An Opened Cookie Jar

Touch my hand...

2009-11-14T22:20:00.001+08:00

Saw you from the distance,
Saw you from the stage,
Something 'bout the look in your eyes,
Something 'bout your beautiful face,
In a sea of people,
There was only you,
I never knew what this song was about,
But suddenly now I do,

Trying to reach out to you,
Touch my hand,
Reach out as far as you can,
Only me, only you, and the band,
Trying to reach out to you,
Touch my hand,

Can't let the music stop,
Can't let this feeling end,
Cause if I do it'll all be over,
I'll never see you again,

Can't let the music stop,
Until I touch your hand,
Cause if I do it'll all be over,
I'll never get the chance again,
I'll never get the chance again,
I'll never get the chance again,

I see the sparkle of a million flashlights,
A wonder wall of stars,
But the one that's shining out so bright,
Is the one right where you are,

Trying to reach out to you,
Touch my hand,
Reach out as far as you can,
Only me, only you, and the band,
Trying to reach out to you,
Touch my hand,

Can't let the music stop,
Can't let this feeling end,
Cause if I do it'll all be over,
I'll never see you again,

Can't let the music stop,
Until I touch your hand,
Cause if I do it'll all be over,
I'll never get the chance again,
I'll never get the chance again,

Saw you from the distance,
Saw you from the stage,
Something 'bout the look in your eyes,
Something 'bout your beautiful face,

Can't let the music stop,
Can't let this feeling end,
Cause if I do it'll all be over,
I'll never see you again,

Can't let the music stop,
Until I touch your hand,
Cause if I do it'll all be over,
I'll never get the chance again,
I'll never get the chance again,

Trying to reach out to you,
Touch my hand, (I'll never get the chance again)
Reach out as far as you can, (I'll never get the chance again)
Only me, only you, and the band,
Trying to reach out to you,
Touch my hand,
Yeah, yeah

You know who you are. It's impossible in real life.....

Someday..

2009-11-14T22:14:00.004+08:00

Someday
When my life has passed me by
I'll lay around and wonder why no one were always there for me
One way
In the eyes of a passerby
I'll look around for another try
And'll fade away

Just close my eyes and I'll take me there
This place is warm without a care
I'll take a swim in the deep blue sea
I go to leave as you reach for me

Some say
Worst things will come my way
No matter what they try to say no one were always there for me
Someway
When the sun begins to shine
I hear a song from another time
And'll fade away
And'll fade away

So far, so long, so far away
So far, so long, so far away (away, away)
Someday
When my life has passed me by
I'll lay around and wonder why you were not there for me
One way
In the eyes of a passerby
I'll look around for another try
And'll fade away

Left 4 Dead

2009-10-26T19:49:00.002+08:00

Left 4 Dead is a cooperative first-person shooter video game. It was developed by Turtle Rock Studios, which was purchased by Valve Corporation during development. The game uses Valve's proprietary Source engine, and is available for Windows and the Xbox 360. Development on the game was completed on November 13, 2008 and was released on November 18, 2008 in the United States and on November 21, 2008 in Europe.

Set during the aftermath of an apocalyptic pandemic, the game pits its four protagonists—dubbed the "Survivors"—against hordes of the infected. There are four game modes: a single-player mode in which allied characters are controlled by AI; a four-player, co-op campaign mode; an eight-player online versus mode; and a four-player survival mode. In all modes, an artificial intelligence (AI), dubbed the "Director", controls level pacing and item spawns, in an attempt to create a dynamic experience and increase replay value.

Left 4 Dead was well received by the industry media upon its release, with praise given for its replay value, focus on cooperative play, and movie-like experience. Several criticisms were aimed at limited level selection and the lack of a narrative. The game has won several publication awards, as well as distinctions from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences and British Academy of Film and Television Arts. As was done with Team Fortress 2, Valve plans on supplementing the game with free downloadable content. The first of these, called the "Survival Pack", was released on April 21, 2009, with the second, in the form of a new DLC Campaign entitled "Crash Course," released for both the PC and Xbox 360 on September 29, 2009. The popularity of the game led to the development of a sequel, Left 4 Dead 2, which will be released in November 2009.

Gameplay

In Left 4 Dead, the four survivors must fight off infected humans while trying to escape or make their way to a safe house.

Left 4 Dead is a first-person shooter. In campaign mode, the player takes control of one of the survivors; if four human players are not available, then the remaining survivors are AI-controlled bots. They play through the levels fighting off the infected—living humans who have been infected with a rabies-like virus that causes psychosis, to which the survivors are immune.^[2]^[3]

The game is focused on cooperation and team play; colored outlines of teammates are visible through walls to help players stick together and coordinate their movement. If a survivor falls off a ledge, then they may automatically hang onto it and can only be helped up by another survivor. If a survivor's health is depleted, then they become incapacitated and can only be revived by another survivor, at which point they continue playing with a low amount of health that decreases over time. If a survivor has been incapacitated and revived twice without tending to their wounds, then they will experience distorted black-and-white vision, and the next incapacitation will kill the character. If a survivor takes enough damage while incapacitated, or is not eventually helped up by teammates, then the incapacitated character will die. During "Campaign" mode, if a survivor is killed, then they will respawn in a closet or other enclosed space after a period of time (except during key points in the scenario), but must be freed by another survivor to rejoin the team. Otherwise, the player must wait until the next level.^[4] Survivors can share first-aid kits and pain pills and help each other heal. Left 4 Dead has friendly fire that cannot be disabled, increasing the need for caution around other survivors. On the easy difficulty level, friendly fire does not harm teammates but still registers as having occurred with a notice on the screen saying, "Don't shoot teammates!"

