Personal highlights of 2007

In random order...

License To Go Deep
Became a certified scuba diver (finally) after years of postponement (thanks Guatz, for the birthday gift!). Three unforgettable trips to Redang Island (twice) and Tioman Island. God willing, looking forward to more of His marine jungle.

Surfacing To The Stars
The last night dive that we did during my second trip to Redang was unforgettable: bumped into a turtle while doing safety stop (it just appeared from out of the dark), and we surfaced to darkness illuminated by a sky full of stars, stars and stars. Breath-taking.

View From The Top
My second climb up Mount Kinabalu, Sabah...this time via the longer but more scenic Mesilau route. Compared to the first climb, I stopped so many more times to just admire stuff and take photos.

Men & Women Overboard
Our boat capsizing at a rapid aptly named Washing Machine, while white-water rafting at Padas River, Sabah. It all happened in a split second: one moment we're rowing through Washing Machine, in the next instant I'm swirling under the rapids. After surfacing, I body rafted along with the current. Thrilling! The cool waters was really an extra bonus to just stay in the water :P

Mulu National Park, Sarawak
The biodiversity of the jungle never ceases to amaze me. God is really a creative Creator.

Falling
Bungy jumping in New Zealand...indescribable thrill.

Super Fresh
After diving for abalones and mussels, we cooked them, barbecued them....seriously, nothing beats fresh-out-of-the-sea seafood. So sweet, so delicious....what more those that you got with your own hands.

Passage Through India
My trip to India, where my main responsibility other than sharing was to conduct a tricks/illusions workshop for workers of CMCT. This was my second trip...there's just something about India. So much to not like about India, but yet there's such a strong pull. So rich yet so poor. So much need, so overwhelming.

Mum Goes To Church
Yes! Mum finally makes her way to church! Although she only does so when either of her sons are home, it's a start.

The Little Moments
The many simple moments shared with Guatz....the drives, the walks, the movies, the computer games, etc....all the little moments that makes life that much better.

~I will remember the deeds of the LORD...I will meditate on all Your works and consider all Your mighty deeds. (Psalm 77:11-12 NIV)~

Happy new year everyone!

Christmas is about Christ...why do you think it's called CHRISTmas?

Jack is a little boy who lives in Beanstalk Land. A week before his birthday, he gets really excited. He looks forward to celebrating his birthday. Why? Because the whole town knows about his birthday and they're going to get involved in the celebrations!

The day finally arrives, and the enthusiastic little Jack jumps out of his bed in the morning. He peers out his window and looks out into the street. What does he see? Everybody's out in the streets celebrating! Some were dancing to music, some where having a barbecue, some were playing games with each other, and some were singing.

Jack quickly got changed and ran out onto the streets to join in the celebrations of his own birthday. He skipped through the streets, happily anticipating birthday greetings and gifts from the townfolk.

But what is this? No one seemed to notice Jack walking down the street. Everyone continued to party and play without even a hint of care about the birthday boy. Jack was puzzled. "Hey, I'm here! I'm Jack, the birthday boy!" he shouted. But those who danced kept dancing, those who ate kept eating, those who sang kept singing, those who played kept playing.

"I'M JACK! IT'S MY BIRTHDAY YOU'RE CELEBRATING! WHY DON'T YOU NOTICE ME???"

Sad isn't it, when it's your birthday, and people are celebrating it, but they forget about the birthday boy/girl?

Christmas is Jesus Christ's birthday. It's about the Son of God coming into this world. And beyond the cradle, we see the cross and the reason why He came to this world.

So what are we celebrating this Christmas? Why are we celebrating?

Remember, it's His party.

Of Floods & Breakdowns

The flood in Mentakab has subsided. I should be able to spend Christmas back in my hometown. But many in Pahang, Kelantan, Terengganu and Johor are still terribly affected by the floods.

My 6-year-old car finally broke down last night. All this while it has never broken down on me, but last night it finally did.

I was driving over to Guat's place after badminton, when I heard a snap from my engine, after which it just died. Thankfully I was in an inner road, and I managed to pull over to the side of the road with whatever momentum that was left. The engine couldn't start after that.

