Sometimes I’m amazed at the situation we learn things. Out of the blue, we’ll just have this thought pops into our mind and there you go, a lesson of the day.
This morning while I was traveling to HUKM on my campus bus, I’ve been reminded on something I’ve learnt before. And it feels good to be reminded again.
The trip to HUKM from my hostel, KTSN was only a 20 minutes drive in the traffic-jam-free morning. Before this I always thought it’s an hour’s ride! Well, anyway, since the seats were taken, some of us have to stand for the entire journey.
It was quite an early bus for us and a lot of us were forced to wake up earlier than usual. Hence it’s not surprising to see those lucky ones with the seats were fast asleep or at least closed their eyes in hope to get extra rest as the bus made its way to HUKM.
Half way down the road, we manage to catch the sun rise – something that’s as breath-taking as … no, it’s beyond my ability to describe it in words. The golden rays of the sun project unto the clear, borderless sky and reflected on the clouds, the cars, the birds flew by, and into my eyes. I was quite deprived of quality sleep the night before and I hadn’t got the chance to take a gulp of coffee before I set foot out of my room. Yet, I was fully awake by the sight and intrigued by God’s creation. The combination of colours is just perfectly astonishing!
I don’t always have the chance to catch the sun rise, moreover in KL where high-rise buildings are everywhere, the marvelous start-of-the-day art is not always available for us. I stared at the view, then on my friends who were resting their eyes, and back to the sky again.
What a waste.
Even if you’ve had the chance to watch every sun rise of the year, you will still be amazed by it everyday. No sun rise is ever the same with the other days’. The birds won’t fly by at exactly 7am every morning from same direction so to say. The degree of sun rays and hence the reflection on the sky is different as the pattern of cloud at that very moment makes the combination exclusively for that day, that moment only. And if we were to miss it, we’ve missed another good piece of priceless art.
It is the start of a new day. I started my day with a simple yet beautiful scene, a good mood, a fresh reminder that new hope has in stored for us. How about you?
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Kenya Crisis
These days I have been reading about Kenya. I'm truly sorry to hear what had happened over there. It all started from the election last Dec. It's not as if who was elected as the president will mean much to me, but it's what happened after the result was announced and the civilian's reaction towards it that caught the headlines of newspapers all over the world.
President Mwai Kibaki from the tribe Kikuyu was announced the leader over Raila Odinga from Luo. As Odinga's supporters believe that the result was fraud, they protested. What caught my attention on the news that day was a Lutheran Church in Nairobi was burnt down, together with 22 lives in it - burnt alive. I was disturbed by the idea of burning church as it is the body of Christ, what's more, were the lives sacrificed on behalf of one's anger and dissatisfaction towards unjustice.
Following that, were more and more riots and commotion in Kenya. Hundreds were killed and thousands were displaced. Kofi Annan has to step in, as well as John Kufuor, the African Union Chair from Ghana. They try to bring together the two leaders and suggested power sharing between the two of them as a solution towards the not-very-credible election outcome.
While talks are underway, the some civilians in Kenya continue to pray for their nation. They went back to the Lutheran church and pray for peace to be restored in the land. It moves me to see when there are groups of people out there threatening their safety, they weren't at the same time find ways to retaliate back, but turn to God and seek God's advice. Families were killed, yet they ask no revenge. They want protection and peace, not guns and bombs. But are their leaders doing enough?
To a lot of people, this incident may just be another incident in a country far, far away from their comfort zone. The numbers of death tolls appear in newspaper everyday are just another number. 153, 560 or 897 don't make any difference. A lot of people are numb towards the sufferings of other people, especially a relatively poor country like Kenya. To some, it's because they think they can't do anything to make a change, hence they don't bother about it.
