Sunday's Child

Monday's child is fair of face,

Tuesday's Child is full of grace,

Wednesday's child is full of woe,

Thursday's child has far to go,

Friday's child is loving and giving,

Saturday's child works hard for a living,

But the child that is born on the Sabbath Day is bonny and blithe and good and gay.

November 20, 1988 was a Sunday. Guess that explains a lot, huh? haha......

'The Shawshank Redemption'

It is my exam week, yet within less than 24 hours, I managed to watch the same movie twice on DVD. Well, that really tells how remarkable the movie is! It is indeed one of the best ones I've watched so far. Hands down.... So, ladies and gentleman, presenting to you 'The Shawshank Redemption', starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman.

The movie is set in a prison. It is about a man who was wrongly convicted of murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment, and the things that go on in there really startle you and I. But the thing that thugs at my heart string is the message of friendship and hope that is being brought out. Of all places, it is really ironical that such a message is preached from a prison, where it is known to be a place where no one is your friend. And hope? Sounds to me like the most unlikely thing to be found in a prison.

Anyway, here are a few lines that I would like to quote from the movie:

"There are places in the world that aren't made out of stone.....There's something inside that they can't get to, that they can't touch. It's yours."

It is about hope. Hope is the thing that keeps one alive, and it is the only thing that no one can take away from you. Unfortunately, it is also the thing of which many deprive themselves.

They say that hope is a dangerous thing. It drives a man insane. I say hope is a dangerous thing. Without hope, you have no sanity to be driven away. They say the higher your hope soars, the greater the impact of the subsequent disappointment. I say if your hope does not soar, you will not even live to be disappointed. Hope keeps one alive. While it may be your decision to draw in each breath that is directly keeping you alive, it is hope or hopelessness that brings about that decision.

Here's a wonderful poem on HOPE, by Emily Dickinson:

PART ONE: LIFE, Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,

And sings the tunes without the words,

And never stops at all,

And sweetest is the gale is heard;

And sore must be the storm

That could abash the little bird

That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,

And on the strangest sea;

Yet, never, in extremity,

It asked a crumb of me.

At the very end of the movie, this was shown on the screen: "This movie was nominated for 7 Academy Awards, including the Best Picture. It won none."

Gentlemanly

It was a long and tiring day. After spending part of my morning in school trying to get certification for my documents, then sneaking out in between classes to post them to US, I still had to make a trip to MACEE in the afternoon. Just as I thought I can hitch a ride back home with Dad, he told me that I had to take the Monorail and LRT home as he did not bring his car that day. *sigh*

So I reached the LRT station, I saw the train leaving before my eyes. So I had to board the next train. It was not crowded (thank God!), but there was no seat left. With my 1-tonne backpack on my shoulders, my jacket hanging from my left arm, and my bottle and a plastic bag of files and documents on my right, I squeezed myself into a corner of the train in an attempt to locate my comfort zone for the short 5 minutes.

Then, he got up and offered me his seat. At the exact moment, the train jerked a little, and we were practically face-to-face. It was a moment of awkwardness. So I quickly nodded and muttered my thank you. As I sat down, I was overwhelmed by a sudden surge of mixed emotions. After all, I had never been offered a seat in the 19 years of my life on earth. Well, I have come to realise two things though:

1. There are gentlemen still living in the 21st Century! (oops, sorry guys. No offence! It's just a hyperbolical remark!)
2. Being offered a seat makes me feel so nice, yet so embarrassed at the same time. (after all, I'm only 19 years old!) Talking about mixed emotions......

What do you want to be?

Ever wondered why Malaysia has never produced any Nobel Prize Laureate? Even Pakistan and Bangladesh have their share of Nobel Prize Laureates. Why not Malaysia? After all, Malaysia is one of the leading developing countries. Besides that, the government is pushing all the cream of the crop into the science stream. Why did they not invent something revolutionary and rake in at least one or two Nobel Prizes for, say Physics and Biology?

Someone once gave me an answer to that question. One can only be successful when he or she has a passion for what he or she is doing. I can't help but to fully agree to the answer. How can one invent anything worth being nominated for the Nobel Prize when getting up for work every morning is such a dread, and life is merely a series of routines? A job, to them, is nothing but a means of staying alive and a stepping stone to achieving their desired lifestyle.

Of course, our education system and the Asian mindset of many of our parents contribute a lot to this social phenomenon. The straight As students must be placed in the science stream, whether or not they have genuine interest in science. The best of the best must go into medicine, as if the country can survive with nobody else but doctors alone. Parents tell their children that they must either take up law or medicine or business administration, then from there they can choose their desired career path. As though they have much of a choice after that. And the end result? Tonnes of students who hate what they are studying. Tonnes of working adults who get up for work every morning for the mere necessity of it.