The survivors communicate by voice commands that are accessed by quick menus, and some sound off automatically when performing actions such as reloading or spotting infected.^[5] Over 1,000 unique lines have been recorded for each survivor.^[6] Additional communication of player actions is conveyed through character lights. Also, weapon-mounted flashlights and muzzle flashes help the players in determining whether their companions are shooting, performing melee attacks, reloading or moving. Due to control issues and the likelihood of players using a LIVE headset, the Xbox 360 version of Left 4 Dead omits the quick phrases feature.^[7]

The game is experienced through five campaigns that take place in various urban and rural locales. Multiple visual in-game hints—including license plates, park signs, markings on airport equipment, and lines of dialogue spoken by the survivors—suggest that these locations are in Pennsylvania,^[8] and similarly a memorial wall giving names of those who have died in the infection (actually names of the game's development team) along with their dates of birth and death suggests that the game takes place in October 2009.^[9] Each campaign is divided into five chapters, except Crash Course, which has two chapters, marked by safe rooms, which are checkpoints where players can heal, re-arm and revive characters who were killed.^[10] Specifically, the four campaigns are: "No Mercy", an urban setting culminating in a hospital skyscraper; "Death Toll", a small-town and countryside setting; "Dead Air", an airport setting; and "Blood Harvest", a woodland and farm setting. A two-level campaign, "Crash Course", was released on September 29, and is set in the outskirts of a small industrial town. The levels have distinct beginnings and ends, but there are a number of alternate routes to follow with more supplies, helping to create a sense of non-linearity.^[11] In the final chapter of each campaign, the players must defend a position from an onslaught of infected until rescue arrives.^[6] Each campaign typically lasts between 35 and 75 minutes depending on the difficulty level. Both platform versions of the game utilize an achievement system.^[12]

Survivor characters

The final design of the survivors, shown on the poster for the "No Mercy" campaign. Left to right: Francis, Bill, Zoey, Louis

There are four playable human characters in the game:^[13] Francis (voiced by Vince Valenzuela), a tattoo-covered biker; Bill (voiced by Jim French), a former Green Beret and a Vietnam veteran; Zoey (voiced by Jen Taylor), a college student and horror movie enthusiast; and Louis (voiced by Earl Alexander), a junior systems analyst in his company's IT department.^[14] Early plans were for players to be randomly assigned to characters but in the final release, players can choose any character—provided that the character has not already been selected—or be randomly assigned an unselected character.^[6]

Survivors are armed with various firearms. Each player starts the game with an M1911 pistol.^[15] It has unlimited ammo and is the only weapon that the survivor can use when they are incapacitated. When a second pistol is found, the player can dual wield them. At the beginning of each campaign, the player can choose between an Uzi submachine gun and a pump-action shotgun. As the survivors progress through a campaign, more powerful weapons can be found: the fully automatic M16A3 assault rifle (an upgrade to the Uzi), Benelli M4 Super 90 semi-automatic shotgun (an upgrade to the pump-action shotgun), and a scoped Ruger Mini-14 hunting rifle. In addition to firearms, a player can also carry three other items in their inventory: improvised grenades (either a Molotov cocktail to create a wall of fire or a pipe bomb, modified with an attached smoke alarm designed to attract the infected to it before it explodes^[15]); a first-aid kit, which can be used to heal any survivor; and pain pills, which provide temporary health that depletes gradually and quicker with damage from infected, and can be handed to teammates for later use. Regardless of what weapon or item a player is using, a melee attack can be used to shove away any infected within reach. Also available are environmental weapons, such as gasoline cans, oxygen cylinders, and propane tanks, all of which explode when shot. These can be picked up, moved, and used as a melee weapon by the survivors, but while carrying an object they cannot use their weapons or health items. Strategically-placed minigun turrets are encountered at various locations throughout the different maps, but they are not without their complications. Due to their limited turn radius and lackluster heat tolerance, they may not always be the best choice. However, the infinite ammo and raw stopping power may offer some relief to an overwhelmed, ammo-starved player.

Infected characters

The infected (voiced by experimental musician Mike Patton and voice actor Fred Tatasciore)^[16] are the survivors' foes in Left 4 Dead, and they appear to be partly inspired by the infected from several modern films, including Dawn of the Dead^[17] or 28 Days Later.^[18] An important distinction from the former is that while the infected do resemble traditional undead zombies, they are, as cited in the game's manual, living humans infected with a rabies-like pathogen, very much like the infected in the latter film. While they are never seen eating human flesh or brains, the manner in which they are portrayed is meant to create and sustain a more brutal, believable reality for the player to immerse his or herself in. In an interview with 1Up.com, Mike Booth commented on the concept of using a pathogen as an inspiration for the setting:

“

Even though we obviously pushed well beyond the realm of believability with many of our "boss" infected, the core idea of a mind-destroying, civilization-collapsing pathogen is more horrifying to me than magically animated corpses, precisely because it is plausible. Rabies is a good example of a pathogen that can turn a loyal, friendly, protective family pet into a slavering attack machine. It's a virus that reprograms the behaviors of a complex animal – a mammal, in fact. What if something similar happened to humans? Left 4 Dead is one possible answer.^[2]

”

The common infected encountered during the game are fast and agile, weak individually, but may be overwhelming in numbers. They display a special attraction to high-pitched alarm-type sounds, such as the beeping device attached to pipe bombs and car alarms. Common infected will often chase down the source of these noises while ignoring lower-pitched, but much louder sounds such as gunfire. They occasionally attack in masses referred to in-game as a "horde".^[19]

In addition to the common infected, there are five "special" or "boss" infected whose mutations grant them special attacks that make them far more dangerous. Each of the special infected, as well as approaching hordes, have a distinctive sound or a timely musical cue, making their presence easily recognizable by players. They are: the Boomer, a bloated infected whose vomit and bile (which may be released at will and upon death) blinds the player briefly and attracts a horde of common infected; the Hunter, an agile infected that can pounce on survivors from great distances; the Smoker, an infected that can ensnare survivors with its long tongue from a distance and, upon death, releases a cloud of smoke that obscures vision; the Tank, a gigantic, muscular infected that is powerful and difficult to kill. It can knock players backwards, dealing massive damage, or attack from afar by throwing a lump of debris - it also has the ability to bash certain objects, such as cars and dumpsters, towards survivors, that will cause incapacitation on contact; the Witch, a passive female infected, who, when provoked by loud sounds, lights, or proximity of survivors, will attack her provoker - she is able to incapacitate or kill the provoker (depending on the difficulty setting) in one hit. If her victim survives, she will attempt to kill them if not killed herself.^[20]

In versus mode, four additional players can take control of the special infected—apart from the witch, which remains computer-controlled. Each infected player is randomly assigned a class of special infected when they enter a spawn mode. While in spawn mode, the infected can quickly roam around the map in search of an appropriate place in which to spawn. This location must be sufficiently distant from any survivor, out of the line of sight of any survivor, and outside restricted areas such as safe rooms. Upon death, the infected player must wait up to 10–25 seconds before reentering spawn mode, depending on how many players are on the infected team. When a tank is spawned in the game, infected players receive a message indicating which player will control it. The human-controlled infected can see their teammates' outlines through walls similar to the survivors, but can also see each survivor's outline, which is colored according to the survivor's health and fades out if the survivor refrains from attacking, running and vocalizing. Vertical pathways exclusive to the infected, such as pipes and vines, are marked with animated symbols for the infected players. These can be climbed and used for ambushes.

