Simple Dinner......

My inspired dinner........not too long ago..............

Baby asparagus wrapped with streaky bacon infused with mustard lemon sauce & pepper,
Half boiled egg placed on top the asparagus
Baguette rubbed with olive oil & Italian seasoning wrapped with streaky bacon
Chicken nuggets for fun [ because we have extras in the fridge...hahahahhaahhhahaaahaa! ]
A bowl of creamy mushroom soup!
Viola! Dinner is served!~

Family Day - Royal Rangers Way!

One RR Family Day 2010 was successfully carried out despite our initial struggle to carry out this event. Amidst parental fears for school exams, denggi and what not, the commanders of RR Melaka # 1 pooled our resources together to carry out a great day of fellowship and learning. There were about 40 of us getting together for a time fo great activity, fun and food. One of the objectives of this event was to get the children and their parents to bond in a some quality time over a series of activities in the setting of a secondary jungle in Ayer Keroh Botanical Park. I must say that God in all His Glory granted us great weather despite a looming fear of a heavy downpour which finally occurred after we had finished our programme for the day. Thank you, Lord!
That day, we started out with a briefing laced with witty quips and humour by our Senior Comdr. Steven Chia. Then, Comdr.Stefanie Sim got the event going by carrying out the first activity which was setting up of a camping tent. For many years, we have taught the children on how to put up a camping tent and it was rewarding indeed to see the children teaching their parents to put up the tent. Laughter, good helpings and even bonding between parents and children were tremendous. Then the excitement ensued with telematches stating with two legged tag race. It was fun to have parents pairing up with their children to do the race. For me, the competitiveness and the fun were really bridging a lot of gaps between the adults and the children. It was an amazing time. Then, the fun continues with the egg throwing activity. Certainly there were a number of broken eggs at the end of the day but it was all done in the spirit of fun. What comes next was rather physical which was Capture The Flag activity. Again, there was a lot of heart in the game and at the end of the day, there were plenty of t-shirts with luminous stickers and some very sweaty t-shirts!

They then took a short walk to the Obstacle Course area and overcame the obstacle sets. It was again a time of great fun and learning for the parents. I guess, parents would have a great picture of what the ministry is trying to instill in their children - discipline, overcoming of fear , fun, building confidence and character building through outdoor activities. After a short rest, Comdr. Steven took over and explained to the parents that the next activity was tin foil cooking which is another essential lesson for any Rangers boy or girl but with a catch. The catch was to start up a small fire. Again, some parents are quite apt at starting a fire while some were steadily getting the hang of it. Soon, everyone was pitching in with their recipe for chicken in tin foil cooking. Again, their makeshift kitchen was Comdr. Errol's car which doubled up a a store for handbags, backpacks, bags, wallets, kitchen stuff and a place to slice, dice and cut up chicken and ingredients. It was fun seeing everyone doing their part to make this event a success.

As all these were on-going, Comdr. Errol , Jessica and myself fire up the make shift kitchen section of the event. We cleared one section of the ground and started out our works. You see, we were assigned for the lunch section and the menu was a list of goodies that would simply be the best of backwoods BBQ. We lined up a pit of fire with good fire and get ready the goodies of lunch namely BBQ lamb cuts, chicken wings, sausages, tau kee and BBQ eggs. As we started out the BBQ, the aroma of ready meats smell aroused a lot of adults and children! We had to ensure that the timing was correct for us to serve lunch. Soon, the heat from the pit and smoke can be quite unbearable at times but we were happy to serve. There were approximately 7.5kg of lamb shoulders and 80 pieces of chicken wings which were beautifully marinated by Comdr. Errol & Comdr. Jessica. The taste......heavenly,man! We managed to get the all the lunch goodies ready on time. It was truly satisfying to be able to work with Comdr. Errol & Jessica in preparing the food. Soon, we had Comdr. Ivy, Comdr. Bryan, AR Josephine and Comdr. Steven helping out at the BBQ pit.

