Dasar Shalat Tarawih 8 Rakaat
4 months ago
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Friday, December 26, 2008
2nd Bersatunite Promo Video!
Yay! Finally finished my 2nd video for this event. Sorry Esther for the delay...if you read my previous post, you'd understand why...
Please comment! Really value feedback so can continue to improve...
My wife and I will be attending this event to lend our support as counsellors. Do pray for this event that God will touch lives and more young Christians will be committed to pray and seek God about their place in our nation!
Please comment! Really value feedback so can continue to improve...
My wife and I will be attending this event to lend our support as counsellors. Do pray for this event that God will touch lives and more young Christians will be committed to pray and seek God about their place in our nation!
God is good - pt 3
It's been a while since I been updating. LOTS of things happening, what with Christmas preparations and such.
Anyway, significantly since I last blogged:
1) We had our Thanksgiving Open House on 20th December. We invited so many people that we thought we'd better have it at our condo's poolside. We had invited about 100 people, but in the end only about 80 people came. So there was LOTS of food leftover.
We really wanted to celebrate the end of an eventful year and to just express our thanks to God with a little generosity. But it was a real challenge for us to have our open house.
MONEY! We were on the verge of broke as usual and catering an event was definitely out of our budget. So I finally decided to cook myself - what to do...no money, use own strength lo...fact of life! Anyway, I quite enjoyed the challenge of working out the menu and budget. When I saw the guest list and realised how much we needed to spend (estimated about RM1000!!) just to buy raw materials, I was a little stunned...
But as usual, God is FAITHFUL. One of the Sunday sermons spoke to me and I decided to "pursue my right to earn money" as the speaker said. I had several people who owed me money for work done, and had not paid for several years. So I decided to get tough on them. Shortly after, they decided to pay - at least in part (better than nothing lo)!
And when we went shopping for the materials we needed, we actually shaved about RM300 of my initial estimate. So there's some more savings! In the end, we had enough to pay for the Open House AND buy myself a camera to pursue my photography hobby.
TIME! It was near Christmas time and I was involved in Church activities and also work and other commitments. So stress!! But thank God, He gave me the strength to survive on just a few hours sleep, so I could get all my things done on time!
STRENGTH! Cooking for 100 ppl is seriously no joke, man! Thank God for my wife, who helped me throughout the day. Also thank God for our good friend, Annie who helped us a lot too! We were at it since 9 in the morning and until the final dish was served at 7pm. After that, I was soo pooped! I guess I wasn't a very good host...didn't have much energy left over to entertain! Especially cos I was up until 4am the previous night baking 3 cakes!
2) Wai Ling passed her Kumon test and interviews and will be officially getting her Instructor's license. We can now officially take over the Bukit Damansara Kumon Centre. This is really great news and brings tears to our eyes to see God's goodness to us! After years of struggling, we can finally look forward to getting ourselves more financially secure and have some money saved up for our future!
Wai Ling was so exhilirated cos Maths and exams are her two great fears. And to pass a Maths Test for such an important reason...It's really God's grace.
She went into the test with confidence on that day as she had felt the assurance from God that all would be well. I hope she can fill in the blanks for you herself on this blog...
3) Mesra Jiran Christmas Party. This is one big event organised by my church, Life Methodist Church Puchong, on Christmas Eve Night. Let's see...I was in charge of the night's games, the entire night's slides - including setting up the projection screen, designing the event bulletin.
GAMES! Wow...first time had to lead games for 300 people!! REALLY wondered what we were going to do cos we can't get 300 ppl off their seats and running around in a small space! Thank God for the Internet!
SLIDES! Total of 96 slides! Prepared over 2 days...and this was coming in the heels of our just ended Open House. So more sleepless nights...
BULLETIN! Nearly forgot this! Thank God remembered it at about 6am on event day after finishing most of the slides (yes, I really meant it when I said "sleepless nights"). Print halfway, RUN OUT OF INK! Thank God Auntie Alexis from church could photostat the rest for me!
As with all big events, there was crisis after crisis at the last minute. But praise the Lord, with teamwork and passion for serving God, we managed to pull through and everything (well, almost) turned out fine!
All in all, it was a great event! The games were well-received, the children's fancy dress contest was a blast, the youths were great in their musical play and we went home exhausted, relieved and marvelling at God's grace! Finally fell asleep at about 2.30am.
