Bumper crawl...

Back to work and back to familiar territories, actually. It was depressing enough to hear of companies shutdown, major salary reduction, shortened working days and stricter working conditions and today, we have to deal with traffic congestion! I must say that I was pissed to my lungs when I was caught in massive traffic jam. It took us twenty minutes to have a meal and fifty five minutes to get back to office from Batu Berendam. It was lucky that my colleagues and I avoided going to Melaka Raya for our meal. If not, the jam would have been far worse than anyone can imagine!
Now, I understand those folks in KL when they talked of traffic jam. Anyway, coming back to Melaka, where did these cars come from? Well, a quick scan showed that there were a lot of cars from 'kiasu land' [ I just hate these buggers for arrogantly cramming our roads!! ] , Johor and from other states. Yeah! Tourists and holiday makers! BTW, don't they have work to do? Why don't they just go back home, start working for the future and stop jamming our streets?! Aaaaarrrggggghh! There seemed to be no end to the massive outstation car invasion to our historical land! One colleague remarked that it would be good business for our traders and hotels while I would just say," Go home and work! " This is exactly what I did when I arrived at my office car park area; I shouted to the top of my lungs , " Go home and work-lah!" I got a couple of glares and stares from some motorists while some just smiled. For me, I don't give a two hoots for what they say or think !~ They are still jamming our streets in Melaka! Siao people!!~ Or is it that I have gone "cuckoo" this time! Ha.......ha.......ha.....

CNY celebrations...

Finally, CNY arrived and what a day I had! Yipee! I get to dress up with new clothes! [ Incidentally I don't really spend on new clothes but the wife had sorta "pressured" me into getting at least a new shirt which I did, of course! Wouldn't want to cross the live-in woman, ok? Life can be terrifying without speaking for days and no food! ha..ha... ] As usual, morning meant a visit to grandpa's place. As the family arrived at grandpa's place, we missed the lion dance performance by 10 minutes! Well, this tradition of having lion dance performance at the house is a yearly affair. Anyway, Gramps looked great though quite saddened by the fact that not all of his children were around for CNY celebrations this year. I guess, it saddens me too in a way as I did not get to meet all my uncles and aunties. Afterall, we are getting older each year and meeting up each other can be quite difficult at times. It's a fact that CNY season brings us closer together as family and relatives. While at Gramps place, I looked around me and noted that SLing and I have aged quite a bit while our children and my uncle's children have grown up too. It is so nice to see these young lives enjoying each others company and having a great time together.
Gramps is a patient but a very direct person. Somehow, I have found favour in his eyes in many ways. As I reminisced my childhood days, Gramps would always give us ice-cream whenever he is back from his usual rounds at the fringe of Melaka town. Yeah, Gramps was an ice-cream seller. He has a heart of gold when it comes to my family. He treats us all fairly and he was good to my mom and dad. Even now, he is the one who would always pass some of the mangoes [ btw, the mangoes tasted very good! ] from the front of the house to me through my mom. Anyway, he still looks good because he exercised a lot through tai chi exercise moves. Suffice to say that he is a good man. Never a difficult person but always a calm figure in the family. Anyway, after paying my respects to him, my family moved on to my mom's best friend, Ee Chu Abok or Auntie Ee Chu's house. Well, I have known Uncle and Ee Chu Abok all my life as we used to stay at their place when we were young. When dad was a young mechanic and we didn't have a house of our own , we shared the same rented house with this family. So, over the years, we've become more than friends ~ we have become close family friends. This family was the first of our many extended family members. Uncle earns a living by taking photographs for personal capacity and also, for our local Chinese dailies. Auntie Ee Chu earns a living by preparing Chinese grape and rice wine concoction in bottles. This stuff is usually used for ladies confinement beverages. I remembered that I first learn about sharing meal from this family [ incidentally, they have 4 children ] and I'll never forget the good values these two oldies taught me during my youngers days. Things like what it meant to enjoy each scrap of rice and the simple meal laid out on the table, giving thanks to mom & dad for bring food home, sharing a meal in good times and bad times and thankfulness. Yes, my family was poor at that time but we shared every meals and celebrate every ocassions with this family and vice-versa. They have been a good cheer to my mom and dad. Now that they are old, I still have utmost respect for these old folks. They are really nice people and I am privileged to be able to visit them year after year. I guess, I am old fashioned in that way. Like I said many times, I try to teach my children the same values - respect for the elderly [ that includes manners in speech,thought and deeds ] cherish good memories and always be thankful with what you have!~ I guess, there is still a lot of work to be done for this younger generation who seemed to have conveniently forgotten our respectful ways. Anyway, it's CNY~ it's fashion week and food week! Happy tucking in the food and gain some weight!~ Cheers to your heart!~

Double CNY Reunion makan..

This year my family enjoyed two CNY reunion makan - one was lunch while the other was dinner. Looking back, it is about almost 20 years now since the last time SLing had lunch with her family members. I guess, due to the fact that CNY eve fell on a Sunday, we unanimously decided that we would enjoy CNY reunion lunch at SLing mom's place in Seremban and dinner at my mom's place. Sorta double bonus for our family.
Reunion makan holds a very special place in my heart. I enjoyed reunion makan a lot especially with the family members. I guess, there is no better time to get every one around except on this auspicious day. Spare me the knives for I know that we don't need any occasion to get everyone together but in our diverse lifestyle today, meeting up everyone of our family members can be rather difficult especially if you have brothers or sisters at four corners of our nation and down south in Singapore. Anyway, my family had a great lunch at SLing mom's place. With Wei, Jade, Ryan , the four of us and mom-in-law, we had a great feast [ fried pomfret fish, abalone & pork stomach soup, arrowhead with sliced pork, vegetables, prawns and Hainanese chicken] though we miss the presence of Ting, Yam and Wei Li. Ryan was at his playful ways as usual but his smiles does bring a lot of laughter in the home. We were really blessed as a family.

