Food Tasting...Yummy!

I must say that whenever I received calls from friends inviting me for food tasting, I sometimes don't sound that eager because of two reasons -
one : I am already in the realm of gorgeousness with my round belly!

two : It usually means I'm the guinea pig for their food!

Well, I was just joking, anyway. When my good friend, Lam gave me a call to invite me for a time of blessing and fellowship at his new "kopitiam", I just couldn't let this invitation slide by. Afterall, I am all for a time of blessing and support for fellow friends who are in business. So, within the mashed schedules of work and piles of work, I made some time to drop by at the kopitiam at about 5.45pm. As I walked into the shop, I was somehow greeted a great sense of peace and tranquil. Though this was a 154 year old building, it was cosy and nice. No fancy art decor or anything was on the wall ....... yet but somehow, in all honesty, there is just this .....great......atmosphere! To me, I've gotta be honest that I really like the cool , rustic and simple atmosphere. No fanciful stuff ..... just the bare essentials. Then, I was told by Lam that they just finished up the place and hence, a blessing of the kopitiam was planned. What a great idea! I was also told that we were having some overseas and local pastors from a local church joining us for this time of blessing. Now, that's a pretty good idea, actually! Giving the place a real blessing before anything else.
So, the whole " jing gang" arrived at about 6.00pm and the blessings starts with a short tour of the place, getting to know the chef & the crew and then it was food all the way. We had nasi lemak special which tasted really good especially the fried chicken pieces , spaghetti, a different curry chicken and some chili chicken. I love it! The simple home cook meal that every one can relate to! I think, this is actually the attraction of the meals here! Simple honest home cook meals!

Yunno, what makes this place special apart from the food is that this is a place where you can really have a meal, sit down with your friends and feel comfortable, chat about the bombs that happened in the day and still have time to end the day with a great time of fellowship over a cup of coffee. Yup! This is my kinda place - value for money meal, good food and great place of fellowship. I am not promoting this place just because it feeds me today; but it is simply because I believe in simple honest home cook meal and a great rustic place!

The name of the place :- Breakthru Cafe ! [ located just in front of EQ Hotel Melaka along the row of shop houses on the opposite street! You can't miss it once the cafe is opened for official business sometime in early March, 2009! Welcome aboard , everyone!~

Just look at the nasi lemak special sampling! Gosh! Saliva drooling....again! Yeah! To all health care instructors, fanatics , nutritionist, dietician , all the health freaks and my faithful fans, my secret to gorgeousness is out! I just love food!~

Thank You, Celcom!

The other day I received a letter from Celcom Malaysia Berhad and I was a little "gempak". For a while, I raked my brains in and out thinking which bill I've not settled and so on. Afterall, I have not opened the letter yet as I have been pretty mashed over work these days. Finally, when I had some breathing space, I opened up the letter in great anticipation and suspense!
The heading of the letter was "Appreciation Reward". There it was four (4) RM 5.00 Petronas vouchers amounting to RM 20.00 for me to spend! Yippeeee! I was kinda happy because at least, my telco service provider, Celcom Malaysia did something good for their subscribers. BTW, I've been faithfully using Celcom services ever since I started work.
So, I wanna say " Thank You" , Celcom! It does not look much but it's the thought that counts, right? At this present time, I do appreciate it a lot !~ Thanks, Celcom!

Inspiring....

Well, I have to be honest to say that there has been days whereby I would have dozed off or even be inattentive or utterly bored to my bones during service but I try to keep an open mind and stay awake as much as possible. Before you take out the kitchen knives, the machine guns blazing ,the booming bazookas and hydrochloric acid to obliterate this poor me into pieces , hear me out~I am not going to pretend that I like every service available.Well, there has been services that were good and inspiring while there has been some that are not! I am sure that some of you might have experienced this, right? So, stop being "goody two shoes", will you?

