Bloggers Help to Spread Love for the Children at the Penang Shan Children’s Home Association

Penang, 3rd February 2013 — About 40 bloggers and public visited the Penang Shan Children’s Home Association to distribute food, beverages and gadgets, sponsored by various commercial entities. It’s a philanthropic exercise not only by businesses in executing their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) but by everyone to give back to the society, thus making life more bearable for everyone in need. The event is made possible by Crowdpot Sdn Bhd (Event Organizer), Ninetology Malaysia, SUBWAY® (Suntech, iAvenue, & Leith Street branches), Chatime Malaysia, Langkawi Saga Travel & Tours Sdn. Bhd. and Alextan Artworks.

Penang Shan Children’s Home (PSCH) began as a dream and initiative of Dr. S Balakrishnan in the year 2005. This is a non-religious and a non-profit, non-governmental organization catering to the needs of orphans, neglected children, dysfunctional families and single parents. The home was built and officially launched on 14th December 2008 by Madam Chan Siew Har. PSCH’s mission is to maximize the attractive opportunities that are stored in the children; to make something happen; to change the ways that things are and to create something that no one else has ever created before for the children, to explore for opportunities; to provide guidance and course correction; maintaining focus on being consistent and persistent. The objectives are both short and on a long term basis. The short term objective is to provide all the children with a safe and supportive environment. The focus will be on the development of physical, mental, emotional, educational, social and recreational skills that will create awareness to structure and mould the child’s future.

The longer term development includes the options that are available for the child’s future, supporting them to complete the tertiary education preferably to University level. For those who are unable to complete the basic education, they would be trained in developing their skills by educating them in skill training centers. Through home visits and working with parents, they would like to ensure that eventually the child is reunited with his/her family thus becoming the backbone of the family.

How to help Penang Shan Children’s Home Association?

1. Adopt-A-Child Program

The average monthly expenditure per child amounts to RM400. This includes lodging, education, meals, transportation and pocket money. Interested members of the public can contact the home.

2. Donation

The home solely depends on donation to meet the relatively high running cost. They would be very grateful members of the public or private companies can step forward to contribute a one-off or monthly fixed donation. Interested entity can contact the home.

Other Information:
Penang Shan Children’s Home Association
679-D, Jalan Mount Erskine, Tanjung Tokong, 10470 Pulau Pinang
Tel: 04-2292186 / 016-4127711
Fax: 04-2292186
Email: shanchildrenhomepg@yahoo.com

Bloggers Help to Spread Love for the Children at the Children’s Protection Society

On 3 February 2013, about 40 bloggers and public the Children’s Protection Society to distribute food, beverages and gadgets, sponsored by various commercial entities. It’s a philanthropic exercise not only by businesses in executing their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) but by everyone to give back to the society, thus making life more bearable for everyone in need. The event is made possible by Crowdpot Sdn Bhd (Event Organizer), Ninetology Malaysia, SUBWAY® (Suntech, iAvenue, & Leith Street branches), Chatime Malaysia, Langkawi Saga Travel & Tours Sdn. Bhd. and Alextan Artworks.

The Children’s Protection Society (CPS) began as an initiative of Dato’ Nazir Ariff when he was President of the Rotary Club in Penang (1991). It is a non-profit, non-governmental organization catering to the needs of neglected and/or abandoned children in Penang. It was officially launched in April 1992 by Puan Sri Chua Kah Peng. The objectives of CPS are both immediate and longer-term. The immediate objective is to provide children at risk with a safe, supportive and conducive environment (Shelter). Their concerned and focused areas include the emotional and physical development, education, social and recreational skills. At the same time, CPS aims to work with parents and other family members, so that the child can eventually be reunited with his/her family. In the pipeline, they hope to support projects to enhance community-based facilities for childcare and development in areas where such facilities are lacking. They also try to promote a more general awareness of the issues relating to children at risk by being involved in training and discussions. Hence they work together with various government and non-government organizations to help to develop longer-term strategies and goals.

How to help Children’s Protection Society?

1. Become a Volunteer: http://www.cpspg.org.my/webpages/help.html
Learning and Tuition is always needed - many of our children have missed a substantial amount of school due to their backgrounds, and often find it difficult to catch up with school work. If you are prepared for the extra challenges which many of our children face, and are prepared to commit a regular time a week (can be anything from an hour up).

