Speak out

Contributed by Rtr Tracy Hah (RAC Pudu)


First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.

Pastor Martin Niemöller

This is a quote that I have learned during my legal aid briefing. To some, it may seem to be just another ordinary quote of inspiration but for me, it does a great difference. It teaches me that, it makes a difference if someone is there to speak up for you when you most require it.

We are living in a time like no other for everyone. However, sometimes, our needs are lost in the shuffle of endless debate as to what is right and what is wrong. To certain, everything is right until it affects them. This may be wrong (but who am I to judge).

One needs to realise that there are many things we can do to make a major impact in helping to eradicate the ethically and morally wrong. So do spend some time and effort to make a difference to speak up for those you think that you can serve them their rights.

Interesting fact: Manchester United were first known as Newton Heath. They changed their name in 1902.

It takes balls…

Contributed by President Toh Harnniann

Ouch! It hurts...

A lot of things had been going through my mind recently. Suddenly I realized there are so many fronts in life which we have to battle our way, rarely winning all.

As a sign of reaching adulthood, the topic of getting married had been the centre of my life. I used to think that marriage is about signing that piece of A4 size paper and sleeping with the same woman for the rest of my life. Fiction always sounds better than reality.

I once read the phrase “Marriage is a promise of love”. If it is indeed a promise of love, then marriage should only involve two persons who are in love. Marriage should bind only these two souls not anyone else. But that’s too good to be true.

Getting married does not only mean: Hey, Harnniann, from now on, you will have to love and stay loyal to your beloved wife, for better or worse… etc

This is the part where our parents seldom or never taught us. Feldman and Diana also did not share with us the real secret behind marriage. Do you know what is “getting married” all about? Now, let me enlighten you.

Getting married means:-

1. Had I painted my house? Am I using the right colour? Can I afford a professional painter to paint my whole house?

2. Do I have enough money to renovate my house?

3. How should I announce this news to my friends and relatives?

4. Have I booked my tickets for the honeymoon?

5. Oh, do I have money to pay for the wedding photos?

6. Who should I invite to my wedding dinner? If I miss out my ex-classmates, will they get offended?

7. Will my wife get along with my mum?

8. Can we not have our wedding dinner but go traveling instead?

9. After getting married, can I watch World Cup with my gang at midnight?

10. Oh dear, I love you so much, but can I invite my parents to stay with us?

I can go on forever but I guess you have got my points. These are the questions that will surely bug you when you are approaching marriage. It takes abundance of patients, compromise and wisdom of the two of you to solve these questions.

I am not writing this to scare everyone away from marriage. Neither am I writing this to complain about my current state of affairs. I just want to share with all of you what’s going in my mind lately and the difference between what you originally believed and the naked truth.

To those young girls who still fantasize marriage as your Prince Charming on shiny amour riding a white horse to rescue you from the dark castle, oops, so sorry, I may have accidentally burst the bubble of fantasy. I just want to remind you of the existence of gravity before you float too far away.

This post also serves as a public announcement that Rtr Engtee and I shall be getting married (strictly in legal sense) this coming 24th June (Sat) at 2.30pm at Klang Hokkien Association.

We shall assume the position of the second married couple of the club, after PE Feldman and Rtr Diana.

Wise man says, “only fools rush in” but I can’t help falling in love with you. I may be a fool, but I am a happily blessed fool.

Interesting fact: During your lifetime you will eat about the weight of 6 fullgrown elephants.

Hello, Helpdesk ar?

Contributed by PN Timmy Ong

Good old days at Hell-desk

I always think twice before writing something related to work in my blog. The reason is I don't want this innocent personal cyberspace to be “invaded” by my work stories; and I am afraid that once I started, I can't stop complaining about work. But anyway, I have decided to write something about my first job, as an IT Helpdesk (some people call it IT Hell-desk) technical support.

The writing style below is burrowed from my buddy's blog. You can read about Lloyd Cheam's blog here: liangboy.blogspot.com

User: Hello, Helpdesk ar?
Helpdesk: Yes, how can I help you?
User: I dunno why but I just can't boot up my computer…. I think my computer went kaput (broke down)already….can you come and take a look? It's urgent lah.
Helpdesk: Ok, can you tell me what do you see on your screen? Do you see a blue screen?
User: No… not a single thing… not even the Windows98 logo.
Helpdesk: Do you hear any beeping sounds after you on your computer?

User: No… no beeping sound… maybe I didn't hear it because my radio is quite loud.
Helpdesk: Ok… do you see a small green light next to the power button of your monitor?
User: Erm… no, I don't see it.
Helpdesk: Great, can you power on your monitor?
User: (pausing for 3 seconds) Ohhh (pausing for another 2 seconds) Aiyoooo……. Now I can see my login screen. Thank you ar…
Helpdesk: You're welcome…

User: Hello, Helpdesk ar?
Helpdesk: Yes, how can I help you?
User: Yah… my colleague and I are switching places…
Helpdesk: Yes… and…?
User: Yah… and we want you to move our PCs for us…
Helpdesk: Sorry sir but we don't do physical relocation.
User: What do you mean you don't do relocation?
Helpdesk: Sorry sir but we can only assist in technical problems.
User: Technical problems? The PCs are related to IT mah…
Helpdesk: Yes sir, but if you want to move your home TV from your living room to your bedroom do you call the technician to move it for you? (trying my best to be patient)
User: Aiyoo… you IT people hah… make our life very hard lah…. Ok lah, never mind never mind… I will do it my own! (hang up the phone)

User: Hello, Helpdesk ar?
Helpdesk: Yes, how can I help you?
User: Can you give me the extension number for Edward Tan?
Helpdesk: I am glad to do that for you but there's a phone list at the database system which you can refer to; or you can simply call the receptionist.
User: Haiyah… call you much faster mah….
Helpdesk: (Hesitate for 2 seconds) It's 2403.
User: Ok, thank you. I told you it's much faster.
Helpdesk: ……

User: Hello, Helpdesk ar?
Helpdesk: Yes, how can I help you?
User: How do I change the wallpaper on my desktop?
Helpdesk: Sorry but it's the company policy to standardize all the desktop wallpaper. You can't change it.
User: Aiyoo..but I want my baby's picture on my desktop… cannot meh?
Helpdesk: Sorry but there's no way we could do it.
User: Really oh…? That's too bad…. How about Hello Kitty wallpaper? Also cannot ah? Hello Kitty wallpaper very cute lah!
Helpdesk: Nope. Only the company wallpaper is allowed on the desktop.
User: Haiyoo… everyday looking at the same wallpaper sian lah… (which I agree to certain extend) Oklah, never mind. (hang up the phone disappointed)

User: Hello, Helpdesk ar?
Helpdesk: Yes, how can I help you?
User: How come the Internet today is very slow?
Helpdesk: Really? Can I know the site you are accessing please?
User: Ohh.. it's a site I access everyday. But today it's extremely slow…
Helpdesk: Yea, but in order to help you, it's best if we could know the site you are accessing. The problem could be on the site itself.
User: Ermm…. It's www.mobileringtones.com
Helpdesk: Sorry madam but we can only troubleshoot work-related technical problems. We don't support ring-tones site access (gave up asking for more details immediately)
User: Really ah? (heard a sigh from the other end) Ok lah, bye… (This type of call repeat itself each time with a different user and a different site such as F1 site, Astro TV guide site etc)

User: Hello, Helpdesk ar?
Helpdesk: Yes, how can I help you?
User: You know I have this problem… when I double-click on Microsoft Word it gave me an error and Word just won't start.
Helpdesk: Can you read the error message to me please?
User: Ohh… I already closed it and I can't remember the error message.
Helpdesk: Ok then, can you please try to do the same again by starting Microsoft Word?
User: No, no… it's not the computer here. It's my home PC.
Helpdesk: …

The list of problems goes on and on…

My experience tells me that sometimes we are not dealing with technical errors but human attitude and behavior. Technical errors can be solved by applying the right troubleshooting skills; users' attitude, on the other hand, requires education and time to correct it. Many people might think that PCs are complex. But to me the human factor seems more complex, and harder to handle. Nevertheless, fun was never lacking while working with Helpdesk and the users. It has taught me how to laugh at problems even I had a bad time solving them.

