Resurrection

I have finally resurrected from the grave of absence into the oblivious cyber world to once again revive the spirit of thought-provoking self explanatary digest of my life before an unknown audience of fellow blog readers.

.......................................................what a bunch of crap!!!

Precisely. Its really been such a long time I lay my hands on this little familiar screen where I used to ramble away all the times in a lengthy way that curious readers do point out to me the difficulty of reading my blog. Well, I guess writing on blog was initially intended for my reference, mainly to chart what I have done so far for this year. However, in an open cyber space, confidentiality needed to be sacrifice and I begin to feel at ease sharing my life through this site. It has provided for me an avenue of sharing, accountability and allowing people to keep in touch with me.

 I did miss jotting down my experiences, thoughts and happenings in my life. A month have almost pass and most of what I wanted to write about have already crept out of my mind. I do miss writing. Spending long hours sitting down and coming up with sentences, uploading of pictures and posting them. Pictures seems to be somethinng I loves. Looking at them on my blog reminds me of the happy times. No wonder there is always a camera in my bag.

God has been really good to me all this time.

Thank God for providing me with a job for my industrial training. Though I had wish to work at Mesiniaga, I was happy enough to be given a job at World Net Services. I just felt peace eventhough it wouldn't seem like a company that is directly related to my field of interest. This would require me to travel down to the KL golden triangle from Monday to Friday. Its unimaginable that I would be going through the hustle and bustle of the KL traffic, squeezing myself with the many office goers on the LRT and joining the rat race which I had heard so much about. I would be working at Megan Phileo, which is situated opposite Hotel Nikko and adjacent to KLCC along Jalan Ampang. The company is under the Reliance Travel group and it deals with setting up websites and databases for countries in order to promote tourism at a particular area. The idea seem pretty interesting to me and I can't wait to find out more about it when I start. I always like to work. Howevers, news about working life from people who have graduated before me always seems to depict a terrible life. It really all depends on an individual. What I would feel I would know when I am in it.

Thank God for pulling me through my Final Year Project (FYP) presentation. I had to rush to present. I do agree that it was my fault. Punctuality seem to be the biggest hurdle I have yet to cross over. I ran all the way to the Intel Advance Lab and quickly apologize for being late. Quickly catching my breathe, I began my presentation. My long hours of working on the slides had allowed me to familiarize with the order of presentation. However, I believe that God was there to give me a clear presence of mind to speak confidently to my fellow audience of my supervisor, Dr David Chieng, moderator, Mr. Chang Yoong Choon and friends who came to lend their support namely Terry, Khang Yee and Kai Nian.

Just to give you a brief introduction to my project, Terry and myself will be working on "Provisioning a SIP-based Voice over IP (VoIP)". What is it all about? Its mainly about implementing a new telecommunication technology whereby telephone calls would be made digitally through a digital transmission line by packets instead of the normal electrical signals in the copper cable. Terry would be dealing with the User Agent, an interface to dial to another user while I would be dealing with the System Management. I find it pretty fun learning all the information about setting up this whole system. Preparing for my slides has allowed me to have a bigger picture of what my project is all about. Systems, networking and management seems to be my cup of tea. This is a field that I am considering to move into in near future if I were to stay in my line of engineering. However, it isn't an easy task as we faced many difficulties eventhough its mainly installing and implementing. Hardward and software compatibility has been an issue for us. The workload seems to be a lot and I guess early preparation needs to be done during the 2nd sem even if im on my training. Staying in campus has given me an advantage to do my project.

Other than that, I have been searching myself a lot. Reflecting upon myself and learning about myself in general, my strengths and weakness. With God helps, I hope I would be able to go about improve myself and grow from there on.

