No Time for Tears

Jeffrey Francis

Description

The challenges that no child should ever have to face. A guide for teenagers to look beyond their normal horizon and persevere their quest for success. Turning your dreams into reality. Personal improvement. Steps to success. More than just an autobiography.

Plunged into poverty after his father’s death in mysterious circumstances, the 10-year-old boy soon emerges with courage, confidence and determination, to relentlessly battles injustice, discrimination and unexpected crises that overwhelm his family.  No child should ever have to face such monumental challenges. One of his shocking adversities is the day he confronts the man, who brutally punched his mother’s nose, resulting in profuse bleeding. This is a book of hope and encouragement, especially for the younger generations, to look beyond their horizon and preserve their quest for success.

 

Reviews:

“We thoroughly enjoyed reading your book; an inspiring life story that is to be proud of what you have achieved.  The hardship that you and your family have gone through and come out on top is amazing. It proves that a dark fate can turn into a great success, if you willingly and determinedly pursue it.  You have risen, rightly so, more than that nickname ‘blue-eyed boy!’” – Tina and Don Clarke, Middle Swan, Western Australia.

“Congratulations, not only for your book, but also for the fantastic life and career you have made against the odds.  What a life story; it’s just brilliant. Wish I could say more to pay real justice to your life.” – Peter Nichols, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirate. 

“As a good storyteller, you have encapsulated your life story and spread within it, little gems of wisdom. Your book is inspirational and shows your grit, determination and ever-flaming hope in life. And how you have overcome so many adversities to always land back on victor’s  ground.  What a poignant story. I enjoyed reading it. Kudos!”-- Steven Tan, Singapore, retired Chief Executive Officer of Star Publications (M), now known as The Star Media.

“Interesting and insightful…your book should be read with a purpose. It’s not just about the courage to face challenges, but the willingness to make hard decisions that would change the way to a better life. Your book will be a beacon of hope to strive for objectives on how to be a better person through the turmoil of life.” -- Joseph Ganandra, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, former Senior Vice President of AMBank Berhad.

 

Sujets

• Personal Memoirs
• Book club
• Biography
• Online book
• Autobiography
• Inspiration
• Motivation

Informations

• Publié par: Balboa Press AU
• Date de parution: 31 janvier 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781982293673
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

“As a good story teller, you have encapsulated your life story and spread within it, little gems of wisdom… It is inspirational and shows your grit, determination and ever flaming hope in life. And how you have overcome so many adversities to always land back on victor’s ground. What a poignant story. Feel like there’s more you could write on…but still I have enjoyed reading it. Kudos!” – Steven Tan, retired CEO, Star Publications (Mala ysia).
“Interesting and insightful…your book should be read with a purpose. It’s not just about courage to face challenges, but the willingness to make hard decision that would change the way to a better life. Your book will attract due attention and be a beacon of hope to strive for objectives on how to be a better person through the turmoil of life.” – Joseph Ganandra, former Senior Vice President, AMBank (M) Be rhad,
NO TIME for TEARS
 
An Inspiring True Story Of Hardship, Grit And Triumph
 
 
 
 
 
Jeffrey Francis
 
 
 
 

 
Copyright © 2022 Jeffrey Francis.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
Balboa Press
A Division of Hay House
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.balboapress.com.au
AU TFN: 1 800 844 925 (Toll Free inside Australia)
AU Local: [phone] ([phone] from outside Australia)
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
 
ISBN: 978-1-9822-9366-6 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-9822-9367-3 (e)
 
