Saturday, September 30, 2006

Walk His Trail

The footstool players. A familiar drama team among the Christian community in Malaysia. I remembered watching their last performance "Let Go, Let God" at SIBKL about two years ago. I had heard that they had previously past through Seremban and hearing of another oppurtunity, I could not afford to miss it. I made my way to Full Gospel Tabernacle, Seremban with sis, Don and meeting Terry there later. There were not many people during the play, I believe about half of the place was full. I guess many had church activities and would not be able to attend. Publicity was not entirely extended to all churches which could be a reason many did not know that they were giving a presentation. I on the other hand could not wait for the show to start.

The drama told of a story of five missionaries who had the desire to reach out the ingenious people, Auca in Ecuodor. This tribe stayed in the inner most part of the jungle and were hard to come by. Many say that they were nurtorious in nature which describe their name, savages. It was amazing how five brave men trusted in God for the Word to be reached to these group of people not knowing that their live will be taken from them, leaving behind their wife and kids.

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It was a very sad tale as the drama foretold the story adapted from the journals of these men. The images and clips providing a glimpse to the actual event help to bring the audience back into time to witness the story of these young men. A first for the Footstool players to venture into media. It was not overdone yet it maintain the live drama side of it. I was very much impressed by the narrator played by Dorothy Lee who told the story as Elisabeth Elliot, the wife of one of the missionaries. Her eloquency and voice projection caught my attention. I soon found out that she had graduate from Speech Therapy which clearly explains her perfect narration. Much of the scene were simple. Props were minimal. Many new actors and actresses from various churches seem to breathe new blood to these drama group. I am still impressed how they have grown from a ministry to an inter-denominational drama group. I applaud your effort.

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Going back to the drama, it seems like a lost for the five men who died. But their death birth about a revival. The tribe whom they had tried to reach and who killed them began to accept Christ. Their name had been change from Auca to Waodani which meant "people". They had grown and even venture to neighbouring villages to reach out. Some had even died for that cause. The men who had murdered the missionaries were now leaders of the Christian group in the tribe. What touch my heart was forgiveness. The son of Nate Saint, Steve was baptised by the murderer of their father. He even called them"father" and "granfather". How could they forgive the man that had murdered their father? The only answer would be God's love. A love that know no boundaries. I was touched.

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Can I have that much courage to reach out knowing that I would die for my effort? Am I strong to forgive my enemy who had done me wrong? There is much to learn and I can only pray for His guidance.

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I bought some materials which were available. For those who know me well, I am no reader. Books that I have are either left unread or half read. However, I wanted to read about their experience and how they had deal with the circumstances that had befallen them. Its a start and I hope to start reading more.

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If want to catch them, here are the venues of their new performance;

Sat 7 & Sun 8 October 2006
Full Gospel Tabernacle, Subang Jaya Wisma Eagles, 5 Jalan TP4, Taman Perindustrian UEP, Subang Jaya

Sat 14 & Sun 15 October 2006
Wesley Methodist Church, Klang 4 Jalan Bukit Jawa, Klang

Sat 28 & Sun 29 October 2006
Canning Garden Methodist Church, Ipoh 23 Jalan Keliling, Canning Garden, Ipoh

Sat 4 & Sun 5 November 2006
The Life Chapel, Petaling Jaya9 Jalan 17/21E, Petaling Jaya


For more info on the performance, do check out Footstool Players


For more info on the story, please check out the following links;

Pasar Ramadan

It's been almost a week since Ramadan had started. Our fellows Muslim friends go into a month of fasting. As dusk come, people congregrate at their respective homes to break fast and pray a thanks to God for sustaining them through the day. Food are applenty during this time of the month and pasar ramadan are set up almost everywhere. Thanks to Don igenious suggestion, my sis and I jump on the bandwagon to pay a visit to Ampangan for a taste.

And a taste we got as we went through the row of stalls line up under the shade to see which was the best looking stall that would satisfy our tastebuds. It was like we were on a fast as well as we jostle among the crowd that were there to buy food back to break fast. Everything was nice and we grab a few Malay delicacies that can only be available during this ramadan. What was even more surprising as to how food was sold off so very quickly. Thinking of coming back to the stall after going through every stall was a bad idea as by the time we came back, it was time to close shop and head back home. I was suprised how people respond to food. Buy, Buy them ALL! Such a good business that I don't even mind setting a stall myself.