4) CHRISTMAS MORNING SERVICE! Woke at 7.30am and started to cook for church. Reached church a little late. Was so tired, I slept through parts of the service - snored some more! Aiyoo...so malu!
Anyway, reached home at about 1pm. Wanted to sleep, but there was a great commotion at my condo's poolside. So I went to check it out! And discovered a VERY INTERESTING THING going on there.
Will blog about that in my next post.
Anyway, significantly since I last blogged:
1) We had our Thanksgiving Open House on 20th December. We invited so many people that we thought we'd better have it at our condo's poolside. We had invited about 100 people, but in the end only about 80 people came. So there was LOTS of food leftover.
We really wanted to celebrate the end of an eventful year and to just express our thanks to God with a little generosity. But it was a real challenge for us to have our open house.
MONEY! We were on the verge of broke as usual and catering an event was definitely out of our budget. So I finally decided to cook myself - what to do...no money, use own strength lo...fact of life! Anyway, I quite enjoyed the challenge of working out the menu and budget. When I saw the guest list and realised how much we needed to spend (estimated about RM1000!!) just to buy raw materials, I was a little stunned...
But as usual, God is FAITHFUL. One of the Sunday sermons spoke to me and I decided to "pursue my right to earn money" as the speaker said. I had several people who owed me money for work done, and had not paid for several years. So I decided to get tough on them. Shortly after, they decided to pay - at least in part (better than nothing lo)!
And when we went shopping for the materials we needed, we actually shaved about RM300 of my initial estimate. So there's some more savings! In the end, we had enough to pay for the Open House AND buy myself a camera to pursue my photography hobby.
TIME! It was near Christmas time and I was involved in Church activities and also work and other commitments. So stress!! But thank God, He gave me the strength to survive on just a few hours sleep, so I could get all my things done on time!
STRENGTH! Cooking for 100 ppl is seriously no joke, man! Thank God for my wife, who helped me throughout the day. Also thank God for our good friend, Annie who helped us a lot too! We were at it since 9 in the morning and until the final dish was served at 7pm. After that, I was soo pooped! I guess I wasn't a very good host...didn't have much energy left over to entertain! Especially cos I was up until 4am the previous night baking 3 cakes!
2) Wai Ling passed her Kumon test and interviews and will be officially getting her Instructor's license. We can now officially take over the Bukit Damansara Kumon Centre. This is really great news and brings tears to our eyes to see God's goodness to us! After years of struggling, we can finally look forward to getting ourselves more financially secure and have some money saved up for our future!
Wai Ling was so exhilirated cos Maths and exams are her two great fears. And to pass a Maths Test for such an important reason...It's really God's grace.
She went into the test with confidence on that day as she had felt the assurance from God that all would be well. I hope she can fill in the blanks for you herself on this blog...
3) Mesra Jiran Christmas Party. This is one big event organised by my church, Life Methodist Church Puchong, on Christmas Eve Night. Let's see...I was in charge of the night's games, the entire night's slides - including setting up the projection screen, designing the event bulletin.
GAMES! Wow...first time had to lead games for 300 people!! REALLY wondered what we were going to do cos we can't get 300 ppl off their seats and running around in a small space! Thank God for the Internet!
SLIDES! Total of 96 slides! Prepared over 2 days...and this was coming in the heels of our just ended Open House. So more sleepless nights...
BULLETIN! Nearly forgot this! Thank God remembered it at about 6am on event day after finishing most of the slides (yes, I really meant it when I said "sleepless nights"). Print halfway, RUN OUT OF INK! Thank God Auntie Alexis from church could photostat the rest for me!
As with all big events, there was crisis after crisis at the last minute. But praise the Lord, with teamwork and passion for serving God, we managed to pull through and everything (well, almost) turned out fine!
All in all, it was a great event! The games were well-received, the children's fancy dress contest was a blast, the youths were great in their musical play and we went home exhausted, relieved and marvelling at God's grace! Finally fell asleep at about 2.30am.
4) CHRISTMAS MORNING SERVICE! Woke at 7.30am and started to cook for church. Reached church a little late. Was so tired, I slept through parts of the service - snored some more! Aiyoo...so malu!
Anyway, reached home at about 1pm. Wanted to sleep, but there was a great commotion at my condo's poolside. So I went to check it out! And discovered a VERY INTERESTING THING going on there.
Will blog about that in my next post.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Check out this blog!
