Laughing at myself.....

I woke up this morning by a "cruel" early morning call from my good buddy ,Vive. I guess, knowing very well that it was still my nap time or if he is going somewhere, he would "spoil" my dreamy sleep by giving me a call. It was sort of his personal delight to mess up my early morning of the day! This time, he is going to Gopeng to reckit the place for his Youth Camp. Thanks for waking me up, buddy! [ He insists that sleeping too long is not good for a young person like me! Sigh! ]

By this time, I was fully awake and as usual, I get myself ready for work. I showered , shaved and made myself squeeky clean like any other morning. Dressing myself up for work, I took out a dark greyish Cutter & Buck t-shirt [ bought from F.O.S. outlet ~ cheap and comfortable ] , pulled on a pair of Timberland jeans [ ori from Germany ~ given to me by a good friend, Julian ] and sprayed myself with a dash of perfume bought from Guardian pharmacy. A quick check on myself , a quick chat with my wife and I was ready for work.

Then Soon Ling asked me, " Isn't it today is 1st November?". Hesitantly, I answered, "Yeah!" then I kinda trailled off. Then it hit me ~ it's the first Saturday of the month. Oh! No!For every 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month, I am not working!

Rats! It's my off day and I am AWAKE!

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrgrggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!~

Say "NO" to bullies !

A few weeks ago, I was told by my wife how mean some girls are in school today. One of the most difficult situation a young girl/boy has to go through is bullies in school. I have always thought that only the guys do it but listening to how girls are doing it too is equally shameful and disgraceful. No one should be subjected to such treatment. I repeat ~ NO ONE [ boy or girl ] should be subjected to such humiliation, disgraceful and heinous act of physical and mental abuse. Thank God that when I was in school, I wasn't a bully. In fact, I gave no room for bullies to strut their stuff as I stand up to them face to face. Yes, I am a tough nut and I stand for no nonsense. You see, I was a guy who could absorb all the stuff they produce and yet, when required and necessary, I would just strike back. Not always through physical means but by my mere presence and standing up. I remembered helping out a kid in school who was a constant target by bullies. Honestly, I took pity on him coz' I won't understand how a guy can stand being picked and made fun of all the time. I don't know whether it's my face or my personality that soon, the bullying stops! Honestly, he wasn't the first as there were many others!
So, imagine to my utter horror that my own daughter became a subject of mean treatment by bullies in her school. What was worst was her own classmates were picking on her and a few soft spoken ones [ Her friends. Believe me, they are really nice & good girls ] in school. When my wife told me the details of the bully actions, I just grimaced in pain what my daughter had to go through. I wasn't angry but I was so sore inside that how could another human being at that age do such a thing especially filthy words, degrading words and disgraceful actions. I have nothing but sympathy for such children. I know that they learnt this at their respective homes whereby degrading words and hard actions had taken place. You see, violence breeds violence while bullying breeds bullying - It's really that simple! I am ever so proud of my girl for not reacting badly in such a situation. She has been labelled by these bullies as stupid, "don't go near her. She got virus" and all sorts of things and they play pranks on her.

Like I said, I am so proud of my girl as she took it all in stride though I know it hurts her a lot inside. Afterall, they are all girls in school and they want to have friends too. I remembered talking to her alone one evening and consoled her by asking her to be stronger in her studies and be better in character and disposition plus she has to face this like any great girl would do. I also told her not to take in or listen to any crap from anybody because she is my daughter and I love her very much. She wept that day and I know that it was a weeping of relief that at least someone understands what she is going through. I told her that she has our undivided and unending love and support. Shwu Yuen, my daughter, may be an average girl but she has a heart of gold. My wife and I have seen this beautiful trait in her for such a long time. She is a little bit naive but she has a big and caring heart. That makes her such a beautiful person. I thank God that He has given us this beautiful person to our lives.
So, parents, check with your sons and daughters. See if they are a victim [ or if they themselves are the bully, you've got to clean up that act! ] of such dastardly acts of bullying. Listen up, bullies ! STAY AWAY from hurting our sons and daughters or else................................you'll hear from me.~ That's for sure and it's a promise I intend to keep!~

Fish Talk....

As I took off from work today, I decided to go to my favourite pond fishing haven at Tehel, Melaka. I haven't been there for quite some time and that freshwater fish pay pond gave me a lot of good memories. Ahh! I could still remember those 2-4.5kgs patin fish and 2-4kgs pacu fish which was my play thing during my time there. So, today as I got to the pond with my son , Joa Wee and good buddy, Steven, I got a little shocked as the pond became humongously big as they have combined the two earlier separated ponds. I wondered if we are going to get any fish today as a big pond would make it much harder to get to the prized species like Rohu and Patin.

