Desert Oasis

Been pondering over a few seemingly unrelated events but somehow carries a personal message for me:

1) What someone prayed for me, a vision of an oasis

2) What Ps Henry said during the YAF Anniversary Party about our spiritual heritage in the church and about sowing something THIS year

3) What Sis Rita said last nite at church prayer meeting about hearing the call, and how she sometimes wished she had never hear it

4) Some thoughts during the 'Watch Tower' dedication last night

5) Some encounter with former church friends

6) The great 'desert' and the 'desertedness'

7) Etc etc...

Suddenly it all 'clicked' and made some sense. Won't write too much cos I'm still discovering what the message means for me. There has been a fierce battle raging inside me.

Reunion of Sorts

Facebook is a wonderful tool. Recovering lost relationships. Building new networks. Bridges. I've found back many old friends from school, church, ex-students, ex-colleagues etc.

The problem is: I've so many old friends to catch up but not enough free time to do it!!

Today I've been given the task to organize an ISCA Klang Reunion Party. Once Ps Chris Long joined Facebook, suddenly everyone's excited for a reunion.

Like so many, I'm looking forward to meet with all the old ISCA-ians again. Ps Long said to bring our spouses, but leave the mom-in-laws at home! Haha! It'll be fun, and very interesting. And quite a few of them are getting married this year.

I would also very much like to meet back Msian friends from my Southampton University. Can't believe it's been TEN YEARS since I left England. Aim to revisit that old land one day. So much I've experienced and learnt in my short 3 years there.

Yesterday, so happy to found out that Janet, one of my best friends then, now living in HK is pregnant! Told me to 'work harder' and catch up so we can bring our children to HK Disneyland together! Indran, another great buddy, is gonna move into a new house in Bukit Jelutong soon....can't wait to go and mess up his new house when it's ready. Vincent, now a Pastor, is back in England to further his theological studies. Wait till he returns to Penang, will engage in more conversations with him. Wonder how is Yue Teng (who got married last year) is doing up north. Hope to meet the rest hopefully in a not-so-distant future.

Nice to know my ex-students still remember me fondly...hoping to meet up again. Some are now entrepreneurs. Very enterprising. Good for them!

Time, oh Time!

Time Capsule

Tomorrow, our YAF will celebrate its 3rd Anniversary. And one of the highlights will be the Time Capsule. Everyone will put in an item, and the box will be sealed until our 10th Anniversary! That's 7 years later...Year 2015.

I've been thinking long and hard what to put in the Time Capsule. Ok, here's a list I brainstormed:

1) My current canggih 2gigabyte thumb drive with many YAF pics/videos inside. 7 years from now, we may be carrying terrabytes thumb drives. Or maybe thumb drives will be obsolete??

2) Write a letter to my future kids?

3) Write a letter to the 2015 YAF leaders?

4) A bottle of wine year 2008? Not long enough...

5) Cards/gifts given by cell members?

6) Compilation CD of my current fav songs?

7) Current pair of jeans. Just to see if I can wear it 7 years later?

8) Gold bars? Gold's value will not inflate like paper money.

9) Steal somebody's valuable and put it inside?

10) Pluck somebody's hair to see if it'll grow?

11) Ideas are getting more and more nonsensical, better stop!

The Land of Crutches

An excerpt:

Suppose you are travelling in an unfamiliar part of the world. One day you arrive in a country where most of the people walk around on crutches. Some of them have simple crutches, others proudly wear fancy and expensive models. Some tell you that they have their crutches made to order, from special materials and shaped according to the latest fashion.

They wonder how you can get by without crutches, and tell you where you can buy a good pair. They warn you that walking without them is dangerous; that you will wear out your knee joints and that you can easily break your legs.

Several shops on the main streets specialize in the sale and custom fitting of crutches. Manufacturers praise their latest models in the media. Discounts and special deals are offered. Doctors in white coats appear on television, demonstrating the superiority of brand X and quoting the latest research findings. A recent invention is "stealth crutches" that are worn inside the clothes.

Children at school are prescribed special student crutches by government doctors. They are taught how to use them properly, and warned not to play around without them. Thus they get used to these aids early in life, and later become civilized members of society.

At the universities students learn about the latest advances in crutch technology. They are told that walking without crutches is harmful. Doctors and healers who advise their patients to walk without crutches are denounced as quacks, and they are harassed by the authorities. The medical association informs its members that there is no money to be made with prevention, that doctors have a right to earn a good living. Most research is financed by the crutch manufacturers anyway, and the crutch lobby tries to suppress or ridicule reports that undermine the public's faith in crutches.

