Children of God

Last week was my nieces' baptism!!

Finally, after months of waiting, my sister & bro-in-law got them baptised...

Charlotte being baptised with water after being anointed.

Olivia being baptised with water after being anointed.

Being baptised is just one of the many milestones in life as a child grows up. Soon, both Charlotte and Olivia will go through the rest of the sacraments like First Confession, and First Holy Communion when they are 8 or 9 years old. At that age, both of them will be able to partake with the Mass where they can partake the Body & Blood of Christ.

When both of the twins reach their adulthood at about 16 or 17, they will go through Confirmation where they will fully realize their gifts during baptism, making a commitment to God. They will most likely take 1.5 to 2years to prepare for this as it is a BIG step in their lives.

The twins were fully awake during the celebration and did not cry when the priest poured the Holy Water over their heads. In fact, both of them smiled and laughed when the priest blessed and anointed them!

It is such a joy to see people being baptised, knowing that they will embark on a journey of faith and love with God.

Anyway, I've friends who were baptised as adults and they usually went on "fast track" where they also had Holy Communion & Confirmation at one go. One of my friends also symbolically changed his clothes to wear white once he was baptised to show that he was cleansed from original sin.

Well.. it's a long but fruitful journey in faith for both Charlotte & Olivia now..

Reactions.. Remember The Sermon On The Mount...

Recent events around KL really saddens me. The cynic in me was convinced that the 1Malaysia idea has become a big joke after reading news on what has happened.

I'm getting all sorts of messages from friends to be careful and not provoke these people, to remove religious artifacts from my car and house.

That got me thinking about how we should react... Then, I recall one particular sermon of Jesus on the mount...

And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain, and when he was set down, his disciples came unto him. And opening his mouth he taught them, saying:
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall possess the land.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart: they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake:
Be glad and rejoice for your reward is very great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets that were before you.
~ Matt 5:2-12

Truly, we must pray for calm and sensibility to return to such people. Let us not be afraid this weekend as we go to church to worship God, but instead pray for them. Let us pray for peace to return.

Amen.

Father's Day Weekend

I woke up to a very hazy Tuesday morning.. Great...

Anyway, a couple of weeks back was Father's Day and we had a few small celebrations instead of 1 big one as Dad had to head down to Ipoh to conduct some training sessions.

It was also the weekend where we enjoyed a movie organized by a group in church to raise money for our church building fund. We caught the movie "A Man For All Seasons", a movie which won 6 Oscars, adapted from a very popular play.

Yes, the movie tickets were expensive but it was all for the building of our new "home" as for many years, we've been having mass celebrated in a badminton hall in Subang Jaya. The tickets came with a drink and popcorn which was marvelous.

We expected the movie to be dry and boring but the conversation were exciting and humourous too! To think that during those ancient times, people were just as conniving and cunning in order to manipulate the system to bring down an honest man - St. Thomas More, who happens to be my church's patron saint.

My sis and bro-in-law treated both fathers, i.e. my Dad and in-law to a meal that Saturday evening. Unfortunately... the pics didn't turn out right and so, no pics of that night will be posted.

I took my parents to Canton-i after church on Sunday as it was just about the only place less crowded that Father's Day. He had to catch a taxi to Ipoh right after lunch.

My Dad is a typical china-man, where he wants to eat something Asian for breakfast/lunch, i.e. be it Roti Canai or Dim Sum. So, I ordered a few things to be shared...

My Dad loves his pork and so, I couldn't resist ordering the roast pork again. Somehow, I felt the portion was a bit small but it was satisfying.

I decided to order some noodles and the beef noodles which I ordered was succulent! The beef was tenderly braised, with the tendons which are jelly-like but not entirely gooey.

Another egg tart photo. My mom, who loves egg tarts approve of the Canton-i version. Although small, it is a perfect dessert after you've had lots of dim sum. Just looking at it makes me drool...

My Dad is someone who is shy when it comes to gifts as in, he is very unwilling to accept it. However, when you do get him something that you think he likes it, he will chuck it aside but not tell you whether he likes it or not. It is a bit infuriating but thank goodness he is the kind of guy who loves to eat. So, taking him out to a good restaurant is something which he will appreciate and enjoy.

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

I was very lucky to be able to take this photo last Friday, while having drinks with colleagues at Starbucks, KLCC.

