Monday, August 31, 2009

Recycle Broken Badminton Racquet

A few days ago, after much ego of becoming the next Chong Wei of the country, things went wrong in the badminton court.

My badminton racquet broke.


Not only did it just break, it broke into two just like this.



Maybe it was the powerful smash.

Maybe it was the tightness of the string.

Maybe it was the pink color of the racquet thats filled with it that made the racquet too hot for the "pinky" who used my racquet.


Whatever it is, the racquet is now broken after being bought for only one week.

Not to say, with the racquet broken, the ego of being the next badminton champion of the country went along with it.

The shop that provided a year long warranty for the racquet only covered accidents that, let me put it this way, were not Man-Made.

With all their experience, they concluded that mine was man-made. (Not to argue of course)



So, what had become of this expensive racquet no longer has value.

Now...here's the interesting part.

Before you start to throw away your racquet into the bin to keep the environment cleaner,


I mean you ain't going to keep a broken racquet for your future generations to use right?


THE RACQUET STILL HAS VALUE!!

Don't worry i'm just as surprised as you are!!What I'm Talking about??

Apparently I was told that some shop around Komtar will accept your broken racquet for as much as RM60.

RM60 for a BROKEN RACQUET.

Trade in of-course for a new racquet. Does not matter what brand it is, as long as it looks like a badminton racquet or umm close to it. (Don't bring tennis racquet la)

So there you go guys, don't throw away your broken racquet yet, its still worth at least RM60!! Keep your ego intact, keep playing badminton, and continue your journey to be the next Chong Wei for the country. Will update to you whether this is true, but hold on to your broken racquets.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Satu Bangsa, Satu Suara, Satu Malaysia Song

Dear Readers,

HAPPY 52nd INDEPENDENCE DAY!!



REALLY LOOOOVVEEE THIS SONG!!

oh wait...here's the video...




SATU MALAYSIA!!!

Here's another song.


Saturday, August 29, 2009

It's all about confidence

Last Night, I drove back home taking the route where a Police Road Block would normally be set-up to catch people who break the common law of driving.

DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE.

A well known route that must never be taken . The kind of route that there is no turning back and would only lead to trouble. Anything more than a few glasses of "The Juice" would leave you either a few Ringgit Shorter or simply provided a new home to stay for the night. Nothing to fancy of course.

And I shall say this, for the route that shall not be named but i'm not afraid to say it at all.

LARUT ROAD.

It is of the clever tactics of the police in Penang that the Road block would be set-up not too far away from Upper Penang Road every weekend where people would at least be drinking "The Juice".

Anyway, last night I decided to take Larut Road back when I know at the back of my friends head that I was simply out of my mind.

There are not many times I would go through a Police Road Block confidently after spending time at Upper Penang Road, to tell the Policeman that I was not drinking after a night session at a Night Club.

It is of no surprise that a police would stop my car after seeing a striped long sleeve shirt guy driving the car which definitely gave away my innocent looks of abiding the common law which doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what I would probably be doing dressed like that coming from that direction.

So he asked me whether I was drinking beer after having a deep stare at my eyes and of course awaiting a reply to check on the clarity of my voice which would give away the sanity and stableness of my mind.

I answered...Tak Ada.

The policeman smiled and said.

Thank you.

He paved the way for me to carry on my journey back home.

So there you go guys, it does not matter what route you take. Just don't try to break the law. Road Blocks are there for your safety for everyone. If you are going to drink, always have a designated driver to take you back home safely. The world will be a better place. You'd live another day to enjoy another good night.

But I shall say this though, WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING??

Friday, August 28, 2009

Sri Lanka.

An art & craft lesson plan about caterpillars and butterflies, and a story about coconuts. That was all I had to offer.

"Wai Jia, this trip is for you to watch and learn. A church in Sri Lanka has invited us to go over to conduct a children's camp for them, to instill character and impart lessons to them. The theme of the camp for these children, many of whom come from broken homes, is Transformation."

Transformation. Little did I expect how I myself would be transformed on this mission trip as I taught, played and ministered to the children. Little did I expect how God would speak to me through an art & craft session on metamorphosis, and a simple Sunday school lesson on coconuts. As our 4-person strong team (the other 3 members are much older, experienced church workers) conducted a children's camp themed Transformation for more than a hundred children from various villages in Columbo, Sri Lanka, I found myself, too, being transformed.