Interesting fact: Golf was invented in Scotland. It was entitled Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden and that put the word GOLF into the vocabulary

Editor's note: to make this blog more interesting and informative, from this article onwards, all future articles published in this blog will be coupled with interesting fact for the benefit of readers of this blog. Thanks for your support!

We have met our match

Contributed by President Toh Harnniann

Our club’s birthday falls on the 17th of May while our sponsoring Rotary Club’s falls on 21st May, merely 4 days apart.

We were very fortunate to be invited by our sponsoring club Rotarians to have a joint birthday celebration at Tai Thong Restaurant (Klang) on 21st May 2006. It means that our club will have 2 celebrations i.e. one on our own (as written by Rtr Sooling) and one with our sponsoring Rotary club.

I was informed by our advisor IPP Mike that the dress code was smart-casual with Rotary T-shirt. But to add some spice and make life more interesting, the Rotaractors came with full blown formal dress code complete with blazers and ties. When we walked into the restaurant, our presence was too loud and clear. Compared against the T-shirts of the Rotarians, we looked too smart and professional. I guess this is the first time we had different dress code for different groups at the same event. Sitting together with smartly dressed Rotaractors while listening to the complaints of the Rotarians that we outshined them was too satisfying. It felt so good.

The Rotaractors of Port Klang Centennial joined by President Harley (RAC Subang) and Rtr Feilin (RAC Shah Alam) demonstrated the good virtues of our club by being punctual. Unfortunately our Rotarians failed to share the same, as a result, even we were there at 7.00pm sharp, the dinner started only at 8.00pm.

The food served was excellent (the name “Tai Thong Restaurant” would have clearly suggested this). There were plenty of alcoholic drinks served but the humble Rotaractors drank modestly.

I was in charge of the “Rotary Idol Karaoke Contest”. Initially I was worried that no one will take part in the competition so I sent emails to Rotaractors informing them ALL Rotaractors who came must take part and sing. Some Rotaractors were freaked out by this decision. But my worries were totally unnecessary as after a few rounds of liquor, the Rotarians switched to their “karaoke” mood and one by one queued at the computer to select their songs. President Low was in fantastic mood thus turned the dinner into his little concert.

When the competition started around 9.30pm, we witnessed the performance by the real talents of our sponsoring club. DGE Dato’ Jimmy Lim was sport enough to take part too. However, Rtn Jerry Yap, Rtn Johnson and Rtn Patrick were the spotlights of the whole show. Under the slight influence of alcohol, their performance was greatly “enhanced”. While other Rotarians just stood on the stage, stared at the monitor and sang; these talented “entertainers” were born for the stage: they danced, made jokes and raised the spirit of the crowd.

We always think that our club has enough clowns. Wait till you see our sponsoring club in action (normally after a few rounds of liquor). We had met our match! I think the sponsoring club also contracted portklangitis. Now I am not sure whether we are the source of the disease or them.

I have to mention that the sole representative from our club in the contest was VP Hui Hui (we had to take out the names of the other Rotaractors as we were short of time). She sang very well! Next time, if you want to ask her out for karaoke thinking that you can out-sing her, you’d better think twice.

After the performance by the contestants, the panel of judges (IPP Mike, Rtr Nanthini and Rtr Engtee) cracked their heads to pick the winners. The final result was:-

Joint Champions: Rtn Jerry Yap & VP Hui Hui
3rd Place: DGE Dato’ Jimmy Lim
4th Place: Rtn Patrick Ang

In the circumstances, Rtn Jerry Yap and VP Hui Hui will get to carry the title of “Rotary Idol” for one year! Congratulation to both of them!

The Karaoke system shut down at 11.00pm sharp so we did not have chance to enjoy singing karaoke after the contest.

I would like to say a big “thank you” to Rotary Club of Port Klang. Thanks for willing to celebrate birthday jointly with us. Thanks for buying the birthday cake for us. Thanks for giving us the chance to have fun with you. And last but not least, IPP Mike, thanks for sponsoring the cost of our table, we really appreciate that.

After countless time...

Contributed by Rtr Shunglee

President Toh has been harassing me countless times for an article… so here I am, *grunts* subconsciously writing about my recent getaway/snorkeling trip to Redang Island *grunts*. Bugger even uploaded his own photo as my phone’s wallpaper.

BTW don’t expect to save your phone bill and petrol after reading this article. I’m skipping the details as you can find them from your local tour agency. You know the one that has a cardboard thin stewardess with a pretentious smile outside the shop? I bet if she were alive she’d think to herself, *suckers* each time people walked inside.

Snorkeling was a bloody enjoyable experience for me. Using rented snorkeling gears was different though. The goggles had this rubber extension thing that covers your nose thoroughly so that sea water doesn’t accumulate around your nostrils and cause discomfort. It was the first time I felt so dehydrated from excessive production of mucous and NO! it doesn’t taste any saltier than the sea water la.

We also had to bite and stick this whole breathing tube contraception thing into our mouths.

That was when the ‘what if’ questions started to flood in.
what if the previous user brushes his teeth without colgate?
what if he has fetish for feet?
what if he found other use for the goggle? …

All these slipped my mind when I found a bunch of anemone and guess who’s whoring himself outside? A clown fish. I immediately took a dive thinking that a shot of the Nemo fish might gain me some fame with the ladies.

However the bugger went into hiding and came out as soon as I started to float back up again. I swear if I had caught it, I’ll put the fish into a tank filled with piranhas, then we’ll see who’s funny and cute.

…
Candak sotong Event

- Highly motivated to catch the boat’s first sotong (squid). Source of motivation = bunch of Taiwanese girls in bikinis ;)
- First to feel the pinch, alas, it was friend’s line.. potong stim
- Finally saw a sotong, swimming on the surface but damn hook has been casted deep into the sea, quickly reeled line @ 1000 knots. sotong swam away, prolly laughing his belly out along the way > ego shaken
- Only person in the boat who caught nothing > ego crushed
- Dinner.. sotong never tasted so good.. aaaah! sweet revenge!
- Found solace in ice cold beer at the chalet’s pub

Then it hit me. It DEFINITELY was my pure dumb luck that I didn’t catch any sotong… I mean, what skills do you need to have la, equipped only with a fishing line and a multi faceted hook without any bait. One would just have to pull and hope that a bunch of sotong, had previously squirted ink at each other, will cross path with the hook > aaaah! ego restored

…
Redang… the yards of coral housing countless species of fish, crystal clear water reaching out to the horizon, soothing wind throughout the day, bright sunshine embracing beautiful women in bikinis, white sandy beach soft and gentle at your feet, half eaten of a quarter of a watermelon buried half way into the sands.. WTF!

Beautiful as it is… there are people who just don’t fit to be on this island. Litterbugs who should get their a**es pricked countless times by sea urchins. Of course there is also this friendly stall owner who casted me in stone with the medusa look when I asked for a freaking serviette and deafened me with a NO MORE LA ! when I asked for extra sambal belacan. I swear I would have b**ch slapped that fella with a sotong if I had caught some the night before.

