Happy New Year to all !!! Hope we can eat reunion dinner soon !!
From : Simon , Angela , ML
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Schedule for praying at Guan Ying Ting ( temple )
A friendly reminder to all.
Okay ? Okay ? Confirmed?
Okay.
:D
Bye Bye !!!!
ML
The following praying schedule at the temple :
Every Wednesday .
16/12/09 [1/7]
23/12/09 [2/7]
30/12/09 [3/7]
06/01/10 [4/7]
13/01/10 [5/7]
20/01/10 [6/7]
27/01/10 [7/7] Compulsory for all (time will be posted when confirmed)
Okay ? Okay ? Confirmed?
Okay.
:D
Bye Bye !!!!
ML
REMINISCING DAD - Part 5
As we grew older, recreation in the house became more varied. We would join grandma’s praying table to the long brown Formica table in the hall to play ping pong. Dad used to join in the game at times. Then there was the badminton game on the flat concrete roof top. If you hit it long or wide the shuttlecock would end up on the neighbor’s roof or on the street down below. We spent more time retrieving the shuttlecock than playing the game. Eldest brother bought a pair of roller skates. All us learned and became expert roller skaters. There were also other activities on the roof top. Sam had a fish collection and the big earthen vat was teeming with guppies, angel fish and goldfish. We also planted flowers and vegetables in pots and planter boxes. Mom reared chicken, duck, turkey and rabbits. Every morning I would go up to the roof top to check for fresh supply of duck or chicken eggs.
There was one time when dad had a big quarrel with the tenants downstairs. It was over the issue of rental increment. The guy downstairs was a Chinese Mike Tyson look-alike in physique minus the tattoos. He had only one real eye. The other artificial eye was a fierce looking glass marble that glowed in the dark. After a short and heated argument, dad stormed up stairs asking for the hammer. Honestly, I didn’t think dad was a match for Tyson if it came to a physical punch up. Anyway, it was all just a show of hostility and posturing. There was no fist fight, but the relationship soured after that. Dad never walked through their shop again. From that day on he always used the side door.
Dad must be one of pioneer operators of slot machines (one-arm bandit) in Kluang. I remember we had one of those “fruit machine” in the house for a short period of time. Dad also ran coin operated music machines that were popular in café and pubs then. Dad would go on trips to Singapore and came back with stacks of vinyl records for his music machines. Towards the end we had hundreds of Elvis Presley, Everly Brothers, Beach Boys and Rolling Stones records in the house. I think dad also owned a pub or night club at one time. There were probably other business ventures that dad dabbled in which I was not aware of.
Though I would not describe him as a Malaysian Fred Astaire, dad was nevertheless quite a good ballroom dancer. I do not know where he learned to dance, but he had slick dancing steps and could do the cha-cha, fox trot, quick steps and waltz. Dad also smoked and loved to drink. Compared to his peers in the 50s and 60s era, I would say dad was rather “westernized” in his life style. It was a big contrast to mom who did not shared any such interests or indulgence. Mom also does not speak English. They seemed to be such an odd couple. But who is to judge. The marriage lasted a lifetime – 65 long years.
simon - 31 December 2009
There was one time when dad had a big quarrel with the tenants downstairs. It was over the issue of rental increment. The guy downstairs was a Chinese Mike Tyson look-alike in physique minus the tattoos. He had only one real eye. The other artificial eye was a fierce looking glass marble that glowed in the dark. After a short and heated argument, dad stormed up stairs asking for the hammer. Honestly, I didn’t think dad was a match for Tyson if it came to a physical punch up. Anyway, it was all just a show of hostility and posturing. There was no fist fight, but the relationship soured after that. Dad never walked through their shop again. From that day on he always used the side door.
Dad must be one of pioneer operators of slot machines (one-arm bandit) in Kluang. I remember we had one of those “fruit machine” in the house for a short period of time. Dad also ran coin operated music machines that were popular in café and pubs then. Dad would go on trips to Singapore and came back with stacks of vinyl records for his music machines. Towards the end we had hundreds of Elvis Presley, Everly Brothers, Beach Boys and Rolling Stones records in the house. I think dad also owned a pub or night club at one time. There were probably other business ventures that dad dabbled in which I was not aware of.