It happened to be the last day for my team member fondly known as Abang Huat (Trex) and we decided to chill out for drinks there.

My colleague JY who loves taking photos of skies and is a very experienced photographer, gave me some tips to take the faint rainbow against the blue sky of the evening.

Looking at the sky, my mind and heart are only filled by happy thoughts; which reminds me of a post I did previously about my favourite song sung by Israel Kamakawiwo Ole.

I remember the Bible story of Noah, where God said that the rainbow he set in the sky will be a covenant between God and every living being on earth (Genesis 9:11-17).

So, when you see a rainbow, don't you feel happy that God is recalling that covenant between Himself and us?

Comfort

First of all, I would like to thank my many friends for sticking by me, keeping me in their thoughts and prayers throughout the ordeal I was facing at work.

Truly, your support and encouragement brought a lot of comfort and blessings to my troubled heart.

During the run-up towards Easter, my colleague and I undergone a most harrowing time with our employer who not only was unhappy but very hostile towards us as we had both resigned at the same time. We had no choice, facing a 40% pay cut (we were forced to work 3 days a week), we had to go out and look for other jobs which were able to at least to provide not only work but to compensate us appropriately.

Anyway, our employer was very very unhappy and took things personally. He threatened and bullied us, using harsh language on us. We just kept quiet. We didn't want to argue with him as he's the kind of person who will not listen to anyone. So, rather than wrestle with a pig, we kept our cool.

So, my friends and colleagues hearing about what happened were curious naturally but also offered support and comfort during this time.

I met up with some good friends who had lunch and dinner with me during those 2 days last week to comfort and cheer me up. It was great. I left for home after that gathering feeling happier and comforted knowing that they were supporting me. God really does send His angels down.

I treasured the hours spent with these friends, especially meeting up with a friend who took the trouble to meet us despite her tight schedule during her trip home to KL from Melbourne. She had supper with us at Delicious and we had a roaring good time.

A departure from the norm, KS decided to go a bit unhealthy and ordered FRIED food with yummy cream accompanying it. She being a doctor would know what fried food can do to the brain - releasing calming endorphins to make us feel good?

The next day, I met up with some friends from work - SC and AS who wanted to know what was happening and etc. One has left the company while the other has been working away from the office and so, were curious about our situation. I wasn't in the mood to talk much actually but let out pieces of information. We ended up having delicious Korean/Japanese food for lunch.

We had a great time just talking nonsense and some serious stuff too. It was a great Saturday afternoon to spend with friends.

Anyway, thanks to the following folks - my team members (you know who you are - Linda, JY, AW, Boo, Alvin, Kenneth, Huat Heng, MY)... CY, Sharon, Chris, SH, HS, Shoba, AS, Phoebe, Patrick... To Shannon, Peggy, Joanne, Ah Guan for your contacts and support when I needed it... To the back office, you guys were great... I may have forgotten who to thank but the message is the same: THANKS FOR YOUR PRAYERS, ENCOURAGEMENT AND SUPPORT!

From Darkness Into New Light...

Today is Easter, the day when Jesus Christ rose from the dead, conquering death.

It has been some time since I've gone for Easter vigil but since my parents were on duty, I decided to follow them. Besides, it was meaningful to attend the 1st Easter vigil mass at my church, which was recently made into a parish called St. Thomas More (previously known as CKK) in Subang Jaya.

The mass started with the entire church in darkness. When the priest has blessed the "new fire", the flame is distributed amongst the congregation. As the mass progressed, we are steadily brought out of darkness into the light. The scripture readings, prayers and songs were chosen to reflect this.

When the light was turned on, the glory of God was revealed in all its splendour.

Man reconciled with God.

It was a beautiful mass.

There were also some people being baptised and confirmed last night. For these folks, their journey in faith with Christ has just begun. Like what Father O.C. Lim mentioned, our journey does not end until the last nail is being hammered on our coffin.

Alien Eggs Within the Dozen?

When I was overseas, there were plenty of chocolate eggs and hot-cross buns sold for the Easter holidays. During that time, my friends and I would wait for Easter to be over to grab some cheap chocolates. One of the little luxuries we enjoyed was chocolate eggs. My sister wanted some caramel-filled eggs and so, I got it for her.

Bottles....

