Ervan’s Weltanschauung

Dear God,

Every cloud, has its silver lining.

Things that happened to me, happened for a reason.

Today, I had a very good meeting. One that will decide my future. Yes God, I have reached that crossroad of which I must choose the path. And God, I do need some good things to come my way. It has not been a good year for me at all. But the lessons I learned, are indeed very valuable. And You, as always, is guiding me from afar.

Sometimes, I can be cruel to You. Yes, I admit it God, I disobeyed you. I did the many things that You have told me not to. But, You have always been there for me. Your love for me is something that I, unfortunately ignored, especially when things did not go my way. You persevered, and slowly but surely, You guided me back. Always.

The more I read the Quran, the more I believe that it is You who choose to lead those to the righteous path, and it’s also You who choose to lead those astray (refer to Surah Al-Baqarah, Verse 26) And despite my shortcomings, which I humbly apologise, I am grateful that You choose me to follow the righteous path when many others are still astray… I do not understand why, but I thank You, for being patient with me, for having faith in me and for showing me mercy.

The past two years has been a very trying time for me. Always faulting You for the bad things that happened to me. But never acknowledging You for the good things that happened to me. Beneath my happy and jovial face, lies unhappiness that only few know apart from You. And I thank You again, for bringing me some happiness. It helped me to keep my positive outlook in life… People never know where I got the strength to be optimistic, being jovial when things are bad, but if they looked beyond me, they would know… I never noticed it until recently. I received a call from a client from Singapore, and at the end of the call, she mentioned that I was very jovial and candid. This is despite the fact that I was feeling down at that time. Her comment brought a smile to my face, and these simple things kept me going…..

But there must be a reason why things did not go my way for the past year. And today, I realised why. You have been preparing me for today. And today, I was a different person, totally different from the me of last year. You have improved me in many ways that I could have not been this time last year. And that really helped me in my meeting today. And I am sure, the other things that happened to me the past two years, You have Your reasons which You will reveal in due course.

Thank You God. The Love of God is what not many can understand, even to those who claim to be pious. I have already made up my mind, and whatever the outcome, I know You will guide me, always. And I hope, the path I choose, is the path You approve of.

Your humble servant,
Ervan

King Kong is quite an enjoyable movie to watch. I admit, it does remind me of Jurassic Park, but at least we had King Kong to save the day!

I love Naomi Watts potrayal of Ann Durrow. Fay Wray (the original Ann Durrow) would have been proud. And only now I realised…

During the movie, when Carl Denham was deliberating his problem of finding an actress, he shouted the name Fay to his assistant, Preston (played by Colin Hanks, son of Tom Hanks). Preston answered that she’s already filiming something for RKO. Since the movie was set in 1933 (the year the original King Kong was made), and the original Ann Durrow was played by Fay Wray. And of course, the company that produced King Kong is RKO. I don’t know, why only now I managed to put one and one together. Hahaha, that was a good pun by Jackson….

Moviemakers just enjoy putting some interesting trivias in their movies

Am listening to the Christmas Song sang by Nat King Cole…

One thing about this song, it reminds me of Christmas when I was overseas. Even though I spent my years in UK, I realised, when Christmas comes, I will be in Seattle. So, it’s not surprising when I listened to this song, it reminded me of Seattle.

It’s high time I go back to Seattle. Just to see how much has changed there. And get those fresh Pacific Northwest salmon from Pike Place market! And of course, the most heavenly smell of coffee in Seattle.

Now, to start planning a Kuala Lumpur - Zurich - Vevey - Geneva - Seattle - Tokyo - Kuala Lumpur route?

Someone YM-ed me this link. I received the same “news” a few days earlier from a colleague of mine. I remember seeing similar poison letters surfaced in the year 1987 and 1998. And now, we got it again, in 2005.

I’ve noticed that in 1987 and 1998, similar poison letters surfaced during some kind of crisis in the largest political party in Malaysia. Here I shall not elaborate further.

For one, I do not believe a word that was stated in the link. If not for a teacher in my former secondary school, Bukit Bintang. I don’t think I will be who I am today. Back in BB, I was a rather playful lad, and used to skip classes and not really care for my studies. Not a problem for Form 1 till 3, cause even when I skip classes, and not paying attention at all, I still can get the top ten in the class.

It’s not the same in Form Four. And of course, with me being in the top science class does not help matter. And this teacher, who is a Chinese, actually forced me to stayback one day (with me missing my bus) and gave me a very harsh lecture. Her lecture actually made me realised what an arse I have been. And she actually encouraged me to do well in my studies. I don’t think I will be where I am if not for her and her lecture. She knows I got the potential, and if she is really a racist Chinese, she would just ignore me and let me waste my future.

