To : anyone willing to read this post and be challenged...

I thank God for Doulos!

Doulos came about a year ago(Doulos is the world's largest floating bookshop. Or was, at least. They took the ship apart this year or something). So what did I do? I headed over to the Bargain Corner and bought 80 bucks' worth of CDs. They weren't That expensive. 20 bucks per 4 CDs. Good deal. So I got 16 albums. An assortment. Among the 16 CDs, there's this one album by Freddie Kofi, journey:destination paradise. It's classified in the R&B genre.

I was listening to the album today and there was this one song that jumped out at me. This is a shoutout to all SPM candidates (and the rest of you).


trust in the Lord
and be of good courage
and He shall
strengthen your heart

you don't have to be afraid
of the storm that is passing your way
your life is not over
can you hear what the Father says?
you don't have to worry
just trust He will make a way
keep your eyes on Jesus
all your troubles will fade away


So that song hit me. What did I do? I finished listening to the entire album and pressed the PLAY button again. This entire album, as the title - journey:destination paradise - suggests, is about stuff we go through in life, and my dear friends, especially those reaching crossroads in life, I feel this came at just the right time. Our ultimate destination is to someday be in paradise with Him. For now, we face tests and trials (be they SPM or college and uni apps or whatever else there is) BUT, He will take our overcoming and He will use us as living testimonies for Him. So guys, let's stand tall, roll our shoulders back and look at our challenges right in the eye and trust in the Lord to work things out for the best according to His plans.

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose."
Romans 8:28
People, trust in the Lord!

Singin' in the Rain!!!

I thank God for the friend who got me the musical Singin' in the Rain starring Gene Kelly!

I have been hunting high and low for this, and I happened to walk into the class the other day and mention the musical, and guess what? Lo and behold, this particular friend of mine had it there in her thumbdrive! Lol! Thank you Kingston for you 4GB Data Traveller and whatever programme my friend uses to get all these musicals which are no longer in the market.

So here's to Singin' in the Rain, my dear friend and others out there who enjoy it.



Lol.

First-year-of-blogging-anniversary...

I thank God for everything that's happened between my last post and this one. Let me elaborate...

This is an overdue post, so since it's the 'holidays'(more like study break), I'm going to try and document some stuff now before I get back to studying.

In August, I attended another music camp. This time, it was a whole lot more fun. For one, we were in a hotel. Lol. Yes, walked to our practice venue(s) lol but with a whole bunch of buddies, colleagues...call them what you want. But yea, kids walking on the roadside carrying instruments. Lol. We played another lot of stuff...cut out parts(we had a time issue for our performance this time 'round) and sobz...cut out one particular section in Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker - Valse des Fleurs which I liked. Ah well, we'll be playing it in December. Our performance this time was in conjunction with the Malaysian Youth Music Festival 2009, organized by the Malaysian Youth Orchestra Foundation. We did the finale show in Sunway Pyramid. Had fun with POTC, aye? Lol.

At Sunway Pyramid, I had a reunion with my 'long-lost lil bro', who also turned out to be awarded the best piano solo, diploma category, along with the platinum award. Lol. I'm looking forward to next March, bro!

Right before camp, I took my flute diploma exam. Lol. And got the results during camp. With wonderful favour from my Dad up there, I did much better than expected and got a really good pass. Yes, silent buddy, the figure means a whole lot more to me now. Lol. Again, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank God for His blessing and favour, my family for putting up with my crazy practice sessions, my teacher for pushing me even when I thought I couldn't go anymore, my tutors and flute buddies over at orchestra for their patience and advice, my other buddies who kept encouraging me, my prayer warriors who kept me in constant prayer and my friends who lent an ear to my rantings in the process of my prep for the exam. If I have left anyone out, I'm sorry, and please know that I DO appreciate you.

It's been slightly over a year that I've had this blog, and so, I would like to end this post with a prayer that whatever this blog contains, both now and in future, may it glorify my Father. All who are in support of that, please do throw in a BIG LOUD AMEN. Thanks!

A tribute...

I thank God for friends...

This is a tribute to you...lol...to the rest out there : ENJOY!

Deck-ING the halls...

I thank God once again for bringing me here safely...

I should get this started. First of all, thanks darlz(you know who you are) for taking time out to spend with me during my free time. It was good being able to meet up with u and just catch up on lost time. You didn't have to but I'm glad you did. There'll be more of such moments I'm sure, as long as we can liase properly and you don't have to send your phone to the Nokia Care Centre to ge it repaired and use a different number in the meantime...that sure speeded things up, didn't it? Lol. I appreciate the effort and the time you put into preserving what we have built up over the years and I hope that will continue. You are treasured.

This time was no exception to lots more hard work.

Thanks to Mr Kevin Field for taking the time to believe in us and guide us.
Big thanks to my section tutor, who came and was a great help along with great fun. Not intimidating, not threatening, and able to explain things to us in ways we would understand. eg, the KTM situation.
Thanks to my section colleagues for being patient with me and so encouraging. Carmen, for the books(I've started on them already!).
Many thanks to my roommates, you know who you are, for putting up with me.
Thanks to my buddy who at times just sat in silence with me.
Thanks to our concertmaster and I wish you all the best wherever you go and in whatever you do...
Thanks to everyone else for another great camp and concert.

