Joy....

Yesterday night, my family and I had some really fun time together. Though we made a trip to Long Poh Restaurant in  Muar for our sumptuous meal but it was the fellowship of the night that marked a sharp win altogether. You see, we had my sister ( Lee ), my brother in law ( Tee ),  my cousin ( Siang ), my brother ( Liang ) and even my mother joining us for dinner. We travelled in my sister's Alza car and it was great fun of talking and teasing one another. With Tee driving the car, you can be assured of wise cracks of humours and jovial teasings!

Yeah! I really missed those joyful and free talking times. Somehow, we had become so constricted by our activities, work pressure, responsibilities and sometimes indifference that we had lost a lot of time of being together. I was most happy being able to get my mom to come along and also spend time talking to her. It was a jolly good time ; travelling and just talked about the events that had unfolded over the weekend. Mom, younger brother, Liang and younger sister, Lee had remarked that they had not been to Muar for more than 20 years now.  I still remembered those young days when mom and dad would travelled by bus to Muar so that we could take a taxi up to Pagoh in one of the rubber plantations to visit my grandpa, who was once a rubber tapper. It was a really a far in rubber plantation and grandpa's house was a dried rubber store room cum stilt beds on eitehr side of the back room. I was particularly thrilled each time I go there as we would have "kampung" chicken as our meal cooked over a make shift kitchen in one of the front huts. Vegetables were whatever we could get from the nearby forest and rubber plantation. There were two other families near my grandpa's place and they were very nice to us. Everytime the family came to know that we are visiting grandpa, we would get some special dish from them. It may be wild boar dish or even some game meat that they could catch. It was fun and so....free. There was a natural water pool at the bottom of the hill. The place is enclosed with zinc cladding and made a bathing house.  What I like most was that the water was always very cold but refreshing. Eventhough, the natural water pool was near the rubber processing house, the water is crystal clear and two huge gourami fish lived in it. That is the deterent for the young children from plunging into the pool! Being the eldest, grandpa would teach me to look for wild fresh vegetables that we could pick for our lunch or dinner. He would even bring me to the woods to check on the traps and see if we had caught anything. There was once that we caught a nice jungle fowl and though the meat was tough,it's chicken,man! Yeah, my brains were flooded with these wonderful memories and I was so overwhelmed.

When our car hit the tarmac of Muar bridge, I could see that my sister,my brother, my mother and I were in our own thoughts. Mom smiled and so did all of us. We sorta understood each other and there was such a connectivity-lar! It was good. Then, I made a stop at Jalan Bentayan to pack my regular dosage of "otak-otak" for the family to enjoy as we wait for our meals at the restaurant. At the restaurant, we talked, laughed and waited hungrily for our meals. Patiently, as the food started to roll, we had steamed fish in a tasty spicy broth, fried kang kong with special milky spicy sauce, Hokkien mee, rojak chicken, Thai mango strips with cuttle fish strips, kum heong sotong and fresh kailan plus our "otak-otak" delight. Everyone was filled to the brim with good food. It was truly a remarkable night. That night I could see that the family was happy....being together meant so much to us and it was really a delightful night indeed. One night that I would cherish a lot. It was really just a fun night..........

Pure disrespect.....

Today I am all riled up and very angry about what had happened at my grandpa's wake service. I have made it a point until today never to criticise or even comment about other religious faith but today will be my first. I have always respected Taoist or Buddhist and even Chinese associations all these years but today, I have lost every strain of respect for them. Mind you, my grandpa is still in his casket when these people from the so-called temples and Chinese associations came calling to collect their donations. ( It is as if we would not honor what my grandpa had insisted we do! ) I am appalled by such lack of respect and I am sickened to my bones for such blatant crap. No wonder, the saying of the generations is true - it is the Chinese who are the real culprits in messing up their own kind!  It is just so senseless and pure hypocrisy of the highest kind and it is no wonder our society is further plunged into more darkness than ever. Afterall, corrupt leaders corrupt the society!

