Close encounters of the spiritual kind- part 2

Ah.....more of the things that goes bump in the night. Except that for today's entries, I will also relate about things that can also go bump in the day!!

The first house I bought was in Taman Melawati - located within a former rubber estate. Good ground conditions, since the land was not ex-mining land nor was it reclaimed by filling up a lake or something.It was a cozy little place that was freehold and cost me only RM43,500 (about US$20K) at that time in 1981!! It was very close to the Klang Gates dam and surrounded by limestone rock formations. This was a double storey terraced (or some people call it linked) house with a land area of 18 ft by 70 ft.

I furnished the living room with a rattan set consisting of a 3 seater and 4 single seaters with a glass top table. I bought that house with a RM28,200 loan from the bank and the rest I had to get from savings and loans from Friends!! What would I have done without Friends!! Relatives - don't depend on them. One aunt we approached even had the cheek to tell us -"ah.. if only you had asked me yesterday. Today, I have problems even in doing my marketing" My Friends loaned me the money I needed interest free!! God bless the late Mr. Yong Wan Po for he was instrumental in helping me secure a large part of the cash I needed.

I stayed in that cozy house for 10 years before upgrading to the current house in Taman Midah. And in all that time, my wife and I had always had a strange experience whenever we took an afternoon nap on the 3 seater sofa in the living room. We would doze off and sometime during the sleep cycle, we have experienced a strange sensation of feeling that there were other people around us, busy going about their own business. Try as we might, we just could not get our eyes opened to see what we could hear. The Cantonese says the feeling is like what one can described as being pinned down by the devil (bei kuai chak). I still remember one recurrent scene where it seems that I was in the middle of a very busy market scene with people going and coming. Bicycles were common in that scene as I could hear the bicycle bells ringing to get people out of the way. I could visualize the scene in my mind - very surreal, but could never never open my eyes to SEE the scene. After fighting against whatever that was that was pinning us down, we would wake up in cold sweat.

What had happened? I have no idea. But it occurs almost every time we napped on that sofa.

Before I continue, let me share with you a restaurant which can uplift your spirits!!. The restaurant is located in PJ New Town, near to MPPJ and sells Seafood Porridge. That's right - porridge!! And it costs about RM40 for 3 persons and about RM52 for 4. Did I just hear someone say - wow, so expensive!!. I tell you, it's worth it. They have chunky fish, crabs meat, lala (bivalves clams), big prawns, scallops and a taste that is superlative. Want to know EXACTLY where that it?? Treat me and I'll take you there. Haha!! They also have a stall next to it selling pretty good Lobak. Come on - I've treated enough of you guys - time to give me a lunch treat once in a while.

Anyway, back to things that goes bump in the...... Since young, I have always believed that I could sense spirits, especially the more disturbed ones. I have gone to wakes where I can feel that the newly departed had passed on peacefully and then there are some who seems to have unfinished business and is still hanging around. I also knew enough not to tell too many people of this as it seems to elicit the strangest reactions from them. When my Father-in-law passed away, I could feel that he was at peace with himself. He must have accomplished all that he wanted and moved on peacefully.

2 years ago, one of my Friend's father passed away from a cancer relapsed. He too exuded a peaceful aura. He had been fighting the relapse for almost a year and in the end, was prepared to meet his maker. He waited 3 days for his immediate family to be home before going. In one of the older episodes of CSI (the Vegas version), Gruesome Grissom did a soliloquy towards the end. He wished that he would die of cancer, so that he has the time to prepare for the end. This was the episode where Brass was fighting for his life in hospital, after having been shot in a previous episode. I guess that would be an alternative to meeting one's end suddenly (like today's news headlines of 5 Friends who met their end in a head on collision with a truck)!

I was not at my paternal grandma's funeral (I was in Japan) nor was I at my biological father's funeral (in Shanghai), so I don't know if they felt at peace. But I do remember one colleague who invited us to her house for Chinese New Year many many years ago. When I entered her house, I could feel a chill from a corner of her stairways. It turns out her mum had passed away quite recently and maybe that was her spirit that I felt. But it was a cold, eerie and uncomfortable feeling. And the house was brightly lit. So whatever I felt must have had some unfinished unaccomplished business on this plane of existence.

