just minishorts.

Hah! I did it. First weekend is finally over. Yay!

I'm well already. OMG my DOE starts like tomorrow. OMG OMG OMG.

Oh yeah half the world probably doesn't know what I'm talking about. To let you into the open secret, I AM A CULT MEMBER. I AM A CULT MEMBER. THREE MONTHS DOWN THE ROAD I WILL MORPH INTO A TERRIFYING REPRESENTATIVE OF AN ORGANIZATION THAT WANTS TO EAT UP THE REST OF THE NATION MUAHAHAHAHAHHA.

Anyway, I'm always weird and it's bloody 11 pm and I can't freaking sleep because my heart is still going at 90 beats per minute.

Eric's out in Penang though. Oh did I tell you I made him sick hahahha. Actually he got well, and then I got sick (thanks for him being over generous with the smooches), and then later when he got almost well and he thought it was okay to kiss the sick me, then I got him sick all over again.

So couples, remember, no smooching when you're sick.

Anyway, I'm watching Spiderman 3 on Tuesday Whee!

Oh I'm also going to Langkawi for work on Wednesday. This is the first time I'm ever hating a trip to the island… gah.

Ok i'm sleepy now. Going off. See ya.

What happened?

Few things I observed — for some reason while we're talking 'leadership' we're not actually allowed to phrase our own answers …. which is quite odd actually if you wanted me to be brutally honest… however… after sitting through an interesting ordeal of 'let's try to get the right kind of answer in order that the person in the middle will finally agree with me…' I can quite think that being a leader is quite fun… when people already look towards you as a leader.

i.e. they think you're the leader, and no one's going to doubt you, so everything you say is correct, and hence we will keep on playing the tikam tikam situation and THEN eventually there is bound to be a bingo that is aligned most closely to the answer that was already in the leader's mind.

wait wait wait. I AM Listening to the CD at the same time.

It was an observation during that particular time, I'm feeling particularly woozy, I made my poor Eric sick (my kisses are lethal) and I SHALL MISS MY MAN for the next few days because I am putting him up on loan to his family (Eric's family! I demand you to take good care of him and not let him drive the entire way).

In the meantime….

Gah I'ts 1.20 am. When on earth is this CD going to end?

OK. Track 3 coming on. Ta!

… lots of people seem to be using this particular theme in their WP blogs.
… watched Sunshine and thought that sudden twist in the part where Icarus tells Capa about the remaining hours left till death was totally wtf. STUPID STUPID STUPID STUPID STUPID STUPID STUPID STUPID STUPID idea to add that twist in…
… don't overload on ipoh white coffee… it gives you the jitters and makes for fainting episodes
… how come I keep missing out on juicy Al Jazeera video posts
… no option to religious freedom is super real in Malaysia hoh? sad sad sad sad sad.
… also supposes (this is a difficult supposition btw) that had we not defined Malays as being Muslims and had Malaysia not make it so darn impossible for true religious freedom… bangsa Malaysia would have been a reality a long long time ago and we probably wouldn't be so concerned with skin colour and being righteous.
… agrees that the above suggestion of thought is a dangerous one and hopes to God that I can get away lightly with this little observation
… also says that I can't quite blame Muslims (in Malaysia, the most of them anyway) for being so darn 'radical' when I personally cannot quite tahan Charismatic / Pentecostal Christians who are so intent on sending everyone else who is not Christian to Hell… literally…

On another note (this is equally provocative), I was sharing with a group of friends the other day about this experience I had…

A few weeks ago I was at a particular seminar, and in the middle of a longer lunch break the group of us went out to a nearby mamak restaurant for food. I sat near this Muslim guy who was obviously very pious, you know, the type who does his required five times a day prayer and observes all the necessary pillars of being Muslim, plus is able to quote at random from the Quran and apply its bits and pieces to different parts of life… yet being kind enough to be respectful towards our other faiths and is totally amicable and a joy to be around with. Any I sat near him and was having a talk with him about the sessions that we had shared previously.

Right about this point there was a Buddhist monk who walked into the restaurant holding an alms bowl… just as the monk walked past our table (monks typically don't stop unless you ask them to stop, and they're not supposed to ask from you, they take what you give I believe…), when my Muslim friend asked him to stop and wait.

'Tunggu,' said my Muslim friend to the monk. The monk stood there. My friend took out his wallet and pulled out a ten-ringgit note and proceed to drop it into the monk's bowl.

I am keeping this imagery of serene peace and amazement in my mind forever. Think of this, a pious Muslim, asking a Buddhist monk to stop, and then proceeding to place some money into the alms receiving bowl, in a Mamak Restaurant. Jadi tak? I know at least 10 Christians who would turn away from the monk and then as the monk disappears from sight, will proceed to discuss the stupidity of such a religion that requires his disciples to go around' begging' like that. I know one particular Muslim blogger who has written a whole book under the disguise of comparative religion, blasphemizing what is essentially a non-theistic teaching.

Yet at that particular point in time some one up there decides to place me in a situation where I am to witness a Muslim man asking a Buddhist monk to stop and then proceeding to give something to the Buddhist monk's bowl, and there I was stunned… and amazed… and then, thankful that I had been given that opportunity to see something so incredibly life-changing.

And I know I was supremely embarrassed to claim to be a following of Jesus at that point in time, knowing that I would have turned away from the monk.

