Verbal War Week

This past week has been a verbal war week between me and a colleague in the office. All these started because of a faulty software release which originated from my colleague’s work. That caused some ripple effect on the system which I’m supporting.

Even though, she admitted to the fact that she made a very silly mistake, she still tried to shift the blame on me or hoping I would share some with her. Our senior management is very particular about problems arising from software releases because it causes the bank to lose money, worse still reputation if there is direct customer impact.

I stood my ground because I did absolutely nothing wrong. Then, she had the guts to bring in my manager for a meeting with me. Good thing, my manager is on my side. Half way through the meeting, I just walked out saying that she is wasting our time.

So, I thought she rested her case. Boy, am I wrong! Next thing I know, she was sending out an email with just her side of the story to some senior analyst and manager of her team. Fine, I replied with my side of the coin and left for the day. That was Friday.

Let’s see if they want to pursue any further or should I say let’s see if the rest of them are as out of their minds as this crazy middle-aged single woman! Bring on whatever senior manager or even head of the company, I’m not afraid because the truth is on my side. God is my witness.

Sadly, there are many manipulative people like that in this fast becoming bureaucratic company. These people may lack substance but fortunately they can speak well and “louder” than a whole lot of IT guys. It is people like that whom I need to stand firm on my ground; otherwise I’ll be bulldozed over. I may be a man of few words but don’t count on stepping over me like a door mat.

Having said that, I need to pick my battles as it may not always pay to stand up for oneself in our Malaysian workplaces.

A Rare Sight

It's indeed heart-warming to see my dad desires more to see his grandchildren. Apparently, this change came about after NN2 came. Whatever it is, I'm glad to see him more involved as a grandpa in the kids' lives.

This was during yesterday's Lantern Festival.

Precious Piece

Looks like a piece of gold coin but it’s a pendant my late grandpa got for me when I was born. I guess it was a big deal then when one has a grandson as old Chinese folks used to treasure greatly.

I never realized about this piece of gift until last week when my mum returned it to me. She has always helped safe keep all my valuables from birth until recently.

When I saw it, the first thing I had in mind is “Why on earth did my grandpa got me something with the United States of America on it?”. Ironically, I did get a chance of a lifetime to study and live in the US for some time. How I wish my grandpa would be able to see me graduate because it is always his wish for me go abroad for studies. I'm grateful to you, grandpa, wherever you are!

We're Back!

It’s good to have almost everyone back to our Wednesday LG meeting. These past 2 months have been crazy for the Wongs and Ngs, therefore attendance dropped to the lowest in these months.

We’ve been studying on the topic of “Building Your Mate’s Self-Esteem”. At first, I’m not sure if this’ll be helpful to us. Now that we’ve gone through session #1, I think it’s totally applicable not only to our relationships but also relationships with people.

I think the question of the night goes something like, “why is it difficult to grasp God’s truth?”. Some say, “we’re distracted”, others say, “there are temptations that swayed us”, I say, “we’re too in tune with the world yet we don’t realize it”. It’s an understatement to say that it’s so easy to get sucked into the world’s standards.

Our group may be a very discussion-focused group but I think it’s a good setting for us. Most of us are so busy at work that we’ve hardly time to stop and reflect. Our time in our meetings is always a great time because it allows us to once again go back to God’s truth and let it slowly sink into our system once more.

What is "Supposed" to be?

From last week’s message (No Perfect People Allowed), I had a flash back on our LG several years ago. To say that I was discouraged by it is an understatement. It wasn’t what it was “supposed” to be. What is it “supposed” to be anyway? I thank God that I’ve moved away from this notion that Christian/Church/Small Groups have to be in a certain way. It’ll never happen. I’ve learned it the hard way before.

Back then, I was worked up with how the group was doing and how some people were behaving. I was at the verge of quitting as LG leader. Looking back, I guess I shouldn’t be so. Partly, it’s out of my control. Mostly, I think we shouldn’t “pamper” people. There’s time to be nice and kind to people but also time to be firm. People shouldn’t come to church always expecting to be treated like kids, being pampered that is. We’re all adults anyway.

Until now, I’m still baffled by people who come excessively late to Sunday worship gathering CONSISTENTLY. It is so distracting when people come in and out halfway during the course of the whole service, to say the least. Do we go to work, appointments, interview, etc excessively late? Okla, wedding dinners excluded since it’s in our M’sian blood to always arrive late for one reason or another. There’s something seriously wrong with our attitude. If we love our people, we should speak the truth to them. If people always expect us to be wishy-washy and nice, I’m sorry to say that at times we’ll be firm. What the h*** is wrong with us? How do we expect to make disciples when we’re lousy disciples ourselves? I constantly ask myself this question.

I’ve told someone before that I don’t like to let other Christians at work know that I’m a Christian. Somehow, they’ve this unhealthy expectation that we Christians need to be nice nice to each other all the time, at least that is the impression I get. I think these are all superficial kind of nice or politeness. I like the summary of the church life cycle during last Sunday’s message. Sooner or later, we’ll face reality and sometimes that is not what we expect it to be, by our own expectations that is. The heck with all these superficiality and get real!

Throughout the existence of BLC, I’ve seen people come and go because of various reasons. If we examine carefully, I think many are due to unhealthy expectations and superficiality.

This is as raw as my feelings can get.

Sacrifices

Today is SLs last day of “work”. Well, more of last day of her maternity leave. However, she is not returning to work anymore. She struck a deal with her MD to allow her to resign at the end of her maternity leave and still get paid for it. TG!

SL has made countless sacrifices throughout her life, sacrifices which many women of this time and age would not make, not even for their spouse or children. To say that I applaud her for that, is a gross understatement. The only thing I can do here is to write a short tribute for her.

Exactly 10 years ago, she was given an opportunity to rise quickly in the corporation which she was working for. Without hesitation, she chose not to pursue the opportunity but to go to the US to further her studies. A major part of the reason for doing so is also to be with me because I was pursuing my degree there too. Had she accepted the company’s offer to stay on, she would have “prosper” handsomely there, which is the path many will take. I guess the both of us didn’t regret taking the journey together while in the US. It was definitely an eye opening experience living in a foreign land with foreign people for close to 6 years. The experiences were priceless.

Exactly 10 years after, history sort of repeated itself for SL. Once again, she chose the unpopular path, i.e. to be with our kids full-time rather than pursuing the career which she had once left behind. An amazing woman, she is 8-). I used to tell her that she is really flexible. She can really be a career woman if she wanted to or she can really be taking care of our household full-time if she chooses to as well. I’m glad we both made the right decision for us together. Now, the start of a new journey together as One!

Refreshing

Last week’s worship session was particularly refreshing on my soul. I appreciated the song selections, space in between and within songs that allowed for reflections & meditations. Good job on the worship leading, Sky! I’ve been spiritually quite moody lately, not even sure if there’s such a thing. During that time, it seems nothing else matters but just simply giving praise & worship to our Creator for the fact that I’m alive and well, especially with so many disasters going around the globe lately.

I’m looking forward to serving in the worship team again after a long 2-month break.