Since Easter is the start of new life, I am particularly quite excited this year too - for my family will be welcoming new life too. Actually, two new lives. My sister is expecting the twins to arrive in September. (^__^)

Easter is a time for renewal, reconciliation with God - a time to rejoice that our Lord Jesus Christ overcame death to save us all from sin.

This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice in it and be glad. (Psalm 118:24)

Wishing everyone a Happy and Blessed Holy Easter...

Can You Get Into The Spirit of Christmas Now?

You know its close to the end of the year when you start seeing Christmas decorations spring up in the beginning of November...

This is odd because usually, the hint that Christmas is coming in the US comes around mid-November when Thanksgiving is celebrated there.

Anyway, since Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Deepavali festivities are over, retail outlets here in KL have turned their attention towards Christmas.

I just happened to pass by some interior decoration shop at Bangsar Village 2 after my workout last night and noticed that the shop has started to sell Christmas decorations. Besides that, the shop has put up the usual secular message of "Seasons Greetings" at their storefront. The customary Christmas tree with lovely red, gold and white coloured ornaments adorned the Christmas tree.

Yep, Christmas will be coming here in 46 days, 23hours and 38 minutes... at the time of writing this blog entry. (^_^)

This year will be especially hard for everyone as the global recession makes its way around. Parents will have to explain to their kids about cutting back on holiday reverie, employers have to tell employees not to expect a big bonus at the end of the year, and lots of people will be struggling to make ends meet.

A depressing picture, when you think about it, huh?

However, the retail outlets will be EXPECTING consumers to pick up on spending for the holiday season. A tough message to sell when people are losing their jobs and homes now.

When I think about it, I'm also starting to feel a bit depressed because it will be a gloomy Christmas for a lot of folks out there. But Christmas is NOT about the material things, it's also about family, friends and above all God; how He loved us so much to give His only son to save us.

Officially, the church is winding down the liturgical year and soon, we'll be entering the season of Advent. A time to get close to God as He gives us His only Son, Jesus Christ.

Well, at the end of it all, despite the doom and gloom of what is going on in the financial markets; perhaps we should take time to lift our heads up and march towards a brighter future. Let God lead us, like how He led the shepherds that night with the light of the star towards Christ.

I hope to get into the spirit of Christmas. For me, the season will be a time for me to reconnect with friends and family after going through such a busy year.

Anger Management and Merdeka Wishes

From my last post, you may think that I was really taking it too far.

Yeah, I nearly lost my head because I was stressed out over some massive jam. The truth of the matter was that I've been stressed out for a very long time now.

Ever since an announcement from the HQ that each profit center was to hit 80% utilization, I have been stressed out every week to try to hit those numbers. Sure, revenue collection is not part of my KPI (Key Performance Indicator) but cost recovery from utilization rate of each member in the team; including myself.

I know that I shouldn't let stuff like this get to me, but the pressure is just getting too much. Every week, we're been asked by the boss - "Do you know what happened last week?", i.e. do you know why your numbers are so fxxked up last week? Sometimes, out of anger, I would like to answer back - "Sure, YOU fxxked up the numbers because YOU didn't bring in the sales!". However, I keep this all repressed inside, waiting for the moment when I'm excused from the meeting.

I'm a technical team lead - which means, I lead my team in technical aspects of a project. Somehow, the term is being abused by management because we have the responsibilities as a manager but yet - not really having the title. In fact, I feel like a pseudo-manager all the time now.

Anyway, enough of that.

I had a small revelation while at church yesterday. It happened when I was listening to the church's 50th Golden Jubilee song. A sort of calm and peace came over me as I concentrated on the lyrics of the song. That the greatest celebration was The Word - "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1)

It was as though I had been touched by God's finger, i.e. like being poked (not Superpoked! like in Facebook), nudged to return my focus to Him. Sure, the world could be really screwed up at times and it can take it's toll on us; but there is so much more to life, than just work.

With that, I have a renewed sense of self this Merdeka. Yep, that means I've got to take whole of my anger and turn it inside out. Laugh a bit more, learn to breathe more deeply - to calm the mind and also to eat right!!

I'm getting the exercise thing down - by trying to hit the gym at least twice a week - up to 2 hours per session; but food is my biggest downfall and brick wall. Well, right now I'm having my low-fat yogurt and apple and I am resolved to get the food part of my diet right. It's so hard when Malaysian food is soooo delicious and you need a lot of will power to resist the lovely char koay teow or that fatty piece of bak kut in the bak kut teh.