Places I visit tends to either give me a comfortable feeling or a very eerie feelings that can cause goosebumps for unexplained reasons. I am sure many people have had a goose bumpy kind of feeling whenever they approach a particular exhibit in the National Museum. The exhibit that I am referring to is the mock up of the Malacca Nyonya marriage chamber. Most of the other exhibits do not give me goosebumps but that one elicits a very strong reaction from my senses.

National Museum visit anyone??

Martina McBride's Anyway

Sometimes, as one listen to the radio when one is driving to work, one find a gem amongst the thrash that the station dishes out. I have heard this song a few times, each time trying to catch the lyrics and each time, finding it more meaningful. I have seen reviews that contends that the song was based on a poem by Mother Teresa called "Do it Anyway"

I personally find this song is, in a large part, a testimony of my life. And I would like to share the lyrics and the songs here with you

Martina McBride

Anyway lyrics
You can spend your whole life building
Something from nothing
One storm can come and blow it all away
Build it anyway

You can chase a dream
That seems so out of reach
And you know it might not ever come your way
Dream it anyway

[chorus]
God is great,
but sometimes life ain't good
When I pray it doesn't always turn out like I think it should
But I do it anyway
I do it anyway

This worlds gone crazy
and it's hard to believe
That tomorrow will be better than today
Believe it anyway
You can love someone with all your heart
For all the right reasons
And in a moment they can choose to walk away
love 'em anyway
You can pour your soul out singing a song u believe in
but tomorrow they will forget you ever sang
Sing it anyway!
Yeah I sing,
i dream,
i love anyway!

Close encounters of the spiritual kind- part 1

It's October - the month of Halloween. What better time to document the close encounters that I have had over the years with the spiritual world. Sorry lah Pastor, if you are reading this, this has nothing to do with the Church. I am referring to the things that goes bump in the night. I had thought of doing this writeup during the Chinese 7th month, but since most people consider me more of a banana, I thought the month of Halloween would be more appropriate.

My first close encounter that I have any recollection of, happened when I was probably 5 or 6 years old. My mum was working for this family in Jalan San Ah Wing - located somewhere off Jalan Gurney (today's Jalan Semarak). This family was essentially a Burmese/Chinese man with a German wife and they had 3 kids at that time. Big garden, with lots of bushes all over. It must have been because I was playing with these kids at an early age that I was better in English than most of my classmates when I started schooling. I did not even go to Kindergarten as my mum could not afford it.

One day, while playing in the garden, in the late evening - i.e. sun was still up , but it was going to get dark soon, I heard an old lady's voice calling me using my home name. I looked around and did not see anyone. Again, the voice called out and I swear (even today) that the sound came from behind one of the bushes. I went to the bush, looked around and still saw no one. I did not answer the voice and did not mention this to my mum until only just a few years ago, I dragged out this story during one of the ghost telling sessions. My mum on hearing this said that if I had told her then, she would have quit her job and moved elsewhere. Apparently, during the Japanese occupation, many people were killed around that area and she things it may have been the spirits of those killed. I personally think that since it was an old lady's voice I heard, it may have been my maternal Grandma (my mum's mum), who passed away when my mum was about 14 years old. Just looking in to see how her grandchild was.

25 years ago, I went for my first training trip outside the country. I had been working for HP for 1 year then and finally got scheduled for 2 trainings. I had to first show up in Waltham, Massachusetts to be trained on operating and supporting the Ultrasound instruments used by the Medical profession. 2 weeks after that I was scheduled to be in Palo Alto, California to be trained on Mass Spectrometers. That October, I also did my first round the world trip. I flew from KL to London and stopover for a night. Did Hyde Park, Piccadilly Circus and Chinatown. Then flew off to Boston Logan's airport to get to Waltham. From Waltham, I flew to San Francisco. After the training, I flew back via the Pacific, stopping over in Hawaii (those were the days when the planes could not fly non stop Frisco to HK).

By the time I got to Palo Alto, the Halloween atmosphere was just starting up. There were miles and miles of pumpkins everywhere. I even manage to have this photo taken in a pumpkin patch, just like Charlie Brown, waiting for the Great Pumpkin to emerge at sometime!. Yes that is puny ole me!!And many of these pumpkins were not your average sized pumpkins. I took this giant (could have done better by putting something bedside it to reference the size), which was about almost 2 feet in diameter!! I was so obsessed with giant pumpkins that I asked one of my US colleagues to send me some seeds. Somehow, those seeds never did arrive. I think the customs confiscated them.

