Life goes on

Having lived in Asia during the SARS period, I learned that life must go on with the swine flu. The key, though, is with caution. And I don’t mean being paranoid every time we step out of our house. My colleague is having this fear that he might die the next day by catching this new string of flu. I thought he was being paranoid. But then again, I don’t blame him. Recalling back the days in Singapore, I was really scared. We didn’t know what and how this came about. It could strike anyone anytime.

Thank God, I survived that phase.

At every crisis, we learn. We learned first of all, to put hygiene at top priority. We re-commit to simple habits such as washing hands with soap regularly especially after using the toilet and before eating and sneezing and coughing into a tissue paper. We watch our health by exercising and eating well. We need to stay en forme so that our immune system is ready to fight off that prowling virus.

I remember avoiding crowded places and travelling during that period. It’s a simple rule of probability that you have a higher risk of exposure by having more contact with other people. I’m not only talking about direct contact. Apparently, close proximity poses a similar risk.

Finally, stay positive and have courage.

Mon Chat

Meet Mon Chat. We don't know her name. So that's how we call her.

This is the cat that has appeared in several entries in our blog. We don't know if she belongs to anyone in our neighbourhood. She used to go from house to house for food and lodging. We suspect that she ran away from a nasty master. Her history remains a mystery to us and she never talked about it.....

Since she got to know us better, she has been coming to our place regularly. And now, she's practically living with us. At first, we thought she comes for the food. Then we realised that she's not that mercenary after all. On some days, even salmon skin doesn't interest her. She comes to see us.

I think that she's pretty happy to get daily "bonjour" and caress from us, sleeping in her box on rainy days and lying on the balcony on sunny days. Her life is worry-free. She makes us realise that many simple joys bring great happiness.