2. Sponsor-A-Child Program: http://www.cpspg.org.my/webpages/help02.html

Talk to any of our staff if you are interested to sponsor a child

3. Donation: http://www.cpspg.org.my/webpages/help03.html

If you want to make a financial donation, please send cheques (payable to Children's Protection Society Pulau Pinang) to CPS at 118-A Jalan Scotland, 10450 Penang. CPS is a registered charity home with the Welfare Department so donations will be tax-exempt.

4. Sponsoring an Activity or Outing: http://www.cpspg.org.my/webpages/help04.html

CPS organizes many activities for the children, staff and volunteers. We welcome sponsorship of specific activities. Give us a call if you have any ideas of your own, or would like to hear from us on what sort of activities you could sponsor.

Other Information:
Children’s Protection Society Pulau Pinang

118-A Jalan Scotland, 10450 Penang, Malaysia
Tel: 04-8294046
Fax: 04-8294046
Email: cpspg@hotmail.com
Website: www.cpspg.org.my

Bloggers Help to Spread Love for the Children at The Ramakrishna Ashrama

On 3 February 2013, about 40 bloggers and public visited The Ramakrishna Ashrama in Penang to distribute food, beverages and gadgets, sponsored by various commercial entities. It’s a philanthropic exercise not only by businesses in executing their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) but by everyone to give back to the society, thus making life more bearable for everyone in need. The event is made possible by Crowdpot Sdn Bhd (Event Organizer), Ninetology Malaysia, SUBWAY® (Suntech, iAvenue, & Leith Street branches), Chatime Malaysia, Langkawi Saga Travel & Tours Sdn. Bhd. and Alextan Artworks.

The Ramakrishna Ashrama (Orphanage), Penang is a charitable organization founded in 1938 under the inspiration and guidance of His Holiness Swami Bhaswarananda Maharaj who was then stationed at The Ramakrishna Mission, Singapore. Apart from spiritual activities, the Ashrama runs an orphanage, catering for both boys and girls with ages ranging from 6 to 20 years old.

The orphanage admits needy orphaned children who are poor and need the help from the society to assist them with basic needs and education. The children in the home are given proper education and are well cared for so that they will grow up to be useful citizens. Besides education, the girls learn traditional dancing, cooking and housekeeping. Children excelling well academically are encouraged to pursue higher education.

How to help The Ramakrishna Ashrama?

1. Sponsoring a Child Program: http://theramakrishnapg.org/2009/02/22/sponsor-a-child-program-in-ramakrishna-ashrama-penang/

The estimated cost to support a child at Ramakrishna Ashrama RM1,500 per annum. The breakdown cost is as follows:

Education: RM500
Food: RM600
Maintenance: RM300
Miscellaneous: RM100

2. Donation: https://www.cimbclicks.com.my/TIBSEPWeb/fpxPaymentToNGO_add.do?payeeId=FPXNGORAMA

Donation to The Ramakrishna can be done only via CIMB Cares (www.cimbclicks.com.my)

Orphan Admission: http://theramakrishnapg.org/2009/02/22/orphan-admission/

A child with either no parents or with a single parent who supports the child can be admitted to the Ashrama under the following circumstances:
- He/She is from age 6 and above.
- The parent or relatives has no means of supporting the child.
- The child has been mistreated or abused.
(Referred by the Jabatan Kebajikan Negeri or community leaders)

Other Information:
The Ramakrishna Ashrama
No 37, Jalan Scotland, 10450 Pulau Pinang
Tel: 04-2270869
Fax: 04-2278921
Email: ramkorp@hotmail.com
Website: http://theramakrishnapg.org/

Le Pooh in KL - Part 1

I headed down to KL on 10 Nov and I have to say, it was a relief seeing the massive jam on the other side of the highway for a change. The holidays have just started, and everyone is scrambling to head north or out of KL. It also started raining cats and dogs when I reached KL and arrived at Sunway Pyramid, my stop of choice since I'll be staying with my bestie Jo as usual. Walked around for almost an hour before Jo and Alan arrived and we headed for Zen Japanese restaurant for dinner. I find that I frequent Japanese restaurants a bit too often whenever I drop by to KL. We ordered and Ichi was kind enough to drop by a bit later to join us for dinner.

