Unfinished Business

It's been awhile since I went to the mall. My first stop as usual was to eat the excellent assam laksa at a small little place tucked in between all the bigger restaurants.  It's good to the last slurp, And of course I had to get my favourite Roti Boy bun. I  thought a Monday afternoon would be a good time to catch the local flick Tarung -  Unforgiven at the cinema, as normally it isn't crowded at all on week-days.

 

 But it turned out the hall was actually quite packed. The nice lady who helped me get my senior discount ticket at the online machine said it's because it's the first day of school hols. The audience was mainly Malay; to my left were some ladies, to my right were some young boys. And I even spotted very young kids up front, causing me to wonder if the parents knew how violent the show was. 

Yes, it's violent - what do you expect, with a title like Tarung meaning battle/fight. There's been a lot of hype over this 100% Malaysian film, as it featured an all-star line up of local actors. I had watched Blood Brothers - Bara Naga, another Msian movie exactly a year ago in 2025 and enjoyed it. So I knew I had to catch Tarung- Unforgiven as well.  Both share some similarities; being heavy action-cum-drama flicks premised on gangs.  

With Tarung, it's gawking at muscles, muscles, and more muscles on handsome hunks. Plus fight scenes that made me flinch in my seat. Top it with emo dialogue that tug at the heart-strings.  Amusingly, as I was trying to get pass the young boys on my right to exit after the show, one of them asked, "Acik, kau menangis ke - Aunty, you cry ?" He must have noticed me wiping at my eyes every so often during the show. Ha ha.  I am a sucker for family drama. I mean, how can you not relate to the emotional struggles of a broken family ? An elder sister - a single mom with her own kid - and who has borne the brunt of taking care of her brother all the while, and is now stricken with brain cancer, which calls for an operation that would cost  $80k. And the young brother, Hatta, an ex-silat champion, is now a delivery-rider.  He quit the ring because he killed his opponent, his best friend's brother, and lives haunted by the past, unable to get over the guilt. 

The emotional confrontation between brother and sister is so...well, emotional. When Hatta blurts out, "I never asked you to sacrifice for me....now you blame me for messing up your life...".. that hits hard. I am reminded of someone  who said the same thing to me, as I was sharing about how Jesus sacrificed His life for sinful humans  - "I never ask Jesus to sacrifice Himself for me." That's true. But Jesus did it anyway, for all mankind. Didn't matter to Him, whether or not people appreciated it, even when they rejected Him. It's a done deal. That's the supreme sacrifice, done out of love, totally unconditional, independent of recipient's response. 

How Hatta reacts is understandable. His own life is filled  with unresolved self-condemnation buried deep inside, over his loss of control in the ring when he delivered that killer-kick to his opponent. But at

least he's got a good buddy  to "anchor" him . Ucop, a fellow delivery-rider, who looks out for Hatta, stays by his side, for better or for worse, who tells him when enough is enough ("Cukup la"). This is Hatta's "guardian angel" trying to stop him from doing the wrong things like getting drunk, and do the right thing like get the money needed for his sister's operation, even if it means having to fight his own private battle with his inner demons.  

But sadly, Ucop is gone in a flash, without so much as a goodbye, literally whacked to death in a gang- ambush, all in the course of protecting Hatta, who's down and out on the ground.  Actually the reality is life can be snuffed out in just a moment. People die unexpectedly all the time; in accidents, of sickness, in all sorts of ways, violently or quietly.  We can be here today, gone tomorrow, in the blink of an eye. As the bible puts it, in James 4:14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." Which really should make us  more aware of how we ought to live our lives whilst we are still on earth. 

Ucop may be just a movie character, but his actions  in not only standing by but standing up for Hatta to protect him speaks volumes about what real friendship is about.  I don't have many really close friends. Sometimes it gets a bit lonely, but then I remember  I already have Jesus, the best-est of all friends, who already laid down His life for me, and is now alive forever more with me, watching over me, by His spirit as He declared in   John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. As Ucop would say, Cukup la... actually Jesus is certainly more than enough...Seriously how many people can love that much as to lay down their lives for another?   

Of course in any good movie, there must be bad guys. Tarung has  big-scale gangsterism - an underworld syndicate  named Marga complete with chieftains and downline, rife with betrayal, scheming and dirty tricks. The evil is  within the organisation itself, as all the chiefs are in a  power-play for the right to sit on the "throne", as the next supreme leader of the mob. The coveted position is decided in a fight - Tarung - amongst the best of their men. Hatta is drawn into this web as he is offered a huge sum of money to fight for one particular chief; money that could save his sister.  Like in the game of cock-fighting, the fighters are the "ayam sabung" pitted against each other by their owners. 

