Rally vs Blood donation

Blood donation.

• It's too painful
• I'm scared of needles
• I will donate next time
• Maybe I'm underweight
• Got a lot of work to do, cannot afford to faint

Rallying.

• The government might take away my scholarship/placement in university
• Cannot risk getting arrested
• My family would be worried(not sure how true though)
•  I'll join the next time

Et cetra,  et cetra, et cetra.

The excuses reasons always seem quite valid for one who has not set his/her mind on going to participate in either of the above. I would not search the hearts of those who claim to be unable to go, because I may not like what I find. Maybe they give excuses out of fear of disappointing others? Maybe some are just too cowardly or apathetic to go, but too timid to admit it.
Of course, I am talking about rallying for a worthy cause. Not something that you disagree with.

If today you say you will go tomorrow, will you say the same thing you said today, when tomorrow comes?

Out of SG

For this and the next couple of weekends!

Week One of my final semester in school had just gone by with me feeling entirely overwhelmed by all that is in store in the next few months. And I came home already, during the first weekend. I came home to collect some Bersih T-shirts and pick up my camera; for the rally that is about to take place next Saturday.

Weekends of:

1. Week 1- Collect T-shirts and camera
2. Week 2- Bersih 3.0 Duduk Bantah
3. Week 3- Wedding in Kluang

Rally!
Still contemplating on which lenses to bring. Not sure if I want to carry so much on my back. What if it rains? What if water cannons are fired? What if I get arrested? Hahaha...

Wedding!
My secondary school teacher is getting married and I volunteered to take some photographs. No guts to take up the challenge as an official photographer though, that day will come in the future, I hope.
 

PTPTN?

You borrow money, you pay back lah.

Somebody comes around and says, "Abolish PTPTN!" Of course you happy lah, loans cancelled, no need to pay money.

Don't be so selfish.

You borrow money, you pay back. Period.
 

Weep and Rejoice

Weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. My question is, which is easier to do?

Weep?
Going to a party seems more pleasurable when compared to going to a funeral. Visiting a couple in a maternity ward to congratulate them on the birth of their newborn certainly feels better than visiting another who just lost their child no thanks to cancer or a road traffic accident.

Rejoice?
In a marathon, you finish second. Looking back at the months of disciplined training and preparations, are you sure you are able to look into the eyes of your opponent who just beat you and sincerely feel happy for him/her for winning the race?


I don't care. Maybe it is due to living in a big city, in a foreign land, no less, that I have become comfortable living alone. Yes, I know, no man is an island; but no man remains unaffected by his environment either. You take public transportation with hundreds of people to town where even more people are. Everywhere you go you see people, and you may need to queue up for just about anything and everything. Besides, the people we are talking about come from all over the globe. How could one possibly relate to every person he sees? Over time, you just become more and more quiet in a noisy place. And you become comfortable with being quiet. Then you may become self-sufficient. Why would you weep with those who weep? Why would you rejoice with those who rejoice?

Materialism thrives. In a society where we are constantly observing and comparing. Why would I, unaffected by my neighbour's plight, weep when my neighbour weeps? Why would I, not benefiting from my neighbour's achievement, rejoice when my neighbour rejoices? Need I give any explanation? There is no reason for one to weep when he is not hurting or losing; nor is there any sense in rejoicing in the success of another, especially success at one's loss or defeat.

At the end of the day, I believe the only way is to love your neighbour as you love yourself. Not easy, but worth the sweat. Relationships matter so much more than material gains and earthly achievements. If only we could see it.
 

Source of comfort

The darkest days of my life are haunting me still. I try to look to the sky for comfort, each time I am reminded of the pain that I endured.
 

If Joya could model too

Have been shooting for some time now, I enjoy making people or objects look good. Just wondering what if I were to become the subject in some of my photos. What if Joya could model besides taking pictures? I don't enjoy being in photographs; but when I am, I try to make sure that I am the one doing the editing.

If you have not seen my work, you may do so here. Happy viewing!
 

Answer-less

My husband had a good career as a stock broker, we raised a sensible child who excelled in his studies all the way to completing his degree course in an Australian university and came back to work and stay with his parents. I, as a full-time housewife, watched him grow up. Why did God have to take him away from us in a terrible road traffic accident at the age of 28?

I said I was "sorry to hear this" to the elderly couple. My patient who was just admitted to the ward, a seventy-year-old man transferred from the Emergency Department upon a fall that resulted in a nasty hip fracture, was accompanied by his wife whom I had a brief chat with.

Having been reading Yancey's "Where is God when Life Hurts?" and Dowell's "More than a Carpenter", I still could not open my mouth to say to the lady that there is a God who cares about each and every one of His creation. This woman, for the past two to three decades, has been living day by day taking care of her diabetic husband who needs assistance with mobility. They live in a studio apartment, on their retirement funds that are constantly reduced due to the rising cost of healthcare.

Had their son not died in that car accident, life for their family would be so different today. Maybe I would never have met them in the C-class surgical ward. Maybe the man would not have had the hip fracture. Maybe the woman or her son would hire a domestic helper to provide better care for the man.

Had their son not died in that car accident.

Where is God when life hurts? I could not give this lady an answer.