Month: August 2007

The Hunt Ends, Abortion and Malaysia at 50


Last weekend was a bit of a whirlwind one for us. It started however, in a pretty mundane manner. After the usual housekeeping matters we went to look at a couple of houses. These have been on the list and since technically we still haven’t got a binding deal for 87 Vicki Street, we went to see these properties. One in Forest Hill was already sold. It was however, a unit in a development of 6 and it looked pretty run down. We went to the other one in Blackburn, on Malabar Road. It was a smallish 2 bedroom weatherboard home. Inside, it was beautifully renovated with fantastic finishing and the kitchen in particular was nice. I must say however that the one in 87 Vicki Street is much better. This property on Malabar Road was for auction that same day so we hung around to see what sort of price it would fetch. It was sold for what can be considered an obscene price for a property of this nature, so our fears about current property market were further confirmed.

After that auction we dropped kiddo off for her class, after which we went to 87 Vicki Street to meet up with the agent. To our (pleasant) surprise, there was a stream of very interested parties inspecting the property and several were keen enough to want to make offers. It was listed as an auction property so these people were a little upset when told that the property is already under offer. We sympathised with them but we too have been in this situation before and I feel bad about this but we were a little elated to now be on the other side of things. We confirmed matters with the agent, collected some paperwork and left to pick kiddo up.

We drove straight to J & J’s housewarming in Wantirna South. News travelled fast and when we got there our friends were more excited than us, with our new acquisition! It was J & J’s afternoon so I tried hard not to steal that away from them but the fact that this was a party of Christians and our new house would be so close to Koorong, the well known Christian bookstore, meant that it was an instant talking point which continued till Sunday afternoon when we were at another church friend’s house for a thanksgiving lunch. Meanwhile, after we left J & J’s place, we had kiddo’s Saturday night church program to attend to, which started at 5pm. Theresa cooked some pasta for them – I had to have the leftovers for lunch yesterday!

Abortion – abort the idea

Recently the Victorian state government under new Premier John Brumby proposed to decriminalise abortion. It isn’t actually his proposal so much as it is his party’s plan which was sitting dormant for a while and has recently been brought to the front burner. As you can imagine, this long-festering all-time favourite election issue continues to stoke deep seated emotions. There will always be clever and progressive sounding arguments. It would seem perfectly normal, liberal and progressive to allow a woman to exercise her freedom of choice on issues affecting her most. Like I said in an earlier piece (see Gay Church piece below) all the considerations must be subject to what God has said on the matter. That has to take precedence. In this instance, the sanctity of life demands we do not consider aborting a child unless it is necessary to save the mother’s life. I appreciate the complexities arising from every point and every conceivable circumstance but we must not allow ourselves the danger of allowing those complexities to colour this very simple principle. I am not saying the decision involved is a simple matter. It never is. Having faith in God however means trusting Him to deliver the outcome whatever that may be. We have to trust that outcome is the best not because it is the one we like the most or because it works for us, but because it is one based on obedience. There is a lot in the phrase “trust and obey”. It takes so much faith to obey, especially in circumstances with so far-reaching repercussions. If we truly believe He is our loving heavenly Father, we have to trust that He would take care of things (such as the mother’s and the child’s welfare) in ways which would truly be best for the all concerned. To borrow the language of an anti-smoking ad campaign, it is hard to trust Him. It is even harder not to.