Game modes

Left 4 Dead contains four game modes: campaign, versus, survival, and single-player. The cooperative campaign consists of up to four human-controlled survivors who attempt to make their way between safe rooms and eventually to rescue. In this mode, the special infected are controlled by the AI. In a versus campaign, each team of four players plays each chapter of the campaign as both survivor and infected, swapping sides once per chapter.^[25] Unlike campaign mode, dead survivors do not respawn. If at least one survivor finishes the chapter, then the team playing the survivors earns points according to their average progress through the chapter, as well as bonus points based on their health and the health items in their inventory. These points are then multiplied by the chapter's difficulty level, and the number of survivors who finished. If all the survivors are killed, then they only earn progress points and the difficulty multiplier.^[26] Survival mode consists of a timed challenge where players try to survive as long as possible against a never-ending flood of the infected.^[27] Single-player mode is basically the same as campaign mode, but played offline with three AI-controlled bots as the other survivors, however other players can join in on the same console to turn single player into an offline co-op game. The game can also be played through a system link, or local area network.

Source : Wikipedia

I started playing this game when my friend introduced me to this game. Its pure horror at itsbest!

McDonald

2009-10-22T17:20:00.001+08:00

Go to McDonald's website for more information.

Party after PMR

2009-10-19T19:35:00.004+08:00

After PMR was over last week, my friend Daniel threw a party at his house celebrating the end of PMR. It was on 15th October, from 6pm till late night. It was certainly a fun night. We were eating, shooting (with a toy gun with deadly power), playing PS2, doing an impersonation of Michael Jackson and playing poker.

Me getting ready for shooting time. It's like playing Counter-Strike, but in real life!!

Eldrie taking photos of me and vice versa.

All of them are "concentrating" on the game played on the flat screen TV.

The host, Daniel, wearing white shirt and looking away from the camera.

All hail the flat screen TV!!

Eldrie fixing Gladdy's phone while Gladdy posing for the camera. Say cheese!!

PMR Countdown

2009-09-29T21:06:00.002+08:00

8 days before PMR. Sigh.
I've got this beautiful prayer for PMR students from my friend.
It says;
This is PMR's prayer."As PMR is getting nearer,i want 2 say s0rry 2 u all.pls 4give all my mistakes.ur f0rgiveness is important.s0 that i will be able 2 answer all the question with a calm heart and a peace mind...Amen"4ward this 2 all ur friend 2 get 4giveness.And 2 the pe0ple who get this msg,pls 4give...:-)...ur blessing is important!Dear form3 students,GOOD LUCK 4 PMR!..

I'm going to post an article every day for the PMR countdown. D-day is nearer by the second..

School - a love and hate relationship

2009-09-28T17:41:00.004+08:00

School. It is where you spend almost 13-14 years of your life to study. And a student's relationship with the school is a love-hate relationship. You hate something about the school, and at the same time you love your own school.

What?

When you are in school, you are surrounded by strangers who eventually we know as friends. And the one who teaches you is called the teacher. Students have a love-hate relationship with their teachers, some students hates some of the teachers, and vice versa.

In Malaysia, the schools here are well-facilitated. But, it is just a dream to have a good school especially in poor countries such as Africa.

They have to study in open places and endure the blazing heat upon them.

So, spare a thought about your school and others who wants to go to school before trying to skip classes.

Urmm, this is weird!

Back to basics..

2009-09-28T16:53:00.007+08:00

Well, in these few days before PMR, I've started blogging again. Maybe talk crap? Who knows? Only time will tell.. I have a passion for photography. Armed with my 2.0 megapixels phone camera, I've been taking photographs since the Stone Ages. Haha. If you are a visitor of http://monarocv8tuner.blogspot.com sometime long ago, you'll see a lot of pictures in it. But, I've accidentally deleted the web album and the blog. So here's some pictures to cure you cravings for passionate photography..

A nice-looking butterfly found at an orchard. Don't know why Blogger makes the picture quality seem so low.

I took these picture when I was in Kanowit.

Picturesque of Tanjung Batu Beach in Bintulu.

Durians selling like hot cakes in Bintulu Night Market.

Lantern Festival in Sibu. There is no denying that these pictures sucks!

PMR 2009

2009-09-28T16:21:00.006+08:00

This is it.
9 days more to go till PMR starts.
7th October 2009.
Where 3 years of education is put to the test during this public exam. BM, English, Mathematics, Science, KHB, Sejarah and Geografi.
Where the knowledge obtained by students for the past three years is tested.
Some will cry when they enter the exam hall.
Some will shiver when entering the exam hall.
Some will sweat like there's no tomorrow when they receive the paper.
It's scary..

For those who is spooked out because of PMR, here's a fix for you all.

If Movies Were Real, this is going to happen.

So, all the best for PMR students, and adios!

Pimp My Broadband!

2009-09-22T23:06:00.008+08:00

As I was surfing through the DiGi website, I've encountered a contest, yes, a contest, called Pimp My Broadband. So, I've decided to enter this contest to show the world what TMNut Screamyx is capable of...

Sorry for the messiness of the picture, thanks to TMNot Screamyx!

And not forgetting the connection speed!

Barely 55 KPBS!

TMNot Screamyx have dominated the Malaysian Internet world since the Stone Ages! You'll scream when you use Screamyx!

When I first use the Internet during the 56.5kpbs modem era, Screamyx is SHIT!

And now I'm using Celcom Broadband and TMNet Streamyx. Still SHIT!

