Hari Raya 2008

This is a long overdue entry.

Last October, almost on the spur of the moment, I decided to pay a visit to the PM's national Hari Raya Open House at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC).

Some of the usual suspects did not go home for the week-long break, so we thought it would be a good idea to do something none of us had done before. As Adrian said, "I was already wanting to go, but wondering whom to go with."


The day began with breakfast at SS2 with Melanie, Adrian and Ai Wei. We saw some people wearing 'Free RPK' T-shirts.


Out of our pyjamas and into fancier outfits, we were ready to go!

(I'm not so sure about the cat, though.)


We met up in McDonald's The Mall and, after some introductions and run-ins with the Hindraf contingent, we got ourselves into the PWTC.


Li Ern and the Ferrari (on display?).


It was very crowded!


Apparently my idea of killing time with T.S. Eliot didn't go down too well with the rest of the company.

I'm not too sure if it was all worth it, but it was certainly an experience not to be forgotten. 'A' was shorter, and 'N' colder, than expected. 'H' was just right, and with his wife gave the guests a very warm welcome at the end of the line.

Kaun and I had some fun on the 'dance' floor.


Tim and I looking very touristy, deciding what to do after our visit to the Open House.


We eventually settled on the Lake Gardens. We decided to scrap the Bird Park idea (cost and lack of time) and started off at the National Monument (Tugu Negara).


The entrance was lined with shady palms which lent themselves very well to some photography.


Naturally, a few jump photos ensued... this might be considered to be our reinterpretation of the Merdeka joy.


At some point in the day, Tim and I discussed bird photography. I suggested that birds need not always be shot with telephoto lenses (Frans Lanting's amazing albatross portfolio comes to mind), but little did we know that the Lake Gardens would provide the perfect opportunity to do so.


Tim Cheng. D40 with 17-50mm lens (25.5-75mm equivalent in 35mm).


My shot (no pun intended) at the geese with a digital compact at 35mm equivalent.


I like this one.


Gorillapod in action.


Kaun and I rekindling some childhood memories.

Has the park grown smaller, or have we grown bigger? *wink*


The day ended for the five of us at the Sri Rampai apartments in Setapak, having dinner in the neighbourhood and crashing Kaun's house.

No Line on the Horizon

Thanks, Jessica!


(Thank God for neighbours!)

Sketches of Lent

Once again, I find the expression of my thoughts in the words of others, as this entry testifies.


Reverends A.S. Muthiah and Thomas Low apply the ashes at BLC's Ash Wednesday service.

Thus we launched Lent.


Reverend Augustin Muthusami challenged us in his sharing of the Word;

"Easter was a time when new converts were baptised, and Lent marks the time when Jesus set his face resolutely towards Jerusalem. The question is, do I want to follow this God?"

For the first time, I shared in the Eucharist at BLC. The invitation that night was wrapped in these words, and these words alone: "The blood of Christ, shed for all."

* * * * *

At SIB, on the Saturday of TAS's Acoustic Show, Pastor Chew's wife delivered the Word, quoting John Stott and St. Augustine.

"We put ourselves where God deserves to be and God put himself where we deserve to be." - John Stott, on the Cross.

"Our hearts are restless till they rest in thee." - Augustine.


It was Sivin who first shared the Augustine quote with me, and the words continue to haunt, convict and encourage me.


Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

--Romans 1:24-25 (NIV)

"Sin is when we want to run our own lives."

* * * * *

Two songs set the tone for this Lent.

The first, played at BLC's Ash Wednesday service in the form of an accompaniment to Si Smith's cartoon of Jesus' 40 days in the wilderness, is a song called 'You Are Free' by Joseph Arthur. It is found on his 2006 album Nuclear Daydream.

Youtube has the video here.