I didn't manage take any pics coz we were famished. No time to snap, just swallow everything over a lively conversation. Later on, one of the waiters came to inform us that they delivered a wrong, smaller-portioned order of sukiyaki which was meant for another table. We ordered beef sukiyaki for 3-4, but it came as chicken in a measly pot for 1-2. I didn't care as we were too hungry and just polished off everything. On the plus side, they've prepared our original order after that and proceeded to serve it, and informed us that the wrong order was on the house!

Min Huei proceeded to arrive after we were done with dinner and we continued to chat. During that time, there were a couple of lil' kids (brother and sister I believe) running around the place, and the boy accidentally knocked onto a cute waiter (OK, I was checking him out) carrying a pot of hot green tea at table right next to ours, where 3 women were seated. Hot tea splashed all over the youngest woman's thighs and left arm. Luckily, the cute waiter managed to stop the little girl, who was chasing her brother, from hitting the teapot AGAIN!

Poor thing got scalded and her skin turned red instantly. Her mother and grandma (I assume) made a big scene of suing this and that and how the children's parents were so irresponsible etc. The kids belonged to the family sitting just a few tables away and the parents didn't even bother to come over and apologized, but instead the mother just kept yelling at the kids, especially the boy. Come on lah, they are KIDS after all. Yelling at them continuously for almost 10 minutes with public embarrassment in't gonna help. The boy's mother only went over to apologize, dragging the hysterical boy along, when the young woman's mother and grandma's rantings got even louder, to the point when everyone could hear. We felt that the apology definitely wasn't sincere, just to 'save face'. She was still dumping the blame on the sobbing mess of a boy the whole time. She even threatened to leave the crying boy at the mercy of the women and just walked away in anger. What a mother of the year she is!

Just a few hours, already drama started, but I digress. After dinner, we settled for some Chatime to chat over with. It was a pity Calvin couldn't make it as he was sick and he needed to prepare for a charity concert the next day, so recovery is more important. I must say, I'm a Chatime virgin and I love the chewy pearl balls. For some reason, mine was filled halfway up with balls -_-"

On Sunday, Jo and I headed to Gayvillion Pavillion for brunch in Ichiban Boshi. Min Huei joined us a little bit later.

The 3 of us went around for some shopping, but it was just window shopping, coz I couldn't find anything that I wanted. We even went to H&M in Lot 10, but came out empty-handed. My gaydar almost exploded though.

Then, it was time for SNOWFLAKES! I made sure brunch was light to make room for it. I love Ocha'ryo!~

Because 2 wasn't enough, I got another...for free! All thanks to Jo. I'm such a glutton.

After Snowflakes,we headed to Matic for a charity orchestra concert. Five members of the MPO (Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra) were there as guest performers that night. One of 'em was a harpist and the other 4 played in a string quartet. I thought the harpist was excellent. Particularly mesmerizing to me were one of the string quartet's female violinist. Such emotion and strong gestures, couldn't take my eyes of her during the performance. Definitely one of the highlights of the evening. Kudos to Camerata Musicales for putting up a great performance as well.

Another highlight for me was when one of the blind girls came on stage to sing Teresa Teng's classic, Ye Lai Xiang. It was really moving, and she had a good vocals too!~ After that night, we kept Ye Lai Xiang non-stop. Gay dou sei XD

Stay tuned for Part 2!~

Surprise Birthday!~

To be honest, I was a little moody on my b'day. But, only because everyone I knew was busy on that night. I actually didn't feel like going out but William insisted vehemently that I did, even if it was just the both of us. So, we ended up heading to Delicious at Straits Quay as originally planned, although we arrived at 10pm. I knew instantly something else was going on when William informed the waitress of a reservation for eight at 10pm. Jeng jeng jeng!~ (Although, I've already suspected something from William's earlier insistence)

Anyhow, I was really famished so I decided to order something light s I know sweet confections will be coming my way later on. Their kitchen closes at 10.30pm, but the waitress refused to take anymore orders when I wanted to order at 10.20pm. And, I had just came after gym and was famished. Strike 1!

Then, I went to the baked goods and dessert section to order a savory Cornish that was on display, only to be informed that it was a fake and again, that the kitchen was closed. I mean, how difficult is it to heat up something that was already prepared? It's not like I'm asking them to bake it from scratch. Strike 2!

Disappointed, I had to order molten chocolate cake as my dinner (which I only ate half coz I felt a little nauseous having something so sweet and rich on an empty stomach) and head back to the table as my dear friends started trickling in.