Politics and social commentary without racialism! And definitely more than just complaints about how bad Malaysia is!
http://notsleepinganymore.blogspot.com/
http://notsleepinganymore.blogspot.com/
Monday, December 8, 2008
New video...
Finally! Finished one video promo for the Bersatunite concert!
This is another small step for me into the world of movie making. please feel free to feedback & comment. Thanks!
What's Bersatunite? I'll let the youths organising this speak for themselves:
----------------
"Bersatunite" is pronounce as "Bersatu-unite" with a common 'U'. It is a concert initiated by the Methodist Youth Fellowship of the Selangor and KL district (12 churches all together).
The details are as below:
Venue: KL Wesley Methodist Church
Time: 7.30 pm
Date: 10th January 2009
Guest performance: Juwita Suwito
Its aim is to ignite the passion to unite in prayer. We want to see youths especially, on fire for God and praying as a community, regardless of what denomination you are from, as long as you are a follower of Christ...we must be united to pray.
Pray for our country, our nation.
Pray for our leaders, our Prime Minister.
Pray for justice and freedom and peace.
Pray for our churches, pastors and elders/leaders.
Pray for our family, friends and ourselves.
There is so much to pray for! Like the apostles in Acts 1:12, "They all joined together constantly in prayer..." so we should also gather among ourselves to pray. 1 Corinthians 12:12 says "The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ."
Yes, we may be from different churches, different denomination and have different way of going about things, BUT we are very much in common for we worship the same God, read the same bible passages and have the same earnest desire to seek God and do His will!!!
Though we are many, we are ONE BODY in Christ.So come, we want to connect with you, especially if you are from Selangor or KL! We want to establish a prayer network among the churches in this district, to pray and encourage each other, and see where He leads us.
We are also working together with Malaysian Youth Prayer Gathering (MYPG) in the hope of recruiting more young people to come and pray together. We are now in the midst of starting a LYPG - Local Youth Prayer Gathering in the KL/PJ area. For more information on this and more, do visit http://bersatunite12.blogspot.com/
Any further enquiries, do not hesitate to drop us a comment at our blog or email us at bersatunite@gmail.com
God Bless ;)
http://weedaphne.blogspot.com
This is another small step for me into the world of movie making. please feel free to feedback & comment. Thanks!
What's Bersatunite? I'll let the youths organising this speak for themselves:
----------------
"Bersatunite" is pronounce as "Bersatu-unite" with a common 'U'. It is a concert initiated by the Methodist Youth Fellowship of the Selangor and KL district (12 churches all together).
The details are as below:
Venue: KL Wesley Methodist Church
Time: 7.30 pm
Date: 10th January 2009
Guest performance: Juwita Suwito
Its aim is to ignite the passion to unite in prayer. We want to see youths especially, on fire for God and praying as a community, regardless of what denomination you are from, as long as you are a follower of Christ...we must be united to pray.
Pray for our country, our nation.
Pray for our leaders, our Prime Minister.
Pray for justice and freedom and peace.
Pray for our churches, pastors and elders/leaders.
Pray for our family, friends and ourselves.
There is so much to pray for! Like the apostles in Acts 1:12, "They all joined together constantly in prayer..." so we should also gather among ourselves to pray. 1 Corinthians 12:12 says "The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ."
Yes, we may be from different churches, different denomination and have different way of going about things, BUT we are very much in common for we worship the same God, read the same bible passages and have the same earnest desire to seek God and do His will!!!
Though we are many, we are ONE BODY in Christ.So come, we want to connect with you, especially if you are from Selangor or KL! We want to establish a prayer network among the churches in this district, to pray and encourage each other, and see where He leads us.
We are also working together with Malaysian Youth Prayer Gathering (MYPG) in the hope of recruiting more young people to come and pray together. We are now in the midst of starting a LYPG - Local Youth Prayer Gathering in the KL/PJ area. For more information on this and more, do visit http://bersatunite12.blogspot.com/
Any further enquiries, do not hesitate to drop us a comment at our blog or email us at bersatunite@gmail.com
God Bless ;)
http://weedaphne.blogspot.com
Monday, November 10, 2008
Police Attack Anti-ISA Vigil
I was almost there.
Almost.
But I stayed home cos the past few days had been very hectic for my family and I was pooped. I actually wanted to go. I already had my paper cups and I was thinking of decorating them with "No to ISA", "Yes to Freedom & Justice", etc.
But thank God, I changed my mind.
