Life..the twisted....

I don't know about you people but I wasn't feeling myself of late. I was kinda moody and the excruciating coughs in the night doesn't help me one bit at all. I've downed one bottle of Sedilix Linctus plus Ubat Batuk Cap Ibu dan Anak for the past one week and some yellow looking pill to get some relief for the coughs and headaches. Coughed out quite a chunk of my lungs out and greenish stuff which would make the Blubber looks like child's play. OK, no worries here - I am still intact. It was temporary, of course, but at least, I do get some form of relief from downing the good stuff. The other day, I just completely lost the plot ( I guess, my mind too! ) and oh dear! my poor loved ones were at the receiving end. Certainly it was no fault of theirs and it was purely ME. [ See! I ain't an angel too, yunno! ]. I just don't know what is wrong with me and waking up at 3.00am in the morning for the past one week isn't helping me one bit. In fact, it is frustrating me a lot and I get very uncomfortable when I wake up without enough sleep & rest. I am hopelessly tired throughout the day and I do feel fatigue ravaging my body and mind. Anyway, the mind is still hopelessly intact!
Seriously, I just don't know what is terribly wrong with me this time. Friends told me that I am suffering from too much strain on the mind or I have been on the yellow pillow pill for far too long. [ BTW, the other day, I swallowed 2 yellow pills [ totally forgot the name of the medicine and I was on high and everything seems rubbery! ] Yup, there will be days like that and I wouldn't have answer for this. What is frightening is that when SLing came down last night and asked me what is wrong with me, I just couldn't give her an answer. She told me that I have become less patient, lost my temper quickly [ thank God, I didn't lose my marbles,man! ] and I have quietened down considerably [ that's good, no? ] Yup, she was concerned alright or she might just be thinking if her husband had gone bonkers in the head. Luckily, she didn't scrounged the file cabinets for our insurance policies , just in case-mah. I quickly assured her that I am alright but I just couldn't pin point what was the source of my discomfort. Some fine kawan-kawan says it's the hormones and I say hormones , my foot!

Maybe, it is just my lack of consuming my favourite kerbau pendek a.k.a. the porky lately! Hahahahahahahahaaaaaaa.......my favourite shop selling the good stuff from the kerbau pendek was closed for a week now because the proprietors went for holidays. Just couldn't stomach the other shops variety of kerbau pendek fare! Yup, this could be one serious contender on why I have gone cranky - the very lack of my favourite porky delights!

The other reason may be that the cough and flu viruses had evolved and they have become more intelligent. So it was explained by one nut -case friend of mine who probably have about 5 cans of disinfectant in his car! Probably, they could have split up, mutated and caused havoc to my body and my brains. As my office had many colleagues who would continue to spew out viruses of every kind in an enclosed air-conditioned area, it was possible, right? Yup, only the bright and brilliant viruses would get into my system as they are being filtered through my mouth mask, I hope! Hmmmmnnnn....maybe, just maybe....That's why I have become brilliant by waking up at 3.00am while my body have worked like a 24 hours virus producing factory causing me to feel weak and weary in the mornings while the viruses work it's stuff in the evenings and nights. Hmmmmmnnnnnn........I wonder if that is causing havoc to my body system. The other glands and systems in my body seemed to be working well, though.

Rats! No matter what, I am gonna get myself a bunch of nice mint leaves and get myself a cup of mint tea this evening. That ought to calm my nerves and get me to the stairways of recovery. Maybe, just maybe, I won't be in that mood anymore.......kill some viruses, whacked some nice barbecued pork slices ................

Chronic humans...

Yesterday, I met a rather peculiar man in the course of my work. It was one of those days when I am called to help out a colleague and I responded without hesitation. However, the man that I met wasn't really a nice cup of tea. It is not that I have not met such people before but there are times I do questioned God for sculpturing such people in the first place. Hey, like I said, I have seen all sorts of people in my walk of life but this one really made me think about how greed can overtake our senses in our daily living.

