NECF visit

Last Friday night, staffs of the NECF came to Keningau and had a little session with the local churches. A night service was held in SIB Kg Ria. Speaker was Rev Wong Kim Kong, the NECF Sec Gen. The team was given a traditional welcome, which included bamboo dances and sumpit ballon session.

Thought he would be talking on updates in Christianity in Malaysia. But no la, he only touched on 3 main topics.

Firstly, he stressed that the spiritual warfare now is on the thoughts of mankind. People these days are having a blunted mind, and have lost the sensitivity to differentiate right from wrong. How else would you explain people who could crash a plane into sky-scrappers and killing thousands in the USA, without feeling the slightest guilt, dead sure that they are pleasing God?

Secondly, the implications of converting to Islam. If one truly believes in the God in Islam, then he has made the choice to his faith, as his right under the Consititution. However, if one converts for the benefits e.g. getting a Muslim spouse, for business or career opportunities, then one better rethink many times again. The implications, Rev Wong said, include (hope I got it right)...
... if a spouse converts and the other spouse doesn't, then the marriage is by law automatically nullified i.e. automatic divorce after 3 months.
... if a spouse converts, the children under age 18 will automatically be Muslims. Rev Wong calls it, the wages of sin is passed on to the generations.
... if a spouse converts to Muslim and dies, his properties will be taken by the Islamic Council, and the non-Muslim family will get nothing. Remember the tussle-over-a-dead-body in Malaysia not too long ago?
... the High Court has decided that it will not intefere with Syariah Court decisions. That means, one is bound by Syariah law and has no recourse from other civil law.
... once you enter, you cannot get out (hmmm sounds like Hotel California lyric).

Thirdly, he came to promote the 40-days Prayer for the Nation. Our nation is in dire need of prayer. From the leaders, to the economy, social welfare, transparency, justice, religious freedom, peace and security... there are so many things to pray about. Instead of complaining about the Prime Minister's incompetency, or the corrupt ministers, or rising crimes, or escalating costs of living... getting all stressed up to no benefit... better put to prayer and move the hand of God.

Cash and car for misionaries

I dunno about you, but really, my jaw almost dropped when I read this...

Kelantan State Assembly: Cash and car among incentives for missionaries

The offer: free housing, monthly allowance of RM 1000, 4WD vehicle.
The deal: marry Orang Asli women and settle down in the village to preach.

Gosh! Since when have wives become a winning lottery ticket to cash and car (or did I missed out something). I wonder whether one can claim for 4 cars (hmm... a Range Rover, Ford Everest, Nissan X-Trail, Toyota Fortuner... wow!) if one gets his quota filled accordingly.

Then again, I am not a believer of the religion, can't comment too much. Just wonder, whose money are they using to do those things. Are tax moneys of Ah Chai and Ramasamy used to sponsor such activities as well? Do they have a say on that?

In Christianity, marriage is a one-time thing that is meant to last to the grave... so you better pray hard and look hard and make good of that one choice you have; rather than thinking of little 'bonuses' like the cash and the car. Of course some people will say: marry a rich girl and save a few years of your labour.

Anyway, it would be nice to drive a 4WD.

40-days Prayer for the Nation... let's do our part.

This weekend

Today I am post-call. Thankfully, the night before has been quiet. However, the ward is packed and overflowed.

Will be going to SIB Kampung Ria tonight. Some representatives from NECF are coming to share some updates on current issues pertaining to Christianity... Mykad, conversion, Da Vinci Code maybe etc. My pastor asked for some company. I am curious too what they want to tell.

Tomorrow morning, will be going to KK with my loupo. It's a 3-hour drive from Tenom to KK. My Vee is due for its 5000 km servicing at 2 pm. If only there's a service center in Keningau, save me the trouble of going so far. Anyway, probably will do some window or real shopping in town. If in time, want to send some photos for developing at the Investline camera shop opposite Center Point plaze. Haven't found a photo shop in Keningau that develops photos to my liking. Only Investline has been giving me pretty consistent and satisfactory results.

At night ah, that will be interesting. So co-incidental that there's something going on in SIB Likas. A group of passionate young people went for a two-week mission trip to India, and they have returned to share their experiences. Powerhouse, the youth group of SIB Likas (English) have organised this India Night event for friends and families to come and listen to the mission trip done in Chennai and Raicur districts. I heard they have lots of uplifting stories and miracles to share, definitely exotic and extra spicy. Participants are encouraged to come in any Indian costume... and... Auntie Liz offered to help get my loupo a saree, and my Indian colleague has lent me a set of guy costume with dhoti and shawl (they're about 20 years old, when her husband was about my body size). So, we will be there, dressed to kill. Hahahaha... Really hope those young fellas did learn to cook some authentic Indian food while they're there, and are sharing the food of their skills tonight too. Check out the SIB Powerhouse link on the right column.