Okay, with that digression, I'll continue with the next narration. Since young, I think many of us think that we can see or sense the other dimension! Many older people always says that children, being pure and naive? can see things which adults cannot. I tend to believe this to be so, because since young, I have always thought that I can sense it when something don't seem right. I have always had the the feeling that I have a guardian angel looking after me.

How else can one explain the following incidents. As a young boy, I have occasionally lived with my Maternal Grandfather, especially those times when my mum changed jobs and the new employer could not accommodate 2 young kids (my sister and I). Granpa lived in Datuk Keramat, back in the days when it does not matter whether you were a Malay or not.

One day, while playing hide and seek with my step-uncles (2 of them are younger than me), I was trying to hide the the boot of my granpa's car - an old Hillman that was no longer working. I opened the boot, a cobra living inside raised up it's hood and head and I quickly slammed the cover down. A second slower and I would not be around to blog on this today.I must have shouted very loudly during this time as all my step uncles came over to ask what happened. Try as they might, they could not find the snake.

On that piece of real estate that my Granpa staked out after the Japanese occupation, we had so much space that we had our own vegetable and fruits garden. Granpa would grow enough to sell on the market, so we hardly ever had to buy any vegetables. We had no electricity. Grandpa would light up a couple of hurricane lamps at night. For water, we had a well. The well was made of concentric cement rings measuring almost 2.5 feet wide and was at least 15 feet deep. To a small kid who was about 3 feet high, that was deep!!. Adults used an adult pail to bring up water from the well and children had their own much smaller pails. When the adult pails are full of water, they do weigh a ton (to a small kid). One day, I decided that it was about time that I try to fetch water using the adult pail. I dunked the pail in, filled it to the brim and pulled on the rope. The weight of the pail pulled me over the edge of the well, head first! Somehow, my guardian angel must have been working overtime. I flipped 360 degrees and landed with my feet apart on the second ring of the well. Again, I must have shouted as everybody came rushing over to see what happened. My legs were like jelly, but I did not drop into the water. Some years later, one of my cousin brother did the same stunt and fell right in. Luckily, one of the uncles heard him and managed to save him.
Who says there are no guardian angels??

I am RICH!!

For my last post for Sept, I want to share with you a couple of ways to get rich!! Ya.... right!

This morning, I saw 2 messages in my gmail account. One was purportedly from BMW Group yearly sweepstakes. Here's the message

Ref. Number: NL1/421/110/00NL.
We wish to inform you of the BMW GROUP Yearly sweepstakes program that your Email Address has won an Award sum of a total cash prize of 850,000.00 Euros (Eight hundred and fifty thousand euros) in this "category A" email raffle draw.Contact the Agency below for your prize claim. Please endeavour to do so immediately.
You can stake your claim by the following informations:
Name:
Age:
Sex:
Address:
Telephone number:
Occupation
Monthly Salary
Country of Residence:
blah blah blah blah.

On the 0.00000000000001% chance that this might be true, I called up BMW Motors to confirm. Yup - they confirmed it alright - it's a scam. Damn - 850K Euros gone just like that!!

The second message was even more ludicrous. Here is is
DONATION FOR THE LORD
From: Mrs. Monica Tema
PLEASE ENDEAVOUR TO USE IT FOR THE CHILDREN OF GOD.I am the above name person from Sierra-Leone. I am married to Dr Ebenezer Tema who worked with Sierra Leonian Embassy in South Africa for nine years before he died in the year 2001. We were married for eleven years without a child. He died after a brief illness that lasted for only four days. Before his death we were both born again Christians and we lived happilly. Since his death, I decided not to re-marry.When my late husband was alive he secured $15Million (Fifteen Million U.S. Dollars) with financial institution here in Cote D'Ivoire. Presently, this money is still with the financial institution. Recently, my Doctor told me that from all the test conducted on my health, I am not going to last long, expecially, due to my cancer and stroke. But what disturbs me most now is stroke.Having known my condition, I decided to donate this fund to churches or Christian individual that will utilize this money the way I am going to instruct. I want a church or individual that will use this money to fund churches, Orphanages and Widows. Also, the propagation of the work of God, building and maintaining the house of God through this money, is very important.The Bible made us to understand that Blessed is the hand that giveth. I took this decision because I don't have any child that will inherit this money and my husband relatives are not Christians. I don?t want my husband's hard earned money to be misused by unbelievers, for their own selfish interest and in an ungodly manner. I am not afraid of death hence I know where I am going. I know that I am going to be in the bossom of the Lord. Exodus 14 VS 14 says that the lord will fight my case and I shall hold my peace.I don't need any telephone communication in this regard because of my health, and because of the presence of my husband's relatives around me sometimes. I don't want them to know about this development, but I know that With God all things are possible.As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the Financial institution in Ivory coast. I will also give you all information regarding the deposit of this money. I will also issue you a letter of authority that will empower you as the original- beneficiary of this fund. I want you and your church to always pray for me because God work in misterious ways. My happiness is that I lived a life of a worthy Christian. Who ever that wants to serve the Lord must serve him in spirit and truth. Please always be prayerful all through your life.Any delay in your reply will give me room in sourcing for a church or christian individual for this same purpose. Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I stated herein. Hoping to hear from you soon.Remain blessed in the name of the Lord.
Yours in Christ,Mrs Monica Tema