Physically, here is a medium rounded built, round face, small moustache [ would make Hitler roll in his grave, actually! ) balding and gruffly looking man. His wife ain't good looking either [ maggie mee curls, big in size, big painted face, small eyes and wear a grouch as though " the entire world owes her a lot" kinda look! ) because she stood at the door looking at me as though I am some sort of criminal looking punk from some God forsaken street somewhere. Yeah! I know that kinda look I get from some people! BTW, I was dressed smartly in a Diadora very light pastel green shirt and a nicely pressed beige cotton pants [ courtesy from the work carried out by SLing! )- I couldn't be a criminal or some car jacker from some long forgotten/mean street-lar!

Anyway, I was shocked a bit when I noted that at the front section of the house, there were 4 fierce looking , man-eating and adrenaline pumped full hormoned Alsatian dogs who would love to sink their teeth into my meat somewhere. Anyway, though I was stunned a bit but I just made faces to the dogs like " eat me if you can , you Barbarians!". Afterall, I am at the outside of their cage , so no worries there, right? What I couldn't stand was the stench from the dogs permeating from inside the house. Bah! Some perfume which will definitely turned off any suitor lest any guests to the house. Being polite as I am, I just do my job and get my work done.

Right, I am not there to comment on how one live but as an observation, it was kinda messy. For a man who is a director for 26 companies ( that's what he claimed! ), I seriously questioned his taste in his house arrangements, decoration, security measures and personality disposition. Like I said, for man who has directorship for 26 companies, I find his personality to be quite unpleasant. Don't get me wrong. I am not against rich people lest I get stones, knifes and make it to the No.1 Most Wanted Dead List! I guess, my personal observation is that he is not only bossy; he is loud, arrogant, demanding and inconsiderate. Yup, the Rich Man Syndrome! As I looked at this man and after talking to him for about an hour, there is nothing but self-praise, arrogance and a bloated personality. I mean, I have seen many humble rich people and they don't act the way he does. In fact, many whom I have known have much down-to earth personality and NICE people!

Honestly, I just could not understand the "got money step on the people to death" [ Hokkien translation] mentality. Yunno, I am mad at people like this who thinks that he can get away with just about anything and everything by splashing the Agongs, because of their position or buy some people off. It is frustrating too that they do win this junk wars at times. Anyway, people tell me that that's part of life while I say, we are the ones feeding these type of created Devils, actually! Anyway, you may draw your own conclusions on this matter but I still am a firm believer that humbleness eventhough we may look stupid at times, do pay - not in this worldly sense but in the eyes of our Creator one day. Of course, you have to stand up for what is right and wrong but if you do it in a humbly and right manner, you gained better respect than fighting with pure brawns. There is a time and tide for everything but you are never shamed when you do the right thing.

As I stepped off the main door, I was tempted to let go of the dog kennel latch and tell the dogs, " There, you animals, is your meat" while I would stretch out my pointer finger to the man. Well, it didn't happen but I did provoked the dogs and they barked and thrashed around even harder while I had a laugh and went into my car. Probably, I would throw the dogs some nice Terayaki marinated NZ lamb shoulder laced with rat poison or something some day when I pass the house one day............hahahhahaahahhahahhahahahahhahahaha............But then again, I would be in trouble with the SPCA, right? Who knows what I may do! Hmmmmmmnnnnnnnnnn................

The people's clinic.....

