Membership Intake 1!

We are organizing a caving @ Gua Kandu in Perak & jungle trekking trip.
Date : 30 Apr – 1 May 2006
Cost : RM99 per person (inclusive of 1-night stay, 3 meals and guided activities)
Own transport arrangement. Suggest car-pooling & travel in a convoy.
Day One
2.45pm - Assemble at GTPJ
3.00pm - Departure
6.00pm - Arrival @ Adeline’s Rest House & Leisure Time
7.30pm - Dinner
8.30pm - Who Am I?
10.30pm- Slumberland

Day Two 7.00am - Breakfast
8.00am - Caving @ Gua Kandu & Jungle Trekking
1.00pm - Lunch
2.00pm - Leisure or Home Sweet Home

Registration opens after service from 1 – 23 April 2006. HURRY AND SIGN UP!!

Missions trip to southern Philippines

Candidates who have applied for membership are reminded to attend the class in Rhema Room 3 at 8.00pm.

Attached is the draft roster for May06.

   May06 Roster

Yesterday marked my beloved late Grandpa’s 2^nd Anniversary in the Chinese Calendar. I could still call to mind that fateful morning – May 13, 2004. It was 5:30am when Kak Ina discovered Grandpa had died in his sleep. It was unbelievable as I was the very last person who had seen and fed Grandpa the night before and I broke into tears when Mum received the awful call. I hurried over to see Grandpa for the very last time….
 
Grandpa must have been struggling hard for the past one month ever since he got admitted into the Hospital. Grandpa was placed in ICU for the first 7 days, and when his condition got better, he was relocated in-2 HDU and a week after, got transferred to a Normal Ward. 7 days later, Grandpa was finally discharged and recuperating at home.
 
During the 1 month period, I had been visiting Grandpa thrice a day – b4 work, lunch hour, and after work. Despites Doctors informing us that Grandpa would not live long due to the total failure of all his inner organs and he have to depend on oxygen support and feeding thru’ a tube, I convinced myself that Grandpa would positively make it. Grandpa’s strong willpower and tough determination had set him struggling to win in the Battle of Life. In fact, Grandpa, for the last 10 years had been in ‘n out from the Hospital… during school break, and Assunta Hospital since then, had been his Second Home.
 
While still schooling, I was already taught to inject Insulin for Grandpa, Grandma, and occasionally, 2^nd Aunt (whenever she recuperate at Grandma’s house). I was showed on how to set aside the tablets for morning, noon, ‘n night daily intake.  I was even taught on how to measure Blood Glucose, putting into record everyday in a booklet. It was heartbreaking having to give injections, pricking finger for blood glucose count, and having to see your loved ones taking so many tablets each time after meals.
 
I was very close with Grandpa since young. Whenever I took home my report card/ exam slip, I would showed ‘em to Grandpa and we would be counting the As I got together. I would 1^st let Grandpa see the many medals/ trophies/ gold plagues/ certificates that I achieved in my Academic Studies.
 
When Grandpa is admitted in-to the Hospital, I would get him char siew pau for breakfast and his favourite boneless chicken drumstick rice for lunch. My cousin would get Grandpa Hokkien Mee for supper. (without anyone knowing, of course)
 
During the last 7 days at home, Aunt Bessy (noon time), my brother ‘n I took turns to feed Grandpa. We would pound all the tablets into fine particles to mix up with the fluid and feed Grandpa via a cylinder tube that was linked straight into his stomach. It was tedious and only the 3 of us daringly take up this ‘task’. We have to test out the stomach movement using a stethoscope, ensuring Grandpa is all set for his mealtime, and in attendance, there might be ‘pour-out’ if he is unable to digest. From time to time, I would help out to clean up Grandpa’s teeth and give him some massage, as he is bedridden.
 
Grandpa is gone now… but till today, I still could not accept the reality that he had left us… forever. Grandma, who had been on wheel chair 3 years ago, persisted not to throw away any of Grandpa’s belonging – single bed, couch, closet ‘n all is still at place as it is. Each time, I drop by Grandma’s place, the memories would just flashed back as every particular item in the home had not been moved or taken away.
 
As far as we are concern, sooner or later, every one of us would have to encounter the loss of someone we care for/ love.  Nonetheless, the comfort of Christ in bereavement is definitely clear in our mind. When death takes from our side someone we love, the pain we experience can at times be almost excruciating. We could invite God into our pain and draw upon His reassuring strength and support.
 