Anyway, we paid for our fare to enable us to fish in the pond and started fishing at my familiar fishing grounds. Before that I had scouted the area and found the mid-section was the best area. Sure, there were fish but I guess, they would be hard to land ~ or I'm just a lousy angler! Anyway, an hour into our fishing, I had a few bites but I couldn't hook the fish while Joa Wee narrowly miss hooking up a big fish. From the splash and the bend of his rod, I knew it was a really big fish indeed. [ most probably a big Patin fish ~ don't play-play RM 4.00 @ kilo ] I guess, he wasn't fast enough to snap up his rod to hook the fish and so, it went limp after he tried flicking the rod hard to hook the fish. Anyway, it was a good experience for him. For me, I had no luck and Steven was also the same! There's no one to blame as it was down to our own angling skills. Yes, I know ~ I am not a kiasu. It's not the equipment, it's not the bait but it's down to my angling skills only. I guess, I was really not so lucky this time as I've not come back from this pond empty handed before. Anyway, there is always the first time , right? Well, today was the day I returned empty handed but I was happy because at least, I could do what I really like for such a long-long time. YES! I miss fishing a lot and I have not been able to carry out my favourite hobby for such a long time.

Probably I'll get better chances when I go kelong fishing some time later. Yup! Steven would be planning for it. By the look of things, it'll probably take a long-long time ! So, for the time being, I am contented being able to do some fishing , learn new skills and get back some skills. I remembered that the last time I caught a Patin fish from this pond, it was 4.5kg and the fight to land the fish.................awesome feeling, man!~

I'll hang on to that beautiful thought while I fight another fish another day!~ Memories~ that the only thing I have right now!

This dragonfly was always tapping on my rod line but it looked really nice. So, I decided to take a picture of it. It turned out beautifully especially the vibrant orange and the double wing-span. Kinda reminded me of the Wright brothers model aeroplane figure during the early day!~

Therapeutic Weekend....

Coming back to Seremban after the Wings Melaka concert can only mean one thing ~ spending time with our favourite nephew, Ryan. He is such a therapeutic "cure" for our family in Melaka. Both Soon Ling and I really miss this nephew of ours very much. There is just so much to talk about him because he doesn't fail to amaze us every time we are back in Seremban. Kudos to Wei & Jade for bringing up this bundle of joy. Ryan is really our favourite nephew [ yes, one only -mah for the time being! ] Sure, he can be a pain-in-the yunno-where department when he screams but he never fail to bring smiles to our ageing faces, actually!! Ryan kinda soothes our hearts a lot. Yeah, yeah, scream, shout and drooling with saliva are part of his trademarks but he certainly is one smart kid!~ He has learnt many things while we get caught up in our rat race at our work places in Melaka. Things like waving goodbye, sticking to his mom & dad & grandma like super glue and playing around the table makes it a really fun time to be with him. I guess, what makes me most happy was that he is beginning to walk , hold on to things and remembering US! Ha.......Ha......... Phew! It took quite an effort for him to remember us, man. Anyway, I really love being able to hold him in my arms like I used to hold Joa Wee and Shwu Yuen when they were small bundle of joy.

Soon Ling & I plus the children usually miss him immediately after we get home to Melaka. Yeah! It's that bad! The little guy call Ryan is affecting our lives, man! Ha.....ha...... he ain't heavy he's our nephew! It was really fun being able to spend time with Ryan, Wei, Jade and mom-in-law. Yunno, I just want to thank Wei & Jade for being great host to us as a family whenever we are in Seremban. The food was always fantastic - no matter breakfast, lunch or dinner! More recently, the bread made by Jade tasted very very good. My entire family enjoyed the bread so much. I really appreciate that a lot especially they taking the effort to treat us these meals. Thanks a lot , Wei & Jade! It is not just because we are family but simply because they are really nice, good natured and good hearted people! I really appreciate their simple simplicity of ways and their good natured ways. It shows a lot of good character and manners which my children could learn from as fine examples. Thanks again for everything you both have done for us!~

Oh!Yes! My wife and I brought the Musical Octopus for Ryan. We found it interesting and stimulating for young children like Ryan. Moreover, with Ryan attending musical class, this would be good for him! Anyway, for Ryan , nothing is new for him anymore! One minute he plays with it, the next minute, he flings it over like he is saying " Next, please! What you have for the King?" Ha......ha....... He's constantly.......evolving to expand his hidden talents!

With his loud rantings, screams and shouts, he's our human alarm clock in the early mornings! Sleeping beyond 8.30am is a no-no in this house because Ryan is awake and the entire household has to be awake! This is like the medieval times in the great castles whereby when the king is awake, the entire household is to busy themselves and be awake. What a boy, indeed! For Soon Ling and me, we have nothing but love for Ryan. Loud, cranky and screaming lunatic at times, we just love him. There is just no other reason except that we really love him for who he is ! That's Ryan!~

The colourful musical Octopus signifies exactly of his colourful character and personality! One Octopus "pow ka lioa"!~

Deepavali At Banting....

Our yearly ritual of visiting Sathy's family in Banting for Deepavali has always bring good and great memories. This year was no different. It was really a time of getting together as great friends and enjoy the great company of family & friends. The usual "suspects" [ my family, Errol's family, Jason's family, Steven & Wan Sin ] met up at Nilai toll before proceeding to Sathy's parent's house in Sg.Raba, Kelanang, Banting, Selangor. [ Yes! You heard me right but don't let your imagination run wild! Warning ! This is not a "hamsap" site, ok? ] Anyway, we arrive on time for lunch. Also, this year we met up with Vive " tio erm", Sis. Alyna and her good looking plus cool 12 year old son, Darrien. [ You want to contact this chap - please contact Vive! ] It was a real pleasure to meet with them as they are from Penang and they are really great people. I guess, all of us immediately blend in in conversation as great minds and great people can "click" immediately. Then, it was the food spread. The fish cutlet [ tasted heavenly as testified by Steven & Soon Ling plus a host of other people! ] , chicken varuval, mutton curry and dalca, chicken curry, mixed vegetables and others were a real treat indeed! We had a great spread of food and not forgetting, one big tong of papadam! We ate and ate and ate and ate....... till we ate no more !

