My Radio

A lot of my young learner friends are surprised whenever they take a ride in my car especially if the radio is on. "You listened to Hitz FM?" would a common comment. Well why not? You can be in your 2nd half of your life and still stay young at heart...

My first choice would be Hitz FM...also a favourite of other half and my cool teen & my pre-teen.

My other favourite other than Mix FM would be 96.00 called the Hallelujah Channel...a collection of songs from my pen drive using the car mp3 fm modulator. My pre-teen would always come in the car and pressed PAUSE whenever we're listening to another channel...She has a collection of David Archuleta's songs on my drive!

The other favourite that my cool teen & pre teen hates is the Light & Easy Channel 105.7. We use this channel to silence our kids whenever they start arguing in the car. If we are at the traffic lights, we would take out our handphones and wave them around (like they do in the concert) and not long after that we would have silence in the car and eventually we see my cool teen sliding further down his seat, hoping that none of his friends are in any of the cars around us!

What Would One Do For The King of Fruit

Just yesterday I was in the gents (which was located outside in the lobby) and I smelled this foul smell. Once again I thought the sewer might have clogged up again. Years ago we found a underwear in the sewer pipe...after that I never bothered to ask what they found.

Then later in the day, one of colleagues mentioned to me that one of the new staff brought some durians to office in a biscuit tin. He stays in Hulu Langat...

Knowing that the boss is anti-durian, specific instructions were given to eat outside the office. (NEVER to be brought in the office).Not even to wash your hands in the pantry as the boss room is next to the pantry.

So they must have indulge themselves (would have love to have caught them on camera...must check my cctv recording) and wash their hands in the toilet...I suppose that's where the smell came from because today there was no more smell!

Time to add one more sign for the office..

My Other Half New Hobby

My other half has found a new hobby which I had a part to play. I helped her setup her online store. She created the blog page herself.

I was in charge of photographing the jewelery. This I did using my very own Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX1 and home made studio. I also helped in setting up the Paypal.

So drop by her blog.

Rise Above The Fray

In the last two weeks, God has been teaching me a lot about handling people…I sort of have the feeling that there is more to come!

In my personal life and at work, the challenges are the same….just different people. Once I told my HR manager how difficult his job must me. Always having to listen to all sort opinions on how to do things… on just ONE issue.

Working in the academic institution doesn’t help either. You will have Drs & Profs telling you how things should be. I told him that at least in my work, the furniture I buy doesn’t talk back, whatever the color that I choose.

“Let's face it. Sometimes people just plain don't like each other and can’t get along. People usually attribute this sort of problem to strong personalities and being difficult. Labeling the problem this way seems to be a justification for not doing anything about it. After all, one cannot change the basic nature of another person, right?”

Difficult people do exist. Difficult people come in every variety and no place is without them. Dealing with difficult people is much tougher when they are attacking you or undermining your professional contribution.

Difficult people come in every conceivable variety.

• Some talk constantly and never listen.


• Others must always have the last word.


• Some fail to keep commitments.


• Others criticize anything that they did not create.


• Difficult people compete with you for power, privilege and the spotlight;
  
  Some attempt to undermine you and you constantly feel as if you need to watch your back. Difficult people and situations exist in every place. They all have one thing in common. You must address them. No matter the type of difficult situation in which you find yourself, dealing with difficult people or situations is a must.
  
  Trust me. Your situation won’t get better; left unaddressed, it usually gets worse. Unaddressed, necessary conflict simmers just below – and often erupts counterproductively above – the surface at work.
  
  Here are four things we could try:-
  
• Establish the Ideal. Engage the group in a conversation about what kind of team they want to have. Get them talking about behaviors that will make the team more successful and interesting for the members. Groups have their own unique cultures. Your job is to get the group to compare the culture they have to the one they want.


• Clear up fuzzy leadership. Sometimes people clash in the absence of clear leadership. Perhaps these two are positioning for power and control of the team. Assuming neither is right for the role, make it clear who is in charge.