Psalms 119:50 say, “This is my Comfort in my affliction, for Your word had given me Life.”
 
In 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Mercies and God of all Comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
 
Divine comfort does not denote that our tears will dry up, or our grief comes to a sudden halt, as these are natural course of action that has a dominant counteractive effect. What it is mean here is that we will feel that God is there in the middle of our tears and grief. The pain must be gone through and worked all the way through – as well as the pain of saying “Goodbye”.
 
Christianity’s ministry in bereavement is to steer us gently all along the path of pain and to walk with us hand in hand, regardless of how long the journey may be. Christ’s presence will by no means be more powerful and consoling that it is in bereavement as He gives most when most is taken away.
 

Isaiah 61: 1-3

1 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
Because the Lord has anointed me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent me to heal the broken hearted   to proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to
Those who are bound;
 
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
 
3 To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning
The garment of praise for the spirit
of heaviness;
That they may be called
Trees of Righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that
He may be glorified.”
 

Annual General Meeting (AGM) @ GTPJ

I was preparing the cell notes last night and was just figuring out the areas in my life where I am least ‘compassionate’ about people. And most of the times where I got really upset was while driving. And I was just wondering why do people like to tailgate and drive like crazy yoyos, when I remembered a really funny (and a little crude) mail I got some time back. I managed to track it down and here. Here’s a short list of what we are…I am a loyal office fodder….

Alfa
Passionate and romantic, you fancy yourself. A bit unreliable, and can be eccentric too. You hate BMW drivers, but think and act just like them.

Audi
You would like to believe you are part of the new generation that is caring, environmentally conscious and family-orientated. Actually quite boring; nothing more than a glorified wuss. Will one day probably drive a Merc, but you still sometimes wonder if you shouldn’t have bought that Bee-Em.

BMW
Self-centred, ambitious, dynamic and assertive. Can be a big show-off pig. Likes impressing too. Buppies and kugels past sell-by date. You think you will be CEO one day. Actually an office weenie who thinks you are God’s gift.

Fiat
Cute self-confident girls climbing the corporate ladder with ball-breaking as their hidden agenda. Will take everything you own if she divorces you.

Ford
You still live in the 70’s, trying to cope with the 90’s (don’t even mention the millennium). A loyal, diligent worker, but baffled by office politics and labour policies. Next car will probably also be a Ford.

Honda
You aspire to drive a BMW. You are an opinionated pain-in-the-butt. The ultimate suffragette, or the boss’s girlfriend (male or female!).

Hyundai /Kia
Quite progressive, intelligent and practical. But misguided. The kind of person who will suggest a sub-committee to find solutions to what the committee couldn’t. You will always maintain that a Korean car is better than any Japanese model.

Mazda
A Ford driver with less money. Mostly staid boring with no image and less imagination. Lots of retired people drive Mazdas. You’re in the way and should get off the road.

Mercedes-Benz
Responsible, immaculate and conservative. Boring CEO clones with too much money, or the office super-geek who can’t remember what it’s like to have fun. Definitely not dating material.

Nissan
Good, solid, responsible, loyal office-fodder. You like to travel and maintain that you can sell ice to the Eskimos. Favourite answer: “It’s a company car.”

Renault
An eccentric who likes doing things the wrong way around. Usually the one who asks all the silly questions at staff meetings. You fervently believe you have flair, but it’s less than that of a French cookbook. Most probably gay.

Toyota
Although there are thousands of them, you mostly can’t spot them in their zero-image cars. Toyotas are good, reliable cars and are bought by a wide variety of people who have zero personality to go with their cars and are basically chicken-s**t scared people who will never take chances and will therefore be driving Toyotas forever.
The most zero-image car in the world?, … a white Corolla

Proton:
“Unoriginal, uncreative copycats, who like to blast their in-car stereo system so that they can’t hear any rattles from the doors and dashboard. The models define status, which means a Perdana driver is always thought to be financially better than a Wira driver, but of course this is not usually the case as all Malaysians have the same amount of financial crisis. 70% of them drive their Protons fast when they probably shouldn’t. 99% of them buy Protons because of its easy financing. 100% of them say they buy because they are patriotic, out of which 90% are lying.”

