Psalm Agency & Insurenet Agency New Office in Alma, Bukit Mertajam, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

View Driving directions to Jalan Perniagaan Alma in a larger map

Hello Friends and Business Associates, 

This is the location of the new office of Psalm Agency and Insurenet Agency. The work in progress is almost 90 % completed and is targeted for launching on Saturday 21 April, 2012.  It is located at and known as No. 12, 1st Floor, Jalan Perniagaan, Pusat Perniagaan Alma, 14000 BUKIT MERTAJAM, PULAU PINANG, MALAYSIA.

Earthquake tremors in Penang, Malaysia

About 4.40pm local time today, I was at Psalm Agency new office on the first floor of the three storeys building together with some friends at Alma, Bukit Mertajam, Penang, Malaysia when suddenly we felt the building floor shaking and the fans on the ceiling were shaking and my desktop monitor also trembling. It must be tremors felt here in Penang due to possibly an earthquake at nearby off the sea of Sumatra, Indonesia.  The tremors lasted about 2 minutes.

The last time I experienced the tremors was in 1990 when I was at KOMTAR, Penang working in a local bank. In the December 2004 tsunami, I was with my family and relatives from the USA travelling to Georgetown in Penang Island on ferry from Butterworth on the Peninsular Malaysia.  The sea across the Butterworth channel was choppy and it was very windy as we stood on the ferry admiring the view of the surrounding.

What a day to celebrate the installation of the Sultan of Kedah to be the14th King or The DYMM Yang DiPertuan Agong of Malaysia on April 11, 2012 who happened to create records for being the first King of Malaysia to be the Agong for the second time in Malaysian history where the Raja and Sultans from the nine Peninsular Malaysia states rotate among themselve to be the King of the Malaysian Federation.

Happy Valentine's Day - Love John 3:16

Like you and Love you.  Thank you Jesus Christ for His love.  God Is Love. He First Loved Us.  God gives us His one and only Son so that whoever believes in Him can have eternal life. Love our parents, siblings, spouse, children, relatives and friends and every creation of God. You may find out more from the link here


We can see the joy of love all around us. Some love the festivities like watching some live performances such as the troupe playing eighteen drums and the Traditional Chinese Lion Dance at Genting Highlands. In Malaysia, the Lion Dance team included some team members of other ethnic race. They can be participating in dancing with the Lion head or the tail to the rhythms of the drum beats, gongs and cymbals. The crowd are enjoying giving "Ang Pow"( A gift consisting of a Red Packet usually containing some cash) to the Lions while some little children are very excited to have an up close moments feeding the Lions. The Lions in return gave them gifts.

It is great to see the expression of love and happiness on the happy faces of the parents and children and the crowd.  I like this one particular moment captured when a mother and her daughter are seen successfully "feeding" the Lion. It invoked memories of my childhood time spent with my late beloved mommy at those instances when the lion troupes visited my hometown in the upper north many many years ago.  I wonder how many parents and how often do we get to share moments like this with our children and loved ones on any day not just on Valentine's day that can impact us in our daily life and have an everlasting memory. Let us count our blessings.

Hope you will enjoy these recorded events at Genting Highlands Resorts recently.

Chinese New Year is Over. Enter the Dragon

Hi folks, I guess most of us here in Malaysia have enough of long festive and public holidays and weekends over the last few weeks.  There were the Federal Territory Day on Wednesday 1 February, 2012 in Kuala Lumpur and the Federal Territory of Putrajaya and Labuan.  Then there was this Birthday of Prophet Muhammad on Sunday 5 February, 2012 followed by Chap Goh Meh which is the fifteenth day of the Chinese New Year on Monday 6 February, 2012 and finally the Hindu religious Thaipusam on Tuesday 7 February, 2012.  The Hindu celebrated Ponggal which was their  harvest festival over four days including Monday 16 January, 2012 in Malaysia but it was not a public holiday.

It is great to be living in my beloved (Rasa Sayang) country Malaysia to truly know our ethnic diversity and of getting to know so many friends and of different cultures and traditions.  Well some of us  like the long weekends and holidays so that we can do the things we like and wanted to do in our lifetime which we may have planned for a long time.  As for some, holidays are good time to have reunions and spend quality time with loved ones or fulfilling some promises to bring your children for special treatments since they may done well in their examinations.

Maybe, you could be one just like me who just like to listen to some of the oldies and songs that bring some sweet memories during these holidays.  Thanks to so many lovely songs uploaded onto You Tube by our community.  I like to thank zoundcracker for the lovely songs shared on You Tube. One of these oldies reminded me of the Hong Kong TV series that my parents and I watched on the rented video tapes back in the eighties.

As for me, I also took time to have good rests but too much of it made me lethargic and not good for the physical health and mind.  Now is the time to get back to work and grind. God is good and great as He gives us HOPE of every thing new not just on the New Year of our creeds and cultures but every day.   Be it new found prosperity especially for all of you and for the Chinese people who would love for this Dragon Year for it is said that the Chinese are the descendants of the Dragon.

