Heya guys, something to put a little smile on all our faces! :)

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Hey,
I hope everything is good on your end, its been rather long since I last wrote a "proper" letter to you but I didn't really have anything new to say so I figured that there isn't much point in just writing a letter for the sake of writing one.

Anyway, as some of you know I just completed half a month of Reservist back at my old camp. It was very enjoyable actually, it’s been a long time since I laughed so hard practically every minute of everyday. I actually had a lot more fun during my in camp training than on my very short graduation trip which i took right after the examinations. I figure it to be the company. It was really good to meet up with some of my army pals, the bond is really strong between the few of us I guess because for that 2 and a half years we spent almost every day with each other. The great thing is that with those guys, you can talk about whatever you want, and they can give you an honest answer. This is not something one can find in our society most of the time. Most of the time people are too small minded, petty and place way too much importance on themselves to talk about anything honestly.. haha, but enough about that. Of course, neither am I saying that all my army mates are like that. Its still a teeny, tiny minority. As usual, there was the fair share of unkind heckling from the "small man" type characters in the vicinity but it was pretty much alright on the whole. Can't expect things to go 100 percent well, anyway.

While I was in camp, besides the physical stuff and the catching up with old pals (note: not everyone is my pal so if people claim to be my good friend, most of the time they aren't... I hear countless accounts of how my self proclaimed "good friends" tell stories about me that I don't even know about... guess they know about me more than i do. haha), I managed to squeeze the time in between to finish reading "the alchemist" one more time. It's really a book that speaks to me (I can't say the same for the rest of the author's books as I don't like the rest at all), there are some sections of the book that I would like to share if you are interested, it's funny how adults need so much more reminders compared to children. At least I do.

Here's some parts of the book that very much stuck-

‘It’s a book that says the same thing almost all other books in the world say,’ continued the old man.

‘It describes people’s inability to choose their destinies. And it ends up saying that everyone believes the world’s greatest lie.’

‘What is the world’s greatest lie?’ the boy asked, completely surprised.

‘It’s this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That’s the world’s greatest lie.’
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“We are afraid of losing what we have, whether it’s our life or our possessions and property. But this fear evaporates when we understand that our life stories and the history of the world were written by the same hand.”

“Everyone on earth has a treasure that awaits him,” his heart said. “We, people’s hearts, seldom say much about those treasures, because people no longer want to go in search of them. We speak of them only to children. Later, we simply let life proceed, in its own direction, toward its own fate. But unfortunately, very few follow the path laid out for them- the path to their destinies, and to happiness. Most people see the world as a threatening place, and, because they do, the world turns out, indeed, to be a threatening place.

“So, we, their hearts, speak more and more softly. We never stop speaking out, but we begin to hope that our words won’t be heard: we don’t want people to suffer because thet don’t follow their hearts.”

“Why don’t people’s hearts tell them to continue to follow their dreams?” the boy asked the alchemist.

“Because that’s what makes a heart suffer most, and hearts don’t like to suffer.”
“Every search begins with beginner’s luck. And every search ends with the victor’s being severely tested.” The boy remembered an old proverb from his country. It said that the darkest hour of the night came just before the dawn.
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By the way, I’ve been busy trying to write songs and also to get myself more educated musically. Hopefully, my tracks will be good enough to make the cut for the eventual album. My recent purchase was Velvet Revolver’s new album, Libertad. Its great to see that they are still rocking hard and cool as ever.

Take care in the meantime, and warmest regards.

Jon.

OMG JONNNN! :D
glad that you're doing well!
& hope to see you real soon!

OMG!!! thx for ur letter, Jon!!!
I'm soooooooooooo Glad!!! :D

thanks Jon for taking time to write us another letter!
take care..

How timely, that you've reread the Alchemist.
It's interesting cos on this forum, we had a small discussion on how this book touched us.

I've long since returned The Alchemist to the National Library, but I've written down the lines that resonated in me.

"In his pursuit of the dream, he was being constantly subjected to tests of his persistence and courage. So he could not be hasty, nor impatient. If he pushed forward impulsively, he would fail to see the signs and omens left by God along his path."

God bless,
bernie

thanks for the letter!!
always sharing ur thoughts with us.. i really love it :D
take great care~

Thanks for writing. It really means a lot to us to hear from you - even a short note would have perked us up. Glad to hear that you've enjoyed your in-camp training (missed hearing your laughter). So army life these days aren't too bad huh? And thanks for sharing that segment of "the alchemist" - that was quite insightful - made me stop & ponder over those words. Mm...since you've read it twice already, I should consider giving it a read.
And wow! You're writing songs...so happy to hear that. I've been hoping you do so. Believe, persevere & you can succeed!

There is no failure except in not trying.
Elbert Hubbard

The greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.
Confucius

Nice and meaningful. Now u make me wanna read the book :P

jon, great to hear from u again & that u r doing fine!

just like louisa, i'm gonna read the book too. :)

miss you all loads! :P

linda.

koolL.
i MISS JONN!

Jon...
thanks for writing us a letter after your Reservist.
Glad to know you enjoyed yourself and having
good time with your army pals...
is great to get together after a long time.

Happy National Day to Jon and Jonatics!

woohoo
:)

another letter from our dearest :)

thank you bro so much for always finding some time to write to us,

always very nice to hear from u :)

do take care,

and i miss you :)

Hi all. I missed buying the 8 Days National Day special edition. Did anyone get a copy? I understand that Hady was on the cover together with other local artistes. Was Jonathan featured?

Pssssst....my friend's friend's buddy's buddy who happens to know someone who's buddy to a buddy's buddy who happens to know Jonathan Leong said that although he was not featured in this year's National Day's edition of 8 days, he will probably be singing the theme song for next year's NDP... :P

so whose's whose buddy?

haha. whoa. i want him to sing next yr's ndp song lei :) :)

one word to describe that!

WOOOOHOOO!!!

Hi Jon,

Thank you for writing such a nice, long letter! After reading what you & some of your fans wrote about 'The Alchemist', I quickly borrowed the book from the library. If you can read this book twice, I am sure it must be a gem. I really hope I can find time to read it, but is funny that just putting it next to my bed reminded me of you & some of your fans haha..
I agreed with you on the part that we cannot expect everything to be 100% smooth as we certainly cannot control people's actions or thoughts.

' The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook '.
~ William James ~

Best regards & good luck to you always,
Susie