Simply contradicting

It's now coming to the end of 2008... 21st century... where we can pay bills via internet, with current technology, it has brought the mankind to the highest level of convenience they can be...a mansion built up of 20,000 square feet, a car with 500HP worth of millions, hotel in Dubai that costs RM 50,000 a night yet on the dark side of the mankind, there can still be people with no roof over their heads, no cloth wrapping their bodies and no food comforting their stomach.

Last night I was invited by my friend to help him in "street ministry" where we brought food to the beggars found along the corridors, road side and bus station around Penang island. We found those beggars aged from young kid, middle-aged and up to old people, consisted of both genders and varied races of Malaysia. Some of them prefer to beg than to work despite of their ability, one of them prefers to bag with his young child than to send him to welfare department. Whatever it is, it stirred up my feelings of compassion for them.

Along the most happening areas in Penang where people park their shiny luxurious vehicles along the road, dancing like there's no tomorrow in the clubs, drinking beers and having fun in the bars and lounge, we found all those homeless people sleeping along the corridors. Such a contradiction isn't it? Didn't the authority do something? Yes they did, by capturing all these people and sent them to the welfare department. Some of the beggars who came out of it told us they prefer to beg on the street as they 'earn' more and have more freedom. One of them told us, "does the authority really care about us ? Do they really know what we want ? All we need is just a pair of ears listening to our sorrows and heartaches."

So next time, when you want to complain about the taste of a food, think about they have NOTHING to eat, that your house is too small, they have NOWHERE to stay, that you don't have new clothes to wear for party or dinner, they don't have A PIECE of cloth to wear. Be grateful, be thankful, there always are people who are much unfortunate than we are.

Something to share...

I have been having this desire in my heart that I wanted to share to the world what God has done in my life. Finally I decided to pen down this ‘adventure’ after listening to Ps. Robert’s sermon pertaining to Christ witnessing. For those who are aware of my experience, please bear with me ^^

 

Here goes:

I was diagnosed with this illness called ankylosing spondylitis and here are the links to its definition, symptoms, causes etc.

 http://www.medicinenet.com/ankylosing_spondylitis/article.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankylosing_spondylitis

 

Due to this illness, I was suffering greatly in pain because of the immobility and stiffness of major joints such as joints in the lower & upper back, ankle, both shoulders and hips. It hurts every single second and it hurts even more when I tried to move. They severely affected my daily activities such as getting up and down from the bed, passing motion, getting on and off a vehicle, climbing stairs, picking up objects from the floor, wearing socks etc. Hence, I could not have a good rest at night when the pain was attacking me second by second and minute by minute even though what I did was just lying straight on the bed.

 

I had been to endless medical treatments, therapies and the effort was in vain. From government hospitals in Penang and KL, Chinese traditional doctor in Johor and up to specialist in Beijing, China could not help me much in my suffering. Not to mention about the number of people giving advice that they think could help.  

 

Experiencing every second of pain, I cried out to God- why is this happening to me? When I’m in the peak of my life to get a career and enjoy life, You stuffed me up with this illness and all I can do is seriously hoping my life to be taken away, away from this suffering. This is what I did every night. I cried out to Him, exactly like what Job did, “Why don’t you just take me away???, Why you brought me out of my mother’s womb in the 1^st place???”

 

Yet, God is merciful and though He seemed silent throughout my hardship, His blessings still could be seen. Here are some of the pictures of the darkest days of my life:

                           Still could soar high with AirAsia^^

   Thinnest ever in my life- 43KG. Don't be jealous ladies ^^

 In spite of my disability, I still could travel to Pangkor island to stay in the forest for 4 days and did some stunts such as jungle trekking, abseiling, night-walking and canoeing. Don’t ask me how I did it; I just knew I was heavily protected by the angels of God!

Despite my disability, I scored the highest CGPA of 3.83/4.00 in my 4 years of studies in my education course!

 

Despite my disability, God did not give up on me but to continue using me to fetch others without transport and serving in the church. Imagine I did all these when I had to use a walking stick wherever I went. Hard to believe? God is magnificent and indescribable.

