a trip to sarawak - part 1

In spite of my fear of flying (airplane), I have always enjoyed the air-travelling. I never failed to be filled with awe - everytime i looked out the windows i saw beautiful trees, mountains, green plains, rivers, the ocean.. and the most beautiful of all are the cottony-clouds. Gazing at such natural beauty I couldn't help but to wonder how awesome is our God.. and how much more marvelous is the Kingdom of God?

I went to Sarawak with KY, Jo, and Jun last week. It was an 8-day trip, but we spent 6 days in Mulu alone.. and honestly, 6 days are just NOT enough. We flew from KL-Miri, and in an hour's time on reaching Miri, we were already on FAX - on our way to Mulu. The first day was a free-and-easy one. Coz most of us were very tired (lack of sleep maybe), after checking-in our hotel at Mulu HQ and confirming our itineries, all of us went to slumber...

Early next morning, we gathered at HQ coz we're gonna explore caves tat day! So we walked on boardwalks for an hour plus and soon we're heading towards the entrance of deer cave. This is a very enchanting cave. The entrance was huge. You can see the silhouette of Abraham Lincoln from inside the cave, as shown in this pic taken by Jun. Initially we walked on boardwalks, all limbs relaxed as though we were shopping in a cave. Then we stepped down some staircases and very soon, our journey was totally laiden with slippery rocks.

change your mindset...

since i started work, i've heard many comments abt me - the top on the list remains the same, whether in ktn o kl. "You're the vet? So young?!" or "Waa, so young can be a vet one a?" or "How old are you aa?"

my usual response was, "Haha.. you got cheated by my hair/look/face/shirt/watever..." While I enjoy ppl addressing me as "young" but i don't enjoy the doubt tat automatically instills into their minds.

Recently an aunty who blahs real lot came, and I treated, and few weeks later she called up my boss complainig, "tat day i brought my dog there, and 2 very young ladies treated my dog. so young can be doctor mea?now my dog got worse liao aa.."

great. so she came (again). At seeing me, immediately she (being a loud mouth) claimed, "It is you lah! it is you cause my dog like this!" God, give me patience. "Bring your dog to my boss," I replied calmly.

The history was like this, the dog has had corneal ulcer for almost 1 month, went untreated. When presented to me 3 weeks ago, it was bad (superficial still), but still able to treat conservatively. I gave antibiotics and eyedrops, and told her to get an e-collar to prevent the dog from scratching the eye. She didn't buy the e-collar - it was expensive she says. And gues what? She gave the antibiotics for 1 day and stopped thereafter. Excuse? "Oh, you gave the duno-wat-tablet made my dog suffer so much, she hated it! i dun wan her to suffer..." And the eyedrops? "Oh, when i free i drop la.. i dun always free.."

Great. And now she's pointing finger at me?

Anyway, my boss took a look and told her that the ulcer is healing (she should thank God for this) and she must continue the medication. She had better do.

The Keys... (Part 4 - finale)

Suddenly, the young man searched frantically all over his pockets for a key. After a while he found something resembling a hotel key card. At that moment, words floated out from the card. We could each read clearly: I hold the key of David. What I open no one can shut, and what I shut no one can open. I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

In a flash, the card left his hand and suddenly appeared in Mrs. Lai's right hand. Again, at that moment, all three of us could read simultaneously words coming out of the card: Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Instinctively, I turned away from them, shoving both hands into my pockets in an attempt to avoid getting the key card. Still, the card came to me and words flashed in empty space in the sight of all of us: You have forsaken your first love.

Suddenly I found myself sitting up in bed, my head wet with cold sweat. The clock on the wall showed 4.30 in the morning. It was a dreadful dream. I got up and prayed, "Lord, give me another chance."

- The End -

My dear friends, think about this article, and digest it. God bless you. ;)

The Keys... Part 3

One day, I found myself staring at a huge, unknown building. Not knowing how I got there, I was filled with awe. I could only say it looked like the biggest condominium I had ever seen. There was no fence of any sort and I easily got near to it. When I looked up, its tower reached the sky, as far as my eyes could see, or rather could not see, for the sky was so dazzling that I thought i was going blind. Although it was fenceless, I could not enter.

The ground floor was already several times my height and there were no stairs of lifts. Walking anxiously arund the building that now appeared like a great wall, I was about to panic when the wall curved slightly. After walking for hours, I found myself in front of the building. I realised that I had been at the back end of it earlier. There, in front of me was the grandest lobby I had ever seen. There were thousands and thousands of people, all walking briskly towards the building in silence. No one bothered to greet anyone. Suddenly I saw a strange sight. Thousands of doors were swinging randomly and simultaneously in fearsome silence.

When a door swung inwards, it opened and someone entered a room, upon which the door automatically swung outwards, closing it tight. I followed the orderly crowd, but to my dismay, none of the doors opened for me. But when others approached, doors automatically swung open to be entered and then shut tight. I decided to retreat to an open space and observe how I could enter. I was as if an unseen scanner was operating each time a person approached a door. Did they have special keys or implanted chips or what? I searched for something like that all over my body and pockets.

But now I was truly light-pocketed as I had always wished. The crowd gradually thinned and very soon only three persons were left in the lobby - me, a young man whom I did not know and Mrs. Lai. I looked down on the floor and slapped my own face, regretting that I never learnt how to recognise precious stones, for I could not tell whether the floor was made of diamond, ruby, sapphire, jasper, or emerald.

"What is the use of staring at those stones?" said Mrs. Lai. "You can't enter the room either?" "No," I said. "I don't have the key." "Silly, nobody needs any key here," she said. "Can't you see we are in trouble?"

... to be continued...

The Keys... Part 2

When I walked, my keys jangled and the metallic sound could easily be mistaken for that made by lots of silver coins. I always had to be extra careful when I used a public toilet. Too much haste would result in my trousers dropping onto the floor with a loud clang. The guy next door would think that my money pouch had dropped while I was secretly counting my silver coins obtained from a dubious source. I really loathed having keys in my pockets, but I could not get rid of them.

Many years ago, I had the opportunity of going to the U. S. A. I visited a friend in his home town, and stayed with him for a week. I was pleasantly surprised to find that he never locked his house, room, or car, and there was no fence around his house. I told him how I loathed having keys back home and expressed my admiration for him for being "light-pocketed".

"This is a small community where everybody knows everybody," he said, "but don't do what I do when you go to the big cities."

I really hoped that in the Kingdom of God, there would be no keys. Otherwise I would be truly disappointed. Jesus promised us that in His Father's house there are many rooms. He was going there to prepare a place for us. Would I need a key there? O, please...

... to be continued...

The Keys.. Part 1

this is an excerpt from Asian Beacon, an article by Weng Hui Qing. I just find it worth while to share. =)

---
I really loathed having keys. i had too many keys but was helpless about it. they were always a necessary evil. i needed a set for the house. one set because there was the French window, the metal grill lock and the outer gate. there was a second set for my work place; metal gate, front door, room and laboratory. i needed a third set for a ministry that i served; outer gate, metal grill lock, side door, wooden door and drawer. and then there was this set for the church premises. if i drove, i would need my car keys for ignition, gear box lock and steering wheel. if i rode my motorcycle, i needed a separate set. o, yes, they steal motorcycles too, either whole or in parts, so i had keys for ignition, rear box and wheel lock.

if i forgot any key at anytime, i had nobody to blame but myself. to be sure, i wasn't a forgetful person. it was just that being very busy, i was always in a hurry, and taking the wrong bunch of keys was a most likely occurrence. to make my life more efficient, the safest bet was to carry all my keys. fortunately i had many key chains that friends gave me after their return from overseas trips. so whenever i went out of my house, i would have two sets of keys in my left trouser pocket, another three sets in my right pocket, including the ones for my wheels. the trouble was that i had other things to carry as well.

these included my cell phone, my wallet and my sunglasses. these, together with my keys, coupled with the merciless force of gravity, always weighed down my trousers which i tried to keep in place on my 29-inch waist. The fact that all my trousers were size 30 did not help. i didn't know why all the sales promoters in town always encouraged me to buy trousers one size bigger. they said i would be fatter next year, but their prediction never came true. The result was that i developed the bad habit of pulling up my trousers every now and then.

... to be continued....

Gifts

I was unpacking and setting up, rearranging my stuffs back at home, and i came across many gifts... unused.. which included plush toys, key chains, aroma-candles, paintings, all kinds of souvenirs big and small which mainly served the purpose of "decoration".

It saddened me to see how these items went unused for the past years. Wouldn't it be much better, if they can be circulated around the world, touching someone's heart every now and then.. and that will increase the worth of the gift isn't it?! instead of keeping them in my little office.. it's just like keeping your money in your drawer when you can instead circulate them, which will increase the money's value isn't it... haiya...

Now i have a little request to my friends who's thinking of getting me any gift of any kind... well, you know tat i'm a realistic person.. if you decide not to give me cash.. :p so you can buy me any gift..

