A Festive Challenge

24. A number that I will become familiar with. The year of the dog has come. It was the same year that I was birthed into this earth. Time passes by so very quickly that I can't believe that I had reached a ripe age of 24. Much have come, much will be coming. Its great to look back at the many achievements I achieved not of myself, learning from those experiences and using it as a stepping stone for many more things to come.

The festive seasons are one of the best time to be at home. At home with the family and love ones. Grandpa's place will be in activity as family members will gather for reunion and grandpa's house will be open as usual, inviting the many guest for a time of fellowship and food. Food has always been a mode of bringing people together. Grandma's food is always the best. It is one of those rare occasion where I get to savour truly home cooked food. Auntie Tina was around to lend a hand in dishing out her specialities as well adding to a much more varied array of food. It was great to see people and be around people.

Besides that, it was a special Chinese New Year for me as I had the oppurtunity of meeting many fellow school friends who were away for many years, many who had travel beyond seas and continent to get a degree. It was great to laugh and joke about school days when we were young and michievous. I missed those times. Times when I was oblivious to any problems in life and truly enjoyed myself. It was a great fellowship especially meeting friends that I had not set eyes upon since I left school.

However, it was not all a bed of roses as I had been disappointed by one of my closest friends. I known him since we carried our bags through the big gates of what we called school. It was sad that it had to happen this way yet I try to tell myself to continue to have faith in him and be a friend. All in all, I realise there was a positive from situation. I got to speak with numerous people and got to know them better from this situation. It seems that no matter how bad a situation may look to be, there is always a ray of light penetrating through the darkness. I can only hope that our friendship can be restored and that he will be able to learn from this.

Tired But Blessed

Tired. That was how i felt when I left work at 1am in the morning, the latest I have been at work. My shift had ended at 930pm. I could have gone back. Looking at the mails, I knew I couldn't. Who would finish it? Who would even clear half of it? Holidays were looming around the corner. Many will be away leaving the team barely empty. Month end was near. Backlogs were starting to build up even having cleared the mails during the weekend. I had to stay to clear it.

Ever since I had began working, the idea of teamwork have always been in my mind. It is interesting to see how each and everyone of the team plays an important. Initiative to stay up to clear the mail request means having lesser mails for the next day for everyone. Not carrying out your task effectively means leaving a trail of mails for others to deal with. We all depend on one another. It does not take one person to run a team neither does it take a team to be ran by one person. It involves people, a community, a group to produce results.

Where do I fit in as team? What can I do as a team member?

As far as I know, I would usually try to step up the plate even if would mean sacrificing my time. Fortunately, I was still single to be able to stay up late and work. Less I have a relationship or even venture in marriage with a family at hand, I do not think I would be able to sacrifice that amount of time. Time would be spend with love ones and building the family. Sometimes, its lonely when your style of work differs from the rest. I have gotten to know how each and everyone of my team member work, excluding the newbies that just came in. It is interesting how each and everyone of us are different. We can't expect others to be the same as we do. All we can hope for is someone who can walk the road with us and help us. Responsibility. This was a reason why I stayed back.

Though I was tired, I found it a joy and a blessing. A blessing to be able to get to know one of my collegue who was in the eBanking team. It is hard to meet these guys as they work odd hours. Staying up late allowed me to have a conversation with him and I got to know him better. The last that I could remember really speaking to him was when I wanted to buy some flowers from Him. A string of flowers for our DSIT dinner. I was impressed when he told me that he had around six flower shop in KL. A family business. Now, I know that he helps runs an academy that offers Oracle training and had been to Russia for two months to set up the first level support there. It was an experience for him to be in thick snow and living below 0 degrees. Besides, it was also a culture shock for him to witness a strip show during their company dinner. There were loads of stories that he wanted to tell. People that he had met along the way that were geniuses in their own respective fields. The funny thing is, he still keep in touch with them. How often do we do that, I wonder? A point to be taken and taken action on.

I knew I could go on talking to him the whole night. However, the ever increasing mail request in my mailbox indicated that I needed to get back to work and get back home for a good night's rest.

A Post to Be Continued

I missed writing. This were my thoughts when I started writing. Its been long. Three month of unattended attention to this blog of mine. Much have happened yet much have yet to be written. Where should I start? Remembering three full months of activities is nerve wrecking. Yet I will try to sumarrise as much as I can remember and hopefully by God's grace, be able to start afresh and continue blogging consistantly from now onwards.

In A Galaxy Far, Far Away.....

It was a spur of a moment that I decided to join the fellow Star Wars enthuasiast namely Terry, Jia Wern and Yuin-Y to the island of Singapore to witness the Star Wars exhibition which was being held until 3 April 2006. Not that was a fan like the rest, I went merely to get away and have a holiday. A short trip over the weekend will indeed help to break the norm.