Yes, this is the sharpest critic yet from me because I have witnessed for myself men from temples, school association and Chinese associations coming forward unashamedly asking for their share of the donation from my mourning family and commented that the amount is too little and request for more donations or their association/temple names are not on the list. What type of sick people are there running temples, Chinese associations and school associations today? How sick can they get? It is not only shameful but a real bad testimony for the entity they represented. Isn't it the goodwill of the family and the discretion of the family when it comes to donation? This arm twisting tactics and taking advantage of grieving families at this time leaves a bad taste in the mouths of the people. Even if my grandpa had been a millionaire for that matter, whatever amount of donations given is from his heart and that's all that matters, right? No one should question how much he gave or the family decide to give because it is a donation. I failed to understand how learned people in our Chinese association, temple caretakers and even Chinese school association can't understand this? Which part of the word "donation" that these people did not understand? If it was up to me, they would not see even a single glint of the ringgit from me and I have explicitly told my wife that none of these association are ever going to get a single sen from my family when my mom passes away one day! That is just  to show you how disturbed I am today! My sister, my cousins and I are totally disgusted and devastated. Totally disgusted! Out of not making a fuss, my mom, my uncles and aunties decided to give out donations to these "robbers" as they try not to make a fuss about things. To me, this is totally wrong and feeding the devils and little bloody Napoleons out there! Shameful! Shameful and disgustingly shameful! 

Look, my grandpa was not senile when he made up the list of donation recipients! He was alert, well and healthy when he wrote up the list of recipients before he changed his address. If the temple/association/club name is not in the list, it simply means he doesn't want his hard earned money to go to them, isn't it ? It is as simple as that! I am NOT afraid to offend anybody because that is the truth and I am not easily conned like my mom, my uncles or even my aunties! Afterall, the truth is the truth and don't ever hide behind the veils of religious institution/associations because it would stain and make the religious institution , school association and even Chinese association stink of perversion. It is a lousy testimony! It is simply a bloody lousy testimony!

Really, I have never felt so "robbed" in my life. I imagined all those hard earned money my grandpa had earned over the years only to be stained by the hands of these greedy robbers. God have mercy on us all if we continue to have leaders like this! It is simply just too embarrassing. Now, I know why I would never ever join nor support such associations who claimed to be champions of this society and that society. To me, they are simply money making associations. It is so sad that a few black sheep had caused such embarrassment.

What was disappointing for me was seeing leaders from these clownic associations/temple coming around for my grandpa's wake service looking forward to receive the donation envelope even when he is still in the casket! When they have received the donation, these people were out of the house in a giff while some opened the envelope to count the cash before leaving the house! That is really distasteful indeed! Very very distasteful and lack of respect for the mourning family of ours.

I wish I could have said something nicer but I don't have any good words to say about these people today. The experience, the things I heard and the things I see today doesn't augur well in my soul. It hurt my family and it hurt the very foundation of the faith that some of my other family members had embraced. God , may You heal our hearts with the balm of Your comfort!~

Class Act....

In continuation of " My Grandfather" article, I just want to continue to write about how much in amazement I am about my grandfather. While getting the necessary arrangements on funeral arrangements and so on, I was able to chat with my mom and my brother about grandpa.What was revealed to me by my mom and brother was truly amazing and classy act carried out by my grandpa.

I was told that there was a written "To Do" list of things which grandpa had prepared years ahead prior to the day he passed away. At first, I thought it was a joke but certainly it was no joke and everything had to be done according to his list - His last wish list! By looking at mom and brother's face, it was certainly no joke and nothing more frightening than seeing how serious mom was! So, I asked my mom and brother to reveal to me what was in the list which as the story and lists unfolded; continued to raise my amazement about this old man. My  grandpa had planned every detail of his funeral even right down to the cost of things! BTW, his estimation of cost was precise and not far off from his estimation prior to his death. Truly, he is aware of the needs of each and every son, daughter, grandchildren and even down to the Chinese associations, his Tai-chi club and even Chinese temples that he is going to give donations to. I am amazed and truly amazed by this. Imagine this - He knew that upon his death , one of the Hainanese association would allocate RM 1,000.00 as bereavement fund. He decided in his list that he would donate RM 500.00 back to the association while the next RM 500.00 would be given to the association tombstone caretaker to dig the hole to his grave for his casket to be lowered in someday and the fees was exactly RM 500.00! Amazing! 

The only thing he did not allocate was the cost for his casket and the meals as part of the funeral expenses. He left that part to his sons and daughters to make their own contributions. It is a Chinese customary thing of bringing good luck to the family and so on. I wouldn't know anyway. Other than that, all cost had been allocated for. Isn't that amazing? As the undertakers laid my grandpa at rest in the teak casket, I took a good look at my grandfather's face and saw how serene and peaceful he was lying there. Mind you, there is no facial make-up at all ( usually, undertakers will get make-up artist to dust and make the face look nice-lar! ) and he looks good in his natural form. I could not hide my tears and joy as well. There wasn't a dry eye at the living hall that day when he was lowered into the casket. As I look at him, I just want to thank him so much for being so considerate and a truly amazing grandfather. I wouldn't know if he heard it or not but deep in my heart , he is a winner.  I am amazed that he was such a detailed planner of his own funeral. A hard act to follow, man!

