Convenience or Inconvenience?

The KTM train is probably one of the types of transportation most heard of in the Klang Valley. In other countries they have their own train transport system as well. Public transport is meant to provide convenience and ease of travel. They work for more than 12 hours shift everyday. However there are convenience and also inconvenience in taking the public transport system.

Everyone probably agrees that Malaysia has one of the lousiest transport systems other than Kuala Lumpur’s LRT and Monorial. Apart from these two, everything else is just screwed up. I want to bring your attention to the KTM train system in this post of mine today.

I use the KTM everyday to go to college and including Sundays when I have to go to Petaling Jaya for my magician meeting. So basically I use the KTM 6 days a week, 4 weeks a month, 12 months a year. Phew! That is one whole lot of tickets haha. There are times when the KTM comes a little late and sometimes very late. Apart from that, sometimes the trains get stranded halfway on its journey and it remains still for like an hour. Sometimes two hours. My neighbor went through four hours! Gosh! And this is when all the cursing and swearing comes out. “Stupid KTM! Useless! Malaysia’s transport system like crap.” And it goes on.

Just last week on the way back from KL, the train had some problem and had to stop in Setia Jaya. The train operator told us to wait for the next train coming on another lane. So all of us got out of the train, I have to admit I was quite frustrated as well. It was a long and tiring day and I just can’t wait to get back home and sleep. I do not know whether my estimation was right but I think there were roughly 200 people who got out of the train and waited for the next train. Look at the pictures, you can judge for yourself the amount of people and the amount of stink! Haha.

The next train came and to everyone’s dismay, the train was FULL! The amount of people in the train was same as the amount of people waiting outside. There were a lot of groans from the waiting passengers including me. But I decided to be a typical Malaysian and try to put myself above everyone else and try to squeeze my way into the already full train. Did I mention with me was Jolene and Simon Kong? Haha. The three of us had to try our best to be as thin as possible to get on the same train and head home. After much squeezing and tasting of people’s sweat, we all managed to get in. The doors literally closed with some people’s butt sticking out haha. My oh my was I glad to get in…

So here goes the question. Should I be angry because the train broke down or should I be glad that there actually was KTM to make our travel easier although not faster?

Do we ever think of the many times where the train comes in time? Every morning, the train at my place arrives 8.05 A.M. sharp. However there were times the train delays for 20 minutes and 40 minutes. Come to think of it, life would be much harder if the KTM never existed. I would have to drive to college from my house everyday and face the jam and build up my high blood pressure. Life would be much harder for us teenagers without car license. When we need to go to Sunway Pyramid to celebrate our friend’s birthday we rely on the KTM train to take us there. When we need to go to KL for shopping we also rely on the KTM. Of course there are teenagers who are really blessed with transporters to take them everywhere they want to go but I am talking about the many people who can’t afford to pay for petrol nowadays.

So is the KTM an inconvenience or convenience?

You see, people view different things in different ways. One sees the cup half full while the other sees it half empty. Do you know that the way you view the world will determine the way you will change it?

Also keep in mind that we cannot have the best of both worlds. We cannot expect everything to be perfect and going the way we want it to go. This will not happen because people may fail, computers may fail, electricity may fail, and something somewhere will go wrong and affect many other things.

But rest be assured that one person will never fail on you. That very person is GOD.

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By the way… KTM should improve on their services, so does many other public transportations but… thank God for KTM =)

Always look on the bright side but don’t fool yourselves with an imaginary light.



There were a lot more people who weren't in front of the camera's eyes. Can you imagine the amount of people waiting to get on the next train? Survival of the fittest yo! haha.

Talents for Kingdom Cause

Last Sunday I came across an article in the newspaper about The Manga Bible.

Now I know many of you are wondering what manga means. Manga is basically comic, Japanese comic if I am not mistaken. These two Nigerian brothers named Akin and Siku decided to be radical and came up with a whole new style of interpreting the Bible – Manga style!