This mission trip was extra special in many ways. For the first time, I had full assurance that God had planned it, and it was not I who had wilfully gone ahead. For who but God could have planned the dates such that they fell perfectly after my exams and just before the next heavy module; who would have thought my leave would have been approved by the dean; who would have thought God would bless me with this church mission trip after I felt Him tell me to give up the previous 2 solo trips because He wanted me to be rooted in my church community?

Just a simple art & craft lesson on metamorphosis and a lesson on coconuts to illustrate God's great transformative power. I was worried. Where was Sri Lanka? What were the people like? Do they even have coconuts? Will the children understand what I have to teach?


During the trip, my leader prayed for God to open up my eyes to see in the physical what He wanted me to see in the spiritual. Time and time again, as God spoke to me through special sights and sounds, my heart warmed to a very real and divine presence of His love for me. I hope to always remember these special moments:

- the moment when we touched down and I, still wondering if I had taken a risk to prepare a lesson plan about coconuts when I wasn't sure how common it was in Sri Lanka, saw the streets filled with coconut trees. Our van stopped by the roadside and when I looked out of the window, 2 locals selling a cart of orange coconuts were beaming at me, at the likeness of my fair-skinned, oriental self, which posed an intriguing point of amusement to them. At that moment, a divine peace just poured over me. The cart of orange coconuts leapt out at me, as I felt God assuring me and giving me confidence to impart my coconut story to the Sri Lankan children.



- the moment when I realised, that not only was the place full of coconut trees, but that the coconut was a mainstay in the people's food, culture and life, with the people using coconuts in curries, household products and even lamps! Sri Lankan food, with its rich flavour of spices and coconut milk, was amazing.


Little Nethan and a coconut fire lamp-torch used to light up the campsite at night



-the moment where I realised that the people had kept their powerpoint setup, so I'd to improvise my lesson plan and think on my feet. I felt ridiculous at first, really, having to dump my powerpoint slides for drama, making the children act as trees. They were thrilled, however, and raised their hands excitedly to be picked to act. One child acted as a tall, slender coconut tree swaying in the wind(right) and another, a big stout tree (left).

"When a BIG WIND comes, which tree do you think will stand? WOOOOOOO!!" I howled, and swept through them as if I were the gale.

"BIG FAT TREE!!" they squealed.

Well, did you know that in spite of their willowy and slender appearance, coconut trees are extremely resilient, being able to withstand strong gales? In contrast, isn't it interesting to note that we've seen many pictures of big trees toppling over in storms, haven't we?
The lesson was that, many a time, what man sees is different from what is truth. Just like a frail-looking coconut tree (in comparison to a big stout tree), we may not look good on the outside, but it is our character, not our appearance which counts. For "God does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart." - 1 Samuel 16:7b



I started to teach, and felt God teaching me what I was teaching, too. The children listened attentively.


"What does a coconut look like?"

"UGLEEEE!"

"BROWN AND HAIREEE!"

"LIKE A FOOTBALL!"

"Yes, and can you tell me what it can be used for?"

COCONUT MILK! MAKING HATS! MAKING POL SAMBAL (a type of local food)! DESSERT! BRUSHES! TRUNK CAN BE USED TO MAKE BOATS! AND BRIDGES! AND CHAIRS!

" Wow, very good. See, the coconut is very ugly, and when it floats aimlessly on the water, it can look very useless. But look at how it can be transformed into so many useful things! Do you know that every part of the coconut is very useful? And do you know, YOU and I are like coconuts!"


Like coconuts? They listened with rapt attention, with quizzical expressions.

" Maybe some of you feel that you are too small, or not smart, handsome, important enough to do great things. Maybe other people have looked at you and told you bad things about you, that when a strong wind comes, you will fall like a tree. But do you know, that God sees you differently? We are like coconuts and coconut trees. He has the power to transform you into somebody very useful. People look at your outward appearance, but God looks at your heart."

I didn't have a coconut with me, but I had brought the woodapple fruit for class. The woodapple is a local fruit which has a hard, bomb-like shell and a soft mushy and tasty inside. The local children always have great fun smashing and eating it.



"But to be useful, we need to let God break us and open up our hearts- just like this woodapple here, or just like the coconut."

They understood.


- the moment where I was with the children in the foresty campsite, and a child led me to a tree filled with hundreds of caterpillars.



