Another Life Snatched

In Malaysia, we don't have volcanoes, typhoons or hurricanes, heat waves or extreme cold, strong earthquakes, or so far, suicide bombers or war, thankfully. But we have snatch thieves! They used to snatch ladies' handbags, but now they also snatch lives, of not just ladies, but anyone carrying anything, male or female, young or old.

"Tuesday August 8, 2006

Another life snatched

BY SIMON KHOO

KUANTAN: Another life has been snatched; a week after a college student in Kuala Lumpur and a hotel worker in Petaling Jaya died at the hands of snatch thieves.

At about 7.30pm on Sunday, a thief pushed salesgirl Ng Chiew Lim down an emergency staircase on the ground floor of the Berjaja Megamall here where she worked.

She landed headfirst. Several security guards later found her lying on the ground and unconscious, with blood oozing out from her ears, nose and mouth.

They rushed her to the Kuantan Medical Centre where she was warded in a serious condition.

Other guards who spotted the suspect in front of a video shop on the first floor nabbed him as he tried to flee.

Chiew Lim, 25, from Bandar Indera Mahkota here, died from her injuries at 11.25am yesterday.

It is learnt that she was on her way to meet her boyfriend when the incident happened.

She had received a call from him and went down via the emergency staircase.

OCPD Asst Comm Jamshah Mustapa said police have detained a 23-year-old man to help in investigations.

The case has been classified as murder.

The girl’s father Ng Pang Kiow, 65, and her younger brother Ng Chew Seng, 20, were in Singapore at the time of the incident. They took a flight home upon hearing the tragic news.

Chiew Lim’s colleague Hoo Wan Lian, 22, said they had just finished their shift and were doing some window-shopping when her friend received a call from her boyfriend.

“She left using the staircase while I went home on my own,” Hoo said, adding that several minutes later a call came in to say that Chiew Lim had been rushed to the medical centre.

Complex manager K.G. Yong, contacted by The Star, said adequate security measures had been taken to ensure the safety of shoppers.

He said they employed 30 security guards and at least 12 of them would be patrolling the premises regularly.

“We regret the incident and urge shoppers to use the seven lifts at the complex, rather than take the stairs,” he said, adding that the management planned to install closed-circuit TV cameras for added security. "

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/8/8/nation/15079090&sec=nation

Where do these murdering thieves come from? Are they our own people or are they part of the 6.8% non-citizens portion of the population (Bernama, 2005-7-15) Whoever they may be, they are "senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless," and deserving of the death penalty. Why can't they find some honest labour to earn their money? Isn't it better to be a garbageman or a road sweeper than a thief and murderer? Paul went even further: he said that we are to work, not only to meet our own needs, but to share with others in need.

"He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need." Ephesians 4:28

Oh yes, we do have the haze in KL now, but what is that compared to floods in Pakistan, India, China which leave hundreds and thousands dead, desolate or displaced?

A Time for Everything

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

... He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men...
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8,11

O Lord, may you grant us the wisdom to know the right time to do the right thing. Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)

Now is the time to pray, to seek the Lord, to hear His voice and obey.
Now is the time to worship Him and give Him thanks.
Now is the time to "wake up, O sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you." (Ephesians 5:14)
Now and always is a good time.

Quo Vadis, Malaysia?

Indonesian Province Of Aceh Embraces Islamic Law
2006-08-01 00:28:55
Posted By: intellpuke

Across this most religious of Indonesia's provinces, brown uniformed policemen in black wagons enforce Shariah, or Islamic law. They haul unmarried couples into precincts and arrest people for drinking or gambling. Increasingly, many of the cases are pushed to the ultimate conclusion, public canings at mosques in front of pumped-up crowds.

In mid-July, a 27-year-old man sentenced to 40 lashes fainted on the seventh stroke of a rattan cane from a hooded man in the yard of a mosque here in the provincial capital. The caning was televised nationally, with an announcer reporting that the man, who had been arrested for drinking at a beachside stall, would receive the remainder of his punishment once he had recovered. Battered by the Asian tsunami 19 months ago, Aceh is undergoing a profound transformation that is likely to have considerable impact on the nature of Islam in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country.

For centuries Indonesia has been known for the open-minded, sometimes freewheeling, interpretation of its dominant religion. That is changing as moderate Muslims find themselves under siege from more orthodox proponents, and as the moderates are hesitant to push back.

Read more here.

