ELS Impromptu Speech Contest

This afternoon, I return to varsity again (after having attended Online Journalism lectures in the morning) to take part in the Impromptu Speech Contest organised by the English Langauge Society. After having lunch, I head to the venue where the event is held (A003) and get myself registered for the contest. I go into the auditorium and find myself a seat and wait for the event to commence.

The MCs for the event is Calvin and Natalie (both my juniors) and they welcome and thank everyone for attending. First they pass the time over to current ELS president Puey Ru for her welcoming speech. In her speech, Puey Ru explains about the rules and regulations of the contest: Each participant is given 3 minutes to prepare his/her speech after selecting a topic and another 3 minutes to speak. A bell will be sounded once at 2 minutes and a green card will be shown. Participants have to try concluding their speeches within the next 1 minute. And at 3 minutes, the bell will be rung twice and a red card will be shown, meaning the participant has to stop wherever he/she is.

After Puey Ru ends her speech, the MCs take over and invite Mr Krishnan to deliver his welcoming speech. Mr Krishnan appreciate eveyone's attendance and wishes the participants all the best in the speech contest. Okay, the contest officially opens the first round with the 1st contestant (Raymond Ong) stepping up to the front and speak on his chosen topic for 3 minutes. While he's speaking, the 2nd contestant is doing the preparation at the same time. (This is to save time so that the event won't be dragged for longer hours.) The same goes for the following participants until the end of the contest. The judges for this round are Mr Krishnan, Mr Renu and Mr Paul.

While waiting for my turn, I listen to other contestants' speeches. There are quite a number of interesting topics as far as I can notice. One of them is The Most Interesting Movie I've Watched In My Life, where Roy Ong mentions about the trilogy of The Chronicles of Narnia. The extraordinary effects found in the movies really amazes him and he states that these things cannot be seen in real life. I agree with what he said because I love the Narnia movies too. Another topic is My Favourite Malaysian Food and Boo Lim (my EL junior) confesses his love for sambal belacan on two simple reasons: spicy and cheap. There's another one which goes The Most Embarrassing Moment In My Life and Chiam Chin Heng mentions about his embarrassing moments.

Well, as for myself, I'm 11th in line. When 10th contestant (Sanjay) is speaking about A Leader I Admire The Most, it is my turn to prepare my speech on my chosen topic. And guess what, I am dumbfounded after receiving the topic The Most Embarrassing Moment In My Life (the same one as Chiam's). Oh my goodness! What am I gonna talk about? I have no idea at all of what to say. Anyway, I gotta try my best since I'm in the contest and don't want to embarrass myself there.

And finally I manage to think of something to mention and after Sanjay finishes on the leader which he admired the most - the late Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong, it's my turn and I calmly take my place to begin my speech. I define the most embarrassing moment in my life was when I fell in love with the wrong girl during form 6. This girl, Nicole, is one of my classmates while I was doing my form 6 in my alma mater SMJK Sam Tet Ipoh. She has a sweet and charming look which has captured my attention. Beside that, Nicole is a brilliant and lovely girl and she seldom get angry without any valid reasons. So I attempted to pursue after her and try winning her heart. In my heart, she appears to be the right girl but apparently she's not and cannot be because of two simple reasons: height and religion. First, Nicole is kinda short while I'm quite tall. There's a distinctive difference of height btwn hers and mine. When we're together, we look more of brother and sister rather than a dating couple. Second, our religions do not click at all. Mine is Christianity whereas she's a Buddhist. As a Christian, I truly believe in holy matrimony. And to fulfill this matrimony, I should get a Christian girl as a spouse. But Nicole's not one, therefore she is not suitable for me. I realised about this and decided not to carry on my pursuit since I knew this is not gonna work. Nicole knew that I liked her. She didn't reject me but neither did she accept my love for her. We remain as friends until present and still keep in touch with each other. I'm not sure if this embarrassed me or not, but the fact that my fellow classmates and friends knew about our love affair really embarrassed me a lot. Then, I rest my case and return to take my seat.

After myself, the remaining contestants go out one by out to deliver their speeches based on the topics they're randomly pick. But some topics are repetitive ones, with the ones describing certain moments in life (The Most Memorable / Embarrassing / Unforgettable Moment In My Life) being repeated at least 10 times. Perhaps the organising committee has ran out of topics and had to use the same ones for a few times. The first round comes to an end after the last speech by contestant Victoria Akiew of English Education course with her title My Favourite Malaysian Artist in which she mentions that local artist Nicholas Teo was her neighbour back in Sarawak.