My first reaction was to squirm, when I looked up in shock to find hundreds of creepy crawlies just inches above my head. But at once, my eyes and ears were opened, just like when I had seen the coconut cart. I felt God speaking to me about the art & craft lesson I had planned, telling me how precious these children were, how they too were like caterpillars, just waiting for someone to believe in them, to be transformed into something far greater and more beautiful.


a child showing me his paper butterfly
- the time when it poured at night at the campsite, and our rooms were filled with creepy crawlies, of which I had the most exciting time observing. (My love for wildlife goes back to when I was a child and kept dragonflies, bluebottles and other strange beetles I had caught as pets.) An unfortunate cockroach crawled next to my pillow, and incurring my wrath, suffered the most unglorious death underneath a plastic slipped after my teammate had knocked it out with mosquito repellent. It was the soundest sleep I had had in ages, as I felt refreshed listening to the tinkling rain, and the lovely sound of frogs croaking at the window just behind my bed. Our surroundings were filled with beautiful leaping monkeys, strange birds, animated squirrels, beneath a starry canopy and amidst glowing fireflies. Nature was dirty and beautiful in all its glory and I loved every minute of it.
- the moment where all the children scrambled to make their little paper butterflies, and were so happy doing so. One special child, with the lovely name of Portia, came up to me, beckoned me to bend down, held my face up close and kissed me, saying, " Thank you for coming" before shyly slinking away.


- the moments in the campsite where the children had fun playing games and I tickled them with a game of Police and Thief, where we went running, running, running without a care up and down the slopes, screaming and squealing and panting, before they all cornered me and dragged me onto a pile of pebbles where we all collapsed into a sticky, laughing, panting mess.


the bonfire night at camp



games with a dose of team spirit at camp


- the moment where I realised, just how much I liked Sri Lanka. The place, food and people reminded me so much of Nepal, only it was much cleaner and of a better climate. The people were so very warm and hospitable, covering us with their usual greetings of bilateral kisses on the cheeks, as a form of respect and love. Within those few days, I couldn't believe how many of my favorite things I saw- the beautiful ocean (oh wow not just the sea but the Indian ocean!), a railway track and trains (oh how I love trains!) by the ocean itself, and a pictureque sky with kites flying just like in the last page of Kitesong.



the sky, looking like the last page of Kitesong-


God reminding me of how we should continue to dream big dreams.



Pastor's wife bought me that kite in the sky.



It was as if God played out in the natural to let my human eyes see what He had wanted me to learn and gain from the spiritual. For through the coconuts, I learnt about the importance of seeking God's and not Man's approval; through the caterpillars, I learnt of my calling to touch and transform lives of children; through the ocean and train track and kites flying in the sky, I understood in a very intimate way how much God understood and loved me.


- And of course, the moment that I realised, that this trip had transformed me in ways unimaginable (but that will be for another post). I had fallen in love with the smiles of the people. And where I realised that perhaps, I would not mind staying long-term in a place like Sri Lanka, doing medical work or whatever it was that God called me to do.




It was a lovely trip.


Thank you for all your love, prayer and encouragement.





* Wai Jia would like to thank all who have been praying for her. This was truly one of the most enjoyable trips she has ever had.

Ride for Hope.

Adjusting back to life back home and in Paediatrics.
Riding for hope tomorrow.
More updates about Sri Lanka-
-Coming soon.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Thanksgiving.

In June, during my short 3-week break, I had planned to go on a medical mission trip to Aceh, or visit an orphanage in Borneo. I had been excited about it for months beforehand, only to be disappointed to find out that the dates clashed with our church retreat. After a lot of praying, struggling and finally seeking wiser counsel, I felt that in spite of my human desire to travel and take yet another adventure, God's wish for me was to attend the church camp instead. Long-term missionaries need to be rooted in their communities, and not always be zipping off to some exotic place, they said. And I agreed.

Bah, but I wanted to travel to a place of adventure, not attend a retreat in a hotel. I was upset. I threw a tantrum at God. Then, trusting that God had the best for me as He always does, I got over it.

Aunty Ay comforted me, saying, " I'm sure God has an even greater adventure for you this season. It will be very exciting. Just wait and see."