Yesterday, I was coughing like a mad hyena and I certainly wasn't feeling well at all. As I was driving back to the sanctuary of my home, I decided to check out the 1Malaysia clinic against all my humanistic sanity and equilibrium of understanding. As I stepped into the clinic, there were only about 6 of us there and the attending elderly nurse at the counter was pleasant. She was recording the names of the patients into a huge book and she politely asked me to take a seat before calling me to the counter. She was courteous and nice. I must say that as a patient, I am indeed comforted by her ways. After the formalities of writing down my name and NRIC number on the patient card, I was asked to wait for a while before my name being called. She told me politely that it shouldn't take long and I just sat at the row of blue-coloured cushioned long seats.
It was about 20 minutes later that my name was called and I stepped into the Consultation Room. There to greet me was an elderly man ,whom I shall leave unnamed, who attended to me. I told him of my predicament about the bad coughs and that I had difficulties in sleeping at night. Like any other old fashioned "doctor", ( I know that he is either a HA or an MO ! ) he told me to take me more liquids and prescribed some medicine for me. He had a torchlight like the one I have in my car [ bought for RM 10.00 from the Chinese woman! ] and he flashed the lights on my throat while asking me to take some deep breaths to check the activity of my lungs. He then smiled and told me that my lungs are in good shape and no worries there. He then threw in a pack of tablets meant for itchiness of the throat and advised me to take it only in the night as it could caused drowsiness. We joked a bit as he wrote down the prescription for me and handed me the medicine. I took the medicine, thanked him and I was out of the room. All in all, I must say that it was indeed a pleasant experience at the clinic.

The next important question is : Did the medicine help? Well, I must say that I dozed off rather quickly after the tablet but in all honesty, there was relief momentously but my cough persisted in the middle of the night. So, there you have it. There are ups and downs in the prescription of medicine from this clinic compared to our more illustrious knife-sharpening private clinics nearby. I would say that the objectives of the 1Malaysia clinic is a good thing but with limited supplies of variety of medicine, it is not for chronic difficulties. Would I go there the next time? My answer is probably.......

Cell Group- BBQ Nite.....

Last Saturday, my cell group held our last meeting of the year with a food party. What a food bash it was indeed! There was plentiful of food and the fellowship was fantastic. We had a great time of talking, catching up on each others lives and on-going matters. We decided to have a BBQ party and so, as usual, we all got our respective things to do while my family and I were assigned for the main course dishes. So, I got the lamb, the beef and the chicken wings ready for the grill. Yeah, marinated the lamb shoulders, tenderloin beef pieces plus the chicken wings with Teriyaki sauce, Heinz BBQ sauce and some nice mixture of dried & fresh herbs and spices. The taste - well, should be nice, I guess!
We started out by setting up the fire and soon enough in the expertise hands of Bryan, the fire started out nicely and flaming evenly. Soon, we were slapping chunks of beef, lamb shoulders and chicken wings onto the grill. The charred impressions on the meats were a delight while we also had some "burnt" chicken wings due to the extensive heat generated from the burning embers. Some adjustments and tweaking here and there, soon, more meat were piled onto the makeshift grill. The smell permeates the entire garden that day and those smell are great indeed. Soon, after a short prayer administered by Br. Daniel, our cell group leader, everyone digged in on the food. I could have sworn that I could hear a pin drop as the silence filled the air. Then, it was chomping sound, followed by "hmmmmmnnnnssss" and "aarrrrrrrrrssssss" and some nice complimentary words. Guess, that's the sounds of some hungry and satisfied friends! As for me, I wolfed down some nice portions of medium cooked tenderloin beef and they just melted in my mouth, man! The tenderloin tasted so good indeed. I could taste the sweet and the taste of the mixed herbs and spices that makes the beef pieces somewhat aromatic in flavour!

I guess, the mashed potato, the brilliant concoction from Bryan and the super duper nice garlic bread were a fantastic hit among the cell members. There were plenty of laughter and soon, the liveliness level of the evening just took another top notch. As we chow down the vegetables salad and fruits prepared by Rosemary, we simply had a great time of fellowshipping with one another. We even had Kelvin Teo and Pst.Angeline, our zone pastor plus little Samuel joining us for our makan. It was really fun having shared our meal with each other as we continue to look forward for greater things next year. Our topics of conversation ranges from politics to life style to work and then to what we want to see in the future of our nation. As we cleared up that evening, everyone took a share of the surplus food home and hopefully, we will have more fun in the coming years.

