Najib Razak orchestrated the Perak mess, clearly with the aim of reclaiming government. There is a clear pattern to exclude PKR state assembly person in Selangor. The tool is MACC

Not too big a jump to deduce Najib Razak has a hand in MACC pursuit of Selangor state assembly rates, yes?

Well then – the one implicated in the Altantuya murder is clearly involved in the murder of Teoh Beng Hock as well, no?

Last Sunday Jeremiah Yap talked about “culture of Christ”. I think he meant to get people who dont go with the signs and wonders gig. He was urging the congregation not to let culture get in the way of the “next level”.

Hmmm…

I wonder if we also allow the culture of the charismatic movement get in the way of proper and sound teaching with internally consistent thoughts.

It works both ways. I am comfortable enough for you to dance around while worshipping; you should be comfortable enough to let me worsship in my dignified manner.

I will forgo my culture of knowledge and thoughts and orderly flows, if you will forgo your culture of free for all anything goes, post modernism experiential trip.

Teoh Beng Hock was a political secretary to a state government politician from the DAP. He was 30.

Kugan Ananthan was an alleged car thief.

One was detained for questioning by an anti-corruption agency. The other was detained for alleged car theft activities.

Both died in the course of being questioned.

I think those 2 cases are just symptomatic. Tragic as their deaths were, they weren’t unusual. I wonder how many more have been killed or severely hurt by Malaysian authorities under such circumstances.

Can Malaysians feel safe going into a law enforcement agency for any reason?

For now, it will be the usual and utter poppycock from the rulers about accidents and not pre-judging. A young man with loads to live for goes in for a very simple and routine questioning and ends up dead. Pre-judging?

Let’s just say I am extremely happy not to be living in Malaysia.

*****************

A childhood friend of mine is dead. Lee Mun Leong used to come to our house almost every day, during our schooldays. He was my brother’s age. We’d cycle around to a few other mates’ houses. We lived in Palm Grove in Klang. He lived across the main Klang/Port Klang thoroughfare – I forget what that neighbourhood was called, Taman Gembira or something. He’d cycle to our house, we’d chat and then we’d cycle to PetalingGarden, or Chi Liung or Southern Park to see other mates of ours. We’d often go to a coffeeshop for drinks or food. He was a nice guy.

Later when we left school, I lost contact with him. When I returned to Malaysia after uni in Sydney I caught up with him again. He was working in a bank then. He was smoking heavily and said he had health problems. I didn’t ask in details but remembered he was diabetic.

He didn’t seem happy. He tried to start a small business. A few months ago my brother texted me and told me Mun Leong was very ill. His diabetes had worsened and he had to have his feet amputated. My brother told me Mun Leong was depressed.

Last night my brother texted me saying Mun Leong had died. My heart sank.

We were watching Harry Potter’s sixth film and were in a cinema when my phone buzzed. When we came home I told Tress.

Life is short. Too short for idiotic government and law enforcement agencies to rob us blind. Malaysia my dear Malaysia. Isnt it time to have a Malaysian Bastille and get rid of those bastards?

The events set out in the email exchanges below make up what I will easily term God speaking to me. Sure, it can be easily viewed as a coincidence but it is about God’s work so I have no hesitation saying God spoke. Yes He does speak but not in the ways many claim…

—–Original Message—–
From:
Sent: Wednesday, 15 July 2009 10:49 AM
To: Teh, Ian
Subject: Re: Christmas Appeal

🙂

It’s a friendly reminder

You know what …. just this morning, I have been discussing with a

colleague from Brazil, and we are looking at setting up an Orphanage

in Myanmar …for the children orphaned by Cyclone Nargis. We already

have a piece of land (40 acres). We have the government approval

(which actually is a miracle all in itself !) … and now working on

the details. Please keep this in your prayers…specifically, …(i)

continued favor …that there will be no hitches/politics (ii) pray

the Buddhist activists will not stand in the way. Though we have

greater favor with the authorities and can "bulldoze" our way

through …for the long haul, strained relationships don’t advance

His Kingdom. (iii) for YMCA who will be our local partners there

(iv) YMCA will handle most of the staffing, but we need to get a

person employed by us to oversee and coordinate it …working with

YMCA (v) that it will be strategic in advancing His Kingdom (vi)

wisdom on how to get this self-sustaining as quickly as possible.

Blessings !

On 15/07/2009, at 10:38 AM, Teh, Ian wrote:

> – thanks. I can open this now (saved as Word file).

