Archive for May, 2008

« Previous Entries

The earlier post, thank you for all those who gave encouragement, criticism, praise or maybe even 'insult' haha, thanks so much.

Lesson 8#:
"Life is VERY UNFAIR!"
i like it!

Last Saturday, HELP University College held the octo-finals for a debate competition. My school, Catholic High was up against SMK Astma (something like that). We played the opposition team with the motion This House Believes That Developed Nations Should Pay An Environmental Tax. So as opposition, we were opposing that topic. After a very one sided argument (of course my school was winning as the points presented by the opposition team weren't sufficient and not sustaining) But in the end, it turned out to be a win for them. WHAT!? It was incredibly impossible, our flaws was way less than the Government team. So we started questioning the adjudicators, and although we made mistakes, they seem to be unable to explain the reason the government team won. Interesting part was, later on, we asked around the good schools who were also the opposition team, it turned out that all the opposition teams which were the good otherwise best teams lost, except for one. This was clearly impossible. The other part was their adjudicators also couldn't fully explain their loss. How can this be?

Life is unfair, very very unfair. Although not all the time but most of the time, it never is, don't you think so too?

But the problem here is many of us only know how to complain, don't know how to act upon it. Its just like that saying, "you talk i do" so many of us know how to talk/complain, but in the end don't do anything about it. So if the only thing you know how to do is complain, what use is there? Complaining is like asking someone to do something, because you are the leader, but the problem is you don't even have followers. Doesn't make sense does it?

That's the reason i put the title "life is SO UNFAIR........ I Like it!" Ultimately, you have to do something than just complain. Whether you want to start a riot, just like the debate. Or maybe you would want to just leave it aside and not talk about it, or maybe start scolding the person responsible, hating it or finally liking it. Still despite the never ending choice we could do, we still have to ask this question to ourselves, Is It Edifying? Is it Helpful? Is it Worthwhile? for all you Christians, ask yourselves this, What Would Jesus Do?

Unlike

Posted by whylame on May 25, 2008 at 6:59 am under Lessons and Life.
7 Comments.

FINALLY!
A very busy month indeed, as a war rage between me and my Geography and History projects. Despite losing to them last 2 years, i finally emerge as winning side. Last 2 years was really freaky, everything was only done last minute, whereas for this year, it was, i could say, an easy win, despite finishing it way earlier than expected.

Alas, been waiting more than 8 months for Prince Caspian to come out. For me personally, i was looking forward to Prince Caspian rather than Ironman, odd, but anyway, it was AWESOME! although it altered from the book but its AWESOME! and as C. S. Lewis being who he is, i could learn many things from that show indeed, maybe i'll post it up one day. But for all of you who do not intent to watch, you have made a terrible choice, GO WATCH IT!

For this few coming post, i might and might not be writing on any lessons, reason being i cannot keep on 'giving' and 'giving' when i don't 'receive'. Please in this post, tell me what you think about all that i have been doing. Some say i sound like a teacher, in fact, i teach kids, little, young and very CUTE kids. Some say its weird for me to write like this, but then they say its something different than others. Therefore tell me what you think about it, so i can improve one way or the other.

Nothing much to give out today, very short post indeed. So i'll just finish it with this, (only for school students)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

and for Catholic High School Students,
HAPPY STUDY LEAVE!
AND MAKE SURE THAT YOU STUDY!

<3
wai leem

Unlike

Posted by whylame on May 23, 2008 at 11:26 am under Rantings.
5 Comments.

Seconds pass, minutes pass, hours pass, and then a day is gone, next day arrives. Time really is fast, but knowing that, what are we doing about our lives? Just take a moment to think, is life all about exams and work? is life all about playing? So then, what matters in your life?

Lesson 7#:
Integrity
I felt i should talk about this issue after hearing this from my pastor during one of his sermons. Take a moment to think, what is integrity?
Years ago during the SUKMA games, the was an article with the title "BULLS-EYE FOR INTEGRITY" it was about a swimmer, after all the competitions, the judges counted the points to see who is the ultimate winner, it turn out to be this girl(forget from which country) who got the gold medal. But suddenly, she felt something was wrong with the counting of points, then she asked for a recount. sure enough, she was not the one who claimed the gold medal. So she took out the gold medal around her neck, and place it around the silver medalist neck, and then took the silver medal and placed it around her own neck. WOW! INTEGRITY.

The word integrity has always been one of the top five words that has the most searched on google. You see how important the world views integrity? It is so important, that sometimes we just neglect it. Integrity comes from the word integer, which also means a whole number. So a person who has integrity, comes with a meaning of wholeness, and its not 3.4, seeming very uncertain, but 4, a whole number.

