1-0 up thanks to Scholes’ unexpected goal but only 47 minutes played and United is looking nervous and unsettled. We badly miss the steady partnership at the back. Rio has just conceded a corner. I took a quick shower during half time and the morning nippy conditions make for very refreshing football watching…brrrr…

Tress is having her shower now. It’s a bit cold – 6 deg only, 3 deg with wind chill factor. Tress had the heater turned on a short while ago so it isnt so bad. Boy am I nervous. I’m doing this (making this entry as I watch) just to manage the nerves.

Ronnie has the ball…couldnt find anyone in the box from the left flank. 55 mins gone. United seems to be attackin better now but Henry may be coming on.

Nani just had a fantastic run but whacked his shot way over. Henry is on. 60 mins gone.

Kiddo just got up – 6.02 now.

Carrick carded for tripping Messi – dont think he would be suspended for the final – yeah, I’m assuming. 32m out but Deco wants to have a crack.

Hargreaves is doing a lot of running but Ronnie appears to be unsettled. He should relax and play his normal game, but I guess that’s hard – after just winning the PFA and being in a high tension match like an ECL semis, with the prospect of entering a final for the first time (for him). Evra is still looking like our best player. 65 mins gone. Toure (Kolo’s bro) had a shot – no worries. Ronnie carded for his continuing duel with Zambrotta. I think he hates Zambrotta. Pretty boy Bojan Krkic looks like coming on. Toure carded for a terrible foul on Sparky.

Messi just threaded a very dangerous through ball which Xavi fortunately missed. Ronnie is looking very unsettled still. So is EVDS… 75 mins gone.

Fletcher is on for Scholes and Giggsy is on for Nani with 14 mins regulation time to play. Barca has a corner, Henry headed down but EVDS clutched on.

 Hargreaves put in a tremendous challenge on 80 mins. Ronnie runs on the right flank, cuts back and shot just wide. Still on 38 goals. On the other end, Henry floated a curled shot in from the left which EVDS holds on to. 82 mins gone. 8 mins to Moscow, I called out to Tress. Tress asked if I booked my ticket.

Teves hustled to great effect – he and Evra are my 2 players of the match. And maybe Hargreaves.

United doesnt look good and Ronaldo is going to ground far too often and easily. I think Evra is our best player so far. Evra just tackeld like his life depended on it at the edge of the box. 5 mins to go on regulation time. United cant concede. Please.

Come on Ronnie – make it 39. We need you to. Nail biting stuff. 2 mins to go. Brown just tackled off Kriic’s feet in the box. Phew… Evra looks badly injured. Silvestre is coming on. 2 mins into injury time now, 3 mins were given. Is this Evra and United playing the continental time management card? Evra is out on a stretcher. 3 mins to go, says the commentator.

We’re THERE!!!

 

The summer Olympics is less than 4 months away. I remember following the Olympics from the 1984 LA games onward. The most memorable on for me was probably Barcelona 92, probably because I stood at Espanyol’s home ground and watched unbelievably at the trajectory the archer must have worked out, to light the flames by firing an torch arrow into that receptacle. It was the only Olympic stadium I have ever been in, outside of the MCG.

The flame was always a main feature of the Olympics. In recent times intermittent television coverage has been given to its itinerary as it makes it way to the host city.

Beijing 2008 has cast a whole different shade on this. The fracas in Europe and threats from people like monsieur Sarkozy has politicized something I thought couldn’t be any more politicized.

Hitler did it in the Berlin games and thanks to Jesse ended up with eggs on his face. The black panther salute was another one (was that in Mexico or Rome…). Then Munich 1972 saw that terrible massacre of Israeli athletes and Moscow 1980 saw the US boycott, to be reciprocated in the LA 1984 games. Even the fantastic Sydney 2000 saw racial elements surfacing.

The press has to a large extent played up the supposed negative role of the Chinese in Tibet. I take it that because I live in a western society the press would be classified as the western press with the appropriate contempt it would attract from my pro Chinese friends. I too, question the timing of many of these Tibetan protests. I honestly don’t know the nature of the conflict. Is autonomy the only issue? Why is the west so hell bent on facilitating independence by fringe territories? Out of the blue we saw the Kurds declare independence in Serbia. Apparently the Americans gave the breakup full support. On the other hand we see the English battling for decades against the Irish attempt to have self administration. The message in press reports almost always suggest the culprits are the Irish – they were the first ones to give a face or profile to terrorism- – whereas the English are seen as innocent rulers. If the Tibetans turn violent today, I don’t know if the media would likewise equally treat such violence as unacceptable or would they build on the current flavour of bad Chinese government? The message is a mixed one and little wonder many see this as a west versus the east matter.

