Another song that is going to be a favorite coming tomorrow...

Hah, I have a feeling another new song is going to enter into Hope Serdang Top 10 Praise and Worship Songs tomorrow. What song is that you might ask? Well... come to church and find out... reveal the song to u guys later... hehehe

Making decisions

Thank you to ikanez for this quote, helps me to in making a big decision in my life recently:

Life is about making choices.

Sometimes when you reach that certain cross-roads

Just pick one and make the best of it.

Because you'll know that at the end of the day

That if you don't jump

You'll be forever wondering what life will be like on the other side.

A touching scene in a kopitiam

I was having my dinner in a coffee shop recently a few days ago when I saw a very touching scene. An old couple, probably about 70 years old both of them was slowly walking to another table nearby mine. Okay, so, what's the big deal you might ask...?

The unique thing is that as both of them was hobbling slowly towards the table, both of their hands was clasped and hold on tightly together - you know, the type of holding that you see that newly fall-in-love type of hold that a couple would have. Both of them was bent over, was walking slowly step by step and despite the difficulties, they were so contented to hold each other hands like a new couple fall in love. Also, the man, being fitter of both of them, quickly rush over to another table to find a seat that has a backrest for his wife to seat. This he did with much difficulty as he himself is not that strong to carry the chair, but he slowly brought it over.

The next thing I saw was equally touching... the old lady was having difficulty bending down and sitting on the chair. The old man quickly rushed over and held her arms and shoulders and gently guided her to sit down and adjusted her seat for her so that she can sit down properly. The last thing I saw that he eagerly took attention of what the old lady wanted to eat and he quickly hobbled off to order food for their dinner.

Looking at the whole scene throughout the whole time almost brought tears to my eyes. I wish people will continue to have love and patient for one another nowadays in times where everyone are so concern with their own things. Looking at that incident also gives me the resolve to love my loved ones until even at my old age and to show an unconditional love that will not be diminished by time or physical, only through death shall do us part.

Father's Day Real Life Touching Story

I was very touched by this very touching and heart-rendering Father's Day story real-life story... appreciate your fathers and all that they have done. Happy Father's Day to you, Dad... You're the best and love you always...

Actual link here , whole article copied and pasted from The Star Today :

Sunday June 15, 2008

Father’s last homecoming

By E.N. LIM

He was a pillar of strength, even when his world crumbled around him. In the end, he got his wish.

PA, you’re home, Pa. You’re back home! Please open your eyes, Pa.” My father had always been a strong man, physically and mentally. Even in the latter years, he was a healthy 60-year-old whose only health problem was high cholesterol.

I admired him for standing strong during his darkest moments when he went through a bitter divorce with my mother after 23 years of marriage. He stood strong when his children turned their backs on him.

Happy Father’s Day, Pa.

He used to tell me: “The society today is very much different. You have to be strong in whatever situation, otherwise people will take advantage of you.”

On March 22 this year, this once strong man finally succumbed to complications following a heart bypass.

The pain of losing him was intensified as I watched him slipping away bit by bit, day by day.

There is so much regret in me. There were so many things that I wanted to make up to him but it is too late now.

I hated him at one point of my life, and lost touch with him for years although we just lived a few kilometres apart.

I remembered vividly the hurtful words that I hurled at him. “I don’t want a father like you! I’ll never step back into this house, ever!” Then I stormed out of the house and, true to my word, did not go back for years.

Then, I became a mother. Parenthood made me question myself. What if my child did to me as I had done to my father, for whatever reason? Would I feel hurt? Would I feel that I was not appreciated?

I know I would feel lonely and empty without my child by my side. That was what I had put my father through.

How long did I want to go on like that? He was getting old. Had I not hurt him enough with my harsh words? Did I now I want to deny him the opportunity to get to know my child, his first grandchild?

My father admitted himself into a hospital for a check-up. The diagnosis was not good. But he decided to fight and, for a while, the doctors were optimistic.

But things did not turn out as planned. Like in a row of dominoes, his major organs failed one after another.

Knowing that his chances of recovery were paper thin, we had to lie to him to keep his spirit high.

Deep inside, I hoped and prayed that a miracle could happen.

I was moved to tears every time I visited him. There was my father, a man who had always been so strong but was now confined to the bed with hands and legs in straps.

He could not talk for his mouth was blocked by the bulky ventilator that had kept him breathing ever since he was wheeled out of the operating theatre.

The sight of him was heart wrenching because I had never seen the weaker side of him. He was so helpless.

