CA Service is On Again!

SMILE! It's another CA service. Just like any other CAs, we hope that this will be a blasting one for you and for us. If you have cars and are willing to share your cars with your friends, it will be terrific. If not, just wait at the designated pick-up points. Don't be tardy because we do not enjoy the time loss in the traffic jam later. Last CA, everyone did such a great job that transport went on superbly smooth. Thank you for your co-operation. If you are wondering what Solomon's Wisdom Tooth is about, just come and you will know. Bring along a friend or two or even three. You never know how an invitation might just change a life forever. Be blessed and have a great week ahead of you. Hope to see you there!!

In His service,
Leen

Random photos of first CA for this sem...

Luke 12:34

Not-an-intec-student-anymore Eujeen posing wif his new henna design... hehe

Girl Power!!! yea!!! once again the girls dominate CA...

F4.. er.. F5 from CA... modelling the new CA shirt... Malaysia Next Top Model... (kononnya lah...)

The famous Arsenal guy from one of the games during ice-breakers...

During games and ice-breakers...

Behold.. the giant cake enough to feed 80 ppl..

The July babies celebrating their birthdays during refreshment time...

Complaining yet eat the most...

not your usual post *the result of not joinin ICS*

On 19^th July …………..

That was how Pat started. But it sounds too formal. Let’s do this my way *Frank Sinatra song playing*…

Tired, exhausted, sleep deprived…I think that was what most of us felt by the time CA came..(at least that’s how I felt..)

Pat : It was all because CA came by during the ICS week (Intec Clubs and Society Week) and most of the committee are involved (not Eunice of coz)…btw, I (not Pat) thought ICS stood for inter-culture-shock. Hee…sorry..blur blur..

Anyway, let’s start from transportation… I was the back-up usher (as usual) in Cemara-Akasia..yea..poor me, tongue tied with all juniors surrounding me. I didn’t even know who to ask, ie whether or not they were waiting for CA transport..or aunty’s rice .(turns out half of them were waiting for the rice..sigh..). But we managed to pack off around half of the juniors by 5.40. record breakin’ early..plus it was one of the rare times when the DRIVERS WERE WAITING FOR THE PPL !! so anyway, Pat was there to er..usher..with me. We put all the ALG guys into Shiau Hooi’s van, and the rest of us were happily in the ‘new’ (kononnya) air-conditioned van..half way to church n I received this SMS : “why you put all ALG guys into my van!!?? I am suffering now..” yea..sorry, shiau hooi. But I couldn’t resist sending them into your van.. I thought you needed a communication skills lesson.

By the way, there was absolutely NO JAM throughout the transport time !! amazing, no? Really thank God for His Goodness n Mercy =) we got to eat dinner although we left at 6.30… non-halal food…yumyum…

Pat : This time there’s about 80 ppl who came. Whom 28 of them are juniors… a big applause to the juniors who so willingly came despite some having assignments and quizzes and even parade (for ICS)… even 1 ALG junior turns up… so proud of him!!! (thinking of asking him to drive… muahaha) *plus, he’s a foochow from sitiawan who, like Eunice, knows next to nothing about the dialect*.. and almost all of them are willing to serve in the coming CA!!! praise the Lord!!

This time around, Erika led the ice-breakers n games, and Jim led the worship. The LCD projector wouldn’t start at first, so Jim had to buy time by talking about..er..nothing in particular.. but everything went smoothly after that. Prayer was by Jeffrey (he sounds like a pastor when he prays, no kidding. Especially when he prays in Chinese. Too bad he’s not a junior. If not I’ll pass prayer to him..n I’ll be free!! Haha,just kidding).

After worship we had somemore games (it’s laughter night, anyway). Then Joash gave a brief sharing about friendship.

Pat : Since Eunice is stuck at Joash’s sharing…(dunno why!!!) I’ll take over instead… He shared something about Chip n Dale (which is the theme of the first CA of this sem) about the friendship that they bonded in the process of saving the world.. CA is like them too… to complete the mission that God has given unto us… He once reminded the seniors of their purpose in INTEC and asks the juniors to think about their purposes in INTEC too… after the sharing, we all proceed to the 5^th floor where we celebrated the July babies’ birthdays with a huge 2kg cake which we didn’t manage to consume after that… the guys(u know who you are…), as usual were busy talking with new juniors (female of course) and eating the not-so-good-looking-but-taste-superb fruit salad that nearly caused the death of Shiau Hooi…may I just add that I (Eunice) nearly fainted half-way through the refreshment preparations as well.. but it turned out well, thank God..

