Dilemmas

Dilemmas... don't we just HATE dilemmas?
Even the Malays have a special way to say it... "ditelan mati emak, diludah mati bapa"... fortunately this has nothing to do with parents...
I remember having a dilemma coming to Banting - to stay or not to stay? But my parents decided to move on to Banting, so here I am - I'm still alive!
Right now, I have a decision to make - it may or may not be a major decision but it still is a dilemma.

During the second week of school in Sekolah Menengah Methodist Telok Datok or known to all as MES, I was elected the class monitor of my class, 5 Newton. I felt so elated, so well-liked among my classmates! And then a few days later they celebrated my birthday in the class, special for the class monitor only. It showed to me how much they accepted me into their circle of friends.
(By the way the people in the pictures here were only the ones who loved to have their picture taken - there were many more who are really good people)

However before I was unanimously voted as class monitor, three of my girl-friends, who were librarians each with high posts in the Board of Librarians of MES, asked me if I wanted to be a librarian because there were openings for new students of every form. At that time, I needed the assurance of KK points (that are so annoyingly important for scholarships and university entrance), so naturally I applied to be a librarian.

Just after about two weeks of duty as librarian, however, the library teacher approached me to inform me that they have a policy stating that students in Form 5 are only allowed to hold one post, so to give a chance to other students to get points. Therefore if I want to be a librarian, I will have to forgo the glamorous post as Ketua Kelas and work as a humble slave in the library.

So there you have it - a decision between being a class monitor or a librarian. Each has its own significant pros and cons, which makes it very difficult to choose:

Librarian
1. The librarian post gives more KK points than Ketua Kelas.
2. Being a librarian gives me the chance to read more books. We are encouraged, or strictly speaking, required, to read books to fulfil the NILAM program, so as a librarian I have unlimited access to these books.
3. As a librarian, I will only have to work one day a week, on any chosen day, from 1pm to 5pm - as opposed to everyday as a class monitor, walking up and down to teacher's offices to collect stuff, to PKHEM's office everyday to collect Pas Keluars and Buku Kawalans (don't bother wondering what these are) and doing the odd jobs like photostating and such menial tasks. It is definitely less tiring.
4. However, on the down side, all librarians have to wear a yellow long-sleeved shirt and black pants. (skirt for girls) This is rather inconvenient, along with the issue of transportation, but it can be done without much complications...

Class Monitor
1. I like the feeling of being the head of something and the respect from students. Well it's not like they actually respect me but I feel so much more acknowledged, you get what I'm saying?
2. I will more or less have more responsibility as a class monitor, which may be a good or bad thing. My mother thinks that this post will help me gain confidence and bla bla bla.
3. Again, my mother thinks that as a class monitor I have more chance to speak up and improve my speaking skills.
4. I feel comfortable where I am, like the way I felt being in Kuching. But I moved in the end - does this mean I have to change again?

Someone once said, "Change is constant". Change happens all the time, and we've got to accept them and grow with it. Do I have to change again? Should I remain as the head of the class where my mind and pride is, or should I change to being a librarian, where my heart is?

Shock

I AM IN SHOCK.
I CANNOT BELIEVE MY EYES NOR MY EARS.


Roger Federer, the World no. 1 Men's Singles player and 3-time Australian Open holder,

has lost to

Novak Djokovic, World no. 3 and rising star...

MY FAVOURITE NO.1 PLAYER HAS BEEN BEATEN...
I AM IN SHOCK. I HAVE SUDDENLY LOST INTEREST IN AUSTRALIAN OPEN.
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo....

Australian Open

Australian Open has started again!! It's my favourite Grand Slam of the year - most probably because it was the first one I watched and made me take up tennis as a sport!
If you're interested, watch the proceedings on Star Sports I think it is, channel 813 I think it is, or log on to www.australianopen.com for more details!

Who I want to win


World No.1 Roger Federer

World no.1 since forever it seems and probably will forever be - provided he wins the Australian Open again, because as defending champion he has lots of points to defend from his nearest rival, Rafael Nadal.



Former Wimbledon and US Open champion Maria Sharapova

Not only is she damn hot and pretty, but she's a terrific player and fighter, with powerful groundstrokes and ear-piercing screams!!

Who I don't mind winning either


Andy Roddick
Has one of the most powerful serves in the men's tour. I think that has been the only thing that got him this far, but he's improving in other areas, too.


Novak Djokovic
Playful, fun, loves to imitate people, exuberant, and a fantastic player with lots of variety.