The theme for the camp was: "Return to the stronghold, O prisoners of hope; This very day I am declaring that I will restore double to you." -Zechariah 9:12

This season, I suddenly understood why the church camp was so essential to my growth, why the message was so pertinent for me. For after all that God has brought me through in the past 3 years when I fought against Him unknowingly and rebelliously, I have finally returned to Him, returned to His bosom, His stronghold, and have had all that was taken away from me finally restored to me, doubly.

This season has been the most fruitful one ever. And it is only in retrospection that I can fully appreciate what God has been doing, and continues to do. I stand in awe of all that He has done in my life, and I say this not to boast, because knowing myself fully well, I know it would have been impossible had I relied on my human strength.

Only God could have brought the people at such strategic times into my path to help me- for Amos appeared just weeks before my triathlon when I really needed to learn to swim, and he had to leave for overseas- right after I had picked up enough swimming to be prepared for the mini-race.

Only He could have given me the joy for Obsterics and Gynaecology (O&G), such that I was able to enjoy such a heavy module so thoroughly and still have energy to train, to take a flute exam, lead bible study, teach lessons at church, meet people, do things.

Only He, knowing that I had obeyed to attend the church camp instead, could have arranged this mission trip to Sri Lanka with my church at such a perfect time- right after my O&G exams ended, during a fairly relaxed module such that my application for leave got approved by the Dean, and returning just in time for a heavier module. Had I left for my own plans wilfully in June, I would've been too tired to go for this trip and completely missed out on hearing this very important message for my life.

For it was only because I heard the message over church camp that I can now fully appreciate God's work in my life.

Perhaps you are going through a really tough time (I know some of you have been). You, like me some time back, may be wondering why life is so unfair. You may be feeling low, inadequate and unloved by God in knowing that others can accomplish so much and be so fruitful while you are struggling in such utter darkness. I want you to know that everything has a season. I was in that winter's season before for a reason, to learn certain lessons, and now that I've learnt them, I am now in spring and summer. At winter, I railed at God and resented my position, but it is only in tasting frost that we can fully appreciate the glory of sunshine.

So take heart, soldier. Soldier on. You might be in winter now, the way I was too before, but seasons pass. Winter is a time for the ground to fallow, for roots to dig deep without any apparent fruit up above. But as long as you allow God to do His gardening work, you will see spring and taste the goodness of the change of seasons. It is God, and not myself, who is amazing.

So return to the stronghold, you prisoner of hope. And God shall, in time, restore double unto you, too. Take heart. Just you wait.

And thank you God, for your amazing way of making everything beautiful in Your time.

Be back in a week's time to start my Paediatrics module. Taa.


"Return to the stronghold,
O prisoners of hope;
This very day I am declaring that I will restore double to you."
-Zechariah 9:12


Prayer requests:
For protection and safety,
Joy in serving the people there,
and to hear what God wants to speak to me regarding His calling for my life in missions.
Thank you so much.
Blessings and love.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Good Maths.

I find it interesting to note, that laws in life very often don't obey logical rules. We find it groundbreaking to have discovered mathematical equations and science, only to find that life doesn't quite follow the equation, not always at least. For it baffles my mind to understand how the more work one does in God, the more refreshed one can be; the more we give, the more we are blessed. The math just doesn't add up right.

Grandpa Zhou has been teaching me, that life in God rewards us exponentially.

A few months back, Grandpa Zhou went to see the doctor. He was running a fever, was referred to the hospital and eventually given a medical check-up which revealed he had anaemia, benign prostate hyperplasia (an old man's disease where the prostate becomes enlarged) and some gastric disease. He had refused to go for follow-up. "Why should I go?" he said defiantly to me in mandarin, " I don't have the money- this consultation fee cannot be reclaimed from Medisave (a form of government funding), and there's nothing seriously wrong with my health. I refuse to go!"

I was firm with him, and emphasized to him the consequences of not taking regular medication, of the tens of thousands of dollars an operation would cost if he neglected the comparatively little cost he ought to spend on seeing the doctor. "You take this, Grandpa Zhou. I want you to see the doctor. Promise me, you WILL see the doctor regularly and take whatever medication he gives to you."

A few weeks later, he showed me a stack of receipts. He wanted me to know where the money had gone, wanted to thank my family. "The doctor says, I've to take medication from the hospital every 3 months now."