Malaysia turning 50

This Friday Malaysia celebrates its 50th anniversary as an independent nation. A few days ago, a regular of Malaysian news feeder emailed to say the mood around town does not reflect that of a golden jubilee year. Many have been distressed over recent happenings which illustrate the rapid deterioration of public institutions. Like me, many think this is a culmination of a trend which started so long ago. It guess the germinating events likely predate Mahathir but there would be compelling arguments for the view that Mahathir was a very effective catalyst which exacerbated the decline. He stifled dissenting voices, rigged rules to suit his agenda, castrated the judiciary, subjugated the cabinet, bossed the reserve bank, manipulated the police and generally ran the country with a free hand, more akin to acting as an all powerful president like a third world despot than as a prime minister. While he may have genuine interest of the country at heart, by destroying these institutions, he paved the way for incompetent administrators who are interested only in plundering, more than governing. So when you now have an ineffectual replacement for a prime minister, you have groups taking advantage to milk the country the best they can. Alright, I had promised to stop knocking Malaysia so I will not go on along this vein. My point is – the country has been primed for a subdued 50th anniversary celebration. Those who see its problems see little or no cause for celebrations. These are not my sentiments, but those who still live and work there. Sure there are a few who have not been affected and appear to still enjoy living and working there. They are however, mostly of the younger group, have no children and live their lives in either the city or big towns and usually have well to do parents. Those who own and run their business, have children, or have extensive interactions with business or government leaders tend to have a bleaker view of things. I’m told nonetheless, that traffic continues to be bad. It is in fact worse than normal days so a sense of celebrations still prevail. Perhaps traffic woes are all too easily engineered – just close off a few roads, position a few traffic cops to direct traffic is a certain pattern and voila you’d have massive traffic jams. I don’t know therefore if traffic jams are any indication of the scale of celebrations and therefore a reflection of the hunky dory state of affairs. I don’t know – I am just too remote to gauge if the doom and gloom quarters have any cause for their sentiments, or whether the merry makers do. Continue praying for Malaysia, I guess.

Three years on

We have now been living in Melbourne for almost 3 years. I recall this time 3 years ago, when I had submitted my resignation to my CEO. The company had been going through some turmoil in the form of numerous resignations from key personnel. The group CEO was every bit a raging bull with a temper so fiery and volatile it was liable to erupt at any moment and it often did. Many had resigned because they could no longer come into work each day wondering if they were to be the target for these bloodletting sessions. That place was being torn up by a single person. This was crazy because that person was the single largest individual shareholder and he was the CEO of the group. This group has now merged with a government owned investment banking group and this merger attracted a lot of heat. I’m just relieved I am no longer the general counsel there as I would have been hard pressed from all sides. Anyway, when I submitted my resignation, it was obviously for the reason that we had decided to move here. It wasn’t for the same reason the others resigned. It didn’t matter to me however, what the others thought was the reason. I have had enough of the situation in Malaysia. The main protagonist causing so much angst in Malaysia at the moment had just joined that company then as a director of corporate finance. Through a couple of exchanges I had with him, he made remarks which suggested nothing in Malaysia was going to change. Here was this supposedly highly educated (Oxbridge) and liberal young leader purportedly offering substance to the government. Yet he sounded every bit as disconnected with what plagued Malaysia, as his UMNO colleagues. His remarks set me off into acceleration mode to leave the country. We finally left in October 2004. Theresa and I arrived, she left after a week to take care of kiddo, and I stayed on to get things ready for when the family eventually got here. After 2-3 weeks, I found a school to register kiddo in, leased a house near that school and set about furnishing it. I got a car and when the house was equipped with the basic requirements, I returned to Malaysia to finish the packing there. We pushed ahead with efforts to sell our house in Klang, found home for our furniture and appliances and Roy our dog (he’s with my mother now) and mailed boxes of personal effects to our leased property in Melbourne (these arrived between 6-8 weeks later).

Our initial weeks were exciting but also very challenging. Kiddo went to school, Theresa found a job and I found one too, a couple of months later. The rest of my experiences, like the good book says, are in the annals. Don’t be smart. Annals. Except that in my case, that means this extremely dry journal.

Almost 3 years later, we have settled down so much more. I don’t know how we could have gotten where we have, except by God’s grace. He closed doors when He knew I wasn’t ready to step through them, and opened them only when He knew I was. He truly has been a loving heavenly Father.

What this means is that going forward from hereon in, the real work begins. The settling period is now behind us. The work to fulfil the purpose for which we were put here (both in the sense of being in this world and in Melbourne in particular) has to now begin. We have some ideas (not yet clear) as to what this work is. One thing we are determined to do is to assist anyone who wants to follow this path. Already, there are a couple of families we have been helping in a soft sense. We have extended our offer to provide tangible assistance. Having completed this first cycle of our new life, it is time to help others with theirs.

