Friendship

Just last year my daughter managed to trace down a dear family friend that we lost touch with for over 15 years. Through facebook, of course.

And today, I "bumped" into a friend on facebook. Didn't know he has come thousands of kilometres away from where we worked together to the same city I now live in.

Facebook is a very interesting phenomenon. It has helped me to find friends, some long lost, some I would not expect to see or hear from ever again. In all this, it has never failed to bring me joy. It is a marvelous thing to catch up with long lost friends.

I guess this is because in many ways friendship is such beautiful thing. Friendship seems to multiply the joy of good time, and portion out the burden of sorrow in bad. It gives us strength in tough time, and courage in the face of death. Many war time soldiers would recount that their heroic acts were not inspired by patriotism or philosophical conviction, but to stick it out for their mates.

I enjoy friendship greatly. Yet sadly there are people whom we just can't be great friends with. I often wonder why. They are great people, nice people. But somehow somewhere something is not right. It is not even their or our doing.

I grew up in a small town where more than 80% of the people there were Malays. So, not surprisingly, many of my good friends were Malays. Though I have not met almost all of them for over 20 years, I still count some of them as my best friends.

That contrasts greatly with many of the Malay friends I know later. They are not any less nice. In fact, they are probably nicer and kinder than many of my good friends. Yet there seems to be a barrier somewhere, somehow.

They have done me no wrong; in fact they have done me a lot of good.

I have done them no wrong, too; at least not that I can recall.

The 64 000 dollars question is, why? I often wonder.

Is it envy? That richer people qualifies for financial privileges just on the basis of race, and we being poorer has to pay for this privilege with our tax?

Is it anger? That kids with poorer results are given better position in universities than our kids who do better at school?

Is it jealousy? That people who are not performing as well as us are promoted to be our bosses?

Is it dissatisfaction? That our tax money is being squandered to destroy meritocracy?

Is it fear? That somehow we have believe in a religion that has been battered and slandered even in high school text books, and the next target would be ourselves, the believers?

Is it sorrow? That the friendship I treasure is being poisoned by racist policies and corrupt government?

Or is it me? That I fail to see through the mist of misinformation and subtle psychological subversion and succumb to the poison served up by corrupt politicians looking to consolidate power by whipping up racial strife?

I can only pray that I will see the beauty of God's image in every one of his children and love them as Jesus called us to.

Wars and Poems

I have been free and idle for the last couple of months. What started off as my annual leave has degenerated into a forced holiday waiting for the power-to-be to process my registration etc. Talk about bureaucracy. In my spare time, I borrowed some books from the local library on the two world wars. What truly appalled me was the number of death. Hundreds of thousands of lives were sacrificed on the altar of war senselessly, sometimes in just a single battle. At the end of each world war, there were tens of million of death.

There are a couple of poems written during the first world war that are particularly poignant and famous. The first was written by a Canadian field doctor, Lieutenant Colonel Dr. John McCrae, In Flanders Field:

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses row on row

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt down, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrels with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders Fields.

The second was longer, written by Laurence Binyon, For the Fallen. Some of the stanzas are:

.....

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,

Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.

They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;

They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, or the years contemn.

At the going of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

They mingled not with their laughing comrades again;

They sit no more at familiar tables of home;

They have no lot in our labour of day-time;

They sleep beyond England's foam.

.....

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,

Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;

As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,

To the end, to the end, they remain.

Bread

The first time I got really excited about baking bread was more than 20 years ago. Back in the 80s bread making machine was a rarity. I visited my friend's house one day and saw that they had such a machine. I was totally fascinated, not only by the idea that you can bake bread at home, but also because a freshly baked loaf of bread smells and tastes so much better.

As soon I started work and saved up enough money, I bought my first (and only) very own bread making machine. Back in the 90s bread maker was very expensive, but I enjoyed making my own bread and eating them. The problems with bread maker though, is that the machine is quite fussy. Unless you get everything right, the bread will not turn up right. Even old flour and room temperature variation affect the quality of bread.

Then my bread maker broke, and I was too busy to bake any bread, until we moved over here. With more time at hand, I started baking bread again, and this time, without a bread maker. I find that kneading the dough by hand and baking it in a conventional oven give me far more control over the process, and hence more leeway, and more opportunity to correct any variation.

