Sometimes in life, you find a special friend;
Someone who changes your life
just by being part of it.
Someone who makes you laugh
until you can’t stop;
Someone who makes you believe
that there really is good in the world.
Someone who convinces you
that there really is an unlocked door
just waiting for you to open it.

But time certainly waits for no one when I felt the rushing adrenaline in my nerve: “Oh, I need to submit these 3 chapters as soon as possible”. “But, I haven’t finished editing my work.!”. In circumstances, I felt like everything was empty. The idea seems to be invicible. I tried to pull it out, but it refused. It was dry like a drought season. I just wish I can close my eyes and envisage that I was in fantasy island. Ignoring and neglecting the tasks and just have fun for a while.

The mind is like an arrow,

it either moves towards the direction or moves to the other direction,

I try to shoot with great focus,

but my mind seems to be distracted,

what should I do so that I remain focus?

Oh…just have fun and relax.

I have to admit that Facebook is definitely the right choice for all of us. Perhaps, we might still attach with our beloved friendster, myspace or etc; but, it is the time for all of us to go out from our comfort zone: paradigm shift. Accepting new changes will enable us to see new perspectives.  Despite the fact that some people try to degrade the quality of facebook, perhaps, ‘they’ are just too scared that one day, facebook will be GIANT like Google Company…washeh…Alright, have fun with facebook. There’s no regret for that!

PENANG: From the front, it looked just like any other shoplot but on the inside, the third-floor shoplot in Medan Fettes actually housed a fitness centre-cum-sauna used for gay sex parties.

A police team raided the premises at about 7.30pm on Sunday while a sex party was in progress and rounded up 34 men, aged between 22 and 55, including a Briton.

George Town OCPD Asst Comm Azam Abd Hamid said numerous used condoms were found strewn all over the floor of the sauna by the team.

“Seven tubes of lubrication jelly, 20 gay magazines, four pornographic VCDs and six boxes of condoms were seized from the premises.

Anti-vice op: Some of the 34 men nabbed at the fitness centre-cum-sauna waiting to have their statements taken at the George Town district police headquarters on Sunday night.

“The men were brought back to the Patani Road police station and released after their statements were taken. Three workers were also picked up in the raid.

“We will check with the authorities if the operator has abused his business licence. We will not tolerate the presence of such joints in the district,” he said yesterday.

ACP Azam said the raid was part of the police’s ongoing operation codenamed Ops Bersih aimed at keeping all types of vice activities in check.

A resident who wanted to be known only as Ah Leong, 35, said he had lived in the area all his life but he did not know that such a place existed.

“Apparently, the place was only known by word of mouth. I was told that the place had been in operation for more than a year.”

On April 3, police raided two similar joints, which was operating without a licence, at a shopping complex in Jalan Burma and picked up more than 30 men.

________________________________________________________________________________________

My Criticial Comment:

Welldone to the Police Team! Congrats!

Sex party? In this globalization age, immoral activities are becoming desensitized among the Malaysian youth. The idea of sexual gratification has escalated to another level: homo-cum-party. In the past, the issue was about the hideous prostitutes sexual activities despite the fact that it is still prevalent. Unfortunately, some naive-and-curious youth has been wrongly influenced to engage in this activity while thinking that it is ‘O.K’ to do so.

What can we do to stop this problem from affecting the Malaysian youth?

Today, I have attended the healing and deliverance talk at Sacred Heart Cathedral. After listening to the given talk by Brother G., the issue on empty meditation abruptly strike my mind. Why? Since he asserts that Buddhists, Hindus, and other religion bodies have widely practiced empty meditation. Hereby, he proclaims that such practice would lead to devil possession (in the previous talk) or ‘unexpected’ event to any individual who have great devotion to empty meditation. Generally, he defines ‘empty meditation’ as a way of emptying ourselves by thinking nothing or in other words, loose ourselves with total plainness.

Well, it is crucial for me to re-correct such erroneous belief that the Buddhist practices empty meditation. I can’t talk about the other faiths since I have not done any thorough research on that yet. But for Buddhism, yes, I have evidence from one of the Buddhist texts which explains clearly on the concept of meditation.

The issue here is whether the Buddhist practices empty meditation or non-empty meditation. This is the short-excerpt on what the Buddha has explained about the types of Meditation to His followers:

Said the disciple: “Teach me, O Lord, the meditations to which I must devote myself in order to let my mind enter into the paradise of the pure land.”

Buddha said: “There are five meditations. The first meditation is the meditation of love in which thou must so adjust thy heart that thou longest for the weal and welfare of all beings, including the happiness of thine enemies.

“The second meditation is the meditation of pity, in which thou thinkest of all beings in distress, vividly representing in thine imagination their sorrows and anxieties so as to arouse a deep compassion for them in thy soul.

“The third meditation is the meditation of joy in which thou thinkest of the prosperity of others and rejoicest with their rejoicings.

“The fourth meditation is the meditation on impurity, in which thou considerest the evil consequences of corruption, the effects of wrongs and evils. How trivial is often the pleasure of the moment and how fatal are its consequences!

“The fifth meditation is the meditation on serenity, in which thou risest above love and hate, tyranny and thraldom, wealth and want, and regardest thine own fate with impartial calmness and perfect tranquility.

“A true follower of the Tathagata founds not his trust upon austerities or rituals, but giving up the idea of self relies with his whole heart upon Amitabha, which is the unbounded light of truth.”

Henceforth, it is justified that the Buddhist does not practice empty meditation based on the Buddhist text. Unfortunately, the talk itself might be misleading in this pertinent issue which thereafter capable to create misunderstanding and confusion among the Catholics.

As for today’s reflection, please read this short biblical excerpt:

Matthew 5:43-48

You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax-gatherers do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

“Built To Last”

I’ve looked for love in stranger places,
but never found someone like you.
Someone whose smile makes me feel I’ve been holding back,
and now there’s nothing I can’t do.

‘Cause this is real, and this is good.
It warms the inside just like it should,
but most of all, most of all, it’s built to last, it’s built to last.

All of our friends saw from the start.
So why didn’t we believe it too?
Whoa yeah, now look where we are.
You’re in my heart now.
And there’s no escaping it for you.

‘Cause this is real, and this is good.
It warms the inside just like it should,
but most of all, most of all, it’s built to last.

Walking on the hills that night with those fireworks and candlelight
You and I were made to get love right

‘Cause this is real, and this is good.
It warms the inside just like it should,
but most of all, most of all, it’s built to last.

‘Cause you are the sun in my universe,
considered the best when we’ve felt the worst
and most of all, most of all, most of all, most of all,most of all, most of all, it’s built to last.

If you have the gift of wisdom, you will find the lyric and music as worth as immesurable diamonds in the universe.

This song is dedicated to my students in SMK Kolombong and also to the teachers.

“…The apparitions were seen by millions of Egyptians and foreigners. Among the witnesses were Orthodox, Catholics, Protestants, Moslems, Jews and non-religious people from all walks of life. The sick were cured and blind persons received their sight, but most importantly large numbers of unbelievers were converted…” [Coptic Orthodox Church, Cairo, Egypt 1968-1970 and 2000]

Please check this website: http://www.zeitun-eg.org/zeitngal.htm