 

After suffering for some time, God finally sent His people to aid me. I gave up on following a treatment last year thinking there would be no way for me to fork out RM 49,000 to undergo the treatment. One day I received a call from a drugs agent asking me about my current condition and whether I still want to undergo the treatment since financial aid can be applied. Sensing strongly she’s a child of God, I agreed. I was really amazed of God’s wonder when she told me she decided to reopen my case when she realized there was no follow-up action done. Months after that, I had my 1^st treatment in HUKM with God’s mercy. The treatment works tremendously well in my body despite the mentioned side effects and I started to walk, run and jump! It has been a year now since my 1^st treatment and I’ve completed a course of it. Whether to continue for another year, I have no idea at all and I’m not worried at all. Since God has brought me to this, He will bring me through it. v(^.^)v 

Philippians 4:13

I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

:: BE ALERT :: BE CAUTIOUS ::

When I thought my life has reached the climax and at its best, God just brought it to a whole new level. God can make 1 million and 1 things to happen to make your life interesting, take my word for it.

There was an attempted break-in in my backyard last night between 2.30a.m. and 3a.m. I heard the dog of my neighbour started barking but couldn't care more as it stopped after a while. With a heavy head and fatigue body, I forced myself to plunge into my pillows. Suddenly, something fishy was immediately sensed when I saw the glare of a torchlight shone into my room ! I thought I was still in my dream until the second time occurred ! Swiftly I got up from my bed and grabbed my spec ! Upon realizing waking the person in the room, he got out of the hole of the fence and silently went off.

With my heart pounding hard, I rang 999 and the cops arrived within minutes. After doing some slight investigations, they went off. Though nothing was lost, nobody was hurt, it was traumatized enough for me as this was my first experience and I was all alone at home!

So, my dear friends, please be very very cautious and alert at all times that don't ever let your guard down no matter in this area, relationship with your spouse or your loving Father.

Some pictures to share:

This was how closed the guy was to me and this is my newly set-up 'trap' ^^ If you wana sneak in , make sure you don't trip

Hey all

Greetings all,
Sorry for keeping this blog dead as I didn't have time to update it following a series of events such as termination of internet connection, trips and holidays. To keep y'all updated, I'm doing real good and still adapting myself to this brand new learning environment in UM. I did have slight cultural shock when I got in here as the lecturers are definitely different from what we had in teacher's training college. Lecturers here with the title of Professor/associate prof/Dr. are always busy, busy and busy that you really don't have sufficient time to talk to them personally but only to approach them through the Internet. Yup, everything is done online here including the submission of courseworks, comments, blogging, video clips, resources, everything ! This is quite hard for me till now as we haven't got our internet connection fixed. Hope this will be history as soon as I get a call from the person in-charged. Alright, think that's all for now and I will do some updates on the trip to Gold Coast as soon as I have the time and internet connection. Take care everyone !

Gold Coast trip day 1

Arrived at the airport hours before departure and all I could do was wait, wait and WAIT. The flight took us about 7 hours to reach there. It was uncomfortable during the flight as the seat was in upright position for me to lean on. What to do, AirAsia cheap ma ^^
It is winter season in Australia but the weather was just too good to believe. Average temperature was around 18 degree celcius. (slightly cooler than Genting^^) As I didn't sleep well at all on the plane, the first trip was awfully tiring. Our coach driver brought us to Seaworld theme park and everything was about the ocean. It was interesting that we could watch dolphin show, sea lion show, polar bears, sharks and water acrobatic. Not to mention the roller coaster rides that is more thrilling than those in Malaysia ^^
Things in Australia are cheap IF you're working there. If you're spending RM in Aus with the exchange rate of 1 AUD= RM 3.1, a bottle of 600ml mineral water that costs 3AUD and a slice of carrot cake that costs 6AUD aren't cheap at all. Branded goods such as nike, esprit, adidas, CK etc. are seriously cheap. (more info on day4's post). I notice something that's different about their goods in Australia which is 2 products that are same can have different price tags due to their availability and year of production.
Australian are very friendly, helpful and courteous people where they would stop walking just for you to take pictures. Cars would also stop just for the pedestrians to cross the road while in Malaysia, you better run for your life before they hit you ! They really enjoy their lives and I think that's the motto of their lives. I could hardly see any stress on their face and they keep smiling even to strangers. Stay tuned for day 2 ^^

A groovy kind of love...

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts,
always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
—I Corinthians 13:4-8a (NIV)

This verse describes the characteristics of true love.
These qualities can certainly be found in the person of Jesus Christ, and they can be found in all
truly loving relationships. The problem with trying to “find” love in our dating lives, is that too often
we don't look for these characteristics. Rather we look at physical appearance, popularity, or wealth.
These are not the qualities that God looks at and neither should we.

But the LORD said to Samuel, “…The LORD does not look at the things man looks at.
Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
—I Samuel 16:7b (NIV)

Love is best seen as devotion and action, not an emotion. Love is not exclusively based on how we feel.
Certainly our emotions are involved, but they cannot be our only criteria for love. True devotion will always lead to action—true love.