Transport home was a breeze, and *almost* all of us managed to arrive back before 11pm. Although I distinctly recall telling the guard that a ‘few’ people would be slightly late ( later I realized it would have been better had I said ‘about 20 ppl’ would be late..), we were a little nervous as we entered Akasia..

Well, that’s about it.. the rest we will leave to the pictures to do the talking..

Reported by 2 boring committee who didn't go to ICS night,

Eunice and Pat

Back To Square One

Have you ever seen a baby learning how to walk?
Have you ever seen a senior citizen learning how to use a computer earnestly?
Have you ever seen a patient learning how to use his arms again after an accident?

What do they have in common?
Well, they all learn something from scratch.

I myself learned something from scratch too yesterday.

On Sunday, I went for a blood donation drive in my church. That evening, I jogged for about 30 minutes and still I felt all right despite the 450ml loss of blood.

However, on Monday, I felt so dreadful when I went to learn how to swim. It was by far the most tiring exercise regime that I had ever gone through. It was tough and I was too proud to admit that I was just an amateur.

When I first learned photoshopping, I only read one tutorial and I tried to produce a magnificent piece of art. I failed of course. Nonetheless, I was still too proud to learn anything from my mistakes. I kept trying to improve my photoshopping skills without any tutorials. Indeed, I managed to do a quite decent piece of work in the end but it took a lot of trials and errors along the way.

As I jumped into the water, I could only think of one thing, "I'm going to master this in one day time." Then again, it was easier said than done. I drank a few gallons(exaggerate) of water into my lungs and nostrils. >___< I had to learn to control my breath in the water and to breathe using my mouth. My instructor taught me with great patient but I wasn't sure if I was patient enough to learn from the instructor.

At the end of the day, I did not learn much. I couldn't even float. However, I did learn an important lesson in life: humility.

There are times when we think that we are good enough and that we do not need any guidance from others. There are times when we tend to do things with our own strength and claim the success as ours. That was what happened to me. I forgot to ask God to provide me with a humble heart to learn how to swim. I didn't lean on God's strength to help me learn something new. I was too eager and perhaps, arrogant to learn something "trivial" as swimming when I could master so many other things. That ultimately led me to destruction as I didn't manage to master anything from my first swimming lesson.

I'll go to the pool later today and this time, I will be sure to pray to God before I go into the pool. I shall ask Him to give me a heart that is willing to learn from others. Without a heart that is willing to learn from others, I am sure that I will go nowhere.

I was pushed back to square one and started everything from scratch when I learned how to swim. Yet, I shall pray that God will sustain me through and give me a humble heart lest I claim this success as mine and not His. If anyone of you ever cross the same path as I do (learning something new), do know that God will always see us through in our journey of life. We just need to lean on His provision and He will deliver us.


Swimming,
Leen

Just a short notice here, do not try to donate blood at 1400 and then went jogging at 1900 unless you are absolutely sure that you will be all right. ^___^ It is safer to take some rest first before doing anything heavy.

CA Service Is ON!

This will be the first CA service since the long long holiday term. I've prepared an e-flyer too this time around too. Please do spread the words around and bring your friends to this service if you can make it. You will not regret it.

As usual, van will come and pick you up from 5:30pm onwards in Cendana and Akasia bus stop. Please come early to avoid any delays. Those who have their own cars, try to learn the directions from others and drive to NLRC. Traffic jam can be a big problem in the evening, so try to go as early as possible.

And of course, have fun in CA. God bless you all.

In His service,
Leen

Thank You, Facilitators

All who have been working hard these few days for the juniors' orientation, on behalf of CA, thank you. This post goes out to all those who walk, talk, and run from 6am to 9:30pm, and finally a post mortem from 11pm to sometimes 1am. You know who you are. =D

I believe everyone in CA appreciates your hard work in spreading the words, and guiding the juniors their ways around in INTEC. Keep up the good work.

