Its 1.37 am now and though i still have work tommorow, i'm felt like writing this blog.
Feeling kinda in the dumps right now after returning from a pub (Voodoo) with Yee Kheng.


This few days have been like a roller coaster ride for me.
The MLM offers (Multi Level Marketting which basically means Amway, Sunrider and the latest one in Malaysia, Island Red Cafe), uncertainty about my future, my not-so-good state of spirituality and not to mention my trip to the pub just now.

A lot have been going in my mind recently and sad to say, i myself also could not understand what am i so frustrated about. Frustrating right?


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Have you ever heard of Christianity? Or even Jesus?
I'm sure you have at some point in your life, well, unless you're a Malay living in Malaysia, then i might suggest you not to continue as you might get me ended up in jail.

But that apart, i bet you have come across some Christian friends that will constantly ask you to go church and believe in Jesus before, right?
Because i happen to be one of the people to always begs you to try going to church.


The experience with MLM this few days had made me realized something and i'm not talking about money or my willingness to join Amway etc etc (sorry, dear Amway members).

Have you ever noticed how similar is MLM and Christian organisations nowadays?

Both wants to attract more members to join and believe, and both implies that if you want to have a good life, you have to join them.

-ONE EXAMPLE-
Christians: With Jesus, you can have lots of money as long as you believe!
MLM: With Amway, you can have lots of money as long as you believe!


There are also lots of other similarities between MLM and Christians nowadays. Both wants you to believe that in order to succeed, you have to be part of them. They both have cell groups, house meetings which want them to further believe that they are the best.

They look down on other people who are not a part of them and both of them want to sell something, Christians wanting to sell Jesus while MLM products, which they believe that you can use it as a TOOL to succeed in life.


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But as Christians, is our true purpose to sell Jesus like a health product?
That by believing in Jesus, you will always have good health?
Is He merely a tool to help us to attain fame and wealth?


What makes us different?


I think it our haste to spread the gospel, we have totally ignored the most important aspect,
LOVE.

Jesus did not come to the Earth to make us rich nor to offer himself as a vitamin supplement nor as a get rich quick scheme.


He is offering HIMSELF, not money, not fame not a handsome husband, not as a product but only HIMSELF.
By offering Himself, He is offering to fill the void in our hearts, a salvation, unconditional love and acceptance, something that each and everyone of us yearns to have.

We might not become rich after believing in Him, but what is money to compare for the sense of belonging, the love that we are to receive?


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Have you ever heard of Amway before?

If you have not, i am pretty sure you will at least come across an Amway member begging you to join their network at least once in your life, that is if you are lucky, of course.

And even only one Amway member could drive you up the wall by their numerous requests to join their network, and after you join their network, there would be ensuing meetings, cell groups or motivation classes at least once a month to keep you committed and busy for everything except Amway.

However, I must admit that Amway's products are innovative and good for consumers but it is how Amway works to attract people to secure it sales that irk me

I will not go into details about Amway's history and all but if you are invited into Amway, do not be fooled by its sweet talks about the money that you can gain by being an Amway's member.

These are some rough facts about Amway that i have found out through some researching and friends:

• You need to sell products which makes no different from being a sundry shop owner except you do not own a shop but do take note that only selling products do not make you rich. You need to find victims, ops, downlines and make them sell products. And that is where your money come from. Part of their profit from selling product will be channeled to you, which means you can earn money without working and that is why Amway people desperately want you to be their downline.
  
• 
  
  
  
• After you have become an Amway member, you will have to attend compulsory seminars, house meetings etc etc at least once a week to so call "follow up" and "familiarize" yourself with products. Which in my opnion, translate to less time being spent with non-Amway friends and church. And do take note, not all seminars are free, in fact, most of them requires you to pay.
• 
  
  
  
• You might end up being hated by friends if the only topic that you constantly talk about is asking them to join Amway. I've seen a few people lose friends and had broken relationships with family because of Amway.
• 
  
  
  There are a lots more that i can harp on the disadvantages of Amway, but well, i do not want to continue in case that they sue me.
  
  But just a piece of advice, when participating in anything, do remember that
  
  THERE IS NO FREE LUNCH IN THIS WORLD.
  
  If you feel that something is too good to be true, then it is. Use common sense whenever you are faced with such offers.
  
  And if you need more info, here are a few useful links you can see:-
  http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Amway/
  
  http://www.amquix.info/tr/amway_int.txt
  
  http://amway.robinlionheart.com/
  
  
  
  Disclaimer: The above post are merely opinions on my own and do not reflect all of Amway in particular. However, i felt that there is a need for people like you and me to hear the other part of the story because on i think that we need to weight all the pros and con - which in this case, the cons rarely get shown - before we jump into a decision. I'm not saying that you will not succeed with Amway, but ask yourself, how many really does out of the million of members they have worldwide?
  
  I also need to clarify that there are still good Amway members out there who really want their friends to succeed because of Amway, but from my experience, most of the people who ask me to join Amway is because of their own self interest. 1 more member, more money!