Lim, the tow trucker, by listening to the sound of the car engine trying to crank up, suspected that the timing belt has snapped. I can't say that was entirely unexpected, especially given the sounds it makes in the mornings when I start my cold car engine (something which I should have taken heed of). Interestingly though, it wasn't due for timing belt change yet. I changed it when the mileage (or kilometerage) hit 80,000km, and the next change was not due till 160,000km. My car's current mileage is almost 146,000km. Could be due to many factors...previous belt not fitted well, not-so-good parts were used, somebody sabatoged me...all sorts of possibilities. :P

Oh well, if it happens, it happens. I'm just thankful for God's kindness, that at least it happened in good circumstances: it broke down near Guat's place, my brother's in town so there's that extra car.

So this morning, I'll be heading off to the workshop soon, to assess the damage...and man, I'm sure it's gonna cost me :) The fact really hit home when I saw my car being lifted onto the tow truck, and being towed away helplessly...that's where my heart really kinda sank, seeing the noble steed reduced to a hapless piece :)

Part and parcel of owning a car :) Things like these reminds me that I'm blessed to have a vehicle to call my own. And my car is now in good hands at the workshop.

Time to go to the workshop... :)

Post-workshop update: The timing belt didn't snap, but the teeth/grooves has come off, so the timing belt ran out of its place...mechanic hasn't completed a full inspection yet, but so far, there's at least one piston arm that's broken. The car will be in the "hospital" for at least a couple of days.

Edit (21/12/2007): Car's fixed. Thank God it took only 2 days...bent and broken parts here and there but Raymond told me that damage was minimal because when the timing belt snapped, I was going at slow speed. Thank God for that too.

Banjir

Pahang and Johor are badly hit by floods. My hometown of Mentakab is not spared. The flood in the town area has badly affected the low-lying areas, including the market, the bus station and many shophouses. Water supply to residential areas is cut, and supplies are generally short because people are hoarding. My mum joked about how it's a good thing that her two sons (the biggest consumers in the house) are not at home, otherwise we might all go hungry! Some of my friends have had to rush to move things to the top floor of their shophouses.

The worse flood Mentakab has seen since 1971.

Restoran Lean Kee, my favourite hokkien mee/wo tan hor shop, is also flooded :-( (see last photo above, next to the Panasonic shop)

God's handiwork

"Measure not life by the breath we take but by the moments that take our breath away when we behold the glory of God's handiwork." ~Nic Ng~

From Kiwi Land

Kia ora from NZ! Thank God, work's going well here. But all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

So Jack went bungy jumping last weekend:

Jack seriously, really, absolutely enjoyed it. Seriously, really, absolutely thrilling.

New Zealand

I'll be in New Zealand for three weeks: business trip. Flying off tonight. Kia Ora!!! :)

...

Climate Change Forum

Last Tuesday, I attended a public forum on "Climate Change: reducing threats and enhancing opportunities" organised by the British High Commission.

Discussions revolved around the Stern Review, however the focus quickly diverted to other matters, especially deforestation and ongoing efforts to ensure sustainable and responsible deforestation and development. One of the ways used to do that was to provide monetary incentives for countries that replant forests. I don't exactly know what governs this (anybody who does, please tell me) although along the way, emissions trading was brought up. That's where I got all messed up. I couldn't see the link, since emissions trading is a mechanism of trading credits for carbon emissions rather than providing incentives for replanting forests.

Anyway, amidst all this discussion, I couldn't help but draw a parallel. Let's say you want a child to do well in his/her studies. One way to do it is to offer him rewards for doing well in his studies. The problem with this approach is it instills a wrong motive for studying. Another way is to actually educate the child as to why he/she needs to do well in studies. That would have a more long-term impact.

So at the back of my mind, I was thinking, wouldn't providing monetary incentives to replant trees be something very short-term? Yes, I understand the reality that money is a strong motivator and that there's an urgency to reduce deforestation, but doesn't education and awareness have a place, especially since it can have long-term benefits even for generations to come?