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Happening Uncle

Got a sudden call from my parents for a meeting with an uncle from US, a friend of my grandfather. Quite an impromptu meetup. Another dimsum session.

We met at Min San for our brunch session. The uncle in a Las Vegas cap greeted us. Dad and mum were up at grandpa's house listening to his stories till 2am. Quite impressive I must say considering my parents would have already head the sack by then.

I had no knowledge that he was actually older than my grandpa. 82 years old. Looks can be deceiving. Clearity of mind. Younger in person. It was amazing to see such a young old man. 28 is what he feels like. He actually had a heart for my grandpa to come and find him by taking a KTM to Seremban. They had been friends since 10. Came along way from being friends to distant relative of ours. Climbing coconut trees, lastik and fishing were some of their memories back then.

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One of the other things that I was pretty impressed is that he travels frequently at an age that many of us would not even dare to venture out of our own garden. He would be going to Cambodia in a few weeks time, alone. Imagine an 82 year old man walking up Angkor Wat. Man, I really wish I had that energy at that age. It would be really cool to be able to do all of that and not sit at home and watch Wah LonToi.

Firefighting

Its been quite a tense week. An atmosphere I kinda like considering the challenges that comes with it and also it break the normality of work. I always like things to be different. Variety. That is why I find diversity, a trade you find in Malaysia interesting to me.

Its been a week since I had been assigned to join the Profile and Security team. I can say that I volunteer to be apart of this team considering the need of starting one. For me I know that complaining about something which does not work, does not help anyone at all unless you step up to the plate and try to do something to rectify that problem.

This idea was suggested during my last GPA. However, it never materialise until an issue require it to be set up. Its ironic at times how ideas are only actioned when something happens. We had failed an audit check prior to third quarter signoff. A hoohaa was created. We were got into a room to discuss on an issue that had brought about the failure. This was followed by another meeting to come up with strategies in dealing with it.

One of the interesting I had taken notice is how three managers went about dealing with it. There was one who was explaining the complexity of the issue and trying to get feedback on how to deal with it, another was defending the process that we had in place and how it was difficult to achieve perfection while another took notes and tried to see the route cause of the issue. I asked myself who am I in the eyes of those three leaders. I guess it would be the latter as I would sit and hear what others have to say before bringing up my points.

I feel at times things are done in a rash. Many times wanting a quick solution but not planning on achieving a suitable process that would bring about less implication in future. Everything seem to NOW.

We need a solution NOW.
We need to change something NOW.
We got to start doing something NOW.

Plans are left aside and at the end of the day, we are just dousing a flame not putting in place a rescue effort in tackling a wildfire in fire. It just amazes me at times how different leader have different way of working. There is no one correct method. Many of times its just preference we choose in order to get the job done which would work best for us. There is more to learn about leadership. I am beginning to with all the web based training I had enrolled in. Pretty interesting.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Eyes Wide Shut

Marriage. A convenant we keep until the very day we die. A commitment towards a person we have come to love.

I like their company. Very open kinda guys who would be able to carry any conversation. Like any typical machas. Despite the difference in age, I feel very comfortable like they were peers. They were married. Have a family.

I felt rather uncomfortable when they were checking out other woman. Commenting of woman who came in and out of the chap fan shop in a rather crude manner. It felt funny.

I knew they were married.
I thought they will keep their eyes only for their wife.
I expected them to move on with life with a new perspective in life.

Men. A ravaging beast seeking to devour the next victim. At that point of time, I felt like a woman. How to have eyes run all over you. It would indeed be a rather uncomfortable feeling. Felt like the movie "100 girls" when the guys became a woman for a week and felt how it was to be a woman. It is sick but thats men. A lustful beast.