My brother then told of how grandpa would take my mom to the bank, opened up a joint account and saved into the account. Grandpa was specific that he did not want to bother any of his children nor grandchildren for the funeral expenses and so on. So, every dollar in the bank was to be used to pay for every possible expenses incurred during his funeral and all payments must be made! In fact, he had a little something in store for each and everyone of us when all expenses are paid at the end of the day. WOW! WOW! WOW! I am stumped for words! Mom then confided that grandpa wouId say to her that he trusted her and being a good daughter, she should only revealed this fund to the family members when he had to change address someday somehow. Mom  recalled how he told my mom to take note of this needs and that needs when it arises when he is no more around on this earth. Hey, my grandpa has a great sense of humour and class,man! As I sat down there with my mom's hands clasped firmly, I told my mom that grandpa had had a fulfilling life at 85 and mom nodded. I also told her that grandpa had a lot of class and respect for doing what he did. No only was he a great model but a great example of a human being. I couldn't help but felt proud that I have a grandpa like that. He may no be around anymore physically but in my heart, I have a great space for him.

I know that it is really quite morbid to talk about funerals and death but every one would have to die eventually, someday, right? I guess, no one can run away from that fact. It is always, " I have more things to do but I wanted to .....", "If only I had spent more time with ........". " I just met him/her yesterday and I wish I could ......" Everyday of our lives, we second guessed our decision to spent time with our loved ones, good friends, people who are dear to us, and even long lost family friends. That's why we should all look at NIKE slogan and " Just Do It! ".

Grandpa, you are one classy act and there will never ever be another one like you!~

My grandfather...

"Don't be sad. Have an ice-cream on me. Now study hard and be good." Those were the words of Mr. Chai H.C., an ice-cream seller and most important of all, my grandfather. Those days, ice-cream sellers usually rode bicycle and that was what he did. To support the family, this man rode miles and miles even as far as Paya Rumput in Alor Gajah to ply his trade. There were times when it was raining and there would be plentiful of unsold ice-cream but he was never sad nor stingy. He is always very cheery, positive and a big-hearted man. He would treat us ( my siblings and I together with my uncles and aunties) with great Magnolia and Walls ice-cream. No matter whether it was rain or shine, we would get our treat of ice-cream at the end of the day. He is a great grandfather. He hardly complained and he persevered a lot. With his old trusty bicycle and a big squarish metal tong of ice-cream, he would cycle from one corner of the town to another. He was not only hardworking but enterprising as well. He would sell bread sandwiched with ice-cream and even sold those wafer cone ones. Every sen he earned went into household expenses and sending my uncles and aunt to further education. It was hardwork but a decent living those days. He slogged day and night while he was easily asleep by night and an early riser the following morning. On a good day, he would make 3 trips to the shop to replenish his ice-cream stocks while making sure we have our ice-cream treat. I hardly see him lose his temper but when he is angry , he would just go to a corner and cool down. He never took things at heart but he is always telling us all to study hard. Even when I was in my darkest hours in life, he was there to support me by giving me words of encouragement and good sound advice. A man of few words but very choiced words. He doesn't mince his words when he advises and never with a grudge. He is a man who would not complain of his pains ( physically or mentally ) but he would rather suck it all in. 

I remembered the day my mom called me and told me grandpa met with an accident. I quickly drove over to the house. I took one look at him and I told him I have to take him to a hospital. He insisted on GH while I wanted to send him to a private hospital. He said firmly to me, "No, Ah Pok. Send me to the GH. I will be alright." With bloodied side of the head and an equally red Picasso blood patterns on the shirt, I was sure he was not okay and so, I insisted that he did a complete scan at the hospital. After much talking to the doctor and so on, he finally went through the scan and all the other tests. It took a long time but I am glad he got it done. Thank God, he was okay and he never ceased to thank me for it. My brother,mom and I then took him home while mom took care of him. We then insisted that he comes over to my mom's place for dinners so that we could take care of him. Anyway, he insisted that he was used to fending for himself after the death of my grandma. He would join my mom and brother for meals occasionally while mom would go over every morning to check on him until that fateful morning when he had a stroke and fell down.This accident happened to an 85 year old man who does tai-chi exercises every morning and I was stumped! I was in Penang with the family at that time and I was gutted when I came to know about this.

When my family and I went to see him in the hospital, it broke my heart to see my grandfather lying on the bed in the ICU unit. I held his hands and I prayed for him. In the next few days, SLing and SYuen continually prayed for him. I knew he wanted to speak to me but he was just too drowsy, I guess. He was having difficulties in breathing and it was heart -wrenching seeing my grandfather lying there. I may be deemed as a "no expression" man at times but deep down in my heart, I wept for this man for he has a great & amplified big heart and I love him for it. He was my grandfather and a great one indeed.

