I received a knock on my
apartment door this morning and when I opened the door I was somewhat surprised
to see Mr. Tan. He is the Building Manager of my apartment complex. Mr. Tan was
accompanied by one of the dopey Security Guards of my condominium whose name I
think is Kevin. Kevin was awake and standing which is very unusual. He is
normally asleep at his post.
I invited both of them in and
asked them to take a seat. I asked Kevin if he would like to have a lay down on
my couch. He looked vaguely interested and then a little alarmed when he
realized that I was taking the piss. Mr. Tan sat on the edge of one of my
couches and gave Kevin the Security guard a withering stare. Poor Kevin
remained standing. He looked most anxious and uncomfortable. I offered them
both a cold drink or a coffee which Mr. Tan politely declined. Kevin looked as
if he wanted something but Mr. Tan stared him down so Kevin said nothing.
I asked Mr. Tan what I could
do for him.
"We have a problem
Mr. Peter", Mr. Tan
informed me in a most grave fashion.
"A problem Mr.
Tan?"
"A problem Mr.
Peter."
"Pray tell me this
problem Mr. Tan?" I
enquired.
I was curious but not
anxious. I have been living here for many years now and I understand that the
Singaporeans perceive a lot of things to be problems that are of little
significance or consequence to me.
"It is your flags Mr.
Peter. We have received a complaint. You cannot"
"I cannot?"
"You cannot" he repeated.
The flags Mr. Tan was
referring to are my Tibetan prayer flags. I have hanged them from my little
balcony. Or have I hung them? I am not sure what the correct terminology is in
this instance. I got my Tibetan prayer flags on a trip to Nepal and they have
been hanging there for quite some time.
Here is a couple of pictures
of my Tibetan Prayer flags flapping in the breeze on my little balcony. My
verandah is a very small space that only has room for my surfboard and my
battered but comfortable green leather armchair. I have had this green armchair
for more than a decade. It is much travelled and is an old friend.
The word verandah is a
derivation of the Hindi word ‘varanda’, which in turn is believed to have come
from a Portuguese word that means a “long balcony or terrace”. It was first
recorded in the year 1711 and originally related to open areas on a ship.
Verandah’s are also known as balconies. Balconies are Italian in origin and are
an anglicised form of the word ‘balcone’ – which means a scaffold or terrace.
‘Balcones’ were seen most commonly in theatres where Italian operas were
conducted. Nowadays verandahs and balconies are much the same thing.
I actually spend quite a bit
of time on my balcony. It is shaded there in the afternoon and as I am up on
the sixth floor of my building it often gets a pleasant breeze. I spend many
hours reading books in my battered old armchair and I occasionally watch games
of tennis that are played on the courts below me.
I have a very clear view of
the tennis courts from my vantage point on my little balcony and sometimes I
yell out my verdict to players as to whether a ball is in or out. For disputed
calls. There is one Singaporean guy who plays regularly on a Saturday afternoon
and he foot faults on every serve. Foot faulting is stepping over the line
during the action of a service. It is against the rules of tennis. He also
often cheats by calling his opponents balls as being out when they are actually
clearly in. He hates me yelling out "foot fault" or "that
ball was in" when he plays and he yells and screams obscenities at me
in both Hokkien and English. He sometimes even tries to hit tennis balls up at
me. I find it very entertaining that he gets so infuriated.
His bemusement is
my amusement.
Here is the view of the
tennis courts from my balcony. The Tibetan prayer flags are flapping in the
foreground.
They are fluttering
Prayer flags are long strings
of colorful cloth that are used to bless the countryside and provide healing to
both the land and the people. They are often seen strung along mountain ridges
and peaks very high in the Himalaya mountains. I have seen them there on the
Nepal side of the Himalaya mountain ranges and they are spectacular and
beautiful and glorious.
