Making a difference this Lent 2011 (Compassion Walk)
~Roughly 350 youths walking to downtown KL.~
Some people today seemed to be unable to accept and to love these people who are living amidst them. They have prejudice towards these people just because they are ‘problematic’ and different. And they’ll have nothing to do with these people.
And I would say part of our objective is to make them aware that these people are still human, not much different from who we are. They are capable of feeling hurt, unwanted, lonely, and depressed. 
The mission was simple, to put on the shirt, and ask people to HUG us. But the message to me, to the youth who followed the walk… was a powerful one. For to put on the shirt was to admit that, I am an addict, I am HIV-positive, I have AIDS, or I am an alcoholic. We, who donned the shirt, was to be in the position of these people. I’d approached total strangers, said this to them: ‘I am an addict, can you give me a hug?’’ and wait for them to give me that hug.
And for much of the time, they just walked away. And it struck me. The people we are portraying were experiencing the same thing. People shunned them off/despise them/avoid them because they are different. How would you feel if no one were to love you, to care for you, to show compassion to you? How would you feel if you approached someone for help and that person just walked away, much like how many of those whom we approached that afternoon did?
I’ve learnt (first-hand) that afternoon that the world could really use more love and compassion. I’ve learnt that I can no longer feel indifferent towards the sufferings of other people. There are tonnes of other people in need of help out there, the people we have portrayed, the homeless, the orphans but what have we done to help them.
~Preparing food and drinks, feeding the poor and homeless~
I gave food to the homeless earlier that day, watch them eat and listened to their stories of how they lived each day taking one step at a time. And their day can be a blessing or a curse for them, depending on how that day turned out. They might be having a warm night sleep by the roadside or they could be soaking wet when it rains. Yet, I realized they are as human as the rest of us. They have parents, siblings and friends. They still have hope and dreams for a better life. Some managed to maintain their dignity by which they really didn’t like to be termed ‘homeless’ or to be found scraping food and materials out of trash. They didn’t like to feel ‘sympathy’ from others because of their dignity and yet they don’t have a choice most of the time. Sometimes they were even taken advantage of, when their employers refused to pay them for the work they’ve done. The world that they lived in was a world that I could have never imagine being in. And yet they are still optimistic about their life. The homeless guy my group talked with was cheerful and even sang bits of songs for us.
Some of the participants from my group did a short sharing session a week after the ‘Walk’ and the facilitator mentioned that they had visited these the HIV-positive/AIDS patients in the hospitals and some of these patients were actually reluctant to talk with them. It was as if they had accepted the reality that they will be shunned by society and that to me is just a sad case.
I think its really about time we start to accept these people for who they are and to welcome them into society with open arms. To show them the love and compassion they seek. Because the world could use more of it.
Will you be making a difference this lent?
Christmas party with the orphans.
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CSSUPM organized a trip to the Ruman Keluarga Kami orphanage home in Kajang a few days ago. They organized a Christmas party for the kids which was filled with sing-alongs, games, food and entertainment for the kids. Its good to remember that Christmas is a time of giving and to those orphans, giving the gift of love would certainly mean so much to them. Most of us are fortunate enough to have a family to spend Christmas with but we often forget about the less fortunate people out there especially people who would be grateful wholeheartedly to have someone to remember them by especially during the festive seasons. The kids there are very polite and lovely. Its hard to imagine what they have gone through before this.
I wasn’t really in the festive mood throughout December but I’m glad to have finally contributed something even though the Christmas season has already past. Perhaps it wasn’t really a bad Christmas 2010 after all.
Merry Belated Christmas everyone.
The final ‘Thank You’
I met you tonight once more, after close to 2 years not seeing you at all. My first reaction when I saw you walking through that door was ‘Oh shit, you have got to be kidding me’, but there you were, standing with the rest of them. We weren’t in contact for that 2 years, except for that one time when I asked that really stupid question of you. But other than that there wasn’t any contact for close to two years and I have got to admit, seeing you once more was awkward. And I slump into my ‘please don’t notice me cause I don’t know how should I act’ program and that eventually turned into ‘oh you noticed, self denial protocol initiated, Alan will ignore you today’.
And I am not happy for it. I didn’t wanted it. But I didn’t know what to do about it.
