Reunion at Chillis 1 Utama

I think it's coming close to a month since I last posted... What a month it has been. I was in Redang for a week (from 21st - 28th) on my annual volunteer work... :-) Trying to get some good karmic points. I'm still in the midst of what some of my fellow volunteers call the Chagar Hutang blues... defined as a down feeling that you get after leaving Chagar Hutang but I guess I'll survive.

Had a minor surgery yesterday to remove a boil on my forearm... Thank God I can still write but at any rate I'll be out of commission for a few days...

Anyway, the main event was a reunion at 1 Utama Chillis organised by Adrian & Joycelyn. The reunion was sort of like a farewell meet-up before he & Joycelyn uproots themselves to Melbourne Australia. It was a great reunion... meeting up with old friends... some of whom I have not seen for 10 years... Most with families of their own by now. Well... I've been told that my blog should contain more pics than words... so ... enjoy the pics... :-)

Khairul & I fighting over beaver skins in Montreal, Canada during a Summer trip.

Adrian, Joycelyn & I... Incredible Hulk Wannabes at Fork's Market, Winnipeg.

Khairul, Myself, Gabriel, Ngo, Adrian & Jean (Seated) celebrating Jean's Birthday at Kirkby Terrace, Winnipeg.

Adrian, Yuet Har, Irene, Liang Kwang, Chwan Keng, Myself & Urm.... forgot that guy... Fong I think... at Kings Park, Manitoba. Yeah... my hair was that long once...

Yuet Har, Joycelyn, Swee Sen (& Their Kids)

Myself, Faith & Yuet Har's Daughter... :-)

Las Hombres... The guys of Business Computing '92. Adrian, Khairul, Myself & Ngo.

Ngo & His Kids (Yi Leon & Yi Shion)

One Big Happy Family.

Quake Lake

Was going through some articles on the Internet and came across the above image. This quake lake has been in the news the past few days due to the potential for disaster. Basically, what has happened was during the quake, the river had been dammed by rocks, mud & gravel thus causing what has been called a 'quake lake'. Coupled with the rain, the lake has formed very quickly and will eventually burst causing massive flooding downstream. So apart from the human tragedy, authorities are scrambling to avoid further disasters.

Aerial View of TangJiaShan Lake & Surrounding Area

Mountain of Rubble

The above image pretty much shows the mountain of rubble that collapsed from one of the mountains damming the river.

Submerged Dam

The extent of the damming is so great that the lake extends 5 kms upstream and everything between the 'dam' up the river is submerged in water and water level at the lake is rising at about 2 metres each daily. The above image shows a constructed dam that has been all but submerged by the water and there are also concerns that these will be destroyed once the quake lake spills over wiping out everything in its path.

Even though the quake has not claimed as many lives as the Tsunami in 2004 (yet), I believe the extent of damage wrought in its wake is much greater and I do hope that things will gradually improve.

My heart and prayers goes out to all the survivors and those affected.

Sichuan 2008 Earthquake

It's been more than 2 weeks and there's still no letting up. Aftershocks & tremors are still occurring every few days with more deaths being reported. It's shocking & depressing reading about such disasters. Just a week before the quake, it was Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar and it wasn't too long ago when the Tsunami hit Aceh wiping the whole town off the map. Makes one wonder if this is Mother Nature's way of fighting back and to show that she is still in control. However, this post is not aimed at talking about the depressing news as there's enough of that in our newspapers and Web sites.

Instead, it got me thinking back to 2004 during the Indian Ocean Tsunami. I never thought so much about it at the time but in retrospect, it gives me hope to see that at such times, people are working together to provide hope and assistance to those who need it. It's during such adversity that we are able to see the human spirit of co-operation breaking down the barriers and one person from one country helping another person thousands of miles away without expecting anything in return. All we want is to help ease the pain and suffering.

During the Tsunami, I actually got to know that the Buddhist Maha Vihara in Brickfields was looking for donations & volunteers to assist with sorting and packaging of items to be sent to Aceh. There were hundreds of people there helping in so many different activities. Sorting of foodstuff, clothes by gender, size... Sorting through medication, packaging, organising and basically off-loading and loading the items into containers. Most of us have either taken leave from work to help or in my case, went there after work.

Like conservation work, it really felt like I was doing my part and it really made me feel good knowing that I have done my part to alleviate some of the suffering. Even then, I wish there was more that I could do now other than to just donate money.

Let's all pray for those affected and wish them well.