Though I would not describe him as a Malaysian Fred Astaire, dad was nevertheless quite a good ballroom dancer. I do not know where he learned to dance, but he had slick dancing steps and could do the cha-cha, fox trot, quick steps and waltz. Dad also smoked and loved to drink. Compared to his peers in the 50s and 60s era, I would say dad was rather “westernized” in his life style. It was a big contrast to mom who did not shared any such interests or indulgence. Mom also does not speak English. They seemed to be such an odd couple. But who is to judge. The marriage lasted a lifetime – 65 long years.
simon - 31 December 2009
Thank You, Dad!
Although Dad looked serious and didn’t talk much, he was supportive of his children’s education, up to tertiary level. In my case, when I sat twice the Entrance Exam of Nanyang University in Singapore, and entered twice into that University, and later transferred to Victoria University in New Zealand, he just supported me without saying a word. When some relatives were lamenting on my choice of doing Art and English Language course in the university, saying that studying engineering or science would have better prospect, Dad didn’t say anything either. He just respected my choice and decision. On this, I am really very grateful to him. And because of this, I had peace in mind in university days. To pay for tertiary education for six children was certainly a financial burden to him, but he bore the responsibility until the end. He is great!
After coming back from overseas, Dad and I had more conversation. After all, I was an adult then. We discussed mainly politics and some social events. When I started working in KL, and later brothers and sisters were all coming to KL, I persuaded him and Mum to move to KL. After long persuasion, he and Mum decided to come and settle in KL. Unfortunately, not long after they came to KL, I went to Sitiawan to take up my new post, and my family also shifted to Sitiawan later. After staying for 13 years in Sitiawan, we were back to KL again. Luckily we bought a house so close to my parents, so we are able to take care of each other.
Dad was a supporter and ardent reader of my writings. I used to write articles in my university days, mainly political reports, and sent them to Singapore and Hong Kong’s newspapers and magazines. Those articles published in Singapore were also circulated in Malaysia. Dad almost cut all my articles he read and pasted them on 4A size note-books (like the Majong record books). He did it for many years. I didn’t realize until few years ago when Mum presented the two note-books to me during a clean-up exercise. All my articles were so complete and neatly pasted. I was very moved by his long time pains-taking hard work and patience.
Months before he passed away, I had few times very annoyed with him when I saw he didn’t take medicine as instructed by doctors. I even once talked to him in very loud voice and questioned him why he was afraid to see doctor and refused to take medicine on time. He looked at me and showed his rebellious stubbornness in the eyes without answering. I strongly believed that if he could follow the advice of the doctor, he should live much longer. But, alas! How can I be so certain? A man’s fate is in the hands of God. Only God can determine that. I was wondering why Dad was so stubborn at the twilight age. Probably what Shakespeare said was true. According to Shakespeare’s classification of stages of a man, old age is termed “the second childhood”. He becomes innocent and rebellious like a naughty boy. He won’t listen to what you say. If that is the case, that is dad’s fate. After all, he has lived longer than the average men of Malaysia, of which the life span is 72. And he died peacefully, without suffering from any painful illness.
When I looked at him lying peacefully and solemnly in the casket, with the make-up and in full suit, I felt he was in his best and very good looking. At this juncture, I couldn’t hold back my tears, as I knew he would leave us forever. Let me wish you happy forever in the Western Merry Land, Dad!
By Unintelligent Lion 31/12/2009
After coming back from overseas, Dad and I had more conversation. After all, I was an adult then. We discussed mainly politics and some social events. When I started working in KL, and later brothers and sisters were all coming to KL, I persuaded him and Mum to move to KL. After long persuasion, he and Mum decided to come and settle in KL. Unfortunately, not long after they came to KL, I went to Sitiawan to take up my new post, and my family also shifted to Sitiawan later. After staying for 13 years in Sitiawan, we were back to KL again. Luckily we bought a house so close to my parents, so we are able to take care of each other.
Dad was a supporter and ardent reader of my writings. I used to write articles in my university days, mainly political reports, and sent them to Singapore and Hong Kong’s newspapers and magazines. Those articles published in Singapore were also circulated in Malaysia. Dad almost cut all my articles he read and pasted them on 4A size note-books (like the Majong record books). He did it for many years. I didn’t realize until few years ago when Mum presented the two note-books to me during a clean-up exercise. All my articles were so complete and neatly pasted. I was very moved by his long time pains-taking hard work and patience.