We then gathered everyone around and after a short prayer, they were ready to tuck in. You could hear a pin drop as they savour the lunch planned for them. I guess, they must be happy with the lamb, chicken wings, salad with French dressing , the sausages and the rest of the food on the list. It was at this time that we shared experiences, fielded questions and do explanations on the purposes of the day's events and have another good round of fellowship. I must say that I am blessed with the parents support and their commitment for the Royal Rangers ministry. But more than this, I want to thank the commanders teams namely Steven, Errol, Jessica, Jason, Stefanie Sim, Stephen Raj, Ivy Wong , Bryan Lee and JWee for making this event a really success. This event was just not another feather in the cap for all of us in the ministry but a commitment by dedicated, hardworking and very supportive team of commanders. I am so proud to be in the same ranks as these fine leaders. As for the parents, I hope the events had helped them grow a special bond with their children and see how much they have learned. It is also a joy to my heart when parents commented how much change they have seen their children had gone through. At the end of the day, there was one scene which brought a lot of happiness and joy in my heart. It was a scene of parents walking with their children holding hands, talking about the events and telling each other how good they were. That is what the ministry is all about when God is the head of the ministry.

Thank you, Lord for your blessings in great families, great fun and terrific commanders!~

Tough love advocator....

Some time ago, one friend told me to watch my back as I wrote about revival last month and that I am getting a lot of people uncomfortable with what I say. Then, weirdly, I received SMS from another person giving me advise not to lean on my own understanding and so on. Look, people, you cannot stomach the truth or are you blind to what is happening? I've said it before and I will say it again - blind allegiance will never help in any way of our spiritual growth. You have to understand what I write and what is my bent on the matter. We have to know the truth and the reality of things and not sweep under the filthy carpets again and again. If leaders and elders of the church are spineless and lallang, should we follow the same or should our back spine be stiffened with truth? One may ask, what is truth? Truth is the very essence of our life through the Word of God. Search deep into your hearts and know what He wants to do with you. Not being pulled like puppets on strings! I am not a word spinner or a spin doctor of events. I believe in calling a spade, a spade and at the same time, I respect each individual rights to their own opinions. I do not force my opinions on others and neither do I expect others to be like me. Like all individuals, I am also susceptible to my own actions, inactions and reactions. I say this again: Why are we so afraid to talk about our church spiritual condition? I am simple minded in saying that if something is not right, say it is not right. Why should we say "right" when the things are not right? To me, that's hypocrisy! You can call it wisdom, survival or whatsoever you like but it is still hypocrisy. In each and everyone of us, we cannot run away from the fact that we make mistakes and we will continue to make mistakes. The difference is how we repent is important. Grace, genuine repentence or continue to do mistakes? You choose your own reaction to this questions. The bottom line is "what does the Word says about this?" That's the bottomline. If it is not consistent or we try to piece this verse or that verse to be consistent with our thoughts for everyone to accept then we are dumber than the donkeys! People will see through us within seconds and call us fakers.
I will say it again that the church has long become a spiritual spa for the complacent, the comfortable and the influential. It is such a comfortable boat and let us not rock it - some will say it loud and clear to you. We have become accustomed to be gullible to any message that suits our ears and suits our environment and we call it Saturday/Sunday service. Then we rush to buy products after products through book, tapes, DVDs only to keep them on our shelves and dust them during the monthly cleaning process. We milked from one man of God to another and call it the call of God for us when what we achieve at the end of the day is a another day of "feel good" message and make believe that we are spiritually well and "all is good" mentality. I am very amused that there are calls for banning of this or that blog because it is such a perversion for our young people's state of mind or are my writings too are hitting right to the core like a pin to the pin hole of favoritism, cowardness or even powers of corruption? To be honest, I couldn't care less if there is a call for my head! Speak the truth, speak loud and clear. If God wills that my head will roll then I say, let it roll. But if it is not God's will, then, let me say my opinions as it is. Afterall, I am amused too that for some opinions to get people all uptight and squirmed then there must be something there, isn't it? Jeng, jeng, jeng.....! I just love the suspence! Better than Sherlock Holmes & Dr.Watson's investigations!

Yunno, I am constantly confronted with the fact that the greatest failure in our church society today is when righteous people, there are many in our church today, who do absolutely nothing at all. This is the all time greatest tragedy of mankind, ever. Look, I am not asking each and everyone of us to take up arms or cause a revolt in our church today. All I am asking for us, as a church to do the right thing. Have a revolution in your heart to change for the better and begin to look at the needs around us. Let us just not talk about love, care and concern when we do not even know the real meaning of love, care and concern. Enough of hiding under the pretense. Enough of hoarding. Enough of excuses. Enough of playing Church! Wake up and take a walk of reality. Take a good look at the widows. Take a good look at the young people. Take a good look at the our church society. Take a good look at the needs around us. Take a good look at the needy. Take a good look at the people who had been out of job recently and struggling families. Take a good look. For goodness heaven's sake, TAKE A GOOD LOOK!