Time is moving on
You and me
You and me
Suffering is gone
You are free
You are free

I know I let you down
Those days are over now

I'm no longer who I was
No longer who I thought I was
I'm no longer who I was
No longer who I thought I was
I'm no longer who I was
No longer who I thought I was
I'm no longer who I was
No longer who I thought I was

I'm not afraid of nothing
I'm not afraid of anyone
I'm not afraid of losing myself
There ain't no self to lose
I'm not afraid of losing myself
There ain't no self to lose
I'm not afraid of losing myself
There ain't no self to lose
I'm not afraid

Time is moving on
You and me
You and me
Suffering is done
Let it be
Let it be

When you feel you're strong
You are free
You are free


The other song is U2's 'White As Snow', on their latest album, No Line on the Horizon.

Myspace has the song here.

An excerpt of the lyrics:

Once I knew there was a love divine
Then came a time I thought it knew me not
Who can forgive forgiveness where forgiveness is not
Only the lamb as white as snow

Now this dry ground, it bears no fruit at all
Only poppies laugh under the crescent moon
The road refuses strangers
The land, the seeds we sow
Where might we find the lamb as white as snow

As boys we would go hunting in the woods
To sleep the night shooting out the stars
Now the wolves are every passing stranger
Every face we cannot know
If only a heart could be as white as snow
If only a heart could be as white as snow

* * * * *


When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and do not enter him again."

After crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, "He is dead!"

But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he got up.

When He came into the house, His disciples began questioning Him privately, "Why could we not drive it out?"

And He said to them, "This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer."

--Mark 9:25-29 (NASB)


"Prayer does not fit us for the greater work, prayer is the greater work."

-- Oswald Chambers, quoted in GTPJ's bulletin for the week of 7-14 March 2009.


Let the whiteness of bones atone to forgetfulness.
There is no life in them. As I am forgotten
And would be forgotten, so I would forget
Thus devoted, concentrated in purpose. And God said
Prophesy to the wind, to the wind only for only
The wind will listen.

--T.S. Eliot, from 'Ash Wednesday'


Prophet: a person who speaks for God or a deity, or by divine inspiration.

-- dictionary.com

* * * * *

Bloodletting

I pierce myself to let blood out
But the bad keeps circulating.

It doesn't work.


(Car. Sunday, 8 March 2008.)

* * * * *

When the seventh Plague came, that is, the Plague of Hail, it is recorded that some of Pharaoh's officials 'were afriad because of what the LORD had said, and they brought their slaves and animals indoors for shelter.' (Exodus 9:20, TEV)

It appears that the hardening of Pharaoh's heart did not extend to his officials. And it would take quite a doongu (as Michael might say) not to realise that the plagues were wrought by the hand of a God unlike any Egypt had ever seen.

Makes me wonder if any of the Egyptians were spared at the last Plague, the Plague of the Firstborn. How segregated were the Egyptians and the Israelites? Might any of the Egyptians have heard about the Passover instructions? Were any of them God-fearing enough to act? And, supposing they were God-fearing and followed the instructions, would the blood on the doorposts of the Egyptians be sufficient to drive away the Angel of Death? They were, after all, Egyptians, and God said He would judge all of Egypt ('every firstborn son in Egypt will die'; Exodus 11:5)

* * * * *

What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses,

"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."

It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.

--Romans 9:14-18 (NIV)

* * * * *

Happy International Women's Day!

(Yesterday :-P)

PTH IV approaches...

Pesta Tiong Hua IV.

A celebration of Chinese culture through a variety of stage performances, including drama, yo-yo acrobatics, wushu and lots of music!

7.30 p.m., 10 March 2009.

3rd Residential College, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur.

* * * * *

Looking back...


This is how we did the photo shoot for the committee last year. I brought car reflectors for the Entangled shoot, and they came in handy to block the sun at the PTH group shoot. Then, for the committee portraits, we experimented with sidelighting courtesy of the reflectors.


And the result was this.


This year, I decided to mix the sun's backlighting with muted flash. I think it went very well with the overall mood of spontaneity in the Laman Pidato's wakaf that morning.


