Poor in possession but rich in faith

Last week I went to Long Malim, a Penan Settlement. Our purpose was to do follow up and to teach the  Penan children basic language and maths. Along the way, we passed by ...

... Long Peran. The people of Long Peran worship ...

...  their ancestors. To them, there is no other god other than their own god.

The next Penan settlement is ...

...  Long Singu. Long Singu is a Christian Community. You will notice that at every of these settlements, there is a big compound which is used as a helipad. The flying doctor came in once a month! So, please don't get sick in between! Otherwise the nearest clinic is 70KM away and will require 3-4 hours of travelling through logging tracks.
After travelling for 8 hours, covering 224KM, we finally reached Long Malim Penan settlement.

Surrounded by cloud shrouded mountains, Long Malim is a beautiful place! According to my Garmin satellite navigator (GPS), it is just 520meters above sea level. At the highest point, the road is about 800+ meters above sea level.

But alas, the once crystal clear river is now a permanent yellow river! The fishes are gone and the simple livelihood of the Penan is gone forever. Now, they learned how to plant ...

... padi.
The Penan settlement seems to be temporarily as they will require to move again due to Murum Hydroelectric dam construction. Read more here.
Now, we talk about fairness by the government and the way they treated the indigenous people here. I don't know who build their "long houses" . They used recycled zinc roof which is ...

... full of holes. During the day, the sun will ...

... will shine right through and you will see bright light spots on the floor. During rain, the water will get right through those holes.
In the name of development, I am sure that they were probably worse off then before. Their kitchen is still ...

 ... as primitive as ever.

 True that they have gas tank but can they afford to operate it? I was told that they are very expensive. So, the same kitchen has both LPG fired stoves and the traditional wood fired cooking place.

Back in the sixties, Milo was a luxury and for a big cup, we could only use half a tablespoon of milo with equal amount of sugar. The drink was a faint brownish colour just like what this boy was drinking!

If you get sick in this place, my Garmin told me that the nearest clinic is more than 70KM away! So, the best way is to pray and ask Jesus the Healer to perform miracle as the next flying doctor will not come in for up to a month time. Praise God that most people are Christian and there are countless miracles there. I can only conclude that their faith is strong! Do pray for them and always remember the super poor community at Malim, a place above the cloud! Also pray for their children as most of them don't go to school!
Over there, the Penan speak Malay and Iban in addition to their own language!

Hannah Yeoh

I tried to avoid posting political article. But I just can't ignore some good one. I am not being biased but if anyone has good one from any party, I would be more than happy to post.
Hear her speaks. On youtube, some criticized her English. But many young people of her age can only speak broken English!

What does Chief Minister mean to you?

Sarawak Report has reviewed some very disturbing reports about the chief Minister of Sabah and the system! Read these two reports for yourself in Sarawak Report.

Article one
Article two

There are many more articles at Sarawak Report which is worth reading... find out yourself there and make conclusion for yourself! Reading them made me scare!

The reports reviewed " the investigation has been blocked at the highest levels and its findings kept secret, ..."

Long Malim - Land above the cloud

Last weekend (14/4 - 16/4), a group of 9 from the Yi Eng and Grace Methodist visited the small Penan settlement at Long Malim. Long Malim is about 224KM from Miri and 520 metres above sea level in Ulu Belaga. The place is surrounded by high mountains and a river.
The whole journey took eight hours. The most difficult part of the trip was the last 20 KM of road which was windy and high gradient. This 20KM took 1.5 hours! Apart from this, the place is beautiful and full of trees.

As we arrive at the settlement at about 2:40PM, we found that the place was very quiet. There were not many adults except 20+ children.

As we inquire about it, we realised that the adults went to the field for harvesting.

The mission house is at the edge of a large flat ground which is used as a helideck. I was told that the flying doctor came in once a month to this place to see the sick. Therefore, if anyone is sick, he/she must wait for a month! It seems that the common problem is gastrointestinal related problem, vomiting, stomach ache, fever and one suspected malaria.