I am not sympathetic at all towards leaders who lie through their teeth or even protest that everything is well and okay when they know damn well that it is not okay at all. I call them cowards because that's what they are. Cowards because they want to protect their stay in power. Cowards because they want to be respected by the community and feel good inside. Cowards because as long as it doesn't concern them, it is okay. Cowards because they forget they have a moral obligation and social responsibilities on their shoulders. Cowards because they just go with the flow and everything is A-ok! Cowards because they let others be sacrificed rather than themselves. Cowards because they throw a fistful of dollars and calls them sacrifice and good will. Cowards because they forget that the eyes of Lord watches over them too.

Like I said during my sharing, I am NO ANGEL and neither do I ever claimed to be one. I am just another face in the multitude of crowds but I know one person who had changed and impacted my life around and his name is JESUS! For your information, He just did not preached love but practised tough love as well. I am one of those who is an advocator of tough love though I am still learning each curve each day. I crave not for powers, popularity or whatsoever which I may be accused off. I am just another advocator of tough love, that's all. If you are a genuine advocator too in whatever capacity you are, just know that it's God's approval that matters.... not men!~

Medic! Medic! Medic...

Today, I waited for about 3 1/2 hours before I could actually take SYuen to see a doctor at GH. It was a routine check up and to clear some clouds of uncertainty over some medical conditions which had been bugging SLing and I not too long ago. To make the matter worst, the actual specialist was unavailable today [ and they gave me an appointment to see him on this day! ] and no one called us to inform us that he wasn't going to be around. I am not particularly tacky about how some people do their work but I was really disappointed with the kind of services provided. OK, to be fair, it is the GH [ it is a KNOWN fact! ] but come on, there ought to be some tightening of the slackness over such matters,right? I wasn't the only one complaining about such slackness. One pakcik that came in at 9.30am [ the time showed 11.35am at that time! ] have not even done the preliminary checking of weighing in and BP check. He was annoyed and clearly a former govt. servant and he told me that it is unacceptable to have the public wait that long. When I told him that I came in at 8.15am and I have yet to see the doctor either, he just said " My God! What are these people doing?" SYuen and I smiled and I am proud of myself for not losing my temper or my mind. I chatted with the pakcik casually while SYuen played with a cute Indian girl. I guess, chatting with the pakcik passes my time rather easily than staring at the voluminous people that comes in and out of the clinics in a zombie like fashioned.
One thing that really hit me hard as I was sitting there was the volume of people who needed medical attention. It was like a sea of people needing some comfort in one way or another. Sure, you can see some impatient ones, determined ones, super duper stressed ones and not-so-nice ones around but that's life but every one wants some sort of medical help. Honestly, I do sympathised with the nurses and doctors on the tremendous workload and sea of people but there has got to be a change in work attitude. BTW, I can't blame them either because if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys working, right? Well, right now, it is a "lose-lose" situation for general public and it is frustrating at times. I really wish the Health Minister and the rest of the ministerial goons just shut up, come by and see for themselves the volume of sick patients that required medical attention. To be honest , I don't want to be dependent on the cut-throat/along-like private hospital either though services is much better than the GH! So, I really wish something could be done to improve the situation in GHs around our country today. The negative work culture and attitude would have to change but I have always believed that their medical supplies can be quite good compared to the private hospitals. Personally, I feel that there has got to be a solution to ensure that the general public do not lose out as the private hospitals around the country has started to be the medical courtyard of the rich and high income bracket earners today rather than saving lives!

When I finally get to see the doctor with SYuen, it just took us about 7 minutes to be in the room, chat with the doctor, explained some of our worries, get some brilliant medical answers and another 10 minutes wait to get a new date for the next appointment which is 6 months from now! One thing that struck me the most was that the attending lady doctor did apologise for the late attendance to us and explained to us that there weren't many doctors around and so, it took a while. I told her unabashedly and spontaneously that it was a long wait. I've gotta be direct and honest too, right? But the difference is I smiled. That is a superb reaction to a very difficult situation indeed! My hats off to you, Dr.Shalini for your honesty. I most definitely appreciate that gesture a lot! It shows a lot of heart and consideration. Somehow, my confidence in civil servants serving in the medical field is boosted slightly little bit!~

Satisfying....