• Try the obvious. While it may be the least attractive option, it is probably the most effective. Talk with these people individually or together. Let them know that their behaviors are affecting the team. Work with them to understand the underlying problems and together develop solutions that will address the conflicts.


• Clean house. As a last resort, the leader may want to remove one or both of these people from the team. If your gut is telling you that they are significantly cutting into productivity and effectiveness, and you have tried everything you and others can think of doing, this becomes a reasonable action. Take it.”
  
  Adapted from Tom LaForce at his website, http://tomlaforce.com
  Susan M. Heathfield http://humanresources.about.com/bio/Susan-M-Heathfield-6016.htm

New Lyrics to Beatles song - "Yesterday"

Yesterday,
All those backups seemed a waste of pay
Now my database has gone away
Oh I believe in yesterday

Suddenly,
There's not half the files there used to be
And there's a milestone hanging over me
The system crashed, so suddenly.

I pushed something wrong
What it was, I could not say.
Now all mya data's gone,
And I long for yesterday-ay-ay-ay

Yesterday,
The need for back-ups seemed so far away.
I knew my data was all here to stay
Now I believe in yesterday.

from http://www.inflection-point.com/jokes.php

The Miracle of “ My Rib – Bone Compatibility”.

I'm back after a blog sabbatical leave! Recently I receive a testimony from one of my colleagues at campus. I’m very encouraged to read the testimony. Recently, I have been receiving news about many that have fallen ill due to cancer and the timing of his testimony has reminded me that God still perform miracles and cares for us.

************************************************************************************

My wife and I would like to acknowledge our Lord Jesus and His faithfulness in our lives in all the sequence of events over the past one and half years. May all praise honor and glory be accredited to our Lord Jesus.

Mid August 2008 began a series of symptoms that indicated my kidney function was nearing its end stage. This was due to a hereditary kidney condition which I was aware of for some twenty over years. I became very weak and often fell ill as my haemoglobin levels fell sharply with increased blood discharge and sharp back pains. Frequently I was on medical leave and even on work days, most of the afternoons, I was so weak that I had to come back home and rest. One morning while I was driving to work the pain was so unbearable that I stopped the car beside the highway and cried out to God in tears. “Lord Jesus, I’ve had enough of all this pain and suffering in my life. Enough is enough. I do not want to live like this anymore, just end my life in this world and take me home.” Unable to bear the agony of suffering, I was ready to leave this world. But in my heart I realized that my dear wife would be left alone and my heart struggled with that thought.

It was almost two months later that God spoke to us through one of His anointed servants “My beloved son, unable to bear the pain, you prayed to me to take your life. No my son, you belong to me. I will not let you down, …………” “Because he has set his love upon me, therefore I will deliver him, I will set him on high, because he has known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer Him.(Psalm 91:14,15).” We were much encouraged but we did not see an end to the pain and suffering in sight. With great difficulty, I managed my day to day life at work, house and church responsibilities. As I was going through much agony and pain physically, I always used to tell our Lord that I could not understand what the Bible says of Him that He is a God of love, mercy and grace who cares for His own. One day through one of His servants, the Lord spoke to us. “My son, in due time you will look back at your life and realize how good I have been in your life.” God is good, He is good all the time.

We crossed into the year 2009 with no change in our circumstances. But the Lord continued to send many of His servants to us to encourage us and instructing us to keep walking and that he will perform for us. One Saturday on 23 rd May 2009, my condition worsened and my wife admitted me that night at the Gleaneagles Hospital, Ampang because my nephrologist was there. After a week’s stay in the hospital, my doctor told me that I had no choice but to start on dialysis as the toxic levels in my blood were very high. Being on dialysis was another stress and torture. Every alternate day, Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 1 pm to 5pm I had to be at the dialysis centre of the hospital for my treatment. On these days I could only be at work in the morning and from noon onwards I had to be in the hospital. After each session, I go back home weak and tired. At work my bosses and colleagues extended their favor and support in many ways. I could sense and see the favor and grace of God at my work environment. During this seven month period, much of my job responsibilities were handled by my colleagues. All praise and glory to God for His favor and grace extended to me through my colleagues.

