NRIC 08

National Research and Innovation Competition 2008, or NRIC in short, is organised by the Student Representative Council of Universiti Sains Malaysia. This event provides a platform for the best final year projects from local and private universities to compete under a single banner besides being exhibited to the public.

Following from the success of NRIC 2007, NRIC 2008 has introduced a new concept and approach, and will be a bigger event. For this year’s event, this competition welcomes participation from universities in Malaysia and ASEAN countries. This will enhance the scope of the competition by showcasing current development in research and innovation in ASEAN countries.

“Innovation Towards Sustainable Transformation” has been selected as this year’s theme. It is hoped that this event will provide an opportunity for undergraduates to develop their creative and innovative talents by designing and developing environmentally friendly products of world class standards that will enhance the quality of life.

NRIC 2008 is scheduled to be held at the Dewan Utama Pelajar, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang from 20th-22nd May 2008.

Comfort

Have you ever tries to comfort someone? Have you looked upon friends or family members who need that extra boost of hope and clarity? Comforting others is no simple task, mind you. It is much more than just giving tissues to wipe tears; it is much more than to just pretending to listen to the same complaints. It is even more than just saying words out of our own feelings and thoughts. It is about giving hope to those who are hopeless, giving peace to those who are restless and comfort to those who can find no place to pour out their emotions. Inevitably, I was in need of comfort and God comforted me. After that, God brings me to show comfort and care to those in need. He does not just provide for our needs, but He allows us the opportunity to provide for others who are in need.

My need occurred during the weeks leading to my semester exams. It was a hard journey, filled with turmoil and confusion. I had not been able to hold on to the promises of God, let alone the perseverance to seek Him daily. Everything else seems to just fall apart. My exams and the event that I organize were my main concerns. And it seems that I cannot do anything for both. Failure looms on both sides. And yet, at this depressing point of my life, God showered me with love and hope and mercy. He put me into the care of the church and the fellowship of the Brotherhood of Christ. Through small gestures of comforting and firm rebuke where necessary, I depended God’s grace more and more. I finally saw the purpose He wanted me in this situation. That is to learn dependence on Him. Finally, I went through my exams and I am now in the chaotic midst of organizing the event. Peace would only truly settle in when it is all over in June.

As I mentioned before, God arranged for times when friends around me needed comfort. Zyannitty needed it. For her, it was hard to look upon and realize that the relationship she had was now lost. The person that she had known before, now seems a different person altogether. It was not easy. But then, after much tears from her own, and persuasion and lending ears from me and another friend, I believe she would be on the long road to recovery. The environment around her (the event that we both have to organize) had a silver lining of its own. It kept her away from the negative thoughts. Plus, we (W and I) spent much time with her and we even went out for shopping therapy. It was also indirectly, a therapy for me too, for I had to leave the confines of stress. In the end, it gave me new perspectives on things pertaining to relationships, stress and support, not to also comfort from God.

So readers, take heed from the people around you. The times when you need comfort, look not into the temporary fulfillments of man, but gaze upon and stand in awe at the peace and comfort that Christ gives. Pray to Him not to take away the suffering, for we suffer to glorify Him. Rather, pray that He gives us strength and wisdom to carry on walking for Him. And when you see those who are in need of comfort, do not forget to extend your shoulder for them to cry on and a lending ear. Direct them to seek the eternal comfort from God. For readers who may not know of this God whom I speak of, ask the Christians around you or you could even ask me, and may you also find the true comfort

(This blog post is dedicated to Zyannitty, a friend, a younger “sister”, for she calls me ‘gor’-big bro in Cantonese, and one, whom I hope the harsh realities of the world would not take away the smile and the zest of life in her. You have more to live for my friend. Seek true comfort in Christ.)

If only....

If only.....

They say that these words were meant for those who regretted. For those who could not see the light at the end of the tunnel. For those who do not know who to turn to. For those with whom, Life seemingly has left them. And yet, those were my words today. LAP 100 exam was tough. And not because it is tough, but because "if only" i put in more effort!! I guessed the exams are quite 'fair' in a way. You get what you deserve based on your efforts. After such struggle, NRIC pops into the picture.


If only....

We could have been better, we could have been quicker, and yet, what could we have done? It is truly the grace of God. I had a little chat with Bro. Abe, and he encouraged me to persevere on. I guessed being homesick and fatigued made me grumpy and all. He gave a thoughtful reminder that I was put into NRIC 08 for a purpose. For me to learn hoe to depend on God, and how to persevere through. To strive. I shall never again use the word in vain. With it, it carries the true meaning of struggling with difficulties and smiling at the perfect storm!