We can only pray for the sick and provide them with very simple medication. Surprisingly, the people there are full of faith and miracle healing is quite common. 

Saturday evening service was conducted and also Sunday service. The attendance could had been better but   this is planting and harvesting month and many adults were away.

Our two ladies gave basic classes, teaching them the alphabet and counting. They are bright and very attentive. They remember what they learn. Unfortunately, they have no opportunity to go to school.

These children can remember gospel songs!

 The youths there are attentive to the bible teaching....

... and irrespective of age, they are always ready to come forward to nail their sins and confessions on the cross!

Look at this, our city folk would have backed out. They are full of faith, ready to confess and forgive each other. We were called to visit a family where there were conflict. They wanted to seek reconciliation and forgiveness. At the end, they all hug each other ... all conflicts were remove.
This is my first instalment... more to come.
To see more photos, click here.

中文萬歲！！！

Unfortunately, the following passage needs to be in Chinese in order to feel the power of the Chinese language. So, translating it will make no sense. My apologies to all who don't understand Chinese!

一美女興致勃勃地問醫生：「我想豐胸，但是豐胸後會有什麼效果？」
醫生淡定地答道：
「豐胸後，一般會有四種結果：
1. 大不一樣；
2. 不大一樣；
3. 一樣不大；
4. 不一樣大！」
世界上沒有其他的文字能夠有這樣的功能，中文萬歲！！！


〈中文字的奧妙〉
外國人學中文，確實不容易。
中文字的奧妙，常常讓學中文的老外暈倒，說幾個聽來的段子：


一、方便
一位剛學過一點中文的美國人來到中國，中國朋友請他吃飯。到了飯店落座，中國朋友說：「對不起，我去方便一下。」
那老外沒聽明白，「方便」是哪裡？
見老外疑惑，中國朋友告訴他說「方便」，口語裡是「上廁所」的意思。
哦，老外意會了。
席間，中國朋友對老外說：「我下次到美國，希望你能幫忙提供些方便。」
老外納悶了：他去美國，讓我提供些廁所幹嗎？
道別時，另一位在座的中國朋友熱情地對老外說：「我想在你方便的時候請你吃飯。」
見老外驚訝發愣，中國朋友接著說：「如果你最近不方便的話，咱們改日……」
老外無語。
「咱找個你我都方便的時候一起吃飯吧。」老外隨即暈了。


二、乳


一位老師向老外學生解釋「乳」字的含義：乳即是小的意思，比如乳鴿、乳豬等。講解完，老師要求老外學生用「乳」字造句。
老外學生造句說：「現在房價太高了，所以我家只能買得起20平方米的乳房。」
老師聽了，冒著冷汗說：「再造一個！」
老外學生：「我年紀太小，連一米寬的乳溝都跳不過去。」
老師冷汗如雨下，說：「再造一個！」
老外學生說：「老師我真的想不出來了，我的乳頭都快想破了！」


三、意思


某老外苦學漢語10年，到中國參加漢語考試。
試題之一：
請解釋下文中每個「意思」的意思：
阿呆給領導送紅包時，兩個人的對話頗有意思。
領導：「你這是甚麼意思？」
阿呆：「沒甚麼意思，意思意思而已。」
領導：「你這就不夠意思了。」
阿呆：「小意思，小意思。」
領導：「你這人真有意思。」
阿呆：「其實也沒有別的意思。」
領導：「那我就不好意思了。」
阿呆：「是我不好意思。」
這老外聽了，一頭霧水。
中文的「意思」太深奧了，於是他交白卷回國。

My legs turned jelly just by watching

How safety concious are you? For the sake of survival, are you willing to gamble your life away. I was witnessing these four guys trying to hang up a sign board. Just by watching I felt that numbing feeling on both of my legs. They must be 30 feet above ground and worse, the ladders they use were rather small and the persons holding onto the ladders pay no attention at all. One even walked away!

Did you notice that both ladders were slanting? I went over to tell the guy in red and he said that he knows. I wish I could issue a stop work order like in Shell.
Life seems to be so worthless! Love your life and work safely. Your loved ones are waiting for your return in the evening.

