and magnitudes help by breaking fearful barriers

getting crumpled or from flying off once they are fastened that keep us glued to our comfort zones. Once that has

with clips. Charcoal pieces can be quite a handful for prop- burst out of our system then the concentration converges

er storage because of its loose powdery nature. If not care- into one single focus. And these, mind you, is the begin-

ful the entire work can be wiped off when it comes into ning of a long lasting relationship.

contact with just about anything. So for that sole purpose

of storing, a fixative is advisable. A clear lacquer spray or a The next step is to understand the lighting. Any

simple hairspray to a branded fixative can be used but they shape we have drawn is still two dimensional and flat in all

each sometimes react to the paper and yellow them when aspects, no matter how good or accurate they may be. To

they dry. Given the fact that they do, this could create an simply grasp the idea of form, only three kinds of basic

unexpected nostalgic look for what it’s worth. tones need to be figured out. The highlight, the midtone

and the shadow. Everything else falls in between. For

To begin drawing one has to be observant. highlights what you can do is to leave it completely white

Looking around for compositions, studying the shape of or off white (which should be the color of the paper) or

things around us, absorbing their essence into our memo- untouched. If you are unsure of whether to shade an area

ries or feeling their three dimensional forms by touch will with tones or not, it is better to leave it out completely first

help a lot more than just drawing for the sake of doing and return to it later than messing it up with something

it. Once the skills are there, sometimes artists draw out that is harder to remove. The darkest area that is most ob-

images stored in their mind’s eye when certain angles or vious should be from 70% to 90% black (a 100% black is

unrecorded pictures of the objects are not within reach. By not possible, unless it is pitch black). The rest of the tones

understanding what we are about to draw, be it an object can be judged by comparing shades and reflections. One

or a subject, will also give us the extra edge we need to of the better ways to study three-dimensional forms is to

make them unique; something that cannot be seen with place a lamp to illuminate the object, which then will cast

the naked eye, for example. But of course, these come with a stronger and more apparent shadow. If the object is not

experience. Through observation we also notice small in- spotlighted the stray lights that come from different sourc-

significant flaws that could make a big difference when we es and directions can be quite confusing. But of course a

draw them out. They are the characteristics of the object good artist can make it out through sufficient experience.

combined with the media and paper and your artistic With lots of practice that level of comprehension can be

influence that makes it what it is. Look for geometrical achieved. Exercises from squinting your eyes to cupping

shapes in our everyday life from furniture to kitchen uten- them with your hands to view unspecified lighting of your

sils, to bathroom toiletries and things that capture your object or subject is a good way to start.
 Julya Ooi/IGC/31

areas can be covered with larger sticks lengthwise or char-

Now comes the technique that has been tried coal powder and little sections can be touched up with the

and true to using media like charcoals or pencils. Hatching sharpen ends of the sticks. Anything that can smear the

is one of the most commonly used techniques where lines dusty quality of this media can be used. However, fingers

are drawn quite systematically to emphasize tones. The or torchons are the norm. Whatever else you may want to

closer they are drawn the darker it would seem and vice use to smudge or smear or blend will soon have your art

versa. When you think about how amazing simple things pieces take form and breathe life as though they were real.

can be sometimes, understanding them the way you do The amount of joy and expressiveness we can get out of

can very well lead you to greater ideas. Hatching, as it is art is worth more than any pieces we manage to sell be-

called, work in a variety of ways. It can be drawn orderly cause it is about us and who we are. And if we can move

or higgledy-piggledy, criss-crossing one another, which is people through our personal visuals, though as subjective

known as cross hatching, or even in varying sizes for diver- as art may be, it is still a delight to be a part of it.

sity. Although the hard and fast rule about hatching is in

its terminology alone, there is no law on how to get it done All art forms come to a common rendezvous

the right way. The fun part is always in the experimenting point where personal styles are a must to be developed.

and of course the greatest part is new discoveries. Another This is what makes an artist, like a piece of snowflake or a

technique, which is quite similar to that, is scribbling or leaf, one of a kind. It becomes their trademark or person-

sometimes known as doodling but done with a little more ality and that is what makes art such a joy to see because

control. They are generally irregular lines that hatching of the various appeals it bestows on its admirer. This is

doesn’t cover and is used for outlining shapes, forms and what most artists, professionals and amateurs; strive for,

contours. Instead of methodical lines, this kind of wavy always trying to outdo themselves from their last known

squiggly roughness has a very artistic and natural appeal approach. Art here becomes a form of therapy and self-

when used for shading. Stippling is the other approach you discovery because it evolves with time and change with the

might want to try which is making points or pointillism or artists. Even to begin drawing with the most simplistic me-

dots or very short strokes. This clever little spotting also dium and idea, it is always good to keep every production

gives the object or subject form and texture. Depending on signed and dated so that we can see the progress. Though

how grainy you want the effect to be, they can be sparsely charcoal sticks are quite a poor man’s tools in comparison

arranged or very tightly compacted producing just as good with expensive oils and acrylics and watercolors, they serve

an effect as the other methods. as much purpose as the latter. So don’t underestimate the

values of a simple stick, which can take you a long long

One of the most outstanding characteristics of way.

the charcoal stick or pencil is its feature that allows smudg-

ing or blending from the extreme to the moderate. Large

 Julya Ooi/IGC/32

ow important is a journal, and what is the everyday of our lives that go unnoticed. Everything is like

function of it in the first place? A journal a fleeting moment, and the thoughts that run unattended

could be anything you want it to be. A diary. A logbook. will be lost in the blink of an eye.

A scrapbook. A book of ideas or records, experiences,

observations and dreams that are yet to be fulfilled. There hese books or journals can be bought at

are no dimensions to this book where we agonize over for any stationery shops or art supply stores,

want of chronicling. If one could capture and schedule some artistically made with very good quality paper to

everything in a PDA or a laptop or camera, having a those which are commercially affordable to everyone.

book to lug around may seem unworthy and at the same Although it is easier to pick one off the shelf, to be able

time be a nuisance. But lo and behold, the power of to make a simple journal would mean much more than

simplicity sometimes is a reminder of what we are and an expensive bound book. And this is where the journey

who we are for us to better grasp the beautiful things in begins; to be able to make your own journal and have

life. Moreover, the personal touch from pencil to paper your thoughts in it too.

is always more intimate than from hand to advanced

technology. nce you get the idea of journal entries, you

can begin to explore further the feel of the

rtists draw or sketch on their journals, right paper, cover design and other stylized makeover that

writers fill them up with words, inventors describes you. And there are no limitations or boundaries

jot down ideas, a stand up comic scribbles in a punch line to what you can create.

and a cook can paste in it a new found recipe. Journal’s a

thing to have when you are filled with questions you can’t

answer, a curiosity you can’t satisfy and a keen heart you

can’t tame. There are just so many things that pass us by

 Julya Ooi/IGC/33

Take a stack of A4 good quality paper, fold at least 5 pieces in

half and then staple in the center. If you don’t have a stapler that can be

extended, try opening the base and punch in the middle of the crease.