Still, home baked bread does not taste as smooth and soft as commercially baked bread. The secret - well emulsifier and conditioner.

This is my simple bread recipe, and it tastes just as nice as the one bought in the shop.

Ingredient:
2 cups of high protein/bread flour
1 - 1.5 tablespoon of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of bread improver (optional)
1.5 teaspoon of yeast
1 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of butter/vegetable shortening/oil
1 cup of water

Mix in dry ingredient, stir in oil and water.
Knead till smooth (about 10 - 20 minutes).
Optional: you can roll in any added ingredient, such as dry fruit, raisin, chocolate chips here.
Place in oiled bowl, cover with gladwrap or wet towel, let rise for an hour.
Punch down, shape and place in oiled baking pan, let rise till it is about twice the original size.
Bake in 150-180 degrees Celsius for 30 - 35 minutes
Cool on wire rake before cutting.

Bon appetit.

Spring

Spring is finally here.

This is the season that I have been waiting for the whole year.

We arrived here in the dark, gloom and doom of August last year. We went through challenging time over the past 12 months. Now, finally, the light at the end of the tunnel.

Just received an email from the College - finally, they will give me the paper - and back to being neurologist again!

But it doesn't get any easier from here. Thank God that the hospital I worked in is asking me back as a consultant. The problem is, almost every consultant here works part time, and they can only offer me part time. Well, at least it's a starter and it will bring home the bacon.

The next step is to look for private job, or setting up my own. That's the challenging part. There's just too much to learn, to much to do, to much to know. I was totally overwhelmed. After much prayer, I guess the best way is to take a step at a time. I will start with a multiple sclerosis clinic in one of the major centres here first. At least that gives me some exposure of private work, or MS work, and a taste of practice management.

The rest, a step at a time.

In the mean time, I have a 2 months break - September and October.

And I am spending it enjoying the flowers in my garden ....

Happy birthday, Daniel!

I have a little nephew. He is an intelligent, fun loving guy. He loves computer games.

We recently celebrated his 6th birthday. It was a wonderful get together. It was also great to catch up with friends, family and relatives.

His birthday last year was one of the first social event we had when we first arrived. And now, it's another birthday. Time indeed flies.

Spring is late

Went to Canberra to renew the passports for the family. The weather was beautiful. And we just chanced upon the annual flower exhibition - the Floriade, outside Canberra. Took some pictures. It was a beautiful show. Came back totally exhausted - woke up at 4 am in the morning to catch the plane and rushed back straight after getting the passport done.

It was an interesting experience. Canberra is very very quiet compared to Melbourne or Sydney; or even to Perth. But the capital city is well laid out with broad roads, little traffic and generally fantastic people. Unlike the big cities, it is less metropolitan. But as soon as we stepped into the Malaysian High Commission, it felt like being back in Malaysia! Even the way they arranged the cubicles, the counter, and everything inside, look so Malaysian. The staff, though, is more helpful than those in Malaysia. The weather, though, was fantastic. We had beautiful sunshine with a top of 20. Couldn't be better.

Arrived back in Melbourne at night and we were immediately greeted by Melbourne's cold, wet winter. Seems that Spring has forgotten about us.

Having my 2 months break after a year of registrar call. I am relishing and enjoying it at the moment before I get bored! Still there are a lot of paper work and things to do to get started for next year.

Cherry Blossom again

Yes, it is cherry blossom again.

I well remember the same time last year, we have just arrived. I had not started work yet, the kids were just starting school, and my wife had just started work. There were so much worries, so much uncertainty, so much that was beyond our grip. There was so much that could go wrong. I anticipated that things would get worse before any better, and I was right.

Since I had not yet started working, I spent the day ferrying the kids back and forth from school; and did most of the house work. During the day, I would spend most of the time watching the tv, since there wasn't much to do. I did notice a bald, small tree in the tiny garden that we had, and wasn't sure what tree it was. Then one day, it suddenly burst out in a beautiful blossom of pink and cherry. Of course, it was a cherry tree. The cherry blossom was breathtaking.

And with the cherry blossom, the weather started to turn warm, the sun came out earlier and set later, and life looked as though it would get better. "Yes, this time next year," I remember telling myself then, "life will be better."

