Da Vinci Code - A challenge to Christian Faith

It's Easter Sunday today.

I noted a very significant departure in the way the pastor delivered his sermon this morning. He put great emphasis on the need for attendees to bring along their own Bibles for the worship service. The pastor has decided that from now on, any Bible verse quoted would not be posted on the overhead screen. Everyone must turn to the Bible in his/her hands and pinpoint the correct texts being referred to. Anyone found not bringing a Bible with him when he comes to the church would be given a copy of the church Bible for personal reference throughout the service.

I guess the sudden emphasis in the Bible has to do with the Da Vinci Code and other "new gospels" now surfacing like the Gospel of Judas. The impression is that for a long time, the church has not put enough emphasis on the grounding and understanding of the Words of God. Now that Da Vinci Code is due to be shown in the cinema next month and it can be worrying to think of its impact on Christians.

The pastor did make reference to Da Vinci Code in his sermon and stressed the importance for believers to be able to defend their faith by correctly knowing the content of the Bible.

He did admit he has not read the book Da Vinco Code personally. I think it would have been better if he has read it first before shooting arrows at the book. Not that I am defending that book, I think one needs to really understand the content so as to be able to nail it and correct the misconception created by that book.

KK, A Well-Planned City?

The other day, I was surprised to read a letter to the Editor in the Stars from a reader praising the KK City. He was particularly impressed by the way KK has been planned and developed.

Personally, I do not quite agree with that assertion. This is probably because I have seen nicer city than KK. I wonder whether he has seen hawkers carrying out business on the walkways and illegal kids begging to wash cars!

The other worrying thing is safety in KK. Let just hope nothing untoward incident that he may encounter would change his perception of KK.

KK folks, make sure you always put on your lovely smiles.

Growing Up Pain

This morning, the Bible lesson in the Praise Kids Church was about the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. When I met up with my Primary 6 kids in the separate classes. I was truly shocked to discover certain phenomenon among these kids of which I was quite unprepared for.

On the subject of death, one shared his experience in his attempt to commit suicide. On why he tried to kill himself, he said it was because of family problem. He told us he actually tried to hang himself from the door closer. But he freed himself when the choking became unbearable. He also said once he put his head into a pale of water and tried to drown himself. The choking forced him to pull his head up.

Another told the class he actually ran away from home and spent two hours in a KFC before deciding to go home. This arose because of what he considered very severe punishment meted out by the father.

Another girl from a manifestly model home told of her desire to run away from home due to study stress and expectation.

They told me that none of the family members knew about these. All these happened in the afternoon when the parents were away working. We all promised that we would keep this as a secret within the 4 walls among ourselves.

At the end of the sharing, I could feel wetness in my eyes. At such a young and tender age, they have already considered such an option.

I assured them that no matter what happen, their parents' love for them is 100%. They disagreed. One said that he is only being loved 99% but the other kids in his family 100%. Another said the parents love the younger one more than her.

Although I knew that this kind of feeling did cross every kid's mind one time or another. But, if this is not handled properly, it does have a bearing on his/her self-esteem and the perception of his/her standing in the family.

At the end of the session, I prayed for them and hugged some of them. Deep down, I hoped this session has been of help to them and I knew there is still a long way to go in life. I prayed that God would be merciful to all these kids who are just trying to grow up.

Another Dream Becoming a Reality at STS

Last night, we attended a launching dinner for the proposed new Multi-Purpose Education Centre for STS. This is another massive project costing RM10m-RM12m to build. A new auditorium will be part of this building that can accommodate 800 people.

On design, this building will be a challenge to us as structural engineers. Column-free upper floor and sloping seating platform spanning 26.5m.

The programme for the dinner was rather interesting. We had the Basel Church Tenom Children Choir (The Malaysian version of the Vienna Boys Choir); Solo Guitarist performance, Violin-Piano combined performance as well as the Tshung Tshin Chinese Orchestra.

I was talking to my wife about the chances of Paul and Sam performing in the Chinese Orchestra. We guess their reply: " No way, hean tor oh!"

Bomb Hoax at Basel Church, Likas

We first heard of this on Friday night in the Cell meeting. We thought it was an April Fool joke. The next day, it came out as news in the local papers.

