After Tsunami!

Selepas Tsunami (After the Tsunami) from Pusat KOMAS on Vimeo.

Best Yum Cha in Melbourne

The Age 

Date: 19/1/10

Found on this article on The Age today.

So the best according to their taste is...

The Yum Cha Directory

Best all-rounder Golden Dragon Palace
Best prawn dumpling David's
Best pork siu mai David's
Best pork bun East Imperial
Best vegetarian Mahjong & Oriental Tea House
Best condiment Red Door

Golden Dragon Palace
363 Manningham Road, Lower Templestowe 98524086
Food ****and a half
Atmosphere ****
Noise factor ***
Trolleys Yes
Yum cha Daily lunch (dishes $4.40-$9.80)

GDP's food is a cut above. Dumplings are flavour-packed parcels, the balance of flavour and texture just right, like soft pork siu mai and Shanghai dumplings with a hot burst of salty broth. Roast pork comes with crisp skin and the dessert trolley is loaded with favourites such as mango pancakes. The room is spacious with ornate wooden tables and chairs, and the service upbeat and friendly.

David's
4 Cecil Place, Prahran 95295199
Food *****
Atmosphere ****
Noise factor ***
Trolleys No (tray service Sun)
Yum cha Daily lunch (dishes $4.90-$13.90)

WHITE linen, oversized lamps, comfy chairs. David's is a premium yum cha experience, with a premium price tag, and it's worth every cent. Delectable, fleshy pork ribs are sticky and sweet with a rich plum sauce. Yielding pork siu mai has a succulent and gingery interior, juicy har gau come in perfectly pleated, green (spinach) wrappers, and green beans are fried with shrimp and Sichuan pepper. Excellent service caps it off.

What I will say, is that the best quality yum cha is in the suburbs, not in Little Bourke's Chinatown. Eating yum cha in Chinatown is like eating pasta in Lygon Street.

為下一代....Really?

When I was in my teens, I was flooded with the ideology of paving a better road for our next generation (為下一代). As I have grown out of my teenage years, I'm no longer very convinced with this ideology.

After a decade of observing my surroundings, my peers, my friends, my neighbours, and my community, I can only conclude that the ideology has bring more harm than good.

The ideology sort of started in the days where the Chinese are ruled by corrupted governments who would just suck every bit of money the peasants have at that time. So naturally, most Chinese are very poor and struggle to make ends meet. 

Hence came the ideas of "I've suffered enough! I don't wish to see my next generation suffers the same fate!". After that turning point, the Chinese are probably the most hardworking people in the world. Though they may not earn a lot but they work a whole lot more than others to save up savings for their kids to go to college, etc.

Gone are the days of reckoning, it should be a bright sunny day ahead! However, is it really so? Or the skies just turn gloomier & darker?

Just look around us. How lucky are those kids today? How pampered are the those kids today? How protected are those kids today? How terrible are those kids today?!

Parents have become slaves to their kids' demand. Filial piety is no longer a virtue but an added value for the parents if they "invested" right. Parents have become the genie, children is the Aladdin.

Many younger generations these days do not know how to be "a person". Their individualistic mindset together with the improper teachings from their parents have created a generations of useless spoilt brats.

Sadly, most Christians younger kids are not any better off too. Most of the Chinese parents mindset for the next generation is still very active in their mind. They don't care about the consequences or maybe I should say don't dare to accept the fact of reality of what they have transformed their children into.

I'm calling all young parents today to instill proper teachings to your kids in the early ages in order to restore order in the community. As it's written in the Book Of Proverbs:

Chapter 30: 
⁸ Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
       give me neither poverty nor riches,
       but give me only my daily bread.

 ⁹ Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
       and say, 'Who is the LORD ?'
       Or I may become poor and steal,
       and so dishonor the name of my God.

Let this be the guideline for everyone of us when deciding on how to help our next generations. We can start from ourselves before the situation becomes even worse than it already is.

Racism After 9/11

Just when we thought the Western world would have learnt its lesson from 9/11 regarding respecting and treating other races/nations with respect, it seems most have forgotten about 9/11! Probably what people said is right, most westerners have poor memories when compared to Chinese! 8 years seems too long for them to remember the valuable lesson!

Today, we are unfortunately treated without respect and pushed to the junks! Just because we are a group of Asians (Malaysian Chinese to be exact), they didn't have to treat us like how they did today. It's totally uncalled for and it provokes racism hatred!

Here's what transpired in this eventful Sunday:

We have regular bookings for the large gym in Collingwood College every Sunday from 9.15am to 11.15am EVERY Sundays except public holiday. Today, when we got there, we found out that there were table tennis tables in the middle of the court but no one was around.