Up to now, there's this indescribable feeling of having performed in that prestiged hall and a sense of loss...where I don't want the camp to have ended. Time seems to fly by when you're having a good time.

Then again, August isn't too far away. The in-house chamber recital will (hopefully, without any complications) take place then. All we can do now is to focus on our studies, and for some, work, until then.

All the best to my colleagues who will be taking music exams between now and then, to colleagues who will be having competitions, to those who will be having trial exams in preparation for public exams. Give it your all! God bless all of you and see you guys next camp!

Deck the hols with streams of music...

I thank God that exams are over...

Yes, no more worrying and stressing over juggling daily practice with studying and sitting for exams in school(at least for now...).

Tonight, I will be spending time with Ed, working on and polishing some stuff to avoid disappointment. This time, it will be more of a challenge, which is a good thing, of course.

The whole cycle starts up again of Saturday, and this time, we will be treated to seeing some of our colleagues(this is a term I picked up during the last camp) perform on the 2nd, little groups of our colleagues performing on the 5th and the senior team perform on the 6th. The lot of us will be doing the 7th June. Tickets are sold out, so to those of you who haven't got your tickets, sorry la. There's nothing I can do. Maybe you guys could book ahead for the August performance. I will let y'all know once I get the dates.

I'm excited...I'm jittery...will I be able to satisfy myself this time? I can never reach a limit to learning and I have such a long way to go. With help, guidance and correction, I am pretty sure that I will learn so much more this camp and it will benefit me in ways I can never imagine. All I have to do is be faithful, as God's Word says, and God will notice my faithfulness and reward me accordingly.

To all you guys who will be with me beginning Saturday...my 'colleagues'...I'm looking forward to it. Guys, let's give it all we've got!

Mata pelajaran Pendidikan Moral sebagai mata pelajaran wajib dalam peperiksaan SPM...

Saya berterima kasih kepada Tuhan kerana memberi saya peluang untuk mempelajari kesabaran melalui membuat ulangkaji bagi mata pelajaran ini.

Pada hari Jumaat yang lalu, saya telah menduduki kertas Pendidikan Moral untuk peperiksaan semester saya. Sehubungan dengan itu, saya dekehendaki menghafal 36 nilai berserta dengan definisi nilai-nilai tersebut. Nilai-nilai ini merangkumi 7 bidang, iaitu
a, Perkembangan diri (12 nilai)
b, Kekeluargaan (4 nilai)
c, Alam sekitar (4 nilai)
d, Hak asasi manusia (5 nilai)
e, Demokrasi (5 nilai)
f, Keamanan dan keharmonian (3 nilai)

Nilai-nilai berserta dengan definisi nilai bukan sahaja berguna untuk menghadapi peperiksaan saya, tetapi juga dalam aspek lain. Saya akan merekodkan sebuah pengalaman saya di mana nilai dan definisi yang telah dihafal oleh saya membuktikan kegunaannya dalam kehidupan seharian saya.

Pada waktu malam hari Jumaat yang sama, saya menghadiri kelas tuisyen bagi mata pelajaran Matematik Tambahan. Saya duduk bersama dengan Raisin. Kami telah 'mengamalkan' nilai kerajinan (kelas tuisyen kami selama 3 jam), iaitu usaha yang berterusan yang penuh dengan semangat ketekunan, kecekalan, kegigihan, dedikasi dan berdaya maju dalam melakukan sesuatu perkara. Sepanjang 3 jam itu, kami juga mengamalkan nilai rasional, iaitu kebolehan berfikir berdasarkan alasan dan bukti yang nyata dan dapat mengambil tindakan berasaskan pertimbangan yang wajar. Nilai ini diaplikasi apablia Raisin dan saya mencari jalan penyelesaian untuk soalan-soalan dalam latihan matematik tambahan yang sedang dibuat oleh kami.

Raisin telah mengambil kesempatan untuk membuli saya semata-mata kerana saya lebih muda daripada dia. Saya membela diri saya dengan menggunakan nilai melindungi hak kanak-kanak, iaitu membela, memberi naungan dan memelihara hak kanak-kanak bagi menjamin kehidupan mereka yang sempurna. Raisin pula mempertikaikan isu menghormati hak wanita yang bermaksud melindungi dan mengiktiraf wanita sebagai induvidu yang boleh memberi sumbangan dalam pembangunan keluarga, masyarakat dan negara.

Masalahnya, Raisin terlupa untuk mempertimbangkan sebuah kenyataan - sebagai seorang wanita, dia dikehendaki melindungi hak kanak-kanak! KKK (Ketawa Keluar Kuat...lol...).

Melalui situasi yang baru sahaja saya berkongsi dengan semua pembaca saya ini, aplikasi mata pelajaran Pendidikan Moral dalam kehidupan seharian seorang pelajar di negara kita ini jelas kelihatan. Dengan itu, kita dapat membuat kesimpulan bahawa mata pelajaran Pendidikan Moral berguna dalam kehidupan kita semua. Kkk...