I am thankful to Daniel & Rosemary ( our cell leaders), Jien Lee, Sue Fin, Sue Ern, Joo Kuan & Irene, Bryan, James, Dorin, Alvin, Danny, Joyce, Alvin & Jasmine for continuing to look out for us, constant prayers & encouragement, support and taking the trouble to encourage us with the Word. I just want to say that my family and I have been very blessed and privileged to be able to know each and everyone of them and to have their blessings.

Take a good look at the tenderloin pieces and tell me you are not salivating, my friends! I shall leave the imagination of the taste of the pieces to you. You may stretch your imagination on the taste and after taste of consuming the nicely cut beef pieces.

Cheers and looking forward for more BBQ invitations this month or the next, I hope!

Girlfriend, wife, mother........

Today, I have a confession to make. They say that confession is good for your soul. So, I am going to confess my inner sanctum of secrets. Hopefully, by the end of this article, you won't balked or empty the lunch/dinner contents of your stomach. You see, for 21 years now, I've steadfastly stayed married and remained faithful to one special woman, SLing. We met during our teaching college days and ever since those days, my life was dramatically turned upside down, flipped and flopped 360 degrees.....errrrr.....for the better-lar! [ Hmmnnnnn....you would almost think that I would write something "different", right? Naughty! Naughty! A cold bed is not the way to end up each day, ok? ]
Anyway, for the past 21 years, we've been through thicks and thins of life together. In many ways, I suffered a lot.......... hahahahhahahahahhahaaaaaa............, I lost my "freedom", my fishing time, my late nights, my youthfulistic ways, etc. etc... No! No! I was just joking! It has been a pleasant 21 years of marriage. Like all marriages, we have our strains and tensions but it all worked out well in the end. I guess, I can only safely say for our relationship, patience played a major part in sustaining our sanity. It is definitely not easy to have two completely different individuals with loads of baggages and character traits to come to the table of holy matrimony and pretend that everything is wiped cleaned. I must say that is not the case. It takes a lot of patience, humbling encounters and love to make our marriage works. I am saddened when I read the papers the other day that nowadays, couples marry young and divorce equally quick after their marriage had fizzled out.

I pay tribute to SLing for being that woman of faith when it comes to our relationship. She has been strict with our children's lives and our well-being as a family. She has been pivotal in encouraging me and giving me lots of support during my hard times. I must be the first to admit that SLing had taken care of a lot of things in the home and she had been a good commander at times in our home. While I took care of the mannerism and the etiquette of our family, she takes care of the household matters. I am indebted to her for her loving ways and also, her motivating ways. She can be stubborn like a mule at times but it is just her. The good part of it is that she may be right to be stubborn on certain matters and I would look like a fool for challenging her at times. Well, God has made that part right!

Like all relationship, we are not without our weaknesses and flaws. That's the beauty of our relationship. Together, we learnt to overcome our difficulties with a rational head and a very down to earth solutions - humbleness and the ever-willing heart to say " I'm sorry". I guess, that's what makes SLing and I at where we are today. We may not be rich financially and neither do we crave to be millionaires but we make do with what we have and learnt to live within our means. As for the difficulties in our lives and challenges that comes our way, we take one step and live one day at a time. After all, we'll be having a lifetime ahead of us to solve those little little quarrels and disagreement.

So, there you have it, folks! The sharing of 21 years of my life with this woman called SLing, who is incidentally my most lovable, trusted and caring "live-in" girlfriend, wife, mother and sometimes, maid! Hahahahahhahaahahahaaaaaa......................... Yup, I do have many more days to look ahead with her and I just want to thank God for His favour upon my life to have SLing in my life. That's my confession. Phew! It's a relief!~

Home..at last!