- such as the above-mentioned gifts, but chances are i'm going to circulate (give it to someone else to brighten their day) the gift in order to increase the gift's worth

- or u can get me something useful - such as nice clothes, special key chains or mugs like those with our face/name on or the one-in-a-million type, anything tat i can wear or use, books, pens, shoes, or better still - delicious stuff such as chocolates -yummy! :) chances are i'm going to keep them or eat them up. :p

- i like this best - your very own hand-made stuff - coz it's priceless! special cards, letters, sand bottles, stars etc. chances are i'm going to keep them forever, coz i treasure things made with sweat and blood. . im dracula in disguise.. you forgotten? :p

- the best gift you can give me - be by my side when i needed you most. haha... the hardest and most valuable gift of all...

- the best gift you can give to yourself? you don't know, but i know. ask me and i'll tell you the answer. :)

Thank you..

With boldness and without fear
I've walked into this foreign town
A town so small and full of strangers
Without any friend or relative
Yet I entered the town
Trusting God alone

God is good, indeed
He never fail his promises
He moulded my heart and mind through hardships
So I may hear Him speak
And he finishes his beautiful work in me with honey
So sweet I kept hungering for more of it
So sweet I have fallen in love with this foreign town

He has a plan for me
In everything i do, everywhere I go
He has a purpose installed for me
Though I may not know it
But I know that His plans are always good for me
He is gentle and kind, merciful and gracious
And I'm glad
So very glad that..

He is my Father. :-)

i'm leaving a beautiful place such as..

ktn... and never able to forget the beautiful people and kids i met during my 1 year journey in ktn... i'll miss and love them all... always. :) Praise God for introducing such beautiful church as GCC into my life.. my life was changed.. indeed. Thank God.

2 more days.. i'll be leaving Ktn back to KL. What am I going to face back in KL? So many questions, but they never bothered me. Coz my mind is now smothered with, "seize all moments you still have in Ktn!!!!" I know for sure that im gonna miss ktn and my church folks & kids, my landlady, my kiko, o-chui... friends... so much so im determined to spend everyday with a few of them... this and that...

Tonight i gonna spend with my landlady, she buying me dinner... then tomorrow is another day.. gonna have the final moon-watching episode in TC.. oh boy... when will be the next time i moon-watch with such beautiful brothers n sisters again?

God... i need your grace... flowing incesssantly... though your grace have always been sufficient for me.. but i hunger for more of you Lord.... give me strength and faith to face each new day as i prepare my heart to leave ktn n my beautiful bro n sis... keep me close to your heart, always Lord... love...

Dr Fatimah passed away

Another death.. my dear Large Animal Medicine lecturer passed away on saturday. She fell down in the bathroom and...

Lord bless her soul..

My cousin's death

Just 2 weeks ago, a friend of mine died suddenly in an accident. Last saturday, my cousin, Nicholas, 19 died suddenly due to stomach bleeding. It was too sudden. These sequence of events couldn't help but lead me to the fact that, anyone will die, anytime, anywhere. You won't know. I won't know. Young or old, they will die. Sick or healthy, they still die. One day you and i will die. When? No one knows.

If a loved one of yours die tomorrow, what is the most grappling thing in your heart? I would want to know, after death where is he going? is he prepared to go where he is going? i won't care whatever thing on earth that he's left unsettled, but i want to make sure that the road ahead of him is a good one. Will you want him to be in heaven or hell?

I have spoken to a few people, everyone cling to the principle, "just enjoy your life on earth." But dear friends, are you aware that there is life after death? Do you know that heaven and hell do exist? ( don't ask me where it is, coz i'm still alive ok. if you really want to know, ask the one true living God)

There is only one way to be sure of where he'll go after death - have he received Jesus in his life yet?

Jesus has said, " I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6.

The bible says, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." ~Romans 10:6.

While we are still alive, we have the chance to repent and receive Jesus, do it. Tell your loved ones to do so also. For we won't know when our time will come. So that when the day comes, you're assured & comforted that one day you'll see him again in heaven, that's for sure. Amen.

It's through.. . finally.

Praise God! My boss is finally back! It was such a relief. I truly thank God for by his grace I survived the past 6 weeks.

It is indeed true, that when you’re in your comfort zone, very often you lax and forget about God and all his blessings unto you. It is in times of trouble and distress that you seek God most, and you will thus know Him better and thus build an even stronger relationship with Him. When His grace touches you, miracles happen, all the impossibles become possible, the “unthinkables” becomes reality.

The past 6 weeks were truly difficult to me, for I had to do surgeries which I have never done before, and all difficult cases I had to diagnose and manage it on my own.. There were times when I reached home late at night, past mid night, just to settle the cases. Even after reaching home, I would be worrying about the animals and having nightmares about them. There was literally no peace at all.

So many times I broke down and thought of just quit working immediately and run away from Ktn. But that was a wrong spirit. I must thank God, for every time I was so weak that I cried like a child & started questioning and pleading God this and that, I started hearing songs in my ears. It was almost like God was comforting me with words like, “Be still and know that I am God”, “Let the peace of God reign”, “Let the weak say I am strong… it’s what the Lord has done in me”, “God will make a way… hold me closely to his side”.

I was comforted instantaneously, trusting that God is in control of everything, and if he brings me to it, He will surely bring me through it. I cast all my worries to Him. And now I live to tell you that He had indeed brought me through it! Glory to God, hallelujah!

Dear Father in heaven, I thank you that you are my Father. You’re so merciful, full of love and grace… how can I ever thank and love you enough? Take me deeper in love with you, that I may know you even more. Oh, and how I long to hear your voice Lord, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

A friend's death

A friend of mine died 2 days ago, in a car accident in New Zealand, where she and 3 of her friends plunged into a lake. It was winter. When I heard of the news I was shocked. She’s only 20. She had just got her scholarship to study in NZ months ago. And now…

The wise men say, it is not how long you lived that matters, but how meaningful your life was. Isn’t it true? I thank God for giving us Veronica, although it was only for a short period of time, she has been a source of inspiration, joy, & hope to many of us. We love her. As we soothe our hearts with tears, we know that Jesus is weeping with us. He is with us, Emmanuel.

But we also trust that God has His divine purpose in everything, though we may not understand, though we may not rationalize it. For God has said, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you hope & a future.”

So now I ask that Father, speak to us. Open our ears so we may hear you. Let us hear you Lord. I thank you for Veronica has believed in Jesus, and she is saved. Thank you for bringing Veronica home with you in heaven. Thank you God, for you are our stronghold, our rock, our comfort, our shelter. Strengthen us, give us courage, increase our faith Lord, so we may face the days to come faithfully, walking with Jesus.
In Jesus’ name I pray, AMEN.

“If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.
Happy moments, praise God.
Difficult moments, seek God.
Quiet moments, worship God.
Painful moments, trust God.
Every moment, thank God.”

God is good, always. AMEN!

testing me?

my bos is away overseas for a month - and i'm absolutely busy here. Busy is ok, working more hours without appreciation... all the due stresses and pressure without anyone understanding... I wished to give up several times... but i know that that's not the way. but there is still one more month to go.. how do i live on/go on?

Dear father in heaven, in times when i am weak, i thank you for being there with me. In times when i crumble into pieces, thank you for fixing them into one piece again and enable me to walk on again the next day. God i ask this of you, come what may be, but let it be as you will dear Lord, and i that you always be with me, encourage me, give me strength, strengthen my faith as i am feeble, weak... and help me Lord. Carry me when i fell flat on the ground and didn't want to get up. Forgive me for my weakness Lord. In times when I walk on difficult paths of life, Lord I ask that you grant me wisdom and your divine understanding, so that I will make the right decision which pleases you Lord. God i thank you, thank you for your ever abundant love and mercy. Bless you lord and love you...

In Jesus' name i pray, amen.

Believe it or not?

Last Saturday I attended a Healing Rally session, in Subang, led by Pastor William Lau, the founder of Elijah Challenge. Healing Rally simply means a group of people coming together to be healed by God, the true and living God; the one God whom have created the heaven and earth, and sent His son Jesus to die for our sins.

I have read and watched videos of such healing rallies held overseas, where miracles happened – the lame walks, the blind sees, and the deaf hears! Cancer patients were healed. I was really excited that Saturday.

That night, more than a thousand people turned up, both Christians and non-Christians, sick and healthy, men and women, young and old. After a little preaching, we prayed to God our Father in heaven to manifest His miracles and heal the sick/needy people present amongst us that night, in Jesus’ name.

“This is the moment,” I thought nervously. So we started rebuking diseases and illness in Jesus’ name. Then Pastor William asked the thousand audiences, “Who are healed?” Silence. Gradually, one hand after another started protruding from the sea of people. Pastor William then asked them to stand up and move on to the stage to testify their healing.