Change for the better. Change to Digi!

DiGi. Always the smarter choice!

Please vote for me!

Under Construction

2009-09-12T15:56:00.001+08:00

Dear readers, this blog will probably not have any more new posts until PMR exam is done..

Rantings...

2009-05-29T10:49:00.002+08:00

I feel better today. My coughing is not that severe, and I can drink cold beverages once more.

For today's listening pleasure, here is Gorillaz with Feel Good Inc.

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Gorillaz Feel Good Inc. Lyrics

Sarawak State Band Championship 2009

2009-05-24T16:37:00.003+08:00

In the Sarawak State Band Championship 2009 which was held in SK SEDC, SMK St. Joseph Kuching emerged as champion meanwhile SMK Chung Hua Miri won 2nd place. 3rd place goes to SMK St. Joseph Miri. For more details, please get a copy of Utusan Sarawak at bookstores nearby you.

Here are some videos of SMK St. Joseph performing last year.

Here is the video of the performance this year.

monarocv8tuner.blogspot.com Group on Friendster

2009-05-21T20:38:00.002+08:00

Announcing the monarocv8tuner.blogspot.com Friendster Group! Please click the link on the underlined words to go to the group page. I hope you all will add it. Any Friendster user can join, regardless of age and etc.

Theme Picture for monarocv8tuner.blogspot.com

2009-05-18T16:25:00.004+08:00

Presenting the theme picture of monarocv8tuner.blogspot.com in collaboration with me, monarocv8tuner and joker8922. This will be put in the sidebar from now on.

I'm sorry for the blurry picture.

Celcom Blue

2009-05-17T18:04:00.004+08:00

Celcom Blue is the latest prepaid plan from Celcom. The starter pack normally costs RM8 with RM5 preloaded and one month validity. The prepaid pack offers a flat rate of 45 sen per minute for voice and video calls, 15 sen for SMS and 35 sen for MMS. It also offers a number of value-added features such as Teman 20, which allows users to call and text 20 other Celcom subscribers at a lower rate.

Rates:

1.VOICE & VIDEO CALL - 45sen/min –(FLAT) (20 sec / block)

2.SMS - 15sen/sms (ON & OFFNET)

3.MMS - 35 sen/mms

4.TEMAN 20 - VOICE/VIDEO -15sen/min**
VIDEO - 15sen/min**
MMS -15sen/mms***
SMS - 1sen/sms
** (30 sec / block)

BONUS:
1. BONUS Banyak Guna
2. BONUS Setia
3. BONUS Hari Jadi

Rates Comparison With Other Companies

Angels and Demons

2009-05-15T19:29:00.006+08:00

I seemed to have a craze on the movie "Angels and Demons". I know that it defies the Catholic Church belief (and I'm a Catholic) but it seems to attract me by the suspense of the film even though I had only read the synopsis and played the mobile game. I have to say, Dan Brown is sure a good writer.

Theatrical poster

Mobile game website

Trailer

Brokenheartsville - Joe Nichols Song and Lyrics

2009-05-13T15:50:00.003+08:00

Just another listening pleasure...

He wore that cowboy hat to cover up his horns.
Sweet-talkin' forked tongue haf a temptin' charm.
Before I turned around, that girl was gone.
All I can say is: "Bartender, pour me somethin' strong."

Here's to the past, they can kiss my glass.
I hope she's happy with him.
Here's to the girl, who wrecked my world,
That angel who did me in.
I think the devil drives a Coupe de Ville.
I watched 'em drive away over the hill,
Not against her will, an' I've got time to kill,
Down in Brokenheartsville.

It was long on chrome, sittin' in the lot.
An' fire engine red, that thing was hot.
He revved it up, she waved goodbye.
Well, love's gone to hell and so have I.

Here's to the past, they can kiss my glass.
I hope she's happy with him.
Here's to the girl, who wrecked my world,
That angel who did me in.
I think the devil drives a Coupe de Ville.
I watched 'em drive away over the hill,
Not against her will, an' I've got time to kill,
Down in Brokenheartsville.

Here's to the past, they can kiss my glass.
I hope she's happy with him.
Here's to the girl, who wrecked my world,
That angel who did me in.
I think the devil drives a Coupe de Ville.
I watched 'em drive away over the hill,
Not against her will, an' I've got time to kill,
Down in Brokenheartsville.

Bundaberg Drinks

2009-04-21T19:08:00.001+08:00

I am addicted to Bundaberg drinks. In Sibu's market, they only sell 3 varieties of these drinks which are

1. Bundaberg Sarsaparilla

2. Ginger Beer

3. Lemon Lime and Bitters

Each drink has its own theme, which is "Seriously Sarsaparilla" for Sarsaparilla, "Refreshingly Different" for Ginger Beer, and "It's a Little Bit Posh" for Lemon Lime and Bitters.

Celcom Broadband VS. Streamyx , Which is Better?

2009-04-02T13:36:00.000+08:00

Celcom Broadband VS. Streamyx , which is better? Let us make comparisons between these two services.

Celcom Broadband:

460.8 Kbps speed
Needs an area with GPRS connection
Needs a modem (HSDPA modem or equivalent)
Does not need an ethernet port
Can be used anywhere that has GPRS connection
Not value for money in terms of speed

TMNet Streamyx

Speed according to package (1Mbps package recommended)
Uses landline connection
Needs a ASDL modem
Needs an ethernet port
Can be split for office use (by using splitter or router)
Value for money on terms of speed

So, what is your choice?

An E-mail from Paul Sir

2009-03-09T20:17:00.000+08:00

When I checked my e-mail this afternoon, I got a very wonderful email from Paul Sir from The Borneo Post.

RE: Father Muhren‏

From:	Paul Sir (paulsir99@hotmail.com)
Sent:	Monday, 9 Mar, 2009 1: 36 PM
To:	monarocv8tuner@hotmail.com

Hi Aaron, your blog was sent to many people. Good job, young man. It's also the first one to appear when you googled Fr Muhren.

I mourn for Fr Muhren too. He was a part of my life for some 30 years.

Aaron, thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Cheers and God bless,

Paul

Paul Sir of The Borneo Post

2009-03-08T11:48:00.000+08:00

My blog is featured in the "Paul Sir" column in the Borneo Post Newspaper. This is the full article of the "Paul Sir" column today.