It is indeed good to be home after being away for about 8 days now. Many things happened while I was away in Alor Star for the recent flood situations and I sorely missed being at home with the family. I guess, when you are working , you simply have to take instructions, bite a lot of bullets and do your job the very best you could. Though I have no regrets being at work, I miss home too. I missed my son's passing of his driving test [ his third time! ] as I wanted to be be there to encourage and pray for him. I wasn't there when my daughter needed me during a medical emergency and it hurts a lot while God comforted my heart during my morning prayers. I was not able to celebrate my wedding anniversary with my wife and I must say, that hurts too. It hurts a lot though I kept many things in my heart while I was at work in Alor Star. I felt helpless, frustrated and sometimes, to the point of grief and I still kept these matters close to my heart. I guess, in many ways, God comforted my heart a lot. God made my stay in Alor Star better, bearable and He certainly brought favour unto my life. I give thanks to the Lord each day for making my work in Alor Star a whole lot easier and without much hiccups. The Lord also blessed me with good help and ensuring safety in my life as I travelled each day on the roads to Jitra town. All in all, my partner at work, Goh and I covered flood loss areas in Jitra, Kangar, Bukit Pinang and Kuala Nerang. It was really trying and tiring days locating the mixture of residential homes around these area. Thank God for His favour that we are able to locate the houses and get our work done. The devastation from the flood which had occurred were massive and sometimes, heartbreaking for the both of us but we had to be very objective in our work. As we scrounged the area of devastation, I noted that the people were friendly though I get to meet some really rotten people as well. Just as in all calamities, the greed, envy and some wickedness crept into the hearts of these people. I guess, in a way, this is not a strange phenomenon when it comes to the condition of the heart in times like this.
We had worked throughout the day while after reporting & meals, it was back to our hotel accommodation at about 11.30pm and hit the sack. Each day, we were up by 7.00am and after breakfast, it was back to work. It was almost the same routine each day. I guess, I have learned that in adversities, it had made the Kedahans stronger in their ways as they begin to pick up their lives. I have learn too that there are a lot of nice people around who could be a cheer when others seemed to be at lost. Thank God for the balance.

The floods are a grim reminder of the great calamity Mother Nature could bring if we are not steadfast in clearing up our wasteful ways especially the drainage system. Urban development or whatever development that are being brought into the nation would have to have an in depth environmental study and impact to the town before they are being implemented. It is vital that these fact are being taken into consideration lest the losing of millions and millions of ringgit in compensation payment and into the re-building process. Raping the land , over-development and obscure & pretentious blindness on the impact to the environment are not going to help at all. A raging Mother Nature is a raging natural disaster to the nation.

I left Alor Star town with a mixture of feelings. I know I will pass this town again some time. I still longed for the beautiful rows of green paddy fields and the nice mountain range view. I have had enough of mud silt, drappy orangey brown coloured water and heaps of furniture rubbish by the sides of roads. BTW, I want to thank Vive & Sathy for meeting up with me in Juru and bought me a Subway meal. [ It was the meal that lasted me till I arrived home! Thanks again! ] Perhaps, one day I will be able to pass through this place again with the family and tell them of the many adventures I have had in this place. For the time being, it is suffice to say that it is really nice to be home with the family. That is all that matters to me. Thank you for your prayers, friends wherever you may be. Your prayers have indeed inspired and encouraged me~ Yup, there is no better place than home and home is where your heart is !~

Ashley is ONE...

The last few days had been truly a blessing for me and the family in many ways. It was a time for us to catch up on our favourite niece, Ashley. She really has grown so much and she is on the verge of doing steps. Wow! She really has grown and she is cuter now. Though she has this aloof look [ must have got that aloof look from SLing! ] or sometimes blurry look, she is so cheery in her ways of moving about and exhaustively active. She can't keep still for a minute and she would wiggle her way through. Her favourite place were the curtains and she really kinda enjoy them a lot. The other thing I like her is her drooling saliva. It is either she is trying to put her mark on all her stuff like her brother, Ryan used to do or she is just after food!
Ashley is really cute and kinda witty in a way. Boy! She has a fiery temper too and such strength too. I remember one scene while "defending" her new toys from her birthday collection, she sunk her 4 small teeth into Ryan's arm! What a sight! hahahahahaaaaaa........who says girls are timid, huh? Yeah, that's my niece! Anyway, she doesn't cry that much and she doesn't wailed loudly like a hailer, so, that's a bonus. I just love her birthday cake. Beautiful piece of artwork cake. It is really worthwhile having such a beautiful cake. It reminds me of the AFC program, "Cake Boss" and it is superbly constructed chocolate cake. Absolutely fabulous cake and a real delight to the eyes and the tummy! Kudos to Jade & Wei for ordering such a beautiful cake for their daughter. Really, really a nice looking cake, man. Before this, there was a flurry of decorations to put up - on the walls, on the doors, on the lamp stands etc.etc. It was really fun and exciting.

