Yvonne Foong

Many have asked how do I persevere until this far. I often give the glory to God, but I also say that without support from the public, I might have given up already. That’s really true. I found myself fairly disgruntled in the past week, until rejuvenation occured today.

My collegemate, Daniel Gan, arranged for me to speak to some Alpha Omega homeschoolers.

Daniel picked me up from home (such a gem isn’t he?) and we went for lunch at some mamak stall before the session began.

It was lunchtime, so the children were scattered and lazying around, must have been hard digesting those food. Right after the Chapel service, was my show that lasted more than an hour. I’m still not good at keeping time.

I was surprised at seeing how attentive and enthusiastic they were. This was my first time speaking to students below 18, so I was a little worried about not appearing impressive. I wondered about the level of English I should speak, and the manner in which I should present myself. I didn’t want to get long winded, thinking that children usually have shorter attention span.

But as it turned out, the response was far better than my expectations. They paid 101% attention, and even asked the kind of questions beyond their age. They were willing to come forward and write the questions for me without fear.

I talked about battling NF as a teenager, how I was forced to give up my passions, living with this incurable ilness amidst peer pressure, facing inner demons and pursued my dreams nevertheless.

Immediately after the Q&A session, a crowd of children soon formed around me. They looked on enthusiastically while someone wrote their questions to me. They introduced their names, said words of encouragements, asked questions pertaining to my illness and even my faith, while some just looked on in awe.

Many have donated and bought the shirts, but what touched me most were their keen interest and enthusiasm. They stood before me without prejudice, ego, or resentment. With innocent looking eyes, I could feel their kindness and warmth.

I told them to believe in dreams. Think far and not be short-sighted. I wanted to take them all into my arms, but that would have been too personal for a first meeting. Even now when I recall this 12 year old girl looking up at me with a pair of innocent eyes, I feel so touched and cared for. Maybe she didn’t know what to say, so she just looked on while the elder ones wrote to me.

God bless their soul. Children are indeed remarkable. In order to change a society for the better, go for the children.

Thank you Daniel Gan and everyone else for everything. God bless you all!

I stumbled upon an old friend’s blog, and was amused by his extraordinary writing, which somehow is capable of making even the simplest things sound humorous. I figured that if I read him often enough, I’d catch on his technique and turn myself into Emily Dickinson. So from now on, this blog will be full of my experimental attempts at being a british writer.

But I shall not reveal his identity just yet, in case if he selfishly decides to cease blogging to prohibit his secrets to good writing from leaking away.

Anyway, just as I was complaining about our boring English class, the atmosphere seemed to have improved today, or maybe because I’m now sitting at the front row with Melissa, an ACE student, who is helping me out with the notes.

I was invited to teach about Prepositions to the class, even though I knew not much better than the rest, who were bright enough to understand my faulty explanation. I flipped open my notebook and proceeded to jot on the whiteboard before explaining further, partially hoping that I’d do an impressive job.

Many looked on attentively, some nodded excitedly as encouragement. while God knows what ran in the head of others. I ended my brief session in such a sudden that they might have expected more, so that left me comtemplating the silence for a bit. I promptly asked, “You know what I’m saying?”, and they clapped in amusement. Eureka, I made it!

On another note, college staff cum big brother, Eric Lee, has got a new refreshing crop, that left him looking younger than he really is. Daniel Gan, on the other hand, seemed to have immitated Elvis Presley this morning.

The rest of my time in college was spent in cyberspace with Yeeu Jen, when I should have been hitting the gym. Guilty, guilty, but that’s what lawyers do. They entice you with lucrative words and then leave you in debt, scot free. In my case, I’m now in debt with the gym for storing excessive fat in my body.

That’s all for today. Nothing new, but tomorrow will be a good one. I’m giving a speech at Alpha Omega Academy. Wish me luck!

Oh, and, I learned a new word today. Ethnocentrism! Go figure.