Time for a short break. All the people adjourn outside the auditorium to have some light refreshment prepared by the committee. During this time, it's time for fellowship where everyone mingle around with one another. Then comes along the Dean of FAS Dr Sebastian K Francis. He is here to witness the flow of the whole contest. Later, everyone's back in the auditorium for the second round of the speech contest. And this time, the panel of judges are Mr Lim, Mr Lionel and one female Malay lecturers.

There are only a few contestants this time (6 to be exact). This time, more interesting topics appear like The Most Interesting Book I've Read, Why We Should Celebrate Teacher's Day and My First Day In Utar. Of course, two topics from the previous round - The Most Embarrassing Moment In My Life and A Leader I Admire The Most - pop out again. Leon James Gautier takes the topic The Most Interesting Book I've Read and guess what, his is the Bible. He informed the audience how he finds the Holy Word of God useful to him. Oh boy! I should read the Bible more often after listening to his explanation. Edward Chin (former SRC president) gets the same topic as mine and speak on several things which he feels embarrassed. Perhaps he got influenced when I revealed my topic when speaking to the Dean during the break. Ming Hen is the one who explains his first day in Utar while Sangeeta Kaur provide her reasons on why we should celebrate Teacher's Day. She even wonders if there's also Lecturer's Day. Good one, Sangeeta!

Hew Wee Ling is the very last contestant and she chooses the topic on the leader she admired the most. The person whom she admire the most is not any other leaders around the world but Yao Jia, her course rep. She explains how Yao Jia takes up the responsibility and carry out her duties well. At first, other coursemates of hers thought she's willing to be their course rep because of her name. But Yao Jia steps up to shoulder the burden of a course rep. Anyway, Yao Jia has been doing her duties well and Wee Ling praises her for all her efforts. I wish that Yao Jia was here, so that she can listen to her fellow coursemate's complements of her excellent service.

The contest is over after Wee Ling concludes her speech. While waiting for the judges to finalise their results, the MCs keep the audience entertained. And members of the floor suggest that both MCs Calvin and Natalie should do the impromptu speech too. Calvin agrees and he chooses a topic. The one he picks is My Favourite International Artist in which he has no idea at all of what to say. So he chooses another one, which is the one that I've spoken earlier. Calvin confesses that one of his most embarrassing moment was being kissed by a guy on his cheek. Later, upon request from the audience, he reveals his girlfriend's identity (which is Clara) and Clara is being asked what's Calvin's most embarrassing moment in her point of view. After this, Dr Sebastian is invited to give his speech and he mentions that he also experienced what Calvin has confessed but the only thing different is that Dr Sebastian was kissed on his lips.

Then, it's the moment that everyone's been waiting for: announcement of results. Mr Krishnan is invited to announce the results while Dr Sebastian is supposed to give away the prizes. Mr Krishnan reveals that some participants did well and the judges had a tough time to decide the winners. The 2nd runner-up goes to Sangeeta Kaur. I predicted her to be in the top 3 beforehand as I really impressed with her performance. Sangeeta isn't around and one of her friends receive a certificate and cash prize RM50 on her behalf. The 1st contestant, Raymond Ong, takes 2nd place and walks away with a certificate and RM100. And now, the winner of the speech contest is about to be unveiled and the crown goes to.... *drums roll* Victoria Akiew!!! Victoria is totally surprised that she has won the contest and believes that someone else deserves it better than her. Anyway, she receives her prizes (a certificate and RM200 cash prize) from the Dean and expresses her gratitude to her fellow coursemates for bugging her to enter this competition. The rest of the participants don't walk home empty-handed. Each of them receive a certificate of participation (which is printed on-the-spot). Mr Krishnan thanks everyone for attending the event and tells all the contestants that they're all winners as they have the courage to speak in front of public.

My brand new achievement

The certificate that I received in recognition of my participation in the Impromptu Speech Contest

Then, everyone is dismissed and return home while the committee members stay back for an exco meeting. But some people cannot leave for home yet due to heavy downpour and I'm one of them. While waiting for the rain to get smaller, I chat with some of the people who are still there. I leave the campus for dinner at around 7pm when the rain isn't heavy anymore. I even get the cert laminated to avoid the ink from getting smeared 'cause as I mentioned earlier, the certs are printed on the spot.