Well, today was different. I have not heard an inspiring message for such a long time. Imagine having a 75 year old woman pastor preached a storm over the message "Pursuing the Power of God ". Pastor Mary Adams from Alaska looked healthy and preached a good message and she doesn't look a day like 75! What I liked about the preaching is that there's honesty in the message and there's "I've lived it, I know it" experience! Nothing beats honesty in the message laced with plenty of humourous quips to encourage or inspire others. I know that I have been blessed/touched by her message and when it was time for Sis.Bess [ Pastor Mary travelling companion ] to share her testimony, there was not a single dry eyes in the church. This woman just went through from tragedy to tragedy , loss of loved & dear ones and even a time of difficulties in her own life. But when she testified that God was there for her throughout her entire ordeal, you know that it's very real for her. Her experience of difficulties will probably blow our minds or drove us to bonkers, actually. As I sat there in my seat, I know what she meant. Deep down in my heart I am so thankful that not only the Lord Jesus is real to her, He is also very real to me. There is simply a sense of simplicity, honesty and so much love in her sharing. It's heart warming and inspiring to see this lady struggled through her faith and her trust but she lives on with the power of the Lord whereby her pacemaker in her heart is still out of battery after all these years but her heart is still beating strongly uptill today! What a miracle and what a truly beautiful testimony!

I am inspired~!

Embarrased....a bit...

The other day, I was spending some time with some friends at the old part of Bunga Raya street ~ catching up on the ice kacang favourite stall! It was indeed nostalgic being along this street as this was the good ol' part of the town which had flourish businesses in the early day. Somehow, it's not as "low jiat" as it used to be now. However, seeing the ice kacang shop, it brought back some good memories especially spent with good friends and classmates. In those days there weren't Starbucks, Coffee Beans nor Gloria Jeans around ; so, this was the next hottest thing to those famous names. I remember stopping by at the stall for ice kacang together with my siblings and parents during our earlier days in life too. So, when it was suggested by friends that we should have something nice and cold amidst the horrendous heat, our eyes lighted up like little jewels and we readily agreed.
Anyway, upon reaching the shop, my bladder seemed to have an immediate overdrive and I was ready to rush into the nearest loo available. I then asked the proprietor if there was a loo around that I could use as I was about to embarrass myself if I don't get in within the next five minutes. Then she took me round the corner of the shop and I saw a big sink and she muffled something. My eyes almost bulged out of my eyes as I thought she asked me to pee at the big aluminium sink! Yeah! That's actually what went through my mind at that time! I was stunned and I looked at her and she looked at me. Boy! Was I embarrassed when she looked at me, smiled and showed me a key hanging at the side of the sink!!!!!! I was like a dumb piece of nitwit to think what I thought to be the place for me to ease myself! [ Must be the stress and heat I've been feeling all week! ] She smiled while I was smiling at myself thinking how dumb I could be sometimes! After taking the keys, I proceeded to the other end of the building and found the latrine which was all metal grilled and padlock! Sheez! Metal grille latrine! That the first I've seen, actually!~

After using the latrine, I hung the keys back to it's holder by the sink. It was at this moment that I told myself that I am not going to embarass myself like that anymore!~ well, we all learn in one way or another, right?

Unswallowable....

This morning, I felt as though as I was rudely awakened from my sleep. I felt as though someone yanked me out of bed today. Usually, the timer in my head would automatically ring in my head to remind me of the time where I would need to peel myself out of the bed and get ready for work. It's kinda disturbing,actually! But sorta getting myself prepared for something which is coming my way.

Anyway, as I get to work, I just plonked into my creaking chair in my cubicle. From then on, I slaved over the next few hours with a break for meal somewhere near my old place. Nothing uneventful happened until the arrival of a medium dark brown envelope prior to lunch.

Gosh, that arrival caused so much dissapointment in a lot of people and to me , personally. I tried playing it down but I can't lie about my own feelings. I am down and dissapointed but I really tried my best not to show it. I know that I should be thankful for what was in the brown envelope [ Trust me! I am really thankful ! ] but the contents is so frustrating. I guess, I really felt cheated, crushed and dissapointed. It's not so much for the work but it just goes to show how the worldly wickedly people actually works. Feed the rich to become richer and starve the poor so that they'll remain poor. All the jazz of we're one corporate family and what not is just hogwash and pure crap, as far as I am concerned.

For many years now, I've gone through this dissapointment feeling with no end at sight, actually while trying my best to help & encourage others along the way "to see the light at the end of the tunnel" but it's getting much tougher each year. Somehow, I really felt trapped inside - to voice out your dissapointment is virtually to seal your fate on the unemployment list while to keep it all inside , it will eat you up gradually eventually which may cause a volcanic reaction!