But it's the idea of being a human, we feel for one another. We feel sorry for what they have been through. We feel worried for what is going to happened to them next. What happen if President Mwai Kibaki doesn't want to have the re-election? He is electing new parlimentary ministries now. What will the civilians face if the talks failed? Will Kenya turn into a rough nation? For how long will the civilians have to struggle in the turmoil, which worsen the poverty there? How are they getting along with the fact that their families member were killed? How many children has become orphans? How many have to flee from their home?
I believe I hear the cry for a Saviour's mercy. Do you?
I just want to spread the awareness to concern about what's happening around the world. And be a human who has a heart of flesh to feel.
President Mwai Kibaki from the tribe Kikuyu was announced the leader over Raila Odinga from Luo. As Odinga's supporters believe that the result was fraud, they protested. What caught my attention on the news that day was a Lutheran Church in Nairobi was burnt down, together with 22 lives in it - burnt alive. I was disturbed by the idea of burning church as it is the body of Christ, what's more, were the lives sacrificed on behalf of one's anger and dissatisfaction towards unjustice.
Following that, were more and more riots and commotion in Kenya. Hundreds were killed and thousands were displaced. Kofi Annan has to step in, as well as John Kufuor, the African Union Chair from Ghana. They try to bring together the two leaders and suggested power sharing between the two of them as a solution towards the not-very-credible election outcome.
While talks are underway, the some civilians in Kenya continue to pray for their nation. They went back to the Lutheran church and pray for peace to be restored in the land. It moves me to see when there are groups of people out there threatening their safety, they weren't at the same time find ways to retaliate back, but turn to God and seek God's advice. Families were killed, yet they ask no revenge. They want protection and peace, not guns and bombs. But are their leaders doing enough?
To a lot of people, this incident may just be another incident in a country far, far away from their comfort zone. The numbers of death tolls appear in newspaper everyday are just another number. 153, 560 or 897 don't make any difference. A lot of people are numb towards the sufferings of other people, especially a relatively poor country like Kenya. To some, it's because they think they can't do anything to make a change, hence they don't bother about it.
But it's the idea of being a human, we feel for one another. We feel sorry for what they have been through. We feel worried for what is going to happened to them next. What happen if President Mwai Kibaki doesn't want to have the re-election? He is electing new parlimentary ministries now. What will the civilians face if the talks failed? Will Kenya turn into a rough nation? For how long will the civilians have to struggle in the turmoil, which worsen the poverty there? How are they getting along with the fact that their families member were killed? How many children has become orphans? How many have to flee from their home?
I believe I hear the cry for a Saviour's mercy. Do you?
I just want to spread the awareness to concern about what's happening around the world. And be a human who has a heart of flesh to feel.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
List
Books I read since last month:
1. Shopaholic and Baby - Sophie Kinsella
2. Undomestic Godness - Sophie Kinsella
3. Uptown Girl - Goldman Smith (if not mistaken)
4. Cat O' Nine Tales - Jeffrey Archer
Books on Shelve to be read: (sequence not according to favourness)
1. Holy Land, Unholy War - Anton La Guardia
2. No Wonder They Call Him The Saviour - Max Lucado
3. The World is Flat - Thomas L. Friedman
4. The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
5. Kane and Abel - Jeffrey Archer (Thompson's book)
6. A Tales of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
7. The Weather Makers: Our Changing Climate and What It Means for Life On Earth - Tim Flannery
8. Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze? and 114 other questions - New Scientist
Books on mind to be hunted down:
1. The Silent Spring - Rachel Carson
2. Espedair Street - Iain Banks
CD on mind to be bought:
1. Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur - various artists, compilation of John Lennon
1. Shopaholic and Baby - Sophie Kinsella
2. Undomestic Godness - Sophie Kinsella
3. Uptown Girl - Goldman Smith (if not mistaken)
4. Cat O' Nine Tales - Jeffrey Archer
Books on Shelve to be read: (sequence not according to favourness)
1. Holy Land, Unholy War - Anton La Guardia
2. No Wonder They Call Him The Saviour - Max Lucado
3. The World is Flat - Thomas L. Friedman
4. The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
5. Kane and Abel - Jeffrey Archer (Thompson's book)
6. A Tales of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
7. The Weather Makers: Our Changing Climate and What It Means for Life On Earth - Tim Flannery
8. Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze? and 114 other questions - New Scientist
Books on mind to be hunted down:
1. The Silent Spring - Rachel Carson
2. Espedair Street - Iain Banks
CD on mind to be bought:
1. Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur - various artists, compilation of John Lennon
Monday, January 07, 2008
Different
Everyone's different from each other. Everyone is special. That's why we ended up no one is more special than the other. Hence, everyone is equal. This should be theoritically correct.