Although it felt uncomfortable, I knew at least I would not take that path. I promise that I would keep my eyes only to the one I had come to love, the one I would start a relationship and hopefully progress to spend my entire life with her. It is not easy being a men with lustful desires but I believe if we try hard enough and seek His help, we can go through life loving the one we love truly in heart, soul and mind. I have yet to find her but I know she is out there. True love waits and I hope when I do meet her, I can have the courage to tell her my true feelings. An area I need His help.

To those who are in a relationship or married, love her with all your heart and let not your eyes wander. Deception are always pretty, it gets ugly when it starts to eat you from the inside and destroy what love is. I am writing this hoping to remind myself then even before I meet her, I can keep my eyes for her.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

A Short Laugh

Brought back great memories. This was a reminiscene of life in MMU Hostel. Just to give you an idea where I spend four years of my life at in uni. Quite a good shot considering this were made by 1st year students. Enjoy!

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Goodbye Boys

I wanted to watch. I couldn't find tickets to go. I guess I would have to buy the VCD or wait for its premierre on local cinema next year. It was a movie I was looking forward to considering my liking towards Bernard Chauly direction. A fan of Gol & Gincu. Saw him last night at OIAM. What will it be? What will the similarity and difference be? I can only wait and see. A sneak preview...



Another note, I read in the newspaper that there a couple of movies coming out either this year or the next from.

Susuk
Cinta
The Red Kebaya

Cool Malaysian Movie Links;

Filem Malaysia
Monsoon Pictures
Doghouse73Pictures
Red Communication
Redfilm
Metrowealth Movies Production

Friday, September 22, 2006

What A Day!

An eventful day it has been. Had no idea that I would be able to do all that I had planned out to do. It was indeed a happening day for me. Here are details of my happening adventure.

BMW Art Showcase

I headed down to the city. It was the time for prayers as many congregated at the nearest mosque for the Friday prayers. I was hoping to get myself a space at the RM5 per entry parking near to the KLCC park. However, I believe my timing was not that good and I had to proceed to the KLCC carpark, which I had tried to avoid. Why? Go figure.


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After waiting for my sis from Malacca and having a quick lunch at the foodcourt, we headed down to the gallery. I had initially thought that the place would be adjacent to the Petrosains due to my recollection of my last visit there. However, I found out that it was on the 3rd floor instead. Upon filling out our details and storing our stuff at the available lockers, we proceeded into the exhibition area. I guess my expectation were higher than expected. There were only 4 out of the 15 cars on display. A small exhibition considering that the remaining cars are travelling around the world. Malaysia is the first stop for this exhibition. I wonder why Malaysia. It seems that our facilities are of world class standard considering the space (though I though it could have been bigger) and the temperature control of the area.

The exhibits on display were 1976 BMW 3.0 CSL by Frank Stella, 1977 BMW 320i by Roy Lichtenstein, 1979 BMW M1 by Andy Warhol and 1989 BMW M3 by Ken Done. Out of the four exhibit, the works by Frank Stella was the best for me as the artwork was very detailed although it was just black and white. I guess it was an advantage since it was the first car I saw in the exhibition. The other cars were displayed in pictures. Out of the picture I saw, I was particularly impressed with (check BMW). Maybe it was due to the detail I admire in an artwork and I have always like aborignal arts because of their colour and detail. It was a relatively small exhibition by contrast to the publicity I received. The videos were quite impressive considering it showed the artist vision and steps in transforming that vision on the car.

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It was a great combination of art and technology. A marriage between both that was conceived by BMW. Even as we speak, the 16th car is being work on by an Icelandic artist. For more details on the exhibition and the artwork, please visit BMW Malaysia site.

6th HOMEDEC 2006

Upon learning that another exhibition was nearby, I made my way to the KL Convention Centre for HOMEDEC, a local home deco exhibition. I remember attending one in Mid Valley early this year and was impressed by the many products on display. There were many vendors and exhibitor displaying their products that range from home appliances to home deco. This would be an exhbition for interio design enthusiast or home owners who are curious to find what other things that could add to their home.

One of the things that caught my eye which I did not take a pic of was a fan. Yes, a fan. It was not any other fan. It was a fan with projector in it which would display a movie image while the fan was spinning. It was simply an amazing invention for me considering the many water fans we see everywhere at Starbucks or even at the petrol kiosk. Another medium of advertising that media buyers could consider.

