Fragility of Life

Every Sunday without fail, there's a section in the newspaper that I would look out for- StarMag. Usually at the last page of this section there would be either a thought-provoking or heart warming article written by people to share their life experiences or wisdom. If I'm not mistaken a few months back I came across this one article which really touched my heart. Unlike any other article it was simply written solely from the author's heart in remembrance of his very good friend. Here's a brief insight of what the article is about:

The author's friend(I forgotten the name so I will give him the name Ben) came from an average family, in fact not very well to do. His father was the sole breadwinner of the family and he had two other siblings who were very young and still schooling. Ben himself was a very smart boy and practically scored in most of his exams. Unfortunately during his Form Six year, there were some complications in which he had to help out in the family's business and thus didin't had time to focus on his studies, therefore dropping out from school so that the money could be saved for his other two siblings education. When times were better, Ben finally decided to continue his studies and went on to take a diploma and was later offered scholarships from prestigious universities. He took the offer without hesitation and went abroad to further his studies. He passed with flying colors for his first year degree and was a very bright student. He also work part time and saved the money for his siblings education.(After graduating he would definitely be able to support his family financially) Then the blow came. During his summer holidays, Ben was planning to fly back to spend some time with his family, he even bought the flight ticket. His family were so excited anticipating his return. But as God had other plans, Ben pass out in his dorm and never woke up since. He was later pronounced dead due to heart failure. He was only 22 years old. His parents were devastated and most of Ben's savings were used for his funeral procession. Now his family are still in a state of shock and his siblings future could be in jeopardy. Not only did his family lost such a filial son but the author himself lost a great friend.


I was flabbergasted and I actually reread the last few lines as I couldn't believe my eyes. He was only 22 and there's still so much more in life he could have experience. Now he will never have the chance to fulfill his duty as a son, to fall in love, get married, and have kids. What a pity! Why was God so cruel to him and his family. Everything was going on just fine and suddenly God took it all away.

Then it dawned on me that I was actually living a very pathetic lifestyle, often working to achieve success, finding ways to look good in society and getting myself frustrated and worried over little things or even people not worth my time, eventually giving very little thought to what lies beyond life. What if one day God decided to end my life, I would definitely regret not spending more time with loved ones and friends, and not enjoying life to fullest. What more we are only given one chance to live and if we were to die tomorrow, that would be the end. All the things that I thought of doing would never be done. As a matter of fact one day we will realized that all we have chased after here on earth will not save us when it comes to eternity.

So peeps, this article certainly reminds us to live for this moment and not the future nor the past.

Feeling Down?

Is life throwing lemons at you? Are you going through a difficult time? Wonder why things never happen the way you want them to? Have you ever got down on your knees and prayed earnestly until you cry but in the end things turn from bad to worst and then you start questioning whether was God really listening yesterday? If He did then what went wrong?

YES! I have gone through all of the above mentioned
and then I came across this bible passage

Luke 12:23-31
Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens, they do not sow or reap yet God feeds them and how much valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Consider the lilies grow, they do not labor or spin. If that is how God clothes the grass of field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you. For the pagan would run after such things, for your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

Jesus' point here was simple. Since God made it his business to consider the welfare of little birds, He will definitely look after you for aren't you more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows? IF ONLY WE HUMANS COULD WORRY LESS!

Back To Reality Soon

Time really flies... In a blink of an eye and my three months break is finally coming to an end... haizzz. Since I've been bumming around for too long it's kinda hard to get back on my feet and start a new semester. By the way I'm really thankful I managed to pass all my subjects for the first year so it means I don't have to retake any papers. Speaking about retaking papers I had many sleepless nights worrying that I might fail one or two papers. It sends shivers down my spine. Really thank God all my hard work paid off. But then now I have no excuse to switch course and have to stick with it for another two years. Oh dear I seriously dread the days to come and besides most of my friends are considering shifting to another college for some particular reason. I cant wait to meet my friends who are back from their homeland. We seriously need to hang out as soon as possible. I just hope everything will turn out fine and hopefully I will be able to pull through this course and start some serious thinking about my passion for teaching. How I wish I could see the future.

But come to think of it, I didin't really wasted my three months break, I enjoyed my first job, I can actually play a whole song on the piano( I've been practising like crazy) but I DIDIN'T get to meet up with friends cause their so BUSY.... It's really so difficult to meet up nowadays when we are all in different colleges pursuing different courses with different timetables and semester breaks. Oh well we just have to plan better next time. Anyway, UOL watch out I'm back to conquer you for good!!!