Redang.. Redang.. Redang,
Will I come back? Yes definitely. Why? Just found out that the corals in Sipadan Island have been ripped off by a barge. Nice one !
… you just have to go there to know why la.

Now.. what can I say about the getaway in PD last week … The company was great.. the beach.. blubb blubb !

Our Blog is Attacked!

Dear readers of this blog,

I am surprised this morning when I open my email account, there were 127 comments left in this blog. These comments under the disguise of "Anonymous" were scattered on all the articles published in this blog.

There is a link attached to these unknown comments, I would strongly advise readers not to click these links.

In view of these attacks, as a precautionary measure, I have activated “word verification” mode: for all future comments, there will be requirement to verify word before it is allowed to be published.

I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused.

Let’s hope these unwarranted attacks will not reoccur. Let’s enjoy this wonderful blog in peace.

Happy Birthday to My Club!

Contributed by Rtr Sooling

Coconut Leg Seafood Restaurant??!!!

On Wednesday (17.05.06) I went to pick up VP Hui Hui at her house. The first question I asked her was, ‘Hui Hui do you know where is the venue and the restaurant’s name?” Her answer was, “Er… according to our President Toh the venue should be somewhere in Taman Chi Liung, Pandamaran, and the restaurant’s name is Coconut Leg Seafood Restaurant.”

I laughed non-stop and told Hui Hui: “hey… there is no such restaurant name. Toh just tried to translate the restaurant’s Chinese name to English!”

We reached there at 7.45pm, and we started our dinner at 8.00pm. We are very honored because we have a few guests who celebrated together our club 1st birthday with us. These guests are President Harley (the hundred per center guest Haha… ^-^), from RAC Subang, Rtr Tracy of RAC Pudu, Rtr Fei Lin of RAC Shah Alam and our club member Rtr Vivien has brought a guest named Catherine.

Total we have ordered 8 dishes. Out of the 8 dishes the most I preferred was ‘ham tan chow hai’. It’s a special dish, the chef use the salted duck eggs and the butter mixed up and fried with the crab, it’s very nice. Dear reader, if you are interested in the dish, you can get the restaurant’s telephone number from Feldman.

While we were having our dinner, Harley, of course, is the one who tried to create funny jokes to make us laugh. For your info, when Harley is with you, I can confirm and guaranty that you won’t have a ‘peaceful’ dinner. He will ‘make sure’ you laugh until you feel like vomiting. I remembered the first time when I met Harley, his characters was like a good boy, quiet and always show his smiling face. He did not talk much but always listened to people’s talk.

Now, he becomes a ‘devil’ in our club. A ‘happy devil’ Haa… His ‘cover’ has cheated me. Haha…. That’s why people always said don’t judge people from their ‘cover’.

We ended our dinner with a beautiful birthday cake, is a very nice cake. We sang birthday song for the club. Our president requested all of us to make a wish for the club and blew the candle together. I was wondering who will blow the candle with his or her sliver. Hahaha…. That’s it for our 1st celebration for the club’s birthday.

Now, I recalled back my memories. We have already charted for 1 year. For the past one year what will I be if I didn’t join the club? I didn’t mean that if I don’t join the club it means I’ve no life. What I mean is where will those happy memories that all of us share together be? We fall together, we cry together then now we grow up slowly like a baby.

Last but no least, Happy Birthday to RAC Port Klang Centennial, wish you grow well and healthy.

How it begins...

Contributed by Rtr Feilin (RAC Shah Alam)

Without realizing, it’s been almost 3 months now I’ve been hanging out with fellow members of RAC Port Klang Centennial. From attending their club meeting (occasionally) to club activities, to frequent outings and “ yam cha/mamak” (drink tea) session (just did 2 days ago) .

I would say, there is an easy ‘click’ with these people after just few outings with them …. Slowly and unaware of it I was being “Portklang-nised” by Harnniann, President of RAC Port Klang and had developed “Portklangitis” in me! (except symptoms vi, vii, viii and x) It wasn’t bad after all…

Well well, somehow somewhere this kind of friendships give me a thought: “How and when did I get to know this group of interesting people?!”

Here’s how it begins…

During last year December, I attended the Rotaract and Rotary Joint Conference 2005/2006 and there was this announcement of Goodwill visit to district 3500. I NEVER really gave a thought of it initially. Until 2 weeks before the closing dateline only I decided to go. And also in between I had hard time in deciding whether shall I or shall I not, as I was new to Rotaract Club and knew NOBODY and NOTHING about it. “Will it be fun?” I wondered.

I remember calling Harley, President of RAC Subang to get myself registered on Valentine ’s Day (hope he didn’t “perasan” it was a blind date call service). It wasn’t a smooth “dealing” with this guy when a money issue was concerned. You know when you were asked to bank in 4 digits of amount to his account within a week! (can’t blame, as I had passed the dateline). Where and who do I look for if this guy is a FAKE rotarator (a president doesn’t necessary clear my doubts) I asked myself (that’s how skeptical I was, not until I got to know him).

Few weeks later before the departure, there were some preparation to be done and there is where I got to know and met Harley, Harnniann, Eng Tee and Lloyd for discussions. After mingle around, I must say that these people are good at cracking jokes non-stop! What’s more we were from the same former school, (except Harley). For Harley, I got to say he was a good coordinator for the trip, everything went well! (except the passport and jelly issue~).

It was after the trip that I got “close” with RAC Port Klang Centennial and also with President Harley at the same time (the 100 percenter). Though I am just their guest, but kinda feel I am part of it… UNCONSCIOUSLY. Well looking by it, it wasn’t amazed that RAC Port Klang Centennial able to attract members as far as RAC Pudu to attend their club meeting as their club are super vibrant and happening! Subang-Shah Alam-Pudu! Which’s next?

All in all, glad to meet all of YOU guys and best wishes to RAC Port Klang Centennial!

Cheers!

The crazy Portklangitis patients doing physio-therapy

Happy Belated Mother’s Day

Contributed by President Toh Harnniann

I was on my way to Klang Sessions Court when I heard this show on radio asking the audience to send in their dedication which will be read out by the DJs on mother’s day.

“Oh, it’s mother’s day again” I thought. Suddenly I was reminded of my experience almost 5 years ago.

It was year 2001, the year I came back from UK. Then I had the opportunity to join Tzu Chi Buddhist Merits Society (Teregganu branch) for their community service activities. My mother was (and still is) very active in Tzu Chi so whenever they had any activities I would tag along.

Tzu Chi visited one state-run old folks home in Bukit Besi (about 1 1/2 hour drive from Kuala Terengganu) every 3 months.

The first time I went there with Tzu Chi was during the Mid Autumn Festival (or moon cake festival). We brought lanterns, Chinese tea and moon cakes to celebrate with the old folks there. There was one particular old lady whom I will never forget, even till now. In this article I will call her “Ah Ma” (grandmother in Hokkien).

Ah Ma was in her early 80s. Her hair had turned silver and she wore thick glasses. Ah Ma was very cheerful and smiled a lot.

My mother instructed me to cut the moon cakes and gave Ah Ma one small slice. I placed one tiny slice of the moon cake (we had to cut the moon cake into very small pieces to avoid choking) on plastic plate and handed the plate over to Ah Ma.

She saw me and smiled. She spoke in fluent Cantonese, “No need to give me, give it to others. I will be here just a short while. My son will take me home very soon. I am here just to make friends.” I hesitated for a while. She smiled again then took my plate and passed it to another old lady sitting next to her.

We went home after cleaning the hall.