That's where the "unforgiven" part comes into play. Hatta finally comes up against Isa, his ex-best friend as his opponent, after the preliminary knock-out rounds.  Isa is all rage and anger, waiting to avenge his brother's death; to him it's  either you die or I die kind of duel.  The action scenes in an underground fighting ring  -  all the throws, punches and kicks - are very realistic. And the shot of Hatta practicing silat moves against the dark KL 118 skyline is so cool. Likewise Isa with his long hair, dark brows and muscle-toned body is an eyeful.  

The climax features some fine silat moves indeed. Hatta seems to be losing but in an about-turn he has the chance to execute his "trademark" killer-kick  to end it all.  In that split second, he relives how he killed Isa's brother. As the past flashes before him, Hatta hesitates, and...switches his move. Instead of delivering the fatal  kick, he locks his arms around Isa's neck. And whispers the "magic"  words into his ears "I am sorry." In that forced embrace, the years of  enmity, the pain of  a broken friendship, the grief of loss is released.  The uncontrolled anger that blinds, the bitter thirst for revenge, is soothed. The violence stops. Both parties are set free, as repentance opens the door for tears, forgiveness and healing to flow. 

Reconciliation is always beautiful, as Hatta and Isa - both bruised and battered - get up and walk off together, with arms around each other's shoulders. Finally the unfinished business between them is settled. 

Don't we all, at one time or another , have some kind of unfinished business in our lives - whether it's against ourselves or against others ?  We bury it somewhere inside our hearts, and even think we are "over it." Actually it's still there; whether we realize it or not, it "eats" us up , like the invisible worms that spoil the plants in my garden.  So I have to cut off the bad parts, sometimes even uproot the whole plant. 

Likewise when we deal with our heart's unfinished business, there's hope as in  Tarung - Unforgiven, can be changed to  Love- Forgiven, even as the bible teaches in Ephesians 4:31-32 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

The Best Gift

 So it's another Mother's Day in yet another year. So what else is new? Of course celebrations to honour the ones who birth and nurture life are in order. And it's always nice to have a reason to celebrate. A world that's now so much in crisis would do well to celebrate the right things, and Mother's Day obviously ranks right up there in the list.

Still personally although I appreciate all the grand gestures of being appreciated on this special day dedicated to mothers, I would rather be remembered everyday. The gifts and well-wishes are certainly nice but it's the before and after that special day which really matters. There's  this cute cartoon of a mom being surrounded and hugged by her kids with the caption Mothers Day, and right next to it is the same mom sitting all alone with the caption Other Days. Point obviously taken. I am blessed my children remember me on days other than Mother's Day. 

The church as usual had a special Mother's Day programme with the usual photo shoot, cake cutting and gifts. This year's gifts were all very feminine  stuff - a flower clip , scented candle and jewellery box. 

Back home,  I was going to cook  a normal dinner  meal as I really didn't fancy joining masses of people celebrating the day out. My no 2 had just returned from overseas, so  I had opted to celebrate a belated birthday the week after instead.

Just as I was starting the dinner prep, a call came in. It was an unknown number. I normally don't answer such calls as from past experience, it's always scam. But inexplicably I answered this one. And I am so glad I did, as the caller identified himself  as the son of someone I knew from long ago. He went to the same school as my son back when they were still kids. That's indeed a very long time back, at least 15 years. I remember on Sundays, with his mom's consent, I would pick him up to attend church with my own 3 young ones in tow. As the song goes, those were the days.... 

With the passing of years, they all stopped following me. I also kinda lost touch with the boy's family, though they lived in the same neighborhood. Now and then I would message the mom on festive occasions. Like all kids, hers and mine grew up and moved on with their own lives. I guess that's the familiar story of the "empty-nest syndrome" in most families; particularly of this generation.  

It was indeed a very pleasant surprise for me to hear the manly voice of this once-upon-a-neighborhood kid, wishing me a Happy Mother's Day . When he explained he always considered me his "other mom" I was so so touched. But what he said next really moved me to tears. He said he wanted to do it, because he didn't want to miss the chance of wishing me whilst there's still time. For he had experienced the regret of being "too late" when someone  he wanted to wish had already passed away.  Indeed that's the very reason why I personally don't care much for "official celebration days" for this or that person or group of persons. Surely we should always be appreciating and appreciative of the people who mean something in our lives, not just on 1 official date in the calendar.

