Outstanding Preachers

When I was still a young boy, my dad was very strict on us kids. Although he was hardly ever around when we were growing up, the little times that he was around, he'd remind us to be very disciplined and study hard for a bright future. He was against the smoking habit and we were warned not lot let him catch us smoking.

But of course dad was a form 3 school dropout, and had not the least idea what discipline was all about. He smoked up to 4 packets of cigarettes per day. Physical exercise was not his thing; and of course he ate like a pig. Those traits ramain up to now—even after suffering two heart attacks.

In many ways, my brother, Dennis, is following dad's footsteps. He is also very strict on his 13-year old son, Mohd Aqil. He wants Aqil to study very hard too so that he will have a bright future. The kid scored straight As in primary 6, so now he's in a boarding school.

Of course Dennis himself, having been lazy, left school after form 5 many years ago. I think he managed a grade 3. He didn't do any physical exercise, but ate without control, resulting in diabetes about 2 years ago. That triggered a rise in his blood cholesterol level. He then bought a strider machine and started exercising on it for an amazing 6 weeks (or was it 8 weeks?) before leaving the machine in the bedroom to gather dust.

These are the outstanding preachers amongst us. I'm sure they could use some of their own advice. If only they'd practise what they preach, huh?

This preacher, too, has a valuable advice—if you want to beat AIDS, stay faithful (to your spouse). God willing, I shall try my best to heed this advice.