Free Hugs

One Sunday (April 20th, 2008), Pastor Ben preached on how we can help each other to grow spiritually. In the middle of his sermon, he showed a short video clip of a man who held up a sign stating "Free Hugs". First few seconds of the video showed that no one bothered him. Some gave him a wierd look. Others stiffled a giggle. Finally, an elderly lady stopped in front of him, read the sign, smiled and gave him a hug. A few seconds later, another came for a hug. And then another ... and then another .. and then another.

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This tells me that sometimes there are people out there who need a hug to light up their gloomy day. Or maybe to reassure them that someone still cares.

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According to Pastor Ben, many countries are practising this and Malaysia is not one of them. His question to us was : Who will be the first person to start giving free hugs in Malaysia?

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So, right before service ended, Dr Yeow found a cardboard and on it wrote "Free Hugs". When service ended and people were pouring out of the sanctuary, Dr Yeow held up the cardboard. Voon Fui gave him the first hug .... and the hugging began. The card board was passed around and many people gave/received hugs that morning. :)

Cell Multiplication

It was not our first time multiplying. The first was in March 2005. BKYC was birthed then.

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From that time YCYC had grown in numbers. The last 2 years, attendance had been great. An ideal size would be 8 and we had an average of 25 faithful members. It was time to multiply. We were sad to be separated from people whom we see every Friday but we knew that the time has come for us to multiply in order for growth to take place. Our last cell as a big group was on March 28th, 2008 (sob! Sob!)

You don't see 25 people in this picture. That's because many had some other functions to attend. Maybe they just didn't want to be confronted with a tearful "goodbye". Whatever their reasons were, the rest of us came, feeling somber.

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Our ice breaker was : How we can contribute towards our cell group and what we want to see happen in our cell every Friday.

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Many of us wants to see growth in our cell. Personally, I would like to see more contribution in terms of speaking out during discussion and taking the initiative to do something.

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On April 4th, our first cell as a smaller group, 14 of us turned up - still a pretty large group. Guess what? We discovered that all the "talented" and musically inclined people have gone to the MRYC group and we were left with ... singing accapella. Well, Dixie did help play the piano at one point.

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Our icebreaker was : Describe yourself with the initial of your name and name a movie with that initial.

Below are the description of ourselves:-

Funky Fiona

Diligent Dino

Exciting Esther

Smiling Sze-En

Reliable Rachel

Charming Charlene

Simple Shannon

Victorious Vanessa

Elegant Elaine

Disgusting Dixie

Rivetting Rajen

Sensitive Seok Qing
Luxurious Larissa

Knowledgeable Katherine

We had 3 new cell members - Katherine, Shannon and Charlene.



This is our "new" YCYC cell group.

My Father-In-Law

A man of ambition and dreams
He lived his life to the fullest
He did as he wished
He gave as he pleased

A teacher turned lawyer
He very quickly rose to the height of his career
Throughout his lifetime, he owned 70 cars
And had millions of Ringgit passed through his hands

Blessed with 10 bright children
He was the grandfather of 10
And the great grandfather of 1
With whom all were precious in his sight

My father-in-law passed away on April 4th, 2008 (Friday) at 1.25am. He was 84 years 4 months and 15 days old. He was buried the Muslim way because he was converted to Islam a long time ago. But from the time I knew him (more than 10 years ago), he went to church often, sometimes twice in two different churches on a Sunday. He goes to different churches and many Pastors knew him. In the last few months, he got sick and knew that his time was up. He told us he wanted a Christian burial but it didn’t happen. We did have a Christian Memorial Funeral Service for him, though, right before the burial. It is not important how he was buried for we know that he’s in Heaven right now because of the path he has chosen.

Notebook Cool Pad

Oooooh! Went to Popular and got myself a notebook cool pad for my laptop(s). Sometimes I get lazy and use my laptop in bed. Thought I'd better buy one of these to prevent my laptop and bed from being burned.

Wacom Bamboo

What is that???

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I didn't know this exist until I saw my husband's credit card bonus points leaflet. Being a leftie, it was difficult for me to edit my pictures using the mouse with my right hand. So when I saw this Bamboo thingy, I knew I had to get it.

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Here is what's written on the box:

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PERSONALIZE

The documents you create don't have to be like all the rest. With Bamboo, it's personal. You can add your own distinctive touches to anything you do with handwritten notes, sketches or doodles. Bamboo sets you apart. Make it personal.

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WRITE

Bamboo unlocks the handwriting features of Windows Vista and some language versions of Mac OS X. Vista's powerful handwriting recognition feature can even turn your handwriting into text. The pen becomes a natural extension of your thinking, your personal signature. Put your name to it.

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NAVIGATE

Bamboo allows you to move around your PC more quickly, easily and conveniently. Nothing is as natural as a pen and you can use it to navigate through documents, spreadsheets and other applications with just a flick of the wrist. Find your way.

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SIMPLIFY

Technology should make life easier. Bamboo is a simpler, more natural way to write, navigate and express yourself. Make your mark.

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Okay ... it's been 2 days since I received it from the mail and I still haven't started using it....

New Lens

I've always wanted to get a 50mm lens (f1.8). The first time I used it was early 2007 and I really loved the shots I took. That was when I had my Nikon D70s and David Yeow was kind enough to let me try out his lens.

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I have since sold my Nikon camera to Derrick and bought a Canon 400D because I find that my Nikon shots were not good. Shows that I'm very pro-Canon. I have to admit that with my Canon DSLR, I take better pictures. :)

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For almost a year, I relied greatly on my kit lens, which was a mere 18mm - 55mm. Sometimes I get frustrated when I wanted to zoom in on something far away.

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In February 2008, I took up on Wai Hon's offer to purchase his 18mm - 200mm lens and was really pleased with the purchase. It gave me more flexibility.

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I still longed for a 50mm lens but was careful not to get too caught up with buying too many camera stuff in a short period of time. I kept telling myself that even though I had the $$ to buy another lens, I will not do so unless I really need it. Guess I am practising what my husband "preaches" - Delayed Gratification"

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The MAPS (Malaysian Association for Professional Speakers) was on the 1st and 2nd of April and I was their official photographer. This gave me a very good reason to buy the lens as I needed to take close up pictures.

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On March 30th, I bought the lens. It only cost me RM320 for both the lens and the filter. I used it a lot for the convention. I thought of getting the 50mm (f1.4) lens but that was RM1K more than I want to spend.

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Well, in any case, I'm happy I got what I wanted. I'm thinking of getting a speedlight and a diffuser for my camera - anyone wants to donate some $$?