Somehow, I just needed to voice it out; just to ease my little frustrated feeling! I'll be okay after this binge of geting my frustration out!

But the fact remains, the contents of the brown envelope was just unswallowable!~

No pictures, please!

Over the last few days, great hive of publicity & major new lowness in Malaysian politics had surfaced! Dig up mud, sling the mud , make a sensation out it and bulldoze & run over the person over and over again! Then, dig some, throw more insults, cry foul and seek for the draining of blood! This is Malaysian politics - the pathetic drama & dirtiest underhand tactics of politics are at large! This time it involves an assemblywoman. This , my friends, is intrusion of privacy - major intrusion. Yes, the politicians especially the ones from the same state just loves these bits so that they can pit/plan the downfall of others. Well, in my humble opinion if the country so-called defenders of law were to assign specified photographers for our politicians, [ or even pay some others to do it like ex-boyfiends, ex-girlfriends, casual friends and so on ! ] I think, more than three quarters of our assemblymen plus people in power would be shivering or probably wetting their pants by now! So much for high morals , high standards and multi-high integrity of a public servant and figures in our society! Don't stoop so low - give a fair fight at the ballot papers in the next 4 years -lar! So much intimidation and abuse of power to degrade a fellow human being!~ Shameful-lar!
Honestly, I sympathize with the assemblywoman involved and there is a great difference between your personal life [ For the goons out there, personal life means PERSONAL-lar! ] and your duty in the public. I am not defending what she does because what she does in her own free time belongs to her and private to her. So, no one has the right to do those things to her and to humilate her is such a manner. Some things are really or should be off limits to others. Let's not play the role of judge, condemner and executioner, shall we? Only God should judge us and let me remind you that God is a merciful God. I guess, the public is mature enough to know the black hands playing behind the ploy to bring down /tarnish the reputation of others. Kindly wait for General Election Part 13 - this is where the fun begin, actually.

Aiyoo! Now, I want to 'pang sai' and 'pang jieo', I also have to be constantly on my toes and be very aware! Maybe somebody is taking pictures of me and my privates [ the birdie and two golf balls! If not enough, you can take pictures of my back rump too! ] So, probably, I need to pose a bit by playing the song "Touch My Body" by Mariah Carey to inspire me a bit when I do my longevity squat tai-chi position at the toilet! You'll never know what they'll do with the pictures, right! Might as well pose nicely, at least, I'll look good when I appear in the front page of the local tabloids! Afterall, these idiotic people can't differentiate between what is personal and what is not-mah ; general public or assemblymen/assemblywomen, mah!

Anyway, no pictures, please! My privates are very case sensitive to lights & camera flash!~

Valentine's Day.. so much hype..

Yunno, over the years, there has been so much hype and sensation over Valentine's Day that it practically starve & defy the brains on simple logic. Firstly, exhortbitant prices are charged for roses which usually cost a handful of ringgit on normal days while prices for chocolates pieces and cut pieces of cakes just goes way passed stupidity level prices. [ Usually, on this day, the florist laughs all the way to the bank with your money, you nitties! ]

Really, I just couldn't understand all this orgasmic mushy stuff only on this particular day. Why won't /can't we just shower our wives/ girlfriends /companions with such meticulous attention on a daily basis? It doesn't make sense for me to celebrate one day out of the 365 days just to get all mushy & sentimental stuff! What about the other 364 days! It doesn't take a mathematical genius to figure this one out!

Also, why all the charade and serenade just for one day? Sheez, personally, love & affection should be a daily thing, yunno. Appreciate your spouse/girlfriend/companion for what he/she is worth. It's just that simple. There is no need to just pour it all on one day thingy. Honestly, celebrate Valentine's Day everyday! That's the best thing you can do for your spouse/girlfiend/companion minus the flowers, the chocolates, the wines & the dines! Just love them as they are. Treat them right and with respect. Honor the sacred vows of matrimony and relationship while proffessing love & assurances on a daily basis are good enough .

No! Don't get me wrong! I am not against people buying trillion of flowers, chocolates or professing their love in a banner flown at the Petronas Twin Towers or whatever tall buildings. Go and get those thing for all I care but the fact is that it should not be a one day thingy. If you are going to do it, do it right! Go ahead and splurge, splash and slush your cash around for all I care on this day but do the right thing. Afterall, in all these times, I want to remind you that money doesn't grow on trees!