~I remember this was taken on my way back from sending you home 2 years ago. Later that night you broke up with me~
But still it was nice seeing you again.
You know that tingly feeling you have within yourself when you met your ex, knowing that he/she is seeing someone else right now. I had it in abundance this night. Things didn’t work out between us last time. And things might remain how it was like tonight for a long time to come.
But in my mind, I’m really happy (I’m lying partially) to see that you have met with a better person. I’m happy to see that you have found your own happiness (Still lying partially- I just had to be honest). I hope that he can treat you as how you will wish to be treated (At least I’m telling the truth here, you should be treasured). And you also need to keep believing in your own happiness.
I never really talk about us much to anyone else. And after all this time I’ve been trying to let go of that part of you within me. Because it makes me unable to love anyone else fully. But I guess I’m wrong. Why should I let you go. What we had was special, and so it should be there, even though things didn’t work out. After all, memories shouldn’t be kept hidden. It should be cherished. That is why I’m acknowledging you here.
There is one last thing I really want to tell you though. (Don’t worry, its not another ‘ I’m the Alan~~’ post.)
~This was taken when we were at Johor for Alvin and Janice’s wedding~
Thank you, for being the one for me, even though it was short. Thank you, for keeping me company for those few months. Thank you, for teaching me about God. Thank you, for all the cares you have given. Thank you, for putting up with me when I hurt you. Thank you, for that second chance. Thank you, for teaching me how to love. Thank you, for all that you have given me.
And the final ‘Thank you’ will be.
Thank you, Nat, for loving me once, for being my first love.
~It has become a norm for me to dedicate song’s that I’ve learnt to people who matters to me. This will be your song. Its translated as ‘Thank you takes on a deeper meaning’. Original song here~
I’m quite sure you would not be seeing these ‘Thank you’ since the cowardly me decided that it is totally unnecessary for you to see it. But if you ever found out about this, then it’d be great. At least I’ve done what I wanted to do ^^.
The Anger problem
Image via Wikipedia
I have an anger issue. Even my ex used to tell me about it. She said that I really have to control the anger which builds inside of me for no apparent reason. And I must apologize for letting her be the place where I release the swelling anger.
Anger has been swelling within me since Tuesday morning. Take this situation.
You are awaiting a parcel delivery from Citylink Express. The parcel was sent by the sender on Monday so tentatively, given that it’s express delivery, it should have reached the very next day. And so you waited the whole morning for that parcel. And it didn’t show. Alright then, perhaps they got sidetracked somewhere you thought. So on Wednesday, you called in to the hotline to ask where your parcel is. And so this girl’s voice told you that the parcel is on it’s way and tentatively will arrive before 5.30pm. Since you’re not feeling too well that day, you decided to wait for it. Fast forward and the clock shows 4.30pm. The elusive parcel was nowhere to be seen. So you made another call. And the girl’s say to have patience, that it will arrive before 5.30pm. And so we all ‘know’ what happens when 5.30pm arrives. No parcel. Next day, Thursday morning, you called once more, and this time the girl noticed that its you again. And so she takes down your address and number, says that she’s going to ask for the time the delivery man will stop by your place and then called you back. So you waited a while and still no call. So you decided to go to work and come back later when they finally called. Fast forward to lunch time. You received a call from the delivery man saying he’s outside your house. And that’s when you feel pissed. You tried to negotiate with him saying that you’ll rush back now but he says he got other delivery to make. And so you decided to tell him a particular time when you’ll be at home so that he can make a second delivery. This story is still ongoing at the time of typing so you’re now at home waiting for the guy to come back with your parcel.
Some might argue that, its okay to be pissed off and angry since it’s the problem with the delivery. Anyone would have been angry. But I have to consider that being pissed off and angry at the person now wouldn’t help me get my parcel sooner. So after going through a morning of raging anger, I had to force myself to calm down and think. And so I’ve asked him to come again politely, even inserting a ‘Terima Kasih’ (Thank You) at the end of my message. And I really hope that he comes or I might find difficulties controlling my rage again.
Anger is really something that destroys a person and the person’s relationship with everyone around him. I did have this argument sometime ago with a friend and taking note of those factors which fuels an argument really helps. But sometimes its hard cause even when you’re using the tips to resolve an argument, the other party just don’t understand what you’re trying to do.