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with ACTIONS and in truth.
I John 3:18 (NIV)

Christ was devoted to us enough to give his own life for us (Romans 5:8), even when he didn't feel like it (Matthew 26:39).

Sex is not love!
Our culture has taught us that sex and love are one in the same.
This is a lie.
Sex is a beautiful God-given activity that is wonderful when practised within the boundaries of a Biblical marriage.
Sex is the completion of the binding of two people within Biblical marriage; it is a God-given gift.

Thank you

Thank God for being so faithful and sustained all the strength and focus I needed for this semester's exams.

Thank God for all the friends He gives me who continuously support me in the areas of studies, health and relationship.

Thank God for all the circumstances that happened recently that I was drawn even closer to Him.

Thank God for my health that I'm still living and kicking and my body is only to be used to serve Him.

Thank God for everything that I have as everything comes from Him. He is the alpha and the omega. Amen.

I understand.

I understand I must love myself before I can love others.

I understand I must be open so I can open others unto themselves.

I understand I must be honest if I expect that of my friends.

I understand I must speak truth if I am to hear the truth spoken.

I understand that I must reach out to people if I am to be touched.

I understand I must share If I am to be given.

I understand my knowledge must be used if I am to grow.

I understand you must have freedom if I am to be free.

(Walter Rinder)

Hillsongs United LIVE in KL !!!

Date:	Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Time:	8:00pm - 11:00pm
Location:	Glad Tidings Petaling Jaya
Street:	No 6 Jalan 13/4
City/Town:	Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

Contact: 012 387 9938

Hillsong United will be performing a LIVE concert at Glad Tidings Petaling Jaya.

Tickets at RM 50

Organized by Youth Alive Malaysia & Glad Tidings Petaling Jaya.

Waazzzup for this month ?

Well, finally i've ended our semester's classes last Friday and handed in the last assignment of this sem this morning.^^ Having study break now but still need to attend revision classes...
So upcoming challenges are our final exam, practical training and house-moving missions. Thank God for giving us a house that suits everyone's need (6 of us) in PJ. It's located in section 14 and it's near to UM as we'll continue our adventure there.
I'm not sure when i'll have the time to go back to my hometown and i really want to T.T Hope that everything can be settled as soon as possible so i can enjoy home cooking ^^ Ciao~~~

Switch off your lights when it's not used

Typing Speed Training

Found this site from my friend's blog which is really useful and fun in training your typing speed ^^ Enjoy !
73 words

Speedtest

The power of black

Teacher trainees in my college here started the media player craze instead of the popular gadget- handphones. (top picture): iPod nano 8GB on the left, iPod touch 8GB on the right and my black tumbler at the top^^. Have another Creative Zen 4GB and Creative Zen vision W 60GB which weren't taken picture of. (bottom picture): New clothes for my baby ^^

Ups again

Thank God that i just bought a brand new motherboard which can support DDR2 RAM. My joy can be understood as i had been struggling with the old DDR RAM for 3 years...

Downs

Just days after getting my iPod, i burnt my pc motherboard by connecting 2 external hard drives to it T.T The system just crashed right it was connected to the second HDD and i smelled smoke. It was simply awful for it to crash at that moment as i had a major assignment to be submitted days after that. Thank God i have friend who was willing to lend me her second laptop without thinking about it when i asked for the favour ^^

Ups

Recently just added a gadget to my collection which is apple iPod touch which has 8GB of capacity. Bought it RM200 cheaper than the market price as i won the auction on lelong site. Item was brand new and came with apple warranty. It has the basic functions such as music,video playback and photo viewing. The best part is surfing the net will never be the same again as you can surf anything even chat with your friends through MSN messenger at Wi-Fi hotspot with its 3.5-inch touch screen keyboard. Kindly view its tech spec by clicking this: http://www.applemalaysia.com.my/ipodtouch/specs.html

Easter celebration 2008

As Jesus Christ was crucified, He 'visited' hell and fought the devils and Satan to get back the key of life to save the world... Want to know more ? head down to Gospel Esplosion Presbyterian Church (GEPC) at taman connought, Cheras, KL this Saturday (22/3/08) at 5pm to witness the grandest Easter extravaganza ever happening in town !!!
p/s leave a message if you have any enquiry ^^

Still living and kicking in Jesus name !