New 'makan' place..

The other day, one of my colleagues, Ms.Liong wanted to give a treat to some of us. So, she decided that we try out new place called Ta Chi Coffee House. It's near our workplace and we've been hearing some good reviews about this place. So, why not...let's check it out. We were kinda excited, actually, to try out a new place for makan. So, the six of us [ 3 ladies -YiVon, Liong and Kok and 3 guys- Teo,Goh & myself ] waded our way through a sea of lunch hour traffic vehicles [ sometimes you often wonder where these cars & vehicles come from at this time of economic crisis! Sigh! I wonder! ] and finally on our "MZ 11"- powered geared legs [ some big, some small ], we arrived safe and sound at Ta Chi Coffee House.
Yunno, the very first thing that hit you was the interior deco and the "olden" style tables and chairs. It was a superb atmosphere, actually. Yes, kinda cosy and cool - that's the best part. As I take my seat , I most definitely like this place though the frontage is one of the busiest street of Melaka town namely Jalan Tun Sri Lanang formerly known as Jalan Mata Kuching. [ Don't ask me why Mata Kuching as I have no complete idea why it is named so and though I've not seen any stray cats around - probably they would have landed up in some people's meal for the day!!! Yippeeee! Less stray cats in town ! ]

Coming back to Ta Chi Coffee House, we decided to have an array of food to fill our grumbling stomachs and wet our gruesome appetitte. We had chicken pongteh, assam Jenak fish head, Nyonya capchai, eggs fried with big onions ( 2 plates ) , ikan bilis sambal with finely chopped petai and our favourite Nyonya cendol. The portion were quite okay for the six of us. Now comes the acid test on taste. Honestly, they taste quite good though the assam can go a little higher on the sourish side - that's what makes assam fish head such a great taste! Yes, the pongteh was excellent - the portion, the texture and the authenticity was there. Great tasting food, actually. As for the proprietor, well, smiling young man with plenty of recommendations to make your taste bud go balistics, actually. Hey, he even gave us a bowl of 'rojak buah' at the end of our meal. That's mighty nice of him, actually! The pricing, well, for everything that we had, it was around RM 100.00! Not too bad, actually.

I noted with interest that they sell Hagen Das ice-creams, man! Prices are of course a little bit pricey [ but cheaper than the ones I've seen ] but that's because it's premium ice-cream-lar. BTW, I don't really have a liking for ice-cream and so, it's no loss for me anyway. Overall, it was a good hearty meal. We really had a great time out there especially wolfing down our food and having some great conversations. Then, it's back to the abatoir or mad house for more slaughtering or torturing of the mind, body and soul !! Sheez! That's just one of the bright sparks of the day!

A Definition....

Definition:

Bomba chasers (noun)

: person (s) who takes orders from his/her superiors and goes out on his/her vehicle and chase the Bomba truck for fun or for work in view of arriving at the fire scene in safe conditions.

: person(s) who is obsessed with the red Bomba/Fire Brigade truck and craves for speed.

: an occupation which is primarily catered for specialised personnel/specialised work staff usually with problem of accepting authorithy/isolation

: person(s) known to the Bomba/local Fire Brigade community as bystander of a fire scene.

: person(s) with questionable mental stability

: person(s) taking part in a form of team building activity/trial to test car/vehicle durability during stressed and duress times

Cheers!~

Jammed some more!

Aiyooh, once again, Melaka streets are jammed with one hundred and one police cars, organisers cars, police outriders, trainers, team cars, utility cars, media cars and the Marshalls. This time it's the familiar LeTour de Langkawi 2009 Stage 2 - Senawang -Melaka. Hai yah! I was trying to get out when it seemed not possible due to the blockade of the main roads leading to Dataran Pahlawan, Banda Hilir. I have already got this news of this little circus coming to Melaka town over hitz.fm morning channel. Anyway, undetered , I just went on to do my work and at about 1.00pm or so, some loud blaring siren permeates the Melaka town airwaves. Then, more sickening blaring of sirens fills the air while the cyclist were obviously a good 30 minutes way off. It really irritates me as I don't find it amusing to close three quarters of Melaka town road just for 40 to 50 cyclist having their privates crammed on the small seat [ it's like waiting for hernia to happen! ] , hunched backs and speeding like maniacs all in the name of sports riding! Anyway, that's competitive world of sports cycling. Might as well parade in nude for all I care! They just jammed the road for about 1 and a half hour and call it sports! tsk!tsk!tsk!
Anyway, I joined my colleagues down at the side of the street so that I won't be call anti-social and what not. BTW, while I was standing at the side of the road and I was running this thought in my head:-

