Day +1230 : Clearing idols (2)

I am fine today. Continued from yesterday...

Now Mr. Mah's mother's house
Idols that were accumulated over the years
Singing songs again
Let's pray
Start clearing...










Presenting a gift to the family
Group photo
Family photo under the cross, from left - Mrs. Mah, Mr. Mah, his mother and his brother
Together with Pastors
Mr. Mah treated us a nice dinner at the nearby restaurant after the work






See you next post :-)

Day +1229 : Clearing idols (1)

I am fine today.

Our church cleared idols for two houses in a row this afternoon.

We went to Mr. Mah’s house in Puchong first. Mr Mah accepted Lord Jesus recently. He attended the Easter potluck in our church April this year. This was the first time ever he set foot in a church, and in that event, he was touched by a testimony given by a church member whose life was overwhelmingly transformed by Jesus.

After encountering many setbacks in his life, he eventually turned to Jesus few weeks ago. He said he found tremendous peace while worshiping in the church, a peace no others could provide. Before that, he felt that he was floating helplessly amidst a dark sea, living a life without purpose and full of troubles.This drove him to the brink of committing suicide.

He told us over the dinner that encountering with Jesus was like being rescued from the sea of darkness. And I believed his experience is similar to what Bible said in 2 Samuel 22:17, “He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters.” 『他从高天伸手抓住我，把我从大水中拉上来。』

With this wonderful encounter, he brought his wife, mother and brother to Jesus. We went to clear idols in his mother’s house at Sungei Besi after we finished clearing idols in his house.

Seeing how one’s life was transformed by Jesus is the most joyful thing in my life :-)

Singing songs

Praying
A short message by Rev. Lau
Now let's start...











A group photo after the house is cleansed
Now Jesus is the Lord of our house - Mr. & Mrs. Mah
His brother
Disposing off the idols
Mission completed
To be continued and see you next post :-)

Day +1228 : “There is no love in school.”

I am fine today.

Aaron is reluctant to go to kindergarten recently.

“Why you don’t want to go to school, Aaron?” asked my wife.

“There is no love in school,” answered Aaron.

“Teachers don’t give me love,” he continued.

We were quite surprised to hear this. This should give us a good understanding of what children expect.

Anyway, we gave him freedom to choose whether he wanted to attend school or stayed at home as he is only three and half years old. He had been absent from school for a few weeks.

Hopefully, he will be willing to go school next year and find love there.

See you next post :-)

Day +1227 : 1Malaysia? Yes! Allah? No

I am fine today.

I believe most of us don’t really believe 1 Malaysia. Why?

1Malaysia? Yes! Allah? No. How can we achieve 1Malaysia without Allah?

See the below report from Malaysiakini yesterday.

Weekly Catholic newspaper The Herald has lost its publishing permit for next year amid a long-running dispute over its use of the word "Allah".

The loss of The Herald's permit comes as it prepares for a High Court hearing on Dec 14 in a legal battle between the Catholic Church and the authorities over the use of the world "Allah" in the paper's Malay-language section.

The government has argued that the word "Allah" should be used only by Muslims, who dominate the population of Malaysia.

"It is very confusing. One letter in August said we have the licence to print (in 2010) and the next thing is we receive a letter in September saying the permit is not approved. Something is amiss," The Herald's editor, Father Lawrence Andrew, told AFP.

Father Lawrence (left) said the Home Ministry cancelled the new permit without any reason.

The Roman Catholic Church has waged a two-year legal battle with Malaysian authorities over the use of the word "Allah".

The priest said he had met with Home Ministry officials last month to resolve the issue but declined to elaborate.

Home Ministry officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

The Herald newspaper, circulated among the country's 850,000 Catholics, nearly lost its publishing licence last year for using the disputed word.

Asked if The Herald would be available in January 2010, he said: "I hope it will be there."

The newspaper is printed in four languages and has a circulation of 14,000 copies a week.

Strings of religious disputes

The row is among a string of religious disputes that have erupted in recent years, straining relations between Muslim Malays and minority ethnic Chinese and Indians who fear the country is being "Islamised".

Religion and language are sensitive issues in multiracial Malaysia, which experienced deadly race riots in 1969.

