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GRANDCHILDREN, WHEN BROUGHT UP RIGHT, ARE BLESSINGS FROM THE LORD.
Josiah, 3 years 8 months. He brings much joy.
He sang ‘Happy Birthday’.
Rachel, 1 year 8 months. Brings out all the gentleness in you.
She said several times, “Happy Birthday, Yehyeh.”
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GAINFUL, MEANINGFUL EMPLOYMENT IS A BLESSING
When you reach 60, it is not as easy to find a good job as when you were younger, so to get two part time jobs doing what I enjoy is truly a blessing.
This morning, I went to work as usual.
This is where I work, as a part time teacher of English.
In the afternoon, I’m off to work again. More formal.
This is the place. No, I don’t teach anyone Medicine! I teach Sociology. To very smart people.
There was a surprise for me. The class sang ‘Happy Birthday’. There was a birthday cake.
I’m standing next to the lovely young lady who arranged the surprise for me.
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I THANK GOD FOR SUZANNE, MY WIFE, COMPANION AND FRIEND FOR ALMOST 40 YEARS.
SIXTY THREE ON 11 MARCH 2013 AND SO MUCH TO THANK GOD FOR!
A senior citizen for almost three years, I will be sixty three on Monday, 11 March 2013.
That’s me…before I turned into a warga emas (senior citizen).
MOST OF ALL, I THANK GOD FOR MY WIFE, SUZANNE! THIS IS THE PERSON I MET IN 1974 AND WITH WHOM I’VE SPENT MORE THAN HALF MY LIFETIME.
Before I met her, I had seen this photo of her in the Methodist Girls’ School (MGS) Magazine, The Argosy. I said to myself, “I want to meet this person.”
Yes, love at first sight!
I met her about a year later. Yea, I fell in love with her at first sight! Didn’t know it was the same person until I saw the same photo on her study table!
We married and went to New Zealand.
She was beautiful, wasn’t she? She still is…
That’s us, in a recent photo.
She was beautiful as a kid.
Here she is, as a little girl. I see a lot of Rachel, our granddaughter, in her.
She was the drummer of the only all-girl rock band in Ipoh. That’s her on the drums. Our grand daughter, Rachel, loves the drums, too!
She was a swimmer, and won prizes at competitions.
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IN THE PAST YEAR, THE 62ND YEAR OF MY LIFE, I WAS BUSILY INVOLVED IN SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ISSUES.
HAVING HAD HARDLY ANY TIME FOR PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT, I TOOK A HARD LOOK IN THE MIRROR AND REALIZED THAT TIME WAS PASSING BY, THAT I COULD NOT KEEP PUTTING OFF PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT IN THE SIGNIFICANT ISSUES OF LIFE.
I HAD TO MAKE TIME.
I HAD TO TRY AND MAKE MALAYSIA A BETTER PLACE FOR MY SONS AND GRANDCHILDREN!
***PERAK STANDS WITH PAHANG AGAINST LYNAS CORPORATION.
I was there at Bukit Merah on 17 March 2012 when Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL) came to visit.
Bukit Merah mustn’t be forgotten
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***BERSIH CAUGHT MY PASSION AND IMAGINATION.
*BERSIH 3.0 AT THE POLO GROUND
Bersih 3.0 book: Clean Sweep, The Global Triumph 0f Bersih 3.0
*I also attended the Review of Bersih 3.0 on Saturday, 9 June 1012
Celebrating a Historical Moment. Review: Bersih 3.0 Perak. Sat, 9 June 2012.
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***AN ENJOYABLE OCCASION WAS TAKING PART IN the Perak Women for Women Society’s ‘Walk the Talk – Stop Violence Against Women in Ipoh, in Ipoh on Tuesday, 27 November 2012.
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***I was there at Support OCCUPY BALOK-GEBENG 24 HOURS@KG BARU BUKIT MERAH, 23 JUNE 2012
Augustine Anthony and V Sivakumar (former Speaker, Perak State Assembly) with two other participants.
Support OCCUPY BALOK-GEBENG 24 HOURS@KG BARU BUKIT MERAH, 23 June 2012
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BEING A WARGA EMAS
Some benefits include the rm150 rebate on the renewal of my International Passport and being treated with some respect when others note the growing whiteness of my hair.
A disadvantage is the slight decrease in mind-body co-ordination. When my grandson, Josiah, 3 years and 6 months, jumped over a small drain, I did the same to catch up with him. Nimble and growing more physically capable by the day, he leapt it with the greatest of ease. I, his Yehyeh, tripped, hit my shin on the edge of the drain, knocked my forehead on the nearby wall, and crouched there by the drain. Meanwhile, Josiah stopped, looked back and had a puzzled expression on his face, as if asking, ”Yehyeh, why are you there on the ground?” After I had shown him my bleeding shin, he never jumped that drain again but waited for me to walk slowly behind him. My wife, Suzanne, exclaimed, “That darling Joey has a sense of altruism, amazing in someone so young!”
Josiah is one of the two amazing people who have come into my life. The other is his little sister, Rachel.
That’s Josiah!
He loves to spell. One night, he sat with a crayon and an exercise book and spelt words for almost an hour…
His latest achievement…
The other person is Rachel, my granddaughter. She is 1 year and 7 months old. The little darling is such a sweetheart!
She is so adorable that my wife, her Hakka Popoh, can’t resist kissing her all the time!
Rachel and her mum, Anne
My son, Scott, daughter-in-law Anne, Josiah and Rachel
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My own family: three men, my wife and I (from left: Kerry, Jamie, Scott; seated: Suzanne, me).
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I THANK GOD FOR MY THREE SONS, PEOPLE WHO LOVE HIM FIRST AND STRIVE TO OBEY HIM.
MY THREE SONS ARE NO LONGER BOYS BUT MEN ALREADY!
JAMIE THONG YU JIN IS MY SECOND SON.
We were privileged to attend his graduation ceremony.
Jamie with his mother.
Jamie Thong Yu Jin, Master of Social Science.
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KERRY THONG YU KIT IS MY THIRD SON.
He works for MayBank, and when he was posted to Manila, the Philippines at the end of last year, we took the opportunity to visit him.
That’s us with one of the managers of MayBank on Cebu Island.
Kerry studied Actuarial Science at UTAR in KL.
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weehingthong 