Related Articles

Work & House


On Thursday, the boss asked me in for a chat. It turned out the company was happy to convert my temporary contract role into a permanent one. The boss asked if I was willing to accept. I said of course I was – the team is an easy and fun one to work with – and when I told the boss Kiddo has been accepted into MacRobertson High, the boss said good things come in 3’s. So today, I hope the see a fantastic 3rd news confirmed – that of our house. We have virtually sealed the deal for 87 Vicky Street, Forest Hill.

87 Vicky Street

 

God’s providence in His time, all this. I hope now to put all these in perspective and concentrate on things that matter – God’s work. Last night at the Home Group meeting, there was the usual talk about houses and I suggested it didnt really matter as no matter what sort of house we lived in it would only be our temporary home. We’re going to live is a house for what – 10, 20 years? That’s just a blinking of an eye in terms of eternity isnt it? We’re going to live in eternity in God’s presence – that is our real home.

Nevertheless, it’s great to spend the short time we have here preparing for eternity and little comforts like having a job which is interesting, challenging with fun colleagues and a home with enough space to house guests and play host to visitors – these are fantastic blessings.

Home, Work and Footy


Home Hunting
 
Last weekend was another one of fruitless house hunting. After a hurried house 
cleaning on Saturday morning, we left home just a little after 10am and headed 
for an auction in Blackburn North. It was a well renovated home on a street 
with a nearby park so apart from the slightly further location it was a very 
nice house – near perfect. I was hoping to bid in the auction but no sooner 
had the auctioneer started to invite bids when it just took off and within minutes, 
it had shot off the charts. 
I was prepared to go a little higher than the advertised price but the bidding 
frenzy had us shot. The closing price was in excess of 30% over 
the advertised price. The auctioneer seemed very happy and I suspect 
the vendor was pretty rapt but I saw many heads shaking that morning. 
It was a bit of a downhill ride after that. 
We saw many more properties that day, ranging from old dark, grimy 
and grotty houses which looked like the Addams Family lived there, 
to houses with bright tacky decors. I called one of these the 
Brady Bunch house and Kiddo and I coined one a groovy house. 
Nice maybe, but no thanks. 
All together, we must have seen something like 15 houses 
in 1.5 days. Some were too small, some were too old and a 
couple had pigs as tenants. These were so filthy I wondered 
why tenants lived like pigs just because the house did not 
belong to them. Maybe it is a function of youth but surely that is 
being unfair on some young people. I’m sure there are young 
people who think it is important to be neat clean and tidy. One of 
these houses had what looked like doctors as tenants 
(medical books, stethoscopes) but that didn’t seem to make 
any difference. The carpets in that house looked like they were 
caking up with dust and grime. How could doctors live like that? 
They had nice, chic and imaginative decors but they were all 
hidden by the fact that the place was dirty. Maybe it was 
deliberate to deter potential buyers thus prolonging the lease.
So the 10 or so that we saw on Saturday were all dead alleys.
 Like I said it was a fruitless weekend. But then again maybe 
that wasn’t so. Serendipity tends to work in these exercises, 
maybe. After all the wrong turns and dead ends, maybe we will 
be directed along the way of the right property for us. Yeah I know,
 I’m a Christian and I’m not supposed to depend on luck. 
But who knows? Maybe God uses serendipity to steer us in 
the right way? Maybe a series of wrong turns and dead ends is 
precisely what He thinks we need to experience before landing the 
“right” one. Another view of course, is that it doesn’t matter to Him 
where we lived and what sort of house we lived in. That’s because 
those decisions don’t affect His plans for His kingdom. Then again, 
maybe they can. I guess if they do, then God will make a way.
In any case, we have now decided that we would no longer attend any 
auctions as the frenzy has made the pricing irrational. I think the law 
should be amended so that auction purchase should also be covered by 
cooling-off period protection. Under current circumstances, auction 
transaction probably requires more protection than private sale ones!