After lunch, we drove back to my mom's place to have my family reunion dinner. My mom cooked our normal reunion dinner meal comprising of braised duck, Hainanese chicken, fishball soup, braised pork with mushroom, pork rolls [ made by my sister ] mixed vegetables and the ever potent, Penang sambal belacan paste! My orphaned cousins also came over to join us for dinner. It was good to have everyone around for dinner. We had some lighter moments together and after the meal, we had our usual family chat. It was light, fun and very down memory lane thing! Really great.......... I guess, the one thing that I really miss that night was.....Dad! Really miss him, actually!~ As I got home that night, I reflected the good times we shared as families both SLing's family and my family. I thank God that there is still a great bond between all of ours. In times when families are split and strained through many weird situations, ours just grew stronger and stronger. I am thankful to Wei, Jade & mom-in-law for putting up with us all these years and I am also very thankful to my mom and my family for being understanding, loving and caring too. There is really nothing else I could ask for! I am thankful to God for giving me such wonderful family members!~ Hey, don't wait for ocassions just to tell your family members how great they are and how much they meant to you! Gong Xi Fa Cai, everyone!

The special Dragon fruit & lemon juice concentrate drink! Classy & nice, man!

Ryan & fun....

Last evening, we decided to head back to Seremban to have an early CNY reunion dinner and also to catch up on the latest happenings on our favourite nephew, Ryan. Upon arrival, we quickly sought for Ryan and he was in his own bed [new one with some really nice side trimmings and so on! ] watching his newly found bedtime movie/motivational solace/calming effect in the movie "Ratatouile". [ BTW, he likes Remy a lot because every time Remy appears he would laughed aloud! ]. He's one smart and adorable kiddo! He must be reminded of his uncle Ivan when he sees Remy - big & stout!
Later, we took him to the playground together with Jade and we were forewarned that he would not hold anyone's hands lest be asked to go here and there as directed. Yup, he really live up to his name, King Ryan as he strut his stuff while walking down the street heading towards the playground with his squeeky sound shoes. Boy, he really run circles around us. Being as "young" as we were, it was hard and harsh keeping up with him. He kinda like playing in the playground as he moved from one apparatus to another with ease while this two poor ol' people huffed and puffed over our way at the playground. Yes, age is really catching up with us as bones are tweaking and creaking by the minute! Chasing one active tiny tot is not for the faint-hearted - this is as much I can tell you. But he's really adorable and huggable-lar!
In many ways, it was really fun being with him because he's really a smart kiddo for his age. I observed that SLing taught him twice to climb up the stairs for the slider and by the third time, he was already climbing up the stairs like a pro. OhYes! He has grown a lot too. I guess, he was such a tiny tot the last time we saw him but this time, he has really grown a bit. It is really a joy being able to play with him and soothes down a lot of stress. Yeah! He still screams as and when he likes though no big tears running own the cheeks this time. Only the screaming is louder but the teardrops seemed to have fallen less! Ha.....Ha...... All in all, he's such a fun boy and when he smiles, he definitely melts your heart away. As we walked him back to home, he was again doing the stuff he likes - not giving a two hoots on what's happening on the street or at people's house. He loves to move around and get him basked in the evening sun. He wasn't sweaty and all that but you could see that he simply enjoy "torturing" this two oldies while heading back for home. Ha...ha...... What a really enjoyable kiddo!

Bully Again!

Today, I had a call from a good friend whom I have not seen & heard for quite some time and it was good to have receive such a call. Well, I guess, the coming CNY celebrations always brings good memories.I thought I had "lost" this good friend but I want to thank God for His works in this friend of mine. We spoke for about 5-10 minutes and during those time, I just can't stop thanking God for keeping this friend of mine in His loving hands. I miss his family a lot as we were quite close. Yunno, there are times I have often wondered if I had in one way or another offended this friend of mine but today, it clears the air a lot. I was relieved that it wasn't what I had thought all this while but it was just that we grew apart due to some unforseen circumstances. When this good friend of mine apologised to me as he told me that he was impressed in his heart by God to call me, I thanked God in my heart and told my good friend that there's nothing to apologise. Yes, we may have differing ideas & perspective over certain matters but never in any way it hurt our friendship. So, I am glad to have a good friend back!

Just when I thought I was going to end my day on a good note, my colleague's wife met with a small accident and we quickly rushed to the accident site. The accident wasn't that bad but it was a shock to my colleague's wife. In my unbias professional view, the fault lies with the girl who knocked into my colleague's wife car. Anyway, everything was quite okay until the girl's father turned up. All this while, I was cool and even calmed my colleague's wife down but when a tall, big and bully belted out, " Bodoh!", "You buta-kah!", "Macam mana you bawak kereta, bodoh!" and all the crap abuse, I lost it. All this while , the abuse went on and I too lost my cool and I said, "You tak boleh cakap macam ni!" This man wasn't interested whether his daughter was okay or the other person was okay. He was more interested in the damn car! To me, this bullying of my colleague's wife with his unkind words was just too much for me and I won't stand for that type of abuse. No one should listen to such crap! I then told my colleague and his wife to just don't bother about him and report the accident matter to the police and let them decide the outcome. I was rather mad with the man and I really wanted to do something but I really kept my cool. I quickly took my colleague's wife into my car and drove her to the police station.

Yunno, picture this scenario. Here stood a so-call local authority swimming coach with a stinking attitude and abusive qualities. He comes around in his fancy big van, spew his stinking language, strut his bully stuff and tried belittling everyone in his path. As I stood there, I often wonder what type of father he is [ There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that here stood a lousy father who only struts fear in his children and calling it "love" ! ]. As I look into the girl, I have nothing but sympathy for such a girl for having such a father. She must be terrified if she told the truth as her father won't be that forgiving to her! [I can imagine her getting hell from her father! ] Sometimes, I just wish people would just tell the truth. Instead, they cover up with lies and more lies and at the end of the day, they get further entangled in their deceit web. This is what happened today. It caused a lot of unpleasantness to my colleague's wife and my colleague and I was so sorry that they had to face up with such idiocy.