I wonder if there has been objective review of the situation, giving space to all views and arguments. And I don’t just refer to the western media. I mean, if the pro-Chinese (in this dispute) chooses to be magnanimous, what argument can it proffer to show that its rule over Tibet is indeed positive and it cant see why it wants to choose independence instead save maybe to attribute this to the Dalai Lama’s agenda to be the outright political leader? Can the pro-Chinese put hand to heart and say Chinese rule is better for Tibet? If not, why resist its attempts for self rule? After all, it has more Indian features than Chinese ones. It really is not at all like a Chinese province in that the people aren’t anywhere near being Chinese.

The same thing could be said of the Uyghur in Xinjiang. From all accounts, they too don’t want the Chinese there.

If we take away the west versus east angle, can China legitimately say it has good reasons to remain in either of these two places? Holding the country together cannot be a good enough reason to continue to suppress ordinary man on the street, or can it?

I don’t know – it’s such a vexed issue. I just want to enjoy a nice Olympics event without the politicizing of even the flaming route…

4 games to go with a 5 point lead. I have continued to follow proceedings in the UK albeit at a much lower level of details. All I know is the lead we have and the next game we’re playing. Sometimes, such as at the present stage, I am also vaguely aware of our rivals’ next games. This time around I know the Russian’s mob is playing the toffees mid-week a couple of days before we take on Sparky’s boys. Moyes has been known to be a very shrewd boss and while the Fools may have consolidated 4th position, it would be very un-Evertonian to fold.

A few years ago I would have been aware of whether it is still mathematically possible for Merseyside blues to chase down Merseyside reds. Now however, I know the Hawks’ lead on the top of the table is not so strong, better. The point is Everton would give Chelsea a run for the money and if they force another draw, voila!

Fergie has been unbelievable. I know all the rage this season has been on the latest No 7 sensation and what a sensation – Cristiano Ronaldo is now everyone’s favourite for the title of world’s best player. Of course, the “supporting cast” of Rooney, Rio and Scholes as well as solid team members like Hargreaves, Evra and EVDS are all instrumental. The reports have been in superlative terms and how I wish I had the chance to watch every single game.

The rounder and greyer boss however must surely be recognised as the maestro who put it all together so that these performers know when to rise and let rip and when to lay it off for others to blow their horns, so to speak. But really – the greater achievement must have been the construction of squad after title winning squad, over a span of more than 15 years.

First it was Ince, Hughes and Kanchelskis, then it was Cantona, then it was Stam and Becks and then Keano and van Nilsteroy. Big names come and go and teams are constructed over and over again.
While the class of 99 had Becks, Keane, Scholes, Giggs and the soul brothers as well as Stam and Schmikes the class of 2008 now has Ronnie and Rooney, Rio and Vidic (with Evra on his constant overlapping raids down the left flank), Scholes (the evergreen engine) and Anderson and every now and then, Giggsy with his still mesmerising smooth-as-silk glides through opposition defences.

Fergie has been the one common thread right through all these trophy winning squads. Ronnie may be the brightest star now but I remember him coming on board what – 4 plus years ago? He was a great show pony and little else. I’m sure Carlos Queiroz would have played a huge role in cutting this diamond but only with the wisdom and watchful eye of football’s grand viceroy would you be able to hone this diamond into the splendour on display week after week.

It has been the same with Rooney. For all of Moyes’ attributes as a manager, Rooney was erupting consistently and getting into trouble. Age may have stabilised him but he is still very young and Fergie has had the experience of having guided the fledglings – the class of 92 as it were – into world beaters. The Beckham, Giggs, Scholes, Butt, the Neville brothers, all went on to have great careers only because the great hairdryer was constantly in use. See what happens when they leave his fold – Beckham was never the same footballer even in Real Madrid and Butt with the Barcodes is in a mid-table team at best. Phil is under another very good manager in Moyes so he is doing better but even then his careers is no where near what it was at United. On the other hand, Giggs and Scholes continue to perform at the highest championship levels every week.

