Red holiday soon

The Chinese New Year holidays are coming soon and it'll be a whole good long week of holidays. It seems that I'm able to go across the southern island afterall with the new passport in my hands..haha. Oh man, I've never expected myself feeling glad to go back there but it's being quite some time from August last year since I stepped into there. I guess it's a good time to make full use of the Internet speed there during my one week there and to catch up old times again with TG and Sandeep. Quite a number of my JC mates and SJI mates have ORD from their national service, as I have observed from my Facebook. Oh yea, not to forget, I also need to get myself cooking some superb pasta for my lunch hours during that week..haha. That's really something I miss doing =p

My university application is progressing slowly. I had a rough idea on where to apply for, with probably Leeds as first choice and Liverpool (ironically) as a second choice. Liverpool looks attractive though with the full scholarship award there and I would certainly be thrown into a dilemma if I did manage to get it since it's awarded only to one student from all three semesters intake going in this year. That scholarship will definitely relief some financial burdens. Well, I'm to leave it to the wait and see approach.

The time wheel currently spins at close to half of my last semester at Inti. I guess so far so good. There has been some challenges here and there which require me to get out of my usual comfort zone and I think I'm handling it well so far. There's always a learning point in everything that I'm placed in. It was a relief especially to see the magazine finally being sent for printing. Now it's just the waiting process. Hmmm..out of a sudden for this morning, I felt rather 'jobless' eventhough I had a few stuff lined up to do. It's like feeling restless out of nowhere..haha. Anyways, I had a mini drama watching marathon from the evening till now in finishing up Lost Season 5 coz the developments in there were just too exciting for me to miss it. I think the time travel concept in there was nicely placed and I think Season 5 basically provides quite a number of answers that are being asked in hte past 4 seasons. I'm definitely looking forward for the finale season 6!

Ahhhhhh..I'm waiting anticipatingly for Friday to come too! Hopefully it won't be too jam packed for a drive back down south. :)

Seek ye first the kingdom of God

Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33

I can't stay silent. I've had enough. I'm sick and tired of seeing people who call themselves Christians but they do not give the proper reverence or respect to God at all. They come as they like and they find God only when they are in trouble. They are indecisive when they come their beliefs and refuse to stampmark the cross in their life. How many of them are genuinely convicted in their hearts to shamelessly proclaim that they are Christians? How many of them have the courage to take up the banner of servanthood, to serve others selflessly and not to keep going back about thinking to make their own flesh comfortable? How many of them can put down the great pride that is found in "I"?

They call themselves Christians but they do not live up to their title. Some of them are still spiritual babies, refusing to grow up and expect themselves to be spoonfed and nannied all the time. They rather keep their hands clean, refusing to get down dirty when it matters most and they remain passive and unmoved when the Lord calls them to step up. They remain shy away, preferring to keep the candle and the light that God has provided under the bed, away from the eyes of the others. They prefer to be Sunday church goers but any other day is regarded to be too cumbersome to think about God. They love to stay stagnant in one area, refusing to move out of their comfort zones.

It boils down to attitude check. It's commitment and discipline. These two words seem to be mountains for some people who can say that they are Christians. It's not that you have to throw away everything and forget about them once you embark on the road with Christ. Instead, Christ asks us to seek Him first, and everything else, be it studies, finance or relationships will be provided by Him. They come automatically - Getting your life right with God ensures everything else falls into place. Seriously, the university/college time is the time when you make it or break it with your Christian life. The sad thing is that most Christians usually backslide during their university life. If you can't find time for God during your university life, you'll never find time for God when you're working. Stress, exams, tests and assignments are all part and parcel of university life and you can never take them out of the equation. It's not a good excuse. Everyone of us face the same equation eventhough they come in different forms. It's up to each individual of us to make time and find time for God. How persistent are you in searching time for God? I can't understand how some people can find time to play, lepak, shopping and do other things but they can't dedicate and invest their time for God. It's not about being religious. It's honouring the relationship that you have with God. If you say that you love the Lord, show it like you mean it. This honouring of relationship will also be reflected on how you honour your relationship with your spouses and family members in the future too.

