Son went missing

Received an SMS from a friend today requesting prayer for a mother whose 14-year son was reported missing after a game of hockey with his friends last Saturday. When the mother went to fetch her son, his playmates did not know where he went or what happened to him. A police report had been lodged.

THE PROMISE

THE TRUTH

THE AGONY OF WAITING

FAIR DISTRIBUTION

Pujut assemblyman Andy Chia gave a total of RM35,400 of his minor rural project (MRP) fund to 13 associations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from his urban constituency yesterday morning.
While Pujut is an urban constituency with the majority of the constituents are Chinese, the distribution of the fund from the assemblyman covers all races in his constituency.
This can be seen from the list of the recipients. Among the notable bumiputera recipients are the Bisaya Association of Sarawak, Piasau Jaya Phase One Rukun Tetangga and Kg. Pengkalan Lutong Cempaka Tabika Perpaduan.
Two Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) are the recipients namely SMK Dato Permaisuri and SMK SK. St. Joseph Miri.

Bisaya Association of Sarawak received minor rural project fund (MRP) from Pujut assemblyman YB Andy Chia today. On hand to receive the donation was its president city council secretary Antonio Kathi Galis (third from left)

Taught my 12-year son blogging

Today, I taught my 12-year son to create his own blog... not difficult actually, his nickname is cyberkid... he is far better than his daddy on computer and the internet. so one day probably you will come across his blog.. if you are keen on computer, anime and japanese cartoons.. like naruto, dragonball...

heard of a teenage girl who has a close walk with the Lord.. out of that intimacy, she received messages in the form of visions for the church in Miri? she together with her mother will be sharing testimonies in Miri Latter Rain Church this saturday 28 June at 2:30pm. Although this special meeting is for the youths, parents and adults are welcome too. Come and hear of her testimonies... and be blessed.

TAIB'S SON IN BAKAM

so sleepy...

It's nearly one am now.... so sleepy... came back quite late from attending Rev Oden farewell dinner with my wife....good nite...can't go on

DOWN MEMORY'S LANE

OVERLOAD

My second son who is studying in a chinese school in primary six told me his teacher fainted in school...he said it was a pitiful sight to see his teacher who is a woman fainted on the pavement.. later, my son told me it was because of exhaustion.. overload. Imagine, this woman trying to be super-human: besides being a teacher, she is also a wife, mother and she also gives tuition for a selected group of her students at her home (my son included). The tuition was almost everyday... this is for the UPSR students who can score in the examination....can we say this teacher is dedicated, hardworking.. or foolhardy punishing her body this way. Is it because of the fuel hike that drove her to work herself to exhaustion?

MIRI: The only tool at hand to bring change and development to the semi-nomadic Penans is education, said a former councillor of Baram District Council Anthony Lawai Karing.
Lawai who runs a small village shop in Long San in ulu Baram said he is in daily contact with the Penans who comes to Long San from their nearby settlements.
"They would come to my shop to buy daily necessities such as sugar and salt. They usually come to Long San to send their children to the primary school and through my dealings with them I would encourage the Penan parents to continue sending their children to school, telling them the importance of education. These parents would sometimes stay for a week just to be near their young children. They stay at Umai Sakai just to accommodate visitors like them," said Lawai.
He was talking to the Borneo Post yesterday on pertinent issues affecting the Penans in the state.
"The only way to help the Penans to adapt to modern life and development is through education. Although, this method will not bear fruit immediately, over time the Penans will be on par with the rest of us," said Lawai.
He said it is a wasted effort to try to teach the Penans to change their way of life if their mindset is not changed.
"Spending millions of ringgit on this project, that project for the Penans won't work if their way of thinking is not changed through education. I give an example. One time, there was a project given to the Penans. They were told to do gotong royong to carry out the project. Instead, they ask the government officers, how much they are going to be paid for doing the gotong royong work. They refuse to do the work without pay. This kind of thinking needs to be change and the change will come through the younger generation who have been to schools and learn and taught things," explained Lawai.
He said he was pleased to note that more and more Penan parents are sending their children to the primary school in Long San and the drop-out rate is decreasing among them.
"I was told by the school there are 109 Penan children studying in the school, St. Pius primary school. There are at least 20 Penan students in the secondary school," said Lawai.
On Uma Sakai for the Penans in Long San, Lawai said he would seek the assistance of the district council to maintain the house.
"The Penan parents who stay at the house are living in darkness during the night. There should be an allocation for electricity supply for Uma Sakai in Long San," said Lawai. ENDS.