Are we going there? Do we want to go there, my fellow Malaysians?

Wars and rumours of wars

We had been studying and discussing the Middle East: geography, history, politics, in our cg for several weeks, when the most recent conflict erupted. Will there ever be an end to the unrest and hostilities in that region, and now spreading over the rest of the world? The bombs go off everyday in Iraq, Afghanistan, Thailand, and here and there, and now there's gunfire over the North and South Korean border.

Jesus said in answer to his disciples' question as to what will be the sign of his coming and of the end of the age: "... You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains...." Matthew 24:6-8

Elsewhere he said: "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world!" John 16:35

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:43-45

So how do we overcome the vicious cycle of hate and vengeance? By love and forgiveness and faith in God. As Paul wrote, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12:21

And the Apostle John also wrote: "This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God." 1 John 5:3-5

Kill, steal and destroy

Saturday night, we were returning home from dinner at mother-in-law's, where D's brothers and sisters from Penang and Singapore had gathered, when we heard the siren and saw a Forensic Dept. van pass our car. Next day, the news told of an 18 yr old TAR College student who had been robbed and slashed and left to bleed to death on the side of the road. He was a first year student and had been here from Ipoh only a few weeks. Today's news said that a short while after that attack, another student had been accosted and slashed but had managed to escape with injuries. It was in Taman Melati near to the first incident at Wangsa Maju. Police think that it's same two men on their motorbike robbing spree.

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full," Jesus said in John 10:11

Lord, may you have mercy on our land, with cold-blooded thieves and killers abroad and bloodshed of young and old.

Alive

Hey, it's been seven months or so since I wrote anything here! I'm still alive, here on earth, and while I still have life here, I guess I should write. When I write, I think, and cogito, ergo sum?

To Narnia and Back Again (Again and Again)

In December and Christmastime, I went to Narnia several times, thanks to Walden Media and director Andrew Adamson who made the movie The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe based on the book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first published novel in C.S. Lewis' children's fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia.

I first read the LWW when I was in first year of uni. I didn't finish the whole series, got lost somewhere in the 3rd or 4th book, and didn't get interested again until after the movie. Lewis writes in very simple English but as I read the stories now, I see that he is so steeped in the Bible that although (according to him) he did not set out to write allegories, the Biblical themes and tales come shining through. So, children and everyone can enjoy the well crafted tales and adventures on their own merit, while those who know the Bible can enjoy the hints, whispers and glimpses of God and His works. Actually, the pictures can be very clear sometimes, as can be seen in these: The Magician's Nephew - story of the Creation of the world, LWW - the salvation of the sinner by the death and resurrection of the Saviour Lord, The Horse and His Boy - the journey of an unbeliever to faith and conversion, Prince Caspian and The Silver Chair - the fight between good and evil in the Christian life, The Last Battle - the final war, the end of the world, and the beginning of a new world.

The Last Battle especially thrilled and transported me as I was reading Revelation, the last book of the Bible at the same time. A few Sundays ago, Ivy was worship leading and she talked about Narnia too and read from Revelation 5: what a wonder that the Lord is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah and yet when he appeared, John beheld "a Lamb as it had been slain". As the song goes, "Meekness and majesty, manhood and deity, in perfect harmony, the Man who is God."

"REV 5:1 Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. [2] And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, "Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?" [3] But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. [4] I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. [5] Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals."

REV 5:6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits* of God sent out into all the earth. [7] He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. [8] And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. [9] And they sang a new song:

"You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased men for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation.

REV 5:10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth."

REV 5:11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. [12] In a loud voice they sang:

"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!"

REV 5:13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:

"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!"

REV 5:14 The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped."

* Started writing this on 8 January (the first para) and only finished it on the 26th. So the worship service I was referring to was on the 15th.

Mario!

"If music be the food of love, play on ....."

--From Twelfth Night (I, i,1-3)

He's Greek and sings in Italian, Spanish, Greek, French and English, with a voice that is like that of an angel: it melts your heart and makes your spirit soar. And, unlike Pavarotti, he's young and looks like a movie star or male model. What else can I ask for? Mario Frangoulis, my hero of song.

In his first album Sometimes I Dream, he says, "Allow me to introduce you to my world. With humility and dignity, I offer you my dreams with love and colors from the Mediterranean world, the deep blue of the sea and sky, the warmth and the spirit of my ancestors and the rich heritage of my homeland, Greece.
A gift no longer in my hands, I give you Sometimes I Dream."

