Merdeka!!

Today marks the 51th year of independence for my country, Malaysia.

We, the younger generation, tend to forget and take for granted all the sacrifices that our ancestors had to make in order for Malaysia to be the peaceful country it is today. All their sweat, toil, blood and tears shed, just so that we can experience the freedom and benefits of living a comfortable and safe life in this multiracial country.

Our forefathers had to battle against colonization- first from the Portugese, then the British , then the Japanese. They also had to face the communists. Those who lived in that era, and still survive to tell their harrowing tales, will tell you how they would defend their beloved country at all costs.
And yet what do we , the younger generation have to battle against? Corrupt politicians, some internal bickering between politicans...and that's it.

Compare to those living in other countries. You hear about natural disasters- hurricanes in the U.S., thypoons in Taiwan, earthquake in Japan and Indonesia, the tsunami in Thailand, war in Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan......the list goes on.
Malaysia, so far (knock on wood) has almost always been spared from all these disasters.
I do believe that this nation is blessed abundantly by God.

We've come a long way as a nation, and let's continue to propel forward.

Therefore, it's my hope and prayer this National Day that there would be a revival in this country. I pray that God would work through the young generation- all on fire for God and all determined to preach the gospel to the entire nation. I believe that God can work wonders in this country.

God bless Malaysia!

p.s. Just returned from an entire day of Emerge conference. It was tiring but worth it. I wish I have some pictures to show for Emerge, but somehow I was being out of character today- being lazy to snap photos.

p.p.s My trip to Singapore! I forgot to blog about it as well.... Will do so in the next entry....

Grey's Anatomy

Guess what I've been doing this past week or so?
Yes, catching up on the 'Grey's Anatomy' season 1 and 2 DVDs which I bought last month.

I thought of just watching for fun initially, so that I wouldn't be too bored at home. Furthermore, maybe, just maybe- I might be able to gain some insight into the life of doctors.

And I ended up getting rather caught up in the series! See, that's the reason why I am very cautious about starting to watch a programme, I might get absorbed into it....

I think Grey's does indeed do a good job in showcasing the life of a doctor. Of course being just a TV show, some aspects of it might be exaggerated. But I think the producers have got the gist of it.I love the fact that the show balances the screen time between patients and the doctors themselves. Every episode, there would be patients being admitted into the Seattle Grace hospital with interesting cases.
Among the most memorable patients are Dorrie who had quintruplets, one patient who couldn't handle the prospect of not being allowed to drink water and gulped water from the toilet bowl, a male patient who claimed that he was pregnant, but it turned out to be a huge teratoma ( I guessed this correctly, yay me!).

And we also gain some insight into the private lives and relationships of the doctors working in the hospital. Of course, the main characters of the show, Meredith Grey and Derek Shepard- you just have to root for them to be together. I recall, one of the most defining moments of season 1 was when Dr. Shepard's wife, Addison Shepard, appeared in the hospital. That's when Meredith's life went downhill... I was rooting for Alex and Izzie to be together..... but apparently he was not good enough for her? Was bummed when George and Meredith didn't work out together....

I actually like all the characters- Cristina is smart, funny, hardworking and driven although she had a horrible bedside manner and can be an emotionless person. Izzie on the other hand, tends to get too attached to her patients (read: Denny), but has a kind heart. George....I just love him, he reminds me the most about myself. Alex- I hated him in the beginning, but quite like him in season 2. Meredith- I don't know....with her moaning about losing her Mr McDreamy, and her one night stands.... :p But I like the way she treats her patients.

The episode I most remember is 'It's The End of the World'- the episode whereby there was a bomb inside a patient's chest cavity. And of course, Meredith had to get herself into trouble by being the one with her hand on the bomb. What an intense episode, with so many things going on at once! Then there is the Thanksgiving episode which reminds us that these doctors simply cannot live outside of the hospital.....

Ok, enough rambling about my newfound favourite show....

Some people have been telling me to watch 'House' instead....but I don't want to get hooked up to yet another show!