So we rang the caretaker to find out what's the issue there. Rang twice but no answer. Then we checked whether there're any notices saying there're events today, nothing to be found. So we assume it was from the day before and the people just didn't pack up properly.

We started our games. Then around 10am, a group of Westerners stormed in demanding that we leave the premises immediately and put their tables back on.

The first sentence the old lady said was:

"We're not being racist here but...."

Yeah right! Who would expect you to be racist in the first place except deep inside your racist heart & mind, you knew yourself as a racist pig?!

She then talked loudly as if we are all deafs or as old as her and couldn't hear properly. Asked us to leave immediately, said she's calling the principal, blah blah blah~~! All of us were just dumbfolded by her over reactions!

After that, 3 other gentlement took over the conversation and admitted it wasn't our fault nor theirs but rather the college's irresponsible handling of this matter. The college NEVER informed us of this. They should at least given us a week's notice.

We're deeply disappointed with the college but even more so to the racist treatment that we all received today! We today are victims of incompetency and racism!

Being nice Christians, of course we didn't make things hard for everyone. We packed up and put their stuff back on. Now here am I back home, posting this blog for your information so you'd becareful next time! :P

p/s: not all westerners are racist. Only some probably least educated ones!

Lone Ranger's Walk

Today marks the 6th rounds I've done walking and praying for RMIT students in the city. It all started after Bishop's sermon about more than a month ago.

I must say, it's not easy to continue doing what I'm currently doing especially if you don't have others to do it together with you. You always feel discouraged or being tempted to just give up.

However, as I do my rounds today, I saw our brothers from the RMIT Christian Unions sitting behind their setup desks promoting their club. There were 4 of them there but nobody approaches them or anything. Most people treated them as invincible, or should I say transparent as a better description?

It reminds me of the days when RMIT CCCF was still active! However, at least the Chinese students are always happy to see us and wondering what are we doing there! Perhaps they long to see something of their background!

Anyway, my heart just drowned when I see such a picture. The world today rejects the truth or doesn't want anything to do with the truth. It saddens me to see such things happening. As I look around the faces fo the students in the campus, I see smiles and laughter but are they truly joyful inside? What happens when the people besides them are gone? What happens after the curtain closes? What happens when the lights are turned off?

I felt the Holy Spirit is raising my conscience and sensitivity. It triggers me to do more and more for the students and people in the City of Melbourne. I hereby call all of you to step up your game! Let's not be the spectator or "kay lei fay", be the role players that God want you to be!

Let's do it together. It's a lot easier than doing it by yourselves. Come talk to me to see what can we do for the City of Melbourne!

^{Matthew9: 37} Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.

Let us at least be the "few"! Let the Holy Spirit sets our hearts on fire!

Malaysia Going Backwards

Again, the flip flop government of Malaysia is mucking around. This time the education sector is the victim.

A few years ago, the govt decided that science n other importance subject were to be taught in English. Of course with the lack of quality English teachers (as my mum always said), it's not beyond any doubts that the students, especially from rural areas will be hugely disadvantaged by it.

Of course during that time, the Govt is too happy that they have move a large step forward in country developments that they have no time to worry about its implementations. This resulted in a deadlock.

No good English teachers, can't produce good students who can master English, meaning even less good English teacher in the future.

A lot of parents I assumed of Chinese and Indians background are crying foul by the decision of the education minister. I believe those who can afford will be sending their children to nearby countries or more English tuition.

As for me, I'd prefer most of the subjects to be taught in English. Having said that, lots of investment would need to be put into this.

Getting good quality English teachers, exchange programs, have those English speaking tourist to come for a few months to stay and teach english, etc. A lot of developing countries are doing the same thing. They know the risks of being incompetent in English.

What I think happened now in M'sia is politicians playing politics. The Malays are divided into 2 big groups now: pro UMNO and pro PR.

So the decision made so quickly without adequate consultation is most likely aimed in winning support from the Malays for the next by-election in a few days time.

The Govt is trying to promote the Malay language, well at least that's what they claimed. However, how many countries other than M'sia, Brunei and Singapore knows Malay? It's a language heading into extinction. Most people would rather learn Indonesian as the population that can speak Indonesian easily outnumbered Malay speaking people. Even Malays overseas don't even speak Malay!

All in all, Malaysia is going backwards again for the sake of short sighted goals. Flip flopping around like a bunch of clowns.

Even Dr M is unhappy at those clowns!