We boarded the train towards the South. Why the train? I would rather hop onto a bus which would get me over the border in a matter of just 4 hours. However, the trip on board was not as bad as my previous trip as I manage to sleep which I didn't previously and also enjoyed the view that the railroads had to offer. History could be seen by the many old unkept railways stations. There were still left untouched and unmaintained. Our travel over the border took us around 6 hours. Instantly, I felt the difference. Development was iminent. The roads and its surround were a sight to behold. I was felt foreign.

We made our way to check in to our place of stay. It was a backpackers lodge that Terry had researched. As we made our way through the jam packed MRTs to the tight street of Little India, we finally found the blue building of Inncrowd Hostel. The first thing that came to mind as I entered was "Ikea". A simple, well decorated place that had ample space for a densely packed counter, a pool table, an IT corner, a well equipped kitchen, dobby services, shared toilet and bunkers to sleep. I felt very much at home despite realising we were the only Asians there, other than the proprieter of this hostel. Slept well and had a great bath. What more can you ask for especially when we only return late at night.

Yuin-Y introduce her fellow Penang mates, namely Vinly, his girlfriend and Francis who were in Singapore studying. They practically brought us around Singapore, introducing to us the fares of Singapore. From window eating the posh eateries along Clarke Quay, indulging in authentic fish and chips, sipping hot thick chocolate at Esplanade to having a great serving of kebabs at Orchard. I truly met people who in the same wavelength. It seems that wherever Malaysians are, food will always bind us together.

Star fighters, Chewbacca and R2-D2. These were some of the exhibits that were on displayed at the exhibition. It was an interesting display of real life models and art work that allow us to view it up close and personal. My favourite part of the exhibition was the Folly Studio. As we were going throuhg the exhibits, there was an entourage that was going through the similar exhibits that we were seeing except with more detailed explanation. We decided to join in as there was goin to be a demonstration at the Folly Studio. Enclosed in a small room, was various object that comprise of household objects to food. We all gathered in front of a small stage where the soon to be sound recording would be taking place. As a scene of Star Wars was flashed up, the volunteers who participate in this sound making session began to hold their vegetables, brush and dustbin lids and orchestrate a symphony. The end product was alot better than the previewed sound, which I was quite impress with. Its interesting to know where sounds we usually watch in movie are made from. I was then off to join the toru to the very end and then made my own way through the exhibit for a close up. All in all it was an interesting, just that I had wish for more as there was not much exhibits for the last three episodes. It seems most of them were thrown away after production. Other than that, the exhibits that we saw was only one fifth of the entire Star Wars exhibition around the world. If all of the props and exhibits of the movie were collected and kept, I believe that a Star Wars museum could be possible.

Besides the exhibition, I experienced two culture shocks. The first was while attending church at the New Creation Church at Suntec City. The auditorium where the church was held was called "The ROCK". Security was pretty tight as I was not allowed to snap a picture as a rememberance of my visit there. I had heard much of this church and it was a priviledge to have a sneak preview of one of the biggest church in Singapore. Inside, I was shocked to see a man with an Ah Beng hairstyle preaching, clueless that he was the senior pastor, Pastor Prince. Worship was rather simple, nothing too extravagant. Message dealt with real live situation that were relevant. I enjoyed myself. However as I left the auditorium, I was amazed to see a crowd gathering. Initially, I thought the reason a crowd had gathered was that it was a weekend and people were shopping at Suntec. My assumption were not to my expectation as I soon saw a line forming outside and realising that these people were actually queuing up for church. I was like, "WOW, imagine Malaysia had such enthusiastic crowd that came early for church, revival would take place."

"It will, one day." affirm Francis. My disbelieved silent at that moment.

The other culture shock was visiting the IT centre in Singapore. Software were sold off the shelf of each of the shopwe visited. The only different was all of these softwares were orginal unlike the typical scene at Low Yat or Imbi where its hard to spot an original to a fake. Pirates were much more reasonable to purchase.

All in all, I enjoyed myself. It was tiring walking around Singapore. The people I saw. The gorgeous Brazilian girl I met at the hostel. The awesome display of one of my childhood films. The new friends I met. It was a good getaway weekend.

A New Year Blast!

New year eve was spend on a modest mode. There was no nightwatch service this year as the following day was a Sunday. Usually new year eve are spend at church instead of night lights in the city or the pumping jam packed discos or clubs.

It was such a great feeling to be able to welcome the new year on a Sunday morning. What would be more appropriate than to spend the first day in the house of God. I have been asking myself as to what I should do this year. Many thoughts came and go. Standing in my chair and asking God, I could not thing of anything else but my walk. It seems that I found myself at a stage of lukewarm. A dangerous place to be in when you're neither hot nor cold. I asked myself what happened to the fire that I had caught during mission and at Hillsongs conference. Had it just fizzle out and found myself going back to square one. I was puzzled and ashamed. What would my life be if I keep on at this pace? I needed something to boast my confident that I would be able to walk consistently with my head held high and not looking back at the failures, dissapointment or temptation that had cause me to feel so helpless. I prayed that He will guide me this year.