A tribute to a great friend and priest, Father James Muhren

LAST Monday, March 2, I received the sad news of the passing of the Very Reverend Father James Muhren — a Catholic priest who had served in Sarawak for 40 years.

Thanks to a blog hosted by a Form Three student of Sacred Heart School in Sibu, I learnt that Father Muhren had a nasty fall in his retirement home in Holland.

On the night of Feb 28, he suffered a massive brain haemorrhage and slipped into a coma.

He passed away peacefully on the afternoon of March 2 at the ripe old age of 83.

Father Muhren, who was first assigned to Sarawak in 1962 and retired in 2002, was one of the last Mill Hill missionaries to have left Sarawak soil.

He belonged to the St Joseph’s Society of Foreign Missions or Mill Hill Missionaries which took over the Borneo Mission in 1881 from the Spanish Third Order of the Trinitarians.

I was blessed to have crossed path with Father Muhren as a boy and had looked up to him as a fatherly figure and mentor for some three decades. He was a part of my boyhood, my youth and a good part of my adult life. I honestly feel that he was the only foreign soul who had touched my life in a very significant way.

Growing up as a Catholic boy in Kuching, I first came to know Father Muhren when I signed up as an altar boy in the old St Joseph’s Church (where the present cathedral’s bell tower now stands). It was 1968 and I was a Primary Six student of St Joseph’s Primary School.

Somehow, I took a liking to this priest as he did not have a habit of scolding naughty school boys — I was certainly one. He would advise, yes, but it was not his style to get angry and reprimand us. To me, he was almost inhumanely patient and during the rare occasions when he was unhappy with our behaviour, he would just walk away and guess what … he would be praying as if to let go of all his negative emotions.

Besides Father Muhren, there were other Mill Hill priests in Kuching during my teenage years in the early seventies. I remember the late Father Harry van Erp, the late Father Peter Aichner and Father John Morgan. Then there were Father Eugene Wang and Bishop Charles Reiterer. Except for Father Morgan, all had since passed on. The local priests I remember well then were the late Father Joachim Paang, Father Lawrence Chua (now Datuk) and Father Stephen Chin — both of whom are still with us today.

Let me honestly say that I do find some priests a disappointment. But they are only human like all of us. So whenever I had my differences with them, I would choose to think positive — that these people gave up their lives totally in the service of the church while I did not. So what’s so wrong with them that’s so right with me? That helped to put things in its proper perspective and made me feel better. In turn, it helped me to appreciate them better given all their failings and weaknesses.

But Father James Muhren was one of a kind. He was God’s gift to the Catholic youths of Sarawak. It seemed he had a special gift in helping and working with young people. In Kuching in the sixties and seventies, he was chaplain of the Lay Apostolate and encouraged the formation of youth movements such as the Young Christian Workers (YCW) and Joyful Vanguards (JVs). The spiritual formation of Catholic youths was his primary concern and he left a huge impact on the lives of many.

Father Muhren was also well known for his powerful vocal chords. I remember in secondary school, he would invite the Catholic students of St Joseph’s School to recite the holy Rosary with him before school started for the day. During the Rosary months of May and October, Father Muhren would lead the Rosary at 7.15am sharp. With his loud vocals, he did not need a microphone. His voice would thunder harmoniously in the cathedral in the quiet early hour, alerting us all to the great devotion of Blessed Mother Mary. Father Muhren would make sure that the Rosary prayers would end at 7.30am to allow us time to get back to school before the school bell rang at 7.40am.

Father Muhren encouraged me to take an active part in his Lay Apostolate movements and other church activities even after I started working. In 1979, I held a job in Sibu and coincidentally, it was during this same year that Father Muhren was transferred to Sibu and was attached to Sacred Heart Parish. In a town as small as Sibu back then, we met often and also worked closely together in the YCW and other youth movements. I was old and mature enough then to help him lead the younger ones in some societies. In church too, I often had to double up as an altar boy and lector whenever necessary.

Both of us had a bad habit. Father Muhren was a smoker and so was I. He enjoyed the pipe and his favourite brand of cigarettes was Rothmans 100 King Size. In 1980, he threw me a challenge to stop smoking during Lent. Knowing the man with such strong willpower, it was not a surprise that Father succeeded in kicking the habit while I failed. In later years, he would tell me he was disappointed with me that I did not give up smoking back then. Father Muhren did not touch a single cigarette since 1980. He told me so and I had no reason not to believe him.

I left Sibu after three years but Father Muhren was later assigned as parish priest of St Mary’s Church in Kampung Nangka in Sibu. It was to be his final posting in Sarawak. He helmed the parish for about two decades until ill health forced his retirement in 2002.

It was in St Mary’s Church in Sibu that Father Muhren blessed my marriage in 1987. I suppose it was natural for me to want Father Muhren to be the celebrant at this important occasion of my life. This priest was my great friend and mentor for so long — beginning from a 12-year-old boy to an adult and father. His presence on my wedding day meant a lot to me.

We kept in touch during my posting to Kota Kinabalu. He came over to KK once during my two-year stint there and I would visit him whenever I was in Sibu.

After I left Sarawak, it was unfortunate that we slowly lost contact. I remembered clearly the last time I visited him in St Mary’s parish in Sibu. It was just before the 1999 parliamentary election. I turned up unannounced early just after his morning mass. He made me breakfast — it was a simple bacon, egg and bread morning deal but it was special in that it was to be the last meal we had together.

My regret today is that I never took the trouble to get in touch with him after he retired to Holland in 2002. It has been a decade since I last saw him. As I pen this tribute, I feel sad but happy at the same time - sad because I will miss him and happy for I know where he had gone to now. Where else but Paradise where he truly deserves eternal happiness.

I informed some of my former classmates of St Joe, Kuching about Father Muhren’s passing and this is what two of them responded via email. Their fond memories of Father Muhren truly brightened up this loss of a great friend and priest.

Michael Ting of Kuala Lumpur wrote: “Thanks for the update on Father Muhren. Yes, he indeed was one person who made a big impact on me during my growing years in secondary school. I remembered his great energy and zeal for his anointed mission. Ya, he was loud — you can hear him from far away !!!