 

 Work Wait
 My current role has 6 weeks to go. I was planning to seek an indication 
on my future position, by the end of this month. That would have given me 
a one-month lead for me to think about searching for a new role. 
However, last week there was an interesting development in my boss’ 
situation so I am now uncertain if I can press for an answer. On the one 
hand I don’t think it is an unreasonable request on my part if I did ask for 
a response. On the other hand, my boss has been terrific and I have enjoyed 
this role a lot so I want to accommodate everyone as much as I can. 
For me to press for a response at a time when my boss needs room to 
manoeuvre, would seem out of place and not very nice. I cannot 
presently write about this in any more detailed fashion except to 
say I am in a little bit of a dilemma. 
Right now, I am inclined to be nice instead of safeguarding my 
own situation. It goes against my instinct but I guess it would be 
the Christian thing to do. For now.

 

Footy Foothold


Man Utd were champions last season. Three games into 
the new season and we are 2 spots above relegation.
What a contrast huh? Misery abounds, and I’m thankful 
there is so little talk of soccer. The rage is still with footy and 
who’s going to make the finals. We still haven’t found a team to 
barrack for, though I have taken to watching games, and have 
enjoyed doing so. I watched parts of the Geelong v Kangaroos game 
yesterday and really liked the way Geelong played. The quick 
passing game and the industry was exciting to watch. The 
problem was both sides were equally hard working and fought 
just as hard. The Brisbane Lions too won a thrilling game, 
with competition leading goal kicker Jonathan Brown coming 
up with a last second screamer to win the game. But Geelong 
and Brisbane are foreigners. I want a local team. The closest would 
be St Kilda or Hawthorn and while the Hawks have done really 
well this season, I still haven’t watched a game involving either of them 
so I’m none the wiser. I’ve been told that for sheer tradition and richness 
of club history I must go for the “pies” (Magpies) – Collingwood. Like 
Man Utd in the English Premier League, Collingwood divide footy fans 
into ABC (Any one But Collingwood) and Pies fans. They have however, 
striped colours – black and white at that – just like the Geordies. Bar-codes 
– how does one barrack for that? Go by colours? That would be superficial. 
Essendon (red, black) St Kilda (red, black and white) would suit. Or if 
nickname is a yardstick, maybe Melbourne Demons would do. All three 
are now playing lousy footy however so … In any case maybe the 
hunt for a club should take on more serious proportions now. I guess 
that would be a club which fights hard, plays exciting footy, goes through 
agony (like now, for United) before experiencing ecstasy. It would be a 
club which rises up against what may seem like insurmountable 
odds, to reach the pinnacles of success. I don’t know enough 
about footy clubs to find out which club has the best fit. I’ll have 
to look some more. Then maybe I would have found a home in Melbourne.

Kiddo’s In


We got a letter from Mac.Robertson High yesterday, telling us Kiddo has got a place.

Praise God! We went out for a celebratory dinner last night at TGIF, Doncaster – her choice.

Gay Church? My Gay Thoughts


I have friends whom I think may be offended by what I’m about to write in this entry. It concerns homosexual practice. If you are one of these people, I hope you know by now that I believe God is real and He cares about us. He has great plans for us and I trust Him enough to know these plans are great ones. There is only one condition – that I must let Him be God and not try to play His role for Him. So, whatever my personal views may be about homosexual practice, they are secondary to what God has said in the Bible about the matter.

Personally, I don’t have any problems with homosexual practice. I am not one, have no such tendencies, and am prepared to accept that there are many with homosexual tendencies or preferences. To many, these tendencies and preferences are so strong they do not want to keep fighting them. They think perhaps life is to be lived, not fought against. They think a relationship is about commitment and sacrifice and building something together and there is nothing in a homosexual relationship which inherently precludes these virtues. I agree with these views. I would have subscribed wholly with them and would have supported same sex union as a logical consequence of these views. These however, are my personal views. As a Christian, I believe my personal views are not always the right ones. They can’t be. To insist that my personal views must prevail is to breach the condition set out above. His (perfect) plans wont work, and mine, which are no where near His (perfect ones) would kick in. My views really are a distant second to His, which is perfect.