According to reports the roads leading to the field where the vigil was supposed to be held were sealed by police since the early evening. Then as people gathered, the FRU surrounded the crowd. At first, they harassed the crowd to the Amcorp Mall parking lot. Then they harassed them to the PJ Civic Centre.
There a few bloggers spoke. The last one to speak was RPK. Then as the people were singing Negaraku, the cops stormed in. 24 people were arrested, including 2 State Assemblymen and an MP. Also arrested was Father Paulino, a Catholic priest.
How are men, women, children who are participating in a quiet gathering such a danger to society that fully armed riot police have to be unleashed on them? How are politicians advocating a just and fair society and a Catholic priest a danger to society? I fail to see any reasonable reason why the vigil had to be stormed.
I had been to one of the vigils a couple of weeks ago. It was a very quiet affair. People gathered. Lighted candles. Talked politics. Mostly, people just sat/walked around, smiled at each other. A coffee shop at lunch time was more noisy that the 300 people gathered at that place!
Why? Why? Why?
And to think that I wanted to bring my family there yesterday as part of their political awakening as citizens in this dear land of ours.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I post here some info from Wikipedia about the Gestapo - Nazi Germany's ruthless and much-feared secret police. You may draw your own conclusions...
"The Gestapo had the authority to investigate treason, espionage and sabotage cases, and cases of criminal attacks on the Nazi Party and Germany."
"The power of the Gestapo most open to misuse was called Schutzhaft - 'protective custody', a euphemism for the power to imprison people without judicial proceedings."
"By February and March 1942, student protests were calling for an end to the Nazi regime. These included the non-violent resistance of Hans and Sophie Scholl, two leaders of the White Rose student group. However, resistance groups and those who were in moral or political opposition to the Nazis were stalled by the fear of reprisals from the Gestapo. In fact, reprisals did come in response to the protests. Fearful of an internal overthrow, the forces of Himmler and the Gestapo were unleashed on the opposition. The first five months of 1943 witnessed thousands of arrests and executions as the Gestapo exercised their powers over the German public."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I for one will not allow our beloved Malaysia to become a Gestapo State!
P.S. The Nazi regime eventually collapsed under the weight of their own evil, done in by their own greed, pride and lust for power.
Almost.
But I stayed home cos the past few days had been very hectic for my family and I was pooped. I actually wanted to go. I already had my paper cups and I was thinking of decorating them with "No to ISA", "Yes to Freedom & Justice", etc.
But thank God, I changed my mind.
According to reports the roads leading to the field where the vigil was supposed to be held were sealed by police since the early evening. Then as people gathered, the FRU surrounded the crowd. At first, they harassed the crowd to the Amcorp Mall parking lot. Then they harassed them to the PJ Civic Centre.
There a few bloggers spoke. The last one to speak was RPK. Then as the people were singing Negaraku, the cops stormed in. 24 people were arrested, including 2 State Assemblymen and an MP. Also arrested was Father Paulino, a Catholic priest.
How are men, women, children who are participating in a quiet gathering such a danger to society that fully armed riot police have to be unleashed on them? How are politicians advocating a just and fair society and a Catholic priest a danger to society? I fail to see any reasonable reason why the vigil had to be stormed.
I had been to one of the vigils a couple of weeks ago. It was a very quiet affair. People gathered. Lighted candles. Talked politics. Mostly, people just sat/walked around, smiled at each other. A coffee shop at lunch time was more noisy that the 300 people gathered at that place!
Why? Why? Why?
And to think that I wanted to bring my family there yesterday as part of their political awakening as citizens in this dear land of ours.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I post here some info from Wikipedia about the Gestapo - Nazi Germany's ruthless and much-feared secret police. You may draw your own conclusions...
"The Gestapo had the authority to investigate treason, espionage and sabotage cases, and cases of criminal attacks on the Nazi Party and Germany."
"The power of the Gestapo most open to misuse was called Schutzhaft - 'protective custody', a euphemism for the power to imprison people without judicial proceedings."
"By February and March 1942, student protests were calling for an end to the Nazi regime. These included the non-violent resistance of Hans and Sophie Scholl, two leaders of the White Rose student group. However, resistance groups and those who were in moral or political opposition to the Nazis were stalled by the fear of reprisals from the Gestapo. In fact, reprisals did come in response to the protests. Fearful of an internal overthrow, the forces of Himmler and the Gestapo were unleashed on the opposition. The first five months of 1943 witnessed thousands of arrests and executions as the Gestapo exercised their powers over the German public."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I for one will not allow our beloved Malaysia to become a Gestapo State!