In Fergie, we are witnessing a living legend if you haven’t already realised it. I don’t think we’ll see the likes of Fergie ever again.

I hope this team has the wherewithal to also go all the way. I tried negotiating with Tress re a Moscow trip but 1999 was much easier. I was only 34 then and was fit and healthy and raring to do it all. More importantly perhaps, there was the maid at home and in-laws and relatives around to provide company and help in my absence. It is now 2008, I am 9 years older, and much more relied upon in and around the house. European glory is much further away from where we are now (where I’m looking forward to a Hawks v Bombers game to bring kiddo to), but it looks as close to United as it ever has.
 

So there you have it again – Malays in Malaysia, especially the ruling class, couldnt have made it clearer. Chinese and Indians in Malaysia could never expect to be treated as equals with the Malays.

The latest public statement came from the Kelantan Sultan:

From the Malaysiakini report today:
Kelantan Crown Prince Tengku Faris Petra said today that Malays had been coerced into giving non-Malays citizenship and the latter should therefore not seek equality or special treatment.

He goes further:

“In fact, if Malay rights and special privileges are taken care of and is not disturbed, it would ensure national harmony. It does not just benefit the Malays but all ethnic groups,” he said.

Like I suspected, it isnt just an UMNO created issue – Malays in Malaysia always think of Chinese and Indiand as tolerated inconvenience.
 

 

 

 

Sofia’s

We hadn’t been to Sofia’s for a long time. On Tuesday Tress had a little shopping event at her work place and I caught up with her in the city, just outside her building. We went home together and it was later than the usual time for Tress. We could have stayed home to cook dinner but we thought we haven’t been to Sofia’s for a while – kiddo would like that, so we went home, change and headed there.

We used to go on almost every Friday, sometimes on an additional weekday as well. So the people there knew us as regulars and we could pick out the regular staff there.

On Tuesday night we realised there was a number of new staff. The waiter who attended to us was an Indian chap and he especially tried to be helpful. He had a thick Indian accent so he’s probably not a locally born version. He had trouble explaining to us the features of a “baked avocado” and a “seafood pancake”. We were trying to decide between the 2 for an entrée and he ended up making it even more difficult for us – both dishes were seafood  – “prowns” with a cheese sauce. Apparently the only difference was one was served on baked avocadoes and the other, on pancakes.

Actually that made sense. This “family restaurant” offers quick service and value. Food is ok – maybe even good – but never great. Certainly it has never been imaginative or exciting. We like it because it’s near our home, is a BYO and like I said, was relatively cheap and offered huge servings. I guess creating dishes based on similar features allowed it to charge lower prices. Besides, the place is always very spacious and had a fun atmosphere. We always left with 1 or 2 takeaway containers with leftovers.
 
Gordon Ramsay

The theme of eating out and Indian people continued when we reached home. My current favourite television program is “Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares”. Gordon Ramsay swears like Ronaldo doing step-overs. You get a staple minimum every time either one gets “on stage”. I don’t suppose he needed to swear that much to make the program interesting but I think asking Gordon Ramsay not to swear would be to get something less than the full monthy. You wouldn’t be getting the real thing. The result would be very different, I think.

Anyway because I was home so early, we could actually have dinner outside, come home and fix lunches for the next day, and settle down to watch my favourite program. Like I said, the theme of restaurants and Indians continued for the evening because the feature restaurant was an Indian restaurant. Those of you who watch this program know being a feature restaurant means you had a pretty crappy restaurant. This one was probably as bad as it gets. Thankfully we’ve had our dinner as the scenes with the cockies would have been the perfect dieting – or bulimic – tool.

While we were watching Gordon beat up the proprietor and staff of the Purnima (nee Dhillon) restaurant, Tress was busy showing us the fruit of her labour at the staff shopping event. They all looked great and as usual, she fussed over who should get which piece – she often shares the spoils of her battles.
Gordon finished around 9.30 and by 10 we were in bed.
 
ICC Home Groups

Our church has “relaunched” the home group meetings.  The group we were in was moving along quite well, I thought. The leaders must have thought otherwise. Our group, which had about 15 persons on a regular basis, was also the namesake of this blog. It met in a church leader’s home initially but in recent times (before it was dismantled) met in our home.

