Listen peacefully to music as the moth rested on it

As I sit here at the hill looking at beautiful and majestic Lake Toba that stands right before me with the endless cool wind breeze blowing all over me, I get this inspiration that I must write something in memory of my loving mum.

Incidentally she was with me 28 years ago.  Then I had her in body and spirit. But now I only have her spirit around me.  Lake Toba is indeed a heavenly place for this experience of feeling the presence of Mum here to happen within me.   Indeed it’s just the right moment for everything to synchronise so well together.

Moth resting in the cupboard

I want to share about the encounter with Mum on the 7th night of her passing on. It was a night I will never forget.  The sequences of events that happened during the night had a special and intimate message from Mum all put together for me and Angeline.  She came to meet us in the form of a moth!

My Beautiful Mum

You may call it superstition, imagination, coincidence or whatever, but for me it was a miraculous encounter that was made to happen. Mum wanted to send me a parting message that she’s fine; she’s at peace and also, which is very important to me too, that she was not disappointed with me for not attending her funeral which I forcefully had to miss as I had to conduct a program in Indonesia.  I would never have lived on peacefully without this assuring message from Mum.   I really want to thank her for this beautiful event!

On this 7th night this moth came again for the last time after having visited us for 3 times already starting from the day she went back to the Lord.  This last time climaxed all that this moth did as it was really the last time that we would be seeing her.  As many of us believe, this 7th night is very symbolic for the departed one to be in this world one more time before they move on to the better world.

On this night, we decided to have Mum’s favourite cooked dishes for our dinner without expecting anything but a prayer in memory of her. Just then before we could take our seats at 9pm, the moth came flying into the hall as if she was joining us for dinner. And sure she did as she was all over; in the hall, the ceiling, the fan, the cupboard and finally on the wall of the dining area, ‘having the meal with us’ so it seemed to be.

This was not the end of it and the ‘plot’ thickened. We didn’t want the moth to be trapped in the house before we went to bed, so I took it gently in my palm to the garden so that it would fly away in freedom. But it refused. It just sat on my palm. So I knew she wanted to be inside.  The next thing I knew it flew off from my palm to a small bluetooth speaker that I had downstairs, waiting to be taken upstairs to be put beside my bed which she sort of knew that I always do this when I sleep with the music on.

The next morning was even more miraculous. We thought it was dead as moth usually don’t last so long.  Angeline actually got a flowerpot to bury it there.  But surprisingly it was not dead yet.  So we rested it on the leaves of a nearby flowerpot.  It was weak then but still hanging onto its life, just like the fighter that  Mum had always been.  It only breathed its last as we were about to leave for Ipoh.  What a most timely parting!  We had time to bury her in the flowerpot.  I can’t believe that everything fell so well in place.  What a most wonderful closure to her life on earth.  And we had the night spent with her.  I couldn’t ask for more.  My griefs have now turned to joy and peace.

Wrote this blog here at Lake Toba

As the sun sets down now in the beautiful Lake Toba, I am satisfied that I have almost finished writing about this episode about Mum and us.  And yes, Mum, you are still with us in this place like you did 28 years ago.

We are are so glad we  had  this precious time together with you. It’s really not the end. Your spirit will always live in us.

Till then, Mum!

Me with Dayang at Firefly Airlines

 I promised Dayang Nuremah that I would  surely write about her in my blog as someone who epitomises what excellent customer service is all about. She impresses me each time I bump into her so much so that I want to do justice to my experience with her.

Dayang is a ground staff of Firefly Airlines.  In my brief interaction with her each time when I board my flight, it really entails her checking my boarding pass and identity card when I am making my personal and business trips out of Subang Airport.

In such brief encounters of less than 10 seconds, many people would have little to say or experience (whether good or bad) with people they don’t know much about.

Dayang is an exception. She exudes individual warmth, friendliness and care to almost every passenger who passes through her hand during her routine checks on the passengers who line up to go through the process.  She smiles genuinely, look at them in their eyes, with a nice parting word of ‘have a good flight’.  I watched her doing this to others and personally experienced the touch of customer service from her. I feel so good either way.

The wonderful thing is it doesn’t bore her at all. She must have been doing this repeatedly for many, many years but she makes encounter with everyone a new experience.

No wonder I keep flying Firefly for unconsciously, I hope to meet her there to get my dose of ‘feel good feeling’ that I can do with more.

Thanks Dayang.  Keep showing the world how we can make someone feel so special like what you do for me and us.

May God bless you.