Then, it was slouching time at the couch and became couch potatos and tomatoes almost immediately! It was later that our long time good friend, Eddie & Alicia together with their 6 months old daughter, Tiffany and parents , Mr. & Mrs. Law and auntie came to Sathy's place. Again, there was loud celebration and feasting! Baby Tiffany was the centre of attraction as everyone wanted to hold her and I tell you, she is such a sweet girl! She is so quiet but she seemed uncomfortable due to the heat. That day, the heat was on the extreme side a bit!

Ah!Yes! The ever mind-boggling question :~ Did we have toddy? The answer is YES! Most definitely! Refrigerated toddy makes it even more interesting and great. We had about 3 bottles of refrigerated toddy and the sweet-slightly sour taste was excellent! There wasn't any head spinning time but they tasted really good complementing with a good scoop of mutton! A potent combination ~ I tell you!

We left about 4.30pm that evening and headed off to Seremban, NS for Seremban burnt crab experience and dinner! That night we had 4 kilos of crabs. The verdict ~ what a day!~

Some good deed....

Being able to be of service as an usher for Wings Melaka 10th Anniversary Concert was indeed a great honour. It was an occasion to commemorate the 10th year of significant existence of Wings Melaka. It was simply a joyous concert with "High Winds" - An ensemble of the Education & Outreach Department of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra playing at Calvary Life Assembly sanctuary. Overall, it was a great show of musical talents and nice sounds. Sigh! I'm no expert in classic music and sounds but this was interesting enough especially the second part of the concert. The team comprises of 2 players for flute , 2 players for oboe, 2 for clarinet, 2 for horn, 2 bassoon players, a double bass player and a percussion unit player. The conductor of the team and for the concert that night was Mr. Joost Christian Flach [ an angmo-lar! ] It was really a good performance especially the musical show like the tea cup performance and many recognisable pieces.

All in all, I was just honored to be of service in whatever small way I can to help out my good friend , Abby who is the Administrator of Wings Melaka. Even if I had to get a long sleeve batik [ Sigh ! I don't particularly like dressing up in formal clothes as it's just not me! Me - t-shirt & jeans kinda guy! ] from Mydin while Steven had to get a batik [ light green one! ] from the same place, it was worthwhile. That's the least we can do to support for such a noble cause - fun and fund-raising for Wings Melaka! Overall, it was a great success for Wings Melaka!~

For us, our rewards were a night teh tarik session at Malai Curry House after the concert!~

Cows, Cows.......

I was driving along Jalan Selandar- Gemencheh on Monday when I was suddenly stopped dead on my tracks. There, in front me, stood a crowd/herd of running cows and I could see a long rattan stick being waved about by a middle-aged man. I was in a dilema at that time. What would I do? Stand on my ground and be trampled all over by the cows or to move to the right hand side of the road and save me some broken windows and smashed windscreen ?

Well, I chose to move to the right side and be safe. It doesn't take a genius to understand that 50 to 60 cows of various sizes can smashed up your car pretty nicely. This is not including the waste from the cows that would splatter all over your car should they get scared out of their daylights! It wouldn't be a pretty sight, I tell you!

Well, the cows [ 50-60 of them ] won hands down today. No need to fight on that! Perhaps, I'll get my joy when one of them lands up on my dinner table as prime beef roast!

Now, that's worth a wait, isn't it? Imagine, the sweet sucullent and tender meat marinated with thyme, rosemary, a dash of cayenne pepper, paprika, garlic salt, ..............................and the list goes on................................

I leave it to your imagination!

Mamma mia! Saliva drooling !~

Pirates Night.....RR Council of Achievement 2008

Royal Rangers Melaka # 1 - Council of Achievement event has always been fun and exciting. Last Sunday event was no different. The theme - Pirate Night. The children and the commanders went ballistics with their planning! It really a night to remember! As early as 1.30pm, the Rangers children especially Stefanie, Stephen, Joa Wee, David, Lewis, Joel, Jessica, Josephine, Jocelyn, Matthew, Paul and Bryan did the early preparations of arranging tables and chairs to set the ship deck outlook. It was fun seeing them getting the things done while the commanders fine tune the preparations. Honestly, I was happy to see these young lives working hard to ensure that everything was done properly and systematically from beginning to the clearing up part. It was really pure joy seeing everyone doing their duty well and like a well-polished engine,man!

Then came the best part of the evening, getting our costume ready and running the award ceremony event. I did all I could for my costume and my make up was done by none other than the critically acclaimed and accomplished maestro from Holeywood, Bolleywood, Awaniwood and TVBwood star, Steven!!! I guess, from the pictures, you can see what happened to his "masterpiece", right? Anyway, it was all done in the name of fun and I just wanted to do my part to spruce up the evening events. For those who would ask, " what is the bear doing on his shoulder? ", well, the answer is simple :- The pirate parrot died and so, the teddy bear replaces it! BTW, the parrot became last night's stew! Ha....Ha.....
The night actually belonged to the children who had worked hard for their advancement awards and their merit patches. From Ranger Kids to Expedition Rangers, the children received their awards from our Senior Pastor, Pst.James Krishnan and from our Youth Pastor, Pst.Les Lee.