I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears! More than 150+ received healing that night! A few people who were once deaf could hear clearly, some started hearing clearly without hearing aids, some with lumps (suspected cancer) where the lumps just disappear or soften that night, some with numb hand can actually move their hands, those with years of back pain, knee pain, arthritis were healed, and a boy whom initially walks with a cane was actually walking around without a cane, free! People with stress/emotional depression felt something was lifted away from them and were relieved that night.

I stood there in awe. God was indeed present amongst us that night.

Then came the altar call – who wants to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour? Hands went up, and people started stepping out. I honestly (& embarrassingly) never expected so much healing and people accepting Christ that night. Tears started filling up my eyes.

Dear heavenly Father, forgive my doubtful heart and my small faith in you, increase my faith, Lord. Thank you for confirming your words. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

“And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will …….they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” ~Mark 16:17.

Surgery miracle

Being a final year vet student, besides completing and presenting project, assignments, rounds & conferences, I had to practice my surgical skills on dogs weekly, which was done in a team-manner. There were 4 people in my team. Each week, everyone rotates to be the “Surgeon”. “Surgeon” in this context means the head of the team for that particular surgery, and he must know everything about the surgery. If he doesn’t, he’ll “kena hantam kuat-kuat” from someone big in the surgery theatre. And it does hurt, sometimes deeply, if you “kena hantam” from those “someone big”.

So it happened that one particular week, I had to present clinical rounds on Tuesday, on Monday & Wednesday I had to complete my project to pass up asap, Friday was my clinical conference and on Thursday, I was scheduled to be the “Surgeon”. It was a week filled with stress & tension. Let alone the project, presenting clinical rounds & conferences required me to do tones of homework & researches so that when the audience throw questions at me, I’ll be able to give them an appropriate answer. Time was just not enough, no matter how I squeezed my sleeping hours. Mon, Tue, Wed passed so quickly & I found myself frozen on Wed night. Panicked.

“Tomorrow I’ll be the surgeon. I’ll have to spend tonight, and tomorrow’s morning to read about the surgery, and spend the rest of tomorrow doing surgery. And my conference presentation was not even ready!” The conference was akin to a test for us. On the brink of tears, I thought of Jesus. I thought of how the church members had boasted of miracles and glorified Jesus’ name. But rationally, there was no way of canceling the surgery class, and no way to postpone my conference presentation, coz they involved too many people. And it was such last-minute.

Silently I thought, “Even if I prayed to Jesus,” (I was not yet a believer) “there is no way how he can help me. I just couldn’t see a way out.” Tears started dripping down my cheeks. “But it would be good if only my surgery class is cancelled tomorrow.” I sighed and shook my head, “Silly thought. It’s impossible.” I told Davies abt my thought and we knew that it was just impossible.

Early next morning, we prepared the books & everything necessary for surgery class. As usual, the lecturer talked a little about the imminent surgery. I froze. I looked around me. All tables, towels, equipments & instruments have been sterilized & well-laid, awaiting for the surgery to start. I sighed. Tension. As the lecturer left, suddenly our “Head of Nurse” came into the class. “Later 2pm you are supposed to come in and do surgery.” She smiled. “But there is no dog for surgery today.” She paused. “So surgery is cancelled.”

I jumped on my feet and almost screamed out loud excitedly. I told my friends (who were all bewildered with the news) abt my thoughts yesterday. But who would believe me? Instilled in each of us was the thought that surgery class will never, ever be cancelled, even if the lecturer does not turn up. So who would be stupid enough to ever think of the thought? Then Davies came to me excitedly, “Wei, your prayer really come true!” I smiled. Glad. Happy. “I did not pray. I just thought,” I thought smilingly. “I just thought of Jesus.”

Then a voice said to me, “Everything is possible in Jesus.” Later on, I found a few similar verses in the Holy Bible…

‘Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” ~Matthew 19:26

‘Jesus replied, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” ~Luke 18:27.

‘Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” ~Mark 10:27

My project miracle

Within the next few weeks, miracles happened after miracles... it was the time around the DVM4 semester break and early DVM5 semester, where we were loaded with project, clinical conferences and clinical rounds, presentations.. small animal rounds.. it was just fully loaded (our timetable). Let me just share a few miracles which i could still remember...

I was doing a project on how certain microorganism (copepods) can kill Aedes larvae. So one part of my project was to breed Aedes larvae. We were given 5 weeks to finish the entire project, which means i had only 2 weeks to breed my larvae (with 4 stages of life, with each stage taking about 3-5 days before moving on to the next stage).

So I started filling up jars and aquariums with waters with hope of Aedes mosquitoes laying eggs there. However, towards the end of the 2 weeks, I still did not have enough Aedes larvae. I started to panic, and I remembered during my few visits to my dad's church, they kept emphasizing, "When you're in fear/trouble, just call out Jesus to help you."

I was a Buddhist/Taoist then, but my circumstances forced me to source out all help available. Friends and lecturers couldn't help me to breed enough larvae. And one night, at the end of my wits, I decided to try praying to Jesus, asking for His help. Early next morning, I rushed to my lab and checked out my aquariums. Praise God! My prayer was answered. There were plenty of Aedes larvae of all stages in all my aquariums, enough to proceed with my project.

I was really amazed. I tried reasoning first. If the mosquitoes started laying eggs yesterday, i would have only stage 1 larvae. Where did stage 2, 3, and 4 larvae came from? It would have taken them at least 10 days to grow in my aquarium, and it was impossible that i have missed them for the past 10 days (because I was desperately looking for larvae everywhere possible for hours, even a stage 1 larva would not escape from my eagle eyes).

I started thinking, was it really Jesus?

My first road accident

Talking about water baptism, it is one way of showing to the world that you have decided to follow Christ as the lord of your life, and thus follow His commandments. Superficially, it’s just soaking into water. But there is in fact, a lot of meaning behind it.

Prior to baptism, I was required to give a testimony in front of the church congregation – telling them, what brought you to Christ. Wow, I really had a big headache thinking of what to say. The problem was not that I do not have anything to say. The problem was, I had too much to say and I was given only a few minutes.

So I finally decided to talk about my miraculous accident, back in nov 2004. I was in DVM4 then. That Friday, during lunch break, I decided to go back to my hostel (K12, which was about 3-5km away). The fastest way would be to ride pillion on my friend’s motorcycle. So I borrowed a helmet from FSuen, and in my hurry, accidentally took WChat’s (1st miracle), which was a very heavy, full-head, high quality one. Fsuen’s was the olden day’s type – those that covers only half your cranium with no visor.

As I reached K12, I kept complaining about the helmet, for it was really heavy on my little head. I didn’t realize that I have taken the wrong helmet. My friend and I lingered and relaxed around in hostel, until 1 minute before class starts. As expected, we hurriedly hopped onto the bike. She rides, me pillion. We were seriously (& scarily) speeding on the right lane towards faculty, when suddenly a motorcycle emerged from behind and crashed us. Both bike riders lost control, and my bike suddenly gained a powerful momentum; my friend and I were overthrown as the bike skewed.

There was no time for me to shout/ scream. One moment I was flying in the air head-on (like superman). The next moment I was bumping (like a ball) onto my friend (who has already landed, but I was still bumping and flying over her). After a few bumps on the ground I finally landed. I laid there, still. Eyes closed. My whole body was trembling, shaking. As I opened my eyes, I was horrified to find a big wall only a few cm away from me! (2nd miracle) A difference by the few cm could have had my head crushed against the wall. I was flung about 10m away from the crash site.

I sat up, looked around me and felt the ground. Instead of landing into the middle of the road, I was actually swung to the roadside, “flied” over the road, and bumped onto grasslands! (3rd miracle) It so happened that I was also wearing a jacket and jeans, which were partly torn during the accident, but apart from a few bruises, I was unharmed! (4th miracle) As I removed my helmet which protected my head in the accident, I suddenly recalled that this was the helmet which I had been complaining about. My entire cranium was fine, there was not even a scratch on my face (I bumped and landed face-down).

Suddenly it became clear to me that a divine power was protecting me… setting so many miracles before me only to save me from an accident which I had never anticipated… (To be continued)

water baptism

a short update - i was water-baptized on easter day. ;)

God bless...

Passover

This is the passover week. I’ve never heard of “Passover” week before this. So don't bother asking me whether i know what it's about. But now, I know.

It started from the time of Moses, when God had wanted to save the Israelites, who were then slaves under Egypt’s reign. That particular day (called Passover Day), the Israelites were commanded to eat lambs as to celebrate a festival to the Lord. The blood from the lamb should be put onto the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. That same night, God will strike (punish) Egypt. All firstborns, both men and animals shall die. But He will “pass over” the houses with the lamb blood on the doorframes, and leave the men and animals within unharmed. That night, the first child of the Pharaoh died.

Ever since then, the Jews celebrate this festival every year, sacrificing lambs on that day. Years later, Jesus the Messiah came down to Earth from Heaven, fulfilling the prophecies in the Scripture. On the journey to His crucifixion, He was mocked, tortured, tormented, whipped, spat on, pierced on the head, and finally crucified on the cross. How He had suffered! Jesus died on the day of Passover.