“I am not sad on his passing from this earthly life. Rather, I believe he is now enjoying the fruits of his long labour.

“He had fought the good fight. He had finished the race and he had kept the faith.

“The Good Lord has filled his cup to overflowing and has prepared a banquet in the sight of his foes. Surely, goodness and happiness shall follow him all the days of his life. Amen.”

Francis Ling wrote from Vancouver: “Yes, we all have fond memories of Father Muhren. On one of his several visits to Vancouver, I had the honour of cooking dinner for him. I agree, he has a great influence on our spiritual life when we were growing up.

“For those who knew him well, he should be canonised for the work he did for the youths of Sarawak and his spiritual messages (via aerograms) that he sent to many Sarawakian students and families studying/living all over the world. To many (including me), his news letters represented the only link we had with Kuching parish. In his final days and in great pain, he travelled all over the world to visit everyone and bid his farewell.

“There are many priests; Father Muhren was an exceptional one.”

Farewell, Father Muhren. Thanks for your guidance, for sharing your wisdom and warm friendship, for the inspiration and the memories. We will always remember you.

(Comments can reach the writer at paulsir99@hotmail.com)

Rev. Father James Muhren , MHM

2009-03-02T19:06:00.000+08:00

Rev. Father James Muhren (14th October 1926 - 2nd March 2009) was a Mill Hill priest who has served Sarawak for 40 years. During the night of 26^th February 2009, Muhren suffered a massive brain haemorrhage. He passed away peacefully on 2nd March 2009 in the afternoon.

Early Life

Jacobus Ludovicus Maria Mühren was born on 14^th October 1926 in Volendam, the Netherlands to Arnold Mühren and Alida Hansen. He had seven brothers and six sisters. He finished his studies at Hoorn in 1939 and at Haelen in 1944. In 1946 he went to Roosendaal for his philosophical studies and to Mill Hill in 1948 for his theological studies. He took his Perpetual Oath on 5^th May 1951 at Mill Hill and was ordained a priest at St Joseph’s College, Mill Hill on 13^th July 1952. Muhren's first appointment was to Hoorn in 1952. After teaching there for ten years he received his appointment to the Vicariate of Kuching (now Archdiocese) on 8^th July 1962, where his brother Do, also a missionary priest, had died in 1956.

Serving In Sarawak

After his arrival in 1962, he was assigned to Kanowit Mission. He worked there for just over a year. Then he was recalled to Kuching to look after the mini-minor seminary. In the five years that followed he also got involved in what was to become the organised Lay Apostolate. After his rectorship of the seminary, he was assistant in St. Joseph's Parish and chaplain of the Lay Apostolate. In 1979, he was posted to Sibu where he first worked in Sacred Heart Parish for a number of years. Then, he was the parish priest of St. Mary's Parish until his retirement in 2002. For the past 40 years he has had contact with " Sarawak Students Overseas" everywhere in the world, sending them occasional newsletters and urging them to remain faithful to the practice of their religion and to be active as Catholics amongst their fellow students.

Retirement

After he had left Sarawak in 2002, he stayed at the religious retirement home in Holland.

Published Books

He published a booklet of Communion Reflections for the three year cycle that is used in the Sunday Masses as a communal prayer after Holy Communion. The Treasury of Mary, a book of short stories about our Blessed Mother, is another publication that he wrote. He also published a series of books called Crumbs From the Table.

Death

In the month of February, he fell in his room at the retirement home and suffered hip injuries. Later, he had brain haemorage and caused him to slip into a coma on the 28th February 2009. He died on 2nd March 2009 at the age of 82.

May his soul rest in peace.

A Prayer for a Lately Deceased Person

Absolve, we beseech Thee, O Lord,
the soul of Thy servant James Muhren,
from every bond of sin,
that being raised in the glory of the resurrection,
he may be refreshed among the Saints and Elect.
Through Christ our Lord.

A Question

2009-02-26T15:05:00.000+08:00

What do you think of this blog? Please Comment.

Oldies

2009-02-26T14:53:00.000+08:00

According to http://www.thefreedictionary.com , oldies can be defined as something old, especially a song that was once popular. Now, I'm crazy about oldies. Every Wednesday at 10.15 p.m. , there is a special segment called "Memories" that features songs from yesteryear at Red FM Sarawak (http://rtmsarawak.gov.my/redfm.html)(online streaming). I often do my homework when I listen to this radio station. I'm 15 and I love oldies! Especially from The Beatles, Engelbert Humperdinck, Herman's Hermits, Jim Reeves and Frank Sinatra. They rule!

Nokia 5320 XpressMusic

2009-02-25T16:19:00.000+08:00

In the box
- Nokia Xpressmusic 5320
- MicroUSB cable
- 3.5mm Headphones
- Nokia charger

Nokia’s Xpressmusic 5320 is a multimedia phone, with music specifically is its focus. It has a simple design wrapped in a HSDPA package. Let’s see what’s in store.

Design
The candybar design isn’t particularly interesting, but it does carry a certain charm in its simplicity. It is clearly targeted at the younger audience, with its somewhat sportier colours and quick-fire design. The first thing you will notice is the little dimples on the phone that we assume is to prevent the phone from slipping from your hands. Its all- plastic exterior is built for rough and tumble situations.

Nokia 5320 is fitted with a 2-inch 16 million-colour TFT LCD display of QVGA resolution. It is obvious we won't sing praises of its screen size. After all, 2-inch displays belong below and seeing one in what's not exactly a budget handset is a bit upsetting. At 90g, the phone is light and easy to carry around. Sunlight legibility decks out at about average, under direct sunlight the screen still functions but it’s not that clear.

The keypad’s design looks a little radical, but performs pretty normal. The phone’s D-pad is easier to use than most, with the navigation and enter button separated from each other.

The phone’s music functions has a ‘wrap-around’ design on the 5320, with the play/pause and forward buttons on the left spine which you can access your music quickly. And the volume rocker on the right. The music keys are very intuitive; our index finger accesses the music keys and our thumb on the volume rocker-works for lefties too. There is an additional music button above the screen, clicking it brings up the music player menu.

The speakers of the 5320 are minimalist in nature, with a small gap between the front and back cover.