Another instance will be a chat session a few nights ago. We were chatting about religion and the arguments she made really cause me to lose myself. So much so that I called her a ‘hypocrite’. And I really do regret using that word. I did apologize and thankfully things are ok.
I think that some of my anger management methods are working. At least, I acknowledge that the current me handles anger a lot better than the me a few years ago.
But still I definitely won’t be using Citylink anymore. And I suggest anyone reading this to think twice before going for Citylink. I’m just really dissatisfied with their service.
How the fireflies and a girl taught me something more about life.
I have to let myself settle down first before typing out this post. Because what I’m about to share really got me ‘emo’. Will be trying my best to share with you what I’m experiencing right now.
I wonder if you had come across this video clip on Youtube or on Facebook. Do have a look at it.
I’m not really good in Mandarin so I might not understand the whole story but I reckon I know enough to know what’s happening.
Anyway. I’m touched by her courage and her life-story. Even her outlook on life is touching. Life treats her unfairly, but she still managed to look on the brighter side of life. She believes she will have happiness. I wonder how many of us actually believes we will find true happiness, from the bottom of our hearts. We often give up and feel undetermined by the tiniest things, but this ‘young-looking’ girl reminds us that there are a lot more things in life to feel grateful for. To keep on looking forward with your head held high no matter what befalls us.
Thank you for teaching me something about life today.
An experience with God
I have experienced something two days ago that I thought I really should share with you here. Before I get into the real incident, let me first and foremost clarify what I intended to do on that day. I woke up with most of my day plans set which includes, going early to lab to run test and while test is running, attend the workshop and keep on repeating this until 5pm. After that I would go home, buy food for MSG gathering which will be at chapel at night. After the gathering, it would have been sending the people back and later go back and sleep. Another thing which I should reveal is that my laptop broke down last Saturday (repairs being no longer an option). I went through the morning following this plan but at noon, Victoria sms’ed me to tell me that the gathering at night has been cancelled. And I changed my plans to go buy the laptop that night instead rather than the following night.
After that at 4pm, Christy called me to ask if I’m free for movie after 6pm, but I couldn’t find a suitable time for the movie and hence I ended up asking her if she would want to follow me to get the laptop and she agreed. Just moments before going out to fetch her, I had the idea of coming back to lab after I got the laptop to install some software. I was mainly sitting on the fence at first but ultimately decided to return, so I left my bag in the lab.
I left the lab at around 7pm, picked Christy up, had dinner, gotten a laptop and sent her back. By the time I arrived back in lab it was 10pm. Installed the software and finished my work. I was doing the installation in a small computer room in the lab. Before leaving for the night, I decided to do a sweep check of the equipments in the lab, making sure everything was fine and since I didn’t expect anything to be wrong, I did the check in the dark, with only the corridor lights from the outside illuminating the lab. After I checked that the back door was locked, I proceeded to exit through the front door, but before I exit, I remembered a hot plate which sit on the last bench in the lab and decided to take a look at it. I saw a dim light on the machine that I haven’t seen before and proceed to touch the surface. And was scalded. Someone left the hotplate on at 100 degrees Celsius.
After a while it dawned on me how close I was to missing out on that machine. I realized that the chains of events which lead me to discovering that the machine was on. I was there because I wanted to install the software which I could have done on the next day. Also IF I didn’t gotten the laptop that night I wouldn’t be installing anything as well. And I got the laptop cause the gathering was cancelled and the movie didn’t work out. And I wasn’t suppose to buy the laptop that night in the first place.
I realized that it certainly wasn’t a coincidence that all these things happen at that one time. It’s God blessing who prevented the possible fire in the lab. My advice to you will be that, in case you are wondering why the unfortunate things keep on happening to you, perhaps you might want to think that it’s all part of a grand design which ultimately benefits you. God works in wonder. It is only up to you if you can realize it or not.