I am really proud of my new achievement as this demonstrates that I can overcome my stage fright. And this will definitely boost my confidence in public speaking. Of course, the reason that I was able to speak well is because previously I've been attending Toastmasters meetings at YMCA Ipoh during my long absence from campus. That's all the story I wanna tell this time. Signing off.

CF Sports Day

Yesterday night, the CF had its sports day again. And the only sport available was none other than.... CAPTAIN'S BALL!! Well overall, it was indeed a great night. Around 80 people turned up for this event.

Everyone gathered at the Utar sports complex for this exciting event. When they arrived, what they need to do was to register themselves at the counter in which Carlie Yong was in-charge. After registration, they gathered into their respective groups. There were 8 teams in total. And Derk gave the participants a short briefing about how the game is played. He demonstrated the things that can and cannot be done during a game. Later, he requested each group to come up with a group name and a group cheer and also to discuss about strategies.

While all the teams were having discussions, the committee members requested that each group to send one representative to draw lots for the competition. Oh, forgot to mention that the competition was done in knockout format, meaning if one team wins, that team advances to the next round. But of course, the losers will play against each other to determine their placings. After lots have been drawn, it's time to begin the competition. And all the teams headed to their respective courts, ready to kickstart the game.

And here are the fixtures for the first round: Red Idea vs Gaya, Purple Dinosaur vs Mashmellow, The Sexy Cobra vs Pinky Rangers and Brownies vs All Girls. All 4 games were played simultaneously and winners advanced to the semi-finals while losers advanced to 5th-8th placings. (Oh yeah, I'm in The Sexy Cobra team under captain Ah Pau). And the 4 teams which have the name of their respective colours stayed in the contention for the title. In other words, Gaya, Mashmellow, The Sexy Cobra & All Girls lost to their respective opponents and had to fight for 5th to 8th place.

The second game resumed after a 5-minute break. And here are the fixtures for semi-finals (for both the title and 5th placing): Red Idea vs Purple Dinosaur, Pinky Rangers vs Brownies, Gaya vs Mashmellow and The Sexy Cobra vs All Girls. The Sexy Cobra unleashed their deadly bites on All Girls and edged them 10-8 to face Mashmellow (who defeated Gaya) for a fight for 5th place. Now let's focus on the competition proper, the two teams that made it into the final were Purple Dinosaur and Pinky Rangers, leaving semi-finalists Red Idea and Brownies to determine 3rd place among themselves.

And the final round took place after another 5-minute break. The fixtures of the final round are as follows:
7th-8th placing: Gaya vs All Girls
5th-6th placing: Mashmellow vs The Sexy Cobra
3rd-4th placing: Red Idea vs Brownies
Final: Purple Dinosaur vs Pinky Rangers

And here are the results:
Gaya showed All Girls that they have gaya to overcome them 15-6 to take 7th place.
Mashmellow were proved too strong for The Sexy Cobra to handle and won 9-3 to finish 5th.
Red Idea managed to outwit Brownies 18-9 for 3rd place.
Pinky Rangers had the power to subdue Purple Dinosaur and emerged as the new champions.

Everyone were summoned to gather around Court A (in which the final took place) and witnessed the prize-giving ceremony. Several prizes were awarded to the new champs Pinky Rangers, which included a trophy, a comb of bananas and a packet of chocolate wafers. Derk asked everyone if want to have another game, since it was still early, and everyone agreed. This time, all 8 groups were to send representatives to compete with the organising committee. The game started and it was indeed an exciting match to watch. But the non-committtee team was too quick for the committee to handle, winning the game 8-2.

While the match was going on, those who were not playing either watched the game or indulged in fellowships with one another. After the match, Pastor Nicky Ling closed with a word of prayer and there were photo-taking sessions for all the participating teams. Later, everyone dismissed and returned to their respective homes. Check this link for the photos of this event: CF Sports Day 2011

Phew! I returned home tired but happy 'cause I really enjoyed the night. I have learnt how to play captain's ball and would be itching to play more of it. I'm satisfied with my performance and also the co-operation I gave to my fellow teammates. For the first game against the eventual champs Pinky Rangers, I swapped with my teammates and managed to play in every position, but for the next two games, I was confined to defence as I was tall enough to block any shots which indeed I did twice in the last game. Anyway, I'm fine in any position as long as I'm a team player. It was indeed a wonderful night just as I have predicted 'cause I always sing Black Eyes Peas' I Gotta Feeling (that tonight's gonna be a good night) whenever there's an event happening at night.

