Keong ah keong

1: Ahhh, keong keong keong
2: Ha, keong keong keong

These are the familiar greetings heard over the past few days at the market, stores, roadsides, hawker stalls and virtually everywhere that you see the ah peks, ah mems, uncles and aunties.

Yes, it's that time of the year again when everyone will just "keong" each other, and some with an exchange of the red coloured packets. And yes, this is the typical chinese new year greetings that people exchange in Penang.

And with the very plain hokkien tones that people in this island speak, what you hear are flat-pitch-monotone sing-song of the yesteryears. May just send one to sleep easily.

Nasi Lemak Antarabangsa

While surfing the food-sphere in the many food related blogs, I came across this name which I thought was very appealing and which then got me jotting down the particulars and googling it for the location map.

After church Sunday, I got my family to check it out. It turned out to be an utter disappointment, overall. The place was easy to find, somewhere in Sunway Damansara, just next to the new Gizo Sunway mall. The outlet looks impressive from the outside. But the food, the typical one across the menu being nasi lemak, was so-so le. I tried the mee rebus and it turned out to be a bowl of completely soggy noodles with some funny looking and tasting gravy. The ingredients too were far from that of a typical mee rebus serving.

Overall, it was a disappointment. Conclusion - have to drop this out from my fud-list.

The short-circuited sanity of an old man

The old man is close to 90 (or is he past 90?) and each time he speaks (unfortunately he still speaks!), people tremble and everyone just had to hold on to whatever (chairs, polls, or whatever) until he finishes his sentence. Why? It's the substance (or absence of it) and the sanity (or the absence of it) of the matter that he speaks about that throws people off (balance).

Yesterday, he suggested that 9/11 was staged by some parties as an excuse to mount attacks against the muslim (world). What a statement! What a conspiracy theory! But theory aside, where did that old man derive this idea to speak in this manner and so openly/daringly? (watching a 3-hour video he said, what????!!!) And that aside too, why does he bother to speak up on this subject now that he's just an ordinary citizen? And Avatar-9/11 - what????

What an embarassment to the nation and to the power-at-large that is not able to moderate his voices.

I wished that he could just keep quiet (forever). I am embarassed.

Ya Elohim

Lord, forgive me for this but I am very very clear on this one thing. And that is, Lord, you are the most important part of my life. You did what You had to do on the cross and that remained a fact. Your name remained glorified. Your existence in my life remained. You are a living God. Whether I am to now call you as Abba Father, My Lord, God, Elohim or whatever other names, instead of the banned word, nothing has and will change my focus on the cross in my daily life. This I am very clear.

I am also clear that though it is not important for me on how I call You, IT IS for my brothers and sisters in East Malaysia. For they have known you by that particular name for years. So Lord, help me to withstand all forms of persecution that may come about as a result of me standing up for the brethens that worship you in Bahasa.

You are sovereign, my Lord, in this land, across the nation, nations, the world over, in heavens and under the earth. Amen.

People with no heads

I am utterly amused and lost for words too reading so often in the printed media that this VIP and that VIP, so and so VIP, expressed shock over this incident and that incident. And this VIP and that VIP advises people to do this and to do that or not to do this or not to do that. COME ON. Why do we need all these VIPs to think for us. As if we have no heads, no brains, no minds, no freewill, no senses. We don't need people to think for us when certain accidents or incidents have happened and needing corrective actions to be taken. We don't need people to highlight to us that it is dangerous to do this or that and to advise what needs to be done instead.

It is funny, it is utterly funny. It is also sounds so childish. Embarassing, period.

Onederful country

After the "mana cina ada" quarrels and ding-dongs, more cerita and wayang kulit were featured over the last few weeks of 2009 and first few days of the new year. Latest one - people are fighting over the use of certain word in a certain language. Never mind that the court has decided but the loud voices of people could drive events even further.

A marvellous country this is, full of endless ceritas and wayangs.

