Movies I Would Sit In

Recently, it came to my attention that a friend, of similar age with me, had never seen Star Wars. It made me realized we each have different childhood experiences. In a way, I was fortunate that my parents brought us to the cinema on regular basis. I grew up with a large dose of Sinbad (because my elderly grandma loves Sinbad), James Bond and Indiana Jones. I presume, from this, you could easily guess my age.

Thanks to Steven Spielberg's JAWS, I am disinclined to swim in open sea. I can't see what's swimming under me! For me, a swimming pool is the best-est.

Star Wars was the coolest of its genre in the year it was released and it quickly became something like a cult. Recently, I saw a few scenes from that movie and I thought, 'Gosh. Those creatures looked so...ooo un-real'. Of course, by this time, I had been spoilt by Avatar. And, I guess, in the near future, I'll probably say the same of Avatar. Technology changes at a fast pace. Am positive we will soon see all movies in 3D and even holograms.

All this makes me wonder at movies that I would not mind viewing again and again even in years to come. This is my list in no particular order. However, to be fair, I will not say this is absolute. No doubt it will change from time to time - there will be additions and deletions.


My Fair Lady (1964, Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison)
Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981, Harrison Ford)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989, Harrison Ford, Sean Connery)
Men in Black (1997, Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith)
The Fugitive (1993, Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones)
U.S. Marshall (1998, Tommy Lee Jones, Wesley Snipes, Robert Downey Jr)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994, Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman)
The Lord of the Rings - Return of the King (2003, Elijah Wood)
Terminator 2 (1991, Arnold Swarzenegger)
Terminator Salvation (2009, Christian Bale, Sam Worthington)
The Mummy (1999, Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz)
Jurassic Park (1993, Sam Neil)
Jurassic Park II: The Lost World (1997, Jeff Goldlum)
Jurassic Park III (2001, Sam Neil)
Apollo 13 (1995, Tom Hanks, Gary Sinise)
Tangled (2010, Mandy Moore)
Monster, Inc. (2001, Billy Crystal)
Finding Nemo (2003, Ellen Degeneres)
The Incredibles (2004)

You'll notice my preference for action & adventure, and animation. Never was a fan of horror movies or drama movies.

November 2011

This is an update to my earlier post

Civilian uprisings
After more than two decades as president, President Mubarak of Egypt stepped down in February 2011 after massive demonstration from Egyptians.
This victory emboldened other uprisings seen in middle East.

Muammar Gaddafi (I don't know if this is the correct version of his name because news had published many versions of his name from Muhamad Gaddafi to Muamar Gadafi), ruler of Libya was shot dead in August 2011 in Libya's civil war. He ruled Libya for more than three decades.

Unrests continue in middle east.

Flood
Massive flood in Thailand that started from northern Thailand and in recent days had reached Bangkok. We have seen and heard Thai government trying to save Bangkok by piling sandbags, building dikes and excavating canals to allow floodwater to flow to the sea. According to news, the flood had troubled Thailand since June this year. Flood waters as deep as 3m inundated industrial areas, padi fields and historical temples such as those in World-heritage Ayutthaya. The effects are felt in other countries. Some factories (such as Honda) had to shutdown because of disruptions to supply of material from Thailand. We can expect cost of rice to increase. Death toll from this flood has reached upwards of 500. Crocodiles had escaped from crocodile farms around Bangkok.

Earthquakes
Last week, Oklahoma suffered damages from a 5.6 magnitude earthquake. The biggest in Oklahoma history.
In October, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit Turkey.
Earthquakes are shaking nations across the world.

Economy
Greece requires salvation again. Many predict Italy will be next. Deepening European debts. Will China saves EU?

Disease
Fortunately, up to November this year, I do not see news of widespread disease like what we experienced with SARs in the past.
But I did notice that in recent days there had been many celebrities or famous people stricken with cancer or died of cancer. Steve Job, founder of Apple, died of pancreas cancer in October. Andy William (good ol' Andy) has just announced he is suffering from bladder cancer. Former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier died of cancer on Monday, 7.11.11.
If you consider that celebrities/famous people is just a small handful in this world of 7 billion (yup, we earthlings are numbered at 7 billion as of 31 October), imagine the percentage of world population stricken with cancer.



....and 2011 is not over yet. We still have one and a half month to go.
I am not promoting doomsday but am just recounting the significant disasters in our world for 2011. Why? Because early in 2011 someone shared with me that the number eleven, like number seven is associated with godliness, is a number associated with changes and transformation. Early in 2011, the fortune tellers foretold of a turbulent rabbit year.

There are predictions that the world will end in December 2012.
Have these events convince us? Shall we draw closer to our faith? That is between you and God.

Woman and Faith

I received a beautiful email today. This, in my words, is the short version of the email:

God created woman from a man's rib. Woman, like a rib, protects man's heart. Woman will bear pain and aches before she allows man's heart to be hurt. God took a rib from man's side to form woman. God did not take from man's sole so that woman will not be under man. God did not take from man's head so that woman will be above man. Instead, God took from man's side so that woman may walk beside man. With a woman by his side, a man is complete.

God created each woman for a purpose.

Ours not to reason why but to keep faith and hold on.

Whatever our circumstances they will pass.

Exercises, anyone?

This year I discovered the joy of exercise. I am not a person who like to sweat but because of a challenge, I had to increase my step count. To my horror, my average step count in a day is a miserable 3000. I like to think that is due to the fact that I work in an office. However, I can't use that excuse on weekends. To my disgust, my step count on weekends is not better. Must be because of those hours I spent in front of the TV. So, I had to face the fact that my lifestyle needs a change.