>

> I have been very busy at work these past few weeks, but somehow my

> wife and

> I were talking about something last night and out of no where we

> got on to

> the subject of Myanmar. Then I remembered I have not responded to

> you. My

> wife chastised me and insisted I do it today. I have blocked out my

> lunch

> hour today to mail something out to you.

>

> Just after that, we settled down to watch tv and guess what – the ABC

> Foreign Correspondent program featured orphans in Myanmar.

>

> God has a way of working to remind us things. I will definitely

> action this

> today and will refresh my prayers for Myanmar and your work.

>

> Ian Teh

>

> T: (61) 3 9009 4525

>

> P Please consider the environment before printing this email

>

>

>

>

>

>

> —–Original Message—–

> From:

> Sent: Wednesday, 15 July 2009 10:34 AM

> To: Teh, Ian

> Subject: Re: Christmas Appeal

>

> It is a Word File.

>

>

>

> On 15/07/2009, at 10:32 AM, Teh, Ian wrote:

>

>> Thanks

>>

>> This got through but the attached file is in an unrecognisable

>> format. Is it

>> a PDF file?

>>

>> Ian Teh

>>

>> T: (61) 3 9009 4525

>>

>> P Please consider the environment before printing this email

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> —–Original Message—–

>> From:

>> Sent: Wednesday, 15 July 2009 9:49 AM

>> To: Teh, Ian

>> Subject: Re: Christmas Appeal

>>

>> Hi bro.

>>

>> Attaching the update. Hope it gets through.

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> On 02/07/2009, at 8:00 AM, Teh, Ian wrote:

>>

>>> Hi

>>>

>>> Thanks again for the details. I tried to transfer some funds but

>>> the system is having problems accepting. Apparently a previous

>>> contribution (for Irwan, the Bangladeshi worker in Malaysia?) had

>>> the same account number but a different account name to the one

>>> below. The inconsistent data has prevented the transfer.

>>>

>>> I will try again later but as an alternative could you let me have

>>> an address to post a cheque?

>>>

>>> The Update will be great – big as the file may be, if you could

>>> send it via email, that would be great. Thanks Bro.

>>>

>>> Ian Teh

>>> T: (61) 3 9009 4525

>>>

>>> P Please consider the environment before printing this email

>>>

>>>

>>> From:

>>> Sent: Tuesday, 30 June 2009 11:08 AM

>>> To: Teh, Ian

>>> Subject: Re: Christmas Appeal

>>>

>>> Hi Ian.

>>>

>>> Glad to hear that everyone is well at home.

>>>

>>> Myanmar – yes bro, it is still open. We are short by about A

>>> $6,000 ..so are keeping it open for a couple more months. You can

>>> bank your gift to :

>>>

>>> Account Name :

>>> Bank Name :

>>> Branch :

>>> BSB : Account Number :

>>>

>>> Thanks brother. Please let me have your mailing address. The Update

>>> I have done is about 4.3 mb. A bit too big to send via email. I can

>>> try if you want.

>>>

>>> Blessings !

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>> On 29/06/2009, at 2:50 PM, Teh, Ian wrote:

>>>

>>>

>>> Hi

>>>

>>> The average Swine Flu infection in my household was twice the state

>>> average for Victoria. The Age reported that as many as 1/3 of

>>> Victoria could have been infected. In my household, 2/3 were.

>>>

>>> Praise God, both my daughter and I were down with Swine Flu, but

>>> are well now. We have been back to work/school for over 2 weeks now.

>>>

>>> I could not track any record of having made that deposit. I would

>>> have like to blame it on the mad Christmas rush as clients wanted

>>> 1,001 one things done before Christmas but it is likely my own

>>> carelessness.

>>>

>>> Can you let me know if that account remains active and can continue

>>> receiving contributions? Thanks brother.

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>> Ian Teh

>>> T: (61) 3 9009 4525

>>>

>>> P Please consider the environment before printing this email

>>>

>>>

>>> From:

>>> Sent: Monday, 29 June 2009 11:32 AM

>>> To: Teh, Ian

>>> Subject: Re: Christmas Appeal

>>>

>>> Thanks Ian.

>>>

>>> Hope everyone is well at home. I heard of the "suspicion of swine

>>> flu" ..when I asked about you (when I came to speak at ICC).

>>>

>>> Blessings !

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>> On 29/06/2009, at 11:23 AM, Teh, Ian wrote:

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>> Hi

>>>

>>> Good to hear from you – I honestly cant remember. I’ll try to

>>> look up my statements to check and let you know.

