31-door longhouse gutted in fire

A 31-door longhouse was razed to the ground about noon two days ago. 27 intermediate doors were completely destroyed while 4 other separate units were partly damaged.

The fire was believed to have started from one of the intermediate units, and spreaded speedily to the other units, leaving the residents no opportunity to salvage their belongings. Fanned by the strong wind and the dry spell, the fire took less than half an hour to consume the wooden longhouse.

Firemen rushed to the scene but could not save anything because the whole structure was already reduced to ashes by the time they arrived.

An elderly woman said she was cooking in the kitchen when she was alerted of the fire by her four-year old grandson who was playing alone in the living room.

Millions of dollars worth of properties had been lost in the fire. But no one was injured except an elderly man who suffered burns.

− adapted from http://www.theborneopost.com/?p=50852

Incidents like this happened when there were strong wind and dry spell. But the worse scenario happened in the middle of the night when many people were burnt to death. Everyone wept and wailed and mourned. These were sad and pitiful sights.

The LORD gives and the LORD takes Away. Let's humbly accept the painful fact and start afresh.

Thunders And Lightnings

It was deafening to hear the loud thunders. I remembered the younger days when we used to hide near a corner of a building and waited for them to stop. I remembered the times when the adults told us to keep quiet lest the thunders struck on us, and we giggled away innocently. I remembered the times when the thunders struck very near to us, and we screamed and just cried. We knew deep inside that the Almighty God had sent the thunders as we were told from young.

It was frightening when the lightning flashed across the sky and struck the earth. Our bodies trembled in fear and you could behold our pale and sick faces. Again we hid deep inside a corner of a building to wait for them to go. It was really scary to have the lightnings struck near to us. We knew from small that the lighting strike was fatal.

So there we were, squeezing inside a building or a bus stop, waiting for the thunderstorm to stop. There we were, in a farm hut or under the tall grass and bushes, praying for the rainstorm to go.

When the lightnings and thunders had gone, we slowly came out of our shelters and continued our journey. The strong winds blew strong and hard, and we dared the heavy rain with our wooden umbrellas. It was an impossible feat when you were small in size, and you tended to move backward haphazardly once in a while. Sometimes the wooden umbrellas flied away and we had to turn back and picked them.

So we walked back bare footed. And we reached home entirely wet. We had to take a quick bath and dressed in thick clothes. We had to dry our books and our shoes. Then we ate and studied, and we slept early.

Sometimes, as I watch the younger people who dare the heavy rains and the thunderstorms and doing dangerous stunts, I care and fear for them. And I pray that nothing will happen to them.

Eldest Brother's Birthday

My eldest brother is celebrating his 60's birthday today.

Time has flied so fast. Our youngest brother is now in his mid-30's. Some of us are grandfathers and grandmothers now. Many of our children have completed their tertiary education with flying colors and have long started working and raising their families.

Dad has passed away more than 30 years ago. And mom has gone more than half a year ago. We are orphans now but our bond and love for one another have never broken and will never be.

We are one in love and joy, in fondness and in worth, And so as one we celebrate this day, your day of birth! So here it goes : “Happy Birthday to you, my eldest brother."

And so we come together, sharing the good old days. Many jokes and laughter, many memories and stories, many advices and encouragement, and many sighs and tears.

Yeah, we have traveled through life with many twists and turns, and many inner struggles. We have wasted much time and have not measured up to our full potential and expectation. But here we are, helping one another and bind together with the bond of love.

Dragging Our Loved One Along

This morning I saw a young lady dragging a little girl walking rather fast in front of a complex. I thought she could be in a hurry. I noticed the little girl was gasping for breath while trying very hard to follow beside. Once in a while, she would look up at the lady. But the lady just ignored her and walked on.

I wondered why the young lady didn't stop and carry the little girl, who must be very tired by then. Was it because of her beautiful makeup and clothing? Or was it because the little girl was too heavy for her?

I remembered sometime ago, I saw a young lady dragging an old woman walking rather fast by the side of the road. I noticed the young lady was grumbling and yelling at the old woman. The old woman just kept silent and followed along.

I wondered why the young lady had to do all these in front of a crowd of people. Didn't she know that many people were watching and listening? Didn't she know that the old woman was brought to shame at that very moment?

It has caused me great shame to see how some of us ill-treated our old folks and our little ones. We are so preoccupied with our own agendas that we care not about them. And we even humiliate them in front of a crowd of strangers.

I know that the young lady will cry and scream if the little girl or the old woman is injured along the way. But is it necessary to wait until that happens?

No One Wins A War

To many, winning is everything.

We strive to win over our enemies through brutal forces. We beat them and then we torture them, only to discover that we have suffered many losses as well. Many are left with broken limbs and lacerated faces. Many are left destitute and homeless. And many are left orphans and have to beg for a living. We win the fight but we lost the war. In fact, no one really wins a brutal war.

We have quarrels and disagreements among family members and relatives. We have jealousy and envy. We have many incidents of backstabbing and gossiping. Everyone yearns for an upper hand, and nobody wants to lose. And the whole family is teared apart. We no longer see eye to eye with one another. Years later, we may meet again at old age, and we may hug one another and cry bitterly over our follies. Yeah, No one really wins a family war.

So are our relationships with all others. Never think that you can win the war by brutal forces or craftiness. History has shown us again and again that no one really wins a war.

Only love can. The crying and pleading of the heartbroken parents always soften the hearts of the children and bring close a broken relationship. The crying and screaming of orphans and vulnerable children always cause many good soldiers to refrain from moving forward.

Yeah! Only love saves the world from the wars.

Quarrels

Children quarrel fiercely, parents start to get very angry and ready to explode. The atmosphere becomes tense. Everyone is focusing on the fight. Situation is getting desperate and beyond control. The fight is about to begin.

Parents interfere and make things worse. Quarrels break out between parents and children. Sometimes it ultimately leads to long disputes and quarrels between parents themselves.

Then the family begins to break down and it takes a long while to repair the damages done. Then there are family that just refuses to reconcile and in due time each member has to live a solitary life. How sad.

And it all started with a little misunderstanding. It escalates when someone gets his feelings hurt and uses a little sarcastic language. And then the fight started…

The first and foremost priority for us to do is to find a solution and get a situation under control as soon as we can.

Never add fresh fuel to a quarrel. Words like "Who started it?", "Why can't you all play together nicely?", "Stop it or you will be punished", "but he is your little brother", "I have reminded you many times, but you are stubborn huh", "You better stop it or else!" .... should never be used if you don't want the situation to get worse.

Maybe separate them to different rooms and counsel them individually can help.

But what if you are a single parent or if your spouse is not around? As it is, husbands should remember to thank their wives for taking care of their naughty children, and strive to spend more time at home helping out with the kids! And children should be more reasonable in their demands for attention and love, and seek to be more responsible and caring for one another in their home.

True love seeks to help the other persons in needs.

Keep the family together by being strong, caring, loving and understanding.

Can we?