Good Old Days - By Irene Suresh

Especially for us borned and raised in Malaysia (esp. fond of the memory of the Milo truck coming to school once in a blue moon to give away free packet-chocolate-milk at school!). Miss the good old days - despite its low-tech nature....

For your reading pleasure...some might be true. Hope you will all enjoy reading it. This might bring you back the old memory especially during those school days.....

Signs that you are a 70s' or 80s' baby:
You grew up watching G-Force, He-man, Transformers, Thundercats, Silver Hawk, Woody Woodpecker, Chipmunks and Mickey Mouse. Not to forget Ninja Turtles, Mask, Smurfs and Voltron too.

Girls watched Japanese cartoon like My Little Pony, "Xiao Tian Tian", "Hua
Xian Zi" etc. You grew up brushing your teeth with a mug in primary school after recess time. You squatted by a drain with all your classmates beside you, and brushed
your teeth with a colourful mug. Remember the days when the school nurse, comes with a list for the dentist appointment, the sound of the drilling when your friend has a fill in his tooth. You remember the packets of milk we get in primary school to encourage us to drink more milk. (It cost only 30 cent per pack)

In secondary school, girls go to the library to borrow their favourite romance storybook. In secondary school, girls altered their school skirt to shorten it and guys will go to the school appointed school uniform tailor shop to tailor make their school trousers to the then fashionable "baggy pants"!

During primary school days, the teacher will punish you using a ruler to hit your palm. A bowl of noodles soup cost only 30cent in primary school days. When you were in primary school, girls like to go to the bookshop to buy cute stuff such as animal erasers, various shape sharpeners, colourful notebook etc.

Hankyu Jaya, Yaohan departmental stores used to be a favourite hangout for
families during weekends. In secondary school days, you buy the Bata BM Turbo or Pallas Jazz school shoes. Some guys like to wear those china made ankle high shoes. Some even like to wear those very thick socks with their school shoes. Internet? E-mail? What the hell is that? So you thought a decade or more ago, your friends don't have pagers or handphones in school.

CDs? What's that? Cassette tapes were the norm. Movie tickets used to cost less than $5 last time. The goodies from Mama shop used to be Chickerdis, Mamee , Kum Kum, UFO,
O-Ya, Ding Dang chocolate balls with toys in the box, colourful hard "egg",
"cigerette" bubble gum, KIKI Bubble Gum, pink bottle of bubbles c/w a small tubes with yellow sticks to blow "more lasting" bubbles that you can pop more air in or slam it on.

You never forget 'Ti Kam'. When exams are over, the board games (e.g Monopoly, Donkey, Transportation Comparison Card) & held video games will be all over the class room.Your favourite sound is the bell For it's the homemade ice cream man.
The cream that tops Haagan Dazs! And the other peddler you love is the old lady who sells juicy Muah Chee and thick olden syrup rolled in a balloon the tip of a chopstick.

Another bell is the recess bell, a time to get away from school work and to eat. Another time when there is no bell but all guys will anxiously wait for it...The PJ (Pendidikan Jasmani), PE time (time for football) Your favourite childhood games were playing "guli"(marbles), five stones, five bottle cover, zero-point
t,atching, "Pepsi-Cola one two three" and/or "Police & Sentry"!

The best thirst quencher of all times is the yummy colourful ice tubes you can buy from provision shops for only 10cent. To eat them,break the tab and suck while
holding the freezing tube! All gals have a girl doll/strawberry shortcake/my little pony/pound puppy, while all boys have a soldiers figurine (combat) or a rubber band catapult that shoots folded paper!

Once was the era whereby ice-cream sticks were valuable items, then came the paper aircrafts, chalk fights. Some boys made their own guns from wood, and used 'Bacali' as the bullets. Some even used matches to shoot and burn kids'lanterns during MoonCake Festival. And your favourite holiday was Lunar New Year! New clothes, Ang Pows, shopping, junk food and family outings!

Let's see, the majority of students in universities today were born in 1987
/ 88.... They are called "youth".

For them, they have never heard of the song "We are the World, we are the
Children..." And the "Uptown Girl" they know is by 'West Life' but not 'Billy Joel'.

For them, there have always been only one Germany and only one Vietnam. AIDS exists since they were born.

CD exists since they were born. Michael Jackson is already whitened.John Travolta is always round in shape and they can't imagine how this fat guy could be a god of dance. They believe that Spiderman and Incredible Hulk are just new films. They can never imagine a black and white screen for a computer. They never know what is Atari or 'Game & Watch'. They can't believe a black and white television ever existed and they don't even know how to switch on a TV without a remote control. And they never understand how we can go out without a mobile phone when we were in university...

Let's check if we're getting old...

1. You understand what was written above and you smile.

2. Most of your secondary school friends are getting married.

3. You are always surprised to see small children playing comfortably with
computer.

4. When you see teenagers with mobile phones, you shake your head.

5. You spend less and less time talking on phone with your friends daily.

6. When you meet your old friends from time to time, talking about the good
old days, repeating again and again all funny stories you experienced
together.

7. Lastly, having read this mail, you are thinking of forwarding it to some
other old friends. You think they will like it too.....

Hahaha!.... Yes! We are getting old too...........

Brings back old memories huh?

Cheers to the 70s n 80s babies!!!

She

Do this action : Read slowly, turn your head to 45 degree, blink, look up and did you see a big cloud? Ok here's the story in the cloud.