Gotta come back to Keningau, either tomorrow night or early Sunday morning. Would prefer to go home, rather than sleeping in a hotel. Nicer pillows ma. Am given the task to share a message for the Sunday service. Coz this week the pastor decided to sit back and let a member take the pulpit. Hai ya. Cubalah sedaya upaya.

Today I am handing in my application for transfer to Likas Women and Children Hospital, Kota Kinabalu. Have done a pretty long service in interior Sabah already (becoming chronic MO liao), and it's time to move on. Gonna be challenging, the transfer and all the arrangements to do. Actually since university days, I have been moving house (everything can fit into a car) every year. The longest I have stayed is in my current house in Keningau - 2 years. But now, stuffs have grown to more than a car can fit, and 2 people involved liao. Pray for us please.

Looks like a hectic weekend ahead.

An oldie concert

Last Friday, I went for a concert in Keningau Library with my loupo and my neighbours.

The 'star' that night was Miss Pan XiuQiong, a well known singer from the 1960's and 1970's. Her rich and melodious voice brought her much fame and earned her the title 'Queen of Alto'. Her name is among the Hall of Fame in Mandarin oldies, alongside with Zhou Xuan (the Golden Voice of Old Shanghai), Yao Li (the Singer of the Era), Li Xiang Lan (the Queen of Soprano), Wu Ying Yin (the Queen of Nasal Singing). To people who lived that era, she is definitely no stranger. Well, err... I was born around that era, u know. My sister said "so 'uncle' kind of concert you also go ah?".

Actually, I love oldies. Maybe becos, I am an oldie. Hahaha. Seriously, songs back then were more solid and many remain as evergreens. In those days, television was rare, and people only had the radio, or the big black disc (what they call it hah) for their listening pleasure. So, singers really need to have a great voice and great songs to earn their worth. Much unlike these days, people can use their good looks, dancing skills, a bit of charisma, or X-factor of some sort to compensate for their lousy voices. Don't believe me? Look at the AF winner last season.

Back to Pan XiuQiong. She is an elegant old lady now, despite the wrinkles and grey hair. Her smile, her warmth and sincerity quickly had the audience yearning for more. I think such grace made her looked much more beautiful than the heavily touched-up photos on her album covers. She told us she was born in Macau, had her education in Malaysia, then found her fame in HongKong and Taiwan. Now she lives in Singapore, and is actively involved with charity works and singing gospel songs. Many did not know, she had a long battle with brain cancer, and had undergone craniotomy (buka kepala punya operation) and the whole package of cancer treatment. After the ordeal, she picked up the shattered pieces of her life, this time emerging a stronger person than before. Having stared death right in the face, she found hope in the Christian faith. She has been actively participating in charities involving cancer patients, cheering them on and entertaining them with her songs; and also sharing the Christian faith with her gift - her voice.

Miss Pan brought us a couple of favourite oldies, much to the delight of many senior citizens present. She shared her life story, and gave words of encouragement to the crowd. Then she sang a few more Christian hymms and songs. Towards the end, she obliged a fan by singing a request song, without music. She told us, can you believe it: this sixty- something lady is doing a tour of ten such concerts in various places!

I think, most people at this age, are no longer impressed by the tempt of money and wealth. Especially so when one has battled with deadly illness and understood the fragility of life, and learn to appreciate the truely worthwhile things in life. Not money, not wealth, not fame. Miss Pan has found her calling in encouraging other cancer patients, helping needy people, singing gospel songs, and giving thanks for every living day. True joy, she discovered, comes not in getting things we want, but in giving ourselves to people who need. Pity, many people go through life and pursuing the rat race, never realising the purpose of life even to their death bed.

To me, it seems, she has found the great enlightenment.

I am telling you the truth: a grain of wheat remains no more than a single grain unless it is dropped into the ground and dies. If it does die, then it produces many grains. Those who love their own life will lose it; those who hate their own life in this world will keep it for life eternal.

John 12:24,25

My blog is back, I am back

If you have tried visiting this blog sometime last week, I believe the URL opened to a blank page. Emailed to the admin staffs in Blogger about this problem, and am glad that they solved it. Mike'Station is now back online.

I was away over the last weekend.

