An Assurance ...

Good Bye Connor

Good Bye Connor

At 10.55pm last night Connor passed on.

I was blessed to have been able to see him at 8pm ... I couldn't speak to him at all because he was unconscious but at least I saw him one last time. I am saddened by his passing but am thankful that I saw him one last time yesterday.

Thank you everyone for praying. Connor truly experienced so much love in this past month. He returns to our Father in Heaven and is in a place far better than this. No more suffering. No more pain. No more tears. Connor, we will miss you but we are comforted that we will see you again in eternity. Welcome us at the gates whence we shall meet.

Wake details are as follows:

Location : PJ Modern Casket & Funeral Parlour
Jalan 229, Section 51A, Petaling Jaya
46100 Selangor

Time : 8.00pm - Arrival of Guests
8.30pm - Wake Service

He will be flown back to East Malaysia for burial after the wake.

An Encouraging Update About Connor!

Prayer Makes a Difference!

Hi everyone,

What a difference 24 hours of prayer makes! He's looking great. Even though the tube's still up through his nose he looks so much more comfortable. And he's so much stronger! Seeing him this evening really made my day & week. I am so happy & thankful for how much God is doing.

And you know what? I prayed for him today and after I said amen ... I looked up and I saw his breathing rate was at 20-something! Wow ... Prayer is really awesome. But then when I stopped praying it went up again to about 30-something 40. Man! I should have claimed with more faith!

His breathing readings are different. I looked at the squiggly line reading on the screen of the apparatus that monitors Connor's vitals and it's different. The readings for his respiratory rate are more consistent & squarish instead of being squiggly & wavy. I think that means that his breathing is stable now and more consistent. I dunno how to explain la ... I'm not doctor.

But suffice to say I am so happy that Connor is doing so much better!

Keep on Praying

Keep on Prayin'

Please keep on praying everyone ...

Connor was just re-admitted into ICU again today. I just saw him at 7-something and he looked down and discouraged. His respiratory rate was not too good and he was breathing more heavily compared to when I last saw him.

He was really going through such a tough time as he had a tube stuck into him for nutrients and it was really making him uncomfortable. Let's not cease in praying and if any of us go to hospital next please prepare yourselves to be an encouragement ya? As much as he needs to be strong, we need to be strong for him too I believe.

His dad looked very tired too and had red eyes. All the weeks at hospital is taking a toll on him. Please pray for uncle too. Auntie looked pretty alright but physically but I know she must feel the pain of a mother for her son. Do keep the both of them in prayer and if you can speak Cantonese or Hakka, it'd be awesome to have a chat with them should you meet them at the hospital.

Thanks! Sign up to the prayer chain if you haven't already done so. It's available here.

Connor is out of ICU! Hooray!

Blind Bartimaeus' Healing

Thank you everyone for praying. Connor is seeing a huge improvement and has just been discharged today from the ICU in Pantai Medical Centre after being admitted in there last Thursday. The treatment he's getting there is top-notch and God has been using the doctors and nurses there to really take good care of him. Connor has even been blessed with 2 Christian trainee nurses; one of whom has been taking time to do Quiet Time with him in the mornings. Really awesome stuff.

For those of you who were praying for Connor last Thursday night; your prayers really made a difference as he had an acute breathing attack that night and his family was rushed to the hospital to decide whether or not he had to be put on a ventilator. God really worked a miracle because just as his family arrived; Connor's breathing stabilised.

It was a HUGE scare and that night when I received the SMS I prayed so much. I had just seen him that evening and it was pretty disheartening to see him so discouraged that day after Calvin Yong broke the news to him that it could possibly be cancer in the lungs. Plus I had just learnt that patients who are put on ventilators generally don't recover fully ... it was a very emotional night ... but God really showed up in such a big way and I am so thankful that we are seeing Connor improve day by day. The scans of his lungs show an improvement and that's really awesome! Yay!

So much has been happening this week and it'd be really great if we were all to keep on praying for Connor. Sign up and be part of the prayer chain right here if you haven't done so already.

God bless ...

A Prayer Chain for Connor

Hi everyone,

Am putting this up for those of you who want to be part of the prayer chain that's interceding for Connor.