Recently, I had a very good discussion with my colleague over lunch. We were having discussion on the racial polarization in local universities. Me being an overseas graduate was not affected by it, and he, getting the whole raw deal. And the name Bukit Bintang was mentioned. He told me that he was not surprised to learn I was from Bukit Bintang. He went on to say that from the many BBians he met, BBians tend to be more open, and liberal, and do not care for the skin colour.

Only today I see the connection. And it’s good that we have an oasis in this racial desert. The Bukit Bintang and other similar schools that sees all humans are equal. Instead of those so called National/Chinese/Tamil schools in one site concept, might as well we nurture the current schools…

“Nisi Dominus Frustra”

It seems to be the fav words in the newspapers/media, etc. Now it is a laugh.

1. Nude squat is enforced on the ladies who are caught doing drugs.

My comment: Okay, fair enough. It’s humiliating enough, but at least, it is not the dreaded cavity search. Remember Beavis & Butthead?

2. The lady caught is a supposedly Chinese national.

My comment:
Okay, today we found out that the lady is not Chinese. She’s a Malay. I wonder why this thing was omitted and made such a furore in China? Even our Home Minister had to do a whirlwind trip to China?
What’s this? A communication breakdown?

But beneath it all, just because the lady in question is fair skinned, it is automatically assumed that she’s Chinese? I do agree that in general, those who are fair are the Chinese, in Malaysia. But, that is stereotyping the race. Heck, when my niece was born in the States a couple of years back, she was classified as a Caucassian!

For me, the easiest is, there is only one race. The human race…is it that hard to do?

I always get this when I meet my friends, on a public holiday that falls on Sunday and that public holiday happens to be only for the state of Selangor and does not apply for Kuala Lumpur. And yes, they get more than us…

Thaipusam
Nuzul Quran
and of course, Sultan of Selangor’s birthday

And we, in KL only get one day off, and that is the Federal Territories Day. But then again, I never really cared about it. After all, Malaysia do get, waay too many public holidays. That’s why our annual leave is limited to 15-20 days, instead the way too cool 30 days in UK… and oh yeah, in some countries, when’s the holiday, and only that day is a holiday with no extra. I just remembered it today as I was on the phone with my friend in that particular country, Christmas is not so joyful this year as it falls on Sunday. And in his country, you do not get Monday off, like here in Malaysia….

We Malaysians, are a pampered lot indeed. And yet most of us still yet to realise this…

Ah well, can’t wait for Christmas…

chestnuts roasting on an open fire…
jack frost nipping at your nose……

bleagh, there is no jack frost here, just rain….. hehe

This is a really good song, especially for those couples where one half have to travel a lot.
Sang by Ello, well, the current version as the original was written and sung by his dad. Anyone got the copy? I am still looking for it… I first heard it when I was in Jakarta in June, 5 months on, I still enjoy listening to this song…

They don’t make songs like these anymore, that’s for sure….

Walaupun langit, pada malam itu,
Bermandikan cahaya bintang
Bulan pun bersinar, betapa indahnya
Namum menambah kepedihan oooh

Ku akan pergi, meninggalkan dirimu
Menyusuri liku hidupku
Janganlah kau bimbang, dan janganlah kau ragu
Berikan senyuman padaku

Selamat tinggal kasih, sampai kita jumpa lagi
aku pergi, takkan lama
Hanya sekejap saja, ku akan kembali lagi
Asalkan engkau tetap menanti……

Sheikh told me as we landed at Bintulu airport.

After a week in this cowboy town, I ended up liking Bintulu. Well, I have spent some time in Kerteh, another oil and gas town. But in Kerteh, I find myself spending most of my time in my hotel room watching the idiot box. Here in Bintulu, my colleagues have a tough time looking for me in my room, and had to call me on my mobile when they want to meet me.

I managed to dig a lil bit on the history of Bintulu. Bintulu, 20 years ago is nothing like Bintulu today. They even have a big airport that is able to accommodate the larger aircrafts. It’s good to see the development that came with the oil and gas. In fact, it has brought prosperity to the people. Well, to those who seized the opportunity of course.

The whole week has been nothing but good food, and great company. I even met an old friend of mine who is now working with the competitor. Apparently the place where we had dinner is the best place for Chinese food. It was proven when my friend who is supposed to meet me after dinner, also had her dinner with her colleagues and customer there. Or perhaps, Bintulu is just too small….

Well, it’s the last night here… better make the most of it…

*signing off from Bintulu*