Delayed post – The story of the pearl tea
Delayed post. Post was written on the 4th of June 2010 – 4.17pm
I was observing this young mother while waiting for Lei Hong and her sister to finish shopping at Skudai Parade. She was lining up to buy some pearl tea in front of the Econsave here. Despite being a mummy she looked pretty and fragile. Her husband and daughter, I presume,was standing outside the store waiting for the girl to finish buying her pearl tea. She was lining up waiting for her turn when three teenage boys suddenly cut into the line in front of her. She seemed a bit annoyed but determined to buy the drink and so she waited patiently. Even her husband moved to her and said to stop waiting and both of them moved away after a little while. What surprised me was that the mummy returned a while later and continue to line up. Her husband was not with her but I saw him observing her from a distance. She finally got the drink and moved away and her husband follow suit.
In the mere 5 minutes or so that this happen I was feeling a mixture of emotion from disgust for the teenage boy attitudes to admiration of the determination and patience of the young mother. And the loving glance of her husband watching over her.
Perhaps the teenage boys may have gotten the pearl tea but the young mummy was obviously blessed with perhaps what the boys didn’t even realize. She has the attitude which will draw the admiration of many and most of all the love from her loving family.
And as the little beautiful daughter watch her mother throughout this short story of the pearl tea, perhaps she will one day realize of the love and determination her mother has.
NowiSee Sunway station 2010.
Attended the NowISee spiritual concert which was held on Sunway’s Taylor University College Lakeside Campus on the 29th of May 2010. This is my 2nd time going to the concert and fully experiencing it from the start till the end (My first experience didn’t really quite reached the end since I had to go off earlier).
Anyway it was quite an experience. Perhaps I should get some others to go with me next time. It was also quite an experience taking photos although I was stuck sitting quite static in the middle row of the hall.
I’ll be going to the next few stations when I can and keep on experiencing God as well as fulfilling my hobby 
Do join us for the next station
I PWN’d my Health Statistics paper
In case you hadn’t noticed: I FAILED IN SKETCHING.
Anyway. I’m glad to say that I really PWN’d my Health Statistic paper. First indications of test 1 and test 2 showed that I would have been unable to ‘ace’ this subject this time around but I totally pwn’d it in the finals and scored there big time. Very happy with my results
We won best booth award for Postgraduate Fair UPM 2010
Last Thursday till Saturday, there was a postgraduate studies fair in the Grand Hall of UPM. Graduate Students Club was asked to help out in setting up the booth and maintaining it throughout the whole 3 days. The tradition was that our faculty are title holders for best booth for 3 years running and I was a bit worried that the title will fall out of the hands of the current batch of Exco.
However surprisingly, we won. I’m really thankful for all those who helped out in the booth. Especially to my secretary who did quite a lot since I was out with a cold and also had to plan for a secondary booth during the Biomedical Symposium at Faculty of Medicine and Health Science. It has been a hectic few days but I guess the hard work paid off.
I’m still wondering though how we’d managed to win as I really could see other booths that are on par, if not nicer than ours.
Anyway, here are some photos of the booth
Lets hope that we can retain the same achievement next year
Here are some of the photos from the secondary booth for the Biomedical Symposium.
I’m really grateful for Phoebe [girl in white in the above photo] who helped me out when I was facing the prospect of guarding the booth on my own for 4 hours [being sick and all]. Thank you very much.
And now, after all this, I can finally focus on other things which I really have to get done.
And gosh, I’m still not completely well 
A belated birthday celebration
Last year I had I really early birthday celebration which, in the end sort of ‘pissed off’ a lot of people. And I’ve learnt my lesson and didn’t do the alterations I did last year.
I became 10 days older last year. And this year if I were to follow the date by which this group of friends celebrated my birthday, then I would have been 18 days younger . [So all in all, 8 days younger??]
Anyway, thanks for celebrating my birthday
~The bf, the gf, and the lamp post~
~PKK friends~
~The birthday cake~
~I still have this much sitting in my fridge since I’m sick and can’t really eat any cake~
~Me cutting the cake~
~Me wishing for … (secret)~
Oh anyway… I still have that very unique sense to know whether there’s a hidden surprise for me every birthday. So in the end I really felt that you might as well just bring the cake out and get it over with. The faster we go through routines, the faster I can eat the cake.
Thanks
I saw a comet today
Juliana was sending me to the airport this morning when we saw this one thing in the sky. I took a few photos of it and it really do look like its a comet. (Click on the photos to see a larger version of the photos)
