Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt.

Kerwin Rae

about a month ago

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

MORAL :
Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.

2. Free your mind from worries - Most never happens.

3. Live simply and appreciate what you have.

4. Give more.

5. Expect less from people but more from yourself.

You have two choices... smile and close this page,
or pass this along to someone else to share the lesson

is it so wrong to wish a blessed day for those who celebrate it? by Raja Zarith Sofia

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Kesultanan Kedah Merry Christmas. An article that has inspired many Malaysians from all walks of life . Written by HRH Raja Zarith Sofiah Sultan Idris Syah, Consort of the Sultan of Johor. If Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Isa (Jesus), a prophet respected and revered in Islam, is it so wrong to wish a blessed day for those who celebrate it? DURING the days before Christmas last year, I wished my friends who were celebrating it "Merry Christmas" in much the same way they would wish me "Selamat Hari Raya" or "Happy Eid". I find it rather sad that such a simple greeting – one which I grew up with and which I have never regarded as something that would compromise or de-value my own faith – is now regarded as something so religiously incorrect for us Malaysian Muslims. When I was at boarding school in England , I had to go to church every Sunday because it was part of the rules. My father advised me to consider it as part of my "education" and he had no doubt that the experience would strengthen rather than weaken my own faith. I was able to see the similarities and differences between Christianity and Islam. I learned more than the average Malaysian Muslim would about Christianity. I learnt that just as we Muslims categorise ourselves according to the four different schools of thoughts of the four Imams (Imam Malik, Imam Al Shafi, Imam Abu Hanifa and Imam Ahmad Abn Hambal) and are either Sunnis or Shias, so Christians too are divided into different sects or churches. Going to church did not make me less of a Muslim when I was a young girl, and neither does saying "Merry Christmas" make me less of a Muslim now. My faith has not been shaken just because I wished some friends a time of joy with their families. Neither will I suddenly suffer from amnesia and forget what my religion is. What I do not wish to forget, however, is that there are good, kind people who are not of the same faith as me. As Harun Yahya, the Turkish writer (he was selected last year as one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre of Jordan) noted: "Islam is a religion of peace, love and tolerance". Today, however, some circles have been presenting a false image of Islam, as if there were conflict between Islam and the adherents of the two other monotheistic religions. Yet Islam's view of Jews and Christians, who are named `the People of the Book' in the Quran, is very friendly and tolerant. "This attitude towards the People of the Book developed during the years of the birth of Islam. At that time, Muslims were a minority, struggling to protect their faith and suffering oppression and torture from the pagans of the city of Mecca . Due to this persecution, some Muslims decided to flee Mecca and shelter in a safe country with a just ruler. The Prophet Muhammad told them to take refuge with King Negus, the Christian king of Ethiopia . The Muslims who followed this advice found a very fair administration that embraced them with love and respect when they went to Ethiopia . King Negus refused the demands of the pagan messengers who asked him to surrender the Muslims to them, and announced that Muslims could live freely in his country. "Such attitudes of Christian people that are based on the concepts of compassion, mercy, modesty and justice, constitute a fact that God has pointed out in the Quran." I do not wish to be a self-centred Muslim who expects friends of other faiths to wish me Selamat Hari Raya or, for those who are not Malaysians and therefore do not know about Hari Raya, a Happy Eid and yet do not return their goodwill when it is Christmas, Chinese New Year, Deepavali or Vesak Day. Every year, friends who are Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs or those without any faith come to our home to celebrate Hari Raya with us. They do so with sincerity and as a mark of respect for one of the most important days in the Muslim calendar. Why should we not reciprocate their kindness, show them the same mark of respect for their religion and wish them the same joy on their holy days of celebration? An Islamic scholar and lecturer also reminded me that as Muslims we must remember the importance of both the five Pillars of Islam and in the six Pillars of Iman (Faith), which are: Belief in Allah; Belief in the angels; Belief in the revealed Books (which include the Bible, the Torah and the Holy Quran); Belief in the Prophets (May Peace be Upon Them); Belief in the Resurrection and the events of Kiamah, the Day of Judgement; and Belief in the predestination (Qada' and Qadar) by Allah in all things. The prophets include not just Muhammad (May Peace Be Upon Him) as the last prophet and as the Messenger of Islam, but also in the 24 earlier ones who are mentioned in both the Bible and the Quran. Four of them are Ibrahim (Abraham), Musa (Moses), Daud (David), and Isa (Jesus). So, if Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Isa (Jesus), a prophet respected and revered in Islam, is it so wrong to wish a blessed day for those who celebrate it? We are now in the second decade of the 21st century. Surely, we should, now more than ever, be far more enlightened at a time when information of any sort and of all kinds are so readily available to us. What is most important is that we regard one another as fellow citizens and treat each other with respect, regardless of our race or religion. The writer is Royal Fellow, School of Language Studies and Linguistics, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), and holds a BA (Honours) degree in Chinese Studies, University of Oxford. Mind Matter-by Raja Zarith Kesultanan Kedah  — with Khom Choi, George Jacob, Ashok Kumar andNoorada Morad. Like ·  · Share · December 25 484 people like this.

