Scumbag Day....

Come 7th April, 2009, my good friends and I will be celebrating “Scumbag Day” in remembrance of our dearly departed friend, Comdr. Amos Pee. I’ve lost count of the number of years he had departed from us but his memories still lingers on like freshly brewed cup of tea and the aroma is always fantastic. Good friends are like that, actually. Though they have departed [ God bless their souls!] , the impact they brought to friends can be pretty impressive. This one is no exception!
I , for one , will always miss this big guy named Amos Pee. Big, strong, loud and sometimes, downright abusive & straight-talking, this guy has the biggest spiritual heart I’ve ever seen. Though my commanders and I had had quite a short time to get to know this person, it was indeed joyful and fun being with this big man. I will always miss his straight-talking and his advices to me. Yunno, in a funny way, this is the man who gave so much of his life in whatever capacity he can. Though looked upon as a very difficult individual to be a friend with, Amos had always been kind to me and lots of encouraging words to me. In times when I am down, he was there to give a pointer or two and even took the trouble to lead me back to my original path. So likewise, when he was down, my friends and I were always there to give him some encouragement or even lend a supporting ear to him. For the years I've known him, he really blessed my life. Of course, there are times, he chided me or even rebuke me but never in any harsh manner or tone. The bottomline is he cares for his friends and he really does care. That's the difference between a regular guy/leader and an exceptional person/leader.
The very first time I met Amos was during koinonia service after church service. Back then, the crowd was smaller but food served by him was in abundance. He had taken the opportunity to serve the people with some simple food after service while my family and I were very appreciative of that. He was definitely loud but I saw a great sense of good in him. When I was given the opportunity to serve in the Royal Rangers Ministry, I quickly reached out to him to serve in this ministry. I remembered that he told me very politely that he wasn’t interested but all this while, he was keeping a close eye on us whether we are consistent in our lifestyle with God. This he confided in me in the later years when he had served in the ministry. This was one of the many I've asked him during the time spent in the ministry. Yunno, I really pestered him into serving in this ministry because I saw his beautiful heart that goes with a very good person. It took me a few years before he actually agreed to get on the bandwagon and served out in the ministry. We attended RR courses together and when he graduated as a full pledged commander, my friends and I were the first few to congratulate him. Uptill today, my friends and I couldn't put away the beautiful memories of sharing some really good times in Taman Negara, Cameron Highlands and even Sibu Island trip with the late Amos, Phebe and his son, David. The times we shared together as close friends and commanders were fabulous. So, you can imagine my immense sadness when he passed away. All of us were there with him right to the end of his walk.
Yunno, on his funeral day when several commanders including leaders from RR Malaysia together with us, his fellow commanders, carried out his hearse in full fledged RR uniforms and regalia, it was befitting of sending off one of the finest commanders in our ministry and our nation. He had no fancy badges nor accolades nor medals pinned to his chest pocket. He only had a great servant heart. YES! I must say, I will always miss this great friend of mine. On his calling us "scumbags" well, the explanation is simple. We are all scumbags in one way or another in our lives. We are scumbags because we will continue to carry our load of life with us and only when we let go of our life load that we would be free. So very true in our modern living today. It was Amos who taught me that our righteousness are like filthy rags in the Lord which is consistent with the Word of the Lord that say exactly that! Well, it's better to be called a scumbag because you will recover from your fraility and learn to be a better person. Amos was a strong advocator of that - never to judge others but always to give yourself an opportunity to redeem yourself & be a better person in life - be it when you are wrong or when you are wronged by someone.

AMOS PEE, wherever you are , we will always miss you! ~

So here's to "SCUMBAG DAY"!

* This article of mine is dedicated to Phebe Woon and David Pee *