Weaknesses

1. Punctuality
   I guess this has been clearly shown to many that know me well. I am always late. Though I tried to be early especially in the early part of the sem, I am back again at my starting line.
2. Judgemental
   There are many times that I have been judgemental. People who do not meet my standards. I realise that in myself when I began to look at other people faults more than their strenght. This has cause me in a way to look down on certain people and classify them as inferior. I fail to realise that I too have my fault, as you can see. It is not my duty to judge them but more of me accepting them.
3. Sarcasm
   Many times I tend to be an outgoing person that is full of mischief and at times full of crap. I realise at times that my jokes may seem funny to me but at times it may turn out to be sarcasm instead.
4. Sensitive
   I would say that I am a very sensitive person though I seldom portray it in front of people. Only those who are close to me knows it. I will always remember this words from my friends who use to say, "Use your sensitivity to be a blessing and not the other way round". I am particular with peoples actions, characteristics and surroundings. This is duly part and parcel of my tendency to observe people and how they interact with situations. Other than that, I tend to think alot.

This are some areas that I have come to realise that I need to strike a balance. I pray that He will guide me though my weakness that it would become a strength that would bless and encourage people around me.

What A Friend We Have In Jesus
All our sins and griefs to bear
What a priviledge to carry
Everything to God in prayer
O what peace we often forfeit
O what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged
Take it to the Lord in prayer
Can we find a friend so faithful
Who will all our sorrow share?
Jesus knows our every weakness
Take it to the Lord in prayer

Are we weak and heavy-laden
Cumbered with a load to care?
Precious Saviour, still our refuge
Take it to the Lord in prayer
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer
In His arms He'll take and shield thee
Thou wilt find a solace there

My Life In CFMMU

I was reflecting my life as a university student in particular a member of the Christian Fellowship. It has been almost 5 good years I have participated in the Christian Fellowship. I have grown to be who I am today because of CF. The people that I met throughout the many years, both seniors and juniors have impacted me in one way or another. There have been joy and sorrow. However, at the end of the day I am blessed to be associated and played a role in the CF.



It has come to attention that CF has began to show a decline. Many have noticed that CF is no longer as excited as it used to be. Coming to CF every Tuesday seems to be a routine or a chore that many find it pointless to even attend. Excuses seem to pop up everytime CF is mention. Work, studies and appointment seem to be more important than CF. I am not saying that work, studies and appointment isn't important, ain't it the main purpose why we decided to come to university to study and obtain a decent degree? It is more about priorities that we set upon ourselves to finish our work, studies and appointment beforehand so that we can allocate time to attend CF for the purpose of fellowship with fellow Christian and communion with Jesus our Saviour.



Seniors have begun to slowly leave the CF and juniors have begun to disappear after the first few meeting. Its hard to imagine CF going through a face where members do not find it a joy to come for CF. There is a choice to be made whether to attend CG or CF. Many prefer to attend CG because of the small group setting and have began to compromise from attending CF. The issue of having difficulty in mixing around and not being able to fit it in a big environment seem to be the best excuse for many to not attend CF.



Are we coming to CF to expect a grand welcome? Are we expecting people to come and give us the best treatment so that we may feel comfortable and not left out?



It is an irony to be that we expect so much yet contribute so little. We talk and complain to people around us about the minutiae details that we forget to look at the big picture.



Do you know what the big picture is? J-E-S-U-S C-H-R-I-S-T

A simple word yet so hard to understand. We need to come to a reliasation that Jesus should be the centre of the CF, it should be the sole purpose why we attend CF.



Would you come to CF if you were alone in a room with no worship, no precher and no fellowship? Many times we look at the exterior yet forget the interior that God is within each and our hearts. Do you know that He is there beside you all the time?



I am sending out this message to tell those who read my writings and apart of the CF that the committee does not own or control the CF. WE are the ones who own the CF and we need to claim it with full of passion and enthuasiam to see the CF grow not in numbers alone but in spirit. The committees are faced with a realisation that we at times feed like we are facing a blank wall. Expectation are high I must admit but expectaction will only be expectation if we do not come together as brothers and sisters, hand in hand to bring CFMMU into greater heights. The Lords work is not not done by a few but by each of us. We need to step out from our comfort zone and support those who are in battle to win and proclaim Jesus in this campus, MMU.

We have been so blessed that at times we forget we started our roots. It was not an easy beginning to start a CF in MMU let alone have weekly meetings in campus and relatively big bank account to support our activities. It is because of God's grace that we are where we are and we should not take God's grace for granted.