I believe there were a few who, as a result of our home group, had become closer to other church members. I for one, felt that outside of the home group environment, I would not have known a few of them. So home group is a good thing, I guess. Whether it would continue to be good would depend on how members react to being thrown together in different groupings/dynamics. It goes without saying that it takes a certain chemistry or dynamics for a group to gel and work well. If those elements aren’t there, the groups won’t work well.

Maybe the church context requires spiritualising – for chemistry and dynamics maybe some would say it takes the Spirit of God to provide the adhesive and grease. I have no doubt the Spirit of God can and does play that role. But I also think that it is true only if that group is genuinely committed to the cause, ie fulfil the Great Commission, for example.

Where the home group is likely to serve the (more likely) purpose of providing a platform for more interaction (fellowship) and care (love), I think the chemistry and dynamics must be right. I therefore think the newly constituted home groups will morph for a while before settling down to more cohesive groups. Some will break up and cease meeting. Some will roll on famously and get on like a house on fire. Maybe, just maybe, there may just be a group which will try to obey the Great Commission and let God do His thing.

This brings up the question of whether these groups should have been constituted on a consultative basis. Presently they have been put together mainly on the basis of where the members live. So if 2 members happen to live in the same suburb but can’t get along, they are put in the same group anyway. Conversely, if 2 members get along really well but live in opposite ends of Melbourne, there is no chance they would be in the same group.

There is a reluctance to attempt a group change. Members have to tiptoe to consult with leaders of the affected groups if they want to be in a different group. This is because the coordinator had made a statement that everyone should make an attempt to get along. To not attempt to get along would be to deny the ability of God to “make possible the impossible”.

This is the familiar no go zone. Tell someone he or she should do something because that was God’s will, or not to do something because that would be against God’s will, and you are effectively taking away the freewill of that person. Sometimes that is necessary. Often however, that is wrong. Once you throw God into the equation, there is no room for rebuttal.

It may not have been a conscious attempt but throwing God into the equation is to kill off discussions. There is no other way and you’d have to do it that one solitary way, because that is what “God ordained”.  To seek a group change surely isn’t denial of the power of God to make me get along with say, a Manchester City fan or that officer in Bank Negara Malaysia who made life hell for me for almost a year in the late 90s. I just don’t feel comfortable in that group and want to see if I can fit in better in another group.

Maybe I’m not aware of the consultation which may have gone on in the background before the distribution was made. I think it is just a case of not having a full time minister in the church. Things like this takes a long time to plan. The coordinator and other leaders are all holding down full time jobs. If they feel anything like I do, there would be so little time at the end of each day, to do all these other things.

It would have been far easier to perform this task on a desktop computer instead of going through one or more rounds of jigging and re-jigging the make-up of the groups. That may have been the cause of this. Or maybe I’m not being fair to the coordinator. Maybe there was a genuine intention to get members to get along no matter what and it isn’t simply for lack of time or effort that group make-up did not undergo a consultative process.

I guess it simply isn’t easy. The point is these groups should have very long term outlook. Investing a few weeks to get them right would have been time well spent. As it is, it feels like a rush job which would cause a few problems before these groups can properly function and serve their purpose. We’d all have to pull that much harder.
 

No Rest on a Weekend (after the storm)
 
I cant believe the weather pattern these days. It was hot – high 30s hot – just about 3 weeks ago, then we had pretty cool conditions the past 2 weeks, with single digit mornings. This week, it’d be hovering in the mid 20s with Friday threatening to hit 28deg.
 
Maybe Al Gore isn’t that wrong and Andrew Bolt should look at other streams of evidence. Are these weather patterns irrefutable proofs of global warming or are these wild fluctuations really just cyclical?
 
We spent almost the entire Saturday cleaning up after last Wednesday’s storm. We had also booked the Nissan in for a 20 thousand kilometre service, so Saturday was pretty flat out for us.
 
That morning I woke a little after 7, got into the car service centre around 8, and back at home, after dropping off my suits at the dry cleaners’ and a quick breakfast, started to work on the fallen tree around 9.
 
