Rain rain go away

Come again after 1am till 7am.

Yes, it's been raining for the past few days. And I'm grateful for the cool breeze that comes with it. The air is cleaner, now that there won't be any open burning by the village folks in Sumatera. And it is much nicer and comfortable to sleep at night.

Yet, it also brings the gloomy atmosphere to mind. Stuck at home, having less choices to do. Makes you want to eat more especially the warm or hot food. Slows down my body's metabolism. Doesn't help in my effort to reduce weight.

Not good for the business too. Customers not able to come and play. Low sales, less income, more sighing, more financial constraints and budget cuts for the family.

Why am I so downcast? Put your hope on God. He will lift you up and carry you on His wings above the storms (rain).

Keeping the Faith

2 Tim. 4:6–8

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. [7] I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; [8] in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. 

How wonderful it will be to be able to say with sincerity what Paul said above. I wonder whether I'll be truly able to say it when the time comes. Will it come a time when I can truly look back at my life and remember all the trials that I faced and overcame. When problems seems to flood me and wants to drown me but I hang on to God and rise above it all. When sickness trouble me not just physically but mentally, emotionally and spiritually but I still hang on to God. When people criticized me in my ministry but I still persevere on. When the words uttered by inconsiderate people hurts like a sharp blade slicing my heart. When there is no words of encouragement being heard for the hard effort put in to serve. When God seems silent and distant at times. 

Would I allowed myself to be poured out as a drink offering? To be used by God to serve others, will I allow such things? Did I continue to fight on even when everything seems hopeless and so difficult? Will I continue to run the race when I feel tired and out of breath and the only thing that comes to mind is the thought of giving up.

Paul has said it and he has received the award, the crown of righteousness from the Lord. 

As for me, I'm still in the race. I must keep my focus on the finishing line. I may stop for a while to catch my breath but I'll still be moving forward towards the finishing line. God, help me.

Bang, ada Panadol?

A customer just came in to my internet cafe and asked me, "Bang, ada Panadol?"(Brother, do you sell Panadol?). Shake my head and told him, "No".

Sometimes I donno whether these people use their brain or not. I will never in my right mind think of an internet cafe as a place to sell Panadol (paracetemol) and I will never ask such stupid question in an internet cafe. Haizzz. Furthermore, my next door neighbour is a clinic. Why don't he go inside the clinic and ask that question? Pelik betul lah diorang ni.

Growing up believing a lie

On January 16, 2012, Historian Prof Emeritus Tan Sri Khoo Kay Kim said that there is no written proof of the existence of Puteri Hang Li Po and for that matter, the 5 legendary "Hang" warriors, Hang Tuah, Hang Jebat, Hang Kasturi, Hang Lekiu and Hang Lekir. 


WOW! And to think that I was told of the Hang's stories and being "educated" into believing the stories since I was young, this announcement by the qualified historian is almost "unbelievable". What would they claim next? I remember declaring myself as Hang Tuah when fighting with other kids when I was small. I am proud of being a Hang Tuah. But now, that pride vanishes into thin air. 


One thing for sure, the education system in Malaysia sucks badly. They have been spoonfeeding or brainwashing almost 3 generations of young children and youths into believing a LIE. The state government of Melaka even "approved" various cemeteries as purportedly belonging to the legendary warriors. There is even a state stadium named after Hang Jebat. The town main road is named Jalan Hang Tuah. Hahaha...what a fool we Malaysians have been made into. Even the State of Melaka also believes in such a lie. This is truly MALAYSIA BOLEH.


Now I wonder what other stories that I've been told and "educated" with when I was young that will be debunked in the future as lies. Oh ya, one very obvious one is the "Ketuanan Melayu truth" which the BN propaganda have been pushing very hard in order to win the votes of the Malays. 


Well, at least there is one thing that has stood the test of time which I can trust with my life, the Bible.

New Year resolutions

As usual, a new year brings in new resolutions. Not that I remembered what my resolutions are for 2011. Can't even remember a bit of it. Now, my new year 2012 resolutions. Hmmm... a bit hazy lah.

Ok... lets try this.

1. Be more involved in ministry. Meaning, be available to preach more, song lead more, teach more, back-up singing more and hopefully be able to mentor 1 or 2 people.

2. Finish my 2nd Degree. One more paper to go. Which normally takes me about 6 months.

3. Build up my business. This one a bit hazy coz it all depends on God's blessings.

4. Be a good and godly husband and father in my family. Hope to be able to support my wife spiritually and teach my children godly principles in life.

Ok lah.... too many nanti tak boleh buat pulak.