However, thinking of all the saturated oils just gives me the heebie jeebies now. Yeck!!

Snoopy celebrated her 5th birthday yesterday as well as our nation celebrated 51 years of independence. Both numbers are significant although one is larger than the other.

Just like Snoopy wishes for good things to come to her, I also wish for great things to come to our nation. Despite all the things which are happening now, we all wish and strive to make Malaysia the best she can be.

I pray that our leaders will wake up and remember that the job they took was provided by the rakyat. So, the rakyat is the boss.

I pray that our leaders will be granted the wisdom to lead the people and not lead their pockets.

I pray for continued peace amongst everyone.

I pray for the people of Sichuan, China who suffered another earthquake on Aug 31st.

That is my Merdeka wish. Happy Merdeka everyone!

Half Empty, Half Full?

With all the news around us today, it's a wonder if we can ever find an optimist amongst us.

LOL!! That's the pessimist in me "barking"....

I've been a bit down lately. Things buzzing around me has gotten me feeling the blues. My love for jazz music is not helping as some jazz music I listen to tend to be quite "blue" in nature, i.e. think Chet Baker or Miles Davis... You get what I mean. ;-)

The question I want to pose is... How do the optimists remain so optimistic?

I've been trying to turn my brain around from being a down right pessimist to a slightly more optimistic person. Strange that some friends have said that I'm a very bubbly person but of late, I'd guess I'm getting very jaded with life and it has gotten the best of me... drained me of my bubbliness.

One friend remarked that he thinks that the situation could get worse than what it is now. So, he is thankful for what he has.

Another friend said, don't fret about the small stuff. Take a deep breath and look around you. Be Happy.

I'd guess what I'm getting at is TO BE HAPPY.

If you read the Law of Attraction, you'll know that thinking negatively will only attract negative things to you. There's a saying that You Are What You Think. I believe that there is some truth to that.

I've been quite weary of the world and it's beginning to take its toll on my health. I'd guess it's time for me to retreat back into my "shell" for a little while to reflect the good I have and figure out how to get out of the rut. Or, I should just stop thinking altogether!! Maybe I'll have to get Snoopy & Rusty to give me some TLC session, i.e. FACE-LICKING.

One thing is for sure, I'm beyond the stage of whining over it. I'm just about fed up of pouring out my thoughts as although it does make me feel better for a little while, it's never a permanent solution. ;-)

So, how do you get yourself out of the blues?

Right now, I'm compiling a list of songs I'm going to upload to my MP3 player for my gym exercise. So, I'm picking all the fast-moving music as well as some motivational songs, i.e. Bon Jovi's "Keep The Faith" and Kanye West's "Stronger". After listening to such music, you sure want to pick yourself up and work harder. It does motivate...

Any thoughts?

1st of December.. Is Christmas Upon Us?

This will be a rather short post. No photos yet as I've to decide which photo of Snoopy to pick out. She's already in the Christmas mood... sort of.

Anyway, I've fallen ill again. This time, it's my stomach. I think I'm having diahorrea since I had passed some soft stools... err, I'd best stop at that. It's probably some bad fish since I had sushi last night.

I tried to put up my usual "snowflake" JavaScript but the "new" Blogger template complained about some invalid XML. So, rather than trying to figure out the sometimes mysterious error message, I've decided to just leave it at that and just modify my existing banner. So, that puts my blog in the Christmas mood.

For me, the season of Christmas does not begin until the 1st week of December, when the Catholic church's Advent calendar begins. What does that mean? Advent is the start of the holy season to welcome Christ into our lives. While the season of Lent was a time of repentance and a start of our journey to return to Christ, Advent is about welcoming Christ again. It is also the time, when we should remember about the 2nd coming of Christ.

Hence, the reason why I waited for this weekend to put up my Christmas trimmings. (^ ^)

Around this time last year, I was away in UK, feeling rather homesick and was sad about missing Christmas with my family. However, I had a really great manager there who decided to ship us home to Malaysia for two weeks since everything (including the office) was closed for two weeks.

Anyway, I had been following a journey with Christ using a little booklet and it was wonderful. I got closer to God and the true meaning of Christmas came through. The spirit of giving and peace upon all of us.