He was actually the Passover lamb, who had been sacrificed to free and purify our sins by His blood to bring us to God. Jesus died, was buried and resurrected on the third day.

Dear Jesus, how I thank you this day for being willing to endure the agony and suffering for my sins. Thank you for making me a child of God. In your name, Amen.

wat's the priority in your life?

I remember going back to hometown visiting my relatives n frens during chinese new year abt a month ago, i met one and greeted her as usual, "Happy New Year."

Her reply was reali one of a rare kind. Guess. 95% of the ppl i greeted would have replied saying, "Happy New Year" or "Gong Xi Fa Cai" or all those 4-letter chinese words with profound meanings... so have you managed to make a guess? Her reply was...

"No! You must wish me, stock market go up up up!" I was shocked. coz the norm was, i greet them, then they greet back the same thing, and we move on to greet other ppl. And this was out of the norm. Ei?

So i replied.."No... happiness comes first, money later..."
And she said, "No no no, must always come first."

Folks, if you could recall, days before the CNY were exactly the few days when our stock market was at their peak, expectedly, it was the moment where you see ppl rushing into KLSE/ stock market. Days after the CNY, the market plummeted, badly, reali badly. When i heard the news, the first person that came into my mind was that fren of mine.

If you put money as the first priority in your life, i assure you, you have put your life pursuing the wrong thing. No doubt, we need money in life. It's important. But that does not mean it should be the MAIN PRIORITY in your life.

There are so many things that we, imperfect humans need in life.. and so many people do not seem to be ever satisfied with what they have or what they have achieved. I remember an ad in the tv started with the model askin this sentence, "Have you ever wake up in the morning saying your want less in life?"And that explains human nature just right - we are always looking for more... MORE... and another brand's slogan, "I want more!" more MORE...

2 days ago someone asked me,"Why don't you gamble?" Another person replied on my behalf,"No need to gamble, as long as you get married to a rich guy, stay at home jaga anak, play with pets enough liao." Is that true?

To me, (and I hope the same goes to you too) the main priority in life should always be God. Always seek him, in every circumstance. Money is important. So are health, love, boyfriends, girlfriends, parents, family, children, education, career, cars, houses, food... No doubt, they are very very important. But the focus of our lives should always be directed to God. What is the use of good wealth and health and friends when you live in fear/war? We need peace and joy ultimately. And that alone comes from God's grace.

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." ~Psalm 23:4.

"For in the day of trouble He will keep me safe in His dwelling; He will hide me in the shelter of His tabernacle and set me high upon a rock." ~Psalm 27:5.

Surely there wil be a day when our health will fall, people walk out on us, career fail, and all things just turn out wrong. But you know what? There's one that will never walk out on you, he's Emmanuel, Jesus Christ, our Saviour.

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you from captivity." ~Jeremiah 29:11.

"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." ~Hebrews 13:5

When Jesus dwells within you, peace and joy will come to you automatically. God bless.

My big sis wedding

it had been such a long time since i last posted my blog, tat so many things have happened, yet i wanted to post just one topic... I have sat in the bathroom mentally planning every single words for my blog, and the moment i steppet out - dong.. all of it just vanished. so things are reali turning n churnin in my head now... hmm...

anyway, big things come first. My big sis is wedded.
My feelings? It's like something tat just happens in your life.. first it suprises you, then wonders you, makes you think, excites you, thrills you and hey, its over! Then you wake up in the morning as usual, peep at the empty bed, you rub your eyes once, twice, then shake your head a little bit here n thr.. and the realization finally sets in. Big sis is wedded. Honestly n regretfully, i didn't help much, excuse? i was in ktn.. bad excuse i know but.. distance does play a role k..

So my current feeling? Not much, but relying to God 100%. I pray tat God will bless her, abundantly, always, bless her new family and always be with them, in everything, under everycircumstances, whether in wealth or poverty, whether in comfort or adversity, emmanuel.. In Jesus' name I trust, Amen.

And I really fell in love with this song - we sang it during her wedding ceremony. The lyric goes..

In Christ alone
I place my trust
And find my glory
In the power of the cross
In every victory
Let it be said of me
My source of strength
My source of hope
Is Christ alone...

they're all grown-ups now!

i went back hometown yesterday visited my aunties and uncles and also my cousins, got some ang pows and chatted... but the part that really got me crazy was...

in believing my eyes - my little little cutie cousin brothers n sisters are now grown-ups! even taller than mE!!! i still remembered how I carried them, hugged them as a baby, hushed and played silly games with them.. and now they're... taller than me! std 6.. 13... 15 years olD! i can't belive this?!

and i stil think tat i'm 17?! hallo? the thing is that the memories i had when I was in my teen years was stamped so deeply in me, tat my memories have always been clinging to those years'.

haih... after seeing and talked them i still couldn't believe it, so i pinched their cheeks.. and it was real.

it was real.

How to spend your energy?

Today is another day with an irritating client. This time a “guai lou”. Great.

To start things off, she looked down on me. I don’t mind if she can’t carry a smile on her face or she can’t speak kind English. What tugged my nerve was, she thought I didn’t understand English! Great. She thought she speaks good Malay anyway, so she automatically switched her language mode to Bahasa Melayu baku – lambat. It was so slow, it irritated me the 2nd time. I told her, “You can speak to me in English, I understand English. I just couldn’t catch your accent.”

“Very well,” (she thought). So she proceeded with her wonderful English, and I couldn’t pick up certain words. Instead of kindly repeat the word for me, she went slapping her forehead – implicating to me, “Why do you say you understand English when you don’t?!” And stamped her feet a little, and I could read from her body language, “Waste my time speaking to you in a language which you don’t understand.” Automatically she switched back to her Bahasa-Melayu-baku-yang-lambat. Fine. And I was, "Great, where did you learn that manners from?"

She’s irritated. So was I. The difference was, she’s “legally” allowed to show it, but I can’t. What to do? I just flashed my charming stunning smile at her. Kekeke… Let’s play princess charming.

Getting irrited with such ppl does spoil the day, but not entirely. Later a puppy was rushed in – suffocated in a plastic bag! Oh my… we tried resuscitating the poor pup, but to no avail. Guess it was too long suffocated before found. Sad.

Now when I think back of my today, hmm.. might as well spend my energy doing something beneficial, or feeling sorry for the pup, rather than thinking back of the irritants.

So folks, something to learn today. To cat/dog/baby owners, NEVER never NEVER feed your loved ones from a plastic bag. When you leave them with it, they may just accidentally wrap their head inside the plastic, get panic, struggle, and get suffocated in it. How unfortunate. Pour the things out into a proper bowl, and THROW AWAY the plastic bag to some place where they have no access.

So let’s BEWARE… and TAKE PRECAUTIONS. Better safe than sorry.

Frust!

This type of owneR! They're really irritating, frustratin! haar!!!!

1st. They ask every single thing you do. For example, i charge hospitalization rate for RM xx. ok, so they ask all sorts of questions - what do you do during hospitalization of the cat? how many times you take body temperature? What type of medication doyou give? what for? How often? What type of injection do you give? How many ml of fluid do you give my cat every hour? What's in the fluid? what time will the fluid finish?

"HELLO!!!!!!" ahem.. that's my heart screaming at my cool brain.

then they'll add, "if hospitalize my cat here guarantee heal one. If not heal how?" I told them no guarantee.. "then why hospitalize my cat?"

"HELLO!!!!!" Can u pls speak some common sense? if hospitalization guarantees healing, NO HUMAN will ever die in a hospital!

then they added, "ok, this drug.. how much you charge? this injection, why necessary? how much you charge? if inject twice then how much?" I gave them an approximate round figure which includes everything, but he wanted to break down into every single item.

"HELLO!!!!" Do you know that if i break down everything for you you're gonna pay thru your nose??? A round up figure is a discounted price! I wished I could glare at them right at the eyes.

then they added, "you know, if i go to this vet, he'll just do ABC, no ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUV bla bla bla.." Coolly i tried my best to reply, "I don't know what tat vet gave, did he got better?" "Yah! within days!" "good, did the cat had the same symptoms as he had now?" "No..."

"SOOOOOOO????!!!!" anyway, if tat vet's so good, why come here?

ARRRGGGGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! geram, geram , geram geram!!!!!!!!!

and now ended up with this high level of stress within me.. what if the cat didn't get better? What will they come up with? to make things worse, it's not easy to give the cat medication. Haih.... stress...

God.. grant me peace & wisdom please... Amen.

I am Bobo

Hi, my name is Bobo. I may look like any "wong-choy" or "ah-wong" on the street, but you know wat? Altho i'm a mongrel physically, i'm a princess in my owner's heart. She loves me, and proved to the world so.

