101% Principle

In the morning of my second visit to Selandar, I dropped by at Calvary Care Home (CCH). When I reached there, I saw David pacing the front yard alone. While waiting for Sarma and Kee Ming to pick me, I spent about half and hour chatting with this boy who was keen to show me how he exercised to train his muscles. That day, I desired to do something for him so that he would not idle those precious hours of Saturday mornings. I planned to bring him and the other boys for swimming if there was no discipline problem among them during the week.

Unfortunately, I could not fulfill my promise soon--I had learned that I had to replace my 18-hour lessons in advance on all the four Saturdays in order to have an extra four-day holiday in September. Last Saturday, my morning class started at 10.30am. So I made up my mind to serve as the CCH driver for this sport. John would not be available. After taking the rest of the boys' recent behavior into consideration, only David was qualified. He did not mind at all not having other companions to swim together.

Saturday morning, I did not have to wake up this early bird in my house. During our journey to the swimming pool at Bukit Beruang, I asked David, "You like to do your own things alone sometimes, right?" I had observed this quite some time ago. That was why he usually was not the person I approached most when I spent a few hours at the Home. I added, "I'm also like you. That's why we get along."

We arrived at about 8.15am. The previous time in February, I had not noticed this huge tree whose leaves turned red beautifully like in autumn. David told me that in those evenings there where he used to go for swimming lessons in the past, leaves fell onto the surface of the water and created a magnificent scenery with the reflection.

A mother was sitting on a bench under the tree. At first, I also wanted to follow her example. I returned to my car to take a book. When I walked past David who was in the pool, he asked me, "Do you want to see me swim?"

Suddenly, I realised that what this boy longed for was not only swimming itself, but also my attention to his interest. I immediately said yes, put back my book and sat at the pool side to watch him swimming as if I were attending a live concert.

I thought of my teenage days. Even when I did not have to go to school, I still got up early. Dad's presence was my motivation to do reading in the living room while he was writing his article or browsing through a newspaper. Sometimes when he was free to listen or talk to me, that was a bonus.

Then I also remembered once I suggested to the CCH boys other people to send them for swimming. I thought they just needed a driver. But their reaction showed that they would not be keen to follow anybody except for those whom they identified as their friends.

I began to understand that if I had simply left David there alone, even though swimming was his favorite activity, he would not have enjoyed himself as much as when there was someone willing to make him feel special during one hour,

someone who made him feel like a hero when he showed his self-invented swimming style.

That morning, I also decided to bring him for breakfast at an Indian restaurant to extend my quality time with him before I sent him back to CCH and went to my class. We shared about our experiences of diet and exercise.

That day, I was actually the more blessed one because David had given me an occasion to practise the "101% Principle" that I had learned in my MLM class--Find the 1% you have in common with someone, and give it 100% of your attention.

Dinner At Ps Lee's House

Last Sunday after the church service, Pastor Lee who has been visiting Calvary Care Home (CCH) quite regularly with his Vietnamese church members invited the whole CCH gang to his house for dinner Friday.

After my busy schedule Friday morning, I went to CCH to take a rest while helping Daniel to do his maths homework, guiding David to read his book and chatting with the boys. The latest appointment was 5.30pm in front of MITC (Melaka International Trade Centre) with Albert P who would have fetched Matthew back from tuition and George who would have come from the church with John, so that we all hopped into the van to look for Ps Lee's house together.

When I was about to leave CCH with my passengers, Sis Fei Gin drove in. I talked to her a short while before we went off. I noticed that my oil tank was going to be empty very soon. So we had to stop at a station to pump petrol. We were 5minutes' late when we arrived at MITC. My car was the only vehicle in the spacious parking. Albert telephoned and informed me that now we were to meet in front of a nearby barber shop where the boys usually had their haircut. Holding the steering wheel to move from one unfamiliar place to another several times was the fastest way to make me lose my mood. Knowing this weakness of his working partner, Albert quickly offered me a ride in his car as soon as he saw my fed-up face upon our arrival.

I always drove past Tasik Utama on my way to CLA (Calvary Life Assembly). I sometimes thought that I would love to settle in this residential area if I were to quit Paya Rumput. It seemed to be a peaceful place despite the big number of houses. After turning everywhere to search for the location based on the address given by Ps Lee without indicating any landmarks, we finally found the double-storey house and realised that it was actually situated within the walking distance from the school where Albert is teaching!

I was immediately attracted by the plants that were flowering and fruiting so well. I had the same plants in my house but they were suffering from malnutrition as a result of my negligence.

