Can of Worms

A minister decided that a visual demonstration would add emphasis to his Sunday sermon. Four worms were placed into four separate jars.




The first worm was put into a container of alcohol. The second worm was put into a container of cigarette smoke. The third worm was put into a container of chocolate syrup. The fourth worm was put into a container of good clean soil. At the conclusion of the sermon, the Minister reported the following results:-



The first worm in alcohol -Dead.












The second worm in cigarette smoke -Dead..






Third worm in chocolate syrup -Dead.






Fourth worm in good clean soil -Alive.








So the Minister asked the congregation - What can you learn from this demonstration?









Maxine was setting in the back,Quickly raised her hand and said, "As long as you drink, smoke and eat chocolate,You won't have worms!"
Tags: Jokes, Funny, Humour, Drink, Smoke, Chocolate, Clean Soil

Exhausting Drama Day

After those initial discussion way back in August 2007, it has bore fruits on 2 December 2007. Yes, the first of the 5 dramas has been played yesterday morning and prayers were heavy prior to the starting of it.

Beyond Control, anchored by Joshua Lim, pulled off one of the best performance we have seen for the last few years. A legal background fella, he was able to say those right words that made the drama more meaningful.

We have received feedback that the last scene was very touching that some people were filled with tears. Joshua's life took the worst turn when he accidentally hurt his son and as he couldn't take that setback, he went drinking that same night. Unfortunately, he was hit by a car after I managed to avoid him (in the first car). I was driving in the first car that avoided and scolded him after stopping at a distance. You should have seen the way we filmed how the bottle was flung up high with soft wind sound while it was turning 360 degrees on the way down.

At the end of this morning service, the crowd was really appreciative of our efforts. Some came to me saying that it was an excellent performance. There was a joke to this drama which I have told most of them, "Do you know our Senior Pastor gave me 20-25 minutes to put up a drama for each Sunday?". Guess how long was Beyond Control? A good 45 minutes. If another 8 more cast members were to join this team, we can produce a full scale movie.

So, what was my Senior Pastor's comment? hehehehhehehehehhehe..... he went overseas for an Advanced Leadership Seminar and will be back in Kuala Lumpur on 5 December. Phew! But my next question, how long are our next 4 dramas going to be?

Most of the supporting crews went for a quick lunch while a few of us went for another video shoot in between. At 1.30pm, another 2 teams took the stage for their practises. The standard was pushed quiet high by the first team and the pressure is now on the next 4 teams.

As for me, by the time I reached home it was almost 6pm. A few of us went for dinner at a Teochew Porridge near Pearl Point, Old Klang Road around 8.30pm and my migraine set in after that. It didn't go off even on Monday morning which caused me to call in sick ..... aargh, too tired/exhausted from only the first drama. One down, four to go.
Tags: Christmas Drama, Christmas, Beyond Control, Senior Pastor, Pearl Point, Old Klang Road, Teochew Porridge

Drunkard in Night Scene

Our Beyond Control team members were finally catching up with the drama fever and we did go out one night for a video shoot. Don't forget, this Beyond Control team will be acting on 2 December 2007, Sunday (please click here for direction).













Joshua Lim, after having lost control of almost every
thing in life was somehow in the doldrums, getting drunk from excessive drinking. In this scene, he was knocked down by this oncoming car, driven by a driver who was on his handphone.
Discussing some finer moves.
Ok guys, get into positions now!
This few guys were hoping that the last video shoot was alright before we can call it a night.
Tags: Christmas Drama, Christmas, Beyond Control, Drunkard

Chinese Marching Towards Africa

In reading this article found in BBC News/Africa - China in Africa: Developing ties, it brought some memories back to me.

What triggered my old memories? This article mentioned that Chinese migrants are venturing into Africa land getting involved in the agriculture, construction and trading businesses. True statement. In Khartoum of Sudan, there is a convenient store that I will usually shop for chinese food/products.

In the construction sector, my company contracted two China construction companies as our subcontractors. Besides this two companies, there are quite a number of China companies involved in the same sector. Why are they in Sudan?

The Chinese migrants are flocking into Kenya, Uganda, Ghana and Senegal too where agriculture is the main focus.

I remembered while walking in Khartoum city centre, the Sudanese sitting nearby would shout "Chinese, Chinese". I just smiled. At another corner, one or two other Sudanese would say the same thing and I would reply "Malaysie, Malaysie" (that's how they pronounce Malaysia).

Even in my office, the Sudanese cannot comprehend that I came from Malaysia. One guy was so sure that I'm from China, not Malaysia. Why did he think that way? He was more confused when I pointed at a Malaysian Indian colleague and said that he's from Malaysie too. To which my Sudanese colleague said "He's from India".