If you have been following this page for ages now, you’d probably have realized how much i like to write about people abundantly. Every so often, I’d post up pictures of people who are constantly by my side, be it collegemate, church friends, or just random people I meet at events and functions. I like people, because they are God’s masterpieces that should be treasured and marvelled at.

But by writing about these people whom I see very often, some friends have unknowingly felt sidelined because I seldom write about them. These are those whom I do not see in real life and they only occur to me whenever there’s something that link us back together. But that doesn’t prove they mean any less to me than the ones I see everyday,

The human mind is more simple than you often thought, and so is mine. Whenever I blog about people I meet, it simply means that I’m happy with these people, and I’m writing to express my appreciation for them. I write about Sarah, Sam and Daniel, because they hang out with me in college the most, second to Elizabeth. I write about Yeeu Jen, because we chat online so often everyday that there’s nothing left to talk about when we see each other in church, so we usually just repeat whatever that has been said. I write about Cordy, because I see her at least twice a month, and whenever I do, I feel extremely related to her because she’s like my big sister. I write about Eva, because I see her twice a week and she cares for me like a sister as well.

I no longer write so much about John, because we don’t share so much in common nowadays and his role as my editor is over, we don’t embark on projects together anymore. Yet John is still a very good friend. I no longer write about Elena, because our paths don’t cross but we still love each other just the same. And there are many many more instances of how people come and go, but it doesn’t mean that we care any lesser for each other.

Since unhappiness like these are bound so arise, and some people are bound to feel sidelined, I decided a few days ago that I should seize writing about people in particular. That should solve it, I thought. But I didn’t feel too comfortable in the last two days. Suppressing my innate desire to express is worse than rendering me physically handicapped. I like to show my appreciation for people in words, because that’s my second nature. I want to tell the world how great these people are. I want to share them with you! And what better way than to blog about them?

So it has been decided again, that I shall continue to blog about people who makes me happy in my everyday life. If I see you often enough, I’d write about you too, provided that I am not too busy.

That does it. I’m gonna write exceedingly abundantly about people! God’s greatest creations!

This blog has been down for the past several hours because my hosting plan expired today. I was about to transfer to a new webhost, when something happened and I decided to stay.

I bet many of you have heard that Mercumaya’s myloca database is unstable. This wordpress-powered weblog of mine, which uses mySQL database, has gone down a couple of times in the past year, so that was why I wanted to move at first.

But upon more consideration, I decided to stay because Mercumaya provides excellent customer support, which benefit outweighs the little loss incurred everytime the database goes down. It doesn’t happen all the time anyway.

Mizan has been very patient and friendly throughout the past year, helping even with the things that are beyond his responsibility. Whenever problem occurs, I’d just have to message him on MSN, and he’ll respond right away and ensure that my complaint is filed, even when the problem could not be solved immediately.

Public relation studies in the previous semester has taught me the importance of customer service satisfaction. We did research on several top companies and learned how they grew in business throughout the years. Dome, for example, strives to provide delicate food and beverages, the right ambience, and to improve their customer services all the time. They utilize the pull factor instead of pushing low prices while skimming in quality to increase profit, something that many companies in Malaysia prefer to do.

From there, I learnt not to accept substandard products and services anymore. It is my right as a consumer. If we don’t demand, they will never improve, and Malaysia will forever remain the same.

Investing on good PR and better customer service is a long term solution, and Malaysians should not be short-sighted. Mercumaya makes me happy today, and they will get more business through me tomorrow. The first is John Ling, who jumped onboard last year. Fair enough?

The last two days had kept me rather worried due to a misunderstanding between a friend and I. My first day of the semester in college wasn’t very pleasant because my heart didn’t seem to be at rest today. Then something cracked me up…

Cheryl’s friend, who also happens to be my ex-schoolmate, is now working pro bono on my new t-shirt design. He has come up with several drafts and the above is one of them. He said it was a serious endeavour and that he would wear it on anyday. I doubt anyone would buy that though, but it cracked me up nevertheless. I had a very good laugh.