So how do you know whether you have integrity or not? its very simple. Its when you walk the talk and live your public life the same as your private life. Walking the Talk isn't that hard, but to live our public life same as our private life, it poses a challenge for us.

You must be wondering, 'live our public life same as our private life'? why? This is because just an example, the meaning of integrity means practicing moral values all the time, thus gaining respect from others. So, it means we cannot practice it only in school to gain respect, but wherever you go, now that's integrity.

So again, choice is back to you. You might lose friends because of your integrity, but you gain respect still.

cheers,
wai leem

Unlike

Posted by whylame on May 19, 2008 at 4:31 am under Lessons and Life.
5 Comments.

" AH TEACHER WE LOVE YOU! HAPPY TEACHER'S DAY! YOU ARE THE BEST! YOU ROCK! AWESOME PEOPLE! "

I wonder how true is it when everyone says it.
Do you mean it? ask yourself.
What really kills me is when flowery words like these come out from our mouths but contains no true meaning of it, its merely meaningless words.

Lesson 6#:
Mean what you say

We all like to say good things about our friends and family members. But many a times we forget what we should be doing after that. I'll give you a very simple example. Mother's day has just passed, and i'm sure we all said "Happy Mother's Day, I Love You Very Much" But what happens next? Love cannot be expressed through words and words only, because if not, our parents will just say 'i love you' to you and not give you any money and food. Love is an expression through words, actions and thoughts.

Therefore, likewise, today when we said "Happy Teacher's Day" are you going to really acknowledge that teachers have really put an effort to love and teach us, and are we going to continue giving them headaches?

Shifting from that topic, i'll bring you to our daily lives with friends. Promises, its one of the very important things that we should mean it, and do it. Many times have i failed and its not nice to promise something and yet not fulfill it. But even as i say this, its easier said than done. I don't know about you, but it hurts me to hurt others, and if you like to hurt others, than there's nothing more i can say. But i believe no one is like that.

There is nothing more which i can say. Its a very simple topic, very easy to understand, very hard to respond towards it. So ultimately, its your decision, whether to make others lives count in your life.

Happy Teacher's Day!

regards,
wai leem

Unlike

Posted by whylame on May 16, 2008 at 12:32 pm under Lessons and Life.
2 Comments.

No specific lesson today, but i do like to share about our attitude. Attitude to what? attitude to everything. I have a friend, named Shawn. He wrote about how much 1 degree can make to water, and how he relates that to our effort.

So likewise, i want to relate that to our attitude. What he said about the water was, water at 211 degrees Fahrenheit is hot, but add a degree to it, making it 212 degrees Fahrenheit causes the water to boil, and when water boils, it creates steam, and steam can move a train. So the amount of effort we place in whatever we do, sometimes we just have to push to get that extra 1 degree to obtain success, but sadly, many give up upon reaching 211 degrees. =(. So are you going to continue to push that extra 1 degree?

As for today, i would like to relate it the same way. Our attitude plays a very important part in whatever we do. The way we perceive the situation, the way we want to handle the situation and even the way we respond to the situation. Yet many neglect the importance of having a right, established, positive attitude.

There is a saying concerning the attitude of kindness which goes "Kindness is not the things you get, but the hearts you touch, that will determine your success." I am not trying to say that whatever we do, we must make people laugh or cry, but i am trying to say that in whatever we do, is it going to leave a 'wow' factor in people's life? is it going to inspire, encourage people in their life? this is what i'm trying to bring out.

Another thing, to do something well, we must firstly, believe. there is another saying which goes, "belief fuels passion, and passion rarely fails." So to have passion for your work, believe in it! believe in what you are doing! If not, there is no point in doing it.

Finally, to illustrate it all, we are all dynamites. why? because we have the power to do whatever that we face. But but but but... a dynamite is useless until the fuse gets lit. So what is that fuse? that fuse is your attitude. We can have all the power in the world, but without Attitude, our power is merely useless, nothing but useless.

To conclude it all, you change your attitude, then everything else will follow. So if there is any part that you know you should change, change it before its too late. Like the BM proverb "nasi sudah menjadi bubur"

regards,
wai leem

p/s : inspiration to write came from this website, you guys should check it out, got it from a friend, i find it very good.

http://www.simpletruths.com
http://www.powerofattitudemovie.com/

Unlike

Posted by whylame on May 15, 2008 at 9:16 am under Lessons and Life, Rantings.
Comment on this post.

Beautiful day! started of well, hoping that it will end well, but as for now, all went well. Was seemingly glad when i was in school, certain things cheered me up, overall, it was a great day. but interestingly, there wasn't any 'wow' factors today though.