Flew over to Tawau on Friday 5th June with my loupo and her dad. Irene's brother, Ian who is working as an Assistant Oilpalm Estate Manager near Semporna, will be transferred to Tawau soon. A company vehicle will be provided. So he wanted to send his car back to Tenom for the parents to use... and we wanted to go somewhere for a short holiday. So that's how the trip came about.

Landed in Tawau airport after 45-minute flight. The airport wasn't actually in Tawau, but about half an hour away. Ian received us there. We did some brief shopping for stuffs, then went to his estate, which is 90 km away from Tawau, and 40 km before Semporna.

Ian, a bachelor, was occupying a huge wooden stilt-house provided by the company. His place is about a kilometer away from the main road, reached via a stretch of gravel estate tracks. Atop a little hill overseeing the oil palm estate, the house had pretty nice and peaceful surroundings. We bought stuffs enough for a week, coz the nearest place for supplies is half an hour away. Ah, spent the rest of the day watching preliminary World Cup matches.


Woke up the next morning to chirping birds and chuckling hens. It was drizzling. Took my camera to spot interesting subjects from the verandah. They watched football while waiting for the rain to stop. It didn't. After lunch, we drove to Semporna to check out the little town. Semporna is where tourist come to head for the diving sites in Mabul, Kapalai and Sipadan; and where Philippine immigrants and Abu Sayyaf members enter to visit Malaysia. Found the little town dirty and disorganised, and the roads muddy after it rained all day. Had some drinks at a nice restaurant on the jetty, bought some seafood, and went back. In the evening, we went for jogging and motobike ride around the estate. Had seafood tom-yum-goong for dinner. Football, again, at night. I occupied myself with another book by Dan Brown entitled Deception Point. Pretty interesting read.

On Monday morning, we left early to Tawau. Ian sent his car to Proton for its regular maintenance service. Loupo and I walked around Tawau town. I revisited the Belmont Marco Polo Hotel, one of the more posh hotels in Tawau. Stayed there in 1993 during my first trip to Sabah, when I was still a fresh Form Four student. I was an exchange student then, and my foster family had brought me on a trans-Sabah trip during the brief two-week exchange programme, and we stayed in this hotel. The grand wood-carving of Marco Polo having tea with Kublai Khan (I think) is still there at the reception, leaving an impression to all who pass it doors. Ah, enjoyed that moment of nostalgia. Never thought back then, that a decade later I will be back to serve in Sabah, and getting stuck for a couple more years. By noon it got horribly hot. We had a quick lunch and left Tawau.

We left Ian's place on Tuesday morning. Had a long long looooong drive that day... a journey across Sabah. From Ian's place we went to Kunak then Lahad Datu, the road was pretty fine, with vast oilpalm estates all the way. From Lahad Datu to Ranau, the drive was nightmare: lots of potholes, bumpy stretches, winding roads... a sedan car won't survive long. Reached Ranau around 2.30 pm for lunch. Had a stopover in Kundasang Perkasa Hotel (were we took wedding photos last time) for some cool breeze and fresh air before descending down to Kota Kinabalu. It was dusk when we arrived. Had a simple dinner, found a hotel, and zzzzz...

Spent time around Kota Kinabalu on Wednesday. Walked around the fish market in the morning... wow there was such a wonderful variety of seafood, and those large tiger prawns looked really tempting. Too bad we didn't have an ice box to buy some for home. Had laksa and ngauchap in Gaya Street for breakfast. Watched Da Vinci Code and X-men 3 in a row (hahaha...). Frankly speaking, the DVC book is much better than the movie. The movie is only good to visualise the scenes in the story; other than that, many interesting twists were omitted, the story altered, and Tom Hanks was wood. Drove back to Keningau after dinner.

All in all, it was a pretty nice trip we had.

Da Vinci Code

It has been quite a while since I last read an English novel. As far as I can remember, probably since my younger days with Enid Blyton... Moonface, Famous Five, Hardy Boys and the like.

Towards the end of our Laos trip, I have a whole day of airport transit and time in-flight. So while in ChiangMai, Ah Jun and I went to the Gecko Second-hand Bookstore to grab some books. With Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code gaining so much sensation these days, I decided to read this book for myself and see what the hype is all about.

My loupo told me nowadays SPM English is quite difficult, and students are given assignment to write a synopsis of famous English novels... Robinson Crusoe, Animal Farm, Jungle Book etc. Here's my very brief synopsis of the Code, for those who have yet to read the book.