The microSD slot is placed here, and Nokia threw in a 1GB microSD card. The quick camera button is located on the right. Pop open the rear cover and you’ll see the battery pack which covers up the microSD slot.

Features
The Symbian 9.3 OS with S60 powers the 5320, and it’s relatively unchanged from earlier version. There are some improvements with the S60 feature pack 2, notably the ability to customise your home screen. Nokia contact list is still a joy to use, and we like to note that the mark/unmark function is real plus.

Nokia 5320 features Real player for playing your video clips. The video player can be displayed in both normal and fullscreen modes. When in full screen, the softkey functions are hidden so that they don't spoil the viewing experience and only pop up when a key is pressed. With the smallish screen in mind however, you shouldn't be too demanding.

The FM radio on Nokia 5320 has a nice simple interface and can automatically scan and save the available stations in your area. RDS support is included and the Visual radio is also on-board.

The 5320 has quite a low battery lifespan, expect daily recharges if you are heavy user. Text and call functions are a noticeable drain. Meanwhile, the music player will probably last you a day at most.

Music Player
The S60 music player platform is good and but not exceptional, you can still scroll through and sort your music with ease. Expect the usual fares from Nokia’s music player -sorting, adding and creating new playlist are all a breeze to do. Audio quality frankly isn’t all that impressive being a music phone and all. Audio turns into a blaring mesh when we turned up our music to a 100% on the speakers. Audio quality is much better on the 3.5mm headphones, and has a good audio output.

Connectivity
The 5320 sports a large variety of connectivity options, with quad-band functionality (850 /900 /1800 /1900 MHz) with HSDPA 3.6Mbps, EDGE, GPRS, and Bluetooth 2.0. For a low-mid range phone, this baby has quite a lot to offer.

Games
The 5320 has a good number of games, Marble, Jelly Chase, Groove 2, and Guitar Rock Tour. Guitar Rock Tour is one of the best games in the phone, involving timing your keypad click in tandem with coloured musical ‘notes’. The games also feature some Midi quality rock tunes. The 5320 also supports N-Gage games.

Camera
The 5320 has a 2.0 megapixel camera that comes with a LED flash, no auto-focus, nor lens protection. The LED flash comes as soft addition and can hardly convince us that photography was taken seriously in the 5320.

The camera user interface is simple, the sequence and scene modes are all there. There is a really nice panorama mode where the handset can easily make panorama shots with excellent stitching. However this panorama mode produces photos of too low resolution, which are only suitable for viewing on the phone screen.

Verdict
The Nokia 5320 XpressMusic serves it purpose as a dedicated music device, at RM 700, it stands as a mid-range handset. Audio quality isn’t the best, but we can’t really complain- it performs above average. The design is youthful, but it definitely won’t attract any serious users.

The inclusion of the HSDPA, gives the phone a little bit more flavour and value for money. The lack of Wi-Fi however is still a downer and so is the smallish display. Also, the phone’s battery life is a bit underwhelming, seeing as how enjoying music is a burden on the batteries.

All in all, we recommend it as an entry level device, because of it ease of use and a dash of everything in it. Despite a few minor flaws, we still think most of the features are well though out and fits the phone.

Proton Exora Is Uncovered

2009-02-22T14:00:00.000+08:00

Fully undisguised shots of the Proton Exora - both exterior and interior - have found their way onto the internet, and they reveal to us plenty of details on the eagerly anticipated 7-seater MPV by Proton!

What we can see is one shot of the Proton Exora in white, another in an unidentified brown-like colour (may be something else altogether because of colour balance), and 3 shots of the interior. Here are what can be observed:

A complete revamp of the Proton steering wheel design that is curiously reminiscent of the one Honda is currently using. There is steering wheel audio controls and also a phone button which could indicate some variants of the MPV are equipped with a Bluetooth hands-free system.
Instrument panel features a two-meter design, with RPM on the left and an even-numbered speedometer on the right which tops out at 180km/h. The design of the meters are predominantly red with white text. They look like an evolution of the one in the GEN2 CPS facelift, but with modifications that somehow make them end up looking like the one found in the Isuzu D-Max, except the D-Max design is blue.
A small storage and a card holder (Touch N Go?) located below the driver’s side aircond vent
A door-open indicator in the middle of the two meters

A redline of 7,000rpm for the RPM meter
Two digital displays below each meter. The left one shows a digital fuel meter and digital temp meter as well as various other multi-info readings. The right one shows the mileage of the car.

The gear lever is dash-mounted much like the Honda CR-V.
Dashboard itself doesn’t seem to have any texture to it but it’s likely that this is a pre-production version, so the production version should have some texture in-line with all the recent Proton model launches.
Center dash area design from top to bottom - clock, two aircond vents, crappy looking 2-DIN CD player, various buttons including hazard light, manual air conditioning knobs, recirculation and air cond button.

5-spoke alloy wheels
Bee-sting antenna at the front just after the windscreen.
Signal indicator on side mirrors
Reflector headlamps
Foglamps on the front bumper
In the photo of the white MPV you can see the rear hatch swings upwards, instead of the other method which is sideways like a fridge

The MPV looks really gorgeous from the outside especially the white one, with strong design cues from the Mitsubishi Grandis. The interior looks alright, except the air cond vents look really cheap. They’re better off reusing the ones from the Saga. There also seems to be an odd-looking spacing between the two center vents, like there was supposed to be a hazard light button there but somehow went missing.

Heat Spell in Sarawak

2009-02-15T18:09:00.000+08:00

A few weeks ago, Sarawak was hit by the worst rain spell of the year. Some say that the rain cloud should go to Japan, but it decided to "land" in Sarawak. Now, we are having a heat spell with temperatures soaring up to 30+++degrees. My goodness! It is damn hot in here!! We're steaming here! And Penang Island is having their heat spell with addition of the haze now. What is wrong with our Earth? Is Mother Nature unleashing her fury with us humans or it has to do with global warming. Scientists out there, please tell me!!

Nabau (Ular Gergasi) Ditemui di Sungai Baleh

2009-02-14T17:28:00.000+08:00

NABAU (GIANT SNAKE) FOUND AT BALEH RIVER, KAPIT, MALAYSIA

Bahasa Malaysia

Sekarang ini, satu kisah misteri yang saya ragui kebenarannya berlaku di Sungai Baleh, Sibu, Sarawak.

