Miracles and timing...

It has been a few weeks where I have the urge to share some testimonials in my blog…somehow it did not happen until now. Must have been the devil’s work to ensure that either I don’t remember or too busy with reading the juicy news about our politics…you know when it comes to our country there is no end to the power struggle…

This morning as usual I went to church. We have a visitor pastor and he is age 75 years. The moment he walked in, I told myself that it is going to be a dull sermon. Why? I don’t know. To be honest, it is a difficult task to stay awake in church after the Worship and Praise session. More so if the speaker has monotonous tune throughout. However today was an exception and it reminds what I have been wanted to do for a couple weeks before. Update my blog!!!

A few statements caught my attention. No. 1 - Power comes with pride and ends with destruction. No. 2 – We are called to testify. No 3. – Adhere to His voice rather than being stubborn and waits for His rotan. No. 4 – We live by faith and not by machines. No. 5 – When we are in trouble, call upon Him and not start dialing 999.

I shall begin with No. 1. We may be thinking that the word power – would only apply to politician or those high profiled businessmen or top management people. Well, not exactly. Even within our own family or our work place, we do come across with ‘power struggle’. Human being just loves attention. We love praises. We love to be adored. At times, we may ‘sacrifice’ our values just to garner people’s attention. The bible does remind us that at all times and in any situation, we need to be humble. It is difficult but it is necessary to keep our feet on the ground.

Surely, these days we have seen big and solid organizations which previously boast about their successes and the amount of wealth they gained have suddenly disappeared. Some even tried to be funny when given a second chance and they ended up with great embarrassment. Not just organizations, remember those war lords?! What about some leaders?!

I have also seen with my own eyes how an individual who had nothing during the younger days and later was blessed with good wealth and was ‘polished’ by many but ended up with nothing…nothing but pain…Nope, I was not referring to a politician or someone whom you know from the news…although I have nothing to gain nor loose from this individual, his/her ‘downfall’ does made me feel for him/her…and more importantly this keeps me alert to adhere to the Lord’s instruction – to be humble.

So, it does not matter how others (whether our leaders/ organization/ bosses/ colleagues/ relatives/ friends) boast about their success and demand our submission to them or even myself, how successful I am, one needs to be humble. Otherwise, the Lord brings out His rotan and no one will be spared from being disciplined! No, do not get me wrong. Successes and wealth are not sin. But the pride of man for being successful or having the $$$ will eventually lead him to no where…So, be it whoever wants to demand whatever, the Lord is never far away…

No. 2, as the pastor has commented and it is also written in the bible that we, Christians are called to testify. As I have named my blog, “My Journey’, I wish to share my experiences of both ups and downs. For your information, I had been near ‘death’ 3 times in my life till date. The 1st incident was I jumped into a swimming pool with depth surpasses my height and without knowing how to swim! At that time, I was only 4 yrs old…I panicked, drank lots of water and certainly my vision was blurred…and thank God, Marcos saw and swam to my rescue. You know, some would have given up or don’t even dare to be near the swimming pool ever - after such horrific experience…but hallelujah with God’s grace I told myself I must master my swimming. My dad then taught me how to swim and my Lord even sent a qualified coach to teach me some free lessons! Today I can swim even if the depth is thousands of meters surpass my height…

2nd incident was due to my childish, silly and mischievous play. Kids can be very creative…So, one night my dad was bathing while my brother and I were supposedly to be doing our homework. But for those 10 minutes we decided to play a game. As a kid at 10 years old, I always wanted to proof myself that I was a super kid! (Thanks to Superman movie!) My brother stupidly suggested a game to proof how tough was my neck and how long I can withhold my breath when he strangles me with a towel. The position was he pulls me by the neck with a towel and I should be going against his direction. The instruction was to shout “STOP” when I want to give up. And we started. Now that I recall, I do not think I exceeded 20 seconds and my surroundings went pitch black. I was not in pain neither did I had any feeling. Before I knew it, I fell down to my knees because my brother released the towel when he heard the bathroom door opened. My brother even scolded me for not yelling to stop when I ‘kong’ out. Whenever I rethink this incident, I praise God that my dad came out from the bathroom just at the right timing because how could one make a single sound when he/she is being strangled?! Hallelujah! I could have been on The Star’s headlines in 1986 for “A child died while dad was bathing”…