Just came back from Penang today after attending the NUS welcome session.
Went together with a friend, a school friend, that is, well..... a female school friend and why the heck am i being so hesitant?

Okay, so i went to Penang, with a school friend who happens to be a girl, and her name is Yuh Luan whom you might know if you're a Form 6 student in St Michael's during 2007 and 2008 and i am guessing that you are pretty dumbstruck too on why did i went with her considering that almost all of my conversation exchanges with her in school only consists of "Hi!"s, "Bye!"s and some occasional smiles.


Well, like our well loved Form 6 Moderator Mr Karu once said, when you're in the same boat in a foreign land
- in this case, the boat is a bus and the foreign land is Penang
(where EVERYONE speaks HOKKIEN except you) -
even your arch enemy in Form 6 could be your friend, what more someone whom you trade smiles with occasionally at school.

And i do not have much of a choice either since most of my buddies are MIA (Missing In Action) and my parents is lazy, actually no time, to fetch me to Penang for 2 hours then come back again.


Apart of that, the trip was quite okay, got a lot of information that i need, which includes the sad realization that i am not eligible for the scholarship, which i secretly hope to get through some God given miracle but well, even God can't help me when my CGPA is only 3.5 whereas my friend who has 4.0 CGPA is also unable to obtain the scholarship.


Enough of SAD news i guess, since my blog is so devoid of pictures, i'll let the pictures do most of the talking this time. Enjoy!

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Baggages Before the trip

Baggages after the trip
(If you're wondering about the Teddy Bear, i had to be the courier guy for my dear buddy Jimmy's girlfriend to help her transport the gifts to him who is taying in Ipoh... and the gifts are not light you know, ask Yuh Luan)


Mainland!!

Woo, BIG ship!

Hi, another ferry!

Inside the ferry


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KOMTAR Building

NUS is so "High Class" til they have their own sweets


TRADERS HOTEL


Anyone want a cigar for RM 119 each?




JURU TOLL WHERE WE GOT DOWN


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And the dog which is very much in love with my feet...


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I need to clarify something.
I can't understand why Jia Yee (my ex) is the first person that comes to your mind when i made that post about girls that treat their boyfriend as ATM Machines. The girl that i meant was her:-

Paris Hilton


Okay, it is not her. But what i meant was girls that act like her, who thinks that they are born to be pampered like they are the only girl on the Earth.


So I would appreciate it if you would not go in front of Jia Yee and go like,
"Wah Jia Yee, you know that your stupid ex Phang Cher Hong made a post about you? He say ah, you very like to use his money oh! You noe ah, you noe ah?"

And Jia Yee in turn will take an AK 47 and hunt me down. To make matters worse, she does not read blogs, well, at least my blog.


Of course, i would not also be that blur to blog about bad things regarding Jia Yee when i know she have many informers lying around ready to tell her anything nasty that may have escaped my mouth.

I was just venting my anger like always at my blog when i'm not happy with things. And particularly on that day when i heard about a friend of mine says that she's going to university just to fish. To fish not for a degree that is, but for guys studying for medicine, engineering or any high paying course.

Thats not all, she had already spent 2 years fishing at a university and when she failed, she gave up on that course and returned to her hometown. After 1 year doing nothing, she's off to start anew at her fishing course again.

So good right?
Spending your parents hard earned money, at university, not fighting for a better future for yourself but instead scouting for a potential wealthy husband. Ok, maybe she's fighting for her future because with a good husband, you do not have to worry about anything, well, other than a divorce or and affair.



Girls today have it so easy



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There are a few things that i would always suck at it in life no matter how hard i try to be good in it.
Two of those things would be
LOVE and FRIENDS


I can never understand how these 2 things work and what more be good at it. Try as i might, i can never achieve a stage where everything will work out smoothly and there's nothing to worry about my LOVE life and friends too.


I'm not trying to wallow in self pity here, but i really envy those people who do not have to lift a finger but yet are so freaking popular that no matter where they go, they will have a lot of fans and admirers.
On the other hand, if i do not make the first move, there would be rarely invites from anyone asking me to go out or anything. Some people however, needs two phones because their phone could not stop ringing because of the overwhelming support they have.


Life is unfair isn't it?
Some of us need to try so hard just to gain some trustful friends while others have people dying to be their friends. What happened to all of us being unique? Or maybe is the face problem?


Why can't making friends be something more like mathematics in school?
Where everything could be calculated and solved using known formulas.
At least it is not something judged by how handsome you are.


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I'm bored.
And when you're bored, a lot of things run through your head. Serious things like my future, the current messed up state our world is in, when the political battle in Perak will finally end and most importantly who will win American Idol.


I wonder what my friends are doing right now.
Are they just like me, stuck in front of the computer alone banging on the poor keyboard while contemplating about life? Or are they outside, having fun with other friends like watching a movie without asking me together? Or better still, are they watching American Idol right now which i could not watch because i do not have the STAR channel?


So many things in my mind and yet i'm just stuck in front of the computer.
I'm BOREEEDDD.......