Shortly after I was born 4 years ago, I was diagnosed with jaundice and I got all the yellow discolouration of my teeth, eyes and so forth. My lovely owner had brought me to the vet A, and they treated me ok, and apparently i felt better. A year later, I lost appetite and became indifferent with my surrounding. Again, my owner had brought me to vet A, and this time he says tat i got infection in my uterus, pyometra he says. And he removed my uterus.

When i'm 3+ years old, suddenly I lost appetite again. And this time I felt really bad. Poor darling owner brought me to vet A, and he dripped me day once, night once. He says my kidneys are failing. The quick drip suffocated me, but after a day or two i felt better, but the same signs reappear soon. After a few tries, vet A gave up and told my sweet owner tat i've to sleep forever!

I remembered the tears in my owners eyes, I did not cry for I did not have the energy to do so. My owner didn't give up. She brought me to another vet, vet B. The vets here were very kind to me, and I was quite nasty for removing the catheter and drips that they gave me. Somehow after a week or so staying in hospital B, I really got better! I started eating.. and soon I can go home, on a special kidney diet. It's very costly, but my owner loved me too much to consider tat. I lived happily with the loving care of the vet B and my owner ever since.

But that was 6 months ago. 2 weeks ago I started to get really tired. My mouth really get stinko. It stinks! I wish i've some mint to wash away tat smell, but i just comes back. My stomach starts to sore. I lost appetite, and wish to just lay sleeping all the time. My owner got worried, and got me to vet B again. Nomatter how intensive and expensive they got with me, I couldn't respond. Heavy heartedly, my owner began to consider laying me down to sleep forever to ease my pain. I began vomiting every few hours. Diarrhea. I was getting more and more fatigue.

Yesterday morning I overheard my owner speaking to vet B - to put me to rest tomorrow. And today will be the last day they drip me. I was sad, heart-broken. I had not wanted to leave my owner and vet B. But I wished to stop my pain also. I just couldn't stand the endless sore in my stomach and body. And I had started vomiting blood. At the end of the day, after dripping, I did feel better but the sore in my stomach remains.

This morning will be the day. I knew it. I saw my owner's husband mistreating my owner, and I ran after him barked at him real harsh. My owner was startled. "Where did I get the energy from?" I wished I could tell her, "It's my honour to finish the last bit of my energy to protect you." Soon, I felt really tired... sleepy. I heard my owner calling me, "Bobo! Bobo!" And she sobbed real loud. But I couldn't open my eyes. I couldn't move a limb. I knew that i was leaving, but I thank God for giving me such a lovely owner and caring vet B during my lifetime. I had loved living the past 6 months of my life. Then I slept. I never woke up since.

haunted

Few weeks ago, my pastor gave a sermon during our church service. I kept thinking about his words, “God only gives you sweet dreams. If you had a nightmare, it must not be from God. Hahaha..” I couldn’t understand. Was that just a joke? Or a real statement? I didn’t confront him to find out the truth tho’.

That night, I thought of these words again & again before I closed my eyes and ventured into the dreamworld. That very night, I had a nightmare. In my dream, I saw a friend, someone whom I’ve not kept in touch for some time. I dreamt that she had long been in deep trouble. When I get to know about it, it was too late. Then I woke up. Troubled. “How is she doing?” I wondered. And I remembered my pastor’s words again. “God only gives you sweet dreams. If you had a nightmare, it must not be from God. Hahaha...” “Why must he “Hahaha” at the end of his sentence?” I thought grouchily.

So the next day I decided to call her– just to check her out. She was a depressed person when I called her (I was not surprised for she had always been so, she’s a pessimist). We chatted about life troubles, work, people, money, family and etc. Then she started to talk about something which she’s never told anyone – she’s being haunted. She had not told anyone about this, for she was sure that nobody will believe her. I believed her.

Quickly I told her the reason why I called her up – my nightmare. But I didn’t tell her the details, for I know for sure that it will only bring her down. So I comforted her, and told her to pray to God for help. She replied, “Don’t ask me to pray! I’ve prayed so many times and I’m tired. I give up. It’s useless!”

“Which God did you pray to?” I asked.
“I’ve tried many gods, I went to the temples and prayed and just last week, I went for channeling (rasuk tuhan). I tried his remedy and it’s totally useless!”
“No wonder why it's useless. The God I’m talking about is the one and only God on heaven and earth, whose son is Jesus Christ, our saviour.” I interrupted her lamentations.
“We have totally different thoughts. 100% different. I’m a Buddhist and you’re a Christian.”
“Are you sure that you’re a Buddhist? Buddhists do not go to the temple and pray and burn incenses…” To cut things short, she was very adamant that since she had sought so many gods, there’s no reason to seek Jesus for help. She believes now that only she alone can help herself.
“How do you help yourself?” I was curious.
“Let them do whatever they want unto me. I won’t care.” She replied.
“But why? When there’s a way for you to cast them away from you, why can’t you give it a try?” I had talked to her about pastors casting out demons from people in churches and tried to coax her to visit a local church there. She was interested, but steadfast to her rule, “I’m a Buddhist.”

It was a very, very long talk. To the end I remembered my objective of calling her – to help her if she needed any, and not to bring up any argument. So I did not push her far. But I reminded her, “Try all ways you want. But if one day, you find that no one can help you, not even yourself, and you really badly needed help, call out to Jesus. Ask him to save you. And you’ll be safe. Trust me.”

Those were the same words many people had repeatedly told me few years ago, which had ultimately brought me to Jesus. And He saved me, indeed. Praise Lord. ;-)

Dai Yee Long

For the Chinese-speaking people, I’m sure they’ll understand the title of my article today. For those who don’t, the direct translation will be, “Big Ear Hole.” It implies something that will drill the hole in your ear bigger and bigger, until you lose your brain and head. Haha.. that’s my own understanding. Well, the actual meaning would be, loan shark. Or better known as, “Ah Long”.

The recent death of the 3 siblings murdered by their parents with bleach and kitchen gas surely has saddened the Malaysian folks. As usual, fingers started pointing everywhere, including the other family members and friends who didn’t lend a hand, government who didn’t put a stop to these loan sharks’ businesses and etc. A friend or family member may help you once, twice, thrice... but definitely you don’t expect them to clear your junks your entire life! You have to first look into the root of the problem. First stop creating junks.

My point here is, my dear friends, don’t point fingers at people when things do not turn out right. In the first place, one should never loan money from these people. They are not called SHARKS for no reason. Whatever problem you may face, DO NOT APPROACH THESE SHARKS.

Well, if you do not want to approach these people, dun think that the banks will supply you personal loans without checking your background first. Those with dirts and dusts in the financial history will be unlikely for any loan candidate. So, the core issue is, do not get into any kind of debt in the first place.

These are a few reasons why people run into debts.
Gambling habit. A fatal habit, which can actually drag the whole family into the fire of hell. Buying share without understanding the company’s nature is also a form of gamble.
Pleasure in using credit cards. While credit cards are definitely a necessity in today’s modern world, but always check your balance. And spend only what is necessary. Keep a habit of writing your personal spending accounts in order to keep track of what you’ve spent on. Many people, despite a zero credit, still dares to buy furniture, handphone and other accessories with no worry in their mind. Daring in this case could spell you trouble fren…

Bought cars and houses… without planning. Too many downpayments with too much of car loans.

Bought too many insurance. Having insurance is fine, good… but one do not need too many of them. Once you start to have problems in your current job, where will you get the money to pay up the thounsands of insurance bill? This applies especially for the young parents who started buying insurance for their children at infancy age. Halo?? Ultimately, either you run into debt, or your premium becomes void – which means you lose money also.

So to my friends out there, keep yourself clear of these four debt-inducing issues. =) All the best.

Breaking out the news

News are generally divided into 2 categories – good or bad. Well, good news is good, no matter however way you decide to break it, it will still sound good. Same as sweets, kit kat, Cadbury.. no matter how you chew, kiss, munch or lick it – it’s sweet.

Now the next category – bad news – I’ll divide into 2 subsets : poor prognosis and dead. Poor prognosis is the time when the patient is apparently critically ill, and you’ll have to prepare the owner. “Be prepared…” but if she started crying, I can always end the sentence with, “There’s still a chance anyway…” and to be more honest, perhaps I’ll add a few more final words, “Though the chance is extremely slim…”

Not so bad to convey this news. Not so bad indeed…

Now the worst kind of news anyone can hear would be, “He’s dead.” It will not have mattered if the doggie's owner had wanted him dead. But then again, if so, he wouldn’t have brought doggie to the vet in the first place, will he? To save my blog space, let me just conclude: most owners want their doggies/ kitties alive n healthy.

Now, what will happen has finally happened. Little doggie died. How am I supposed to tell the owner? I’ve thought and ran through many methods which can be applied over the phone… and still thinking of better ways. Here are some examples (my imagination):

Option A:
Vet: Harlow! How are you doing?! Hahahaha… I'm fine I'm good.. how's life?