Here are some pics of my visit to Homedec.

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One in A Million

Off I went to PWTC where everything seem to be happening over here. Matta fair lah, Property fair lah, Fotokem fair lah, One in a million lah. I guess it could be the cheaper rental rates that had everyone in one place. I had initially wanted to go and take a peek at Matta fair. But without any destination in mind, guess I did not bother to venture in.

However, I made my way into the Fotokem fair where I checked out the Olympus mju 725SW, Nikon SLR, Canon Powershot S3 IS and Canon EOS 400D. I was pretty impressed with the Canon model especially the Powershot that enable picture taking while on video mode.

After grabbing a quick bite, we headed down to the line of people queuing up to get into the venue. Too bad we were not able to catch the red carpet that was a floor below us as we were hoping to get some good seats. Thanks to my sis and Sean who works at 8tv that I was able to bring along some friends as well. We sat at the right side of the stage. As people began to move into the hall, I was quick to notice many local celebrities coming in. There was a row of people from "Gol and Gincu" and "Realiti". There was even a row of people from Fly FM. Marion was simply gorgeous in what I pressume a Tom Abang Saufi dress. Various other celebrities were all in the hall as well. If you are not into local acts, these people may remain unknown to many of us. It was great to see people you watch on tv just sitted near you.

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The show started of with contestant from the top 12 giving their individual performances. The top 3 finalist mainly Suki, Faizal and Alif came on stage to perform a group presentation followed by individual performances. The highlight of the night would be Faizal as he blew us all away with a medley of "We Will Rock You", "L.O.V.E" and "I Don't Wanna Be". There were the best songs he had presented thoughout the competition and what better to combine them all in one performance. It was spectacular and had many in their seats stand up for a standing ovation.

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However, popularity and sms votes may not be enough to justify Faizal great performance. He had the lowest votes but manage to succumbt to second place after his impressive peformance got everyone getting out their mobile to vote him in. In the end, it was the Seremban lass who beat the odds of securing one million ringgit. Imagine being 16 years old and becoming a millionaire. She even havent sat for her SPM yet. However, it was a trill to see one of your favourite made it through. I was utterly impressed by her rendition of "Gemilang" during auditions, her explosive comeback after not making it to the Top 10 and her constant number of votes that made her the top on most weeks. It was achievement that lauded great praise. I wish her all the best in her music endeavour and her dream to teach children.

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As for Faizal, I may consider buying your album because of the experience you left us that night. It totally blew me away.





Thursday, September 21, 2006

The Banquet

Perfect. It was a movie that I could not comprehend the details that was involved in making the movie. Some say its a Chinese interpretation of Hamlet. A Shakespearean story which I have yet to read or hear about. It was simply beautiful. The videography was outstanding. The detail in the camera angle and camera skill. One of my machas notice the opening scene whereby the empress walk into a hallway. If you notice that the focus of the camera is not only on the object which is the empress walking but also the background as well. There would always be a focus when taking a shot. However, the focus seem to be focus on both. Our assumption would be there were two camera shooting the same scene in order to give that 3D perspective to it or the graphic was really good.

I was impressed with the set and also the colour involve that brought to the audience a relialistic rendition of what is believe to be Shakespeare with a local touch considering Empress Dowager did exist. Scenes are not overmade that would give the audience a sense of fakeness. It was simply breathtaking to see the sword play which did not seem to be martial arts but a dance instead. It is simply not easy to get such a perfect shot unless this is taken on countless takes.

The story was also tight with poetic sentences providing a deep meaning to what was being said. The lines were not many but when spoken, brought about such deep philosophy. This is coming from a person who knows no Mandarin but was reading subtitles. The subtitle was spot on. Even my Chinese speaking friend was reading the subtitle as the Mandarin that were used were old Mandarin that at times may be hard to comprehend considering the poetic lingua to it.

