My first home

Finally, I bought my rightfully first home. Hopefully, everything goes smoothly from the bank loan application to renovation to moving into it. Can't wait for this to be over and done with.

10 Days Trip across half of Taiwan

This is already the third night of my 10 day trip in Taiwan. We touched down in Taoyuan International Airport 30 minutes late due to a delay in KLIA but Mars from Chailease Auto was patiently waiting at the airport. I'm happy with the car and service provided by Mars. 

After checking the car, we officially started the trip around Taiwan by driving south to our first destination, the Fengchia night market. I used to think that the street food in Malaysia and Thailand are unrivalled but the amount of stalls, varieties of food and sea of visitors here are no less happening compared to the 2 countries aforementioned. 

We left our hostel early to head to one of the oldest city in Taiwan, Lukang. Our main destination is the Tian Hou temple. Popular along the Taiwanese, the crowd already starting to build at 10am. 

Again, the were plenty of food stalls along the popular tourist streets. The buildings, temples and settlements are more or less similar to the old cities Malacca in Malaysia and Hoi An in Vietnam. All the 3 cities were once flourishing harbours a few centuries ago.

I managed to grab some local duck dish at Old Chef's Duck Thick Soup. 
Old Chef's Thick Duck Soup
Simple and simply delicious. I would recommend this for some quality local delights. 

We would have spent more time in Lukang but the next destination to Alishan is quite a long drive. Stay tuned for my next sharings.

Baha'u'llah's Teachings on Spiritual Reality

I have finally finished reading this book by Palabra Publications. As the book is a compilation of the selected writings of Baha'u'llah, the Bab, Abdu'l-Baha, Shoghi Effendi and the Universal House of Justice, it contains a lot of useful information. It is not an easy read but a very good one for reference.

What do we want from education in school?

What is the purpose of education?

Consider the following passages quoted from the book “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion” by Dr Cialdini regarding education proceeding in the standard classroom that could apply to nearly any public school in the United States:

In general, here is how it works: The teacher stands in front of the class and asks a question. Six to ten children strain in their seats and wave their hands in the teacher’s face, eager to be called in and show how smart they are. Several others sit quietly with eyes averted, trying to become invisible. When the teacher calls on one child, you see looks of disappointment and dismay on the faces of the eager students, who missed a chance to get the teacher’s approval; and you will see relief on the faces of the others who didn’t know the answer…. This game is fiercely competitive and the stakes are high, because the kids are competing for the love and approval of one of the two or three most important people in their world.

                Further, this teaching process guarantees that the children will not learn to like and understand each other. Conjure up your own experience. If you knew the right answer and the teacher called on someone else, you probably hoped that he or she would make a mistake so that you would have a chance to display your knowledge. If you were called on and failed, or if you didn’t even raise your hand to compete, you probably envied and resented your classmates who knew the answer. Children who fail in this system become jealous and resentful of the successes, putting them down as teacher’s pets or even resorting to violence against them in the school yard. The successful students, for their part, often hold the unsuccessful children in contempt, calling them “dumb” or “stupid”.

                This competitive process does not encourage anyone to look benevolently and happily upon his fellow students.

What kind of individuals are we trying to raise here? Are we trying to educate our children to be competitive individuals that only care about winning? Is this how humanity works?

Napoleon Hill states, “An educated man is not, necessarily, one who has an abundance of general or specialized knowledge. An educated man is one who has so developed the faculties of his mind that he may acquire anything he wants, or its equivalent, without violating the rights of others.”

While having knowledge is important, we all agree that having good characters are even more important. The most successful people have always been the ones who care for others, always add value and bring progress to the society. The primary focus of education whether in school or at home, should be to bring out the best of an individual. The Great Being saith: Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom.

This is why spiritual education must be given to a child at a very young age. Children need to be taught of the heavenly attributes and to love their fellow mankind. Cooperation will bring greater progress to everybody than competition.