Three months later, we came again. She was still there in the old folks’ home. I was puzzled “wasn’t her son supposed to bring her back?” I asked my mother about it. My mum told me that her son will never come to pick her up, he just gave her hope that he will be coming soon.

I noticed that this time Ah Ma was not so cheerful anymore. She had become quiet and passive. We brought some cakes for the old folks. This time, I volunteered to serve the cake on her.

She didn’t look at my eyes. She just stared at the cakes. After a short while, she took the cake and held it. This time she didn’t pass the cake to the one sitting beside her. She just held it firmly in her palm.

I think reality had set in. She had realized and accepted that she will be there for a very long time, so she “needed” the cake. She could no longer afford to pass the cake to others as she was not much different from the one sitting next to her: all shared the same faith.

I didn’t go back for the third time as my CLP course had started.

The story of Ah Ma had slowly faded from my memory until the end of last year when my mother told me that Ah Ma had passed away. She never got the chance to leave the old folks’ home. She died there, 4 years after she was placed there by the son: under the impression that the son will take her home very soon.

I found out that the son never visited her throughout these 4 years. But he did claim her body for burial.

Just imagine this: you put your mum in the old folks’ home, lying to her that she will just be there for a short while to make friends and you will take her back very soon. Thereafter you move on with your life totally forgetting about your mum. You wait until you receive phonecall from the home folks’ home that your mum has passed away. Then the only filial piety you show is to claim back your mum’s body and give her a decent funeral.

My heart sinks every time I thought about this old lady.

I sincerely wish that no mother will suffer the same faith as hers.

Happy Belated Mother’s Day!

Joint Meeting with RAC Kelana Jaya 11th May 2006

Contributed by Rtr Zeekin

My digital watch showed precisely 7.40pm. That is the time I reached my destination. Before getting myself out from the cramp car, I gave president Toh a call, to check whether or not he had arrived. Well, he replied that he was on his way. Instead of staying inside the car to wait, I made a decision of entering the Windmill and wait there.

Ok. When the door was opened, I gave a quick glance surreptitiously. No familiar figure emerges in my first glance. Well, guess I am the first to arrive. That is the advantage of staying nearby! Hehe. Minutes later, PE Feldman, his beloved wife Diana, his pretty sister Vivien, and of course, his baby came. Without further ado, Feldman asked the waiter to rearrange the table into U-shape, instead of having a long arrangement. Then, we sat down.

As time goes by, Rotaractors of Port Klang Centennial and Kelana Jaya came in. Let’s see who I can recall. Nantini, Beh Soo Ling, Timmy, Eng Tee, President Toh, President Harley, Feldman, Diana, Vivien, Hui Hui, Shawn, Boon, Cindy, Derrick, Derek, Rachel, Neeraj, Richard Wee, and two others, whom I can’t recall their names (sorry!).

The meeting started at 8.40pm. Well, being the SAA, I conducted the meeting, by inviting the Board to give their reports. PE Feldman did mention about the Port Dickson trip, which is thrilling and exciting. Soon after we end our meetings, rotaractors from Kelana Jaya initiated their meeting by PE Boon’s speech. The content of their meeting is resourceful, they talked about the Interact conference in UM on the 24th to 26th of November, reports, and also invited a guest speaker , Mr Richard Wee to talk about the “red book” regarding the protection of rights. It was an interesting talk indeed. However, as we read the red book, we discovered some flaws, and President Toh made a good joke over it!

What impressed me the most is their practice of “blessing the sunshine box”, which is an interesting way to collect or increase the club fund.

Soon after that, our dinner was served. We were given an option of having a chicken chop or fish fillet. Well, the food was very tasty and delicious. We all had a great time enjoying the meal.

Then, the rotaractors of Kelana Jaya left. President Toh hosted an informal “fellowship within fellowship”, and we chatted about a lot of things. He embraced us of our punctuality as well as our well behaviors. Thanks for that! Soon, we are all dismissed, and guessed everyone was rushing home to get their things packed for the PD trip the next day!

A breakaway it was!

Contributed by Rtr Vivien Kuah

If you've read our previous blog articles, you would know that RAC Port Klang Centennial had a 'Breakaway cum Club Assembly' in Port Dickson during the last long weekend.

Things were very relaxed and enjoyable. There were loads of food, drinks and laughter throughout the trip; the latter being mostly due to the contributions of our fellow guest, President Harley Ooi of RAC Subang.

There were 3 guests who were with us during this trip; President Harley Ooi as mentioned above, Rtr Tracy Hah of RAC Pudu; a contributor to our blog ("What's important in life?") and YM Chew; also another contributor to our blog ('Do ghosts really exist?').

We started out in 2 cars comprising of Feldman, Diana, and I in one car; and President Toh, Timmy, Shawn in another after lunch in Berkeley Corner, Klang; whilst Harley, Tracy and Zee Kin went up directly from Subang in another car. Chew went directly to PD from Johor to join us.

Day 1 started right on schedule! We rested a while upon check-in, awaiting for our apartments to be cleaned (we were informed by the resort to wait for their 'jerit' or shout to let us know that the apartments are ready!) and started our indoor game after. The game we played was "007 Piang!" and was introduced by our president himself. If the name of the game is not funny enough, the game itself left most of us in laughing stitches, thanks to several victims (more of blur cases actually!) during the game.

Beach time was quite enjoyable and relaxing. The scenery towards the sea and outshore was not bad, though the beach itself was sprinkled with bits of rubbish due to irresponsible beach goers.

Dinner was taken in a Chinese seafood restaurant nearby, made out of dishes such as fried la-la, sweet & sour pork, yong tau foo, bitter gourd fried with egg, etc. After dinner, we headed out to PD town to have a look and also buy some groceries and snacks. Entertainment for the night was singing session with our president playing the guitar, nibbling on sunflower seeds and snack foods, as well as 'Madam' Tracy's Love Predictions using poker cards, which were said to be quite accurate (most of the guys were taking numbers to be next in line for their turn). The incoming board then went over to the other apartment for their board meeting while the rest of the group continued swarming around 'Madam' Tracy. Upon completion of their board meeting, in came the Board holding a bottle of Johnny Walker and Vodka and our little chat and drinking session began.

Day 2 saw most of us awake by 10am when we had breakfast of tuna sandwiches and cup noodles (thanks to Rtr Diana!) and proceeded to a swimming session in the pool where teacher Diana taught us how to flip and turn upon reaching the edge of the pool. During our swim, a nickname 'Bloop Bloop' was introduced as well. After bathing, we proceeded out to 'loot' [pun intended and as invented during the first night of our trip ;) ] for lunch, and decided to follow very attractive signs leading to the Central Market to have a 'loot' around.

We had a lunch at a Chinese restaurant again, which unfortunately had limited dishes. Below is a short snippet of our conversation with the waitress who served us.

(In Mandarin)
Rtrs: What chicken dishes do you have?
Waitress: We have Kung Po Kai Ting and the rest lor.
Rtrs: The rest? What's the rest?
Waitress: Thai Chicken, Sweet & Sour Chicken, Mango Chicken........... we don't have.
Rtrs: You don't have? What else do you have then?
Waitress: Errr...just Kung Po Kai Ting lar....
Rtrs: (~~~sweat)

After lunch and a little bit of shopping at the Central Market (which was actually just a few stalls outside and a food court inside) we headed back to our apartment. On our way back, we even stopped to buy some durians which were delicious! We went to the beach for a stroll during sunset and the sky was beautiful! We decided to take some pictures and even climbed a tree. Unfortunately, poor Tracy cut her leg while climbing and had to be sent to the clinic for stitches (ouch!).