P.S. The Nazi regime eventually collapsed under the weight of their own evil, done in by their own greed, pride and lust for power.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
God is good pt 2
Tomorrow morning, we are going to Kumon head office to attend the Franchisee Orientation. My wife is going to attempt the entrance test - again!
She's scared witless, but I have confidence that it will go well.
It's gone well so far. And we can see the hand of God in the process so far.
1) It was by blind chance that I knew this Kumon centre was for sale
2) The Kumon Instructor who wants to sell actually was very willing to speak to us even though she was already in negotiation with a buyer.
3) She is willing to and sell to us, while waiting for my wife to work on getting the Kumon license, and forego the other buyer who already HAS a Kumon license (!!)
4) She is willing to let us take over on VERY generous terms.
So tomorrow, whatever happens, I'm confident that the results will be positive. I really feel that this is God's gift to us after years of financial struggle.
God is good.
Chee Seng
She's scared witless, but I have confidence that it will go well.
It's gone well so far. And we can see the hand of God in the process so far.
1) It was by blind chance that I knew this Kumon centre was for sale
2) The Kumon Instructor who wants to sell actually was very willing to speak to us even though she was already in negotiation with a buyer.
3) She is willing to and sell to us, while waiting for my wife to work on getting the Kumon license, and forego the other buyer who already HAS a Kumon license (!!)
4) She is willing to let us take over on VERY generous terms.
So tomorrow, whatever happens, I'm confident that the results will be positive. I really feel that this is God's gift to us after years of financial struggle.
God is good.
Chee Seng
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
God is good!
I'm...so...tired...
Seminar today from 10am to 11.30am...
Study group from 12.30 pm to 4pm...
Then took my bike for repair. reached home abt 6.30...
then...
have to cook dinner...
aiyooh....
On the bright side, yesterday we went to see a Kumon centre for sale. We're quite interested and the instructor prefers to sell to us instead of another buyer as we have experience. There are some issues that need to be worked out though, but do keep us in prayer.
We are really looking forward to have this deal go through as it is something we are passionate about AND it'll be a big help to us financially.
Chee Seng
Seminar today from 10am to 11.30am...
Study group from 12.30 pm to 4pm...
Then took my bike for repair. reached home abt 6.30...
then...
have to cook dinner...
aiyooh....
On the bright side, yesterday we went to see a Kumon centre for sale. We're quite interested and the instructor prefers to sell to us instead of another buyer as we have experience. There are some issues that need to be worked out though, but do keep us in prayer.
We are really looking forward to have this deal go through as it is something we are passionate about AND it'll be a big help to us financially.
Chee Seng
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Kumon ASHR Ceremony 2008!
Today was a proud day for us. Not only was our girl going to receive her gold medal in her second Kumon Advanced Student's Honour Roll (ASHR) ceremony, this year also marked the highest ever number of students qualifying from our Centre. A total of NINE students from our centre were honoured this year. But only six managed to make it today.
It was also a little bittersweet for me. This was the first time Wai Ling's parents joined us in attending this ceremony but my dad is no longer around to witness Ashley accepting her medal. We thank the Lord that he was able to attend last year's ceremony and share the joy of Ashely's achievement then.
The ceremony was held this morning at Berjaya Times Square Convention Centre. More than 600 students turned up (this number does not include their families, Kumon Instructors and Kumon staff!) All in all, I would estimate that almost 2000 people attended the event.
Here are some photos of my students. (They're not that great, so i guess maybe it's time to get a better camera!) Will post some more pictures when I get the “official” photos.
From left: Ashley, Terenia (Ashley's classmate from kindy), me, Daniel and Ashley (yup!)
Ashley Lai is in kindy studying Pri. 4 English, Daniel is in Pri. 3 studying Sec. 2 Maths, Ashley Lim is in Pri. 2 studying Sec. 2 English!
Posing with the ORIGINAL worksheets prepared by Mr Toru Kumon (they are already 50-plus year old!)
More than a thousand people packed into the hall! Many cancelled at the last minute or else there would have been much more!
Doogie is almost completing the whole programme! We are so proud of him - he has not given up or stopped progressing though he faced PMR (and now SPM), several hospital visits and even major surgery!
All my students who attended this morning. As usual, my girl has to "do something". Itchy backside like the father!