Like the much repeated, I continue my 9 to 5 routine and go for class. Ops I forgot I have to return the Library Book for Ms ...I dont know her name but anyway I manage to meet Cindy in the Library yesterday ( if you still remember her ) She's a friend of Grace Cham who joint The Magical Moment Single Retreat last two years. We were keeping in touch as friends the senior junior relationship. Sad to say that, but I'll repent and really get into her life again.

Will this be an encouragement? She said: Evelyn I don't think I'm ready to go to church but I will continue reading the bible...

I thought to my self what is the best answer to that. Mmmm I text her back and say, let me know when you are ready to allow God to help you. Her reply: Thank you Eve...I'm like ha? I dunno lah....Help please anyone?

She is such a sweet girl, she gave me a Christmas pack candies and get someone pass it to me. On the pack it note " Merry Christmas Eve...Love, Dee " At that time I really could'nt figure out who gave me that pack. I wonder and when I reach home I'm in deep thoughts as to who is this encouraging person. Maybe a secret admirer huh ;) I tot it was rather cute.

So I put it at the side of the fridge. It has been an encouragement whenever I open my fridge "Merry Chistmas Eve..Love Dee". Counting from the time I received it, it was almost a year back.

I finally discouver this angel when I receive a message from her " How's exam preparation? You have enough rest? Last year you look very tired during the exam I hope you r better prepared this time. All the best! Love..Dee"

oh God! who is this? Taxing her back to Thank her and to updates her that I'm fine with things...by the way " Paiseh" who is that and she said : I'm Cindy...I smile at handphone screen then mum teasingly says: Never one time you don't smile when you received calls and messages.

:) True! Friends are to be treasured. Vincent said: The Blood is on our head to share faith, scary as it may seems but it was true...

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in vain

By now you can actually guage that my favourite subject for the year would be Jurisprudence. Why? probably is because the beauty of the subject matter. All my time use to discover what was this subject trying to tell me. For I do not know much.

Yup I do not know much and yet the Lord has encourage me by giving me a chance to serve my Sisters in my small group. I had a tough time thinking of what can I do for them and how we can grow together.

However, time just does not permits me to go further. I'm stepping down and shall pass my responsibility over to my new small group leader. I'm learning to understand that my Lord has not put my work in vain and I believe he love each one in my group to give them a better leader who can be there to serve them.

Dennon tought me submission today and the reason to submit. If my Lord is my Shepherd I shall not be in want I shall follow and submit to what he wants me to be. I'm sad that I can't do everything as I wanted to but I'm happy that I can do what the Lord intend for. So by now I'm almost ready to surrender. Almost ready? :) nope I'm ready to surrender for by his will I'm ready to be lead.

Grace said sometimes is good to step down and evaluate where went wrong. Ya for us to do great things we shall be ready to do small things. When I think about my mum about what she had done for the family I often think of the money she saved for my studies, the hardwork of her youth and how she encourages and gave me comfort when I fail in my exam.

Often times I forgot the small thing she did like washing tons of my cloths, cooking and preparing my meals, be a listening ear for me. So definately she is a woman worthy to be praise. Since I'm not called only to do big things, I'm ready to do the smaller one.

Proverbs 31:30:
30Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the LORD will be greatly praised. 31Reward her for all she has done. Let her deeds publicly declare her praise.

So farewell to Leadership and beginning of servanthood. Thanks also for all the encouragement.

Love,
Eve

Logical Positivism

Yesterday Mr Paul Linus in his Jurisprudential class lecture introduces to us the birth of Legal Logical Positivism in the United Kingdom. Before he go into the subject matter proper he offers us a defination of what positivistism is.

What in the world is this defination for? I'm in the mids of confusion and emotionaly not able to comprehend such a defination. However, there are something real amazing about this area of law. Like everyone else I'm more interested as to who John Austin is than what he wrotes.

So while I'm blogging this you might be more interested as to who am I then what I wrote right? I describe John Austin as a man with no great achievement in life. I would say he failed badly in all things he do " sounded too much like a mocking to his life while he is on earth" I must qualified my self this is by Paul Linus...So sue him for defamation :)

Yup it is true! So believe it or not you can be famous for your failure! He was nevertheless said to be a very intelligent man with great dreams and all his thoughts and work on the jusrisprudential aspect has been paid much tribune too.

Sadly his wife has an affair while he is seriuosly ill, he only manage to keep 5 student in his class and even so, they are now our modern philosopher who critisizes his works. He was called to the bar to serve for his great piece of judicial opinions however, as a result of the depression he has he left the Bar after 5 years. So he is so much so a man with no Career and he was said to be a perfectionist that has never able to achieve his prefection.

So misserable. I thought to my self what has motivate him in going through his life? His wife? No definately not. His Career? Not as well. He ends his life with much sadness and all his scripts of Jurisprudential was then published and was found to be of great deep thoughts. He is a malancholy who has gone to extreme in life, there is no fulfillment and his expression of words has now become a stress for the Law student.

I however were of the opinion that this man is worth to be discover of. Sadden by his life but have wisdom on his words. Don't you feel that in our life only when we are so sad, so directionless, so weak that we see things clearer than ever? I'm not John Austin of course am not a malancholy either. I develope the sence of only God can fill reliance when bad things does happened.

What do you felt?