Selflessness

I've been thinking a lot lately about selflessness. What does it mean? To me, selflessless means nothing unless it's put into action. And I have seen many actions over the past month that define selflessless.

Look at OCF Convention 08. The committee who fought against stress, self doubt and self comfort so that God could touch the lives of those who came. The people who overcame shyness and awkwardness to reach out to the other delegates in order to make them feel welcome. Without the selfless actions in the kitchen, pulpit, PA, bible study, AGM and people's homes, Convention 08 wouldn't have happened in the first place.

My graduation ceremony. Graduating with a Masters of Architecture is impossible without the sacrifices made by the parents. Especially mom. Back when I was 13, she turned down a high paying position. She left her company and joined my dad's firm. If you asked her why, she could sum up her answer in two words, "The children". A high paying position meant flying out of the country and only returning once a few months to see the family. In comparison, my father's office was only 5 minutes away from home. If Aaron and Lydia were naughty, they would be walloped almost immediately. So even while the cat was away, the mice won't even dare come out and play.

The trip to Melbourne and Tasmania. Tell me, where on earth would a person wake up at 4am to drive someone he only just met, together with his parents to the airport? Only in Tasmania, as far as I know. To those who drove us around, took me to a cool vego place for lunch, brought us to church, the fish and chip shop and for the Christmas BBQ, THANK YOU!

New Year's Resolution: Find out what it means to be selfless. By observing others and doing it more and more! Because the only way some people will see Jesus is not in a sermon. Or a song. But in actions that come from a heart that is thankful for His selfless love on the Cross. Amen.

Making Time For People

My Typical Weekday

Get up
Meals
Work
8 hours
Brain dead
Go home
Shower
Bed

No-life architecture student. I clock in the hours out of obligation, not enjoyment. I've been saying "No" and "Sorry" more often this year. No, I can't make it to your graduation, sorry. No, can't join you for dinner, I'm working. Don't disrupt my flow. Sorry.

I like to believe that friends understand I'm busy, especially when it's final year. Of course they understand. But after a while the friendship becomes defined by "No" and "Sorry", instead of "I'll be there". What kind of friendship is that? And when something comes up, they will say, "Don't ask Aaron, he's busy, he won't make it".

Don't abandon the people whom you call your friends. Make the effort to MAKE time for them. Work is not an excuse. I sacrificed social life for work and still I get mediocre results. The worst feeling in the world is to get bad grades and feel alone.

We are created to enjoy relationship with each other. I need to start by making time for my Best Friend. The One who gave me His life so I could live in Him and for Him. AND to minister to the people He has entrusted to my care.

Thoughts about my beloved country

1. The prevailing race should not fear meritocracy unless they suffer from inferiority complex. The current situation (quotas and all) is no different to apartheid in which our own leaders stood up against but have been imposing on their own people by calling it a different name.

2. When you have ordinary citizens coming up with better ideas than the government on how to run the country, then you have a problem.

3. In trying to justify their behaviour, the government has to come up with even more ridiculous excuses.

4. As a foreign investor, I will not do business in a country that arrests people without trial or reason because I could end up like one of them. Well, some people say that even 'democratic, westernised' countries like Uncle Sam do the same thing. Do not forget that those actions have been criticised and successfully challenged in Uncle Sam's courts of law without fear of repression.

5. There is little ethical value in trying to topple a government through defections. It makes you no different than those who are in power.

Back in Adelaide

So many things have happened over the past week or so. The first week itself was a blur of happenings. OCF Welcome Night and Beach Day was a blast! So many newcomers turned up. I was asked, "Of all the newcomers, why did more non- Christians attend the events compared to Christians?" I'm like, "We are supposed to be salt reaching out to non salty people. How can we build up if we don't reach out first?"

I was also caught up in a legal dispute; Mr Will-not-mention-names called a solicitor. To all the people who encouraged me and gave advice, I am so grateful! This matter remains to be solved.

I got a slight fever which lasted for a day. Then my cousin got Hepatitis A. The person who informed me couldn't stop crying. I felt like a 911 operator, telling her to "Calm down, it's alright, an ambulance is on the way" and then calling Kazu the ambulance driver, "We have a code red situation down Henley Beach Road!" My cousin's leaving for home tommorrow, which is so unfortunate, because he had only just begun studying in Adelaide!

Overall, I thank God for teaching me the concept of Long Suffering. According to the preacher Paul Tan (not the guy with the car blog), long suffering is the ability to suffer for a long time. The key is to have patience. You cannot say, "God, please give me patience, I want it now!"

So I will not rush the process. By the time I get the answers to all these things happening one after the other, I would have grown more, spiritually and mentally. All I will do now is:

Trust and Obey
For there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus
But to Trust and Obey

On a lighter note, a friend of mine posted me a link to this very awesome kid drummer on YouTube. His name is Tony Royster, and the video was shot when he was a 11. Man that kid can drum! His special bass pedal has 2 beaters instead of one. His coordination and synchopation beats all the mainstream rock drummers. Imagine if I started playing drums when I was 11 years old.