Owner: I'm busy. Very busy right now. (indifferent)

Vet: Oh ya.. ok.. I just called to say that kitty has died.

Owner: What?! Oh no!!! (started deafening you with his cries, and you started wondering, why the sudden change of tone?)

Option B:

Vet: Hello… I'm calling to inform you about kitty. (solemn)

Owner: How's my kitty? (anxious)

Vet: I'm sorry… he left us last night. (sobs)

Conclusion: Words and tones used are sensitive enough. Owner may feel that you’re in the same boat with her – sharing her sorrow. But what if the owner replies with this? “Where did he left to?”

Option C:
Vet: Hi… remember what I told you yesterday?

Owner: Er.. you used more than 500 words yesterday.. which one do you mean? (scratching his head)

Vet: That your kitty may die.. he died.

Owner: I remember you said there may be a chance!

Vet: I told you the chance is slim.

Owner: But a chance is still a chance! You said you'll try your best! How can he die? It's either zero chance or you didn't try your best! I'm gonna sue you! You liar!!

Conclusion: Use less word in such situation. More words = more confusions = more misunderstandings = things will turn out sour.

Hapi Deepa Gatherin

It’s been a long time since I last seen my smkb frens. Wow! That deepa gathering was terrific, thanks to Ma n Su, ha.. I finally got to see my long lost frens’ faces – esp CKS. Haha, yep, it’s tru. I’ve never seen him since.. F6, maybe? He’a changed.. fairer.. and a little bulky. Oh yeah… *slurrrp!

Ok. The 2nd good thing about this type of gathering was it was a platform of sharing – about almost everything – ur work, mood, problems.. etc, you name it. Except that some things which were supposed to remain P & C should not be brought up to the table. It was a fun time. Asking one another how do they de-stress themselves, motivate one another.. having a good laugh together, for once. =)

Now, this part happens almost at all gathering. When ppl started throwing questions like, “Where do you work now?” “Where are you studying? What course? When graduating?” “Oh, you changed your job? So what’s your new job now?” “Oh, what business are you in?”

Of all answers from the above questions, honestly, I remember only 30% of them. Yep. Once YJin even slapped me with this, “OK, let’s make this very clear. I no longer work with Sxxxx, and I’ve never worked with Syyyy. And my new company is Szzzz. Everybody clear?” Truthfully, at that very moment I was enlightened, truly. But ask me now, I can’t tell you where he works. :P

A fren of mine once commented that the reason why I can’t remember the details was because I’m not interested in them. Not true. I’ve been “specially” interested in a few ppl, and yet I forget about many of their details. Ask me abt my idols, and I can’t remember his wife’s name, his DOB, his POB. But I can surely tell u the songs he sing, and roughly the number of albums he’s published. =)

Ohya.. a bonus from the deepa gathering – me, PGaik n Kar actually stepped into SMKB (now SMKKB)! It felt like going thru the tunnel of years. Watching all the memories flashing back unto you, it was great, indeed. Once we found that our old Bilik Pengawas was gone! Replaced by St Johns. I’m glad tat SJAM finally got their office. But…. Where’s Bilik Pengawas? We searched the entire school and still couldn’t find it. Finally I went to ask Mr Pak Guard – only to find tat it had shifted to a larger, air-conditioned, beautiful room. All smiles. =) yea yea….

But one sad thing – most of my beloved murals are now gone. GONE!!!! Why?!!!!!

Anyway, this was wat one of the murals which I painted says,
“Ask not what the school can do for you,
but what you can do for your school.”

It was a nice, sweet one, with birds and flowers, and the colour was so-oh-how-harmony! Thank God, praise God, I’ve got the murals captured in photographs – all laid in my museum, “Colours of My Life”. (in short, my photo album la…)

becareful when near the road

i'm not running any campaign for our government on road safety, though i'm on their side.

It happened one day that i was about to cross a main road, looking left and right before crossing. As the traffic relaxed abit, and i was about to cross the road, all of the sudden i saw a car zooming right across me.

What dropped my jaw was, the driver was not looking forward! He was looking down, i wonder if he's removing his shoes or whatever, zooming about the road without looking forward. Imagine if i were a child trying to cross the road...

cycling in ktn

haa..finaly.. today is the first time, ever in my days here, tat i got up, exactly the moment i heard my alarm clock ringing. wow! it took me how many months! for the past days my poor clock was slammed quiet everytime it rang.. but today, somehow my wil power got hold of my laziness. and there i was.. waking up at.. 7.30am! haa...

it was difficult indeed, my mind was still stirring about - maybe i should sleep for another 10 minutes? the other part of me was saying, hey 10 minutes won't mean anything ok... while the other part, "i'm sure it'll be wonderful cycling abt early in the morning, here in the breeze-ly ktn."

10 minutes later i was on my bike, wondering speeding about my housing area. i felt wonderful, indeed. ;)

perhaps i'll do more so in the coming days. no more laziness. get into the dustbin you the-thing-called-laziness!

i want to claim more will-power!! POWER!!1

OH NO!

my holiday is over!!!

i can't believe it!!!!!!!!!!

argghhee!!!! (scrambling to grab the "time + day" to stay on, DON'T MOVE!!!)

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the dog with bottomless stomach.

The prayer (and also mine)

I pray you'll be our eyes,
and watch us where we go
And help us to be wise
in times when we don't know

Let this be our prayer,
when we lose our way
Lead us to the place,
guide us with your grace
To a place where we'll be safe.

I pray we'll find your light,
and hold it in our hearts
When stars go out each night,
remind us where you are

Let this be our prayer,
when shadows fill our day
Help us find a place,
guide us with your grace
Give us faith so we'll be safe

A world where pain and sorrow will be ended.
And every heart that's broken will be mended

And we'll remember we are all God's children
Reaching out to touch you
Reaching to the sky

We ask that life be kind,
and watch us from above
We hope each soul will find
another soul to love.

Let this be our prayer,
just like every child
Who needs to find a place,
guide us with your grace
Give us faith so we'll be safe

Needs to find a place,
guide us with your grace
Give us faith so we'll be safe.

Is this weird?

Today I got a weird client. Weird, indeed. Let me explain.

When I wanted to deworm his puppy, immediately he refused, saying, "I decide not to deworm my dog." When I asked why, assuming maybe he dewormed his dog else where, or perhaps he wanted to save the cost. But he gave me no reason, simply refusing it. So I assumed he already knew the consequences of not deworming the puppy. Well, just to be sure, I threw a question to him, "Have you heard of all these worms? Hookworms, roundworms.." Surprisingly, he knew nothing about them!

After that, I told him about heartworm prevention. The same "No-no-I-decide-not-to-give-him-any," came from him. Again, he knew nothing about heartworm. ~sigh~

Finally, before leaving, he requested me to write a report for him. Since I'm charging him for the tests, which cost him less than RM10. What he meant was, all kinds of tests/check-ups, when not written in reports (though you verbally told him the results), they should be done Free-Of-Charge. Great. Imagine.

Say you got fever, flu and cough. Rationally, you went to visit a human doctor. Naturally, the doc starts checking you up, and towards the end, you have to pay for the check ups and medications. I kinda imagined - what if you request the doctor to write up a written report to you (since he's charging you for the check up). The report should include the results for the auscultation he did, blood pressure check, opening up your eyes, mouth and shining a torch down your throat, feeling your neck - all these should be presented in a written report - as spoken words alone should not cost any money.

I kinda wondered, will the human doctors entertain these "educated" requests? I really don't know.

Or maybe the doctor will request him to come back in a week's time to get the report? If so, I'll go for it. =)

Come back in a week's time sounds attractive to me.

What is your purpose in life?

Dear friends, today I have a question to pose to you. You don't have to give me any answer, just as long as you have the answer for yourself. =)

Recently quite a lot of struggling took place in my life, and i was wondering, what is my purpose in life, actually? Am I working towards the purpose?

Friends, if your purpose is to climb the ladder of career, what if one day your management decides to lay you off? Or one day the international market just crashed just like in 1997? The whole economy goes down. But you're still alive. What would your purpose be then?

Some people their purpose is to educate and nurture their babies - may they grow up to be useful beings, etc. But as we flip the newspapers each day, deaths take place everyday, snatching away children of some parents. Now, what is the purpose in the parents' life?

For some filial children, their purpose in life would be to treat their parents the best way they could to repay their kindness or etc. But there will be a day where their parents will leave them. Then what will the purpose in life be?

To some people, their purpose in life is a wonderful/beautiful love life. As mentioned, there will be a day where their loved ones will leave them - perhaps leave them for a better man/woman, or nature's call. What then, will be the purpose in their life?

I'm reading a book entitled, "The Purpose-Driven Life" by Rick Warren. There are 40 chapters within, where I'll read a chapter each day. So far I've covered 6 chapters, and it has already given me solutions to 2 of my big problem. And I'm yet to discover my purpose in life. =)

Blunt, extremely blunt.

