A tribute to mum!

Words do not suffice
Nor adequately describe
With tears in my eyes
My heart was beaming with pride
Sitting amidst the crowd
I heard them clear and loud

With each gesture of honest appreciation
With each heartfelt tear
With each thunderous applause
As they celebrated you,
They were already feeling the loss.

Each child knows he has been loved
Each student changed by what he has been taught
Each teacher has been inspired
By someone who gave her very best
Her heart, her mind and her soul

It was an honour
A privilege
I wouldn't miss for the world
To know someone so dear to me
Made such a great difference
And showed them
love on this side of heaven

As you embark on a new chapter in your life
New places to traverse
New paths to walk
I pray God's abiding presence
His abundant love and peace
His strength and His promise
To continually follow you..

Love you, mum!











She had her straight hair permed since she was 9 years old. She's got gorgeous eyes and the sweetest smile. She's got a photographic memory. She's brilliant when it came to studies. She could have been a chemistry professor, or a chemical engineer, but someone told her that teaching was the best career path at that time, she believed them. And so, for the past 31 years, she gave her very best, she gave her life to teaching. In her own words, "if i had a chance to do this all over again, I would. I love teaching. I love children."











So last week, mum celebrated her much anticipated retirement from government service. If there were 3 words to describe mum, it would be LOVE, PATIENCE and DEDICATION. Mum loves each student as if they were her own children. With great patience and incredible dedication, she toils to help each student understand, to lend a listening ear to new teachers, and to inspire each one to excel.










As mum embarks on this new and exciting chapter of her life, we look in anticipation all the amazing things that God has in store for her.


P/s: If you were the photographer who took the photos of mum when she was in her teens and youth, please contact me. I personally think your photography is amazing. =)

The T's of March

I can't believe the month of March has just whizzed by. So much has happened, but i hadn't had the time to actually sit down and collect my thoughts in a selah moment. =P

So a brief summary of life as i recollect them.. =)

1. A Tsunami Politically- Well, it was interesting to vote for the first time in my life. For once, I felt like a true Malaysian - serving my country, making a difference. And it was also the first time i got enlisted as a polling and counting agent. Yup, that too, was an experience. Seeing things from a different perspective. I guess the results was amazing - an answered prayer of sort, but there is still much to pray for the new government - that justice and righteousness will truly prevail.

2. A Transformers Birthday Party

I had the privilege of helping to organise a birthday party for Ernest, an ex-CG member's son. His dad, Gary, passed away a few days before his birthday a couple years back. And so, each year, we look forward to making little Ernest's birthday special. We can't bring his dad back, but we can give him the blessing of a special birthday party. =)

It's amazing and truly heart-warming to see how Ernest has grown over the years, to see him smiling and playing so heartily. I pray that the Lord will continue to carry him, and bless him so abundantly, and mould his character and faith. Blessed birthday, Ernest!

3. A Touching reminder of a tremendous sacrifice

Good Friday crept silently in the busyness of life. While we lamented it not being a holiday unlike in neighbouring countries, I wondered if it would have made any difference otherwise? In the midst of work and other aspects of life shouting for attention, God's incredible and life-redeeming sacrifice gets little focus if any. So preparing for the communion bread and wine gave me a little time to pause and reflect. It was much more significant - with each slice of the bread into squares, i was reminded all over again God's grace and mercy bountiful, enough for all to taste.

With each cup of wine filled, i was reminded of Jesus' overflowing love, blood poured out to save, to heal, to forgive and to ransom what was lost.

Wee Lee's powerful video presentation brought floods of tears, touching and reminding us of Jesus - His love, His sacrifice, His death and His redemption. Which other God dare say, "I have done it all for you"? Watch here.

4. A Treat for Pa's Birthday

We celebrated YY's dad's birthday in BP. It was a simple but sweet occasion.

We pray God's blessings of good health and peace, joy and strength only He can bestow, and the wonderful knowledge of Jesus as His personal Lord and Saviour on Pa.

5. A Tummy and Trigger-Happy CG retreat

Cafe@ Subang had it's first CG retreat to Melaka last weekend. It was truly a tummy treat and a trigger happy occasion for me. We ate, played and ate, and ate and slept and ate and.. oh did i say we ate? Haha.. but it was a great bonding time. =) Needless to say, we bond over food and lotsa laughter.. =)

The Esthers and Daniels of today

I think i'm probably one of the least political-savvy people on earth, hence that would most likely make me the last person you'd expect to ever talk politics, much less blog about it. =)

But the recent years of being married to a political savvy husband who has political savvy buddies have probably rubbed off on me slowly but steadily. I recently attended a political "ceramah" by DAP held at my housing estate. I was initially very sceptical about their agenda. I wanted to be convinced about their policies and plans. So when Hannah Yeoh the upcoming DAP candidate spoke, she got my ears. Learning that she was a Christian, who was passionate about making a difference, in a bid to fight for the rights of the marginalised, to be a voice for the people and to speak up for what was right - she certainly got many people's vote, mine included.

I believe that God has raised a new generation who is close to His heart, who desire to make a change for what is right, and who dare to stand up, speak forth and be counted. I pray that they will never bend to temptations and pressures to comply to the norms but to be the Daniels, Josephs and Esthers of this generation, born for such a time as this, called to make a difference.

Pass on the blessing

Bad moods tend to catch me unaware! I got an email this afternoon from a friend who expressed his disappointment that i had forgotten his birthday, or rather, that an entire group of us had kinda forgotten about his special day. I felt really bad initially, but with the airconditioner in office not working, the guilt turned quickly into hurt, and before i knew it, i was furious and disappointed.

Whilst i apologised to my friend, and prayed a prayer of blessing for his birthday and the year ahead, my alter-ego tookover. Thoughts flew through my mind, and i started justifying to myself why it was an immature accusation.

"Why get so worked up over a small issue?"you ask?? I guess being a sensitive person by nature, i took it quite personally - hence this became a blog-worthy post! (So, friend, before you get upset with me for blogging about this, let me clarify, and plead with you to read the blogpost to the end. God, in His grace, turned this into a lesson for me! and hopefully for you too. =) )

Through out my life, those close to me would testify that i am one person who makes an effort to remember all my family and friends' birthdates. Call it weird, but i think i've quite a knack for remembering numbers and dates. I used to make personalised greeting cards and gift-wrapping presents during my free-er days of school and Uni. But now with work and the busyness of life, i still try to make time for an sms, a call or an e-card.

I guess why i felt deeply hurt and disappointed was because both YY and I have invested a lot of our life, our time, our money, and often sharing a meal and our home with the young people in our midst, my friend included. We are not filthy rich, but whatever little that we have, we gladly share. Not that we are asking for thank-yous or favours in return, but our deepest hope and desire is that those who have been blessed will be grateful, be inspired, and pass on the blessing to others whenever they have the opportunity.

Perhaps it is a generation gap. For me, i have always been taught me to be grateful and thankful for what i have been given, to find every opportunity to pass on the blessing to others. I note with dismay that this current generation is more self-centred and expect blessings rather than seek opportunities to bless.

Anyway, as i poured my disappointment to God on my drive back home, it dawned on me that I too have been a forgetful, thankless and spoilt brat in my walk with God. Every day and every moment, God pours His abundance of love and blessings into my life, but the single unanswered prayer or a thorny situation encountered, and I throw my tantrum, and accuse God of being unfair, distant and unloving. I guess God allowed me to see and feel the pain of a thankless effort to remind me to be a more thankful and grateful child.

May each one of us learn to appreciate the blessings that God has poured on us, and also to be thankful to the people who invest and share their lives with us. May we pass on the blessings at every opportunity.