We forgot to take a group pic coz we were pretty rowdy. Shawn came carrying a Tiramisu cake from Ritz (awesome local bakery). It was lovely. So soft and smooth with a rich yet light and fluffy cream filling. Just splendid as always!~

Me, assuming a lady-like cake cutting pose, according to Shawn.

Part of the gang.

I think Shawn was trying to hail the waiter who repeatedly forgot the extra glass of water I requested for the past 10 mins or so. Strike 3!

Seriously, I don't know if it's due to a change of management or just incompetent staff who couldn't care less about good customer service, but this is just unacceptable. Delicious in Penang has earned a BAN in my books.

Subsequently, we decided to head over to Mr. Pot at Gurney Drive area for some proper food. Apparently, some of 'em hadn't had dinner as well, and I was still craving something savory for dinner. We ended the night in loads of uproarious laughter that drew awkward and possible annoyed looks from other tables. Did I care? Not the least coz it's mah birthday!~

Thank you so much Shawn, Alvin, Dennis, Justin, Scott, Ben, Marc, Danny and David for making it. Although we started out late coz everyone was busy earlier, I had a blast just coz you guys were there. It's all that matters to me. A special thanks to William for organizing this. I really appreciated it and am so TOUCHED.

Love you guys!~

Happy 32nd Birthday to Me!~

So, I turned 32 today. Not sure what I'm gonna do or how am I gonna celebrate it yet. Anyhow, let's start off with a haircut to welcome another year younger and wiser XD

LOL, the trans assistant walked by behind me and I heard her smile at me taking this pic.

I hope my 32nd year will bring more good health, happiness and success =)

All I know is...there will be more questions on when I'm getting married from aunties and uncles T.T

I need to brace myself. Marriage questions, marriage questions everywhere!~

Wise Words from Dr. Richard Teo

Please take a moment to read this and share this meaningful story. I got this from an email and this has been circulating in FB as well. Long post ahead.

Below is the transcript of the talk of Dr. Richard Teo, who is a 40-year-old millionaire and cosmetic surgeon with a stage-4 lung cancer but selflessly came to share his life experience with the D1 class on 19 Jan 2012. He has recently passed away on 18 October 2012.

Hi good morning to all of you. My voice is a bit hoarse, so please bear with me. I thought I'll just introduce myself. My name is Richard, I'm a medical doctor. And I thought I'll just share some thoughts of my life. It's my pleasure to be invited by prof. Hopefully, it can get you thinking about how... as you pursue this.. embarking on your training to become dental surgeons, to think about other things as well.

Since young, I am a typical product of today's society. Relatively successful product that society requires.. From young, I came from a below average family. I was told by the media... and people around me that happiness is about success. And that success is about being wealthy. With this mind-set, I've always be extremely competitive, since I was young.

Not only do I need to go to the top school, I need to have success in all fields. Uniform groups, track, everything. I needed to get trophies, needed to be successful, I needed to have colours award, national colours award, everything. So I was highly competitive since young. I went on to medical school, graduated as a doctor. Some of you may know that within the medical faculty, ophthalmology is one of the most highly sought after specialities. So I went after that as well. I was given a traineeship in ophthalmology, I was also given a research scholarship by NUS to develop lasers to treat the eye.

So in the process, I was given 2 patents, one for the medical devices, and another for the lasers. And you know what, all this academic achievements did not bring me any wealth. So once I completed my bond with MOH, I decided that this is taking too long, the training in eye surgery is just taking too long. And there's lots of money to be made in the private sector. If you're aware, in the last few years, there is this rise in aesthetic medicine. Tons of money to be made there. So I decided, well, enough of staying in institution, it's time to leave. So I quit my training halfway and I went on to set up my aesthetic clinic... in town, together with a day surgery centre.

You know the irony is that people do not make heroes out average GP (general practitioner), family physicians. They don't. They make heroes out of people who are rich and famous. People who are not happy to pay $20 to see a GP, the same person have no qualms paying ten thousand dollars for a liposuction, 15 thousand dollars for a breast augmentation, and so on and so forth. So it's a no brainer isn't? Why do you want to be a gp? Become an aesthetic physician. So instead of healing the sick and ill, I decided that I'll become a glorified beautician. So, business was good, very good. It started off with waiting of one week, then became 3weeks, then one month, then 2 months, then 3 months. I was overwhelmed; there were just too many patients. Vanities are fantastic business. I employed one doctor, the second doctor, the 3rd doctor, the 4th doctor. And within the 1st year, we're already raking in millions. Just the 1st year. But never is enough because I was so obsessed with it. I started to expand into Indonesia to get all the rich Indonesian tai-tais who wouldn't blink an eye to have a procedure done. So life was really good.

