Studying again!

I've been doing a correspondence course with Moore's Theological College, working towards a Certificate in Theology. Yes, I'm crazy, if that's what you're thinking! But it's something I've always wanted to do - study the foundations of my faith in a serious and systematic way. In med school I totally envied people who had time to do that, even more those enrolled in seminaries. It's been a long time coming, but finally, after completing my Masters' and settling in KL, I can do so..

In spite of everyone telling me Moore's is as conservative as it gets, I enrolled. For two main reasons: 1) I grew up in a Brethren church - nothing can be more conservative than that!, I thought.. 2) I go to a church whose pastor was a Moore's product, and conducts a small group study for this course. Interaction and having a guru's brains to pick on are crucial, I felt, for a really gratifying study.

I believe we are in the most volatile of times in history, and religion has never been so brazenly brutalised and so violently defended at the same time. It's at such a crossroad of my own life and history that I find myself wanting to know what it is that I believe. What is it that is worth living and dying for..

Two weeks ago I sat for the exam on the book of Romans. It was an exhaustive 10 weeks preparation, and the final 5 days was mind-numbing as I swept through the themes of the letter, front-to-back and back-to-front. But it was worth it. Not only have I learnt things I have never realised was there, and had many of my presuppositions challenged and corrected,.. Not only do I know now how all the parts of the letter fit together and which parts can be used to address what issues.. More than that, I feel I have gained a whole new level of confidence and conviction about what I believe and whom I have believed. And that is priceless.

Though I feel like I've only scratched the surface, getting through the term has given me confidence in the Christian message. The sort of confidence that spurs one on to action. (Although the greatest action prescribed seems to be one of in-action, FAITH.) It has also given me a far greater love for the written Word like nothing else could have. Wrestling with the Word and its implications makes me love it more, and thirst even more.But I am warned that the written Word is not an end in itself - it points to and I must find it's journey's end in God Himself.

Da Vinci Yawn

There are those who will decry the film as an affront to Christian belief, a tissue of lies and fabrications and a lurid exercise in cynical exploitation.

The more they fulminate, though, the more they play into Sony's hands, unwittingly promoting the very movie they would have banished from our screens.

Far better, perhaps, to use the film as a springboard for constructive debate on the nature of religion and the way the Christ story still resonates after two millennia.

It is, after all, just a movie that - like Life of Brian, The Last Temptation of Christ and Gibson's Passion before it - is only as significant as we choose to make it.

Well said! Neil Smith from the BBC

I'm not boycotting the movie. I just think my 10 bucks is better spent, Dan Brown doesn't deserve that much credit, and there's been so much coverage about it it's nauseating. People will believe what they want to believe. Beyond being faithful to history, having a healthy knowledge in it and a willingness to discuss it openly - there's really little point in getting up-in-arms. 'The more they fulminate,... the more they play into Sony's hands.' And Dan Brown's bank account, let's not forget.

The week that was

I am still reeling from last week's whirlwind of activities. Thankful I made it, but off balance all the same. I am glad this week's calendar doesn't look too bad, but I must resist filling it up.

I am glad most of all for surviving a preaching engagement at Ampang Gospel yesterday, thanks to the prayerful encouragement from many dear friends. I felt I didn't connect much with the listeners and was uninspired - drained from the week's work - but accepted that as a good way to desensationalise the speaker, and let truth speak for itself.

Monday was a day of recuperating from the week-long trip to Sabah. Photos of Kinabalu mountain remind me of how beautiful Sabah is compared to dreary old KL - smog-choked and traffic-logged. The peaks, mosses, ferns, and orchids all make a playground of heavenly experiences. I can actually enjoy the summit a bit better now in the comfort of home, rather than dying from bitter-cold, hunger and exhaustion at the end of the climb. I've also reviewed some food spots from Sabah - the hedonist in me couldn't resist.

Most of last week was spent marking a dissertation I could barely understand, the technical difficulty was way above my ability! And completing my notes on the Book of Romans for an upcoming exam also took up a lot of time. Which left me only nights to work on the sermon.

I've decided to backtrack my Bible reading program to keep in date with the McCheyne calendar in real time. Hope I can keep it up because honestly it's the only thing keeping me going from day to day right now.