(I had about three hours of sleep after Entangled, before I was jolted out of bed for PTH. This year, I didn't have much sleep the night before the PTH shoot either; the Student Council meeting lasted till about 2.00 a.m.)

Of Waterhens and Bulbuls

Over the last few months, life at home has been spiced up by encounters with two kinds of bird: the White-breasted Waterhen and the Yellow-vented Bulbul.

* * * * *

Amaurornis phoenicurus

White-breasted Waterhens are from the family Rallidae, along with rails and crakes. Their loud quarrelsome calls sound like their Malay name, ruak ruak. They are more vocal at dawn and dusk.

They eat mainly seeds, insects and small fish. They also nibble on worms and small snails; and snack on shoots and roots of marsh plants. They forage on the ground, pecking at titbits in chicken-like movements. Their enormous feet, constantly flicking tails and inquisitive nature make them very amusing birds to observe.

They also often forage above ground, in low bushes and small trees, but their long toes make them rather clumsy among the branches. Their slender body allows them to quickly and quietly slip through the undergrowth.

Although they are associated with water and do swim, they are not particularly good swimmers. They forage alone or in pairs, are active during the day and roost in low bushes and trees at night.

(Information from http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/birds/Amaurornis_phoenicurus.htm)


I first spotted the waterhens sometime in the middle of last year (if I remember correctly). They live in the now abandoned squatter settlement down the road from my house.

On the morning of 4 December last year, Kevin drove and I used the car as a kind of hide from which to photograph the waterhens. A police car pulled up alongside us, for we were in a rather awkward position in the middle of the road. When Kevin said, "Ambil gambar... waterhen," they seemed satisfied and drove away.


Waterhen chick. Precocial at birth (able to move freely and fend for themselves), just like chickens.


Why did the waterhen cross the road? Not that I know, except that it's really quite an amusing sight when they dash across the road on their extremely slender legs!


The same legs confer a notable degree of agility when it comes to navigating viny, creeper-covered terrain.


"Aha, I have my breakfast!"

* * * * *

Pycnonotus goiavier

The Yellow-vented Bulbul is a resident breeder in Southeast Asia from southern Thailand and Cambodia to Borneo and the Philippines.

It is found in a wide variety of open habitats, but not deep forest. It is one of the most common birds in cultivated areas. It appear to be nomadic, roaming from place to place regularly.

The Yellow-vented Bulbul builds a well-camouflaged but fragile, loose, deep, cup-shaped nest from grass, leaves, roots, vine stems, and twigs. The nest is untidy on the outside, but it is neatly lined with plant fibers. It may be built in a wide range of places from low bushes to high trees. This is a species adapted to humans and may even nest in gardens. The Yellow-vented Bulbul lays two to five eggs in February to June.

Yellow-vented Bulbuls eat berries and small fruits. They also sip nectar, nibble on young shoots, and take some insects.

(Information from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow-vented_Bulbul)


Maria and Mum spotted a nest in Popo's garden at the end of January. We monitored the chicks until they flew off on 21 February; we believe our 'disturbance' might have had something to do with their early departure. The chicks were already in quite good shape to fly, but they didn't seem all that ready... yet.


In contrast to chickens and waterhens, bulbul chicks are altricial, requiring intensive postnatal parental care.


Mum and Dad; not sure which is which, though.


Bulbul with a spider in its beak.


One of the parents returns... with food for the hungry chicks!

Some mornings are just brilliant!

So I slept at 2.00 a.m. this morning after a long Council meeting, and awoke to my alarm at 6.30 a.m. for the Pesta Tiong Hua IV (PTH IV) photo shoot. Despite not being in the committee (only first-year students are appointed), I was requested by Josephine to be the photographer.

It was fun, and we wrapped it up by 8.00 a.m., just as the sun was rising. Last year, the shoot started at about that time, and it was quite challenging to hold reflectors, cardboard pieces and other opaque sheets to block the sunlight streaming in.