Then came the skits from the various outpost. It was really funny and heart-warming as well. They are very sharp and they really acted out well. The Discovery & Adventure Rangers group did the critical satire advertisement on eating chicken rice [ the RR outpost ate Chicken Rice week in week out for the last six months!!!! ] and sour spaghetti [ an honour reserved for Comdr. Steven !!! ] It was really fun to see them acting out the scene. We all had a good laugh and we know for sure that we are not going to serve Chicken Rice for the coming 2009 season lest get another act from the children !!! Ha.....ha.......

As usual, there was our usual spread of refreshment at the award ceremony. The food consisted of fried beehoon [ nice! ], curry chicken [ superb! ] , "ang ku" kuih [ super duper! ], curry puff, kuih koci and eggs sandwiches . [ Soon Ling made the sandwiches!! ] It was time for food, fellowship, sharing of laughter, chit chat and photography sessions with the "pirates"! As our last guests bid farewell that night, we started our clearing up works and it was done in a record zip time!

As I got home that night, it was well into 11.35pm and I was beat, man! It was a whole day event which started from church service in the morning right up to 11.35pm. For once, I almost dozed off while I was bathing !!!! After my bath and prayers, I sat by the side of the bed and reflected on my 10 years of involvement in this wonderful ministry. I asked myself if it has been a worth while involvement - the pressure, the finance, the planning , the running around and all that was involved in running a well -oiled ministry............

To this, I say.................YEAH ! I'll do it again with my faithful companions in ministry - Steven, Errol , Jessica, Jason, Bee Ling, Bryan, Stefanie and the RR children! See you next year, matey!

Wedding Dinner....Part 2

Today, my family and I attended our very special family friend, Julian & Yvonne wedding dinner reception at EQ Melaka. The hall was abuzzed with great music [ sung by Mr.Don of Raffles Restaurant, Melaka ] , chattering friends, warm handshake and the neccessary ingredients for a great wedding banquet. What was truly different was the big poster on the main banquet table whereby everyone signs in or pen in their wishes for the lovely couple. Julian looked every bit of the king for the day, man. He looked sharp, suave and slick. As for his lovely wife, Yvonne, she looked simply radiant, marvelous and beautiful. They really looked set & match for one another!

Our table consisted of Errol, Jessica, Steven ,Wan Sin, Soon Ling , Abby, Joa Wee , Shwu Yuen and myself. The table setting was nice [ the floral arrangements etc.etc. ] and the atmosphere was classic. Food was really surprisingly good. I really enjoyed the food, though. I think, what struck me the most was Julian's varsity mates [ 1 woman and 2 guys - couldn't get their names! ] who came all the way to give two great numbers and the most "gempak" was Julian singing a special number for his bride! The singing by the trios were excellent and as for Julian's singing, not bad-lar! I guess, that's what makes friends special during wedding dinners, right?

Throughout the dinner, I had a great time out there. I was so happy to see Julian's parents, Mr. Jimmy & Mrs Nellie beaming and smiling. I guess, there's no greater joy than seeing your children starting a new chapter of their life, right? So too were Mr. & Mrs. Soh , Yvonne's parents. They were so happy and smiling ~having a blast of good time.

Like I said earlier, it was really a proud moment for me to see Julian sealing this special union of love & marriage with Yvonne on this special day. I pray that God would bless, nurture and guide this couple as they take steps of faith in living and going through life with one another!~

So, cheers to you, Julian & Yvonne!~

A Special Person- Stefanie Sim

First and foremost, I just want to thank Stefanie Sim for sending to me a beautifully written e-mail which was a real encouragement and also, putting a good word on me in the Royal Rangers Melaka # 1 blogsite. Honestly, it is not everyday that I received such heart-warming praises but it does bring a lot of good cheer to this ol' heart of mine! Wow! In all honesty, Stefanie gave me more credit and praises than I actually deserve.

Let me give you a little that I know about Stefanie Sim. She is really a very special young lady. I have never seen anybody as meticulous, as keen and as dedicated as her when it comes to serving in ministry. Ever since she started in Royal Rangers ministry, she is always very determined to achieve the very best she could and rightly so too. She was already in the ministry when I first started out serving in the ministry. At that time, somehow in her young age, she seemed to have a great dislike for me but I never took it to my heart. I know that when I was first invited [ or rather "conned"??? I wonder! ] to serve in this ministry, I readily accepted because I wanted to be in a team of people who would mould and shape the lives of children. So, I started out as a PR man for the ministry, then to a commander/teacher of the ministry. Over the years, I see this rugged, determined and very tough young girl grew up into a beautiful, dedicated, respected and trustworthy Junior Commander. She not only commands the respect of her peers but she is such a delight to work with. I guess, she really worked very hard for her achievements and I saw a big good change in her over the years.