Anyway I'm sharing that memory here because I believe it is important.

I'm just considering some of the questions found in one of the home fellowship lesson plans… and wondering just how honest I should react to the questions… and sometimes, the truth is, I don't really like to listen to the voice of honesty.

But the cue is… to 'encourage' conversation… so I'm asking these things…

1. Was the family of Jesus a rich family?
Materially.. no… the typical 'Christian' answer would be, yes they're rich because they lived with the fullness of God upon them (or something to that effect lah)

2. Do you think their home was large and impressive?
Nope. Probably a terrace house… or maybe even a small flat with two rooms…

3. If they had lived in Malaysia, what town do you think they would have lived in?
Probably some small little town, maybe Tampin… or maybe in rural Kelantan, or some small little kampung in Perlis. Honestly I think if Jesus had only appeared in this time and in this era, Malaysia has got to be Jewish. Historically speaking Islam as a religion MUST occur only after Christianity kan? So I don't think this concept sings too well here… but hey folks at the HF you asked, and I'm a difficult person.

4. Do you think that if they had lived today they would have had a television?
Yes.
If so, what do you think they would have watched?
Probably Dungeons and Dragons, the cartoon. Or maybe Harry Potter… something with a distinct mystical feel… okay maybe Prince of Egypt kua

5. Would Jesus have used a computer?
Yes. He would probably be blogging on His own site and have about 10 000 commentors a day, 80% of them calling him a know-it-all arrogant prick.

6. What kind of music do you think they would listen to?
We're talking about Jesus in Malaysia, right? Probably Dangdut, or Gamelan.

Would it be all Christian?
We wouldn't think of Jesus as Christian yet, duh. Christianity as a religion CAME into effect when Paul became the thirteenth apostle. So no, it wouldn't be Christian. It would be Malaysian. Then maybe about 50 years after Jesus was crucified (I think in M'sia … probably he would be hanged), then you'll have the very first Christians telling people to believe in the Son of God.

7. How would they have talked with each other?
Lovingly. And Jesus would probably say something like, 'Siapa Emak saya? Siapa Abang saya? Kakak saya? Adik saya? Oh, dengarlah semua ni, anda semua, pengikut saya, maka anda adalah abang, kakak, adik dan juga keluarga saya…

8. How would they handle disagreements?
I don't think there'll be much disagreements. All you have to do is listen to Jesus. Trust me, when Jesus speaks, its super hard to find fault with His reasoning. You can't quite argue with God, can you?

9. In one statement, describe the home of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus, his sisters and brothers.
Honestly? Here's my serious answer: I really think that home is very ideal, and I can't quite see how we can reinvent that Jesus home 'model' in the Malaysian context. In our homes most of us are far too eager to be the king of all reason. I think it was easy for people to subscribe to the notion that Jesus was God because everything He said made complete sense in the Home. Also of course Mary and Joseph had already the Angel-delivered messages from God telling them that this boy Jesus is son of God. With this information in place, you will learn to listen to Jesus anyway… (read Anne Rice's Christ the Lord…)… besides, I seem to read that Jewish people are an obedient lot, if compared to the kedegilan that we Malaysians so proudly exhibit… Okay… my statement is freaking long as it is… but here I say …

I wonder why these questions were ask. I don't think I'll be able to pose these questions to my group as this Friday I will be attending the Asiaworks LP starter program. But I'm wondering actually how well Christians as a whole would react to questions like this. How diverse our responses would be. And would we, in spite of the diversity of our answers, learn to recognize the passion for God within our differences, and learn to respect that version of love even though our deeper conscience cries out to 'correct' our fellow brethren's version of Christianity?

I work with so many Muslims, and they often ask, 'How come there's so many different kinds of Christianity? So what do you guys actually believe in?'

But difficult questions like this one I ask, why do we ask it for fun? Should I have considered the answers in a more acceptable, Christian version? Should I say, that Jesus would have hated Dungeons and Dragons and not watch it at all? That he would only have listened to Chris Tomlin's How Great is Our God, or that he would tell a Buddhist woman He probably would have met while waiting to get some water at a local Syabas water rationing area, that she believes in the wrong God? Would He have cursed a coconut tree not to bear fruit ever again, or would He honestly, have been crucified, based on the current laws that Malaysia has? Would the symbol of Christianity still be a cross?

My version to my answers would be heretical: No He would have watched Dungeons and Dragons and be amused, Chris Tomlin probably wouldn't have written How Great is Our God, He probably wouldn't have condemned Buddhism, if the coconut tree was in place of the fig tree so we won't be enjoying coconut water for the next 2000 years, and I think if Jesus was really sentenced to death in Malaysia a lot of us would be wearing a strange noose symbol around our necks …

Just thinking yah…

Oh yeah I KNOW what I said might just be controversial… I KNOW IT. But I'm thinking all of this, can't help it. Have to write it out…

Why didn't my MC last longer?

I wanna be able to find the time to look for a book or anything that tells me a bit or maybe a lot about how to do media handling plans for an entire year while also having to handle ad-hoc phone calls and bitchy old men calling you up just because they refuse to settle their debts that amount to a little less than RM300.

Hey it's the flu, I can be a bitch if I want to. And today seems like the perfect day for it.

God please make me well tomorrow.