attachment fees??

We had to print our own papers - confirmation, insurance, instructions for supervisors, list of tasks, evaluation forms.

We had to spend money (a minimum of RM4 everyday for me) getting to our attachment places.

We didn't even receive nominal allowance (except for the lucky few).

And now we have to pay RM100.80 to UM for our attachment.

"Because our attachment is considered a special semester."

What did UM spend to send us there???????????????????

RM0.60 Stamps? Electricity for the fax machine? RM0.05 on photocopying? 0 seconds from not having to monitor us?

What?

What did they do that could possibly amount to RM100.80???

I don't usually use so many question marks, but this is really mind-boggling.

What????????????????????

who will go?

why aren't we teaching our young people to bloom where they were planted?

why aren't we showing them what's happening in our small churches?

why aren't we harnessing the power of their youth for greater things?


Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
"Whom shall I send?
And who will go for us?"


Isaiah 6:8


who will go?

who will go?

why aren't we teaching them to say,

"Here am I! Send me!"

Isaiah 6:8

since then, things have not changed.

we are not teaching the children.

we cannot teach them if we don't first show them.

i'm good at casually making dire predictions.

here's one:

if we don't show them soon,

our small churches will die.

my dire predictions don't always come true because

i don't ever want to be able to tell a friend "i told you so".

what about you?

what will you do about it?

of mak nyah's, sex workers, and abused children.

We were finally allowed to go somewhere other than the courts and the Centre. 

Simply put, my perception of a lot of things has changed.

The transgenders were very nice, very helpful, very friendly. 

I don't condone their lifestyle, but I now see that I've been giving them labels without bothering to know the individuals behind those labels.

A primary school teacher once asked me if prostitution was wrong. I said, "Of course". She replied, "What if she's a single mum, who didn't even finish her SPM, and she has nowhere else to get money for her baby?"

At 11, I'd said that it was wrong anyway.

It's wrong. I still think it's wrong. But 12 years ago, I hadn't thought that it was important to think about how that single mum felt about what she was doing. 

Not happy.

She's not happy about what she's doing.

Nobody writes "sex worker" in the "Cita-Cita" section in that huge report card.

It's wrong. Prostitution is wrong. 

But now that I've met these people, I see that they aren't the only ones who are wrong.

Judging is wrong.

Seeing a need and not helping is wrong.

Sneering at others is wrong.

And the visit to Protect & Save the Children (PS the Children) left an impact on me.

I've heard the stories before - Mum catches Dad forcing his daughter to perform oral sex on him, family friend groping his girlfriend's brother...

Taken from psthechildren.org.my

But standing in the therapy playroom (toys still fascinate me), I thought that it was really sad.

Because toys are supposed to make a happy child happier, not try to heal a broken child.

What do you do when having a big heart isn't enough?

Question of the day as I left the Centre.

it just occurred to me:

This post I wrote about the impromptu speech topic I got in English class:

To what extent has digital democracy or the freedom provided by the Internet led to any improvements in the democratic situation in Malaysia? Give reasons for your opinions.

...is one of the stuff I covered in my academic project.

Ms. Gill had the gift of premonition!

yay, i can go for the committee retreat.

My sense of direction has been tested for the past few days.

Why?
Why?
Why?

Why bother to test something that doesn't exist?

How did I pass Geography?

By remembering the monsoon seasons.

November to March - angin monsun timur laut.
May to September - angin monsum barat laut.
April + October - tempoh peralihan angin.
April - angin Sumatera.

So far, the only time I've used this piece of knowledge was when I attempted to explain why there were no fireflies on a certain night at a certain place.

sheep.

Today's Bible study somehow led to the sermon on the mount again. 

The one where Jesus says to turn the other cheek when someone slaps you, give extra baju when someone takes your baju, go the extra mile, love your enemies...

Whenever it leads to this, Mr Lian always asks the same question:

How can we do something so illogical?

How, indeed.

When someone wronged you on purpose,

When someone lied about you to someone else,

When someone took what should have been yours,

When someone is just so mean,

How do you forgive?

How do you give even more?

How do you not do anything to retaliate?

"God is in control," I replied.