The theme surrounds two forces which have been in conflict since the days of Christ. On one side, the Church, particularly the Roman Catholic church. On the other, a secret society which goes by the name Priory of Sion, which holds an age-old secret that is so powerful that it could rewrite Christian history and bring the whole Christian church to collapse; the secret is summed up in two words: Holy Grail.

Our hero, Robert Langdon a Harvard professor of symbology, and his heroine FBI agent Sophie Neveu entered the story when the Grand Master of the Priory of Sion, who happened to be Sophie's grandfather, the last person who knew where the Holy Grail lies, was brutally murdered in a renowned art museum in Paris. Before he died, he managed to pass them the secret in a string of codes and riddles, beginning from hidden meanings in Leornado Da Vinci's famous paintings. Unfortunately, an overzealous French FBI agent boss named Fache assumed those guys killed the old man, and went after their heads. And so it began a series of cat and mouse chase, with more riddles along the way as our hero and heroine race against time to discover the truth of the Holy Grail. The plot thickens with assumptions that Christianity was a man-made religion, where Jesus was said to be nothing more than a famous leader, whose divinity was decided upon by a political council; and the Christian faith assembled from various pagan beliefs in that era. It tells of how the Church selected only Gospel books and letters that exaggerated Jesus' divinity, compiled them into the Bible that we have today; while eliminating other records of Jesus' very normal human life. The purpose: to gain political power by establishing a Church which dominates every aspect of this new 'faith'. From then on the world was lead astray into becoming a male-dominated world, and the sacred feminity lost it's original dignity. The truth, or the Holy Grail secret, claims that Jesus actually married Mary Magdelene, and they had children, and their bloodline continued till this day and age. Outrageos? Dan Brown doesn't think so. He splattered across his book lots of evidence from ancient till today that supports the Holy Grail secret, including hidden symbols in Leornado Da Vinci's famous paintings... just that we didn't notice them.

Enough for now, lest I spoil your fun of reading the Code.

What makes the book so popular, I believe, is that the story evolves around something close to the heart of the Western society: the Christian faith. Here we have a book which shouts that this faith is just a man-made propoganda, and Jesus nothing more than a famous leader and family man. Adding to that, the author's revelation of various evidences which made it seems that secret may be true after all.

A passage from the book that I particularly like... " ... history is always written by the winners. When two cultures clash, the loser is obliterated, and the winner writes the history books - books which glorify their own cause and disparage the conquered foe. As Napoleon once said,'What is history, but a fable agreed upon?'. By it's very nature, history is always a one-sided account." Sounds very true, looking at the Buku Sejarah that our students read nowadays.

Thank you for reading my English revision assignment. Sorry for the lousy English.

My that Loas trip

While I am catching up on my rest, my friend (a.k.a. Pastor) Jun has got into action and blogged about the highlights of our brief adventure in Laos / North Thailand. Click on his blog name on the right column and read on.

Haha, so I dun need to cerita already lo. Just show the pictures la.

Comparing the pictures that we've taken, I find that between the two of us, despite being on the same route, eating almost the same food, living in the same room and seeing the same things, our attentions were caught on to pretty different things. And so was our intepretations what we encountered. Jun's photos are mainly on scenery and architecture, while mine include more of the people and their culture (hehe coz I have a bigger SD card). Jun made good photos with his Point-&-Shoot Nikon Coolpix S1 digicam.

The Last Communist

I have been reading with much interest and amusement on what has been going around this recent movie/documentary by a Malaysian. I must say, I am thoroughly sickened by the 3rd-class mentality of some of our so-called leaders and YBs.

If you dunno what I am talking about, follow this link, and the comments that follow: Screenshots: Jolly good governance. Stories like this will probably be buried by the mainstream media and their political masters. The alternative media (free media?) in the Net has many stories that will open your eyes to the other side of the issue. Read with discretion and an open mind though.

Being Chinese I was always advised... if it doesn't concern you, dun bother, close both eyes. Yet I dread to think about where our disappointing leadership is heading our country towards. Will there come a day where I am not even allowed to watch my favourite Stephen Chow comedies because they are banned for containing 'foreign elements unsuitable for local culture'? Impossible? Think again.

I don't intend to dwell too much into the Malaysian political scene. Enough to say that I am so proud of what the enlightened Sarawakians have done with their votes recently.

And no I have not seen the movie/documentary myself. Now that it is banned, err... how lah?

* updated 24th May 2006 : The story just got more amusing. Read here. Now we have top government officials who can't differentiate between single political-party decisions and government decisions. Then again, probably they are synonyms, that one political party = government.

