wheeeeeeee

thank you, Lord

relieved. emancipated. *at least for a month*

a big big thank you to

graceG, weekiat, meilian, sabrinaong, amanda, wayying, minee, julieG, shinhui, chenging, pastor!, joanne, sookychengy, ashwiniC, charmingchristy, hweijene, leon and

most importantly pa, mie, chuen & ling...

for all the jia yous, gambattes, prayers, calls, all the best, you can do it =), smses, msn, facebook.

so blessed, so so blessed!

Leonard Cohen's *Anthem*

Ring the bells that still can ring

Forget your perfect offering

There is a crack in everything

That's how the light gets in.

just read

reflect

& ponder

just for a lil while.

that's all it takes.

the stand

so i'll stand with arms high and heart abandoned in awe of the One who gave it all

so i'll stand, my soul Lord to you surrendered all i am is Yours

so what can i say?

what can i do?

but to offer this heart O God

completely to You.

are you m.a.d?

A teacher in New York decided to honor each of her seniors in high school by telling them the difference they each made. She called each student to the front of the class, one at a time.

First she told each of them how they had made a difference to her and the class. Then she presented each of them with a blue ribbon imprinted with gold letters, which read, "Who I Am Makes a Difference."

Afterwards the teacher decided to do a class project to see what kind of impact recognition would have on a community. She gave each of the students three more ribbons and instructed them to go out and spread this acknowledgment ceremony. Then they were to follow up on the results, see who honored whom and report back to the class in about a week.

One of the boys in the class went to a junior executive in a nearby company and honored him for helping him with his career planning. He gave him a blue ribbon and put it on his shirt. Then he gave him two extra ribbons and said, "We're doing a class project on recognition, and we'd like you to go out, find somebody to honor, give them a blue ribbon, then give them the extra blue ribbon so they can acknowledge a third person to keep this acknowledgment ceremony going. Then please report back to me and tell me what happened."

Later that day the junior executive went in to see his boss, who had been noted, by the way, as being kind of a grouchy fellow. He sat his boss down and he told him that he deeply admired him for being a creative genius. The boss seemed very surprised. The junior executive asked him if he would accept the gift of the blue ribbon and would he give him permission to put it on him.

His surprised boss said, "Well, sure." The junior executive took the blue ribbon and placed it right on his boss's jacket above his heart. As he gave him the last extra ribbon, he asked, "Would you do me a favor? Would you take this extra ribbon and pass it on by honoring somebody else? The young boy who first gave me the ribbons is doing a project in school and we want to keep this recognition ceremony going and find out how it affects people."

That night the boss came home to his 14-year-old son and sat him down. He said, "The most incredible thing happened to me today. I was in my office and one of the junior executives came in and told me he admired me and gave me a blue ribbon for being a creative genius. Imagine. He thinks I'm a creative genius. Then he put this blue ribbon that says "Who I Am Makes a Difference," on my jacket above my heart. He gave me an extra ribbon and asked me to find somebody else to honor. As I was driving home tonight, I started thinking about whom I would honor with this ribbon and I thought about you. I want to honor you. My days are really hectic and when I come home I don't pay a lot of attention to you. Sometimes I scream at you for not getting good enough grades in school and for your bedroom being a mess, but somehow tonight, I just wanted to sit here and, well, just let you know that you do make a difference to me. Besides your mother, you are the most important person in my life. You're a great kid and I love you!"

The startled boy started to sob and sob, and he couldn't stop crying. His whole body shook. He looked up at his father and said through his tears, "Dad, earlier tonight I sat in my room and wrote a letter to you and Mom explaining why I had killed myself and asking you to forgive me. I was going to commit suicide tonight after you were asleep. I just didn't think that you cared at all. The letter is upstairs. I don't think I need it after all."

His father walked upstairs and found a heartfelt letter full of anguish and pain. The envelope was addressed, "Mom and Dad."

The boss went back to work a changed man. He was no longer a grouch, but made sure to let all his employees know that they made a difference. The junior executive helped several other young people with career planning and never forgot to let them know that they made a difference in his life... one being the boss's son.

the title isn't a mistake if you were wondering. are you m.a.d? are you making a difference?

when i read one of my close friend's personal message on msn which goes like this...

'the fragility of life reminds me that there's more to life than just books.'

i couldn't agree more! especially when one's exam falls on no better time of the year - 31st of December.

but then as i ponder further, i begin to ask myself...

am i just agreeing with it because of the current circumstances i am in?

or do i really realise with full convictions that there is more to life than what i can behold with my naked eye?

the year 2008 in pictures

Year 2008, a year of new beginnings and new trends.