Remember to have something on the back of the paper to hold the

staple together, like an eraser. Then turn the stack of paper around and

press down the protruded staple manually. Make between ten to fifteen

stacks, depending on how thick you want it to be and then compile them

into a compact book. To make them stick together use a pva white glue,

and spread them on the spine of the little booklets. Paste them together

on a sheet of paper and hold them down until the pva white glue stays.

Once the book is held together cut the sides of the paper that is stuck

onto the spine closely. Leaving them clean and neat. Finally, the make the

cover, use the front and back page and stick them carefully on a hard card

or art block paper and leave them to dry. Cut off the extras from the sides.

Now you have a very simple journal to bring along everywhere you go.

he first thing about photography is to start
shooting. That may be the worst advise
anyone can give, but it is also the quickest way to learn,
which is point and shoot. Depending on what kind of a
camera you are using this impatient, spontaneous act does
cost you time, effort and money. Using cameras with films,
automatic or SLR will definitely cost your more than a dig-
ital camera would. For one thing you can’t learn everything
there is about the camera by reading them up or using the
best fool proof ones with gadgets that’ll do everything for
you. So to save you the headache of ignorance and its con-
sequences, first of all you have to ask yourself what kind
of results you want and what will they be used for. Is it
exhibition, family album, softcopy images to be stored on
disks or sent through e-mails? Next, does the camera suit
your budget and personality? Serious enthusiast, hardcore
passionate shutterbug, amateur, or casual user? Whatever
the case, we all want good quality pictures that will last,
impress, and are convenient for keeps.
he demand for digital cameras is now the
norm since the price has become more af-
fordable and technology seem to have caught up with most
people. Although there’s a whole range of cameras out
there to choose from it is still best to check on the updates
of each brand for their latest release. Some of the crite-
Julya Ooi/IGC/34
ria to look into can be budget, preferred brand, specific
functions and other specs that will describe to you what
the optimum performance of the camera can be. Your
preference can range from idiot-proof cameras (without
complicated dials and menus), to beauty of the slim look
or has a good grasp when the camera is held. What-
ever the pleasure the choice is enormous. One of the sad
things about technology is here today gone tomorrow, so
be ready to spend that kind of money for the camera you
want that can last you longer than an upgrade.
he digital age has however brought
something good to mankind which is
being cost effective, mobile and has instantaneous results.
Shooting with a digital camera not only allows you to
save and erase images that you want but they are small
in size and easily kept for further viewing in softwares
and CDs. Unlike SLR, more for professional use, you
have to develop the film and get them printed in copies
which sometimes take up to a few days. Chemicals can
grow weaker by the hour and if your roll of film is sent
at the wrong time of the day, your prints may be have its
optimum results. And keeping them unused in the camera
is just as bad as removing them and storing them in a cool
dark place. And on top of that from loading in the films
to shooting to printing will cost you time, money and,
sometimes, heartaches. The pictures may not turn out to
be what you want in the first place and chances of wrong
exposure is higher than seeing instant results that can be
corrected immediately.
here used to be only SLR (Single Re-
flex Lens), compact, instant or Polaroid
cameras in town before the digital age started booming.
 Julya Ooi/IGC/35

Since then the more popular cameras are the digital ones that has the instant result of a

Polaroid, convenience of a compact and quality of an SLR. Unless you are a professional

or very serious amateur photographer a SLR may be quiet inconvenient and expensive to

lug around. But for some reason if you intend to get a SLR, you will have to hunt them

down to compare prices, extra functions, ergonomic designs for better grip and hold, and

the flexibility of interchangeable lenses and flashes. But today, the manual SLR has been
integrated with digital technology that gives it even a better control over shutter speed,

aperture and focus. With the new digital SLR you can also interchange lenses with vari-

able zoom range and differing focal length depending on your objective. One of the more

important accessories for photography is the tripod that provides stability when the shutter

speed has been lowered down to absorb as much light as possible for better results in low

lighting conditions. It also serves as a stand when everyone, including the photographer,

wants in on the picture. Although it may not seem like the most important item to have, it

does help make things more convenient rather than looking for books and tables to prop up

a camera. If the camera doesn’t have a built in flash it is a good idea to get one too because

you will never know when you need the light for quick shots. A cable release shutter comes

in handy when you want to depress the button without having to hold the camera directly

for long exposures or standing at a distant from the subject. However, some cameras have

already solved this drawback with remote control releases. There are also other accesso-

ries like filters, lenses and waterproof casings, but how useful are they is everyone’s guess,

opinion and preference.

hatever the decisions, photography is always rewarding for documen-

tation of scenic views from travels, festivities and celebrations of wed-

dings and birthdays, capturing moments to last a lifetime and witnessing change.
 Julya Ooi/IGC/36

Apparently school

Why why must it be me why?

I need to get hi marks in maths!!!

more than 1,0000,0000 died cause

he got a D for maths ...

contributed by shane yee

 Julya Ooi/IGC/37

Technology technicalties

contributed by edwin kho

 Julya Ooi/IGC/38

e stood there a very long time looking at

the fallen leaves being blown away, an
occasional squirrel hopping up and down the tree for
ne day the master said, “Mac be free. Go
food, birds flying overheard chirping and singing. This
live out your dreams and make them come
is freedom, he thought. Finally, he put a foot forward
true. You are no longer a pet that should be bound and
and out of the gates for the first time on his own. When
kept in the house for the rest of your life. Do what you’ve
his master used to take him out on a leash it was not the
always wanted to do to your heart’s content.”
same because there was always someone with him. Now
he is all alone.
ac was happy and sad at the same time.
He never spend a moment’s thought on
e didn’t walk for a while except smelled
what he wanted to do with his life except serve his master.
the air beyond the fences and tasted the
He has always been happy with eating, sleeping, playing
strange aroma that drifted about. It was not the smell of
and running about with his master day after day after day.
home. Not the furniture, the carpet, the dog food nor his
Why would he need anything else? Why did the master
master. It was something new. Something he had never
do that to him after all these years. Was he not happy?
tasted before while he was with his master. He placed
Was the master trying to get rid of him? Mac could not,
another foot out and glanced over to his left and then
for his life, understand what had happened to his beloved
right. Silently, he watched all the little activities that were
master. Although he was happy he would be free from the
going on. There was so much to see. The sound of his
leash and fences, he didn’t know where to go. He didn’t
master voice rung in his head. “Mac be free.” He said.
know anybody. He didn’t think he wanted anything more
than good food and shelter in the house. In the night he
ac took the third step out and then felt a
laid down in his kennel and thought about what he would
little confident that he could. The forth,
do the next day when the master released him.
the fifth and then he was trotting like a horse down the
street which was so familiar to him all these years and
ut before long, the gates were opened first
yet different now. His heart pumped faster and faster as
thing in the morning when the master left.
he galloped away farther and farther. Looking back a
“Here you go boy. You are free to go where you want. I
few times at the house, he felt like he was lifted off into
am sad to let you go but dogs must be free too.” He kissed
the air. Flying. Watching the neighborhood grow smaller
him on the nose and walked away to work.
and smaller and smaller. Watching the other dogs looking
back at him, wondering why he was flying. Mac rose
ac looked sadly at the master walking
higher and higher into the sky breaking through clouds.
off, whom he might never see again. He
The birds accompanied him in flight in their migration
thought it would be better if he stayed. After all he was
and then parted ways.
too old to go galavanting in the dangerous street where
he knew no none. Also he didn’t like the idea of leaving
e had gone so far he flew over the
his master who might want him in times of need. Mac
landscape and out to the sea. Flying on
walked closer to the gates and looked out. The street
the surface of the water racing with the fish. The whales
was bare and the freedom was frightful. He couldn’t
breached close by and the dolphins flipped in and out of
understand why people wants to be free in the first place.
the water. This must be freedom, he thought. The sea
When everything is well provided for who could ask for
ended and he flew back up to mountainous land where
more?
peaks and valleys formed. The cold of the wind made