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>> Ian Teh

>>> T: (61) 3 9009 4525

>>>

>>> P Please consider the environment before printing this email

>>>

>>>

>>> From:

>>> Sent: Monday, 29 June 2009 11:21 AM

>>> To: Teh, Ian

>>> Subject: Re: Christmas Appeal

>>>

>>> Hi Ian.

>>>

>>> Just wanting to check. Did you wire any funds for this ?

>>>

>>> Blessings !

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>> On 16/12/2008, at 9:05 PM,

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>> Hi Ian.

>>>

>>> Thanks for speedy response. You are blessing !!

>>>

>>> Our banking details :

>>>

>>> Account Name :

>>> Bank Name :

>>> Branch :

>>> BSB Number :

>>> Account Number :

>>>

>>> Thanks for the data. Awesome.

>>>

>>> Wishing you and your family a BLESSED CHRISTMAS !

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>> On 16/12/2008, at 4:06 PM, Teh, Ian wrote:

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>> Hi

>>>

>>> Please send me details for electronic banking. Thanks.

>>>

>>> PS – attached some data for your info. Have a blessed Christmas.

>>>

>>> Ian Teh

>>>

>>> Assistant General Counsel

>>>

>>> AIG Life

>>>

>>> Phone: 03 9009 4525

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>> P Please consider the environment before printing this email

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>> —–Original Message—–

>>> From:

>>> Sent: Tuesday, 16 December 2008 1:38 PM

>>> To: missions@asia.com

>>> Subject: Christmas Appeal

>>>

>>> Greetings in CHRIST !

>>>

>>> As we approach Christmas, please consider a special collection for

>>> our brethren in Myanmar. Due to the cyclone which struck the

>>> Delta in

>>> May of this year, about 400 churches were affected. Most of them

>>> were

>>> completely washed away. Over half of them remain in ruins and the

>>> brethren in Myanmar now face a Christmas without a place of worship

>>> this year.

>>>

>>> For many of us, we probably cannot quite imagine what it feels like.

>>> For the people in the Delta however, living in poverty and trusting

>>> God to provide on a day to day basis, the Church is one place where

>>> they come for fellowship, and worship and sit to the "breaking of

>>> bread" together …and have a sense of their burdens being lifted.

>>> In most places, a building is just that …brick and mortar. For the

>>> people in the Delta (most of whom are from the Karen ethnic

>>> minority), it is more than just a building. It is a refuge and a

>>> place of hope.

>>> As we enjoy our Christmas services, and thank GOD for His provision

>>> and protection of our places of worship….which we must enjoy,

>>> without guilt …. please consider if you could give a special

>>> Christmas Offering for the rebuilding of the churches in the Delta,

>>> that by Easter, many would be able to come together and celebrate

>>> the

>>> resurrection of our LORD.

>>>

>>> If you do require any further information, or more pictures, please

>>> do let me know.

>>>

>>> Wishing you a very BLESSED CHRISTMAS and a fantastic 2009 !!

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>> Outside of Malaysia – please send support to

>>>

>>>

>>> , Australia.

>>> For Electronic Banking, please send me a note.

>>>

>>>

>>> <Copy of child-development-index_data2008.xls>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>> IMPORTANT NOTICE:

>>> The information in this email (and any attachments) is

>>> confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not

>>> use or disseminate the information. If you have received this email

>>> in error, please immediately notify me by "Reply" command and

>>> permanently delete the original and any copies or printouts

>>> thereof. Although this email and any attachments are believed to be

>>> free of any virus or other defect that might affect any computer

>>> system into which it is received and opened, it is the

>>> responsibility of the recipient to ensure that it is virus free and

>>> no responsibility is accepted by American International Assurance

>>> Company Limited or its subsidiaries or affiliates either jointly or

>>> severally, for any loss or damage arising in any way from its use.

>>

Occasionally I am called to do the communion introductory delivery. I try to keep it simple. This time however, I was a bit opportunistic and thought I’d say something about my understanding of Jesus’ death on the cross and its relationship with physical healing.

Jesus came into the world to save us. Jesus died in our place on the cross. He suffered and died, for you and I. Jesus is God. He created life. Death is repugnant to Him. Yet He submitted and He was obedient to the Father. His obedience to the Father is a constant theme during His time as a Man in the middle-east early last century. His obedience wasn’t a half measure, wavering sort. It was complete obedience – even to the point of death. Without this obedience, you and I would have remained condemned to eternal death as sinners.