MIRI: The indigenous Kelabits of Long Seridan have at least four major events at the end of the year, including the famous Kelabit naming ceremony.
Their only problem is the only road leading to the longhouse has been cut off by a timber company operating in the area.
According to the son in-law of the community leader Penghulu Usop Raja, Tabari Maria the timber company cut off the road near their timber camp at Layun last April.
The cut-off point where the road becomes impassable is only 1 hour from the longhouse but from Miri the journey is about 7 hours.
"They deliberately cut off the road to make it impossible for vehicles to pass through. They alleged that the local people steal diesel from the camp which is unsubstantiated. How can they punish the whole community just based on mere suspicion that the local people are stealing from the camp? It could be done by anybody," said Tabari.
"We are appealing to the timber camp to repair the road for the sake of our people who are looking forward to go back at the end of the year to attend several major events taking place in the longhouse," said Tabari.

ACCELERATION OF TIME

Do you feel that you are living in a time warp... i mean do you feel that time literally flies...a short while ago we just celebrated New Year's Eve and Christmas, Chinese New Year and Gawai Dayak are all behind us...very soon Hari Raya Aidiftri is coming so is Christmas and another new year is dawning upon us...very soon 2008 will disappear into history...the question is, how well have we been living each year of our life here on this planet called Earth? How do we measure our success or contribution to mankind on Earth? The ultimate question will be Are we ready to meet our Maker who created this Earth just for you and me?

DIVINE STIRRINGS

I suddenly find that this coming weekend the Lord wants to work through me...first brother George sms saying the young girl who received visions from the Lord is ready to give her testimony in our church. I agreed and fix the date this saturday. Then I read email from brother Philip a few minutes ago inviting me to give a word of exhortation to the Miri Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship also this saturday at 12:30pm. I have fixed prayer breakfast with the Kingdom Kairos Network also on saturday at 9am. SUDDENLY, I find God moving and me getting busy....i need to pray through this week for breakthrough...that God's agenda will be accomplished!

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE BLOCKADE

MIRI: The indigenous people of Kedaya Telang Usan has set up a barricade with the aim of seeking a dialogue with the timber company that is operating in the area.

The barricade started on May 19 involved three indigenous people longhouses namely Long Moh, Long Jeeh and Long Makaba.

For more than 26 days, the indigenous people taking part in the barricade totalling more than 50 people stood their ground even though the timber company refused to meet them to hear their demands.

Instead various forms of threats were used to intimidate the indigenous to open the barricade including sending the relevant agencies such as the police and the forestry department.

Meanwhile, the president of the Kenyah National Association councillor Simpson Njock Lenjau sympathized with the action of the indigenous people.

“This is a peaceful barricade with no criminal intention. Neither do the indigenous people acts in such a manner to stop the timber company from operating in the area. What they demand is for the timber company to sit down and listen to the request of the indigenous people who are the rightful local stakeholders. They want the timber company to consider distributing the wealth they get from extracting timber in a fair manner,” said Simpson.

He told this to the Borneo Post when asked about the barricade at Long Moh by a group of indigenous people.

“We hope the matter will be resolved as soon as possible to avoid untoward incidents from happening. We welcome timber companies coming to our area. We are hopeful that with their logging activities in our area, our people's living standard would improve over time like more job opportunities be given to the local indigenous people, especially our young people. What we don't want to see is that wealth is being siphoned off from our area and our area is not developed. In other words, the local indigenous people do not get to enjoy the benefit of development,” said Simpson.

He pointed out that the indigenous people of Kedaya Telang Usan who belong mostly to the Kenyah tribe has long been living in the area from their ancestors' time having the territorial right to the land.

“By virtue of our history, we are the local stake holders in the area and our request is that any timber company having the licence to operate in our area at least recognize our status as stake holders and deal with the indigenous people as such and not otherwise. Having such a licence doesn't mean they can do anything they want like felling down belian trees and any trees that have medicinal value. In other words, these timber companies must comply with the relevant laws governing logging activity including the European Union standards ,” said Simpson.