The pine tree on the front lawn had a couple of branches snapped off but did not break cleanly. A branch was just hanging off while the other was just sitting on a combination of phone and electricity cables and other branches. We only had a tiny little handsaw, probably around 8-10 inches long and maybe 3-4 inches wide. What we had going for us was that this miniature saw was still very new so it was very sharp. I cleaned up the pine tree with this tiny saw. The blower vac came out next and I attempted to tidy up the driveway and lawn by blowing or vacuuming the twigs and leaves. The larger branches and twigs had to be picked up by hand.
 
The leaves and pine were really all over the lawn so the easiest way to tidy it up was to actually mow the lawn. After that was done, the front of the house looked like it had been cleaned up and the effects of the storm erased. The side lawn however was another story and that was where the main challenges lay, in a most literal way.
 
The tree must have been 25-30 feet high (see picture in previous entry). It looked like a perfectly healthy tree so the branches were solid and all in one piece. They were so strong that that they were crushing our hedges and piercing holes in our lawn. Those branches had to come out quickly, and could not wait for our neighbours’ insurance company to fix. So I painstakingly sawed off the offending branches and negotiated them through the door on the driveway, onto the nature strip between the neighbours’ house and ours. The tiny saw worked but it required focused and prolonged manoeuvring. Each branch was maybe 5-6 inches in diameter and was heavy with lush leaves and clusters of pods. Tress said it was a eucalyptus tree. The wood was a nice clean light yellow colour with what appeared to be very fine grain. I’m no timber expert obviously but the wood felt hard. Or maybe it was the size of my tool (the saw la). The sawing took a big effort before the branch could
 
As we were almost done working on that tree, the car service people called. I finished off the last branch, dragged it out, blow-vac the driveway and little deck next to the side door again, and put the tools away. The side lawn looked clearer and as a result, brighter. We could now see clearly, which hedge was wrecked and how badly damaged the fence was. Tress then dropped me off at the car service place, and went to get some lunch. I waited around, picked up the car, stopped at Dan Murphy’s to pick up some staple and headed home.
 
Tress bought a packet of nasi lemak from our usual grocery store and it tasted better than at most past weekends when we bought it. After that was done, we went to pick up my dry cleaning, went grocery shopping (stopping at our favourite café in the mall for our fix) and got home to do some more work, this time inside the house.
 
The storm had not only wreaked havoc outside the house but had also blown in a lot of grime, dust, bits of leaves, and dirt near and around the windows, doors and various other spots. The vacuuming had to be heavy duty and thorough…A couple of hours later, I realised I stink. I said out loud that I thought I smelled terrible and Tress said yes you do. That told me I had to finish off fast and hit the showers.
 
It was about 5.30pm when we were done. A full day’s full-on work with very little respite. All 3 of us just sat down, knackered. Kiddo put on the Hairspray DVD, we enjoyed it and I only started to prepare dinner closer to 7pm.
 
Just as I was about to start on dinner, I thought it’d be nice to get some friends over for a chat and for their kids to come and play a board game or two with kiddo. After all, it’s the last day of daylights saving and we’d be getting an extra hour. A couple of families agreed to come over.
 
After dinner, I sat down to watch “Top Gear” and just as it about to finish, the families arrived. We caught up and chatted over a few glasses of wine and though I was tired, I thought it was a day well spent. As our guests left close to midnight and I went out to their cars, it was nippy again. I felt like I could really use some shut eye and thought it’d be fantastic if I had a short break from it all. I have just been exhausted from the things going on around us at the moment.
 
 
No rest on Sabbath
 
After church last Sunday, D&L invited us to their place for lunch. When D called me in the morning about it, he said it would be a simple lunch. That simply doesn’t happen for a get together amongst Malaysian Chinese – Tress and I brought some ice cream for dessert but D&L treated the whole thing like a mini banquet. They had noodles, pasta, oriental style soy chicken, roast duck, as well as KFC for the kids. They even bought beer for us. After lunch we sat around and talked and later, a church leader came over and joined us. We only left close to 6pm. On the way home we stopped to have a quick look at the house D&L had looked at the day before. It looked nice and Tress and I joked about getting it for ourselves.
 