While some of us went with Tracy to the clinic, the others stayed behind to start the BBQ. Rtrs Eng Tee, Soo Ling and Hui Hui only managed to join us in time for our BBQ on Saturday night as they had to work on Saturday, whereas Rtr Shawn left on Sat afternoon. BBQ went pretty fluently and the chicken wings were delicious (thanks to Eng Tee and President Toh)!

After the BBQ, we had our Assembly which was followed by another drinking session again. The night ended late and we only retired to bed at around 3.30am as we were having too much fun and laughter.

Our final day started with breakfast again and then we started packing up and tallying our costs (we were right on budget!) before we checked out and headed for lunch in Pizza Hut. After lunch, we finally said our goodbyes and headed home respectively.

Although we did not follow exactly as our planned programme and there was the series of unfortunate events for Tracy (breaking 2 slippers, losing 1 bracelet and cutting her leg), I'm sure everyone enjoyed themselves as it was certainly a very relaxing and enjoyable trip. I do look forward to a next outing!

Tracy, I hope the trip wasn't too bad for you and that you did enjoy yourself after all! Get well soon!

P/S: Puns inside the article were merely to remind the participants of the good times and laughter we had. I hope I have not offended those involved ya? ;)

My perspective...

Contributed by DRR Jamie Tan

Truly, it’s a pleasure for me to pen a few words in this happening webpage of RAC Port Klang Centennial. I must appreciate President Toh for making an effort to approach me for this article.

Well, I have never known much about RAC Port Klang Centennial until I assume to serve as DRR for this term of Rotary 2005-2006. It was really nice to observe that this young club have blossomed well and fine for the past one term. As a club, I believe the President and members have been exposed well within the district and abroad due to own initiatives.

I’m impressed with the maturity of the club despite being newly chartered end of last term. As observed, the club maintains good relationship with Rotarians of their sponsoring Rotary Club of Port Klang. I must say their relationship is truly one of a kind, which makes me wish if only other Rotaract clubs in our district could have, and perhaps communication gap could be eliminated or the very least reduced.

RAC Port Klang Centennial is seen to have an edge to excel by possessing the right attitude and the most that I appreciate is the members have the sincerity to serve. I not saying this because I got free Andy Lau’s concert ticket from President Toh (anyways it was not really for free since it was a pleasure for us help Uncle Chew to do a community service project by accompanying old folks and children from under privilege homes to the said concert).

I noticed that sincerity shines through their actions, which speaks louder than words. One of my personal observations was during New Year celebration at the Joint Rotary and Rotaract District Conference with 500 orphans held in Crowne Mutiara Hotel this year. While most Rotaractors got carried away by busy posing for group photos on stage in the grand ballroom, I personally saw all members of this club were outside the hotel entrance helping Rotarians to usher the orphans safely back into the buses. As DRR, that really made me proud of their actions and wish all other Rotaractors in the ballroom then could exampled them.

I am optimistic that this club would shine brighter in time to come but the challenge is sustainability and continuity. It’s typical for all Rotaract clubs not only within our district to face this issue and I believe it’s not hard to achieve if only every party in this voluntary organization play their parts. Every party means every member of Rotaract and Rotary. As leadership changes in every term, there’s a lack in continuity even in the district level, which is about to change. Every year the emphasis changes and Rotaract community kept facing the same issues again. I hope that RAC Port Klang Centennial would put utmost emphasis in membership development and continue to have meaningful projects within the club’s means.

Well done to President Toh for a successful term and all the best to incoming President Feldman and members of the club!

‘Strengthening Ties, Reaching Greater Heights’

Jamie Tan
District Rotaract Representative
District 3300, MalaysiaRY 2005-2006

I really missed my holidays

Contributed by VP Hui Hui

This is my second week of my new job (regional analyst) in an IT company. What to say? I had this dread feeling that I won’t be taking any annual leave for at least six months. Well, this is the price you had to pay if you job hop. Sob! Sob!

Reason was I really need to venture to a new environment and new industry. My new role is an analyst dealing with regional marketing staff in other countries. New terms like Route to market, Websphere, Geocore sounds foreign to me although I was working in the finance and accounting role in an ICT industry for two years. Thinking of the word ‘regional’ I really missed my long holidays entitlement each year between work.

Looking back, how busy I am, I had always find time to venture to a new country with my family and friends. Work-life balance is a must. To those who know me well, I am a traveler at heart. I do not fancy expensive holidays in four/five star hotels with good food. Budget travel is the most preferred choice. To me, traveling is an opportunity to expand your horizons and experience different country and cultures…even, it will bust my resources. Really, I always feel recharge after coming back. I felt happy even I am tired working back the next day.

To enjoy traveling, you need these essential requirements. Please tick if these points apply to you:

a) You are able to doze anywhere even in a bus. If you get insomnia sleeping in a new place, traveling will be a pain, trust me.

b) A good strong stomach. If you are so used to home cooked food, please don’t backpack because you may not survive…

c) At least able to walk fast and climb stairs. In short, try to be fit.

d) Able to have cold bath if the water heater breaks down. I had experienced that after spending a night at a rest house before scaling Mount Kinabalu, Sabah next morning.

e) Able to shop till you drop (for ladies only, if you had spare cash and have to be fit as well.)

So far, the countries that I had visited are within Asia Pacific region. Here are the countries that I had visited since I started working.

Hong Kong & Shenzen: I was there with my mum for prayers, but got the chance to venture into China border from Hong Kong by foot and worried that my belongings will get lost. Love the Hong Kong Tim Sum. Sadly, Disneyland HK was not set up yet.

Thailand: Went to Bangkok and Haadyai with family and friends. It is a shopping and eating haven.

Bali, Indonesia: Beautiful beaches and lovely ancient temples by the sea.

Nepal: Beautiful and awesome scenic, virgin snow capped ranges of mountains that are the highest in the world (Himalayas and Mount Everest). You won’t see this high range of snow capped mountains in Europe. Try to go there by plane. As you are approaching Nepal, you will see snow capped mountain next to your window seat.

Vietnam: A country with such sad history. I was in Ho Chin Minh (Saigon) and I came back, feeling grateful for what I have. I did not take the picture of a mutated fetus caused by Agent Orange (a ghastly chemical released during war which caused horrible mutation to the local people)

Cambodia: I climb the ‘Staircase to Heaven’ in Angkor Wat and marveled at the carvings. I enjoyed the ancient temples and learned again history about early civilizations. I went to the capital, Phnom Penh and walked on the ‘Killing Fields’. (Again, a horrible history of the Khmer Rouge massive killings of the people in 1975)

Perth Australia: I went there under my company sports club trip for five days for cost less than RM2000. There were kangaroos and koalas (not koala bear: I was corrected by the park rangers). It was a cold dry climate but the troublesome thing was lots of flies everywhere at the dessert. I managed to try sand boarding-using a surfing board and slide down from the sand dunes. It was fun.

Right now it is payback time for me to work hard and plan my next country of destination.

So far, my next dream is to backpack to Europe and US. Any takers? Probably, I would join my club president Toh and take up scuba diving and dive in foreign seas worldwide.

Activities for June

Dear Rotaractors & Guests,

I am pleased to announce that our Board had recently planned out a series of activities for the month of June 2006 and they are as follows:-

1st June (Thurs): Club Meeting @ Uncle Chew's place @ 8.00pm

11th June (Sun): Incoming and Outgoing Board Meeting

15th June (Thurs): Club Meeting @ Uncle Chew's place @ 8.00pm

23rd June (Fri): Farewell Party for outgoing Board (Project Manager Rtr Lloyd shall organise and finalise the details in due course)

10th or 17th June (Sat): Community Service Project "FEAST with children of Philea" (Com Serv Dir PN Timmy will announce the exact date and details in due course)

Members and Guests! Wow we have come to the final month of this rotaract year!

