IT'S BEEN LONG

It's been long and again after reading some new updates from my fellow bloggers, decided I should do it as well. So what's up? how's everyone? Me? I'm okay okay la. As they say in Chinese, "Mo Chun Mo Lan". 

Last month was quite an eventful month. First up I went to watch a musical at Sunway. The 'Magical Musical'. When I first saw the poster, I decided to check it out, and found the ticket price was a bit expensive. I thought of giving it a miss but then Mix FM had a competition, to guess the musical played. Cut story short, I won. Yup 4 tickets and they were VIP seats. In all I would say, thank God the tickets were free. The show was 4/10 I would say. The singing was good and the choreography was okok but the story line was flat and predictable. The main characters were suppose to be acting as 20 something but the main hero looks like he is 40 plus.... But it was a good time singing along most of the songs sung and I think Ben, Joseph and Peter thoroughly enjoyed it. As I said, thank God it's free 

Ben and Me with the free tickets

My buddies from church and fellow musical lovers 

As you all know, one of my resolution this year was to complete a run. And I signed up for the Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Run. I took up the 10 km run (first time ma, not so big ambition). I trained almost every week and actually mapped a 6 km route for my run all the time (I'm now disputing it, I think it's much shorter :P ). Choulyin, Vinesh, Joyce, Ben Kee and myself am glad to say finished within the medal time limit. I finished in 1 hour 24 mins which is not bad although I think can be faster. The whole experience was exhilarating. Most of the time you are running alongside strangers and somehow (or maybe it's ego) you don't want to stop even when your legs are asking you to. At the 8 km, my legs were already asking me to stop. I told myself, another 2 more and you can rest. But by 9 km, my legs cramped up and I had to stop for a while.  I was dissapointed at first cause I thought I could finish it without stopping. But my legs gave way. At the last 700 m I decided to fight off the pain and continue. And I started again and with a dash I finished. I'm actually quite proud that I finished the race. My aim was that, and not what time I finished it. I never thought I would run also in the first place but sometimes people need to push you to do something beyond your comfort zone (Thanks Vinesh). Is that all you ask? Nah... I just signed up to run 2 more runs. The first one in October, the KOTR run at the NPE. I hope to beat my time and better it. The other one will be in November, the Penang Bridge Run........ and drum roll.... 21 km will be my target (haha must finish by 3 hours and 30 mins). Go back Penang? Am I ready for it? well I have to go back sooner or later right? Oh well........

Me and Bro Gideon who is an avid runner. I look to him for advice 

My face after 10 km

Tired but proud  

The whole gang.... proud with our medals 

Pictures are courtesy of Benjamin and Choulyin 

YAM CHA

Hmm I miss being able to call up someone for yam cha, go mamak or just go movie on a weekday. Just to chill and relax with someone. Now all I see is the four walls of my house. My friend said we all have to grow up? But I think grown ups do need time to chill...

AM I READY?

The day that I dread will be coming. Will I be ready? I have told myself that it would have to come one day. But I didn't think I'm actually not ready for it to happen. Surprisingly someone mentioned that he was shocked when I say I'm not ready. Well I'm not.. It hasn't been easy and I don't think it will. Lord you would have to help me in that.

TODAY WILL YOU BE CHRISTIAN?

Came across this article this morning. Have a read

TODAY WILL YOU BE CHRISTIAN

MARCH 25 — I get asked what it means to be a Christian in a predominantly Muslim society a lot.

It happens so often that I’ve actually got a standard opening line: “The Islam that I grew up with is a religion of peace and tolerance.”

It’s a response directed at the unasked question, the one about violence and intolerance that is never far below the surface.

I tell them about our neighbours, Pak Zainal and Makcik Maria, devout Muslims who have lived, in active harmony, next to my parents’ evangelical Christianity, for 35 years. I describe the solidarity of breaking fast with Muslim friends during Ramadan, wryly explaining that we are a food-obsessed society.

My Islam is in the yellow crescent that appears on our flag, and in the red crescent of the ambulances that serve all Malaysians. I find its shape in daily encounters with bus-conductors, teachers, academics, and street vendors. 

