Passing Out

Well, today marks my last official day as the secretary for CF. It's cliched to say this but it feels like yesterday when I first went up to the post at around this time last year. It was that time that I carried on the baton from Sherene. On one hand, it can be seen as a good one year of intense learning to serve God and on the other hand, it's a relief that I can pass on the baton of responsibility to someone else already.

It's a rite of passage. A time to step up and a time to pass out. It felt just like the times when I became a specialist at the cadet corp at SJI and vice-president of the journalism club at JC. When the day came to bid farewell was there, I awoke up one day realising that I need not bring my cadets for training or handle the weekly online publication stories at the journalism club website. Right now, it's waking up realising that I no longer need to handle memos, event proposals, reviews, weekly e-mail updates and meeting minutes. In any case, I wanna thank God for all the lessons that he had taught me throughout this committee term and it's indeed a privilege to be given the chance the serve Him through this way. I've realised that I've grown alot spiritually too during this whole term of serving as secretary.

For the old committee, it has been indeed a wonderful 1 year of serving with you guys. I've really enjoyed working alongside all of you and I think we learn many new things about each other in the process. The memories from all the committee retreats that we have would definitely be times that are worth remembering. For those who are staying on in the new committee, continue the good work that you have done.

Well, I would like to wish all the best to the new CF committee. I'm sure that the new committee will lift CF to greater new heights. Continue to be a blessing to others and yea, it's now your turn to lead the charge for God's army! :)

Photos that changed the world

I'm sure most people have seen amazing photos taken by a DSLR camera and technology has allowed some interesting effects to be added to them too. Nevertheless, 40 or 50 years ago, the photographers of yesteryears may not have such sophisticated equipments but yet they could capture the soul of that time. There are images that remain iconic throughout the test of time and they will always speak a message worth more than a thousand words that will continue to impact future generations to come. Here's my top picks in the historical archives for the photos that changed the world.

Soviet Victory over Berlin - A Soviet trooper climbs up the Reichstag to plant the USSR flag, a symbolic action marking the fall of the Nazi regime and the start of a tumultuous struggle between two superpowers for the control of the city for the next 45 years.

Raising a flag over Iwo Jima - US Marine troops raised the American flag over the island of Iwo Jima. This iconic photograph was immortalised as a monument in the United States Marine Corp headquarters.

Victory over Japan Day - One of my personal favourites. This shot was taken from Times Square in New York, on the day of announcement that war is over.

Guerrillero Heroico - This portrait photo of Che Guevara taken from a memorial service was reproduced millions of times throughout the later part of the 20th century as posters. This photo of his became the very embodiment of the idea of a revolution.

Execution of a Vietcong Guerilla - The Saigon police chief undertakes the grimm task of executing a Vietcong operative. This was a Pulitzer Prize winning photograph that changed the public opinion of the Vietnam war.

Afghan Girl refugee - The piercing green eyes graced the cover of the National Geographic magazine in the 80s to highlight the plight of refugees all over the world. The identity of the girl was found by the photographer 20 years later.

Tiananmen Square 1989 - The sight of a young man defying the rolling war machine speaks volume of the university students who demanded democratic reforms during that year.

World Trade Center 9/11 - The raising of the flag by the firemen was reminiscent of the photo from Iwo Jima. The paradigm of world politics had a major shift eversince that day.

Images are courtesy of their respective photographers and sources.

Digital Outing

This is one of the rare weekends where I get a Saturday off..haha. There was supposed to be an inter-CF meeting but since it was cancelled, it freed up a slot for a trip to Lowyat Plaza where I've been waiting for quite some time to go to settle some of my old laptop business instead of letting it lie dormant to collect dust in my hostel room. There was Lerdie, Maddie, Emily, Rubbie (they rhyme! haha xD) and King in the car, so it was quite a squishing ride for those at the back since they need to take turns to lean back.

We reached the Sungei Wang area at about afternoon and we proceeded to eat lunch at Kim Gary's first since we didn't get to eat breakfast. Afterthat, we went straight to do our respective business. Maddie needs to get her hardisk repaired while Emily hunts for her earphones and new hardisk. As for me, I need to get a casing and a connector for the hardisk of my old laptop. I figured out that I won't give my old laptop hardisk to the resellers since it may contain sensitive info such as passwords that are saved with it. Instead, I might as well convert it as my 4th portable hard disk..haha. I manage to get the casing for RM25 in the end and at that the same time I was keeping a lookout for the Pakistani shops where somebody recommended where they buy old conked out lappies.

