Merry Christmas, Winter Solstice 2011 and Happy New Year 2012!

Christmas is forever, not for just one day,

for loving, sharing, giving, are not to put away

like bells and lights and tinsel, in some box upon a shelf.

The good you do for others is good you do yourself...

~Norman Wesley Brooks, "Let Every Day Be Christmas," 1976

1-Utama Christmas 2011 - The theme this year is "Splashing Over the Big Blue" (Updated: 21 Dec 2011)

"The more you praise and celebrate your life; 
the more there is in life to celebrate."
..... Ophrah Winfrey

Dongzhi Festival (Updated: 22 Dec 2011)

Today is Dongzhi Festival that coincides with Winter Solstice the shortest day of the year for the Northern Hemisphere. According to Yin-Yang philosophy in Chinese culture, the sun is at its weakest and most yin.  The days that follow will enjoy longer daylight hours and increasingly positive yang energy. For some of you it is the beginning of winter, for others it is summer but for me, I will be busy with preparations for the Lunar New Year which falls on Jan 23rd.

I have chrysanthemum flowers, tea, fruits, a sweet dessert (tong sui) with glutinous rice balls (tangyuan), joss paper and incense prepared as prayer offerings to the gods. This is to thank them for their blessings during the current year and also to wish for a better year ahead. The round shape of the glutinous rice balls signifies a  united family while the sweetness is to denote happy times. At home, we normally have a family dinner with dishes like chicken, roast pork, fish, lotus root soup, cooked and raw vegetables like lettuce, spring onions and coriander.  Our elders say that Dongzhi is more important than Lunar New Year. Kids will be reminded that they are now considered a year older, hence should be better behaved.  

Candy canes, sweets, lollipops and cotton candy - a child's favourite things (Updated: 23 Dec 2011)

We worry about what a child will become tomorrow,
yet we forget that he is someone today. 
..... Stacia Tauscher

United Buddy Bears are in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia now. (Updated: 24 Dec 2011)

"We have to get to know each other better.....
..... it makes us understand one another better,
trust each other more and live together more peacefully."
- United Buddy Bears motto.

It's Christmas day! (Updated: 25 Dec 2011)

Christmas
waves a magic
wand  over this world,
and behold, everything is
softer and more beautiful ... Norman Vincent Peale
xxxxx
“Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.           To a friend, your heart. 
 To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. 
To yourself, respect.” ..... Oren Arnold