Happy 49th Birthday, Malaysia

Many have questioned the call to raise the Malaysian flag only during the Merdeka month. They say raising the flag does not show patriotism. They say it is false patriotism.

True or false?

Last Sunday I was at the NECF Merdeka Prayer Rally in Johor Bahru. When I entered the church sanctuary & saw the Malaysian flag as well as the flags of our 14 states hung up on the stage wall, I felt so emotional.

Then during the march-in of flags, accompanied by the song “These Are The Days Of Elijah”, I couldn’t even sing. So overwhelmed by pride & love for the country.

I believe flags do build a sense of patriotism. I believe raising the flag is one way to show patriotism. I believe raising the flag can be the start of patriotism for many who don’t think much of Malaysia.

Flags do play a part in patriotism. If not, why do soldiers hold their flags high up & wave them at the battle field? If not, why do we raise the flag in schools every Monday?

But raising flags is not the end of patriotism. It should lead to a greater sense of appreciation of the freedom we enjoy. It should lead to more effort in contributing to the country in every area:
Social
Politic
Economy
Agriculture
Education
Infrastructure
Technology
Healthcare
Security & defense
Racial integration & unity
Transportation
Culture
Environment
Morals
Sports
NGOs
Banking

My wish for Malaysia is that:
its people work hard for the growth of the country.
its leaders implement good & fair laws to govern the country & wisdom in administering justice.
wealth is fairly distributed to the poor.
religious freedom will continue to prevail.
its people will be more civic minded.

Air Asia should explain

Argh... Air Asia has cancelled the JB-Ipoh flights!! I can't believe it. Why? I want a reason. Each time I take it, it's two-thirds full. Takkanlah they're not making money.

First they had 3 flights a week. Then, they had flights everyday. Then, the change the departure times. Now this...

Broken Bridges

 

My first time at KLPac. Ky-Gan & Chuang's first major musical production. KLPac's first full musical production.

It was very good. Thumbs up to the writers, performers & producers.

If you haven't watched it. Go watch it.

Read about it

18 weeks & still counting...

 

Scott & Anne

=) 

Students' Work

Today, my aunt was surprised to hear that I'm not teaching English already. My fault. Because I haven't updated people. I was teaching English and Physical Education the 1st half of the year. Then in June, my school asked me to teach Form 3 Science, while continuing with my Chemistry classes. Reason being, the Science teacher was transfered to KL & an English teacher came to replace her.

Initially I was reluctant to leave my English students because I had already build a rapport with them & was just beginning to see results. Now someone else would reap my harvest. And now, I would have to get to know another 145 new faces & names, and at the same time, prepare them for PMR.

It was not an easy switch. But now, I'm glad. Science is definitely easier to mark, as compared to English. And I also hear that my English students are more afraid of the new teacher. Good for them. They even pass up their work. I was shocked to hear...that they were bullying me all these while. =(

I've got good Science classes & bad ones too, very noisy ones & very quiet ones. Look below to see a few examples of their work.

 
 
 
 

Picture 4: At first I thought the girl is dyslexic. I couldn't make up a single word. And I thought, she needs to go to a special school. But I tested her first. I gave her another piece of paper & asked her to copy her friend's work. It was perfect, word for word. Until today I still wonder what she was thinking when she wrote her 1st report. 

Things of the past 1

 

Kids of the Kledang Community Chapel Children's Holiday Club 2006. Held in June. The kids are adorable and nice to play with!!

I was there to teach a Bible story (Daniel in the lions' den) and to take photographs to be put into a slideshow for the concert.

The kids enjoyed the 4 days very much & every year, our enrolment increases. Many thanks to teachers & helpers who sacrifice their time & energy to invest in the lives of these kids.

But there was something that happened that made me very sad too, something that shouldn't have happened, something that doesn't portray the love of Christ for the community. I'm not sure if I should write it here.

In short, people need to know that Jesus accepted every person while he was on earth, whether an adulterous woman or a pharisee or a tax collector or a child. He accepted them. Of course, it doesn't mean he encouraged their sin. But He never pushed them aside. He never said, "Oh sorry, we've got a programme to run and you are disturbing our programme so you need to leave." Never.

And so, we need to also learn to accept others, whether ugly or pretty, whether weird or normal, whether with disabilities or not, whether poor or rich... for if Jesus accepts and loves them and us, who are we not to accept and love them.

 

Was just trying to...

recall what triggered me to write what I wrote in the post before this. But I really can't remember. Or maybe I choose not to remember? Hmmm...

Anyway, that phase is well over. That was in June but I still get comments up till recently. Well, I guess it's my fault lah. Haven't updated my blog in...what...2 months?

I'm a Malaysian patriot & will continue to stay in and contribute to Malaysia, unless God deems me worthy to be called to an out-of-country mission field.

There's a lot of updating to do here & I thought of including photos. But I just realised this morning that I left all my photos in JB. Alamak!

It's the school hols! I'm up in Penang for the convocation of juniors, then head down to Ipoh...home! Yay! =)

More updates when I get home.

This is post is made possible with the generosity of Pek Kuan (Acer laptop), Tze Woei (accommodation for the convo period) and USM (wireless connection). =)