Jenjarom Learning Centre

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to accompany James to visit the Jenjarom Learning Centre. It is a centre busy with children classes on a typical Saturday afternoon.

Children came from the surrounding neighborhood to read, sing and play games. The purpose of the children class is to educate the children so that they learn about God's Teachings and love and fear God. Dr Soon Kam mentioned that currently they have more than 150 children attending the children classes at various times and sessions. A truly inspiring activity to build a united community.

JY Weekend

This weekend was really a JY weekend for me. One was for my own group and the other 2 were replacing the animators who were not available. The third one didn't happen but I ended up co-animating with another animator.

Furthermore, I hosted a home devotion to study the UHJ message regarding implementation of the Badi calendar. With the implementation of the new calendar, it marks the end of the prophetic cycle and the inauguration of the Baha'i cycle. The truth of Baha'u'llah is indisputable and I pray that more people will see and embrace this Truth.

Getting Rid of Old Habits

I thought that I have gotten rid of some bad old habits but sometimes it will just come back. Just like the weeds in the garden. No matter how many times we remove the weeds, after some time they will grow back. The only way to stop the weeds from growing is to grow the grass we want and cover up the whole garden.

Similarly, the only way to stop falling back to the old habits is to substitute them with healthy and empowering habits. I am well aware that I normally fall back to the bad habits when I am feeling lonely or don't know what to do with my time...

Feeling lonely

Even though I usually spend time on my own, I tend to get lonely especially during festive period. Even though I hardly talk to my housemates, the house feels quieter when they are not around. Even though I don't have time for many things, suddenly time seems to be flowing so slowly.

Don't be overly emotional, Have Faith

Once again I have not been successful in getting a soul mate. It was heart breaking and I thought I had been doing the right thing. As I was looking for some answers to face this disappointment, lo and behold, the answers appeared in the least expected but most receptive manners.

I woke up this morning and the first message I saw on my phone was the above. Rule number 1 immediately hit me, became a wake up call and reassures me what it is all God's Will. Have Faith and put complete trust in God.

Mid of July

Time flies...in the blink of an eye it is now mid of July already. I feel that I have not done anything in the past one to two months. In less than a month time, I will be having my real estate license exams.

I don't remember feeling having not enough time before but now I am feeling it...

Bounty of God

After making my first contribution to the Baha'i Fund in Aug 2013, business opportunities started pouring in. I can remember clearly that time because I was running out of cash to go for a business trip in Kota Kinabalu. Despite having little, I contributed the remaining cash I had and expected money to come in before flying. Lo and behold, some cash came in the day before I took the flight. After that, I began to close more deals and even had the opportunity to do project marketing.

Therefore, I always believe that all I have is the bounty of God and His generosity towards me. None belongs to me and I have the responsibility to share this bounty with the needy ones. Just like how the Lord has been generous to me, I must also be generous to others.

Fruitless Times

There are periods of time when I would just waste my life away doing useless things like reading manga over long hours and sleeping a lot. I would be so demotivated to do other important things unless they are urgent.

I thought its due to a lack of sense in purpose but that's not true because I clearly know what I need to achieve. It is probably due to complacency but there are a lot more I want to achieve. It's terrible when the body, mind and spirit are not in sync. I feel imprisoned...

A Tale of Two Trees

There was a gardener who planted two saplings. He took great care of the trees, gave them water, fertilizer and removed the weeds. As the years passed, the trees grew and began to bear fruits.

The gardener decided that the trees are now matured and left them to grow other trees. Tree A realized that the time to give back has come. Tree B however resented the gardener for stopping to care for them and decided to stop producing. Over time, tree A continued to flourish and bear more fruits. On the other hand, tree B withered and no longer bear any fruits.

 

 One day the gardener returned. What would you do if you are the gardener?

Phone and Internet

Today we are living in a world where the mobile phone and internet is inseparable from us. In fact, if I can only choose an item to bring with me, I would choose the mobile phone over wallet or keys.

I was away to the jungle for two and a half days and this is what I got:

403 whatsapp messages!!! This is worse than the time I went overseas. At least, there was roaming and Wifi internet.