I humbly call out to those who read this to join hands in prayer. Put aside the status, be it senior or junior, committee or non-committee, friends or foe. Let us do it unto the Lord and proclaim Christ in our CF in our university. Pray with us and we would see God working tremedously in our life, our studies and our families.

God bless

My Helping of Motion Pictures

I had the priviledge of previewing a couple of movies during the holidays and after my exams. It has been some time since I actually sat down and watched a movie in its entirety. Here are some of my helpings:

Shrek 2

I made two trips to watch this movie, one intentional and the other unitentional. It was a fun movie to watch and I would say it is a cartoon of parodies. If you notice throughout the show, there were many scenes related movies and trademarks added into the film. One could not have imagine what an interesting sequel this must have been as not many sequel are able to be on par or better than the previous effort. The characters and storyline manage to catch my attention. Laughter seems to be the best medicine to die hard Shrek fans as imitation and jokes made Shrek stand out among the rest.

Rating : *****

The Hours

This would seem like an award winning show but to me it was a show that was not worth watching. It tells about the story of 3 ladies i different timeline, each relating to one another in difference scences. Lesbianism seem to be profoundly exhibited throughout the show. Besides that, depression seem to a message amplified by the director that it becomes a very tormenting show to watch. A show that would remain under the stack of movies with the tag "Don't waste your time".

Rating : **

The Prince & Me

If you like a fantasy story where a girl dreams of a prince sweeping her off her feet, this would be a show to see. As a self professed Julia Stiles fan, it was interesting to see her in it although she did not exhuberate her acting skills to its full potential compared to other films like "10 Things I Hate About You". However, its a nice show to watch and relax as there isn't much thinking to do as the story line is pretty simple and direct. In summary, a rich prince falling for a commoner girl. Sounds familiar?

Rating : ***

13 Going on 30

It was my first time seeing Jennifer Garner acting in a movie. I must admit that she is quite good and would I say strike a very interesting character in this show. Its about a girls birthday wish to turn from 13 and 30. Her dreams came true and she travelled back into the future to see herself as a 30 year old magazine editor who had messed up her life. Simplicity made her change her way of life and it was good to see that she tried her best to make her life worthy of something. And as any love story would be, it always has a guy in it, which is her childhood best friend. Though she tried to rebuild her life, she was not able to get her true love. She goes back from where she came from and decided to change history for the better which ended with her marrying her childhood sweetheart. An interesting to watch.

Rating : ****

You Got Served

My eyes nearly pop up and I was disbelieve throughout the show when I saw the amazing dance steps which was exhibited throughout the entire show. It was dance steps all the way from the beginning to the end. This movies tells about a group battling among other crews (a term used for a dancing group) who battle their way from the underground to the famed bounce battle in which they would be accorded a stint in Lil' Kim music video. It was seriously interesting to see the choreograph dance steps which may seem intimidating to me as I can't imagine myself doing it though I wish I could. The storyline was pretty shallow and it could bored the audience who aren't into the dancing element of the show. To me, I give them a high 4 for its effort.

Rating : ****

Honey

I truly enjoyed this movie not because of Jessica Alba (Boy, she is hot!) but because it was a very well balance dance movie. There weren't as much flamboyant dance steps as compared to "You Got Served" but there was an equal balance from its storyline, characters and dance presentation. Lil Bow Wow wasn't impressive in its acting debut. I truly like the ending presentation in which the dance was a combination of street, ballet and tap dancing. The show did remind me of my dreams of setting up a youth centre such as this, serving the community by opening it up the kids and the youths to hang out in a safe environment. I had some visual describtion in my lil head but have yet to pen it down in drawing.

Rating : *****

Eurotrip & Roadtrip

I would have to admit that there is not much expectation from a movie such as this. Corny storyline, horny jokes and an exhibition of flesh with a number of shots of boobies and penises. It is simply a movie which I would call in Chinese, "ho mo" translated "very cheesy". It tell of the journey of Scott to Berlin in search of his penpal, Mika due to some gender misunderstanding. However, I would rate it higher than Road Trip for particulat scene that made me laugh till my head crack open. It was a scene where there was a battle of the best robot movement between Scott and a French street performer.