The main characters of the show...renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Derek Shepard (Patrick Dempsey) and intern turned Resident, Dr. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo)

Silver is better than nothing....

Yes, I did watch the gold medal match of the men's badmintons singles in Beijing.

And yes, like all other Malaysians, I was fully backing Lee Chong Wei, Malaysia's current hero, to win the first ever gold medal for Malaysia.

And yes, I was truly disappointed, when we didn't get the gold the entire nation had always been yearning for.

And I have to admit....I was rather frustrated with the way he played that night. I thought he was holding back on his smashes and he lacked all the energy and passion which he exhibited in the semifinals match. Maybe the fact that the hopes and eyes of the entire nation were on him....(he was Malaysia's only hope for a gold or even a medal) caused him to crack under pressure. Or maybe Lin Dan was just too good a competitor for him.

Anyways, Chong Wei still gave his best and gave Malaysia her first silver medal. :)

The long lost siblings

Let me tell you a secret.....

I have an elder half brother. His name is Khai Azizi. I can't remember when was the last time I saw him. I think it was almost 10 years ago.

Well, we share the same surname. And we have the same baby face. And we are both on the plump side. Maybe all these we inherited from our father. We have different mothers though. (his mother is from our father's first marriage).

Anyways, he searched my name on Facebook earlier on this year, and found my Facebook profile. He sent me a friend request. I added him without giving a second thought, thinking that it was just a random stranger. He started sending me many application requests, but I ignored them all.

Until one day, it suddenly struck me....the name seemed familiar. Could it be....no it can't be , can it? So I personal messaged him on Facebook. And yes, it turned out to be my brother.

So after exchanging a few more messages and SMSes, he invited me to meet up with him on Thursday night.

As I arrived at the cafe earlier, I waited nervously for him. Finally a guy with specs came up to me and extended his hand. He could still recognize me. But I couldn't recognize him at all.

Oh, and his girlfriend was with him as well.

So we sat down for a good chat and I got to know both of them. Khai is now working as a Senior Engineer. He got his first degree in the UK.

Later on in the night, after he sent me home, I invited him to meet my mum.

Anyways, it felt really good to be able to meet up with my brother. Even though we are just half siblings, but we do share the same blood and genes in us. Maybe next time we can look out for each other, like what siblings do.

You know how a lot of TV shows have all this long-lost half sibling stories going on? (Read...'Lost' with Jack and Claire, 'Grey's Anatomy' with Meredith and Lexie...the list goes on).

Well, mine is real :)

Game Point

This evening....as I was tuned in to the TV while doing my daily exercise....I managed to catch the exciting part of a woman's singles badminton match. (for the Olympics)

The thing that caught my attention was the fact that one of the two women battling it out in the badminton court was Malaysian.

She was Wong Mew Choo, and her opponent was Lu Lan from China.

Of course, being truly Malaysian, I just had to give my full support to Miss Wong.

Apparently, Lu Lan had won the first set easily. They were now in the second set.

Not long after I tuned in, Mew Choo managed to make it to game point, with Lu Lan just a few points behind her. Just one more point to score, to force Lu Lan into a rubber game. Not that hard right?

But guess what... of course Lu Lan just had to snatch back the service. And equalized. Game point has been moved from 21 to 23. Then Mew Choo snatched back service again, and scored another point. Game point again for her, But before she could score game point the service went back again to Lu Lan, who again equalized. Game point moved again from 23 to 25. But Mew Choo, being the fighter she was, again got back the service and equalized too. This went on for so many times, me and my maid were almost screaming at the TV. I was feeling soo nervous for our Malaysian shuttler. The atmosphere in the stadium itself must have been electrifying!
Both women just refused to give up, but both couldn't seem to capitalize on the game point. Mew Choo had game point for 9 times, Lu Lan 4.

Until they reached the score of 26-26.
Mew Choo, who had game point, again failed to convert it to a score. Finally, Lu Lan snatched back the service and went on to score two more points and win the match and proceed to the semifinals.