He breathed his last gasp of air at about 3.00am on Tuesday, 14th June, 2011. I will miss him and I will miss the mangoes he kept for my family whenever the mango tree in front of his house had a bountiful harvest. That is the bigness of his heart - truly a grandfather right to the end!~

I will miss him ; I truly will miss him!~   

CLA Youth - Encounter Camp 2011

I got home a little after 11.00pm last night after attending the last night of events ( wonderful praise & worship and drama presentation of the group! ) of the CLA Youth Ministry - Encounter Camp 2011. Earlier on Thursday night, I was given the opportunity to share a message at the same event in church.  I must say that it was really a fulfilling and a real blessing time for me. Somehow, when I turned back the hours before the actual sharing of the message , I must say in all honesty that it had been really chaotic and jam-packed schedule. With my grandpa being in the HDU unit in general hospital and the ever present workload ( I was in Batu Pahat that morning ), I was wondering if I could make it for the event and to speak to the youths that night. I can only give all glory and thanks to HIM ( The One Above ) for sustaining, giving strength and words to inspire and challenge the youths spiritually in my message that night. 

I remembered spending hours on my knees to the Lord in the late nights to seek the message for the camp. Amidst all the hustle and bustle of the day plus the daily distractions in our lives, I was able to prepare the message. The Lord led me to the story of the healing of the paralytic which involves four men who lowered their paralysed friend down the roof for healing from the Lord. I searched long and hard for the meanings to the message and viola! ideas just flowed easily. I did a rough outline of my message as I continued to seek the Lord's blessing for my humbling endeavors. God has shown His favour upon my life for giving me the inspiration to share the Word for the night. Then I got the outline done in powerpoint and ensured that I would understand this while I am able to bring out the message as He had entrusted me.

That night, I shared from my heart. I gave my all and I would like to give all glory and honour unto His name! I was happy , at least, the youth were not sleeping as I shared the message, man. Mind you, they had a long day at obstacle course and all the physical activities that they had carried out during the day.  I did not want a message which is too hard for them to understand but I thank God, they understood the message of what had been said. You know, I believe in my heart that these are the pioneering 26 youths who are going to make an impact in our ministry and the local church arena. These young people are incredibily passionate , energetic, focused and awesome boys and girls. I truly love their enthusiasm, their easy going ways and the fun side of them. I could really see a transformation in their lives and I know that Chai Yen, Jillian and her team of leaders are doing a great job at moulding these lives. BTW, they have a great worship team ( Stephen Raj, Garrett, Eunice, Jillian, Malcolm, Matthew, John and  Kessel ) and they were sensationally inspiring that night and throughout the camp. Truly, the team has done very well indeed. Bravo! Worship team!

I am really blessed too because the very heartbeat of God - prayer & the values of the heart -had finally transcended and embedded into the hearts and minds of these young people who are really the future of our church and our nation today. I am glad that I have played a small part in inspiring , sharing laughs and even sharing experiences with these beautiful people. What I was extremely glad was that some of the leaders and youths who are also leaders and rangers in the Royal Rangers ministry had truly grasped the true meaning of leadership and serving in humility. They have not only made me proud by serving in the Youth Ministry but they have propelled excellent co-operation, cohesive teamwork, highest quality of passion, the grand openess of their hearts, the selfless sharing of their experiences and expertise and most important of all, I saw their love for others, their cares and full heartedness in carrying out their responsibilities. I am truly proud and I am truly humbled by the experience.

Last night, as I congratulated one of my leaders, Stephen Raj , who is truly a remarkable lad and a natural born leader, for the wonderful works he had done for the camp, he said this to me , " Thanks, comdr. I learned from the best! " I smiled. Those words touched this old humble heart of mine and it brought so much joy to me.  I guess, if I were to die tonight, I would wear that same smile to my 6'X 4' plot because that is the most satisfying words ever uttered.

So , thank you, Chai Yen ( your renewed passion and zeal, your concern and your commitment towards the youth ministry continues to amaze and inspire an old man like me!) for giving me the platform to stand, to speak and to inspire these youths. BTW, I love the thoughtfulness in the gifts too! Thank you, young people of CLA Youth Ministry for allowing an old uncle like me to speak to you while you listen on to the blabbering, crazy stuff and ramblings of an old man. It was really fun and somehow, all the triedness, the energy sapping day events and heartaches just goes away!

Here's to a new start in the CLA Youth Ministry and may you continue to touch lives and be a blessing to youths around you! Cheers, people!