Today, I had the opportunity to share a message to 47 youths in my church. To be very honest, I was rather nervous but the encouragement I had received from good friends like Vive, Sathy, Steven, Errol, Jessica, Jason, Dinesh, Abby and many others from the weeks prior to the sharing were tremendous and encouraging. Even this morning, I received a call from my good friends, Vive & Sathy to share God's love from my heart. It really has been quite some time since I shared a message and it wasn't easy for me because I really want to say what is in my heart and not give a "feel good" message. We are so used to listening "feel good" message these days thatI fear my diabetic count will be worst one day! Vive was right when he says that God will give you a message to speak about. I have searched my heart and though I had wanted to share on something else, I am drawn to sharing the reality of life. This is not an easy subject to share on and I must say that I do struggle a bit as I was rather apprehensive at first coz' I know it will involve my life a lot. You see, you can't speak on reality of life without having a reference in your life. I guess, in many ways, God knows us better and I share from my heart today. As I prepared my message in a presentation, [ I ain't computer savvy,ok? ] I really hope that the youths will be encouraged by it. It is never about me or my achievements but rather God's great mercy upon this wretched my life. It is with all humility that I channelled all praises and glory back to Him for without Him , I would have long been floating on Melaka river or Straits of Melaka for that matter.
Yunno, you bet, I was nervous in sharing the message but I guess, my love for the well-being of youths strengthened me a lot. I looked at these fragile lives and I constantly pray that God would continue to love & protect them. Sometimes, we do over-protect them and so, this is one time, they need to know the harsh reality of life in our wicked world today. I spoke my heart out today. I kept nothing back and gave all I had. I wouldn't know what the respond would be or how the youths would perceived me at the end of the session. All I know is that I am just His vessel and I gave all I had from my heart. I pray that the youths would be blessed today and I pray in my tiny heart that they would understand my sharing. I pray too that they would heed His call to live right and to ask of His protection to guide their lives when the young people are in their respective fields. At the end of the session, I was pumped out and tired but it feels good. Really good to be His vessel. I don't know if I would have the opportunity to speak to the youths again but one thing I know is that I have done my duty to tell the realities as it is. Like a small child, I am thrilled to bits that I am able to do this.

Thank you, Chai Yen [ Sonic Wave Youth Leader ] for taking the chance and giving me this opportunity to share the message. I thanked my friends for encouraging me all the way while I thanked the youths for their patience and understanding in listening to this old man's ramblings at the front pews today. Most important of all, thank you, Lord for enabling me today!

Crazy lunch....

They say confession is good for the soul, right? So, here I am confessing to the craziest thing that had happened. Today, I ended up having lunch with my colleague in the newly renovated Renaissance Coffee House. Not only it is a posh place, it is also beautifully decorated and the ambience was truly amazing. I kept thinking to myself if my colleague had gone bonkers or are we going to wash plates & pans after our meals! Honestly, I couldn't and wouldn't afford to go to such a place for a meal. It is also way out of my league! I mean, I would rather have a meal somewhere else but my colleague was insistence that we would be okay. He doubly-assured me that he would be picking up the tab and that I am to enjoy myself with a good meal. For the record, I am not stingy or any of that sort but I really can't afford to eat at places like this. I'll pick cut, chopped and slashed pork any time over the fine dining setting meals. Anyway, my colleague coaxed me for some time before I finally agree. Afterall, it is not that we dine at such a place everyday, right? So, here we are - two country looking bumpkins in our working clothes arriving at the nice coffee house and we were ushered to our seats. We didn't even asked if the buffet lunch was on. We plonked our butts to the seats, have a taste of the lemon-laced warm water and we are up in a giffy for our buffet lunch spread. I had to pinch myself twice to just to ensure that I was not dreaming and I wasn't. So, we moved from one spread to another while I kept telling myself " Oh! Boy, there's the rest room. There's the kitchen door. There's the service door." If you are wondering what was I thinking, well, these are the escape routes just in case my colleague says to the waiter, " We have no money and what are you going to do about it?"
Anyway, might as well enjoy the food before I fold up the sleeves for some washing of plates activity, right? So, there were nice spread of cold cuts, main dishes , soups, noddles, Malaysian dishes, fruits and even desserts. I started out with a slice of grilled lamb, some breaded chicken, a slice of grilled beef and lots of cauliflower and vegetables. We sat down, chatted and laughed over a lot of matters especially on the prospect of washing plates, washing toilets, cleaning the kitchen area and having some jumbled up numbers and taking our photographs at the police station! We laughed even harder when we thought of the prospect that another colleague would have to bail us out from the police station soon! My God! We were so paranoid in that sense, yunno. I guess, when you come from a background where a bowl of plain porridge and soya sauce/salt is the best meal of the day, this was a luxury itself. We then spoke on a range of subjects and it was fun basking in the right mood and ambience of the restaurant. We constantly reminded ourselves that escape routes would be difficult as the presence of the Captain [ big stocky fella ] standing at the main entrance can be intimidating and we would burst out laughing our heads off. As more people trickled in, we consoled ourselves that it would be easier to slip out as the crowd grows and we would burst out laughing again! It wasn't so much of the meal but merely enjoying ourselves with time of laughter and our imaginative silliness. Then we went for the ayam percik fare which was quite good while we piled our plate with large peeled prawns and baby squids which were terrific. After we had had enough, we went for dessert like blueberry cheese cake, rhubarb cake and coffee infused tiramisu cake. There was a time during taking up of the rhubarb cake, I slipped and the cake fell to the ground. I was so embarrassed. Luckily, there wasn't anyone around and we laughed our heads off as I slid the cake to one corner.