About 60 percent of the nation's 27 million people are ethnic Malay Muslims.

The rest of the population includes indigenous tribes as well as ethnic Chinese and Indians - practising Buddhism, Christianity and Hinduism, among others.

More than half of Malaysia's Catholics are from indigenous groups, most of whom live on the Borneo island states and who mainly speak Malay.

In an immediate reaction, MCA spokesperson Gan Ping Sieu described the ban as “repulsive and unreasonable”.

“MCA strongly urges the Home Ministry to reconsider the retraction of The Herald's printing permit. By denying The Herald's permit renewal, the Home Ministry could be misconstrued as acting punitively against the religious publication's suit against the government on the usage restriction of the 'Allah' terminology.”

He added that the move would destroy the goodwill between religious bodies and the government.

“The 1Malaysia concept of mutual respect and inclusivity should be upheld by government departments.”

See you next post :-)

Day +1226 : Erythromycin overdose

I am fine today.

I was not feeling well again since Tuesday; catching cold with flu and coughing. Again, I feel itchiness in my left lung that resulted in heavy cough especially when I lie down.

In order to prevent the flu from getting worse, I started to take Erythromycin. The normal dosage is 1 tablet (400mg) twice a day but I took 2 tablets twice a day until this morning when I suddenly suspected that the dosage that I was taking might be wrong.

A quick search on the internet revealed that the dosage should be 1 tablet twice a day. So I was taking double dose for two days :-( No wonder I experienced stomach discomfort and felt like vomiting – part of the symptoms of Erythromycin overdose.

I adjusted the dosage this morning.

Hopefully, the flu and coughing will be gone before I go back to Sarawak next week.

See you next :-)

Day +1225 : My wife benefited from LASIK operation

I am fine today.

My wife had a high degree of myopia (short-sightedness) since she was young. She couldn’t see at all without glasses but wearing a pair of glasses all the time definitely is not something convenient.

My brother, Richard, proposed her to do a LASIK (Laser Assisted In-situ Keratomileusis) operation to correct her eye sight in 2002. The cost of the operation for both eyes was RM3600 but because she was doing it together with Richard, both of them got a discount of RM200, hence a total cost of RM3400 only per person.

The procedure was broadcast live through a closed circuit television in the waiting room. First, the cornea flap is cut and folded out, then the laser was used to cut the cornea to the correct shape, and then the cornea flab was folded back.

The operation was very successful. My wife didn’t have to wear glasses since then :-) What a great relief to her! And perhaps also to me :-)

The LASIK operation was done at Optimax at TTDI, Kuala Lumpur. After the operation, she has to do eye check-up at the centre annually. Should the short-sightedness increases, enhancement procedure can be done to correct it back free of charge. So this is something like life-long warranty as long as one fulfills the annual check-up requirement. Richard did one enhancement before.

I brought my wife to do the annual check-up this afternoon. We are glad that her eyes are still in good condition :-)

I wrote about the previous check-up in the following posts:

Day +866 : My wife’s annual eye follow-up
Day +182

See you next post :-)

Day +1224 : Play music?

I am fine today.

“Let mommy plays music first,” my wife told Aaron.

“Music only can listen, cannot play!” Aaron corrected my wife.

Aaron likes to play toys - physical objects he can touch, hold and perhaps squeeze. It is beyond his comprehension that how could one plays music – something which is not a physical object :-)

“Can we play piano?” my wife asked.

“Yes,” a definite answer from him.

So to him, we can play musical instruments but not music :-(

See you next post :-)

Day +1223 : Holiday is coming!

I am fine today.

My family, including my mother-in-law, will be back to Sarawak for two weeks holiday on 23 November.

I managed to purchase AirAsia free tickets for the whole family (7 persons) at a cost of RM420 on February this year. I wrote about the booking experience on my blog Day +951 : Free tickets. We had to pay the administration fee at that time; else the fee will be a lot lower than this.

I decided to bring along our new maid as we might need her to take care of our children but this decision come with cost as her air ticket along cost RM481, more than the total cost of air ticket for 7 of us :-( However, I believe bringing her along is worth the money.

