Fallen into the other Realm
under the little picture
of the virgin mary
i lazed and lazed
until her impatient little angel
flew down to speak to my ears
in a mind lifting delightful language
prodding me perhaps to wake up
to face the world
still amazed at her musical tongue
this hasty chinese man
that ran into my dream
pointing to an antique
chinese wood carving of
an auspicious looking lion
perhaps to tell me
i should buy it
and i saw it in
my friend's shop the next day
he asked for US400
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poem by John Tiong Chunghoo
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Predictions 2004
Hello everybody,
here I am again
after 364 days,
caesar's soothsayer reborn.
my face is so hot and red
from all the wine parties
i have been to these nights.
all those congratulations
about my accuracy
have caused me to walk
with a heavy heart about
this year's prediction.
of course, only fools say i
know nothing; if i could foretell
caesar's murder with such
accuracy, i could foretell anything.
first did we not see china
nearly brought to its knees
this time by a tiny
unknown virus; so virulent that
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poem by John Tiong Chunghoo
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After rice harvest
the golden field
so apt the colour
that heralds its value
to the world
as the rice ripens
it pulls down the stalk
that has nurtured it
supporting it the way
warm mom carries child
round her bossom
it waves in the wind
as if to confirm
its value to the world
an entire gold field
an apt colour
just wonder god purposely
puts in the right colour
into his better creations
all over you hear the birds
chip in their bits
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poem by John Tiong Chunghoo
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Surprise in Malaysia - A State Assembly under a Tree
a State Assembly
held under a raintree
this awakening that the seed
of democracy was sown
in the streets of Athens
The Perak State Assembly Speaker V Sivakumar (member of Pakatan Rakyat) yesterday (March 3,2009) held an emergency State Assembly under a tree in Ipoh, the State capital of Perak. They were disallowed into the State Assembly Hall. Perak was well known for its tin trade in the 19th and 20th century.
Pakatan Rakyat lost its governing mandate last month when three of its members defected to the State Barisan Nasional (BN) . The State Speaker however said the three had earlier resigned from the Party and therefore their constituencies. The BN therefore cannot form the new State Government. Pakatan Rakyat wants a fresh election to be held to determine the new government for the people of Perak.
The following by Clive S Kessler is Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Anthropology
DATUK Seri Azalina Othman Said has characterised the attempt of the Speaker to convene an emergency sitting of the Perak state assembly as 'uncivilised' and as recourse to the 'law of the jungle'.
Never in the country's history, she avers, has a state assembly sitting been convened under a tree. Perhaps she is right. But some further historical perspective is needed.
In 1789, when the King of France sought to forbid the so-called 'Third Estate' or representatives of the people from meeting to discuss urgent national business, they convened on a Paris tennis court.
This too was, at the time, unprecedented and surprising.
They passed their 'Tennis Court Oath' that they would not disperse, adjourn or relent until their right to convene and discuss important public matters as the people's legitimate representatives was acknowledged.
That, too, was presumably seen as an 'insult' to the ruler, King Louis XVI.
It was also the beginning, for better or worse, of the French Revolution and of the entire drama of modern representative democracy and popular sovereignty. Those who seek to invoke history should know history. It may often prove a double-edged sword.
-
Clive S Kessler is Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at the School of Social Sciences and International Studies at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.
poem by John Tiong Chunghoo
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Ode to the Coffee
i am black
i am coffee
everybody loves me
dawn, noon, night
hot, cold, warm
blow, sip, drink, slurp,
kiss and be all afresh
i am black
i am your
coffee of the day
one two three
gulp
gulp
gulp
...
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Alone she puffs
uncertain future
alone she puffs
smoke covers her face
trails the night air
she hides behind
each night under
an inch of powder
lips coloured like roses
the night aids
accompanies
her cameleon existence
satisfying loners
groping in beds
that witness sea and sea
of swirling passion
shuttling between
excited real and
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poem by John Tiong Chunghoo
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Snake
snakes, scaly, slippery, a cold lump morbidly crawling
through the dark tunnel of memory
some creatures are born cursed
they are spat, and trumpled on
so that the nerves slithered when i actually
came face to face with one at two or three
the black six inch long they called two headed thing
propped my interest further
you dont get to see one often
i could not remember whether it had ended up
under somebody's stick or a parang
but thanks to the snake it helped me
hold onto a figment otherwise
would have been lost on the tail of time
an inert lump resting on cold yellow soil
guilty heavy of heaven and earth
all ready to take the cold and
inhumane blows of the world
once in while a little one would surface
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poem by John Tiong Chunghoo
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Ode to the butterflies
the butterflies dart through space
some in measured grace
some in zig zag frenzy
some carrying wings too small
to take the weight of their body
up and down, up and down
they flit, flit-flitting a burdensome dance
some are in pairs and in
such obvious romance outing
they sprint to each other
head and tail, tail and head
frolic and merry make
an ubiquitous love dazed flight
charging up the season
nature lavishes such wholesome indulgences
over such fragile creatures
exquisite tender wears topped
with an equally edifying elixir of life
divinely blessed, proffered
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poem by John Tiong Chunghoo
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Ode to the Wind 2
i am wind i caress
every skin i fall on
i float with the tide
and dance with the moon
as we glide over the sea
the waves sweep us on a silver path
serenade us the lustre of the moment
the moon shivers, i twirl, the trees rustle,
clouds part to give us way to a crescendo of fun
everytime i am around, the feet of the universe
spring to action, things dance, and i dance too
spreading a joie de vivre
i am a vagabond of the wildest kind
a gypsy, a tramp, a born traveller
holding a carte blanche to everywhere
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poem by John Tiong Chunghoo
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Shopping Trail
she purrs; 'tea sir, please try
this tea. it is good for health,
japanese tea' so gentle, articulate
and musical to the ears, i thought
somebody should make her a secretary
she would be any office's perfect tea,
flowing with her grace and charm
'sir, sir, mastercard, here are
the free gifts- sport cars model.
lifetime free credit cards. here the gifts.
please sign up. i need some
commission for the Chinese
new year.' so truthful the boy
i thought he would be better off
a priest. signing up just so that
he can get some commission?
he's too truthful to be good for anything
free membership but one only knows
what a credit card means when the
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poem by John Tiong Chunghoo
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