Interesting News for Reflection

 Lately, 2 incidents set me thinking.

1st case. A man is demanded to be executed because he converted to another faith which is deemed an insult to the god of the accuser.

2nd case. A woman reported to the religious authority that she heard the husband in his sleep ushering 3 times his intention to divorce her. The religious authority ruled that the marriage is therefore void and the couple is deemed divorced. However, the couple insisted that they are still in love and has no intention to be separated. The religious authority ruled that if the wife wanted to be reunited with the husband again, she must first marry another man and stay with him for one night after which the 2nd man would divorce her. Only then, she can go back and be married to the 1st husband again.

This is truly a subject for reflection.

Another Couple is Considering Tying the Knot

We have been leading another couple in the premarital counselling, considered a very "matured" couple, Vincent Lee and Fung Yun Fon. Sam and Paul definitely know the lady - a History teacher in All Saints. I can visualize Sam's surprise in knowing this teacher of his getting married! Well, it's better late than never.

We have already covered 4 sessions namely Covenant of Marriage; Understanding Each Other; Roles of Husband and Wife and Communication. The remaining sessions will be on Anger and Conflict Resolution; Money Matter; Sexuality & Family Planning and finally In-Laws and Wedding Planning. The tough one which will be both interesting and challenging and not easy to conduct will be on the subject of sex.

Hot News about SMK St. Mary, Papar

Get the latest hot news from the Daily Express dated 15 March 2006! The highlight features none other than Steve Sulis, a brilliant student from SMK St. Mary, Limbahau, Papar - the very school where my wife serves as the school principal.

Steve made headlines for scoring an outstanding 10A’s in the SPM examination, a feat that brought pride not only to his family but also to the entire school community. When interviewed, Steve humbly attributed his success to the guidance and inspiration of his father, a C&S consulting engineer.

With such strong academic foundations and family support, Steve aspires to pursue a degree in civil engineering, aiming one day to follow his father's foot step.

Funny Road Names

How do you like to stay in a place with these funny road names :

Case 1 : There was this chap who went to see a doctor to treat his vomiting sickness. The doctor asked, "Where do you stay?". He answered, "Jalan Muntahan " - translated as Vomiting Road in English. The doctor looked at him in awe and speechless, "...............".

Case 2 : There was this couple who had been married for the last 10 years and had been trying hard to have a baby. Finally, they decided to consult a fertility doctor. At the clinic, the doctor asked, "What's your problem ?". The wife answered, "We like to have a baby but has not been successful for the last 10 years". The doctor asked, "Where do you stay ?". The husband answered, "Jalan Family Planning Centre". The doctor looked up speechless.

According to the Director of JKR, the funny road names were due to engineers giving funny names to some of the newly completed roads. Come on, engineers, not again !

"Sablish" on the Rise

Just now during our jogging in Tun Fuads Park. I overheard a little girl probably about 10 years old talking to her mother who is in her early 30's.

"Hot must be used what oh ?" Said the little girl. Amazing "English" or rather Sablish!

From the mother's response, I think this was what the girl meant: I am feeling hot. What do I use to wipe the sweat ?

The unique thing is that the mother understood her. Why? Because the mother also spoke Sablish.

It is really incredible how English has "progressed".

Shortage of Engineers of Calibre

After the resignation of my young engineer, we finally put up an ad for new engineers. This time, we identified ourselves by inserting our company's name in the ad. So far, only 2 applicants applied for the Design Engineer post while a number applied for the RE posts.

I called the 1st applicant for DE post who faxed his application to our office the same day the ad came out. He happened to be currently working with a similar consulting firm not far from our office. I asked him during the interview what made him decide to apply for a job in our company. To my amazement, he told me that a draftslady who once worked in our firm and now working in this other firm strongly encouraged him to apply. According to him, these are her words, "This is a once in a life time opportunity, don't miss it, grab the opportunity". The reason: This is a good firm to work with and the staff are pleasant. I could sense that the draftslady spoke highly of her ex-bosses! That's nice to hear :) Another reason: For the past two years, he has been doing the same drainage design over and over again. He hoped to be given opportunity to do a variety of design work.

He was recruited on the spot. But we have to wait for another 2 months before he can report for duty. He needs 2 months notice.