CF's taking a break next week to allow members to have more time on their academic stuff (assignments, tests, midterms, presentations etc) and will be back the following week with respective CG outings.

Boundaries

Inevtiably, boundaries exist in our life and we have to live by them. We are bounded in everything in our lives, from young until old. Ever since we were born, we were first bounded to our own baby cots and play pens. As we grow older, new sets of boundaries appear and we have to abide in them. There are certain things that we can and cannot do as we live our lives on this earth. Having boundaries means that there are limitations in our lives and we should not cross over those boundaries at all times.

Some people may think that boundaries are not good to them. But wait, look at the bright side. It actually helps a lot in living your life. We have to know our boundaries so that we know where we are going. Of course, first we need to set our own boundaries and live within them. Sometimes we may tend to step out of those boundaries as we feel uneasy about their existence. But it's best that we stick to those boundaries so that our lives won't go haywire.

If we have ever cross over boundaries, what we can do is that we can repair those boundaries that we have trampled over. Although boundaries slow down our progress in life, at least we can do things one step at a time and achieve our goals or reach our destinations one day, rather than getting what we want without even realising our boundaries. One very good example from the Bible was Samson. He has a good future lying ahead of him, but it was all destroyed because he has crossed over his boundaries by wanting to have Delilah, a Philistine, as his wife. In the end, he paid the price with his life after he told Delilah the secret of his strength and the Philistines captured him after Delilah shaved his head bald.

Thanks Pastor Ryan for sharing this message.

Because You Loved Me

For Valentine's Day this year, I would like to dedicate this song sung by Canadian songbird Celine Dion to the Lord. Heavenly Father, thank You for showering me with Your love throughout my life. I just want to confess that You're my greatest love in this world that nothing else could replace. Even though this year I do not have a girlfriend yet to celebrate this special day with, but spending my day alone with You is sufficent enough for me. But I still believe that I would be able to find my true love one day - the right girl that You've chosen to be my life partner. And once I've found my Miss Right, I would treasure our relationship as much as I do with that of mine with Yours, Lord. Above all things, Your love is what I value the most. Thank You Lord for Your unfailing love upon me. Therefore, I dedicate this song Because You Loved Me to You Lord.

Verse 1
For all those time You stood by me
For all the truth that You made me see
For all the joy You brought to my life
For all the wrong that You made right
For every dream You made come true
For all the love I found in You
I'll be forever thankful baby
You're the one who held me up
Never let me fall
You're the one who saw me through
Through it all

Chorus
You were my strength when I was weak
You were my voice when I couldn't speak
You were my eyes when I couldn't see
You saw the best there was in me
Lifted me up when I couldn't reach
You gave me faith 'cause You believe
I'm everything I am
Because You loved me

Verse 2
You gave me wings and made me fly
You touched my hand I could touch the sky
I lost my faith, You gave it back to me
You said no star was out of reach
You stood by me and I stood tall
I had Your love, I had it all
I'm grateful for each day You gave me
Maybe I don't know that much
But I know this much is true
I was blessed because I was loved by You

Bridge
You are always there for me
The tender wind that carried me
A light in the dark shining Your love into my life
You've been my inspiration
Through the lies You were the truth
My world is a better place because of You

I'm everything I am
Because You loved me

Chip-Wrecked Movie Poster Released

Oh boy!! The 3rd Alvin and the Chipmunks movie will be released on Dec 16, 2011 and recently the movie poster (above) has been just released online. I'm really excited and looking forward to watch the movie. The Chipmunks and Chipettes are back in action: this time they're going on a vacation aboard a luxury cruise ship. As the title Chip-wrecked suggested, Alvin, Simon, Theodore, Brittany, Jeanette and Eleanor together with their caretaker Dave Seville go on a voyage. The 6 chipmunks "are up to their antics again, turning the ship into their personal playground, until they get 'chipwrecked' on a desert island". And the Munks and Chipettes are in for a surprise when they embark on an island adventure with their new friend - a castaway who's more than a match than Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Having watch Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007) and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009), I'm really eager to find out Chipmunks and Chipettes' first adventure together after Dave agreed to let the girls to stay together with his boys at the end of The Squeakquel.