All my life, I had never seen my father cry. He used to say, “It’s useless to cry, what good can you get out of it?” So I never saw him shed a tear, not even during the darkest moments in his life.

But that day, I finally did. It was his 34th day in the hospital. His condition was still critical but stable.

He saw me and eagerly waved at me. He spoke but I could not hear his voice.

“Pa, talk slowly. I’ll try to read your lips,” I told him.

He took heed and slowed down, moving his lips.

“You want to go home?”

He nodded excitedly.

“But, Pa, you can’t go home yet. We’ll go home when you are okay.”

He stared at me, the disappointment obvious on his face.

Suddenly he raised his right hand and slowly bent his forefinger up and down. I was taken aback by his gesture – the traditional sign for death.

“Pa, please don’t do that. You’re not going to die. You’ll walk out of this hospital!”

I insisted although, at heart, I was not convinced he would really pull through.

He began to frown and then I saw the unbelievable thing – I saw tears rolled down his cheeks.

I could not sleep that night. My father was like a defeated soldier who had lost his hope and dignity. He seemed to be giving up. It was a stark contrast from two weeks ago when he gave me a thumbs-up sign.

Perhaps he sensed that he was dying. It was his wish to die at home.

But I could not bring myself to make the decision. To bring him home was akin to taking his life.

On the 36th day, I received a phone call from the hospital. “Please come now. Your father’s condition is not so good,” the voice said.

As I drove there, my tears began streaming down. I kept praying to God to spare my father’s life. I rushed to the ward where my father was being cared for.

He looked very different. His eyes were wide open but motionless. My other relatives were already there.

“Pa, I am here. Look at me, I am here.” I could not contain my sadness anymore and burst into tears.

But my father did not respond. I went to a corner and cried my heart out.

Then, after regaining my composure, I walked to his bedside and, while stroking his forehead, whispered: “Pa, I’ll take you home now. Please look at me, Pa. I know you miss home, we will go home now.”

Then I saw a little miracle. His eyes, which had been motionless for so long, began to move. Then they stopped. I knew it was time to fulfil his last wish.

The siren of the ambulance could be heard from a distance. As it became louder, my heart raced faster.

Finally, it pulled up the driveway. My father, still clad in the hospital gown, was lowered down from the ambulance. His eyes were closed and he very pale and barely conscious.

I steeled myself not to cry. As he was wheeled into the house, I knew he must be happy to be home, at last.

I went near him and whispered: “ Pa, you’re home. You’re back home! Please open your eyes, Pa.”

With those words, tears rolled down from the corner of his eyes and he was gone forever.

Pa, I am sorry I hurt you, please forgive me for all the pain that I inflicted upon you. My apology came too late.

Rest in peace, Pa, and Happy Father’s Day.

Rally to protest fuel hike - waste more fuel?

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/6/13/nation/20080613131554&sec=nation

There's a protest by a group of people against the fuel hike. I support the freedom to have the protest but the way the do it should be more organized and doesn't cause inconvenience to others.

If the reports are true, protesting fuel hike by sitting in the middle of a very busy intersection at a very busy part of the city at a very busy time of the day will cause massive inconvenience and traffic jams. The funny things is that it will cause many people trapped in their vehicles - stuck in the gridlock and burning even more unnecessary fuel... causing a lot of people wasting their money stuck in an unnecessary jam... how funny it is...

They should take their protest to open places like an open field or open air places away from traffic areas because every time that happens on the roads, it cause much inconvenience to a lot of other people nearby...

Anways, time to get back to my saving program to buy a motorcycle... hehehe

A touching story - Rose Story

The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn't already know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder.

I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being. She said, 'Hi handsome. My name is Rose.

I'm eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?'

I laughed and enthusiastically responded, 'Of course you may!' and she gave me a giant squeeze.

'Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?' I asked.

She jokingly replied, 'I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids...'

'No seriously,' I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.

'I always dreamed of having ! a college education and now I'm getting one!' she told me.

After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milkshake.

We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this 'time machine' as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.

Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went.

She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up.

At the end ! of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football
banquet.

I'll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three by five cards on the floor.

Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, 'I'm sorry I'm so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I'll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know.'

As we laughed she cleared her throat and began, 'We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing.

There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor every day. You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die.

We have so many people walking around who are dead and don't even know it!

There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up.

If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't
do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am
eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight.

Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change. Have no regrets.

The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.'

She concluded her speech by courageously singing 'The Rose.'

She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives.