him shiver but the beauty of the white snow made his
eyes sparkle. He had never seen such immensity of land
with no buildings. Once he was out of the coldness a
stretch of glistening forest emerged in shades of green.
The air was sweet and fresh and never like he has ever
smelled before. If this was freedom he is glad to have
taken the first step.
oon the greens gradually turn to brown of
the barren land. Dry and dusty, nothing
much lives on it. Mac was surprised to see beauty
transforming into something so sad. Right after that
gigantic man made structures towered before him,
exhaling toxic wastes and gas. The machines below
were horrendously frightening. He was beginning to feel
uncomfortable about being free and getting caught in
this pollution. He missed home and his master. He flew
off very quickly to another direction in search of a way
out of this smog but it was blinding him. Without air to
breathe he fell down to the ground immediately hitting
the ground with a thud. There were a lot of people
walking and walking without stopping or even looking.
And then there were other animals that scamper in and
out of garbage cans, searching for food. It wasn’t like that
at home. Where would a dog go to if he had freedom,
he wondered. He ran along the streets, sniffing the air
for a clue as to where he was and maybe another clue to
find the trail to get home. Yet, he went around in circles.
Exhausted and lost he began to cry out loud for someone
to help him but no one even stopped. Scared and lost,
he missed all the tickling and patting and the praises he
always got from his master.
hen his tears dried up he saw his old
neighbourhood again. His feet was still
inside the gates and he never left. Everything came back
to him quickly and he was delighted to feel the familiar
surroundings again. He turned around and walked back
inside the house but turned back to look at the open gates
one more time. He knew there was a world out there for
him to venture but he just wasn’t sure if he wanted to.
For the longest time, he stood there gazing at freedom but
that was all he wanted to do.
Julya Ooi/IGC/39
Some of the best children’s stories are
those that remind us of ourselves when we used
to be kids. So much can be learnt from them and
some of these stories with wonderful drawings
are classics that can be enjoyed by both children
and adults again and again. Recommended here
are three of the most interesting children’s books
I have come across. They are ‘Where The Wild
Things Are’ by Maurice Sendak, “Mama do
you love me?” by Barbara M Joose and Barbara
Lavalee and “The Wump World” by Bill Peet.
Where the wilds things are is about
a boy’s imagination that takes him to a world the
is made up of beasts and monsters where he is
the king. He also learns that when all is said and
done home is still the best place to be.
Mama do you love me? is exactly
what it means. A little girl kept asking her mother
questions of love and the limitations that go with
it. But with the simple prose of questions and
answers, the mother’s unconditional love knows
no boundaries.
Finally in The Wump World, these
funny but cute looking creatures, somewhat like
a capybara, live a very contented and happy
life. One day when the polluters, reminiscent
of mankind, came to their world, they brought
chaos and all kinds of filth with them. Soon
the Wumps had to live underground where the
polluters haven’t touched. And as all things go,
the polluters practically made a mess of the
planet even for themselves so they packed up
and left to look for another planet to start all
over. When the air cleared and the development
stood still, life on wump planet began again with
hope for another day.
 Julya Ooi/IGC/40

memories, acting like a timeline to our past, punctuat-

ing moments and periods in history in our lives to bring

about nostalgic pauses. Songs that we used to sing and

dance to somehow can draw us back like a time machine.

The many songs that we also remember can be associ-

ated with a person that we used to know or a situation

we’ve gone through. Even if we choose not to keep them

in our treasure box, music has its way to explore the hu-

man heart like a steadfast hunter. To some songs we cry,

to some we sit back and bask in it, and while the head is

floating, the heart may be reminiscing. At a certain point

W
hat is music to our ears may be noise
of our growing up years we may have copied down lyrics
to others. Yet life without music is like
or bought song books or searched them on the internet so
a body without soul. Music is like a timeless masterpiece
that we could sing along, quite like a karaoke. This act of
of artwork that will not fade away. It evolves into other
fulfillment in none other than participating in a youth-
forms but still remain the same. The appreciation of mu-
ful ideal of music and words believing that life could be
sic is inter-related to rhythm, harmony melody, and the
more than what we assume them to be. However, much
lyrics if they are composed to be sung with proses, verses
of this naiveté dissolves as logic overwhelms our being
or poems.
and obsession to become part of society’s norm the make

it the only focus in our lives. Even so, when a certain song
A piece of music can create an atmosphere when
or music is playing on the radio, we still drift with reveries
the surroundings are dull, giving it a romantic feel, a
on our minds as much as we hate to admit it.
party mood or simply a sense of relaxation. Quite amaz-

ingly they can translate our emotions towards any direc-

To be lulled by music for relaxation is a form of
tion we wish them to since music is also recognized as a
therapy in itself for healing from within. Music has al-
natural intuitive phenomenon. Some music brings back
 Julya Ooi/IGC/41

ways been used extensively for meditative rituals, religious concepts are nonexistent.

ceremonies, exercises and as something always there in

E
the background to create an ambience. Be it elevator veryone of us is creative beyond our own

music, mood music, chill out, new age or muzak, they are understanding and music can drive us to

developed to navigate our emotions without being too believe that we actually are. Perhaps we have all encoun-

overpowering. To de-stress, one of the easiest and better tered singing songs we have composed out of nowhere

ways is to listen to music that will enable us to refocus our or played a musical instrument just for the fun of it but

lives and regenerate ourselves again from the burnout we thinking nothing much about what we have actually

are going through. The choice of music varies from one done. There’s only one difference between professionals

person to another to bring about the idea of comfort and and amateurs and that is the faith we have in ourselves to

satisfaction. While some may claim soft ethereal electron- really truly believe that we have made something beauti-

ic music to be their antidotal, others would prefer heavy ful and of course the hard work to get there. Because if

aggressive sounds to find their peace. music really is the food of love, shouldn’t we be playing

on?