One more point I wish to point out is this big bully was a so-call swimming coach. How on earth are his swimmers going to learn discipline, dedication and all the qualities of a good athlete if they have a coach like him? It doesn't take an idiot to figure out why Malaysian sports are in the dumps when we have coaches like this! Yunno, I have great respect for many swimming coaches that I know & met but not this one! He doesn't potray one bit of the quality of a good coach I've seen. What a real shame to the swimming fratenity! A real mockery to the swimming profession!I've been a hockey player, a coach but never have been abusive or used harsh words on my players! Strict, disciplinarian and serious but NEVER abusive! I'm just speechless over what I have witnessed today! This incident leaves a very bad taste in my mouth today!

BTW, even the policemen can't stand him ~ just to set the record straight!~

Pre-CNY celebrations...

Last night, SLing, SYuen and myself went to Jusco for some CNY shopping after sending JWee for tuition. There was a sea of people in Jusco and it was really a challenge maneuvering our way in the supermarket section. Yeah! We just wanted to get some packet and canned drinks for our CNY celebrations. As we were walking around the supermarket, I realized that CNY celebrations had become a universal celebrations for all the races in our country. It was really funny seeing a whole load of people picking out the Mandarin oranges and tasting them! tsk!tsk!tsk! BTW, the best part was that no one knew that they were not allowed to taste the oranges lest peel it for their own family pleasure!!! It was only until the arrival of the Floor Supervisor that everyone stopped. By that time, it was a gala time “free” oranges for these people!!!! Of course, I stayed away from such folly but it was fun to see that moment of gluttony! After all, I’ve got enough supply of Mandarin oranges at home. Oh Yes! They aren’t that sweet this year.
One observation that I noted with interest is that the general public can’t resist “free” sampling items! Once the frenzy starts, you just can’t stop them. I tell you, if you go to the supermarket on a Sunday, you can see this type of behavioral pattern and it can be really fun. Why do they do the things they do is quite mind-boggling, actually. Seriously, I don’t know the reason or reasons for it but mostly out of curiosity, I guess. For me, I am not a sampling addict! I usually get that particular brand or item I want and I am out of there! Cruising along the supermarket, we then saw an array of canned abalone, razor clams, pacific clams and so on. These are items you would see being sold during the CNY celebrations. Then there’s the waxed duck [ I totally can’t understand this item lest eat it! ], dried freshwater fish from China, some black fungus and some traditional Chinese foodstuff. I like to stick to the foodstuff I know by hard like ‘bak kua’, chicken floss , pork’s leg/trotters, ‘lap cheong’ and more pork! [ Staple food–lar! How to miss! ] Mushrooms……hmmmmnnnnn….. got some dried white mushrooms for my mother-in-law. [ BTW, it’s what I do every year – get her eight (8) Mandarin oranges , a pack of white mushroom and a red packet! ]
I think, the most traumatic time I had last night was queuing up at the payment counter. The queue was never ending but orderly. I guess, the overly crowded supermarket was too much for some children last night. Anyway, there was a touching scene while I was queueing up to make my payments. That was the scene that kept playing in my head today. It was a scene of a crying Malay child in the arms of her mother who was having a load of groceries in her cart. I think, the poor girl was tired. She was crying and mucus was flowing from her nose. What I saw next was just amazing. An old Chinese lady at the front immediately pulled out some tissue paper and wiped the mucus off the poor girl’s nose and dried her tears. The girl stopped crying as the old lady consoled her. You could see that the mother of the child was relieved and these two women – one young and one old just smiled at each other; appreciating the lovely gesture of one another ! It’s just a simple scene but definitely a meaningful one. Both are mothers in their own ways but share a common love for the child. Just like our Father in heaven, watching over our children and consoling them just as we console/teach our children.
So, to all my friends out there, “ Gong Xi Fa Cai” & stay blessed! For those from outstation, drive save and I pray for journey mercy for all of you and your families! For my dear friends who had lost both their parents, my family's thoughts and love are with all of you all the time!~ God bless you all !

A Provoking Thought...

I was in a crazy debate which went on to be uneasy with my dearest wife yesterday over the simple yet most forgotten phrase called “Thank You”. Don’t worry. Nobody was hurt, no blood was spilled and no part of the body was sacrificed or spilled out on this occasion. Only a battered heart and some bruised ego, I guess. Seriously, I didn’t expect it to escalate into a really mind numbing effect to me. Personally, to me, I know that I wrote about humility in my last post but I also want to bring forth this rather personal yet touching phrase. It is NOT that I seek self glory or any of that sort but like all human beings, I too would like to be thanked for whatever I do. It is not self glory that I sought after. Again, you’ll probably say that “Oo!Oo! We have a loony on the loose!” or you’ll probably think that I am going thru mid-life crisis or worst still, I’ve lost my marbles! I want to tell you that I still have my marbles, I’m sane and I know what I am talking about! Now! Now! Before you draw out your firing bullets, knives or even stones to pelt me, hear me out! I may be wrong but I just want to present my case.
You see, I am tired of people taking advantage of our niceness that it becomes a norm. It is like taking for granted that so and so will do this thing or that thing without complain and moreover he/she likes doing it! So, the appreciation level for that person is virtually non-existent or some may hide under the cloak of “He/She is good at that and he/she should do it.”. We always think that this person or that person would understand and it is okay. That’s why, personally, I take every opportunity to thank any one who has in one way of another helped me in my stay on this earth! If I have missed anyone, at this space, I forward my sincere apologies and I really want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for blessing my life no matter how big or how small that favour is! You may challenge me and say that saying “thank you “ is not necessary or awkward among friends or family but don’t you think that saying the phrase “Thank You” would brighten up that person’s perspective a whole lot? I think, you and I know that the answer is “Yes, it would.” It would brighten a whole lot of a person’s perspective in life. Am I the only one being silly about it or do you feel that way too? Just like the picture of the red panda, I would say that this trait has become almost extinct!
Yunno, I see this trait of not saying “thank you” in a lot of people that I’ve come across in my life. It has become a really “forgotten” norm. It is like, “ Yeah! It’s your job-lah” or “Yeah! You’re supposed to do it.” and so on. It is so much worse when you get people whereby they always felt that people must do what they want and worst still, “they should do it for you” mentality. Look! I am not sharing this by plucking this info from the air, ok? This is not the “minta puji” thingy either. This is a fact of life. I know that there are plenty of ways to appreciate a person that has in one way or another helped in your life but saying “Thank You” is really an inner feeling of gratitude and appreciation. That, I think, is more precious than anything else I could think of. Yunno, don’t get tongue-tied when saying “thank you”. Be very generous with this because it does a whole lot of good to the receiver of this nice words. Honestly, it really feels good to be appreciated in that way and it does help you in a small way. Come on! I know that gratitude and appreciation would not be missed by God but hey, we live on earth. Be real. Know that gratitude and appreciation goes a long way in making someone’s life much happier and brighter indeed. Do not conform but transform,right? Good words never hurt our soul. In fact, they are like therapeutic healing in our heart. It hurts me to think that as a person, we have forgotten the basic goodness and living manners in our lives. Ask yourselves, on what occasions or situations have you profess this phrase? Ask too, have you meant it from your heart when you say such phrase? Remember that reciting the Lord ’s Prayer by memorizing in the mind is so much different from meaning /professing it from the heart! This is my 5 sen input ~
Lastly , for all of you who had made my life a little brighter in this crazy world in one way or another, THANK YOU SO MUCH from the bottom of my heart!~