Other concerns that were brought up during the forum by the floor included:

(1) Reforestation doesn't provide the biodiversity that originally existed, i.e. we plant only a few kinds of trees within xxx hectares of land, whereas originally xxx hectares of land had an abundant variety of plant species. (See? We humans try to play god but we'll never get it right...God is the only God, one and only sovereign Creator)

(2) Why there were only monetary incentives for reforestation, and not for maintenance of existing forests.

(3) Why such efforts were not also extended to coral reefs as well. When Julian Hyde of Reef Check brought this up, I was like "amen!". Not so much to the incentives part, but to the fact that a lot of times, coral reefs are overlooked for whatever reasons. I know, I know, I'm biased because I'm a sea lover cum scuba diver, but coral reefs and marine life have an integral role in the environment and cannot be overlooked!

Speaking of maintenance of existing forests vis-a-vis reforestation, Malaysia is one of the countries pushing for incentives. A member of the floor asked a very good question: what would Malaysia's stand be if we didn't get such incentives for preserving our forests?

The panel member from the Ministry of Natural Resource & Environment replied that no matter what happens, the fight to preserve forests will continue, because money is not the motivator for it. Forests are a national heritage to be preserved. (agreed...love forests...but again, what about coral reefs??!! Malaysia has such a rich abundance of them, even the legendary Jacque Cousteau was mesmerised by Sipadan) He acknowledged that it's not going to be easy, because at the root of it, it's up to individual Malaysians to be responsible. Ministry efforts want to center more on education and awareness so as to reach out to individual Malaysians on the importance and value of preserving our environment.

The forum ended on that note, and I'm glad that it ended that way. He got an applause for his commitment, and I pray that it will come to fruition. We humans were commissioned by God to rule over the earth (Genesis 1:28). Let's do it responsibly.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverence the race marked out for us." (Hebrews 12:1, NIV Bible)

I was at Port Dickson last Saturday, and one could not ask for better weather conditions. The sun was shining, the breeze was blowing, and I had a very good run at the beach that evening. After the run, some of us hung around at the beach to witness one of the greatest shows on earth: the sunset :-) It was beautiful. Praise our Creator God.

One thing I've noticed about sunsets is this: it doesn't just end with the sun going down over the horizon. After the sun goes down, it continues to leave a trail of sunrays that light up an amazingly coloured sky behind it. What a symphony of mesmerising colours.

In the morning of that same day, I attended a funeral in Melaka. It was heart-warming to listen to the eulogies, and how much impact this person that went to be with God had on the people around her. And this impact will continue to live on even though she's no longer here.

I'm reminded of that as I beheld the sunset that evening. Just like the sun that leaves a trail of colour even after it sets, likewise, when we leave this life for the next, we will leave behind a legacy that will live on. The question is, whether we will leave behind a positive legacy that contributes or a negative legacy that detracts.

Yes, to live life like the sun. While it runs its course, it gives light, provides and blesses the earth. As it finishes it's course and sets over the horizon, it leaves behind a legacy that lights up the sky and earth with colour.

Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,

Let us run the race not only for the prize,

But as those who've gone before us,

Let us leave to those behind us,

The heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives...

After all our hopes & dreams have come & gone,

And our children sift through all we've left behind,

May the clues that they discover & the memories they uncover,

Become the light that leads them to the road we each must find...

(Find Us Faithful - Steve Green)

Yesterday I attended a public forum on climate change. I'll blog about that soon.

the call

I just got an interesting phone call this morning. No number appeared on my mobile phone, and when I picked up it was a chinese lady...as in, chinese lady from China. The whole conversation was in Mandarin:

China gal: Do you speak Mandarin?

Me (suspicious as always at mystery calls): Yes. Who is this?

China gal: This is ***(I can't remember her name)***. Can I know what your phone model is?

Me (suspicion grows): Why do you want to know?

China gal: I just want to know, and to see whether you are happy using your current model.

Me: For what purpose?

China gal: We want to invite you and your friends to a special function.

Me (what the huh? Suspicion fully inflated): You know what, I'm not interested. Thank you. Bye.

China gal: What's your name?

Me (???!!!): Ok thank you, bye!

*click*

Another one of those scams? Perhaps. Be wary of the mysterious China gal call!

bliss

Recently, I've been reminded of something that gives a great feeling of relief.

Removing a plaster from a wound.