I honestly do not know what to make of claims that homosexuality is a natural thing. It’s like someone who prefers one food to another, or has the natural tendency to use his left arm instead of his right. How can preference for one food over another or using one arm over another, be such a bad thing? Honestly, I don’t know. I dont know what harm there would be if say, half the world is gay. Maybe the world population would go down. The nucleus family would no longer be the norm. Is that a bad thing? I don’t know. If homosexuality becomes as common as a heterosexual union, it would be the first time since time immemorial, that the issue of parenthood becomes re-examined and the accepted convention of 2-sex parents is no longer. I don’t know what that does to the psyche of a child and how that affects his or her development and what sort of adult that child eventually becomes. It is such a vexed issue. It would certainly mean discarding what has worked for centuries, in favour of/exchange for acceptance of certain sexual preferences. Assuming the gays are right and it is perfectly “natural”. It is still only our way, not God’s. In fact, God wants us to subrogate our natural ways to His ways. The Bible speaks of dying to self in order to live. There are in any event, lots of things we naturally want to do but don’t, because they aren’t good for us. We wont go there for now however.

There is a Malaysian pastor who is now contemplating a gay church. This is just a bit whacky. Not that homosexual practice is whacky. It isn’t. It’s quite cool actually. It is however, against God’s ways. Jesus preached love and forgiveness and acceptance. That is true. He also however, preached obedience, repentance and judgment. These aren’t cool. They are however, core teachings of Jesus. To start a gay church would be like starting a church for any other perpetrators of any other practice which is against God’s ways.

We don’t for example, even think for a moment about say, a paedophile church. Before you scream murder, I’m not equating paedophilia with homosexuality. The obvious argument that one damages innocent young children while the other is between consenting adults is a familiar one with which I agree. However, again those are my views. They don’t matter. God’s views do. In fact they are the only ones that do. One doesn’t even have to proffer any arguments which a paedophile may put forward to justify the practice. You don’t need for example, to produce scientific evidence to show maybe some children aren’t damaged and may even acquire some life lessons. I know that is repulsive. I know society simply does not find paedophilia acceptable. My point is there will always be subjective views. Expert opinions change. Community rejection or acceptance of any matter is subjective. What is now unacceptable may be acceptable at different times, just as what was previously unacceptable may now be acceptable. The only objective standard is God’s. Okay, that is my belief. I know that to be true, because it is right there in the Bible (eg 1 Corinthians 6:9).

You know why the church today has credibility issues when they shout and thump their chests against homosexual practice? It is the issue of consistency. Homosexual practice is a sin, as is theft, lying, killing, jealousy, covetousness, and all the other practices listed in Exodus somewhere as well as in other parts of the Bible. In fact, remember Billy Graham’s 7 deadly sins? You hardly hear the church condemning these anymore. Why condemn homosexual practice but keep silent on theft for example? Why no word against murder? Why has the church not examined for example, the actions of people like George W and Robert M to see if they have perhaps committed murder? I know I know. George was defending his country, you may say. Really? From what? Terrorism? I thought that was in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and maybe Afghanistan? From oil drought? Ah…maybe he was then guilty of covetousness? Or did he not remember that and the other stuff in Exodus 20:15ff? If in lying and coveting Iraq’s oil he let his own view prevail over God’s that is as much a sin as homosexual practice is. Why didn’t the church condemn it but pretty much cover its head with ashes over homosexual practice?

So to the Malaysian pastors and churches crying out against that gay pastor, I say well done. However to sound a bit more credible, you should also take a stand against other practices which are against God’s ways. How many church goers in Malaysian churches today are guilty of sharp business practices (theft, lies, coveting)? How many have mistresses? How many overtly support regimes which condone murder (I have in mind the Malaysian police which the general public in Malaysia believes have committed murder in the summary execution of suspects in shootouts, pushing addicts off buildings, bashings in lock-ups and prisons leading to deaths)? Why does the church single out homosexual practice as a sin to condemn and leave the other iniquities alone?

So back to that gay church – no it wont work. I believe gay people in Malaysia aren’t Christians. If they turn up, it wont be because they are Christians – it would be because they are gay. It would be just another gay club. You cant for example preach on godliness because to be godly you need to well, subscribe to His ways. A homosexual practitioner has chosen to choose his own way over God’s. If however the intention of that church is to help practising gays get rid of that practice then that would be a great thing. That pastor could set an example and say homosexual practice is a sin in that it goes against God’s ways. It wont be a cool or popular thing to do, but godly.