Pray for Connor

The Prayer Chain

12:00 - 01.00am -
01:00 - 02:00am -
02:00 - 03:00am -
03:00 - 04:00am -
04:00 - 05:00am -
05:00 - 06:00am -
06:00 - 07:00am - Sharon Ng, Kam Fai, Angie Ng
07:00 - 08.00am - Chris
08:00 - 09:00am - Dot, Soo Jen
09:00 - 10:00am -
10:00 - 11:00am - J-son
11:00 - 12:00pm -
12:00 - 01:00pm -
01:00 - 02:00pm - Kah Mun
02:00 - 03:00pm - Roland
03:00 - 04:00pm -
04:00 - 05:00pm - Affryll
05:00 - 06:00pm - Juliet
06:00 - 07:00pm - Esther
07:00 - 08:00pm -
08:00 - 09:00pm - Choon Ai & Team
09:00 - 10:00pm - Daphne
10:00 - 11:00pm - Lynda
11:00 - 12:00am - Benny, Debbie


Drop me a line here on this blog if you are able to join us in prayer for Connor. He's been moved to Pantai Medical Centre now and has been admitted into ICU so they can monitor him closely. I'll post an update later today over lunch about what's been happening so far.

I'll be updating the chain as and when new additions come in. If you can commit to hours in the wee hours of the morning please do so ...

Thank you so so much everyone. Your prayers matter.

A Quick Update on Connor

Pray Until Something Happens (P.U.S.H. for short)

Connor's improving! He's eating better now and his breathing has improved! Plus we're seeing a lot of colour return to his skin. What's really awesome is that there is a 2nd opinion from an oncologist in Tung Shin that suggests it could be a lung infection. We don't know for certain really until they can do another CT scan next week. In the mean time keep on praying!!! Your prayers matter ya?

Click here for my previous post about Connor to get an idea about what he's going through.

I Officially Dub This Week "Minggu Avril Lavigne"

ROCK K.L. AVRIL! You can DO it!

It's Avril Lavigne fever this week as I'm gonna be setting my iTunes playlist into an endless loop of Avril tracks in preparation for this Friday's concert. My leave has been approved and I'm all set with 2 other friends coming with me too! Mua ha ha ha ha ha! Looks like this year isn't a total music loss after all.

I won't be able to go for Diana Krall but I'm all for Avril cos' I really like her songs; she's got a knack in coming up with great hooks in her songs. I honestly don't know if she'll sound great on stage compared to her studio stuff ... but I'm ready to be sold come Friday evening.

On another note, I've heard rumours that John Mayer may be hitting Singapore this year. Can anyone confirm this? I would so love to catch him live even if it means travelling down over the Causeway. Great guitarist. Smooth vocals. What's not to like about Mr. Mayer? Besides the fact that he dumped Jennifer Aniston ... useless fella ... I think he's an awesome live performer. I've seen enough videos of him to be able to judge for myself; it doesn't hurt that I'm such a guitar geek ... heh!

Anyways as the title of this post says ... this week is "Minggu Avril Lavigne" for me. Have a fun week guys!

P.S. Juwita is currently making her own rounds in Australia. Follow her chronicles on Facebook or check out her website here!

It's OFFICIAL! Avril is ON!!!

Oh AVRIL!

I had a pretty good day despite my upset plans to go to Ipoh to visit someone who's battling a brain tumour. Caught Clone Wars in the cinema on my own ... it was freezing but all in all it was a good afternoon of Jedi, Sith, Clone Troopers and Droids battling out over alien landscapes.

Made it to church too (although I sadly missed the entire worship) and heard a really awesome sermon by Pastor Peter Tsukahira which for some reason made me cry as I was deeply reminded about God being a promise-keeping God. And it was all done through scripture and proof of God bringing Israel back together as a nation after being scattered all over the world and experiencing the horrors of the Holocaust during WWII. I went up for prayer and well ... I just couldn't stop crying because of the great sense of God's faithfulness.

And guess what? When I got home I learnt that Avril is OFFICIALLY on! Stadium Merdeka here I come!!! Oh yeah!!! I had included it in my prayer requests this week to the cell and they we all prayed for it; the best thing is that my prayer sec had highlighted my prayer request for Avril to be on and well ... here's an answer to my prayer! I've already taken the 29th off and now all I need is someone to go with me. Yay!

AVRIL HERE I COME!!!

Our Happy Ending?

Gimme My Happy Ending!

There is some glimmer of hope to the authorities allowing Avril to perform. Last ditch efforts are being made to have discussions with the big wigs who are making a fuss over the concert that has been planned for the 29th. The Star has got a latest posting here which I just checked out after spotting a post in one of my RSS feeds.

It's really annoying ... sigh ... I have two tickets and now I don't even know if it's gonna be on. I'm still looking for kawan to go tho but the way things are now I don't know if I should even ask anyone. Sigh ... and it looks like I can't go for Diana Krall too cos' I was just remembered that my church sub-zone is planning to have something over the Raya break! Just exactly when the jazz queen is coming!!! Gah!!!

