An Inspiring Story – Way of God.

Indulging Faith_

What a week! But too bad I couldnt share it earlier. sigh. All because my line was down – again! U have no idea how itchy my hands were. So last weekend, I joined my church members to a countryside retreat. It was so fun, eventful n i just feel that my faith in Him is renewed with a brighter glow. I was catchin up with my blogs-reading, n read this in 5xmom n I really find this post just….so beautiful. Agnus Dei!

Wishing to encourage her young son’s progress on the piano, a mother took her boy to a Paderewski concert. After they were seated, the mother spotted an old friend in the audience and walked down the aisle to greet her. Seizing the opportunity to explore the wonders of the concert hall, the little boy rose and eventually explored his way through a door marked “NO ADMITTANCE.” When the house lights dimmed and the concert was about to begin, the mother returned to her seat and discovered that the child was missing. Suddenly, the curtains parted and spotlights focused on the impressive Steinway on stage. In horror, the mother saw her little boy sitting at the keyboard, innocently picking out “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” At that moment, the great piano master made his entrance, quickly moved to the piano, and whispered in the boy’s ear, “Don’t quit. Keep playing.” Then, leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass part. Soon his right arm reached around to the other side of the child, and he added a running obligato. Together, the old master and the young novice transformed what could have been a frightening situation into a wonderfully creative experience. The audience was so mesmerized that they couldn’t recall what else the great master played… only the classic, “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” Perhaps that’s the way it is with God. What we can accomplish on our own is hardly noteworthy. We try our best, but the results aren’t always graceful flowing music. However, with the hand of the Master, our life’s work can truly be beautiful. The next time you set out to accomplish great feats, listen carefully. You may hear the voice of the Master, whispering in your ear, “Don’t quit. Keep playing.” Remember, God doesn’t seem to call the equipped, rather, He equips the “called.”

M’sian Students Been Beaten-up Constantly

My LifeLog_

MALAYSIAN STUDENT BEATEN UP

KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian medical student was hospitalised with head injuries after being beaten by hooligans near the Russian Medical Academy in Nizhny Novgorod in Russia.The student was attacked with a heavy object. A Wisma Putra spokesman told Bernama the Malaysian Embassy in Russia was informed of the incident and is now monitoring the student’s condition. He declined to reveal the student’s identity as the case was under investigation.According to a Russian media report quoting police chief press officer Alexander Gorbatov, the student was in stable condition.”The student cannot say to police what happened, how many people attacked him or describe them,” he said. He said the police were looking for witnesses and questioning the administrators of the academy’s dormitory.

Reason I’m goin to blog about this as I’m currently studyin in the same university as that guy…is not to gain popularity, but to let anyone who reads this understand the magnitude of our “silence problem”, which unfortunately no one with the right power seem to bother much about this until it happened.

You may ask, “What’s the big hoo-haa about this incident?” “Maybe that guy did something and offended the russians?” “Life ain’t that pretty elsewhere too – students have been harrassed and beaten too”

To us all…the Malaysian students community(300++) and other foreign students, this is part of our life – the unfortunate part of life. We never know when this will ‘hit’ us, and everytime we’r outside the dorm, we’re always on the lookout for any groups of guys.

This guy who has been beaten is just ur typical Malay small-sized boy-next door. He is one of the senior, living in Russia for almost 4years. It was his unlucky day – he was just goin to a grocery shop nearby our dorm (maybe 30metres from the dorm) in broad daylight. Just that. Probably he will live in fear for his entire life. Why must the students…our own Malaysian students have to face this?

This type of incident has been happening around. Each year there will be at least 2-3cases in whole Russia. Where I am staying now, this is the 4th case. 3 of them are Malaysian and the other is a Pakistani.

Case 1 – First-year student was beaten up on the way to an electrical shop nearby (5min at walking distance)
Case 2 – A 2nd yearstudent was beaten up at a distance from Anatomy Department building. Broke his two front teeth.
Case 3 – A Pakistani 6th-year student was attacked on the way to the bus stop from the dorm. That bus-stop is our main bus-stop to our classes.

As usual, we were all given the same advice and same empty promises. We were told to always go out with a group. Yeah, that will help. We cant be goin to shop with a group of ppl every single time. That’s worse than being in house-arrest. Already we tried not to go out at night, or not go anywhere without informing one another. All we are asking is at least put a police post and have reliable police patrols around our area. And also street-lights on our usual paths because some classes finished late, n in winter, it gets dark early (around 4pm). As usual, it never happens. The lights went off after 2 months it been installed. The patrols disappeared after a month. Endless complaints to the dean admin fell on deaf ears.

This time, it was in the news because we, students had enough with unrealiability of the authorities. The reason why we don’t want to ‘make it big’ before, it is because we don’t want our parents to worry. Already they worry alot that we are so far away from home…dealing with the harsh winter condition, n the securities. Heck, we love our parents ok and it will make us happy if we know they can sleep soundly at night….it makes us sleep soundly too.