Though I knew the answers, I asked him, "Tell me, what are these pills for? What do they do and what is benign prostate hyperplasia?" because I thought it important to find out how well he understood his condition and need for medicine. I looked at those hospital receipts and pills he handed to me and realised suddenly who I was becoming- a doctor, for all the medicines he showed me were that which we had studied about, and I saw their great relevance. His medicine made my study of it alive. It was suddenly at that point that Grandpa Zhou made me realise, that I have a role to play in life, that we all do- that more than a friend, or a passer-by, I have a role to play in society and a responsibility to the poor, the needy, and my community.

Grandpa Zhou has taught me how absolutely precious money is, something not every urban girl, especially myself, might understand to a deep extent. My eyes are opened to see the price of clothes and accessories in terms of what it can buy him, and it makes me reconsider my spending. The meaning of money takes new shape each time I meet him, and I wish it would be shaped more.

I once had someone scold me for giving money to people like him. I argue that our healthcare system isn't perfect. People fall through the cracks, defer their follow-up because of financial reasons, develop more severe illnesses and end up creating a greater burden for the healthcare sector. Our world isn't perfect. Giving people money isn't perfect either-it doesn't always solve problems, but the little of what we can do ought not to deter us from that little which we must do. What did that money mean to me? A new skirt, another pair of shoes, sending my bike to be serviced? And what would it mean to him? Better health, an improved sense of well-being, the ability to see a doctor.

He quivered a little, as if holding back tears before accepting it. "I'm so... touched. How can I accept this from you?"

As I sat with Grandpa Zhou on the dirty train steps, looking at the all-too-familiar print on hospital paper-his medical discharge summary and reading his diagnoses, my face was stung by his words. Nothing but the love of God for him possessed me when I took out the last note from my pocket to hand over to him, and how my face stung. For there we were, myself in jeans from Allure and a top from Zara, shoes from Charles & Keith and a bag from Aldo (all gifts/discounted items but branded nonetheless) sitting next to Grandpa Zhou who smells like he hasn't bathed in days, in a paper-thin shirt, with a bag picked up from a dumpster and feet which are black, bare and callused. There we were, with him sitting by the dirty steps of a train station playing his rusty harmonica while I go home and pay a couple of hundred dollars to take lessons for my flute exam; There we were, with him living in a home stacked from floor to ceiling with rubbish while I sneak back to my comfy glass condominium right across the spot from where he sits and plays; There we were, with him thanking me profusely and myself shifty and embarrassed.

He is asking me how he can accept the gift from me. How?

And all I am thinking is- how can he not?

Life is like that. God uses the meek to shame the strong. He uses the base to shame what seems to be the crown. The more we give, the more we are blessed. For all my education and common sense, He uses Grandpa Zhou to teach me these lessons of money and life so succinctly. God blows all mathematical equations to smitherines.

This is something I have been trying to tell Grandpa Zhou for months-that to receive and to live more abundantly, he really needs to let go of all that trash in his home, stacked in rows from floor to ceiling, with nothing but a one foot walkway to enter his home- sideways. I learnt, during my Psychiatric module, that hoarding is a mental illness in its own right. A respiratory hazard (think of the dust) and fire hazard, too.

On National Day during celebration at church, I was thrilled to see my writing about Grandpa Zhou published in the bi-annual magazine. Thrilled, because I love to write and see writing reach people, touch lives. Today I told Grandpa Zhou about it, told him how much he had taught me, then I slipped in the question of whether or not he had cleared his life of his "junk".

"Let me tell you something,"
he said in mandarin, " People like us are different from people like YOU. We have things in 'class A' and 'class B'. Clothes in 'class A' are decent clothes I can wear to church or meet people, 'class B' are my rag-clothes. If I give away my 'class B' items, my 'class A' items will be worn out too quickly!"

Class A and Class B- to think he had to categorise his belongings like that sobered me. To that I said jokingly, "But you have a lot of 'class C' items, you know... I saw a HUGE mountain of toys and trinkets when I visited your place the last time... "

For more than a year, I had been trying to convince him to throw away his items so he could be more fulfilled. For more than a year, he defiantly argued that releasing his "treasures" would make him lesser. So you can imagine how much my eyes lit up when an idea popped into my head, "Don't you think there're kids out there, poorer than you, who would long to have your 'class C' items? Why don't you pass them to me to pass to some kids in Sri Lanka when I go for a mission trip next week. Wouldn't you like that?"