Balboa Press rev. date:   11/23/2022
 
This book is dedicated to my loving and caring wife, Mary Anne, whose irresistible belief is: “If, there was such a thing as incarnation, I would want to marry you again.”
“So would I…if there could be such a wonderful dream,” is my passionate response.
FOREWORD
Why this book is written
CERTAINLY, there was no time for tears in our family.
Tears that should have flowed, after my father’s plans for a family foundation on our future, crumbled following his sudden death under mysterious circumstances.
Tears for our financial and health problems that were caused by the harsh conditions we had to face.
Tears for having our happy childhood cruelly stolen from us.
Tears for our mother, who endured hardship, abuse and brutality.
We had no time for such tears as we had to fight to survive. It was our confidence, courage and determination against injustice, discrimination and attempts to break up the family that saw us regained our rights and security to live in harmony and happiness as any normal family should.
This is my story of our battle for survival. It is a story, I hope, will guide and inspire those, who read it, to better their future, despite any adversity they may encounter.
My objective is to encourage readers, especially the younger generation, to look beyond their normal horizon and persevere in their quest for success.
I know what it is like to be poor, to have no job and no money. It is tough not to have someone to encourage and guide you on the right path to achieve your goals, let alone to survive.
I have gone through poverty at its worst. Later, I was often hungry, working long hours as an “illegal” child labourer, cleaning engines stripped from cars for overhaul. I went home with grease and thick black oil all over my clothes and body.
As I grew up, I even had a tough time to marry the woman I loved so much. But I never gave up, even when I was told that the only way I could get her, was “over the dead body” of her foster father.
It all began with a stressful life after my father died when I was 10 years old. Being the eldest son, with two siblings and a devastated mother, I had to deal with the toughest and unexpected crisis. It wasn’t easy for a boy to bear the burden of uncertainty.
My greatest worry was how my family was going to survive without our only bread winner.
I lost more than my father on the day he passed away.
His death thrust my family into poverty, brutality and domestic violence. The lack of a normal happy childhood affected my personality and turned me into a loner, who was aloof and did not socialise easily.
But going through such hardship had made me realise the value of education as my ticket to a better life. I went for it with iron-clad determination with no money, but lots of dreams.
My determination saw me rise within 13 years, through the ranks from a cadet reporter to News Editor and then Acting Editor of an English daily newspaper in a major national group . You will find all these details in this book.
If I can do it, so can anyone, irrespective of their age. But they must have the desire, courage, passion and the will to take on the challenges before them.
If my book could help at least one person to change his or her life for the better, I would consider it to be “mission accomplished”. It is not about motivation or “how to”; there are many books on that subject on the shelves of the world’s book shops.
No Time for Tears is about my ultimate battle to rise, like a phoenix from the ashes of hell, to become a successful man, who lives the dreams of his late father.
Re member, nothing is impossible, if you put your dreams into action.
Note: This book is written from my memories and experiences of events that took place as much as I can recall. But, some names of the people and their characters, have been changed to protect their privacy.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
FOR years after my retirement, I have resisted suggestions from some close friends, particularly the late Tom Lambert of the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, to write about how I overcame the harsh conditions of my childhood.
Tom, who was a lively and widely knowledgeable person, insisted that my story would be an inspiration that brings hope and encouragement for others in similar positions, especially the younger generation. But I had hesitated to take his advice because I did not want people to think I was “blowing my own trumpet”. That is not my intention. Although my story is about my hard-earned achievements, it is, basically, a carefully thought-out plan of my fight for a better life. It is a sort of “gateway” for those in any adversity to think and find opportunities to live a happy and normal life.
I wished I had written this book earlier before Tom passed away so I could see him grinning happily. I thank his wife, Gail, for her support and best wishes. I have no doubt she will be happy to receive a copy of my book.
I thank my brothers, Jerry and Tony (the late), for their useful contributions of information that I would otherwise have forgotten. I also thank Tony’s wife, Chan Cheng Tuan, who is also a fine journalist, for proof-reading and editing my manuscript. Tony did part of it before he left us to go to the Lord.
His daughter Kylie, who graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a Master’s in Business Administration from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, checked the early part of the manuscript before she got married and now lives in New York.
I thank my good friend, Datuk Steven Tan, retired Chief Executive Officer of the Star Publications (Malaysia), who asked me to write a newspaper column, which had lasted for 22 years. I am glad to know him and his wife Datin Jenny, whose encouragement and friendship mean a lot to me.
I also thank my loyal follower of my Insight Down Under column, Major (Rtd) Manuel Dorall, formerly of Logistics/Administrative Branch of Royal Malaysian Air Force, who had regarded my column as “most interesting”, and had kept a record of my writings since 1988.
And last, but not the least, my greatest thanks go to my former boss, the late Leslie Hoffman, Editor-in-Chief of the New Straits Times Group of Newspapers in Malaysia. He gave me the “career break” when he promoted me to News Editor and later Acting Editor of the group’s afternoon newspaper, The Malay Mail, before I migrated to Australia.
CONTENTS
Chapter 1       Mystery of the shocking prophecy
Chapter 2       Where’s the missing remains?
Chapter 3       Escape from the City of Horror
Chapter 4       The assassination of a Japanese officer
Chapter 5       Ghostly encounter
Chapter 6       The ugly face of prejudice
Chapter 7       The love that loses its shine
Chapter 8       My darkest moments in life
Chapter 9       Well-kept secret of ‘special power’
Chapter 10     Memorable time in our little white house