The first edition of the Manga Bible came out few months ago but it only revolves around the life of Jesus in the New Testament. I have bought two copies of their first edition and I like it! But now they have completed the full version which includes the Old and the New Testaments. All hand drawn in manga style. They basically drew comics about the Bible’s character and story. It is a really fun book to read and worth every cent you spend because for now it is the only one of its kind – a Manga Bible =)

This Manga Bible can be bought and given to your non-Christian friends who are manga addict. In that way they will be able to read about the Gospel through something they can relate to. So this brings a new kind of evangelism tool we can add to our toolbox.

Today’s post is about being radical with the talents God has given you!

These two Nigerian guys Akin and Siku have the talent to draw manga and they have the interest to read lots and lots of manga. But who says you cannot do anything useful with your manga hunger? You see, they were radical in their ways and they were radical for God above all. Instead of using their talents to create another new character in the manga world, they took the Bible and interpreted it manga style.

Everyone of us are blessed with all kinds of talents and within us God has also given us the ability to learn new things and pick up new talents as we go on in life. The talents you have are nothing if you only use it for yourself or don’t use it at all. If you use wisely what God has given you, God will give you more. However God can never withdraw the talents He has blessed you with because that’s your DNA. God will not take back your talents, it is up to you whether you want to use them for yourselves or for God.

Lately I have been venturing into the world of impossibilities made possible. Magic is one art form and one tool like every other art form and every other tool. There are tons of Christian musicians out there. There are bands like Planet Shakers and Hillsongs and Delirious. All these are people who use their talents for a Kingdom cause. Being the radical me, I decided to learn the art of magic because I know I can use it for God. Gospel Magic is not a new thing, it has been around for many many years and there is an organization called the Fellowship of Christian Magicians in the United States. How I wish I can join them one day. However I am blessed with Anslem Roy, an international illusionist who is also a Christian and from the same church as me. He have a passion to start a Gospel Magic Ministry and I am all in for it.

I want to encourage all of you to use your talents for God. Be it music, dance, speaking, acting, whatever it is, with the right heart and a right purpose you can channel your time, energy and effort for a Kingdom cause.

Comics can even be used to spread the Gospel. What next? =)

Talents for Kingdom Cause,
Zlwin Chew


The newspaper article that came out last Sunday.

My Manga Bible =) This is an NT Version about the life of Jesus and with this the full text of the New Testament in NLT Version. Good stuff for only RM69.90. This book is the size of your normal school textbook, A4 size.

This is more expensive. A smaller book but cost RM45.90. Haha. But so worth it =)

Look at the pages. So Manga-ish. I am not a manga fan and I don't like reading comics. But this is good. however I have not finish reading it yet. My reason for getting it is because I can bless someone with it who loves manga and also to add to my Bible collection =D

Interested?

Go to your nearest Christian bookstore and ask for a Manga Bible.

God bless =)

What Are You Wearing?

Gucci. Prada. Calvin Klein. Roxy. John Master. Luis Vuitton. SUB. Banana Republic. Zara. Nike. Adidas.

There are millions of clothes brand out there today. The prices of the clothes ranges from the night market’s RM10 to the exquisite taste of Gucci and Prada which cost RM1000 the cheapest. What clothes do you wear? I know of some people who do not even dare to go near a RM10 shirt with a ten foot battling lance!

People wear different kinds of clothes to differentiate themselves from others. Look at the celebrities. The clothes they wear for red carpet events are @#%&*&! (I’m speechless). Brad Pitt’s tuxedo can pay for my whole year college fee! Put his shoes, socks, underwear, tee, pants and watch together, I can use that money to pay for my whole four years of university study! Paris Hilton’s clothes may only cover her body 20% but they cost a bombshell.

Some people just have too much cash to spend.

Many whom have tasted expensive clothing will never in their wildest dream dare to wear a pasar malam (night market) Nike shirt. A lot of people are just so proud of the clothes they wear. First they will ask, “Nice or not?” then, “Of course nice la, Prada mah.” Then, “You know how much or not?” then, “Dunno? RM200 only.” Haha =) Oh well, good for them. With that amount of money we spend on ourselves, we could help hundreds of people dying of starvation.