Two Boys Were Playing In Their House When They Made a TERRIFYING Discovery. Seriously, OMG.

November 16, 2013Stories

Most people believe that they are safe inside their own homes. This story just proves, though, that even that is rarely true. Two boys were playing rough in their parents room when they made a startling discovery. This could chill any homeowner down to their very core.

The house was built in the early 2000s. There was nothing to suggest there was anything weird about it.

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Except when the new owners’ two songs were horsing around and dislodged a bookshelf…

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That movable bookshelf revealed a secret staircase.

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The tall, spiral staircase seemed to lead downward directly into a wall.

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But halfway down, there was a crawlspace.

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Inside, the two boys found the most terrifying thing: evidence that someone was squatting. In their own walls.

o

Whoever was living there had small objects with them, like the elephant seen here.

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They also had a key that unlocked only God knows what.

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And of course, they also found creepy dolls hidden in the room.

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Because every stranger living secretly inside of your walls need dolls with soulless eyes.

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The police are still looking for the individual that was living in their walls. Since there was little food, it seemed that he came and went as he or she pleased. There was a small pile of clothes around the bedding. The candy seen strewn about the room was actually one of the boy’s, but whoever was living in the wall crept out at night to steal some for himself.

Good luck falling asleep tonight.

Source

If you can pronounce correctly every word in this poem

English Language Coach

If you can pronounce correctly every word in this poem, you will be speaking English better than 90% of the native English speakers in the world.

After trying the verses, a Frenchman said he’d prefer six months of hard labour to reading six lines aloud.

Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.
Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it’s written.)
Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as plaque and ague.
But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;
Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.
Hear me say, devoid of trickery,
Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,
Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles,
Exiles, similes, and reviles;
Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
Solar, mica, war and far;
One, anemone, Balmoral,
Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;
Gertrude, German, wind and mind,
Scene, Melpomene, mankind.
Billet does not rhyme with ballet,
Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.
Blood and flood are not like food,
Nor is mould like should and would.
Viscous, viscount, load and broad,
Toward, to forward, to reward.
And your pronunciation’s OK
When you correctly say croquet,
Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,
Friend and fiend, alive and live.
Ivy, privy, famous; clamour
And enamour rhyme with hammer.
River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb,
Doll and roll and some and home.
Stranger does not rhyme with anger,
Neither does devour with clangour.
Souls but foul, haunt but aunt,
Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant,
Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger,
And then singer, ginger, linger,
Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge,
Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age.
Query does not rhyme with very,
Nor does fury sound like bury.
Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth.
Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath.
Though the differences seem little,
We say actual but victual.
Refer does not rhyme with deafer.
Fe0ffer does, and zephyr, heifer.
Mint, pint, senate and sedate;
Dull, bull, and George ate late.
Scenic, Arabic, Pacific,
Science, conscience, scientific.
Liberty, library, heave and heaven,
Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven.
We say hallowed, but allowed,
People, leopard, towed, but vowed.
Mark the differences, moreover,
Between mover, cover, clover;
Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,
Chalice, but police and lice;
Camel, constable, unstable,
Principle, disciple, label.
Petal, panel, and canal,
Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal.
Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,
Senator, spectator, mayor.
Tour, but our and succour, four.
Gas, alas, and Arkansas.
Sea, idea, Korea, area,
Psalm, Maria, but malaria.
Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean.
Doctrine, turpentine, marine.
Compare alien with Italian,
Dandelion and battalion.
Sally with ally, yea, ye,
Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key.
Say aver, but ever, fever,
Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver.
Heron, granary, canary.
Crevice and device and aerie.
Face, but preface, not efface.
Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.
Large, but target, gin, give, verging,
Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging.
Ear, but earn and wear and tear
Do not rhyme with here but ere.
Seven is right, but so is even,
Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen,
Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk,
Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.
Pronunciation (think of Psyche!)
Is a paling stout and spikey?
Won’t it make you lose your wits,
Writing groats and saying grits?
It’s a dark abyss or tunnel:
Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale,
Islington and Isle of Wight,
Housewife, verdict and indict.
Finally, which rhymes with enough,
Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?
Hiccough has the sound of cup.
My advice is to give up!!!

English Pronunciation by G. Nolst Trenité

The Perils of English.....in foreign countries

    The perils of English - A collection of howlers...

In a Bangkok temple:
"IT IS FORBIDDEN TO ENTER A WOMAN, EVEN A FOREIGNER,
IF DRESSED
AS A MAN."