So what do I do with the spare cash. How do I spend my weekends? Typically, I'll have car club gatherings. I take out my track car, with spare cash I got myself a track car. We have car club gatherings. We'll go up to Sepang in Malaysia. We'll go for car racing. And it was my life. With other spare cash, what do i do? I get myself a Ferrari. At that time, the 458 wasn't out, it's just a spider convertible, 430. This is a friend of mine, a schoolmate who is a forex trader, a banker. So he got a red one, he was wanting all along a red one, I was getting the silver one.

So what do I do after getting a car? It's time to buy a house, to build our own bungalows. So we go around looking for a land to build our own bungalows, we went around hunting. So how do i live my life? Well, we all think we have to mix around with the rich and famous. This is one of the Miss Universe. So we hang around with the beautiful, rich and famous. This by the way is an internet founder. So this is how we spend our lives, with dining and all the restaurants and Michelin Chefs you know.

So I reach a point in life that I got everything for my life. I was at the pinnacle of my career and all. That's me one year ago in the gym and I thought I was like, having everything under control and reaching the pinnacle.

Well, I was wrong. I didn't have everything under control. About last year March, I started to develop backache in the middle of nowhere. I thought maybe it was all the heavy squats I was doing. So I went to SGH, saw my classmate to do an MRI, to make sure it's not a slipped disc or anything. And that evening, he called me up and said that we found bone marrow replacement in your spine. I said, sorry what does that mean? I mean I know what it means, but I couldn't accept that. I was like “Are you serious?” I was still running around going to the gym you know. But we had more scans the next day, PET scans - positrons emission scans, they found that actually I have stage 4 terminal lung cancer. I was like "Whoa where did that come from?” It has already spread to the brain, the spine, the liver and the adrenals. And you know one moment I was there, totally thinking that I have everything under control, thinking that I've reached the pinnacle of my life. But the next moment, I have just lost it.

This is a CT scan of the lungs itself. If you look at it, every single dot there is a tumour. We call this miliaries tumour. And in fact, I have tens of thousands of them in the lungs. So, I was told that even with chemotherapy, that I'll have about 3-4months at most. Did my life come crushing on, of course it did, who wouldn't? I went into depression, of course, severe depression and I thought I had everything.

See the irony is that all these things that I have, the success, the trophies, my cars, my house and all. I thought that brought me happiness. But i was feeling really down, having severe depression. Having all these thoughts of my possessions, they brought me no joy. The thought of... You know, I can hug my Ferrari to sleep, no... No, it is not going to happen. It brought not a single comfort during my last ten months. And I thought they were, but they were not true happiness. But it wasn't. What really brought me joy in the last ten months was interaction with people, my loved ones, friends, people who genuinely care about me, they laugh and cry with me, and they are able to identify the pain and suffering I was going through. That brought joy to me, happiness. None of the things I have, all the possessions, and I thought those were supposed to bring me happiness. But it didn't, because if it did, I would have felt happy think about it, when I was feeling most down..

You know the classical Chinese New Year that is coming up. In the past, what do I do? Well, I will usually drive my flashy car to do my rounds, visit my relatives, to show it off to my friends. And I thought that was joy, you know. I thought that was really joy. But do you really think that my relatives and friends, whom some of them have difficulty trying to make ends meet, that will truly share the joy with me? Seeing me driving my flashy car and showing off to them? No, no way. They won’t be sharing joy with me. They were having problems trying to make ends meet, taking public transport. In fact i think, what I have done is more like you know, making them envious, jealous of all I have. In fact, sometimes even hatred.

Those are what we call objects of envy. I have them, I show them off to them and I feel it can fill my own pride and ego. That didn't bring any joy to these people, to my friends and relatives, and I thought they were real joy.

Well, let me just share another story with you. You know when I was about your age, I stayed in king Edward VII hall. I had this friend whom I thought was strange. Her name is Jennifer, we're still good friends. And as I walk along the path, she would, if she sees a snail, she would actually pick up the snail and put it along the grass patch. I was like why do you need to do that? Why dirty your hands? It’s just a snail. The truth is she could feel for the snail. The thought of being crushed to death is real to her, but to me it's just a snail. If you can't get out of the pathway of humans then you deserve to be crushed, it’s part of evolution isn't it? What an irony isn't it?

