when life calls to be lived

My friend Clar has a huge family; one that extends to second cousins during CNY reunions. Recently she broke the news to us that she had a family member, a second uncle in China during the earthquake, and has not heard from him ever since. Clar's been distraught for the past few days, she stayed home when we took a roadtrip to 1U to watch Iron Man (God forgive us for doing so during the exam period!) and spent a lot of time with her er yi (apparently that's second aunt - her missing relative's wife). Clar has always been levelheaded - her calm, collected nature is an inspiration to me. 

Seeing her in such a state devastated all of us. 

As a good friend, I did all I can to help her family - every day for the last week, I popped by after group studies to hand her a photocopy of our notes so she doesn't miss out; I do checks on her and call her sis up to check if things are okay with the family. Her mom's so kind to still bake brownies for Reza and I when we drop by to visit - bless her soul, that lady.

Something about how closely-knitted their family is, makes me sit back in my chair and sigh with envy. My family hasn't always been close - sure I have my parents still together, my cousins visit once in awhile - but if an uncle or an aunt goes missing in a cyclone or a typhoon or landslide, there will only be a moment's worth of worry, then everything else is shrugged off. I envy Clar's family for being so tight with one another, and all at the same time I thanked God that her uncle's family has each other to take care of. 

So I prayed. I asked God to bless her family. I asked God to, if Uncle Richard has gone Home in China, that God will bestow upon Clar's family peace of mind, and for His hand to be prominent at their side in their time of grieving. 

Just yesterday, Clar called. I don't know what she was mumbling, but I knew she was in tears. She was choking. She was breathing heavily, and she was trying to say something that I couldn't make out of. Hearing her cry was heart skipping.

I told her to calm herself down, and waited for her to slowly say these to me:

"Uncle Richard called. He is alright. He is in Beijing, and will be back in Malaysia by Friday."

That moment, I couldn't stop thanking Heavens for listening to my prayers. 

*

The incident with Clar's uncle and Clar's family has moved me quite a lot. My mind's been preoccupied with everything about life. I read the papers. I see photos of family hugging their sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts after coming back from China. I read about relief, and I read about people raising funds and doing something for the victims.

I experienced a paradigmical mindset shift. 

I love politics. I love following the drama in our parliamentary, I love reading on scandals and finding out that so-and-so aren't so clean after all, and I love hearing stories from behind the scenes. I believe in defending our politicians who are generally regarded as incompetent due to red tapes, other influential figures or any other circumstances... I love politics. It's in my blood.

But today, as my mind falls upon the victims of China, Myanmar and how I felt about the Tsunami victims back then, I am reminded of something more important.

That life is short. Too short, to waste time screaming at each other's heads, tearing at each other's necks off. Too short to keep enemies, and throw people behind bars for selfish reasons. Too short to spend all of it backlashing at someone because he/she is of a different skin colour, and too short to spend time deciphering what innocent remarks mean. 

Because if we don't learn how to live life, then life is not worth living after all.

A tribute to all China victims and families who've lost their dear ones. 

the grandmother of absurdity!

I was reading blogs awhile ago when I stumbled upon a post which spoke about our Prime Minister being defamed on facebook.

Get this. FACEBOOK. An account on FACEBOOK.

You can access one here, and another here. 

This is ABSURD. In one of the accounts Pak Lah is 'married to Khairy Jamaluddin' and religious views 'whatever makes my homies dig me'. This is not only childish, immature, inappropriate but totally uncalled for. What do they gain out of doing this? I don't get it. Why can't they stick to what is constructive and what is beneficial rather than pull silly tricks like this that only high school - sorry - primary school kids would think of?

I think by the end of the year, my blood pressure will rise significantly. 

ARGH.

exams in 1 week

we're counting down the days. 

reza is restless. 

lisa has been circling her pen on her econs 2005 paper for the past dunno-how-many-minutes.

eric's on the phone. again. we all think it's nadia, but he's not saying. he says its his mom. who the heck talks to his mom for hours in an undertone?

we have 1 week. 13 chapters. 

restlessness is a recurring trait amongst us now.

i should be studying. we should be studying.

but i'm scouting blogs. eric is smsing. lisa is..still circling her pen. reza is still restless.

we are restless.

argh academia!

wish me luck.

signing out,

phil to da exams.. i mean 'ix'

hardtalk on dr tun mahathir

I like the way Stephen Sackur asked his questions. It's so intellectually stimulating, I am amazed by leaps and bounds.

Here's the link - thought I'd share!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Issues that were brought out to the front that excited me

-human rights and the ISA

-locking up of anwar

-what Malaysians despise is not one person, or one party. but the entire system for which it was built upon. the racial lenses. the lack of freedom of speech. thank you for your huge contribution tun m.

You have to check that out if you haven't - tell me what you think!!!

phillix, tech and truckloads of frustration

life has its frustrations. i wasn't connected to the internet so i thought i'd just blog my thoughts out (on the live telecast of the parliamentary - did any of you guys catch it this morning on RTM1? i also blogged on khir toyo and samy vellu)  and JUST when i thought i was done, my browser crashed and shut itself down. safari has a way of driving me nuts!!!!

now that i'm back on, i've lost all the motivation and drive. so yes, my second post is on how frustrated i am. it's so ironic how dependent we are on technology and how dependent it is on us.

Reza was right. Google is the new man's best friend. we were at a mamak session earlier when we talked about lisa's new bf and how they met online - and how the revolutionized dating method is facebook dependent. it's disturbing, but it's true. tech rely on us to expand (they need to be monetized) and we rely on tech to literally breathe, for some. 

btw, i've been scouting blogs lately..and i've been reading comments too. i MUST say that our people are generally pots calling kettle black. one thing i notice is that the same people who bash our government (esp pak lah) for being racists are throwing out racist comments themselves. there's one post ( i cant rmbr for the life of me ) that each and every comment had 'malay pigs'... i even had one post commentor telling me to 'jaga tepi kain, jangan masuk campur hal orang melayu, babi india!'. nothing ticks me off more than racialism. what they dont realize is what happens to UMNO affects the entire Malaysia, not just malays..likewise, MCA, MIC.. but whether or not we, collectively as Malaysians, will be affected by these racially segregated political parties is a diff issue altogether. what's with all the race hatred in blog comments nowadays?  and they still dare to blame pak lah for being 'racist'? what's all these? piff!!!

alrite guys, i shall zoom off now. massive work tomorrow. it's gna be labour's day but i ain't no labourer, so i ain't got no holiday. it's exam period, people! i need buck up! sigh.

strivin for excellence

-phill to the ix

note to self: khir toyo and samy vellu issue? it's driving me up the wall! what's with those people who've stepped out of the political scene coming back to haunt us with their derogatory remarks?! not enough drama, want to add spice and sugar issit! 

inaugural post!!!!!!

hi everyone my name is phillip kumar. or phillix to the rest of the world. i am very excited about the blogsphere and what the new media has come to in this new era - it has changed how we live even politics. i shant say much for my first post because i dont want to bore you guys out - so here's phil to the ix signing out! peace!