I thought of going very close to the road and when the group of riders comes, I'll just stick out my foot and viola! caused a pile-up! Hmmmnnnnn..... a little bit devious, right? How about sticking out a 4 foot bamboo pole when the group of riders arrived? Or better still, ride off with the policeman m/cycle which had it's ignition on throughout the side stop as the riders passed by and rammed them all from behind!! Now, that would be interesting, right? Anyway, there was about 40-50 riders in the front pack and when they had passed , I thought there would be another pack. Alas, finally, after some 5-7 minutes of waiting, a loner rider cum the last rider rode by and he was flanked by at least 30-35 police outriders!!!! This was followed by the rest of "wanna be" Evel Knievel proteges and Lewis Hamilton wanna-bees and the carbon monoxide expelled by the vehicles were indeed a great change for the day! At least, our lungs will be filled with great gas for a comfortable living as we lie down in a 6' by 4' plot of land!!~

Get off our streets, stop jamming it, go to work and go cycle into the river for all I care!~

Incanto....

Last Saturday, as I was at Plaza Melaka area, I just stopped by at the nearby music store to browse for some great music to listen to. I wasn’t disappointed , as I got “The Best of Earth , Wind and Fire “ CD [ Songs like Boogie Wonderland, Fantasy, September and Let’s Groove ] and then, out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of “Incanto” by Andrea Bocelli. Equipped with no knowledge of opera music, I went ahead to buy “ Incanto” which means “enchantment” in the Italian language. BTW, “Incanto” is the 20th album by classical Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. Yunno, his voice, phrasing and control was all superb, man. The orchestrations are good and Milan Orchestra Sinfornica Giuseppe Vardi does a fine job in accompany Bocelli’s superb vocals. A disciple of Luciano Pavarotti and Zucchero Fornaciari, the blind, Tuscany born vocalist had emerged as one of the most exciting voices in contemporary opera.
I need to tell you this, I am NO expert on opera music but I somehow like what I saw though I have no clue at all what was in store for me. Now, now, I may be inclined a little bit going towards the mature side but definitely not senile, ok? I guess, in many ways, I kinda like the sounds of opera music since watching Andrea Bocelli & Brandy [ one of the talented singers and a judge on America Got Talent ] sang “The Prayer “ together! I have heard so many versions of this song from Charlotte Church to Josh Groban to Russell Watson to Andrea Bocelli with Celine Dion, well, the song and the vocals never fail to amaze me more. What a song! What beautiful vocals!
I like songs like Santa Lucia, Funiculi Funicula , Un Amore Cosi Grande, Because and others. Yeah! Another man’s food can be another man’s poison, yunno. So, I shall leave it to you decide on your own but for me, I kinda like this one, most definitely. Trust me, I have no clue of what the songs meant but they sounded nice - music that I can relate too. Afterall, we do need a good range of music to sorta colour up our lives a little bit. My wife and children thought I have gone cuckoo on this one but I’m as sane as I can be. Yes! They liked “Earth, Wind & Fire” – kinda explain the Hainanese personality, isn’t it?~ Good week ahead!~

One moment.....

As I lay down to sleep yesterday night, I gazed lovingly at SLing whose eyes were almost shutting and having thoughts halfway towards glorious Hong Kong or Macau. It was at this moment that I asked her if she was asleep or not. Muffling some incoherent sounds, I guess, she was half awake and half asleep. I told her that I've having sleepless night and stress for the past few days. She was still half drowsy and said, "What? You are stress and having sleepless nights?" Then I started to sigh as I put my head on the soft pillow. She stirred and asked me softly, "What's the matter, dear?". I then said, " I am afraid..." and before I could finish the line, she was already awake as her voice strained. "Yes, dear. What are you afraid about? Tell me. Tell me. Are you okay ?"As I turned to her and answered, " I am afraid...." and sighed deeper. By this time, I got her full attention as she was on her elbows, pestering me to tell her what was the problem. I was stoic as she continued to barrage me with more questions like what's bothering me, if work had been hard and her melodious pleading of "please tell me, please tell me".
Not to disappoint her, I raised myself from the bed a little, put my hands together and dramatically told her, " I am afraid that they may ask me to be the MB of Perak, how?" There was a short deafening of silence. Then it was followed by giggles and eventually the burst of laughter and letting go a string of "not-so-nice" words followed by the mighty whack of the bolster! Unsatisfied, she came to me and gave me some hard pinches and continued to pummel me with the bolster! Then she went to her side and laughed her head off !