Dear friends, have you ever heard of this simple abbreviation: P&C? I don’t mean Palmolive and colgate ok.. I’m sure among the first few things tat come to your mind must be, "Private and Confidential". If so, you’re rite. If not so, you’ll have to learn more business language pal. ;)

P&C simply means, private and confidential.

I remember when I started my first few jobs after Form 5, a senior once told me tat our salary/pay is private and confidential. What she meant was; you don’t have to tell the world your pay/salary. It’s good enough for only your employer, family and close friends (and government, if you qualify for income tax) to know it. She also added, "People don’t go around asking ppl about their salary unless they’re very close to each other."

"What if they still want to ask?" An innocent question from me.
"I would say that those ppl are extremely blunt," she said.

Funny, of 100 ppl I met here, 30% of them are extremely blunt.

First, I’m not close to them. I’ve merely met them for maybe 1month +.

Second, their question was very direct indeed, "What’s your salary?" When I pretended stupid to elude their question, they persistently repeated, "What is your pay?"

Third (and I can’t stand this), when I retaliated by asking them the same question, they went generalizing the whole idea, like, "Oh, enough to eat la.. enough to survive la.. enough enough enough," and all sorts of redundant phrases. So I’ve tried using their method, "Enough to eat la." Then came the irritating reply, "So how much? Got RM1000? 1500? 1800? 2000? 2200? 2500? 3000?"

HEY, MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS CAN’T YOU?!

Today I finally told myself, enough is enough. Then came a familiar question from an innocent looking guy/uncle, "How much is your salary?"

"Hah? What did you say?" Act stupid, my first defense line.
"What is your pay, I asked."
"What? You want to know about my salary?"
"Ya, I want to know how much your salary is."
Enough is enough. Smiling, I replied, "I can’t tell you."
"Got 1000?"
I ignored.
"1500? 2000?"
ENOUGH! "I said I can’t tell you, it’s private and confidential."
"Got 2000? I’m sure got one…"

I ignored him totally, didn’t even want to respond to him anymore. Politeness has reached its limit.

Blunt. Extremely blunt.

for once i'm blank

i've tot of so many things to fill up my blog each time in my life.. but now i'm finally sitting in front of the pc, i don't know wat to write. the things i wanted so much to write? hmm..

lost passion.
lost mood.
lost the memory.. i mean exact memory.

so let's talk abt the cockroach. yep, "siu keong". tat day i saw a siu keong in the bathroom, boy, i quickly ran out of the room and called for my landlady. so we sprayed mortein.. he won't die! spray.. spray.. spray.. after about 3 minutes.. my landlady finally blurted a phrase, "you're not scared of dog bites, but you're scared of siu keong?"

"Hey.. dogs don't fly.. siu keong flies you know.." was my simple reply.

Nights before i've tried killing a little siu keong by spraying water jet at it, tot it could drown him in no time.. but then.. 1 minute passed... 2minutes .. 3 minutes... 5 minutes... and he's still running happily rite in front of me! wow.. i surrendered and closed the door behind.

conclusion: Roaches are tough creatures. no wonder they're used as symbols/icons in starcraft..

u-chen!!

u-chen!! i'm suffering from the same syndrom as you had before! mistakes mistakes mistakes in my work place!!!

i din know how they happen, they JUST happen! without my knowing.

ARGGSH!!

oh wow, it was frustrating indeed, at first i couldn't stop blaming myself, felt like slapping my head off, banging it on the walls.. but then.. wat's the point? it won't change the things.

so now i'm extra careful in everything. i know tat i'm not a superspeedy gal, so i'd rather go slow and steady.

no more mistakes.. God bless.

feeding raw food

Yesterday I met a very unreasonable client. Well, I've actually met him before this, in an unrelated occasion outside my clinic, and found him rather annoying. The moment he stepped into my clinic yesterday, I was thinking, "Oh no... not him is it???"

Soon I confirmed that it was exactly him, the very same person, with the same line of thinking and wordings. He brought 2 pups with him, and I was seeing them for the 1st them. This is a glimpse of the conversation we had yesterday...

Me : What food are your pups on?
Him : (In his proud mode) Oh, I go to the market, get the raw chicken necks, raw fishes?and they like it you know!
Me: Do you cook them beforehand?
Him : (still in proud mode) No no no, I don't have to cook them! They eat it raw! I won't bother to cook at all.
Me : As you know, many kinds of diseases can be transmitted by eating raw meats. They contain viruses, bacteria, parasites..
Him : (super proud mode) That's why I bring them here to deworm! (smiles with the yousee-I-am-so-smart look)
Me : Deworming doesn't kill the viruses bacteria parasites..
Him : Don't worry doc, I feed them garlic too! That helps kill the rest of them. Hahaha...
Me : How much garlic do you feed them?
Him : One piece per pup (4kg) daily. You know what? They don't like to eat it. So I held their jaw tight, opened it, forced it in. And wow, they were chewing and spitting and making life so difficult for me.
Me : I bet you don't like eating a big chunk of garlic raw too, do you? (and they're so tiny comparing to your 65kg!)

My heart: (shaking head with a sad note) And who's the one making life difficult here? GOODNESS!!!!

working...

i remembered clearly still how i had wanted so much to start working and venture into my career. gave a lot of thoughts on wat i will look like. wat i will be. when i was still a student back in upm.

now that the days i tot of so much have come.. it was good in a way.. but really a heavy responsibility on your shoulder. never had i felt so much responsibility.. in my life.

i remembered clearly when i was still in my teenage years.. and post-spm stpm holidays where i worked part times.. life was still so easy. it was still basically - a responsible-free life!

wow.. and now.... this time it got serious, coz im building a career. perhaps not that far yet. perhaps it's better to term it as, "i'm starting my career."

and i remember how my stomach shrinks before each exams during the DVM years in upm.. and now? my stomach shrinks almost every morning. "What will I face today?" "What will I do today?" "Will everything goes well?"

Whatever comes, I must still face it. And I will face it, courageously. I'd fallen, even tho' it's just a month plus of work. But I've risen up again. With God as my pillar of stregth, I'll walk on. This journey. Courageously.

a lousy day

i din know why, most of the dogs n cats today are so wondrously full with lice! oh.. they're not just full with lice, they're hair was overflowing with lice n fleas...

omg.. u can actuali see those little insects squirming on the little doggies n kitties.. n my.. you'll eventually feel it yourself when you feel something squirming on your hands.. and ...

eventually your hair! goodness.. .zoonotic? ahem.. no la... they'll get off me sooner or later.. anyway tonight i gota wash all my clothes, hair.. etc.. dun wana get a lice/fleas-infested-bed.

:)

besides that.. today was lousy in a way too. hmmm.....

our biggest enemy

often ppl say i hate this person.. i hate this n tat.. wat the.. well.. have you ever did something wrong.. you wished so much to reverse it? and when everyone around you forgives you for wat you have done, but you just couldn't get over it?

you've inflicted so much pain unto someone.. unintentionally.. and there's no way of forgiving... yourself...

so who's our biggest enemy here?

well...

as the saying goes... get over it fast.. but then, is it reali that easy?

friexxster again

i wonder if someone's been sabotaging friexxster, or some illegal spyware is going on in it? I'm not a techy person.. so they're all guesses...

First i was not able to post a comment. Now I can't even send a message. A normal frien-to-frien message. Everytime i click to send message, a new window pops up, asking me to Re-Sign in (i was already registered with my name) and then Re-enter my password. Wat for??! Then the funny thing happens, "The page you have requested is not found or available"

Great.

convocation!

i've finaly truly graduated! wow! i can't beliv it.. i just cant cant cAnNot believe it!

how could it be?

today was a very happy day indeed.. this is the day when I received the most flowers, ever, in my life. wow... thanks to my belovd family.. n frens - kY, kkan, tee, er, patrk, liz, and the cute juniors. a lot of thanks to these special buddies, nvr forgetting kYin n su, for coming all the way here. haha, poor su -blur case. :p n also to frens who have taken the time to call up - uchen, yHar, aHoon, Richrd, ma, heng, and many more.. wow.. thanks! i'm really grateful! =)

afta taking pix ceremony from 12.15pm - 2pm, i was runnin al the way from Dewan Besar to our fac - we had oath taking ceremony there. Saya bersumpah.. oops.. we dun use such a convulsive word.. it was actuali, "saya berikrar..." hehehe... meeting my long-not-met coursemates was fun indeed.. some of them whom i missed so much.. aaahhh............ =)

life at work

perhaps i'll change my blog title to "Life at work" coz i'm finally working. i remembered when i went interview earlier, most ppl told me,"haiya.. small animal practice ar? no life man... " and i remember how i strongly swept that idea away with just 5 words, "it's a matter of priority."

question now is... how's my life. im living well.. in a land of strangers... but no fear.. coz i know that the Lord is with me. ;)

so far everything is going well... except that my medicine knowledge had really went down hill burying themselves. now im struggling to excavate them.. but so far doing ok. =)

convo coming next sunday... hmm... then i'll get my license.. and i can then call myself a TRUE VET.

oh yeah! imagine! 5 years for this day.... oh my oh my...

