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!

homosexuals.

Why do people keep saying homosexuals are born homosexuals?

If that baseless assumption is proven wrong, what else would you have to say in defence of your sexuality?

Nothing? Then maybe it's time to evaluate yourself.

If you have something else to say, why don't you say it instead of that flimsy defence that you keep repeating?

Am I being prejudiced/biased?

I assure you that I am prepared to give anyone a hard time who doesn't think it important to do well-grounded research before making lofty statements.

"It is time for a change"

"It has always been this way"
"I have my rights"

"I'm not hurting anybody"

"It's my prerogative"

I hate hearing those statements.

They sound argumentative, but they're just pure emotion.

Unless you can defend your statement, it shouldn't see the light of day.


Next, people are going to say they were born with the "Lady Gaga" gene.
You weren't born this way, Gaga. Who're you trying to kid?

attachment.

Currently attached to the Malacca Legal Aid Centre.

It's really not what I expected. Details later, now I wanna watch Bones. Haha.

But still, I've learned that when I make mistakes, I made them, not God.

All this is still within His plan, and my job is to make the most of where I am and what I'm doing to discover that plan.

Have had the opportunity to have direct contact with chambering students, and that's a good thing. Have also been to the courts, and that's also a good thing, because I find things so amusing there sometimes. But then again, I find most things amusing.

Anyway, a lot of things will be happening beginning May 28. 

Sin Yee's getting married, for one! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Then Chen Li and I will drive up to PJ to follow Gabriel to camp.

Then I'll be doing all sorts of other awesome things. 

Awesome things await!

And the first one is an episode of Bones!

Ta!

"guess what?"

"I quoted Spiderman's uncle for Azmi Sharom's assignment and I got 8/10. Haha!"

Esmond
Uncle Ben has been quoted so often. He can be considered a credible source.

things i managed to remember besides law.

"We do not come before God as equals." 

-- Uncle Leslie.

"Christ's death aims to make us sin less not sinless." 

-- Uncle Phye Keat.

"The coming of Christ was not complementary, but complete."

-- Uncle Lian.

"I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he dies, shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?"

-- Jesus Christ, John 11:25-26.

You will notice:

1. My love for good usage of words.
2. My respect for wise men.

But the presence of good men is not an excuse for women to slack. Hunger and grasp of Scripture and spiritual things is the calling of all - and in Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female anyway. (Galatians 3:28) 

There is only the lazy and the unlazy.

after my final paper on thursday...

MERDEKA!!!!!!!

*flap flap flap*

Right.

For those who haven't heard me say it gazillion times,

I'm going off to do my attachment in the Malacca Legal Aid Centre May 16-June 3.

Then I'll be attached to the KL Legal Aid Centre June 6-24.

In between, I'll try to take two days off to attend PJGH's Family Camp from May 28-31, missing the first day of camp because I'll be attending Kah Wei and Sin Yee's wedding dinner on May 28. (CAN'T WAIT! I LOVE WEDDINGS!)

Then I'll fly to Kuching July 6-9. Which was supposed to be a good break, but which may not turn out to be one after all. [insert appropriate expression here]

Almost right before the new term starts in September, I'll be going off to a camp called The Plan 11 from August 31-September 3.

Knowing me, 

I'll spend two months (after deducting attachment time) worrying thinking about Christmas, the PKV t-shirt, the Promo Booth, Junior Visitation, Malam Suai Kenal, Convo, and possibly, Camp.

Also, knowing me (see, I know myself so well),

I'll probably get myself into something (or some things) that would keep me busy for two months la.

And then I'll be in my final year.

Oh ya, now I remember what I wanted to do.

I wrote in my spiritual diary that I'd start a study on the "I am's" in the gospel of John.

Now that is really something to look forward to.

Actually I look forward to all of the above, 

except the part where HEP's latest creative and innovative ideas are going to make life for PKV a little more difficult.

(can you recognize sarcasm when you see it?)

Before all that happens,

I shall just enjoy studying Public International Law. YAY.

In case you're wondering why I sound like a bimbo, it's because I'm off in the head.

To honour bimboism, I shall end perfectly bimbotically:

Toodles!

not to sound shallow but…

The ‘Chocolate Paste’ on Choki-choki?

Is translated as…

 

(I like pasta, but this ain’t no pasta)

off in the head.

Zhen Qi

Just cite AG v. Great Eastern Railway for everything!

Tse Hwei

In the case of Great Eastern Railway, there was a railway which was very great and it was in the East.

invigorating.

It was different from other discussions about Christianity because these weren't people who just wanted to argue.

These were people who really wanted to know, and that, in itself, was very satisfying.

Have been lamenting the inadequacy of my knowledge of Scripture. All I know is whatever I've heard from sermons, Sunday School, Youth, Bible study, and a little from my daily readings, since who knows when.

Today was a reminder that there is much to learn from older Christians, and there is much to teach younger Christians.