"Oh... ... okay. That would be... ... possible."

Hooray! Slowly, slowly, bit by bit, I'm having faith that he will start to clear his home.

Grandpa Zhou has taught me more than he will ever know. In the article I wrote for church, I wrote about how much I disliked him at the beginning, but how God's power really showed me how love can transform not only him, but myself too. Through his little sharings at the dirty steps of a train station, he has pointed me to the unimaginably mindblowing laws of God which will forever baffle me, are still baffling me now. Like how God uses the despised to shame the proud. Like how He fills us up to overflowing when we give out. Like how He would love and choose someone like me. Like how life with Him is infinitely more fulfilling than hoarding anything else in this world- money, junk or otherwise.

I don't understand. The night before my final exams for O&G (Obstetrics and Gynaecology), I sat down to thank God for what He had done in my life. A year or two ago, I was in winter, unable to eat, sleep, study or concentrate at school, work or serve others much. This season, however, God really brought me to tears as He showed me how faithful He is to restore us, and doubly too. One mini-triathlon, a flute exam, O&G final exams (it is our heaviest module in our entire curriculum), additional ministry at church and bible study leading at varisty, a mission trip to Sri Lanka this week, sharing about Kitesong at service, a charity ride, amongst other commitments within a span of 2 months should've driven me crazy, worn me out. Knowing my anxious self, I know that it should've stressed me out completely.

But God has amazed me- for He assured me that He planned for all of this to happen so He could prove how BIG He is when we feel so small and overwhelmed. Because when we lean on His strength, impossible things become possible, exhaustion turns to refreshment, work turns into play. I couldn't believe how joyful and excited I was actually taking the O&G exams-they were tough yes, (the nervewracking final clinical exams involves us entering 10 different rooms to handle a scenario given to us by an examiner and state verbally how we would manage the situation. You can fail based on simply 1 wrong step of management) but I enjoyed the experience thoroughly. Everything He has laid on my lap, He has provided a double portion of joy. Till now, I can't figure out how I got through the past month. I have never eaten, slept, worked and played so hard with so much energy and joy in my entire life.

What a great mathematician, to be able to use a mere 2 fish and 5 loaves into a meal sufficient to feed great multitudes, with leftovers even! Grandpa Zhou reminds me too, that God really blows our minds. Because in God’s kind of math, there are simply no logical explanations, only exponential answers- as long as we look up, and heavenward.


" And He took the 5 loaves and 2 fish, and looking up to heaven...
... so they (the hungry multitudes) all ate and were filled,
and they took up 12 baskets full of the fragments that remained."
-Matthew 14:19-20


" Blessed are those who trust in God,
whose trust is God.
They shall be like a tree planted by the water,
sending out its roots by the stream.
It shall not fear when heat comes,
and its leaves shall stay green;
in the year of drought it is not anxious,
and it does not cease to bear fruit."
-Jeremiah 17:7-8

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Latest Updates

Ok guys, here's the wrap-up for the entire 4 weeks.

1) Bought a new GPS.


That's right guys. My 20 year old car now has SAT-NAV and it really looks good.

I bought the Garmin 255W for RM929 after years of comparing prices which never ends. Was being shown other brands like Papago. Simply unmatchable. Anyway can't live with the fact that I bought it here in KL when i've always been told that Singapore offers it much cheaper. So, guys...If you do find a cheaper one, let me know, and i'll go and bang my head on the wall.

2) Went to a place called Neroteca with Tiam and his Girlfriend.

A very exlusive dining place in KL that serves Italian Food. After seeing thousands of wine bottles that stacked up from the bottom floor to the sky, thought it was going to burn my pocket since I had to give my friend a treat but ended up not too bad. Lesson to learn....DO NOT ORDER ANYTHING SPECIAL THAT IS OFFERED TO YOU BY WORD OF MOUTH FROM A WAITRESS.

3) Receives Anonymous Comments

Judging from my last post, I feel that there is someone out there...wait..some chinese fellar commenting on my blog so much that I have decided to leave it alone instead of deleting it. Such an energetic fellar. Hey man I have no idea what all that is about??Still..thanks for the comments.

4) Met up with Michelle and Benjamin at a place called BoatHouse at TTDI in Kuala Lumpur.