Before cake cutting, we went to have dinner in a restaurant. The food was really surprisingly good and I thoroughly enjoyed it very much. We had steamed garoupa fish, steamed chicken with ham slices, prawn salad ( gorgeous and succulent prawns! Yummy! ), fried pork ribs, and black pepper venison. Yummy! Yummy! Yummy! It was good to have Jade's dad, brother and sister-in -law plus Tracy joining us for dinner and cake cutting celebrations. Only Jade's sister and mom who are in US were not around to join in the celebrations but via Skype that morning, they have sung happy birthday song to Ashley. BTW, dedicated AhYee ( Jade's sister ) and grandma ( Jade's mom ) are on the other side of the continent having a ball of time on their own.

Yunno, Ashley looked very cute that day and with all the pageantry, she was the star. It was really nice to see her smile and laughed amidst her stoic and no nonsense look! Hahahahahahaaaaaaa..........BTW, she is also very smart and I love seeing her having her milk time. She would roll from one end to another like the Hindustani movies and having her milk bottle in her hands. She would also move from side to side but the bottle never leaving her lips. We called it her pattern! She is so adorable and funny in a way.

So to Ashley, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, girl!~

Meeting Up....

In many ways, Deepavali celebrations for this year was different. I am used to waking up in the morning and take a good drive down to Banting to celebrate the auspicious day with Sathy's family. Somehow, I felt "lost" in a way not being able to be with good friend and family. Deepavali Celebrations is so much quieter this year than all the years I've known. I guess, tightening of the belt is on the fore again after all the hoohaa over the country's wastages!

Anyway, this time I got the opportunity to meet up with one of my long lost friend, Ravi, whom I have been very close with while I was teaching in Sabah some dinosaur years ago. Well, it was such a great occasion being able to see him. He did not change at all while I have ballooned over the years. My family and I got to meet with his brothers, their families and his mother. It was really good reminiscing the good old days while we were in Sabah. You see, Ravi's place in Tuaran was my solace during weekends. What got us together was the love for hockey. From then on, we played on the same team and managed to bring some good pointers of the game to each others team which we were coaching. It was really fun being with him and he is really a fun person. We travelled quite a bit during those days and it was even better when he got the Mazda 323. Yup! I still remember the day when during one of the heavy downpour, the wipers just flew off and he was driving with one hand while wiping the water vapour off the inside of the windscreen with another!

That day, we shared the nice times of our years there. It was a mixture of serious stuff and some hearty laughs time. All in all, it was a good time catching up with an old friend who doesn't seem to get old and a good time of laughing. As we bade farewell to each other , we promised to keep in touch and to visit each other now that he is back in Seremban for most weekends. Hopefully, we'll catch up with each other and probably meet at a watering hole somewhere for a drink or two. Reality hits that we all have to move on in our lives in someway or another. We do miss another friend of ours and we do hope that he doesn't end up floating in a river or lying down in a dumpster somewhere. Yup, this was a friend of ours who had spent some good years with us while we were in Sabah. I pray that God will lookout for this friend of ours. Afterall, it is the Festival of Lights and Good triumphs over Evil, right?!~

The Food - RR Melaka # 1 [ COA 2010 ]

The succulent NZ lamb shoulder placed on aromatic banana leaf
Permeating garlic bread infused with extra virgin olive oil

Wonderfully moist blueberry muffin contributed by Sherry Lung

Hot dogs & mouth watering coleslaw

Lovely & moist Chicken Wings SpecialGarlic bread being prepared on the heated grill

Chicken wings being readied into gorgeousness !