We got home, I got some ironing done, started to prepare lunch for the next day, packed my gym gear and work stuff and frankly, was ready for bed by 8pm. Kiddo and Tress wanted to catch their favourite TV program so I stayed up as I stretched out my lunch making process. Tress and dozed off mid way through TV, her favourite program didn’t help. Kiddo wanted to stay up for the program after that but I said no. I rally wanted to go to sleep. Just then however Tress woke up and decided she wanted to watch that next one. I stayed up to accompany her but I took over the dozing-off role.  I thought again, especially in the train the next morning when it was a little cold, the train was crowded and I was starting to think about the work waiting for me that week, that I really would enjoy a short break from it all.
 
 
No rest for the Weary
 
We last had a break early this year, in the middle of January. We were in Malaysia. It was time off work with plenty of free time with friends and relatives. However it wasn’t pure time off in terms of R&R, if you know what I mean. It was hot and we had nothing to do most of the time except stay home and watch television or go shopping and eating. Where we lived (with Tress’ parents) there were 2 little kids who were constantly seeking our attention. We loved them, loved the time we got to spend with them but we didn’t get the R&R we wanted. What I would have really liked to do was relax by a pool for a few days, with nothing to do except read a book and drink beer during the day and watch football (preferably United) and drink wine at night. I guess we didn’t go to Malaysia for R&R strictly but to spend time with family and friends. I especially wanted to see my mother again since the last time we were there was when my father died.
 
Now though, I am starting to feel the need for some R&R. I need some time to do nothing except read a book or watch something nice on television or in the cinema. The long days at work and busy weekends with housework and eating and chatting with friends and church people either in our home or some other person’s, means I have hardly had any time to really relax. Maybe I shouldn’t worry – all these are good for the person as a whole. I may be physically and mentally tired but this is a better alternative. As is often the case, sweet spot of balance is the Holy Grail. Maybe for now it is swinging a little too much the other way but the pendulum will be back. It is just that for now, I am tired. And for at least this weekend, there is no respite. Home group is on this Friday, dinner on Sunday night with a mate and another family. Meanwhile there was the Legal Comedy Debate on Monday night and dinner with a mate and a couple on Wednesday. All these, when it continues to be busy in the office. I have to get enough sleep to get through this period, I think.
 

 

Another story of Hillsong’s alleged whacky and wrong practice emerged in the Age newspaper recently: http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/exorcism-and-bible–mercy-of-the-ministry/2008/03/16/1205602228832.html
 
That article is reproduced below:

They sought help, but got exorcism and the Bible

A SECRETIVE ministry with direct links to Gloria Jean’s Coffees and the Hillsong Church has been deceiving troubled young women into signing over months of their lives to a program that offers scant medical or psychiatric care, instead using Bible studies and exorcisms to treat mental illness.
Government agencies such as Centrelink have also been drawn into the controversy, as residents are required to transfer their benefits to Mercy Ministries. There are also allegations that the group receives a carers payment to look after the young women.

Mercy Ministries says 96 young women have “graduated” from its program since its inception in 2001. But many have been expelled without warning and with no follow up or support.
Three former residents who have felt the full force of Mercy’s questionable programs are blowing the whistle on its emotionally cruel and medically unproven techniques, detailing abuse including exorcisms, “separation contracts” between girls who became friends, and harsh discipline for those who broke the rules.

Naomi Johnson, Rhiannon Canham-Wright and Megan Smith (Megan asked to use an assumed name) went into Mercy Ministries independent young women, and came out broken and suicidal, believing, as Mercy staff had told them repeatedly, that they were possessed by demons and that Satan controlled them.
Only careful psychological and psychiatric care over several years brought them back from the edge.
Taking in girls and women aged 16 to 28, Mercy Ministries claims to offer residents support from “psychologists, general practitioners, dietitians, social workers, [and] career counsellers”. These claims are made on its website, and the programs are promoted through Gloria Jean’s cafes throughout Australia.
But these former residents say no medical or psychological services were provided – just an occasional, monitored trip to a GP, where the consultation takes place in the presence of a Mercy Ministries staff member or volunteer.