It was during this time, that the doctor said I will do very well and return to normal life if I had a kidney transplant done. So my wife asked the doctor whether she could be the donor and the doctor responded by saying that he could initiate the process of investigation on compatibility and see how it goes. Thus, began the process of investigation of almost six months. The first compatibility test was the blood grouping. I was group AB positive and my wife was group O positive. So, I was a universal recipient and she was a universal donor. The second compatibility test was HLA Typing test (Human Leukocyte Antigen). This test was very much a genetic match in which twins will have 6 out of 6 antigen match and siblings would have maybe 4 out of 6 antigen match. In our case we had 2 out of 6 antigen matches as husband and wife. The final test was tissue cross-match for which the results have to be negative at various temperatures. And this test was negative at all temperatures. Along with other screenings, the doctor finally decided that we could go ahead with the kidney transplant. All tests results were in our favor and anything else will be controlled by the anti-rejection medications. All praise and glory be to God for His mercy and favor towards us in this matter.

From the time I began dialysis treatment on 25th May 2009 until we were admitted for surgery on 13th Nov 2009, we had some doubts as to whether this was the path that our Lord wanted us to follow through in organ transplant. I was fervently praying for the Lord to heal and restore my kidneys and deep within my heart I did not want to put my dear wife through this ordeal of her having to donate her kidney to me. During this period, the Lord spoke to us through many of his anointed servants and His Word. “My ways for you are not according to your thoughts and plans.” It was then that I realized our Lord had a specific process of healing for us in which he wanted us to experience Him. “Both of you are praying for the same purpose and I the Lord will perform for you.” One of the servants who prayed for us had a vision. “You are going for the surgery in the operation theatre, the surgeons are working on you and the Lord’s hand is performing the miracle. You are walking out of the hospital, happy and healthy and going back to your work.” Here are some verses through which the Lord spoke to us. “For I will surely deliver you, and you shall not fall by the sword; but your life shall be as a prize to you, because you have put your trust in me” (Jeremiah 39:18) “No weapon formed against you shall prosper”.(Isaiah 54:17) “Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily and your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the lord shall be your rear guard.” (Isaiah 58:8)

With the Lord speaking to us through many of his servants and His word, His path became clearer to us. We put our trust in Him and our hearts were filled with calm and peace as we sensed His guiding hands. About two weeks before the surgery, the Lord dropped a thought in our hearts to pen a list of prayer items and mass e-mail it to all the praying people we knew and many servants of God. This spread like wildfire to wider and wider prayer networks around the globe to many praying people whom we did not even know. Until today we are receiving e-mails from people who prayed for us around the globe. Our church pastor and the congregation prayed for us for a few consecutive Sunday services. Our Lord cannot remain silent but rise to send His Word of healing especially when hundreds of his people unite hearts to pray. All praise and glory be to our prayer answering God.

Gleneagles Intan Hospital : From 13th Nov. 2009 ~ 21st Nov. 2009.