You've been out the whole day, and you've had the plaster on the whole time. You get back home at night. You remove the plaster...and as you do so, the wound is slowly exposed to the open...the cool air sweeps by it...the wound feels like it stretches out in syok abandonment...ahhhh, a feeling of freedom....

What bliss....

Dateline: Tioman Island, October 2007

I'm back from a 3-day dive trip to Tioman!

On the day that we took the ferry over to Tioman, there was another ferry which caught fire and sank (ours was a different ferry service departing from a different port). Apparently, they were operating without a license and there weren't enough life jackets onboard for everybody. 4 deaths and 3 missing, one of whose body has just been found yesterday.

As much as we are thankful for our safe journey, we're very saddened by this tragic incident. The sadder thing is, the deaths could really have been avoided. I've much on my heart and mind about this incident but I'll hold my peace at this present moment. Thank you, those of you who called or sms-ed to check on whether we were ok.

Divers, if you're really into macro stuff, Tioman's the place to go. A good variety of nudibranches can be found especially at Batu Malang. We even saw a Spanish Dancer! :) Beautiful lil' fella. Of the 7 dives we did, I enjoyed Chebeh and Batu Malang the most. These two places were like a huge marine garden teeming with life. It's great to just dive through the "park", swim with the turtles, snappers, trevallys, barracudas...did a few swim-throughs...at Chebeh, there was this part where the rock were beautifully littered with sea fans. The dive at Tiger Reef was also memorable in that it ended pre-maturely :P One of my buddies almost hit decompression limit, so we had to surface (yes, we leave no man behind on the boat) after a half hour's worth of diving. And we surfaced to rain and choppy waters (woo hoo!!!)

On one of the evenings, I went snorkelling with Guatz. I was not wearing fins. So there we were, snorkelling around. I showed Guatz the sea urchins (plenty of them where we snorkelled) and warned her about getting in their way. Almost right after that, I conveniently forgot to check behind me and I fumbled into a few of them. So them urchins stung me nice and good on my feet. One of them gave me a pretty nasty gash, for which the doc had to give me a tetanus jab just in case. (I only saw the doc after I came back to KL...I was still diving after tap dancing on the sea urchins :P )

Walking with a slight limp, this man is very, very happy with his dive trip to Tioman. Sorry I don't have undersea photos to show because I don't have underwater photography equipment...yet :) In time, God willing. In the meantime, I'm quietly grateful to the Almighty Creator for being able to enjoy His colourful underwater handiwork and star-filled nights on the island, which I rate as the greatest shows on earth that I've been able to have the privilege to enjoy, next to shooting stars, mountain-top views, sunrises and sunsets.

Sea urchin (photo by Jeff Tham)

Hmmm...

I'm diving Tioman this weekend with two of my dive buddies, Jeff and Alex. The group going to Tioman consists of 3 of us divers as well as our loved ones. Here's the make-up:

Jeff the diver, and his non-diving wife & kids.

Alex the diver, and his non-diving wife.

Colin the diver, and his non-diving girlfriend.

Note the progression? :P

Mindless blogging on Friday, 12 October 2007...last day of the work week, eve of a long Raya weekend. :PP

Rugby World Cup semis being played this weekend while I'm 80 feet underwater...anybody can sms me the results? :PPP

Salam Aidilfitri

Hari Raya's just around the corner. I sent out an email to all my Muslim colleagues to wish them and I did that by composing a simple pantun for them. Boy, it sure started a whole barrage of pantun emails. After I shot out mine, one-by-one my colleagues just started replying in pantuns, and it went on and on for quite a while :-)

Here's what I sent out to them in the first instance:

Kalau berpeluang pergi ke Kelantan,
Singgahlah sebentar di Kubang Kerian,
Sepatah dua ingin Colin ucapkan,
Sepantun dua ku sampaikan untuk kalian.

Ke sana ke sini merentasi benua,
Kalau sudi bercutilah di Tasik Bera,
SELAMAT HARI RAYA diucapkan kepada semua,
Semoga anda diberkati sejahtera.

