Last minute prayers

Like any mere mortal, I have always turned to religon for assurance and comfort when faced with seemingly impossible tasks or ambiguities in any episodes of my life. For as long as I could remember, the Kwan In (Goddess of Mercy) temple situated at Waterloo Street has been a place of worship where I frequent regularly whenever the need of divine assistance arise. You may wonder, how is it possible that a future engineer, a man of science and reason can believe in folklores and legends, and even find time to indulge in superstitions. I beg to differ, religon and the belief in the existence of a higher omnipotent being does not translate into superstition. For centuries and milleniums, religon and faith have formed the corner stone of any moral values, and has provided mankind with an avenue of hope against any uncertainties.

I need to confess at this point that I am not a devout follower of my faith. I don't light a joss stick in offer to the venearable Goddess everyday, neither do I become a vegetarian on the 1st and 15th of every month in preparation for the pristine condition required of any faithful believer in this religon. Nevertheless, I never fail to visit the temple at Waterloo Street during the eve of every single exam or when I am about to embark on a new stage of my life (eg: national service). Afterall, the Goddess of Mercy in all her magnanimity and benevolence sheds her grace on all faithful believers, no matter how wretched they are.

Being an incorrigible procrastinator, I will head down to the temple next week (just days before my flight) and jostle with the throngs of devoted followers for a choice spot to make my prayers heard. Despite this display of a less than desirable level of devotion, I have once again decided to muster enough audacity to beg the Goddess of Mercy for her blessing in granting us a safe and smooth journey on the 1st of September 2006. The chinese proverb of hugging the Buddha's leg at the last minute couldn't be more accurate in its depiction of my current situation. However, I do believe the Goddess is prepared to overlook such trifle misconducts and grant me a shred of her infinite mercy that she is ever so ready to dispense.

We do fall short at times, but let us not forget that to err is human. As long as effort is willing to be made, I believe it is never too late. That being said, I am suddenly reminded of the Master card commercial fronted by Ricard Gere where he bought the entire village's worth of doves to set free for a little girl's brother before he embarks on a journey. Judging from the story told by that Indian tour guide, the boy will probably strike lottery before he even leave the village (I bet there was at least a hundred doves in that commercial), in which I would ask him to consider the possibility of flying first class to where ever he is going instead of riding his primitive camel. Much as I would like to, the likelihood of freeing doves at Changi airport is highly unlikely. The authorities will probably detain me on charges of trying to launch a biochemical attack with the avian flu virus and with that, ends all hopes of me making it to Canada. Hence, the blessings from the Goddess of Mercy alone suffice, and for that, I am grateful.