What is man....

"What a piece of work is man!
How noble in reason!
how infinite in faculties!
in form and moving, how express and admirable!
in action, how like an angel!
in apprehension, how like a god!
the beauty of the world!
the paragon of animals!
And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust?
man delights not me; no, nor woman neither...."
William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

What is man indeed? A noble creature capable of dreaming dreams and doing great deeds, or merely dust and lust and animal appetites?

The Bar's Big Walk for Justice went well inspite of the show of intimidation by the police and FRU forces and trucks. The internet is full of pictures and videos of about 2000 mostly lawyers and other concerned citizens walking "peacefully and with dignity" even cheerfully, in the sun and under the darkening sky and then the pouring rain. Si Khoon was there, as was the Rev. Sivin Kit, Tricia Yeoh, and many many other recognisable faces who can be seen in the photos. It's a good beginning, and Lord, don't let it be too long a walk indeed.

But the situation in Myanmar has exploded and the junta have shown their true colours again. The death count mounts, and Lord, I can only pray again, have mercy upon the poor people of Myanmar! How long have they suffered and endured, and how long more? Let Your justice and deliverance come soon!

Prayer Marching

Today there's going to be a march in Putrajaya. It's organised by the Bar Council and it will be from the grandiose Palace of Justice to the Prime Minister's office to hand him a memorandum calling for a Royal Commission on the state of the judiciary in the country. I would like to be there, donned in black and white too, to say "Enough!" But the boys have EYAA and I am the chauffeur, and I've got a date with my sis while they have their session.

In Myanmar, the protest marches grew from hundreds to ten thousand, 2o, 50 thousand, then 100,000. But now the junta have imposed a curfew and banned assemblies of more than 5 people in the two largest cities. The pictures and videos of the monks, nuns, students and other people marching in the rain in the streets of Yangon and other cities have opened the window to Myanmar for me, and my heart for the people there. I want to go there and march with them. I want to go there as scheduled in October with our group of 13. We wait and watch and pray: all things are in Your hands, O Lord. Let Your good and perfect will be done in Myanmar, let Your mercy and grace, righteousness and justice, peace and deliverance, flow to that lovely land and people in abundance.

And Lord, Malaysia, my country, too!

Back Again Again

So, it's almost one year since the last post. I couldn't even find my own blog and had to use my gmail to search for it, and then had to try several usernames and passwords before I could get in here. Wow. At first, I thought I'd just let this blog lie dead among all the millions of blogs and start a new one. But then, hey, I've got old stories and pictures I'd still like to read and look at now and then, even if no one else does. So, here I am.

I've stopped reading the KJV and Bahasa Bibles (Alkitab Berita Baik), and started on the One Year Bible, Kingsway Publications, which is the Living Bible, a thought-for-thought translation, on September 1. Nice refreshing change. Because of the dates, I am forced to keep at it, otherwise I find myself falling behind.

Today is 911: infamous day. The war continues and will continue, as the war between good and evil has been going on since the fall of man. But my hope is in the Lord who reigns and is the Victorious One: He holds all things together and will accomplish His purposes to His glory.

Lessons on Persecution from the story of Daniel in the Lions' Den

Last Sunday, we had the privilege of hearing from Kenny Ng, an elder from Emmanuel EFC on the Three Rs of Persecution based on Daniel 6.

"Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent." (Daniel 6:3,4)

Daniel gets persecuted by the administrators satraps for being righteous and for being faithful to his God. As Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:12, "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." This world is certainly not a friend to God and His people, the world that did not recognize their creator or received Him when He came in the flesh.

Daniel's response was to continue with his routine of praying three times a day in defiance of the King's decree not to pray to anyone for thirty days but to the King, on pain of execution by being fed to the lions. How Daniel was able to do that was because he had been praying and seeking God consistently all his life: discipline becomes habit, habit character, and character destiny.

The result: God heard Daniel and protected him in the lions' den, and gave poetic justice by having his persecutors themselves with the families thrown into the den instead. God is glorified by the King and the people everywhere who heard about the miracle.

But it is not in every case of persecution that the persecuted gets rescued. Many times, many suffer and die, like Stephen, the first martyr of the church, and all the apostles and thousands upon thousands of Christians down through the centuries and all over the world now, even in our own neighbour: Boycott Indonesia—Stop Murdering Christians Now!

The roll call of the faithful in Hebrews 11 includes those who were miraculously delivered and those who died. They lived and died by faith, as Daniel's friends put it, "... the God we serve is able to save us... and He will rescue us... But even if He does not, ... we will not serve your gods..." (Daniel 3:17) If we live and die by faith in God, this world is not our home and we will truly be the children of Abraham who "was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God." (Hebrews 11:10)

Seafood Dinner: fresh lobsters, crabs, clams... yummy!

Cool fresh air of Sabah, somewhere near the Kinabalu Park

Sunday morning market at Gaya Street, KK

Learning Mahjong at a chalet in Kinabalu Park

School is Out!

While most of the Malaysian school kids are in the throes of exam fever and preparations, the boys and I will be going off for an unexpected bonus holiday to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah! That's because their uncle, my brother the lawyer, had decided to go for a law conference in Seoul and give his 3 return tickets which he had booked earlier to us! There are only 3, so D will be staying back, enjoying a break of peace and quiet from us, which will help him to prepare his next sermon and talk at the Melawati school christian fellowship.

The best thing is that my parents will be coming along, on the same flight on AirAsia to KK. They will be staying on longer at the Chees' while we come back on Sunday the 17th.

I've heard and read about AirAsia delays and rescheduling of flights and we've experienced several, but this takes the cake: my parents' flight from Alor Setar to KL tomorrow has been changed from 10.35 am to 8.35 am! Yes, it's been pushed back, not forward! What on earth? This means that they'll have to wait at the LCCT from the time of arrival, about 10.40 am, till the flight to KK at 5.10 pm, which of course, may also very likely be rescheduled. It also means that the boys and I will have to go to the LCCT earlier to be with them and wait with them. Well, we'll be armed with books, and Ethan with his IPod, and probably Chinese Chess for them to play with their grandpa.

So, KK, here we come!

VPS

How nice to have the whole apartment to myself for a whole day! It's rare for a homeschooling mum, as either I'll be out sending one or both of the boys somewhere, or they would be home with me. But today, I've sent them both early in the morning to the Zoo Negara (National Zoo), where they will work from 9 to 5 as volunteers.

It's not that they love animals, but it's thanks to EYAA: the Edison Youth Achievement Award Programme, started and run by Amy Delph, a young mother of 2 small girls, who despite her slight figure is packed with creativity, ideas and dynamism. One important component of EYAA is the voluntary public service (vps) that every one of the youth has to fulfill, double the number of hours for the other parts, viz. personal development, physical fitness and expedition/exploration. They have to do 30 hours of the vps to get the bronze certificate, 60 hours for the silver and 90 for the gold, and so forth for the medals.

So Elliot has begun helping out on Monday afternoons at SPICES (Support for Parents, Infants, Children through early services), a community service centre set up and run by Emmanuel EFC for children with learning disabilities. Ethan, who once said that he had no patience to be a drum teacher, is now teaching 3 boys from the Chinese congregation of our church who cannot afford to pay for lessons, besides having 2 other paying students.

Apparently, the national schools close for a two week break from tomorrow, but for homeschoolers, every day is a day of varied work and play and rest, and learning through it all.