Cocktail lounge, Norway:
"LADIES ARE REQUESTED NOT TO HAVE CHILDREN IN THE
BAR."

Doctors' office, Rome:
"SPECIALIST IN WOMEN AND OTHER DISEASES"

Dry cleaners, Bangkok:
"DROP YOUR TROUSERS HERE FOR THE BEST RESULTS"

In a Nairobi restaurant:
"CUSTOMERS WHO FIND OUR WAITRESSES RUDE OUGHT TO SEE
THE MANAGER"

On a River/highway crossing:
"TAKE NOTICE: WHEN THIS SIGN IS UNDER WATER, THIS ROAD
IS
IMPASSABLE."

On a poster at an educational institution:
"ARE YOU AN ADULT THAT CANNOT READ? IF SO, WE CAN HELP
YOU"

In a City restaurant:
"OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK AND WEEKENDS"

A sign seen on an automatic restroom hand dryer:
"DO NOT ACTIVATE WITH WET HANDS"

In a cemetery:
"PERSONS ARE PROHIBITED FROM PICKING FLOWERS FROM ANY
BUT THEIR
OWN GRAVES"

Tokyo hotel's rules and regulations:
"GUESTS ARE REQUESTED NOT TO SMOKE OR DO OTHER
DISGUSTING
BEHAVIORS IN BED"

On the menu of a Swiss restaurant:
"OUR WINES LEAVE YOU NOTHING TO HOPE FOR."

In a Tokyo bar:
"SPECIAL COCKTAILS FOR THE LADIES WITH NUTS"

Hotel, Yugoslavia:
"THE FLATTENING OF UNDERWEAR WITH PLEASURE IS THE JOB
OF THE
CHAMBERMAID"

Hotel, Japan:
"YOU ARE INVITED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE
CHAMBERMAID."

In the lobby of a Moscow hotel across a monastery:
"YOU ARE WELCOME TO VISIT THE CEMETERY WHERE FAMOUS
RUSSIAN AND
SOVIET COMPOSERS, ARTISTS, AND WRITERS ARE BURIED
DAILY EXCEPT THURSDAY"

A sign posted in Germany's Black Forest:
"IT IS STR ICTLY FORBIDDEN ON OUR BLACK FOREST CAMPING
SITE THAT
PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT SEX, FOR INSTANCE, MEN AND WOMEN,
LIVE
TOGETHER IN ONE TENT UNLESS THEY ARE MARRIED WITH EACH
OTHER FOR
THIS PURPOSE"

Hotel, Zurich:
"BECAUSE OF THE IMPROPRIETY OF ENTERTAINING GUESTS OF
THE
OPPOSITE SEX IN THE BEDROOM, IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THE
LOBBY BE
USED FOR THIS PURPOSE"

Advertisement for donkey rides, Thailand:
"WOULD YOU LIKE TO RIDE ON YOUR OWN ASS?"

The box of a clockwork toy made in Hong Kong:
"GUARANTEED TO WORK
THROUGHOUT ITS USEFUL LIFE"

In a Swiss mountain inn:
"SPECIAL TODAY - NO ICE-CREAM"

Airline ticket office, Copenhagen:
"WE TAKE YOUR BAGS AND SEND THEM IN ALL DIRECTIONS."

A laundry in Rome:
"LADIES, LEAVE YOUR CLOTHES HERE AND SPEND THE
AFTERNOON HAVING A
GOOD TIME."

Man jailed 5 years over RM6 million study loan scam

Man jailed 5 years for $2.5 million study loan scam

Published on Feb 16, 2012

• 
  

Between 2006 and 2009, Go Boon Chai, 38, went on to cheat three banks of a total of $2.5 million. The former education agent was jailed five years for cheating. He had pleaded guilty two weeks ago. -- PHOTO: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE

By Khushwant Singh

He went to take up a business management course at Brookes Business School but learnt how to obtain fraudulent study loans. Between 2006 and 2009, Go Boon Chai, 38, went on to cheat three banks of a total of $2.5 million.
It was payback time on Thursday. The former education agent was jailed five years for cheating. He had pleaded guilty two weeks ago.
A district court then heard that sometime before November 2006, the advertising assistant went to sign up for a business management course at Brookes. Go asked to pay the fees in instalments and the school's principal then, Benny Yap Chee Mun, 41, is said to have suggested he apply for a study loan instead. Court documents also state that Yap provided him with documents that inflated his course fees.
Go applied for two $20,500 study loans and was able to get $12,000 from RHB Bank and $15,500 from Citibank. These were paid to Brookes. Yap kept $9,000 and gave $18,500 to Go. It is not known if there was any payment of course fees.
Yap and Go then hatched a plan to apply for more study loans.
In late 2007, Go split from Yap over doubts about the legitimacy of some of the courses at Brookes.
Yap is claiming trial to cheating charges and his case will be heard in the months ahead : The Straits Times/Asia News Network