It's what Mr Lian said the first time I attended a study which led to the sermon on the mount. 

Every time I say it, it hits harder. 

Every time I say it, I can't say it very loudly.

Because it's so personal, 

Because it's so real.

Today, Mr Lian added another lesson that I will never forget:

If you truly believe in God, 

you will trust Him.

You must not just believe that He exists,

you must trust Him.

I wrote, 

Father, I cannot.

Truly, 

when it had mattered most, 

if it were solely up to me, 

I think I would have been unable to trust Him.

But praise be to God, 

because it wasn't solely up to me.

He put me in a situation where I had no choice but to trust Him.

Because there simply wasn't any other way to go.

Belief.

Trust.

To believe is easy. The gullible believe many things. And they believe many things many times over. 

But even the gullible fail to trust. 

Coupled with trust,

is when belief becomes faith.

Let not your hearts be troubled.

Trust in God;

trust in Me also.

John 14:1

ken:

*edit*

"Jie, you want bad news or good news?"

"Good news."

 

"Oh ya, the bad news is..."

by chance (you and i).

The guy starred in a few of Ryan Higa's wacky clips, most notably "Daily Life of Rustin Hieber" and "Daily Life of NinjaHinja", and sang this for Higa's "Agents of Secret Stuff".

The line that caught my ear and made me google the lyrics is in bold. Haha!

A bit cheesy for my liking, but I still like the cucumbers line. ^_^

(listen)

Hi 

Girl, you just caught my eye

Thought I should give it try 

and get your name & your number,

Go grab some lunch & eat cucumbers

WHY, DID I SAY THAT?I don’t know why.

But you’re smilin’ & it’s something’ I like

On your face, yeah it suits you

Girl, we connect like we have bluetooth

I don’t know why

I’m drawn to you

Could you be the other one so we’d equal two?

And this is all based on a lucky chance

That you would rather add than subtract

You and Icould be like Sonny & Cher

Honey & bearsYou and I

Could be like Aladdin & Jasmine

Let's make it happen

Hey

How’ve you been?

I know that it’s been awhile.

Are you tired? 'Cause you’ve been on my mind

Runnin’ thousand & thousands of miles

Sorry, I know that line’s outta style

but you

You look so beautiful on this starry night

Loving the way the moonlight catches your eyes and your smile

I’m captivated

Your beauty is timeless, never outdated

I don’t know why

I’m drawn to you

Could you be the other one so we’d equal two?

and this is all based on a lucky chance

that you would rather add than subtract

Babe

,It's been five years since that special day

when I asked you on our first date

I guess it’s safe to say

You and Icould be like Sonny & Cher

Honey & bears

You and I

Could be like Aladdin & Jasmine

Let's make it happen

Let me say,

You look beautiful on our wedding day.

i don't think.

Eh. I do.

It's an incomplete sentence ok. I.e.:

I don't think that it's impossible to explain attraction, or non-attraction.

I'm not attracted to buff guys. At all. 

I'm not attracted to guys who don't talk about anything other than sports.

I'm not attracted to guys who don't watch movies.

I'm not attracted to guys who don't laugh.

I'm not attracted to guys who don't want to learn.
I'm not attracted to guys who don't have an opinion.
I'm not attracted to guys who argue without listening first.

What's difficult to explain is why you chose that one person among so many in the same category.

This is in response to those soppy movies that say, "you should never ever be able to explain why you love someone".

Yup, I know some couples say that too, and so do some counselors, but I think that statement by itself is incomplete. And it doesn't make sense at all, actually, without some qualifications.

How can you not explain why you don't like a guy who farts loudly in public places?

Or sneezes into a handkerchief, then shoves it in your face?

Or says "I don't know and I don't care" to everything you say?

Or says you're fat every time you ask?

Or wears a William Hung fan shirt when he goes out with you?
Or does drugs?
Or doesn't flush after he poops?

We all like certain things in certain people, and that's a fact.

And we all dislike certain things in people.

You discover more things that you like and dislike along the way, which you learn to love and live with eventually, but you start somewhere with something.

I sound random, but I've been thinking about this for a very long time. Like, ever since I watched Winter Sonata, where that guy said that to the girl about her fiance.