Well, as a family we did go through some very challenging time over the past 12 months. The kids were depressed, especially my daughter. She missed her friends tremendously. My wife's job was more challenging than she thought. And my days fluctuated from deeply depressing ones, to nail-biting anxious days, and exhaustingly tiring ones. The first six months was tough for all of us. We had worries on all fronts - work, finances, friends, church, spiritual life, even basic things like finding a place to stay for the family.

We ploughed on. And in the midst of all these, God has been tremendously faithful. He has done more than we could ever asked or dreamed of. Through the last 12 months He has worked miracles after miracles in our lives - from big things to the tiniest details, He has not left us out of His sight for even one thousandth of a second.

And then, it is cherry blossom again.

As life gradually turns for the better, it is easy to forget how tough it was at the beginning. It is even easier to forget how much God has done for us. But I am reminded by the cherry blossom - that life is better because God has held us in His hand; He has held us as though we were the apple of His eye.

Praise you, Lord, for the cherry blossom. Praise you, Lord, for all that you have done for us.

Today Last Year (Part 4)

The first night in a totally empty house. We borrowed some air mattresses from my cousin.

Finally, some basic furniture arrived, well, some borrowed for the moment and others bought.

First day of school for the kids.

Finally, we got started with life here...

Today Last Year (Part 3)

When we arrived at the Tullamarine airport, the captain invited us to the cockpit.

Bunking in with my brother at midnight, the day of arrival.

Had a good day the next day with my little nephew.

Moving into our first rented place. It was totally empty; we've got nothing except what's in the suitcase. No furniture, no nothing.

Today Last Year (Part 2)

Farewell with some of our best friends ...

The Final farewell in the airport ...

The guy in uniform actually sent us all the way to Melbourne, no kidding. I will show you proof in my next blog.

(More to follow on what happened after we arrived in Melbourne).

Today Last Year (Part 1)

Well, today last year we were packing and going to the airport to take a plane to leave home. Yes, it is exactly one year today that we left. The year seems to have passed by very quickly. Here are some pictures leading up to the moment we left. Bring back some fond memories of good friends and colleagues that we have had over the years.

It was just after my son's birthday ...

Farewell from family friend.

Farewell from our care group.

Farewell from the church and good friends.

Farewell from good friends and church friends.

Farewell lunch from my colleagues.

Farewell from old friends.

From the church.

Our home

One of the church friends asks us about the new house that we are staying in. I didn't have the time to upload any photos until today. So, sorry SP for the late photos.

The first picture is the front of the house as one walks down the pedestrian path.

The house is right beside a park. The park extends back much further, and it's actually quite big.

And this is the front door to the house.

As you walk into the house, the first thing you see is the lounge. You can see how "lived in" and how messy it is.

This is the kitchen.

And the backyard.

Now, you have completed a tour of my house! Except, of course, the bedrooms, which are too messy to be shown ....

Happy Birthday, Tim

We recently celebrated Timothy's birthday. It is amazing how much he has grown over the space of one year! He was still a kid when we had our farewell in KL - and that was just after his birthday. We are here almost a year, and he has just celebrated his birthday again.

Happy birthday, Tim.

Catching Up (Part 4)

And finally, during this mid-year winter break, I took a week off - hence the time to catch up with my blog. We also went to the zoo and spent a good half a day there. The next day we went to the cinema to watch Karate Kid, acted by Jaden Smith and Jacky Chan. The plot was essentially the same as the old Karate Kid, but the kids enjoyed it tremendously.

Well, we have been for a good 11 months now. By the end of July, we would have been here for a year. The year has gone by very very quickly.

Catching Up (Part 3)

My parents came to visit us during the Easter holiday this year. They stayed for only 2 weeks, but even then they found the weather here too cold to their liking.

We brought them to look around Melbourne, and since there was not much to see, we drove by the beach and stopped at a spot or two. We then visited my old Year 12 college and popped by the flats I used to stay as a first year overseas student.

We wanted to bring them to the Phillips Island to watch the penguin parade, but the cold was too much for them, so they followed my brother and sister-in-law to the Dandenongs and went cherry picking.

We were rather disappointed that the penguins did not return in droves, apparently because there were sharks just outside the island. There is also a colony of penguins in the St. Kilda piers, right near the heart of down town Melbourne.

Apart from the penguin parade we also dropped by the koala reserve. It was scary to see how human activities have decimated the breeding grounds of penguins and koala bear just a little over 100 years.