When I was at the first crossroad of my life (after I finished my SPM), the usual question people asked me was "What are your future plans?" After I told them what I had in mind for my own future, they will gladly contribute their own opinions and suggestions. Are you sure that's what you wanna do? There's no prospect. You will not be able to make a living. Doing what you like is one thing, but you also have to be practical.

I guess it all boils down to your purpose in life: what you want to achieve in life. If you are in a pursuit for material wealth, perhaps the best option is to go for the most profitable career, say lawyer, doctor, or businessman. However, at the end of the day, you will only find that you are too exhausted to enjoy the abundance of wealth you have created for yourself. After all, you work for 30 years to fund the enjoyment in your twilight years that last for only 10 years, that is if you still have the blessing of good health by then. For me, it is the pursuit of fulfillment and self-satisfaction. It is a desire to fulfill my dreams and longings and to live a life on which I can reflect with a smile at my death bed.

Of course, we are always haunted by the practicality question of whether or not we will be able to make a living. Frankly, I think in Malaysia, especially in Kuala Lumpur, staying alive is not a problem; getting rich and living in luxury are. I am certain that whichever career path you take, you will never starve to death by a street. Those who starve are those who are not willing to work at all.

Despite the sceptical comments I receive, I am determined to do what I really enjoy doing. I want to bring about a tide of change and to leave behind my footprints at least, in the course my life. I don't want to be contemplating my retirement at the age of 35. I don't want my life to be a dull set of routines that I despise, a boring series of obligations in which I am trapped and from which I am unable to free myself. So, despite what they say, I am going to do what my heart and my Lord are telling me to do. After all, someone has to do what no one wants to do. Where on earth do you think the pastors, social workers and entertainers come from if everyone decides to be a doctor, a lawyer or a businessman?

What do you want to be in the future? I want to be a wife, a mother, a writer and a servant of God.

The fine line between kindness and foolishness

At times I wonder if values are always contemporary, or like technology, they become obsolete with the passage of time. In moral classes, we are often taught to help the 'poor and needy'. In Bible Knowledge class, we are taught the Law of Love from the Christian perspective as Jesus taught in Luke 6:27-30,

"27 But I say to you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from him who takes away your coat do not withhold even your short. 30 Give to every one who begs from you; and of him who takes away your goods do not ask them again."

I can't help wondering if these teachings are still applicable today in the 21st century. Will we be treated like fools if we strictly adhere to what we were taught? Will we be taken advantage of because we demonstrate love as we were taught to?

As I walked down Petaling Street, especially from Plaza Rakyat LRT station, the people by the street trying to make a living caught my attention, and my heart went out to them. Many a time I wanted to just show them kindness and Christian love. But the question here is 'How?'. My intention to give them alms was immediately terminated when I saw a packet of cigarettes peeping out of their pockets. If they can afford to purchase cigarettes, wouldn't they be able to afford their meals as well? If I were to give them money just like that, I would be supporting the tobacco industry, wouldn't I? So I intended to help them by giving them food instead. Disappointingly, this intention of mine was also forced to be terminated when I heard that my brother's friend who did the same was scolded by the 'poor lady' for not giving her money instead. Well, so much for demonstrating love and kindness....

There was once, when I was browsing through some books in Borders, I was approached by an old lady who asked me for some money to buy a drink. Not wanting to turn her away empty handed, I sent my brother who was with me to buy her mineral water from 7-Eleven. Guess what? She didn't want mineral water. She wanted Milo! Fine. And she led my brother to the shop that probably sells the most expensive Milo ever and ordered the drink even before my brother reached the shop. It cost him RM 2.80 for one teeny-weeny cup of Milo! For the next few days, he couldn't stop complaining!

I think it was not so much the RM 2.80 that prompted my brother's complaints, but rather the feeling that he was being exploited for his kindness. Hence, it points us back to the question of whether or not Jesus' command for us to show kindness without holding back is still applicable in the 21st Century, when you do not even know if the person who approaches you comes with pure intentions.

Can we still demonstrate love by turning the other cheek when being struck? Or will we be taken advantage of because of the command to demonstrate love? Can we still 'give to all who beg from us'? Does doing so really help the needy, or is the money merely being channelled from our pockets to the pockets of others who are possibly better off than ourselves?

I guess living in the deceptive age of the 21st Century demands a lot of wisdom, discretion and discernment to ensure that our position is not being taken advantage of. After all, kindness and foolishness are merely separated by a very fine line.