Picture taken from this site.

And it sounds really petty, but I've got to write it here, otherwise it'll be like having the solution to a Sudoku puzzle but keeping it in your head.

CANNOT.

And the reason why I'm still awake is because I woke up at 10.15PM after five hours of sleep.

But don't worry,

Fortunately, sleeping is a hobby.

Good morning!

shit.

No, not cursing.

Shit,

has been all over my bathroom floor lately.

 

It came back up every time we washed it down.

I personally don’t think it’s shit shit. It’s some geli, brown stuff from that hole in the bathroom floor which I’m sure has a lovely technical name which I’m not aware of.

I spent the last two days bathing and washing my clothes in the washroom beside the pool.

The contractor finally came today after much heckling from us, and everything is supposed to be cleared now.

I feel so tired today la.

I had no idea what the contractor was telling Ah Will, and felt like I didn’t really care either. Auto-tune-off.

Had a dinner full of laughter (mostly directed at me) with Amreeta & Thulsi.

Then went home slightly depressed at being called “un-irresistible” and washed the shit-filled bathroom.

Now I’m sitting here trying to collect my thoughts for tomorrow.

I think there’s a co-relation between my mind and my table.

Post.

Menstrual.

Syndrome.

It exists.

How?

Easy.

Seek out my fellow lame persons! Nigahiga is leading at the moment. =D

i forgot.

how much studying the Bible stimulates the brain.

sometimes i don't feel like i'm teaching the youths at all. 

the Lord's kingdom is one where both teacher and student learn in the same class.

socrates.

First, although I will graduate with a good degree from UM, I must never be pompous about it. Otherwise, I’ll be starting out with half my legs chopped off already.

Taken from here.

Second, wherever there are more than five personnel in a firm, there will always be two groups, and there will be sides. Expect that, expect to be bad-mouthed and talked about behind my back, and accept it as a part of life. [In his first week, he insulted someone very badly without knowing it. Sounds like something I would do. Yay.]

Taken from here.

Third, the KL Legal Aid Centre will be very different from the Malacca Legal Aid Centre because of the different environments the two are in. I am to gain as much as I can from the exposure to legal life in KL, but I must not use that as a benchmark for my perception of the practice of law, because ‘life does not have to be that crazy’. [For once, someone agrees with me. And he's Socrates! Haha.]

Fourth, use my leverage to the max. Being a UM student, I will have a slight advantage over my contemporaries. But we all grew up around computers, and technology will guide the future of the legal circle, therefore I must work to excel in what I already have.

Fifth, learn to do the nitty-gritty work (e.g. photocopying, stapling, binding), because when I’m in the office late at night, there will be no clerk to do it for me. [Today I  finally got the chance to photocopy like mad. (I must be desperate to want to photocopy so badly) Binding is next!]

Sixth, adapt to my master and supervisor’s working habits. Have a personal template ready so that I can send a letter in five minutes. Be industrious! [A reason to for OCD. =D]

Taken from here.

Seventh, don't forget to gossip and eavesdrop. [Har?] And don't exclude myself from others when waiting for a case to be heard in court. Listening to an expert in a particular legal field for five minutes is worth much more than an hour of research in the library on the same subject.

Taken from here.

Eighth, check out the AGC's website to see the most recent trends in sentencing, because the cases there are updated daily.

He also said that most people would end up doing conveyancing, so that's probably what I'll end up doing. 

He said that it's a reality of life.

I will fight reality then.

Anything but conveyancing.

Maybe buka a firm that specializes in Jurisprudence.

Client

Hey, someone ordered something from me but don't want to pay. I wanna sue.

Me

Ah, but first: What is law?

Client

Hah? Law is law lah. All I want is to sue that guy for breach of contract!

Me

Ah, but what is a 'contract'?

Client

...

Me

A wise man named Socrates once said...

--Copyright: Anderson.

Bright future for me ahead!

try!

I once said, "There has got to be a better way."

Today, I say,

Bring it.

Trying because you know you can be more than what you are now is one of the little things I enjoy.

I think I have come to know where my heart is. 

I hope this is where His heart is too!