Limitations

Last night I decided to watch Twilight. I had intended to watch only a few minutes of the movie while I unwind to get ready for bed, as I've heard from some friends that it's not a particularly good movie—they said that there's nothing special in it. Unfortunately, my curiosity got the better of me and I ended up watching the whole movie. By the time I got into bed, it was almost midnight.

When the alarm clock rang at 5am this morning, I had to drag myself out of bed. I was still feeling tired and sleepy, but I had to go for my long run at the Likas jogging track. And today, according to the training programme, I had to do 20km.

At times like this morning, I felt like giving my long run a miss. It's not like I'm aiming for a big prize money or fame. In fact, if I can finish the 42km on October 11, I'd be getting a finisher medal and probably a T-shirt with some fancy words on it so that I can boast to some friends that I've run the marathon. It seems like so much agony to go through for such a small returns. The training can be quite punishing most of the time, and each time I do the long run I really have to struggle to complete it!

This will be my very first full marathon, and I don't know if I am ever gonna do it again if I can conquer it this time round. I suppose if my body allows me, I will keep it going. It's a great challenge and it's just not like me to give up so easily. If I must, I will limp or crawl to the finish line.

I bumped into an old school mate this morning at the jogging track shortly after I completed my 20km. I hadn't seen him in ages. He was doing his brisk walking together with his kids. We started talking about the good 'ol days in school and then we finally talked about the inevitable subject—that I'm running my first full marathon this year. He gave me that look, if you know what I mean.

He said, "Cornelius, you should realise that you are not young any more. You're, what, in your mid-forties now? It's not such a good idea to pick up this marathon thing at this age. If you must try, you should've done it years ago." And then he added, "You should learn to know your limitations at your age."

Well, I suppose he has a point there. Obviously I can't compare myself to those teenagers who never seem to run out of energy for this kind of activities. And I have nothing to prove, really. Who knows, I might just drop dead from exhaustion one of these days.

Then again, I thought to myself, if he can do it at his age, then I should at least try to do it too. If I can achieve 10% of what he has achieved, then I would consider that I have achieved a great deal.

Pleasant Surprise

It was shortly after the lunch break this afternoon when I got a pleasant surprise from my staff at the office. They brought in a huge durian cake (not just durian-flavoured; it was really durian—its main ingredient was durian!) with a candle on it into my office while singing the Happy Birthday song.

I don't think I have ever had a surprise birthday cake in my entire life before this, especially from my staff at the office. What's even more fantastic was that the cake had a "We Love You" on it. I've been trying to be kind to all of them all these years, but I didn't know that they actually love this boss. I hope they really meant it (smile).

However, although most people, when caught in such a situation, would probably become overwhelmed by emotions—perhaps even becoming dramatic with tears and all that—I did not cry. Not even close. Maybe that had a lot to do with my confusion with this whole surprise idea. You see, the fact is that my birthday falls on the 24th of this month. That's 2 weeks from today!

For a very brief moment, I thought I'd forgotten my own birthday and got the dates wrong by a margin of 2 weeks! I actually took out my identity card and showed it to my staff, some of whom insisted that my birthday is on the 12th of this month (this coming Sunday). But when they saw the information found on my identity card, they were convinced that their boss is still not senile—at least not yet!

Upon further investigations, it turned out that they were mixed up between my birthday and Mia's. You see, July is a very significant month for my household. Mia's birthday is on the 12th. JJ's on the 13th, and mine's on the 24th. And of course not forgetting the wedding anniversary on the 4th. So all these dates are within the month of July. See? I can still remember these important dates!

I couldn't decide whether I was more surprised by the mistaken date or the durian birthday cake. In the end, I told my staff I'd photocopy my identity card and paste it on the notice board near the tea room, so that if they ever want to plan anything like this again in the future, they will at least get the date right.

Anyway, the cake was brilliant! I don't mind to have a second celebration in 2 weeks' time (smile). Well, it seems that I have turned 44 two weeks earlier. So I'll have to wait a little longer than a year before I can celebrate my 45th birthday.

