Thursday, March 31, 2011

Kepercayaan kepada Tuhan

It's the first among five of our national Rukunegara. Teacher told me because it's the most important compass for a nation. I didn't understand why religion was important back then. Grades were, weren't they? Bad results meant more strokes on the butt.

Slowly I understand what faith and religion are, and acknowledge God as the mighty and all powerful Creator, and how all wisdom to life are from Him. That's when I see religion as the most important compass for a nation, for family, for an individual. Our direction in our daily life, the way we act or guidance for decision should depend heavily on our religion. Because religion is what show and guide us to the truth and the light.

I want to believe in what I claim to believe in: The five Rukungara, starting with Kepercayaan kepada Tuhan. I want to make religion the most important compass for my life.

But someone is trying to stop us from doing so. The way our Malay-speaking Christians are forbidden to read or even to own a copy of our Holy Scripture is in exact contradiction to encouraging one to make religion the compass of his life. Because in Malaysia, the BM Bible is claimed as a threat to national security. I do not agree with the way they label my Bible. But one has right to freedom of expression. Because what I don't like should not stop others from claiming their rights to do things which they are allowed to do.

Similarly, what they don't like about my religion should not stop my fellow brothers and sisters from practising their religion, i.e., meditating on His Words and pray to Him in the language of our choice. Freedom to religion is (stated in black and white in) the constitutional and fundamental human rights as enshrined in Article (11) of the Federal Constitutional and Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The whim of the majority does have the power to oppress the right of the minority. Except that in this case, they're going against the God all mighty, not just His followers. Haven't they started to wonder why they never actually win this war?

Let's stand up against injustice. It's not just for yourselves, it's for your future generation as well. If you do nothing now, the future generation is very likely to follow suit, to give in to more injustice. What you do or don't do today will impact the future.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

girlfriends rock

After work today, Szuchen and I went for a programme for back care organised by the physiotherapy team in our hospital. Then we went for a dinner (pan mee at Face To Face) and dessert (Tutti Frutti!) in SS15. Before she sent me back home, we checked out the 100yen shop nearby. We had a really good time with each other's company. Of all the time I wish I have a significant other, I am grateful that Szuchen is a girl and we are growing closer with each other day by day. She is a great blessing to me, especially in my new work place. She is like a reminder to me that God has not forgotten about me, but has sent me an angel to watch over me.

Despite what I've gone through in my new place, I never come close to quitting. At least not right now. I don't know how else to explain except telling the truth that I know God wants me to stay. Many time I spent guessing what was God's plan for me, asking fervently for Him to reveal His great purpose in me. Many times I can't hear Him over my roaring heart. Sometimes God doesn't answer immediately. But as I learn to have more faith in Him, I learn to be patient as well. This time, I hear it clearly what His command is. By all means, I'm gonna follow it. Because the days lived without direction left me in desperation and that was quite unbearable.

And for every moment, I am grateful to have Szuchen around and get to know her better. I thank God for giving me someone whom I can clique well and feel very comfortable to be around with. I can't tell how I am filled with joy with her sitting across the table when we are having lunch peacefully almost every lunch break.

* humming silently in my head again :) *

Fruitless Effort

Why only Bible has to be stamped "For Christian Only" but not scriptures of other religions as well?

I am truly astounded by how even the non-Christians recognise the transforming power of His holy Word to the extend that a nation has to make a law to protect the majority of her citizen from it.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Shotgun! [edited]

Sometimes when I'm not sure about a word, I'll have a quick check in Google for their definition and usage. As I was writing the previous post, I googled up the word "shotgun" to confirm that it means the passenger seat next to driver's in a moving automobile.

Before I go into the main point, here is a brief historical background of riding shotgun [Wikipedia]: The expression was applied originally to the movie depiction of stagecoaches and  wagons in the Wild West, in danger of being robbed or attacked. An employee or passenger would sit beside the driver, carrying a shotgun r rifle, to provide an armed response in case of threat to the cargo or passengers.

Then I stumbled upon this site about Shotgun Rules. I was flabbergasted at how people would actually race each other for front passenger seat (and even their preferred passengers seats at the back, too)! All this while I thought I'm the only odd one out who loves shotgun seat very much. Of course, that position brings one certain privileges and duties as well, which he or she must fulfill to avoid being robbed off the fengshui seat. An interesting note, the trunk is also called "ex-wife" in some region in America. Haha ;-)

It's quite a long list of rules but I picked a few which I find interesting or amusing.