The first price that was quoted to me was RM200 for everything. It sounded decent to me, but I figured out that it may be more profitable to sell the different parts and among all the parts inside the laptop, the most precious one has gotta be the 2 pieces of 2GB RAM. It's not exactly a good brand but still, it could fetch quite a fair amount of price. The second shop also quoted RM200 for everything, and offered only RM70 for each piece of the RAM sticks. In the end, we settled for the third shop where we managed to get it sold for RM80 per stick and the rest of the lappie body for RM140, making an earning of RM300. That sounded ok to me, eventhough it may be 10% of the original purchase price. Considering that the graphics card is gone, depreciation factor and brand name etc, I don't expect much profit already. It's merely to make sure that I dispose it and get some small pocket money in return. Lol..since King managed to help me to bargain, he gets to walk away with a free laptop lock. =p

After settling our digital business, the girls went off for shopping at Sungei Wang while the boys headed off to Times Square to see if there are anything worth seeing there. We checked out some sports shop and then we chilled out at Krispy Kreme Doughnuts for almost 5 hours with some men's talk. I did some revision too in between..haha. Anyways, we were really amazed on how much energy the girls to shop at Sungei Wang and Times Square for 5hrs plus! We rounded up our dinner at Wendy's where they had this range of Cheesy Mushroom Burger..Yummy! Overall, a fun outing day and I'm glad to settle the old laptop business once and for all.

Dulce et Decorum est

Ah, I just had this inspiration to reflect back on my good old days of doing English Literature during A' Levels. The days when I learn to analyse words and interpret them with emotions instead of staring at legal statutes..haha. There were lots of freedom during those days for the interpretation of the text that i read. Mastery of the language was key to describe every single emotion than ran through my veins. It was during those times that I had the opportunity to be exposed to lots of good poems and linguistic writings. Not only that, I get to create a few poems with the skills that I gain from analysing these talented writers. I'll begin my recollections with the very first poem which my English Literature lecturer started with, which I can still vividly remember, is from the Wilfred Owen collection of war poems. Here's Dulce et Decorum Est, one of his famous poems:

Dulce et Decorum est (Wilfred Owen)

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame, all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.

Gas! GAS! Quick, boys! -- An ecstasy of fumbling
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime. --
Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams before my helpless sight
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin,
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs
Bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

Btw, Dulce et Decorum est means it is sweet to die for one's country in the Latin language. Wilfred Owen is confronting with the very lie that embodies the phrase in the poem since he experienced war personally and it is not as glorified as how the governments of the world had propogate it to be. I think this is a good start to open an English Literature or Poetry section in my blog since I started the History section already. Haha..stay tune next time for more poems and other cool writings by prominent writers! :)

Asian Power

Park leads the way for Man United

It's been quite some time since I've done some football analysis and what better way to restart it on an auspicious duel between United and Liverpool at Old Trafford. The situation prior to this match: United needed to continue winning to keep up with Chelsea and to maintain the lead against the Gooners while Liverpool is desperately fighting for a 4th place. There are dire consequences for any side that loses this match and tensions were naturally high as usual. Fergie opted to play Rooney as solo striker upfront with a 5-men midfield.

Within 5 minutes of the game, the Scousers were already running down the flank and a cross into the box saw Torres executing a perfect header into the net. It was the ideal start for the Scousers but questions must be asked of the United defence at that time. What in the world was Ferdinand doing?! As usual, the off-concentration moment was there with him ball-watching and not posing a threat to Torres at all. With a goal down, United knew that they had to find a reply quick or it will be a very excruciating 85 minutes remaining on the clock. True enough, it didn't take long enough with Mascherano doing something stupid on the way, 5 minutes after Torres' goal. 3 years ago, he got himself sent off by running half the field. It seems that Mascherano was obstructing and pulling Valencia's hand as the Ecuadorian dribbles into the box. The controversial point is whether Mascherano had released Valencia's hand before or after he enterred the box. The referee's opinion is that Mascherano did it in the box and United were given the penalty. Rooney stepped up to take the penalty and missed it but he was fortunate to get the rebound into the net. That even things up.

A few players were getting a little emotional on the field and one of them was Torres. First, he kicked the penalty spot in frustration like a sulking small boy. The referee let him off for that. Then later on in the game, he started showing a sarcastic duck sign with his hand and that was when the referee had enough of his nonsense and showed him a red card. Torres was pushing it further later in the game when he gave Fletcher a light spank at his butt. Fletcher was also of course, involved in a fiery bust-up with Kuyt during one of the tackles.

At the 60th minute, Fletcher delivered a beautiful cross into the box and Park, ever lurking from the center propelled himself forward like a missile to head the winning ball into the net. This is no fluke considering the difficulty that comes with a diving header movement. That was good enough to secure the winner and Liverpool nearly got the equaliser in the dying minutes, only for Torres to miskick it upwards. At the blow of the final whistle, United emerged triumphant in the fixture. Disaster for Liverpool as the 4th place Champions League spot slips away further away. An excellent result for United who marched on with the title chase.

Who would have thought that an Asian would make the difference in the titanic clash? That would be unthinkable 20 or 30 years ago. But Park has proven it himself that he can make it at the big stage. He has drawn blood from Milan and Arsenal and he's certainly not shy to do it against the Scousers. That is some slick Asian power from Park and yea, we can be proud of him..haha. Park is one of the underrated players in the United squad and true, he may not be in the league of superstars like Messi, Ronaldo or Fabregas but his hardworking and persevering qualities that are found in him are invaluable. The other underrated player at United is Fletcher and one can say he's truly one player who will fight for the ball with every ounce of sweat that he has. For this match, Fletcher made the difference that merits a man-of-the-match performance. Not even Gerrard came close to inspiring his team and I would say the Liverpudian no. 8 is surprisingly quiet and remains anonymous for most of the playing time.