God bless you all.
THANK YOU!!
I just felt so touched seeing how people work so hard going off to meeting at 2300 when everyone else is sleeping and resting. That's why I have to post this.

Final Library Trip: A Choice

If you read my previous post on INTEC's library, you will know that something happened today that inspired me to write a post on the library in INTEC. Indeed something happened this morning.

As a standard procedure of INTEC, students are required to "check out" of INTEC after their graduation. After some procrastination, I managed to drag my heavy body up this morning and went to school to check out. One of the steps required me to go to the library and to clear all my records from the library.

When the librarian scanned my card, it was found that I still owed the library two books. Frankly speaking, I do not know how the system in the library works. The screen showed that I borrowed two books somewhere in November and I was supposed to return them on 6th January 2007. Then the screen showed that I had returned the books on the 8th January but I had not paid my 40 cents fine (1 day late 10 cents for 1 book). I didn't feel like arguing so I was ready to pay that 40 cents. After all, it was just 40 cents. Then, the librarian told me that because the books were still recorded under my name, I needed to present them with that two books. Only then could they clear my record.

I was stunned. I had returned the books. I was ready to pay that 40 cents for nothing. And now they wanted me to show them these two books. "How can I find these two books? What if someone had borrowed them?" A lot of "what-ifs" ran into my mind. I tried to argue with the librarian that I didn't mind paying 40 cents but I did not want to look for that two books in the midst of thousand other books. My blood was boiling at that moment, but I wasn't angry. Instead, if I wasn't mistaken, I was still smiling and laughing though I spoke with a stern voice to the librarian. My friend told me that the librarian was trying to bully me and that I shouldn't be bullied. Hence, the argument.

After arguing without coming to a solution, I agreed to find the books. He gave me the codes for the two books and I started "googling" in the library. Knowing how the books in the library were mess up and did not go according to the codes sometimes, I felt like I did not have any chance to recover those two books. My friend told me, "Pray," before she left to do other things. I prayed. "God, I need to find these two books. I believe you will show me where they are." There they were, right in front of my eyes. Both books! Side by side! Before that, I couldn't find a single book and now, after praying, they were there. Again, recalling my previous post on coincidence. How many of you here believe that it was a coincidence? =D

Happily, I went over to the counter again to settle the mess. The librarian scanned those two books. I went O__o''' The screen showed RM16.80 fine for each book. (Remember? I was suppose to return this book on 6th January, and it is 2nd July) That was RM33.60 for two books. My mind was racing again. "Do I have to pay for something I don't deserve? God, help me." After looking at me, the librarian took out a piece of paper. This was what he wrote on the paper.

"Buku dijumpai di rak. Denda dibatalkan. Signature."

Praise the Lord. I did not have to pay that RM33.60. Still, he told me that I still had to pay 40 cents. Fine fine. I took out a dollar and passed it to the librarian. Being a novice in math (I guess), he returned me 70 cents. Now, I had the fullest rights to keep that extra 10 cents after what happened to me. I had every rights to claim that 10 cents as compensation for mental damages. Or like a certain scholar said, "as compensation for using up the prayer credit". But I remembered something my pastor said two weeks ago,

"Christians do not live by chance. If you were sick, that was your best chance to be moody and angry the whole day. In fact, you have the right to do so. People will understand, and they will even pray for you. But Christians do not live by chance. Christians live by choice. Even in our worst moments, we can still choose to be happy, to be joyful, to let our inner man(our spiritual body) takes control instead of letting out outer man(physical body) takes control."

Those words rang in my mind and I decided to return back the 10 cents. If you guys out there know me well, you will know that I am very careful about money. I won't let loose every single cent. I will keep every cents well. I had a choice to let my anger took control and took that 10 cents for myself. After all, it was just 10 cents. However, I believed that God did not care about the value of the money. He cared more about the choice that I made at that time. The choice to still be joyful and honest, or the choice to be angry and greedy.

Finally, I returned back the extra 10 cents to the librarian. We exchanged smiles and I walked out of the library, for the last time. God taught me something precious today. He still answers prayer if I truly needs something. He gives me joy all the time, and I should not let anything(not even money) corrupt my mind and then do something that dishonor Him.