Rating : ***

A Photoblog

Three weeks have passed and I have not updated my blog. Holidays and exams have halted my posting but I hope it does not hinder my enthusiasm to write my experience and thoughts I encounter. I decided to do a photoblog of my past few weeks minus certain occasion I forgot to picture my experience.


Cyber Christmas

I attended the past few meetings of Cyber Christmas meetings mainly to sit in as an observer and also to be there to represent the CF Comm that we are behind them for this whole event. It reminded me of my past involvement of Cyber Christmas for the past 3 years. It was good to see new faces in different leadership roles. I decided not to get involve in this years Cyber Christmas, mainly because I wouldn't be around due to my industrial training. However, I wouldn't mind helping out in areas where there is a lacking in manpower namely cleaning up and shifting stuff. I realise there is a lacking of man power in those area considering the fact that it is a dirty job which many aren't to venture.



Year : 2001/2002 Involvement : Oversear
This was the first year in as a beta that I decided to volunteer myself as a Cyber Christmas committee. Coming in a freshie, I was practically oblivious to what was happening around. I was choosen as an oversear, helping the chairman on the night itself. However, I wasn't able to carry out my duties to my best as I was involve in church and wasnt able to make it for practices. Felt really bad for not helping out as much and that lead me to continue serving in Cyber Christmas the following year.




Year : 2002/2003 Involvement : Cyber Christmas Chairman
I decided to take up the responsibily of heading Cyber Christmas as I felt I wanted to do more and probably expand the vision of Cyber Christmas to a bigger scope. The plan to have a week of Christmas failed to materialise but I thank God that all the things we had planned were executed by God's sufficient grace. It was a first time for many which included a self-penned trip and 5 events running concurently besides the tradisional Christmas play. I learned that God answer's prayers in mysterious ways that we at times aren't able to comprehend.



Year : 2003/2004 Involvement : Exhibition Director
The call to once again served in this area was again highlighted but I decided to take a smaller role which involve a larger preparation. It was an idea mooted myself and Michelle and decided to take it up since there was no one volunteering for it. It was good experience to see you vision coming to reality though not exact. However, it was a priviledge working with a group of non-cf people who came to help out. It was a nice setting though it lack in attracting the people to come and see it due to the location. It taught me about patience alot as I needed to wait outside a lecturer room for almost two hours to get permission to for a venue. It was frustrating and time consuming. However, there was joy in my heart to see it come to past and to see people working together made me forget about the bad experience and also the tiring effort put in.

Bad Weather

It was a sight I had never encounter before. Big drops of rain and strong undirectional rain tore through the little town of Seremban. It reminded me of the movie "Day After Tomorrow". Here are some pictures of my home surrounding.





The Weekend




My younger sis will be spending her first weekend in Malacca and was not coming back. My parents decided to pay a visit to her. We visited Mahkota Parade for a short shopping spree, made our way to the famous Jonker Street for some night life and headed down to Amigo for dinner.

An Outdoor Experience





I was fortunate to be able to join Shio's CG, the CG my sis attends for a trip to Bukit Kiara Equestrian Club for Nokia Starlight Cinema, which is an outdoor cinema. The show for tonight was Shrek 2 and Secret Window. There was so many people that many cars were parked beside the road. Some who were unfortunate had their cars summoned. Friends and family came in drove with sleeping bags, mattresses and picnic basket to watch the movie. My experience was cut short due to a short drizzle and I decided to vacate the place not taking any risk of a heavy downpour as our cars were parked near the National Science Centre. We tend made our way to the famous Sri Hartamas for dinner cum supper. It was so crowded that there were cars and people everywhere. My throat was cut when I had to fork out RM5 for parking. It was really a picture of a luxurious lifestyle with people in skimpy clothes and expensive cars, spending their Friday nights at clubs and discos. This is a lifestyle I find uncomfortble yet wonder why do people spend so much money and time on such unethical activities.