3rd experience was almost similar with 2nd. I was in my teens. Perhaps I was 13 or 14. I took my bicycle to the gas station and pumped air into the tyres. The gas station situated about 1.5km from my house. After pumping the air, I cycled out of the station and suddenly I found myself lying on the road a few meters away from my bicycle. I was surrounded by a group of kids. All I heard was “ada accident”…I saw the motorcyclist looking straight at me while my bike was lying at the road. He yelled “You tak nampak motor kah!”. Yup, he was darned right. I did not see a motorbike coming on my right when I exited the gas station. I did not say a word. I did a quick check on myself and found all my limbs were still intact! I picked up my bike and I saw the front tyre was crooked. Immediately I was in fear…afraid of dad’s scolding for the crooked tyre. I walked home while carrying the bike for 1.5km. As I walked, I began to think about the ‘accident’. Boy, once again I blacked out and behold when I woke up, it was as if nothing had happened! I was ‘carried’ by the angels while I flew off from my bicycle. And if I remember correctly, there were only a few scratches on my knees!!! Again no pain, no feeling…Now if it was not the Lord, I would be appearing on the headlines of The Star, “A teenage died/ hospitalized from a freak accident after pumping the bike’s tyres”…hallelujah! Errr…I did not tell my parents about this. I just mentioned to my dad that I could not brake in time and hit a stationed construction truck. So, that explained the crooked tyre!

After these 3 incidents and with some of the news I have heard/seen about how easily a child can be hurt due to silly accidents, I, myself could have encountered brain damage (at the least) since there were no oxygen in my brain for a couple of seconds or minutes. Or I could have had internal bleedings in my organs from being flown in the air for a few meters. But well, I still obtained my academic certificates, at this moment I am still contributing to the society, I am praising God and what else can I say except for the fact I am still here is because of His grace and mercy??!!! Amen…

(to be continued…)

"Chook Bo"

A few weeks ago, our family was busy preparing for our brother’s wedding. While we were discussing about the upcoming wedding, my mom shared with us how those days she was married to my father. There were many traditions to observe and my grandparents were not lenient in giving leeway to make things easier. Well, I will tell you more in my next blog on those we call today “pat po” things (surely, if my grandparents were alive, they will ‘kill’ me for stating tradition as “pat po” things...)

Along the way, my mom found our Wong’s family book ie “chook bo’. She mentioned that this book records our family’s background especially the male decendants ie their names, date and time they were born, their spouse's name, their son's name, their burial ground and etc. Ye Ye wrote 5 of these books and had given to all his sons. I am amazed and so is my brother. Besides, it also has instruction on what middle name the male decendants should be naming their sons.

"Chook Bo"

You see for Chinese, our ancestors have predetermined their next few generations of male descendants’ middle name. In this way, we should know how big our family has grown and those with same surname are most likely from the same ancestors.

One of our fore fathers' names

Being Chinese illiterate, we asked my brother’s wife’s father to read. Although Uncle could only understand partially as some of the chinese characters are too deep for him, he too is amazed. He commented this book is full of details on Wong’s family - way back when they were still in China. This book is an antique and not many are still in existence. This comment made me feel proud of what Ye Ye had left us. (Hmmm, wonder were we from the famous kungfu master ie Wong Fei Houng 's decendants...hahahaha...who knows, right?!)

My brother then took it to one of his friend. Again, there are several characters which are too old for him to interpret. However the names written on it were as far as 20 over generations before my father’s time. Some pages even mention that our fore fathers were buried in Fu Chow, China. This means even if we are Cantonese, we may not be even from Guangdong at all.

This page belongs to my father's generation - last page of the book (24th generation)

Well, from the book we know that our father’s generation is named “Yuen/Yoon” whereas my brother’s generation is “Kok”. According to the book, the next in line should be “Tak/ Tuck”. Thus if my brother or my cousin brothers have any sons, they should be naming their son as "Wong Tak/Tuck ___".