Artists, designers, writers, composers and most

creative people, in diverse fields, will claim that music

plays a very important role in stimulating their ideas one

way or the other. Even to an ordinary person, music does

bring about visuals and solutions that we sometimes can’t

think of when we are at a quandary. This fascinating

phenomenon can just click like a button and everything

will fall into place as though they were meant to be. Us-

ing music to provoke a thought into a powerful tool for

productive resolution is a trick some people employ to

counteract on a days where thoughts are far away and

 Julya Ooi/IGC/42

Elena steals the show with enough emotions to take us in

Cinema
and probably to fit into their shoes. Every once in a while,

a true love comes our way and so does a true friend, and

Paradiso
this is what we see in parts with Toto or also known as

Salvatore as a boy, a young man and an adult. This is the

kind of movie that makes you take deep breaths and sigh

with relief, pleasure and pain. There may be a tear or two

S
in it for you as well.

H
ome of the most memorable scenes is

when Alfredo moves the reflected version

ow could anyone not like cinema
of a movie into the town square for those who did not
paradiso? It is one of the best Italian
manage to get into it because it was full. The others is
movies I have ever seen. In fact, it is one of the best movies
when Toto stands in wait for the girl to respond to his love
I have ever seen. Both the shortened version and the
every night forever waiting for her to open the bedroom
director’s cut have everything it takes to be a good movie.
window to express her love for him. There is also the time
Although the storyline takes a slightly different route for
when they had an outdoor movie screening when a sudden
the director’s cut, with an additional 51 minutes or so, it
storm blew in and so did the love of his life. And of course
still holds true like the the abridged version. But that is a
the best will be the gift of Alfredo to Toto after his death.

T
matter of opinion when one gets to compare.
This movie within a movie has nostalgia, passion, hopes

and dreams we may have had when we were younger, and

he movie is set in a small town where its
it’s also about closure that we need to enable us proceed
residents’s changing lives revolves

S
into the future.
around a small cinema in the town center. All forms of
characters are featured in the movie through the cinema
ome of the other great movies brought
where it is the only kind of entertainment they have in
to us by the same director are Starmaker,
this rustic little place everyone calls home. The memorable
Legend of 1900 and Malena which is among some of his
individuals are the steadfast and faithful priest who never
best.
fails to amuse us with his censorship on films before they

are shown to the public, the town madman who claims

∫∫∫
that the square belongs to him and the sleeper, the spitter

and all types of people we usually find in the cinema.

When the lights go down, Guiseppe Tornatore reveals to

us the humorous side of people and their peculiar habits

when it’s dark. The main characters Alfredo, Toto and

 Julya Ooi/IGC/43

our lives which may in turn change other people’s lives.

It’s about coincidences, fate and faith. What is wonderful

about the movie is how it brings to to a place where your

heart finds peace and contentment. Asserting that there is

a place for everyone in this world to feel belonged and call

it your own. The kind of inner journey that we all seek for
read and tulips is a feel good movie. If you
but sometimes never finding, but to those who have found
ever want to feel this after a long tiring
they’ll know what it means.
day of work or stress or heartache, this will pick you up

from where you have fallen. With a very simple storyline

ilvio Soldino directed a great cast of actors
and characterization, this uncomplicated movie revolves
who seem so natural in their roles. The
around the lives of common people with jobs that will
fate and spontaneity of a doleful housewife gave her an
merely sustain them for a good living. A taken for granted
opportunity to see herself in a different life when she
housewife, a suicidal restaurant owner who also serve as a
missed the tour bus that left without her. This unexpected
waiter, a masseuse with a string of failed relationships, an
blessing in disguise lead her from one hitchhike to another
old snappish geezer who owns a florist and an awkward
and ended up in Venice, a city she has always wanted to
looking plumber moonlighting as a private investigator.
see but never got around doing it being a busy wife and
Put all of them together and you’ll have a recipe for a
mother. It’s as though everything fell into place at the right
romantic comedy that makes you wish life is so simple.
moment when she arrived. Sometimes it is hard to believe

how much impact we all have on one another if there is

he mention of the title is spoken very
no third party that observes it. Just like the movie, you will
briefly but the visuals which portray
be the observer of strange happenings that sometimes isn’t
them are all over the scenes. The intimateness of what
that peculiar after all. It makes you wonder what your role
they actually mean can be interpreted in many ways and
in life is and if there is a place for you where you will finally
the beauty of it lies as subtly as how we want them to be.
tell yourself you are home.
The underlying truth in this movie is about the things that

we take for granted, sometimes without realizing how

valuable they are to us. And we will only notice that when

they are gone. It is also about taking the first step to change
 Julya Ooi/IGC/44

ith divorces, separations and

open relationships on the

rise, Casomai comes at the right time for everyone to

reaffirm their obligation towards their lifelong partner,

if there is ever one. The thinking process that it provokes

also questions the validity of marriage and promises we

o enjoy a movie with story and
make when love is in the air. What happens when the
entertainment is rare and quite
love grows thin and everything is not a bed of roses as we
unheard of these days but once in an exceptionally while
expect them to be? The other wonderful message that this
comes along a film with heart, body and soul. This is what
movie conveys is the difference between true love and peer
Casomai (If By Chance), an Italian movie, is all about.
pressure. The life lead based on anxiety promotes only
The storyline is simple and straightforward, it’s all about
negativity all the time and because of that everything in
taking the vow of marriage as it should be taken. But in the
this world will seem sombre and pretentious and without
most extraordinary way, the director, Alessandro D’Alarti,
hope.
takes us to issues and routines which are far more real and
implicity and complications come
destructive than we think.
from what we make of a situation as
young couple who is about
individuals. Everything can always be nice and tolerable
to embark on the journey of
or they can be hell and misery. This tale of life and love
married life goes to look for a church where the groom
moves quickly from year to year and we are soon brought
once attended when he was a small kid. The priest who
about to an end which sums up the entirety with a question
was about to marry them takes them on a quest of
we should all answer as individuals. Asking ourselves if the
understanding of what being married is rather than what
idea of devotion and steadfastness in the relationships we
it can be. A lot of flash backs and ideas are intercepted
engage in is for real or just a hypothesis implanted by the
beautifully in this remarkable and self fulfillment movie.
people around us.
The scenes, the reality, and the imageries are shot with
his movie is a guarantee to make
perfect unison when the picture comes to be a whole.
one rethink everything that we used
Movies about weddings and married life is abundant
to believe in and also leaving the cinema with a smile and
commercially but none can capture the truth and
a heart full of inner joy. The beautifully haunting music
authenticity like this one can. It’ about life, about hope
and songs in the background adds on to the flavor that is
and about what we make of ourselves at the end of the day
already visually appealing and making you want to stay for
when we make decisions of sharing a lifetime with another
more even when the credits roll right up to the end.
partner in full commitment.