Our phones play such a significant role in our lives that I cannot even imagine not having them.

How Life Works

Finished reading the book, How Life Works by Andrew Matthews in 2 days during the 2014 NAC. Andrew's book is really interesting because it has a lot of cartoons drawn with the words. He speaks with words and pictures.

The book talks about how we always attract what we think and explains why some people always have good things happening to them while some others always get themselves into the same mess. This is similar to the other books about our subconscious minds and law of attraction.

Then Andrew went on to talk about detachment, acceptance and forgiveness. Detachment is about stop struggling or trying too hard but to let go and let things flow. Giving with joy is one way to make us happy and be detached. Acceptance is about accepting how things are and recognition that ,"This is a part of my journey". Acceptance allows us to move on. Same goes for forgiveness. Forgiveness sets us free. Andrew states that to achieve our goals, the hard way is forcing things to happen while the easy way is allowing things to happen. 

So what is the formula for success and happiness?

Live with joy and enthusiasm
Use your imagination to create vivid pictures of what you want
Persists toward your goals in a light-heated happy way
Live without fear and prejudice
Let go off disappointments
Forgive in a heartbeat
Love for no reason

Many people believe, "Success makes you happy." The truth is; happiness makes you successful.

Next, Andrew continues with Be Grateful, Living in the now and Love Yourself. How can we love ourselves?

You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection. Buddha

He also encourage us to meditate.The purpose of meditation is TO BE without purpose.  We are so busy "doing", we often forgery to be human "beings". Meditation is the ultimate exercise in detachment and feeling good.

Andrew concluded by asking, "Why am I here?" Imagine for a moment that we gathered some spiritual masters - Jesus, Buddha,  Muhammad, Lao Tzu - and asked them to answer some big questions, they would all agree on the answers.

What am I?
You are a spark of God, or Source. Your essence is love. The rest is illusion or wrong thinking.

What is my goal?
To think like Good thinks. To love like God loves. To create like God creates.

In summary, we are a spirit having a physical experience. The major rules of the game are:
Accept - yourself, others and your current situation
Forgive - yourself and others
Be Grateful
Live In The Moment
Feel Your Goals Already Achieved
Replace Fear With Love and Kindness
Be Happy

Bribery and Giving Tips

Earlier today I was given a ticket from the police for parking my car at KLIA. When I saw the policeman, I quickly rushed towards him and asked him for a chance. He said it was too late and continued writing the summon.

Then he asked what I do, where I stay and what I do. I asked him how much does the ticket cost and he said RM150. I asked if I can get a discount if I settle early. He said no and there's late payment charges. Later, he continued to say he can help to settle for only RM50. Openly, he asked for a bribe.

Lying and bribing are two things which I am strongly against. I told him I will settle myself but forgot to thank him for not accepting bribes. In this world, bribery is so rampant that sometimes people just bribe to get away with things or get things done their way...fast. And I think that the giver is worse than the receiver thought both are just bad.

Many years ago, someone asked if I consider giving tips as wrong. I quickly answered no and asked why. He then explained how tipping is similar to bribery. I agree with him in the sense that people who give tips or tip more will enjoy better service than others. But then again, why should we not do our best and give our best service regardless of the rewards? At the end of the day, we are the ones who sow what we reap.

Being and Living the Moment

I'm reading the book A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle and about to finish now. This book is surprising interesting although it is not easy to understand. For some reasons, I can relate to the book; partly due to the author himself and mainly due to my belief in the Baha'i Teachings and Principles.

Ego, the paradox of time and consciousness presented here hold a lot of truth. Take the paradox of time for example. I am someone who is always ponder about my past and think about my future. The thoughts in my mind occupy my time more than what's happening at the present moment. I also think too much and act too little.

According to Eckhart, the purpose in life always lie with the moment. For example, I am now sitting in front of my computer and writing this blog, this is my purpose. My thoughts should not wander to thinking about other things. If my phone rings, then my primary purpose becomes to reach for the phone while the secondary purpose is to answer it.