Yunno, I could never imagine what ruckus we made today but it was fun. The food was nice and the atmosphere was also nice. BTW, I wouldn't want to eat like this every day. I know that some would like that but honestly, I wouldn't like it at all even if I had wads of agongs in my back pocket. I would rather have my luncheon meat, pork dishes, vegetables or even wan tan mee any day. I guess, today was an exception. I know that I would not eat like this ever again in this year but I am happy to share a meal with my good friend at work. Afterall, it is a day we reward ourselves for being who we are and for our hardwork. When it was time for us to settle the bill, my colleague told me that he would get the bill and that it was his treat. I am thankful that I am so blessed indeed. Thanks again, my friend!

Humbling encounter....

A few hours ago, SLing and I were in our room when SLing received a call that a friend was at our doorstep. This friend is familiar to us but what she was about to do wasn't familiar to us. It is not a bad thing but it was a truly humbling gesture/experience for me indeed. There stood LSB at our metal grille door, holding out an envelope of love offering to us. It wasn't a thin envelope, I must say. She explained to us that she and another friend of ours, TGE have heard of our medical plight and that they would like to bless us with an offering. I tell you, hearing words from this non-Christian friend of ours made me humbled in my tracks. She even went on to explain that she and another friend of ours ( a Christian ) have decided to pull their finance resources from the extras they had from their bonus and extras to give us the money. She even added that they would like to help us and ease our burden. She further reiterated that it wasn't much but they just wanted us to have it. I tell you, for a moment there, I was floored by the overwhelming sincerity and the expression of her words. I can only give thanks to the Lord above and I must say, I was very touched, very touched indeed. SLing and I declined politely their offering and I went on to laboriously explain to her that we have had enough in our savings and that we are okay. She insisted that we take the offering or else the other friend would get angry and so on, but we declined whole heartedly because we know that we have a great God that would provide for all our needs.

Instead, we asked her into our living room, seated her at the sofa and I explained to her thoroughly on what had happened and that we are doing okay. I even explained to her that I would not hesitate her help if we are financially tight and so on. I even apologised to her that it is not that we don't want or felt too proud to receive her help but it is just that we really do not need it. I even went on to explain to her that we really appreciated her help and noted her good intentions. It is just that we are really okay. She told us that she sympathized with what we had to go through and she was worried that we might not have enough and they would like to help us. God! Such thoughtfulness, selflessness and all....... it really touched my heart a lot! If you were to know this friend of SLing, she has always been very careful with her finances and prudent with her spendings. To hear her say what she wants to say to us , it really gave hope to my heart that there is still rays of hope for this ailing world of ours. However, SLing & I were adamant and insistent that we have no need for it. Though she tried to convince and cajoled us into taking their offering, we said a firm "NO" but we really appreciate their care and concern. We had a lively conversation later on and SLing & I would be praying for her for what she will be going through in the next couple of days. I advised eloquently on a lot of matters to her but mainly on taking the positives in life rather than lumbering in the negatives. I know deep in my heart that that is what I want to say to her.