My wife and I were admitted as scheduled on Friday the 13th Nov. 2009. We went through the day with much anxiety. Some friends and family members came and prayed with us. On Saturday, 14th Nov. 2009, at 8.30am, my wife was wheeled out of the room to the operation theatre. As I watched her go, my heart struggled within and my body trembled with tears rolling down my eyes. I asked the Lord again, “Why does she have to go through all this because of me”. With many thoughts running through my mind, it was almost 11am when I was wheeled to the operation theatre. Unable to think anymore, I prayed the Lord’s Prayer and surrendered myself and all events to follow into the hands of our Lord. And a great calm and peace came upon me. Within a few seconds, I became unconscious. I regained consciousness late in the evening of the day in an isolated glass door room of the intensive care unit (ICU). With all sorts of monitoring equipment and drug administrative equipment hooked on to me, I could not move much but could just wave to the many friends, relatives and church members who stood behind the glass doors and waved at me. All the nurses in the ICU were very kind and cared for me very well. I thanked God for His favor upon me through them. I was in the ICU for about five days. Every day morning and evening the surgeon and my nephrologist would come and monitor my progress. They marveled at my progress. Out of the mouth of the surgeon came these words, “John, I am surprised at how fast you are progressing. I had my own fears. My part was to perform the surgery successfully but after that your body has to take over the function of the kidney. Your kidney started functioning immediately. God must love you both very much. Your wife is doing fine too.” His remarks stirred my heart to raise my hands and thank God for His healing touch. Every morning in the ICU, I thanked God for renewed strength and recovery and the Lord dropped one by one into my heart all the promises he has given me for the past few years. Tears of joy rolled out as I sensed his presence. The surgeon made sure that my wife was wheeled in a wheel chair every morning and brought near me so that we could share some moments together. These were wonderful moments the Lord provided us through the favor of doctors and nurses.

On Wednesday evening 18th Nov.2009, (5th day in ICU), I was sent to the ward. My wife had already been sent to the ward on Monday evening 16th Nov.2009, (3rd day in ICU). In the ward, again we saw the favor of God. We were placed in independent rooms next to each other. All praise and glory be to our Lord. We were in the ward from Wednesday evening to Saturday. On Saturday afternoon, we were both discharged. That was exactly eight days from Friday (13th Nov.2009) to Saturday (21st Nov.2009). We are now resting and recovering at home with regular check-ups with the doctor. The promise of Isaiah 58:8, “Your healing shall spring forth speedily.” was literally fulfilled. My Hindu neighbor, who saw me leave home for admission to hospital and then saw me eight days later at home said, “John, so fast you are back home. You both don’t look like you have been through a major surgery”. All praise, honor and glory be to our Lord Jesus.

On a second note, in Genesis we read that God made Eve out of the rib-bone taken from Adam. As early as in the creation stage, God had already made the wife “rib-bone compatible” with the husband. “And the two shall become one………..” “What God has joined together, let no man put asunder……….”. Now our marriage relationship has taken on a new dimension. Even to the extent of compatibility in the sharing of organs, God has united us in compatibility. An awesome God the creator, who ordained marriage, has also planned all finite details in our lives.
Here, I must really thank God for uniting me with a wonderful and caring wife who has exemplified sacrificial love towards her husband by putting herself on the platform to give me the gift of life. May God honor and bless her.

In Dec. 2009, the Lord has given us another word. “I give you new beginnings.” What a personal and wonderful Lord God whom we serve. All praise, honor and glory of this account of our lives be accredited to our Lord Jesus alone. Amen.

Submitted By: Mr. & Mrs. John Steven Navamany.
Johnsteven@uniten.edu.my

My new set of eyes

Recently I had to change my specs as I couldn't really see the presentations if I was sitting way at the back in the office. Then when I had to read reports, I needed to focus a while before the words became clear. (Signs of ageing, they tell me!)

I find it a real pain to make pair of multi focal specs. It took me a while (like weeks) to adjust to my first pair of multi focal specs. I think the optician was really tired of seeing me. So much adjustments had to be made until she had to make a new pair of lenses for me. Then she cracked one of my lenses during one of those trips to see her and she had to make another one.

Now after two years, I dreaded going back to make new pair. But this time, she had a ultra light frame and it was much lighter than my current pair. It was really tempting and it was time to check my eyes. Sure enough my power has increased, and new pair of multi focal specs was a must.

As expected, the first few days I tried my new pair, my eyes felt really tired and sore. So here I was going back to the optician like every 4 or 5 days. On my last trip, I saw her really bending my soecs frame just to get the position right. It seemed ok now and I hope I don't need to go back.

