San's family journal

it is just the first semester…

san — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 14:25:04 +0000

it has been quite some times that i have not been to here and drop down some words… mainly because i am all tied up… I just involved in a car accident and that contributes more problems to my existing load of problems. That was rather long story… in short, I have to do all the running to claim the other guy’s insurance.

My mother in law just been through another operation and this time is about her intestine. There were two polyps and one had burst and could cause cancer and that was the reason she need to undergo such major operation at her old age. Anyhow, she seems to be recovering quite well in spite of some occasional fever and constipation.

Yen is still struggling with her thesis stage 2… it just seems like there is no end to this. Grace is doing quite well, but her hair still growing very slowly. We try to get her to attend some lesions… may be dancing, drawing, musical instruments etc… but at the moment we just could not spend the time and the other thing is those lessons cause money… :^)

give thanks to Father

san — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 04:33:24 +0000

Still remember the interview I blogged not too long ago. This morning I was called to the President Office and I got a letter from the president. I know that something is about to happen and but I was still taken by surprise as that was a salary adjustment letter. My salary got adjusted and the amount is more that what I could have expected. I really thank God for providing for my family in such an unexpected way. Thank you Father.

updates…

san — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:55:43 +0000

Now is the third week into my study, so far so good. But begining next week, assignments will start to come in. At the mean time, i am still struggle with the thesis title as i still have no idea what to do with the research… the problem is basically very simple, in order to do research, you have to research first…

By the way, i have been spending my time in the forum run by our church members. My footprints are all over that forum thus i will have even less time to come back to my own journal. However, i will be back from time to time. If you really miss me, try to look for me there as i think that forum is a better place to make myself useful… :^)

http://friend.freeforum.me.uk

fairness

san — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 15:22:48 +0000

Lately I have been spending a lot of time in my church online forum and I come across one interesting question posted by one of the members. He asked why fairness is. Why there are rich people and also poor people?

I have written an article on the justice of God and when I started to rethink the question in the fairness point of view, I started to realize that fairness is not a universal definition for a Christian. It is actually a personal definition where whether it is fair or not, it is totally depends on how thankful a person to God on what has been bestowed unto him by God.

When a person thinks that the world is not being fair to him, the reason is most probably he is lacking in someway. When a person is not lacking, most probably he will not think of the problem of fairness. If we are grateful to God about the thinks we have, it is not likely that we will think of ourselves are in any kind of lacking. Thus we will not envy others for having things that we do no possess.

2Co 9:7 You should each give, then, as you have decided, not with regret or out of a sense of duty; for God loves the one who gives gladly.

2Co 9:8 And God is able to give you more than you need, so that you will always have all you need for yourselves and more than enough for every good cause.

2Co 9:9 As the scripture says, “He gives generously to the needy; his kindness lasts forever.”

2Co 9:10 And God, who supplies seed for the sower and bread to eat, will also supply you with all the seed you need and will make it grow and produce a rich harvest from your generosity.

2Co 9:11 He will always make you rich enough to be generous at all times, so that many will thank God for your gifts which they receive from us.

2Co 9:12 For this service you perform not only meets the needs of God’s people, but also produces an outpouring of gratitude to God.

2Co 9:13 And because of the proof which this service of yours brings, many will give glory to God for your loyalty to the gospel of Christ, which you profess, and for your generosity in sharing with them and everyone else.

2Co 9:14 And so with deep affection they will pray for you because of the extraordinary grace God has shown you.

2Co 9:15 Let us thank God for his priceless gift!

In short, fairness is about one’s attitude towards the blessing of God. It is not about the physical possession one has.

back to school…

san — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 08:29:06 +0000

i have registered my Ph.D study on last friday and this week is the first week of attending lectures. i am taking two subjects this semester and hopefully i will be able to manage them by at least scoring B for those subjects.

Yen’s study is not going well and with both of us engaged in studying, i am rather worry whether we will be able to give enough attention to Grace. i guess this is another new chapter in my life where i have to study with a kid attached.

interview

san — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 07:32:43 +0000

I was called for an interview on my application to be promoted to a higher grade. There were 5 persons in the panel, the senior HR manager, HR executive, Registrar, VP academic and the Dean. Here is part of the interesting conversation we had.

Sr HR manager: Why do you think we should promote you?

My reply: Why shouldn’t I be promoted?

Dean: Do you think that you have been ill treated by the company?

My reply: Those who have been promoted earlier than me, I will just consider they are luckier than me and I would not say that I am not lucky. I am thankful for what I have.

Registrar: Why do you apply for the promotion?

My reply: Because everybody is applying for it.

Sr HR Manager: What are the contributions you have given to the company?

My reply: Please define contribution. As far as I know, I have no contribution at all as whatever thing that I am doing and not doing are stated in the appointment letter. That means my service here is being paid for and thus no contribution at all.

Dean: I think you weakness is you don’t know how to speak in a diplomatic way.

My reply: Yes, I have been here for 9 years just doing lecturing, I am not good at that kind of game. So, do you think I will get the promotion?

to be or not to be

san — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:45:27 +0000

It is now a real dilemma for me as I am being offered the post of department head by my company but the department is in such a state that nobody would want to be the head voluntarily. When the president offered me the post last week and I said I would be willing to be the head if they were able to get to coordinators to help me. I was thinking that it is impossible for them to get the coordinators but somehow they manage to do that. It did blow me away when I learned that.

If I am to be the head, the commission would start beginning of next month and I can see that the current head is already taking his sweet time in handling things. I sure hope one of the coordinators would pull out of the deal and then I can reject the offer saying that I cannot manage the head post while I am doing Ph.D and be the head at the same time without the coordinators.

dad’s anniversary

san — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 05:08:52 +0000

Yesterday i went back to attend my father passaway anniversary. It is just plain amazing to think how fast time flies as it has been one year since father passed away. During the year… nothing much has changed on my side but i guess it was totally different on mother’s side. However, mother was really a strong woman as she has been on her own eversince. I really thank God for taking care of her especially she has to go to the kopitiam early in the morning alone.

Mother is going to write a will as she experience the difficult to inherit father’s assets after he passed away without writing a will. Then she worries about how we brothers are going to deal they assets if she passed away. Well… i told her, why do you worry? Life is just too tiring if one has to worry about things about death…

MIL is still in the hospital

san — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 04:05:34 +0000

MIL suffered a minor heart attach yesterday due to lack of salt in the blood as she vomits most of the time after she has some intake of fluid or flood. She has been hospitalized for almost 2 weeks and we finally know the cause of her sickness. She has serious bacteria infections which started from the stomach and then moved to the chest. The treatment course ends tomorrow and we really hope that there will be no further complication so that she can be discharged tomorrow.

finally, here comes mother-in-law

san — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 01:50:58 +0000

Finally, mother-in-law (MIL) is here in Hospital Kuala Lumpur. So, basically i have transferred the “problem” from Butterworth to KL after traveling for live 2000 km over the last two weekends. Since MIL is still in the hospital due to lung infection which we just found out yesterday night, she will be staying in the wad for next couple of days. That means she needs somebody to take care of her during the night and we have a hard time to get somebody to attend to her during the night. However, this is the anticipated problem since we decided to move her down from Hospital in Butterworth.