港式英語

Source: TVB News World
Date:8/6/09

The Contestant's e-mail contained a lot of Hong Kong English (港式英語),

我是 Lucy, I went to Miss Hong Kong first interview. Wah d judges very not polite and not nice law. Today I see a megazine saying this year's Girls so ugly. I saw many good and pretty girls there but they didn't choose ja ma. Don't choose mei suen law but the judge in first interview -- most very not polite to many young girls and to to me law. I only 18 the judges ask me to "why join Miss HK go and why not study la u only F7 ja wor how can fright with other wor." Also say my English bad … hurt die me.
Ho La, other girl tell me la, she study in University ok ga dou but little fat or short then the judge (woman) said " why you look fat or so short!" wah ho hurt ga ma.
One girl is a 博 士 student ar very high level and very nice ga dou cant get in second interview la. We think she will be in ga but she said no law. You can search her pic and my pic to see la. She gum high level duo ng dak, gum me ng duk duo rite gei but i think the whole choosing is not fair law, choose model mei? young yao inch', high study level yao inch, short yao inch … They onky choose rich girl law so bad.
We don't go and let them inch ga law if they need tall or high level people then why not put in the application form lei.
Waste time !
dou ng fair gei!
u can email me if u want.
Lucy

Stupidity At Its' Best

Source: The Age
Date: 6/5/09

LOCAL government officials in China have been ordered to smoke nearly a quarter of a million packets of cigarettes to boost the local economy during the global financial crisis.

The edict, issued by officials in Hubei Province, in central China, threatens to fine officials who "fail to meet their targets" or are caught smoking rival brands manufactured in neighbouring provinces.

Even local schools have been given a smoking quota for teachers, while one village was ordered to buy 400 cartons of cigarettes a year for its officials.

The edict, which flies in the face of national anti-smoking policies from Beijing, is aimed at increasing tax revenue.

In total, officials have been ordered to puff their way through 230,000 packs of Hubei-branded cigarettes worth about $812,000.

However the order was reported to have been rescinded yesterday. A notice on the Gongan government web site said the rule was introduced in March in an effort to crack down on fake cigarettes and illegal cigarette smuggling in the area, which is causing the government to lose revenue, but said it decided to scrap the edict since the article appeared. It did not elaborate.

Tobacco sales, the biggest source of government revenue, brought in $A82.4 billion in the first 11 months of 2008, up 18 per cent from 2007, according to the Communist Party's People's Daily newspaper. About 2000 people a day die from smoking-related illnesses.

================================================================

I've heard about Govt asking people to stop smoking but to force people to smoke and has a quota to fulfill, I think this is bloody ridiculous!

Sure the economy is bad, but surely there're better ways to get income for the Government?!

Maybe the over populated country wanted more to die so they have less people to take care of.

Smart! That's when people's life are not considered as worth it or meaningful! I guess that's what you get from a country that generally do not believe in God.

So much for education to build a nation.....

A Tribute To A Veteran (LSY)

Yesterday, 28/03/2009 marks another day where a veteran leader of our church has left us again, this time for interstate to Brisbane.

She first joined us back in 2002 and is one of the very few that has served in the church under 3 different pastors (Rev Chew, Rev Loi and Rev Ting). In Chinese, it's known as the 三朝元老. Certainly an amazing feat and great dedication she has showed for the church considering the high turnover of our church as our members are mainly international students.

Some of the ministries she has held over the past includes but not limited to:
1. Zone leader for 2 years
2. Local Conference Secretary
3. LCEC Secretary
4. Sunday School Superintendent
5. Small Group Leader
6. Choir member
7. Prayer meetings

Her "constant" laughing tone will certainly be missed most by us! However, the heart of a faithful servant will be forever remembered. We may also miss her cooking (remember the porcupine meatballs? :D)

We could only pray for her as she starts her new chapter of life and hopes that she will get used to the new environment soon. Let her heart continue to grow in Christ and be a role-model where ever she may be.

Oh, for those who don't know. Her name is Liew Sin Yee! :)

Afternoon Service

One of the much talked about issue at the moment: Should we vote for a change of service time to afternoon, instead of the current evening time?

Let's go back into history a bit and let's evaluate on the pros and cons.

History
When City Ministry, CM (now known as CLMC) started, the service was in the evening at 5pm. This is because CM was under Camberwell Methodist Church and they have services at 9am, 11am, and 1.30pm. They couldn't really fit in another slot in the morning due to lack of pastor resources.

As CM was like a nomad church, once we moved from different venues to different venues, our service times are started to be affected by the change. We slowly move to 6pm and then the current 7pm after English service took the 5pm slot when it was available.

So up to today, CLMC has 5pm English Service and 7pm Mandarin service, with an exception of 2007 where 1.30pm Mandarin service was introduced briefly.