Instead, the program is focused on prayer, Christian counselling and expelling demons from in and around the young women, who say they begged Mercy Ministries to let them get medical help for the conditions they were suffering, which included bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders and anorexia.
When Fairfax Media asked Mercy Ministries representatives whether they told young women that the symptoms of their mental illness or eating disorders were due to demonic activity and that residents were forced into exorcisms, they offered no denial

“Mercy Ministries staff address the issues that the residents face from a holistic client-focused approach; physical, mental, emotional. The program is voluntary and all aspects are explained comprehensively to the residents and no force is used,” the executive manager of programs, Judy Watson, said in response.
Throughout its website, decorated in hot pink tones with images of happy young women who have been “saved”, Mercy claims to offer its residential programs free. Yet the services are not free – young women on unemployment benefits are “asked” to sign them over to Mercy, while others are asked to make a donation for expenses.

Mostly funded by Gloria Jean’s Coffee – which said last night it did not plan to change its sponsorship arrangements – and supported by the Hillsong Foundation, Mercy Ministries says it has a 90 per cent success rate, but when asked to provide evidence of the program’s outcomes, Ms Watson said that research was under way and not yet available.

Not only does Mercy Ministries appear unconcerned by the allegations, it is mounting an aggressive expansion campaign. Peter Irvine, its former managing director, now director of corporate sponsorship, confirmed it was opening houses in Adelaide, Perth, Townsville, Newcastle, Melbourne and another Sydney house, in the southern suburbs.

Ms Johnson spent nine months in the Mercy Ministries house in Glenhaven before she was expelled. Close to committing suicide and her eating disorder worse than ever, she was admitted to a psychiatric unit and has spent three years trying to recover from her ordeal.

Ms Canham-Wright and Ms Smith tell similar stories from their time in the Sunshine Coast house, and all continue to suffer from the effects of Mercy Ministries’ unconventional program.

They are concerned that as more houses are due to open, more women will be put at risk, partly because there is a desperate shortage of affordable services for people with mental illness.

“This could be really dangerous .. Mercy has the potential to be inundated with people … [who will] fall for the advertising and out of desperation reach for Mercy,” Ms Johnson said.
“Here in Perth people with eating disorders are very limited when it comes to treatment. When you reach 18 there are no government-funded inpatient treatment options for anorexia, except for a general public psychiatric ward where there is no expertise on these issues.”

The federal Minister for Human Services, Joe Ludwig, said the Government would investigate. “I am very concerned about these serious allegations, and I have asked Centrelink to investigate its payment arrangement,” he said.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission and the Queensland Office of Fair Trading have also indicated they will investigate if they receive complaints from the women.

Allan Fels, dean of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government and former chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, said if Mercy Ministries had made false claims about its services it would be in breach of the law and could face injunctions, damages and fines. “Both the federal Trade Practices Act and the relevant state fair trading acts would seem to apply to the situation since income is being received by Mercy Ministries. Both laws prohibit misleading and deceptive conduct.”

This is why I am always sceptical whenever our church resorts to practices like praying to “free someone from the bondage of illness” and “claim victory over illness”. “By His stripes we are healed” our church likes to say, and then “claim the healing”. Then if the illness persists, everyone keeps quiet or worse, suggest the patient’s faith is insufficient.
 
God has given us doctors and medicine and what makes us think that is not what God wants us to use when we are sick? Illness is just another symptom of an imperfect world. We should deal with it as we deal with all other imperfections in this world, ie fix it with resources God has mercifully provided. That is what God did with the nakedness Adam and Eve. God provided practical, logical and natural solution – not a dramatic, miraculous and supernatural one.
 
If we need drama in our lives, we should choose a footy team to follow – not expect miracles and whacky claims God never promised us.

It is now the school holidays and I thought I’d take a day off to spend it with kiddo. I had originally wanted to take her out to a park to get some outdoor activities – fresh air and sunshine and a dose of nature would be good for her, I thought. I specifically had in mind Lilydale Lake which would a good distance to drive – not too far away but not so near that she’d feel we haven’t really gone on an excursion.
 
As it turned out, as far as the original purpose goes, my choice of day to take leave couldn’t have been worse. I took Wednesday off. That morning I sent Tress to the station, and went to the gym. With more time in my hands, I did a whole hour’s run and caught United’s win over Roma. I got home after that – it was about 9am and she was still in bed. The weather was still holding up. I checked up the internet to see what the weather was going to be like. It didn’t seem too promising so I looked up some movie listings as a back up plan. By the time she woke up just a little after 10am, the weather was definitely looking grim. The choice came down to which movie and whether we would go into the city for that and have lunch with Tress while there.
 