This is a big step for United to overcome Liverpool but the job's far from being done yet. There are still plenty of games coming up, notably Chelsea on 3rd April and Manchester City on 17th. These two games could either make or break United's attempt to win their 19th title.

Vocal workshop

We had a vocals training workshop throughout the weekend at church and since I'm the drummer both for the workshop and Sunday service, I stayed overnight at Pastor Vic's house together with the rest. In the morning, I was half-asleep because Friday night was a movie night out at Seremban to watch Alice in Wonderland. I nearly woke up late to fetch people in the morning but we did make it on time to be in church for the Saturday practice. After practice on Saturday, we proceeded on for a lunch at a restaurant at Banting main town where Sister Helen gave a treat for the March babies (Grace, Gerald and Pastor Vic). It was a scrumptious meal and all of us ate till we are extremely full. Lol, we were joking in that nobody should jump around during vocals training lest all the contents of the belly are expelled. Hamster Lerdie drove us back from the restaurant back to church and Alvin Tan fell into a state of nausea after the ride..haha.

We had fun during the games during vocals training and we had some good food again during dinner where we ate at the church itself. The session finished quite early at around 8.30pm and afterthat, a bunch of us went to McD to grab something to bite. We took the opportunity to head for this pesta at Banting which was happening just right beside Macs. That pesta looks pretty similar to the annual one that was held in Sungai Dua, Penang. Lol..we took the opportunity to snap some whacky photos at one shop that sell shades. We reached Pastor Vic's house at about 11.45pm. I used Maddie's laptop to log in to Facebook to settle my daily business there and afterthat, I just crashed to bed and slept almost immediately till the next morning.

We had bak kut teh for breakfast in the morning. While I was preparing to go out, I heard a familiar tune from Sesame Street. Well, I thought that the two chipmunks are playing it at the house piano so early in the morning. However, to my angstly 'horror', I realised that it was coming from phone in my pocket! Grrrrrrrrr..it was the iBan alright, trying to initiate some form of 'payback'! Service was a video message this time. Pastor Vic brought up an interesting point of reflection where he pointed out that the deficiencies in one's family can be nullified and made perfect by the family of God. Sometimes, the reason why God may place a person in a deficient family is so that he can be a testimony to the others.

Anyways, on the way back to campus, Hamster Lerdie got a second try to drive back and since it's a longer journey, the endless patter of orisons can be heard resonating throughout the car..lol. But she managed to do it it well and brought us back to campus safely, with one exception for a panic moment where she accidentally shifted from gear 4 to gear 3 to hear the roar of the engines. =p

I'm a witness!

Something random came into my mind while I was handing up one of the admin stuffs to the student government body at my campus yesterday. One of the objectives for the establishment of the CF was stated to be maintaining Christian witness in the campus and that kinda sound confusing to one of the people there. That got me thinking on the term "witness". I think that the term is a such a common usage among Christians that at times, many do not stop a while to ponder on what it actually meant.

In secular terms, the usage of 'witness' is associated very closely to law where it has two meanings. The first being a person who observes the signing of the legal document while the second is the person who is qualified to give evidence to a criminal case in court. The more popular usage is the second meaning, especially when it refers to people who have seen a crime in action. Well, the word 'witness' in the secular sense does not really carry a positive imagery and it usually attaches a neutral or negative feeling to it. Afterall, if you're called to court to be a witness, it ain't fun at all and it's far from striking a lottery ticket.

However, if one were to read the Bible to discover the meaning of witness in the Christian context, he will discover that the usage there is one of a positive imagery. The usage of the word witness can be found in Acts 1:8 where Jesus said to his disciples," But you will receiv power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." So, what is this Christian witness? What does it really mean to be a Christian witness? How would you explain the term to someone who doesn't hasn't heard of the term witness in the Christian context?

For me, a Christian witness is someone who has a personal encounter with Christ. Jesus' disciples at that time were of course the closest witnesses since they had seen and be with Jesus at that point of time. That included also people who had seen his miracles and were touched by it 2000 years ago. They were convinced and convicted by what they have seen. But that does not mean that people of this age cannot be a witness of Christ at this age simply because they didn't see him in person. In fact, each Christian himself/herself is a witness for Christ because they would see the presence of Christ manifesting in many different forms during their lifetime. Be it transformation of lives, healing or blessings, I'm sure that each Christian had been touched by the Lord in many ways. The word "testify" comes into play too because just as testify is related to 'witness' in the secular sense, it is the same in the Christian context. A Christian witness who has seen the goodness of the Lord manifesting in many ways with his own eyes would similarly be overflowed and be so amazed by what he has seen that he has to testify to the world of the things he had seen and experienced. A Christian witness will not be quiet because he is simply overjoyed and is excited to tell the world what Christ had done for him. I'm proud to say that I'm one such witness! :)