The 1st page of the book

(on the right side, it has all the middle name for the male generations)

There are a few more names given for the future generations. How interesting and I somewhat feel that our ancestors were so brilliant that they could then foresee what they want in the future. Besides, it also takes a lot of discipline to ensure the message written by our ancestors are passed down as our family grows! I can’t imagine that this book has 20 over generations' history…and it’s belonging to our family!!!

I am really interested to know the entire book’s contents. It should tell us a lot. Wonder if anyone knows the olden days chinese characters...I am very grateful that Ye Ye had actually taken the time to write 5 of these. I must say what he has given to us is far more valuable than monetary things. History is what has shaped us to be today.

Just like how God has given us the Bible. As said, the Bible is the most demanded book in history and it is still holding the record till date. Not just that it contains the history of BC and AC, more importantly it has God’s instructions for us! I am proud to be called God’s child and to have His words with me. Amen...

I am also thankful to Ye Ye for spending time and effort to give us the family history to pass on to our children and so on...

Stand firm...

It has been 6 months since we first heard about the financial crisis. Since then many things have changed...it has been tough and some say it will get tougher!

Many shared that this crisis is the first of its kind and it will be worse than 1930s - "great depression". Negative news flock our daily lives. Most of us who are earning income begin to fear of the future. Even the high profile people, businessmen and employers could not ascertain the right strategy to encounter the crisis. Will this problem be solved by giving out the billions of stimulus package? Is printing more money - the answer? Retrenchment? Creating projects? Or keep every dollar we have? Seriously, I would say, no one knows...

Everyday without fail, we come across seminars, talks, trainings, news and etc on how to embrace this crisis.

I think more importantly, we should review why this has happened - the root cause - GREED OF MANKIND.

In one of the sermon, I heard a statement - "There is no such thing as recession in the Kingdom of God". If we study the Bible, I would think the word "recession" is nowhere to be found. It is us who created recession which will then lead us into DEPRESSION. God has fore warned us not to have idols in our life. Money is a necessity in our life but it should be the ultimate.

If we re-look into many of the past dynasties whether in China or Europe or even back to BC, the downfall of a kingdom starts from the greed of a man. The history should have taught us valuable lessons. However we still fail to learn.

As said, the minorities always affect the majorities. This is the world...

But we should not fret! God is ever merciful and graceful to those who rely on Him. "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plan will succeed. " (Pro 16:3). Look at the verse again. There is a FULLSTOP. Simple and straightforward instruction. No jargons, no "IF" or "MAY" but the word "WILL" succeed!

Let's us take heed what has been told by Him and build our faith in Him. We shall then rise above the occassion for whatever the world is facing...Amen!

Year of Ox..MooOooOoo!

Since dad has left us, we dare enough to break away from tradition and had not been 'slaughtering' on CNY eve. No matter how we persuaded, dad would never agree to have Reunion Dinner out of the house...sigh. Well, I guess he had his own opinion and everytime when we sat at the table, we soon forgotten about the hassle of preparing the dinner...


This eve, Amy came back to join us for Reunion Dinner at Ming Room. As I always say, it is never about the dishes we have on the table…it's the family members whom are enjoying the dinner with... I am glad that our family is growing...next year, we will be having 5!Amen...

1st day as usual, we begun our visiting to my beloved 2nd aunty. Every year going to Ah Leong's house, it's like going back to my hometown...yea, it's just about 20km away...but the old neighbourhood brings back a lot of my childhood memories...looking across Ah Leong's house reminds me of my childhood friends...the family has 5 kids. Eldest is Ah Ling who is 6 years older than me...followed by Ah Fun, Ah Fah, Ah Kuen and youngest Ah Mun. Their father is a durian seller and I get free durian everytime he has left overs...These bunch of friends were like my siblings and I don't feel good if I don't see them for a single day. I was told they would also look for me whenever I was at home with my parents...They were also the ones who gave me a bewildered experience of kena rotan from Ah Leong...hahaha...I wonder where are this bunch now...hope they are well...

Then we headed to Ah Sok's place. This year, we get to meet up with my 2 cousin brothers who returned from Suzhou and HKG. Great to see them... Besides, Kok Hoe also announced that he too will be marrying in Oct...Congrats, bro!