Predictable

I am fairly certain that most people must have predicted that the government would make the about turn in policy relating to the teaching of maths and science in Malaysian schools.

About a month ago, I posted "Shocking Revelation?" in which I discussed the issue of making English a must-pass subject in our schools. When I ended that post, I expressed my doubts if it will ever happen.

I suppose if the government continued with the policy of the teaching of maths and science in English, many of the rural kids will be disadvantaged, because we just don't have enough teachers at the moment. The kampung kids will probably do badly in school; and then maybe the Bumiputras including the Malays, Ibans, Dayaks, Kadazans, Muruts etc will also find it very tough. The poor grades would look bad on the education ministry. That is certainly a no-no. Meanwhile, those rich and powerful poeple sitting in high office will send their children to foreign schools and universities.

However, it seems that there will be more emphasis in the English language from now on. Just imagine how serious the government is—they're increasing the English hours for matriculation students by a whopping 100%! Which means the poor kids will now have to struggle with 6 hours of English each week! I'm sure that can help a lot in improving their English command. I'm not sure if the government is still pursuing the "must-pass English" issue.

Well, looks like I'll have to start saving even more so that when my JJ grows up, hopefully I would have enough savings to send her abroad too. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise. It is good that the majority of Malaysians can't handle English, so that the few that can can become the sought-after people in the job market in time to come.

But that is of course assuming that the government will not make yet another about turn after the year 2012. They have the habit of doing that, you see. They keep coming up with new policies which are not really new. And now that we have a new policy in our education system, we can all look forward to better performances from the kids. But of course whether or not their certificates will be of any use remains to be seen.

God, Religions & Faith

SOME of my readers don't necessarily agree with my views, and although most of them don't comment in this blog, they do write to me occasionally via emails. Some of those emails in the past have led to interesting debates, whereas others were just plain criticisms with no room for discussions.

Amongst others, I've been severely criticised because of my views on religions in general. At other times, I have also been criticised because of my other opinions which were closely related to religious issues such as this and this. Every now and then, some new readers would stumble upon these articles, and then decide to write to me about them.

I have, through my replies to some of my readers, explained my position as far as God, religions and faith are concerned, but perhaps in the hope of sparing myself from repeating my explanation to some of my readers over and over again via emails, I thought maybe I might as well do it openly here now.

Firstly, the all important topic—God. I can't help but feel that my readers are unaware of my belief as far as God is concerned. Some of you have written to me, trying very hard to convince me of the existence of God. To be quite honest, I'm unsure of God's existence up to now. And therefore, I don't believe in religions—all of them. However, I'm inclined to believe in a creator. If that creator is God, then I suppose I do believe in God. My belief in a creator is not based on actual proof of his existence—I have never seen God with my own eyes, but I'm just guessing His existence based on indirect "evidence".

I see life, this world, everything in this universe as something which cannot happen by accident. Don't get me wrong, I am a believer of evolution. I'm convinced that it's absolutely possible that when some atoms react with each other at the right temperature, pressure and other conducive conditions, it is possible to create, say, a molecule. It is then possible for those molecules to react with one another to form other compounds, say amino acids. Futher reactions probably can lead to the formation of proteins and so on and so forth. It may take thousands and thousands of years, or even millions of years to form an amino acid. That is OK, I can accept it. All this can happen by accident. But then life is a bit different. I somehow can't believe that life happened by accident. Looking at the complexity of life—even that of a bacteria—I'm guessing that it must have happened by design—not out of a series of accidents. That's why I can believe in a creator. However, I have no material proof of it. I only believe it out of faith that it must be so!

Secondly, as far as religions are concerned, I must admit that I don't believe any of them. The Gods of the religions are essentially conceited beings who crave to be worshipped. At least that's how I see it. The Gods of the religions tell their subjects that they will be welcomed into heaven, but only if they followed the rules. And the most important rule of all is to accept God; to love him unconditionally, to fear him and worship him. If this all-important rule is not adhered to, then the kingdom of heaven will be out of the question, no matter how kind-hearted you are throughout your lifetime!