At the year's end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago.

One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeralin tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it's never too late to be all you can possibly be.

These words have been passed along in loving memory of ROSE.

REMEMBER, GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL.
We make a Living by what we get, We make a Life by what we give.

God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage. If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.

'Good friends are like stars.........You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.'

"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him." ( 1Jn 4:16 )

Don't take shortcut with the cross - don't cut short your cross

Take up you cross and follow me ... no shortcuts... don't cut short you cross...

A little testimony about a little more oil

Since we are talking about the issue of oil (isn't everybody?), I would like to share a testimony. Remember last Wednesday where many of us joined the queue like crazy to pump petrol. I was able to pump my petrol full tank that night without hassle and was worried like many others how to cope with the increase in oil prices.

Anyway, I did pray and asked God to increase my car oil so I won't have to refill regularly. Usually the longest my car can sustain in the my normal daily activities (work, travel, church, ministry, etc.) was maximum 4 days. But until today - I can testify that God has been good and He made my car sustain the same amount of activities with the same amount of fuel BUT SO MUCH longer.

Today is already the sixth day and my car's petrol level haven't even reach the last10% yet... so praise God that He can multiply your petrol in your time of needs... hahaha... so, everyone start praying and maybe God will bless you in many ways that you will not know... God bless.

The other side oil price increase

Not to say our government did all the right things in handling this crisis - still can save money in so many other areas... but need to look at this issue of oil price in perspective.

Most people when say oil price increase for Malaysia as an oil producing country shouldn't be expensive and based much of their argument on this chart:



But another aspect to look at this issue is this , quote:

"
We still can't compare Malaysia with those oil producing countries. Even though we are one of the oil producing countries but take a look at this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chart_of_exports_and_production_of_oil_by_nation

The rate of net exports and production of Saudi Arabia are 9.0 and 10.9 respectively. And Malaysia? It is only 0.3 and 0.8 respectively. You can see how big the differences are.

Yes, we know that Malaysia is one of the oil producing countries but we produce very little amount of oil compared to those countries on your table such as UAE, Egypt, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iran etc.

So in the end, our petrol price is still the cheapest among the world.
[ Last edited by pingshien at 6-6-2008 04:27 PM ]

"

Anyway prices of oil has gone up more than 400% while our current oil price gone up about 40%.

So what are we to do - change our lifestyle will be the best thing to do.

Our church is just opposite the Serdang Komuter station - why not take komuter or bus there? Yeah i know... our public transport is still super bad and all that stuff but a little bit of hardship is perhaps what we all need to wake up from our comfort zone.

Gone were the days where people would take change 3 or 4 modes of public transport to go to church - nowadays sometimes if got no people fetch to church, don't want to go. The funny things is - many people can take public transport and effort to go to far far places like Sunway Pyramid, One-U, Midvalley for shopping, lepaking-ing, jalan-ning but to take a little more effort to go somewhere nearer like... errr ... Serdang seems so difficult? Try to do the maths yourself....

Ok, enough about that - can all of us come up with good ways to save money while going through this economic crisis?

1. Car pool - share the cost with all the passengers to chip in. Remember, those who tumpang car should share travel cost with driver.
   
   
2. Cut down smoking - i read a report few days ago someone spent almost RM200 per month on cigarettes. looks like an encouragement to quit the bad habit.
   
   
3. Cut down on food - enocurage us to fast and pray more eh? hehehe...
   
   
4. Live simpler lifestyle - don't always upgrade to the latest handphones, computers or gadgets, etc. Use what you have.
   
   
5. etc...

You guys continue lah...

Adapting with the price of everything increasing

Haih... it's been a few days since the price of petrol increased to RM2.70 and it affected everyone from the people in the streets until my colleagues in the office. It has been a hot topic for a few of us to discuss during office hours and whatever the conclusion may be, the increase in everything can't be avoided.

Looks like the all of us have to adapt and change our lifestyles to save money... was thinking to buy back another motorcycle to save petrol. I missed my days where I used to ride around on my bike and zooming here and there. Well, not rempit-ing but just travelled around in KL on my trusty old EX5. In fact, that's how I discovered most of the roads in KL, Cheras, Shah Alam and PJ - on my motor.

Well, now to come a list of things that I can save some more...

Buckle up your seat belts - back passengers...

Full Report HERE

Just only found out that all back passengers have to start wearing back seat belts already starting yesterday. There will be 3 months grace period before operations start to tangkap those not wearing... so, everybody start practicing to wear now...