Just discharged from the hospital on Sunday after my 5th infusion. Thank God everything was fine since i wasn't able to be infused a week before due to the abnormal increase of my bilirubin index. Left the hospital with injection scars here and there T.T but i would not be infused again for now since i have completed 5 times. It will just be an appointment with my doctor in 6-week time v(^.^)v
What I'm doing now ? Assignment-test period again. Having 5-6 assignments, 3 tests and 3 simulated teaching to be done in March ! Everything will be over smoothly by the grace of the Lord. Hopefully will feel more relaxing after this month.
Went to SK Taman Midah 2 (Cheras)today to submit the letter for approval regarding our 14-day practical. Can't believe I'll be teaching so soon in primary school >.< That's all for this time (head back to complete assignment) God bless you all ! ^^

Discipleship training @ Kluang

Was immediately interested to this programme once it was announced by uncle Ven in the esplosion camp 2007. The speakers - Pastor Victor & Kelly are the one who made me confirmed that i wanted to go for this training.
Truly it was my first time to Kluang (yay! I love to explore places). Four of us- Eliana, Joseph, Sharon Foo and me rushed to the bus station right after our Friday class and took a three-and-a-half-hour journey to our destination.
Kluang is a peaceful and relaxing town if you compare it with KL town. I felt that kind of relaxation right after i alighted from the bus. We had Bro Jit brought us to Oasis to settle our baggages and one of the dogs there greeted me with freshly baked 'cake' =.=|| malang betui. Then, we headed to the youth center for the training after our dinner.
We had around 18 people from various churches such as GEPC (KL), AJPC (KT), PD and Agape church (Kluang) respectively. This training was a packed yet effective one as we learnt ample of effective ways/strategies/techniques to follow up with young christians, interact with strangers and even evangelize to them. We did our practical training which was evangelism in Kluang hospital which was the 1st ever experience in my life to approach a stranger and evangelize !
On the last day of our trip (Sun), we attended the beautifully designed Agape church and received our certificate for the training ^^ It was really a good one and I'm looking forward to level 2 training. People out there, spend some time and money for this, you won't regret.

Down the memory lane ~~~

It was really good to meet up with all my F5 friends after we graduated from high school for 5 years... We first met at 'mat dou yao' shop in Jelutong then shifted to 'Kayu' in Bukit Jambul in Penang. Glad i could make it as i wasn't in the mood to join as there usually won't be people turning up for gathering but this time we had 9 people ^^
We first shared what we are doing at the moment with some people taking civil engineering course, nutrition course, horticulture, aerospace and some even opened up their own shops selling handphones.
After 5 years, we don't really remember who is who especially those we didn't really mix with in school. So we managed to get our school magazine to see faces ^^ and surprisingly, we have a friend from other class who is now a father! that's young ^^
It was really exciting to recall what we did in our classroom especially when i was reminded i used to sleep in the class most of the time with my helmet blocking the view of our teacher ^^ And how one of our friends was woken up by the headmaster and got a 'present' from him ^.^
We'll meet again this Sat at Queensbay mall with more people joining ! See you guys then !

Floor Ball

Yep, you'll have a ball that rolls on the floor if you infer the meaning from the name of the sports^^It's more like indoor hockey but the difference is the end of the stick and the ball are made of plastic instead of wood. Yup, for over 20years, this is my first experience in playing this game v(=.=)v
We had the game at Kompleks Belia dan Sukan located on the opposite of USM main gate. It was really exhausting under the training of the coach. We had to sprint to and fro a checkpoint for warm-up session. Then we had some ball passing practice, shooting the goal and lastly, a real game. Well, honestly i enjoyed it a lot as it was truly fun and exciting ^^

4th infusion~a disaster~

This time wasn't so smooth like the previous one as there were some unexpected incidents happened. For every infusion, usually i would have to undergo 3 pokes of syringe which are to test blood sugar, normal blood test and to insert a connection tube for drugs dripping. For this time, i underwent 5 pokes in total ! Thanks to an inexperienced doctor. In the middle of night, not only she woke me up, she wanted to inject the connection tube (which is the most painful jab) but took it out after that. I asked her "what was that ?!" She said, it wasn't injected properly... walao eh !!! Why not you use your arm and test 1st =.= Then she took blood pula, due to her carelessness, not only she left a bruise on my arm, the blood she took wasn't enough and rejected by the lab. That means i had to take another blood test the next day because of her =.=||
Next, i was supposed to be discharged after 1 night. Thanks to another irresponsible doctor who was supposed to do a check-up on me and discharged me didn't turn up, i had to stay another night and missed 5 hours of lecture in total and my lecturer set an important assignment in one of those hours ! Grrrr
So, doctors out there, please be professional as your patients are already suffering from illness, please don't worsen it.