Chee Seng
Nephew's birthday party
Just finished a birthday party for my 2 nephews. (Fwooh..little terrors!) My wife felt it was kind of funny that the party was held at our place, and that we were the main organisers and the parents acted like guests rather than birthday boy's parents. For me, ok la. Just another party (our dunno-number-what so far this year - Christmas open house coming next!!).
Anyway, as usual, I had to do a whole lot of preparations, although this time it was better cos I only made a few simple dishes. The rest was bought.
So today I made:
- Cut fresh veges (salad bar)
- French loaf with tuna dip
- Roast chicken
- Risotto (actually, it's just a fancy name for rice...)
Started preparing abt 3.30pm. After cutting the veges and marinating the chicken, at 4.30 I had to drive all the way to setapak to collect some food we had ordered. The trip took me 1 1/2 hours. I come back and continue to make risotto and the tuna dip and the salad dressing and the roast chicken. Finally kautim all at 8pm. We all went to the poolside for makan. (my wife happy la, not so much to clean up at home!)
There was so much food! We only managed to finish about half, so we packed and tried to give away as much of the leftovers as possible. But we still have a quarter of all the food left! Came back up abt 10pm. I'm so pooped! Thank God for my massage chair - 15 minutes kneading my feet helped a lot!
Actually not bad leh. Got positive reviews for food again. And I think I can handle cooking that much food (enough for abt 30 ppl). We're seriously thinking of going into mini-event catering as a side business. What you think?
Anyway, as usual, I had to do a whole lot of preparations, although this time it was better cos I only made a few simple dishes. The rest was bought.
So today I made:
- Cut fresh veges (salad bar)
- French loaf with tuna dip
- Roast chicken
- Risotto (actually, it's just a fancy name for rice...)
Started preparing abt 3.30pm. After cutting the veges and marinating the chicken, at 4.30 I had to drive all the way to setapak to collect some food we had ordered. The trip took me 1 1/2 hours. I come back and continue to make risotto and the tuna dip and the salad dressing and the roast chicken. Finally kautim all at 8pm. We all went to the poolside for makan. (my wife happy la, not so much to clean up at home!)
There was so much food! We only managed to finish about half, so we packed and tried to give away as much of the leftovers as possible. But we still have a quarter of all the food left! Came back up abt 10pm. I'm so pooped! Thank God for my massage chair - 15 minutes kneading my feet helped a lot!
Actually not bad leh. Got positive reviews for food again. And I think I can handle cooking that much food (enough for abt 30 ppl). We're seriously thinking of going into mini-event catering as a side business. What you think?
Friday, October 31, 2008
Though He brings grief, He will show compassion...
Lamentations 3
1 I am the man who has seen affliction
by the rod of his wrath.
2 He has driven me away and made me walk
in darkness rather than light;
3 indeed, he has turned his hand against me
again and again, all day long.
4 He has made my skin and my flesh grow old
and has broken my bones.
5 He has besieged me and surrounded me
with bitterness and hardship.
6 He has made me dwell in darkness
like those long dead.
7 He has walled me in so I cannot escape;
he has weighed me down with chains.
8 Even when I call out or cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer.
9 He has barred my way with blocks of stone;
he has made my paths crooked.
10 Like a bear lying in wait,
like a lion in hiding,
11 he dragged me from the path and mangled me
and left me without help.
12 He drew his bow
and made me the target for his arrows.
13 He pierced my heart
with arrows from his quiver.
14 I became the laughingstock of all my people;
they mock me in song all day long.
15 He has filled me with bitter herbs
and sated me with gall.
16 He has broken my teeth with gravel;
he has trampled me in the dust.
17 I have been deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what prosperity is.
18 So I say, "My splendor is gone
and all that I had hoped from the LORD."
19 I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
20 I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the LORD's great love WE ARE NOT CONSUMED,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
GREAT IS YOUR FAITHFULNESS
24 I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."
25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
26 it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.
28 Let him sit alone in silence,
for the LORD has laid it on him.
29 Let him bury his face in the dust—
there may yet be hope.
30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,
and let him be filled with disgrace.
31 For men are not cast off
by the Lord forever.
32 THOUGH HE BRINGS GRIEF, HE WILL SHOW COMPASSION,
so great is his unfailing love.
33 For he does not willingly bring affliction
or grief to the children of men.
I can really identify with these verses. So I will take verse 25 & 26 to heart.