Hakka food treats....

Dinner treats could be tricky at times; especially with my medical condition, I need to be aware and careful of what I am going to swallow while filling up my palatial taste. So, when my family and I were driven to a place which was not known to us and through some 'secret' hideout ingenious roads away from the prying sights and smells from the kiasus and kiasis, I was really looking forward to tasting some fine cooking. We were kinda taken aback by the ruggedness of the place we are going to have our dinner fare. Rustic, laid back, terrific ambiance and wonderful food awaits us as we stepped into our palatial heaven for the night. The cook was already in the nicely renovated rustic kitchen preparing the meals for us. Somehow the food seemed so far away from my mind as I am marvelled by the furniture of antiquity nature and the beautiful restoration works on the classic tables and chairs. It was like I was stepping into a different dimension of time and I love every minute of it. The well defined, soft toned and lush yellow lights brings out the best of the eatery scene ever.

I was easily taken into a time of sheer pleasure and lighted up like a small boy being taken back into his childhood as I see the well-restored Chinese long bench. The ingenious combination of arts and creative eye especially the long waiting table which had a door as its table top and supported by two old rustic sewing machine legs, blew my mind completely. It is really a work of artist and a great visionaire to come up with such creativity. The intricately carved wooden panels which separates the living room area and the dining area are another piece of art and truly tastefully used to suit the eatery. As our table were laid out at the dining area adorned with nicely pressed and clean pink sheets of table cloth, I was sure that we are in a gastronomical treat for the evening. I was not wrong in this matter as the evening further unfolds.

For starters, we had two plates of freshly julienne carrots, cucumber and celery sticks laid on two plates with a cup of thousand island sauce adorning the centre position of the plate. Simple yet tasty dish to start with as we await the heavyweight dishes for the night. The nine of us ( Vive & Sathy, BA & Jessy, Janice, JWee, Syuen, SLing and myself ) then took our seats at the dining table. The aroma and the simplicity of the first dish was enough to raise and wet my appetite indeed. The kampong chicken with the spices, sesame oil dash plus ginger makes this an exemplary first dish. The taste - mouth watering and simply marvelous - good till the last bone fragment! It is just so simple and that is what that makes it such a good dish. Simple dish cooked with a lot of heart and soul in it. Then came the stuffed tauhu with minced pork simmed in a nice clear broth. Wow! Another simple, good and tasty dish. The minced pork did not have any porky after taste that most of us would dread but this was tastefully done and the broth that comes with it was filled with enough garnish of cilantro, green onion and parsley to flavour the soup nicely. The food came out in perfect timing as the third dish was fried Jenak fish piece with scallions, tomato, tauchu and some really interesting sauce. Again, simple food with great taste. Everyone knows of my dislike for fish dishes but I salute the cook for making me to want more of this fish dish. The frying of the fresh fish was everything to me. The fish cut was crispy yet moist enough for me to get into the meat and with the right blend of salty, sweet, sour and rich at the same time. It was like an explosion of flavours all in one big cauldron of bang! I ate my quota of fish meat for the year, actually and I am very happy the quota is from this eatery. We had fresh ' chai sim' with pretty large prawns for our nest dish. Now, that what I call generous servings. Yeah, the prawns were not some "kecik" ones, ok? They were the big size ones and the portions were great. What I like most about this dish is that it is nicely cooked ( the prawns were not over-cooked or drown by MSG capsules! ) and it taste really good! Like I said, vegetables and me are not synonymous but this one I can eat heaps,man! Then came the pork trotter and ribs cooked with sweet vinegar. Ummmmmm....anything with pork is game for me. Anyway, I did control myself and ate a small portion just enough as I do not want to jumpstart my heart all over again!  To top off a good nite of dining experience, mango cuts with a dollop of vanilla ice-cream decorated with mint leaves adorned our table. The combination was superb and what a way to end our dinner experience! I will say it again and again that is : If simple food are cooked with simple and fresh ingredients topped off with genius combination and balance of spices and flavours, that will be a successful and winning combination in any eatery. This one just won hands down minus the fanfare and all the elaborate combo. A good chef knows his stuff and keeping the simple things real is simply the best. Truly a dining experience I will not forget! Yup, the pur-er tea comes along just fine along with the great fellowship with great friends and family. I really hope to come back again ( and again ) to this eatery and sample more dishes. BTW, I am told that the dishes were simple Hakka dishes crafted and cooked beautifully by a simple man of great faith in his food. That, to me, is truly more impressive and honorable than anything else. 

My compliments to the chef ( I shall leave unnamed! ) for a truly great dining experience and ambiance!~