Through this recent recruitment plus our previous similar exercises, the picture we gather is that there aren't many engineers of reasonable quality around. Sad for Malaysia. The lack of emphasis on English has destroyed a whole generation of people!

Trying Out My Nike

I managed to get my wife to go for a jog at Tun Fuads Park this afternoon. This was essential for her after a heavy lunch at Promenade. This also gave me the opportunity to try out my Nike that has been lying there for quite awhile.

Unfortunately, we went a bit too late. By the time we did a round, it was dark and Kampong Nelayan Restaurant was all lighted up for business. No mood to carry on the 2nd round.

Old People are Worth a Fortune !

Here is a humorous sms I received from my wife today. I believe this is also dedicated to Mamalim and SunnyPerth.

Don't be afraid to grow old. Old folks are worth a fortune. They have silver in their hair. Gold in their teeth. Stones in their kidneys. Gas in their stomach. Kencing pun manis. Darah pun ada kelas: Tinggi (high blood...).

Light at the End of Tunnel at Last

I was away today to Tawau to attend the progress meeting of a project that has been on-going for the last 40 months and is still only 95% completed. It was supposed to be 22 months but delayed and delayed and delayed for a further 18 months. From the look of it, we are likely going to be stuck with it for another 2 more months!

The annoying thing is that a RM36m project is run by 1 man only. He is trained as a QS but has to also assume the roles of project manager, site engineer, QS, purchasing man, foreman, liaison man, finance man all in one. He is a nice chap but the work load is just too much for him to handle. It is really ridiculous. The sad thing about some of Malaysian contractors is that they hope to make maximum profit with minimum overhead and management cost! So far, this is the kind of scenario we see in Sabah. Not very promising as far as construction industry is concerned.

We had a fairly hard drilling on him in the meeting and hoped that he could at last get his act together and mobilise whatever resources within his grasp and finish the project once and for all by the end of March.

All of us want to move on from this project which has been dragging on far too long. Wish me luck!

3 Wins in 4 Matches

I did well in my badminton game tonight. 3 wins in 4 matches. That means a net win of 2 tins of 100 plus. By the way, no frustration and no throwing of racket!

Thank God, I seem to be regaining my old self. But, I know I must be careful, no rigorous smashing lest I might injure my spine again.

The Airlines Have Gone Nut

Sam left for Melbourne this afternoon after a fairly dramatic change of flight plan. He was supposed to have left on a 3.30pm direct flight to KL. Then in the morning, I received a call from the travel agent informing me that the 3.30pm flight has been delayed and rescheduled to 7.00pm in the evening. As recommended by the travel agent, his fight was then changed to 1.40pm via Brunei.

We left home and sent him to the airport reaching there at 12.45pm. Just when I was about to park the car, I received a call in the hand phone from my wife telling me that Sam has left his passport and air ticket at home. Without a thought, I sped and rushed home as fast as I could to pick up the items. Half way of the trip, my hp rang again and my wife told me that the flight has been delayed to 2.10pm. That gave me a bit of breather. Still, I was back to the airport in 35 minutes!

After sending him off and upon reaching home, we received a call from Sam telling us that the flight would be further delayed to 3.00pm. He gave us another piece of "shocking "news. He left his digital camera in the car. By then, it was too late. We just have to think of a way to get the camera to him, somehow.

We expected him to reach KL by 7.00pm the latest. Finally, he sms'ed and told us that the flight was also delayed in Brunei. He finally arrived KL at 8.00pm. He told us that the flight to Melbourne would fly as scheduled. We really hope so. At this moment, we just pray that he is comfortably seated in the plane and on his way to the country down south.

By the way, this flight delay and mess-up was not only experienced by Sam. Paul did experience the same thing. In his case, he was supposed to have arrived Sydney by 7.20am on 17 Feb. Somehow, we discovered later that he actually arrived at 9am caused by flight delay in Brunei.

Our airlines have gone nut !

Chap Goh Mei 2006

Sunday 12 February 2006 was Chap Goh Mei. We had another family reunion dinner to end this year CNY celebration. This dinner was held at our home at our suggestion. As far as I could see and feel from the atmosphere of the gathering, all enjoyed it and the conversation was cordial and relaxed. My 2nd brother has grown more sober as year is catching up on him and there appeared more tolerance and understanding between him and the wife.