I had no doubts in my mind that she would be a great leader some day and it has been proven time and time again. You see, people say that some are natural born leaders while others say they are nurtured. To me, Stefanie Sim is a step above. She is not only a natural born leader but a leader who learns from her elders. This is the great difference. She is ever willing to learn and to get things into perspective by asking and trying out leadership position. That's what makes her so special. Sure, she is direct-talking , honest and tells off her mind but she is also with good manners, obedient, easy to work with plus she has learnt to have a servant heart.

To me, there was no greater joy than to see her, Bryan [ another great leader ] and Stephen together with my son, Joa Wee, Daniel and John planning for the year end camp. It was at the Tesco superstore that I saw Stefanie and the team come of age. She actually made provision for souvenirs and other goodies to bless the children. At that moment, I knew that Stefanie and the team are well into the servanthood mode of this ministry. That night, I thanked the Lord for the years of sacrifice and constant teaching/sharing with these children and also, for raising up leaders like Stefanie, Bryan, Stephen, Daniel, Joa Wee, John, Ivy and many others to step up the plate of leaderships and finally understanding the roles they play in leadership. You see, this ministry is not about us, the leaders or the program. It is about moulding & shaping young boys and girl into serving our Master Ranger, the One Above! They have learnt well and they have started to start their own blessing to the children that day. That, to me, is the whole success of this ministry - blessing others with your lives!

Stefanie grasped and understood that noble and humble idea. That is what that makes her special. It wasn't just her good works , her personality or her leadership standing, it was the transformation of her heart that matters to me and she has done very well on this. That makes me a very happy person. At least, one day before I closed my eyes and be with the Lord, I can take heart that the Royal Rangers # 1 Melaka ministry is in good hands.

So, here's to you, Stefanie! Congratulations & be a blessing always and all ways!~ BTW, you make an "young" man like me a pretty happy guy today! [ Oh Yes! Have I not told you that age is only a number ? ha................ha........................]

P/s As for the tongue sticking out act, well,......it's her way of "freaking" out after smiling so much during the award ceremony!

A Proud Moment...GMA,SMA & BMA Recipients

Last Sunday, prior to the end of the church service, Royal Rangers Melaka #1, the ministry which I am serving as a Councilman Chairman, had the opportunity to honour four very special children who have made history by achieving their special awards. Btw, the Royal Rangers Ministry in our church had been in existence and still going strong for the past 16 years. I would like to thank the past and present leaders who had made this possible.

Part of the success of these special four is due to the dilligence, guidance and support from the previous leaders like Comdr.Vive, Comdr. Sathy, Pst.Les Lee, Comdr.Adeline, Comdr. Cristal Teo, Comdr. Tan May Ching, Comdr. Rachel Fu and others to the present leadership of Comdr. Steven, Comdr. Errol, Comdr. Jason, Comdr. Jessica, Comdr. Jamie Ng , Comdr. Tan Bee Ling and Comdr.Bryan Lee. I salute and thank you for your great support and dedication all these years.

The four special Rangers boys and girl are Junior Commander Stefanie Sim [ Gold , Silver and Bronze Medal of Achievement ], ER Stephen Raj [ Silver and Bronze Medal of Achievement ], ER Paul Raj [ Bronze Medal of Achievement] and ER Daniel Chia [ Bronze Medal of Achievement ]

For information, the abovenamed Rangers boys and girl are the very first recipients of such awards in the Southern region [ Pahang, Melaka, Johor and Negri Sembilan ] of the nation. I am so proud of them. In all honesty, they have worked very hard to achieve their awards! That morning when they came out one by one to receive their awards from our Senior Pastor, Pst. James, I was like a very proud father out there. These are my ministry children and I am so proud of them. There are just no words to describe my happiness for them. As they posed with their family members and friends over their achievement, I could not help but reflect down memory lane on the time they joined this ministry. Sure, I have plenty of stories to tell about them but buy me a cup of coffee and the adventure will begin!~
Anyway, I was extremely touched when Stephen Raj and his brother, Paul came over to me after church and said this to me : " Thank you so much , Comdr. Ivan. Thank you for helping me out in the merits and getting me through it. Thank you for getting the medals for me and my brother. I appreciate it a lot." There are simply no words for me to express my joy and I guess, these kind words made me realised how much these lives meant to me and all the hardwork/sacrifices/the pains and the sufferings were really worth it. In all honestly, I am not used to hearing praises like this and I don't remember having receive such kind words for a longtime and yunno, they brought a lot of cheer to my humble heart. To see young lads like them thanking you is really rare and that's why it is a real big encouragement to me. I share the same view with Vive [ http://www.vivealive.blogspot.com/ ] regarding this boy, Stephen Raj. I have a lot of admiration and respect for Stephen Raj. He is truly a true blue Ranger boy. He is courteous, quick in carrying out orders, obedient, very respectful and mild mannered person. I like his warm personality and his work rate is fantastic. I can only relate all this and give credit to his parents whom have nurtured/groomed him well. I still remember the day, three young brothers caused havoc to the ministry and during one of the camp, the commanders had to actually tie all three of them to a tree as they continue to fight with one another. But hey! look at them [ Stephen, Paul and Lewis ] today- medals on their left side of the pocket and posing with their mother. What a picture! I pray that as thy grow up, they would be ready to take over the reins of the leadership of this ministry and pressed on for the future generations!