Bulatan Park is Hard Hat Area

My walking buddies at Bulatan Park decided to wear safety helmet in order to proof a point.... 

Ever wonder why?

While walking at the park, they need to watch out for projectile from above ... it is not bird dropping... but

.. flying dried branches! The other day, dry branches broke off and came crashing to the path below just in front of me! Small branches may not cause a great deal of physical hurt but they were all quite big which is a safety hazard.

A closer look reviewed that there are quite a lot of dry branches and they can come crashing down any time.  Some are very big and some are small. Whatever, they are hazard!

This entrance had never been level and always collect water after rain. The road is slippery and also a slip hazard.
When can the authority instruct the park maintenance people to pull down dry branches instead of chopping off harmless palm leaves before anyone is hurt? Don't forget to level this stretch of road.

Dead granddad wanted grandson to teach him PC skill

I read this news from See Hua Daily today. It was reported that a young man decided to give an "offering" of laptop computer to the deceased grandfather during the Ching Min.
Now, the dead grandfather spoke to the youth in his dream that he doesn't know how to use the laptop and would need him to "go down" to teach him. This scared the shit out of the youth and he fell sick the next day causing the family to seek treatment from medium and all kind of medicine men ... east and west!
Lesson learnt ... don't give any "offering" to the dead if they don't know how to use it when they were alive.

Dato Sebastian to "Go Bald"

Our friendly Dato Sebastian (political secretary) will "Go Bald" on 13th May 2012 at 11am at Bintang Megamall Miri to raise money for Children suffering from cancer. It is a Sunday and that means a lot of people can go and support! So, please remember this date.

Osprey Fishing for Lunch

Amazing! Watch this short video ...
 

Moral Studies down the drain...

Our children went through moral studies in school until the fifth form. Yet, we are living in a society as if there was never any moral studies. Take this huge rubbish container placed at public place for the public to place rubbish....

Someone set this thing on fire! It could be because the bin was full or smelly but I couldn't find a reason to have it burnt! Can you? Surely tax payer money had been burnt here just because of some irresponsible people.

Disappointing footwear from Bata!

During my younger days, Bata was known to make good quality shoes. Now, the quality has deteriorate so much that they may be worse than those you pay much less. Or is it an issue of poor quality control?
I bought this pair of sandal and used it for about a month. You can see the tear right through the centre...

I went back to the Bata centre and was told that "this batch" received a lot of complain in W.M.

Apparently, I don't get a replacement pair because I think Bata can't afford a "recall". As for me, I think this is the last time I will buy any sandal from Bata. The quality is simply too disappointing.
In another country where consumer's right is strong, they will replace with no question asked.
Do you have similar experience? I made a complain at Bata Facebook and they made no attempt to reply.

Update: Bata did reply to me via their FB after I wrote on their fb wall. Good of them as ignoring complain, whoever is right/wrong is not a good idea.

Penang Chief Minister

Hong Kong TVB Special Programme on Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng
What I like about him is that he is humble! A very good role model to follow.  

香港无线电视节目- [檳城在望]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HA5HRSlYcY
  香港无线电视节目- [檳城在望]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmNwjX9TnGE
  香港无线电视节目- [檳城在望]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaAvEFRQkqM

More pictures of Miri from Meritz

More photos taken from Meritz Hotel. Click here to see the photos I posted on facebook.

Meritz Hotel, Miri

A landmark new hotel, the Meritz Hotel, was opened for business on 15th March 2012. The main attractions of this hotel:

1. Dinning is at the 15th floor which gave the guest a splendid view of Miri.
2. Atrium area (I think there is one atrium area every 3 floor) is provided which span three floors. This provide the guest an area to rest or simply to enjoy themselves.
3. Swimming pool is on the 8th floor.
4. The check-in area is very specious and directly linked to Parkson.
5. Special offer of RM160 nett per room including breakfast for two until October.
6. 291 rooms
I think it has the largest air conditioned indoor ballroom in Miri which can accommodate 2000.