I could say that this has to be one of my most perfect movie this year. Some may say that Hero is better. I do admit the swordplay in Hero is far more better but to watch an allrounded movie is rare whereby each detail of the movie is displayed so well that I was dumbfounded. Note that this is coming from a person with no expectation whatsoever of the movie and I believe this is the best attitude in watching any movie. Money worth I can say. If you're free, catch the movie. If you feel the same as I did, leave me a comment to justify that my taste in movies ain't that bad. Some eye candy trailers to get you started.



Saturday, September 16, 2006

S.O.A.P (Snakes On A Plane)

The movie macha had an itch to watch a movie. The past few weeks have been a dread for us since there were no interesting movies shown considering our usual weekly movie nightout. It was soon decided we be watching "Snakes on a Plane". A corny show with a corny title. Fortunately watching the movie machas had made the show more lively with the intermission laughted accompanying the show. It was relatively good movie. Forget about the story line because as the title suggest, its just snakes on the plane. I mean, snakes were everywhere and to see an anaconda breaking the bones of a passenger and swallowing him full simply brought back memories of "Anaconda". Checkout the snippet to the movie and the corny music video at the end of the movie. A spoiler I must remind you for those planning to watch the movie.



Tuesday, September 12, 2006

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE (STORY TELLING)

How often do you get a chance of watching a theatre about the gospel in a Malaysian theatre? This would be a first.

I had thoughts of watching this play. It reminded me of the play that I had watched previously at Acts church where David Sambora did a one man theatre show of King David. When the oppurtunity came to watch it at Actors Studio Bangsar at a discounted rate (RM18.50 instead of RM37), I could not resist the invite. Together with Terry, we went on a journey to the past as Bruce Kuhn recited the story in the Gospel of Luke in the King James Version. Impressive to be able to do that alone with the King James version. Imagine doing a solo theatre performance of Shakespeare in the Old English.

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The story that was foretold were not entirely from the book of Luke. Not all the stories that were mentioned were told in this one and half hour play. In order to do that, it would be more time consuming and I believe that not everyone sitted in the hall are able to go through it. Everything about the play was simple. Minimal props of just a bench and a half body column was all there was on the stage. Light ended to the effect of the play as the colours depicted different scenarios in the play. The characters in the book of Luke was differentiated by the varied intonation of voice. The intensity of the play was further enhance by the varied speech technique going from an accelerated pace to give a more tense moment to a suttle soft voice that depicted peace.

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Overall the show was good though at times I do admit my thoughts were strayed away. It didnt capture my attention to the fullest which I believe is due to the fact that it was not as entertaining. One of the audience even commented that he almost slept due to a tiring day at work. However, it was rather interesting to note that there was Q&A session after the show where curious audience asked various question about the show.

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It was nice to be back at Actors Studio. The feeling of being near to the stage where the actors presented their story is simply amazing. I wish at times I was on the stage but that time have yet to come to past.

Saturday, September 09, 2006

A Short Brainstorm

Movies. A subject that I am especially interested in. It was one of resolution to come up with a short this year. A short that I hope to enter into the Malaysian Video Awards. Almost end of the year and I hope I am able to achieve it. A group of my machas namely Terry and Don decided to head down to one of the famous Sri Petaling dim sum join to brainstorm. I wanted to start somewhere and hopefully we could get some inspiration by just sharing our ideas over some delicious dimsum. Food can always be a good "mangkin" in getting those thoughts out. It was quite interesting to hear each of our ideas being brought forth. Some may appear twisted, others may sound corny. I was looking for that Malaysian touch. A subject I intend to incorporate if I have a chance to make one. Hope by this small brainstorming session that we could start somewhere, probably shoot some stilts that would incorporate a powerful message that would appeal or be relevant to the local community.

I am always a believer that media plays the most important role in sending out a message. Whether its a full length two hours movie or a short 15 minutes caption, the message must go through. I wonder what that would be.

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Pileup

This was the scene of the accident along KL-Seremban Highway, a pileup of 20 vehicles. I only managed to document the remaining part of the jam and accident debris since there was not much I could do in the 2 hours jam which would normally take me around 45 minutes to get back. Well, accident happens. Be careful on the road.

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Friday, September 08, 2006

Out of the City

In the big city. Crowded. Traffic jams. Expensive.