But enough is enough. A day after that incident, we (every international students) held a strike by not attending classes, n goin to the dean admin office….demanding that some things to be done. It was a sight really, seeing 500 students standing outside the dorm, getting ready to board buses. Malaysian’s embassy in Russia was notified along with other embassies. Representative from JPA or PSD office came down to be briefed. Last but not least, our agent Russian Resources has been receiving calls from parents and some media publicity – that will pressure them to stop talking craps n do something. Once, a parent inquired about a past case that happened to their fren’ fren’ son – they were told that guy was beaten because he ‘cari pasal’ (trans: offended) the group of guys when he bumped into them on the way back to dorm. Unbelievable,right?

As one student stated, “We want to go home as doctors, not as patients”
More on it can be read in Secret of Thanatos (another fellow coursemate in Nizhny Novgorod.)

Dreams and Doubts

Back at school, we used to fill our yearly form about our weight, height, results (it still give me the gulps!) n our ambitions. 3 empty spaces to fill up every year. Mine will be always rotating between doctor, lawyer n architect. I didn’t put much thought about my ambitions. In fact, I hate doing my ‘what I want to be when I grow up’ essay (that is second to ‘if I has a million dollar’ btw). As kids, we were taught to have dreams, to have plans but they never teach us the reality of being something something. Doctor? Exclude the ’saving lives’ reason, being a doctor meaning u have to deal with deaths, you hardly have quality life – just like the overworked interns in Grey’s Anatomy but minus McDreamy or handsome Dr.Burke or Izzy ‘Dr.Model’ Stephens. I grew up wanting to be a doctor. Anything was possible if I just focus on it n never give up. I just never think that something anything is not meant for us all.

Every kid will be making their first real decision of what they want to be after SPM. The right program in the right college is the first step of ‘driving dreams’ kind-of thing. I always notice that there are two types of people – one who knows and the other who doesn’t know what they want to be. Of course, I know. And I didn’t understand why someone just doesn’t know. I mean, doing those daunting essays, filling those forms, endless questioning from nosy aunties and boring seminars….all these can’t make someone concern enough to ponder awhile about their life? I know my options even before ‘graduate’ from school. Actually, what I really want to be is an architect. My dad is in construction business. I grew up with Lego building my own ‘doll house’ n reading my dad’s blueprints. Geometries somehow can keep me focused for few hours. The more complicated it is, the better. And why I want to be a doctor instead? It is because I was scared of the ‘glass roof’. No matter how the world fights for gender equality, people still judge you by the gender. Life’s unfair so to speak. At that time, I feel it will be better to me to have an unfulfilled dream than having my dream tarnish by reality.

Maybe I choose to be a doctor because I was thinking of respect I’ll get. I hate office jobs. I like to be on the beat, making life-saving decisions. Thanks to E.R n Healing Hands (Chinese series), my interest grew. N that’s how I ended in Russia. After 2 years as a medical student, I made a huge decision n changed to dentistry instead. I realized myself I can’t do it. The reality of a doctor’s life kicked my door. I’m not sure I can deal it that the fact I may kill someone. I may make a wrong decision n end one’s life. Beside interest, you need to have the right character n attitude to be someone something. Right now, I don’t know whether this is the correct decision but this is it. The ultimatum.

People keep asking me why? Why? Why? N I could only mutter that my interest change. I’m tired to divulge any further about my decision n my life. Whether I regret it or not…is like asking whether I believe there will be the second coming of Jesus. There will be doubts at times. Painful doubts. All I can manage is to have faith. I have been on both side of the road. I have felt how green the grass on both side. I have lied to a lot of people that I never doubt myself. I have…ok. When things get tough, I doubt. When I watched House M.D n Grey’s Anatomy, I do regret that I won’t have the chance to step inside an operating theater n save someone’s life. I do doubt myself whether I can handle it – looking at people’s mouth everyday for the next 20-30years. When I look at skyscrapers or a very beautiful architecture, I do regret that I didn’t give myself a chance to fight for my dreams.

All these regrets n doubts…in the end, I know somehow I have to continue my journey. I can’t turn back. Even if I could, I won’t change my final decision. Because life is about choices n those choices are what it take to shape my life. Putting faith in our choices is our life’s ignition button – driving to our dreams.

In the future, I’ll graduate n I’ll start to practice. There will be times of painful doubts but at least, I know I’m ready to face it. I regretted I was once judging people who can’t decide or not fighting for their dreams. I was a hypocrite, I let go of my dream but I was judging others who did.

Is it better to do something you’re interest in and sacrifice your life, or doing something that is promising but not your dreams? Maybe this is something in life we just have to believe and endure it.