Picture of the day: Technical Department.


After breakfast was the shoot for committee members.


Portrait of the day: Josephine, Head of the Multimedia Department.

* * * * *


Upon reaching home, Mum told me the bamboo plant in Popo's house was flowering. It's quite rare to see flowers on bamboo plants.


The chicks are coming along fine! Here's mother bird feeding her offspring.

The year so far...

There were a number of things I wanted to blog about before the end of last year, but this year came and after a very hectic January, I find myself barely hanging on to February's soon-to-be-breakneck speed.

Last year's stories, hopefully, will find expression here in the days to come. Certainly the trips to Sabah and Penang rank among my most memorable ever, and to think two of my closest guy friends and two of my closest girl friends were a part of those trips! And then there was December, one of the best Decembers ever...

* * * * *

So here are some glimpses of the year so far.


Ironic that after such a pleasant reunion dinner, the year 2008 had to end, and the new semester begin, with such an unfortunate incident.

But God saw me, saw us, through it. Praise Him.


At dawn, a purple sky slowly gives way to orange; it is the reverse at dusk. Pink is transient, and to me that makes it all the more special a colour in the sky.

I still seek the cotton candy sky over dandelion fields.

(Shot outside college the morning of Ai Wei's first day at work.)


The class had some fun extracting DNA from onions during our Genetics and Evolutionary Biology lab on 23 Jan.


Yet on the whole, smiles and occasional laughter aside, the year so far has been a draining attempt at finding ways out of various predicaments.

I seek an exit; there must be a way out of all this.


Looks like the VI still has quite a few bright ideas! Jon suggested I send it to The Star, which I did. It was published, but lost out on the RM50 prize to a picture of a tree whose 'leaves' were gold angpaus.


Jon and I returned to Scrabble after a four-year hiatus and, despite finishing only in 7th place in the Astar-NST Scrabble Challenge International organised by First College, managed to hand defeats to Khoo Beng Way and his teammate, some of the better young players in the local Scrabble Masters circles.

We've been encouraged to keep playing Scrabble by our competitors, and their friends and parents. I guess our paths have led us to other things, but we'll never forget our Scrabble roots!


I was born, more than 21 years ago, into this house. Some reflections will continue to echo in our lives even as we move on.


A pair of birds made their nest in Popo's house at the very end of January. The two hatchlings are doing quite well now.

I have yet to ascertain the species.


Wahid's Café at the Linguistics Faculty gave away angpaus when school reopened after the Chinese New Year break.

CNY was somewhat special this year as I was able to catch up with a couple of old flames. *wink*


Pastor Stanley shared this Benjamin Franklin quote: "If you do not want to be forgotten upon dying, either write things worth reading, or do things worth writing about."

How shot this, shaking his head. "Bendahari, Bendahari..."

(I was trying to recapture the stalk-eyed fly that escaped. They were extremely hard to trap using the aspirator.)


How's white damselfly mysteriously 'resurrected'. This happened the week before Thary left for Antarctica.

One theory is that it was left in the oven way too long (three weeks), but Thary suggested that it must've been the Jesus of the damselflies, and the following conversation ensued:

Ben: "Have you ever seen a white damselfly?"
Thary: "Yes, just the other day... oh wait, that must've been it!"


The first phase of covered walkways is complete. It actually works; I was kept dry in the lightly falling rain. Haven't tried walking in a thunderstorm yet, though.


Marshmallows in beef stew: recipe for disaster or brave gastronomical adventure? Perhaps some things shouldn't be mixed, or at least not too much.

We hurt each other, then we do it again; U2, 'One'

Dad at 50

Born: Kuala Lumpur, 13 February 1959.

Happy FIFTIETH Birthday, Dad!



(I accidentally supplied the side-back lighting, and the results were rather inspiring!)