As I sipped my cup of Nescafe-O at my sofa that evening, I am so happy and blessed that they [ Bryan Lee, Stefanie Sim, Stephen Raj, Daniel Chia and Paul Raj ] have been geared towards leadership and in time to come, they would lead & head this ministry. I have full confidence that the future of Royal Rangers Melaka # 1 is in the good hands of these leaders. Seeing them grow up and be where they are right now gives a great comfort to my heart!~

Today, I stand up and salute these children!~

Crisis....

There are times we are faced with dilemma, pressures of life, choices in life and even crisis in our lives. What do we do? What do we say? How do we handle it? In all simple honesty, I am no expert on this matter and neither do I have any answers for this. But there is one thing that I DO know~ that is to bend really low on my knees, lift up my hands and pray earnestly for direction from the One Above.

I am not ashamed to say that I have had a gamut of personal experiences that ranges from the nice to the not-so-nice, the good, the bad and the ugly situations but I have learnt one thing for sure that is there is a real GOD that watches over us and that there is no better love than the ones we get from our home.

In our mixed, sick and wicked society that we live in today, snares and entrapment are set aplenty before us. The joy of entrapment is actually the joy of the world we live in today. But not everything is about the evil one. There are times we simply give too much credit than the evil one actually deserves. Many times it is about our obedience to God, our walk & stand with God and the most important, the choices we make in our lives today. Whatever decision we make, good or bad, we have to face the consequences. It doesn't take a genius to figure that one out, ok? So what do you do when you make a bad decision and things turn out worst than you actually expect? Well, the No.1 priority is to get back to your knee ministry. Seek the Lord, confess it to the Lord and turn from your evil ways. Get back to true repentance. It is the only thing that I know, my friends. There is no easier way than this ~ repent and get back to Him for only the Lord gives comfort to a grieving and contrite heart. No.2 - Get back to your family. Difficult, embarrassing, painful it may seemed, they will love you no matter what happens. There is no greater love I've ever seen than the one potrayed by a father and mother. Sure, they will be dissapointed, angry and sometimes say things that may hurt but do you realised that they themselves are hurt too by what you have done. However, that doesn't mean that they love you any less. Know that it is never easy to raise a child and every single one of the parents are first -timers parents. Meaning - they learn to be fathers and mothers as they raised you up. Equipped with some small infomation, they nurture you and raised you in the very best manner they can with the help & hope from God! So , appreciate them, my friends!

For the young people out there, I want you to know that you just don't know the very love your parents are showering you. They may seemed to be harsh but in actual fact, they love you to bits. That's why the Prodigal Son story in the Bible is such a significant story to relate to. The Father in the story wasn't interested in what the son had gone through and neither was he interested to know that his son was in tattered and smelly clothes. He was more interested in knowing that the prodigal son is back, hugged him tight and quickly asked his servants to clothe his son with the best and finest. Yes, many of us knows this story~ be it from our kindergarten years to our adulthood years. My question is :- Do we really treasure this story with our hearts? Have we put this into reality? Or it is just another sweet biblical story like many others?

This is a real challenge to my heart as I raised my son and daughter to adulthood. Yes, they sometimes give me headaches and heartaches which probably will drive my mental thermometer crazy. But I have a confession to make [ they say confession is good for the soul !~] : I love my children very much. I will not spoilt them with indulgences nor will I spare the rod when it warrants a good whack! Yunno, I too have asked myself if I have been able to " walk the talk" upon digesting the story of the Prodigal Son? Honestly, I don't know. All I know is that I love the both of them very much and I just want to honour God by walking the talk when I raised my children. I also want them to know that they have a unrestricted access to me whenever, wherever and whatever they needed me ~ be it from their young age to even adulthood one day.

That's why during a crisis, we need not to comment, condemn and further aggravate the situation but to move towards repentance cum healing and plenty of understanding and support . Please choose to respect and understand this. The hurting family doesn't need more heeping of problems to their already brimmed full difficulties. So, the next time you see a family going through healing process, choose to play your good part by supporting them in prayers and in their needs~ whatever it may be! Remember, you may go through dark storms of life at the present moment but know that there is always a silver lining after the storm! That is the sure promise of the Mighty One Above!~

Mixed Emotions...

When I woke up this morning, I prayed to the Lord seeking His grace, mercy and protection upon my life. I did not have any expectation except to dwell and to learn His ways. Boy! What a lesson He gave me yet again! The morning started out as morning should be - bright, sunny and warm! [ I love to basked in the sun, actually! ] It was a smooth drive to Senawang.

As I exited the toll and headed towards my destination around Tunku Jaafar Industrial Park, I was greeted with a lorry which had tilted over to its left side. Mind you, this is a flyover. Can you imagine losing control, hit the elevated sidewalk and plunging down the highway onto on-coming cars! This is one lucky dude, man!

Then I did my work as usual and I was informed that this particular company was going bust in a few months time. The worst part of it was that they had about 750 workers who would have to be retrenched before the end of this year!! Gosh! It is already October. I was taken aback by the sheer massive lay offs and even the ones I was talking to were not spared either. They are on their way out. [ being retrenched! ] Yunno, how would these workers feel? How would they feed their families in the future? Gosh! What lies ahead of them and when is the next meal coming? I feel so sorry and sad for them. Honestly, it bothered me a lot.