Then there are the worst kinds. Those that take a dagger to stab the back of their fellow brothers/sisters or slit their throats with the most insidious of all character assassinations. Whatever bitterness that they have, they pile onto the others, as if everyone else is responsible for the misery that they are feeling. Come on! Everyone else has problems too, do not use your fellow brothers/sisters as the scapegoat or pillow to justify your misery or the problems that you have in your life. Instead, get yourself in line and set your hearts right before the Lord. Have an attitude check. Get that malicious spirit of spitefulness out of the way so that you can be a blessing to your fellow brothers/sisters instead of being a bane to them. The problem with some is that they are so preoccupied in finding faults with their fellow brothers/sisters that they are burning the bridges instead of building them. So preoccupied are they in complaining that they lost focus in their relationship with Christ.

Wake up! Wake up from your slumber of laziness, indecisiveness and spitefulness! Wake up! As Proverbs 1:7 sums it nicely "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline" Fear in this verse is not the negative sense of being terrified but knowing your place and have a firm respect for who God is. There must be a realisation of humbleness before learning can take place. Disrespecting the leadership, institutions and authorities that God has placed over in our lives is similar to disrespecting Him. Never ever take God's grace for granted. Your priorities in life and how you respond to God's call shows how much of reverence you have for Him. You cannot say you respect God when you don't give two hoots about the commitments that you have promised Him. Having that "tidak apa" attitude makes you no difference from the average guy on the street who has no knowledge of the Lord. Again, for those that call themselves Christians, how central is God in the foundation of your life? Please don't pick up the cross if you're not ready to commit yourself into a relationship with God and have the discipline to maintain your commitments to Him.

I anticipate plenty of flames coming along my way after this post but I can no longer keep quiet about it. Please wake up and have a backbone for what you believe in. For me, I choose to stand my ground right now on this very rock of Christ.

Gooners Blown Away

Rooney is delighted to put one into the Gooner's net

It was a good week for Wayne at the last week of January where he blew Hull into bits with his four goals. The Manchester derby turns out to be victorious in the end and Wayne was at the center of it again to round up his excellent form. Now, all eyes are on last weekend's match where the Gooners took on United at the Emirates. The Gooners are in for a hell ride in their fixture list as they are facing United, Chelsea and Liverpool consecutively. They may be flying high for the past few matches but these 3 matches could ultimately determine whether they make or break the season. It would definitely test the young guns in the team and exhaust them to the max.

The Gooners started off with some good attempts where Arshavin nearly put the home side up. It turns out that United were the ones who drew first blood when Nani dashed down the right, skipped past a few defenders and chip the ball into the net. It looked to be going wide but Almunia's itchy hands were there to divert the ball into goal, to the dismay of the Emirates crowd. 4 minutes later, Rooney went into the box and following a pass to him, he smashed the ball in without stopping it using his first touch. 2-0 up and the Gooners looked like they are going down the drain. United made sure that they kill the game beyond doubt when Park was at the receiving end of a brilliant counter-attacking move to go one on one with Almunia. It was a cool finishing by him and what a way to dominate the game than to use the Gooner's very own counter-attacking tactics. The Gooners had a consolation goal later on but by the end of the final whistle, they knew that they had lost the 1st of the 3 daunting task. It ain't getting easier with the trip to Stamford Bridge next week. United fans would hope for a draw between both of them to ensure that they drop some points.

It's great to see Rooney at probably his best form in his career. He's stepping up to the big shoes that he's supposed to fill and he's doing quite well. The only danger that United may slip is that they may overdepend on that one person just like how Liverpool would have depended on Torres. The transfer window has closed and looks like it's another quiet window for Man Utd, probably due to the fact that the club's debt by the Glazer family ain't looking too good. In any case, the squad looks equipped to deal with the Gooner's greenhorn legs and Fergie looks satisfied at the moment.

Sunday Driver

Yesterday was one of those days where there is nonstop driving. As I was involved in the worship team, I gotta wake up win the wee hours in the morning to get to church early. We didn't get to practice much on Saturday since we don't have the electric guitarist. There was some electricity blackout issues early in the morning at church too and we only had 15 minutes to run through the songs. Thank God that everything went well because the whole worship team really knew our parts well eventhough we didn't practice that much..haha. It was also annointing Sunday and when the visiting pastor was praying for me, he said that he saw a vision of a camp with pegs entrenched inside the soil. The pegs represented the convictions that I have in my belief and he urged me to hold steadfast to my beliefs and never to compromise them for anything. Personally, I felt that the imagery of the camp is kinda significant in that it reminds me of the nomadic lifestyle that I'm leading - neither hear nor there with no permanent place to stay put. I truly long for the day when I can call a piece of a land my own, to be te king of a castle.