Here is a picture of them in
the Himalaya:
These prayer flags are
ancient and it is believed that they were introduced by the Bon. The Bon is a
uniquely Tibetan religion that pre-dates Buddhism. It is believed that the
teachings of the Lord Buddha originated from Bon scriptures. The Bon is more
than seventeen thousand years old and it is almost forgotten now.
Not by me though.
Prayers or mantra are printed
on each flag. These are hand printed with wooden blocks. I know this because I
have seen this done. In Kathmandu. The flags themselves are called Lung Ta which
translates to "wind horse" in the Tibetan language. I love the
term 'Wind horse' and I love the Himalaya mountain ranges of Tibet and Nepal
and the beautiful people who live there too. I visit as often as I can.
It brings me peace and makes
my heart sing.
Prayer flags are hung - or
perhaps hanged - to promote compassion, strength, wisdom and peace and these
are all very good things. By hanging these flags it is believed that the Lung
Ta will carry blessings to all beings on the planet. As the wind makes the
flags flutter the air is purified and sanctified by the mantras that are
printed on the flags. They are able to transform bad fortune to good fortune.
Nice huh?
You will see that there are
five colours in the string of flags - unless you are color blind of course.
They are very specific in their order and from left to right they are blue,
white, red, green and yellow. These colors represent the five elements that are
important to Tibetan Buddhists. They are referred to as the "Five Pure
Lights". Blue is symbolic of the sky, white symbolizes the air and wind,
red is fire, green is water and yellow is the mother earth. In Tibetan and
Nepalese culture health and harmony are produced through the balance of these
five elements.
I find this incredibly
beautiful.
Seeing the flapping and
fluttering of my prayer flags brings me peace and tranquility and hope.
I explained all of this to
Mr. Tan and told him that my prayer flags were a gift from my Nepalese friend
Bhim and they mean a lot to me. I told Mr. Tan that they are precious to me and
that I would not take them down.
He repeated, "We have
received a complaint Mr. Peter you cannot"
"I cannot what Mr.
Tan?" I replied
"Fly the flags"
"Why not?"
"It is against the
law"
"Against the
law?" I asked.
"Was it that fat
Danish bastard Jens who has complained?".
Jens is a psychopathic
neighbor of mine who I have enraged. It is a long story that I will not repeat
as I have previously described it in a piece that I have written that is
titled, "The Floater".
"I cannot say Mr.
Peter but you must remove them. Can?", Mr. Tan insisted.
"Cannot" I retorted.
"They are of
religious significance to me"
"Then you must get
permission from the Authorities"
he replied
"I will write to Mr.
Lee immediately then", I
responded - with no small degree of indignation. Mr. Lee is the current Prime
Minister of Singapore.
Mr. Tan looked most
distressed at this declaration and he was wringing his hands with some despair
as he rose to his feet.
"You will not remove
the flags? he enquired
as I ushered him and dopey Kevin out of the door
"I most certainly
will not", I
responded.
Kevin the Security guard had
a smug smirk on his face as he walked out the door so I said to him, "And
you can now go back to sleep Mr. Kevin".
The smirk quickly disappeared
and Mr. Tan cast him a dark look.
Singapore have very strict
rules about the display of their own National flag. They have very strict rules
about everything and anything actually and it drives me crazy sometimes.
Singaporeans are encouraged to display their own country's flag on National
Day. This is celebrated on the 8th August and it is a public holiday. However
the flag can only be displayed out the front of homes from the 20th July until
the 30th August. Displaying it at any other time is illegal.
I have no idea why.
My boy Tom has the
Singaporean flag tattooed on his right shoulder and he has many other tattoos
all over his body. He is coming to visit me in a couple of weeks from
Australia. I will have to tell him that displaying this flag in Singapore is
illegal and he will have to keep it covered up while he is here. He will likely
think that this is very funny and he will ignore my advice. He has ignored my
advice all of his young life and he does his own thing. I did much the same
when I was his age so I don't really mind.
I rather like it actually.
Rebellion runs deep in my
family.
I will finish
this post now as I have a long letter that I need to write to Prime Minister
Lee.
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