Months before he passed away, I had few times very annoyed with him when I saw he didn’t take medicine as instructed by doctors. I even once talked to him in very loud voice and questioned him why he was afraid to see doctor and refused to take medicine on time. He looked at me and showed his rebellious stubbornness in the eyes without answering. I strongly believed that if he could follow the advice of the doctor, he should live much longer. But, alas! How can I be so certain? A man’s fate is in the hands of God. Only God can determine that. I was wondering why Dad was so stubborn at the twilight age. Probably what Shakespeare said was true. According to Shakespeare’s classification of stages of a man, old age is termed “the second childhood”. He becomes innocent and rebellious like a naughty boy. He won’t listen to what you say. If that is the case, that is dad’s fate. After all, he has lived longer than the average men of Malaysia, of which the life span is 72. And he died peacefully, without suffering from any painful illness.
When I looked at him lying peacefully and solemnly in the casket, with the make-up and in full suit, I felt he was in his best and very good looking. At this juncture, I couldn’t hold back my tears, as I knew he would leave us forever. Let me wish you happy forever in the Western Merry Land, Dad!
By Unintelligent Lion 31/12/2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Avatar 3D Movie Review
Dad and I went to watch Avatar today at Sunway Pyramid :D
Yeah of course we went for the 3D 1 ...
The movie was very long , about like 3 hours ..
The special effects were very interesting :D .
Scenery was great .
But the story ....
My rating for Avatar 3 D movie :
Effect : 6/5 stars .
Scenery : 5/5 stars .
Story : 4/5 stars.
The natives of Pandora ... hm ... they are blue ? Their feature could be described as beautiful ??? They have lovely eyes ... but the nose !! So flat....But they are somehow like humans ...I mean they do the things human do ;-)
The description of show :
AVATAR takes us to a spectacular world beyond imagination, where a reluctant hero embarks on an epic adventure, ultimately fighting to save the alien world he has learned to call home. James Cameron, the Oscar-winning director of "Titanic," first conceived the film 15 years ago, when the means to realize his vision did not exist yet. Now, after four years of production, AVATAR, a live action film with a new generation of special effects, delivers a fully immersive cinematic experience of a new kind, where the revolutionary technology invented to make the film disappears into the emotion of the characters and the sweep of the story.
We enter the alien world through the eyes of Jake Sully, a former Marine confined to a wheelchair. But despite his broken body, Jake is still a warrior at heart. He is recruited to travel light years to the human outpost on Pandora, where corporations are mining a rare mineral that is the key to solving Earth's energy crisis. Because the atmosphere of Pandora is toxic, they have created the Avatar Program, in which human "drivers" have their consciousness linked to an avatar, a remotely-controlled biological body that can survive in the lethal air. These avatars are genetically engineered hybrids of human DNA mixed with DNA from the natives of Pandora... the Na'vi.
Reborn in his avatar form, Jake can walk again. He is given a mission to infiltrate the Na'vi, who have become a major obstacle to mining the precious ore. But a beautiful Na'vi female, Neytiri, saves Jake's life, and this changes everything. Jake is taken in by her clan, and learns to become one of them, which involves many tests and adventures. As Jake's relationship with his reluctant teacher Neytiri deepens, he learns to respect the Na'vi way and finally takes his place among them. Soon he will face the ultimate test as he leads them in an epic battle that will decide nothing less than the fate of an entire world.
Taken from : http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809804784/details
Anyway , it is really realistic when you look at it , it was as if the human / thing was infront of you . Staring at you .
Here are some awesome pics :D:D
The animals ? I think they are their pets ...
Pretty eyes ....
The tree a.k.a. home - Tree Home
Now you know what I mean about their noses ?!
Well , rating for the whole movie I will give about 4 1/2 stars out of 5 , cos its not perfect .... But its the first time I saw dad watch a movie thats about 3 hours long without taking of his 3D glasses + without nodding off . His view was focused 99 % percent on the screen . :D
I suggest the Ng famil members to watch this . Its QUITE nice , at first I woudnt want to see , but ... to accompany dad , I went lorh , I didnt regret it now though :D
AVATAR 3D - THE MOVIE
This afternoon went with ML to Sunway Pyramid to watch the movie. It was only 11:40AM when we arrived. The first show was at 12:30PM. Thought we had time for a leisure lunch before the movie. Was shocked to see hundreds of people queuing up for tickets. Today is Wednesday, a working day. Shouldn’t all these people be working or be somewhere else. Would have given up had I not promised ML to take her to the movie. We waited 45 long minutes in the queue. By the time we reached the ticket counter it was already 12:30PM. Thankfully, there were still a few front row tickets left for the 12:30 screening. There was no time for lunch, so we grabbed a bucket of popcorn and soda and headed straight for the cinema.