She tried their last ditch effort during our walk to the front door to pass the envelope to SLing and me. However, she was unsuccessful to dislodge the steadfastness we have on and I slipped it back into her big handbag. As adamant as we are, it was good to know that there are people out there who do care for us. I am so thrilled and blessed. Yes, SLing and I were truly blessed with such people and YES, they still exist in our country. What I am most blessed as I write this entry is that it feels really good to know that there are people who still do care and God would bring them to your doorstep. Awesome God! Truly an awesome God! Oh! SLing and I are so blessed. We had the most terrific times in our lives over the last weekend with family and friends and now, this happened right before our eyes! What more could I have asked more? Nothing. Absolutely nothing! God, you are great!

The Day....

This morning I woke up and I realised that I hit the ripe 45 years old age today. What can I say except that I am so blessed to be alive. Isn't it a wonderful thing that we can wake up each morning and celebrate our "living" for another day? That's exactly how I felt today. Then I took a good hard look at the bathroom mirror and I went " Yikes! I do look good, man!" Hahahahahahaha......... OK, I may have some patches of greyling hairs here and there but other than that, this sandpaper and dune lines on my face are still very much the same. I'll survive with such a facial structure, re-construction-naturally or unnaturally and outlook. Honestly, I must tell you that I actually don't give much attention to my own birthday because every day is a "bonus birthday" for me. I just don't know when I wouldn't be able to wake up to enjoy the making of a new day - the sense, the touch , the unfolding and the smell of the day. If you must know, I am the least interested in my own birthday. I just love life. To me, I am satisfied that I have a great wife, great children in a son and a daughter, family members and many extended families in friends. To put simply, I am truly blessed. Blessed that the Lord has given me extended lease in my life.
This morning, my wife for 21years now [ the secret : stay faithful, loving and lots of patience! hahahahahhaa........] , SLing, gave me an angpow and knowing that she is my most able Financial Controller of the family, I was touched - not so much for the money in the packet but for her steadfast love for a man like me. Well, like I said, I ain't the most easy person to live with and certainly ain't angelic in many ways, so, to have someone like SLing to love me [ or hate me!Hahahahahahaha....... ] each day, my day is filled, man. Truly filled! Yunno, without fail [ SLing reminds me all the time! ] , SLing and the children will get me a present each year but this year, I have decided that they shouldn't get me anything because my biggest present each year is my family. That's all that matters. I'm really glad that this year is different and I like it. It has been a roller coaster year but another year wiser [ or stupidier! ], I guess! Hahahahahahaha........it doesn't really matter. Wei & Jade [ my brother-in-law and my sister-in-law ] gave me and the family a great & sumptuous lunch at Regent Restaurant after spending time with family in Seremban plus the two cuties, Ryan & Ashley. I really appreciate their hospitality and their warm hearts. The best part was we get to celebrate Ryan's birthday which was a big bash with family and friends. I can tell you this, Ryan & Ashley are so blessed to have parents in Wei & Jade plus grandma [ grumpy, fussy but acceptable-lar! She got a good heart and that's important! ] BTW, SLing's mom gave me an angpow too! I know what you're thinking. It is definitely not about the angpow that I am writing nice things about SLing's mom, ok? Suffice to say that she's overly cautious in a lot of matters but downright in her heart, she's caring.

In the evening, I went to Errol's place as he was having a gathering of friends for some food and catching up with our good family friends, Timothy & Evelyn who are Bible translators with Wycliffe. It was truly good to meet up with Timothy & Evelyn, their children and catch up with what is happening and so on. Truly liberating in expressions of thoughts, ideas, discussions and even sharing of views. With barbecued chicken and marinated lamb on the grill, pasta, coleslaw, mashed potato [ truly awesomest! ] , lemang, fried mee and best chicken rendang in town made by Errol's mom, it was truly a night to remember for the tummy and mind! It was a great blessing. To top it off, they celebrated my birthday and what an amazing day indeed - Cheese cake some more! Waaaaaaaaaa........truly a blessing-lar!

I am really blessed indeed with great extended family members like Vive & Sathy, Abby & Dinesh, BA & Jessy, Kuna & Cheng, Lih Gin, John, Rachel & Alvin, Jason & Shirley, Errol & Jessica, Steven & Wan Sim and the list goes on. You people made me & my family a part of your lives [ don't regret it, ok? It's too late now to confess! hahahahahahaaaaaaa........... ] and that meant a lot to me. Mere words won't be able to describe how much I appreciate your friendship, people. I also won't forget those young people [ Bryan, Melissa, Theresa, Anna, Jonathan, David, Stefanie, Jameson, Deriss, Stephen, Eunice, Garrett, Joel and the list goes on! ] in my friendship list whom have contributed a lot in my understanding of the young people's hopes, aspirations and their thoughts. I am still a firm believer that these young people are nuts andthey have a bottomless pit called stomach! Hahahahahahhahahahaaaaaaa..........Thank you fine young people! You people make me young at heart!