Thank You God, that in You, there is always hope. Amen
Chee Seng
What's going on?
I'm so depressed today.
A few of my students dropped out and for such petty reasons such as "he's not doing his work so it's not helping him". What?! If he's not doing his work, OF COURSE it's not helping him la! And isn't it the PARENTS' job to raise and discipline their kids? If the parents are just going to throw in the towel and give up on their children, all the best teachers in the world are not going a make a fly's wing of a difference!
It's such a waste - quitting before they even managed a chance to change and improve. After all our effort to understand them, advise them, motivate them, teach them, etc. All for what?
Sometimes it just feels like I'm running as hard as I can just to remain in one spot. Trying all sorts of strategies and ideas to improve and grow. But in the end...no significant improvements in results. Business remains as lousy as it has been for years. Students drop out, no matter how I try to explain that the need for commitment before you can achieve anything significant.
The worst thing is when I look at other Kumon instructors, who don't even need to try as hard as I do, growing by leaps and bounds.
What's going on?
I don't know...
Chee Seng
A few of my students dropped out and for such petty reasons such as "he's not doing his work so it's not helping him". What?! If he's not doing his work, OF COURSE it's not helping him la! And isn't it the PARENTS' job to raise and discipline their kids? If the parents are just going to throw in the towel and give up on their children, all the best teachers in the world are not going a make a fly's wing of a difference!
It's such a waste - quitting before they even managed a chance to change and improve. After all our effort to understand them, advise them, motivate them, teach them, etc. All for what?
Sometimes it just feels like I'm running as hard as I can just to remain in one spot. Trying all sorts of strategies and ideas to improve and grow. But in the end...no significant improvements in results. Business remains as lousy as it has been for years. Students drop out, no matter how I try to explain that the need for commitment before you can achieve anything significant.
The worst thing is when I look at other Kumon instructors, who don't even need to try as hard as I do, growing by leaps and bounds.
What's going on?
I don't know...
Chee Seng
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Running out of food ideas
Being the family cook is certainly no piece of cake!
Got to cook healthy
Got to find a taste acceptable to everyone
Got to think of different dishes everyday
Then got people who only eat a few "selected" foods
Then some more they ask, "why cook this dish again?"
Then got my wife who bising cos frying makes the floors oily.
Then got myself, lazy to learn how to cook complicated dishes
So, take into consideration all the factors above, we got very limited menu leh.
Boil, steam, roast or braise (frying sure will get nagged for oily floors!)
Chicken or pork (must be very soft and juicy or will be nagged by old lady!)
Only 5 or 6 acceptable veges
No hot stuff cos daughter and grandma don't eat
No bitter stuff, less processed stuff, la-di-da
Any maths dummy can tell you that this presents very limited possibilities.
alamak...dinner coming in 2 hrs time. how ah?
sigh...
Chee Seng
Got to cook healthy
Got to find a taste acceptable to everyone
Got to think of different dishes everyday
Then got people who only eat a few "selected" foods
Then some more they ask, "why cook this dish again?"
Then got my wife who bising cos frying makes the floors oily.
Then got myself, lazy to learn how to cook complicated dishes
So, take into consideration all the factors above, we got very limited menu leh.
Boil, steam, roast or braise (frying sure will get nagged for oily floors!)
Chicken or pork (must be very soft and juicy or will be nagged by old lady!)
Only 5 or 6 acceptable veges
No hot stuff cos daughter and grandma don't eat
No bitter stuff, less processed stuff, la-di-da
Any maths dummy can tell you that this presents very limited possibilities.
alamak...dinner coming in 2 hrs time. how ah?
sigh...
Chee Seng
Hello world!
Hi! This blog is for my whole family to share with our friends, both existing and future ones.
My wife has lots of things to say and I have lots of thoughts in my head. So I thought it would be a good idea to start a blog for the whole family, instead of just one person.
So expect posts from all 3 of us (if my daughter Ashley agrees, that is. But i guess since she's very talkative herself, it's just a matter of time before she hits the keyboards!)
Cheers!
Chee Seng
My wife has lots of things to say and I have lots of thoughts in my head. So I thought it would be a good idea to start a blog for the whole family, instead of just one person.
So expect posts from all 3 of us (if my daughter Ashley agrees, that is. But i guess since she's very talkative herself, it's just a matter of time before she hits the keyboards!)
Cheers!
Chee Seng
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