My First Working Experience

It's been more than a week since I started my job as a part time teacher in Kumon Asia Oceania at Taman Megah. Its my first ever working experience. I actually work five hours a day (4-9p.m) and I'm only paid RM5.50 an hour. I'M UNDERPAID! Thats what all my family members and relatives think. Oh well since its my first job and I'm more for the experience, it doesnt really bother me except for the fact that I have to stick with my old handphone till next year. I want a blackberry torch by the way...haizzz

Back to the job...I love it! It has always been my wish to work or should I say teach kids. They are adorable and since I do not have to stand in front of the class but instead have the students coming up to me to ask questions, its even better as I get to deal with them one to one. This way I get to understand my students better and therefore attend to their distinctive requirements differently. The boys are of course naughty but they make my day by sharing with me their bizarre stories of schools, friends and even their crushes, lol. The girls are more on the shy and reserved side but they will open up to you once they see how fun you can be. Other than teaching, all we ever do is mark and mark worksheets and I meant tons and tons of worksheets. After sometime I must admit you do get tired of it, but not the teaching of course.

But the best part of this job is actually seeing the joy in the student's faces when they finally understand how to solve that particular problem. Its like all your hard work of trying to explain to them paid off. I guess thats what makes a teacher job so noble and satisfying - to see and help your students succeed. This is only a small part of teaching though. I haven't meet those rebellious students which even experienced teachers chose to give up on them. But I believe inside every kid there's just that desire for attention which result in him/her acting in that way. It just takes that one special person to guide him back to the right path.

Anyway I'm in this job for three months and after that its back to accounting. I'm definitely gonna miss the students although I doubt they will miss me. XD Kids will be kids, they always prefer new things, new environment, new teachers...haha. By the way besides teaching, I'm also currently helping a friend out at refugee schools. Learned alot from there. I would say this semester break is definitely a meaningful one. Now its back to entertaining my ABC (American- born Chinese) cousins.

In memories

This year's CNY and the CNY to come will never be the same again. This is the first time in my whole 20 years I celebrated CNY in KL. Well I can still remember how I used to grumble about going back to Malacca because at that time my grandma's house was just a small 3 rooms flat which was kinda rundown and at times the place can be really hot and humid especially during CNY when all her 15 childrens plus their childrens under one roof. Sometimes there weren't even enough chairs that we had to sit on the floor.

Then later when times were better my uncle bought a landed property with 4 rooms fully furnished as well as air-conditioned. But the main point doesn't lies here. What I enjoyed about going back to Malacca most is the warm welcomes and wide smiles we will receive from my grandma and both my uncle and aunt. Who cares bout the shark fin soup or the crispy suckling pig served in restaurants, I don't need those to make my CNY complete. Although I hardly communicate with my grandma as I'm not really fluent in my Hokkien but I know deep down inside all that matters to her is seeing one whole family joining her at the table for a simple dinner.

Another thing that really touches my heart is seeing my grandma's determination to send us at the door even when she's on wheelchair when it was time for us to leave. She would stayed at the door and waved at us until she can no longer see the car. At those times I could care less because I would just assume she was waving to my dad. But now I know I will never be able to see that hand waving at me again. Sometimes the loneliness in her eyes were obvious and I know that at her age all she ever hopes for is her kids to come back more often to visit her.

Grandma to me was just someone I had to respect, had to visit during CNY and had to greet her everytime I stepped into the house. I never took the initiative to talk to her nor did i bother spending time with her. However sometimes she would just come by and take my hand and tell me to study hard so that I could help lessen the family's burden in the future. I would just smile and nod my head forgetting what she said the next minute.

My grandma was a strong buddhist her whole life and she only became a Christian during her last few years. I will never know if she really understands what she's actually believing or is she just doing it for the sake of making her son happy. Anyhow I hope she really is in heaven now.


One thing I can be sure of is that she will always be in her children and grandchildren's memories and that they love her as much as she had loved them.

Blessed

I would say God's plans for me has been going pretty well lately and I'm very pleased with it. Hopefully things will turn out wonderfully. You see, recently I met this very nice and friendly girl (Marianne) through a friend and later got to know even more people who were very nice as well. These very nice people offered to enhance my understanding about christianity. I felt that it was really a blessing getting to know them. They were always willing to answer all my weird and silly questions which I myself don't even know what I was talking about and so I'm currently attending bible studies group every tuesday and if possible I hope to attend their church services every Sunday in which I have to find a way to get pass through my mum without her nagging me. The best part is Marianne is ever willing to teach me how to play drums which I can barely wait to learn. :)

I really thank God for sending you guys to me!