Lesson 5#:
What drives you?

Well, it took me awhile to think of today's lesson. But as i was taking bath, i thought to myself, when pushes me on to do what i do, even though to others it may be useless, a waste of time, etc. So basically, i asked myself, what drives me?. Now everything that we do, there is always something that drives us to do it, otherwise, we would just find it useless.

So what drives you? could it be your best friend, girl/boy friend, parents, peer pressure, attitude, or could it be caltex? haha jk. But seriously, some people that i know of tell me that their computer game/s can motivate them. so what motivates you and pushes you on?

For me personally, what really drives me not up the wall, but forward, is when i see my friends being happy, having a sense of satisfaction, or even when their problems which i know of whether at school or at home, all solved and settled, these things really pushes me forward and gives me motivation.

There can be more than one thing that drives you, i just gave one example from myself. But today when i also want to ask you, whatever that is driving you today, how far can it take you?
Just like petrol, different petrol stations will offer different qualities of petrol. Some can take you 10 km, some can take you 15 km. So which would you choose? Likewise, different things will drive you to only a certain extent.

So, therefore, Firstly, think of what drives you? Once you know that, think of how far can that take you, for if there is something that can drive you further, but somehow, you have been stopping it from doing so, then you should think about it.

regards,
wai leem

p/s :Until now i have not faced things that can drive me further yet i do not use it, so if you have something that drives you far but you just don't want to believe in it, tell me, (that is if you mind) so that together we can learn.

Unlike

Posted by whylame on May 14, 2008 at 6:02 am under Lessons and Life.
4 Comments.

Amazing! today i actually came back without homework! still, there are much things that needs to be done nevertheless. Even as i came home thinking of what i should write in my blog, i recalled a story long ago, a very old one, the hare and the tortoise.

Lesson 4#:
Its not about being right all the time, but sometimes its you that needs to be made right.

The hare and the tortoise, brings back many good old time memories. For all of you who don't know about the story (just in case), its about a hare and a tortoise agreeing on competing against each other, to see who gets to the finish line first. So the hare started off and lead the race way ahead of the tortoise, that is clearly because tortoises are slow walkers. So the hare ran and ran, looking back, it realize that it was far ahead. Seeing a tree nearby, it walked over to take a short nap. Who knows how long it has past, the hare finally woke up. upon seeing the sun setting upon the horizon, it hurriedly ran to the finish line. upon reaching, it saw everyone celebrating the victory of the tortoise, thus the hare and lost the competition.

So clearly, many lessons can be learned from this old school story, but i would like to stress about pride.

I came to learn about this during an incident with a friend of mine. It was about a project and he said that we could not be better than the other team anymore because i had already printed out a poster, meaning that it will be too late to change anything. So basically i was stressing that what use is it if we know we are better.

It not always about being right, or being better, having more superiority, because where would it bring you? knowing that you are good or better than others, i seriously do not know where it will bring you, correct me if i'm wrong, seriously, leave a comment. It is because of this i say that sometimes, its us that needs to be made right. I'm not stressing any particular person here, even i myself face problems with pride.

I have another friend, named Teoh Hong Ken. He is the top student of my school's form 3. Whenever i talk to him, meet up with him, i tell you, he has a tremendous amount of humility and humbleness. Typically, when we say "wah, your results so good one" the other would simply reply "no la, not good one la". Seeming very humble, we can sense the pride, don't you think so? But whenever i talk to Hong Ken, somehow, i just feel a sense of humbleness and humility, a person doesn't seem proud at all.

So today, its ok to be proud of your achievements, but just don't go to the extent where all you want to do is beat people, to show that you are better. It is always good to reflect on our past and see whether there are anything that we should be changing.

regards,
wai leem

Unlike

Posted by whylame on May 12, 2008 at 7:02 am under Lessons and Life.
4 Comments.

Happy Mother's day to all mothers!
Kidzone (my church's children's church) was awesome today! everyone was hipped including the mothers! something you rarely get to see. Nevertheless, the lesson and central truth was clearly brought out, and i too believe i should share this with everyone.

Lesson 3#:
Don't treat your mum like a toothbrush.

Toothbrush? you must be wondering what on earth am i talking about?! well, here it is:
toothbrush, we use it to clean our teeth, and it makes our teeth clean and with the help of toothpaste, it makes it shiny and gives an attracting breath. But the fact here is, knowing it being important, we simply don't care about it. Despite using it almost everyday (at least i hope you do), we will just use it and chuck it aside, making it seem like something which we don't really bother about.