All I can say is that when you share lighter moments like this, you'll realise how much the wifey loves you, actually. It was fun time for both of us. Somehow, it makes us closer. Yunno, I realised that due to our continual busy schedules, we've laughed less. So, I thought it would be nice to pull a fast one on the wifey and see how it goes! Anyway, the pinches are really painful and probably, I"ll make an official report to the proper authorities [ my mother-in-law & my mother ] for domestic violence!

Cheers, everyone! Hope, you'll have a good time with your family too!~

Perak...turmoil

Today, I experienced a heartache over what my beloved Sultan has done for the State of Perak. From Lord President to the present Sultan of Perak, I have always had the utmost respect for Sultan Azlan Shah - wise, practical and bold. However, I am saddened that Tuanku had taken such a decision which really would have saddened his subjects ( the rakyat ) in the State of Perak yesterday. I am in no way showing disrespect to the great Sultan but merely, expressing my heartfelt feelings as a lowly and humble subject of this great nation. Daulat tuanku!
However, what had happened in Perak today really showed what the rakyat felt about the on-going happenings. The rakyat had clearly chosen a preference for PKR rather than the present BN goverment during the last election. Demonstrations had not been our way of life of this nation but paused for a while and asked yourselves : Why demonstrate in the first place? The answer:- The rakyat is already fed-up of what is happening in our country today - the trickery, the corruption , the cover-ups and abuses in our country. Anyway, by far, our country is better off than any other country so as to speak. Then again, I have not seen any Police unit nor FRU unit when PKR took over the state. But today, you can see truckloads and truckloads of police personnels and FRU men guarding the State Secretariat building! What more, teargas being expelled to draw back/disperse the crowd and the "rough" treatment on the MB of Perak and his team when they turned up for work. It's sad, isn't it?

BTW, what a way to start for the up and coming new PM of Malaysia. I have nothing good to say about this man and I am sticking to my policy that if you have nothing good to say, don't say it! Anyway, is this the way to start the new era of administration in our country today - getting tainted crossover politicians, going against the wishes of the majority and what nots. Get a fair fight in the ballot papers-lar! Personally as far as this lay man is concerned, the coalition suffered defeats after defeats during the by-election in Permatang Pauh and now, Kuala Terengganu, am I right? This only goes to show that the people had voted wisely and betrayal by these so-call assemblymen and assemblywoman were absolutely a great disgrace to the community and will not forgotten. I shudder at their fate at the next coming elections or they may not be standing as candidates anymore? Hmmmmnnnnnnn.......... just a thought, though!~ Well, the public does not have short memory sickness,ok?

I remembered an old Malay civil servant who used to repair his car at my dad's workshop used to tell me that the only thing a man can own well in his life is his integrity. If it is compromise, then, life itself is meaningless because the shame and the humilitation will be long remembered till generations to come. Till today, this was a Malay man whom I respected a lot.

I quote from Malaysia Kini site from one of the writers :~
"Flashback to 2004 – in his book, Constitutional Monarchy, Rule of Law and Good Governance, the sultan wrote:"Under normal circumstances, it is taken for granted that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong would not withhold his consent to a request for dissolution of parliament. His role is purely formal."He also added that no sultan or agung had withheld consent to dissolve legislative body, except in Kelantan in 1977.“With his decision now, it looks like what he wrote was just rhetoric...without any convictions,” added Abdul Aziz. The decision of the sultan to deny Mohd Nizar’s request for the dissolution also indicated that the sultan had seemingly subjected himself to a higher political power play.And coming in his 25th year as the state ruler – celebrations were held on Tuesday – the decision by the sultan in handing over powers to the BN government without his subjects having any say is very disappointing to say the least.To put in bluntly, the decision of the sultan – who is the custodian of the people, their protector and someone who is suppose to act for the people – had just killed any semblance of democracy in the Perak."