Down from the Rock

I knew I would never have the time to sit and muse about our trip up Old Kinabalu, mountain of the dead (which is what Aki Nabalu means in Kadazan, I am made to understand.) So, I'm glad I had some feelings scribbled down on my Palm - this I did when we were recuperating in the hotel room, crippled, unable to move an inch without excruciating pain.



06-5-11 Mt Kinabalu
The moment is etched upon the fabric of my being. Putting one foot ahead of the other in ever increasing agony. Every step, searing pain. But I was not alone, not without encouragement. Sweeping across the sky and scape, I could not take it all in. The magnificence and magnitude. The unencompassable vastness. And I the lone, empty-handed soul, in trepidation enter the throne room.

A million stars watch down on me, blinking in question, Why are you here? What do you seek? A few bright ones whisper, Many have come this way but few have found it.


Towering pinnacles silhoutted against pale moonlight, stand guard all around, fixing their cold, intent gaze on the weary wanderer. What brings you into the Presence? You are on holy ground. The ground I tread upon is a royal granite carved over 35000 years of slow glacier motion, the art of etchings and precise bands tell of history undecipherable even by the wisest of men. The ancient past of this kingdom is encoded on these stones.

A banner of blurry white stretches from east to west. It has been called The Milky Way by mortals past. A banner lifted high for us to gaze into the vastness of the kingdom. Why have I come? I do not know. What was I seeking? I did not prepare my heart.


I came a-wandering, carelessly tripping into the throne room of the highest. Mindlessly pressing towards a precipice they call the Low's peak. Foolishly following other climbers making their way to the point of nothing. The highest point of Southeast Asia! We cry. The sun rises from the east, black turns to gold! We gasp. Bypassing the Time and the Place.

In that very instant I lost it. I had the chance. Though by sheer accident and no purpose on my part I stumbled upon the Holy Place, I paid no heed to the Call. Obsessed with the walking and the reaching I was too blind to see and hear when the very Universe opened a portal. That all may go in and find.


I shall return. Mine eyes have been opened. A fool I will be no more. I shall return a more worthy pilgrim. I will silently revere till that day, and every day shall be that day. I will listen for the distant cry - from the farthest reaches of the sky and depths of the ground I stand. I will be holy as you are holy. 

The LCC-T

Air Asia is always a wonder to watch. A company that started modest with a few leased aircrafts, it is near billion-dollar industry a year with a fleet sprawled all over Asia to match. Even when the flailing giants boot them into the wilderness, they sprout up again and come up with the... LCCT!

 

I took the Skybus there on Friday, and arrived at a slightly ware-house looking place, reminiscent of Carrefour and TESCO outlets.

 

Brightly lit, bustling with activity and a couple of food outlets to keep you occupied.

 


Surprisingly crowded check-in counters, but mostly the Indonesia bound flights.

 

And a nice walk on the tarmac, like the good old Subang days.

Overall a nice experience for the budget traveler. 

Works of art - our rivers

Who says our rivers aren't beautiful?


Klang river running under the Titiwangsa LRT station

Take a look at the Klang River today. Running right through the city, what a beautiful sight it is to behold! A swirling mix of ochre and vile black, intertwining and interfacing on a canvas of water. You have to admire the artistic talent of refuse dumpers and reckless effluent dischargers.

While it was heartening to hear of tough action planned for miscreants, this sort of coloring of our waters go on every day, right under our noses in the heart of the city.

The thing to do is to get in touch with the Department of Environment or post a pix to your local paper. We are a long way from crystal clear, blue waters but if we don't something about it now, they are soon going to be pitch black.

The Da Vinci Craze

I read it for no other reason except that it is going to explode on the silver screen this May. I didn't want to be ignorant. The fact that the Da Vinci Code has generated so much of interest on both sides of Mary Madgalene alone repels me. How can one silly myth cause so much glib fanaticism on one hand and reactive defensiveness on the other? (To be fair, I have read the 'Holy Blood, Holy Grail', which in part is the basis for the newer Da Vinci Code.)