We were condemned to eternal death because we were stricken with this disease called sin. The wages of this disease is eternal death. This disease called sin condemned us to eternal death. Jesus suffered so that we may be healed of this disease. By His stripes, we are healed of this disease called sin. We need not die for it anymore. There is no condemnation in Christ. In Him, we are victorious. We are victorious over sin. By His death on the cross, you and I have been healed of this disease called sin and can now live, just as Jesus lives. We can now live in victory over sin because Jesus has overcome and healed us of this disease.

Pastor Rick Warren tells us that the purpose of life is to prepare for eternity. In that sense therefore, God’s concern for us is mainly for our eternal well being. He has taken care of that by healing us of the disease which threatens our eternal well being. By His stripes, we are healed of the disease which threatens our eternity.

God wants to heal us too of our present diseases of course. Our call however is to cast our eyes on eternity and for that He has promised and in fact delivered the required healing.

Obedience requires discipline and a complete focus on God. It is a staple diet which is required for our relationship with God to grow. It is an unmistakable principle which runs right through every book of the Bible. I am now reading the book of Exodus and the requirement for total obedience runs thick through that book. In the long run, obedience may not quite be the light and sound show some of us have come to expect from a victorious Christian life. It can mean simply putting our heads down, hands on plough and eyes focused on Him. It can be a long haul with no tangible outcomes. No fuss, no sparks. Just plain and simple obedience. It can seem on the surface that it is not a victorious Christian life and it may seem like we need to “step up” to the next level. It can however, be the most honorable task a faithful servant of God can undertake. Obedience to God must be unconditional, just as Jesus’ obedience was. Obedience to God means we trust His sovereignty over all else. Technical know-how’s cannot – must not – replace faithful obedience to our sovereign God.

Obedience was how Jesus fulfilled the Father’s redemptive plans. He obeyed the will of God the Father and died on the cross for your sins and my sins. Obedience too, is how we are to prepare for eternity. That is how we keep our eyes on Jesus, who has healed us of our infirmities which threatens our eternity. He has healed us of this disease called sin, by being obedient to God. Let us seek to be obedient to Him, and wait on Him, and prepare for our eternity.

Let us now remember His death for our sins, by obeying His command to break bread together. Let us give thanks together. Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your gift of redemption in and through Jesus, your only begotten Son. We thank you for His obedience. We thank you for healing us of our disease of sin. We ask that you will teach us to obey just as He obeyed. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

In Matthew 26, it says in verse 26:

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body."

Let us eat the bread together to remember Jesus’ obedience on the cross.

Verse 27 – Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28This is my blood of the[a] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Let us now drink from the cup and accept the shedding of Jesus blood on the cross for our sin. May God bless us all.

I had a mid-year review with the boss earlier today. Apart from a main area she wanted me to look into the review was uneventful, which was good. She wanted me to contribute towards an industry/market intelligence update, from the perspective of legislative and case law development. That’s ok I guess. It does mean I have to turn my antenna way up to be alert to these matters and write concise punchy updates – maybe law firms’ snapshots of these developments is the way to go. We’ll see.

I’m also feeling a little tired today. While tramming in this morning, I had a familiar but ever so slight light-headedness when I got up as my stop approached. I steadied myself and there was nothing to it. After lunch however I again didn’t feel so well. I decided to go out for a quick walk around the block to get some fresh air and see if that helped.

It did for a while but I am again feeling tired now. Maybe it was the slight sleeping difficulty I had last night. It certainly had nothing to do with the mid-year review. That was in fact, dull…

Kiddo had a job interview this arvo.

Year 10 students in Victoria are required to undergo a work experience exercise. They are to find full-time work which lasts for a week. The employer has the discretion on whether to pay them. Most pay a token sum, but many don’t.

The exercise doubtless will give these kids an opportunity to find out what it’s like to wake up in the morning with the prospect of a full day’s work ahead of them. They learn how to show up on time, all prepared for the day’s work. They learn how to get along with their boss and colleagues and generally go about getting work done.

Apart from the work per se and the dynamics of the workplace, kids also experience the process of writing in to prospective employers and attending interviews. They learn to deal with rejections – either at the written application stage or the interview.

I suppose many don’t really go through the application process. These are kids who land the work experience roles at mum or dad’s workplace or hooked up through mum and dad’s friends or relatives – ie connections and networking of their parents secure them the role. I guess that too is an experience they can draw on later in life, as many would have secured their positions this way in real life too.

Tress and I considered hooking up with work connections to land her the role. I tried, but have yet to follow through – mainly because everyone has been really busy and I didn’t want to push too much. It will come back to bite if a sense of “I owe you one” becomes a bit too overpowering. To be perfectly honest, Tress and I were always going to turn to this avenue if all else fails.