Back from Laos / North Thailand

Our Laos trip has been tiring but pretty wonderful. There were some minor hiccups on the schedules, but THANK GOD things fell into place and worked out well in the end. 'Expect the unexpected' is the backpacker's mantra, especially so when travelling in a poorly developed country like Laos.

In summary...
Sat - flew from KL to Bangkok, took night train Bangkok to ...
Sun - ... arrive in NongKhai. Into Laos. Reached Vientianne, on to VangVieng.
Mon - arrived in Luang Prabang.
Tue - walking in Luang Prabang town.
Wed - morning boat-ride to PakOu caves, afternoon dip in KuangSi waterfalls.
Thu - slowboat to PakBeng.
Fri - slowboat to HueyXai.
Sat - into Thailand via ChiangKong. Overland to ChiangRai then ChiangMai.
Sun - morning flight ChiangMai to Bangkok. Afternoon flight Bangkok to KK. Night drive KK to Tenom to see my loupo.
Mon - back to work. On-call lagi. Need to earn money to finance my next trip.

More stories and pictures up soon, after I've catch up on some rest.

* the pic was taken in Lane Xang street in Vientianne (capital of Laos); the nicest road we saw in Laos.

My that Kad

Read from somewhere that ASTRO now has Interactive Services on it's Channel 800, which can read the information encoded inside the MyKad chip. Tried it, and it works! Wow! Just follow the instructions, slide in the MyKad into Slot 2 of the decoder, and the information will be up on the screen (mine is the newer silver-colour decoder, dunno if it works with the older black-colour ones). Try it.

I was quite disappointed that my "Agama" was stated as "Buddha". I remembered clearly I wrote "Kristian" in the application form.

Am I surprised? Not really. I have read numerous such stories, and concluded that there seems to be a hidden agenda to exaggerate the number of believers of certain religions and down-xaggerate (is there such a word?) the numbers in other religions. Why, you may ask, nothing better to do meh? Well, someone wrote "when it comes to government statistics, the numbers in that particular religion will appear small, so less government allocation will go into development of that religion, and voices from a minority religion will be considered insignificant in MalaysiaBoleh land." True or not, you decide.

So, I went to the Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara branch here. And the brief encounter there revealed even more surprises... (translated into English). Read on.

Me: Excuse me, there is a mistake in my MyKad's information. How can I rectify that?
Staff: What's the mistake?
Me: Religion. Should be Kristian.
Staff: What was in the Kad? Buddha?
Me: Ya (wa you so smart can guess one?!).
Staff: Oh, you need to bring your baptism certificate.
Me: I don't have it with me.
Staff: Ai ya, then we cannot process it.
Me: (getting pissed off) Hello, I read in the minister's press statement last time, baptism certificate is not required. Don't you know that?
Staff: Ya... emm... but we sent some applications without baptism certificate to Putrajaya, but they all had problems and cannot be processed.
Me: Look here, you guys made the mistake of giving me the wrong religion. It is not my fault. Now you are asking me to go through even more hassles? I wrote Kristian in my form. When you guys changed it to Buddha, you never asked me for any certificate or my permission?!
Staff: Emm, actually the office in Putrajaya automatically put any Chinese' religion as Buddha.
Me: (really pissed off now, what a ridiculous answer!) So it's your department's fault. If you can't solve it, I will see your boss. So you're telling me the problem lies with Putrajaya? So, should I complain to Putrajaya directly, or to the minister? Is the minister cheating on his press statement?!
Staff: (not sure how to reply) Emm maybe better you go see our boss. Ai ya but he's away now. Can you come this Thursday instead?
Me: Yes you'll be sure I come to see your boss when I am more free.

So you still think that the MyKad is so great? Maybe, the technology... but the people behind it, the whole bunch of them... what stupid mentality! Read JeffOoi's blog and you'll know that MyKad technology is nothing new, just that the local media gave it exaggerated coverage. Singapore does not allow entry into it's shores using MyKad, coz they don't trust MyKad's security features. And you should see the immigrants here in Sabah proudly flashing their MyKads around (ah, that's another local sensitive issue... some immigrants even have Bumiputera, having more rights on this bumi than me). There was a Bangladeshi doctor I worked with last time, having a MyKad with a birth date showing at least 5 years below his actual age.

So, even if it's for curiosity's sake, stick your Kad into an ASTRO decoder, and see what comes out. You won't want your family members fighting over burial rights of your body in court, if by bad luck you kicked the bucket.

If you get what I mean.