How Fragile We Are

We do indeed forget how fragile we are, but losing an 8 year old friend is probably the most painful way to be reminded. Wei Xiang's passing is still in the back of my mind.

Farewell Wei Xiang

I would have posted sooner on this blog but I've been busy helping to set up the church building for my new congregation in Kota Kemuning. In fact I just came back with my family from cleaning up the first and second floors. We are dedicating the building this 5th December, God willing, and from then onwards I will no longer worship in Klang.

Unfortunately, before we even started, tragedy struck one of the families who will be moving with us to the new congregation from Klang. Last week, they lost a son and brother, and I lost a friend, Lim Wei Xiang. He was only eight years old. It was a complete shock as he had no known pre-existing disease and only last Sunday I had dinner with him and joked with him.

The family is of course distraught. The congregations in Klang, Subang Jaya and members in Kota Kemuning are obviously very upset. His death is completely unexpected. Less than two years ago, we also lost a child in Klang. He was 15.

The wake, memorial service and funeral were difficult and painful events. Tears filled my eyes and everyone else's. I cannot even begin to imagine what the family must go through.

His passing reminded me that we are indeed fragile, all of us. He will be sorely missed. Rest in peace, little buddy.

Updates

- The first thing I did this morning was clean up an oil spill in front of my house driveway.  Nope, it wasn't pretty and yup, I'm freaking serious.

- The gig at Homegrown Space last Tuesday was the awesome, for the most part. The space was very, erm, "intimate", but the music was great. Can't say that about the crowd though, which was rather uptight. Why is it that I was the only one digging Malay hip-hop band SSK's hilarious lyrics? Malay isn't even my first language!

- My cousin has been in hospital since last Wednesday, recovering from serious poisoning. Please pray for him.

- My CLP results are coming out soon. Gaaaahhh!

- I am scouting out firms for a chambering position.

- I am catching up on my reading. It's Conrad right now. I should be finished with "Heart of Darkness" in a bit.

- I read this article by Ding Jo-Ann at The Nut Graph. Isn't VK the shizz? Isn't the Malaysian government's response awesome? Inspiring, really.

- I am really appalled with Streamyx's so-called "broadband" service; there is hardly a band, let alone a broad one! Malaysia has one of the slowest average broadband speeds in Asia and one of the most expensive rates. What a blinking joke that Dr. M wanted to set up the MSC, attract international IT and software companies investments and to set up an International IT Court in Malaysia, when the man on the street can't even stream a video without growing a beard. Read about Bernice Low's struggle against Streamyx here (caution: more reasons to love the Malaysian government). At least she rants on CNET Asia. All I did was join the "Streamyx Sucks" group on facebook.

- I hope you're well!

Us humans could be said to be fundamentally the same wherever we come from. Or we could be said to be fundamentally different.
You choose what you want to see: our similarities or our differences. You decide how you want to treat others: with love and respect for our common humanity, or with hate, suspicion and condescension at others' differences.
I choose to see our similarities. I choose to love.

Irreplaceable

I wonder, if he were still here, what sort of music he'd make, how many more hearts he'd touch, how he'd live his life. I guess I'll never know...

Say It Isn't So!

Singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens has uttered truly painful words: “I no longer really have faith in the album anymore. I no longer have faith in the song.”

Read the article here.

I'm going to weep in a corner now.

Happy Birthday Sesame Street!

Like many kids in my socio-economic demographic, my exposure to the intricacies of the English language started through Sesame Street, and I still have a soft spot for the adorable muppets and monsters who inhabit that lovely neighbourhood.

This year, the venerable kids TV show turns forty, and celebrations are underway around New York. James Y. Lee of Time Out New York writes on the inspiration behind the show's set—a place many of us lived our childhoods in, along with Big Bird, Elmo, Cookie Monster, Telly, Oscar the Grouch, the Count, Grover, Kermit, Ernie and Bert.

Click on the post's title to visit the article.

At Gothamist, there's a small gallery of photos from the actual set.

FREE GIG YO!

Hello Smexy Folks of the Klang Valley,

Here's good news (for once!):

There'll be a FREE gig this Tuesday (the 10th) at 7-10pm at Homegrown Space, Wisma Bentley Music (right next to the Curve/opposite Ikano&IKEA).

And guess who's performing? The singer-songwriter Reza Salleh and indie rock band SevenCollar T-Shirt, along with SSK! These are über-talented acts so the music will be great. Plus, it's FREE!

I'll be in the Mutiara Damansara area probably from lunch-time onwards, so give me a ring and we can do coffee or Swedish meatballs. Do come to support these amazing local acts. Did I mention the gig's FREE?

See you there,

Algy

P.S. Check out Reza Salleh here and SevenCollar T-Shirt here.

[Edit 9/10: Correction! Wisma Bentley's actually opposite Tesco and next to McD's, on the same side as Ikea and Ikano, not opposite. Sorry, my bad!]

Happy Guy Fawkes Day & Happy Birthday

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
The gunpowder treason and plot,
I know of no reason
Why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.

The Sister turns a year older on every Guy Fawkes Day. How cool is that? Why can't my birthday be on some revolutionary date?

Happy Birthday Sis.

Love you always,
Bro

I Need Some Advice...

Dear All,
Please tell me what I should do with the rest of my life because I really don't know myself, and not knowing is not nice.
Oh, a time-line would be useful if you have a long term answer...

Yours desperately,
Algernon

P.S. Please do not tell me the answer is "within me".

Oh Dear

Today I did something I'd never, ever normally do...

I was at a mall with the SIster and there was a clothes sale on the concourse. I spotted a long sleeve WHITE work shirt at RM35 discounted from RM140.

I thought, "Well, that's a good deal and I'll probably need it soon if I'm going to start working in a law firm". So I bought it. With my own money.

I do have a few work shirts but they are all in deep colours. I've never bought white work shirts before other than for high school because they are unflattering, far too austere looking and, well, frankly, they scream "I'm a lawyer!".

I'm a little disgusted at myself now...but I guess we all have to grow up sooner or later, right? Le sigh.

Looking For DVDs

If any of you have these DVDs (genuine or otherwise)...please, please, please lend them to me! I promise you I'll take good care of them and return them promptly.

Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange"
Hayao Miyazaki's "My Neighbor Totoro" (or better still his box set!).
Monty Python's "Monty Python & The Holy Grail"
Jonathan Larson and Chris Columbus's "RENT: The Musical"
Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction"
Wong Kar Wai's "Chungking Express"
Old movies/musicals like "Casablanca", "My Fair Lady", "Singing in the Rain", "Gone With the Wind" etc...
Anything by Ingmar Bergman or Woody Allen.

Thanks!

Hurray!

I finally found this book at MPH 1U after looking for it for ages..and I paid nothing because I used some book vouchers I'd won a while ago. Happy days!