YKT 103 is NEVER easy

It has been a tiring day. Tons of things happened in such a short while. Stories abound, enough to fill the deep abyss of Time. As I have mentioned, I have gone through some of my most stressful periods. It involved almost breaking down into tears. I truly understood then, the hopelessness of this world, the superficial value of things, the vanity of the human pursuit, and the eternal maze of Life which we are in. it makes you think of why Life was difficult, why all things seem unfair. But then again, God constantly reminded me of His grace. Of His power and might, through the friends that I have and the events that happened around me. Through the blessings and comfort of the Kitchen Fellowship, and through the trials of the exam period. It was a tough battle today. The wounded abounds, and the victory barely visible. The battleground was filled with the cries and lifelessness of the mortals. I could barely breathe in the midst of such atmosphere. Then again, it would be in vain to shed tears any longer. The fight has ended, the result uncertain, and my strength has left me alone. It is time for me to heal. To be well. To live again for another day!

The exam period has left me melancholic and desiring God's comfort. It caused me to be spending time here, now, at Roti Bakar to entertain myself(so seemingly). But then again, only God can comfort. Am looking forward to His word in the morning...All the best to those having examinations. May you have the comfort of God to guide you all the way!!

Kitchen Fellowship launched!!

Intrigued? well.. if u need a quick explanation, pop by this post. Before it, I was having a tough and stressful period. Why stressful? Things that I have been doing did not go well and the team that I am with was not able to support and encourage each other continually. Study week came and so did the stress. Only then, I could understand why people would give up on life, especially those who do not know Christ. Those who have no place to turn to. For me, although I am sorrowful and stressed, but praying to God truly comforts me. It is not just that, for being with brothers in Christ lifts your spirit up also. And that is what happened.

The kitchen fellowship we had, brought me great comfort and joy. A simple meal, a simple time for devotion (i kid u not!) and a simple prayer, not to forget a simple fellowship...wait, an EXPLOSIVE FELLOWSHIP!! Those are the things that have been bringing me through. I could say, that if it was not for that, I may have succumbed to the pressure.

Stress is not all in vain. It contains in itself, the lessons of life. It has showed me the importance of choosing things of eternal value, the power of prayer, comfort, encouragement and fellowship. It showed me the frailty of man that lifts up the glory of God. Truly, it is in our weakness, that we could see Christ's glory greatly!!

For those who would like to try, join us for a meal. If not, just ask me , Abe, Matthew or Alex about it. Even better yet, get a few(not too many!) Christians that you can share heart-to-heart with, whip up a simple meal, and get that devotion book out of the dusty cupboard (including the recipe book*wink*) share your thoughts, give thanks to God fro the food, and fellowship(yeah, u can eat now!). Clean up with a cheerful heart!

Kitchen fellowship maybe something u have done before, or something new. Whatever it is, try it and furthermore, encourage those who have needs around you!

I take this opportunity to give thanks to God for Matthew, Abe and Alex for having Kitchen Fellowship with me! God bless you!

CF Retreat part 2

As promised, I would like to share some of the things that I learned from the trip. Firstly, the trip itself was significant. Having a trip to just leave all the worries and the burden of the world is hard to come by. Heck, I wouldn’t even think that I would want 1. But then, with God’s provision and guidance, I attended it. It really pays to just leave your burdens and take a good rest for a while. Physically, it recharges you. Emotionally, you can be more stable and spiritually, if you are going with your church members, then you can get to enjoy the refreshing of the Holy Spirit.

Through the workshop that was organized and conducted by Bro. Matthew, a theme occurred. It is about surrendering our all. In my case, it’s about surrendering my whole life. When you come to think about it, Jesus Christ seems to be totally out-of-this-world. He is God, willingly coming to earth, to be human, and then, although blameless, was willing to bear our sins, and be crucified on the cross. At that time, dying on the cross was only for the filthiest criminal ever. And yet, He chose that death. Good news was, He didn’t stay dead, for on the 3^rd day He was resurrected and conquered death. He said, that He is the Way, The Truth and the Life, none can go to heaven except through Him. It truly is different from the world. The world says, ‘Keep your life, get whatever you want’ and He says,” Deny yourself, forsake your life and follow Me’! As we have decided to accept Him as God and Savior, He demands us to surrender our all. The world could not understand, but those who have experienced His loving mercy and grace, would. In the midst of the teaching about surrendering our all, Jesus also mentioned about the attitude of serving. In the Bible, Jesus washed His disciple’s feet.