Pros for afternoon service

• People can finish earlier (around 3pm)
• Public transport would still be plenty
• People won't be hungry during service as they would have eaten before coming
• More free time during evening/night

Cons for afternoon service

• Your whole day are basically "stuck". The service time is in the middle of the day, which made activities with longer hours not possible.
• People normally feel sleepy after having lunch and afternoon is normally nap time
  
• Morning sports session may need to be cancelled as other activities would be pushed to start earlier (eg, choir, Sunday school, etc).
  
• Less free time during the day

Summary
Now that we roughly seen the history, pros and cons. Let's think for a while and see which would be a more appropriate choice?

Some of the things we must consider before making such a big decision are:
1. Who is our target group? Inner city people or suburban? Family oriented or Student oriented?
2. What are we trying to achieve with afternoon or evening service?
3. What differences will the change create?
4. Where do we see our growth from now onwards? Are we outgrowing our capacity where a 2nd service might be needed?
5. How will the change be in line with our church vision & goals?
6. What are some other alternatives or compromise we could implement?
7. What do you really want to achieve from the change?
8. What are your motives in the change? For individual or church benefits?
9. Finally, how would it affect you as an individual with the change or not?

Anyway, since most of us wouldn't think so much. I'm hoping this would encourage most of us to start thinking deeply and ponder on the consequences of on a decision.

Melbourne Welcomes International Students

Attention all International students in Melbourne!

Source: Melbourne City Council

The City of Melbourne Welcome to International Students 2009

The City of Melbourne Welcome to International Students is a FREE event at Federation Square on Sunday, 1 March 2009.

Highlights include live performances by contemporary African dance band Musiki Manjaro, Brazilian dance performers Katumba, and bhangra DJ Rhythm and Spice.

Come along and enjoy a host of entertainment including roving performers, a live crocodile feeding and the launch of Essendon Football Club’s International Students Program. Lord Mayor Robert Doyle will also be there to personally welcome international students to Melbourne.

This is a special event that recognises and celebrates international students’ presence and contribution to the social and cultural life of our city. Join us on the day and meet other local and international students, be photographed as part of a gigantic human map of Australia and enjoy what promises to be a fun-filled afternoon!

Sunday, 1 March 2009
1pm to 4pm
Federation Square
Corner Swanston and Flinders Streets, Melbourne
Melway reference – Page 1B, Ref P11, Map 593

For more information contact:

Gary Lee
International Student & Youth Project Officer
City of Melbourne
Community and Culture
Families Children & Youth
Phone: (03) 9658 9092
Email: gary.lee@melbourne.vic.gov.au

International Students Booklet 2009 <-- Highly recommended

Is It Really Free?

Was just discussing some topics tonight and this phrase came out of my mind, not claiming any credit for it :P

Nothing comes free or cheap, it's at the costs of others

We, as typical Asians, are bargain hunters. We like to see the word "Mega Sales", "Closing down sales", and best of all "FREE"! Our eyes will hardly notice words like "Charity", "Donations" and not to mention "volunteer work".
But how many times do we ever think of how others are affected by the free or cheaper things? Do we ever care or know the consequences of others?

Imagine these few scenarios:
1. For fundraising purposes, they offer free BBQ hot dogs. Most Asians would just go for the hot dogs and ignore other stuffs for donations!
2. Shop has very few customers though we like the stuffs inside. We just wouldn't buy it. We wait for the "Closing down" sales to take advantage of the cheaper price.

The organiser or owner are bearing all the costs of the "free" or "discounted" items. They're either cutting profit or making a loss. So, in a way, I pity them.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not encouraging your to buy expensive items and feel good about it. There're unscrupulous businessmen out there trying to con consumers by baiting high retail prices.

It's totally up to your own judgement to see whether those things are worth the price or not. If it's worth the price, buy it and support them. Don't keep bargaining for the price. Be smart in making decisions.

Think about it, they need to make a living too. Don't squeeze the life out of them.

Reunion Dinner

One of the most important dinner in Chinese culture, the 30th Night Reunion dinner. Normally, family members from all over the place would gather in one location (where possible) to have reunion and dinner together. This is probably the only day of the 365 days throughout the year they can put aside their busy lifestyles and be with families.
Most Chinese would worship their ancestors prior to having dinner but for Chinese Christians, we normally just use this opportunity to be family members. In my case, we couldn't have any reunion dinner with our immediate family members because my parents are in Limbang (probably 9000km away) and my brother is in Perth!So we had a small reunion dinner with my intermediate family members (the Yap's) and few friends. After dinner, we played scrabble, in fact played twice! I was the runner up for the 1st game then emerged champion in the 2nd game! Maybe everyone's already tired by then!Throughout the night we had the CCTV Chinese New Year shows on. Creating the atmosphere so to speak! Some jokes in the sketch show is quite funny though! I understand from my friends in China, most people just stayed at home to watch this show instead of going out or go visiting friends!