Home Battles


We pressed on. We plotted and charted and planned and executed, with military precision. We retreated, took copious notes and conducted follow up research. We worked the phones, updated our strategies and plans and relaunched wave after wave of assault. We pressed on. The battle has not abated.  

The search for a home is tiring and tedious and is about as exciting as listening to Red Simmons on ABC FM. It is boring but feels like war. At every turn from all those prospective homes open for the public to soil their floors, the damned crowds snake out of their front doors. Near every tacky real estate sign with “Open for Inspection” emblazoned across it, there are cars galore, reducing wide leafy streets to an ugly football-crowd like hooligans. I exaggerate, of course. The crowds, while much bigger than they used to be, were actually pleasant, and given the importance of the decisions about to be made, were commendably light hearted. I imagined them however, as ugly ogres out to drive prices up and spoil my day.

Take for example, this beautiful home we saw in Forrest Hill. It had everything we were looking for, save location. We thought we could work around the location bit (or overlook it, which was stupid) so stayed back to see how the auction went. The listed price was between $470K – $540K. Within 20-25 minutes the auction just shot through the roof and closed at $612K. You’d think that was the sort of price wild Hans from south of the Great Wall would throw about for places where their kinsmen have taken roots, places such as Glen Waverley or Box Hill. Maybe even Mount Waverely as it is only a short rickshaw ride away. This here was Forest Hill. It’s the suburb more associated with men and women dressed in long white robes to spend their days either on the bowling greens or the push a walker in a nursing home.

The experts may go on and on about what has fuelled the housing price boom and how circumstances have changed, about how the US sub-prime mortgage market is being ripped apart and taking the world down the gurgler with it, about how interest rates and the US effect would have bring the run-away housing prices to come to a screeching halt. For now at least, they cannot be more wrong. The demand has obviously remained robust and unshakable. That auction in Forest Hill attracted at least 150 persons. It has 4 active bidders and closed in excess of 21% of the asking price. Maybe the real estate agents were playing games and deliberately priced properties lower to attract attention and when the levels of interest are sufficiently heated up, they whip it up and push it to obscenely high closings.  But they cant do this if there isn’t sufficient demand. The demand is fuelling the price escalation and whatever tricks these agents use were simply further elements if anything.

So we plough on and hope to fight another day. Come this weekend, we’d have to venture out to the battlefields to play out the familiar scenes. We have to press on. We will press on.

Keep Knocking


I’m feeling tired just thinking about it – the prospect of viewing more houses tomorrow. I don’t particularly enjoy this and when we first came to Melbourne, I dreaded tagging along with relatives who appeared to enjoy this. They’d rock into show-houses and move from one house to another, and from one builder to another. After a while, I ceased being polite and flatly turned down all invitations to go house viewing. I now have to do this as a necessity. Theresa’s had an extensive list drawn up and while it is still early days, the pressure to find something is already starting to build up. We’ll be looking at the usual suburbs tomorrow, which are mainly in or around our present place. Mount Waverley is our preferred suburb, with Burwood East, Blackburn (preferably south), Forest Hill and even Doncaster East as other favoured ones. We are avoiding Glen Waverley like a plague now. As always, we have committed this matter to God and while it is us scouring the brochures and maps and trudging up and down driveways and garden paths, it would be Him casting a loving eye and guiding.  Someone in our floor resigned some time ago and today was her last day at work. She’s pregnant and is due to deliver in a few weeks. She resigned because she wants to take some time off to look after her child but had not served the minimum period to earn extended maternity leave. So she leaves after today, to raise her child. She said she and her partner had not planned this. She’s a happy, bubbly person and laughs a lot so she is going to be missed around here. Actually as I’m writing this down, it has just occurred to me that she is both English and an accountant so the independent myths of a boring English or boring accountant are simultaneously blown to smithereens.  Goodbye, JS and may God bless you, your partner and your child. 