Hillsong United - The Time Has Come

Found love beyond all reason
You gave Your life Your all for me
And called me Yours forever
Caught in the mercy fallout
I found hope found life
Found all I need
You're all I need

Pre-Chorus
The time has come
To stand for all we believe in
So I for one am gonna
Give my praise to You

Chorus
Today, today it's all or nothing
All the way the praise goes out to You
Yeah all the praise goes out to You
Today, today I live for one thing
To give You praise
In everything I do
Yeah all the praise goes out to You

Bridge
All we are is Yours
And all we're living
Is all You are
Is all that You are

CNY Crash-of-Ipoh-Houses 2011

5th February 2011

On the 3rd day of Lunar New Year, a special event called crash-of-Ipoh-houses was organised whereby houses of CF members who are from Ipoh would be visited.

Chang En, as the organiser, has contacted several CF members a few days earlier via Facebook, asking whether their houses would be open to be crashed. A total of 8 members have offered their houses for visitation, namely Gin, Wendy, Esther, Shiao Wenn, Clara, Jensen, myself and Chuah En himself. Later, Chang En gathered all the addresses of the houses and decided on the sequences. But Gin withdrew from the pack as he thought that visitation would be done in the morning, leaving 7 homes available left.

On the proper day, I decided to join in the crash and headed to the location Chang En asked me to wait for him. My brother sent me there and left after I met up with Chang En. Chang En said there were still some people who haven't arrived yet. We can only start our journey when everyone else has arrived, meaning David, Kharis and Kelvin Wong were nowhere to be seen.

Just then, Jensen appeared with 4 international students, three from Sudan and one from Palestine, that we've met the week before the CNY break. They have decided to join us to learn more about the Chinese culture after we invited them along. Then we decided to wait at the Hillcity hotel lobby for David and Kharis who were on their way from Batu Gajah. But the two of them got stuck, while Kelvin caught in a very heavy traffic jam in Penang. We had no choice but to proceed with our visitation and our first destination: Wendy Lee's house.

Chang En's father drove his son, Clara and me in one car while Jensen and the 4 in another. Using GPRS on his phone, Chang En managed to locate Wendy's house and off we go into her house. The bubbly girl and her mother welcomed their guests and had fellowship with all of them. During our conversation, Jensen began telling stories about Chinese New Year to our international friends while we listened. Wendy's mother gave all of us ang pows as a blessing before we left for our next destination.

As we were getting ready to go to the next house which is Chang En's, Wendy asked her mother's permission to use the family car to ferry Chang En, Clara and myself for the rest of the journey as Chang En's father has returned to his house, preparing to welcome us. This time, David and Kharis finally got out of Batu Gajah and joined us. We arrived at Chang En's residence shortly and we sang Gong Xi Gong Xi Gong Xi Ni Ya (the song was being recorded in Jensen's camera) before stepping into the house.

While in Chang En's house, as we're introducing ourselves, Chang En's mother recognised me as her neighbour in FrontierVille (she was the one who added me as a friend on Facebook). And we had fun chit-chatting while munching on cookies. And Jensen began his story-telling again, this time explainng about the Nian monster and lion dance. Aunty Chuah gave each of us a packet of ang pow before we cabut to the next house in line.

The house we're visiting was Clara's house. And while on the way, Diming called Wendy and said he's joining us. So we waited for his arrival at Church of Praise. Soon he appeared and we're on our way to Clara's house which is situated deep inside Taman Song Choon. That housing area was quite familiar to me as Madam Wong, a friend of my mother's, brought us through that area a few weeks back. We reached Clara's house and discovered she lived in a 3-storey house. The usual things happened: fellowship and Jensen's story time followed by distribution of ang pows and photo-taking session. Then, off we go again and headed to the next house.

According to the sequence decided earlier, it should be Shiao Wenn's house after Clara's, followed by Esther's, mine and lastly Jensen's. But Shiao Wenn couldn't make it while Esther had dinner date with her parents. That means my house is up next (YAY!!). While we're on our way out, we noticed Jensen's car was nowhere to be seen. We waited for a while but still can't see him. Apparently, he headed in the wrong direction. Never mind, it's getting late, we've to move on.

I directed Wendy to my own house and we experienced traffic jam while on the traffic light junctions at Jusco. Fortunately, we managed to spot Jensen's Proton Saga again. We entered the highway to get to my house but the other cars driven by Jensen, Diming and David were not behind Wendy's MyVi. After exiting the highway, Wendy decided to stop at Mobil and tried calling them. And it seemed that all 3 cars have lost their way but Diming was on the right track coming to Jalan Kuala Kangsar. So Wendy directed them to wait at Tesco Extra while she, Chang En, Clara and myself headed into Gunung Lang for a visitation to my house.