Since most of us are Mahjong idiots, we didn't play mahjong. We played Big 2 (Chor Dai Di) instead. By the time we finished, it's already 12.45am! Luckily it is public holiday on Monday! Not because of CNY but Aust Day.

Happy Bull Year!

Wishing you all a very prosperous new year ahead! Let's all bull ahead into 2009 defying all odds and emerge as the victors!

Box Hill CNY Festival

Just went to have a look at the CNY festival in Box Hill, which was expecting about 60,000 people this time. Surely enough, there were quite a lot of people! We can hardly walk through the crowds!

Surely, the Council used Whitehorse Road instead of just Main Street which has created more space but it's still quite lacking. There were plenty of prams around as well. Not sure why they bother to bring their babies to such events? The babies wouldn't know anything? It's creating lots of "traffic" problems too!

Only went there around 7+pm as both of us were tired after whole day's work. Didn't get to see the actual opening ceremony or lion dance. But no regrets as I think we wouldn't be able to see anything anyway!

The food stalls were not as many as expected and most of them are selling roughly the same items. So, a bit disappointed in the food varieties. It's basically very frusfrating to even buy something to eat as we all know Chinese doesn't really have the habits of queueing up! It's the survival of the fittest, or should say survival of the selfish?

Creative game thought by a church to raise awareness of Christianity

Year Of The Ox

Time certainly flies in 2009 compared to 2008. It's already past mid-Jan already! Woo Hoo! In a few more days, the year of the Ox will takes over! Cows are going to moo moo here, moo moo there! As mentioned before in my previous post located here, there'll be a grand celebration in Box Hill on the coming 24th between 3pm to 3am 25th Jan. Guess we'll be walking there, don't think parking is the easiest thing for that day. Sad thing is I'm working that day 9-5.30pm!! Argh!! Should have given us the long weekend! :S

Some of the highlights for the celebration:

Come and enjoy Chinese food, performances and the creative talents of the Box Hill Chinese community. The fun will commence in the afternoon with entertainment over two stages, rides and up to a 100 food and handcraft stalls throughout the Box Hill Mall. A feature of the festival will be the lion and dragon dancers on the main stage, and a Choi Sun parade, with representation of the Chinese God of Financial Fortune. Sources here

Not only that, this year the Chinese New Year coincides with Australian Day on the 26th Jan so the Whitehorse council will have a firework & concert celebration as well. Kylie Minogue will be there too (not that I'm a fan of her :P)

The concert, to be held on the lawn in front of the Soundshell at the Whitehorse Civic Centre in Nunawading, on Monday 26 January 2009 commences at 6pm and features tributes to two of Melbourne’s most renowned musical talents and icons – John Farnham and Kylie Minogue. Sources here

Double celebration to start the 1st holidays of 2009! Not bad! Would be a good opportunity to play with our new Digital SLR camera! :D

The Happenings

Been reading the news (as usual) again today, found a few very interesting article. Let's have a look:

Police detained a man accused of chopping off the head of a tenant in his apartment today and then parading with it in the streets of Bangladesh's capital shouting, "I've killed my wife," officials said.When he returned home today his wife was not there, and he burst into the room of the 22-year-old tenant, Tuli, and severed her head with a sharp kitchen knife, Islam said. He then paraded with the head on the streets outside, he said. More

How scary was that? And you thought this could only happen in movies like Scream. It's happening all right, and it's REAL. Which reminds us, don't share a house with strangers! When you do get housemates, check his/her background properly first! Preferably only share with someone you knew for quite a bit of time! Not only for safety sake, but sometimes it can be habits that can really piss you off! Life's too short to get into such troubles.

In Malaysia:

KOTA BARU: The National Fatwa Council has ruled that tomboyism, where a girl behaves or dresses in a boyish manner, is forbidden in Islam.

Its chairman Datuk Dr Abdul Shukor Husin said the decision was prompted by recent developments as there had been cases of young women inclined to behave like men and indulging in homosexuality. More

Sometimes I wonder whether Christians should really thank the Muslims for being daring enough to do something that Christians wouldn't have the guts to do. Here we are proclaiming we are worshiping the only one true God in the whole universe but we don't even have the guts to stand for what we believe in. We too often compromised with the pressure by the public or trying to be politically correct!

I'm not sure how exactly will the above rule would help curb the tomboyism or homosexuality matters but certainly it's about making a point that Islam rejects it totally. I'm not a scientist or expert in this field so I couldn't comment too technically on those issues. However, from my personal belief, I do believe those behavior can be due to the environment of them growing up, their own mental desire or even naturally inherited. Having said that, I do not accept that by something that seems naturally inherited, it may be considered as something that's the "truth" or right in the eyes of God. I believe strongly, by the power of God, it can be fix and return to normal. The mess of the world needs to and can be restored one day (perhaps 2nd coming?). But, what's our Christian brothers doing about it? Quite a few are still debating among themselves whether this is acceptable or not, debating whether homosexual clergies can be ordained, etc. We should learn from the Muslims!

