Happy Easter everyone. We hope that you are enjoying your much deserved long weekend. So I’m sitting in a shopping mall on Orchard Road Singapore writing to you. The hustle and bustle here is very hard to even get an opportunity to sit down and write something. Yesterday I visited Sentosa Island and found it hard to even walk because of all the people there. I thought it would be the wise thing to do and visit on a weekday but much to my dismay, I realised that Singapore also had a public holiday on Good Friday.

As I walk the streets and see parents holding their children – laughing, joking and enjoying each others company – I start to think back to my childhood and remember all the good times I shared with my parents. It’s hard to imagine how much I had relied on them for enjoyment, nurturing and comfort. Sometimes I really wish I was a kid again because things were much more simpler. You were told what to do and if you didn’t execute you would be disciplined for it.

Now when I see my parents, I see two strong hearted individuals who with age are becoming frail and forgetful. It reminds me of this story I was once told about a mischievous little boy. As a kid he was always getting into trouble. And each time he was caught red handed his mother would be the one to cane him. But even though his mother had hit him with all her might, he would stand there and not shed a single tear. As the years went by, he continued being the menace that he was and continued to reap the wraith of his mother’s beatings. A few more years had gone by and one day his mother had caught him once again doing something that he shouldn’t have. She took out her cane and unleashed her fury on him. But his time he could feel that something was different. His mother stopped her beating and watched in astonishnent as her son, for the first time that she could remember, stand there and cry. He cried and wiped his tears with his sleeve and walked over to whisper the word sorry whilst holding her with warm embrace. They both stood there crying. His mother stopped and was curious as to why her son had cried. She asked him why for the first time he had cried. He said that this time she didn’t hit him as hard and realised that his mother was getting older. He was sorry for all the trouble that he caused and decided to change. It is a short story, but as I write it I feel tears carve streaks down my cheeks as I think of my parents.

It’s wonderful how friends and family get together during public holidays to share food and mingle. Everyone is so busy nowadays so you should really treasure the opportunity to get together and relax. We hope that the rest of the weekend showers you with good weather, good laughter and good times. Here’s to good health and the good old days. Cheers.