Too Much..

.. Basil.

Today is one day I feel I miss the Basils heaps.

Basils, you wonder?

It came about on one cold.. autumn's (or was it summer) night. We were having homemade pizza.. with heaps, of basil. Too much, really..

And we had to decide on a group name. Since we need an identity before travelling 20000 miles away to North Asia.

And because we were basil infused that night, under the intoxication of the basil leaves, we named ourselves Too Much Basil, in short.. TMB.

Basils at Adelaide Airport.

Basils at Singapore Airport.


Basils in Thailand!

Basils in Thailand with best Pad Thai that beat Rundle Spices flat!

Basils in woods in some secluded part of the world. After eating a lot of chilli.


Basils at English Camp 1.

Basils with kids from English Camp 2.

Basils at local market.


Basil Heroes.


And Basil #4.5, Raisin Mearty Samson :)

For random's and old times' sake.

*Insert Cool Title*

For the sake of not having boring titles like.. Change. Or Hope, you insert a title of your own ;)

We were chatting about change last night. About how very dear people are leaving (or are thinking of leaving). Some of which I haven't heard about. Karen's going to Port Lincoln, Jez to Perth, Yih Ling with thoughts of Brisbane as the next stop.. and Sam, I hear he's got thoughts to change states too.

And for the bleak moment in life, we looked sullenly at each other. That reality of how things never stay the same pinched us a little.

...

Today I celebrate change. I anticipate change. And if change doesn't happen, it'd be disastrous.

As much as I resist change - knowing that people don't stay the same, friendships don't remain.. even favourite places cannot withstand the forces of change.. I'm excited when I think about what change means and what it has brought us thus far.

Yeah, change means that today, we can't walk out alone on our own without fearing rapists and snatch thiefs.

Change means that we're studying in Bahasa Melayu today, rather than the highly sung about English language in schools.

Change means that we have to spend RM 4.00 on a bowl of noodles now, instead of RM 0.10 in our grandparents' time.

Change means you actually need at the very least, a Bachelors degree before you can land yourself a job.

Change brings people to say.. "Gone, were the good ol' days".

...

But change also means that we have abolished slavery.

Change also means that we've got better technology to tackle diseases.

Change also means that more and more people are able to cross borders to learn from one another.

Chamge also means that I don't have to marry a man I have never met before! WOOHOO! :)

And more importantly, change and the eventuality of change means we do not have to accept the injustice and oppression that is happening all around us.

...

Change being the only constant thing in this world means that there is a current already running through the existing things of life.. and our role within change? Is to steer it in the right direction.

Change means we are allowed to imagine equality - without fearing we'd be labeled idealistic.

Change means we are allowed to imagine justice dancing in our streets.

Change means we are allowed to imagine a better future.

Change means we are allowed to hope..

.. and hopefully, change will bring us to say.. "Gone, are the days when injustice and oppression ruled".

Because situations tomorrow will be different from today's. Because if change could take a turn for the worse, it can definitely take a change for the better.

Change has, is, and will take place. It's now a matter of us steering it in the right direction.

I want to ride on that wing of change, and hope to see it turn things around for the better.

Till tomorrow, when change happens.

May 7, 2009

The fingers itch to type again.

Dad will freak out if he does check out this blog. Mum's friend's daughter was interrogated by the police for seditious writings on her blog. But well, we're not going there today. (But hey, since when have we become so afraid of saying what we really think, hey?)

Yesterday was.. I don't even have the right adjective to describe it. I sat in front of my laptop the whole day, no, not doing my assignment as I am supposed to.. but waiting for minute-updates of what is happening in Perak. Even signed up for Twitter just to receive the MalaysianInsider updates. It was so hard to contain all the emotions within me.. with no one to turn to or scream at. The dear friend in Ipoh can only giggle at what I was frustrated at. Ish you ;)

Having been recently making the conscious effort to catch up on politics in Malaysia, I've been spending hours (literally) in the mornings reading up on what's happening in Malaysia. Maklumlah.. dah nak balik kampung, kan?

If you do catch up on Malaysian news, you know that after reading it, you will feel worse off than before. Guaranteed.

To watch in action leaders fighting physically over what was meant to be (or what could turn out to be) a peaceful discussion really made me think. And made something in me tick.

The hours of morning news that I read is then countered by reading what happens in biblical times.. and learning about their political system.

Hey, it's valid, okay? Joseph was the Prime Minister, Samson and Samuel were judges, Saul, David, and Solomon were kings, and Esther was well.. the Queen :) Even the prophets were involved in politics - by being the kings' conscience.

And it has been an eye opener thus far.

It has been encouraging, knowing that a major part of the Old Testament was about politics, in today's terms. And to know that God when He said He's the King of kings and the Lord of lords - meant what He said.

But to see how in being a leader, their ups were all related to one common thing: God's position in their lives..

And their downs were also related to similar things: the craving for power, the influence of bad-unedifying relationships, and greed for more.

And I cringed at the thought that I too am faced by the same things the kings faced that brought them down.

I wonder what I will be able to do when I get back. And where to start this looonnnnggggg journey.

Ps. Jon on Sunday said this..

It's not our place to add the super and the extra to the natural and the ordinary.

I cannot agree more. We're called to be who we are. The natural, and the ordinary.

And when we pair up with the Super and the Extra from up above, that's when things start to happen :)

May 7, 2009. How it all turned Black. I'll remember that day. And I'll pass it on.

1Malaysia.

Turns Black tomorrow.