Do I care what clothes you wear? No I don’t. As long as you dress appropriately I won’t bother.
Do I care how much your clothes or shoes or watch cost? No I don’t. As long as you don’t wear them in the wrong place I won’t bother.
Do I care how much money you contributed to this society or foundation? No I don’t. I am in no position to award you. As long as you do it with a pure heart then I won’t bother.

Does God care what kind of clothes you wear? He does not care. He is your provider and He is the Great Designer. God made clothes! However there is one kind of clothing God cares. He cares about your spiritual clothing not the physical ones.

We use clothes to keep us warm and take care of our body. People recognizes us by the clothes we wear. A Malay’s traditional clothing is the baju kurung. When people wear them they know we are Malaysians. Chinese wear the cheongsam. Likewise the Scottish wear the kilts and Japanese the kimono. We know where people come from by the clothes we wear. So people also know where we Christians come from by the clothes we wear.

Christians should dress appropriately. I am talking about dressing as in spiritually and also physically. Do not come to church wearing a mini skirt! Have some respect for goodness sake! Keep your cleavage out of sight. Wear some tube or something. Boys, don’t go competing “How Low Can Your Pants Go”. Keep your underwear out of sight. Okay enough of that =)

Now let’s talk spiritual clothing.

Do you know the spiritually clothing lines?

Colossians 3:12
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

That’s right! Clothe yourselves with these clothing and people will then be able to recognize you as Christians! How will people tell whether you are a Christian or not? By your clothing – spiritual and physical.

Romans 13:14
Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

Yes, we must clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus. Not lord Prada or lord Gucci.

1 Peter 5:5
Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

Clothe yourselves with humility! Not clothe yourselves with clothing that makes you proud of your wealth.

Galatians 3:26-27
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave or free, male or female, for you are all one in Christ.

Once we have all clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus there is literally no diversity because we are all ONE. Do you know what the people of Acts did? They shared their possessions with the poor. If one has two Nike shirts, he will give the other shirt to another fellow brother who has none. If one is hungry, the other would willingly share his food with him. That is why the early churches in Acts grew so strongly. They were all clothed in Christ.

Remember this, you are recognized by the clothes you wear. So put on the right ones.

Magic at AEON Shopping Mall

Yesterday I went to AEON Shopping Mall in Bukit Tinggi, Klang to perform some walk-around close-up magic. Quite a mouthful to say huh? Well in short it is called “Street Magic”. However the term street magic is not right among professional magicians in the art of magic. Street magic was “created” by David Blaine and followed-up by Criss Angel. But the right term for this kind of magic is called Close-Up Magic. There are a lot of kinds of magic, to name a few: Close-Up, Stage and Parlor. So the right term to use in place of street magic is Close-Up Magic.

Back to my story haha. Yesterday I was at AEON Mall with Simon Kong and Criss Lee to do some close-up magic for the people there. Simon and Criss were taking pictures for me. I wanted to include them in but they felt they were not ready to perform in front of people yet and need more practice, so I told them that they are to be ready for the next outing haha.

We wore formal outfits because magicians must have a level of elegance. We must not dress in T-shirt and pants to perform this kind of magic. But if you are at the beach then we would dress beach-style.

I performed to a few crowds of people. It always started with one or two people then more and more will join in because of curiosity. Then after a while you will get a solid crowd of about 15-20 people and some who prefer to stand 10 meters away to watch the show haha. Of course I encountered a few hecklers. Hecklers are basically people who tries to heck your performance and trying to get smart. Thankfully they didn’t cause much of a problem to me, only some minor stuff.

It was a fun experience and very nice. Different people react differently. Some just stands there and acts as though they know how the magic is done. The best crowd is a person who gives you the applause when you did well. Others just stare and act cool as though they know better. Yet there were people who were so amazed they were the only ones who clapped among the big crowd. There was this Indian guy who gave me the warmest applause and it lifted my spirit to do more. There was an uncle who was a good audience, his reaction to my illusions were awesome, the picture on top is him =) Look at his laugh when he saw how I linked the solid rings right in front of his eyes and in his hands. I love that reaction.