From the morning SMSes to phone calls to FB wishes, you people have made my 45th year in life much more meaningful each year- Thank you so much for blessing my life and you are all close in my heart always!

Greetings from my heart!~

To my dearest uncle Essini and his children, Carina & Liza

and to all my Muslim friends out there, wherever you may be,

~ SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDIL FITRI ~

Have a blessed time of love with loved ones, family and friends!

Drive safe and reaching home safe and sound is your priority!

~ God bless you, people!~

Siew Pau, Muffins and ....

It is always a great time when you get to do some cooking with family. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to bake some Siew Pau and chocolate muffins with my beloved partner in life, SLing. I must say I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with SLing in cooking out this meals. Actually, it has been quite some time since we do any cooking together. Honestly, it is always fun when you get to do it with your life partner and usually, it can be chaotic and messy but our colloboration was fun and fruitful.
It started out in the morning when we went to the market to get some pork meat and some basic baking stuff. I guess, even lard has their price nowadays. Anyway, we got back and prepare the ingredients for the Siew Pau. I cleaned, cut and diced the meat so that SLing could marinade & cook the meat nicely and it tasted savoury. Hmmmmnnnnnnnn.......good food is underway. A quick peek at the recipe in one of the 200 pages old exercise book, SLing and I started out to do the pastry. Interestingly, there are two types of pastry to prepare and SLing expertly did both of the pastry - lard infused pastry and peanut oil pastry. She then mixed both of them together to create a vacuum in the centre and filled it with the meat ingredient . She then would pinched the pastry together and formed a pinched top ball while I would do the finishing touches of making sure the Siew Pau is in shape. I brushed the top with egg yolks and spread some sesame seeds at the top of the finished Siew Pau. Once they are ready in a batch of nine, it is off to the oven and the smell is quite heavenly, actually. Slowly but surely, we managed to complete the ingredients and the pastry. As it turned out, they come out just fine. Just fine, indeed! The taste - well, I must say they tasted real good......SLing and I were so relieved. We were happy with the end results. The process is repeated until we got about 37pcs of Siew Pau from the meat filling which we had readied. Phew! We have made it, finally! It was tedious but fun time, really.

With time in hand, SLing decided to bake chocolate muffins instead and I was game for it. So, amidst the splashing of white wheat flour, baking powder and egg beating process, the muffin mixture was ready in a giffy. Then SLing and I sprinkled bits and pieces of chocolates chips into the muffin trays. It was really fun. We made quite a lot of muffins that day and we really felt good. I guess, like I said earlier, the nicest memories are often when they are spend with your loved ones. I really had a great time with SLing and doing things together. Yeah! We still quarrel with one another over the ingredients and the way to prepare the food but at least, those memories holds very dear to my heart. I know that we each spend lots of time in our works and our times are always packed with the children's tuition and well-being while we hardly have much time to ourselves. So, having time with SLing is fun and worthwhile - precious.......

I am truly happy - one of the many days I have spent with SLing.

Hummmmppphhh!

Ladies & gentleman, today I am going to touch on a long overdue subject and I am sure someone is going jump to hit the ceiling lest fall off the chair on what I am going to say. Yup! You'll get the facts as straight as it gets. I really cannot tahan and with tons of news of baby dumping and teen sex , I have nothing but grief over torn young lives. If the teenager girl gets a law sentence over dumping a baby then the person who gets her pregnant should get equal punishment, isn't it? Right now, it is a lose-lose situation for the teenager girl and that is a load of crap. BTW, it takes two hands to clap , is it not? So, why is only the female being punished while the male gets a score and goes scott free? To me, personally , the picture is entirely wrong. Someone has got to get certain things right and in perspective!