Both children and adults are looking forward for another great holiday :-)

See you next post :-)

Day +1222 : Japanese Buffet Again!

I am fine today.

My wife and I went to Japanese buffet again with Richard and his wife and another two friends. This time we went to Saisaki Japanese Buffet Restaurant located at Wisma UOA II, K.L. for dinner.

Saisaki is under the same group as Shogun – the Japanese buffet restaurant we went last Sunday. So the dishes offered are the same.

We had plenty of time to enjoy the delicacies this time, so a very pleasant dining experience :-)

I went to Saisaki a few times before I was sick and this was the first time I visited the restaurant after bone marrow transplant.

The restaurant is highly recommended if you haven't been there before. You can enjoy up to 35% discount if you go on week days.

The entrance to the restaurant
The restaurant
Promotion! 35% off for buffet lunch from Monday to Friday, and 30% off for buffet dinner for buffet dinner. 10% discount for buffet weekend. Click the following photo to get the detail.
Some of the food that I had...








See you next post :-)

Day +1221 : Negligence saves money :-)

I am fine today.

Last Wednesday, I noticed that the date on the road tax sticker on the company car that I am using was 16 January 2009. This means it was expired for almost 10 months. Fortunately, I was not caught; else the penalty could be heavy.

I called an insurance agent to buy third-party insurance but I was told that very few insurance companies are willing to offer third-party insurance alone. Most of them mandated the car owner to purchase PA insurance together with third-party insurance. I had not much choice but to accept this arrangement, paying RM115 for third-party insurance and RM136 for PA insurance.

After purchasing the insurance, I renewed the road tax through MyEG Services and the amount that I paid was RM765.75 :-( It was so expensive because the car was registered under the company. The road tax will be a lot cheaper for personal car. I should request the company to transfer the ownership of the car to me; else I have to pay this amount again next year.

The total amount I paid for both insurance and road tax was RM1015.75 :-(

Initially, I was a bit reluctant to pay this amount but when I think of the amount that I save due to the negligence, I am happy again :-)

Then how much do I save? 10 months of insurance and road tax, which is roughly equal to RM800(RM1015.75x10/12) :-)

Negligence saves money but don’t ever try this. Luck might not be on your side :-)

See you next post :-)

Day +1220 : Another fish head curry from Johore!

I am fine today.

My brother, Richard, brought to me delicious fish head curry from Johore today. He was on a business trip to Johore yesterday, and on his way back this evening, packed the fish head curry for me :-)

This is the third time I enjoyed fish head curry from Johore without being there :-)

I wrote about the first two times on the following blog entries.

Day +360 : Fish head curry from Johore Bahru

Day +575 : Fish head curry from Johore again!

I was not able to enjoy the curry because of GVHD at that time but I thank God that I am able to enjoy the fish head curry today :-) After much practice, I can now even withstand very hot food including nasi lemak.

The vegetable
Fish head
Curry
Ready to serve
A zoom in view
See you next post :-)

Day +1219 : Any good judges among the five?

I am fine today.

The highest court of Malaysia – Federal Court – is hearing the MB vs MB case today. The judges that hear the case are Court of Appeal president Alauddin Mohd Sheriff, Chief Judge of Malaya Arifin Zakaria and justices Zulkefli Ahmad Makinuddin, Mohd Ghazali Mohd Yusoff and Abdull Hamid Embong.

The hearing was concluded after a day-long session but the verdict was deferred to another date to be fixed.

What do you think the result would be? I believe the verdict will be in favour of BN as it is extremely difficult to find good judges in a corrupt judiciary system here.

What do you think?

See you next post :-)

Day +1218 : We paid their salary, they seized our Bibles

I am fine today.

The authority seized 150,000 bibles imported from Indonesia citing the reason that they might be used to convert Muslims because it contains the word “Allah”. This only indicated that those who are involved in the enforcement do no really have any confident on their religion.

Another Malaysia Boleh! I see this as a cancerous act and perhaps only a transplant will be able to strike a cure.

Quote from a news report published today on Malaysiakini :

The Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) calls for the immediate release of the 15,000 bibles in Bahasa Malaysia known as the Alkitab, recently seized by the authorities.