They were reluctant because washing someone’s feet means that the person that does the washing is the lowliest of all servants. And yet, Jesus did it. This is the perfect example for us to follow. He didn’t just talk the talk, He walk His talk. As how He has served, we are therefore urged to follow. In essence, it is having a humble serving attitude. Are we willing to let go of our pride, cares and worries and just give our all to God? Bro. Matthew washed our feet that night. Yet, what’s more important, we realized that we ought to do so in the same manner of service to those around us. We may be working or studying. One thing is therefore certain, wherever God puts us in, we are to serve and glorify His Name! Bro. Matthew demonstrated to us what it really meant. Yes, he washed our feet, in the hope for us to understand what it means to humble ourselves and serve others. How to forsake our own selfish ambitions. And I could say, with utmost certainty, we had learned it. Now, the time comes for us to apply it.

--And you cannot be my disciple if you do not carry your own cross and follow me--

Luke 14:27 (New Living Translation)

CF Retreat Part 1

Taking time out from a hectic schedule is a must! It doesn’t help at all, being burdened and full of stress. These are then the times that we need to leave it all fro a moment, and seek God’s providence and comfort. I went for my church Christian Fellowship Retreat. It was very refreshing. The venue is Bethel House of Prayer and it’s located at the Middle Station (Viaduct) at Penang Hill. It’s my first time being up at Penang Hill. 11 of us were there. Many more were interested but couldn’t make it. This is the whole group.





Making our way up to the top was not hard. We just need to wait for the tram. It was quite efficient. There isn’t a single route straight up, rather, there’s a transit station in the middle.
We had to wait for quite a while in the transit station before boarding the tram. Even at that point, the view was amazing.


( view from the transit station)

After taking some pics and admiring the view, we got on to the tram and continued our journey. Along the way, there were some wooden houses and the air was getting cooler. It wasn’t after roughly 10 – 15 minutes before we got to our stop, Viaduct.

walking on our trail




viaduct station, alighting from the tram

Our destination required roughly 7 minutes of walking. The trail, view and atmosphere along the way is calm and cool. It really is great leaving the cares of the world and just escape to recharge ourselves with God. This was the first glimpse we had of our resting place! Look at the small pool. Unfortunately, our stay was brief and furthermore, we didn’t bring any swimming gear (it’s a small pool anyway!). So, we missed out on that. The interior of the house was just nice. It seems a bit colonial yet renovated. (with hot water shower!!) It retains that so-called country-side charm. It was definitely serenity. The view in from the place was also breath-taking. You could see half the island from here. You would be speechless from it all.

small swimming pool

The interior of the house was just nice. It seems a bit colonial yet renovated. (with hot water shower!!) It retains that so-called country-side charm. It was definitely serenity. The view in from the place was also breath-taking. You could see half the island from here. You would be speechless from it all.

view from the place

After unpacking and a little unwinding exercise, we gathered together for some games. We played Cat and Dog, if you’re familiar with it. And then had some free time to bathe and prepare for the night.

balcony

Dinnertime was awesome! It truly reminds me of Mom’s cooking! (It’s the best there is!) The soup was great too. Although 11 people, we were able to finish the dishes and the rice. Cleaning up after it was fairly easy and we started our night session after that. Due to some technicalities, the night time view isn’t good on camera. Yet, it could not be put on words here. It is simply….unimaginable. The creations of God are truly marvelous. The way God paints the sky everyday, what greatness!!

dishes for dinner

After our session, we had another small discussion for our CF appreciation night. Then, we retired to bed at 12.30am. Waking up at 6.30am didn’t seem tiring. Rather, I was truly refreshed from it all! Not to mention the cool breeze (brrr….) There were some mist and we could see the clouds blanketing the city down below. Our morning session included quiet time, praise and worship and a session of individual prayer too. Being there and then, having a clear heart, praying to God was truly sincere.

lazing down after individual prayer session

We also had a time to share what we have learned and encouraged one another. We then packed and left around 11.40am to catch the 12 noon tram coming down. The journey down was also filled with great view and some crying baby (sigh)

waiting at Viaduct station for the tram
Reaching at the station, we waited for a while before going to a nearby coffee shop for lunch, and then more rest (tired mah!) before going for church service in the night. All in all, I truly thank God for a smooth flow of events and guidance, Bro. Matthew for organizing the trip, and each and every one present for making it an enjoyable stay, even for a night only. Picture credits go to Bro. Zhong Hau and Sis. Jia Ning. Thanks so much!!