I find this idea particularly empowering because it keeps us focused in whatever we do. Believe me, when we are totally engrossed with whatever we are doing, we will produce surprising high quality results. In other words, we are living life to the fullest. In psychology, this is called flow, a mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement and enjoyment in the process of the activity. Notice the words 'full involvement' and 'enjoyment'.

As a Baha'i, I believe that my life purpose is to know God and to worship Him. To know and to worship imply actions and to worship God can be further broken down to many actions such as work, serving others and pray etc. These actions are inseparable from our daily lives. Worship also implies presence and focus. Combining presence in our daily lives and focusing in whatever we are doing, we are living the purpose of our lives. Being totally present, we are in the joy of being.

The Baha'i prayers often touch on the protection on vain imaginings and corrupt desires, both are inseparable from thinking and ego. Not to get me wrong in the sense that we should just do and not think. Rather, the awareness and consciousness should come first.

Reading a Poorly Written Book

I've finally finished readying the a book titled, "The Transformed Mind Reflections on Truth, Love and Happiness" after more than 3 months. I kept telling myself to move on to another book because its note worth reading this book but for some reasons I cannot understand, I did not want to give up reading halfway. I must say that the time would have been better spent reading other books or doing something else.

2 Weeks Fasting Experience

Abstaining from food and drinks for about 12 hours from sunrise till sunset has not been a very challenging task. However, the social forces and temptations make it really challenging.

I was on a 4 days 3 nights trip to Chiang Mai and fasting while travelling was no easy feat. Fortunately, the hotel breakfast started at 530 and I had a sumptuous meal before fasting. What I found particularly challenging was temptations of the food and drinks in the city. As I was the only one fasting, I would be left alone while the others enjoyed their lunches. Breaking fast time was also irregular. It was quite an experience and I survived it.

Back home from the holiday, we faced haze and water shortage. My house was affected by the water rationing. The water supply was cut for two days and resumed for the next two days. This is scheduled to last until the end of the month. I'm particularly troubled by the haze even during the non-fasting days. For some reasons, fasting just became more and more challenging. My productivity drops, temper became shorter and I became rather impatient. Nevertheless, the fasting went on.

Today was the only day I could not keep the fast. I did not have the courage to tell my parents that I am fasting as a Baha'i. I simply decided to skip fasting today and replace it on another day.

Dr. Ray Zimmerman shared with us on the Baha'i teachings website Why Baha'i Fast. Other than the importance of detachment form this world, fasting serves as a symbol of our commitment to keep ourselves free from potentially destructive desires, addictions, and appetites of self and ego.

Throughout this fasting period, I've also frequently reflected and reminded myself why I fast and why I chose to become a Baha'i. I do not have to go through all these but I cannot deny that deep inside my heart, this is the right way of life. In Dr Ray's words, "Fasting confirms one's individual loving surrender to God and commitment to spiritual growth". Much have changed in my life and I believe things are getting better and better.

Third Day Fasting

The longest I have ever fasted for was 3 days. So, after today, I would have broken my personal record of fasting.

Actually, I don't find fasting a difficult thing to do. The challenging ones are keeping a mindful attitude during this fasting period. As they say, a hungry man is an angry man. I notice that my temper and patience have become much shorter later. I suppose this is the time we really learn to be patient and appreciate all the good things we have.

Nineteen Day Fast Begins

2 Mar marks the beginning of the annual 19 days fast. This is also the first time I am fasting as a Baha'i. As long as I observe proper eating before sunrise, fasting throughout the day should not be much of a problem.

I just had butter this morning and was not tempted by the food and drinks in front of me the whole day. Dinner was 3 pieces of chicken from KFC. Intended to boil soup but the shopping took longer than expected.

As they say, this is a spiritual fast. I hope to be a better and spiritually richer man by the time we celebrate Naw-Ruz.