Well, all the effort and waiting was worth it. The science fiction movie with 3-D, ground breaking high tech special effects coupled with the fantastic sound system was simply awesome and mind boggling. The scenery was breath taking and everything including the strange creatures and plants down to the last minute details were so realistic. During one of the scene, a canister came flying right at my face and I involuntarily and physically try to dodge it. The film was 160 minutes long but being so fully engrossed you won’t realise its length. This is definitely the best movie of the year and it has to be seen in a cinema equipped to show it in its full 3-D glory. The USD500 million effects will be lost if seen in an ordinary cinema. Other movies would not make a difference when view formed a pirated DVD in the comfort of your home.
simon - 30 December 2009
Monday, December 28, 2009
Father, Stranger and Chocolate
Throughout my childhood, I couldn’t remember what Dad had said to me. In fact he seldom talked to me. When we happened to meet in the street incidentally, we felt awkward or even embarrassed to see each other, worse than seeing a stranger. So we pretended we did not see each other. What a strange relationship! Any message between us would go through Mum. For big issue like going for tertiary education in New Zealand, still the message was forwarded to him by Mum.
When I studied imitation theory of childhood development in Victory University, I realized the importance of the role played by a father for his son. A son imitates his father when he grows up, so that he learns the behaviour, values and culture from his father. In this case, the interaction between father and son is very crucial. I recollected and found my interaction between Dad and I was almost none. That is why I don’t understand what I had imitated?
Ya, Dad looked serious all the time, like Bao Gong （包公）.We were scared of him. Like Simon said, he owned a big and sparkling car in blue and white colour. But it was rare for us to sit in the car. Once in the blue moon on the first day of Chinese New Year, he might take me and my sisters and brothers for a ride. Or because of heavy rain that I couldn’t cycle to school, then Mum might wake him up to drive us to school. I felt so uneasy to be in the car, instead of enjoying for the ride.
I remembered only once that he drove us to Singapore and, surprisingly, to watch an English film in Cathay cinema. Before we entered into the cinema, he bought me a piece of chocolate. To me at that time, this chocolate was something beyond my dream. I believe this was the first time that I saw and owned a piece of chocolate. When Dad was queuing for tickets, I couldn’t wait but swallowed up the whole chocolate. When Dad came back with tickets in hand, he found me empty-handed and asked angrily: “Where is your chocolate?” I couldn’t answer. He said I should hold it and consume it while watching movie. I felt so ashamed and guilty of my misbehaviour that I still couldn’t forget the episode until today!
(Note: If the younger generation has no knowledge of my nick-name, please consult your parents.)
By Unintelligent Lion
When I studied imitation theory of childhood development in Victory University, I realized the importance of the role played by a father for his son. A son imitates his father when he grows up, so that he learns the behaviour, values and culture from his father. In this case, the interaction between father and son is very crucial. I recollected and found my interaction between Dad and I was almost none. That is why I don’t understand what I had imitated?
Ya, Dad looked serious all the time, like Bao Gong （包公）.We were scared of him. Like Simon said, he owned a big and sparkling car in blue and white colour. But it was rare for us to sit in the car. Once in the blue moon on the first day of Chinese New Year, he might take me and my sisters and brothers for a ride. Or because of heavy rain that I couldn’t cycle to school, then Mum might wake him up to drive us to school. I felt so uneasy to be in the car, instead of enjoying for the ride.
I remembered only once that he drove us to Singapore and, surprisingly, to watch an English film in Cathay cinema. Before we entered into the cinema, he bought me a piece of chocolate. To me at that time, this chocolate was something beyond my dream. I believe this was the first time that I saw and owned a piece of chocolate. When Dad was queuing for tickets, I couldn’t wait but swallowed up the whole chocolate. When Dad came back with tickets in hand, he found me empty-handed and asked angrily: “Where is your chocolate?” I couldn’t answer. He said I should hold it and consume it while watching movie. I felt so ashamed and guilty of my misbehaviour that I still couldn’t forget the episode until today!
(Note: If the younger generation has no knowledge of my nick-name, please consult your parents.)
By Unintelligent Lion
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