A very nice romantic place. The owner's son took the opportunity to introduce to me the menu which had so many varieties of food that gosh, a simple man like me would find it difficult to choose and would just settle for something called Fried Rice. The place was pretty exclusive and he said I should bring a date here. She would be pretty impressed. So, you know..if I do bring a girl out here..I mean BUSINESS!!

5) Went to see lots of Honda Car's at One-Utama.



Felt that today's cars is really made out of plastic. Everything is so PLASTIC!!!

6) Got a new dog

Every now and then in the hills of Balik Pulau, we would happen to bump into some helpless dog. We know if we left it, the dog would just die a slow death. So, we brought it back. Gave it a brand new life. The dog is now served..SERVED with good food everyday now. No more hunting and scavenging for the dog. The dog is A mixed breed of Rhodesian Ridgeback and oh well a normal common Mongreal. Will take more pictures the next time.

7) iPhone.

Tiam really did a great job showing me how great the iphone really is. I really want one. Makes my phone a few hundred years old behind time. Checked it online, why is it that Steve Jobs says the phone is selling for US199 when back here is like a few thousand dollars..WHAT HAPPENED??

8) Man's Chest or Female Breast

You Figure that out!!I really don't want to know. Apparently my friend showed me this blog and he was comparing...hmm...There was some truth...

Ok guys that's all I can share with you for now, as for the others, I will share with you in a longer post.

8:22pm.

Most people wouldn't guess if I didn't tell them so. Because while every fibre inside me screams Singaporean, my passport and identity card say otherwise. Born in Malaysia, but growing and living here since 9 months after my birth makes me every bit local as everybody else. Except for my identity documents, that is.

Today is National Day, and I am so thankful to be here.

Singapore isn't perfect. Perhaps, there are too many rules, too many things one can and cannot say about the government; There are too many people in lifts, trains and buildings, and finding a seat on public transport is like striking lottery; Our youth are spoilt, distracted and too wealthy for their own good-myself included. We have made mistakes, and are still making them now- I shudder each time we drive past the integrated resorts which will become a casino hub, and laugh wryly in bemused resignation at how a counselling service for gambling addicts will be set up in response to the architectural monstrosity which will boost our economy but tear apart families, create jobs but destroy characters, bring in tourists but take away our sense of integrity. People fall through the cracks of our healthcare system, however impeccable we claim it is on an international standard, still. We are too pragmatic.

It's true, we aren't perfect.

But we have roofs over our heads, clean water from taps. We have public transport- try that in Nepal. And while we can't provide the best healthcare for every citizen, the economic-cost benefit is just about... there. We don't have large fields and horses and sprawling meadows, but we have nice parks and pretty landscapes. We don't have 4 seasons, but we have lovely weather, nonetheless. We have clean streets, fresh air, a place we can call our own.

I don't know how to sing the national anthem of Malaysia. I have visited the place a number of times, only to feel like an alien in the place, unsafe in the neighbourhood where I was born in, after knowing that a close family friend had been robbed four times in the district. I don't eat durians, the Malaysian national favourite delicacy, and I eat meepok (an Asian noodle dish) with ketchup, the Singaporean way, not dark soy sauce- something which all my Malaysian relatives use as the litmus test to differentiate our loyalties. They cringe and shake their heads in mock disgust.

This morning, a friend met up with me before dawn for an early morning run. And as we ran past the park connectors to the beach and back, adjourning to run in quaint little roads, we marvelled at how clean, pristine and beautiful the scenery was. "I feel so happy today," he said, "it's national day." I felt the same too.

"This is where I hung out when I was a kid," he pointed out. "Me too!" I said, as we talked and jogged past places which mattered to us, which formed a significant part of our identities.

The beach is the place I grew up in, the place where my best friend from childhood and I and his family got drenched in the rain while going to play with mudskippers when we were five. The college we jogged past was the college I attended. The coffeeshop we ran past was the place my father would give me pep talks in while I was going through my emo, angsty adolescence. The train station is where I met people who changed my life, like Grandpa Zhou. The east is where I schooled and played and grew up in most of my life. We jogged past the apartment I stayed in previously, and I mused at the time when I was still in pre-school and my mother would play those catchy national day jingles ("We are Singapore", "Singapura... sunny island, set in the sea...") and lullabies on a cassette player at night before I went to bed. Singapore is the place which gave me an education, gave me a chance at learning medicine through meritocracy, not a bumiputra system. This is the place where I met people who helped me understand who God was, and is.