Next 3rd Ah Leong. Unfortunately, she was not in and we were greeted by Ah Fun sis. Wow, her boy has turned into a fine young man...time flies...and last of Wong's family would be my 4th aunty. It was also a pleasant surprise to have Ah Mei and her hubby returned from Aussie.

As usual, everytime I get my ang pow...it will sure come with a comment ..."So, when can I stop giving you a?" or "You know, waiting for your cup of tea makes my neck longer"...sigh...cold sweat...to receive ang pow nowadays is no longer as 'excited' as it use to be...hahaha...My friend sms myself and asked how many ang pows I have collected...I replied, these ang pows collected has "blood and sweat" in them...hahaha

This year, wonderfully all my cousins from abroad have returned home...how superb to begin the year of Ox with our family all home plus good news to be shared...We shall be looking forward to March and October to celebrate the marriage of my brother and Kok Hoe!

Gong Hei! Gong Hei!

CNY

Time flies…those days when I was younger (not too long ago though :P) CNY was the best time of the year…1 month before this festival arrives, the young ones will be very excited because we get to have new clothes, new shoes, play firecrackers and most of all…the ang pows!!!

Those days my family and 7th uncle’s family stayed with my grandparents…so, when CNY was near my mom and 7th aunty would be busy cleaning and cooking while our dads were busy cleaning their cars and repairing any electrical items which were spoilt for some time…nobody would care until CNY and suddenly time seems too short for everyone. Well, what we the young ones do? Of course, we need to pretend helping our parents (let’s just say if we really did, they will have more to clean up…hahaha…) I remember, we looked forward to night…it’s firecracker time! We used to gather a few cans and fire them everywhere. Whoever managed to have the loudest blast would seem to be the winner!

On the 1st day, all the young ones would be dressed up like ‘super models’…even if our shoes were hurting our feet, we would never complain…as early as 8am, my Ye Ye’s house would turn into a busy ‘market’ as all the Wong’s would return home. Everyone had to queue to pour tea and wish Ye Ye and Ma Ma with the best wishes…then it would be from the eldest to the youngest…the whole house were filled with laughter and joy…all arguments and grudges which they had were forgotten on this day…the children were compared on their heights while some were busy showing of their new baju and ehem, jewellery…

Our family moved out eventually and these CNY routines only lasted for another year or so. Ma Ma was sent to an old folks home since she needed medical care 24 hrs…she left a couple of years thereafter and it was then Ye Ye’s turn to be sent to an old folks home…I never understand why but I never dare to ask…

Since then Ye Ye’s house had never been the same…CNY had changed…instead of gathering in a common place, we started to visit every of my dad’s siblings’ home. There were 4 of them…if each house we need about 2 hours, we would need 8 hours to complete…so, we have to start early. My dad would wake us up early because we have to eat before we start visiting…waking up early is already torturing – worst was asking me to eat rice that early…sigh…I hate eating rice when the sun is only starting to shine!

By the time we finished all 4 houses, my mom, bro and myself were practically ‘half-dead’ while my dad, half drunk. By night, dinner was simple comparing the night before when we had reunion dinner…and the dishes…well, there were the same – the only different is lesser portion…

Our 1st day doesn’t stop at dinner. We have to make our way to Ulu Kelang to visit my mom’s aunty. Usually we arrived at 930pm and everyone in Yee Poh’s house was already half ‘partying’ with mahjong and drinking…at that age, I was too young for mahjong and drinking…what we do? Well, either we sit by the side of the mahjong table and hand over drinks to the players or sit with dad and Yee Kong to hear them cursing at politicians in the country and in their office…both choices were great for me…else I won’t know how to play mahjong neither would I know that in any generation of mankind, politicians are mostly sucks – whether they are working for the country or those in our office!