After church, I didn't have time to breath and had to head straight to the publisher in Seremban for the final amendment and printing confirmation. Then I rushed back to pick up a bunch of juniors for Mr. Aru's party in his house at Rantau. The road leading to his house is rather interesting because it's quite ulu. But in any case, I was looking forward to go to his house since it has been a tradition every year for his law students to visit his house for a makan gathering. No student can from the Inti school of law can graduate without knowing who K. Arumugam is..haha. His name resounds through both seniors and juniors like a thunderous wave. Seriously, your life as a law student won't be complete without him teaching you for at least one subject.

Mr. Aru's house is huge and he has his own orchard, carpark and a garden. We had BBQ and had a short tour around the house. He's quite musically inclined too with all the musical instruments in his house. Lol..I tried the drums while Patrick tried the guitar. We stayed until about 10.15pm and then we departed. Woah, his housing area is really pitch dark outside and yea, we had to navigate through carefully using the high lights to the main road. Hmm..I wanted to take the highway back to Nilai, thinking that it was faster. In the end, we ended up going through a huge jam but we managed to reach back in the time for the big match at the Emirates..haha.

Cyberspace Wilderness

Stan got swept away by a sandstorm and ended up in the digital wilderness before returning back to the cyberspace urban center. *blows dust away* This space has been abandoned for almost 3 weeks, quite a number of events have not been archived but I'll try to give a summary of what had happened for those weeks in the wilderness. It was an unexpected sequence of events and let's recount back from the day when Stan got dispatched and dismembered from the cyberspace connection in an almost torrential manner.

It was on a Tuesday when my trusty old lappie froze with yellow lines streaking across. I restarted the lappie as usual but to my horror, the screen graphics started with a distorted mess. I cannot see anything in the screen at all and at first I thought it was a virus. After analysing it in the net using the library com, it dawned upon me that it could have been the graphics card problem and true enough, the google search yielded a whole mass of complains on nVidia 84 and 86 series going haywire for all computer brands. Gosh, it's going to be costly trying to fix up that problem sinc one fix would cost at least RM300 to Rm400 plus it's not guarantee that fix will last for long. In any case, I need a quick temporary fix because the spoilage came at the worst possible time, when I need to complete my thesis within 2 weeks.

It so happens that I chance upon a rather strange and bizzare solution in YouTube for my problem. It involves using a HAIRDRYER blowing at the graphics card chip to pump it back to life. Personally, I think it's quite ridiculous but I gave it a try anyways since I have nothing to lose with such desperation. Reuben and I dismantled the entire lappie and gave the lappie the hairdryer treatment that it needed.We were laughing as we put back the parts after the hairdryer treament and to our utter shock, it DID work! LOL! The joy was short live because the graphics card got fried after 30 minutes. Then I have a DIY session to give another round of hairdryer treatment and this time it lasted for another hours before going off. I repeated the process a few times and soon, even the hairdryer treatment can't get it back on track. This calls for desperate measures and this means that a motion for a new lappie has to be initiated. I do not really have plans to get a new lappie until June just before I fly off to UK so as to ensure that I get the most updated models in the market. I had always wanted to have a lappie that can touch high-end games but I didn't expect that it had to come that early in January now.

I was hoping to get it within the second week of January so that I could at least have one week to rush finish my thesis. I ordered from Dell but to my frustration, the new lappie did not come within the second week. Getting to Dell's customer support to ask them to double up was nonsensical coz I wasted RM10 trying to call them and no one picked up the phone. I really had no choice but to go to the library to type it out or borrow some of my friends' laptop (being parasitic for the moment..lol). It was hard work travelling from place to place but not that I had lots of options available. The most wasted thing was the weekend because that could be the period in which I could make the most progress in my two thesis. As the days approach nearer to the dateline, I was kinda nervous that I won't complete it on time. Nevertheless so, I manage to receive some really important aid at the right time when Jojo's boyfriend offered to lend me his lappie for the last 3 days of the thesis, enabling me to burn the extra midnight oil to get it done since library or labs don't open overnight. I'm indeed very thankful and grateful for his help :)

I manage to complete the two thesis on last Friday, right to the death of dateline and it was a relief for me personally during the weekend after the thesis fiasco was gone. In fact, not only was the thesis was affected because of my lappie breakdown. The CF secretary work suffered a major deficiency as I had to go to library or Jonathan's room everyday to type out the memos, proposals and register and again, the lappie breakdown had to hit on the spot when I'm the busiest in the CF calendar - the Exhibition Week itself.