The Gods of the religions are also conceited in another sense. He has a strange habit of testing the loyalty of his subjects, which in itself is strange, because it has been said that God knows everything. If He knows everything, why then is there a need for him to test? There is no need, for example, for him to put the tree of knowledge in the garden of eden to test the weak humans. With his powers alone, he would have known the outcome of that test without actually carrying it out. Why the test? Why all the drama with the serpent who seduced Eve? Why all the complications? This kind of behavior seems too vulgar and does not ring true to the quality of an almighty and loving being.

No—if there is a God, I don't believe that he is the one who's found in any of the religions, though I'm not ruling out the possibility that I am wrong! This is of course just my own opinion and I accept that most of my readers disagree with me.

Thirdly, my views on religions—am I saying they're useless? No, I'm not saying that at all. I think religions are useful to many people. I have seen how religions have helped some people in the moments of trials and tribulations. Religions are also a good source of guidance to some people who're "lost". In some cases, people have told me that they gained strengths from religions. So all these must be sufficient to support the argument that religions are important to many, many people.

In fact, I myself learned a thing or two from religions. But I take only those which I think I can accept. Of the rest, I put big question marks on them. It's not so much that I'm challenging the truth; rather I'd prefer to trust myself instead of surrendering totally to faith.

Finally, the most important question that some people never failed to ask me: IF I am compelled to choose a religion, which one would I choose? And my answer has always been the same—without any doubt, I would choose Christianity. Don't get me wrong though, I don't believe many, many things found in the Bible—I hope the Christians won't hate me for this! And I have found many good teachings in other religions too. But I would still choose Christianity because many of the teachings in the Bible are similar to those of my life principles.

Palliative Care Association Charity Treasure Hunt—An Update

Well, folks, a little less than 3 weeks to go for the Palliative Care Association Treasure Hunt. Been meaning to update you people a bit about this hunt, but haven't found the time to do so, until just shortly ago when I received an email from Claire Chin, who's virtually the best hunter in the whole of Malaysia. She told me to do some promo for this hunt. And so here I am obeying her!

Firstly, the entry fee for this hunt has been revised in the hope of attracting more teams to participate. It is now set at RM300 per team. But if only two members to a team, then the entry fee is RM200.

Secondly, the official venue has been moved to 1Borneo. So now we're gonna start and end there. The briefing, however, will be conducted at the office of the Palliative Care Association on the day prior to the hunt.

Thirdly, the cash prizes remain the same at the top, i.e. RM2,000, RM1,000 and RM600. But I was just informed by Ellen Yee shortly ago that there are now 2 laptops up for grabs. I don't know if those are meant for the top 2 prizes, but I can't imagine the lower positions will get them, as that would mean the lower prizes will get more valuable prizes! Other than that, there will also be some other merchandises, but I don't have the complete info with me now. More sponsors are also apparently coming in. When I get more information on this, I shall update you all again soon.

Finally, NOW is the time to submit your entry forms. Please don't take forever, folks. The sooner you submit, the better and easier for the organiser to make the proper arrangements. Some of you can expect my call soon!

Strongest & Fittest

It has always been the case in the animal kingdom that the strongest and the fittest will become the ruler. I suppose that is the intention of nature. In a pack of wolves, for example, the strongest and fittest male will be the ruler; and he will also earn the automatic mating right for all the famales of that pack. In such a way, the strongest and fittest genes will be passed down to the next generation. And the cycle will repeat itself in all of the subsequent generations. The "weaker" genes have only a remote chance of passing down to the next generation.

Eons ago, humans used to behave in much the same way as animals too. The strongest and the fittest usually became the ruler. And—yes, he usually had many spouses too. Or if not spouses, at least many, many concubines. Whoever tried to go against his wishes would be executed. Everyone must obey!

Over the ages, as we became more and more civilised, we began to change our ways—we've come up with elections to choose our leaders. Today, most leaders of the world are not the strongest and fittest of their people, though hopefully they are the cleverest of their respective communities. If these people fail to deliver the expected performance to their people, then they can be voted out of office and other people will become the leaders.