2nd day, yet again my dad would wake us early to ‘hoi lin’…again is about having rice…sigh, who the heck created such culture!!! Later on that day, it’s my dad’s turn to receive his siblings and other relatives…although I was made into “Ah Sei” for the day…I was proud of my part time role as a ‘bar waitress’…hmmm, I guess the alcoholic gene is in me because I love to pour beer…and pour beer and pour beer and pour beer…seeing my relative and cousins in my home, I feel the special warmth where 364 days were missing…

Well, I am not sure about other family. Although it has been a routine for every CNY on whom we visit or who would be coming…and as the years gone by…some of my family members have ‘left’…we also have ‘additional’ members along the way - somehow the topic of conversation has never change…best is we never grow tired of the same questions neither are we annoyed in answering them…hahahaha

Now, my dad is no longer around to wake us early and we do not need to eat rice that early…again CNY has changed…

I guess as we grow, the feel and the way we celebrate CNY will somehow change…these days when CNY is near, we confess that we ‘lost’ the feel we used to have…I wonder whether this ‘feel’ will return when our life changes to another stage i.e. when we have children and that they are old enough to understand this festival…then would it be like when I was young and were in Ye Ye’s house…I wonder…

“Gong Hei Fatt Choy” “Chook Lei Lin Lin Yau Kam Yat, Sui Sui Yau Kam Chiu” “Chook Fook Lei Loong Ma Ching San, Po Po Kow Sing, Wang Choy Chow Sau” “Chook Lei Sam Seong Si Seng”

2008

A few more days and we are entering into a brand new year…perhaps this will be my last blog for year 2008.

2008 passes-by tremendously fast and at times I felt worried because it seems like I am running after time…beginning of the year we have a restructuring in our division and I am posted to HQ. I thought I was ready to face any challenges and I also prepared myself for those things I thought I would have a handful! Well, it did not turn out the way I thought it was suppose to…and all the effort of ‘preparation’ never been put to use whereas many situations happened unpredictably. As the Chinese saying, “Let heaven predicts your next step rather than your own selves”…how true!

In this new position, I have a lot of exposure especially in people management. Certain times I wished I can return to be a junior officer to ‘escape’ from responsibility rather than where I am. My ex-boss used to say “A popular manager won’t make him/her a good manager”…I somewhat disagree with the statement. I think it should be…”A ‘yes’ manager won’t make him/her a good manager”…Well, the word “NO” is absolutely a very heavy word to utter though it’s just 2 alphabets compare to 3 in a ‘yes’…but most of the time there are not many options for us and we always hope that our teams would understand someday – somehow…to go through these challenging episodes I kept reminding myself, it’s all about work – nothing personal. I wonder if the other party would have the same thought…

Then a rude shock came right after my birthday. All these while I thought I am just trying my best to do whatever I can for everyone. Unfortunately, people have otherwise opinion on my action and now I am put to blame for their loss. It is disheartening and depressing. Sometimes I wondered whether I really had made an error and why not just accept the blame to stop the whole episode. However in one of the Sunday sermon, a verse in the bible helps. It says “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visit us” (1Peter 2:12).

2008 was not just about challenges and hard times. I had my best travel so far which I have been planning for a long time. I had great time with my friends and my family. I met up with some of my old friends and I also made new friends…I had the opportunity to taste fantastic food!

This Christmas brings a lot of good times…on the eve; my family had dinner at Euro Deli. On Christmas Day, we had great lunch with my best pals and their family…so many babies at one time in my house - brought a lot of joy! By night, we headed to Jaycy’s home where I looked forward to every year. Those days, Janet would be the host before she migrated to Perth and if I remember correctly, we never missed any of her invitations neither Jaycy’s. I particularly loved during the dinner is the chatting…although my job requires me to talk a lot but when I am at home with my family, I am more a listener…and I simply enjoy it! Not to forget boozing with my cousins is another fun part…hahahaha…I don’t know how to describe their expression but they definitely make me laugh…like when I was small how they made funny faces to tickle me! If I am given a choice, I preferred those gatherings we had when I was younger - when every family members are still around…ie Marcos, 4th sis-in-law, my father (all who are with the Lord now) and also my cousins Janet & her family in Perth and Allan…I miss them…