*Sighs* ... it's not a good year for music this year for me.

Hooray! Avril Here I Come!

Avril Lavigne Live in Malaysia 08'

Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ... My bookings for Avril Lavigne have just been confirmed today via email. I'm gonna take either a half-day or full-day off on the 29th so I can make it for the concert in time. Now I just gotta work on getting a friend to go with me.

I'm excited ... yea ... I know I'm getting a wee bit old but I really like Avril's stuff. There's just something about her songs that I can't quite place yet. Maybe it's the simple lyrics but more likely it's her talent for infectious hooks.

It doesn't really matter though! I'm gonna be seeing Avril LIVE! Mua ha ha ha ha ha. And once the bookings for Diana Krall are available, it's another thing to look forward to in October! 2008's certainly been a roller-coaster ride of a year. It's been emotional but on most fronts God really has been good. Sigh ... I wish I could appreciate it more with someone but I gotta get that thought out of my head. Life is GOOD! Gotta remember that instead of just being so focused on what obviously isn't meant to be yet.

Diana Krall's COMING!

The lovely Diana Krall

Jazz chanteuse Diana Krall is coming to KL October 2nd! She'll be performing at KL Convention Centre and tickets should be available now! I so want to go ... anyone else up for it? Cheapest tickets are RM288 so I better book early or there'll only be the expensive RM588 and RM888 ones left! Aiyah!!!

Rock My World!

Where the Light Is

Since I started drivin' for the past year and a half I've been listening to radio a lot more. And now that I'm workin' full-time; I get to listen to a lot more radio ... especially Shaz & Will's Red Breakfast Show on RedFM. I'm really enjoyin' RedFM's selection of music and am boning up on general knowledge every morning with The Red Morning Genius. Good stuff! Be sure to tune in at 104.9 in the Klang Valley (no, Will & Shaz are not paying me to plug the station; ha ha!).

Coco

Anyways after listening to so much OneRepublic & Colbie Caillat I finally decided to pick up these two albums today. While I was at it I also picked up a copy of John Mayer's Where The Light Is (LIVE in L.A.). Really good stuff. Am listening to one of the tracks off the double-disc set right now actually.

Dreaming Out Loud

OneRepublic has been wowing me some. "Apologize" is such a catchy track and I can't help but like "Stop and Stare". I still haven't been able to listen to the whole album yet but once I'm done soaking in the music I'll drop in reviews for all 3 albums that I just picked up today.

Sara Bareilles' "Love Song" and Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" are another 2 sing-along tracks that I find myself singing along to whenever I catch them on radio. "Love Song" is a big hit with me right now and I can't help but sing bits & pieces of the chorus most of the day today. It's a perfect song for perfect mornings (like today!). I might pick up these 2 songs on GuaMuzik since friggin' iTunes isn't available in Malaysia (stupid Apple). I'm a big Apple fan; which ticks me off even more that I can't buy songs off iTunes. It's silly really. Sigh ...

It's gonna be a full week for me. I'm glad I'm blogging a lil' more regularly now. It's nice. Hokay! It's 1:04am. Bed-time!!!

The Force UNLEASHED! And Clone Wars TOO!

The Force Unleashed

Star Wars. Sigh. There's just something about Star Wars that always brings me back to my childhood. It's one of the earliest movies I remember as a kid. I had some toys from the franchise when I was about 5 or 6. I remember this huge Boba Fett that I had (which has inexplicably gone missing) and a 6inch Luke Skywalker in Cloud City garb. Star Wars was the coolest and as a kid it was just a wonder to watch Jedi duels and space battles. I LOVE Star Wars and I guess I always will.

The Clone Wars

This year is going to be a gala year for Star Wars fans with the release of the upcoming Clone Wars animated feature that's hitting the silver screen in a few weeks time. The Jedi are also making their presence felt in video games with Darth Vader & Yoda making guest appearances in Soulcalibur IV! And of course we've got The Force Unleashed making its way onto all major consoles this September. What's exciting about The Force Unleashed is the fact that the storyline sits in between Episode III and Episode IV. Plus we are introduced the Vader's secret apprentice! The games looks really awesome with lots of action utilising a physics engine and the Force! Good stuff. Lots of toys are out too ... so keep an eye out for Clone Wars and The Force Unleashed merchandise at a toy store near you!