I usually place a lot more emphasis on Easter as it symbolizes new life but when Christmas comes around, I get sentimental and feel very warm and fuzzy thinking about Baby Jesus in his swaddling clothes, in the manger. I don't have the Nativity Scene as a Christmas decor in my house... :-P

So, has the spirit of Christmas caught up with you yet?

Cherish The Living

A couple of entries (zewt's and Little Raymond's) have inspired me to write about this, as well as a piece of news which I received early yesterday morning. Not that I'm morbid but it is a fact of life. There are two things that are certain in this life, which we cannot escape from: death and taxes. I'm talking about the former, i.e. death.

I have listened to so many people voice their regret and sorrow over not being able to say what they want to say or do what they want to do for someone who has just left this world. But it is often too late.

Just yesterday morning, my father and I had a typical conversation. He asked me if I could give Snoopy a ride but I said that I needed to get to work on time. He said, "Just for 5 minutes, only." I told him I couldn't spare it. I had to get to work on time. I didn't know why but I just had to. I got irritated because there are times I need to be in the office on time to do something. (I know, I know... My soul does not belong to the company but that's just me... the responsible idiot worker...)

When I got to work. I heard the bad news. My colleague's father had just passed away the night before.

I paused. Said a prayer to ask for forgiveness from God for being irritated at my father. Said a prayer for my colleague's father and her family.

After visiting my colleague and dinner with my colleagues, I called home and my father asked me to get his favourite char siew pau. This time I did not refuse.

Life is indeed short. Remember to count your blessings and be thankful for it. Remember to cherish your loved ones around you.

Rising To The Challenge

It's the start of another week. Should I dread it?

Perhaps not.

For, the start of another day means a new, clean slate to do something. This is the hope we have to give ourselves each day. Living one day at a time. (^ ^)

My last post talked about the new change I had to face. So, after accepting that change, I have decided to rise up to the challenge. Even though I may get knocked down from time to time. However, that should not stop me from meeting the challenge. Because, some of those knocks are just temporary setbacks.

I'm no wuss.

I hope I don't whine too much. Because this new change is an opportunity knocking on my door. Even though it may seem like I'm facing a major stumbling block for now.

I have faith and enough confidence in myself to succeed through this trying time.

"Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill

4 Years On

It has been 4 years since Oofy has passed.

She was a lovely dog. She came at a time when the world was going nuts. It was 2 years after 9/11 and the wounds were very sore. At this point, a lot more details were known about what happened on that terrible day.

She came at a time when I was facing the most stressful point in my career. I was asked to do more work and yet, getting not much satisfaction out of it. She just came out of the blue. I still can't believe anyone could just discard such a beautiful dog.

Aside from my parents and sibling, I had never felt so much unconditional love from another living being. She could still love me despite me disciplining her. She could still wag her tail even though I had a black face to show her.

Her face could just turn hearts of stone into hearts of love. She had that ability.

Oofy, I know that you are in God's house now. I hope that you are having a good time there with Jesus and the other animals there. I know that you will make great friends there.

I miss you. I love you. I hope I will see you at the Rainbow Bridge.

Assumption Wednesday

When I was growing up, Assumption used to fall on Thursdays. Today, being Aug 15th, it fell on a Wednesday. Strange, how the calendar has to adjust itself. (^ ^)

Anyway, the thought came to me when my mom dragged my half-dead @ss up from bed to get me to go to church this morning, since I couldn't go in the evening.

==: A slight digression as I explain what is Assumption :==
Assumption is a Day of Obligation for Catholic Christians to celebrate the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, where at the end of her earthly life, she is assumed to Heaven both body and soul.

Mom: Today is wednesday, right?
Me: Uh-huh?? (half-awake, half-asleep)
Mom: Hahhh... I remember Assumption always fell on a Thursday.
Me: Hmmmm... Yea. I think the calendar shifted liao. (zzzzZZzzzz)

My mom mumbled something else but I couldn't grasp as my mind was still not awake at 6:15am in the morning.

Now, we celebrate the solemnity because The Blessed Virgin Mary is a model Christian, who submitted herself to God to be a "handmaid of the Lord" (Luke 1:38) and thus, reminding us to be like her. A model of grace, patience and faith. We Catholics give her great respect because she was the Mother of our God and of our Lord, Jesus Christ. And as I said before, a model of great faith for us to emulate daily.

I may have been asleep before, but I was fully awake to remember the message during mass today... I hope.

Happy Feast Day folks!