Ps Lee and his wife Sara who receive their church members frequently for worship, bible studies and meals manage to keep their rented house very clean and neat.

A former pilot, this servant of God not only knew how to control aircraft in flight, he mastered musical instruments too.

When I watched him playing worship songs with his Vietnamese mandolin, I told myself that I should make up my mind to resume my guitar practice for the sake of the Lord.

I wanted to give a hand at the kitchen. But our capable lady host Sara had already got everything almost ready to serve us.

All of us were made at home there though it was only our first visit. The boys could also feel this hospitable couple's loving kindness expressed through their tender voice, encouraging words, friendly smiles and warm hugs. Ps Lee revealed to Albert and me his childhood suffering as an orphan. We understood better why he had a heart for the children.

At first, I had thought we were going to eat beef noodles, which I had tasted twice last year, once on the Calvary Life Assembly (CLA) family day and the other time on the fundraising day to help CCH. Sara had prepared something different--pork chop accompanied with rice, sliced cucumber, fried vegetables and steamed egg cake. A bowl of fish sauce was available for us to pour onto our rice. I remembered my varsity days during which I was the one who served my friends pork chop roasted with my small oven.

On one of the Saturdays before the CLA church anniversary cum dedication, I was sitting opposite Ps Lee to have lunch together with other working bees who had spent the whole morning spring cleaning the church compound. I told him that I had worked in a Chinese-Vietnamese restaurant as a part-time student's job and had always loved Vietnamese specialities like spring rolls, baguette sandwiches, etc. I was glad that two months later, I got to taste authentic Vietnamese cuisine again. To show how much I appreciated the food even though I was not hungry at all, I finished everything in my plate except for a small portion of rice which I decided to leave aside. I also emptied the bowl of green bean dessert.

Instead of skipping dinner like I used to do, I had had Mrs Ee's delicious beef soup Tuesday, Kelantanese speciality nasi karabu Wednesday after my hangout at a Ramadhan market with VC Wednesday, Hazween's lamb stew Thursday and now Sara's pork chop rice Friday.

To regain confidence to stand on a balance, I need to seriously keep myself away from sitting at a dining table after 7pm. Please help me to achieve it by kindly not sending me any dinner invitation next week...

Dinner With My Former TESL Students

Last month, I saw Hazween in the Graha Maju building. Since the second half of 2008, I hardly met my first batch of nine TESL students whom I had taught during three semesters. Hazween was one of them. She informed me that they were organizing movie nights on campus to raise fund for their faculty. To support their event financially and physically, I bought five tickets and invited Siew Hong and her three children to watch "Fantastic Mr Fox" on a Wednesday night.

The next day when I came out from my class, Hazween and Ridhwan were selling tickets for that evening. I told them that I and my guests had liked the movie and the snacks. In our conversation, I also mentioned how much I missed their active participation in class and our meals à la française. Hazween promised to call upon the same gang to gather for a dinner during the fasting month.

This Wednesday, she contacted me and fixed an appointment for the next evening. Thursday afternoon when I asked her what she would like me to contribute, she was glad to specify the cheese she had forgot in her earlier shopping.

"It's cheddar cheese. There are three colours of packaging. Take the red one. It costs... Don't buy the other brand which is more expensive..." She was much more familiar with the cheese department in Tesco hypermarket than I who nowadays seldom stored dairy products in my fridge since I no longer lived in France.

Hazween also drew a simple map for me to indicate the location of her apartment at Batu Berendam. It did not take me too long to find her place before sunset. Her balcony was facing a small river and forests at Ayer Keroh, which formed a nice view.

Hazween had prepared her speciality lamb stew again. According to her, she had to chop the meat into small pieces without the butcher's help. The scars on her arm were the "souvenir" of an oil accident while frying fish exactly a year ago. Reading from her smiling eyes urging you to taste her good food, you know that this chef's passion for cooking will never diminish.

Ridhwan might not be an excellent cook. However his zeal for his work to promote the salad would lead you to dump your whole face into the plastic bowl to munch those fresh leaves mixed with orange pulp.

The sous-chefs Aafina and Hani helped to arrange the salad nicely in a plate and cut the cheddar cheese in half to accompany the lamb stew.

Syahida and another TESL classmate Balqis who had not taken my subject were waiting to break the fast.

Everything was laid on the tables very soon--Carlifonian dates as starter, baguette to be spread with cream cheese or dipped into the lamb stew juice, cheddar cheese to be grated and melted in the hot soup, etc. Hazween showed me a packet of toffee sweets which she had made herself. I was very impressed by her various culinary skills.