MV Doulos

Went to West Port to visit the famous MV Doulos this afternoon! Wow, it was a hot saturday, but many ppl crowded the floating book fair which is conducted, managed, maintained and organized by international volunteers- and i got a good harvest today. Praise Lord.

There are lots of books there - a wide range - includes animals (i wanted so much to buy an animal encyclopedia book there, but was budget tight, so have to hold back my dream), DIY books, mechanical and transports, world, languages, sports, motivation n leadership, religions, novels, children.. and all sorts! Though it was superb humid and claustrophobic inside, but i like it, coz i found what i wanted there. (tips! thr's a spot where you got cool air blowing down straight at you near the atlas area)

The best thing was, i believe the prices are standard - they're not hiked up by the taxes n etc. Bought 4 books, for only RM25.60! And one of it was "Window of the World" which is a thick hard-cover book telling n teaching abt the big wide world at only RM16!! I really really luved it! Goodness!

My recommendation? No matter how far, how humid, how hot the weather, GO GO GO!!! You can't miss this chance! The last time they stopped by Malaysia was 6 years ago! And the next time maybe 10 years.. or more.. we'll never know... So hurry up frens, grab this chance! MV Doulos, go go go! for more info, visit their website: www.mvdoulos.org.

Here are some pix... (there are more pix, unfortunately they're not in my camera, which means i dun have it with me rite now. so solee...)

sg trip

24-26june I went singapore. Heck, i've been to singapore more than a dozen times since small, so wat's the big deal with this? Well, the big deal is.. i was going with my frens! yep yep yep!

so on the first day we went to the thai market area (i forgot the name! can sumone help me wi this?), then went to check-in at a hostel in Geylang (hoo-hoo), National Library (which is so huge and grand, wow.. i'd luv to enter it jus for fun) and later went to Marina Bay had a super big bbq-steamboat thr. wow.. most of us ate til we tot our stomach will explode. N guess? I ate more than 30 prawns i think! n chen was there superbly de-exoskele (i know de-boning, skinning, but removing the exoskeleton, wat do we call?) for me. kakakaka..

then the next day was another fantastic one - sentosa. before this i've visited some "visiting singapore tips" - well they gave comments that there's nothing to see in sentosa, that it just exhausts your money.. but i realli liked sentosa! first we went to underwater worl, whic includes the dolphin show (which i tot they're slightly better than toffee's arts), thenwalked around snapping pix, go sea-swimming, then go watch musical fountain. Hmm.. it's basically a laser-projection show. Nothing much of fountain dancing to the music. I'd still recommend our very own Mines Wonderland if you'd reali want to see water-dancing. ;) N finally we went Clarke Quay and had a real walk thr...

On the last day we went Chinatown, Bugis walk and sumwhere.. which i cant remember the names. Hehe.. proved that i'm growing older - the lousy way. :P

Here are some pix to share. ;) wanted to post more, but blogspot's stuckup rite now. can't post. soleee..

Parents' wish

A reminder for myself and everyone... (for better view/effect, go to: http://parentswish.com/site02/index.html )

Pamela...

On the day when you see us old, weak and weary… have patience and try to understand us…

If we get dirty when eating… if we cannot dress up on our own…Please bear with us and remember the times we spent feeding and dressing you up.

If, when we speak to you, we repeat the same things over and over again…do not interrupt us… listen to us. When you were small, we had to read to you thousand and one times the same story until you went to sleep…

When we do not want to have a shower, neither shame nor scold us… remember when we had to chase you with your thousand excuses to get you to the shower…

When you see our ignorance on new technologies… Help us navigate our way through those worldwide webs.

We taught you how to do so many things…to eat the right foods, to dress appropriately, to fight for your rights…

When at some moments we lose the memory or the thread of our conversation, let us have the necessary time to remember… and if we cannot, do not become nervous…as the most important thing is not our conversation but surely to be with you and to have you listening to us…

If ever we do not want to eat, do not force us. We know well when to and when not to.

When our tired legs give way and do not allow us to walk without a cane… lend us your hand… the same way we did when you first tried your faltering steps.

And when someday we say to you that we do not want to live anymore… that we want to die… do not get angry… someday you will understand… try to understand that our age is not lived but survived.

Some day you will realize that, despite our mistakes, we always wanted the best thing for you and we tried to prepare the way for you…

You must not feel sad, angry nor ashamed for seeing us near you. Instead, try to understand us and help us like we did when you were young.

Help us to walk... Help us to end our way with love and dignity. We will pay you by a smile and by the immense love we have always had for you in our heart.

Dog-kick

It's just normal to hear the taekwando gurus talking abt side-kick, front-kick and turning-kick. OK, vets - they talk about horse-kick, cow-kick... deer-kick perhaps, but have anyone heard about dog-kick?

I usually bring my Toffee out for long walks, where he'll go wherever he want, whenever I permitted. After the long walks, once he reaches home, he'll routinely go "wash-wash" where I'll squat and check his feet and wash them. Yesterday I spotted some reddish spot on his right hind - seemed ulcerated. So I held it closer to my eyes to take a clearer look.

Suddenly I felt something hit hard on my face. For a moment, my sight was blurred. Confused. Suddenly I realized, "Toffee back-kicked me!" What's different from other animals' kicks were, he did not seem the least annoyed or cared about what I was doing with him earlier (other animals would have given warning signs before). OK, I understand, perhaps his right foot was in pain. The kick must have been a pain-reflex.

Just to prove myself correct, I took up his left foot, which was perfectly well. Surprisingly, he back-kicked again. Once, twice. All the same time he looked very relaxed.

I fell back, sitted, surprised, laughing out loud. I couldn't believe it! Toffee back-kicked me!

How dare him... grrr... ye watch out boy...

13dogs shot right in the owner's very house.

I read with dismay the news article from thestar, 30th june 2006, "Owner of 25 dogs tries to save pets from death".

Reportedly, the owner (Seremban) who kept 25 dogs in his own house, "defied a six-month grace period given to him to move the animals to another area". Seremban Municipal Council received a court order on Dec 20 last year to cull all 25 canines in the house. With the court order, together with four dog shooters from the state Veterinary Services Department and two police officers, they entered the owner's house and shot 13 dogs dead. The owner had tried to save his dogs, and managed to pack 10 of them into his car, but was not able to save the other 13. -thestar

Now my questions are,
- Is this the best way to cope with this matter?
- Why shoot to death? Why not a humane way? Shooting is in no way humane. NO WAY. no excuses. Do you kill a man (or cat) just because the man (or cat) scratches/ bites you?
- Why not catch and cage them, allow the owner to claim them later (as DBKL does)? or other ways? There could be other means of negotiations, such as asking for the professional negotiators' help, or animal shelters. Turning to violence and shooting should never have been an option.

- WHY CULL?
- Since the Municipal Council claimed that there were mounting complaints abt the dogs - where are the complaint letters? Black and white.

It crushes my heart to realize that in this time where we call ourselves "civilized" people, in a developing nation which thrives to be the global hub for education and technology, such cruel, merciless, inhumane shootings still take place, in the victim's home, right in front of their father (the owner) and other family members (other dogs). To make things worse, they are actually substantiated by the court. And a global hub for education? Think again.

What happened to our "Masyarakat Penyayang" campaign? Shouldn't the leaders (the court, Seremban Municipal Council, police and NS Veterinary Services Department) walk the talk? Show some example in the first place? I believe when Malaysians launched this campaign, the word "penyayang" did not only refer to the Homo sapiens species. It covers all living creatures, and what more, the man's best friend - dogs/canines?

It is disheartening and a public disgrace to learn that despite all the spites and cruelty that we, human beings, inflict unto the canines - who are not able to speak for themselves - they remained faithful and loyal always, entertaining and giving comfort to their owners whenever needed.

They had assisted much in the police forces, customs, saving people in rescue forces, helping physically and mentally-disabled people, and many more levels of people in our multi-racial society. In short - mankind needs canines.

I believe that it is now time that these canines deserve some care and love back from the society, especially the authorities. Stop discriminations. It blinds us. It hinders all kinds of progress.

The canines had successfully maintained their status as "Man's Best Friends", generations after generations. And I believe - forever more.

Last but not least, an applause goes to Independent Pet Rescuers and Malaysian Animal Welfare Foundation for the relief they provided to the grieving, distressed, heart-broken, tearful 66-year-old owner.

My sympathy goes to him and his children.

The heart of a man speaks thru his treatment unto animals. So is the heart of a nation.

Eng said: "My house became a killing field. There was blood everywhere. I not only lost my dogs but I also had to spend hours cleaning the blood. This is so inhumane. Those dogs were like my children." ~nst, 1st july 2006.