During the initial weeks in the challenge, I was taking evening walks at least three times a week. On weekends, I might even take hour-long walk twice a day. To my suprise, I found that these walks really gave benefit. I was in better health mentally and physically.  I find I am in a better mood after an exercise.

And I started liking these walks. I like looking at the greens surrounding my paths. The trees, the grass and the occasional flowers. I am frequently amazed, again and again, by how green the greens are. Sometimes my walks are blessed with the chirping of birds. Sometime, very infrequently, I'd hear croaks from frogs. Often, I am thankful for the clear blue skies over my head. Clouds of all shapes in the sky.... And when the wind blows....aahhh...

All in all, I am thankful that I could walk outside in the open air and enjoy the nature. Nature often gives me a pleasant view. Thank you, God. It's wonderful to be alive in a nation that is free from civil war, free from flood, free from earthquake and hurricanes.

Sometimes I'd praise and pray to God while walking but more frequent than not I'd find my thoughts straying to work related issues. Truth is that these walks helped keep me calm and manage my stress level. No problem is insurmountable when I am out in the nature. The nature calls and shouts of God's might and love. Can't ignore those. It's like time-out from all the cares and grieves in this world. It's like a walk in God's courtyard. Joy.

Depending on the path I take, I'd see runners, joggers or walkers. They are from all ages ranging from toddlers to elderlies in wheelchairs. Parents pushing prams, pet owners walking their dogs and twice, I saw a young girl 'walking' her two rabbits. One route I take on weekends will bring me past a flat land. Here I will see a group of people practising tai chi or chi gong (errmm...I don't know the difference). One day, I will join them.

The park has a man-made lake. When there's stale bread on hand, I'd throw them in. There's turtles and fish. Sadly, no matter how many times and how near I threw bread crumbs to the turtles, the fish get them first. Aww....

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana

Authored by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, this story is situated in Kabul, Afghanistan, and it tells the story of Kamila Sidiqi and her family when the Taliban seized control of Kabul in 1996. Aspiring to be a teacher, Kamila soon saw her dreams put on hold.

The Taliban ruled that women should not go to school or work; women should wear chadri (a tent-like cloak that completely envelopes a woman's body and face with only a small rectangular crocheted screen as an eye-piece) and be escorted by a mahram (male relative) whenever they go out from their home. The saddest part is when the Taliban ruled that women can not work, many widows whose husbands were killed in civil wars were now left without means of supporting their families. A woman caught outside her home without a mahram or lifting her chadri is punished, sometimes beaten, by the Taliban. Even elderly women were not spared.

When Kamila's father and brother had to flee Kabul, Kamila was left in charge of her younger sisters. Desperate to support her family, Kamila started mastering the art of dressmaking and together with her sisters started a dressmaking business. Whilst her sisters sew dresses at home, Kamila took charge of obtaining orders from shops. This required her to frequently make dangerous trips to markets. In order to support their business and help other women in their community, Kamila and her sisters also started tailoring school.

Afghanistan seemed far away. I never gave much thought to its civil wars or its citizen. Until this book. It is hard to believe that any regime in this century would ban women from school or work. As much as this book portrays the sad conditions of civil wars, it is much more a story of hope. Throughout these trying times, Kamila kept to her faith, believing her God will keep her and her family safe. Through courage and persistence, she became an entrepreneur. Her desire to help her community is inspiring. This world would be a better place if there were more like her.

Giving Back

Today I met an elderly man who shared stories about "giving back to society".

As an Indian, he believes that when he sleeps, he enters "mini dead". Each morning, he is reborn to do his best and to do good.

Many years ago he and a group of friends decided to team up and aid the poor and the hapless. Once a month they'd purchase food and distribute to the orang asli in kampungs. It was agreed among them that they would not donate money. Based on their collective experience, they realized that money given to a family may not be used wisely. Money in a drunkard's hand will be used to fuel his intoxication. In the hands of a drug addict ...

He and his friends are professionals - doctors, lawyers, etc. Occassionally, during the course of their work, one of them will encounter someone who is down on his luck or someone in need of financial aid. The person's plight would be brought to the attention of the others and collectively they would agree on method to aid the person. The doctor friend would offer to provide free medical treatment. A lawyer friend may offer to provide free legal counsel or arbitration work.

You would think that their efforts would be appreciated and lauded. However in recent time they had been told not to provide direct assistance to the orang asli because a department's or party's fear of proselytising, etc. He and his friends are not willing to provide indirect assistance because they worry that their aid will not reach the intended people.

He had volunteered his expertise and time, free of charge, to humanitarian society such as Red Cross.

I admire his passion to help and to do good. I am ashamed that I have not taken much initiatives except to sponsor a child through world vision and donate the occasional dollar for relief funds. Each day God gives me 24-hour to do good; to show others the glory of my God. And how have I filled the hours and days? How have you filled you hours and days? No doubt we must prioritise our work and family but what of our community? If our community fails will it not affect our family?

Historic

Ah...a historical day in my short life. 12.10.11. A momentous decision made. The near future may be brighter or ....alas, dimmer. Only time will tell and only God now knows.

I've learned that sometimes we have to decide to quit. To continue or to quit is a decision. By not making a decision, we're not helping ourselves. Today, I made the decision to:

- live, not just exist

- not conform to norm if it does not serve my state of mind

Quiting is not a failure. It's all about perspective. To quit takes courage. It takes courage to move in opposite direction. To quit is to be free from a situation that is no longer tolerable. It takes a lot of courage and hope to follow a dream. Do not prolong unnecessary suffering. It's not beneficial to either parties involved.

Another perspective is equating quiting with no persistence, willfulness and strength.

I'd rather dwell on the former.