Written in Spanish originally by Luis Sepulveda, the
English version which is translated by Peter Rush is a
magnificent book about man and nature. Especially an
old man called Antonio Jose Bolivar, the protagonist of
the story that expresses his thought generously and leads
you into a kingdom we seldom see with our eyes. His
two favorite things being his dentures and love stories.
Although it is a small book which could be finished in one
sitting, every sentence and every paragraph is rich with
imagery and full of intriguing knowledge. At times the
book will seem like a wildlife documentary with Antonio
as your guide. Some of the twists and plots will remind
you of Agatha Christie’s Inspector Poirot or Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. And through all the
brilliant discovery you will eventually learn why the old
man likes to read love stories.
In here you will understand why monkey meat is better
than pork or beef, why never to have a full stomach
before a hunt, and how he found out he could read, and
a lot more tips and tricks for jungle tracking. Beautifully
written, the words that are used here are carefully
constructed like the one in Like Water For Chocolate.
They are no unnecessary words or descriptions thrown in
to add on to the word count like many other novels do.
This is a straight forward, concise and tell it like it is story,
and you’ll treasure the words much more than you can
Julya Ooi/IGC/45
imagine. The characters of the book are memorable and
distinctive. The old man, Antonio, the dentist, the mayor
‘slimy toad’, his best friend and the ocelot. Although the
ocelot is the antagonist in this book, the empathy that we
have will go out to it rather than the gringos that caused
the female ocelot to become what she is. A vicious killing
machine that terrorizes the town of El Idilio. There’s
a little strain of The Ghost and The Darkness in it but
it gives us more insight of why an animal behaves out
of the norm. Even in the final chapter of the closing
we will not impugn the ocelot for being outraged and
menacing and yet you will fear for the life of Antonio as
he confronts her for a showdown.
The charm of this old man with his dentures is alluring
and his ideals of living peacefully with his love novels
makes it quite amusing. Reading into this book is like an
adventure with Antonio where you will lose yourself to
his pleasant disposition and astute principles. In every
country, city or town, there is always a slimy toad, the
gringos, the ocelot and the old man who read love stories.
An adaptation into a movie was made by an Australian
director, Rolf De Heer and the leading role, Antonio,
played by Richard Dreyfuss.
 Julya Ooi/IGC/46

entire world, perhaps Lord Of The Flies seem

like a small niche for today’s society’s idea of
misdemeanor. The question that comes to mind
then is this : are human beings born bad?

Perhaps this story will bring us back to

the days of school when we were witnesses or
The story of Lord Of The Flies must
was a part of the ritual of bullying and being
be one of the most original tales I have ever
bullied. This prehistoric mentality of survival
read about children, young boys in this case,
instincts only become more real when we are
who represent the entire human population’s
in a location that necessitates it. In fact some
animal instincts, especially those from adults,
of the TV series have adopted this concept of
when the situations demands it. This is a simple
natural endurance against one another and
tale about a bunch of English school boys, who
against nature has become somewhat popular
is suppose to be prim and proper, traveling
and commercially successful. What is it that
to ??? who crashed landed on a deserted
people see in squabbling, vying to be the best or
island. Everyone survived except the pilot,
out doing each other to get a prize token that
it started out pretty well for all the children
stimulates us so?
since it was like a test of endurance and
survival. With kids ranging from ??? age their
There are at least two movie versions
funny antics of leadership, gangs and status is
adapted from William Golding’s tale of human
very well portrayed by the children which is
nature at its worse, but they garnered very little
quite synonymous to the behavior of adults.
attention and presented the message of the
Everything was created for fun and adventure
story rather feebly. It is a small book that holds
until things took a turn, bringing out their
more than what you will reap out of it and it
savage selves where they have to confront and
will disgust you yet draws you in to a world
contend with towards one and another. This is
which can sometime seem so familiar.
when we see the horror of what human beings
can do, even children who can sometimes be
quite viciously cruel, to the extend of murder.
What is more apprehensive about this book
is the idea of children taking on roles which
we find abhorring and distasteful even if the
grown ups emulate them. With the rise of
crime committed by children throughout the
 Julya Ooi/IGC/47

ervase Phinn is a General Inspector for One to Know One and many others. Even his

English and Drama with the Yorkshire poems ring out like a singsong limerick that

County Council who writes about his is purely entertaining and imaginative. If you

encounters with the people he works with and never had the chance to read any of his works,

the children he visits when he travels through this is a good time to try and get at least one to

the beautifully picturesque Yorkshire dales. His understand what it is that makes a good light

poetic and lyrical books have simple and yet and easy read. His books will also make very

profound thoughts and philosophies expressed good gift books that will amuse, captivate and

by children whom he encounters. What is bring about insights of what a good observation

most interesting about his books is the way he is.

describes his experiences in a very childlike and

amiable manner. You can’t help but get involve e is now a freelance lecturer, adviser and

in his world where innocence and, often, truth also a visiting Professor of Education at

prevails, in a very candid approach. the University of Teesside. Being one of the

most famous English writers he is much sought

e has written Up and Down in the Dales, after for television and radio shows too.

The Other Side of the Dale, Head Over

Heels in the Dales, Over Hill and Dale, It Takes


Carolyn Charles Mayer
in
the
shadow
shadow
of a
ghost
ghost
felt so out of place. Like I don’t belong to the
present day, or night. Since I lost Tony, I lost
everything inside of me to the darkness. It’s only
been three weeks and I feel like everything that
I do is wrong. I can’t sit around moping all day
long, I can’t go to work to face all my colleagues
and students yet, and I can’t keep house because
everything reminded me of him. Mother’s been
here for so long I can’t imagine living without
her now. I shouldn’t be so self absorbed, so I
have been telling myself. But I really don’t know
what to do without her.
ony’s premature departure from this world
was unexpected in any manner of speaking.
He was healthy, diligent and outgoing. He was
one of the guys none of us would expect to
be scourged by cancer. He hardly had any bad
habits to incite them but he was the one who got
it. The first time I met him at the interschool
tournaments I knew I liked him, but I never did
think I would marry him. I was only fifteen at
that time. He was the one who kept looking at
me wherever he was and I looked back at him
because I didn’t want him to think he could do
that to a girl and get away with it. I thought if I
stared just as much as he did he would back off
and shy away like the other guys. But he didn’t.
Julya Ooi/IGC/48
He approached me instead.
“Hi,” he said, “I’m Tony.”
“Hey, I’m Caroline.” I stood my grounds, waiting
for him to make a false move and then I would
confront him. I usually made a fool of the boys
who approached me with ridiculous pick up lines,
like ‘I’m seen you somewhere before’ to which I
will answer - but I haven’t seen you in my life, ‘I’d
like to go out with you sometime’ to which I will
answer - perhaps that sometime will never come,
or the great ‘you look really beautiful’ to which
I will answer - only when I’m this young. None
of the guys ever came back. Everyone thought I
was a snob or that I disliked boys but they were
wrong. I liked them, only the ones that advanced
on me with absurdity are the ones that I truly
can do without. When Tony looked me in the
eye, I was almost slain. I thought only holy spirits
could do that.
“You were staring at me.” He said blankly.
It made me furious and I lashed back. “Excuse
me, but you were looking at me.”
“I know,” he grinned. “but you looked back.” I
was embarrassed.
“Only because I didn’t want you to think you
can do that to a girl and get away with it.”
“Get away with what?”
“That only guys can stare!” I quipped.
“Really! Where did you get that from?”
“It’s a known fact. All the other girls will be
the first to turn away whenever a guy gawks at
them.”
“But not you.”
“Not me.”
“So you like challenges?” He goaded me.
“Maybe.”
“Can I challenge you to something?”
“We’ll see, what of ?”

