He Was One Of Us

Blessed Christmas! December, the month of the year for ME! *beaming* Attached is a poem I grew up with, from a poem book my mum gave me long ago, just thought of sharing another one here, for CHRISTmas :)

He was born as little children are
And lived as children do,
So remember that the Savior
Was once a child like you,
And remember that He lived on earth
In the midst of sinful men,
And the problems of the present
Existed even then;
He was ridiculed and laughed at
In the same heartbreaking way
That we who fight for justice
Are ridiculed today;
He was tempted…he was hungry…
He was lonely…He was sad…
There’s no sorrowful experience
That the Savior has not had;
And in the end He was betrayed
And even crucified,
For He was truly “one of us”-
He lived on earth and died;
So do not heed the skeptics
Who are often heard to say:
“What does God up in Heaven
Know of things we face today”…
For, our Father up in Heaven is very much aware
Of our failures and shortcomings
And the burdens that we bear;
So whenever you are troubled
Put your problems in God’s Hand
For He has faced all problems
And He will understand.

~ Helen Steiner Rice ~

May all who really celebrate CHRISTmas to never never never use the word --- Xmas. It’s sad to see how the world really deleted the most important element of the season…Christ.

I remember as a child who just learnt my alphabet, I did ask my mum what does “Xmas” mean, and she say “Christmas”. Never did I question beyond her answer. Only few years back, I truly understand the meaning behind it. Christmas – Christ = Xmas. Sad rite? :(

Hey, Christmas is in the corner & I’m home for Christmas! Nothing beats the warmth of family and friends getting together. *smiling from ear to ear*!

Heavenly Taste!

Yummm....indulgence! It's sinfully delicious...I'll just forget bout counting calories and nutrition content while relishing this creamy, crunchy, rich & cold Mcflury...a mix-in dessert -----Cornetto Mcflurry (chocolate, at left bottom)!!!!

Grace Upon Grace

Grace upon grace, was the theme for FES 45th Anniversary, thanksgiving + dinner. So many testimonies from all who was and is blessed by this faithful group of God's servant. Reaching out to campuses and colleages.

Meeting up with FES staffs is always a warm feeling, they make you feel that you have known them for years! Well, maybe 3 weeks up the highlands once upon a time was really the moment of a lifetime that bonds and transform everyone from all walks of life, with the divine touch from Him all differences desolved in thin air.

I was truly glad to have a golden opportunity to meet up with old friends, met some new friends which is somehow "hyperlink" to my old friends....Friendship is really like a circle, it all comes around and makes this world...though so diverse in nature, yet so divinely closely knitted by Him.

At the end of a meaningful day of rememberance of how God has lead and guide all of us. Everyone left with a smile that would shine thru any adversity and darkness.

The theme song, really stayed with me...and it's still vibrating in my heart :)

Find Us Faithful (Steve Green)

We're pilgrims on the journey
Of the narrow road
And those who've gone before us line the way

Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary
Their lives a stirring testament to God's sustaining grace
Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses
Let us run the race not only for the prize
But as those who've gone before us
Let us leave to those behind us
The heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives

CHORUS:
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave
Lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey

Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone
And our children sift through all we've left behind
May the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover
Become the light that leads them to the road we each must find

Choking *cough* *cough*

The air in KL....*cough*! No words to express...the way it makes my throat dry. Just one thought i had was......imgaine....if all smokers quit smoking, wouldn't it make a big different to the quality of the air we all breath?

I wonder...how can a person smoke....even when the traffic's so heavy...air already polluted...hard to inhale...yet someone will be there, lighting a cigarate, puffing away. Even worst, when eating in the restaurant today, i also realised so many of the smokers smoking away...ignoring ppl who are trying to breath & eat at the same time. Besides that, at the hills and mountain trying to breath in fresh air once in a while, there'll be ppl puffing away. Sad case.