James Blake
Come on now, he's 28 and has to win something sometime right? Give him a chance larr ok?


Ana Ivanovic
Young, pretty, and has a heart of iron.


Serena Williams
The defending champion, one of the greatest fighters of all time.

Players I hate and hope will never win


Justine Henin
World no. 1 but I hate her because she keep beating all my favourite girls...


Rafael Nadal
World no. 2 but I hate him because he keeps denying Federer of the French Open title. Why play so good for?!


David Nalbandian
So ugly ba... Xo


Amelie Mauresmo
She's ugly, she's lousy, she's a choker and she's LESBIAN.

Happy Birthday to me...

Yayyyy, I'm 17, finally!! so chun hor, 17 on the 17th... XD XD
I'm still waiting for my presents to be posted to my house ya!!
My crazy classmates here made me feel sooo special by celebrating my birthday with me. They bought a nice cake for me... so sweet!! Well well what to do, they have to respect their new Ketua Kelas rite? Yep, that's right - I am zee class monitor!! muahahahaha...
Here are some pics taken by my new friend, Sin Yee who brought (I donno legal or not lah) a camera to school!!

My birthday cake!!

Re: One Of The Greatest?

Wilson Liew a.k.a Mole wrote on his blog, a post titled "One Of The Greatest".

He was mentioning that I'm one of the greatest pianists he has ever seen. Now, despite the sudden glow of bliss that swirled around my head when I read his flattering (but not entirely true) praises, I would very much like to disagree with him.

It is true (I'm just stating the facts, ok?) that whenever I come in contact with a piano, there is a sense of closeness with the song and the Person I'm playing it to/for that flows out of my fingers. I don't really know how to describe it accurately - It's like as if all my feelings start to unwind as I touch the delicate keys of the piano. This is one of the reasons why I despise don't really like electronic keyboards, aside from synthesizers that produce very beautiful sounds, but the original, the authentic piano is the BEST.

Anyway, as I ramble on and on about the wonders of the piano, I stress that I don't think I am the greatest. There have been plenty of pianists before me and plenty more that will rise up after me. Everyone has potential to excel in whatever they do, only if they work hard AND submit everything they do to God. Sometimes when I play, I fail miserably - that is, in my own standards. There are times when I just feel like I'm not doing justice to the piano. The chords I play may be correct, the solos may be pin-point perfect (usually they aren't), but sometimes I just can't express anything the way I want to. In these tough situations, it might be because 1) Holy Spirit is not moving. 2) Something in my heart is hindering the Holy Spirit to flow, eg. pride, sin, wrong motives, etc. or 3) People are not responsive. When this happens, I would pray, even as I play, for God to play through me so that I can worship Him through my playing. Another key point: the same way you sing a new song to God, very often I "play a new song" to God - both somehow lifts the atmosphere from just a song to a time of passionate worship to our Maker. It doesn't cease to amaze me every time!!

I am not perfect, duh. Many at times my mind wanders off when I play. When this happens, I often forget what key I am in and then play another chord. For example, (for the musical people to know) if I am in E, and I'm supposed to play C#m which is the chord 6, sometimes I forget and play in key of A, so I hit the chord F#m. Usually I instantly realize and play the right chord before it makes any difference, but it's still awkward. Also, very often I hurry a lot in my playing. Wilson would constantly say I play like I'm being chased by a dog.

So what makes me stand out and cause Wilson to say that I'm one of the greatest? (a gross exaggeration, without a shadow of doubt) Most people who play contemporary piano is in one way or another able to play freestyle. But one of my important assets is the ability to play by ear. This does not mean I have perfect pitch, but I understand chords and how they move about, so I know a minor 6th chord when I hear one. Another important thing is to remember the chords of a song. I mean, you don't have to memorize every single song but you must get the basic chords of all the normal songs you play. This is not difficult to do - once you've played a song a few times, you shold be able to remember it for some time. These two things are so important for a smooth flow of songs, especially when the worship leader wants to use an impromptu song.

Other than that, useful skills will be like learning the intros of all the songs, as I have posted in the list of intros and solos. Other than that... I would say I'm just a normal kid who loves to play the piano, loves God and loves to play the piano for God. I think that's all that matters, no?