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Whats on my mind right now...
The sad state our world is in

The Perak crisis
And the results for American Idol!



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Sometimes i think that
girls have it easy in life.
Okay, maybe my thinking is just limited to Malaysia. Let me rephrase that to
girls in Malaysia really have it easy in life.
Eh, wait, that is wrong too. What i really meant is that
SOME girls in MALAYSIA really have it easy in life.


I think that is sufficient enough to not expect a court action accusing me of sexual discrimination.


Take dating for example.
Girls do not have to pay for the bills be it the restaurant bill, the movie tickets or any payment of any kind in that matter. Besides that, girls can expect the guy to pick them up and send them home after the date.
I even heard of girls who will not go out if they are expected to pay their half of the bill.
Talk about gender equality.

On the other hand, we guys have to crack our brains of where to find the money. And even if we have the money, it may not necessary be enough as mamak stall is an out of bound area for some girls.
"Aiyoh, dangerous la mamak stall. After robbers follow us how?"
And there is also the transportation problem.
You can forget about taking the girl out if you cannot find a car. And motorcycles are way out of the question. Some girls would not even touch a motorcycle.


Besides the dating problem, there is also the calling problem. Guys are also expected to do all the calling stuff and with it the cost of the calling. Even if you are using the cheapest calling plan, sooner or later it will amount to an amount that only appears on the call list of companies like Telekom.


And with the recent economy downturn, chasing a girl has never been harder. Even though gender equality has been catching up in various places, the sharing the bill part is still way left behind.


Maybe that is the reason why more and more guys are choosing to undergo sexual transplant to become a girl nowadays.

I changed my blog's name.... AGAIN.

I know, i know, you might wonder why am i so indecisive. It is just take i'm just a perfectionist, if i am going to do something like picking a blog name for example, the name must be something special and unique.

Having a blog's name that is similar to hundred or even thousand of other bloggers out there might not be a good thing. I could imagine a situation where your friend ask you what is your blog name and you say something like
"A Journey Called Life"
and google returns 100000000++ results.
Ouch.

So i'm deciding to stick with this name for now and will not be changing it for the time being.
Well, unless if i do not find another idiot like me out there with the same title as mine again.


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You know what? I think i am going to leave Malaysia and never return again.
Looking at how democracy is killed today and how SOME people still think it is the right thing to be done, Malaysia doesn't seem to be so democratic anymore.

What happened to the separation of powers?
Imagine the police acting like bullies who are just out to get the PR.

And to think that there are still people who applauded the police's actions at it "restores" peace.
I believe that if we do not get our rights, we should very much fight for it til the end. I do not want to end up living like an animal locked up in the zoo without any freedom to express myself.

If you are happy living in a police state, go ahead, but i'm leaving for sure.


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An ATM machine ate my RM 50 a few days ago.

One of my friend David wanted to borrow some money as he wanted to buy a game account urgently from someone at Infinity. The game account costs about RM 200 and the 3 of us, me, Jimmy and David did not have any money at that time so we decided to head over to an ATM to withdraw the money needed.

And where did we choose? Of course we chose the ATM machines inside Tesco which is quite near to Infinity.

The ATM that we picked to withdraw our money from was Bank Simpanan Nasional's (BSN) ATM, i did not know why we choose that ATM anyway, maybe because we though BSN's ATM will not run out of money as it is funded by the government.
Turns out that the ATM could not live up to its credentials.

After David withdrew RM 150 from the ATM machine, it was my turn to withdraw RM 50. I followed all the procedure and
waited...
waited...
and
waited.

The money never came out but a receipt did.
A receipt that said i successfully withdrew RM 50.
My friends and i were like "WTF ??"


So i went to a CIMB ATM and checked. I did "withdrew" RM 50.

What else can i do that night? Tesco is already closing and David needed the money. I have no other choices but withdrew another RM 50 again. I lost RM 100 that night plus RM 2 as handling fees for using the ATMs.

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The next morning i went to Public Bank, the bank where i opened my account. I was like a lost sheep inside there as this problem never happened to me before.
Luckily a friendly staff approached me and asked me the problem.

To cut the story short, i went from Public Bank to another Public Bank and then to a BSN branch and then back to the second Public Bank all in one day.

Though it may seem troublesome, i did find out that i did not choose the wrong bank to open my account.
Public Bank is truly exceptional by its service.

They are eager to help though it may not be their problem and they even called me on my mobile to check if i'm doing ok.

Unlike my experience in BSN.
"Aiyo, this is not our problem. Our bank is just a branch. We are not responsible for this because we need to send to the HQ also. Why not you go to the main branch or Public Bank? Bla bla bla..."
Hello, its your bank's ATM that i failed to withdrew money, ok?

Well, at last i went back to Public Bank. They say they will help me settle the problem within 1 month as they have to send the application to BSN. At least they try to help.
Long live Public Bank!

P/s: And stay away from BSN's ATM as they Public Bank staff told me that this incident is not the first time.



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