When I did pick up the book, I found myself instantly collar-grabbed into a pretty well-woven story of religious mysticism, conspiracy, historical intrigue and anagrams, all tied to a cord of murder and the struggle to vindicate a lost cause and a dead man. It was an un-put-downable. And the more I read, the more I wondered, what the heck is all the fuss about? This is just fiction. Irreverent, but fiction all the same. Until I came to (not unexpectedly) the great revelation by Leigh Teabing of the great conspiracy of the Church - a conspiracy as it were to slay the sacred feminine and glorify the masculine, deify a mere man countless millions now worship, doctor documents and secure its political campaign with blood baths and witch hunts.

It wouldn't have been more than a wince in the side were it not for the author's claims that documents and archeological evidences cited in the book were accurate. And I've seen him come on TV to say he started out trying to disprove it all and ended up the believer. The sales gimmick is as laughable as some self-contradicting inventions of the author paraded as history. But not everything in the book could be waved away with simple logic. It was indeed disconcerting to have it suggested, with claims of historical fact I could not disprove, that my faith was baseless, or worse - built on mere spinmeistering.

But what I found TRULY disturbing and reason to get very upset indeed was not that it exposed any conspiracy of the early Church. It was not the Church that was on the stand, or the Council of Nicene that was being indicted. No! The joke is on us! The great gag is on every believing Christian who can't see through the web of deceit for sheer lack of knowledge. Myself included. ON THE COUNTS OF BLATANT IGNORANCE AND UTTER DISREGARD FOR THE HISTORICAL ROOTS OF YOUR FAITH, DAN BROWN AND THE PEOPLE FIND YOU GUILTY AS CHARGED. we are in the docks, and our brazen neglect of self-education on matters as crucial as the tenets of our own professed faith should draw tears.

Every morning on my walk to the train station, I see little children in songkoks and green sampings hop onto their kereta sapu to the nearest religious school. Some of these Islamic kindergartens are not cheap and parents pay for the best religious education money can buy. Outside of regular school time. It speaks volumes of the value Muslims place on knowing the truths that undergird ther lives.

I know my wake up call has come. Whatever his intention, Dan Brown's own 'disclaimer statement' rings true: '“My hope for The Da Vinci Code was, in addition to entertaining people, that it might serve as an open door for readers to begin their own explorations and rekindle their interest in topics of faith.” That, I hope it has done and makes for a great opportunity for Christians to explore the roots and facts of their own faith.

A Malaysian forum on the topic is coming up this Thursday in PJ.

Resources abound on the Internet to start off your research:
Bible.org
Da Vinci Quest
Challenging Da Vinci

Go Public!

I am all for the switch from petrol-guzzling automobile travel to public transport. My wife and I
promised ourselves we would leave our car at home and become train-riders if the fuel price were to go up again. It has, and we have ditched our car. Though there are a 100 reasons discouraging the use of public transport in Kuala Lumpur, I can still think of a few good reasons to give it a try and make it work.


1- Save money. At nearly 25 cents per kilometre of car travel (working at 8km/L fuel consumption) the savings are considerable if you are a heavy commuter. With LRT season passes that cover both Putra & Star lines, and RM2/day City Shuttle buses, I'm saving at least RM50 a month. And I'm not even counting savings from parking
at malls.
2- Save time. It took a bullock cart 1 hour to get from Kg Baru to Masjid Jamek in the old days. 100 years of progress later, it takes the same time. Go figure. Traffic jams are a complete waste of time. There is a profound pleasure in gloating over cars stuck in jams as you whiz by in your high speed train.
3- Get more sleep. If you can get onto a train or bus early enough, you can actually catch a few extra winks. If you are desperate for a sit-down and shut-eye, take the train to the terminal where the carriage empties, and come back again in your seat of choice.
4- Get fit. With our badly connected public transport system, much of the commuting is by foot between stations and stops. Walk fast enough and you can get a pretty good workout. A 70kg adult can burn 116 calories by walking 30 minutes at a speed of 3mph. Keeping a high heart rate during the walk will also improve your cardiovascular fitness.