Here are some video clips that I managed to record while on stopover at Genting Highlands Resorts for you to enjoy and to cherish.

I missed a few performances when the dancers were dancing to the Ding Dong Song as my video camera memory card was full.

Wishing You A Happy & Prosperous Chinese New Year - Gong Xi Fa Cai

My Dear Friends, Family, Relatives and Business Associates, Wishing You A Happy & Prosperous Chinese New Year.  For those traveling and driving home to be with the family and reunion dinners, please ensure proper maintenance and road worthiness of your vehicles. Please drive carefully.  Take a rest if you are tired and continue you journey when you have freshen up. Kindly ensure the safety of everyone and other road users.

For those who are on duty and at work during this festive holidays, I say thank you for your services as you are key to keeping everyone happy and alive to celebrate this auspicious occasion.  Thank you to some of these very very important persons rendering services such as the Hospital and Medical staff, the Banking staff, The Police and Traffic Officers, The Military, The Airport and Air Controllers and Airlines, The Shipping Ports, Ferry Services, Train and Railway Services, The Buses and Drivers and Station Masters and Automobile Workshops and Towing Services and also the Petrol Kiosks operators.  The Shopping Malls and the Movie Theaters to keep us shopping and entertained which do not close on these days.  Of course, the Telecommunications and Broadcasting stations keeping us in touch with one another.  Thank you to the radio deejays for playing us non-stop music and updates on the traffic and news.  To my fellow insurance agents and colleagues, I salute you for the on call duty for the emergencies.  I want to remember the special group of people at call centers and at help desks of the various industries and especially the Chartis Malaysia Insurance Berhad Travel Guard. 

The team at Travel Guard are ever ready 24 hours throughout the year to assist anyone whether you are insured  client or not in your travel related emergencies while overseas or in a foreign sovereign.  The team for Asia Region is based in Kuala Lumpur. I remember you.  

Gong Xi Fa Cai.

 

AIA Agency Award Presentation Nite 2011 - Hotel Equatorial, Penang

Congratulations to all AIA Agency Awardees , Agents and staff from Penang, Bukit Mertajam and Kulim Branches.  Special congratulation to our "How Lien" Insurance Agency Director Mr Yeap Boon Swee for guiding us to the Clean Sweep of All the Awards at AIA National level.

Here is his style of typical "How Lien" or Arrogant Speech.


Thank you to my leader, Mr Leong Eng Shin District Director and colleagues from  PN/LES Agency. Congratulations to Madam Hooi Phaik Geok being one of the Million Dollars Round Table (MDRT) award winners and Miss Chew Seh See on her promotion to be the new Unit Manager.

Here you can enjoy the show with our Beautiful and Lovely  Emcee, Miss Laureen Quah bringing on the programs for the evening at Hotel Equatorial, Penang  on Tuesday January 17, 2012. There was musical performance by the Penang Symphony Orchestra Violin Quartet.

 There were ballerinas to entertain all AIA twinkle-twinkle stars too.

Later half of the show, she introduced us to Leonard De Silva and Friends on a night filled with Jazz.

See you again AIA agency force at next year's Annual Award Presentation Night 2012.  Meantime, Gong Xi Fa Cai and Wishing Everyone A Very Happy and Prosperous Chinese New Year.

Roadshow and Opera to say Thank You to the Deity at Kota Permai

If you have been in Malaysia over the last couple of weeks, you would probably be entertained by our local singers at the Ge-Tai(Mandarin) or in Hokkien " Ko-Tai or Roadshow had you ventured out at night to the local Chinese temples.  You would also had the opportunity to watch a traditional Chinese Opera show too.  Over here in Bukit Mertajam, the local Chinese community here speaks the local TeoChew dialect as compared to the majority of the local Chinese community in Penang Island who speaks Hokkien dialect.  Therefore, the opera shows over here are mostly the TeoChew Opera.

However, due to the Opera show and its traditional culture and apprenticeship which are not "seen" to be paying attractive income and the nomadic lifestyle(due to frequent travels around the country to perform at various temples) of the troupe members, comprising the actors, actresses, supporting casts, make-up artist, wardrobe and tailors, the musical team which sometimes doubled up as the stage crews in setting up the "theater and backdrops" which play the traditional musical instruments such as drums,gongs, trumpets and flutes and cymbals, these professional arts and noble jobs are hardly attracting the new and young generations.