After a dazzling Sunday morning where we kickstart a month long teaching of the Fruit of the Spirit, I headed down to KL to meet up with my buddies, Terry, Don and Kelvin. We had decided to catch "Actorlympic". Ironically, it was to be our first theatre of the year. Unfortunately, Mathan could not join us as he was up at his new place cleaning up to move in.

We set out to Bangsar Shopping Complex. There we met a couple of familiar faces from MMUCF who were also there to catch theater. Fortunately, they were able to get seats which apparently was the last few seats available. Thanks to Terry, we were able to get some good side seats that allowed us to watch it up close. I made comparison with the Actors Studio Box and KLPac. Actors Studio Box is confined to a smaller place as compared to KLPac which allowed the audience to be up close with the actors, allowing one to see the facial expression that makes theatre real. However, KLPac has a beautiful surrounding that includes green trees, a lake and creatively design exteriors that allow one to be creative in one's surrounding.

It was time for "Actorlympic". The respective make an entrance from behind with various personality. The most hair raising entrance was that of Edwin Sumun who came in drapped in a long piece of cloth that drops off his shoulders revealing his naked skin. As soon as all the actors and actresses got on stage, the show was in motion. I was really excited to see the most talented actors in Malaysia all on one stage. People like Gavin Yap, Edwin Sumon, Na'a Murad, Adflin Shauki, Nell Ng, Ida Nerina, Jit Murad, Rashid Salleh and Harith Iskandar. Money worth indeed. Indeed it was also a tummy worth as their spontaneous made us laugh our lungs out. It was such an entertaining show that you can't help but understand why it was a full house.

After emptying our stomach with all that laughter, we had to put replace some of it by proceeding to Chilli's. If you are one who enjoys bottomless, the bottomless drinks and nachos at Chilli's can really fill you to the brink without having you touch your main course. It was a simply filling dinner that we had and expensive one as well. As long there is good company, price seems to be secondary. What a blast we had on new year!

Resolutions for 2006

New year. Another 365 days had passed. How time flies. It was like just yesterday that I celebrated new year. Well, I guess its the time of the year where new resolution need to be made and I believe I would need to make mine as well. I know of many who do not believe in making new year resolution.

"Aiya, what resolutions? Make also no point. Waste time! Won't do wan."
"Resolutions? Whats that? No need resolution. Just go with the flow. Come what may."

Well, these are some of the response when you asked someone about resolution. I used to also had such mentality before. Experience speaks for itself. I know I am not going to be able to achieve all that I had written down or even resort myself in making it come pass. So why have one when you can't achieved it?

I believe that by making new year resolution that I would be able to have a direction in life whereby I would list down things I would like to do or see in myself come to pass. This would allow me to reflect and trace back the journey that has taken me to achieve, realising that I was not able to do if God was not beside me helping me make it come to pass.

Many thoughts had come by as to what I would resort to do this year. These thoughts or ideas were spurred by reflecting upon what I had missed out, neglected or did not do the last year. Other than that, some of these were birth because I wanted to see myself doing it. As a self proclaimed procrastinator, I know that if I do not envisioned what I would like to accomplish this year, I would only see this year past by meaningless and unfruitful.

As a result, I decided to pen down some realistic goals whereby I would see myself accomplishing it by God's grace. If it does come to pass, I would know that my pure determination to make it come pass was not the only factor of me accomplishing it but of God helping me to do so.

Personal

1. Consistency in the reading of the Word, praying and tiding.
2. Time conscious and punctuality.
3. Taking responsibility and being committed towards a certain task/role/responsibility given.
4. Taking effort and time to build relationships and fellowship among friends and family members.

Career

1. Build my understanding and knowledge in SAP (SD module and Security) and other onboarded application that would allow me to be on par with the seniors in the team.
2. Proactive in undertaking task that have been given.
3. To assist in building the team by providing feedback and complementing my collegues in building towards the vision of achieving a world class helpdesk for DSIT by 2008.
4. To be an examplary Christian in the marketplace.

Things I planned to do

1. Initiating meetups/fellowship with friends.
2. Assist in helping in the direction of the Easter drama.
3. Writing an original musical drama script for next year's Easter.
4. Getting my buddies to brainstorm and shoot a shot film for this years MVA.
5. Loose weight and exercise regularly.
6. Go on a holiday.
7. Consistantly update my blog.
8. Start saving for a drum set.
9. Buy a digital camera.
10. Decorate my room.
11. Learn to cook.
12. Start reading.

This are my resolutions for this year. It is a more detailed resolution as compared to previous year. I hope by God's grace that I would be able to fulfill this goals.