Section I - General Rules
1) The first person to yell "SHOTGUN" gets to ride in the front seat.
2) The remaining back seats may be divvied up in the same manner by being the first to call "back right seat", etc..
3) The word "shotgun" must be loud enough to be heard by at least one witness. If no witness is to be found, or in case of a tie, the driver has the final word. After all, it is most likely his car. (note: if it isn't his car, and the owner is present, the owner's decision is final. Owner must be sober, however, or he will defer his judgment to the driver.)
4) Early calls are strictly prohibited. All occupants of the vehicle (including the driver) must be outside of the building and directly on the way to the vehicle before shotgun may be called. Under no circumstances may a person call shotgun inside a building. For sake of simplicity, a garage is considered to be outside. Parking structures and detached garages are always considered as being outdoors, even if they are underground.
5) A person may only call shotgun for one way of a trip. Shotgun can never be called while inside a vehicle or still technically on the way to the first location. For example, one can not get out of a vehicle and call Shotgun for the return journey.
6) Being as how everyone is created equal, men have the same right as women to the front seat of the car. i.e. women don't own the front seat.
7) One is allowed to ride shotgun as many times as he can call it, but for himself only. No one can call shotgun for their slower friend, unless the friend has a speech or mental handicap that prevents them from calling it for themselves.
8) The driver has final say in all ties and disputes. The driver has the right to suspend or remove all shotgun privileges from one or more persons.


Section II - Special Cases
These special exceptions to the rules above should be considered in the order presented; the case listed first will take precedence over any of the cases beneath it, when applicable.
1) In the instance that the normal driver of a vehicle is drunk or otherwise unable to perform their duties as driver, then he/she is automatically given Shotgun.
2) If the instance that the person who actually owns the vehicle is not driving, then he/she is automatically given Shotgun, unless they decline.
3) In the instance the driver's spouse, lover, partner, or hired prostitute for the evening is going to accompany the group, he/she is automatically given Shotgun, unless they decline.
4) In the instance that one of the passengers may become so ill during the course of the journey that the other occupants feel he/she will toss their cookies, then the ill person should be given Shotgun to make appropriate use of the window.
5) In the instance that only one person knows how to get to a given location and this person is not the driver, then as the designated navigator for the group they automatically get Shotgun, unless they decline.
6) In the instance that one of the occupants is too wide or tall to fit comfortably in the back seat, then the driver may show mercy and award Shotgun to the genetic misfit. Alternatively, the driver and other passengers may continually taunt the poor fellow as they make a three hour trip with him crammed in the back.


Section III - The Survival Of The Fittest Rules (a.k.a The Bastard Rules)
1) If the driver so wishes, he/she may institute the Survival Of The Fittest Rules on the process of calling Shotgun. In this case all rules, excepting 1.8, are suspended and the passenger seat is occupied by whoever can take it by force.
2) The driver must announce the institution of the Survival Of The Fittest Rules with reasonable warning to all passengers. This clause reduces the amount of blood lost by passengers and the damage done to the vehicle.
3) Please follow the above rules to the best of your ability. If there are any arguments or exceptions not covered in these rules, please refer to rule 1.8.

Section IV - Revisions
1) These rules shall be subject to either revision or amendment at any time. But, changes and new rules you create during a car ride do not take effect until the next car ride.
2) Since there is an established body currently in place to distribute world-wide information, it is proposed that the United Nations (lol) oversee the adoption, updates (as required) and enforcement of these rules once adopted by at least two-thirds of the current membership of the UN. 
3) It shall be the responsibility of all drivers to have a current copy of these rules in the vehicle's glove compartment, so that disputes may be resolved.

And I actually laughed out loud reading the following:

Amendment IV: Eviction
If the vehicle is forced to stop for a serious infraction of the Shotgunner, the Shotgunner must relinquish his/her seat, if the driver so wishes.
Serious infractions have been known to include spilling alcoholic beverages, spilling any beverage, being annoying, breaking parts of the car, and in extreme cases, just being ugly.



Amendment VII: Navigator
The passenger who has shotgun MUST serve as Navigator. By this, he must watch out for signs and intersections that the driver may miss during the course of a road trip. The Navigator must also ask for directions out the window.
It is also the responsibility of the passenger who has shotgun to take control of the radio and air conditioning, however the driver has final say over the settings. The other occupants of the car can also have an opinion. If the passenger with shotgun is caught forgetting their duties and makes the car listen to commercials and/or bad music, then his privilege can be lost. Of course, this is all in good judgement of the driver. As Navigator, the driver may also ask him to operate other devices such as the windshield wipers, and rear window defroster.
It is also the job of the Navigator throw all trash and empty beer bottles out of the window. The beer bottles must be crushed under the tires to destroy all evidence, in case of an emergency situation.
In addition, the Navigator must possess the ability and the will to insult other drivers and be heard, only if they deserve it (ie: being cut off). This is to allow the driver to continue to operate the vehicle properly.
The Navigator must possess the ability (and the will) to roll down their window and invite any chicks in adjacent cars to the driver's destination.

:)

Hong Kong affair

Sigh, it does contradict my previous post but I'm gonna write this anyway.

I'm feeling a bit... emo (isn't this word only reserve for Jeremy?) at the moment. I am not sure why. Today has been a pretty smooth day, actually. The most eventful part was me waking up an hour earlier than usual working days to attend a talk in Sime Darby Convention Center this morning. I wasn't even the one driving and I got my favourite shotgun seat in my colleague (Szuchen)'s car. We were a bit lost when we were quite near our destination, but it's no big deal.

I resumed work in lab after lunch. And as usual, afternoon workload was at usual standard as well. I am guessing the main emo factor is the decidophobic moment between swimming and Hong Kong drama after work. I usually go swimming with some church friends in Monday evening if it doesn't rain. Today, it didn't rain. But I chose HK drama over swimming. I am totally into that 7pm drama series now. At this rate, I guess I won't be able to go any where during that critical one hour, which left me not able to go anywhere after that, too, because it'll be late and dark outside.