Designer brands LONGCHAMP BURBERRY COACH

Longchamp

Founded by Jean Cassegrain in 1948, Longchamp started out specializing in small leather goods but quickly began its foray into lightweight travel items. By the 1980s, Longchamp had gained a foothold in fashion accessories as well. From the combined expertise of leather, travel goods and fashion; it is of litte wonder why Longchamp's bags are as functional as they are stylish with quality craftsmanship to boot. Buy into practicality today with Longchamp's French luxury. Burberry Burberry was established in 1856 when Thomas Burberry, a former draper's apprentice, opened his own store in southeast England. By launching its first logo in  1900 and registering the signature check pattern as a trademark in 1920, Burberry evinced the world  that it understood the principles of brand building and equity . One Priced Wonders Established in 1941 as a family-run workshop with its success recognized in today's fashion scene, Coach continues to maintain the highest standards for materials and workmanship. During the last decade, the label has emerged as America's preeminent designer, producer, and marketer of fine bags, accessories and gifts for both women and men.

The Seasonal Classics

From this mélange of bags featuring brands that embody both functionality and style, you'll be strutting the streets with élan. From the humdrum of the office to the merrymaking after-hours, these bags that have been specially picked for you are indubitably the crème de la crème thus far. These styles represent the paragon of artisan craftsmanship and will unequivocally place you at the zenith of this muted show.

Tabung

Joel Ryan Lee

I remember when I was studying at SMK Damansara Utama as a student. The passing of a student's parent was not a common occurrence. When it did happen, a little 'tabung' would go around the school to collect funds for the students' family.

However, very few would actually chip in unless they knew the deceased's family (the student). I myself didn't really chip in much during my five years at DU for the 'tabung' unless I knew the student myself.

Over here at SMKPR, Bukit Mertajam, I've only been here for 4 months but quite a few of our kids' parents here have passed away already. The 'tabung' has entered my classes a few times throughout for different families.

It kinda makes you wonder... why is this seemingly more common in a community of poor socioeconomic backgrounds? Is it due to the lack of medical amenities? Is it due to a lack of awareness of prevention of diseases? Very possible.

Yesterday I was talking to my collab Muhamad Nadzmi Dzulkifli about one of his student's mother who has breast cancer which made him very quiet and withdrawn in class.

This reality is very sad, you guys.

But this post isn't a sob story. In fact it's quite the opposite.

Something happened today and it really lifted me, almost making clouds form in my eyes. It happened in the weakest Form 4 class; my 4 AKh, where 28 out of the 16/17 year old 33 students are boys and all very rowdy/noisy/disruptive/uninterested in class.

These guys have very little on them.

With a reported household median income of about RM700, they kind of exemplify the group that is always hungry. Once, I brought in my tin of just plain Jacob's into the class as part of my lesson demonstration and everybody was staring at it hungrily; I know a few of them don't eat during recess at all because they don't have enough money. So I shared that tin out.

Yes, a lot of them are really poor.

But when the prefects knocked on my classroom door with the 'tabung' and I let them in, more than three quarters of them started taking out coins from their pockets to put in the 'tabung'. I asked them whether they knew the kid (who was Form 2) but nobody did.

They just gave, you guys.

Even though they didn't know who the deceased's family was.

Why? Simply because they understand. They know how much pain is involved when a loved one is lost. They know that even just a few cents can really help the grieving family.

They care.

Society calls them stupid because the majority of them still cannot form a single grammatically correct 4-word English sentences on their own. Society calls them hopeless because they sleep/talk in every other teacher's class (mine too sometimes ish). Society deems them to have 'no future' because some of them are illiterate/almost illiterate.

But you cannot deny these guys have good hearts. They are my heroes and even though I'm the teacher, I learn stuff from them all the time.

As what Charis Ding said of her kids, I feel the same as well.

"Some of the best people I've ever met."

The Blank Wall

Make The Changes

It will take just 37 seconds to read this and change your thinking..

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room.

One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs.

His bed was next to the room's only window.

The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

The men talked for hours on end.

They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation..

Every afternoon, when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake.
Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in exquisite details, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine this picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon, the man by the window described a parade passing by.

Although the other man could not hear the band - he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.

Days, weeks and months passed.

One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep.

She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.

As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside.
He strained to slowly turn to look out the window besides the bed.

It faced a blank wall.

The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window.

The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall.

She said, 'Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.'

Epilogue:

There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations.
Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled.
If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money can't buy.
'Today is a gift, that is why it is called The Present .'

The origin of this letter is unknown, but please pass it on.

Share it with friends and tag them so the cycle continues ... Do not keep this letter ... You could change a life too

17 hours ago