Samuel Yeoh

From ashes we come, and to ashes we return.

We take along with us nothing but our memories and our spirit – the only true things we can grow in our lives.

While doing some housekeeping, I chanced upon a little note I penned on the impending adulthood of my 21st birthday. Odd that I should come across it with my birthday looming in sight again. Coincidence? Mayhaps. I take it as a sign to remember what I have so long forgotten.

The note is a list of sorts. A list of dues I owe, the people that have shaped me and honoured me in their own ways, and whose favours I owe a lifetime of debt to. A list that I should never forget, but in the sinkholes of the last 1 year, I have let slipped from my mind.

Forgive my disservice, but now I do remember.

And to this list I add a whole new list of names and faces, some of it which may be incomplete. But should you ever be in that list, I will abide by my duties in your hour of need. Even though our paths may have fallen apart, the invisible string of obligation will bind us through time and space, and I will never relinquish it. An obligation that I have imposed on myself, that those who have helped me may not go unrewarded, and those who have hurt me may not go unpunished.

If you but even wonder if you have a place, then you are on the list. If you have the cheek or gall to wonder, than you have already touched my life, be it as friend or enemy.

See you soon, my friends. And enemies, see you on the other side.

Recently, I participated in a Russian martial arts seminar featuring the Wave system. It’s quite interesting to see how they translate dance-like body waves into powerful strikes. But more interesting for me was the knife-throwing component. It’s an exceptionally tricky art, and I tend to miss more than I hit my mark during practice.

That said, on the 3rd and final day of the seminar, we had a little competition among the amateurs, and I managed to come out tops with an impressive score of 7 hits out of 9 throws. While I surprised even myself with the results, I vividly recall each throw.

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