Clear Skies

Can't remember when was the last time I see clear skylines out of my balcony. So, I couldn't resist capturing these shots as I could see the Petronas Twin Towers and KL Tower clearly.

I hope I will see some "clear" skies soon in my walk with God. Often times I feel directionless with my discipleship.

Thoughts on Stations

Another Good Friday and it is easy to fall into the attitude of BAU (business as usual). Unfortunately, I somewhat felt that way. Fortunately, these (Crucifixion, Death, Resurrection Stations) helped me focus on areas of my life which I need to crucify and put to death in order to let Him be alive in me.

Love

love
Originally uploaded by ngoy.

Got this through a forwarded email. I like this description of love.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong
Originally uploaded by ngoy.

People, people, people. They are all over the place. In Malaysia, we widen the roads to make way for more cars. In Hong Kong, they widen the pavements to make way for more people 8-).

People tell me that Hong Kong is a shopping paradise. But, nothing much seemed to interest me. In fact, I didn't buy anything except for some "low poh" biscuits. The only other thing that catches my attention is the scenaries. I captured a bunch of them...(click on the picture on the right)

Far & Away

mum & daughter
Originally uploaded by ngoy.

For me, it is the 1st time being away, for several days, from SL & NN since NN came into the picture.

It took some time for me to fall asleep last night, thinking how they are doing. A message from SL on my handphone at 6.54am this morning...

"We mis u dearly. Nat wokeup midnite askin 4 u w eyes closed."

Hmm, feeling a little miserable in HK without the loves of my life here with me. 8-(. I'm hopeless la...

It's a Girl!!

girl
Originally uploaded by ngoy.

It's official! Our 2nd child will be a baby girl. The doctor informed us during our monthly visit to the clinic.

I asked the doctor if she's 100% sure. She said of course there are no 100% guarantees but she said she's 90% sure.

Interesting Numbers

Something interesting I came across through email....

IF

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

IS EQUAL TO

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

THEN.......


Hard Work
H+A+R+D+W+O+R+K
8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%

Knowledge
K+N+O+W+L+E+D+G+E
11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%

Love
L+O+V+E
12+15+22+5 = 54%

Luck
L+U+C+K
12+21+3+11 = 47%

Then what makes 100% ?


Is it Money ? ... NO ! ! !
M+O+N+E+Y
13+15+14+5+25 = 72%

Leadership ? ... NO ! ! !
L+E+A+D+E+R+S+H+I+P
12+5+1+4+5+18+19+9+16 = 89%

Every problem has a solution, only if we perhaps change our attitude.
To go to the top,
to that 100%,
what we really need to go further... a bit more...


ATTITUDE
A+T+T+I+T+U+D+E
1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%


It is OUR ATTITUDE towards Life and Work that makes OUR Life 100% ! ! !

Random Thoughts on Education/Knowledge

books
Originally uploaded by ngoy.

Today's papers reported about a student who achieved 17A1s in her SPM examination. It is a national record. My first reaction is "WOW! WOW! WOW!". During my time, the maximum number of subjects for the SPM examination is 9 (for Chinese schools is 10). That already is one too many. 17 subjects!! I can't imagine. It's crazy.

At first glance it's definitely a great feat (don't get me wrong, it's definitely a fantastic achievement) but what does it really mean? A brilliant student? Yes. A great future? Maybe. Scholarships? Maybe also.

Many times, examinations have taken the fun out of learning. More so, when it's an examination which will somewhat determine your future in education or maybe future in career, i.e. if you stop at form 5. Even more tragic when you hear about students committing suicide for not able to withstand the pressures of exams.

Sometimes, I wonder if the knowledge acquired during my primary & secondary school days have gone to waste. We've heard before that "Knowledge is power", but I think "Applied knowledge is power" should be more appropriate. After all, what is knowledge without application. It's like hearing God's word but not applying it in our lives. Nothing happens, at most, maybe we'll become some knowledge freaks. 8-D

Father

I have never been close to my father. I can hardly remember him being a part of my childhood. I guess that explains why we hardly talk, not because I hate or dislike him but because I feel he’s more like a stranger to me than a father. Nevertheless, he has been providing, like any father should, in monetary terms for my upbringing and tertiary education. But as far as relationship goes, it can be much better.

Recently, I got a disturbing sms from him. He sent it to my sis and SL too. Then, I thought it’ll be a good opportunity to meet him and find out more. However, I’m also feeling somewhat reluctant because of the “stranger” feeling in me.

