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What Matters Most In Life

By On · 696 Comments · In Uncategorized
[custom_field limit="1" between=", " /]What matters most in a persons life? Is it family? Is it your career? Is it financial freedom? Is it what people think of you? Is it your idealistic dreams? What really matters most? I’ve questioned that a lot this year.. and maybe i’m still struggling with an answer. Some people i guess would think any one of those are important enough to be the thing that matters most in ones lifetime. Everyday we work hard to achieve something but what are we really trying to strive for? Is it for acceptance when we do a good job? Is it to find the ‘perfect soulmate’? Is it so we can say to ourselves oh great i’ve made this much of money this year, and this can go straight to my savings? What the heck is the point of all of that…? Materialistically it’s pointless, cause at the end of the day you can’t take anything with you when you pass on. Finding the love of your life, it’s only going to be taken away from you when you pass on. What are you really going to say at the end of the day with your life… However reading Rick Warren’s “The Purpose Driven® Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?“. I know there is more to life than all that was stated above. I don’t really know who to explain it with meager words… nor with out some people thinking that it is cheesy… Just to share a little bit. This year was a topsy turvy time. I was disappointed a lot, still am in some ways. Disappointed with my own behavior, dissapointed with the people around me. People whom you’ve known for a long while let you down. Could be a close friend, could be a relative.. doesn’t matter. Anyone can let you down. Disappointed with work. Things where you were once comfortable will be shaken. Things that you thought were fine are actually not. Your securities in work won’t be there for you… All those are variables. But there is only one person Who won’t and He kept me sane… My Mighty Father in Heaven. Everything else in life is a variable and I’m glad that He isn’t. He is for ever constant. He will never change. And that is why I realise that you should live for no one else but for the Father. He’s the only thing that is significant, to work for, to strive for, to love. For He is Love… What matters most in life… the people whom you can try to love… “Love is a choice you make and you are blessed when you love even if you don’t feel like it.” – kerrvillechurch Oh Lord, I pray that you will teach me your ways. Teach me to forgive and teach me to love. Even when i do not feel like loving. Teach me to be exactly what Love is, as it is stated in you Book of Life. Love is everything, for without Love i am nothing.

Reflections Afresh

By On · 35 Comments · In Uncategorized
A bit more of a personal post here.  Today has been a rather interesting in a very indirect manner. It started with me talking to my partner in gym training about an issue he’s going through at the moment. Which lead me to think on my own future and life on marriage and what not. I found that i had questions and wanted to know how my better half felt on our own future.  A number of times people have been asking us when is our time. To be frank I do not know when our time is. Cause financially it’s a prob. Not for him but on my end. That said, it’s like a plane which has engines but only one is working. Take a guess who is who. Needless to say, I felt a heavy weight on me because once again I was filled with uncertainty. Uncertainty on why I should be wasting my time with the arts. Why should I consider even trying when i do not know what I can offer in the entertainment line. Uncertainty on whether I should let someone wait for me as i figure out what to do with my life. For he is more stable than I ever will be in the finance department at this point in time. So that left me thinking about what was my worth in all this. It’s hard because, I could have a “normal life” where I don’t dabble with the arts. I could have a “normal job” that’s safe. Why should i put myself in such agony on when is my next paycheck going to come in? Why not just get a job where i can be stable, I can save some cash and then I can get on with the other part of my life – the personal one.  He’s waiting for me, and it’s fine for him. But there are also sacrifices he’s permitting because of the waiting. I feeel guilty because, how do i say that I don’t want him to wait and not go after his own dreams. While i’m struggling to pursue my own.  This left me frowning for a while as I stared at my screen. That was when I decided to open up my msn and then I saw a little notification from Ming Han’s nickname, requesting for me to ping him, when I was online. So i pinged him. That was also the same time I wrote this as my new msn nick : “Is having a reflective moment.. and not exactly liking it”. Which probbed him to ask me whats up and if i wanted to share.  This resulted in me blurting out my head.  After much of him listening to me blabbed on. He shared with me a verse from the Bible – Jeremiah 29:11. 
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
This rang a bell in my heart and urged me to read the whole of Jeremiah 29. It is “A Letter to the Exiles”. Being in exile is hard.. I can only just imagine what those people must have felt when they were to be thrown out of their home, into a foreign land with different languages, culture and what have you.  For me I sometimes do feel like an exile. An exile in the sense that I’m not in normal working environment. Rather I feel like I’m thrown into a barren land that is far from that which i’m comfortable. Instead I’m constantly in a state of stress and anxiety at times. But in this unknown and very tempting culture, we are called to be salt and light. To just be a different kind of light in the entertainment industry.  That is why I find that it is worthwhile doing this. I was blinded for a moment with the uncertain future. But reading Jeremiah 29:11, I realise that I can’t leave it in my hands. I never could. He wants me to look to Him and as he states in His word “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Times like these, I just need to know when to be still and trust that my life is in His capable hands. It doesn’t matter that I’m in troubling times now, I have to live by faith, hope and just know that because God loves me, what He has planned out for me will not harm me. Rather he has “plans to give me hope and a future. ” How easy it is as humans, we falter and sometime think that everything can be solved with our hands. It’s never that simple, that we can just force our way in without Him pulling us back because He knows we may hurt ourselves in the process. It is so important that i know He is in my life. He is my pillar of light and support. My rock.

VO for Bible Explorer Series

By On · 460 Comments · In Uncategorized
On Monday I had met up with the rest of the Footstool Players group to do some voice over recording for the Children Bible Explorer Series. A sorta storytelling, game and quiz flash output meant to teach the stories of the Bible to children. The Children Bible Explorer Series is produced by Pristine World. The voice recording which is still on going for this week, is the third installment of the series. The first one was called Genesis Vol , followed by Genesis Vol 2 and Genesis Vol 3.