This hotel is fully booked on opening!

For more photos, click here.

Rat Glue Removal

I read the news that even cat was trapped by rat glue. I also set up rat glue at home and it caught mostly house lizard! But the annoying part is that the glue stuck everywhere and removing them was a real pain until....

... I found an effective and easy way to remove the glue.

Just use cooking oil to rub over the glue and it dissolves readily! Then wash it off with washing liquid or soap. It is harmless and non toxics.

You need some encouragement?

I hope by now you know who is Jeremy Lin. Just in case, he is the new NBA basketball hero!
I read this motivational article "Lessons from Lin-sanity" which I thought is very powerful. Click here to read it.
I copied some of the paragraphs I like:

Lin’s favourite quote is ‘suffering produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us.’


There are so many hurdles to realising our dream that without perseverance we will surely fail. Perseverance is required to face failure and to get up to fight another day. Douglas MacMillan writes, “To err is human. But to persevere is a feat that often separates the successful from the mediocre.”


It is not that you fail, which makes you a failure. It is when you stay down, deciding not to get up to try again, that makes you a failure!


Hard work and perseverance is a necessary step to greatness. Great leaders get up early, stay up late, work hard. 

Learning perseverance

Here are some key “perseverance” tips that you can develop to become “Lin-tastic”:

1. Learn never to abandon tasks when faced with obstacles.

2. Approach all tasks and projects with interest and passion. Passion will provide you energy. This will help you to avoid “bouncing” from task to task from lack of interest.

3. Avoid distractions from new ideas and projects not in line with the tasks at hand.

4. Visualise the successful task completion. This ensures you avoid seeing a minor hindrance as a major catastrophe.

5. Engage others to help. This helps you be accountable but enables you to learn new tricks and techniques.

6. Focus on the benefits of completing the task. This generates interest, enthusiasm and energy to accomplish the task.

7. Believe in yourself. Believe that you can make things happen.

Amazing invention - take now focus later

A radical new camera that lets you adjust the focus after you take a picture began shipping this week.

The Lytro is the creation of Ren Ng, who started work on the digital camera while studying for a doctorate in computer science at Stanford University in California.

And Ren Ng is a Malaysian!

Click here to "play" with his "take now focus later technology". After the picture has loaded, just click on any part of the photo to refocus. 

Click here to see more photos on their facebook and also to see how the camera looks like.

By the way, the most expensive model cost only US$499! Before you send in your order, I was told that to view the photos, you need an Apple computer and the processing is quite slow due to the large image file of each photo.

Above photo is from Lytro website.

World most economical car - I want!

Volkswagen AG in Hamburg, made the most economical car in the world with an engine capacity of 1-litre, powered by diesel. It consumes just 0.99 litre per 100 KM. Apparently, the top speed is 75Km/hr.

I am not sure how much it cost but apparently the information I received says that it cost less than US1000.

To give you an idea on the economy, it cost less than 2 cents per km or less than 30 cents from Lutong to Miri.
More information here. Or search google.

Dog play dead to avoid bath

Something to amuse/de-stress yourself

My blog is now wider

I think it is high time for me to adjust the blog window to 1200 pixels across as most display is now capable to display such resolution. The major advantage is that the photos will now be larger.

I still use back the same banner photo. Somehow I like this photo. Maybe, one of these days I will change it.

I hope you like it!

Tasik Mas, Limbang

Tasik Mas, Limbang is a popular spot for joggers, etc. I was there last year and attempted to climb the slope to the top of the hill. I climbed that hill, which is just behind Limbang Town, a couple of times in the early 70's.

The Tasik Mas is above sea level. It is well maintained and the lake is surrounded by greens....

... and flowering plants. The lake itself is full of lilies.
To see all the photos, click here.

Fake or Real. Can you tell?

Lately, I heard of people buying iPhone and was conned. What they got could be just toy, simply fake or used.


This morning, a certain bird nest exporter from Miri told me about the ban by China of all Malaysian bird nest except those canned. The newspaper reported that one of the reasons could be fake bird nest from Malaysia! 