In Australia:

THE Federal Government is preparing an emergency plan to cope with the possibility that ABC Learning, the nation's biggest chain of child care centres, collapses. Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday said the Government was "working through contingencies" and closely monitoring the situation relating to ABC Learning, whose 1100 Australian centres provide care to 100,000 children. More

Child care centres might be closing soon. Smells like trouble! Some might say, another of Shawnism's idea to propose child care centres will be gone in ashes, ha ha!

Will it really be so? Not if you are a follower of Shawnism (He he! :P).

I'd be asking for more people to take up courses in child care management, early child hood teaching, etc to equip ourselves now. Long term plans should be drafted out and we should be looking for those who are willing to commit in this field be it professionals or volunteers. Of course, as a church, we need to listen to God's calling on whether we should go ahead with such heavy commitments. Then again, I couldn't see why not. I'd only be asking "When is the time".

As said in the Art of War, opportunity exists in time of crisis (危机). 危 - danger 机 - opportunity. So what better time to think about it than now? I believe we as Chinese especially needs to improve our skills & strengths in this area as we have been so lacking behind others. Let's bring glory to God!
In England:

The Britons who built the first car to break the sound barrier are back with plans to shatter their own record in a jet-powered land-rocket they're betting will be the first car to top 1,000 mph.

Royal Air Force pilot Andy Green will make his run for the record strapped into the Bloodhound SSC, a 42-foot-long missile powered by a rocket bolted to a jet engine. With 45,000 pounds of thrust available at full throttle, Bloodhound will hit 1,050 mph in just 41 seconds and cross the salt faster than a speeding bullet. More

Seriously, is there anything men can't do these days? It's just a matter of time before the record is broken. The question then is, will men have enough basic wisdom to first seek God's kingdom before it's too late?

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Translation by Google:

阅读新闻（一如往常）今天再次发现，一些非常有趣的文章。让我们看看：

警方拘留了一名男子被控削除负责租客在今天他的公寓，然 后游行与它在街上孟加拉国首都高喊： “我已经杀我的妻子， ”官员said.When他今天回国他的妻子是没有，他冲进房间的22岁的租客，图利，并断绝了与她的头急剧菜刀，伊斯兰教说。然后，他标榜的头部以外的 街道，他说。更多

如何可怕的是什么？你认为这只能发生在像呐喊电影。它发生的所有权利，它的真实。这提醒我们，不同意房子与陌生人！当你 真的合租，检查他/她的背景妥善第一！最好只与某人分享你知道的相当多的时间！不仅为安全起见，但有时它可以习惯，才能真正小便你了！生命太短，无法进入 等问题。

在马来西亚：

哥打讯：国家法特瓦安理会裁定， tomboyism ，其中一个女孩的行为或礼服在孩子气的方式，禁止在伊斯兰教。

其主席拿督阿都拉Shukor胡辛说，这个决定是由于最近的事态发展是有例年轻女性倾向于表现得象男人和沉迷于同性恋。更多

有时候，我想知道是否真的基督徒应该感谢穆斯林正在大胆足够做一些基督徒不会有胆量这样做。我们在这里宣布，我们崇拜的只有一个真正的上帝在整个宇宙中，但我们甚至没有胆量立场，我们相信我们也往往与压力的公共或试图在政治上是正确的！

我 不知道到底如何将上述规则将有助于遏制tomboyism或同性恋的问题，但肯定它是一个点，伊斯兰教完全拒绝。我不是一个科学家或专家在这一领域，所以 我不能发表评论技术上也对这些问题的。然而，从我个人的信仰，我相信这些行为可能是由于他们的环境成长，自己的心理愿望，甚至自然继承。话虽如此，我不接 受的东西，似乎自然继承，它可能被认为是这是“真相”或右的眼神中的上帝。我坚信，由上帝的力量，它可以修复并恢复正常。混乱的世界需要和能够恢复一天 （也许是第二次来了吗？ ） 。但是，什么是我们的基督教兄弟做什么呢？不少仍然在它们之间进行辩论，这是否接受与否，讨论是否同性恋clergys可祝，等我们要学习的穆斯林！

在澳大利亚：

联邦政府正准备一项紧急计划，以应付可能学习美国广播公司，全国最大的连锁幼儿中心，倒塌。副总理朱莉娅吉拉德昨天表示，政府“工作通过应急”和密切留意有关情况，有关美国学习，其1100年澳大利亚中心提供护理100000儿童。更多