It was the most intense and nervewracking badminton match I had ever watched!
Although she had to bow out of the competition, our Malaysian shuttler had shown the true spirit of 'Malaysia Boleh'- never give up till the fat lady sings.

p.s. I have been following my favourite events, namely Gymnastics, swimming and diving.



Wong Mew Choo reaches for a shot during her women's singles quarter-final badminton match against Lu Lan of China at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games


Lu Lan of China celebrates winning her women's singles quarter-final badminton match against Wong Mew Choo of Malaysia at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Let the Games begin!!

For the next 3 weeks or so, the eyes of the entire world would be focused on one particular city, Beijing, China. The venue for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.

The Olympics, the time when people all over the world are gathered together in unity for one single vision....to go for gold.

Tears of joy, tears of glory and triumph being shed as the national anthems of various countries will be played in various sports venues.

At the same time, some tears of sorrow and disappointment will also be shed.

Records, both olympic and world, waiting to be broken.

204 countries taking part. Thousands of atheletes. Hundreds of medals- gold, silver and bronze to be given away.

Let the Games Begin!!

Men vs women

Men are created to have dominion , to have work, and to have success.
Competency, efficiency and usefulness are a big thing to men.
A man's sense of self worth is defined through his ability to achieve results.

A man is project based but a woman is feeling based.
By nature, a woman values love, beauty, relationships.
A woman's life is about sharing of emotions and feelings.

A man's principle: If it ain't broken, don't touch it!
A woman's prinicple: Let's make things better!

Men are motivated and empowered when they are needed and when their expertise is required.
Women are motivated and empowered when they are loved and cherished.

Men want respect, and women want appreciation.

When encountered with a problem or tough situation, men need to retreat into their 'caves'.
Women on the other hand, need to talk and have someone to listen to their problems.

Women forgive in installments, men forgive in whole.

extracted from 'The Relationship series' sermons by Pastor Kevin Loo, founder of City Harvest Church Malaysia.


p.s. Readers, tell me how much you agree to all these statements. I actually find them all to be quite true indeed. I realize that I do have all the characteristics of a woman :)

It's amazing....

Some things never fail to amaze me....

a) How so many young people do not mind queuing up for at least one hour and squeezing with the crowd.....to attend ....a Christian concert! I was really amazed tonight by the HUGE crowd of young people that queued up to attend the Passion conference cum concert at the Sunway Convention Centre today. So many young people in this country so in fire and having so much passion for Christ. Young university students jumping up and down and raising their hands loudly proclaiming their faith and love for the Lord and acknowledging How Great Is Our God. Cheering when they hear the Word of God. This is living proof that God is real and is working in the lives of people around the world daily. Young people , a whole new generation from all around the world declaring their love for Jesus. Praise the Lord!!

Chris Tomlin and Charlie Hall leading a praise and worship session which was nothing short of amazing. Louie Giglio reminding us once again about God's grace and love for us.

The thing that touched me the most out of the entire event was when Louie read out the diary of Ashley, a 22 year old university student in Florida, USA. She was just an ordinary party type girl in one of the top 10 party universities in the country. And she thought that Christians were weirdos. Until one fine day, God sent a 'weirdo' named Krista to live with her. And Krista wasn't like other Christians, according to Ashley. She was kind to her and accepted her as she was. Krista patiently explained to Ashley that God was for everyone, and that God loves every single person, no matter what their faults are. Ashley began wondering whether God could really love a messed up person like her.

Until one day, they both watched a sermon by Louie Giglio together. Something touched Ashley's heart. Could God really love a messed up person like her?
She accepted Jesus into her life. All this happened within 3 weeks.

3 months later, she died in a car accident. But her short life hasn't gone completely to waste. She has found her salvation. Ashley's parents decided to let Louie have Ashley's journal.

God works in ways we cannot comprehend.


b) How God loves such a small and insignificant person like me, who has so many weaknesses,
and wants to use me to do great works for Him.

Just look at the huge crowd in the background!