There I was being trained as a doctor, to be compassionate, to be able to empathise; but I couldn't. As a house officer, I graduated from medical school, posted to the oncology department at NUH. And, every day, every other day I witness death in the cancer department. When I see how they suffered, I see all the pain they went through. I see all the morphine they have to press every few minutes just to relieve their pain. I see them struggling with their oxygen breathing their last breath and all. But it was just a job. When I went to clinic every day, to the wards every day, take blood, give the medication but was the patient real to me? They weren't real to me. It was just a job, I do it, I get out of the ward, I can't wait to get home, I do my own stuff.

Was the pain, was the suffering the patients went through real? No. Of course I know all the medical terms to describe how they feel, all the suffering they went through. But in truth, I did not know how they feel, not until I became a patient. It is until now; I truly understand how they feel. And, if you ask me, would I have been a very different doctor if I were to re-live my life now, I can tell you yes I will. Because I truly understand how the patients feel now. And sometimes, you have to learn it the hard way.

Even as you start just your first year, and you embark this journey to become dental surgeons, let me just challenge you on two fronts.

Inevitably, all of you here will start to go into private practice. You will start to accumulate wealth. I can guarantee you. Just doing an implant can bring you thousands of dollars, it's fantastic money. And actually there is nothing wrong with being successful, with being rich or wealthy, absolutely nothing wrong. The only trouble is that a lot of us like myself couldn't handle it.

Why do I say that? Because when I start to accumulate, the more I have, the more I want. The more I wanted, the more obsessed I became. Like what I showed you earlier on, all I can was basically to get more possessions, to reach the pinnacle of what society did to us, of what society wants us to be. I became so obsessed that nothing else really mattered to me. Patients were just a source of income, and I tried to squeeze every single cent out of these patients.

A lot of times we forget, whom we are supposed to be serving. We become so lost that we serve nobody else but just ourselves. That was what happened to me. Whether it is in the medical, the dental fraternity, I can tell you, right now in the private practice, sometimes we just advise patients on treatment that is not indicated. Grey areas. And even though it is not necessary, we kind of advocate it. Even at this point, I know who are my friends and who genuinely cared for me and who are the ones who try to make money out of me by selling me "hope". We kind of lose our moral compass along the way. Because we just want to make money.

Worse, I can tell you, over the last few years, we bad mouth our fellow colleagues, our fellow competitors in the industry. We have no qualms about it. So if we can put them down to give ourselves an advantage, we do it. And that's what happening right now, medical, dental everywhere. My challenge to you is not to lose that moral compass. I learnt it the hard way, I hope you don't ever have to do it.

Secondly, a lot of us will start to get numb to our patients as we start to practise. Whether is it government hospitals, private practice, I can tell you when I was in the hospital, with stacks of patient folders, I can't wait to get rid of those folders as soon as possible; I can't wait to get patients out of my consultation room as soon as possible because there is just so many, and that's a reality. Because it becomes a job, a very routine job. And this is just part of it. Do I truly know how the patient feels back then? No, I don't. The fears and anxiety and all, do I truly understand what they are going through? I don't, not until when this happens to me and I think that is one of the biggest flaws in our system.

We’re being trained to be healthcare providers, professional, and all and yet we don't know how exactly they feel. I'm not asking you to get involved emotionally, I don't think that is professional but do we actually make a real effort to understand their pain and all? Most of us won’t, alright, I can assure you. So don't lose it, my challenge to you is to always be able to put yourself in your patient's shoes.

Because the pain, the anxiety, the fear are very real even though it's not real to you, it's real to them. So don't lose it and you know, right now I'm in the midst of my 5th cycle of my chemotherapy. I can tell you it’s a terrible feeling. Chemotherapy is one of those things that you don't wish even your enemies to go through because it's just suffering, lousy feeling, throwing out, you don't even know if you can retain your meals or not. Terrible feeling! And even with whatever little energy now I have, I try to reach out to other cancer patients because I truly understand what pain and suffering is like. But it's kind of little too late and too little.