Bishop Ng Moon Hing, chairman of the CFM, said that the relevant government official should explain their actions to church leaders and the public.

According to a church leader, the government seized the bibles because of the use of the word 'Allah' in the Malay-language bibles (which means God when translated) which was banned here, as this word is to be used exclusively in Islam.

This is because the authorities feel that the use of 'Allah' in Christian publications is likely to confuse Muslims and draw them into Christianity. Therefore, it was banned from Christian literature.

The Home Ministry said today that the words kaaba, baitullah and solat were similarly banned from Christian publications.

In previous reports, Reverend Hermen Shastri (left), general secretary of the Council of Churches of Malaysia said that these words were borrowed from Arabic, among other languages and maintained that the community should be allowed to use them.

Suppression of rights

Since the 1970s, the education policies have been centred on Bahasa Malaysia as the national language, and Malaysians have received their education in Bahasa Malaysia.

Therefore, Bishop Ng said that it is ridiculous and offensive to deny the same Christians in Malaysia the right to read and study the bible in the national language.

"The action of withholding the Malay bibles deprives Christians in Sabah, Sarawak and in Semenanjung, a large majority of whom speak Malay, the right to use the Holy Scriptures to practice, and profess their faith and, to nourish themselves spiritually," Bishop Ng said.

The CFM also called upon the government not to curtail or impose conditions on the freedom of citizens to worship, pray and read the Holy Scriptures in Malay.

Previously, the authorities have seized some 15,000 bibles that were imported from Indonesia; 5,000 in March and the rest in September this year.

See you next post :-)

Day +1217 : The worst ever president, the best show

I am fine today.

Sin Chew Daily’s commentary today bluntly pronounced the MCA president, OTK, the worst ever president. It doesn’t matter whether you agree about this as the party plagued by power struggle and personal interest has long become irrelevantl.

If this is the case, what do we expect from the party? The wonderful show :-) A show so splendid that even the best Hollywood movie also loses to it. The twist and turn of the show is something always beyond our imagination.

Friend is enemy, enemy is friend. The best friend is enemy and the greatest enemy is the best friend. The power is something that is above all principles, moral and ethics.

Just sit back and relax, and watch the show. Though we don’t need to pay a single cent to enjoy it, the show is shown at the expenses of Chinese community.

So arise and vote them out during the next general election. We don’t need this kind of show anymore though it is wonderful.

See you next post :-)

Day +1216 : Mother-in-law’s spring rolls for cell group

I am fine today.

My mother-in-law prepared spring rolls for cell group members last Saturday. She made very good spring rolls. Everyone likes the her spring rolls very much.

I wrote about this on my blog Day +1143 : Mother-in-law’s spring roll – the best ever in the world!

I believe she will be rich if she set up a stall to sell spring rolls along the roadside :-)

We finished 40 spring rolls
A zoom in view of the delicious spring rolls
Cell group members are enjoying the spring rolls
See you next post :-)

Day +1215 : Japanese buffet lunch at Shogun restaurant

I am fine today.

The school that my wife teaches organized a lunch today at Shogun restaurant, 1 Utama Shopping Centre where all teachers were entitled to eat free. The teacher club paid the bill. Family members can also attend but have to pay for the lunch.

I promised my wife to accompany her to the lunch. In addition, we also bring Daniel along as we expected that he could eat as much as an adult with a children rate. In other words, it was very cost effective.

We reached the restaurant at 2:00pm after church service. As the lunch session ended at 3:00pm, it was a little bit late. So we have to rush – so may types of food but so little time left :-(

In the end, we can’t really enjoy much even though we were very full.

Enjoying a good buffet needs plenty of time and also a relaxing environment. Next time must be there as early as 12:00pm, exact time when the buffet start.

I felt great to found out that I can still eat very well with one tooth less :-)

The table sheet
My first round
My wife's first round
My second round and of course after this, many more rounds :-)
The rate - Mon-Fri Lunch RM45, Dinner 58. Weekend Lunch RM48, dinner RM60. So dinner is a lot cheaper. The restaurant gave 35% discount for lunch and 30% discount for dinner during weekday. There is also 10% discount during weekend.
See you next post :-)