Their gentle utterances of “Inshallah” and “Alhamdulillah” resonate with me the way “God Bless You” might with a Southern Baptist in the US.

It’s in the silk tudung of my friend Nur Hanim, whose mind and spirit is more liberated and open than those who judge her by her headscarf. I struggle to convey how the soft call of the azan every morning is a thing of beauty to my ears, without tearing up.

My sentimentality embarrasses me.

However, in a world where suspicion and misconceptions about Islam abound, I am eager to share my experiences. I put my faith in personal testimony, hoping it will help others distinguish spiritual from political Islam.

Having spent a large part of my youth in a Christian fundamentalist church, I know first-hand that zealotry can worm its way into churches, temples, synagogues and mosques.

Some are intrigued and interested. Others are dismissive. They are not looking for a conversation about Islam. They seek an insider’s confirmation of their pre-existing view that it is an inflexible belief system.

For many, it just requires too much hard work to grasp the nuances of religion, race and politics as they converge in Malaysia for them to stay focused for long. Who can blame them? It would bore me to tears too, were I not so emotionally vested in the country myself.

It surprises foreigners that many non-Muslim Malaysians actively defend Islam. The expectation is that as minorities whose political and social space appears to be constricting, we would have an antipathy towards it.

When Christopher Hitchens claimed there was “vicious rioting” in Malaysia in the wake of the Allah controversy in early 2010, I (amongst many others), questioned the veracity of his description on the slate.com comment’s page.

The idea that a Malaysian Christian would speak out in defence of Muslims at a point when churches were being defaced was so inconceivable that some posters implied that I must in fact be a Muslim pretending to be a Christian defending Muslims who, of course, were viciously attacking Christians.

It was enough make my head spin and spark off an existential crisis. Am I real or am I a sock puppet?

History is filled with accounts of people who step outside their own community to support, defend or protect the vulnerable.

Bram Fisher, a fierce opponent of apartheid and one of Nelson Mandela’s lawyers, was born an Afrikaner, the political elite in South Africa responsible for apartheid.

Some of the strongest opposition to the Israeli occupation of Palestine comes from within Israelitself, led by Jews who have raised their voices in support of a Palestinian state.

Following the January 1, 2011 attack on a Coptic church in Alexandria, scores of Egyptian Muslims offered themselves as shields to protect Egyptian Christians.

Imams and ordinary Muslims attended Mass after the bombing, because, as one Muslim man explained, “Copts have to know that we will share any pains or threats they go through.”

It’s a sentiment echoed by non-Muslim Americans who last week gathered bearing signs saying, “Today I am Muslim too.” They were protesting the congressional hearings into home grown terrorism in the US that unfairly targeted Muslim-Americans.

These individuals understand that when one segment of society is attacked or suppressed, it is an attack on everyone.

Over the past two weeks, 35,000 Bibles in Malay, have been stuck in limbo. The Ministry of Home Affairs impounded them two years ago, and last week hastily, and illegitimately, stamped the Bibles with a serial number and the phrase “For Christians Only. By order of the Ministry of Home Affairs.”

I picture these imprisoned books, kept in darkness for the crime of being published in the national language. It’s redolent with the self-conscious symbolism you’d expect from a play staged by gauche drama students: Freedom of religion constrained by the State, Holy Scripture scared by political power.

Unfortunately, this is not bad art, easily cut down to size by a biting review.

It is the absurd reality of Malaysian politics, created by a corrupt government whose only path to power comes from manufacturing conflict and keeping us divided.

This is not a Christian fight. This is a Malaysian fight. Will you stand and say that today, you too are a Christian?

KAMPUNG BOY: A MUSICAL

I grew up with reading Lat as a kid. My mum would actually encourage us to read his comics. I still have them at home. I use to laugh and marvel at his comics and how he view things in his life. Last week, I had the opportunity to see the story of his life. Kampung Boy the musical. I enjoyed it a lot (new resolution this year is to see stage plays and musicals). Here are some of my thoughts on it:

The okays
1) The sets were great. They used every part of Lat's comics to become the background. From Lat as a kid (black and white) till he grew up (coloured).
2) Music was super nice and catchy. I find myself, Choulyin and Tsu Chong swaying left and right.
3) Interchange of scenes were very interesting.
4) Daniel Shariff (the kid who plays Lat as a young boy) was extremely talented. He potrayed the goofy kid we read in the comics very well.
5) Omar Abdullah who plays Lat's boss Pak Samad was damn hilarious. Including the actor who played Lat's Father.