I have been seeing a few people wearing this type of sunglasses that you wear over your specs. My mum and my sis has one. My other half has been trying to buy one. So one my last trip to the optician, I asked her if she had this type of sunglasses for sale. Or course, she had two pairs, one in large size, the other in medium size. I saw the price which was 3 figures. In my mind, I thought I won't buy and just stick to changing to my sun glasses whenever I needed to use it.


Then she said, "For you, I give you RM**.00. It was quite cheap, so I bought one. My pre teen says I look like terminator and she looks like a bumble bee when she wears the sunglasses.

Unusual Signs

This one was taken at a Chinese restaurant selling Curry Mee.


Another 7 Eleven competitor.

This shop was in the same row as Seven to Seven.

I wonder what will happen if we made noise. Trust me, it's really dark at night

This sign was along a route to our chalet..

A trip back to nature

In January this year, my office had a retreat to Taman Negeri Endau Rompin. On the way there, we came across globs of elephant poo on the road. That was interesting and a bit scary for the 30+ of us. The "resort" is located about 16km from the main road.

I am always very apprehensive about this kind of retreats. Earlier I attended one in Sungkai and that was a culture shock for me! It was like one of those NS camps.

Our accommodation in Endau Rompin was quite simple. We had to walk about 500m from the common area.

I stayed in an A-shaped hut with two beds and it has an attached bathroom! The only problem was it was naturally ventilated and we are always on the watch out for any insects that might have sneaked in.

After discovering a scorpion along the pathway, I was more careful in toilets and definitely no more short cuts! Anyway the water supply was from the river and it's only pumped up to tanks once a day.

So the water from the taps does look murky at times. Anyway my room mate & I have been brushing our teeth with mineral water. The organiser kept wondering why the mineral water bottles seemed to disappear so fast. I guess most of the others were doing the same!

The "resort" is located along the river and the water in the river is crystal clear. Some of us went for a dip in the rapids and it was definitely refreshing.


During our meetings and discussion, we had some "locals" joining us in the meeting room ...leeches. As we had to take off our shoes in the meeting room (so as to not offend the "locals"), we had to resort to wearing socks and keep our legs on the chair pedestal.

The management had our full attention throughout the retreat because the place had no handphone reception. Our Blackberry, HTC and any other handphones became useless in the meeting room. At times, my colleague sitting next to me will be showing me how to fly a plane on his HTC while I only had Solitaire to keep me occupied. We can only receive Maxis and Digi line but at selected locations only. During my free time when my other colleagues went for their prayers, I will be scouting around the place for the best reception area. So far under the tree in front of the meeting room and the light pole at the courtyard area are the best because we can get two bars reception!

After spending two nights there without airconditioning (it was quite cooling at night) and surprising no mosquitoes at all, I was dying to leave the place. I took the fastest way out by following one of my bosses in his car instead of following the bus! We stopped at the petrol station in Endau and I was again reminded of God's lovely creation when we spotted a grasshopper on the car windscreen.

I guess some times we need to go back to our basics in life. We have begun to rely a lot on our electronic gadgets that we have forgotten to enjoy the simpler things in life.

A Simple Prayer

Author Unknown, Source Unknown

My son Gilbert was eight years old and had been in Cub Scouts only a short time. During one of his meetings he was handed a sheet of paper, a block of wood and four tires and told to return home and give all to "dad."

That was not an easy task for Gilbert to do. Dad was not receptive to doing things with his son. But Gilbert tried.

Dad read the paper and scoffed at the idea of making a pine wood derby car with his young, eager son. The block of wood remained untouched as the weeks passed.

Finally, mom stepped in to see if I could figure this all out. The project began.

Having no carpentry skills, I decided it would be best if I simply read the directions and let Gilbert do the work. And he did. I read aloud the measurements, the rules of what we could do and what we couldn't do.

Within days his block of wood was turning into a pinewood derby car. A little lopsided, but looking great (at least through the eyes of mom).

Gilbert had not seen any of the other kids cars and was feeling pretty proud of his "Blue Lightning," the pride that comes with knowing you did something on your own.