Real joy....

How U Must Immediately Live In This Year! This is what I taught/shared with the Adventure Rangers boys and girls during our Royal Rangers meeting last Sunday. I guess, they didn’t expect me to start off the year with such a thought! Yunno, while I was attending church service that morning, I had asked God in my own private way, how I could inspire the boys and girls in the afternoon. In the midst of my “artwork” and scribbling of words, somehow the phrase came up! How appropriate that was! If you take the first alphabet of each word, you will find that you get : HUMILITY. Such a powerful word! Yunno, as a Royal Rangers commander together with my team of commanders, we are entrusted not only to reach, teach and keep children for Christ but to also inculcate character building and molding wholesome children of God for the family. Make no mistake that I don’t spare the cane when it warrants the canning or a good tongue lashing! I guess, some parents couldn’t stand that ! In all honesty, I just can’t stand whimpy parents who just let their children “steamrolled” over them with their high flying dramas, whims & fancies and have manners like cows, donkeys and monkeys! Sorry! I am just being honest, though! I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY would love to have such children in my class!~ Hmmmmmnnnn…………………
Don’t be mistaken too that I am definitely strict during sharing /lesson for I have always felt that I have been entrusted a spiritual and moral responsibility to look after these young lives. Make no mistake about that! However, most of the time, the children are really good children and it is always a joy to share with them outdoor skills, Word of God or even a time of heart to heart sharing. You’ll be amazed with the ability, the sensitivity and also, the pure hearts of these children. This makes my responsibilities as a commander such a joy, actually! For the shy, quiet and difficult ones, they’ll learn to be different and more open as they progressed. Hey, it is definitely not just us, the commanders, that made it happened. It is purely God’s grace that enabled us to see through the change in these children and the willingness of the children to change/transform themselves.
Coming to the lesson, I am blessed knowing that as I taught/shared this lesson, I too learned God’s way in my life. Gosh! There is so much to learn each day and it’s a brand new learning each time. I must say that though as commanders, we are constantly buoyed by time constraint, personal tiredness and hectic schedules in our working lives, we give our best to the children each and every three Sundays of the month. I guess, over the years of serving in this ministry, the children had become such an intergral part of our extended family.
That day, I taught them to the need to constantly be on their knees praying and interceding for their family, confess their ways to the Lord, repent and change for the better, hug their parents more and continually be humble in whatever they do – be it at home, in places they go and even in school. I could see from their eyes and their responses that they have learnt something today. That was most satisfying to me. As a father, a friend and a servant of God, I too want to see these children grow up in the will of God and to be good children to their family. This is my one and only prayer & hope for the children! ~

Common sense, please!

I really cannot tahan-lar! What utter rubbish and garbage! For days now, I’ve watched stupidity of the highest level being pranced around daily n our beloved nation due to the atrocities inflicted by Israel on Palestinian land in Gaza. The recent announcements by our leaders in boycotting products from US , burning of Israel flag and non-beneficial street protest and so on are really some of the stupidiest things I’ve ever seen in my life.
Probably this could cause an effect in our own country but it doesn’t hold valid or shall I say… helped not a single bit to the miseries that is being experienced by the Palestinians. Come on ! For crying our loud! Do more tangible things than resorting to such dumbness! And please, don’t gather sympathy from the rakyat or divert attention away from the current cloudy conditions looming nearby at the elections. It’s plain and simple ~ everyone is trying to garner publicity from the miseries faced by the Palestinians. I want to make one thing clear here – I am NOT a RACIST ! I am first and foremost, a HUMAN BEING with flesh ,blood and feelings!
YES! I am violently angry over the dastardly act from Israel [ BTW, Judaism is their official religion and not Christianity. So, don’t ply nor sow hatred on Christianity! This is for the benefit of those who do not or simply will not understand the difference between Judaism and Christianity! ] but at the same time, how could you live in your homes knowing every few weeks some missiles flies over your skies and bring misery to the families in your land ? So, they retaliated and what you see is happening today and then it’s vice –versa reaction! Hatred begets hatred and violence begets violence. For goodness heaven sake! That rears the ugly head of hatred, more hatred, vengeance and ultimately innocent death of thousands and even millions in time to come!
Coming back to our local scenario, don’t the politicians and people in power know that three quarters of the equipments and products they use in the Government departments are from US or somehow from US. If they really want to enforce this ruling, then stop using computers, automated bank tellers machines,aeroplanes, bicycles, shoes, clothes, cars, numbering machines & system, medicine, generator sets, projectors, DVD players, pointers, heavy machineries and so on - just to name a few! Come on! Gotta be responsible and accountable to what we say and not stirring up sentiments and “see how it goes” attitude! One famous quip and I quote , “ You could hoodwink some people some time but not every one , every time!” Anyway, try getting medicine from Iran, Greece, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Afghanistan or China for that matter to feed our people! Now, that would be an eye-opener, isn’t it? What a real joke on boycotting products!
Then comes this stupid culture of flag burning! You get some spray painted flags of Israel, some US products and you burnt it in the open, bringing more pollution to our air and you stand up on the podium and criticized open burning made by the citizens of our beloved nation and shout of murder and further enforcement against open burning when you do it blatantly for all to see & publish in newspaper some more! This to me is “cakap tak serupa bikin” mentality !
Look, this is my point of view of helping out the Palestinians. Get Jordan, Egypt, UAE or even Saudia Arabia or nations in the Arab league to open their borders for these people. Why are they not opening their borders for the sake of compassion and brotherhood? Why are they not feeding their fellow brothers? Let’s get our so-called patriot-thick leaders to pressure the UN for peacekeeping efforts and get those food, supplies and medicine to the innocent people in Palestine first or rather asap. The greatest thing a nation can ever do in such times is to feed, care and look after the hurt, the wounded and the orphaned. There is no greater need than these things at this time of mess. Then, pressure and get a ceasefire immediately! Stop the killing and get the nation leaders of the world to rally behind a ceasefire. Get peacekeepers from all over the nation to protect and preserve peace! Do concrete stuff rather than just shouting out of their vile mouths !
So, dear Mr. & Mrs Leaders, go and fly to UN to get those things done and don’t come back until you see a difference! That’s my challenge to the leaders of nation rather than boycott, burn flags and stop the media from overly-sowing hatred by showing the pictures of wounded, hurt and malnourished children over and over again! We DO get the message, believe me, WE DO GET THE MESSAGE – Malay, Chinese , Indians, Sikh, Eurasian, Kadazan, Ibans, etc. I am very sure that financial aid is being channeled into the Palestinians funds set up while this is written. Oh! BTW, what about the atrocities carried out in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Cambodia and even in Indonesia ? What? They are less important?!! Sheeeezsh ! I rest my case ! One thing I know, casualties of war will come from both Israelites and Palestinians! It's a terrible thing and help should go through as fast as possible for these people irrespective of race, color or creed!
We have had enough hatred, untrusting , corrupt, biasness and every negativities to flood this entire universe you can think of being shoved down our throats over the years. Enough! Please stop and let healing hearts heal! I will be the very first to tell you that I am a human being first – not a Chinese, an Indian, a Malay, a Sikh, a Eurasian, a Kadazan, an Iban or what ever. That is what I intend to be – A HUMAN BEING first in our beloved nation, Malaysia. Please, HEAL HEARTS and NOT sow HATRED!~ Remember, free the deceit of the heart and the mind and you stand tall as a human being.~ God bless you all !~