Kiddo’s School and Our Home


  In 5 days, kiddo receives her results of her entrance exams from the McRobertson High School folks. She is such a free and happy spirit she hasn’t let this affect her in any way. Well at least she appears that way. We have asked her a number of times if this means anything to her and almost always, her response has been “not much” or something to that effect.   I remember making an entry, about 2 years ago, concerning the elitist aspect of education and select classes or schools. I guess it is usually the satisfaction of achievement which is a major driver of our efforts and the push to get into these select classes or schools is not any different. I don’t think kiddo particularly wants to be seen as smart. She may be no Einstein but neither is she an UMNO member (read: intellectually challenged). What she is however, is someone who pours herself into her work. That makes her smart. I am certain that trait (of being totally committed to her work) comes more from Theresa than me. While I work hard on the stuff I enjoy, I also often stand back to get a grip of the situation and if that situation allows it, I’d kick back and space out. Not Theresa. And, I think to a large extent, neither is kiddo. She would doggedly peck away till her work’s done and that’s great. That is what’s going to make her succeed.  What I think matters to kiddo is peer acceptance. I think her sense of acceptance is pretty healthy but would be boosted by qualifications for a select school. I know that even if she does not qualify, she’d adjust pretty quickly and settle down to her usual work style again.   Thankfully, none of us are nervous about this and the only anxiety we have is a derivative one, ie – where should we live?

Msian Chat and House Hunting


Chatting about Malaysia   

I have, by and large, tried to keep to my recent resolution to not run down Malaysia. So for example when I was speaking to some friends yesterday and the usual derisions were offered, I simply demurred and suggested some positive sides or proffered hope. My reservations were of course received with some surprise and jibes about whether I was starting to think about returning. I said no of course I wasn’t returning. Malaysia is no longer my home and leaving aside the never-say-never mantra as a ubiquitous caveat, I cannot see myself returning in any extended period. I cannot anyway. I am no longer a Malaysian, except maybe in a corner of heart somewhere. There is a Singaporean in the group I was talking to and he said, for the umpteenth time, that Malaysia was such a wasted opportunity. The country is beautiful, had vast natural resources and a legacy of education and legal system which could have provided a launching pad to make it a great place. Instead, constant bickering over racial issues together with greedy and corrupt politicians have conspired to send it closer to an African despot haven than ever. The increasing religious bigotry and extremist attitudes have made it an even less attractive place to invest, work and raise family. Even though the above stuff came from the group I was chatting with and not from me, it should not have made its way to this entry. I shall stop here on this issue.

House Hunting

A week after accepting an offer for our house, we have now begun viewing homes in earnest. For some reason, I am not overly concerned about finding a place. I don’t know if I should be. Properties are so expensive now so while it is great to cash in on current high prices, replacement costs would always be an issue and we knew this all along. It is just that we had planned on finding something else for a while now and had always thought about selling our current place so it isn’t a sudden decision which we haven’t thought through before. Yet, when we finally embarked on looking for a replacement home, it felt so daunting and tiring. On Saturday after the routing house cleaning in the morning, we set out and looked at various houses. By the time we got back at around 4.30pm, Theresa was so tired she was just glad to sit down in a stationary position and browse through some brochures instead. We decided to have some “teochew” porridge which was great (except for the colour as we used some sweet potato which was of the purple variety!).Yesterday after church we resumed our search and visited 2 more houses, and unlike Saturday, we spent a lot more time in each of these 2 houses. One was just off Waverley Road. It is a subdivision with 2 units and a relative had wanted the front unit which was much bigger and nicer. We were asked if we would be interested in the other one with hopefully a discount based on a bulk/package offer. It turned out the price differential between the 2 units made the remaining one disproportionately priced and it felt a lot less spacious than the other one in the subdivision. The other property we saw was just off Foster Road and was much nicer in terms of space, quality of finish and design. The one big question mark was the fact that it sat on a slope and a part of the house, meant to be a cellar-like underground storage facility, was a bit unnerving. We would have to continue looking, as painful as it is. We have just under 3 months to find and move into another place. God would have to accentuate the Heavenly Father role now.