I think I'm a very blessed person. Or cursed. One can see this in all kinds of different ways. You see, I came to Banting thinking that I can escape from serving God "full-time" like I did in EBC, playing just about every week, every Saturday and every Sunday. I was hoping to come here to just learn more about God and to enjoy His presence - but God had different ideas. Just a week upon my arrival here, Pastor Chris Long got me to play keyboard for a prayer service on Thursday (in conjunction with the Awal Muharram's public holiday). And to top it off, I had to be on the stage for almost two whole hours, about one hour with the band and another hour alone. So - am I blessed or cursed? Being willing to serve is one thing - being available to serve even when you don't want to is another. But I didn't say I didn't want to, did I? I was so blissfully overjoyed to be able to touch the piano - any piano for that matter - after 9 days of pianolessness!!! XD

Banting: The Beginning Extended

Hey EmBaCY people, do you guys remember our d'Encounter camp 06? Pastor Chris Long was preaching about the difference between experience and encounter - and was talking about the yellow colour flower. Remember? The tree with a single flower blooming at the top that made the Hindus and Buddhists and whatnots to come and pour milk, wrap a sarong around it and worshipped the yellow colour flower?
Well I have sad news to tell you, everyone - Pastor brought us to see it, and alas, it has been chopped down already, probably for industrial purposes or whatever. =/

Grace Family Sanctuary

This is the famous GFS, the church of the famous Pastor Chris Long.








There were lots of NS people, 60 I think, attending the English service. Pastor Chris preached about building an altar for the new year, which is 2008, 08 signifying new things. This year also is a leap year - "tahun melompat" so we have to jump liao... our youth in Kuching have been lazy to jump too often, so EmBaCY people - rise up and dance, jump for joy before the Lord!!
The people there are really really friendly and fun. Not that many youths but mostly college age to working adults. Every Sunday after church there is... free lunch!! hehehehehe...
Very quickly word has spread that I play the keyboard, so some of the young people there got me into a "mini-audition" on the spot - and quickly finding out that I will be a useful asset in music, but not too near in the future as I still have to accustom myself to their culture and style. By the way their music is excellent. At least, today's praise and worship was good.
I am also going to join their youth group, which they called Youth Alive. Their kids are called Kids Alive... and their college group is DNA.
Anyways they have their youth meetings two weeks in a month, and it's not meetings most of the time but lots of activities like bowling, camping, movies, etc. It's really cool, and guess where our first meetings will be? In a lonely place called McDonalds!! Hehe.
I may have gotten really used to the every-Saturday-night presence-filled meetings, but one thing EmBaCY lacks (or lacked during the time I was there) is relationship with other people. Pastor Chris also said, don't be so spiritual but yet you suck in your relationships and people hate you. (more or less along those lines) So this Youth Alive GFS will be a change for me and probably help to grow socially as well as spiritually.








These are some parts of my new home. (The flowers were arranged by my mom and me!! Nice or not?) We currently have everything except a fuctioning fridge. We managed to get a second-hand one but it's not working, so we're trying to find a good one.
But other than that, everything is quite aqequate for our use. In fact, I have this strange feeling that we even have more things than we did in Kuching!! The Astro has more content, we have wireless, and the many flowers - I am almost liking it as much as Kuching...

Banting: The Beginning

At the wee hours of the morning of 2nd January 08, I woke up - and left my house, the building I had called home since the second half of Primary 4. (We kept moving about since I was born in Sri Aman, having lived in Penang, down to KL, even more down under in Brisbane and then coming back to Kuching thinking I would stay there forever. But now... Banting!!)

Someone once told me, "If I were you I would be regretting like crazy." (the someone being a certain petite girl in my family upon arrival of our seemingly old shabby house at No. 6 Jalan Jelawat 7... hehe she doesn't want her name to be disclosed, so there.)

I must admit, it was very inconvenient and uncomfortable to leave my home and pull out the roots I had planted in Kuching, but with good soil and watering from the people in Banting I am sure I will be growing, no? (Hosanna said I'm being emo o.O oh well -that's why the day when she makes a blog... that'll be the day)

But despite all the inconvenience, I think this was a very good move. Why? Because the newness will be a definite positivity. The new church gets me out of my comfort zone and gives opportunities to the young and aspiring pianists at Kuching to serve and learn. The new home means less time to play computer cos my mom will be using her laptop, to play Internet, to watch movies in cinema... meaning more study and quiet time. Earlier on in Kuching International Airport, we were overweight, but somehow God sent a very kind man who was carrying nothing but a small plastic bag to be lining up behind us waiting to check in. He (who also so happened to be a student of my mom's friend at UNIMAS) generously agreed to check in with us so we could check in more weight. Thank God for that, otherwise we would have had to pay quite a bit of money.
My dad also came here yesterday, so more or less everything I need has arrived at Banting. Streamyx wireless already installed (how you think I go online har), TV and Astro already bought, my guitar and rackets already arrived!! (but don't know who to play with laa)