幼儿中心可能会很快结束。气味一样麻烦！有些人可能会说，另一个Shawnism的想法提出幼儿中心将消失在灰烬，哈哈！

它会不会真的会这样吗？没有如果你是一个追随者Shawnism （他他！ ：对） 。

我 会要求更多的人拿起课程幼儿管理，幼儿教学罩等，作好现在。长期计划应起草和我们应该寻找那些谁愿意致力于在这一领域无论是专业人员或志愿者。当然，作为 一所教堂，我们需要倾听上帝的要求，我们是否应该继续这样沉重的承诺。再说，我不明白为什么不能。我只能问： “是什么时间” 。

至于说，在孙子兵法，机遇存在着危机时刻（危机） 。危-危险机-机会。那么更好的时间来考虑这个问题比现在？我相信，我们作为中国特别需要提高我们的技能和长处在这方面我们已经落后，使缺乏等等。让我们带来荣耀的上帝！
在英格兰：

英国人是谁打造了第一台汽车，以突破音障又回到计划打破自己的纪录，飞机供电土地火箭他们投注将是第一个汽车前1000公里。

英国皇家空军飞行员安迪绿色将使他的竞选纪录绑到警犬南南合作， 42英尺长的导弹采用螺栓火箭的喷气发动机。随着四点五○○万磅推力可在全油门，警犬将达到1050英里每小时只需41秒和跨盐速度比子弹。更多

严重的是，有什么男人不能做这些天？这只是一个时间问题的记录被打破了。接下来的问题是，将男人有足够的基本智慧，首先寻求上帝的王国之前，为时已晚？

Melbourne's Crazy Weather

I thought I was the only one feeling the chill last night. I had to wear socks to keep my feet warm! Luckily I got it from SIA during my trip to Korea, I lost the ones I got a few years ago from SIA. It turns out that the temperature was way below average for the month of October!

Victoria has awoken to a chilly start this morning, with temperatures falling to as low as minus 6 degrees in the alpine regions.

While Melbourne recorded a minimum of 6.6 degrees overnight, other areas failed to nudge zero.

The town of Dartmoor, near the South Australian border, recorded its coldest October temperature in two years, reaching just minus 4 degrees, while notoriously chilly Ballarat only reached minus 2 degrees.

Weatherzone meteorologist Jessica Trevena said Victoria's alpine areas were six to seven degrees below average overnight, with Mt Buller reaching minus 4.

Coldstream, in Melbourne's north-east, was still only 1.5 degrees about 6am, and in Melbourne's north, temperatures at Tullamarine were 1.5 degrees about 6.30am.

Just as we are nearing to Summer, it suddenly just drops like how the share market is today. What it normally means is it's a warning sign for us that hot days in waiting for us ahead in the Summer!

Meanwhile....

Temperatures are set to warm up towards the weekend, with a forecast of 25 degrees for Melbourne tomorrow, increasing to 30 degrees on Saturday.

For those who doesn't have A/C at home, tough luck people! It's going to be another HOT HOT Summer ahead! Need to be careful of the UV rays as well!
It seems that we are unlikely to be doing outdoor BBQ in the summer now. Total fire ban all over the place. Maybe we need to organise cold drinks gathering ;)

Deaths by heatwave are pretty common in the pre-50s era here in Melbourne. It's not something very common these days in Australia. Sources can be found here.

In 2003, the death by heatwave in Paris was huge! Refer below:

PARIS (AP) — The death toll in France from August's blistering heat wave has reached nearly 15,000, according to a government-commissioned report released Thursday, surpassing a prior tally by more than 3,000. More.

However, if the temperature do get unbearable, do let us know! Maybe we can open our house for everyone to enjoy the A/C or we could go to the beach together to enjoy the cool water! Let's all have an enjoyable summer! Chinese New Year celebration will be on 24th Jan 2009 in Box Hill, with this year is going to be bigger than ever! Let's come to Box Hill!

THE Chinese New Year celebrations are coming back to Box Hill and organisers hope it will be “bigger and better than ever”. A funding row scuppered the event this year, but the dragon is set to roar through Box Hill again on January 24 for celebrations expected to attract more than 60,000 people.