Thanks, Jun Kit. You brought back the sunshine!

A writer friend of mine is leaving Seventeen magazine soon. She is moving to Australia after 1.5 years of migration process. I was a little surprised and happy at the same time when she first broke the news.

I thought writing full-time for a magazine would be ideal, because not every writer is privileged with such a chance. But for Mable, she decided to reach for the stars. Migrating to Australia is simply a step towards pursuing her dream, which is more than being a writer.

Mable is a passionate person who wouldn’t think twice about advocating the importance of dreams. She told me to continue pursuing my dream, and if I dream hard enough, it will one day actualize.

Coincidentally, I finished reading this book, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho las Saturday. It is about about dreams and destiny. It says that when you decide to pursue your destiny, the entire universe conspires to help you.

I’ve often been asked what my dreams are. I usually say a better Malaysia, and to be a writer with the abillity to change the world by the stroke of a pen. But come to think more about it, what are my real aspirations? I haven’t yet found my writing niche, so that should exlain the big question mark. Owning a little teahouse with books for free reading would be nice. Ah, but we want to be so many things, don’t we?

How about you? Have you decided on your dream and destiny?

Growing up as a single child in a bustling neighbourhood, I could not have been more intensed than the mind of a stock broker. With constant city developments around me, the atmosphere was hardly peaceful, causing city folks to be often bitter and restless.

As a child, I had been wrestling with immense peer pressure, to care for my appearances and what others think of me. I used to fret over the slightless unhappiness whenever things didn’t go my way. It’s a contagious thing and many city folks are like that. Mothers screaming at their offsprings and schoolteachers bursting a vein while controlling crowds are not uncommon.

Many believe that pressure is necessary for improvement, including negative pressures that involve time constraints and discomfort for the people around them. By thinking that being a multitasker would make them more wise, they unknowingly exert stress and unnecessary discomfort onto others in order to achieve their short-term goals. The result of this is misunderstanding, bitterness, the loss of braincells due to stress, and even precious human relationships.

I, too, am guilty of this, but I am learning to become a better person everyday. Thanks to God for allowing me this chance.

When Eva was not able to fetch me home from church this afternoon, she texted me later to apologize for breaking the promise. I was extra grateful of her humility because I felt that the apology was not entirely neccessary. Fetching me home was good enough of a favor, and arranging for someone else to fetch me home when she couldn’t was an even bigger favor. I was more thankful of her responsibility more than anything else.

Come to think about it, her humility was not without reason, because many people would have resented if they were in my position. Bitterness among people of the elder generation would have caused them to have ill thoughts of Eva, things such as, “She promised me, and next minute she dissappeared! She’s not a good girl.. etc etc”. Sounds familiar doesn’t it?

Unfortunately, bitterness is also present in young people today, who are often short-sighted and see things as they are, especially among schoolchildren. It is easy to take on the character of the feeding hand.

Although Eva was unable to fetch me home today, she personally asked someone else to give me lift, and I’m grateful of that. Stephen, his girlfriend, and I had lunch together while on the way home. An opportunity to fellowship. What a blessing in disguise.

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing a brand new book to my humble library that is rarely updated due to the high price tagged to books. I usually rent or borrow, but this time was exceptional.

Cordy, Wai Kong, and I attended the book reading & signing session of Sister Swing at Silverfish bookstore this evening. We were about 10 minutes early, but the room was already packed with people by time we arrived in time for refreshments.

There were many locals and expatriates, of which many were Shirley’s old friends. Cordy and I looked a little alien in that unfamiliar crowd, so alien that someone asked if Cordy was from Marshall Cavendish. The last time we were there, Raman himself thought Cordy was from MPH! Geez… she does look like some big time publisher or a bookstore owner, doesn’t she?