How ever, we tend to notice that some people are more lovable than the other. Some people are more acceptable in one's social cycle than another. Some people can fit into a particular clique, others, another clique. Everyone has his clique which he mingles comfortably in.
Few, unfortunately, don't. They never find a clique which they feel belong to. They are always jumping from clique to clique, trying to befriend to anyone, but never feel attached to anyone at the end of the day.
Are they affraid of committment? Maybe. But I believe some are simly too different from the society they're in. Nobody seems to understand their thoughts and behaviours. Nobody seems to care. They are just a bunch of wierd people, acting out of the norm. It's best to dissociate from them. Or so they think.
Maybe they have personality problem. Maybe they're not funny, they cannot make one laugh and take away their sorrows. Maybe they are to ego to mix sincerely with others. Maybe they've been living in their own worlds for all this while.
Maybe they have communication problem - they never understand what the other is saying and others also don't manage to catch what's he saying. Their concerns are always dismissed or hold no credibility. Maybe they've been to frank with their own opinion. Whenever his idea is too complicated to be understood, others give up to understand it as it is always perceived as not important.
They are always having lunch with themselves. You can see them reading newspaper quietly in one corner, not discussing the issue with others. They may carry a book, so that whenever they are alone (most of the time), they indulge themselves in the content of the book. They shop alone. They stand aside, watch the rest talking to each other but forming ideas inside their head following the conversation. The ideas are not to be shared with others. Because they don't think in the same direction with the group, at the very beginning. They listen to what the rest are talking. And listen. And debate in their own mind. And listen. And debate in their own mind.
It's not fun to be too different. One may even finds problem to let others understand this post. It's too different.
How ever, we tend to notice that some people are more lovable than the other. Some people are more acceptable in one's social cycle than another. Some people can fit into a particular clique, others, another clique. Everyone has his clique which he mingles comfortably in.
Few, unfortunately, don't. They never find a clique which they feel belong to. They are always jumping from clique to clique, trying to befriend to anyone, but never feel attached to anyone at the end of the day.
Are they affraid of committment? Maybe. But I believe some are simly too different from the society they're in. Nobody seems to understand their thoughts and behaviours. Nobody seems to care. They are just a bunch of wierd people, acting out of the norm. It's best to dissociate from them. Or so they think.
Maybe they have personality problem. Maybe they're not funny, they cannot make one laugh and take away their sorrows. Maybe they are to ego to mix sincerely with others. Maybe they've been living in their own worlds for all this while.
Maybe they have communication problem - they never understand what the other is saying and others also don't manage to catch what's he saying. Their concerns are always dismissed or hold no credibility. Maybe they've been to frank with their own opinion. Whenever his idea is too complicated to be understood, others give up to understand it as it is always perceived as not important.
They are always having lunch with themselves. You can see them reading newspaper quietly in one corner, not discussing the issue with others. They may carry a book, so that whenever they are alone (most of the time), they indulge themselves in the content of the book. They shop alone. They stand aside, watch the rest talking to each other but forming ideas inside their head following the conversation. The ideas are not to be shared with others. Because they don't think in the same direction with the group, at the very beginning. They listen to what the rest are talking. And listen. And debate in their own mind. And listen. And debate in their own mind.
It's not fun to be too different. One may even finds problem to let others understand this post. It's too different.
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