The motivation for setting up this barricade is to prevent further widening of the gap between the rich and the poor.

“We are not ashamed to point out that the rural indigenous people are the hardcore poor. If the rural people are continued to be treated in this manner, being deprived of sharing the wealth from the area, the gap will continue to widen. The social implications in future is frightening to contemplate, with most of indigenous young people jobless unable to support their families,” said Simpson.

“Our hope and our wish is that the top management of the timber company come and listen to the indigenous people in Kedaya Telang Usan” said Simpson. ENDS.

The solitude of the night

My family has gone to sleep-except my firstborn son who is in his friend's house-and I am left alone in the living room.Funny, they should call it the living room. The only sound I could hear is the sound of the fan. Trying to figure out what to write before I myself calls it a day. Yes, what a day it was. I have been thinking deeply about my life's calling, the ministry that I have from God. A lot of prophets has declared 2008 to be the year of new beginnings....in a way it really is a year of beginnings... ministry wise-it's like the beginning of new things. I have to be conscious what God is doing in my life-we somehow know God is processing us but we wonder what for. I need to believe this painful process is to build me to sustain God-given destiny for me. It is as if God is birthing something great from my life for His glory. If I don't have God-shaped character, it would destroy me... a lot of great men, mightily used by God were destroyed in the past because, maybe because they were in a hurry to display what God has given them. This is a question of timing. I remember many, may years ago when God spoke to my heart that I am like an arrow in still in the shaft? Ultimately it will be God who will pick the many arrows,one at a time, in the shaft to use at the right time for the right purpose in order to hit the bull's eye.

FATHER'S DAY

Today is Father's Day...as a father this is my personal opinion on the idea of picking one day in a year to remind children that they have a father...the whole thing similar to Mother's Day have been commercialised... who earns so much money out of this charade? We need to tell our children that EVERYDAY is Father's Day and for that matter Mother's Day...too, that everyday of their lives they are to treat their fathers and mothers with love and honour..the world is telling our children to treat their fathers and mothers special on the so-called Father's Day and Mother's Day only, other days are just ordinary that they can treat their fathers and mothers ordinarily...the majority of children nowadays are disrespectful and rebellious to their fathers and mothers....

The felled logs ready to be exported for huge profits

the jungle being cleared in the name of development

jungle of Kedaya Telang Usan

desperate times call for desperate action

The indigenous people of Kedaya Telang Usan-a term referring to the interior of the huge Baram district-raising up barricade or blockade demanding the timber company operating in the area to talk to them to reach a fresh agreement on compensation for logs extracted from the area. The indigenous people are the local stake holders and they want the timber company to recognize their status as such. As usual, the timber company use high-handed tactics of threatening the indigenous people by sending in the relevant govt agencies to force them to dismantle the barricade. The indigenous people who belong to the Kenyah tribe stood their ground for 26 days now-they started the barricade on May19-and won't give way until their demands are met. All they want is for the timber company to meet them and hear their demands.

Blessings in small packages

Yesterday I was blessed with free meals-lunch and dinner. Dennis called me for lunch. Went down with my wife to withdraw some money for petrol and our daily necessities.She chose to go to Imperial Mall by herself and treated herself to a meal by herself. Dennis and I went to the duck restaurant-we ate duck minus the pork. After lunch picked up my wife. Went back. I made up my mind not to eat anymore so full. Then Simpson called saying he has a news for me. So we met at Emart. We met at 8:30pm. Still full, I ordered only beef burger. These are blessings from God in small packages. Thank you, Lord for your blessings and bless those who bless me according to your promise.

The best is yet to come

In a sea of doubt regarding my future, I heard the Lord whisper to my soul "The best is yet to come". I was at a point in my life's journey where I was about ready to give up on my dream. When I was young, I had a lot of beautiful dreams. It seemed each dream is slipping through my fingers. I know God has a dream for my life. He has called me unto Himself. I have always felt I am a disappointment to God for whatever has happened in my life.I felt like a failure. What have I achieved, O God in my life that I can be proud of. My life seem not to go anywhere and neither is my ministry. I felt I am fruitless, a barren tree. Why do I feel that way? Is it not because of self-centred living? I can only have true fulfilment if my life is God-centred.