Company Name?

Some banks are going all out to get more people to sign up for their credit cards. Whether you use it, that's another matter.

After some hard-chasing, by phone and through e-mail, by a very polite yet persistent agent promoting SCB card from West Malaysia, I finally succumbed and signed up for another card. That is after I'm certain that I won't be paying for the RM50 gov tax (contra) and future annual fees.

The perks are the RM188 rebate, 0.5% cash back on retail transactions,  and 50% discounts off "when you dine at Platinum Partners" (quoted from their brochure) although I doubt SCB are able to partner with enough "partners" in Sabah. Sadly, promotions and perks are mostly applicable to West M'sia while those of us here in the East will only get to browse through their catalogue.

After filling in the application form and I had it reverse-collected, the card arrived today. With a credit limit of RMXX,XXX printed on the letter - an amount so outrageous that I never will swipe on any given card, I checked out the new shiny platinum plastic only to discover an unwanted and wrong embossing of company name below my name.

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Company Name: Datin xxxxx!!!

Jan 24: SBC Credit Card

Gaaaahhhh!!! How frustrating! I didn't know whether to laugh or to cry!

Do they not know how to differentiate between the name of employer and the name of company?

I will never be caught dead with my former employer's name embossed on my c.c.! Called up the card centre to inform them of their mistake and to get rid of the company name.

Alas, since this is a 'business' c.c., the company name MUST be embossed on the card.

I will be getting another card within 7 days - with the name of my 'company' forever etched on the card.

How uninspiring! -.-

Sang Myung Master Choral Concert

I had the opportunity to attend the Sang Myung Master Choral (SMCC) Concert which was held on Jan 19 at the Auditorium of Sabah Theological Seminary. They were invited by the Sabah Council of Churches and it was also their inaugural performance outside of Korea.

Deb picked me up and drove up the lil hill to the STS hostel. From there we walked up the steps to the new auditorium.

It was my first time there and the spanking new auditorium was impressive!

 

The 25-member choir were led by Chang Eun Im, the conductor, and accompanied by three pianists. The SMMC was founded in 2004 and is composed of vocal major students from the college of music of Sang Myung University.

One of my favourite songs, Nella Fantasia, was sung that night since it is all the rage now in Korea. It is due to a KBS World variety show, The Qualification of Men, which had featured the process of an assembled choir practicing for and participating in a choir competition.

I enjoyed myself so much that night! It was indeed a world class performance of beautiful voices in harmony.

Trust

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When I've little faith, when things seem impossible, when my heart goes awry, when I'm desperate, when I'm overcome with uncertainties,

 

I am reminding myself of this verse again.

Proposal Defence

The proposal defence for my dissertation is over and done. I'm happy and grateful that the panel gave me the green light to proceed.

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I must admit that the week leading up to my defence was not that pleasant as I was worried over what the panel would have to say about my work.

What if I've used the wrong method?

What if the theoretical framework employed does not make sense?

What if the literature review is not extensive or current enough?

What if I couldn't answer their questions?

What if my proposal needs major amendments and changes?

The knowledge that the first reader who never fails to shake-up and attack and tear apart the work of his candidates during presentation did not help my increasing worry. I guess I just do not want to appear like a fool and be demotivated before the panel.

I don't know how and why but when I arrived at the venue to wait for my turn, I found out that my group had a totally different panel. The second candidate was already in the room for more than 40 minutes and it did make me wonder if they were very dissatisfied with her work to question her for so long.

After one hour, she came out and informed those waiting nervously that the profs were very kind. They had merely given her many suggestions on how to improve her work and it took one whole hour. At that moment, all my fears dissipated!   

What can I say except that God is just so very good to me. One of my prayer requests was that the well-known highly critical prof won't be nasty and what did God do? He had the whole panel changed and I entered the room before two most kind, gentle and encouraging profs.

And the best part is, they were very satisfied with my work and only suggested a very minor change!

The same could not be said for some of my friends under different panels. Though they could proceed with their research, some had to modify and amend nearly 60% of their work! And an unfortunate course mate had to re-submit his work within one week due to a minor oversight on his part which was caught by a very fastidious prof. It was that gruesome!

I'm not saying that I had it easy or my work is flawless but I just disagree with how proposal defense is run here, well at least in my uni. It is supposed to be a sharing and feedback session to help students improve their work. Not a 'tearing' / 'hentam' (bashing) session which seems quite the norm here. Is it any wonder that post-grads do not look forward to their defence?  

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Thank You so much, DD! You know my fears and erased them for me and I'm so very grateful!

Blessings for Obedience

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Deutronomy 28: 1 - 14

Blessings for Obedience

1 If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:

3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.

4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.

6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

7 The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.

8 The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.

9 The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in obedience to him. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you. 11 The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.

12 The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. 13 The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. 14 Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.

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The above is one of my favourite passages in the Bible. There was a time when I would recite this passage daily and religiously, claiming its promises of blessings before starting my day.

This passage does not end at verse 14 though. Just as there are blessings for obedience, there are curses for disobedience which I tend to forget or ignore.

I don't wish to end up receiving the fruits of disobedience. I am not perfect and I fail many times but I wish to be more obedient this year and for many years to come.

Time for a Change

Bye-bye 2010. Hello 2011.

I'm quite excited about this year. Personally I feel that it's another year of change for me and I'm looking forward to it! Am excited, though there's that niggling sense of trepidation and nervousness.

This year -

I wish to embrace change more wholeheartedly,

be more open, flexible and CALM in facing life's events and routines,

learn to be less predictably boring :)

As a small start, changed the layout of this lil blog of mine. Might change it again though.

Wishing you all a very blessed and good year ahead. :)