Counting Down…

Getting ready to go for our first ever Youth/20s Leaders Retreat!!!!!

Anyway, here’s a cool video of Amazing Grace with Chris Tomlin and Marty Sampson… Ah, don’t you just luuuuurrrve Chris Tomlin? I have a crush on the guy. LOL. Enjoy!

Heroes

I read this in the newspaper today. A sacrificial, heroic deed never fails to make me take a deeper breath and pause mid-work to contemplate on the ultimate sacrificial, heroic deed of our Saviour on the Cross.

Here’s to V. Ammasie and his selfless act…

Friday January 30, 2009

Man who shielded grandson from bees dies of stings

KLANG: A 60-year-old man died protecting his grandson from being attacked by a swarm of bees in Hulu Langat.

V. Ammasie, 60, his son A Tangadurai, 25, and grandson M. Gunaselan, 13, were in a lorry heading to a temple in Section 1, North Estate, Carey Island when the bees attacked them at 5.45pm yesterday.

“The lorry window was down and the bees flew in. My grandfather stopped the lorry and all of us rushed out.

“My grandfather grabbed me, hugged me and pushed me back into the lorry and I wound up the window,” he said.

Gunaselan said he saw the bees attack Ammasie and Tangadurai and could not do anything.

“There were thousands of them. Grandfather and my uncle had no protection. Both of them were twisting, turning and rolling on the ground,” he said.

He said nearby residents heard their shouts and a man took off his shirt and set it on fire causing the bees to fly away.

They rushed Ammasie to the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang but he died on the way at about 6.45pm. Tangadurai suffered stings on his body.

Family Reunions

Going back to Sibu, Sarawak always reminds me of the Enid Blyton book:

“Six Cousins at Mistletoe Farm”

and its sequel  “Six Cousins Again”.

Why?

Well, the story goes… three siblings are ‘forced’ to stay with their aunt and uncle (who has three children – thus… three more cousins – adding up to… oh wow… the title of the book! Six Cousins!!) because their house in the city has been burnt down. So… thus the tale unravels of how these typical, stereotyped city kids adjust to life in the countryside with the farming lifestyle  etc.

And thus, the tale of the Wong family annual migration* back to Sarawak to visit 95% of all their blood relations. The rest of the year is quite “relatives-free” unless for some reason, I have to fly back to Sarawak, or one of them is in KL on a conference.

*note: my parents are more frequent fliers compared to us kids, since the blood relations I refer to are their siblings/parents etc.

When we were all young kids, we use to be reluctant to go back for many reasons…

- it was boring – even during the pre-astro times, TV1, 2 and 3 were all we’ve got

- lost in translation. Sibu is the land of the FuChow… some of my relatives can’t speak mandarin too… so… we resort to nodding and smiling at each other At least with my brother and I, learning Mandarin comes in useful

- we only had a handful of cousins who were our age (when we’re with them, we have fun), but other than that, all our other cousins are either much older, or too young to connect with

- and amongst other things, going back to Sibu always made me feel like one of the city characters being scrutinized and judged by our fellow relatives from town in Enid Blyton’s book

and a more personal reason:

- I was a super duper ultra shy, quiet kid, only speak when spoken to. So… for all (not just my relatives) my old acquaintances… you probably never heard a word from me when I was a kid anyway. hahaha…

After going to the UK, my visits to Sarawak became even less frequent because my holidays here are always a bit short, or I’m too busy in KL itself to book a flight back (its not like I can drive back to see my relatives eh….) So, the already thin thread of communication with my relatives virtually became nil when I was in UK.

Well, all this should change since I’m older, wiser and permanently in KL!!

Ever since the China trip last December (which I have failed to blog about), I have made a mental note to be more intentional with reaching out to my relatives and getting to know them better. I think, in that one week I was in China, I got to know so much more about the relatives who were with us than the many years of Chinese New Year “touch and go”s!

Plus, in recent years, I have always wondered to myself… how can I have a burden for the salvation of the rest of the world and yet feel nothing for my own blood relations? Usually, the struggle is that people care about their own family and not of the stranger or neighbour beside them, whereas mine is the reverse. And I can safely say… that not all my relatives are saved, and they too need someone who would care enough to pray for them and to reach out to them. So… the question always at the back of my mind is… what am I doing about it?

The only way I can start taking an interest in them and caring for them, is when I know them… Plus, I can’t expect them to come running to get to know me… I’ve to take that first step across the city/country cousin divide…

So, this trip back to Sarawak was all about me pushing myself out of just the usual smile-nod routine to be more outgoing and initiative with conversations with my relatives and getting their contact details.

This Chinese New Year, it is all about establishing and re-establishing family-ties.

1st day of CNY – my dad’s relatives. Most of them are Christians already, and my grandmother has such a strong faith, its unbelievable. My grandfather has Alzheimer’s, but since the last time I saw him, he has improved a great deal and can even talk to me too! The only cousins available from my dad’s side are in primary school… but they are totally adorable!

2nd day of CNY – my mum’s relatives. I can say that my mum’s siblings are more adventurous and crazier than my dad’s. More cousins my age. We use to play harmless games (murder in the dark being our favourite) but now? drinking games which involves a huge bottle of tequila. Thank God I have high tolerance for alcohol. Altho, it is still a bit of a shock that my fellow innocent cousins are now all out to going for drinks, clubbing and gambling… It truly has been awhile since I’ve met up with them. I guess they were equally as shocked to see me holding my alcohol without getting drunk!

As usual, the famous question props up now and again, although, I’m surprised… instead of the usual “do you have a boyfriend?”, they now jump straight to, “When will I be attending your wedding dinner?” (*huh? did I miss something here?*) I guess, since they’ve not seen me for so long, they assume that I’m already hitched and ready for the next phase. hahaha.

The pictures are still with my mum. She’s still in Sarawak for a few more days whilst I’ve got to come back for work…

Now, I’ve got a paper full of email contacts (thank God for the www) and I’ve got a few more people down on my friends list on facebook/MSN/friendster

I guess I now have to follow up with my resolution and start planning a trip to Sarawak when it is NOT Chinese New Year time and be more pro-active at contacting my cousins

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR people!!!