When the event was about to start, someone in red sneaked in suspiciously with a notebook and pen in hand. It was the great Sharon Bakar, who sat beside us. We were so happy to see you again, Sharon! What were you jotting anyway?

Now back to the event…

I had been looking forward to this event for a couple of weeks. When the news of it first arrived in my mailbox almost a month ago, I was overjoyed because Shirley Lim has always been one of my inspirations.

My first encounter with Shirley Lim took place in the year 2002 when literature was first introduced as an English component in school. Her poem, Monsoon History, was the perfect introduction between me and this Malaccan poet, who is currently a citizen and university professor in the United States. her work is now being studied by SPM candidates nationwide.

Shirley appeared to be very down-to-earth and approachable, in contrast with many local authors I have met. Perhaps it’s her role as a professor to be communicative, because everyone soon warmed up to her presence.

Shirley asked for my name before proceeding to sign my book. She even remarked that I have the look of a keen reader! Now, that was the nicest thing a well-known and published author has ever said to me.

There goes another great person met in my lifetime. Now, onto reading Sister Swing. It ought to be entertaining, due Shirley’s careful attempt at postcolonial literature in Manglish. Don’t be frightened by that though, it is a well-written novel no less. Very neat and precise.

Have you bought the book?

p/s: Check our Sharon’s more extensive account of the event.

What a learning experience it was today, something which I must thank God for. He placed me in this church, among these people, with such a condition, all for a good reason.

I made a blunder last week that upset my entire cellgroup. But instead of turning their backs against me, they forgave and allowed me to learn from this mistake. My sister in Christ, Eva, is ever so caring and honest with me. She chose to confront me directly, which nailed me hard in the head. After 7 months of fellowship, Eva has invested countless love, time, and commitment into me, but I was reckless enough to hurt her so badly. Yet I did not realize the mistake immediately, because I did not intend to hurt her in any way. So when she confronted me about it, I felt very guilty and cried a bucket of tears.

With God’s love, Eva was able forgive me right away and allowed to me to learn from this experience. I realized that no matter what pain and circumstances I was subjected to, it was simply not worth sacrificing relationships with people who loved me dearly.

This was so unlike my old self, because I would have argued to the bottom of the matter, and stood firm to my opinion if it had been a year ago. Fortunately, God has touched me. He taught me the greatness of love.

1 Corinthians 13:4
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

When I knew how mad Eva was, I repented immediately, because I love her and I can’t bear to upset her. It all happened so naturally without a doubt.

The other cellgroup members were also very loving, because they forgave me as well. And it happened very naturally too. I do realize that they are all making an effort to make me feel at home. Jia Yin takes the initiative to write to me, and she would come to me everytime I seem lonely. Eric and Eva provides me transport and even prepare me breakfast every Sunday morning without a single complain. Rebecca types the pastor’s speech on a laptop on Sundays tirelessly. Ravi and his brothers provide me transport whenever Eva can’t make it. Ravi is also helping me put up two concerts to raise funds for surgery.

And everyone else is also in support of my HEART4HOPE project.

But me, I tend to get selfish whenever I am in pain, and all these will immediately be forgotten. And that was what upset them. How could I be so reckless? How could I?

Thank God for all these people. If it had been the society or at work, I would not have been forgiven so easily.

Hurray! Yeoh Ken Nee begged a silver medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne yesterday, making him the first ever Malaysian to win a Commonwealth Games diving medal!

He took silver behind world champion, Alexandre Despatie in the men’s 1m springboard event!

2 months of tough training in China followed by more in Melborune, under former national trainer, Yang Zhuliang certainly pays off. Your cousin here is so proud of you! And I’m sure my fellow readers feel the same as well.

It saddens me to know that high fever had forced you to withdraw from the rest of the competition, but you are a champion nevertheless.

Keep shining!

To all supporters of Ken Nee, he may be contacted at..

e-mail: maximpiano(at)yahoo(dot)com