The next day, we had BBQ session with my team from JT together with 2 “special” guests. We were blessed with good and rich food. I believe everyone had a good time and Kiwi too…On Saturday, I made a journey to Seremban with boss and Ling to attend Karen’s wedding…and Sunday after church, we headed to an elderly aunty’s house. I am amazed with this aunty. She is going to be 79 next year and she invited 13 of us for Christmas lunch! She made fried mee, sui kao, vegetable, fried fish balls, chicken, pot pies, cheese cake, jello and drinks with the help of a maid…the best part was when she has prepared all the food for us, she entertained us and herself by singing karaoke!!! She operates the vcd and the hi-fi herself…she chose the cds and her favourite songs herself without any help or even a pair of spectacles…I think she enjoyed herself very much…I thanked God for her exemplary life…she lost her husband and her son…her daughters are in overseas and she stays alone with a maid. Yet she maintains a joyful life and less bother of how people may see her…Hallelujah! What a joy to know her…

No matter where or how the situations will turn out to be, I have to convince myself that I should not be looking backwards and only have to focus in moving forward. I trust that God will lead me through every hurdle and even if I fall I have Him to hold me and put my feet back on solid ground…and if someday I could be like my church aunty who is care-free and joyful despite so many adversities, it would be a blessing! I am going to work towards that…Have a Great and Blessed 2009!

Great dishes on Christmas Day

Highlight of the Day - Turkey

At Jaycy's house

Guess who's the real chef?

"yummm, I smell bone in here..."

Ribs and Wings..yummy

BBQ session

Thanksgiving

Hmm…when comes Dec, we often look forward to Christmas and we never knew when is Thanksgiving!

The word “Thanksgiving” is powerful enough to remind us of God’s blessings given unto us and that we should be grateful in whatever circumstances we are facing.

It has been 20 years since I came to know Christ and each time I looked back on the day which I made the decision to accept Him, I have not regretted and in fact I don’t or wouldn’t know what I will do or would become without Him all these years. Simply with this statement, I should and always give thanks unto Him for being a true friend to me...and unconditionally…

It has been a terrible start of Dec…we always say, when thing get jinx, it will be jinx all the way…it is very disheartening to know that all the time we thought we are doing good things or helping someone would turned out be a total wrong! Not only that the people are not appreciative…they turned against you and blame you for doing things which are hurting them! Sounds familiar?

The last time I felt such heaviness in my heart was almost a decade ago. That time it only lasted 2 days and no physical pain noted. Perhaps I was 10 years younger then…This time it lasted almost a week and I really felt the pain in my heart…guess its due to lack of sleep and I have been thinking a lot! I was scared that I may collapse anytime; I tested my heart by going to gym and did the treadmill for an hour…I survived …hallelujah! I asked God to lead me as I sincerely don’t know what else to do and I was seriously over exhausted…and graciously He begun to move each of the jigsaw into its place…although the jigsaw puzzle is yet to be completed…but I felt so much lighter…I need to rely on Him as I know that these circumstances which I am facing may or may not turn out the way I wanted…”FAITH” is the word to describe how I am suppose to handle them…

I learned that we do not have control over many things in our life. The only thing we could control is our own self whether in terms of feelings or actions…and God never fails to give us a choice to choose…Funny thing is, most of the time we choose the wrong path…but at the end when we realize we are heading towards ‘disaster’ we finally look upon Him for direction! And He will graciously lead us despite of our shortcomings…I often wonder for those who are free thinker…to whom they will seek help from when there are times where they are beyond human intervention…I am blessed that I have Jesus!!! Amen…

2 days ago, we celebrated my mom’s birthday together with SAL’s mom. They both share the same date ie 9th Dec…they have been friends too since I knew SAL 5 yrs ago…during the lunch, we captured some shots and there were a photo of my mom and SAL’s mom and a photo of SAL and myself…when I looked at these 2 photos, I made a comment…”SAL, this is how we looked like now…in 20 yrs time, will we look like our moms?”. We laughed out loud until we teared a lil… Aunty Soo then commented, “You girls should give thanks to the Lord if you are as healthy as us in 20 yrs time” and she gave a laugh…How true!!!

Well, does anyone know when Thanksgiving Day is? I think I should pay more attention to this wonderful Day moving forward…

“You are my strength when I am weak; You are the treasure that I seek: You are my all in all; Seeking You as precious jewel; Lord to give up I’d be a fool; You are my all in all;”