They have to put in long hours of training to acquire the acting skills and singing and dancing. They have to teach themselves to paint their faces with colored powders and other cosmetics to depict the faces of heroes and heroines and villains too. They eat at and sleep on the temporary stage set up by the local committee of the temples.  It is hard to find a local opera troupe to perform because today's Chinese younger generation are leading a very different lifestyle in the advent of digital age, and have higher expectation of a quality lifestyle in the comfort of the beautiful five stars hotels and the lime lights of the more sophisticated modern art of acting and the glitters on the silver screen and to bash in the glamors of the Hollywood for being cast in the Megabucks Blockbuster Movies. They probably want to be glamorous like Jet Li, Chow Yun-Fat, Sammo Hung  or Michelle Yeoh, Gong Li and etc. Guess what? Even today, the Opera troupes are imported from China to perform here in Malaysia.  At one time, the troupes from Thailand were quite regular here.  They probably find it hard to get new bloods into the industry.

Another dying culture is the Chinese puppet shows which are also performed to thank the deities.  Today, we have the animation using the computer digital technologies. I have seen in the past that some temples when they could not secure the puppet shows or the opera, they had hired the services of the cinema crews who show the old movies on a large white screen like a drive-through movie which is more economical and easy to set-up.  For the Opera show, there are usually two performances per day. One episode in the afternoon and one episode at night.  As for the Ge-Tai or Roadshow, it is only performed at night and usually from 8.00pm to 12.00 midnight with a mixtures of male and female singers who usually dressed sexily or in scantily outfits.  Male singers are also rare nowadays as the audience preferred to watch females performers.

Recently, the Opera show held at Kota Permai was to thank the deity "Datuk Kong" or the so called Malay Spirit Deity worshiped by the Chinese community especially those that practiced Taoism for the blessings which they belief were bestowed throughout the whole of last year. Some of the businessmen and residents would sponsor and donate huge sum of moneys to organize the event make burnt offerings.   The local shopping  center, Billion Supermarket sponsored one night performance of the Roadshow. At Kota Permai, the "Datuk Kong" is said to be "dwelling or residing" at the big rock along the main road of Jalan Kota Permai and it is the main deity housed at the temple built onto it.  See my earlier post on the temple here.  At this temple, pork offerings and non-kosher foods are not allowed to be offered to the "Datuk" deity as it is a Malay Spirit and it is considered a taboo.  Ill luck and bad fate will befall the persons who make such an offering blunder. Even the singer will respect the deity by singing at least one Malay song to entertain the deity.

Here is one Malay song titled Sha-Na-Na sang by Miss Chang Sin Yee.

 Anyway, the deity and or other deities will watch the opera or puppet show or Ge-Tai secured as offerings and thanksgivings by the local temple committee who are themselves nominated among the sponsors and donors annually or for a specific term.  Of course, the people and residents like me who like to see Roadshows will join the crowd just to watch the performances for free.  In the present days, there are plastic stools for sitting and canvas tents sheltering from the rain.  In the olden days where I grew up as a child, there were rows of wooden planks laid on stilts and tighten with bolts and nuts above grasses and muddy open spaces and arranged like rows of seats in a theater hall with no shelters except for the makeshift stage.

Those days, we could only watch and it remained in memory.  Today, we can shoot photograph and record video.  That is why you are now enjoying these video clips that I recorded with Sony handy camera.  Here at the Chinese temple roadshow, we cheer and clap for the singers as they sing and entertain us with the latest pop songs and dances. The visitors to the temples will usually close their hands together and kneeling or bowing down, and offer prayers with burning incenses (joss-sticks which can be plain and tiny or big with dragon and figurines and printed joss-papers in gold and silver colors accompanied by lighted candles and lamps to the deity or deities at the temples. Some who have been blessed with good-fortunes will make cash donations. They may even bring along food-stuffs such as boiled chicken, eggs, home cooked meals and dishes, fruits and cookies to offer to the deity or deities. After the prayer sessions, these food-stuffs can be taken back home and consume as it is belief to bring good luck and blessing. You can expect the joss-sticks or incenses with dragon figurines will be popular throughout this Chinese New Year as this is the Lunar year of the Water Dragon.

 

In contrast, at the Church, the worshipers play the musical instruments, sing praises and worship songs to God, dancing, clapping and raising hands in prayer postures, bowing or kneeling down and giving thanks unto the Lord and Jesus Christ. There are Malay and Murut versions of Songs of Praise and Worship.  The church congregations give tithes and offerings in cash and checks.  The modern and large churches even accept offerings through debit to credit card accounts or online transfers using the latest banking facilities.  These monies are used by the Church to support its administration, missions and to help the poor and needy. The Church have the Holy Communions where the disciples broke breads and eat and drink the cups of wine in remembrance of the Lord Jesus Christ for His Love and Sacrifice for us.

Now you may like to ask, who is worshiping and who is singing? Who is thanking God and who is being entertained? Who benefited from the collection of monies and how it is being used? Anyway, mankind came empty handed into this mortal world and cannot take it with us when we leave this world. Let us be good Stewards and Custodians of what God has placed in our care and hands.

Here, enjoy the opera, roadshow, the pop songs and worship songs and may God Bless you and family and be with you always. Gong Xi Gong Xi.