After the long long wait, I finally received shipment from Dell yesterday. I was anticipating it well over the weekend since I received a sms from Dell stating that I would receive my new lappie latest by the 26th which is today and then another which stated that delivery would be made earlier on the 25th. I was kinda excited on Sunday night and couldn't get to sleep and on Monday, I had difficulties concentrating in class because I'm eagerly waiting the phone call from the delivery person. However, by 2 pm, when I did not receive any call, I was kinda worried that they might have delayed it or something like that for the next few days. Then I remembered Ben telling me that his friends needed to go to the General Office to collect it and no one actually informed him that his shipment had arrived. True enough, the lappie was there and I happily carried it back to my room. I only had the opportunity to test it on yesterday late night since there's Equity class and captain ball. Haha..the testing period will continue today and few others to see how the programmes would run.

This is fantastic. With a new lappie at hand, Stan's blog is back to life again and he shall go forth to continue with his conquest of cyberspace xD

The final lap at ulu land

Committee retreat was fun over the weekend. It started off with Jon, Reuben and me heading to Lerdie's house on the 31st. It was planned that we leave campus at around 3-4pm but car air-con problems meant that the three of us were stuck at the mechanic repair shop for almost 4 hrs as they refilled back the gas into the air-con box. We finally got the car started and it was 7pm when we left nilai. We got a little lost around Sunway while trying to find Kylie's house and by the time we reached Lerdie's house, it was 9pm. We quickly had our dinner and some rest and we headed off to St. Paul's Church at 11pm for the watchnight service. I was expecting the usual service like maybe a band or something like that but it was a traditional Anglican service equipped with full hymns and processions and of course, with the Bishop leading the frontiers. I looked at Reuben and Reuben looked at me, we both agreed in telepathically that it's gonna be a long long long night..lol. It's an interesting experience again because this is the first time I'm in a traditional Anglican service. It reminds me alot of the Catholic Masses that I once attended in SJI. The Holy Communion was rather similar in style in that everybody shares the cup but it stops short in drinking from it for the Anglicans. We just had to dip the bread into the wine in the cup.

After service, we went to Bangsar McDonalds for supper. The whole town area there is still reeling from the New Year Celebration and policemen are crawling everywhere keeping watch to ensure that the crowd doesn't get out of hand. Afterthat, we crashed to bed and woke up pretty late the next morning at about 11am. I led devotion after everyone has gathered around and then we are off for our first session. The sessions went fine and we had our lunch and dinner at the not-so-expensive areas in Bangsar. On the second morning, we played a really hilarious game which involves us trying to guess the character name that was written on the paper pasted on our backs. "Girly Man" conjures up some really interesting questions to ponder..lol. During that lunch time, for some funny reason or so, my car alarm sound animated to life after being silent for all these years. That was strange but it's a welcome anyways. Dinner on the second day was a fun affair as all of us cooked spaghetti in the kitchen with Lerdie's mama helping us. The Bishop joined us for the dinner and he opened up 2 non-alcoholic fruit drinks from the bottle. We had a jolly good time listening to him telling stories of his experience at Israel as well as the historical aspects on the origins of the Bible. On the last day, which is Sunday, we headed off to Erwin's church for Sunday service and finally back to campus in the afternoon.

Oh well, it's the start of my final semester here in Inti. There's the dreaded mid-sessional results that are about to be released and I hope that I don't get slaughtered that badly. It's gonna be the most busy semester yet and it looks set for me to end the lap at ulu land with a massive bang and burnout.

The Decade in Review

It's 10 years into a new millennium and it's a historical moment that Stan is happy to take note of. These are the most notable moments in the previous decade that are memorable to Stan and they include political, historical, sports, gaming and personal milestones. Lol..mostly they are random ramblings that are mixed up like a rojak but these are my top picks for the decades.