“To go out with me for a date and then make a
clean and sincere evaluation of me and I will do
the same for you.”
I didn’t expect such a respond and I was
dumbfound for at least five seconds. “It’s a
deal!”
“I’ll pick you up at seven?”
“No, we’ll meet at the Bow Wow Express at
seven.”
“Great.” He reached out his hand and we shook
on it like a business deal.
hat was the best time of my life meeting
Tony the way I did. Though I dare not
admit it once too often, I felt thrilled and girlie
all of a sudden. None of the girls in school has
ever seen me flippant or giddy in love and I
turned red the moment I let my guards down.
And that was a night to remember.
he Bow Wow Express was the sixth
establishment to have operated at the shop
at the corner block of Main Street. There was
Gran’s Chicken Specialty, Northern Indian
Home Cook Meals, Gaming Wizard, Mario’s
Curio Shop and a nameless snooker center which
was running illegally. It seemed like a good spot
for business but no one was able to sustain them
long enough to profit out of it. I told mum I was
going out and she was delighted because I had
few friends and ever lesser boy friends. I could
see worry in her eyes that suggest I might end up
a lonely spinster, and I couldn’t blame her. We
were the only two persons in the family since dad
met an accident when I was five. I rode on my
bike to meet Tony for a showdown. I wondered
what he was up to and if he could carry a good
conversation to last through the night. Boys his
Julya Ooi/IGC/49
age was nothing more than tongue tight and
hormonally charged with one thing on the mind.
Some of the girls were too but most of them we
in control, or at least those that I know of. I was
way out of their league. I didn’t dress in frilly
adornments, I had my hair natural with a little
bit of wave, I didn’t paint my nails and I sure as
hell didn’t spend time talking about boys every
chance I get. I played the school net ball team,
I was in girl’s scout and I ran a literary club for
book lovers for boring, plain and disregarded
girls. That’s what everyone says about the club.
It was small but we liked it that way with Karen,
Charlotte, Michelle and Grace.
ony was waiting for me at the two seater
when I arrived. He smiled broadly and
acknowledged my presence with a wave, an
honored reception and a handshake. “Nice to
see you again.”
I thought he was going to accuse me of not
showing up, being late, which I wasn’t, or looked
like I was ready for a fight. I was in jeans, a white
loose t-shirt and a red helmet on the side. “I can’t
say I can reciprocate the same.”
“You don’t have to. Let’s just eat first.” He sat
down after me and gave me one of the menus
which was on the table. “I know what I want, do
you need time to go over the menu?”
“No, I know what I want to.”
He signaled for a waitress, who was Angela this
time, and we called out our food.
“A spicy grilled chicken, a strawberry shake and
a glass of warm water.” He said politely.
“I’ll have the house salad, spaghetti with olive oil
and a vanilla shake.” I skipped the warm water
bit because it was getting too close for comfort.
The first thing that came to my mind after

Angela had left was how cute he looked. I
knew all the girls were eyeing for him because
he was an athlete, a thinker and a looker. I
always thought that it was superficial to weigh
someone’s character on these bias scales of
society, but he was all of that. That was the more
reason I wanted to keep away from guys like him
because they were getting too much attention
and I wanted it to be fair to all the simple Simons
and plain Janes. Which I thought I belonged to
the same category.
“It was nice of you to agree to the challenge.”
“I always like challenges. So what is it that you
want to dare me?” I thought I should be ready
because there’s got to be a catch.
“To date me.”
“What’s so challenging about that?”
“Have you dated any guys before?”
I kept silent and was flustered.
“I didn’t mean it that way, I’m sorry -”
“It’s alright.” I stood up to walk away.
“Please stay.” He stood up beside me.
I gazed at him and he had such beautiful eyes.
“Just give me one reason.”
He hesitated and thought for a moment. “I can’t
think of a good one but I have many that are
self indulgent, perhaps I’m the one who needs
to challenge to say the right things at the right
time? Truce?”
I liked him there and then.
“Honey, your dinner’s getting cold. You have to
eat something.” She held me on the shoulders.
“I’m still very low on my appetite.”
“That’s no excuse. You’ve got to let go.”
“I don’t want to talk about it ... please.” I could
still feel his presence around.
“I’m going to knit a little, don’t wait too long
Julya Ooi/IGC/50
for your food okay.” I nodded in response. Just
like mother, still insisting and not hearing what
I said, but her strength to accept my failings is
more than I can bear. If I were her, I would have
given up on me a long time ago.
“Caroline, I am telling you for the last time you
can’t cycle to the city with a bunch of boys I
don’t even know.” She grumbled.
“But mum, the scout master will be there, and
besides, there’ll be two other girls.” I almost
pleaded, and I didn’t want to mention that one of
the girl’s was considering pulling out because she
didn’t think she could make 60 miles of cycling
for a week. And I was also excited because Tony
will be there. I pestered mum for about a two
weeks until she relented and made sure she had a
talk with the scoutmaster and some of the more
decent boys. That was the first time I invited
Tony to the house.
“Hello Mrs. Mayer.” They smiled like the boys
next door.
“Hello everyone.” She stepped forward to check
them out.
“Mum, these are some of the boys I’ll be going
with, that’s Hoyston, Zack, Tony and Shane.”
“I know you handpicked them for me to assess
Carol, but I am still concerned about the traffic,
the distance, your safety and it just scares me.
You boys know what I mean don’t you?”
“Mrs. Mayer, we’ll be very careful. I can assure
you that. We’ve prepared ourselves with a lot
training and practice and we’ll look out for one
another all the time.”
“And you must be ..?”
“Tony, maam.”