Its been two weeks since I temporary relocated to Damansara after my week break. I was here to join another collegue of mine to support GSAP (Global SAP). A different environment. An environment I feel so foreign. Its just different. Probably I've been so comfortable of Cyberjaya for all this years, studying and working in the same place. Big roads, spacious cubicle, happening work culture. Food is something I dare not comment.

Working in Damansara requires one to spend at least 2 hours on the road every day. Unless if you want to beat the traffic, I had to wake up earlier just to avoid the hassle. Fortunately, shift starts at 7am but I am normally there by 7:15am. Next hassle would be parking. If I am not early, I won't be able to get a place at the Wisma Chase Perdana parking lot which cost a staggering RM15 a day (fortunately its claimable). Missing the boat would mean parking my car at Wisma Antah which is the white building coming into Shell which cost even more. My maximum charge I had previously was RM36 a day. See the comparison.

Offices around Damansara are not as spacious as compared to Cyberjaya, thanks to the vast land they have. Here, building are close to one another. Cubicles are even smaller as well. It is where the business people reside. One of my discoveries is people in Damansara do not seem to know the people working on the same floor. This could probably due to the fact that the floor I am in is the transit point, where come and go from here. There is no permanent collegue neither are there any permanent desk. Most of them are in the project team where they come in and out of office. Staying in the office from a project point of view is never a good thing. The rapid changes of people coming in and out of the office deter one from getting to fellow floor mates. Its no wonder I feel so bored at times as the place is relatively quiet. Coupled with low request coming into the queue, its no wonder I had time to update my left behind blog.

Besides the downside that I see in Damansara, there are still some good side to it. Food is applenty in this side though at times maybe a bit pricey. Lunch at Wisma UOA or vegetarian at Wisma Help carpark are some of the places to eat. Walking to this places indeed have help lazy people like myself do a little exercise along the way though it would soon balance out when the food comes in. I never knew Help existed here as well since my recognition of the college would be in Pusat Damansara which is a stone throw a way. Its interesting to note that most of the people around this area are female. I repeat female. Probably this is due to the industry which resides in Damansara. Most of the people here are in the finance or accounting sector, which explain the huge ratio of female to male. This is indeed a different sight as compared to IT where the ratio is pretty balance favouring the males. That is why coming to Damansara can be culture shock for some. Not forgetting good looking females as well which may shock some as well.

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It was a relieve to know that my two weeks tenure here was to end and I would be returning to the land of Cyberjaya. Though I would may miss the good food (in comparison to Cyberjaya) and the good looking ladies here, Cyber is still the place I want to be. When I heard about the news that we were not going to shift to Damansara, it was a sigh a relief. I am willing to forgo good food than to be caught in the rat race where crowd and jams would cause me to hit the roof.

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Thursday, September 07, 2006

Callcentre Comedy

My Boss just forwarded this video to me. Something so call centre which really got me off the chair. Feeling bored? This will really get you in stitches. Enjoy!




Sunday, September 03, 2006

Realiti

8TV's newest sitcom. A 10 1/2 hour episode series directed by the Ng Ping Ho, the man who brought you Kopitiam and Table for Two. It was quite an interesting show. Do check out the trailer for this series. Another succes in Malaysian TV.



It was the end of Gol & Gincu, my favourite Malaysian series thus far. I could still remember the time when I actually went to see Gol & Gincu - the Movie with a friend. There were hardly anyone in the theatre. This had clearly indicate the lack of interest from the Malaysian public on Malaysian series. As for me, I totally enjoyed the show as it contained a good story with lessons learn (similarity could be tied to 3R) and the interesting videography employed by Bernard Chauly direction. As I was Youtubing, I managed to find some very interesting music videos from the show, both reminded me why I like the show and also the interesting music that Malaysians could offer. Check it out!


Nur Fatima - Tiada Ertinya



Juwita Suwito - Beautiful Lies

Religious

A group of women from America visited my church during the weekend. There were here to conduct a ladies meeting. Pastor had got inquinted with them when they visited US a couple of months back. One of them came on stage to deliver a song prior to another coming on to give a message. I was totally blown away by her voice and at the same time, experience the power of the Holy Spirit coming down. It was indeed setting the right atmosphere for the message to be delivered.