Finding freedom or Master

Scottish theologion P.T. Forsyth, "The first duty of every soul is not to find its freedom, but to choose its master."

Reminded me of the story of the kite. A boy made a kite and brought it to the beach. He let it fly and soon the kite was flying high. Every tugging by the boy made the kite fly higher and higher. Then the kite thought that it could go higher if only the string that holds it back is cut loose. The kite snap loose the string and with high anticipation and eagerness wanted to fly higher. But to its dismay, it was swayed by the wind and dive towards the ground.

Everyone of us can achieve greatness and fly higher only if we are attached to our master and do the bidding of our master. Then we can find the freedom to fly higher in the sky. To be free without our master will surely cause our downfall. Many in this world wants to be their own master without realizing that their own capability is very limited. Many in this world wants to be free. Unfortunately the very freedom that they say they have later become a bondage to them.

Choose wisely your Master for the true Master shall set you free.

Would God trust you?

Did a study on Joseph, the "earthly" father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was not as popular as his wife Mary and I have yet to hear any sermon on him preached in the church, except the sermon which I myself preached in Philippine a few years back. After doing some study on him, I found him to be quite an extraordinary guy.

He had to suffer much because of God's plan for this world. Why did I say that? Try to imagine these situations: -

1) How would you feel when your fiance/wife is pregnant and you are sure you are not the father to the child?

2)Then your fiance/wife tells you one out of the world story that she did not have sexual intercourse nor did she used any modern technology to get her herself pregnant but that she is supernaturally being made pregnant.

3)You have to choose either to let your fiance/wife bear the public shame which could cause her to be stoned to death, or to marry her and take in the shame upon yourself.

4)Do you risked your wife's life and the baby in the womb just because you have to register for a census? You and your wife (who is almost due) have to walk or sit on a donkey and travel for a few days to register.

5)How would you feel when people that you don't know come and worship your baby?

6)How would you feel when foreign people come and worship your child and told you that this child would be a King someday?

7)How would you feel when you are told that this child of yours will be the saviour of mankind and that you too will one day bow in worship before him?

8)What would you do if angel visited you and tell you to flee to another place because someone wants to kill the child? And you can't go to the "police" because they are the instrument used by the authority who ordered the killing?

9)How would you feel when your child conveniently stayed back at the place where he wants to be, without informing you and you thought that he is missing. You tried to find him for 3 days without any success.

Despite all that Joseph had to go through, God trusted him to take care of Jesus. Joseph did not abuse Jesus even though Jesus is not his real son. Joseph taught Jesus the trade of carpentry. And Joseph provided an excellent role model of an earthly father to Jesus.

7273

Had a dream a few days ago. Can't really remember what the dream is all about. Must be the aging effect on my brain. Anyway, the only part I remember about the dream is where I saw the number 7273. Then I found myself winning something and was very excited about getting the prize. When I reached the podium, to my surprise I was given a basket of fruits. The organizer told me that they don't have cash so they are giving me the fruits instead. Huh..!

So I woke up remembering the number. And then told my mom to buy the number. I don't know why I want to buy the number. I've never buy numbers before nor do I advocate buying numbers. Someone said that it is against Biblical principle and I agree to that (though I've yet to do a Biblical study on that). And lo and behold, the number came out wrong. The nearest number is 2273. Hahahahaha... padan muka.

The moral of the story is... Don't gamble coz the gambling company is the one that will always win.

Mom is in the hospital

After making kuih chang everyday for more than a week, her body finally succumbed to tiredness and fatigue. Nobody forced her to do the kuih chang but it is out of her love for her children that she persistently and laboriously prepare the kuih daily. She had to sit or squat for a long time while making the kuih chang and thus it affects her abdomen muscles.

When the children went back to their respective homes, it was a little too late for her to catch her rest. She caught fever and lost her appetite. The next day, she complained of stomach ache. The clinic doctor told her that it may be because of bacteria in her stomach and prescribed some medicine for her. That night her condition got worse and she had to endure stomach pain until morning. She was brought to the hospital and after a MRT scan, the specialist said that her appendix burst and they need to operate on her. Now she is recuperating and God willing, she can be home in a few days time.

Sometimes I am amazed at her persistence in doing something for her family that she is willing to risk her health. People who are injured by others can get the service of Austin Personal Injury Lawyer at O’Hanlon, McCollom & Demerath – Personal Injury Lawyers – 808 West Avenue, Austin, TX. 78701 – 512-494-9949 but what would you do in my mother's case. Self "inflicted injuries" because of love for family is a no cause for any legal action. At least not in most countries of this world. Would I do the same for my children when I am in my golden age? Hmmm... .