US15 million!!! I am rich. And I certainly am because these 2 con people will not get a single sen out of me. HAH!!

Only later I realized that Gmail actually has a SPAM folder where such messages were placed. I looked in there and found variations of the above in at least 20 other messages.

Man I was rich and I did not know it. Hasta la Vista baby!!

Changing of the guards - coming soon

This week, the week of 24th Sept., we had more managers than usual visiting the LSCA team in the Uptown Sales office. Sonti came along with Chaiyapat, Roger Koh and Leong Tan. The occasion - to officially announce that Roger Koh and Chaiyapat was switching jobs. Roger would take over the management of the Support operations in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand (SMT) and Chaiyapat to take on projects management within the Support Operations Engineering (SOE) team. Understandably, many of the younger team members were a little apprehensive. For most of them, they had known no other manager except Chaiyapat - who had held that position for about 10 years. So who was this Roger Koh who was taking over?

He is actually a dinosaur who once roam the support operations in Hewlett Packard 30 years ago!!. My goodness, almost all the staff in LSCA Malaysia's Support today were not even born when Roger started his career as a Customer Engineer - supporting Analytical and Medical products. He was one of those who interviewed me for the job when I applied to join HP in 1981. Roger had gone from Customer Engineer to as high as the Far East Service Manager (not including Japan), switched to Marketing and Sales and now has turned full circle back to managing Support. As Leong Tan manages both of them and was instrumental in the decision for them to swap jobs, he was on hand to explain his rationale on the job swap.

It was also an opportunity for me to update Leong on project Pongo. The way Pongo is developing, I would be out of a job by the time the plans are implemented. I had asked Leong to consider giving me a severance package if they need to lay off anyone because of Pongo. That would probably not likely to happen as I am still the cheapest manager around delivering as good as any other managers in AP. But no harm in asking. At the current rate, the severance package is worth about 30 months of my current salary. I still have my fall back plan of concentrating on my unit trust business and engage in another business too.

After a morning of meeting and debriefing, all of the team members who were present took the opportunity to have a group photo taken with Roger. Actually, this was more for Roger's benefit, as he struggles to remember all the people that he shall be inheriting from Chaiyapat on 1st Nov 2007.

One last thing - I normally try to write about things uplifting, positive and optimistic. But for this posting, I really really feel so strongly about the lousy food served at one outlet that I must write about how bad it is. At the end of the morning's meeting, the whole department adjourned to a restaurant in Damansara Uptown. We had Bak Kut Teh, Vinegar Pig's trotters (chu geok cho), fried green veg, asam fish and a sort of an egg/ meat concoction. The Bak Kut Teh was tasteless, the soup taste more like water. The Pig's trotters was too sourish (according to those who tried it - I didn't). I can fry my greens better than what we got. The Asam Fish tasted sweet (price of sugar must have come down). And the egg concoction was essentially egg fried thin like a pancake, then you plaster minced pork over the whole egg platter, roil it up and then steam it. Problem was that the "chef" preparing it did not add salt and pepper to the minced pork, making the whole dish flat and tasteless. I know because I have cooked this dish before.

The outlet to avoid - BKT house - located just before Koon Kee and Farmasi Utama along Jalan SS 21/37 in Damansara Uptown. AVOID it like the plague!!!