I never liked Darth Vader much until I was much older (weird I know) but I suppose I was the sort of kid who always rooted for the good guy instead of the bad guy. My first ever best bud (Marvin Yee) loved Darth Vader tho. But anyways ... Darth Vader is a much more complex character and now that I'm an adult, the greys of life are a lot more apparent. Of course there is still black & white, right & wrong but so many things are different shades of grey. Life isn't as clear cut as the movies and yet many a time we are called to draw the line somewhere. To make decisions. To choose. In a world that is as broken as ours, can we make good, right choices? Can we think of others and in some ways be like the Jedi? Selfless rather than selfish? More likely we strike a balance in between caring for ourselves and caring for others. A tenuous balance that can be easily broken.

It's getting late ... time to hit the sack. Till next time ... May the Force be with You.

Something for the Weary

Psalm 62:5-8

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from Him.

He alone is my rock and my salvation;
He is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

My salvation and my honour depend on God;
He is my mighty rock, my refuge.

Trust in Him at all times, O people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.

Here's a lil' something I read today that I hope will be of encouragement to all of you out there who are going through rough patches. Find rest today yeah? Today and every day.

Whose Dream? in DUMC Dreamcentre

My church is putting up a plaaaaaay! Mua ha ha ha ha! I've missed being involved in Punctuation. It's been refreshing to be able to help out in the video promos that we put up for the upcoming production.

The play is on this weekend from 1st Aug till 3 Aug from 8.30pm onwards. Do check it out cos' it's gonna be awesome. And the great thing is that Hung Lan our ministry head managed to get the famous prawn mee stall from Restoran ONS to set up shop there so we'd have authentic "har mee" to eat after the play is over.

Tickets are at RM5 so if any of you would like to come get in touch with me. I'd be happy to get tix for all of you. For more details visit my church's website by clicking here!

Transitions: A Mid 08' Entry

Photo credit: www.claudiapacker.com

I haven't written a post in awhile. A lot has been happening in life. New job. Cell leadership. Am trying very hard to manage 440 Records at the same time also. It is a REAL challenge and most days I feel that there isn't enough of me to go around.

Add on to that is the Almighty's constant working in my life. Oowah ... when God works He really does work. All of us need a change to happen in us. The human condition is such that we never want to admit we're not OK. That there is something missing no matter where we're at in life. I honestly don't know what I'd do without God ... I'm thankful for the awareness of Him that He's placed in me. Yeah ... there are lots of times when I've thrown "tantrums" at Him for things that have not gone my way but He never fails to draw me back. It's time to do better tho' ... time to grow up!

We just finished 3 days of fasting & renewal meetings in church last week. And at last Thursday's renewal meeting I received a powerful touch from the Lord. I haven't cried in a long, long time and that night as Pastor Daniel made the call for prayer, I went forward expecting the Lord to do something. And HE did! I realise that an experience of God doesn't just end there ... it's our job to go forth and the claim it and cling on to Him especially as we step out of the doors of the church and face the world. The Bible tells us that the Enemy seeks to devour us and he does that through the world & our circumstances. It's so easy to give in to frustration; it's a lot harder to be patient in trusting God to work in His good timing. I guess that's something I wanna do more (with His help of course).

A long time ago I promised myself that I won't make my blog overly Christian but I guess writing an entry like this once in awhile is alright no? After all my faith is a big part of my life. Anyways, am gonna be heading off to Shah Alam in a bit for SALT 08' where Juwita is gonna be performing. It's been an eventful Sunday. In fact it's been an eventful few months and for the first time in a very long time, I look forward more and more to what the future will bring. God is full of surprises ... always.

Till next time.

Being Aware ...

I'm Chris and
I'm a Sailfish.

Ha ha! A really close friend of mine sent me this fun link that also happens to be an educational site about marine life preservation. And TA DA! I am a SAIILFISH! Here's what I learned about Sailfishes today!

"You are an athlete of the sea, swimming at speeds clocked at up to 68 mph. You are also recognized for jumping to incredible heights. You are known for your pointy bill and large sail, the dorsal fin that can stretch the entire length of your back. Your sail is often folded over to the side while swimming for aerodynamics, and is raised to look make you look twice your size when threatened or excited. Growing quickly, by age one you often reach 4 to 5 feet in length and can reach 10ft as an adult. You enjoy eating squid and small fish, and may use your fin to catch dinner by herding schools of small fish with your fellow sailfish.

But as a highly prized game fish your populations have declined from overfishing. Anglers are now encouraged to catch and release you. Typically you will only live between 4 to 5 years, as this is the average life expectancy of a sailfish."