Majestic....Mt.Kinabalu

In all of my lifetime of adventure and outdoor fun, memories of Mt.Kinabalu climb will always have the sweetest poignant place in my heart. Not only was I able to have SLing to climb the mountain with me in my early teaching years in Sabah, I've managed in 1995 to bring a team of young students and teachers from Catholic High School, Melaka for an experience of a lifetime. It was a 3-in-1 quest of climbing Mt.Kinabalu, soak in Poring Hot Spring and enjoy the beauty of Mamutik Island.
In the early years of my teaching career in Sabah, I had loads of fun and I did a lot of travelling. Thanks to hockey competitions and examiner of SPM oral exams [ Yeah! I got to travel to Ranau, Kota Marudu and some other interesting places ! ] I get to live a lot of dreams that most people would glow with envy... places like Sepilok sanctuary, Kundasang vegetables farms and.............. Kinabalu Park.

I remembered that I was much fitter and I've always [ still do ! ] enjoy nature and what better place to enjoy that Mt.Kinabalu. Yunno, from my teacher's quarters on the 4th floor, my every morning scenery or view was the majestic Mt.Kinabalu! It was just awesome and breathtaking. I remembered when I first arrived in Tenghilan [ half way small town to Kota Belud ], I told myself that I was going to successfully scale this 13,455 feet high mountain. By the grace of God, I did just that and subsequently, I managed to get SLing to climb it with me. That was memorable, actually. I still remember that on our trip was Kak Zan, a senior teacher who has always wanted to scale the mountain but didn't have the opportunity to do so. Mind you, this was a mother of four children! Before going on this trip, Kak Zan pulled me aside and told me , " Foo, kamu tolong saya ya? Kak Zan nak naik gunung tu sebelum balik." I told her that I would look after her and I kept my promise. I walked with her, encouraging her step-by-step , prodding and egging her on and sometimes, pushing her to the limit of walking. Yes, there are times she was almost close to tears as she was tired but I continued pushing her coz' it's very cold up there [ I was in my usual shorts, anyway! ], the air thins quickly, muscles ached while breathing technique was important. In all honesty, she was a real tough cookie and she took every strength she got to get to our destination every time and ultimately, the summit of Mt.Kinabalu. At the end of it, she thanked me for helping her up to the mountain top but most of all, she thanked me for sticking it out with her even when she was on the brink of giving up. Yes, I practically had to drag her up the jagged rockface towards the summit when she wanted to quit. By that time I was physically and mentally tired but I was determined that no one in my team is going home empty! That's why I walked with her every step of the way until the last few metres and I just collapsed with exhaustion while asking her to complete the walk up by herself. By this time, there was a big smile on her face and I just told her, " Kak Zan jalan-lah sendiri, Saya dah pernah tengok dari puncak atas tu! " From her facial expression, I knew she was really happy and that was a worthy expression for me. She made it to the top on her own and I was just glad for her and at the same time marvelled at the determination of this mother of four! After resting for about 15 minutes, I went down to catch up with SLing and the other team members consisting of teachers and students.

BTW, for the students from SMK Tenghilan, it was the first time they had made such a climb eventhough Mt.Kinabalu is at their own backyard. Sorry so to say that poverty and no teacher was crazy enough to take up the responsibilities of organising & getting things done were some of the factors that had hindered them over the years. Yunno, Sabah is such a beautiful state , richly blessed with wondrous natural landscape beauty and natural culture but it is so pitiful that the teachers don't take up the opportunity to introduce them to their own children & students. I am so thankful to God for giving me this boldness and the favour for organising field trips and enjoying the nature that He has created for us.