um glanced at me and caught me with my
guards down. At that moment she knew
Tony and I have been seeing each other and she
smiled. “Carol, you must bring your friends over
more often so I won’t feel so edgy whenever you
have plans with them. Okay boys?”
“We’ll we delighted to come over Mrs. Mayer.”
I blushed like a school girl I never wanted to be,
but I got to go for the cycling trip.
um fell asleep on the easy chair when I
decided to come out of the room to get a
drink. I took a blanket to wrap her up from the
cold and watched her for a moment. She will
be in the sixties soon and it wasn’t a pleasant
thought. I remember asking her where dad was
when I was ten and she told me he passed away
when I was six. After a brief explanation I said
to her I didn’t like the idea of death and wish
there was something I could do to prevent it.
Now at the age of 27 I thought I would know
death much better than when I was a child, but
it didn’t. I was still scared of losing people that
I love.
wandered to the kitchen and forgot what I
wanted, so I sat down on the stool by the
window and cried. Tony and I used to sit on these
two hand painted stools, which we did ourselves,
to look out the open windows to admire the
night sky. He’d hold my hand and I would grab
his arm. I thought only people in the movies
did that, but it actually felt good. Sometimes
we’d take out the ground sheet, spread it on the
garden and watch the stars while lying down. I
loved doing that since my scouting days, and it
was nights like these, talking about things over
the campfire, singing, entertaining one another
Julya Ooi/IGC/51
with skits that I missed. Tony was in the boy’s
scout a little later after I met him. The rumor
has it that he joined this extra curricular because
of me, but I could never get that out of him even
when I made him promise to always tell me the
truth. He’d just laugh away or tell me something
silly when I ask him. Two years later we went our
separate ways.
“My father wants me to pursue a degree in Silver
City.” He said reservingly.
“I know, everyone’s doing that.” I refrained from
being a girl who can’t let go of her guy. “Who
knows, I may go too!”
“You are?”
“Not exactly, mum and I haven’t spoken about it
but I guess when the time comes ...”
“I hate to leave like this. Like there’s unfinished
business.”
I hated it too but I didn’t want to keep him or
create a riff between him and his father. “You’re
a small town boy, you’ll be back some day.”
“What about you? You’re a small town girl too.”
“I know I’ll be here.” I didn’t want to get into this
mushy corny scenario but our conversation was
leading us there.
“You know how I never believe in making
promises,” I nodded. “I’m not going to make any
now, but I’d like to see you again when I come
back or you if go to the city.”
“I like that too ... with no strings.” We were
seventeen, it was the hardest thing for a girl in
love to say that.
“No strings.”
We went our own way without a big fanfare, just
like the day he died.
he night breeze chilled me by surprise
and I follow the trail out through the back

door. It lead to the open lawn with massive trees
bordering the edge of the land. It was one of
the quietest areas in Everlasting. If life was slow
in this town, at Lake District life was almost
non existent. These old colonial bungalow
houses were set apart by copious grounds that
surrounded the house which was deposited in the
center. Tony And I used to stroll on the pathways
and walkways we constructed with pebbles and
stones we gathered from Hillside Stream. It was
dark but the moonlight shone partially through
the clouds with disseminated stars in the sky. My
walking partner. My stargazing friend. My lover.
My man. I felt lost and vacant inside. Like the
time when we were caught in a storm under a
gazebo at the lake. Even when the tempest was
brewing up, we sat there watching and admiring
the fury of the heavens and we refused to run off
home, which we could. We observed the broiling
rain clouds and witnessed the gale bantering
away the tree tops as the rain proceeded. It was
magnificent and terrifying. We both felt cut off
from the rest of the world as though we were
the only two persons alive. The isolation and the
feeling of abandonment made me wonder what
I would do if Tony wasn’t there with me. That
sentiment has come back.
sat on the wooden bench we made from the
wood we salvaged from the jungles. It was
not fabulous but it was functional. My eyes were
wet from the reveries and diminishing instances.
I always thought I was stronger than most girls
when it comes to taking hold of my own life, but
I was wrong. Tony was the best person to have
come into my life. We were not the most perfect
couple to have materialized but we were happy
together. We complemented one another with
Julya Ooi/IGC/52
our shortcomings, plugged up the perforations
with tolerance and brought in affection where
restoration was needed. But it was all taken away
again. Why?
“Why God? Why us?” I looked to the sky for
answers. It’s just not right to see nature at its
most resplendent display when the heart is so
heavy. “There wasn’t even enough time to say
goodbye.” The cancer which devoured him
stole his body within a year. Starting from the
bruise on his right thigh, and an immediate
amputation, nine months later the cancer ate
its way into his stomach. Within another three
he was gone. One month later, I am sitting here
in the dark thinking maybe, just maybe it was
just a dream, that none of those heart breaking
moments were real. That maybe God made a
mistake, and he’ll turn back time and make me
forget any of this ever happened. I am so tired of
carrying on. “I wish ... I wish ...” The cold breeze
caressed my nape and it smelled like Tony. I
whirled around to look but only some leaves and
insects hovered in the air. “Tony is that you?”
I asked. The nocturnal creatures chirped and
clucked and whistled but no one answered. Yet
I could feel Tony’s presence. “It’s you isn’t it.” I
called. “Can’t you show yourself to me?” I stood
away from the bench and scrounged around the
dark, searching for familiarity. In the far end of
the trees I could see a figure, faded from the sun
but visible to an observant eye and it looked very
much like Tony.

Have you ever wondered about inventions we
cannot do without even in this time and age?
With all the technology within reach and at
our finger tips there are still simple things that
has more value than we care to acknowledge.
Things like the paperclip for example.
The invention of paper clips date back to 1899
by a man named Johann Vaaler who hailed
from Aurskog, Norway. Though some dispute
about who the first inventor was from William
Middlebrook of Waterbury, Connecticut
to Cornelius J. Brosnan from Springfield,
Massachusetts, Johann Vaaler is still considered
to be the predecessor. His invention was only
patented in 1901 in Germany since there
was no patent law in Norway at that time.
Middlebrook and Brosnan both patented theirs
on 1899 and 1900 respectively.
Before the paperclip was invented all kinds of
materials were used to hold paper together but
Julya Ooi/IGC/53
they were not as effective as what the paperclip
could do. Papers were damaged and torn and
destroyed by the other kinds of holders and
fasteners, unlike the simplicity of this bent steel
wire. Paperclips have undergone numerous
transformation that brought in new colours,
shapes and sizes, but the concept behind the
function remains the same. Besides holding
papers together they are also used for prying
out jammed disks in the drives, picking of
locks and art and craft work. This is one of
the rare items that we can actually find that’s
inexpensive and lives up to its expectation. I
wonder if this holds true today of the tools we
use now that are overly priced and comes with
short life spans. When you think about it a lot
of things today are meant to be discarded,
upgraded or abandoned.
 Julya Ooi/IGC/54

used to think traveling meant going to faraway

places reachable only by air. The one they call

overseas. But after having gone to some of the places, I found

that visiting other countries doesn’t seem as thrilling as I used to

think so when I was a kid. When I begin to wonder what traveling

is all about I manage to piece together the ridiculousness of it

all and what shrewd advertising can do to misinformed souls.

The kind of travelers I come to understand fall only in a few

categories. The most common being the massive mob who

travel in prearranged tours. For one it is economical, it squeezes

as many sight seeing places as it possibly can and everything is

scheduled for everyone’s to make the most of everything with

what little that they have. But these kinds of tours are the most

uncompromising in terms of quality time spent on the locations.