We decided to watch the Spiderwick Chronicles – I had looked up the reviews, which were positive – and there was a Hoyts theatre in the shopping centre not 5 minutes drive away. There was also a pretty decent bistro in that shopping centre and we had good discounts vouchers. The coffee there has always been good. So kiddo and I abandoned my initial thoughts of doing the Lilydale Lake and headed to that shopping centre.
 
Kiddo had a good breakfast, I had a good coffee and we went for the Spiderwick Chronicles. It was a very enjoyable movie but I thought many scenes were a tad too frightening for the hordes of kids – rugrats, really – it’s in that awkward category of films where it is based on a children’s series but when transported onto the big screen, becomes too graphic to be purely innocent.
 
After the movie, as we were making our way down the escalator, we were given a panoramic view – on the window panels running from the ceiling down to the floor below – of the strong winds which lashed Melbourne the whole of Wednesday afternoon, wreaking havoc to the public transport system and power supply.
 
We walked towards the food court and as we were wondering what to do for lunch (it was just past 2pm), large parts of lighting in the shopping centre went off and a siren/alarm system came on. The forecast of very strong winds have eventuated. The winds have messed with electricity supply and soon, some shops began to close. After a quick round of window shopping and a quick bite, we decided to go home. The winds were still lashing around when we left.
 
I drove down Glebe Street and saw some tree branches strewn across the road. We turned into Bindy Street and saw many more tree branches all over the road. As we made our way into Vicki Street, the car in front of us stopped and turned around. A huge tree had completely broken off and fallen across Vicki Street, blocking access. We turned around and drove from the other end of the street to get home.
 
On reaching home, the spectre of more chaos met us. Our neighbour’s biggest tree had broken off its trunk and fallen into our side lawn, ripping the fence in the process.

Part of its top rested on our lawn, part of it rested on the roof of our neighbour’s home and the trunk was almost resting on the splintered fence. I made a quick survey around the house and noticed that the pine tree on the front lawn had a couple of branches broken off but was still resting off other branches.
 
Thankfully the electricity and phone were still connected. I jumped on the internet and found out the whole of Melbourne has been lashed with winds in excess of 100km/h. Trees were uprooted and blocked railway tracks, causing many train services to be cancelled. I quickly rang Tress to see how things were in the city and whether she was making her way back earlier, as it was already past 4pm. The police had urged non essential personnel to leave the city.
 
Kiddo wanted to some playstation time and in between telephone calls to emergency services and Tress I raced cars with kiddo. I was constantly and acutely aware of the continuing risks we faced – one of our cars were on the unprotected driveway. A downside of living across a park is the openness and therefore exposure during storms. Smaller trees branches were flying around and larger ones were blocking roads and lying on lawns. Our unprotected car was a sitting duck. I was constantly going to the front windows to check on conditions, as well as checking latest weather reports on the internet. I rang Tress again to check if she was coming home early.
 
Tress stoically decided to remain and by the time she was ready to leave, traffic had reached a chaotic crescendo. It took me close to an hour to get to Camberwell, which was as far as the trains could go. I picked her up on Burke Road, we made our way back to the Burwood Highway and stopped to pick up some KFC – the first time in years I had voluntarily bought a KFC meal – to kiddo’s surprise and undoubted delight.
 
We got home at about 8.30pm and kiddo said Bryan the neighbour had been around to chat about the tree. I went over and checked out their place. It too was a bit of a mess. Shamefully, it was the first time we chatted for more than a couple of minutes and I made a mental note to invite them over for a drink, at some point. Bryan agreed to look into the matter as soon as possible. He was going to check out his insurance policy to ascertain the cover. Hopefully it wont be too long before he got someone around to remove that huge tree from our side lawn and fix the fence.
 
I went to bed wondering if the mess could be fixed soon but realised there was no sense worrying about it anymore than we should. God had obviously protected us – the tree had fallen maybe a couple of feet from our side door and missed the house completely. Except for the fence and hedges, there was no other damage.
 
Tress and I woke up the next day and decided to try and get to work earlier, just in case there were still problems with the trains. I decided to skip gym that morning.  As the train pulled into Box Hill, the engine cut off and the lights went out.