5- Finish a book. Trains are an ideal place to read. It's quiet, well air-conditioned, and even standing with a hand on the rail, you can finish a book with
one hand!
6- De-stress. The biggest frustration of driving in KL is not so much the petrol cost, but the traffic jams. To sit in a gridlock, seeing red (bumper lights) for
hours on end does nothing for my blood pressure. I can imagine years of my lifespan shaved off for every hour I spend in jams.
7- Save the environment. Why burn good cash on polluting the environment? Our carrying capacity for pollutant is already maxed out. The slightest puff of
smoke from a forest fire will tip us into a blinding haze. Imagine the amount of emissions reduced by leaving your car at home to be used only for long distance trips or short family outings.
8- See the city. A season pass pays for unlimited travel. Why use it only for getting to work? See the city! Go on a walkabout of Dataran Merdeka or Petaling
Street on weekends, or hit the malls. Watch your spending though - otherwise whatever you save on petrol might just be burnt on shopping. 

Inspired... by food

I haven't done this in some time, posting the latest salivary gland pumping concoction in the culinary world of our homeland. So today, I decide to pull out some choice pix of the latest appetite stimulant, or diet-program killer whichever way you like to look at it.

Though not really Malaysian cuisine, but for sheer joy-to-taste we are proud to have them in our land.

Petaling street offers some great photo ops, so a vertiginous shot of chestnuts went into my still-in-infancy TTL gallery.

Well, that's my weekend blogging quota fulfilled. In the process I realised I write in record time when I'm intensely inspired.. And nothing quite inspires like good food. So, the next time you need creative, and other juices to flow, go get a bite!

When will I stop?

It's funny, how when I'm busiest and accomplishing the most that I feel that I've been ineffective and need to do more. Is this some kind of death wish? Why does my mind conspire against me to burn a few more holes in my stomach and drive me to my grave prematurely?

I've read about it - it's called adrenaline addiction. The more thrills you get out of work, the more you crave it. And the more burnt out you are, the more you look for it to prevent the impending blues. Withdrawal from work is actually difficult because it requires I say NO to the seductive attraction of work and insist that I get the detoxifying rest I need.

This week has seen two busy and overbooked clinics, two lengthy student encounters over lectures and bedside teaching. Two powerful meetings with senior professors, both giving me great encouragement and insights into the world of research. I've been reading at least 4 books concurrently. One massive literature review on cancer markers left me completely spent but deeply satisfied.

Amidst all that I also met my real estate agent and placed a booking fee for a home we've been eyeing, drafted the newsletter for the Malaysian Society of Otorhinolaryngologists, AND writeup an interview for Kairos Research Centre.

Yes, I'm reeling. And it's not even over. I meet the printers this evening, and tomorrow GCF is having a dialog on "Dealing With Difficult People At Work." Hah.

I'm glad therefore for short moments and places that I can use to stop and get reoriented. Like the little corner Starbucks in KL Sentral, tucked away, with trains whizzing by. (Yes, you can see I was poring over my clinical photographs at the time...)


Or in the privacy of my own office, open the Bible and catch up on some reading.


This weekend, I must stop. Really stop, declare a moratorium on all forms of work. And 'Be still once more my soul, for the Lord your God has been good.' (Psalm 116:7).

Learning Chinese the Geek Way

Did you hate your POL classes in school? Did you get sent to a Chinese temple for language tuition as a kid? Well I did, and have deep emotional scars to show for it. But, I still can't speak my own mother tongue if my life depended on it.

But all that is going to change! Well, at least it potentially and theoretically CAN change... And here's how (I propose, in theory) it can be done: THE GEEK WAY.

1) Pick a Chinese website you would like to read: like a newspaper, an interlinear Bible or the Dao De Ching for high show-off factor.

2) Get it translated using Babelfish or a Chinese-English Dictionary

3) And get it read ALOUD using YELLOWBRIDGE TALKER


Let me give you an example.

This is a screenshot of Nanyang Siang Pau in Chinese:


This is Nanyang translated into English:


After you've had a ROTFLOL session reading the direct translation, try the Yellow Bridge dictionary.

This is the headline translated en bloc, word by word, into English on Yellow Bridge's Chinese-English dictionary.


And if you've got Yellow-Bridge Talker installed, you can have the text read aloud to you simply by right-clicking your selection and selecting "Pronounce Text" or clicking the yellow speech baloon on the Dictionary page!

Is there anything you've been dying to say in Chinese - like, say, cheaper please I have no money, or please cook my chow mein really really spicy? Well, key it into the YB Dictionary, and have it read OUT LOUD back to you. My Chinese-proficient dad vouches for its accuracy and high standard of Chinese.