Ampun ,Tuanku!

Friendly independents! Bah!

For days now I've watched and read with interest about the 3 so-called independents in politics. I, for one, can't stand such fickle, self-centred and immoral politicians! For their information, the people put in their big fat 'X" on the ballot paper last March elections was because of the party they represent and not because of the candidate! Oh! How disappointed they must have felt for putting these people into office! Now, I know why politics has been regarded as one of the dirtiest game ever introduced by humans! The fact that one so-call independent TV station was so biased in its reporting that taking a dig at the MB of Perak was like taking popshot via the paintball gun. Hey! We are all people of flesh and blood. Why are they stooping to such an all time low and make bias remarks about the MB of Perak? I must say that my wife and I were appalled and disgusted by the bias reporting & harshness of reporting on the fate of this man. [ No wonder American Idol Season 8 is far more interesting and entertaining! ] By all means support the present government set-up for all I care but at least, be fair-lar to the rest of the opposition party in our nation. Every political party would have to have their voice heard too, yunno. One sided political reporting is not helping anyone, actually. No wonder, a good friend of mine used to remark that real & accurate journalism is dead. [He has stopped watching news from our National TV stations and got into with global network stations now.] Now, it's what sells in the tube and the tabloid that matters - not integrity and correct information anymore. The more mud is flung , the dirtier the news, the better it is. Hey, stop taking cheap popshots at the MB of Perak. What wrong has he done towards you? I guess, the only thing the TV station can find fault with him is actually PKR team winning the state of Perak in the last election !!~ Shameful-lar!
For the three friendly independent politicians, I guess, your integrity and moral standing means nothing to you people. I wish all of you good luck and all the best in your future endeavours with the monsters/goblins who actually created you in the first place. Thanks for selling your souls to the other side for a fistful of wealth, saving your skin and some carrots of fame! You bet, I am a PKR sympathizer!~ No qualms about that!~ Malaysia Boleh-mah!~

Oliver with a Twist!

Late last night, I was unable to sleep and I thought it would be good to catch up on some TV shows. To my greatest delight and surprise , I watched "Jamie's Ministry of Food" program. I must say, kudos/three cheers to Mr. Jamie Oliver for trying to make a difference in his society. Yeah! It is not that he doesn't have his critics and they can be quite blunt too. Many viewed him as a rich pompous young lad trying to show off his wealth while others simply told him that he doesn't know the difference between the "have-nots" and "have plenty" in England. Some critics say that he's a millionaire especially with his food endorsement deals and book deals and that he was just trying to show off and so on. As I see it, here is a young man willing to try out ways to get the community to change their mind set about eating fast food and start eating healthy balanced meal. Honestly, I find no fault in this man's noble gesture. I actually find his ideas quixotic and quite inspiring. It started out with sharing two recipes to two people and these two people are supposed to share the two recipes to two other people and it goes on. All in all, Jamie would try to impart at least 10 recipes and hoped that the entire community would be familiar with the 10 recipes soonest. By this time, they would be eating right and having healthy meals. The first two recipes were actually pancake and meatball spaghetti! Gosh! Simple...yet difficult for these people because they have not cook anything at all. All this time, the cooking lessons were held in the homes, office block and Salvation Army Church and Community Centre. That is what I call progress and guts, man!
Yunno, change is difficult and I could see very clearly that the early eight people who had agreed to join in his program really struggle for that change. Mind you, these are people in Rotherham, England who had no knowledge on how to cook a meal at all plus the working class people. These are a bunch of community who dwelt & fed on fast food and takeout meals! I tell you, Jamie Oliver is genuine and noble in his quest. So what if he rakes in millions of pounds for his effort and so what if he sells his books as well. The part I like about his program is that he takes a genuine interest in shaping new healthy living lifestyle and making a significant difference in lives. Look at the so-called no hoper and dropouts who now work as chefs in his restaurants or even the healthier food served in British schools today. Yunno, it takes pure guts, tenacity, patience and brawns to make a difference in anybody's life for that matter. We could all learn something good from this bloke called Jamie Oliver, actually! Heck, he even got his greatest critic, Julie Critchlow to join in his program!