The so-so
1) Awie and Atilla were great as Lat and Faezah (Lat's wife), but somehow don' really feel the chemistry there. Maybe cause I've always seen Awie as a rocker type rather than a goofy, comic type.
2) Choreography was okay only. Too much dancing but the dancers were really good.
3) Storyline. A bit tad too long. It did try to cover the characters of Lat's life.

The not so okay
1) The audio. Half the time we were guessing what they were saying during the songs. Can only hear a bit (I think also we were sitting quite back also)

I would give it a 7/10. If you have the chance to go watch it go. It's playing till April 3. It's hilarious and funny. Do remember it's bilingual, so brush on your BM if not you might not understand the jokes.

UPDATES FROM LIL OLD ME

Sometimes I wonder why I still keep this blog.. Anyhoo... I am keeping to my quota of 1 blog per month haha.. So what's been happening? A lot actually. To summarize it's been an interesting month of January (plus February). Before that, let's recap a bit about 2010. Ah 2010, I was reading back on my resolutions and plans for 2010 and happy to announce that I accomplish about 70% of it. The year of new mountains was definitely a hard year. Some mountains were easy climb, some were not so easy to climb (and in fact still climbing). Most of all, I thank God for sending wonderful people who have made my life a bit easier to flow in Rasa. As I reflecting on how to name God for 2010... I realised that He was indeed with me, walking beside me. I named 2010, God who was with me.

Let the drums roll for 2011... 2011 has been declared the year of big pictures. I've come to appreciate that God has special plans for us. Sometimes we may not agree with the things that have happened but if we try to step back and look at the situation, you'll appreciate what actually happens. 2 months ago, I wrote in my blog that I decided to jump ship. After sending resumes to a few companies, not only I didn't get a call back, I was rejected before even calling for an interview. I was well flabbergasted and heck am I that not wanted? I cursed God, I cursed the company haha and yet one day during service, God spoke, in His time... wow.... in His time. His timing is always perfect. And from that onwards, I decided to look at my work place a lil different. There is so much to appreciate here. There is no hustle and bustle of city life here. There is no jam. I  don't have to spend so much on food and clothings. I don't have to wake up early to go to work. And guess what, I called up a tuition centre (cause they were looking for teachers) and I got a job. Now I'm teaching tuition at night. The big picture.. If I want to teach, teach small first.

In terms of relationship, I have to be honest. I'm not ready to be in one again. Maybe the last break up has been hard on me (ah Lia says I still care for S... I think I still do though haha). I have yet to really move on to another person and to share my life. Although I have a crush (don't need to guess who, I won't mention haha) however, it remains to be seen whether anything can happen. But it has been hard. At my age, most of my peers are getting married and sometimes I feel the pressure of having a gf. When I go shopping, I always like to see couples hold hand or spending time together (shucks.. like stalker now). Haha.. oh well the big picture. In His time.....

A lot of people know me as a person who makes resolution and plans every year. 2011 is no exception. Here are some of my resolutions.

1) To finish the bible in 1 year. I have never really read the bible cover to cover. This year I have challenged myself to finish reading it.

2) To run a 10 km marathon. What 10 km only? haha start small. At the moment I can run 3 km without stopping so still a challenge for me. But what's a challenge without diving into the sea... Will be running the Standard Chartered Run in June and hopefully The Penang Bridge run in November.

3) To read 4 books. Haha yes.. I'm not a reader.. I'm more a visual kind of guy.

4) I currently weigh 76 kg. Which is a 10 - 11 kg drop from last year. I plan to maintain and to lose another 2 kg. I am actually now a fitter person but there is much to be done.

Alright, those are the mentionable resolutions. Haha that's all I can reveal...........

So here's hoping to a great year ahead.

Carrie Underwood - Temporary Home

Happy new year to everyone... Here's a song from my American Idol, Carrie Underwood