It is not fair at all

Recently, there was a story of a house owner who was slapped with a fine of $3K by the electric company for stealing electricity. Unfortunately for him, he does not do it. It is his tenant who did it. His tenant is an employee of the electric company so he knows the dirty trick to steal electricity. The owner who had to pay the outstanding electricity bill of $5K when the tenant left the house had to fork out another $16K to repair the house before he can rent it out again. He thought that his ordeal is over until he received the fine for something that he does not do. It is just not fair at all.

I too have been cheated by my tenants before. I had to pay $2.5K for the outstanding electricity bill. It is just not fair. In situations like these, I wished that I have good Compensation Lawyers that can fight for my case. Why should I have to come out my hard earn money to pay for other people's usage? Or in the case of the house owner, why should he pay the fine when the electric company failed to take action after numerous reports being made by the house owner.It is not fair at all.

Foreign worker

An outsourcing boss offered me a foreign worker to work in my cybercafe. Monthly pay of RM900 and a place of accommodation. Well it seems that this guy has all the qualifications in IT knowledge which is good.

My main consideration is whether I can trust him to handle the cash. That is the main issue for most bosses. Of course someone will say that unless I try I would never find out. Well, that's true but it would be a 2 years contract and what would I do if I found out that he is not honest after a month. Headache.

The current part time staffs are trustworthy. The only problem is that their working time are not fixed. Lack of motivation seems to be evidenced in them too. Well, I guess staff will always have staff's mentalities. Though as Christians we are exhorted to work as though we are working for Christ, it is not always easy to do so. Staffs always think about their own convenience and want more money.

Hmmm...if need too, I will consider the foreign worker.

10 years of marriage

Time passes so fast. I can't believe that I've been married for 10 years. I thought that I was only married for 2-3 years only. Ohh... ya... I have 5 children now... so it must be true. walao... 10 years married de lah.

Ok... time to look back at these 10 years that passes by unnoticed (most of the time).

Status : from married (husband) to family man (husband cum father)
Vocation : church worker to cybercafe operator
Weight : from 72kg to 78kg
Height : still the same lah
Fitness : from superb to lembik de
Face : from clean shaven to trimmed moustache and beard
Hair : from short to short + pony tail
Favorite food : still likes sambal and lempeng. KFC is recently dropped from the favorite list. Bread + salad has recently been added to the list.
Favorite color : not important any more
Favorite sexual position : u no need to know lah... hehehe
Best girl friend : still that tomboyish girl that I got to know almost 20 years ago
Best guy friend : from Jasonkalai to none so far (in the process of building new guyships)

Ok...if someone asked me the secret to building good marriage I would say, "hmmm...know your partner inside out and settled it in your heart, mind and soul all the things that you don't like about your partner. Oh ya, don't forget to know the love language of your partner. It would definitely save you lots of time, effort and money in building up your marriage."

What are some of the achievements that I'm proud of? Well, God tells us not to be proud, so I would say that I'm very happy of these achievements that God has allowed in my life. :
-able to relate with my wife, loving her more and more throughout these years
-have 5 adorable special unique children and counting
-clear my business debt
-still maintain my faith in Jesus

What are my fears?
That God would take my wife away first and leave me with the children.
Or that God would take away my family...not sure whether I can be like Job who stands firm when all things are taken away from him.
And that I will fall away from my faith.

What are my nightmares? Dreaming of still being a student and haven't got a clue of what I'm supposed to study and the exam is tomorrow.

What are my plans?
To do the will of God for my life and family.
To have a better and more beautiful relationships with my wife, children and family members in the next 10 years.
To handle the "half time" challenges in a positive way.

oh ya... I luv u lah Michelle.

Waiting

For the new arrival. So far everything has been according to plan. May God's protection and blessing be upon the mother and baby. May He provides cheerful, kind, skillful and compassionate doctor and nurses to assist in the delivery room. And may the baby be born without any problems and complications. May it be fast and without much pain for the mother. May God give me the opportunity to witness the birth of His blessing to us.

Praying also that the siblings especially Ezra would love the new baby and be happy to care and look after him/her. May I would have the time to juggle my time for the business and the family needs.

All praise, glory and thanks be unto God.

Quiet

Because my two girls are not at home. No more fighting, shouting, running around, complaining, whining. Well, too quiet also is not good. Miss them. Anyway, I should enjoy the peace and quiet while I can. They will be back this evening and the house will be noisy again.