It's not perfect, I know. But it's where I can call home.

I love the way we are so anal and uptight about cleanliness, among other things, the way we call our elderly "aunties" and "uncles" as if they were our relatives (it is an asian culture), love the way we try so hard to be Uniquely Singapore, and succeed, if only sometimes. We aren't perfect, but I love this place, still.

At 8:22pm tonight, the whole of Singapore will stop whatever they are doing to recite the national pledge, that pledge which I was chosen to recite in primary school on the school stage with a microphone. It's a strange feeling, something I have yet to reconcile with, to be a foreigner in a land you feel you only know to call home and yet can never quite call yourself to be a citizen of. It's strange to have studied and been 'brainwashed' by the history of a place which has bitter roots with your birthplace, of which you know little of. It's a strange feeling too, to know that home in the future may be elsewhere, in a developing country, and not here. I am straddled between two shores and an unknown one, over a precarious river of identity crisis.

But I forget, that perhaps, many of us, too, are foreigners in this world, God's people walking in a godless world, walking on this earth but only transiently, with a piece of eternal heaven in us, the heaven which is to be home for good in the future, just not now. (1 Peter 2:11)

And all at once, I remember, that Home isn't my previous apartment or my present room or the east of Singapore or the Malaysian neighbourhood where I was born in. Home doesn't depend on what my passport says or what I am familiar with. Because homes change with circumstance, and no home but One is truly perfect.

Home is where gratitude for things past, hope for the future, and love for the present is. Home is in the inside place.

Happy 44th birthday, Singapore.



"This is home, truly,
Where I know I must be."
- Home, truly

Monday, August 3, 2009

First Try. *photos added

And not forgetting
my parents,

-for sponsoring all my sporting gear and
for supporting me in all my strange and varied interests
with sometimes more excitement than I,
and for keeping me in check.

This race would never have been possible
if it weren't for what you've blessed me with
so generously, as always,
and if it weren't for your amazing trust to let me pursue
where my heart takes me
be it going to another developing country
or taking up another crazy hobby,
even if it involves giving you another heart attack ;)

It's really cool to know that
you two can sometimes be more excited about what I do than I am.

And I just want you to know,
that the race medal is yours too.

Just sharing that moment with you
And seeing that smile on your faces
was Bliss.

And thank you God,
for my 2 arms, 2 feet of clay and a
healthy mind & body,

(which I now understand and realise not everyone has,
so I no longer take life for granted).
Thank You for placing Fungus in my life.

I can't believe You taught me
how to cycle on 2 wheels only last October,
how to swim freestyle in the sea only in June,
and how to revel in the gift of having a healthy vessel

and honouring it to honour You.

Just 2 years ago, I was so ill.

The medal means much to me only because
it reminds me of so many angels
You placed in my path,
without which,

I would never have started nor completed the race.

I never believed
I could do something like this-
I am naturally scared, anxious and once upon a time was overweight.
And I thought You wanted me to give this whole pursuit up.
But little did I realise that:
When we show you how little these things mean to us
in comparison to You,
You turn around to show us
How much we mean to You.
Michael came to church with me after the race for Saturday service.
He saw that I couldn't stop crying,
Because I was so grateful
to You.
I learnt,
that nothing is inherently good or evil,
But our attitude towards it makes it so.

Sports,
or anything else for that matter,
-working, studying, painting, eating, birdwatching, dancing-
can be holy and pleasing to You
as long as we remember

that it is a gift from You.
Michael came in First in his race catergory on Sunday,
completing a full Olympic distance
after he had already done a sprint distance on Saturday.
He was so thankful to You for His strength.
Michael says,
that You are pleased when I swim, cycle and run
in gratitude to You.
Even if it is a little race, like the mini one I did.

And so I cried,
Because for the first time,
I felt Your pleasure.

And that kept me going through the race,
keeps me going still,

Even as I'm On the Road.

This race was one of blood, sweat and tears,

literally.
Truly, I cannot ask for more.

2 of my cycling buddies by me, and our medals


Tired.

Thank you to those of you who've shared in my joy in my journey,
and who have encouraged me in one way or another.


Thank you God.


" I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."


- 2 Timothy 4:7

*photos courtesy of Ernest, Danielle and KL
 
Design by emfaruq. All Rights Reserved.