Kindly take note of the above dates. It is definitely a relatively relaxing month hope to see you in these exciting activities!!

Port Dickson: Break Away cum Club Assembly!

Dear Members and guests,

From 12th to 14th May 2006, our club shall relax and enjoy the fellowship and activities of "Breakaway cum Club Assembly" at Port Dickson.

The detailed programme for the event is as follows:-

Friday 12th May

12:00pm Lunch & meeting place @ Berkley Corner
1:00pm Take off to PD!
3:00pm Check-in to Condo & short rest
4:00pm Indoor Game 1
6:00pm Beach Time! Teambuilding 1
8:00pm Eat Out! (Dinner)
10:00pm Incoming Board Meeting

Saturday 13th May

9:00am Breakfast in Condo
10:30am Teambuilding 2
12:30pm Lunch Out
2:00pm Indoor Game 2
5:30pm Fun in the pool
7:00pm Barbeque Dinner
10:00pm Assembly

Sunday 14th May

10:00am Breakfast in Condo
12:00pm Bye bye Port Dickson! Klang here we come!

Do ghosts really exist?

Contributed by Chesmir Chew (guest contributor)

Ghosts do exist in this world, do you believe that? I reckon the answer to most people will be affirmative. Otherwise, there won’t be any religion and superstition. But do ghosts really exist? I doubt, and so do many people. It is because most people have never seen them before.

When I was a kid, I like to play with Michael, a friend of childhood, at the “padang” (field) 1km from my home. Once, when we were “lepaking” (sitting and killing time) at the padang, as usual, we sit at the top of the slide when we were waiting for other friends to join us. We talked a lot since we always had funny things to tell.

All of a sudden, Michael stared at me grimly and screamed out in great fear. He then slid down the bottom and rushed away from the padang. At that time, I had totally no idea what was happening. But from the expression on his face, I could tell something horrible had just happened. So I followed him and went away from the padang. When we were quite a distance from the padang, with heavy pant I asked him what was going on. He panted, “A transparent white shadow was behind me just now.” Suddenly I felt my backbone chilly. It was like “something” was really behind me…

This incident had not been recalled since I lost contact with Michael.

Several years later, I join the basketball team and was chosen as Selangor state player to participate in a nation-wide basketball tournament. Besides, it was an honor that all the state players were arranged to stay at the hostel provided by Malaysia Basketball Association (MABA) for the one-month intensive training camp. I was so excited because not only accommodation and meals were provided, but also pocket money was given! However, it was only a few days time, a series of strange things had happened in my room.

It was hard to tell what was going on, but my two roommates and I just couldn’t sleep well, we always felt like being pressed by something at night and we could hardly move or turn over our body. Sometimes we were awakened by certain noise, also sometimes we heard someone knocking the door. But the thing is whenever we woke up to check where the noise came from, the sound would fade out. Many times we woke up to open the door and we always saw nothing but the dark and foggy corridor. The sound was not loud, but it was clear enough to be heard. The next day, when we asked the players staying next door about the sound, they would say they heard nothing. “Perhaps we were too tired, so that it caused illusion”, we thought. Little by little, we were tired of investigating the source of the noise, and we managed to ignore it because we were really too tired with our training.

In a blink of an eye, one-month training camp was over and we went to Sarawak for the basketball tournament. At that time, coaches and players from each state were arranged to stay in a classroom so that we could communicate with each other more easily.

One night, our coach asked us about how was our life at MABA. While most players look satisfied with their room, my roommates and I started to complain. “We always felt uncomfortable at night.” “We also heard weird noise.” “Someone knocked our door at night but we saw nothing when we opened the door.”

For a few seconds, our coach was silent. Then he took a deep breath and said, “Well, that is nothing, just ignore it.” We thought he would be extremely surprised after hearing our complaints, but instead, he sounded like he was aware of everything happened in our room since the beginning. Looking at our frustrated faces, he told us the story.

A few years ago, the room that we used to stay at MABA was lodged by a national player suffered from gigantism. One night, he was asleep and was not awake in the morning. He passed away. It took our coach and the coach of national team a few hours to move his body into the coffin, and send to the nearby funeral parlor. Since then, a series of strange things started to happen in the room. Of course, several priests and Taoists were invited to solve the problem, but it didn’t seem to have difference. Most players were still arranged to stay in that room even though the problem remained unsolved. Perhaps it was not harmful to people, and most people could be able to ignore it when they were used to it.

Whenever I told people about the strange things that happened to me in the past, most of them would say without hesitating that I had run into ghost. But why would they so sure that it was ghost instead of other thing? Is it because they were told that most strange things come from ghost or they have seen ghosts before?

I believe most people have never seen the REAL ghost. How would one know ghosts are the souls of human bodies? What about the animal bodies, the insect bodies, or the bacteria and virus bodies? They have no soul in their body? Ok, can anyone prove that there is soul in our body and we will become spirits when we die? No. They believe the existence of ghosts because there are too many strange things happen on earth. Even scientists can hardly prove why they happen or how they happen. That is the reason why religions were established and our honorable God exists.

The theologists, people who study about God and Evils, would explain anything that can’t be substantially proved by the scientists. Hence, people have their faith in certain religion so that they have reliance. When one is confident, he becomes stronger. In other words, the reliance makes people stronger.

Consequently, ghosts and religions come from human cultures. Each culture explains their ghost and religion. One could understand certain culture by realizing the religion(s) in which the majority of the clan believes. For example, most Chinese believe in Buddhism and Taoism. One may understand Chinese culture by reading the legend stories in Buddhism and Taoism. In this case, religions are meaningful to human cultures but I would say it is not necessary for one to be too superstitious to certain religion.

To me, I believe there are secrets that are yet to be discovered by human technology in the universe. The so-called weird things happen on earth would perhaps be one of the phenomenons in nature.

When strange incidents happened, they could be explained as haunted incidents or natural phenomenons. However, the word “ghost”, in fact, does not appear in scientific dictionaries. What religions explained to people may be right, but it is known that they are just partially right since none of the religions showed the evidence which could be able to prove that they are totally right.

To date, the topic whether ghosts exist or not still appears to be debatable to human since both science and religion could only theoretically infer strange incidents as haunted incidents or a natural phenomenon. Unless there are persuasive evidences to prove that the incidents are haunted or they are just natural phenomenons, otherwise, this topic would always be a mystery.

Sudden Turn: Scuba Diving!

Contributed by President Toh Harnniann

I couldn’t believe it but I did it nevertheless.

Last Saturday evening, while it seemed like no surprise was going to take place, I received a call from my client and asked me whether I wanted to take up a license to scuba dive with him. The cost was RM1,300.00. I hesitated a while and he tried to persuade me, but before I hung up, I heard myself saying, “ok, let’s do it!”

I was always the spokesperson for the “no life” or “non-adventurous”. Those who know me well will definitely tell you that I am not a fan of pubs, techno-music, night life activities, extreme games etc.

You have far better chance to catch hold of me at Popular Bookstore or MPH during the weekend. The craziest things I have done lately was to play Dota (a pretty violent computer game) with PE Feldman, PN Timmy and the rest for 5 hours non-stop (which seems like chicken feet when I was told by a rotaractor from Taylor’s college that he and his gang played Dota for 18 hours non stop!!).

My point is: it is beyond wildest imagination that you could hit upon me having fun 30 to 40 feet under the open water. But I did say yes to the offer.