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Translation by Google:

我想我是唯一的一个感觉寒冷昨晚。我不得不穿袜子让我的双脚温暖！幸好我从新航在我访问韩国，我失去了的我在几年前从新航。原来是这样的温度低于平均水平10月份！

维多利亚已经苏醒了这个寒冷的早晨开始，气温下降到低至零下6度的高寒地区。

虽然墨尔本录得的最低6.6度，一夜之间，其他地区没有推为零。

镇达特穆尔，附近的南澳大利亚州边界，记录10月寒冷的温度在两年内，达到公正零下4度，而众所周知的寒冷巴拉瑞特只达到零下2摄氏度。

Weatherzone气Jessica Trevena说维多利亚的高山地区有6至7度，夜间低于平均水平，与布勒山达到零下4 。

科尔德斯特里姆，在墨尔本东北部，仍只有1.5度，大约早上6点，并在墨尔本的北部， Tullamarine温度为1.5度，大约上午06时30 。

正如我们正在接近夏季，它突然像刚才滴如何股市场的今天。它通常是指它是一个警告信号，我们认为热天的等待着我们未来的夏季！

与此同时....

气温也将热身，争取在周末，预计25度，明天墨尔本，增加至30度，星期六。

对于那些谁不拥有的 A/C 的家庭，艰难的运气的人！这将是另一个热点夏热未来！需要小心的紫外线以及！
看来，我们是不可能这样做户外烧烤在夏季现在。共计禁止一切火灾的发生。也许我们需要举办冷饮收集; ）

热浪死亡人数相当常见的前50时代在墨尔本。这不是很常见这些天在澳大利亚。来源可以在这里找到。

在2003年，死亡的热浪在巴黎是巨大的！参见如下：

巴黎（道琼斯） -死亡人数在法国从8月份的起泡热浪已达到近1 5000，根据政府委托周四公布的报告，超过先前统计的超过3 000个。更多。

但是，如果温度真的无法忍受，这样让我们知道！也许我们可以打开我们家的人人享有的A / C或我们可以去海滩一起享受凉爽的水！让我们所有有一个愉快的夏天！中国新年庆祝活动将在2009年1月24日在博士山，今年将是有史以来规模最大的一次！让我们来博士山！

在中国新年庆祝活动都回来盒希尔和组织者希望这将是“更大，更好比以往任何时候都” 。融资连续6-1活动今年，但龙将通过信箱轰鸣声再次希尔1月24日的庆祝活动预计将吸引超过60000人。

How high can we go?

Just read a piece of article today about the world's soon-to-be tallest building! Have read this elsewhere sometime ago but didn't really catch my attention then. After all, there's always a "sky above a sky"!

This time, suddenly it just strikes me about the same thing about the Tower of Babel.

According to the biblical account, Babel was a city that united humanity, all speaking a single language and migrating from the east; it was the home city of the great king Nimrod, and the first city to be built after the Great Flood. The people decided their city should have a tower so immense that it would have "its top in the heavens.

The height of the building in Dubai is going to over 1KM in height! It's the size of 2 Taipei 101 building! Let's look from other sources, how high Tower of Babel might be...

The Book of Jubilees mentions the tower's height as being 5433 cubits and 2 palms, or nearly 2.5 kilometers.

A typical mediaeval account is given by Giovanni Villani (1300): He relates that "it measured eighty miles round, and it was already 4,000 paces high and 1,000 paces thick, and each pace is three of our feet." ^[13]. The 14th century traveler John Mandeville also included an account of the tower, and reported that its height had been 64 furlongs (= 8 miles), according to the local inhabitants.

Nobody knows the exact height of the Tower of Babel but one thing for sure, it's definitely HUGE! It's also known as the tower that unites Mankind!

However, the purpose of the tower was not to praise or worship God, it was more for men to show off their ability. Hence, God confused them by giving each person a different language. That's where the origin of different languages come from.

So, how about the Dubai tower today? Is it not built to show there's no limit on how high one can be? With men trying to break the limits, men tends to forget God. I ponder what will God do this time? Or will God let them built the tallest building in the world? How hard it is for this generation to accept Christ or be humble before God!!

The gospel baton is now passed to the Chinese (according to many). What are we Chinese people doing about it? Do we want other nations to help us carry the baton? Beijing Olympics have proven that Chinese are capable of carrying the Olympic flame, but can we carry the Spiritual Flame? Are we ready or are we still sleeping? People are building high for themselves, are we digging a hole to put our heads in?

Time to Rise Up!
Nowadays, China boasts the largest Christian population in the world, numbering well over 50,000,000. In the past few centuries, droves of Western missionaries have written many glorious pages in the history of world mission not only by their sweat and some even by their blood, laying down their very lives for the sake of spreading the gospel. The 21st century should be the time for Chinese Christians to act.

In Seize the Baton, Rev. Richard Webster, a retired American missionary, exhorted Chinese Christians not to be self-centered, labouring over worldly plans, but to take heed of the Great Commission and seize the "gospel baton" for His glory.

Chinese Christians might be hired late as the workers who were hired at the eleventh hour in the vineyard (Mt. 20:1-16), let us serve faithfully with those who have started first, striving to work to His satisfaction! More