Also available on Yellow-Bridge is the cool Flashcards method of learning a word a day, and a Decomposition Explorer interwoven into the dictionary. No, the Decomposition Explorer is not some kind of post-mortem surgical technique. It is in fact a breakdown of each component in a chinese character complete with its individual meaning.

For instance, did you know that the word WORRY in Chinese, consists of two parts - which could mean to have strings attached to your mind, or to conspire against the soul? Now, which Chinese dictionary or teacher, for that matter, will give you that?! And it certainly makes learning impossible Chinese squiggles a lot more fun, meaningful and easy to remember.



Hah.. talk about easy and high geek appeal!! No more embarassing dictation sessions, no fierce, hefty POL teacher with the swishing cane, and no more messy brush and ink in Chinese temple classes!!

The Radiant Newly Weds

"It gives me great pleasure to present to you,.. Dr. and Dr. (Mrs.) Jeffry Paul Wong!!" Quite a mouthful? What is it with these labels anyway? I felt sorry for the officiant-pastor. But with the billowing sea breeze, grass beneath your feet, garden ambience of E&O Penang,.. nothing could've spoilt the moment.

Not bad, Jeff & Doris. Still able to manage some genuine smiles and laughs after a whole day of plastic grins posing for an unending stream of pictures. Bet you never, ever, want to do this again! Talk about deterrents to polygamy.

We do wish you a life time of joy and laughter.

Awwww... pucker up... Enjoy the moment. EOD calls ahead is no way to spend your post-nuptial week. Unfortunately, that's life for us civil servants. Onward ho! 

More photos of the wedding here!

The Weekend That Was

Attended good friends' - Jeff & Doris' - wedding in Penang. One of those dreamy, by-the-sea garden weddings that make every girl burst in romanticistic elation. Doris was our maid-of-honor in our own walk down the aisle two and half years ago. Notice the woman in red by the bride? No prizes for guessing who.

Old friends, Angie - now in Likas, Helin - Bruneian in Belukas spending her evenings angling by the river, Tammy - houseman working her butt off, Sudoku winner, and USM medic gold-medalist,... and my wife (you didn't know?!).

An entire convoy of big bikes appeared out of nowhere and accompanied us for a good half hour. It was interesting to watch their routine, the head biker, the tail man keeping watch for stragglers, the hand signals, and the accompanying support car all making a monster team.

Joan couldn't resist trailing this biker. What do you call a bike with tall handles like that anyway? 

Another team goes!

Another team has gone.



This time, with some dear friends of ours in that team.

We had seen them from the signing up, briefings, talked them through their fears and doubts and prayed with them. Today, seeing them raring to go at the airport was wonderful.

And heartbreaking.

Partly because we are not going. Partly because we're going to miss them. It was hard to do the necessary distancing and allow the new team to catch their own wind.

Back home, we think of the adventure they will have, the children they will bless - and we're happy. Our prayers go with them.

Critical conditions in Pakistan

The situation has turned critical for quake-hit victims in Pakistan in the last week.



United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
reports that thick snow is falling, roads are cut off, children are dying,
and tents are no longer adequate. It seems like a panic effort to
bring in tin sheets are now futile.

Please keep praying for the people and aid workers, and if you or
anyone you know might be able to volunteer for a short trip please
contact CREST or myself. There are several tonnes of winter clothing
and insulation material here in KL waiting to be dispatched, and CREST
badly needs a medic to go with them to access the villages.

People I Never Want To Forget

There are people we've met in Pakistan we will never want to forget.

Dr. Reginald

Medical director and builder of the new Pennel Memorial Christian Hospital, is a man of finest character. He is a super-surgeon (does a vaginal hysterectomy and open cholecystectomy in 1/2 hr each) and perfect gentleman. An all-rounder consultant (who single-handedly manages all the patients in his wards and OPD) and a man of discipline. A man of faith and prayer. Having left a lucrative private practive in Hyderabad to restart the defunct 100yr-old mission hospital in Bannu, he exemplifies how healthcare is mission at its best. He shows what healing is in the holistic sense - body, soul and spirit.

Just when we thought the Albert Schweitzers and Mother Teresas have left us forever, we meet in person, hidden in the Afghan frontiers, this living legend carrying on the legacy left behind by Theodore Pennell a 100 years ago. We've been immensely inspired and touched by this man.