You guys have a bright future ahead of you with all the resource and energy, so I’m going to challenge you to go beyond your immediate patients. To understand that there are people out there who are truly in pain, truly in hardship. Don’t get the idea that only poor people suffer. It is not true. A lot of these poor people do not have much in the first place, they are easily contented. for all you know they are happier than you and me but there are out there, people who are suffering mentally, physically, hardship, emotionally, financially and so on and so forth, and they are real. We choose to ignore them or we just don't want to know that they exist.

So do think about it alright, even as you go on to become professionals and dental surgeons and all. That you can reach out to these people who are in need. Whatever you do can make a large difference to them. I'm now at the receiving end so I know how it feels, someone who genuinely care for you, encourage and all. It makes a lot of difference to me. That’s what happens after treatment. I had a treatment recently, but I’ll leave this for another day. A lot of things happened along the way, that's why I am still able to talk to you today.

I'll just end of with this quote here, it's from this book called Tuesdays with Morris, and some of you may have read it. Everyone knows that they are going to die; every one of us knows that. The truth is, none of us believe it because if we did, we will do things differently. When I faced death, when I had to, I stripped myself off all stuff totally and I focused only on what is essential. The irony is that a lot of times, only when we learn how to die then we learn how to live. I know it sounds very morbid for this morning but it's the truth, this is what I’m going through.

Don’t let society tell you how to live. Don’t let the media tell you what you're supposed to do. Those things happened to me. And I led this life thinking that these are going to bring me happiness. I hope that you will think about it and decide for yourself how you want to live your own life. Not according to what other people tell you to do, and you have to decide whether you want to serve yourself, whether you are going to make a difference in somebody else's life. Because true happiness doesn't come from serving yourself. I thought it was but it didn't turn out that way.

Also most importantly, I think true joy comes from knowing God. Not knowing about God – I mean, you can read the bible and know about God – but knowing God personally; getting a relationship with God. I think that’s the most important. That’s what I’ve learnt.

So if I were to sum it up, I’d say that the earlier we sort out the priorities in our lives, the better it is. Don’t be like me – I had no other way. I had to learn it through the hard way. I had to come back to God to thank Him for this opportunity because I’ve had 3 major accidents in my past – car accidents. You know, these sports car accidents – I was always speeding , but somehow I always came out alive, even with the car almost being overturned. And I wouldn’t have had a chance. Who knows, I don’t know where else I’d be going to! Even though I was baptised it was just a show, but the fact that this has happened, it gave me a chance to come back to God.

Few things I’d learnt though:
1. Trust in the Lord your God with all your heart – this is so important.
2. Is to love and serve others, not just ourselves.

There is nothing wrong with being rich or wealthy. I think it’s absolutely alright, cos God has blessed. So many people are blessed with good wealth, but the trouble is I think a lot of us can’t handle it. The more we have, the more we want. I’ve gone through it, the deeper the hole we dig, the more we get sucked into it, so much so that we worship wealth and lose focus. Instead of worshipping God, we worship wealth. It’s just a human instinct. It’s just so difficult to get out of it.

We are all professionals, and when we go into private practise, we start to build up our wealth – inevitably. So my thought are, when you start to build up wealth and when the opportunity comes, do remember that all these things don’t belong to us. We don’t really own it nor have rights to this wealth. It’s actually God’s gift to us. Remember that it’s more important to further His Kingdom rather than to further ourselves.

Anyway I think that I’ve gone through it, and I know that wealth without God is empty. It is more important that you fill up the wealth, as you build it up subsequently, as professionals and all, you need to fill it up with the wealth of God.

Personally, I did not know who this man was. In fact, I had only just heard of him these past few days. His story moved me and inspired me personally. I picked up quite a few life lessons from him, some of which I realized again:

1. Ultimately, our family, friends and loved ones are the greatest treasures of our lives. When all is lost and we've hit rock bottom, they are the ones who will be by our side offering love, care and comfort. Striving to achieve success in wealth is fine, but never let it blindside you from the people who truly matter to you. Come to think of it, the best times of my life are the those spent with my family, friends and loved ones. Never neglect to let them know how much you love them and appreciate having them in your life.

2. Learn to empathize with others and be more understanding, especially they are faced with adversity, struggle and suffering.

3. Learning to live for others will make our lives far more meaningful than living for ourselves. Living only for yourself will only make you lonely and miserable in the end. Offer help, comfort and compliments freely and sincerely whenever you can. Build bridges, don't burn them.

4. Never let others dictate how you should live your life, or what your success should be. Everyone has a different definition of success, and should live by their own ideals.

PS: You may read more him on his online memorial.