top currency

the girl goes for her piano class on saturday mornings, & when i don't have much clinical work, i will pick her up from the teacher's house & we will go for an early lunch at a nearby shop selling indian food.

today, i had a short case to do in the morning & the nurses have organised a talk to be followed by breakfast in OT. it's lontong johor on the menu & i'm drooling just at the thought of it.

herein lies my dilemma. do i keep the appointment with my 1st-born, or do i give in to the seduction that is lontong johor?

actually, if the scenario is properly assessed, there is no dilemma. family should, on most occasions, take precedence. so over her roti cheese & my roti sardine, we talked about her upcoming birthday & what she wanted for a present, & how the Thomas Cup Finals next month will clash with her mid-term tests. & the teh tarik kurang manis never tasted sweeter.

often we parents make sacrifices for the kids without they realising it, but really it works both ways because in giving, we also receive. at the end of the day, in this materialistic world, where dollars & cents take control of our lives, we pray that the currency that matters to them is parental love.

the lontong johor will have to wait another day.

another milestone

we remembered fondly when the boy achieved his developmental milestones, like..

crawling on the bed....


eating on his own....


& today, he's excited that he's able to cycle unaided....

on his modified bicycle (after removing the 2 side-wheels). it's uncanny how kids pick up skills like cycling without being taught. one day, he needed all 4 wheels to keep balance & the next....voila!


now, if only he could write better....


but then again, i may be asking for too much.

the leader

just like the erstwhile opposition has brought a refreshing change to the newly-acquired state govts, JC has demonstrated a unique dynamicism to his leadership in church. he joined us just over a year ago & i 1st got to know him at a kiddie birthday do last year.

he came across as unassuming & down-to-earth, & he surprised many when, in his quiet way, he showed what a committed worker he is for the Lord. he gallantly took over the sunday school program, a responsibility much dreaded even to the most diligent & dedicated, & undertook to revamp its outlook & content. the lesson study will now be preceded by organised singing & story-telling, & sometime in june, we will, for the 1st time, witness a Family Sports Day, an event unheard of in our sunday school circle till now.

detractors (yes, sadly they do exist) may think it's a new broom that sweeps clean but i sensed he has allowed himself to be used by the Lord to give the church a new direction - leading a way out of the spiritual wilderness, so to speak.

dare i even say, a resurrection of the church's flagging fortunes perhaps?

& is it just a co-incidence that his initials match that of the Shepherd Himself?

Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve. 1Pet 5:2

**image** Moses leading Israelites out of Egypt by Jozsef Molnar, 1861

bird #3 - the one that flew away

peter & paul.

nope, not the beatles.

neither the apostles.

i remember reciting poetry in primary 1, which went something like this:

2 little dickie birds sitting on the wall,
one called peter, one called paul,
fly away peter, fly away paul,
come back peter, come back paul.

so, like peter & paul, bird #3 actually flew away...to the motherland.

to recap the morale of the story :
a bird in hand is worth 2 in the bush,
but 2 birds in hand is even better.

therein, concludes my own little trilogy.

bird #2 : queen

for malaysians, the queen is known as DYMM Raja Permaisuri Agung.

for the commonwealth countries, she is HRH Elizabeth II.

for the rest, queen is almost synonymous with....

the rock group formerly fronted by the freddie "bite the dust" mercury.

We Will Rock You is currently playing at the esplanade theatre, & as i happened to be in town

i took the girl along to see live this critically-acclaimed West End production featuring the hit songs of the now defunct rock icon of the 80s.

we were not disappointed - the talented international cast, stunning costumes, sets & lightning all combined to deliver a spectacular evening & made me go ga-ga! the male lead MiG Ayesa, a finalist from the reality show Rock Star : INXS, has a truly magnificent voice - load him with steroids & give him a moustache & he would pass for a credible Freddie impressionist.

at my age & inclination, this is probably the closest i will ever get to a pop concert. Bohemian Rhapsody truly rocks!! now that we're home, the girl is hunting high & low for my queen CD.

3 birds with 1 stone: bird#1 - the meeting

just got back from attending a medical meeting in s'pore. my ex-colleague organised it & i have to say he & his organising committee did a sterling job, considering it involved a bunch of speakers from the US & participants from several south-east asian countries.

besides the excellent series of talks/lectures, the other attraction has always been the trade exhibition.pharmaceutical firms & medical equipment manufacturers display their products & hopefully attract interested parties to purchase their wares. one of the gimmicks to entice prospective clients to their booths is to hand out gifts, like....

pens, sling-bags & (would you believe?) haagen-dazs....

note-pads, post-its & even oxygen-enriched water (anything but new water, thank you very much!)...


you'd think this is a toy blue-tooth but....

it's actually a hands-free torch-light!!

you've got to hand it to those guys for being innovative. what will they think of next?

april 1

this is what this day means to me....

50 years ago.....my dear parents married each other.

11 years ago....i commenced private practice.

today, i am a new car owner....err, what i meant is that i'm the new owner of a 7-yr- old car. it's true - all this time i've been using someone else's (no, not the wife's) car & today, the car is officially transferred to my name.

it can be quite a hassle - the transfer, i mean. 1st, have to get motor insurance, then the car has to be inspected by Puspakom to ensure that it is running condition & not a kereta potong. this process can take up the whole day & my worldly-wise mechanic recommended to me his regular "runner", who required only the car registration & keys, & he'll do the rest. after that, the runner will meet with the existing owner & prospective buyer (ie. yours truly) at the JPJ to sign the transfer forms in the presence of an officer & voila!.....i've got a set of wheels to my name.....woo-hoo!

never mind if it's just a....errr......

believe me, this is not an april fool's prank. i've even got the runner's bill to prove it.