Smoking Worse Than Exhaust for Air Pollution, Italian Tests Show Cigarettes Emit 10 Times More Particulate Matter, Aug. 23, 2004.

• "Environmental tobacco smoke is a major source of particulate matter pollution."
• The cigarettes produced 10 times as much particulate matter as the auto, comparing the first hour after starting the engine with the first hour after lighting the cigarettes.

What are the two big diseases you think of being related to smoking?

• Heart disease holds first place
• Researchers report that worldwide, there were 1,690,000 premature deaths from cardiovascular disease among smokers in the year 2000.
• Smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer
• Lung cancer now surpasses breast cancer as the number one cause of death among women
• Secondhand smoke is the third leading cause of lung cancer and responsible for an estimated 3,000 lung cancer deaths every year.

(http://www.webmd.com/asthma/news/20040823/smoking-worse-than-exhaust-for-air-pollution)(http://www.epa.gov/iaq/radon/healthrisks.html & http://quitsmoking.about.com/cs/nicotinepatch/a/healthrisks.htm)

Spreading my wings

It's been 3 weeks since i've step into my department. I'm on payroll!!! *grin*. Fitting in and getting acustom to system & areas of responsibilties was fun i should say (though tiring). Still learning to spread my wings, eager to fly to greater heights, but also taking only 1 step at a time.

HKL is so huge, all departments are so spread out...and there's no time to wait for the shuttle service..And usually the patient's bedside is our working area, meaning...we are always standing on our feet! Only in out patient, there's chance to sit. Hence at end of the day, i just feel like lifting my legs high up to return all the blood that accumulated in my feet.

The funny thing is...I got myself lost in HKL many times....but as i'm wearing my tag, i can assess to anywhere, so getting lost and venturing into other's territory is not a concern as long as i find my way in the end. Patients/visitors also pening kepala when they are trying to find their way, whenever they ask me...most of the time i'm as blur as they are...hope i'll learn the bearings there ASAP.

Lately i've felt like i am a walking air filter machine in KL. The air quality is really bad...and walking fr department to next department to see patient often require me to walk on roads. And i'm depending on public transport daily (KTM & LRT...sometimes taxi), so there's lots of walking by the road and filtering KL air. I sometimes joke that i might need a lung transplant very soon! A hospital should not be built in such congested & polluted place...pity the patients sometimes...especially those in non-airconditioned wards.

All in all, i'm real happy to be able to learn from great dietitians above me. Their pro-activeness, ethics, passion...unbelievable :) *cheers* to all of you!

New Dimension of LiFe

Selamat Hari Merdeka! Thinking of this as a perfect moment to start a new blog. Wanted to start a new blog as my old blog @ http://www.jlcheong.friendster.com/ might be a bit annoying to some friends when updates alerts everyone in my friends list in friendster.

Malaysia is now 1/2 a century old, cheers! It has been a long journey of 50 years for M'sia and 25 years for me :) Development in M'sia has definitely been in leaps and bounce in certain part of the country, mainly in cities. But holistically speaking, we are still much far from the true meaning of independance. Well, i don't have enough room here to speak in details. It's sad to see that we are still taking avantage of those in the rurals, the natives, the poor, the unfortunates etc...Being a multiracial country is never easy, true racial intergration is still a prayer away. And i'll never stop praying for M'sia. May be it's because this is home ground, m'sia has won my affection despite all her weaknesses, she has her own beauty.

Soon, i'll be part of the working society in M'sia. Just released from my campus...my refuge...a place somehow in certain ways, we were sheltered from the snares in the real working world, and now is the time to take my 1st flight into the open air...1st plunge into the open water. Is this also called independance? And independance always come with responsibility. Hope that the 1st step of this long journey start of well. *Exhale*.... Amist all the uncertainties and ever-changing-circumtances, it's my comfort and joy that i can always rely on a never changing God. Amen!

But You are always the same...(Hebrews 1:12)...the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).