Guy 1: What is the first thing you think of when I say Anderson?

Guy 2: Mr. Anderson….(from the Matrix)

Me: Anderson Cooper! (CNN newsperson)

Girl 1: Pamela Anderson!

Hahaha….really shows the differences between my friends, doesn’t it?

You know the saying, ‘Don’t judge a book by it’s cover’? Well, totally not true for me. I love book covers. If I don’t like it, it’s highly likely I won’t even pick up the book to read the back. Just like how I love buying DVDs because of their covers. That’s one of the reasons I’m not a fan of buying ‘a-hem’ DVDs, their covers never look half as good as the original ones.

A few days ago, I was reading someone’s blog, and this person was talking about a new line of nail polish by OPI. I saw the pictures of the nail polish, and I wasn’t too impressed.

Kinda bling, right? The reds are so bright, and the shimmery ones are so…disco-ey. Maybe for a night out, but definitely not for everyday use. And then…I saw the packaging.

Ooohhh, so pretty! OPI has released this new selection in conjunction with the upcoming Alice in Wonderland movie, which is directed by Tim Burton and features Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter! I’m a huge fan of Johnny Depp, and what more when he’s put in a movie together with Tim Burton! So, it definitely made me look twice at OPI’s Alice In Wonderland range.

One thing I’ve discovered about OPI is that they have a real knack for naming their nail polishes. For this round, they are called Absolutely Alice, Mad as a Hatter, Thanks So Muchness! and Off with Her Red. Aren’t the names cute?

So, whilst packaging doesn’t totally influence me (I’m definitely not buying these nail polishes!), they do make people stop for a second…and maybe even third look.

In the year 2010, I made a tremendous step (for me, anyway) and adopted a child. I don’t need to worry about bringing up my child, or teaching her the difference from right or wrong. All I need to do, is to save RM50 a month. Wondering what I’m talking about?

I signed up to sponsor a child with World Vision Malaysia. The RM50 a month that you send in is not solely used for your child, it is also used to improve the village that your child stays in. For example, it might be used to help build a water system in the village, or build new houses, thereby improving the quality of life for the entire village, not just the child that you sponsor. This has something that I’ve been struggling with for awhile, on and off, but never felt able to commit to it. Recently, though, I realized how blessed I am in so many ways, and how many people there are that will never have as much as I do. If I can spend RM20+ on a lunch with colleagues, why can’t I abstain from a pricey lunch once in awhile and use the money for something better?

I finally felt ready to do it, so I signed up! You’re allowed to choose children living in a few different countries, but I selected the ‘Where the need is greatest’ option. Within a week, I received a mail from World Vision, containing info regarding the child sponsorship, as well as a picture of my child. I was assigned to an 11 month old baby in Indonesia, her father is a fisherman, her mother is unemployed, and she has 2 brothers and 2 sisters. I’m supposed to get periodic updates regarding her progress, but since she’s so young, I’m not expecting anything much! When she’s older, I’ll receive her report cards as well, to show her progress in school.

I feel oddly satisfied, knowing that I’m doing something to help somebody else. Yes, there have been people that asked me, ‘What makes you so sure that your child receives the money?’. Well, firstly, World Vision is a Christian organization. Then they asked, ‘So, because they’re Christians, does it mean that there are no corrupt Christians?’ Yes, I’m sure that there are also corrupt Christians, I’m sure there are corrupt people no matter what religion you are! But World Vision is a long established Christian international organization, if it was a scam, I’m sure that they would’ve been found out by now. World Vision also organizes trips to parts of the world where they provide child sponsorship, and you can actually sign up and visit your child. One of my friends has actually gone on one of these trips before and met the little girl that she sponsors. At the end of the day, it’s your intentions that are the most important thing.

If you’re interested in sponsoring a child, you can visit the World Vision Malaysia website.

*dusts off my blog*

I wish my blog was coming out of hibernation for something happy. I wish my blog was coming out of hibernation for something happy. But instead, the reason my blog’s coming out of hibernation is because I need to express my sorrow at the state of my country.

For those of you who don’t know the background story, quite awhile ago, the Catholic weekly Herald was banned from using the word ‘Allah’ in their publications. The reason given was that it might “confuse” Muslims, and that ‘Allah’ should only be used for the Islamic religion. There was an appeal, and justice was declared (or so we thought), when the High Court declared that the Herald was free to use the world Allah in their publications. An appeal was filed, and the Herald was told not to use the word ‘Allah’ whilst pending the results of the appeal

At midnight, this happened…

A church in Desa Melawati was firebombed! According to some of the newspaper articles, there was an eyewitness who stated that three or four people on motorbikes stopped in front of the church. They broke the glass panels on the ground floor, poured some flammable liquid and set off the fire.

What is happening to our country?? I dare say that it’s only because of a small group of people that they are resorting to these attacks, but it is going to have a huge effect in the already unstable situation.

What makes me even sadder is how our the two ‘official’ online newspaper sites are reporting the news. The news of the firebombing was all over, even on the front page of The Straits Times. On The Star, the only mention of the issue was: “PM has pledged to resolve ‘Allah’ issue”. On the NST, it was even worse: “No stopping protests over ‘Allah’ issue: PM”.

What happened to the peoples’ rights to know? Why should the newspapers only report certain things, and leave out other important issues? As you can see, I’m full of questions, and not many answers. The only thing that is certain is that we all have to pray hard for the country, and wisdom for our leaders so that they will know how to act…