I admit that I couldn't remember their names. However, it was really good to feel His presence in the sanctuary. Its quite rare at times to experience what spirit filled is eventhough I come from a charismatic church that supposed to be spirit filled. Church have become too structured at times that it is hard for the Spirit to move. Things have become so organised. The number of songs to sing. The amount of time spend for praise and worship. The type of song to sing, 3 praise and 3 worship song. Services to end on time. I still remember the days when things were less organised and timely whereby I could really enjoy being in the presence of God regardless of what time the service ends. Church at times have become a timely activity which seek to make people feel comfortable and happy. It feels religious at times just to attend church every Sunday.

This was the topicthat was shared to us. She came from a background of drunkards. They were from a singing family who used to sing in bars. Ironically, "Amazing Grace" was one of the favourite pieces to present. It all changed when one day, her father decided to go to the church and in the span of 6 weeks, her intire household came to Christ. Its amazing how at times God places a thought to go the church with the intention of getting one saved. I can still remember the day when my family decided to go for a Sunday morning drive and ended up in church. That was how my family and I were saved.

She began to share her experience being a full time leader in church. There was a time when one of the pastor of the church was speaking that Sunday. She had a bad impression of him mainly because of the way he spoke and how he would take a long time just to collect offering. His conduct made her agitated that she was so caught up with Him then what was around her. She was the worship leader for the day and when it was her time to lead the congregration into a time of praise and worship, it was her time now to be in control. As she began to sing the songs, the power of God hit and all of her musician fell on her ground. She didn't even realise they had gone down and continued singing. Even the pianist who came up to take over from the fallen pianist fell as well. She did her thing, heard the sermon and left for home, waiting for her husband to be back. Two hours pass and her husband had not return. He came in thereafter and she asked, "Where were you?". He replied, "I was in church. God visited us." She had missed the visitation of God.

Its ironic how at times we get so caught up with church not knowing that we are. Church have become a place where there are so many activities taking place. Multiple ministries set up that have respective activities that seem to take up a bulk of our time. Even Sundays, the Sabbath are not spared as well. People spend so much time in church that they do not have time for anyone outside of church. Life began to revolve around church and church friends. A circle of supposedly "holy" people. I used to be in that circle until I began to feel tired of being in it. There was much emptiness being in church despite being active in church things. It soon dawn upon me that I wanted to move out as I ventured into being active in CF back in uni. It was a step away from church yet I was still very actively involve in Christian activities. This gave me freedom of mixing with many other people from different church and denomination. It was interesting to know people from other part of Malaysia as well. This soon extended to not only Christian friends but also non-Christians as well. The activities that were planned were catered to the general uni people where we get to interact with many people from different faculties, race and religious belief. It was interesting as it was a different setting altogether from just being in church.

After leaving uni, there is not much involvement in Christian activities, even in church. Am still finding where I intend on venturing or serving in. I do not want to be too religious that I get so absorb in church that I forget being relevant to society as a Christian. I want the freedom to be able to be in His presence without having to be overworked or burden by commitments that will only tired me away. Yet, I still want to be involve in something. I guess one of the negative side of not getting too involved in church is that you become separated a little especially when it comes to finding people to confide in when a dealing with issues pertaining to spirituality. Someone who you can be close and accountable to. I guess that is something I missed or at times feel lose but I believe there were come a day where I will realise that this are all part and parcel of growing in the Lord. Trusting in Him than people.

Saturday, September 02, 2006

OPA 80th Anniversary Dinner

80 years have gone by. The history it had achieve for this association. A school that is almost 107 years old is indeed a milestone. I have not gone back to my alma mater for a long time. It is during occasion such as this I try to attend mainly to catchup with people whom I had not seen since I left school or to keep in touch which I see yearly at OPA dinner. Our usual venue for the OPA dinner at MPS was moved to Royal Adelphi (formerly Seremban Hilton). Parking was horendous as there was no ample carpark place. Food was below par considering costing RM500 per table. The only food that I like were the brocolli and the honeydew mango dessert.