Then the big night came. With his blue pinewood derby in his hand and pride in his heart we headed to the big race.

Once there my little one's pride turned to humility. Gilbert's car was obviously the only car made entirely on his own. All the other cars were a father-son partnership, with cool paint jobs and sleek body styles made for speed.

A few of the boys giggled as they looked at Gilbert's, lopsided, wobbly, unattractive vehicle. To add to the humility Gilbert was the only boy without a man at his side. A couple of the boys who were from single parent homes at least had an uncle or grandfather by their side, Gilbert had "mom."

As the race began it was done in elimination fashion. You kept racing as long as you were the winner. One by one the cars raced down the finely sanded ramp.


Finally it was between Gilbert and the sleekest, fastest looking car there. As the last race was about to begin, my wide eyed, shy eight year old ask if they could stop the race for a minute, because he wanted to pray. The race stopped.

Gilbert hit his knees clutching his funny looking block of wood between his hands. With a wrinkled brow he set to converse with his Father.

He prayed in earnest for a very long minute and a half. Then he stood, smile on his face and announced, "Okay, I am ready."

As the crowd cheered, a boy named Tommy stood with his father as their car sped down the ramp. Gilbert stood with his Father within his heart and watched his block of wood wobble down the ramp with surprisingly great speed and rushed over the finish line a fraction of a second before Tommy's car.

Gilbert leaped into the air with a loud "Thank you" as the crowd roared in approval.

The Scout Master came up to Gilbert with microphone in hand and asked the obvious question, "So you prayed to win, huh, Gilbert?"

To which my young son answered, "Oh, no sir. That wouldn't be fair to ask God to help you beat someone else. I just asked Him to make it so I don't cry when I lose."

Children seem to have a wisdom far beyond us. Gilbert didn't ask God to win the race, he didn't ask God to fix the outcome, Gilbert asked God to give him strength in the outcome.

When Gilbert first saw the other cars he didn't cry out to God, "No fair, they had a fathers help."

No, he went to his Father for strength.

Perhaps we spend too much of our prayer time asking God to rig the race, to make us number one, or too much time asking God to remove us from the struggle, when we should be seeking God's strength to get through the struggle.

Gilbert's simple prayer spoke volumes to those present that night. He never doubted that God would indeed answer his request. He didn't pray to win, thus hurt someone else, he prayed that God supply the grace to lose with dignity.

Gilbert, by his stopping the race to speak to his Father also showed the crowd that he wasn't there without a "dad," but his Father was most definitely there with him. Yes, Gilbert walked away a winner that night, with his Father at his side.

Balik kampung

Just before the end of last year, we went on a family trip to Cameron Highlands. My better half told the kids that we were going back to my kampung. Yes, that's right I was born in Cameron Highlands but never stayed there long...( a week I was told)

The hospital I was born in is still there but has been converted into a Pusat Kesihatan. This time we just had a relax time just shopping around. In terms of shopping there's really nothing much in Cameron Highlands. Just about every shop sells the same thing...strawberry umbrella, balls, pillows, key chains, t-shirts and of course the real strawberries.

Then there's vegetables, dried flowers and cacti everywhere too.


But one of my favorite place is called Multi Crops Central Market. The complex is not really a market, but more of a landscaped garden filled with an array of plants, cacti, flowers, handicrafts and souvenirs that you can purchase. There is also a cafe inside with tables situated strategically around the garden so you can have a peaceful afternoon tea.

This time round I bought two hearts shapes plant hangers made by the Orang Asli. The ivory plants were bought in KL.

I also bought two glass pots with cactus in them.

In evening we went to the night market at Brinchang. This time we found a stall selling Strawberry Fried Ice.
My Preteen bought a cup and it must have been good because she bought another one the 2nd night.



Then there was a guy selling honey sticks by scraping of pieces from the honey comb.
That we didn't try.

Well, these were some of the higlights of the trip.