Maslinda arrived a bit later. This time, three other boys Farril, Ariff and Syed were not joining us. Nevertheless, with the presence of the seven cheerful future teachers, laughter was often flowing in the air.

Hazween asked me how I found her lamb stew.

I answered, "If you opened a restaurant at Hang Tuah, I'd eat there every day." While I was saying that, I was already foreseeing my waist line to continue to increase by inches.

Despite two servings of the tasty main dish full of calories, I could not bear to say no to the fattening dessert--pancake served with Neapolitan ice-cream.

After the heavy meal, we remained seated on the floor to watch the movie "Miss Congeniality" on DVD. I left before 9.30pm as I needed to get up early the next day.

I am not sure if these young people put on weight or lost weight at the end of that fasting day. All I know is that my jeans gave me signals of being more suffocated by my tummy. But it was worth it, wasn't it?

Merci encore pour la soirée, mes chers.

Tom And Bully

Last Sunday afternoon, I was the only volunteer to stay with Paul, Luke, David and Daniel at Calvary Care Home (CCH). As the boys were going to sit for tests this week, I asked them to sit down at their own desks and take out their books to study.

One and a half hour later, Pastor Lee, his wife Sara came with their Vietnamese church members to pluck leftover rambutans on the three trees. The boys released Tom, their recently adopted puppy, to run within the CCH compound.

After these adults left, the boys had little mood to continue their revision. While I was reading my book, David was dangling a toy cow attached by a string

in front of Tom to attact its attention.

I usually had no special liking for dogs. However, I found this puppy cuter than some of the cats that trotted around my house.

Daniel who was hungry again heated up leftover rice and started eating in the living room. Tom who had spent a lot of energy to chase after the toy cow everywhere also hoped to have a share.

Before it had a chance to fill its stomach, it was forced by Luke to do some warm-up exercise. I had the impression that it soon would be hung at a food stall like those roasted chicken or ducks.

The next training was gymnastic.

Tom, helpless, was repeatedly thrown up into the air

and caught back by its "coach".

After this session, Luke's body probably grew taller due to stretching whereas Tom's tiny frame lost even more weight.

When I looked at the poor thing's traumatised face, I felt like saying on its behalf, "I want a housemate like Jerry, not a bully."

Karaoke Outing With Two Songbirds

Two months ago, I began to plan a karaoke outing with Sis Annie and Albert P. The main reason was to have fellowship among us as Calvary Care Home (CCH) volunteers outside the church and CCH buildings. In addition to that, as I had discovered their passion for singing, I thought this entertaining activity would help to relax my sister and brother in Christ who always busied themselves with serving others. Even though I was not a karaoke lover at all, I enjoyed listening to music and attending live concerts.

In my surroundings, the best person to consult about this kind of recreation was my colleague Chew who had been a KTV goer since her varsity days. Without hesitation, she recommended me a place at Bandar Hilir.

This whole month, we have to conduct replacement classes every Saturday in order to enjoy a four-day holiday that precedes Aidilfitri next month. Last Saturday, I only had morning sessions. Since I would be in town, I was keen to hang out somewhere in the afternoon. I tried to contact Sis Annie but she was too busy to even answer my phone calls. When I told Albert and Chew respectively about my tentative programme, they were very interested as well. Finally, I had two companions who did not know each other.

Chew was so eager to join me that she drove all the way from the Lendu campus as soon as she finished her lecture, to pick me at Hang Tuah. Since I was no longer based in Alor Gajah, we saw each other much less often than before. But we became closer in friendship and found occasions to meet up for meals. When I had first known her in the end of 2005, she was a happy single like me. Now she was already a mother of a cute infant girl and pregnant with a second child.

We were ten minutes later than our appointment time with Albert at 2pm. There was not any buggy car to give us a free ride along the jetty. So "three" of us took this opportunity to stroll and fill our eyes with the nice view of the Straits of Malacca.

Believe it or not, this was only my third karaoke outing with friends in three decades of my whole life. My usual KTV was a mobile and solitary one--When I played pop songs or worship songs in my car and sang along while driving.

Albert had already rushed to Gogo KTV box at 1.30pm after sending the CCH boys to the tuition centre at Bukit Beruang. I jokingly asked him by SMS to start singing his favorite song "A Small Flower" which had won him numerous trophies at singing competitions during his younger days. When Chew and I reached the reception, we learned that he had already been singing ecstatically almost ten songs in one of the rooms alone!