Do you know that the greatest monsters, perverters and sexual predators are the ones staring at the mirror? Yes, people like you and me. Why? Simply because we do not see the big picture but rather sweep a lot of moral issues under our filthy moral carpets and pretend everything is well and good. We constantly tell ourselves that " Ah! It's so-and-so son/daughter. It will never happen to my son/daughter!", right? Well, I've got news for you. As long as your daughter is not under a cast metal chastity lock and if you don't control your son's raging hormones, it's going to happen! By the way, the forbidden things in life are always an intrigue to the young people's life. Hey! Even Adam & Eve fell for the trickery of the evil one,ok? That's where the traps are set, snared and taken! Pre-marital sex and teen sex doesn't happen over night. Monkey see, monkey do! Get the drift! There are consumingly large amount of filth and junk pornography over the electronic media and what not while sex is being offered at every available billboard in this country. It is like we are advertising free sex all over our freaking place and we come out and say it is not our doing? We put filth and trash in our media - electronic and print while saying that it is art /commercial value? Who are we kidding? Look at the shampoo advertisement. Tell me, are you looking at the shampoo or the female in the shampoo advertisement? Ah! Guilty as charged, right? I am not saying that we are to live under whip & metal spike balls grip but we have to educate our children to differentiate between the right from the wrong and explicitly educate them about these things plus the ills that comes with it. We need to educate our growing teenagers the consequences of their action, reaction and erections , if I may be that crude!

Teen sex and baby dumping is not something which is new in this country. What are we doing about it? Death sentence and castration are NOT the answers, people! Sex has always been a taboo in our Asian society and culture but it is time we educate. Please, if possible , go to a "NO APOLOGIES" course or seminar or even invite the facilitators to carry out the course in schools or social clubs or even our religious foundations. We must stand up to educate and do the right thing. If filth and pornography is a click away from our fingers and we cannot censored this, then , it is time educating our teens should take place. If religious institution doesn't even want to teach this subject even in the marriage course while they would rather allow us to see some bloody DVD explanations, then I say, there is something very wrong in this bloody system we live in. Look people! We are guilty as hell when we fail to educate our adults or our growing up teens on this matter especially in marriage counselling course or the course of their lives. Do you know that it is not just " buka, angkat, tekan , picit , masuk" kinda thing? Yeah, laugh all you want because the fact remains that it can be pretty traumatic for both and men and women engaging in such activities. For the young teens, it is " 5 minutes of pleasure and 9 months of torture!", people! So, keep your tools in your pants and keep the well shut tight before its time. My God, if we are going to stand high and mighty over of morality standards and say, " you all know what to do when you come to it!" then, I tell you this, we are going to get a big rise in divorces, adultery, baby dumping, unsatisfied sex lives and sexual predators indefinitely. Fathers, seat your son down and talk facts of life, PLEASE. Mothers, seat your daughters down and talk about facts of life, PLEASE!

Look, I have seen young mothers and fathers who are half baked potatoes and have no clue whatsoever on their responsibilities. I have one mother-in-law who complained that her 19 year old daughter-in-law would rather play "Barn Buddy" than taking care of the baby or chores at home! How's that for thought? I have seen one young mother who dashed into the bank to do her banking transaction leaving the child in crib alone in the car unattended. I have seen young fathers who has no clue on what type of diapers to buy for his child. I have seen young parents who has a young baby and the young mother is carrying another in her swollen belly. I have seen young mothers getting divorce " after the love has gone". I have seen so many single mothers and my heart bleeds for them. I have seen single young mothers struggled in life with the stigma and stick from the society. Some had even languished in the flesh trade to survive and bring up their children. Some moved on in life with great support from their families but some just languished in desperate cry for help and direction. I have seen young parents not ready to be parents in the first place and messed up big time as they progressed; messing up their lives and their children's lives eventually! My God, when are we going to own up to this and start protecting/educating our young ones?

Yes, I believe in second chance at life for these young parents. I believe, there should be more support but the saying of " prevention is better than cure " is so much better. Like I said, we can make a difference if we are concerned enough to know who our children mixes with, where are they when it's late or even checking on them with chats and affirmation of our love for them. It is not creeping into their space - it is called saving their lives! Gone are the days that we keep them under wraps and asked them to do what we say all the time. We need to change our mindset and straightened our children's lives when needed. We do not pull punches when our children messed up or live in constant denial of our children's needs or wrongdoings. They have to own up to their mess, faults or even failings but it is right for us, as parents, to give them the necessary & right upbringing before they actually mess up in the first place. We failed as parents if we fail to provide our children with the necessary tools and know-how to defend themselves from the ill of this society and boy, I've got news for you - the ills of society is an endless list, people! You bet, I am a concerned parent and I am also concerned about young teenager mothers out there who are not only scared, alone and have not clue on what to do with their lives. Will you make a change, please?