Lloyd told me that it was fun and exciting to do scuba diving. The serenity under seawater while appreciating the beauty of Mother Nature is indescribable. I knew all that but when he told me about it, I was not moved at all, not even an inch. I even replied, “I am made to live on dry land, period.”

But recently, “Screw it, Let’s do it” had been my motto. Taking sudden turn instead of staying in comfort zone has slowly become a trend. I am still young and healthy (and I do not know how long I can maintain this status quo). If I don’t jump into the open water with a tank full of oxygen now, I dare not imagine when will the next opportunity come.

RM1,300.00 may take a big bite out of my salary, but I guess with prudent management of expenditure, I will survive the vicious attack on my bank account.

One last inspiration that sealed up my decision to take up scuba diving is a conversation with our DG Dr Ken Khoo. One evening while having beer with our DG, we were discussing about scuba diving. He told me that he started scuba diving when he was 50 years old.

That really embarrassed me. A young healthy man in his mid 20s is hesitating while a 50 year old man dived into freezing cold water with no regret. What a stark contrast!

So, I will wait no more. Applying the precious principle I learned from Rotaract: don’t think too much, things are not always as bad as it seems.

I have registered myself so, what are you waiting for?

Love or Money?

Contributed by Rtr Engtee

Love and money which one you prefer most? Have you ever thought about which one is much more important in your life? Love, money or none of them?

Just few hours ago, I glanced through today’s Sin Chew Jit Poh while I was having breakfast with President Toh. I was attracted by a story titled “Husband killed his wife because of MONEY” I was shocked at the time, even though things like that happen everywhere and everyday. I kept questioning myself: is money so important in life? Will you kill your husband or wife, the one you love so truly and deeply just because of money?

Below are some common statements found from girls during their conversation:-

“My boyfriend gives me nothing special during valentine’s day, just a diamond ring worth around RM 3000 only!”

“Sigh! How come your boyfriend just bought you a ring worth RM200 as wedding ring? You should request more!”

“Aiyo, your boyfriend is not good looking, not rich as well, you should have dumped him earlier”

“My new LV handbag from him!”

“Hey, my boy friend going to sponsor me a free trip to Australia end of this month!”

“Come and have a look! I just got a platinum credit card from my boyfriend”

“Try to grab as much money as possible before getting married”

“If I can have lots of money, I don’t mind to be someone’s mistress”

Sometimes, I really would like to post a question to them “Do you love him?” They may come out with the equation of Money = Love, how much he loves you depends on how much he spends on you. I found that guys are like ATM machine.

I wonder how many man can be successful in the age of 25? Either he is very lucky or he has a very good financial background. For me, well, love is not about material things! It's about mutual respect and understanding. Money makes life bearable, expensive gift means nothing if there is no love between couples.

You may say that I am still young so my thought and opinion will change from time to time. How about you? What do you think on this?

Poor guys, have you found your true love who can support you all the way?

"Portklang-nisation"

Contributed by President Toh

I was perusing the comments just now and I came across the word “portklang-nised” under the comments for “Hey, brothers!”.

I checked the oxford-paperback dictionary to get the definition of “portklang-nisation”. Guess what, I found it and bellow is the official meaning of “portklang-nise”.

“Portklangnise” [verb] To develop and share the same characteristic of port klang rotaractors i.e. become mildly insane, able to respond quickly to jokes, enjoy hanging around after a formal meeting, pay monthly dues promptly”

I was not satisfied by the meaning given by the paperback dictionary which is normally too concise or simplistic. So I went ransacking the law library and found “Dictionary for Advanced Medical Students”. I tried my luck and to my utter shock, there is one whole page written about “Portklangitis” which is a rare disease found only in a small area called “Teluk Pulai” Klang.

For the benefit of all the readers of this blog, let me reproduce word for word what was written on the dictionary about “Portklangitis”.

Scientific Name
Portklangitis

Symptoms
It is confirmed that you have developed portklangitis when you have the following 10 symptoms:-

(i) often receive phonecalls from a man in his mid 20s claiming to be a president of a noble organization

(ii) suddenly being asked by this president to do certain tasks

(iii) feeling an urge to come for meeting at Teluk Pulai Klang fortnightly

(iv) being asked out of sudden to write articles about your life

(v) checking email or blog regularly

(vi) being creative in making jokes and able to respond to joke rapidly

(vii) paying monthly dues promptly or avoid girls whose surname is "lee"

(viii) becoming violent and always threaten friends with violence means

(ix) enjoy being thrown into the water or some even develop the habit of swimming

(x) uncontrollably writing report after attending major event

Prevention
There are no scientifically proven methods of prevention. However, it is widely believed that the best preventive measures is to avoid going for meeting or joining any activities in Port Klang.

Treatment/Cure
There is no known cure for this rare disease but patients usually recovered miraculously and automatically once they reach 30 years old.


Readers of this blog, please be guided accordingly.

After he left...

Contributed by PN Timmy Ong

"What a beautiful day it is…!” I told myself as I was driving to work this morning.

I was listening to熊天平’s songs while driving; after I found the old cassette which I bought years ago, during my high school days. I had totally forgotten about that cassette until a few days back.

“一根火柴燃燒我的心”

It perturbed my mind and my heart sank for a moment. I looked at my watch; it showed the 21st of April.

“2 more days…and it will be 4 years since he left us.” He was 21 when he left this world. He left when there are more wonderful things that await him in life. He left out of a sudden. Even now, I still find it hard to convince myself that he has in fact, really left us.

Life is vulnerable. He taught me that.

Will you live to see tomorrow? Nobody knows. I wish I knew.

That’s life, you can’t control every single pieces of it; you don’t always get what you want but you can do your part, put in your effort and you can tell yourself “I have tried it and I have no regrets.”

I know someone who does not have the chances to do what we are doing now, or what we want to do. And I know really well that if he is given a second chance, he will grab whatever chances he gets and he will live a wonderful life, every single thing in this world is precious and beautiful.

He taught me when I am given choices to try out new things, I should take it. There are so many things in life I want to do, but I am not doing it. In other words, those things are always in my Circle of Concern but never in my Circle of Influence. What am I waiting for?

Will I live tomorrow to do what I want to do today? Nobody knows. I wish I knew. But I do know that I live today, and it’s a beautiful day. Loke, you taught me that.

Editor's note: Loke was the classmate of PN Timmy, President and many more Hin Hua High School students. On the faithful morning, Loke was drowned during an outing at the beach in Taiwan. Loke will be forever missed by all his great friends.

Hey, brothers!

Contributed by Rtr Sooling

Around May 2005, I was invited to attend the first meeting of Rotaract Club of Port Klang Centennial that was held at PP Kuah’s office, one of the Rotarians from Rotary Club of Port Klang. When I was there, I sat quietly and listened to what they were talking about.

After the meeting, I said goodbye to them and went back. For me, that time I was thinking, “err… may be they just joined the club to have fun.” so whether I did join them or not didn’t really matter. Then I disappeared from the club for few months.

One fine day, I received a call from our VP Hui Hui. She asked me whether I want to attend the meeting. I did not want to go, but I didn’t know how to reject Hui Hui so finally I forced myself to attend the meeting. After the second meeting (as far as I am concerned) our President Toh started calling me out for a drink (maybe he wanted to tie up our club members’ bone… hahaha!).

I still remember when President called me out for the first time, I rejected, second times I also rejected. I thought he would stop calling me and leave me alone. But he didn’t. He called me again, this time I could not reject anymore and we met each other in mamak stall.