What are we doing to the world we live in? I'm not a big conservationist but I really do feel concerned that a lot of nature is being destroyed every day. I'm gonna do a little bit on my part to help protect our environment. I was at Jusco recently with my granny & aunt and it was a nice surprise when the person at the check out counter asked if we had our own tote bags for groceries. I was like ... WOW ... score one for Jusco. It's great to be reminded to use less plastic bags. I'm gonna start making it a habit to carry my own bags for groceries and to not take plastic bags if I can afford it.

I'm also pretty excited that my PS3 is able to help out in cancer research. In case some of you don't know, the PS3 has an app called Folding@HOME that you can leave on when the machine is idle to run protein simulations that hopefully lead to a cure for cancer. I've lost extended family members from cancer and one of my aunts now is fighting it. The best part of it is that I usually download large files like demos, etc sometimes just so I can leave Folding @HOME running. He he ... I'm glad that my expensive toy can do some good rather than just be a video game console.

Anyways, I'm gonna take a break today I guess. It's been a gruelling week and I have quite a few things to do this weekend. I've got a XML file to populate for a site revamp, a information architecture design (i.e. sitemap) to do, a website to upload (for that freelance project that I committed to before I started work) and 3 scripts to write for trailers for our upcoming big production in church. Having said that I also have a lot of stuff that's piling up for Four Forty Records. It's crazy. That's a lot of stuff to do and one day off would mean one less day to work but I'm human and a break would be very welcome.

I should at least upload the files for the freelance job and run through the site. Which reminds me ... I have not done my quiet time yet! Better stop blogging and better start spending some time with God before I start off a beautiful Saturday.

Meeting The Robinsons Again: Lessons on Moving Forward

"Keep Moving Forward"
Cornelius Robinson

I just can't get the simple motto that drives Disney's "Meet The Robinsons" out of my head. "Keep Moving Forward". It makes so much sense. I don't know if it's biblical or not but it makes a lot of sense to me today to not be trapped by the past.

I know it's not easy to forget the past. Painful experiences. Mistakes. These things make us the people we are today in a lot of ways. Both good & bad shapes us - there's no denying that. The biggest mistake really; would be to dwell on these things and allow them to dictate who we are today. We can change. It's hard work but we can do it with effort and a lot of divine grace. It's not easy but the results at the end of the day are worth it.

In the past year or so I've been learning to leave the past behind and to glean wisdom from my mistakes. It's so easy to slip back into a negative state of mind and wonder why things have not gone my way but in doing so I risk losing sight of all the good things that ARE already in my life. Living in the present is hard-work though cos' more often than not we find ourselves trapped in 2 modes of thought:

• Living in the past, trapped by our past successes & failures
• Living in the future, never satisfied & always wanting more

Meeting the Robinsons again on DVD has helped me a lot these past three days and reminded me to be content with what I have now and to live each day out as it comes. I know that GOD is in control but I really do have a part to play in shaping my own life. The future is not cast in stone and there's still a lot to do to live out life and make it good. It's comforting to know that He can take all the bad that's happened in my life and turn it into something beautiful in His time.

Living in the present means forgiving the past (and people too ya?) & learning from it, to have hope for the future but still focus on the now. And that my friend is what it means to "keep moving forward".

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."
Hebrews 11:1

Dare We Make a Difference?

What are we but human beings? What are but just people who want a life for ourselves? Self-centred that's what we are ... it's something that has been bothering me a lot even as I struggle with myself. This is the question that I find myself asking; "Are we so caught up with ourselves that we fail to look at the world around us?"


I just finished watching Blood Diamond a few minutes ago. Seeing the reality of what we are capable of in a movie punches the message through more than reading about it or hearing about it can. It's rare to see a film that does in an age when all audiences are interested in is being entertained. Blood Diamond is a powerful movie but more importantly it talks about our man's struggle with self. As much as it is a movie about conflict diamonds it is also a movie that deals with humanity. DiCaprio's character depicts what I believe to be a problem that we all have. The problem of "self".

We can do more in life. I refuse to believe that we are all just supposed to raise a family, earn a living and end up returning to whence we came. We are all able to do so much more. To care so much. To love so much more. To make a difference in this twisted, messed up world.

This is the hard question that I ask myself even as I make my way through this world. As much as I want to be with someone who'll love me back, to one day have a family that I can provide for and to make a difference in this world; I find myself lapsing into myself where there's nothing but me in it. I am glad that I have walked the path I have walked so far. And I am thankful for the opportunity and the place where I'm at; that through what I do with my small record label and through my own life least I'm able to touch some lives. It's the least I can do after all God has given me.

If you're reading this. I hope you too can do something ... that you can act to make a difference. Join me. I am doing a small part and you can too. Let's do something together.