Today was also a flashback to 2005. It was like looking back and remembering why I decided to read law.

Hwei, buck up!

section 132E(6).

A director or substantial shareholder of a company or its holding company, or a person connected with such director or substantial shareholder, in whose favour the company carries into effect an arrangement or transaction and who knows that such arrangement or transaction is carried into effect by a company in contravention of this section, or a director who knowingly authorized the company to carry into effect such arrangement or transaction, in contravention of this section, shall be guilty of an offence against this Act. 

Penalty: Imprisonment for seven years or two hundred and fifty thousand ringgit or both.

(98 words)

You know, this reminds me of something Dr Azmi said some time ago:

"I THINK, that these people went to special schools. 

Special schools to teach them how to be completely...
incomprehensible."

All in agreement say 'aye'.

bribery.

Me

It's like training a dog. The theory is that I tell you to study, and after you study, I give you a chocolate, then you'll study harder.

Kock Sin

And after I study, you'll buy Starbucks coffee for me! Yay! I go study now!

this was a long time ago, but.

(Eminem teaches Jimmy Kimmel how to rap)




Cannot tahan la.

Ahaha.

The ending's not here though.

The ending was good. =P

jurisprudence is over.

It was actually my favourite subject.

Before I went for the exam, I told God that no matter how it turned out, Jurisprudence would still be my favourite subject.

Now that it's over, the real battle begins.

Company Law (the subject I know almost nothing about),

Public International Law (the subject I forgot to register).

See my bleak future?

The casualties of Law Fac exams:

irritated.

the various heights of stupidity constantly amaze me.

theirs, especially.

almost two years of working with them,
and they haven't changed.

13 may - 42nd anniversary.

FIVE ARTS CENTRE and POCKETSIZE PRODUCTIONS


present

I was 13 at the time. On the day it happened...
A Workshop Presentation of Stories of 13 May 1969

directed by Chee Sek Thim

text curated by Jacqueline Ann Surin
performed by Foo May Lyn, Lucille Dass and Shah Zainal

11, 12 & 13 May 2011

8.30PM 
at Socio-Economic & Environmental Research Institute (SERI)
10 Brown Road, Penang

Admission by donation of RM10
Call 0124828619 




14 May 2011
5pm at Leonardo's Wine Loft, 61-2 Jalan Bangkung, Bukit Bandaraya, 
Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur


9pm at Five Arts Centre, 27 Lorong Datuk Sulaiman 7, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, 
Kuala Lumpur

Admission by donation of RM10
Call 0125162891

This event will present a reading of different stories of 13 May 1969 told by Malaysians as they remember it. The stories will be juxtaposed with the official rhetoric of government, political parties, politicians, academics and the media regarding the racial clashes of 13 May.

The purpose of this workshop presentation is to reclaim what 13 May means to Malaysians by allowing other stories of the incident, apart from the official rhetoric, to be told and/or retold through performance in a public space. The hope is that by doing so, the official history of 13 May can be contested, and a space or spaces for more nuanced and compassionate memories of the incident can be created.

For more information email fivearts@tm.net.my or pocketsize.productions@gmail.com

all knowledge is relative.

It was against the Sophists that Plato's writings are directed. But we must admit that it is the Sophist attitude that comes closest to the view that most generally prevails today - that all knowledge is relative to the person seeking it. 

No man is in a position to call another mistaken. Not many people today believe, with Plato, in a 'form' of goodness, an absolute and ideal standard by reference to which we can determine universal, absolute, ethical values.

The Sophists, to most present day ways of thinking, were correct.

So when Japanese soldiers entered villages in Malaysia in the Second World War, and for sport threw babies and young children into the air, catching them as they fell on the end of their bayonets, 

they committed nothing that can be regarded as absolute wrong.

When two teenagers broke into the flat of a partly blind widow of 92, and beat and raped her, and gouged out one eye,

these actions were wrong merely according to the particular code of our own time.

Absolute certainty as to the wrongness of any act can never be laid down.

All values are merely relative.

Is this not so, dear reader, is this not so?

-- Riddall, J. G., "Of Big Fish and Little Fish", Jurisprudence.

I couldn't find the news about the 92-year-old widow, but finding these troubled me enough.

And, 


Riddall's book was published in 1999.

I weep as well.

what is law?

 

free?

mother's day @ pjgh.

Today, I laughed as I listened to a little boy's five-line tribute to his grandmother.

Today, I wept with a 30-year-old son as he acknowledged his mother in tears.

Today, I smiled as I listened to a husband's appreciation of his wife.

I was very moved,
and it didn't matter anymore that I'd been in church for 8 hours.

Because today I saw that true love does exist.

And people only cry like that when they mean what they say.

Love does exist.
And love can stay pure.

Father, 
I believe.
And forgive me for forgetting,
that time spent for You is never time wasted.