Always rushing through from one site to another, one has to

be on his toes practically every waking moment. But for that

kind of money spent, it’s only deserving, or so it seems. The

other kind of travelers are the ones that make their own plans.

Everything from getting economical plane fares to renting a

vehicle to working out the map to get to all the places on their

own. With the internet today, this type of excursion seem more

and more desirable because of the ease to book and reserve

accommodation, being informed about the weather conditions

 Julya Ooi/IGC/55

of the country and places of interest to visit. Finally, the third

kind is the one that combines both. Half vacationing with the

tour group and half moving around on their own. Of course

there are the holiday makers with religious priorities on their

minds, some for adventure and others to meet up with friends,

relatives or spouse to be, not forgetting too those who seek for

greener pastures and lots of money. Basically, to see the world,

or see what’s on the other side of the world.

hatever the reason, most of the time

all these vacationers come back with

an emptiness that cannot be satiated. Too much fun or too little

of it could be part of the reason. The question comes back to us

asking why we took time off to go there in the first place. To most

people, it is a form of escapism. To get away from loneliness, to

steer clear off the job we hate so badly, to relax and enjoy the

things we usually don’t have the time or money to, and to treat

ourselves since we deserve to be pampered once in a while. To

do this is like missing the waterfall a few miles away from our

home while we go looking for the elusive bigfoot. Can a week or

two of vacationing fulfill a lifetime dream of seeing the greatwall

of China, the pyramids of Eqypt, the grandeur of the Grand

Canyon or the breaching whales of New Zealand? The answer

that is quite frequently quoted is ‘I must at least go once before

I die’. Though nobel in ideal, the pathos that it’s pregnant with

seem quite uneventful in gesture. If that is all there is about

traveling to another country then I don’t see why one should

go in the first place. Unlike the people who pack up and leave

the comfort of their homes to live in the wilds of Africa or the

jungles or the north pole to study migrating birds or unidentified

 Julya Ooi/IGC/56

animal species or volunteering to make this world a better place

but traveling aimlessly is as bad as a B-grade movie without a

good script trying to pass off as one.

houldn’t there be something more

meaningful and profound than to go scuba

diving and admiring ocean life, watching an authentic belly

dancing in Casablanca or looking out the hotel window to see

Mount Everest as the backdrop? Shopping for some quirky stuff,

taking beautiful pictures of the city or ranting and raving about

what is not found in your own country doesn’t seem to make it

anymore appealing than it really should. I usually don’t, most of

the time never, hear holiday makers coming back to tell us the

uniqueness of their travel other than the usual litany. Traveling

becomes somewhat stale if all everyone ever does is to come

back and prove through pictures, souvenirs, and unnecessary

gifts.

ow holidays to me must be journeys,

observations, discoveries and about

falling in love with it.

 Julya Ooi/IGC/57

Oh it’s a place all right!

A place where men still wear singlets,
where kids ride on bicycles bigger than themselves,
Where daddy would take a car load of them for a ride,
a place where stray dogs get constipation.
You could still catch the kids playing kites,
marbles and home made toys,
a place where rain trees, streams,
lakes and hills are simply there,
and oh, the wonder of its placidity.
Where falling in love is still quite possible,
and getting married is a family affair,
a place where death is very much respected
and celebrated by families and friends.
What an awfully good place for eats.
This is where friends cycle together
and have early breakfasts,
a place where you can dress in comfort,
a place of frequent rainfall,
and a place with scorching sun and clear blue skies.
It is a simple place,
for stargazing and cloud watching,
a place where people don’t watch where they’re going
- always bumping into familiar strangers,
where morning Tai Chi is for the veterans,
and the evening run for the zealous ones.
You still see old, out of date cars cruising through the town,
or a parade of bikers roaring pass,
and bicycles overrule the cars.
Cos’ it’s a place of memories,
a place where I began,
not fantastic, not very exciting,
but a place where I can think about
and draw a smile at least,
knowing that’s my city of eternal peace...
 Julya Ooi/IGC/58

another person can benefit from our old collection of

things, why not share them and free ourselves from the
bondage of possession that will not do any good for this
life or the next?

Once there was a question put forward, “When

your house is on fire, once every living thing is safely out
To begin improving your home and living space
of the way, what would you take with you? Of course
is to first get rid of the clutter. If you spend some time
everyone has a different opinion as to what is of value to
looking around in your home, room or storage areas, you
them. But an answer to that question should be ‘nothing’.
will be able to find things that have been accumulated
Impossible to accept and impossible to understand; but if
throughout the years from various sources. One thing
one can truly grasp the meaning of life, nothing is really
about accumulation is that we tend to grow attached to
that substantial after all. Just as how we are born into
it for all the wrong reasons. Souvenirs, books, papers,
this world with nothing, we would eventually go back to
containers, bags, clothes, and toys are just some of the
where we came from with nothing as well. That is how a
items we usually keep until we run out of space. Old
person can be truly happy without reservations.
things, however, can become antiques and collectibles,
but still, one should not have to spend an entire lifetime
If half of what we acquired for ourselves are taken
worrying about them or protecting them from harm.
away, we can imagine how little indispensable objects we
These, truth be told, are not some of the most important
actually have, and how much more breathing space we
things in life. By giving up, donating or recycling these
can obtain. Little do we realize that stacking up material
nonessentials, it would help us greatly to move on to the
gains is only as good as suffocating us but we can be rest
next stage of life. Even though every penny can be made
assured that once we are done cleaning up there will be
from our accumulated frills and luxury articles, sometimes
more room outwardly as well as inwardly for growth.
by giving them away freely holds more meaning to the
What expensive assets we have in fear of being stolen,
cause, especially to people who need them. Sometimes
broken or lost will be a thing of the past if we don’t have
when we think about it, it’s not the matter of being
them in the first place. A beautiful home does not need
economical to get good things in life during a sale that is
tagged prices to show how tasteful the home owners are,
sagacious. It is being aware of our need towards it that is
and most of all it does not need congestion if it’s to stand
more critical; be it artistic, cognitive or constitutive.
out on its own. A simple house with creative and artistic
settings will do more for people who seek comfort and
Although everyone knows what it is to reduce,
beauty than all the collectibles of the world. With more
reuse and recycle, but not many of us practice it. Perhaps
dimensions to express oneself, and more room to partake
its time we did, starting from our own homes and our
in this enriching life, I don’t think anyone could care
own clutter to uncomplicate our lives. To start digging up
more for anything else but good company.
all the chaos we have stashed up is also to start unraveling
our own existence and know what is truthful to us and
Accumulation leads to procrastination leads
what is not. To do away with old memories and hurts is
to indecisiveness leads to blame leads to frustration
not a bad thing because they need to make room for the
leads to inconsiderateness leads to repetition leads to
new ones. What we choose to remember will always be
accumulation. And so it goes.
with us whether we kept memorabilias of them. And if
 Julya Ooi/IGC/59

Anyone who says sunshine brings

happiness has never

danced in the rain.

Author Unknown