I really looked forward to see the next episode of this program. Well, if you must know, I like Jamie's consistent endurance, his heart and his sheer will to get things done. We all could learn a thing or two from this guy!~ [ minus his "flowery" language, of course! ]

Today...

Today, I want to write about being a Christian. Many times, Christians and Christianity are greatly misconstrued by many people. We always feel that we have to defend Christianity. Well, I’ve got news for you – God doesn’t need us to defend Him! God is God. Swallow that fact and start living right as a Christian. That means treating Christians and non-Christians the right way – with love and respect! I have met a range of people who says they are Christians – some are really nice while at the same time, some are toying at the fringe of being good friends with Mr.S.A.Tan. Yes! Do admit it. Some are Christians only on Sundays and two horned clowns from Mondays to Saturdays! This is a real fact! Each one of us is free to act, live and do as how and what we are as Christians. God gives us that liberty to choose and thereby, we reap what we sow. BTW, saying “Yes” doesn’t make you a good Christian and neither does saying “No” makes you a bad Christian either. There has got to be a balance and common sense must prevail. Honestly, I find Christianity being misunderstood in so many ways. The greatest misconstrued perception of all is that Christianity is a religion. Christianity is not a religion. Christianity is a personal relationship with God - like the bond of a father with his children. Religion is like a carpenter who is being paid by his boss to do a job or complete a job at all cost with all his technical “know how” and “what not” but he has a platonic relationship with his boss. The second misconstrued notion is that we are “converting” people into accepting Christianity at all cost. Look, sometimes over-zealous Christians with over zealous ways could have brought this fear among the people. The fact is this: A good Christian need to share the Good News while it is the Holy Spirit of God who would convict the heart and get the other ready to accept a new lease of life. There is no inquisition, no force used nor scary tactics! God is a merciful and a good God. When the heart is convicted of the truth, one will readily accept our Lord & Saviour. It is the people who adulterates it that makes Christianity a religion instead of a personal relationship with God, the Father.
I know I may raised or ruffled more than feathers when I finish this but I just want to say my honest piece though it may hurt. Hey, the truth shall set us free, right? Some of us take many things for granted [including me] that people would understand that we are Christians and we don’t do this and that and so on. My question is : Are we good Christians in the first place? Have we shown the attributes of our Lord? This is a stinging question, isn’t it? Be it for our shepherd, our leaders, our loved ones and people out there. Yes, I acknowledged that some of us failed while some have tried their level best to apply God’s attributes in their lives. So, nobody is perfect, right? Well, the road to repentance and forgiveness is always opened. So, make it a point to use it! BTW, I am not saying that we must meditate to the Lord 24/7 or have “holier than art” attitude. Just be good practical Christians [sometimes, we forget that we live on earth and please, plant your feet on the ground! It is the good ol’dirt – the one we must go into when we die! ] – having the ability to differentiate what is good and bad / right and wrong/ good and evil. By all means, love the Lord with all your whole heart but feed the family too. Some of us are just too loop-sided and at the end of the day, we neglect our family. BTW, do you know that God honors the family more than anything else? A family that worships God is a happy family. I will be the first to admit that I too am doing my level best in this area. I don’t claim to have all the answers because I am still learning the Lord’s way and the journey thus far has been very trying, tedious and not without tears and spending a lot of time on the knees but very satisfying indeed. Yes, I am far from a perfect individual but God is the head of my life and my family.
Yunno, we cannot win over people to understand this relationship we have with God unless we show them what it really meant to have a relationship with God. It means you would have to be who God wants you to be and not be a fake. Yes, that includes your frailty, your weaknesses and your strength. The people out there are not dumb. They can spot a fake miles away even before the fake arrives. What make us different from others are our consistent lifestyle of living free from sin and our genuine hearts. Genuine love conquers all and I believe in this very much. So, start living right and start practical living. Don’t ride on cloud nine for clouds such as these will not cushion you when you fall ! Only the soothing hands of God will! ~
I offer a heart full of apologies if I have in any way offended anyone of you for what I have written. This is just my personal opinion. After all, I am still learning to be a good Christian! It's a long and hard road but a road worth travelling on...... believe me!~