Exam Week

It was simply a strenous and boring week to start of the second quarter of my semester. My daily routine of waking up, study, having lunch, study, having dinner, study and going to bed was unimaginable. I wonder how I manage to pull through for the past 4 days. I had not intended to attend CF that day due to unfinish studying. However, I stayed back as there was complication to the movie which was to be shown and that many people who were not around due to exams and work. Besides that, I went out on the following night for CG makan althought the next day I had another exam to go through. Sacrificing time for fellowship rather than study made me tense but at the end of the day I felt peace. I thank God for pulling me through as I was able to answer the question for my mid term. However, uncertainties overshadowed me and it will time will only tell if I manage to pull up some results.

Tying the Knot

Here is a picture of the beautiful bride, Min Chee and groom, Matthew who solemnly exchange their vows in my church where a dinner at Restaurant Hei Lo Tin. Food was quite reasonable making the lotus leave rice and four season my top pick of the night.




Studying Through the Holidays

It was horendous to be on holiday yet had to force myself to pick up my books to study. However, the thought of workload and exams right after my break were my main motivation for me to continue on.

Out With The Boys

Don paid me a visit from Kajang and went out together with Terry for a good lunch of beef noodle and stayed on for a cup of good black coffee at Seremban Market while we waited for the rain to subside. It was pretty cool to hang out at the market though most of those around us were wondering why on earth were youngsters at the market hanging out. If there was a spitting bowl on the floor with our legs on the chair, it would be a perfect picture of old "ah peks" hanging out and talking politics. Besides that, we also paid a visit to one of the local car battery shop to change his bat as most of his car appliances weren't working. Pictures I do not have to illustrate it as the I forgot about taking my camera to snap the some food of Seremban.

Harvest

It was yet again a trip down to old grandpa place where I had the priviledge of joining my parents in gathering the crops of the season. Grandsparents were down in KL and we were there on his behalf to collect the fruits that have dropped on the ground. This include durians and mangosteen. Duku langsat and mangoes were beginning to appear but were yet ripen to be collected. Grandpa's place always remind me of an orchard that I would love to have in my dream house. Imagine having a field day collecting and eating the fruits of your labour in your own garden. Simply mouth-watering!





A Visit to KL





My parents made the trip to KL this week mainly to see my grandpa who was admitted to hospital for gout. He had traffered from SJMC to Selayang Hospital as it was alot more cheaper. The trip also included a stopby at Help Institute for a quick tour for my younger sister who have yet to make up her mind on her choice of courier. It was an impressive building not because it was asthetically beautiful but because the concept of the way the institute was constructed caught my attention. It is build at the basement of Damansara Business Centre that streches close to a kilometre long. There was this long corridor where students need to walk thorugh in order to get to their classes. It reminded me of the underground tunnels soldiers used to build under the cities to travel from one place to another without being notice. Quite a cool college to be in.




A Launch Ceremony






Dad woke up me up pretty early on Saturday morning and asked if I would like to follow him for a launch ceremony down at PD. Seeing the oppurtunity, I decided to follow my dad since I had a neck for buildings. It was an interesting outing, seeing how it was organise. My dad had an invitation to attend by the architect and developer of this building. It was a time sharing government resort which was abandoned for quite long time. The ceremony was graced by our Menteri Besar and I manage to catch a glimpse of him in person for the first time. Looks quite a humble person though my dad reckon the previous MB, Tan Sri Isa, the current Federal Territoty Minister was more of a jovial person when it comes to speeches. We decided to leave a little earlier as we were planning to go to KL a few hours later. However, our effort was in vain as there were some unreasonable people who parked their cars on the road blocking those who were parking inside. It shows the mentality of fellow Malaysians when it comes to parking their vehicle. Hope that we are able to improve our mentality before we become a developed nation in the year 2020.



Nobel Laurette Exhibition at National Science Centre




I went there on a trip organised by Dr. Ian. We sat in a school bus which made me feel like it was one of those primary school trips to KL. Michelle, Ching Wei and Puay Seong were some of those who went together with me.

A Birthday Celebration With Shen





The dishes was enomous in proportion yet the price was reasoble especially when it was seafood. The menu for the night include Garlic Butter Mussels, Seafood Platter and Swordfish with a top up of Cola Tonic. This is one of my favourite restaurant not because it is one of my relative, Mr. Lambert Yeo franchise which started in Singapore but the food choices suits my appetite considering the big portion and reasonable price. For more info, do check out the link below.