We also took the opportunity to celebrate my Mom's 78th birthday. That was the first time the children and grandchildren sang the Happy Birthday Song to her after she blew out the candles. In the past, as far as I could remember, there was no singing after the cake cutting which was held in her house. I also couldn't really explain why. Probably, the setting and atmosphere was not so conducive!

When they finally left for homes, we extended a wedding photo of MH and Serene to each family which was long long overdue. To be exact, more than 13 months overdue.

I was glad that our house turned out to be a good venue to further enhance the bond between the siblings. I hope this gathering can turn into some kind of annual tradition wherein the brothers, sister and the next generation can get together for bonding and sharing. I was glad my children get along well with their cousins as I believe this is also important for the family to survive as a unit in the years to come.

The Book of Ruth

The last three nights, I attended a teaching session by Pastor Benny Ho on the Book of Ruth. He opened a totally new approach in looking at this book in the Old Testament.

It would be too long to record all the teaching in this blog. I would just highlight an interesting part of it : How he ended the teaching at the final night.

The Book of Ruth ends with the following in Chapter 3:18-22.

This then is the family line of Perez:

Perez was the father of Hezron,

Hezron the father of Ram,

Ram the father of Amminadab,

Amminadab the father of Nahshon,

Nahshon the father of Salmon,

Salmon the father of Boaz,

Boaz the father of Obed,

Obed the father of Jesse,

and Jesse the father of David.

Benny just could not believe that such a profound book should just end with a series of funny names. It would be an anti-climax of sort if it is the case. He analysed the meanings of these names and found these :

Perez : breach

Hezron: enclosed

Ram: high or exalted

Amminadab: my noble kinsman

Mahshon: enchantment

Salmon: garment

Boaz: in him is strength

Obed: servant

Jesse: one who is

David: beloved.

The hidden message based on the meanings of these names Benny told us is this :

"The breach is enclosed by my high and exalted Noble Kinsman with enchantment in His garment. In Him is strength to serve the one who is His Beloved"

Amazing, don't you think ?

I Lose a Staff Member

The other day when office resumed work after the Chinese New Year break, one of my engineers whom I consider to be most promising tendered his resignation. I was significantly shocked by his decision since we just had a performance review with him and offered him a very substantial salary increment.

He explained that when he was back home in Penang for the CNY holidays, he was bombarded with strong words by parents and relatives who pressurized him to return to West Malaysia to work so as to be closed to home. They even said something like..."If you continue to remain away from home leaving your aging parents alone back home, this is considered not filial". He told me that his other older brothers are working in various parts of West Malaysia and that leave him to take care of his parents.

Secondly, he told me that his teacher-girl friend is now posted to Johor and he wanted to be closer to her. On whether he was afraid his gf might be "won" over by another man, he said that anything could happen and it is better that he stays closed-by to pre-empt any such change of heart. I was thinking - If there is true love, distance doesn't matter. But then, everyone views relationship differently. Statement of this nature would not necessarily help.

One thing I was very pleased to hear. He told me his gf is a strong Christian and he has also decided to be a Christian. I assured him that that was a very important and wise decision and such decision would ensure them an enduring husband-wife relationship if ever they ever decide to become husband and wife.

Already, he told me that he has started facing unfriendly gestures from family members because of his decision to become Christian though he has not officially announced his conversion. As usual, his parents were worried that their son would not be there to hold the joss-stick at their funeral.

I assured him that the best way to convince the parents of his filial piety and love for parents is by his continuous respect and love to his parents and other members of his family. God would work in a special way to open up minds and change attitude.

I have heard many beautiful stories of how from one member of a family becoming a Christian and ultimately all become Christians because of what they saw in the person's total changed life.

I was very sad that he is leaving the company. But life goes on and it is normal that people move on and begin another phase of lives elsewhere.

I pray that his new found faith will be a blessing to people whom he comes into contact with just as he has been a blessing to our company.

Yee Sang for Farewell Lunch

Eating Yee Sang is always fun because it requires team effort to get the disc well done. We had one in Serene/Meng How farewell lunch. Guess whose hands are these. Yammy!