Life Is Full Of Ups And Downs

The above National Archives Of Singapore's photo of an old lift and the description of how it operated in my last post reminded Dr Tan Wee Kiat of one of his short grandfather stories.* (Note that the watermark on the photo is now right side up. NAS has proven to be an organisation which will not hesitate to turn things around, literally.)

I have modified the story a little. I hope Dr Tan won't mind:

Scenario - VIP visitor, who is a prominent lawyer, enters the old lift operated by an old man.

VIP: WOW! This old lift is manually-operated.

Old Man: Yes, it is an antique.

VIP: How do you like your job?

Old Man: Okay lah. Like every job, it has got its ups and downs.

VIP: It looks like a simple open-and-shut case to me.

Notes:

Dr Tan is a doting grandfather, retired NIE lecturer, avid stamp collector, author and more, all rolled into one. He is the reason why I am one of the co-authors of this book.

* - Dr Tan leaves it to the interpretation of readers as to whether the word "short" refers to the grandfather, the stories, or both.

You can read more of Dr Tan's very interesting anecdotes here.

Don't Give Up Hope

Frannxis has a nice Cantonese opera video but every few minutes, the producer's big logo floats across the screen and sometimes momentarily blocks out the performer's face. Frannxis finds this annoying as it spoils the video. He asks if there is a way to remove the logo. (See his blogpost here.)

Frannxis' question reminds me of a joke which my primary school teacher told the whole class some 4 decades ago:

Two friends were having a casual conversation:

A - I watched this romantic movie in the cinema several times, you know?

B - Oh really? Why? Was the movie really that good or are you being overly sentimental?

A - Neither. You see there was a scene which showed a young couple standing on a train platform. The woman was bidding a tearful farewell to her lover who was going away for a long time. Just as they embraced each other and were about to engage in a passionate kiss, a train moved into the station and blocked the whole view for a while. After the train passed, the action was over. But I am not giving up hope. One day the train will be late.

So Frannxis, don't give up hope.