Who cares Mana Cina Ada???

The country's so called association that is supposedly representing the chinese community is facing its worst crisis of the century. The people that behind all the crisis speak to the entire world as if they are indeed the leaders of this major community of the county. They speak as if the chinese community is all behind them. The speak as they are indeed representing the entire chinese community.

What these "chinese leaders" failed to realise is that the majority and I really meant the MAJORITY of the chinese community, don't even care less that this association exist or goes to the dump. What these leaders failed to realise is that the association has taken its existence in this country so much for granted. Just take the number of its members and compare that with the chinese population in the country.

This chinese association just have to take a poll from the entire chinese community to gauge its relevance in this nation. I wonder what is that that blinds the eyes of all these groups of people that are fighting everyday about their political lives, not knowing that the chinese themselves are laughing at them.

Mana Cina Ada - all you leaders, party members and the association itself are a total embarassment to the chinese people in this country and to the country in general. The chinese people have existed and survived in this country for so many years and we will continue to exist without the association. The chinese people dont need them. It is better if their efforts, time and money are channeled elsewhere to better help themselves or other deserving individuals.

The naung challenge

Exactly 15 months after the MtK climb, I am taking on another challenge, this time of a hill in Klang Valley. Bukit Naung as it is called and with a group of people from the MtK climb as well as my church. Not sure how the terrain is but reading from blog, it may take the entire day to go up and down again. Well, no pain, no gain. Will just have to go through it and see myself.

Hard and long wait

The political situation in this country is like acid in a glass of alkaline solution. They mixed and become neutral.

No, I was referring to my feelings of the going ons in politics of this nation. I feel numb. Very. Period.

Heavenly Father's watching

People really hate that man thissssssssssssssss much. People ostracise him, people criticise him, people just want to rid of him. Me? I dont want to be part of all these bandwagon, cos I am no god and dont want to be part of this sinning. All I know is that He is watching.

Dry season

It's dry, hazy and lazy. I was referring to myself. I have been plain lazy and tired to write nowadays. Just plain lazy. Will see.

Mickey mouse play house

A big bunch of mickeys played in their play house yesterday, in what people said was the most happening political event. All the stories of jostling, pushing, screaming, chanting and what have yous. Poor poor Malaysia. I am embarassed.

The fault lines never end

Humans are not any divine creatures. So, however pure or immortal they are, people are bound to have weaknesses in them, one way or another. Problem is, humans dont recognise this and consider themselves above all. Above their gods. Or people are always having this denial syndrome, always.

Amidst all the promising changes that have been announced, I wonder why there are so many criticisms made and among those who criticised are the oppositions. These people never seemed to be able to stop talking or criticising. They never stop. They are not happy with any single thing. I actually feel sorry for them though at one time last year, they seemed to be the ones that we had to rely on to redeem this country from the mess. But now, no more. Pitiful lot.

Grace of God

Yesterday, something not good happened, something which is really world crushing by my standard. But by the grace of the Creator God, I was able to handle and accept the reality of it with relative ease. It is amazing how the Amazing Grace works. Praise the Lord.

Believe him?

The PM's actions since assuming power are reflective of my hopes for a better country. His past actions are not for me to judge or for that matter for anyone to judge. It's HIS alone.

I want to believe him. I want to believe him. My hope.

Earth Day 2009

After Earth Hour, it's Earth Day on 22 April. A day to wake up again to the realities of a dying mother earth and to do our sincere and diligent part in preserving her lifespan and ours.

I will do my part.

http://www.earthday.net/earthday2009
http://www.earthday.net/

Glimmer of hope?

It's Good Friday today, 10 April and on this day, I want to believe that there is a glimmer of hope for this nation that I live in. From the events of the past few days, I want to believe that God is moving in this land to change the course of events and directions. Will just to now wait out and see the changes that are coming through and in the meantime, continue to undergird these with prayers.

