The passing away of a fren...

It is hard to accept death. It is even harder to accept the death of a fren. And it is terribly difficult to accept the death of a fren, in such a abrupt manner. This fren of mine used to be my college mate during those difficult but memorable Adorna days. We were never close, but we do speak whenever we happen to bump into each other. He come across as a pretty brash and loud mouth. But the impression he gave me was that of a straightforward, honest and unpretentious person.

His passing away sent me a chilling thought that I am not doing enough in keeping in touch with my friends in Penang and elsewhere. I have many memories in Penang, with the good ones heavily surpassing the not so pleasing ones.

I am surprised that his death has such an impact on me. Out of a sudden, I kind of lose hope on many things. I started to see things in a temporal manner. I have a sudden urge to eat all my favourite hawker food, visit all those familiar places and give a hug to those people that I have not seen for a long time. As if, out of a sudden, I am engulf with a end of the world feeling.

And I ask Lord, bless Han Chiou soul Lord.
Lord, we pray that you will be there to console his family and to help them to rebuild their life again. Lord, we pray that we will always remember this fren of us and be reminded that life on earth is only temporal and was not meant to be eternal. Our ultimate confidence and hope is in You where all things will be made to be perfect again, where Joy will be eternal. Lord we pray that you will bless Han Chiao soul and we pray that you will strengthen his family in this time of grief. We ask all these in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ.
Amen.

She's Pregnant

Yes, she is. Roughly about two to three months. This is a big issue. She hesitated in telling me initially, as she is unsure. But now, the ultrasound shows everything clearly. It is confirmed.

The biggest problem now is that the boss refuse to grant her maternity leave. She was given two option, one, to take unpaid leave for two months, else, resign. To be frank, I think this is inhumane. After this episode, I have little respect left for my doctorate boss. Just like he has little respect for people who believes in God and subcribe to a particular religion, now, I have only sympathy for him.

To me, it is clear that it is not the workflow interruption within the company, rather it is just a matter of money. He felt the money paid for such a leave is inappropriate. The boss did the same for the previous receptionist cum clerk. I thought he would have grown in wisdom in due time, but I was wrong. What if one day, I become an easily replaceable resource? Will I share the same manner of treatment? Please bear in mind that these are the people who can easily spend a few hundreds on wine/beer and food on anyday.

My reasoning is simple, if you do not wish to provide Maternity Leave according to the Labour Act of Malaysia, then that should be clearly written in the Terms and Conditions. At least, the applicant should be inform prior to the joining of the company. Otherwise, hire those that are past child bearing age. But they did none of that and they are very firm on that decision. Cruel? yea...but the feeling are more towards dissapointment on these two bosses of mine. They are fine gentlement, have the best education, good family background, extremely educated, one Doctorate, while another double degree. I thought I know them, I thought I understand them...I thought these are the bosses that I can work for at least 10 years down the road. Clearly, I was wrong.

Well, I guess God is telling me that I should move on...

Dave's Wedding...

Attended Dave's wedding yesterday. The first thing that catch my attention was the apple. I have a strong urge to take a bite. Not trying to be funny, but I really do. The next memorable thing was the flower bearer. Then the next was when Dave sang to the bride right before the handing over of the bride by her father. I regret not taking an additional sweater as I totally froze the moment he starts to sing. Seems like nowadays, the groom will consistently sings to the bride during the march to the altar. I hope to do something different come my turn. To do something similar would risk being labelled a copycat by the bride, not to do the same would mean an even bigger risk.

The praise and worship period was good. The sermon (or rather message as it was rather short..) by Soo Inn, was interesting. He mention that it is natural for a man or woman to be attracted to a different person other than the wife/husband even after being married. To be married does not mean we would not be attracted with people around us. To be married does not mean that people around us will not be attracted by us in some way. He assured us that it is natural to have such a feeling.

He does not eloborate further on this, but it does make me feel reassured that this is natural. This message means a lot and in a different way with different people, I guess. For me, this means that when I am attracted to another women whether due to her personality or looks, it does NOT mean I married the wrong person, or that I choosen the wrong soul mate, or that I should begin to love less on my partner and start to develop the feeling of love to the one I am attracted to, currently. This message means a lot to me, indeed.

And then comes the free food! Took a lot of prawn, I love prawn cook this way ( I take the whole thing in without peeling off the shells..hehe )

Saw, Alexa. I did not greet her. But that does not means I do not wish to. I have this problem of being shy, or wondering would the other party remembers me. It is my problem definately. But I got a wonderful oppurtunity during the reception. I was sitting there comfortably and she can't get any available seats. I gather enough courage and went up to her and offered mine. We manage to strike up a conversation and she still remembers my name!... Phew...Pastor Alexa,...if you are reading this...my apology for my snubbiness...

Went to the evening dinner late by 10 minutes and surprised to see that I am much too early....haiyar....this is gonna be a late dinner...

Was very thankful for the arrangement of table 46. I am the sole alien at the table, but both of my immediate neighbours make me feel so much at ease with their friendliness. Thank God. Have a wonderfull fellowship throughout the dinner. Brother Yong, we spoke in Mandarin and talk a lot about church, praise and worship styles. We did a lot of sharing, together with Stephanie, his gf. His analogy that the weekly sermon is like a food that is meticulously prepared by the pastor as heavenly food that will sustain us for the coming week. What a wonderful way to describe it brother Yong.
Brother Tieh, is a fine gentlement, extremely soft spoken and he is a lawyer and he participated in the March! I would have stood up in full attention and saluting him like a general. We talked a lot about KL Wesley and his hometown at Setiawan. ooo...I had a memorable trip to Setiawan recently, and will be going over there this coming Nov for Hew's wedding. Both he and his wife reminded me to have the Mee Suah, and to go to the swamp and mountain trekking the next time I am there. These brothers and sisters in Christ was so easy going that I feel like attending CDPC in the near future!

It was a day well spent, with good food and fellowship. Dave, congratulations!

Old frens

Meet up with some really old frens last week. Both Chai Leng and Ah Long, came over for a short stay and we meet them up in Cheras. Finally, I have the oppurtunity to treat Ah Long after so many years stepping into the working world.

Chai Leng is my old classmate back in Adorna, Penang. I have spent a memorable two years in Sungai Bakap. Throughout the period over there, they are the ones that really makes my stay bearable. Without them, perhaps, I would have gone mad from loneliness. Although most of the students there stay in campus, often they would travel back to Penang island or Butterworth during weekend. And I have the whole campus by myself, yes the whole 3 storey campus by myself. I can even hear my own breath at night!

Chai Leng is still the same, funny and witty, a real pleasure to be with as always. Although he sounded real serious and down on the phone prior to the meetup, thank God, he is still the same happy kid from Kampung Jawi. Keep it up Chai Leng!! It's good to know that he's doing well in Singapore. His life journey itself is a wonderful example of what a person can achieve with determination and perseverance.

Ah Long is still as gentleman as always, and he actually looks younger these days. We used to hang around Ah Long house and he would treat us to lunch dinner and what not. Extremely generous and easy going. Thank God for the oppurtunity to know frens like these.

The time we had together was short but memorable. We had some wacky laughs and some serious conversation too!

To Chai Leng and Ah Long, thanks for dropping by, and I look forward to meeting with you guys again in Penang soon. Till then, God bless.