Unfortunately, not all of us are civilised people—some of us are still behaving like animals. We fight and kill to become the leaders of our people. No one should get in our ways; otherwise he or she will be executed. And then in such a community, there are always a few of these people who would fight to death to become leaders. In the good old days, we used spears and swords; then we used guns and cannons; and now we're using automatic weapons, bombs and other hi-tech weaponry.

As these strong soldiers in big boots fight with each other, with bombs exploding all over the land, thus destroying properties and killing lives, it's always the women, children and elderly who will suffer the most. The masterminds of the fightings will come up with winning formulae on how to overcome the opposing sides. The winning party will become the ruler; the losing party will start again to fight for the throne. The cycle repeats itself again and again and again...

There are many reasons for the fightings, including for freedom, for the pride of the country and even for religion. While the rest of the world watch in horror, the fightings continue. The people of these war-torn countries have never known the meaning of peace and progress in their lives. They are doomed for hell on earth.

And so, Iraq has finally found the freedom they've been hoping for. The American government has embarked on gradually withdrawing its forces. We, the rest of the world, are watching with fingers crossed. Who knows maybe the Iraqis have learned something. Let's now wait and see if the people of Iraq are behaving like civilised people or like animals.

Core Fitness—After 4 Months

It's been about 4 months since the official opening of Core Fitness in City Mall, KK. I blogged about it shortly before its official opening. Almost every day I noticed that many people are searching the net for information about this fitness centre, and they'd inevitably end up in this blog because of my earlier post.

Today is another one of my short 5km runs which I had planned to do at the Likas jogging track as usual. Although I'm a member of Core Fitness, I haven't been going there for a while now because the weather has been dry and I preferred to run outdoor. It is less boring that way, and I reckoned that it's better to train on the track, for I would get the same condition when running in the Borneo International Marathon 2 (BIM2) in October. However, it was raining this evening, and so I had no choice but to fall back to my backup plan, which is to run on the treadmill in Core Fitness.

Then it occured to me I might as well take the opportunity to update some of my readers, since I can see a fair number of you are keen to know a bit about Core Fitness. So I brought along my camera, and Sam, the business owner was kind enough to allow me to take some shots.

These pictures were taken at around 6:30pm to 7:30pm. I did not do the weights; neither did I join any of the aerobics classes. All I did was to get over with the 5km.

As you can see, most of the treadmills were occupied. But I did not have to wait for too long for my turn. I'd say on average each person would occupy the treadmill for about 15 mins only, and then they would move on to the other machines or aerobics classes.

For those who're not keen for the treadmills, they can also opt for a milder workout on the bikes. I frequently see some people actually reading magazines while working out on the bikes. I'm not sure what are those machines in the background, but I've been referring to them as the striders. Please forgive me if there is a more "formal" name for them.

On the top floor are the weights. When I was younger, I did a lot of weights too, and I'd consider Core Fitness has a complete set of equipments to train the entire body. I just wish that I have the discipline to embark on the weights again. But right now I'm more focused on the running.

And finally, that's good 'ol me in the light blue vest at the start of my 5km run, doing a mild pace of 10km per hour, increasing to 11km per hour after 2.5km. It's considerably easier compared to the 10km I did at the jogging track yesterday evening, especially since I was running on the treadmill. But it's the boredom of the treadmill that's killing the mood!

If possible at all, it'd be good if I can lose, say, 15lbs by the time I get to the starting line of the BIM2 in October. By the way, that vest was the same one given to every runner during the Mizuno Wave Run at Padang Merbuk last year.

And oh! that's my Nike shoes which cost me RM530. I hardly ever put on those adidas adizero these days. After I injured my ankle, I actually went for a footscan and was told that I had flat feet, whatever that meant. And I needed specific shoes for running. The expert wrote out the type of shoes to buy. I went back to adidas to look for them, but the only available ones looked awful—the colours were just too bright for an old man like me. So I had no choice but to broaden my horizon to the Nike store. I did not really believe it at first, but true enough the Nike shoes did my ankle good! And I've since been running with them up to now. The only thing is that I might have to buy another pair by October!