Perodua:
“Favourite reason – “I love small cars!”. Unspoken reason – “I can’t afford a Proton”

Another one here.

Of course, all untrue, right??? OK, back to work.

If ever there’s such “Most Hardworking Employee of the Month” award, I could be the right candidate this month. Not that I was eyeing for a better work appraisal, it’s just that I got too much work to be done for the day.
 
For the past one week, I had been clocking-in at sharp 7am and only leave the office between 8:30pm – 9pm. Why sudden change? Office hours’ still 9am – 5pm, but a colleague of mine had gone for 2-month maternity leaves, and me stranded to ‘survive’ on my daily routine, and to ensure the whole Import Dept runs smoothly.
 
At first I thought everything would be in safe hands. I even boldly confirmed to my Lady Boss that it is not needed to get someone else when Tammy’s on maternity. Nevertheless, it’s just gonna be two months, and time, of course flies fast.
 
When Tammy was 6-month pregnant, I had started to segregate her documentation job, giving her lesser things to handle. I do not wish to see her being pressured at work during her pregnancy. Certainly this is my 1^st such incident at work; I have faith in God and trust whatever I do is for both Tammy and Import Dept’s good. Every person got to get used to it… sooner or later, since there would be no recruit to replace Tammy by then.
 
It was a blessing in disguise that Tammy had given birth to a healthy baby boy on a Public Holiday – 11/4/2006. I got a shock when getting the good news via SMS that night, as it was 17 days ahead from her due date. I SMSed the good news to the rest of my colleagues in Import Dept, including HR Manager and my Lady Boss that very night itself. Earlier, we had even well discussed on who’s who to take Tammy to the hospital if she were to deliver whilst at work, and we’re all well prepared for that.
 
Back at work, we are all extra busy with our daily task, attending to the non-stop phone calls. I cleared Tammy’s work (she was on leave the day b4) and assigned her current stuffs to the rest of my colleagues and even requested some from my Sub-Dept to assist whatever they can.
 
Without Tammy around us, the Chinese Group (7, including me) finds our work somewhat weirdo. We would usually chat all through the day to keep everyone ‘alive’ despites the hectic workload. One could hear laughters from our end and we would source around for tidbits or cakes when we’re hungry while working. We take turns to get everyone nasi lemak or wantan mee for breakfast on Saturdays. And on Thursdays, we would drive out for lunch in two cars. We also throw birthday lunch and farewell lunch/ dinner, and we even went low sang during CNY.
 
Perhaps what others say is true: Import Dept – can eat, can chatter, can work, and can argue. We formed a pleasant working environment and know one another personally. The close friendship we have undeniably makes us even energized at work. I’m thankful to God for having these colleagues working together with me.
 
Well, I do not discriminate any person in Import Dept and treat each one the same, regardless of their race/ religion. I do not wish to become neither a hermit nor a commander although I may have the rights to instruct others to do the way I want to. Instead I chose to be a catalyst – I partake along and encourage the rest too, be it in problem solving or job facilitating.

My colleagues do respect me for who I am and I would ask for their opinion/ comment before giving them advise/ instructions. They may correct me, as I am not right all the time. Of course, for some that I may not be able to give them a definite reply, I would have to refer to my Lady Boss. At times, I would request them to refer directly to my Lady Boss as I also want them to learn something different aside from their daily documentation job and I would guide them along way.
 
My Lady Boss had spoken to me the other day, “If you really cannot handle since Tammy will not be with us for the next two months, please let me know, ok.” I just smiled back as I got to be optimist. It’s still early to foresee, I presume. Well, seems like a challenge to me, knowing very well, I would have to forego my extra hours of sleep and my forthcoming leaves.
 
I do not feel stressed up while at work as I see my workplace as a thrilled theme park. I may encounter new things every single day and I turn these problems into blessings.  I always take myself back to my Alma Mater’s motto – “Do your best and God will do the rest.”
 
So far everything’s beyond control and my whole Import Dept had been very co-operative and understanding. They’re all at work by 8am nowadays, and only go off after 7pm.
 
A few had been calling Tammy’s mobile every now and then to check if everything’s all right, but I know they just wanna hear her voice. I too had called her up last night and spoken to her for quite long…. Well, I just can’t wait for Tammy to be back at work again as all of us really miss her very much.

Easter Celebration Service @ GTPJ!