That time, Timmy Ong, our club community service director joined us too. I know I am that type of person who need others to push me then only I will move one small step. So, of course, after the first ‘date’ with my ‘Tai Lo’ (yeah, I called my President “Tai Lo” which means Big Brother in Cantonese) I started to join the club’s activities (wuwuwu ~ = =’, I was forced by my ‘tai lo’ to join their activities…)

Whenever our club has any activity, sure my ‘tai lo’ will ask me to join, whether I like it or not. He will register for me first, then only he persuades me (sounds more like forcing than persuading, haha…), but I really appreciate what he did to me. Because, I gain a lot after attending those activities, improve my knowledge, meet new friends, more exposure to public compared to last time.

It was you guys who tell me that: “Sooling! You must have confidence in yourself!” When I need advice, when I’m down, you guys will be there. Give me a lot of opinion from different views to solve my problems.

(from left: Lloyd, Harnniann & Timmy)

Harnniann, Timmy and Lloyd, thank you for being my buddies. I really appreciate it and I will keep this friendship forever and ever.

Reasons for being a Rotaractor

Contributed by VP Hui Hui

Well, I was reading our club’s blog today in the afternoon. Seeing our club outgoing President Toh Harnniann article on urging members to write and contribute to the blog, I decided to express my feelings for the title above. Are you ready to hear my “grandmother’s” story?

Life is funny. When I was in college, I never bother or gave a thought to join a service or community based organization. I was too busy studying for the dreaded ACCA accounting exams stage 1, 2, 3. I had to admit I really have ‘no life’. I realised this when I was offered a job in a corporate sector in one of Malaysia’s public listed conglomerate after graduation and then a job in Malaysia’s prominent telecommunication plc.

Even, my brother who started work life last year, he now said he has ‘no life’. It was such a big transition for him, after coming back from the States, staying in one of the most ‘ulu’ (put it in a nice way, quiet & suitable for retirement) town in the states.

Well, to sum it all up, being called a professional (which if you are an engineer, lawyer, accountant, IT, doctor etc) sounds great, but you have to trade your social life for long work hours extended to weekend. The society thinks that you are earning much but an average professional these days are not compensated adequately for the additional workload done.

But, still all parents want their children to get a good education and call themselves a ‘professional’ or a ‘graduate’

What is a solution for a ‘no life’ syndrome? Solution: Get a life. Join a service organization like Rotaract.

Before joining rotaract, I was introduced to a community club called Jaycees, also a club originated from US.

But I was not that impressed after meeting a few of its members in one of the function held in KL. Then, I joined Toastmasters International, a non profit organization from the States to improve my public speaking and leadership skills back in Year 2001. I had benefited from joining the club. I managed to recruit fellow RC Port Klang members like PP Kua Leong Qui, Chew and Cheah Li Yen to join in the quest for self development.

Still, I wanted to join a service based club but I did not bother searching.

Years gone by and one day, on a fine Sunday morning in the month of December 2004, I received a morning phone call from Rotarian Chew Song Kong. He asked me this question”Do you still want to apply for a Group Study Exchange (GSE) programme under Rotary International?”

My reaction was “Why? Are there any offers open?” Earlier, I did apply for the GSE study team from Malaysia to Tennessee, USA for six weeks in early May 2003. I managed to get my head of department to sign allowing me six weeks of leave from work

But, sadly I did not get through the second interview by the GSE panel. During that time in May 2003, there was huge outbreak, SARS. I did not know whether the project was on because people were afraid to travel by plane.

Rotarian Chew’s answer was “Come for an interest meeting held in PP Kua’s office. Our club RC Port Klang, wants to form a rotaract club. So are you interested?”

I mentioned ‘Yes, I will come’. Within 15 minutes later (no time for me to apply my lipgloss), and still feeling sleepy, Rotarian Chew was in front of my house.

The rest was history. On the first interest meeting, I seemed to meet more guys than people of my gender. I met Arthur, Harnniann, Feldman, Tim, Vivien, Diana, Boon Tiong aka Ah Tiong Koko. I remember Rtr. Ban Fong cheeky and friendly smile during the first interest meeting. That was the obvious memory that I had.

Honestly, my first reaction was “Wah, they seemed younger than me”. Don’t get me wrong, friends. When, you cross your mid twenties age (after 25 years old), you will know what I mean.

But I had ‘blended’ in. During our initial months of a Protem meeting, our club had to source own speakers. So I volunteered to speak and conduct a 4Ps personality test to all our members. And not to mention the club’s outing to Genting Highlands getting into a roller coaster. I remembered consoling Eng Tee when she starts to freak out before the ride.

Sometimes, I do admit, work wise it could be tiring. I may miss some club meetings. But, really make time for your friends are great. It keeps me sane and prevents me from getting a ‘No Life’ syndrome.

I still have two more years to go with this club. It is kind of a mix sad-optimistic feeling. When I begin to feel this? Well, this feeling came after I conducted an induction for two new members, Rtr Shawn and Rtr Arthur Raj. If you ask me, am I getting tired and losing steam?

No way! Last weekend, in Pantai Morib, I felt happy and energized gathered with my fellow friends singing together till 1 am, seeing they got thrown in the swimming pool after that (Hew! It was a loud splash!). And having a drink with the Gombak club rotaractors celebrating our past DRR, Brahma birthday at the stroke of midnight.

To sum it up why I join and remain with my beloved rotaract club. To quote the survey answers done by DGE Datuk Jimmy during the District Rotaract Assembly (DRA) in Pantai Morib, here are my reasons:

1) To socialize and make new friends
2) To build up my communication and leadership skills
3) To realize my inner potential in contributing to society as a whole

4) To be a peace Rotary scholar. (It is a dream. I am still dreaming…zzzz)

What's important in life?

Contributed by Rtr Tracy Hah (RAC Pudu)

Been going through a lot of tough times lately and things just don’t work exactly as planned in work and in personal life. From working in a department that I am not certain of what lies ahead to having met some people that I swear I would never want to meet anymore in my life just shows that life isn’t that smooth after all. However, I realize that sometimes in life, things just happened and it's how you deal with it and knowing what’s more important in life will be the strength to keep us moving forward. So that million dollar question comes into play, what’s important in life?

Hold on to faith and hope
What is faith? It is the source of believing that all things are possible and also the fiber and strength of a confident soul. Faith and hopes work wonders and miracles to everyone and it does to me as well. Hence, it is important to keep reminding ourself that we must have faith and persevere. “The greater our faith, the better we become and the more unique we are”

Hold on to family and friends
I don’t think anyone will disagree with me that family and friends are the most important people in our life. They are the life greatest gift for they are the one that we can share the precious times, care about us and give meaning to life. With them around, our lives are made richer, beautiful and blessed.

Hold on to your dreams
Build on those dreams that you hold so dearly to your heart. Without dreams, life would be but a broken winged bird. Let your dreams give you strength to carry on and through darkness, they will lead your way. Remember that everything starts with a dream and the greatest castles were built by those who dared to dream.

Hold firm to your trust and belief

Your heart has a way of speaking louder than your mind. Therefore, listen to your heart and always stand firm for it. Have the courage to speak out for yourself and remember that there is nothing that stands between you and what you want from life except yourself. Remember that the only limit to your realization of tomorrow will be your doubts of today!

Live happily and live life to its fullest
Always be contented and grateful with who you are, what you have and where you are. Appreciate life and treating it as the best life ever is important to live happily. In the rush of our daily activities and busy lifestyle, we tend to forget about all these crucial essentials. Therefore, this article is meant to remind us what’s important in life and how to live life to its fullest. The contents of this article give me a new realization about life and make a difference to me and I hope that it will do the same to all of you as well.