My parents and brother were preparing to go out for dinner when we arrived. But they stayed back for a while to entertain the 4 of us. Later my mother left shortly after that as she was supposed to bring dinner to my grandmother who was staying in the house belonged to my uncle whose family was currently having a vacation in Korea. After having a chat with my family, Wendy, Clara, Chang En and myself left my house to reunite with the rest of the troop at Tesco Extra.

We managed to reach Tesco Extra safely despite the traffic jam. And when we were there, Kelvin Wong was already there. He finally managed to overcome the jam after 5 hours and join us. 2 more cars came and it turned out to be Jensen's and Kao Meng's (David was the driver). All of us agreed to have dinner at KFC inside Jusco. The reason was that our international friends were Muslims and they communicated with one another in Arabic. Actually, we have one more house to visit i.e Jensen's, but his parents went out and won't be coming back any time sooner. We had no choice but to skip his house and end our visitation journey earlier, and this means my house was the last stop of the whole CNY house-crash.

We had an enjoyable time having our dinner and chat-chitted with one another. Then, it's time to make a move. Everyone parted their ways and went home. As for myself, I've decided to stay overnight at my uncle's place since it's quite near to Jusco. Jensen was the one who sent me there as Wendy has to send Chang En back to his own home.

Whoa!! It was indeed a memorable day for myself as I enjoyed the whole outing. Thank God for His journey mercy upon all the drivers involved. Of course, I would like to express my gratitude to Wendy Lee for her excellent and steady driving skills along the way. Thanks, Wendy!

These are the 4 people who made it through the CNY house-crash by visiting all the 4 housesduring the whole outing. Coincidentally,they themselves were the hosts. From left: Wendy Lee, Alexson Chuah, Clara Tan and Anthony Chan (yours truly)

All the 4 houses share one thing in common: they're all corner lots. Wendy's and mine are at the centre while Alexson's & Clara's at the side of respective rows of houses. All but Wendy's have compound around their houses. Another thing is that in the above picture, we were seated in accordance to the houses we visited, meaning from Wendy's to Alexson's to Clara's to mine. And we have a copy of Google map with us before the outing began. Four addresses were printed on it and the 4 addresses lead to our respective homes. Isn't that wonderful?

And lastly, here's the distribution of those who participated in the whole outing and the percentage of the homes they visited (out of 4):

4 (100%) = Wendy, Clara, Alexson, yours truly

3 (75%) = Jensen and the 4 international friends

2 (50%) = David, Kharis

1 (25%) = Diming

None (0%) = Kelvin Wong

~~~THE END~~~

The Rabbit HOPS In!!

Yup!! That's right!! The Year of the Rabbit is finally here!! Yay!!

I'm really excited about the Rabbit Year as I was born in 1987, which is the Year of the Fire Rabbit. And this year is the Year of the Golden Rabbit. I do hope that this year would be an awesome year for myself and everything's going well for me. I had reunion lunch with my relatives two days ago and it's good for my relatives to gather and have fellowship with one another.

As usual, ang pows (red packets of money) will be distributed esp to children where this is the moment they're excited about. Not only to children, ang pows can be given to senior citizens as well, as a blessing. During this festive season, visitation is a tradition for the Chinese community and usually families would visit their relatives and friends. During CNY, the most common types of food are mandarin oranges and variety kinds of cookies. Of course, these can be used as gifts to other families and friends. Speaking about traditions, one practice is that NO floor-sweeping is allowed during the 1st day of the Lunar New Year as the Chinese believe that it will sweep away the prosperity.

Alright, back to my side of the story. This Saturday (tomorrow), my Kampar friends is having a CNY crash-of-the-Ipoh-houses. And my house will be one of 7 "lucky" ones to be visited. This event was planned by some of my fellow CF members. I'm extremely excited about tomorrow and hopefully this event will be an enjoyable one. On the same day, my former 6th Form classmates are having a Gathering as well but unfortunately I won't be joining them this time. Have fun, my fellow F3 members!

Last but not least, I sincerely wish all my readers a Chinese New Year! May the Year of the Rabbit brings joy, cheer and happiness to each and everyone of you! Gong Xi Fa Cai!