Well it's been a great year, with its ups and downs but through it all, ive experienced God in such tremendous ways - from Mission Trips to the Phillipines and Vietnam

to helping out in a Skin Specialist Centre *but with monthly benefits =p*

going to school again and doing something i like to do...

thank you, Lord thank you so much

orientation felt like a few days ago...

owh how i miss Variety Night, Masquerade, Telematch, Mass Dance!,Charity Home Visit.

meeting people from all walks of life...

Hike up to Klang Gates, HIV/AIDS Conference where i met Phat Phabes, Ben & Nadia,

Breast Cancer Awareness Week,Passage thru India, TGIF, Diwali Night,

National Health Science Dabate 08', Agape Christmas Production, house-to-house caroling...

a blessed Christmas & a blessed New Year to all.

He died for me, I live for Him.

Lord, help me live a life which is pleasing in your sight. amen.

it was more than just a dinner

as we were having dinner one early Monday evening, a group of men occupied the table behind us.
it was an outdoors, cheap but delicious Chinese eatery where the chef tosses food up in the air for that extra "kick" & the flame is roaring big but as u see fried rice being tossed in the pan, you know it's heaven served in a cheap plastic plate.

so i was talking bout men right? well yes, of course I was!
anyways they came in, disheveled and all dirty and grim covered, obviously just back from a day's hard work. when i say that i honestly do not mean the typing furiously on the keyboard "hard work" or the been on the phone all day "hard work"
you could see the sweat and these men. and you know they worked physically hard during the day and this dinner was probably the only chance any of them got to sit down & rest.

as they occupied the table behind us, naturally i began eavesdropping on their conversation.
lo and behold they were speaking in Malay, broken Malay, filled with Hokkien anecdotes and English phrases they picked up from the news, but it was a Malay speaking conversation predominantly.
i turned around, and these men were of different skin colour and most likely from a very diverse cultural, not to mention religious background.
as simple and everyday as this may sound, i kept asking myself whether day-to-day events like this would carry on if children learn not to master the national language or the international language, but their mother tongue.
if children were nurtured to honour their mother tongue, while other languages are not deemed important.
would children, and men alike, need a common language, to converse? to have a common ground? to gel them together?

Can fellow men of different skin colours, sit down in a Chinese eatery 20 years later *regardless of the decision going to be made by the MOE* discussing American politics in Malay?

A Public Enemy in Singapore

By Fred Hiatt @ washingtonpost.com

Ambassador Chan says that her country must have a "tighter democracy" than America's, because it is a small, multiethnic city-state in a challenging region -- a rowboat next to America's aircraft carrier.

"In an aircraft carrier, you can be playing soccer in one corner and have jets taking off in another, and the carrier remains stable," she told me. "In a rowboat, it makes sense for everyone to row in the same direction."

As we Malaysians are struggling with government policies, holding candle-light vigils for more democracy, rallies and political blogs sprouting like weeds on over-fertilized soil, let's keep in perspective the extent of our political "turmoil" and be grateful for what we have here in Malaysia. note: i said grateful, not satisfied... be grateful for the meager democracy we have here, whether it is racially tainted or as scandalous as paris hilton and THEN fight for more.

We DO Deserve Better. You & I both.

it's only once a year when u get to gaze upon a twinkling tree and a warm glow envelopes you..

the feeling of
acceptance
peace
giving
warmth

ultimately, a joy like no other for you know, 'tis the season to love..

ed westwick has the most heavenly british accent *this title has ntg to do with the post what-so-ever*

you know it's love when
the chicken in the curry is deboned

you know it's love when
there's your favourite fried rice for dinner

you know it's love when
she waits up for you to get home

you know it's love when
there's shopping in the afternoon

you know it's love when
she listens to your stories

you know it's love when
your shopping bill comes up to be more

you know it's love when
well you just do!
home ;)

it's coming! ;)

i can smell it in the air..

yayS!!

as much as u try to avoid it
as much as you try to control it
as much as you try to defy it

it somehow creeps up on you
without you realizing
then one day, you turn around and look back and realise..

it happened.

Change.

the inevitable.

of goodbyes...

she...

my class monitor of 2 Jaya

the only one whom i've said yes to a sleepover

my shopping, movie, mamak kaki

the one whom so many cikgus have mistaken for as me?!!

the girl who deserves to be loved by a fine young man <3

the one whom i will really miss....

i want you to know that you have been such a blessing,

i have learnt so much from your life,

i am so glad that we are friends,

i wish you the very best in everything you do,

you will always have a special place in my heart ;)