To them, Sudanese people are generally with the darker skin complexion and almost everyone looks like that. They just cannot understand how come an Indian and a Chinese can be a Malaysian. It was real hard to convince them.
Tags: Africa, Sudan, Khartoum, Chinese Migrant

Misleading Airlines Website

When I was reading an article entitled EU warns airlines over misleading website deals, the sale of air tickets locally are about the same too. It was stated that the European Union's Executive Commission has launched an investigation on a number of European airlines' websites on the following basis:-

* The ticket price is first shown without airport taxes and additional fees;
* Offers promising tickets for free or at a low price, but such tickets are unavailable to the consumer who wants to buy;
* Tick boxes for insurance or additional services are set to 'yes' by default, trapping the consumer into buying unwanted items; and
* General terms and conditions are not provided in the language version used by the consumer during booking procedure - or not available at all in any language.

Airlines that were implicated includes Ryanair, Vueling, Iberia and Spainair. Well, to such profit making entities, their earnings are more important than news of consumers being misled. With the rise of low cost carriers throughout the world, I guess this won't be the end of it, just the beginning.

I did highlight about a similar issue under Misleading Air Tickets Pricing but relating to Malaysia scenario.
Tags: Airlines Website, European Union, Ryanair, Vueling, Iberia, Spainair, Air Ticket, European Airlines

Malaysian Revival Song Competition 2007

The Malaysian Revival Song Competition 2007 ("MRSC 2007") is just round the corner. The finals will be held on 2 December 2007 at the Matrade Hall, Menara Matrade, Jalan Duta (street map available here). Be there to witness songwriters displaying their proficiencies in music.
Activities for that day at Matrade Hall will start from 3pm onwards. Star Maker, the organiser, has lined up the following programmes:-

3PM
- an open mic session, for stand up bands, comedians, singers or performances (15 mins each group). If you are interested, please be there early to book your slot, plug in and play. Simple!
- Food available at Traders Cafeteria.
- Buy your reflective items, claim free gifts and free passes.

5.30PM
- Workshops on "HOW TO RECORD A SONG DEMO" (recommending the most workable and affordable computer software and gadgets to produce a song demo as a finished product in CD)

- Workshop on "LYRIC & MUSIC" (helps to answer questions how to submit song entries for MRSC 2008)

- Health Talk - "What Should I Know To Avoid Kidney Failure" (conducted in Mandarin) by the National Kidney Foundation of Malaysia.

- Health Talk - "What Leads to Confused Sexual Orientation?" is a session for parents, youth counsellors or anyone who wants to be informed of this topic.

6PM
- FREE food at the Traders Cafeteria at the Ground Floor.

6.30PM
You should be making your way into the Matrade Hall (3rd floor) because the Sibuk Sibuk Quiz will start on time (not joking) and this reality show has the easiest to win questions only if you dare to be interactive with the hosts. Prizes like iPOD, mini cooker, vouchers and Motorola mobile phone (rumor has it that it's a L6i worth RM600) are waited to be won. It's so easy that a 10 years old walked away with a hand phone last year.

6.45PM
The celebs and bands, judges will make their way from VIP holding room into the hall. Guess who are the celebs. William Lee and Yasmin Haran will be the emcees for the night.

7.30PM-10PM
Competition begins, get ready to shoot sms to vote.
* Erra Fazira, Vince Chong and Danny One (all songwriter singers) and BLISTER band from Bangkok (winner of MRSC 2006) will be there to sing their songs too.

Call now to 012 335 3511 for FREE passes (conditional and limited) or simply make a donation (anything above RM10) for admission tickets. Walk-in on that day is possible but get your tickets earlier is better. Email us, sms us, call us and we will arrange to give you instruction concerning payment and sending of tickets to you.

Transport wise, please click here for more info.
Tags: Malaysian Revival Song Competition 2007, MRSC 2007, MRSC 2008, Matrade Hall, Menara Matrade, Jalan Duta, Star Maker, Song Demo, National Kidney Foundation of Malaysia, Sibuk Sibuk Quiz, Yasmin Haran, Erra Fazira, Vince Chong, Danny One, Blister

Play to Meet the Needs

Any told you before that while playing you could contribute to the needful. Free Rice, a website that was set-up on 7 October 2007 has this idea of getting website visitors to play a game and if the visitors succeed, donations in the form of grains of rice will be made.

You will asked to provide the meaning of an english word. Four options were given for you to choose. And if you get it correct, 20 grains of rice will be donated to United Nations World Food Program (it was increased to 20 grains per correct answer w.e.f. 28 Nov 2007 compared to 10 grains earlier).

On the first day, 830 grains of rice were "donated". As the website community caught on with this game, people continued to play the game and by 8 November 2007, 77 million grains of rice were gained.

As of today, I have partly contributed 340 grains of rice. Phew! Some of those english words were alien to me. And I can't recall the meaning for some words as we seldom use such words. It was a good way to refresh my english vocabulary. On the point of publishing this blog posting, total grains of rice donated = 4,550,033,230. Find out where the grains of rice will be sent to here.

This genius idea was the brainchild of American online fundraising pioneer John Breen. There is also a sister website under the name of www.poverty.com.
Tags: Free Rice, United Nations World Food Program, World Food Program, Grains of Rice, English Vocabulary, John Breen