The People of Bannu, Battal and Battgram

We have never experienced being denied education or health care for lack of money. Much less food or shelter. Having never tasted real want, I am unable to respond when I see such hardcore poverty. Perhaps I fear because I am myself poor. Without our things and achievements, we are in essence bereft. If I can learn to embrace the 'poverty' within, I may be able to embrace the poverty of others more readily. And then maybe I can learn the joy and simplicity of the have-nots; for whom all of life is a gift to be received and to be given.

Holding a light

My wife and I were at the vigil on 30th night. It’s a simple and quiet affair – no chanting, shouting, picket boards, etc. Police watching from a distance did not question or harass us.

The late Moorthy incident was simply something I couldn’t brush aside with a ‘not my problem’ attitude. Though a quiet gathering like this may not seem to be achieving much, it certainly makes a statement that as Malaysians we will not let this matter slide like we have many other issues in the past. Honestly, we have ourselves (partly) to blame that our country is where it is and where it is going.

The vigil was off yesterday night to preempt any violence with the onloooking Dataran Merdeka revelers, but they start again tonight at 8pm. It goes on only for half an hour.

Personally, being there, flickering light in hand and standing opposite the ‘Muzium Sejarah Negara’ with Hindhus and Buddhists made me feel like a little part of history. While I mourn deeply the loss and injustice suffered by Kaliammal (the wife) and family, I am thankful for this wake up call for everyone on both sides of the equation.

Let’s continue to pray for the family, for our brave representatives (kudos Rev. Wong KK), and for the government to have the guts to make the necessary changes. If you feel strongly about this issue, and sitting at home makes you feel like just one of the indifferent masses, take a train to Masjid Jamek and make your way to the High Court. You will be given a candle and it will be a half hour of silence and prayer you will enjoy – I assure you your candle won’t be the only thing burning at the end of the night.

My Grown Up Christmas Wish

It's impossible to sing, 'Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow..' this season. Not after what we've seen in the mountains. Not when sheets of ice threaten to engulf helpless children in the mountains of Kashmir. It's hard to celebrate. 'Tis the season to be jolly has the emptiest ring about it. And there is no way I'm going to be decking the halls with boughs of holly.

Yet I know that the men, women and children I've seen and touched are the very reason for Christmas. And in a mysterious way I've had a glimpse of what the real spirit of Christmas should mean - of Jesus leaving His glory to walk among the broken, the poor, the downtrodden, and the sick.

Christmas will never be the same for me again.

And so when I hear a beautiful song like this (recently repopularised by Michael Buble and Kelly Clarkson):

So here's my lifelong wish
My grown up Christmas List
Not for myself
But for a world in need
No more lives torn apart
That wars will never start
And time will heal our hearts
Every man will have a friend
That right will always win
And love will never end
This is my grown up Christmas List

I say a quiet Amen, come Lord Jesus. Come again and be born in our lives, our world. A world that knows you not. Come, Lord Jesus.

The Call of the Day

Jean Vanier writes: 'men and women of today,.. turn away from materialistic egotism, ..burn with new hearts and new spirits - hearts of flesh and spirits of fire. There must be a more authentic receptivity, radical poverty, greater hope and audacity, a keener thirst for truth and justice.

I need to hear words like these every day. I need to find people of like mind. Lest I die a slow spiritual death, choked by materialism, greed, and ambition. I must learn to embrace weakness and poverty - in myself and in others.

The 'mythos' of my middle-age must be Christ the Suffering Servant. To be set free through a life of sacrifice and servanthood.

Hit the ground running

I've hit the ground running. A backlog of patients in the clinic, cases in OR, and an overflowing mailbox greets me. There is no time to process and to respond to the experiences. Only mustering enough energy to survive this week.

Still there is this all-consuming fear: Will I lose the passion and purpose I felt in Pakistan? Will my heart grow cold? Will I slip back into a self-serving, indifferent life?

This I do. I pray. I pray for a sense of mission and purpose in every day of my work. In every patient I see. That I go with a full sense of His Presence.

And the most amazing thing happened today - I received a research grant from MAKNA for 30K. Not exactly the multi-million dollar priority grants, but enough for me to do my next cancer project. Talk about an immediate answer to my question, 'What next, God?'