Coming back to the climb, SLing had great company in Slyvia, Radzi, Jerry, Suhaimi, Tee and Azmil. In fact, I had arranged for them to take care of her [ Slyvia was a real gem in taking care of her! ] while I took care of Kak Zan. I guess, SLing did not understand it at first of why we did not climb together but later, I explained to her that I really had made a promise to Kak Zan and I intend to keep that promise. Yeah! Like all good wife, she wanted to take a picture with me at the summit and enjoy the scenario but I was nowhere to be found and that kinda made her disappointed. Who wouldn't right?

OhYes! There was one scene during that trip that made me felt so humbled until this day. It was during my climb up with Kak Zan, we saw this local man [ porters, we call them! ] had thick bandanna bandages around his left leg and he was carrying two empty gas cylinders. When he passed me, I had asked him what had happened. He told me that he slipped, fell and broke his left leg. I was shocked and when I looked closely at the foot, I noted that he had made a splint and tighten the splint to his broken left leg. My God! And he was carrying two empty gas cylinder in a local long basket over his shoulders! The wages...... RM 20.00 only! That really humbled me. Then there were these local women carrying groceries and bee hoon up to the Laban Rata where the special lodge house is located. The wages....again, RM 20.00 - that's four hours up and four hours down~ every day! This is the same with the gas cylinders. Wow! Just made me speechless!

Anyway, as I flipped through the pictures in my special Mt.Kinabalu album , the pictures are really special to me and so are the memories! Steven couldn't understand the bright luminous short pants and wanted to give me a slap if I am ever caught wearing it! Well, it was comfortable and easy for me to make my climb up the mountain. That was the purpose ,actually!

Yo! For those who had not made a trip up Mt.Kinabalu, hey, get it done, man. Save, scrimped, eat less, indulge less or whatever you do, if ever there is a chance for a Mt.Kinabalu trip, don't miss it! I guarantee you, the view is simply awesome & beautiful while the experience is humbling. Take it from me ~ I know it's humbling!~

My dream before I konk off from this world - Mt.Everest, really~! Now, that would be something special, isn't it?

Ahh! TTC college days....

I was cleaning up the cabinet where I have kept a lot of photographs when I stumbled upon a few albums of photographs regarding my teachers' training college time. I must say that browsing through some of the young people's blogs, they often have a lot to say about being in college and having no time for this and that. Well, I want to say that you can have plenty of fun while in college and I most certainly did! I really had a great time in college and caught the biggest prize in my life, SLing there! Honestly, I didn't do badly in my class [ I have great results! ] and in fact , I graduated from MPLP with the most satisfying result in my life that is a distinction in my Teaching Practical [ A ] - Thanks to Mrs.Jackie, my lecturer. She gave me a good and encouraging review. I owe a lot to her for actually teaching us how to teach primary children at that time! Gosh! At that time I was given a good class to teach during my teaching practical and I did the best I could. I was really glad when my teaching practical lesson at the school was recorded by Mrs. Jackie and shown to new intake of trainee teachers for pointers and encouragement. Really, I was humbled by this experience and I felt happy.
Yunno, while in college I had spent my time on the three things I love - playing hockey, being in Kelab Kembara [ get to travel a lot and do a lot of outdoor stuff ] and learn the fine pointers of art. I'll start with hockey. We had a fantastic team from my seniors right through the end of my playing year. I had great teamates like Santokh, Azmi, Joel, Jega, Saga, Naga, Pushpa, Suresh, Leo, Ruslan, Musa, Vicky and many others. We really had a good time on the field. Among all my teamates, I have a special place in my heart for Joel Jacob and Azmi. They were easily the best players in the team. Joel was not very skillful but he makes up for hardwork while Azmi was the architect of the team. I also had the opportunity to play in the TTC Combined Colleges team competing in the FT Div 3 league at that time. It was a really humbling experience getting thrashing from Kelab Aman, Maybank and many other teams. We were there for experience as we had a very supportive Ketua Pengarah, our team manager who was a hockey and rugby enthusiast. I remember having lessons under Mr.C.Paramalingam, our one time Malaysian hockey team coach , Mr. Siva, his protege and a few noted coaches. It was tough training sessions but I have learnt a lot from these guys. In later years this experience had earned me many competitions trip as I represented SED, PBS region , my district and the state while teaching in Sabah.

The next was Kembara Club under two dynamic lecturers, Mr. Indran and Mr. Bernard! Great guys and I went to G.Tahan, Redang Island, Pemanggil Island, Bukit Takun and many others. It was at this club that I refined a lot of my outdoor skills. I have learnt it from these two great lecturers. The pictures will really say it all coz' I really had a great time out there and having great friend to share the experience with. It is something you would cherish in your life. I wasn't particularly crazy of rock climbing and all that because I find it to be really crazy but once you've gone thru it , it's really fun! My favourite is still very much Bukit Takun! The abseiling down is fantastic while the challenging terrain is just a fantastic climb. The other thing is I like islands a lot. When I had the opportunity to go to Redang and Pemanggil, I jumped at that opportunity. At that time, Redang Island was a real paradise of corals and abundance of sea creatures! Really beautiful! Then, there is always this opportunity to do canoeing and a whole lot of new things.

Then, there is art lessons. Though I am okay in sports,I decided to take up arts & craft as my 1st elective speciality. I am always fascinated with art and I had a good and slow talking lecturer for this. I learnt how to do batik printing, tie & dye, "canting" batik, mask making, wooden puppet on strings and learn finer points of painting. This helped me a lot during my teaching practical where I drew a lot of arts pieces for my teaching lessons during practical. Also, I did a lot of funny assignment cover design and it is one way to "cheer up" my weaker assignments, at times! Yeah! I don't copy assignment and I do work hard at my assignments but I try to lift up the spirit of the lecturers while they mark my assignment. Thank you, Mrs.Lian, Mrs.Jackie and many others who commented that they have a fresh pair of eyes everytime the mark my assignments! Usually, I'll draw some funny cartoon strips on my assignment cover so that they would laugh and have a feast to the eyes before marking. My art lecturer taught me creativity and it helps me until today. He taught me to be humble in learning and never be afraid to go and try out with my creativity.