Bible Explorer Series Genesis Vol 1,2 and 3

The one we’re currently involved is a continuation of the series called The Gospel Story.

You can find out more about the books and cds at their website. The purpose of the book and cd is to give a more interesting manner of how we can tell the wonderful stories from the book of Genesis. Children will be able to see the characters come alive and then at the end of the story, they can try out the quiz and games to test their memory and how much they understand about each situations. I was giving the quiz on The Ten Commandments a try. I was suppose to arrange all the Ten Commandments in order within a time span of 30 seconds… and I failed miserably :( …. pressure laaaaa, but I got one right! Also not easy without a mouse… ^_P

Here we are at the recording studio in Seksyen 17, which is have to admit was a bit hard to find at first. I’m not familiar with the area and furthermore, it was really hidden. But I will Thank God for such a thing called GPS and Google Maps. Two beautiful things that should always be with you on the road. Now if only the GPS was free connection!!

director and author, peter hard at work

Colin Kirton, our VO director who happens to also be playing the voice of Jesus.. Oooohh pressure!! :P And right next to him is Peter C.T. Lim. He is the writer and producer for the entire Children Bible Explorer Series. On the laptop he’s showing me a couple of shots of what the characters we will be VO-ing for. This is also to give us an idea of what the character is suppose to sound like.

This is what Sky Studio looks like. And there we have Jon Tan standing dawning on the guitar to strum us a couple of tunes while we waited for our turn.

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This is the sound editing room. Samuel, having a read on the otherside of the mirror while Eu Bing, is getting prepped. Eu Bing’s and Colin’s favourite word of the day after that was “taught”.. hehe. You try pronouncing the word taught not like thought. ^_P

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Us inside the recording room.

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Colin giving us direction on how to do a crowd scene.. not so easy.. lol. But that was loads of fun!!

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Part of the voice over cast (L-R) Ian Ng, Soon Wei, Me, Rudi, Peter, Samuel and Jon Tan.

Till the next update ^_^

Footstool Players up North

By On · 64 Comments · In Uncategorized
Ismail Rehearsals have been on for about three weeks now and not too long ago, I got an email from my Colin Kirton asking if I would be keen to come on board as another acting person for Footstool Players. Of course I screamed yes! lol. I’m pretty excited to be working with them :) I’ve just finished Ismail rehearsal and my feet are now sore, but all worth while hehe. I need to update on the Ismail blog too.. oops. I got lost heading up to Subang Jaya Gospel Centre…again sigh. Colin was nice enough to meet me at the Shell station nearby. Unfortunately and rather embarrassingly he saw me make an illegal U-turn, which was not at all what I had intended. It was dark and I couldn’t see the no entry sign…HONEST!!!!

Subang Jaya Gospel Centre

Usually FsP will have about only 4 people to act a number of the short plays but this year they have 7 people on board. The people involved with this years Foootstool Players are Colin Kirton, Jonathan Tan, Sean Lau, Adrene Wong, Ee Soon Wei, Ann Choo and myself. ^_^ I didn’t manage to take picture for the first rehearsal, but nevermind.. I have pics anyway lol. From the Footstool Players website.

seanlau

Ann choo

(L-R) Colin Kirton, John, Adrene, Sean, Soon Wei and Ann. Not forgetting Rudy the stage manager, who is also the person who set up SJGC. But no pic :( Oh and if the Soon Wei looks familiar (which was probably why i was cracking my head the whole time), go on to this site by Brylcreem Soh Hem Sem.

Soh Hem Sem

What do you think? Lol.

Footstool Players rehearsals will be up in Subang which is sooo da far, but ah yes the sacrifices one makes in order for ones passion. ^_P This is the first time I’m having double rehearsals for two big shows( they are both big IMO, so agree with me ^_P – and they are equally important to give it one’s best. Footstoolplayers even more so because other than the times when I hung with the Christian Fellowship in UM. This will be my other chance to serve God in this field. Performances visually shown to people are powerful mediums to voice out messages, or values. Of course you can’t implant values directly to people, but if you can get them thinking about it. That’s a great start. :) So Thank The Lord, I’m finally able to come on board and work with other Christians who also share the same interest in the performing arts as I. God is seriously GOOD!

Happy Easter Everyone

By On · 13 Comments · In Graphic Design
Finally I did manage to put up a header that was well before the actual event. ^_^ I want to wish everyone A Blessed Easter today… Some of us would like to think that everything is happy wappy, it’s about the easter bunny coming his way to give away colourful eggs, in big baskets and to look for hidden chocolate bunnies in the grass. Yeah it sounds like a child book fairy tale or fantasy…. To be honest I don’t think I should have put the easter bunny on the header, because in truth that isn’t what easter about. It’s not about the cute bunnies or the colourful eggs. One can read more of how Easter came to be here.

Easter Morning The image here was taken from Lifesfavors. Do visit them for some beautiful Christian Graphics. It is about us humans on this earth, realising that we have actually been saved and we have something to hope for on this painful plane we call home for now. This was the time of the last few days before Jesus was crucified on the cross and it was by his blood drained from Him that we the sinners of the world can have the chance to be connected with our Loving Creator up in the heavens. The story gets happier, for Jesus did not die but rose from the grave and was reunited with His friends for a while before returning to His Father’s side. That thought and fact needs to be reminded in my heart, for whatever it is that I have been busy with. God has been the one graciously providing, everytime when we think times are terrible, He’ll always be there to pick us up and walk with us. To bear our burdens and to leave it with Him. For He knows what is best and because He loves us, that is why even the pain we go through is worth the wait. All Glory Be To God. So Once again folks, Have a good Weekend and Happy Good Friday. For it really is good^_^