SL has been reminding me to set up a meeting with my father and I just procrastinated. SL has always been a catalyst to improving my relationships with my parents. Partly because she’s really close to her family and believes in having close relationships with relatives.

Finally, we met up last Sunday together with my sis and SL. We talked for close to 2 hours. It was a breakthrough for me because I can’t remember that we ever met up to talk, especially without my mum around.

I often tell SL (before and after NN was borned) that I want to step up as a dad to my children. I want to be there for them, listen to them because I don’t want history to repeat itself on my children.

Justice, Mercy, and Grace

Picture this...

Scene #1: Your neighbour's son is playing ball. Suddenly, there's a loud crash. You realised that your front window has just been broken by a strayed ball from your neighbour's son. You grabbed him and went to your neighbour's house and demanded for punishment for his son and the cost of replacing the broken window.

Scene #2: Your neighbour's son is playing ball. Suddenly, there's a loud crash. You realised that your front window has just been broken by a strayed ball from your neighbour's son. You went over to tell you neighbour about the incident but insisted that it was an accident and his son is at no fault. However, you accepted your neighbour's offer for the replacement of the broken window.

Scene #3: Your neighbour's son is playing ball. Suddenly, there's a loud crash. You realised that your front window has just been broken by a strayed ball from your neighbour's son. You went over and asked the boy if he's ok. Then, you brought his back to your neighbour's house and incident the neighbour about the incident. You insisted that it's just an accident and his son is at no fault. In fact, you offered to pay for the replacement of the broken window yourself.

The first scene depicts Justice. The second scene depicts Mercy. The third and final depicts Grace. This is the illustration of the power of Grace when I was listening to Pastor Bill Hybels' message several years ago while I was still working in the US. It was such a powerful picture that it stayed on with me. I was reminded of it again when I was reading the Travel Mercies book by Mr. Tan Soo-Inn. This picture of Grace just blew my mind of how His grace is to us.

Resignation (Conclusion)

Well, SL's MD kept to his word and reverted right after the CNY holidays. I don't believe it and I still don't even as I’m writing this. It goes against any logical or normal company policy. However, we know that His workings are beyond our logical minds. So...

I must say that we're very much shocked and surprised that the MD is willing to set a precedent to allow SL to work on a part-time basis. I was so sure that he'll disagree with the reason that others/future pregnant ladies of the company might pull the same trick ;-). Well, if the MD is not worried, why should we right? SL and I were in such mixed emotions, when talking over the opportunity, that we don't know what to make of it initially. We weren't prepared to receive this reply, so we were afraid that we'll make a decision that'll contradict our initial objective i.e. for SL to be full-time homemaker because we thought it's a steal not to take it (so to speak). After tabling our discussions with the MD again, SL struck a better deal in terms of the daily timing of work and also revised salary. No doubt she'll take a pay cut (obviously!), it's still a good deal for a 1/2 day's work. All these will take effect after SL’s maternity.

Hats off to the MD also who chose to take the unpopular decision in order to keep SL. After all, to most top management, no one is indispensable. I think I did mention this before and I'll say it again, good bosses are truly a gift from heaven. I’d also like to give credit to SL because the boss could have just let her go and get another person. After all, she has only been on the job for 9 months. Though, SL will not go full-time homemaker just yet but we thought that this move is good too. It’ll give time for her to adjust from "working in the office" to "working at home" at a gradual pace. So, who says, "You can't get the best of both world"? I think we just did, at least for our context and for making some adjustments. I guess He does really keep to His promise to honour us when we honour Him. PTL!

No Accident

Excerpts from our LG meeting last night...

The Israelites did not have a king during the times of the book of Judges. Therefore, they did whatever seem fit to them because they don’t have a king. This is mentioned several times in the book. We were disgusted by the things done by the Israelites during this time. Having said this, I think the people of God haven’t change much, i.e. still doing whatever seem fit to them to a certain extent, even with Jesus as King of our lives.

Even in the midst of Samson’s great strength, he has his fair share of weaknesses too. The fact that he had been deceived so many times to reveal his secret, the ladies thought his stupidity was far greater than his strength. However, I liked how a commentary on Samson’s life puts it...”Samson seems like a train whose engineer has fallen out of the cab, an oversized accident smashing into everything it meets. But for God, there are no accidents. He used the tragedy of Samson’s life for good.”

Despite much “negativity” in this book, we drew one conclusion. No matter how imperfect we are, God can still use the imperfectness and turn it around for His purposes.