One funny experience I wanted to share was my first day at teaching practical with 3 other class mates of mine. You see, that morning, we were 'semangat ' to go to a school to get first hand experience and we met this guy, loosely clothed t-shirt, a small straw hat and intensely planting some plants and flowers. He was so committed into gardening and when Haja Mohideen, [ second from left ] my classmate asked him whether we could see the headmaster of the school as we are going to do teaching practical at the school, the gardener just smiled and said that he was the headmaster! We almost 'pengsan' on the spot but we laughed and laughed for weeks! This headmaster was a really simple man, indeed! When we wanted to take a picture with him at the end of our stint, he told us that he woudl change in something else and viola! You can see in the picture that he was really smart looking with his loosely fitted tie! I actually like this guy because he is simple, no airs about him and he really cares for us - one of the dying breed of educators!
College was also the place I met SLing and this is very best of my college life, actually. Well, she was my junior in college. Honestly, I am one of those handfuls who actually marry their college sweethearts. There are many other who did not and that's really sad. They used to say that first year trainees are like red spot books [ very important and must be handled properly! ] while the second year and third year trainees are thrown to the open shelf to fend for themselves!!! Teruk, isn't it? Well, it's a vicious cycle!!! Yes, she was very supportive of me even until today.

See, college is fun but do your work and study hard. It's fun to be in college and you can have a great time without having to compromise your own personality, your character and the beauty in you. Remember, there are real dangers in college too. Keep your eyes wide open for shoddy character, casanova and non-trustworthy people!~ You'll know their "bau" soon enough! It is not different too during my time!~

So, watch yourself and have a great year ahead in college! To me, I am just having great fun reminiscing the good ol' college days!~

Of Love...

For the past few days, my lifetime, faithful and "live-in-girlfriend", SLing had been down with terrible cough, flu and fever. It was different at first as I thought she would recover and bounce back in a giffy after popping Panadol actifast. [ My natural remedy for everything, actually! BTW, I didn't give her Panadol ! She took it herself ! ] However, it was not to be and on Tuesday, she got worst and I decided that it was time to see the man in white, [ Chooy! Not the mortician-lar! ] the Doctor. At first when I arrived home, the children [ God bless them! ] told me that mummy is really very sick and lying in the room. Well, honestly, I was very tired that day after a long day at work but I guess, this lady called my wife comes first before anything else. Like all good wife, she was adamant on not going to see the doctor and so on ; feebly explaining that she will be okay in a few hours but she cuddled up like a sotong on the bed! Anyway, me- the baddie, gave her a short fiery lecture before she got herself ready to see the doctor. [ More out of getting me to stop my "sermon" I would say! ] I tell you, the queue in the clinic was long and honestly, I almost doze off while waiting for SLing to see the doctor. Finally, when we got home and stuffing the medicine given down SLing's throat, it was already well into 11.00pm. That night , I stayed up to take care of her but SLing insisted that I was snoring! Sheesh! Honestly, I wasn't - I was awake because I had used the laptop, catch up on some news and young people's blogs that night!

I did the same for the last few nights and I always ensured that she is alright. Yes! It is never easy to take care of the sick because they can be really "sick"! [ You'll know what I mean! ] But the thing is that she is a part of me - for better or for worst! I must be a fool if I were to say that I was not worried. Well, it worries me not just because she is a part of me but she is an integral part of me - the part that you must have in your life. That is how precious she is in my life. I shudder at the thought of losing her. I know that God is always there to protect her and I am forever grateful to God for keeping her safe and sound. Last night, as I gaze lovingly [ once in a while must be dramatic a bit-lar! ] at her lying on the bed, I felt a sense of love and gratitude because I really really have a good wife. Seriously, one that I really cherished a lot. Like I said so many times, .... Sure! We fight like cats and dogs throughout the year but this is the very same woman who puts her life in line for me everyday- sending the children for school and tuition, getting the meals, washing the clothes, made arrangements for the household repairs and expenses, spending time to talk to me and many other chores. She has sacrificed so much for the family and I am really grateful for her sacrifices. Honestly, she didn't make any big demands/fuss or have very high expectations of our lives together. She is really simple and I like that a lot. Tempers and character ? Everyone has tempers/some funny character and when it flares up, it can become ugly-lar but always controllable! That's the beautiful part.

Yunno, for the benefit of the young people and "not-so-young" people out there, know that marriage is like a covered dish! You don't know what you are going to get and what you're going to expect out of your marriage but one thing you do know ~ marry the right person and make the very best out of your marriage, ok? Like I did !~ Stay faithful, stay loving, now!~

Lifts....

Today, I must have been really regretful to have taken the lift during my work visit at a nearby hospital. Don't get me wrong. The lift was in good order and working condition but I was talking about the occupants who shared the lift with me today.I guess, I could smell the foul and inhuman stench of racism, acts of selfishness and even the wickedness of the society we live in today. Let me start by saying that I had this unbearable anger and pain of sharing the lift with two individuals whom I shall call donkeys of society. It wasn't that their clothes stench or their body odour was too intoxicating or even their appearance was shabby ~ It was their inhumane heart and mind that I was talking about.
These two smartly dressed individuals ~ one from a reputable and huge company ( I shall call him the sicko ) while the one who swore heaven and earth to protect the sacredness of the Socrates vow ( the doink ) were my occupants in the lift. It all started with this sicko guy from the reputable company informing the so-called Socrates disciple that their company is going to scale down their workforce and the company have made the decision to lay off the sick workers, workers who met with accidents; be it industrial or work related accidents and even the ones who had been on /have taken MC! The other doink agrees with him! Can you imagine this scenario? To make the matter worst, this sicko asked the doink to provide a list of names of workers who had been receiving treatment as these would be the ones to be laid off! This dumbass doink says that he would provide it. Gosh! Have they no heart nor feelings at all? I sympathized with the workers who are going to lose their jobs. What a heartless society we bred today! I remembered this sicko telling the doink, "Lebih baik dia orang kena buang daripada kita!" Shameful, just plain shameful! What in the world is happening to us as a society? Caring? My foot! The fabric of earning a decent living fragility is tested right through and through. I shudder at the fact that many will be on the streets jobless in the coming days. What then? What do we do ? How can we respond to this ?

I have no answers but only two palms spread wide and up lifted arms facing the heavens seeking God for an answer. To many, who knows what the future holds for them? To me, I hold on to the scripture of Jeremiah 29:11 ~ a portion of the scripture that soothes my heart a lot in this difficult times.