I wish I could post up my colleagues' subsequent pantuns as well, but there are too many of them. From Raya greetings, we proceeded to pantun about Raya cookies, Malaysia's first astronaut, even about nationalism :P

Speaking of which, it's great that we have our first Malaysian in space! Let's pray that Dr SMS will have a good outing and a safe trip. I hope this will be the beginning of a lot of good for this country, instead of just another thing we do to get attention or respect. Space exploration holds potentially unknown benefits for our nation and mankind as a whole if followed-up and worked on properly. For instance, from previous space explorations by NASA in the US, we've had space technology transferred to benefits such as insulating materials, more advanced firefighter suits, shock-absorbing sports shoes, scratch-resistant coatings on eyeglasses & watches, implantable heart pump, etc....the list goes on.

To all my Muslim friends, Selamat Hari Raya, and happy holidays to all! I'm off to Tioman in the meantime... :-)

Ka Ora

Against all odds, it happened: the two great southern hemispheric rugby nations of the world lost to their respective northern hemispheric quarterfinal opponents. The 2007 Rugby World Cup quarterfinal results read:

Australia 10 England 12
New Zealand 18 France 20

Interestingly, both the Wallabies and the All Blacks lost by the same margin.

(digression: if the matches were fixed and the whole world finds out, wouldn't that have some serious repercussions in the sport? And in ALL sports? :P )

I studied in Australia, so naturally I tend to root for the Wallabies. This is a doubly painful loss for the Aussies, given the fact that it was also England who beat them 4 years ago in the World Cup final then. Ouch ouch. Wanted to stay up to watch the delayed telecast late on Saturday night but I was too zoinked that night after a whole day taking parents out and supper with friends.

The mighty All Blacks tamed. Wow. France must have put up a brave fight. In fact, they came back from 13-3 down to win the game. When the All Blacks did their pre-game Haka dance, the French team even deliberately stood just inches in front of the All Blacks to "face up" to them.

And so the All Blacks-slaying France will take on the Wallabies-conquering Lions in the semifinals, while the Springboks face-off with the Pumas.

Such is life: one can never be 100% sure about anything. There's always that element of uncertainty. Some blame bad timing while others blame an "off-form" moment. Some call it fate. Some call it luck.

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." (Proverbs 16:9, NIV Bible)

In honour of the two great rugby nations, I give you...the Haka:

Ka mate, ka mate, ka ora, ka ora,
Ka mate, ka mate, ka ora, ka ora,
Tenei te tangata puhuruhuru,
Nana i tiki mai whakawhiti te ra,
Upane upane, upane kaupane,
Whiti te ra!

Translation:
It is death, it is death, it is life, it is life,
It is death, it is death, it is life, it is life,
This is the hairy man,
Who caused the sun to shine again for me,
Up the ladder, up the ladder, up to the top,
The sun shines!

It's Been A While...

I've left this place dormant for a very long time...in view of ongoing reconciling efforts, this is where i'll be blogging from now on.

Blog...weblog...a log on the web to log my ramblings on everything under the sun and stars...which hopefully will be beneficial in some way to readers...

So what's been happening lately? I've shaved my head :) Some of the responses i've been getting:

1. "Waaahhhhh...you going to Myanmar to support the monks ah?"

2. "I hope this has nothing to do with a change of faith."

3. "Wahhhh...is this the style nowadays ah?"

4. "Is everything ok? Are you ok??"

5. "Wahhh....ya lah, nowadays very hot la."

6. "Yerrrrrr....not nice la."

7. "You have a nice head shape."

8. "This is what I call a close shave!"

9. *blank...wide-mouthed*

And things have been overwhelming...crime rate in Malaysia, questionable judiciary, major discrepencies in handling of public funds which have been going on for so long and brought up time and time again but nothing's done about it, progressing industry/technology-wise but digressing in humanity & morality, brutality against the innocent, poverty & the seemingly insatiable needs everywhere...AC Milan doing badly in the league... :P

Nonetheless, if I may borrow a hymn's verse, "This is my Father's world, o help me never forget, that though the wrong seems oft wrong, God is the ruler yet..." Just offer my 5 loaves & 2 fish worth and let God do His thing. Live upright & godly. And battles need to be fought on our knees.

And I'm diving Tioman next weekend...can hardly wait :)