My ears had witnessed and were used to Albert's powerful voice whenever he praised the Lord, laughed, gave a talk, sneezed, shouted at the boys to discipline them, etc. Chew who met and listened to him for the first time was very impressed by his singing talent.

She told me that her mother who also loved singing very much would be even more excited to be there. Why? Because she would definitely appreciate those Chinese folk songs much more than we did.

I had only known Chew as someone who liked to listen to pop songs on the radio and hang out at karaoke. This time when she held the microphone and opened her mouth, I was amazed at her professional singing skill. She must have inherited the gene from her mother who had even taken up singing lessons. Not only she was familiar with many songs which were popular in the past, she could also sing some of the latest hits. She was too shy to let me take a picture of her while singing.

Sitting between these two songbirds, I actually would have preferred to just gaze at them and clap my hands like a fan in admiration of their performances. "Unfortunately", as an organiser, I also needed to participate in producing some monotonous musical sounds with my sombre voice. And the worse thing was that I hardly remembered the melody of most of the songs I had selected myself. Albert was kind enough to console me with comments like "Your pronunciation is clear, your tempo is correct, you just need to add more emotion and have more practice..."

From this year onwards, it seems that karaoke is going to be a "go, go!" activity for me.

Joy To My Heart, To My Soul

A cheerful look brings joy to the heart,

and good news gives health to the bones. (Proverbs 15:30 NIV)

Bring joy to Your servant, for to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. (Psalm 86:4 NIV)
When anxiety was great within me,

Your consolation brought joy to my soul. (Psalm 94:19 NIV)

An Enjoyable Holiday II: Hanging Out At KLCC

Since there were only five of us left Wednesday morning, it was just nice to travel somewhere with a car. Albert's adhoc decision was not really a good surprise to John who was enjoying his first stay at my house, even less to Matthew who found everywhere boring except for his foster father's house, cinema complex, Johnny's restaurant and maybe tuition centres. Only Daniel liked to follow the crowd. As long as I did not have to hold the steering wheel myself, I was always very interested in outings.

I supposed the farthest place we would go was Tampin. Albert's mind had crossed the borders to the capital. "After all," he said, "it'll only take two hours." Not only he was ready to drive to Kuala Lumpur, he also did not mind going all the way back to his house at Ayer Keroh to fetch his beloved Papago GPS who had become his greatest motivation to travel outstation since "she" had come into his life.

There we were on the road again.

On the first day of the Muslims' fasting month, the traffic towards the capital was rather smooth apart from a small jam due to an earlier accident near Seremban.

Our destination was KLCC (Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre).

After lunch, we had the intention to go up to the sky bridge of the Twin Towers but learned that it was too late to obtain the free entrance tickets. So we decided to visit Petrosains at Level 4.

In this interactive science discovery centre, we could do a lot of experiments.

We had a chance to conduct a caterpillar excavator,

experience an earthquake on a bench,

see our faces transformed in all shapes,

sitting in a helicopter in simulation, etc.

The exhibit centre was divided into many sections. Albert and I had to make sure the boys in their own exploration were always within our eyesight.

The hands-on approach was interesting. The Calvary Care Home (CCH) administrator was excited to go through series of tough physical training like karate, being aware that his fragile bones would definitely ache the next whole day.

When he was squatting at the skiing machine, he looked as if he had been suffering from severe constipation for days. John, I and two other visitors could not stop giggling at his funny movement and position.

Daniel enjoyed the hurricane ride so much that I thought one day he would invent a fan which could create that kind of strong wind.

Matthew and John loved the goalkeeper machine most.

Very soon they discovered the tactic to score full mark.

Our visit which ended with a 3D movie and a dark ride lasted more than three hours.

The boys were hungry when we came out from Petrosains. While we were buying snacks on the ground floor, I suddenly remembered that Albert had not taken back his bag with Papago inside which he was keeping in a locker at the science centre. We quickly returned there and thank God it was still open. Otherwise we might have been obliged to spend the night in Kuala Lumper and put up at Trekker Lodge again like we did during our previous trip.

After brief visits to a bookstore and cell phone shops, we started our journey back to Melaka. This time with the lost-and-found Papago's guidance, we easily found the highway and were no longer stuck at Smart Tunnel entrance. Albert was also using the turn signals more regularly.

Our tour leader was tired but satisfied with the day and was already planning the future "mission trip". Knowing that both his driving and tour guiding skills had improved, this time I dared to sign up in advance for the next trip.

Thanks for this enjoyable holiday, my friends.