Then, I was off to Chinese Maternity Hospital NS [ I was not there to deliver baby though I have quite a roundish belly nor deliver anybody's baby-lar ! ] near Mantin to check up on the condition of this particular person. Seeing a car accident victim lying like a toast on the bed near the window can be quite heart wrenching! Young, lying motionless and in a comatose state! I checked on the hospital nurses and I was briefed that his condition had not changed since he came in on 26/9/2008. Out of compassion from my heart, I lay my hand on his heart and prayed for God to heal him. I could clearly see that his body was all twisted up and he had so many multiple fractures at so many places of his body which would render his an invalid unless a miracle happens! After doing the necessary, I left the hospital with mixed emotions. Then I remembered that my buddy, Errol would be in Senawang and so, I called him and fixed an appointment for lunch.

Errol and his designer, Cheah, who were in Senawang for some work finally catch up with me on Restoran Asia Laksa lunch. He brought some cheer to my ailing heart with some jokes and encouragement. As I was driving home, I decided to call the car driver out of curiosity to check out the actual crash occurrence. I was greeted by a person who seemed to sustain only minor injuries while the victim ended up like a toast on the bed! Well, that's life, you would say but to me, we all make choices in our lives and live with the consequences of it!

So, the next time you're on the street, drive smart and drive carefully. Don't drink and drive. Don't rush , don't be impatient or even be a hero on the road. The road is not the race track. It will cost you your life if you are not careful. Life is just too short for us to gamble it all away, my friends.~ Pick life and live life abundantly.~ I still want to wake up and smell the roses each morning! They [ the roses ] smell nice~

All Glory to God.....

Today, I cheated death and I am really blessed to be alive. No one knew or could ever imagine what I go through today. It was a roller coaster of mixed emotions, relief and just glad to be alive. This morning, I went to Bahau for some work and it was a good drive. I enjoyed the greenery scene so much and the whiff of fresh air filled my lungs. I even wound down the side mirrors to catch the fresh air to my face. It is so carefree and so refreshing indeed. I cruised through the roads easily as I have passed through these roads many times in my life. Little did I know that a real drama would unfold at the mid-half of the day.

After completing my work, I took a different route home. It was the route that would eventually bring chills to my spine and filled my heart and lungs with out of this world relief! You see, I took the Bahau-Tampin road home instead of the familiar Bahau-Gemencheh way. Anyway, on this road path, I would have to negotiate a lot of small and narrow road measuring approximately 14 feet wide with central demarcating line of 7 feet each. All I remembered was that I really enjoyed the green vegetation on either side of the road and I passed the huge cement making factory on my right. It was about 3 kilometres from that place that I virtually cheated death! At the opposite side of the road was a long lorry and I could see it from quite a distance but what I didn't notice was a car overtaking the lorry at the very last minute. I think, this driver thought he could actually overtake the lorry and miss having a head on with my car. I was driving well into my own lane when suddenly this car just came out overtook the lorry and was heading straight at me. Gosh! I froze and 1001 emotions, pictures of family, my life, my friends and others flashed in front of my eyes! I really thought " This is it , buddy. It's end of the line for you!" At that moment, my hands were steady on the steering wheel. I didn't sway nor move a muscle at the steering wheel and neither did I hit the brakes! All I said was ," God, be with me!"All Glory to God! All Glory to God! Not only was I saved ~ no harm came to me and I didn't crash! Instead, the on-coming car swerved further to the right to avoid a head on collision with me and it crashed into a nearby oil palm plantation. All I knew was that I stopped a few hundred metres away and I prayed for my life and also the driver's life. Phew! I just don't know what to say except that God has been gracious to my life and all glory to God, Almighty!

Yunno, life is so fragile , my friends. One minute you can be easy and good while the next, it can turn into a nightmare/tragedy. Thank you , Lord for preserving this life of mine! Anyway, after the incident and couple of cups of water, I am calmed down.

The funny thing that happened today too was that after this drama and as I was driving on the way back somewhere near Kuala Pilah road , I just couldn't stop laughing out in the car when I saw a huge lady on a Yamaha kapchai wearing a huge t-shirt which read " I'm on Diet Coke!". It is so ironic and mind-boggling but humorous at the same time. BTW, she is pretty huge-lar. Beside her was another humongous lady on the old Honda kapchai wearing a t-shirt that reads, " I am not BIG. You are looking at me from the wrong side! " I just couldn't help but burst out laughing when I saw these two ladies riding the bikes together. I guess that in my adverse situation, I could still afford to have a good laugh on life and scenes of life.

Wow! It's great to be alive~ It's really great to be alive!~

Wedding Dinner.....

When my wife and I were invited to attend a wedding dinner of our good friends, Julian & Yvonne, we couldn't miss the opportunity. It wasn't so much for the food [ though I just love food! ] but the chance to go back to the restaurant where I had my wedding dinner was indeed a chance not to be missed.

It was just nostalgic going back to the restaurant but the restaurant was refurbished. Though I was glad for the new interior decoration and all that, the feeling of being back in the restaurant brought a flood of memories to me. All the merry -making, the noise, the smell and all the celebrations. It was a joyful noise at that time. I could still remember the loud "yamsengs", tables arrangements, catching up with "long lost" relatives, shaking hands with uncles & aunties who insists you install a baby making facility right after your wedding, dad's friends who came to celebrate a good time [ the very same ones who come for his funeral ] and so on. It was a memorable day for me and dad , actually. That was the day, we both looked smart and sharp in our coats, tie and all that stuff. What a memory!