Last but not least, the other possible contributing factors could be:
- I have not been working out, which also goes back to my swimming and HK drama conflict. Or, my kickboxing regime. Sweating out via kickboxing is really fun. Then come next could be kickboxing versus HK drama moments. sigh.
- I have not been actively shopping. Seriously. I think I haven't bought myself anything for  the past month. I think I did meet up with friends for a movie or meal. But I am not sure if shopping-less days can last for 2 months consecutively.
- I have not been thinking like a debater. First I don't speak like a debater. Eventually I don't think like one anymore, either. Worse, I think I've stopped being actively analytical in everyday life. Come next, is the obsessiveness of wanting to know stuff. I don't even know what no-fly zone is and haven't read up on it, too. The idea of not knowing the background of Libya beyond Muammar Gaddafi disturbs me.

Anyway, as I was writing this post, I found something really interesting! And it brightens up my mood :) Next post!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Rejoice!

The thing about joy is that you don't know why you still can smile despite the negative condition. Or maybe you don't even see it as a negative condition anymore after your heart is filled with joy. You are still hopeful, which some others will say that is annoyingly optimistic. And you hum a silent tune in your head as you go around, anyway.

And what do you need to do when you're filled with joy? Make sure you brush your teeth before you show them to the world! It's too torturing to hide a smile when you're bursting with joy inside. You might as well share it!

Trusting Jesus gives me joy, which is far beyond happiness.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Hope

Sometimes we ask God why our lives are so ordinary that we feel like God doesn't really have a great purpose for us at individual level, or we're forgotten by God.

But actually, our prayers do work in marvelous ways we don't comprehend when things first happen. Or don't happen.

Tsunami hit Japan badly since Friday. News articles and videos are all over the web, which are not advisable for the weak hearted ones. With the nuclear plant exploded, I am too afraid to read the analysis of the consequences. Most people say it's not that bad. I just want to stay ignorant this time.

Then I remember there is this debate tournament in Tokyo, Japan, which I was quite interested to participate at first. It's the 20th ICU Tournament in International Christian University. The tournament was planned to be held exactly during this weekend.

Thank God I didn't go for it. I believe there are many more incidents which I did not know how God has shielded me from.

I have a close friend whose younger sister has been studying in Tokyo, but is recently back in Malaysia for her semester break. I thank God that she is back at home right now. Because if not, her family will be very worry about her. And I will, too. Because I cannot bear to see my friend upset.

If I were to choose, I'd rather have a corrupted government than natural disaster at my country. The incident somehow made me slow down and ponder on the value of life yet again. And things that I couldn't forgive at first seem so trivial now that I just want to let go.

There are many things we can do in life. But life is very short indeed. There are many people to fall in love with again, to hug again, to slap their butts again, to laugh with again, to cherish again, to tell them how much you appreciate them being them, and there are many ways to do these, again and again. And as typical Malaysians, we're running out of time to taste all the good food again, to wake up to nasi lemak breakfast again.

Why waste time hating?

I am sorry to hear about the loss of lives in Japan due to the tsunami.

Father, please save us.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

A Prayer Request

March 23, 2011 - 2nd Anniversary of Alkitab Detention
 
On 23 Mac 2009, the Bible Society of Malaysia imported 5,000 Alkitab Berita Baik from Indonesia but these Malay Bibles together with 100 copies of other Christian literature were confiscated and detained by KDN at Port Klang. Since then, these detained materials have not been released despite the many calls and appeals to the government. Though, the Cabinet has approved the release of these materials, yet the Home Ministry’s Publications Control and Quranic Text Division have refused to pay heed to the instructions given.
In times such as these, NECF Malaysia together with the Bible Society Malaysia would encourage and call upon churches to remember this occasion and join together in prayer for the release the 5,000Alkitab that is still being retained by KDN at Port Klang. Our call is for all Christians both East and West Malaysia to pray fervently during this period for the following:-
1. That Christians are at liberty to freely profess and practice our religion in peace without undue and improper interference from the State authorities
2. For the unconditional and immediate release of the 5,000 Alkitab together with other Christian materials as approved by the cabinet
3. That the civil service and/or enforcement authorities shall honour the rights of all people as enshrined in the Federal Constitution and comply with decisions made in accordance with the rule of law and established administrative processes.

Issued by
Secretary-General, NECF

Monday, March 7, 2011

The Fragile

I saw a tweet today that said:

"If a girl cries over a guy, it means that she misses him. But when a guy cries over a girl, no one else could love that girl more than he does."

I still remember the sound of you sobbing over the phone, four years ago. It somehow sounds very loud right now. Achingly loud.

I am sorry.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

It was the inner strength.

Dear both cockroaches which were still alive a while ago,

I am sorry but I have had a rough day at work. I hope your journey Home isn't painful. If your family members are still alive, please tell them to stay away from me and my housemates. Most of us work at the same place, you see.

Sincerely,
I-don't-want-to-meet-you-again,-either.