Thank you Lord Jesus for your blood and flesh and for the sufferings that you took upon youself on that cross, all because of the redemptive purpose for mankind. Amen.

Baihai

Baihai - no, it's not a foreign language. It means, bye and hi!

Today marks the start of the process of one leader saying goodbye and another succeding the nation's top most position of power and saying hi to people.

Referring to the one saying hi, I am really fed up with the many attacks on him from all angles. Fed up to the hilt. Not that I favour him. It's just that I don't think it is our right to condemn him as if we are God and have seen all that happened with our own eyes and seen through the words and evidences of the subject matter of what he was accused of, that were brought forward by so many parties. And as if we were able to sieve through and verify everything before us. Are we God? What if we are wrong? What if? Why are we so righteous to be able to see through all these and agree that he is the one? Why? My stand is that we should just, in our prayer to the One Almighty God, for truth to surface and justice to prevail. Let God's will be done, just as in Heaven. Simple as that.

Chia-lat man,,,,live and die in jail

Madoff pleads guilty, faces 115 years in jail for US$64.8b fraud

Wah lau eh,,,even if God extends his term on earth, not sure if he will be able to live through to complete his jail term. But 115 years only for this man? He would have passed on lots to his relatives to survive many generations to come. 511 years may be more like it.

Happy retirement mr madoff. Cheers

Mr MAD-off's new Manhattan home

NEW YORK, March 13 - Bernard Madoff's new Manhattan home is the size of a walk-in closet, with cinderblock walls, linoleum floors and a bunk bed. Breakfast will be served before sunrise, and the disgraced financier can stretch his legs outside, but only every other day - in a cage. The Metropolitan Correctional Centre, which has housed accused terrorists and reputed mobsters, welcomed the 70-year-old Madoff yesterday after he pleaded guilty in one of Wall Street's biggest investment swindles and a judge revoked his bail. The federal jail in lower Manhattan stands between a courthouse and a church and holds inmates awaiting trial or serving short sentences. Currently, about 750 men and women are behind bars there. Since his arrest in December, Madoff has been confined to his US$7 million (RM25.2 million) penthouse apartment. When inmates first arrive at the jail, they are given physical and psychological exams and instructed on the rules. If cleared to enter the general population, they are issued a baggy brown uniform and assigned to cells measuring 7 ½-by-8 feet, each fitted with a sink and toilet.

Many inmates must share their cells with another prisoner, but it was not immediately clear Thursday whether Madoff would have a cellmate. There's a strict schedule: Lights on at 6 a.m., breakfast at 6:30 a.m., lunch at 11 a.m., dinner at 5 p.m., lights out at 11 p.m. During the day, inmates can watch television, play ping pong, work on their cases in a legal library or volunteer for janitorial duty. On alternate days, they are allowed up on the caged roof, where from courthouse windows they can be seen playing basketball. For court dates, they are shackled and escorted by deputy marshals through an underground tunnel.
The facility alots three hours a week for visits by family or lawyers. Inmates can also spend up to 300 minutes per month making phone calls, which can be monitored. Those who misbehave or present a risk of violence are thrown into a separate unit where they spend nearly all day locked in their cells and must endure strip searches and constant monitoring by cameras. Authorities tightened security in the unit after a guard was seriously injured in 2000 by a terrorist convicted in the 1998 embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. Notable inmates have included blind sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, who was sentenced to life in prison for plotting to blow up five New York landmarks and assassinate Egypt's president, and John "Junior" Gotti, the Gambino crime family scion now jailed in Brooklyn on murder charges. Current inmates include former Florida hedge fund manager Arthur Nadel, who is accused of bilking investors out of up to US$350 million. - AP


Wahh,,mr. madoff -- not bad ehhh? Got a new home some more?? You know ah,,, millions and millions of people out there somewhere live in the streets, no shelter no nothing. Consider yourself very lucky. Retire happily in your cell ya.