School

My first day of school at Methodist English School aka SMK Methodist Telok Datok, Banting, was... interesting. Shocking in a sense. Why? Because of the many many RULES and ASSEMBLIES. Imagine, Kuching folks, every morning there is an assembly. Every breaktime there is an assembly. After school we line up outside our class to go home. For what purpose? Probably NONE AT ALL, except to show some kind of order like all proper Methodists to avoid accidents of course... We cannot enter the class before school starts, and there are many areas of the school that are restricted to normal students. And the disciplinary teacher is... a lot scarier than Ms Ko ever was and ever will be... *gulp*

But never mind about the rules - if all else fail me, the only thing that will sustain me in MES - the food!!! I tell you their canteen is INCREDIBLE. (this probably a result of the exposure to the... disgusting not-so-nice-nor-hygienic food in BL canteen... hehe I'm sure all my ex-schoolmates would gladly agree with me, no?) They have such a wide selection (again a result of the not-so-wide selection at BL...) and everything is so damn cheap (yet again... a result of the pricey foods at BL)... what else could a guy want??!! Friends would be just a side bonus, really...

But yet, my classmates are silly and crazy people - at least many of the girls are... hehe! The first two days of school was spent just talking and talking to my new friends, mostly girls, cos the boys seem to be slightly less talkative - to the extent of Pastor Chris Long teasing me about talking to girls all the time... aack!! But Kuching people do not fret - I will never forget you all in the midst of the fun with my many new friends.
...
What, are you surprised I have friends so fast? Well don't be, because I managed to overcome my shyness, and any confident person will attract people instantaneously!!

Oh and did you know? Our maths teachers have been unknowingly lying to us the whole time - 1 + 1 is not 2!!! No no no it is 10!!!! Hehe... topic Base Numbers, Form 5... 10 + 10 is 100 and 111 + 111 is 1110... were you fooled too? Don't be!!

Baby

We are all grieved that our dog, Baby, have been sent away for good. My dad calls it babysitting... get it? Baby-sitting!! XD She is now at my dad's aunt's place somewhere in the jungle, and from what I heard she I(the dog) refused to eat probably due to her missing us. But the bitch dog will probably make friends with all the other dogs and will have the chance to do... things the spinster had never done at our house... XD XD XD

However I think we'll bring her back home when we go back to Kuching. And then send her back to the jungle when we get back to our second home... Unless someone wants her? The offer's still open, y'know.

Pictures


Last minute packing... we slept at 2 a.m. and woke up at 4.45 a.m...




Guess who's that in the green shirt? He is the one and only... Pastor Chris Long!!!
It's kind of odd that the famous speaker that practically all the teenagers in Kuching and the rest of Malaysia know, is living just an alley away from ours!! At the moment he's driving us around because our car hasn't arrived from the shop (or wherever) and just last night he and his family dropped by our house and brought us to supper at some place to have fantastic yet not pricey food... I can't wait to try all the food!! Anyway, I'm just saying it's such an honour to be actually speaking and riding in the same car with the one-and-only ... Pastor Chris Long!!

Banting's busy streets - not as quaint and quiet as I thought some time ago. They have jammed streets quite alot too, as my new Chemistry teacher said, the roads are slow to follow the growth of cars. The same way HCL plus CaCO3 in excess will cause the reaction to not completely react... or something like that. Xo

Also known as MES (Methodist English School). The only Christian school; the only school with ISCF. They call it CF here, though, since there's no other school to be interconnected with??




One of the coolest things: double-decker buses!! Unheard of in Miawtown.





AEON, Bukit Tinggi, Klang. Supposedly the largest shopping mall in South East Asia. Can anyone confirm this??

This is a very odd shop. Why? Because the moment I got in a young lady told me off for snapping pictures, saying that their layout is copyrighted, bla bla bla. I'm like, right, as if you actually applied for a copyright to your design, but oh well, I didn't want to fall into disgrace with Klang people, did I?

Anyway, I'll be going to Grace Family Sanctuary tomorrow (Pastor Chris Long's church) where I will take pictures. =D I will post some more later.
Cheers!