Two friends, with utter bona fide I am sure, hinted that I may perhaps be tad too judgmental and exhort me to change myself first.

I hear in them Jesus' words, "first take ...   more »

Door latch of one of the pre-war houses near Swatow Lane

Abandoned building near Penang Plaza

Penang is really a beautiful place. One of the reason why I enjoyed Road to Dawn (Chinese: ye ming) was because the movie showcased my picturesque home state.

But I think the true beauty of Penang lies in the strength of our spirit, the spirit of the people.

We were the most fervent supporters of Dr. Sun Yat Sen's Tung Meng Hui and contributed (with Singapore) nearly a quarter of the total funds of the KMT revolution in China. Penang was also the base from which Dr. Sun retreated after his ninth (and probably earlier) defeat and it was from here than he recuperate and planned for his Canton Revolution. Although the Canton Revolution failed, it was the immediate stepping stone to the double-10 Wuchang Revolution which succeeded in toppling the Qing government in 1911.

Penang was also the first state in Malaysia to be captured by the Opposition party (People's Movement Party, Parti Gerakan Malaysia - the party had since joined Barisan Nasional in the 70s) in 1969 under Tun Dr. Lim Chong Eu.

We're probably the earliest colony in the whole of SEA to have an advanced public transportation system of electric trams and trolleys. Now our state government is talking about electric train and light rail transports, looks like our development consists of looking backwards to our glorious past.

And not to forget, the world's oldest chinese newspaper Kwong Wah Yit Poh (originally from Myanmar!), the country only alternative-view publication ALIRAN magazine, all these were "borned" in Penang.

Selamat Tuhan kurniakan
Selamat Pulau Pinang... (The opening lines of our State Anthem)

May the spirit of the Penang people continue to inspire generations to come to always uphold human dignity against oppressive powers.

If it is an unjust law you would abolish, that law was written with your own hand upon your own forehead. You cannot erase it by burning your law books nor by washing the foreheads of your judges, though you pour the sea upon them. And if it is a despot you would dethrone, see first that his throne erected within you is destroyed. - Khalil Gibran, The Prophet

The Reb is here with the Methodist TRAC for their little big annual excursion. In a recently published 2005 CFM conference paper, Hwa Yung highlighted a 3-point action plan towards national integration. Great stuff. Well, hope the TRAC-ies will have a good time and be inspired by the spirit of Penang to continue to live out the Wesleyan social vision. And at the same time enjoy beautiful Penang with all the bestest food in the world!

I wonder what goes in the minds of worshippers as we raised our hands, jumpily sing,

"He is enthroned on righteousness,
He is enthroned on justice..."

I have been taught ...   more »

Because I love you, I walked with you for a better future for us.

Lonely Journey - Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang walking with his son Lim Guan Eng, Gen-Sec of DAP and a few unidentified aides after the rally. I salute Kit Siang as a true Patriot and Stateman of Malaysia. YB Kit Siang, kau Negarawan!

Faith @ Work - Rev Wong Fong Yang (centre) at the rally. We are not trying to topple the government, we are asking for what is good and right. Rev Wong wrote: "It would be silly for .... Christians to remain silent. A day would come when the country is liberated and they would not have a voice in nation building because they failed to show solidarity with the people."

Dirty Shoes and Dirty Feet - But we are BERSIH. JR and I walked together that day, one of the best date we ever had.

Brothers hand-in-hand - The boys from Unit Amal (in red berets) forming a human chain at the front line to protect the BERSIH participants from any unruly acts of the Red Helmets behind them.

Men (and Women) against Machine - the police copters (2-3 of them) were hover rather low to drown the voices of the leaders' speech and the chant of the BERSIH participants.

Rakyat BERSIH - Participants of the rally were from all walks of life, every race and age group, men and women, every states in Malaysia. It is however a pity that non Malays do not come in larger numbers.

Hidup Rakyat! Daulat Tuanku! - Takkan Malaysian hilang di dunia

... all citizens have the right to assemble peaceably and without arms - Article 10 (1) b), Federal Constitution of Malaysia

Walking towards progress - contrary to the report from the mainstream press, for most of the time, the BERSIH march was calm and unobstructive to the traffic.

Police State - Who is obstructing the traffic? The police who blocked and closed up roads or the peaceful BERSIH participants who marched systematically with Unit Amal operating with high efficiency as traffic wardens and crowd controllers.

Raja itu Rakyat, Rakyat itu Raja - the BERSIH particpants listening to a short speech by Anwar Ibrahim while congregating outside the Istana Negara

CDPC @ BERSIH

lead by our Pastor Rev Wong Fong Yang (he's not in the photo, a reliable source had it that he managed to trail the BERSIH leaders nearly up to the Istana gate).

Read my reflection here

Derasnya arus Sungai Kelang
Deras lagi Gelombang Kuning
Suara Rakyat kini berkumandang
Basah dahi basah kening.
Dari Perlis hingga ke Sabah
Suara Rakyat takkan padam
Biarpun jatuh, biarpun rebah
Menuntut Demokrasi dan Keadilan.
Awas Kerajaan gilakuasa,
Awas Menteri Makan-Rasuah
Hari ini engkau berleluasa
Esok engkau porak peranda

And do read up the live updates which I fed to chongeng.org during the whole event to counter whatever lies and misinformation that the official press will spurn. I was blogging with my Dopod 818PRO using Maxis GPRS. : )

Go google and youtube for the news and images and video footages of the event since our mainstream journalists claimed to have their hands tied and could do nothing about the freedom of press in Malaysia. Welcome to the age of citizen journalism, we don't need TV3 or RTM or the Star or NST.

It's a good day today, early check out from work (4pm!).

Met up with a potential buyer for a property my friend and I are brokering...(ahem...if only Kar Yong sees this)

Received this from Yang Jerng (thanks mate!)

Looking forward to getting Social Intelligent by Dennet sometime next month (Christmas present anyone??)

Received this from Yew Kong (thanks buddy!)

JR found a printer willing to do our shirt for us! We are heading South for the Bersih rally this Saturday and will be wearing tshirts we designed ourselves...more about this later...