Water Heater Installation DIY

As a curious guy, I attempted to replace the damaged water heater myself. I could have just replaced the damaged motor pump but decided to get a new one instead. After checking the old unit, I happily negotiated for a good price and bought a brand new water heater.

When I got home, the installation was more complicated than I expected. The location to mount the screws and the water inlet and outlet are different from the old one. Not having a drill, I tried to poke some holes by hammering a nail. I gave up in less than 5 minutes.

Next, I went looking for some renovator doing work nearby to save cost. Found myself an Indonesian worker and brought him back with a drill. Perhaps it was communication breakdown. Instead of drilling a hole, he drilled the wall. I was stunned for a moment and stopped him before further damage.

He clearly did not know what to do. In the end, he also use the hammering method to make the hole for screws. After mounting the water heater, we need to connect the pipes. That was also a semi disaster. To cut a long story short, the pipes was connected but with leakage. Now, I have to go and find some waterproof tape to stop the leaking.

After sending him back, I asked him how much does he want for the service rendered. He said any amount will do. I still paid him a fair price although the job was not well done. I felt sorry for him for having to leave his wife and child back home in a village. He had to sleep in the houses where the renovation is done and earning only a meager wage. I feel that in many ways, he is being oppressed and enslaved.

I don't think I'm kind because I only treated him the same way I wanted to be treated. I, too, want God to be always be merciful to me and forgiving towards my shortcomings. Besides, I would never want to be in his position; living his life.

O CHILDREN OF MEN! Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other. Ponder at all times in your hearts how ye were created. Since We have created you all from one same substance it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul, to walk with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell in the same land, that from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence of detachment may be made manifest. Such is My counsel to you, O concourse of light! Heed ye this counsel that ye may obtain the fruit of holiness from the tree of wondrous glory.

The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh

Motor Treasure Hunting

Had a treasure hunt yesterday and got the best results so far with 96 points. The hunt objective remains the same; to get perfect score. I still long for the day when we will get perfect score in a treasure hunt.

Life begins at 30

So, I have reached 30 and keep saying life begins at 30. To a great extent, I feel that I’m at my peak and things are still getting better. There are a lot to look forward to.

2013 had been a fulfilling year and 2014 look very promising as well. I can’t wait to achieve more this year!

A Leader's Quality

Couple of days ago, uncle Edmund shared with me that one of his down-line who left pinched another negotiator from his office. At first he thought that this person's action was unjustly. However, he changed his mind and thinks it is nobody but the leader's fault if someone is to leave to follow another person.

When I heard this, I could not agree more. As a leader. we must always add value to our followers. I can only expect the best talents to follow the best leaders. If the leader is no good, the follow will leave sooner or later. If the leader only know how to blame others for pinching his people, he cannot be a good leader.

Minimal carb diet

Recently, a closed friend spoke about zero carbohydrate diet. I thought it was interesting and decided to try to minimize the intake of carbs.

Cooking meat dishes proven to be much easier as I don’t have to cook rice anymore. To begin, I cooked Bak Kut Teh and stir fry beef. Both sessions have been very encouraging.

Bak kut teh with pork, lettuce and mushroom

Onion stir fry beef with carrots and mixed vege

2014 Thaipusam at Batu Caves

This is the second year I join Nim and his family to serve others during Thaipusam. According to Nim, every year, they serve about 10,000 devotees who thronged the Batu Caves.

This time, the number of volunteers have increased significantly compared to last year. What a good sign! On my way back, I saw a banner in one of the booth which says, "To serve humanity is to serve God." How true is this!

The hall can cater 250 people each cycle

Much of the cooking are done using firewood

Sluggish start

It has been two weeks into 2014 but I'm still feeling lethargic, lazy and lacking of motivations. There are much that I want to achieve but no action has been taken. I need to be hungry again and stay focus...

Three lucky strikes

I think this is the first time it has ever happened to me. For three consecutive times, a car got out from the parking lot right in front of my destination just for me. This kind of thing just make me happy. :)