Occasionally you see a person walking without crutches. You are told that such people are either old-fashioned or cannot afford crutches. Movie stars, celebrities and millionaires use the very best crutches, custom designed, diamond studded and gold plated.

You note that most people have weak leads and atrophied muscles. You ask: "do you exercise your legs now and then to keep fit?" They stare at you in disbelief and reply: "why should we waste our time on exercises when we have such good crutches? And anyway, we would feel naked and uncivilized without them!"


Sounds absurd? But this is not a fictional land. This land of crutches is real. Do you see?

Floored and Overheated

Yeah, recently my car was overheated. Had to send it in for some repairs that cost me a bomb. Then it was my body that paid the price.

It sucks when you're down with sickness. I kinda get a major one once every year. Maybe an annual reminder to stop and slow down when things are speeding around me.

For the past two days, I was literally down on the bed and was hot hot hot, all over! My head was spinning...tried hard not to think of CS, which made things worse! Had to consciously direct my thoughts to something more peaceful and beautiful. Guess what, it helped!

Hated the ringing sound of my phone (never thought I'll say that). When I was having fever, my hearing was far more sensitive somehow...and I probably dreaded the stress that comes with some phone calls. You know what? I rejected a few calls....unknown caller IDs. Maybe we modern folks are truly enslaved by machines afterall! I achieved freedom and peace of mind by setting my phone to silent mode, without vibration of course. Heavenly! But somehow those SMSes eventually got to me, all because of my curiosity. Ok, now I've more meetings to attend next week.

Got up this morning real early, feeling fresh...though still a little dizzy and minor headache, but clearly far better than yesterday. Can't help but checked my email, saw tons of unread mails calling out for attention, and I just had replied a couple of them (see? I'm trapped!)

It's ok. Took out my camera, went down to my garden to enjoy the healing rays of the morning sun, and to shoot some greeneries.







Will be off to work again tomorrow!

Three Kingdoms

Watched the movie 'Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon'. Will write about the movie in a while. (Warning: Spoilers ahead!)

The semi-fictional 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' has always been my favourite epic story of all time. Though I've only read the English version since my school days, I came to appreciate the complexity of its many mini-stories and characters. For me, it's richness surpasses all war stories, making the western counterparts totally forgetable. Ultimately, I was intrigued by the hugeness of the story, to unify China during the chaotic era of the warlords. And the many valuable lessons in it.

Last year, I was extremely delighted to learn that the Battle of Red Cliffs is being made into a movie 'Red Cliff' by renowned director John Woo. You see, I've been anticipating a RTK movie for so long. It will star famous actors like Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Zhao Wei. Initially Chow Yuen Fatt was supposed to be in, but sadly he pulled out. The Battle of Red Cliffs is probably the best battle sequences I've ever come across. The grand battle of all battles. For me, it's definitely the biggest climax in the novel. That's why I can't wait to watch this on the big screen.

Much to my surprise, another movie 'Three Kingdoms' was quietly made and released, starring Andy Lau. It's pretty much focused on the character of Zhao Zilong (better know as Zhao Yun). Much to my disappointment, the movie was absolutely terrible. Andy did not portray Zhao Zilong's character well at all. His acting skill was okay, but he just did not have the physique and presence needed for Zhao Yun's character. The story telling was horrendous. Basically, the movie was directed in such a way, to lead to the inevitable confrontation with Cao Ying (Maggie Q). Btw, Cao Ying was a male in the novel. Sammo Hung's character Luo Ping An was not based on the original story, among many other inaccuracies. The rescue of Liu Bei's son was actually a very moving part of the story in the novel but here it's heavily modified, missing all the essential and best parts of the story. What are they thinking! Perhaps they wanna have a fresh take on Zhao Yun's story but this was a hit and (definitely) miss. And they did not provide an adequate background story to the overall Three Kingdoms at all.

For me, the biggest disappointment was their portrayal of Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang has been my No.1 favourite character. He was the ultimate military strategist, the exceptional and unparallelled war genius. In this movie, at a critical point of the kingdom's survival, he used divination as the sole basis for his decision (or non-decision!). What nonsense! And he's so boring in this movie, sorely lacked imagination.

At the end of the movie, I was like "Huh??! Why did they make this movie?"

I hope John Woo's Red Cliff will do justice to the story and the characters, although it focuses on a different part. It will be splitted into two movies, though I think a trilogy may be better for the story development.

And maybe we'll see Zhuge Liang in his true glory. Hopefully!