Last days in KK

Just came back from Shenanigans. My shirt smells like smoke. My heart's beating faster than normal. Feeling slightly tipsy. Drinking isn't prohibited in the Bible, but we shouldn't get drunk. I'm still sober, though I feel a bit high. Vodka lime was sweet. In times like these, it's good to know your limits.

Going back to Adelaide this saturday. This will be a big year. My sis and I will be graduating. Hopefully Josh makes it to Uni. I predict a few tensions this year, but they will be resolved through God's wisdom and common sense. KK has been a blast. Highlights include hanging out with relatives and close buddies. Wonderful feelings and memories.

Moving into a new place with new housemates. Pray that we would gel together and resolve any disagreements with patience and understanding...

My beloved country

Today I heard some interesting stories. My dad (he's an engineer) went to the relevant authority to get his proposal approved (the project is a retaining wall). The person in charge was like, "I won't approve this wall for you unless you do it my way". Dad was like, "But your way is too expensive. My client won't make any money. And I am the one responsible for this project." But the person was like, "I don't care. Either do it my way or I won't approve this proposal". Can you imagine my dad's frustration? This proposal definitely meets all the requirements but due to this person's attitude, the proposal wasn't approved when it should be.

Another story. There was a Sabah politician whose son was involved in a gang fight. One of the persons involved said he was going to murder the politician's son. And the son told the dad. The dad went out with a shotgun and killed the person who threatened to murder the son. A court case ensued. And this politician was like, "It was for self defence mah!"

Really makes me wonder whether I should come back here to work. It's the corruption and peoples' attitude in Malaysia that makes the Australian grass look greener. I hate prejudice. I hate abuse of authority. I love my country deeply. Yet when I look at the local Unis, 90% of the student population is taken up by Malays due to race quotas, according to mom. And you can't get any government contracts unless you are Malay. Look, I understand we should give the Malays a chance, I'm not against the Malays. But i feel this is unfair. No wonder my parents want me to work elsewhere. No wonder Malaysia is experiencing a brain drain.

Chinese New Year's eve. My mother's dinner specials are cooked lobster and shark fin soup. We wouldn't get this kind of food on normal days. Everyone's happy, especially my dad who can eat as much as he wants without my mom nagging him not to. I will not be able to sleep at midnight. Fireworks are supposed to be banned but this is Sabah, nobody cares. Gong Xi Fa Cai everyone!

Hehe guess what, my mother's car number plate is quite auspicious. Because it has the numbers 688 in it, which according to my mom, means "Collect double" to the Chinese. How "Stupidstitious". Haha!

It's all about money...

'The root of all evil'. Money is not evil, but bad management is. Last year I learnt how lack of documentation can lead to big bills with no reason. I asked the person responsible to show documentation, which he agreed to, but never did. So I didn't pay. The person complained to another person that I owed money, and mom was called. Overall, it was a messy situation. Not only were the bills dodgy, the papers 'justifying' it were red. Invoices stating overdue payments, and penalty charges added. The person has been keeping those papers, not telling us until one day we see a massive bill. If we had been informed beforehand, we would pay our share and there would be no red papers because that person was unable to pay everything.

So my  2008 resolution is, financial accountability. To inform people about how much they have to pay. None of this owing business. I can treat you lunch, but no way I'm paying your rent, utility bills, or home loan. That's my principle. Financial mismanagement can turn friends into enemies and family members against each other. My mom knows too well, she is an accountant. She was hired for two years to chase people with bad debts. And before you try to help someone in financial difficulty, you have to find out the root cause. It could be financial mismanagement. You could be conned. And you will never see your hard earned money again.    

Friends, do not allow someone to ask for a large sum of money. He/ she might say, "I can't feed my kids, I am homeless" but they might be excuses. They should ask a bank for help, which is not you. Even if you ask for proof, they can easily give you false documentation. If they call you selfish, they are  irresponsible because nobody should ask his/her friends for a handout. It's unfair; you work so hard for it, and they expect you to give it away.

Charities are a different story, but some people will use any outlet to lie, cheat and steal from others. So in the words of Jesus, 'Be vigilant!' Not only for the second coming, but also for your money.

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Random thought of the day

Time capsule

Was looking through pictures on my external hard drive when I stumbled upon some old pictures taken circa 2004 AD.

Hope Christian Fellowship Church. I was in the dance team, and we danced in front of Woolies at Rundle Mall every saturday. we would flash up this message at the end of the dance. Yeah this dance is sponsored by the one and only Son of God. I left this church at the end of 2004.


My house back in KK! Heavily photoshopped. The house has changed a lot since then due to renovations, though the front still remains the same.