In all honesty, I felt so sick in my guts for having listened to such a conversation. It is nauseating and downright degrading for me. As I walked out of the lift, I told the in-coming occupants that the lift is "smelly". One old man asked me , " Bau busuk? Busuk apa?". I answered, " Busuk hati, encik! Hati-hati ya? " I left a group of bewilded elderly people as I left the building. I guess, the air is much fresher outside and I do need a mint of fresh oxygen!~ Don't you agree?

Work...only work

Today, I went to Bukit Kepong in Johor for work. It wasn't the first time I was on this work site. In fact, I went to the site on Friday 2/1/2009 when I started work for the year 2009. It was tiring work and I got back at 9.30pm that day. Phew! It was really tiring. Well, you may ask " Why did I get back to work when I could have reported for work on Monday?", right? Well, I wanted to get the "feel" [ getting accustomed back to work load and putting on thinking cap! ] of work after having a good break of holidays. Anyway, I am happy to note that I did my job well enough and I was satisfied with what I have done. It wasn't easy climbing , measuring and counting piles/bundles of cut wood pieces and so on. Thank God, there was help from one of the workers/fork lift driver!
Anyway, today was more of closing up the loose ends. Went through piles and bundles of wood again, counting, recording and doing what they call the MC [ moisture content ] test on the wood piles/bundles. As I was counting and doing the test, I had the opportunity to talk to the fork lift driver, Hamdan and the assistant, Aziz. Though not much difference in age, [ both are in their forties - 46 and 42 ], we had a good chat and a relaxed atmosphere while carrying out our respective works. They shared on their lives, their families and their aspirations for their children and so on. No matter what , the work got done professionally as that's what we are paid for in our respective jobs, right?

Yunno, in many ways than ever, I want to thank God for giving me this precious gift of being able to make friends easily or strike a conversation easily [ not forgetting that I do get hurt easily too! ]. I guess, I am thankful that I can "blend in" with all types & all walks of people and it is such a privilege. To me, I just want to meet as many people as possible and to learn from as many people I meet. Yes, I do meet some nasty people in life while I also get the opportunity to meet good and humble people along the way. Really, I still consider myself to be learning to be a better person in life. I guess, God allows us to meet all sorts of people to colour our lives up and to ensure that we learn our curve in life. So, today, I just want to thank the Lord for His graciousness in my life amidst my tiredness and sore limbs! God bless you all.~

An Observation...

Last night, SLing and I together with our friends Errol, Jessica and Josephine were in Tesco to get some food stuff for today's Royal Rangers' 1st Day of 2009 celebration. This was our usual treat to the chidlren before we officially start Royal Rangers lessons. It is sort of to encourage the young ones and also to be a blessing to them at the start of the year.

Anyway, back to Tesco, we did our shopping of food and drinks. Gosh! I have never seen so many people in Tesco that night. Probably, with CNY around the corner, the people are getting their stuff early. I could see that there is more selective buying this year comparably with the previous year. Maybe, consumers are smarter now and with the present economic slowdown, they are getting only the essential stuffs rather than overdoing it as of the previous years. Consumers can be very elaborate in their spendings at times. I guess, being a smart shopper is being able to get the best of your money worth and at the same time not compromising the quality.

Soon, we had filled with enough stuff for the celebration and after paying for the stuff, we took a walk at the shoplots area. It was here that we met up with Mdm.Y [ I want to respect the identity of this person!! ] She was sitting alone, down-casted and oblivious to the happenings until we called out to her. It was rather shocking to find her staring blankly in the air and I must admit that it was a sure sign of her depressive condition. She was a little startled when we called out to her. However, she greeted us and we exchanged pleasantries. Then she told me that she would sit for 1 hour at the shopping complex just to get away from boredom and stare at the people passing her way. She went on and on in regards to how sick she was earlier and how lonely she had been since her children had been away. I would attribute her depressive condition to her medication and also, to loneliness. BTW, she had had an operation earlier which could have ended her life but somehow with God's grace, Mdm. Y was alive. Now, she's battling another hurdle in her life.

As I walked towards my car, I couldn't help but play that scene in my mind over and over again. The empty stare , the lonely life and the mere........emptiness of this soul. Gosh! I just wish that Mdm.Y would look beyond her condition and look to the greatest healer in life, God to fill that void in her life. Yunno, there may be many out there suffering in silence over this depressive spirit. I want you to know that God, the Father, made you whole and healthy & He most definitely did not put this spirit in you! For whatever your mental condition or mental denial state you are in, know that God is the author and finisher of our lives. Don't be lied into your mental state because you have been made whole in the sight of God. Rise up and proclaim that victory in your life! BTW, keep your mind clean and pure for God! Pray hard and He will do the rest. Like the clipart above, Christ is indeed my victory!~

Happy New Year - 2009

Dear fellow friends & family ~ young or old, thank you so much for blessing my life and my family's lives with your blessings either in words or in kindness for the year 2008. There is so many people I would to thank for bringing so much joy in my life and the list would probably go on and on but the No.1 person I want to give thanks first is GOD, The Father! There is no way, I could have lived this long or go the extra mile in life had it not been GOD's wonderful grace upon my life. He has given me so much meaning in my life that sometimes I often wonder if I had been guilty like everyone else who had been "complaining" about their lives to Him.
The second line of people I want to express my thanks to is to my family - my wife & children and my immediate families. Many times, they bear the brunt and weather the storm of my ways and never giving up on me. That is really a tremendous boost of confidence in my life. Next comes, close buddies and close friends [ too numerous to mention and you know who you are! ] who had been inspirational in helping me out a lot mentally, socially, physically and spiritually. Without your support and helping hand, I would have drowned in this ever changing world that we live in and worst still, I would have probably been step, runneth over and even been hard pressed! Thank you for your support!

For the new year 2009, I continually pray that God would bless each and everyone of you, multiply His goodness and reward you with His richness and blessings until it overflows your capacity cup. May the Lord's goodness and mercy follows you all through your life and bless you in all ways and always.

Blessed 2009 everyone!~