Many times, that is how we treat our mums. We know that they play an important part in our lives, bringing us up from young. But the sad fact is we treat them like our toothbrushes, we simply do not appreciate them for what they have done. Simple things such as cooking for you, ironing clothes, sending you to places, they have placed an effort and an unending love for you. But what do we do? we do say thank you, but do we mean it from deep down in our hearts? even so, is that all that we can give? i'm 15 this year, that means it has been 15 years that she has brought me up. Nonetheless, whoever you may be, what have you done in your life that can repay her the love that she has poured out for you? I challenge you today, wherever you may be, when you see your mum, give her a hug, look at her in the eye, and say " I LOVE YOU" in whatever way you want.

Today, i would just want to end with a song from superkids. (another children's church)

Mum, your love, so warm, so sweet,

You love me still the same through all the years,

Sometimes I broke your heart,

And that’s the hardest part,

still you love me with the love that never fails.

For I’ve made up my mind,

For the rest of my life.

I will love you, honor you,

And give you the best for you’re my mum.

She loves you. Today, are you going to love her, honor her and give her the best?

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!

regards,
wai leem
Unlike

Posted by whylame on May 11, 2008 at 9:06 am under Lessons and Life.
1 Comment.

Today was a very pleasant and smooth flowing day. No surprises, no tales to be said, but it was just an ordinary day, with an ordinary feeling.

Lesson 2#:
Life does not suck, its the problems that try to make it suck.

A lot of people tend to say that they are useless, worthless and unworthy due to certain problems or challenges that they face. So a question arises. is it that they are just useless and lazy which makes they life seem sucky? or is it the problems which are posted to them and when they cannot handle it, consider their lives and everything they do sucky?

For me personally, its clearly seen that the problems does not make their life bad, but its their attitude and effort towards facing that problem. Problems are inevitable in everyone's life, so we only got 2 choices to run away from it, or to run towards it.

This reminds me of a story, a story many people know of. David and Goliath. For those who doesn't know, the story its about David, a teenager, who represented Israel to fight against Goliath, a giant, who was representing the Philistine army. This is bible story. So what happened was David wanted to fight that Goliath although there were a bit of disagreement on whether he should fight or not. nevertheless, he went to face Goliath and with just a sling and a stone, took down Goliath and chopped off his head, claiming victory for Israel.

What i'm try to show you'll here is that David such small, tiny person in the eye of Goliath went with fullness of courage, strength, power and faith to face Goliath. If you were David, would you dare to do what David did? That Goliath represents the troubles we face in life, it usually are big, giant problems. ultimately, are we going to be like David, who in the story states that he ran towards Goliath, running towards our problems and overcome it with full of faith and courage? or are we just going to be like the whole Israelite army, afraid to face the problem faced in front of them. the choice is yours.

So in the end, i post this question to everyone, Life does not suck, its the problems that TRY to make it suck, so are you going to let it?

regards,
wai leem

Unlike

Posted by whylame on May 9, 2008 at 8:58 am under Lessons and Life.
4 Comments.

For this couple of weeks, i would be doing a series of lessons. basically, it is what i can learn and obtain from my everyday life. There is a saying which goes "happiness is not about getting everything, its about getting it from whatever you have" so, i came up with my very own one, which says "learning is not all about sitting and listening to teacher or parents, its also about learning something from our everyday lives" I say this because learning from ourselves places a higher impact than learning from others.

Lesson 1#:
Doing something and doing something well is 2 different things.

I was firstly inspired by a poet named Benjamin Jonson. He once said: to speak and to speak well are 2 different things. which sparked a new perspective to public speaking. So i merely altered it, turning it into something i strongly believe in.

Everyone does something each day, but whether the result is good, excellent, outstanding, terrible or even disastrous, depends on the person him/herself. I said this sentence while i was talking with a friend concerning prefect duty. Many lost their reason to be in the prefectorial board, while many try to do it well, or at most show themselves worthy, i don't know for what reason. But ultimately, it boils down to whether students listen and obey and thus the school is kept disciplined.

I'm not saying that once school discipline is not present in a student, then all the prefects really suck or just.. suck. But i'm trying to say that when one is doing well, there is no sense of fear, scared, intimidated present in that prefect. So in the end, i hope i am achieving it.

So likewise for studies and other priorities. Whether to do it wholeheartedly, without complain or a feeling of dislike, or to simply place a handful of effort and deem that it will be an excellent work, its all up to oneself. So in the end, a difference starts from you!

regards,
wai leem

Unlike

Posted by whylame on May 8, 2008 at 11:06 am under Lessons and Life.
3 Comments.

« Previous Entries