I first heard him sing the song Vincero, Perdero in a compilation of classic pop operas. I didn't know what the words meant but I loved listening to it over and over. Found out the meaning of the Italian lyrics online and hey, I'm learning Italian now. The boys and D got me his second CD Follow Your Heart for my birthday, as it was so obvious what I liked. They couldn't find the first, but I liked the second as much, especially the first song, Here's to the Heroes. I found the first CD in Singapore later, and now, I can listen to him in the car, in the house, from morning to night.

As Mario put it in his second CD, "For me, music is the greatest gift you can give to someone because music is life and life is love and honestly, I live for making good music." Well, long may he live to make good music for all the world to enjoy, and may he come to know too the Creator of Music, the One who gave him the gifts of voice and song, life and love.

Love is Stronger than Death

"In our time, as in every age, we need to see something which is stronger than death. Death has become powerful in our time, in individual human beings, in families, in nations and in mankind as a whole. Death has become powerful - that is to say that the End, the finite, and the limitations and decay of our being have become visible. For nearly a century this was concealed in Western civilization. We had become masters in our earthly household. Our control over nature and our social planning had widened the boundaries of our being; the affirmation of life had drowned out its negation which no longer dared make itself heard, and which fled into the hidden anxiety of our hearts, becoming fainter and fainter. We forgot that we are finite, and we forgot the abyss of nothingness surrounding us ... We kept the picture of death from our children and when here and there, in our neighbourhood and in the world, mortal convulsions and the End become visible, our security was not disturbed. For us these events were merely accidental and unavoidable, but they were not enough to tear off the lid which we had fastened down over the abyss of our being.

And suddenly the lid was torn off. The picture of Death appeared, unveiled, in a thousand forms. As in the late Middle Ages the figure of Death appeared in pictures and poetry, and the Dance of Death with every living being was painted and sung, so our generation - the generation of world wars, revolutions, and mass migrations - rediscovered the reality of death. We have seen millions die in wars, hundreds of thousands in revolutions, tens of thousands in persecutions and in systematic purges of minorities ...

But who can bear to look at this picture? Only he who can look at another picture behind and beyond it - the picture of Love. For love is stronger than death. For every death means parting, separation, isolation, opposition, and not participation. So it is, too, with the death of nations, the end of generations, and the atrophy of souls. Our souls become poor and disintegrate insofar as we want to be alone, insofar as we bemoan our misfortunes, nurse our despair and enjoy our bitterness, and yet turn coldly away from the physical and spiritual needs of others. Love overcomes separation and creates participation in which there is more than that which the individuals involved can bring to it. Love is the infinite which is given to the finite. Therefore we love in others, for we do not merely love others, but we love the Love that is in them and which is more than their or our love. In mutual assistance what is most important is not the alleviation of need but the actualization of love. Of course, there is no love which does not want to make the other's need its own. But there is also no love which does not spring from love and create love. Those who fight against death and disintegration through all kinds of relief agencies know this. Often very little external help is possible. And the gratitude of those who receive help is first and always gratitude for love and only afterwards gratitude for help. Love, not help, is stronger than death. But there is no love which does not become help. Where help is given without love, there new suffering grows from the help.

It is love, human and divine, which overcomes death in nations and generations and in all the horror of our time. Help has become almost impossible in the face of the monstrous powers which we are experiencing. Death is given power over everything finite, especially in our period of history. But death is given no power over love. Love is stronger. It creates something new out of the destruction caused by death; it bears everything and overcomes everything. It is at work where the power of death is strongest, in war and persecution and homelessness and hunger and physical death itself. It is omnipresent and here and there, in the smallest and most hidden ways as in the greatest and most visible ones, it rescues life from death. It rescues each of us, for love is stronger than death."

- Paul Tillich

(From The New Being by Paul Tillich, 1955,
reprinted in God's Treasury of Virtues, An Inspirational Collection of Stories, Quotes, Hymns, Scriptures and Poetry)

Saint Patrick's Breastplate

"I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth with his baptism,
Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial,
Through the strength of his descent for the judgment of
Doom

...


I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me:
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's host to save me
From snares of devils,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in multitude.

...


Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ
when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation."

(Translated by Stokes, Strachan, Meyer, and found in Meyer's Selections from Ancient Irish Poetry and many anthologies, and in the book How the Irish Saved Civilisation - The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe written by Thomas Cahill.)