This year would be an auspicious year for the class of 81 whereby it would 25 years since they had left school, a year before I was even born into this world. They had altogether 10 tables out of 100+ tables that night. There was also an OPA bar behind serving beer to thirsty drinkers. OPA dinners are always filled with drinkers who would bring their bottles or XO, Baccadi and Jack Daniels. Some would drink like there is no tomorrow and end up drunk. I was rather appaled by those who took no regards for others by smoking within a contained room, in a hotel ballroom. This indeed show how ignorant some people can be despite having dinner at a better than average place. Overall, it was the same old reunion with cliche songs and exhilarating chorus of "yam seng" in the place.

Friday, September 01, 2006

Broken Bridges

Ipoh. A town many have come to appreciate not only as a place famous for its "nga choi kai" and "pak kopi" but also as a place where many local movies and theatre are based. I asked the question, "Why Ipoh?. Why not Seremban?"

Probably because of its colonial building which reflects the olden time of Malaya, considering its history for being the biggest deposit of tin in the world and that it was one of the few early settlements by the East India Company.

It was pretty interesting to watch a play that were penned by two 20+ year old scriptwriters from Ipoh. The oppurtunity to have their script picked by Joe Hasham and have him direct it must be a dream come true for this young amateurs. In hearing the hype that were publicise for this show and also recommendation from friends, I decided to head on down to KLPac with my sisters, Terry and Peaky to catch it. It was a first time theatre experience for Peaky and its always good to introduce friends to the world of theatre. I could still remember my first theatre experience at Kallang theatre in Singapore watching "Miss Saigon". The experience totally blew me away, thanks to my uncle which left me wanting for more.

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The play was well directed with various emotions brought into play. There was laughter fuse together with some Ipon Cantonese, emotional moments that was quite "kam tong" and comical moments that simply got me in stitches (totally enjoyed the nerdy girl character who tried to dance with the other girls.) Douglas Lim (from the acclaimed Kopitiam) was a great actor to watch as you could his character from his facial expression. His body language seem to remind me of Samuel from Malacca, which most of us pretty agreed. I was estounded by the voice of the beggar on the street who started the play with a chorus that blew away. I heard that she was apart of the KL Singers. "Siew Yee" was also great to watch as I was in awe by her voice control. Most of the actors and actresses had great voices that never seem to shiver. The stage was well done. I was totally impress by the opening scene as to how the board that blocks the main stage suddenly broke away nicely. I can't seem to describe it. One of my curiosity was how they manage to allign the movable probs exactly at a specific spot that allowed the lights on top to create an interesting reflection. I was also quite intrique by the stage crew as one of them turn the movable stage which getting into play and guiding "Siew Yee" off from it and disappearing from the crowd. You notice him yet not feel it was out of place. Music was simple yet witty in lyrics. The arrangement of the song was good whereby I especially like the four part chorus where each sang different lyrics with common melody that didnt seem to clash at all.

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I guess one of the comments that I have regarding about the show was the characters. Most of the characters on stage were quite good. However, I was curious to know where did "Siew Yee" and Douglas's cousin went. It was like there were in a scene, sang a song and did not know where they were after that. It didnt seem that they were needed to be on the stage. Douglas new found love, the chee cheong fan girl died a peculiar death as she supposedly committed suicide. The scene showed her getting a clothes hanger and jabbing beneath her abdomen as an act of abortion. I was shocked to hear she died in which it didnt really look like a suicide.

Overall, it was quite a good play. I guess I understand why Joe Hasham mentioned that it had a lot of potential that could be explored which I believe Joe did a good job in directing it. The idea of trying to be yourself, to search for your dreams and accomplish it not knowing that such decision may affect others in the process especially people that are close to you like your family and friends. The irony is getting to do what you want and ending up in the same place is what interest me. Sometimes its better to stay where you are and achieve what your parents already accomplished like running a family business and carrying on the heritage. At times, the desire to be someone can be really tempting. However, this can be done if it does not affect someone else. Its a hard decision to make as any decision make will affect things around you. That is why it is never easy to make a decision especially a decision that involved others.

For reviews, please check the following links.

Kakiseni, Malay Mail, The Star, YTL Community

Note: 2 September was the official opening of KLPac.