Next week I might be going to KL to perform with Anslem Roy and my club members. We will be paid for that. But not sure yet because it is still in consideration. The magician club that I am in is The Magic Annexe. The Magic Annexe was founded by Anslem Roy Eric, an international illusionist who won the International Merlin Award. The Magic Annexe is under the International Magician Society (IMS) and Anslem Roy is the IMS Malaysia President.

Tata =)

Read my post on What is Gospel Magic.

The swelling crowd of people that surrounded me yesterday. We performed in front of the cinema.

The guy behind is Criss. The one with the camera and leaning against the railing. This shot was taken by Simon Kong.

Me performing to three Malay guys who were waiting for their movie to start.

I love the laughs =)

This is Marcus, he is into magic as well and is slowly learning.

Trying out some mentalism magic with my friend =)

Linking Rings??? haha

Pull and try to separate them..

Linking Rings again.

This unlce was one of my favorite audience yesterday.

Ahh I love his reaction. Magic that happens right in front of their eyes and in their hands is beautiful.

The rings are solid, really.



This Malay couple was good audience for one of my "illusions for couples" =)

Saw Simon Kong? =) The guy behind toying with my camera haha.

Ah ha! Did you see that guy in black shirt with his arms crossed? Well he basically stood there for a long time watching me perform to other people and he had his arms crossed all the while. When I approached him to ask him pick a card with his hands. He did so and then crossed his arms again. Psychologically, this guy is trying to say, "Let's see what you can do. I won't be amazed at whatever happened because I am smarter than you and I know how it is done." =) One of his friends tried to heck me but thankfully Simon and Criss helped me, I wasn't aware that time. Also his looks tells me that he is not at all interested in what I was doing haha. No fun la this kind of people =)

Seeing is Believing... Not!

You would never believe that I can produce a dove out of my bare hands would you? Until you see me do that, you will never believe. Neither would you believe that I can disappear handkerchiefs in thin air when you haven’t seen me doing so.

Seeing is believing for the normal human being. We are made in such a way. Thomas was one of Jesus’ twelve disciples. He spent three years with Jesus, eating with him, sleeping with him, praying with him, listening to him and ministering with him. Yet, Thomas understood little and could not believe that Jesus could actually rise from the dead.

After Jesus’ death and resurrection, Jesus appeared to many of his followers and some of them reported this news to Thomas. Thomas could not believe his ears. He replied saying, “Unless I se the nail marks in his hands and put my fingers where his nails were, and put my hands into his sides, I will not believe it.” (John 20:25)

Sure enough, a week later Jesus came to Thomas and showed Thomas his hands and sides. Thomas was astonished! Imagine standing in front of a man you saw put to death and placed into a coffin and buried six feet under. What a fright Thomas must have had. Jesus told Thomas, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)

There is no doubt that we humans only believe what our eyes tell us. Yet, sometimes we doubt what our eyes see because our human mind cannot fathom what we see. It is out of ignorance that we do not care to see and believe. If we cannot see far, we cannot go far. If the runner cannot see the trophy prize, he cannot see his running track. One is aimless without sight.

Do we believe in heaven? Yes, we do. Are we able to see it? No, we don’t. Do we believe that better things await us in heaven? Really, do we believe that? Not really right? We only guess. We can’t see.

The man that can see that there is heaven and that earth is just a temporary place to be will be living his life focusing on only one thing – how to finish the race strong.

Too many of us are running about aimlessly chasing butterflies. We are not able to believe (genuinely) that earth is just a temporary residence and heaven is where our citizenship is. Once we are able to see that life on earth is preparation for eternity in heaven, the way we live our life will be different and everything we do will have a purpose. Then no one can say that he does not know what his purposes are.

Seeing is believing. But there are just some things we can’t afford to see because our human logic thinking with our mind cannot fathom anything greater than what science can prove. However, we can see it if we seek hard enough. After that comes the trouble of believing what we see.

Do you see life after death? Do you believe what you see? Really?

Then what are you doing now?

The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Will you then help others to see what you see and believe what you believe?

I can climb walls... Really I can... =)