So far, Ezra has compensated abit with his screaming when he plays with his brother Barnabas. And Barnabas keeps on talking and talking when he is near me. He's the talkative type, the total opposite of his father. But he takes good care of his brother too. Willing to play with his brother even though they are about 3 years apart. It's a wonderful feeling to see them play together, shouting, screaming, laughing and getting excited in their game.

Maids in Saudi

I have a maid from Indonesia. Most of the Indonesian maids prefer to work in nearby countries like Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei because of the similar language. It is much easier for them to understand the instructions from their employer and as such can avoid making unnecessary mistake because of language misunderstanding.

The maids have a choice to work in other countries like the Middle East countries. The pay is much higher but the maids must understand English or Arabic. The good thing about working in Middle East is the maid's salary can be in kind. The maid can ask the employer to buy gold bullion for her instead of paying cash to her. I think this is a better deal for the maid if the maid does not need to use her salary as gold price keeps on increasing. If the maid has to send back money to her family, then this salary deal is not appropriate as it is risky to send back the gold bullion to their own country.

I was further told that sometimes the maids in Saudi would never seen her employers face throughout her employment period as the women would wear burqa and the maid would not be allowed to see the male employer.

Sickness averted

Due to the haze that is blanketing the many states in Malaysia, my whole family is showing signs of sickness. Annabelle, Ezra and Mommy are down with flu, slight fever and cough. As for me, I experience low body immune system yesterday, feeling tired and weary the whole day. In times like these, I turn to Usana Essentials, taking it twice yesterday instead of my normal once a day. Yes, I know it says that I should take 3 times a day but I can't afford such luxury. And with extra doses of sleep during the day, my body recovered. Thank God for that.

I'm praying that God would provide wind to clear the haze, or pour down heavy rain on the hotspots in Indonesia. Maybe, just steer a portion of the super-typhoon Megi to Indonesia so that the burning would stop.

The haze is back

Every year, around this time (Sept, Oct, Nov, and Dec) when the dry spell is on, we can see the haze in this country. Sigh...because of the greed of some companies in Indonesia that blatantly practice open burning to clear the land to cut cost, the people in Indonesia and Malaysia have to suffer. Bahhh...and even after so many years, both governments seems to be doing nothing about it.

When the haze is here, our health suffered. Itchy eyes, itchy throat, coughing, fever etc etc. Grrrr....hate it when innocent people have to suffer because of other people's greed.

Vacancy in rural area - doctors

Went to Pitas, Sabah, at the island of Borneo. It is accessible by road though some parts of the road are not smooth. It took about 3-4 hours ride from Kota Kinabalu, the capital city of Sabah. There's no bus service but you can take the taxi. The taxi is more of 4WD or in our case, a Toyota Unser, capable of carrying 7 passengers at one time.

The journey is a pleasant one. You can see the paddy field, hills, jungle, oil-palm estates and lots of green scenery. We were told that the state has built one big hospital in the Pitas district but unfortunately, there is lack of doctors and nurses. I'm sure there is no lack of nursing scrubs or uniforms for the medical staffs if ever they are posted there. Most of the doctors prefer to work in the big cities where they would get better pay/income.

I guess it takes a person who is committed to help the poor that would answer the call to serve in rural areas. And this kind of person/doctor/medical staffs are not easy to find. Even with various incentive including regular supply of scrubs clothing, not many would want to answer the call.

Would you answer the call to serve in rural area where the people are poor?

Looking for old course-mates

While in Sabah, I remembered one of my course-mate named Daisun in university. We studied law and he was one of the Sabahan students who made it to the top law school in Malaysia. When we graduated, we lost contact with each other. I was told once by him that he would go back to Sabah to practice law.

I wondered whether Daisun is practicing in Sabah. If he is, then he would have his own legal firm or a partner to one the legal firm there. I assume that he would be a litigation lawyer as that would fit his personality, handling various lawsuits like Accutane lawsuit or even be a criminal defense lawyer. Would I be able to recognize him? Hopefully, if he has not become too fat or change his familiar gestures. Maybe, one day I will see you again Daisun.

Having me for 24 hrs

After the trip to Genting, my wife said something during our conversation.

"You know, its been a long time since we (the children and my wife) have you for 24 hours for 3 days."

That really makes me think and reflect back. Ya, its been a long time since I've spent 24 hrs together with my family. Monday to Saturday, my children would only see me for a few hours, sometimes they won't see me at all throughout the day. Sigh... . Today's children generally suffers from lack of time with their parents. In our pursuit of monetary gains be it from lack of it or from the greed of wanting more, we have sacrifice essential valuable time with children. I don't want to wake up one day with lots of gold coins in my safe box but have lost all love, care and affection from my children.

When was the last time you spend the whole day with your family?