2000 - Y2k doesn't seem to be a bad problem afterall. The computers ran fine and the world didn't come to an end. I reached the shores of Singapore for the second time since my holiday there in 1998. Little did I know that I am gonna remain there for a good 8 years before returning back to a Malaysian life later. A new environment and a new place seemed like a frightening process but life at the southern island seems to be a fresh new start from the old conflicts. France won EURO 2000, following their success in World Cup 1998. SQ 006 crashed in Taiwan - A big news for Singaporeans at that time and for SIA. The younger Bush enters the White House as the President nearly 10 years after his father.

2001 - It's my final year in primary school and it's time for me to sit for the exams to enter secondary school. September 11 terrorist attack remains probably the strongest event that changed historical and political landscape in the world. On thee very same year, US launched a counter-offensive against Afghanistan to bring down the Taliban regime, marking the start of the US war campaign in the Middle East. Leeds United reached the semi-finals of the Champions League but lost the final spot to Valencia. Man United bought van Nistelrooy, one of their most prolific goalscorers.

2002 - I entered St. Joseph's Institution and was delighted that I got a place in there. It was another new phase of life with new friends and new environment. World Cup was held in Japan and Korea with Brazil claiming their 5th title after failing their bid in 1998. France bowed out of 2002 in a shameful way, a shadow of their team in 98. GTA 3 came out that year, giving a whole new meaning to rampage on the streets. Avril first established herself in her new album and those were the days when Avril, Norah Jones and Michelle Branch competed for the radio waves.

2003 - Sec 2 streaming exams. Knights of the Old Republic became some sort of a benchmark for future RPG games to be measured in my opinion. The Iraqi invasion by the US finally saw the capture of Saddam, marking the end of his long regime in Baghdad. Back in Malaysia, Mahathir announced to the shock of his party comrades and the nation that he will resigning from the top post of the country after 20 years there.

2004 - It's a year of forming and defining who I am. The year when I finally started to focus specifically to historical knowledge and strive to build a library of them following my acceptance to take History 2158 (World Affairs since 1919) in SJI. The American Idiot album inspired me to stay loyal to the rock genre and rock became the defining style of music that drives me. Wayne Rooney arrived in Man Utd, after waves of speculations. In Malaysia, Pak Lah won the 2004 elections in a landslide victory, with a promise of reforms to every aspect at government administration. Bush too got the vote of confidence to renew his term following the climate of terrorism.

2005 - My graduating year in SJI. As a senior in the Cadet Corps, it's time to enjoy the fruits of labour that we have worked so hard since starting out as a recruit. Had my first rock band performance in front of a few-hundred crowd for the teacher's day concert, ending off my high school year in a bang. O Levels season was quite an interesting period.

2006 - Got into Nanyang JC, something I didn't really like at first because I had planned to go St. Andrew's JC instead. Eventually I settled in, finding some good buddies like Sandeep and TG in the process. I went to Vietnam for a one-week fieldtrip and that was an eye opening experience. Man Utd won their first silverware in the Carling Cup since 2004 and it was hoped that many more will come in the future. The World Cup was held in Germany with Italy emerging as Champions.

2007 - Final year in A' Levels. The crux of change. I made the final decision to leave the southern island and started making plans to return back to the Malaysian life. It's the year when I discovered about Muse and an upgrade to a taste with alternative rock. Man United won their first Premier League title since 2004 and personally, it's a joyful end to a wait to see the trophy being lifted up by a Mancunian. Malaysia's 50 years of independence was celebrated on this year.

2008 - The start of reestablishing myself in Malaysia. The March 8 elections marks a new political watershed in Malaysia. It's the beginning of my journey in law. Man United won the Champions League, a sight I have being waiting for since 1999. Barack Obama voted in as the 44th US President, the first African American in the top office.

2009 - The year when I acquired full mobile movement to travel around Malaysia. It's also the year when I took on more responsibilities in many areas as a committee member. Man Utd visited Malaysia and it's an atmosphere that'll stay in my mind for a long time.

2010 - May this year be a fruitful year that the Lord has bless and it'll sure be another major phase in life as I step foot on another continent.

Here's cheers to another 10 years down the road for the new decade! :)