As it turned out, Kiddo’s job interview went well and she got a job. Her first job.

It’s hovered around 10 deg all day since about 11am, when I had to go to the next building. It has been cold. When I drove out this morning, it was just about reaching 7 deg.

In many ways, this winter has so far been mild. Apart from that week when Tress and Kiddo were in Malaysia all “swined” up, the mornings have been quite comfortable. That week, I remember struggling to cope with 2 deg days at home, all bundled up under layers of jumpers and blankets. Lately it has been about 7-10 deg in the morning.

It’s about an hour to the end of the week and I feel zonked out. There’s a dinner in our friends David and Lee Leng’s home tonight and I don’t feel quite like going. We have however, promised some people we will give them a ride. It’s actually not a dinner party and it’s a combined cell group meeting.

This Sunday, we’ll be hosting a lunch for senior citizens of our church. The church does this once a month for them. A few of us take turns to host. It’s our turn this month. I have thought about making a beef stew, a baked potato and a stir-fry vegetables, all served with rice and/or bread rolls. Maybe some fruits and a cake for desert, served with coffee and tea. Wine will be optional.

There will be maybe 10-12 senior citizens who will be invited. Occasionally, guests such as visitors to the church get invited also. So I am anticipating maybe 15 persons. That is a lot of people to cook lunch for. That is a lot of preparations. It will probably take the whole of tomorrow (together with cleaning up the house to get it ready). Actually right at this moment Tress and I are still in the dark as to how many will show up. We have asked the coordinator but have heard nothing back.

There is also a church board meeting tomorrow arvo. I have sent in my apologies for that one. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to manage lunch on Sunday arvo. I don’t need to generate that much heat to keep warm.

More to the point I guess, I have no idea what we will be meeting for ie no agenda has been provided. This isn’t the first time this is happening. I don’t know how we are to show up and just talk about anything, without prior thoughts (or prayer). Surely the idea isn’t just to show up for a chit chat…

Maybe I’m just having winter blues. It has been hovering around 10 deg most of today.

Search Party

I walked into the gym this morning to be confronted with a sign which drew a few expletives from various members. I was still a bit too sleepy to be fully whacked by the implications but I too froze momentarily.

There was NO HOT WATER in the showers. This is bad. The very thought of a cold shower on a winter morning made my spirit sag and a part of my anatomy shrink.

The full impact was felt about an hour and a half later. Standing under the freezing cold water, I worked pretty quickly. Thankfully it was only 10deg so the almost balmy conditions outside meant I didn’t quite have to commission a search party – the shrinkage wasn’t too severe, if you know what I mean.

Walking out of the showers towards the locker, men who wouldn’t otherwise talk to each other chuckled at each other and made jokes about getting a wake-up call blah, blah, blah. For once, I didn’t mind donning my suit jacket and coat after a work-out as I stepped out of the gym.

Waytha Has A Go

Waythamoorthy the Hindraf Head has just had a go at Lim Guan Eng. Kampong Buah Pala an Indian populated village in Penang, has had large swathes of land sold to a state civil service cooperative. The villagers have been served with eviction notices.

I wonder why Waytha is having a go at Guan Eng for crap left behind by the previous Government. The land was sold under the watch of Koh Tsu Khoon, the Gerakan Chief Minister of the BN government which was kicked out in March 2008. Waytha seems to be suggesting Guan Eng, as the Chief Minister, has the power to reverse the sale. Why doesn’t he make himself clear and ask Guan Eng to do that, instead of hurling criticisms for what were essentially someone else’s actions?

Is there a chance Hindraf is now the “Go-to” henchmen for UMNO’s dirty work? That used to be UMNO Youth’s specialty. Maybe it’s just bad taste to send in an ugly, uncouth and thuggish mob and UMNO is wiser now. Hindraf, after all, still enjoys public support and sympathy. That wouldn’t hold for long however, if they allow themselves to be used as UMNO Youth Team B. Hindraf ought to be wiser than that. Or maybe they are just following the almighty dollar (or, Ringgit). It just seems silly otherwise, for them to have a go at Guan Eng.

Kiddo’s Date

I’d call it that. Her first date. No big deal, and I am maybe subconsciously playing things down. The fact of the matter is that tomorrow, she’s having lunch with an ex-school mate. He was at our home once – back when we were staying in Burwood East – with a couple of other kids for a school project. He looked like a good kid. He left that old school for Melbourne High, the boys’ equivalent of girls’ MacRobertson High. He left in the same year Kiddo left for MacRob. They haven’t met since and decided to catch up. That’s all there is to it, but it’s still a date in my eyes…