This gentleman frequented China and he told me that in China there are fake chicken wing being served, fake kangkong, fake eggs, rotten meat made into delicacies, etc. I knew of someone who bought a bagful of beef tendon from China which turned out to be made of nylon (plastic)!

He further told me that the worse are those stops made by tourist buses cos everyone earned a commission! Prices are double those of the real stuff. Worse, fake clothing passed off as real branded stuff looks good only once. When washed, they crumble and looked like preserved veggie (as he described it)!

So, watch out!

Just in case you wanted to buy bird nest, click here to find out more, especially how to differentiate a fake and a real one.

Meritz Hotel Miri

Soon, an additional hotel will be opened to the public in Miri. This is next to Bintang Mega mall.

The new hotel is the one on the right. On the left is Imperial Hotel.
I was told that the soft opening is on 15-March-2012. The hotel has the largest private indoor hall on the 6th floor (maybe 5th floor) and can accommodate 5000. In mid April, Hopoh Associate World Conference will be held in this hotel. I hope they will invite me over to take the group photo as I am the only one in Miri with a 39MP camera.

Nikon Club Walkabout at Canada Hill

I arrived at 6:20PM today at Canada Hill to see what Nikon Club Walkabout is doing. Then, I noticed that everyone was busy clicking away at models. So, I also shot some... here they are, enjoy!
I used my prime 200mm F4 Nikon Lens for all these shots.

Serene Jelita

I was invited to take photos for Serene Jelita Housing project. Out of about 200 shots, the following five were chosen and they appeared in various newspaper advertisement yesterday.
Jiajaya Sdn Bhd launched their show house for their Serene Jelita Project yesterday(Friday). Serene Jelita has 74 units of exclusively designed one & a half storey link houses. They welcome visitor to their show house. It is opened for viewing this Friday to Sunday from 9am to 5pm. If you visit them, please remember to mention that you saw the photo from my blog so that more people will use my photography services!

The front view

Kitchen and dinning area

One of the bedrooms downstairs

Romantic master bedroom upstairs

Living area

Prices start from RM259,888 and for the first 10 bookings.

If you have projects that needs photos for advertisement, etc, you can call for my service at any time.
For enquiry on this project, just call the developer Aaron Hii on +60198548907.

Nikon coming to Miri again

Walkabout
Nikon Club Walkabout - Miri (18 FEB 2012)
Event Date: 18/02/2012
Event Time: 5:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Venue: Grand Old Lady, Canada Hill, Miri
Registration Date: 13/12/2011 to 18/02/2012
Description: Nikon Club Walkabout - Miri

Photo 2 Building your Picture Techniques 
Ideal for beginners
Ideal for those wanting to have a better feel and in depth understanding of the creative modes available with the DSLR and looking to have a stronger approach to photography.
Participants will learn the digital camera terminology and an in depth understanding of the operation of the camera. Hands on instructions and practical sessions.

Syllabus Building your Picture Techniques
1. Reading your Focal Length - Understanding Lenses and Perspective
2. Shooting in Manual (M) mode.
3. Exposure Overrides
4. Metering
5. Shooting in Aperture Priority

• Aperture and Exposure
• Aperture and choosing depth of field 
• Understanding depth of field 

6. Shooting in Shutter Priority

• Shutter speed and Exposure
• Shutter speed and Movement
• Pre-requisites: Basic introduction photography knowledge is required or those have completed Photo 1.

Flowers Album

Some of these photos were taken last year ...

Orchid

Not sure what is this called ... but from my garden taken this morning.
'To see all my photos on flower, please click here.

Nikon D800

Nikon D800 is finally announced today!
 

Kentaro Kusakari, Product Planning Manager, Nikon UK said: "The D800 sets a new benchmark for photographers shooting both still images and video. The combination of the powerful 36.3 megapixel resolution that records detail like never before, and the comprehensive video options will captivate photographers and moviemakers of all disciplines. He added: "We're excited about the D800 and how it will help to shape the future of the way we capture images and movies."
To read more, click here.