Well, back t0 the dinner, we were seated near the band [ Evergreen was its name! I think from the name you can roughly guess the ages of the singers! ] , the wedding cake and the music speakers! Anyway, We were 'entertained' with songs from the 50' right to the 80's from Frank Sinatra, Cliff Richard, Elvis Presley , Neil Sedaka to Malay numbers! What a combo! You make your own conclusions on this one ! Then, there's this little antics which I saw coming - it's the "I'll sing one song and ended up singing three songs " thingy! All in all, it was fun watching all the singers but kudos to them as it was all in the name of making the function a memorable one for the couple. Anway, I really couldn't help but notice one particular singer who continues to slaughter and butchered the English language with his pronuncitation of words in the English songs. For us at our table, we kept getting choked on our food whenever he sang English songs. It was a really hilarious situation but it was fun.

As for the food, it was the normal cold/hot dish, shark fin soup, roast pig ( my staple food! ), herbal chicken, fish, prawns, vegetables and pudding at the end. No complaints here as this was the one normally served during wedding dinners. At the end of the day, it was the "leng chee kang", "ice kacang" and "iced lychee" that we sought for after the wedding. Incidentally, the proprietor of these drinks started out as a small warong beside the restaurant before moving to a much bigger shop lot-about 8 shop lots away from the restaurant! That to me, my friend, is called progress!

For me, I am still thinking of the juicy roast suckling pig , man! One up for the pig!

What a fellowship....

All the muscles, tendons and jaw bone on my face were in full swing yesterday evening. It was the night of dinner and fellowship amongst good friends. I was the happiest and most gladdest [ no such word but just trying to make a point-lar! ] time of my life when I could spend time sampling good home cooked meals and catching up in conversations. The meals were fantastic and everyone practically wolfed down the food and there were still plenty to take home because we could actually enact the biblical scene of feeding the five thousand for that matter when it comes to food! Well, most definitely, they won't look like us, round and cute! Ha.......Ha.........
It was really good to have Iggy and Zam around this time together with their children Sharmitra, Shalini and Shaila! [ newly extended family ] How they have grown up while it was always nice to have Dinesh & Abby together with Dave & Caleb [ our loving & caring family buddies ] for such an occassion. To add up to the already wonderful night, we had Errol & Jessica together with their children , Josephine & Jocelyn [ I am very blessed by their lives, warmth & care. This one is a special family! ] together with Steven & Wan Sin [ great-great buddies and family! ] plus Vive & Sathy [ My warm-hearted extended family ! We're still sorting out our skin colour problem eventhough we are family!] It was like the good ol' times ....but BETTER, man! Everyone kept tucking and attacking the food and it was such a delight! Laughter was the order of the day and the aura of great fellowship was all around.

Dinesh & the gang brought capatis with the really good dhall, curries and mouth watering varaval lambs pieces, fruits, vegetables [ this one is a combination of long beans,carrots and peanuts - this is actually an old recipe dish which I have not tasted for such a long time and I love it very very very much! Reminds me of the good ol' days with mom & dad !] and many more while Steven & Wan Sin brought the stupendously nice tofu with plenty of prawns & assortment while Errol & Jessica brought the rotisserie chicken which I felt was a truly awesome taste with all the herbs and spices lingering in my salivating face! It was a heavenly food experience. BTW, Vive & Sathy [ Really glad to have them around ! Such a blessing to my life ! ] brought Vive's mom special varaval lamb pieces and it was a real experience of taste and the soft succulent lamb melting in your mouth thing, man! This is the ultimate high you can ever get in one night of feasting. I tell you this, I know that the guys got rounder every time they took a step to the table, that's for sure ! I could almost hear the measuring scales popping out of its' mechanics while the alarm bells on cholestrol level hits all time high,man! Who's listening, actually! Eat first-lar!

We also managed to celebrate our to buddies birthday namely Steven and Dinesh. How old are they? Well........cannot tell-lar! But they are definitely off their teenage years, that's a confirmation! We had a jolly good time chowing down their birthday cake and having some fun at them. Then , the night belonged to the most shinning person in our fellowship, Iggy or Ignatius! His antics and his smooth rendition of topics ranging from politics to daily life happenings are a real treat and a class act,man. Way to go, bro! Never a dull moment whenever he is around! I tell you, Zam & Iggy are one class couple too! We laughed and laughed all in the name of good fellowship & fun. I tell you, I laughed so much that I virtually had my stomach exchanging places with my lungs and I was coughing so much that I thought they would have to get me a garland of flowers and write a eulogy for me soon!
Such was the passion, the light heartedness and the bond we have as good friends. To me , it epitomes the very fabric of what friendship is all about - good food, good environment and great fellowship. What a life, indeed! I have never been happier! There is nothing more I could have asked for a great night! Thank you everyone for a great time! I treasure this a lot!

As for the extra chicken varaval my wife made, well....it's the best in the whole world. I don't care what you people say but the bottom line is that my wife's chicken varaval is the bestest!