Pada mulanya, saya tidak mengetahui mengenai perkara ini sehingga diberitahu oleh rakan sekerja . Berita misteri tersebut adalah mengenai seekor ular besar yang ditangkap gambarnya semasa sedang merentasi Sungai Baleh di Sibu Sarawak. Walaubagaimanapun gambar yang terpampang pada suratkhabar berkenaan seolah macam sudah di edit dan telah dimanipulasikan oleh orang. Tetapi ini hanyalah spekulasi liar saya sahaja.

Nadau? Hmm sekiranya dalam bahasa iban, kalau tak silap saya ia sepatutnya dipanggil Nabau. Sekiranya dilihat pada gambar yang telah discan dari suratkhabar tersebut, saya boleh katakan ia kemungkinan sebuah bot laju yang merentasi sungai tersebut. Walaubagaimanapun si pengambil gambar lebih mengetahui mengenai perkara ini.

Adakah betul haiwan tersebut wujud? atau zaman dinosaur sudah kembali? Apa pandangan anda?

Ada sebuah video di Youtube yang menunjukkan gambar-gambar lembaga yang pelik namun ada sebuah gambar yang sebijik seperti gambar ini.

Adakah gambar ini satu penipuan?

Update : Memang sah gambar ini merupakan satu penipuan. Lihatlah video ini pada masa ke 0.13

Ada ke patut cerita sebegini disebarkan ke seluruh negeri namun sebenarnya ini cuma imaginasi penulis berita tersebut yang amat liar.

p.s : comment kitak bisi entah apa-apa

English

Now, a mystery story I am not uncertain of its truth occurring at Sungai Baleh, Sibu, Sarawak.

At first, I do not know on the matter until I was told by my colleagues . That mystery news is about a large snake caught in picture is crossing Baleh River in Sibu, Sarawak. However the picture that spread out in that newspaper seems as though has been edited and have been manipulated by some people. But this is only my wild speculation.

Nadau? Hmm if it is in the Iban language, if I am not mistaken I it should be called Nabau. If seen in picture that had scanned from that newspaper, I can say it possibility a speedboat across that river. However the photographer know more on the matter.

Is the picture a fake?

A Question

2009-01-23T13:37:00.000+08:00

Did anyone read this blog? If any, please leave some comments.

A Miracle Happened: Friendster Is Back Online

2008-11-17T19:26:00.000+08:00

At about 7.00 p.m., I logged in to my Friendster account. To my surprise, Friendster has come back to its senses! The problems were resolved and thankfully Friendster was not gone forever. Here is the extract of the problem as stated at "The Friendster Blog" at http://blog.friendster.com/. Here it is:-

Friendster Service Update - Please read

November 17th, 2008 by akhurana

Dear Friendster Community,

As you may have seen, Friendster.com has undergone maintenance at various times over the past few days. Friendster’s unscheduled downtime was due to a power outage at our outsourced data center in Santa Clara, California where Friendster’s servers are co-located along side approximately 50 other companies. As a result, Friendster, as well as a number of other online companies, experienced unscheduled and unavoidable downtime. At this time, Friendster is back online and our team is working quickly to restore everything back to normal.

Additionally, you may have experienced some inconsistencies with your friend count on Friendster. All of your friend connections and data stored on Friendster are in tact and will be corrected shortly. It’s simply taking some time for us to restore each user account as Friendster has over 85 million user accounts globally.

Lastly, if you’ve received any on site messages or SMS text alerts regarding our downtime or your friend count, please disregard them as they were initiated by members of our community and do not contain accurate information about what happened.

Thank you for your patience and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

-The Friendster Team

Some Frequently Asked Questions:

1) What happened to my friends?
Currently, the number of friends in the friends list is being displayed incorrectly.

2) Are my friends lost permanently?
No. The data for all friend connections is intact and is not lost.

3) When can this be fixed?
Friendster is currently working on this problem and we hope to have this fixed within 24 hours.

4) Can I still add friends while the problem has not yet been fixed?
Yes, users can still add new friends and use other features of the site.

This is a miracle!!

Adios Friendster

2008-11-17T10:49:00.000+08:00

This is a tribute to Friendster, the #1 social network in Asia who has served us since 2001. But, it may have been hacked while being under maintenance. So, I made a song using the tune from "Adios Amigo" by Jim Reeves. Here it goes:-

Adios Friendster, adios my Friends,

the click we had made has come to an end,

the comments we leave are all gone,

and its because of the maintenance, everything is gone,

Adios Friendster, what must be must be,

Remember to name one social network for me,

I register to Facebook where my life i must spend,

Adios Friendster, adios my Friends,

Adios Friends , let us shed no tears

May all the social networks out there bring joy through the years

away from these memories

my life i must spend

adios Friendster adios my Friends.

Friendster Glitches & Problems after Maintainence

2008-11-16T12:50:00.000+08:00

After two days under maintainence, Friendster has gone crazy!! I actually have around 80 friends but Friendster stated I only had 2 friends!

Look carefully on the "My Friends" corner. It stated "View All (2)"

Huh? Then, I went to one of my friends' profiles. They even had the same problem!

Friendster, please resolve this! Please........

Friendster Breakdown

2008-11-14T07:38:00.000+08:00

This morning, at about 7.30 a.m. , I tried to log in to my Friendster account using Mozilla Firefox. But to no avail,

It keeps showing Http 1.1 Service Unavailable.

After 10 minutes, I tried to log in using Google Chrome. It shows

ERROR

The requested URL could not be retrieved

While trying to retrieve the URL: http://friendster.com/

The following error was encountered:

Access Denied.
Access control configuration prevents your request from being allowed at this time. Please contact your service provider if you feel this is incorrect.

After two hours, I tried to log in. Finally, I knew that it was under maintainence. Huh.

I hope that it can be resolved soonest.

Hello World!

2008-11-04T21:36:00.000+08:00

This is my second blog after I set up my Wordpress account. I set up this blog to show the world what I see, hear and feel. I hope that I will entertain you all with all my posts. Enjoy and cheers mate!