Choices. They are yours to make. Every morning we have choice to wake up or to continue our sleep. We have to choice to give thanks to God first or just go to work. We have choices in our life. What is your choice today?


Choosing,
Leen

INTEC's Anatomy Part 5: Library

Somehow I didn't have enough material and inspiration to come out with a cynical, funny, or even an informative post on INTEC's library. However, after what I experienced today, I can certainly comment a lot about INTEC's library.

INTEC's library is located just opposite the ADFP cafe and also beside ADFP/ALG/Music Department block. It is easily accessible but as usual, there are a lot of things that you have to look out for.

1. An anti-theft stand
Just like what you always see in big shopping complex, this anti-theft stand uses bar code as its sole means of detection. If you want to steal a book out of the library, you will have to defeat this system first. Then again, not many people actually want to steal anything from the library itself. Many many times, the system creates more troubles than benefits to students in INTEC. For instance, an innocent friend of mine just happened to carry out a book from the library. Well, you have to understand that sometimes people can just bring out a book innocently without actually having the intention to steal any book. After all, she was carrying quite a lot of other books at that time. So it wasn't a surprise that she accidentally carry a library's book out with her also. Unfortunately, the alarm rang and she was caught. Instead of listening to her explanation, the librarian went on to make his own deduction on how she purposely wanted to steal a book. Final verdict: The librarian found her guilty of attempting to steal a book and hence, her library membership was banned for 6 months. =/ So people, be careful with the machine, all right? XD

2. Librarians
Let's just say that they are the second most irritating personnel in INTEC after the guards. There is one particular big-size librarian who always scolds people for nothing. He will comment on the way we dress, the way we talk, and so on. Another thing about the librarians, they are not the most competent librarians you will ever meet in your life. I went to school this morning to check out from this school (yay I have graduated!) and guess what, the computer showed that I still owed the library TWO books. Of course, it was their mistakes and finally I got cleared from any misdoing whatsoever. There was another time when I borrowed a few books from the library and still the alarm rang when I walked through that anti-theft stand. "Ah, we have to scan this book again," the librarian said sheepishly. I was like, "duh..." *knocks head* Never mind, I forgive them. Too err is human. ^____^

3. Computer room
There is a computer room inside the library itself. There are around 23 computers in it BUT. There's a big BUT there. Only a certain amount of computers are working properly and are connected to internet. Having said that, some of the computers only allow you to type your works or to do slideshows. One more thing, not all the computers come with Microsoft Office too. To make things worse, most of the computer have no WinZip or WinRAR. The one good thing about the computers in the library compare to the computers in the computer labs is that it has the least security control. Students can easily download applications, songs, movies, and more. Just something on a bad side, you will have to drop your student card into a box upon entering that little computer room or else, the librarians will have you out of the room almost immediately. Hehe, I often walked in without my student ID and still managed to surf net for a good few hours. Another thing, the computers are always on demand. Sometimes, students have to wait for their turn to come to use the computer because there are not enough computers around.

4. Photostate Machine
American program students will normally just use the word "Xerox". Well, there are two Xerox machines in the library. Sometimes, both work just fine. Other times, both are jammed. To use these two machines, students will need to purchase a card (by the size of a credit card) called "Cashless" at the price of RM11.00. Every time you Xerox a copy of paper, the credit will be deducted from your card. So when the credit finishes, you have to purchase a new card. It is as simple as that.

5. Study Area
There are two areas where you can study if you are a library person. I found out that I spent more time in the library sleeping than studying. >_< style="FONT-STYLE: italic">

Just a little warning here. Be careful to not leave anything in the library.
The librarians have very bad reputation of keeping a "founders keepers" attitude, meaning that if they find something, they'll keep it. It is terribly difficult to redeem something back once you lost it. So be careful all the time. I experienced it before with the librarians. I accidentally left my calculator in the library. A friend of mine found it and gave it to the librarian. She text me and asked me to go to the library to claim back my calculator. The librarian refused to admit that he had the calculator with him. Finally, after I showed him message my friend sent me, he pulled out my calculator from a drawer and returned it to me. =D

Bottom line: Be careful.

Checked out of library,
Leen