The hands that rocked the coleslaw !

The awesomest mashed potato being prepared!

Don't you just love the food that had been prepared?

RR Melaka # 1 - 18th Council of Achievement 2010

What can I say about our Royal Rangers Melaka # 1 - 18th Council of Achievement 2010 - one word : Fantastic ! I think, in all of my years of involvement in this wonderful ministry, this is one Council of Achievement which I am really satisfied and I want to pay tribute to the young Adventure Rangers boys & girls. Of course, they wouldn't know what to do had it not been their blessed young commanders namely Comdr. Stefanie, Comdr. Bryan, Comdr. Stephen Raj , Comdr.John, Comdr. JWee and Comdr.Paul Raj. The decorations, ideas, props and so on were birth by these wonderful Adventure Rangers. I am really glad and satisfied that they have chosen to learn from all of us. I am so proud to say that they have understood the very heart of this ministry and they are now living it. I take a lot of heart knowing that if one day, the older leaders were to step down and move on, these young leaders are able to hold that mantle of faith and commitment. I am so blessed!
We started out early in the morning to get the arrangements done and soon, from scratch, everything came into place. This was all done by the young ones. Yes, we had discussed about this over the weekly Rangers meeting and soon, the ideas burst into reality. As for Comdr. Errol, Jessica and myself, we concentrated on the food aspect. We managed to rope in Comdr. Bryan to prepare mashed potato [ his own creation! ], corn with butter and a pinch of salt and Comdr. Stefanie to do her coleslaw [ her own creation too! ] Yup, we wanted these leaders to enjoy cooking and come up with palatable food for the function. It was fun indeed as we peeled, cut and mashed the potato. Teased each other as we mixed the colesalw and most interesting of all, many heads do make the food taste nice! I was really captivated by the awesome fun and fellowship we had together. If only you coukd see the kitchen which was surprisingly clean and not messy as one would think. I guess, these leaders really learned well. Then came the BBQ NZ lamb shoulders, chicken wings, special garlic bread and hot dogs. The lamb and chicken wings were greatly & delicately marinated in the hands of Comdr. Errol & Jessica! They tasted exquisite & just heavenly! For once, the food we had prepared were licked clean and the bottom of the pot was gleaming and shinning. We had no extras but we have some very satisfied parents, leaders, supporter, friends and children indeed!

All in all, it was a wonderful night to honour the Rangers boys and girls for the yearly achievement. It was a proud moment for some children and there were certainly beaming joy on the faces of parents. First and foremost, I want to thank the Lord for granting the ministry with so much abundance and blessings. I want to thank the leaders for breaking their back and perform way above expectations each year to make this ministry a success. They are the unsung heroes and really the most wonderful people I've ever worked with. The children had brought so much joy in our lives and they are the reason we are still slogging it out year in year out in this ministry. Not forgetting, Congratulations to the Bronze Medal of Achievement recipients namely Bryan Chiew, Malcom Chiam, SYuen, Josephine Gan, Lewis Raj and Mathew Chiam! They have worked hard for the awards.

As we were mid-way during the Council of Achievement, I received a SMS from my brother [ different earthly father and mother but same Heavenly Father! ] Vive, and I want to quote his message :
"Dear Comdrs, every year you faithfully teach the children, give them awards for their accomplishment and feed their parents with nice meals. Sometimes, the only earthly reward you get is complaint and no appreciation. But rest assured that the Lord will reward your faithfulness. God bless! "
That is the message from a great leader/commander of this beautiful ministry and we, the present leaders - young & old, are just passing on this beautiful legacy of love, care and concern as we've always been doing for the past 18 years. I still miss those great leaders that have grown up and moved on in their lives. I am blessed and forever indebted for leaders like Vive, Sathy, Cristal, May Ching, Jonathan, Jamie, Adeline , Les and Rachel [ she was at this function and looked very smart & crisp in her RR uniform. It is such a delight for me to see her in her uniform! ] Thank you once again for God enabling on our lives and God bless each and everyone of you~