Encouragement from two old friends

From C.S. Lewis's 'The Horse and His Boy'


Shasta was a little reassured by the breath: so he told how he had never known his real father or mother and had been brought up sternly by the fisherman. And then he told the story of his escape and how they were chased by lions and forced to swim for their lives; and of all their dangers in Tashbaan and about his night among the tombs and how the beasts howled at him out of the desert. And he told about the heat and thirst of their desert journey and how they were almost at their goal when another lion chased them and wounded Aravis. And also, how very long it was since he had had anything to eat.

"I do not call you unfortunate," said the Large Voice.

"Don't you think it was bad luck to meet so many lions?" said Shasta.

"There was only one lion," said the Voice.

"What on earth do you mean? I've just told you there were at least two the first night, and--"

"There was only one: but he was swift of foot."

"How do you know?"

"I was the lion." And as Shasta gaped with open mouth and said nothing, the Voice continued. "I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the Horses the new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you

* * * * *

From T.S. Eliot's 'East Coker'


The chill ascends from feet to knees,
The fever sings in mental wires.
If to be warmed, then I must freeze
And quake in frigid purgatorial fires
Of which the flame is roses, and the smoke is briars.

* * * * *

From T.S. Eliot's 'Little Gidding'


... You are not here to verify,
Instruct yourself, or inform curiosity
Or carry report. You are here to kneel
Where prayer has been valid...

The Return to Ulu Gombak

This time, without any lecturers. 1-2 February, 2009.


Thary Gazi.


Passive sweep-netting.


It was a trip in which I can best summarise the experience as this: "They had all things in common." From Khar Yi's CNY food supply to equipment procured by Rydza and some extra food from Lukmann, truly it was all sufficient for us.

Also, I developed the concept of the 'living bottle'. In entomological studies, we use 'killing bottles' (lined with Plaster of Paris impregnated with a toxic substance like chloroform) to, well, kill insects. But I brought home all my specimens (and some of the others' too, like Lukmann's stick insect above) in containers filled with soil and plants, so as to keep them alive.


I miss you too.


Beetles are Thary's favourite insect. I enjoyed following this one around, experimenting with leaf-obstructed flash, which produced the shade gradients in this picture.


It was also a time of rediscovering my interest in spiders. I've been quite keen on large, rare mammals like elephants, proboscis monkeys and whales of late, but I think spiders are something I really wouldn't mind studying in time to come.


This Wednesday, Thary heads off to Antarctica. I hope he will enjoy himself. I hope I will enjoy myself too, in some way I cannot begin to imagine.

I truly pray that it is God who guides the paths we choose and follow.

The journey continues.

* * * * *

p.s. Amir has an incredible ability to spot fallen insects. This was especially evident during our stick insect hunt.

p.p.s. It was fun stalking the stalk-eyed fly up at the 19th mile!


(Edited 4.06 a.m., 4 March 2009)

Some seasons are worse than others...

What are the odds?

* * * * *

First, Sei Ku Poh on the eve of the Chinese New Year Reunion Day.

Then, Markus last week.

Just heard about Troy from Ai-Ling within the last two hours.

And now, just in, Vincent's grandmother.

* * * * *

Sei Ku Poh was the last of her siblings after Kung Kung passed away in 2007.

I wasn't close to Markus, but Tee Ming was, and through many writings his life indirectly met with mine.

Troy was a fellow Extemporaneous Speaking finalist in 2006, the year for the VI. Ai-Ling was our 'escort'.

Vincent is one of two Student Council Representative for the Faculty of Economics and Administration; he had to rush back yesterday as his grandmother was terribly ill.

* * * * *

My fourth grandaunt died apparently due to choking on a piece of ondeh-ondeh.

The young Christian thinker and leader simply did not awake from his sleep.

An early-morning automobile accident took the life of the promising brilliant young man en route to meeting his girlfriend.

And that oldest of foes, disease.

* * * * *

What are the odds?

Ben, "What kind of season is this?"

Ai-Ling, "An extreme bad season."


Donne wrote, "Every man's death diminishes me."

Lord, have mercy.