I asked the young man  if he remembered those days when I brought him to church and whether he still had Jesus in his heart.  His answer was the best mother's day gift for me - Yes, and Yes. Truly how faithful God is. I am ashamed to admit I had "forgotten" this family - a single mom, handling 4 kids on her own. But thank God, He never forgot. And this one little boy who grew up without a human father but who attended Sunday school  didn't forget the One who is called Abba Father in heaven.  

It's all too easy to forget and literally drift away from God, when we are navigating through the seas of our life. I see some sail so far off ,whether by choice or by circumstance, and it seems impossible for them to return to that eternal safe harbour . Still  as I once told a dearly beloved ...You can walk out on God, but God never walks out on you. 

And so it is, this Mother's Day, I feel so blessed...to be remembered and called mother by someone not of my own flesh and blood, not of my race. Yet we are truly 1 family, because of the love of 1 Abba Father who joined us together through the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. Praise God for His faithfulness. 

"So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,  but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God" - Ephesians 2:19 

SOMETHING DIFFERENT

I was looking forward to a quiet time, counting down (or rather up) to 66 years of life on planet earth. But a couple of days before the date,  I had to get up very early in the morning to drive a foreign Pastor who had been unexpectedly "stuck" over 4 days in KL to the airport to catch a 7 am flight out. I had received an urgent  call  to help him out,  as there was an unexpected "hiccup" in his missions trip, which necessitated him to come to KL to return to his home country. The problem was compounded as he is blind. No one I approached was willing or able to help. I had resigned myself to putting him up in the small back-room in my house though I had serious misgivings about how I was to manage the whole situation. 

But I needn't have worried. For the minute I said "Yes, Lord" to the call placed upon me, God in His grace provided everything. As things turned out, a brother was travelling together with Pastor and they had already checked themselves into a hotel for the duration. The only hitch was this brother was leaving a day earlier to continue his own missions assignment. Which meant the blind Pastor would be alone for 1 day. So really, all I had to do wasn't much. I only took them for Sunday church service, spent some time over lunch together and drove them back to their hotel. Even on the last day, Pastor managed remarkably well on his own. I was left with only 1 task - get him to the airport for the flight back to his home country. 

Of course driving him there wasn't a problem. But I was wondering how to manage the logistics of leaving him alone at the departure gate with all his luggage, whilst I had to go round to park the car before helping him to check in. And I was concerned because I certainly couldn't get him through immigration. Again I needn't have worried. He was so much more experienced than I, so "cool" about everything. He was the one advising me, to just ask for special disability assistance at the check-in counter. Indeed, all things turned out well.

 I managed to park the car, met him where I had left him at the entrance and yes, indeed the airline had special assistance available that would see him through all the way to boarding. All he had to do was sit and wait 1 hour for the airline staff to help. So I got him seated, bought him some light breakfast, wished him well, and said goodbye. But as I walked the rather long way back to the parking lot, my heart was very uneasy. As I reached the car, I heard the voice of rebuke , "Go back, Finish your job properly." I knew whose voice it was. And I have learnt when God talks to me, I better just obey. So it was, I turned around and headed back all the way to sit with the Pastor for 1 hour, before finally handing him over to the airline staff at the appointed time . Only  then I felt the release in my heart - my job was finally finished. 4 hours later, he video-called me from a car;  his family had picked him up safely. 

As I look back on this episode, I knew God was setting me up for something different. There were so many other people who could have been called . Indeed I was disappointed at some of the responses I got about assisting a foreign stranger.  Plus I had my own doubts about my ability to help. But as I sat in church that Sunday, listening to the Pastor's  amazing testimony, I knew why I was called. Here he is..a totally blind man...can be Pastor of an independent church, can plant  14 other churches, can go on  evangelistic missions to 22 countries, whose wife is blind like him, yet all their 4 children are normal. God was showing me, Hey, see what I can do when someone says, "Yes, Lord, I am all Yours." This blind man wasn't a "big name", he didn't have any "mega church" backing. But his life spoke volumes of the God he served so faithfully. No excuses, no fear. Indeed lots of things in life can go wrong, even when we are faithful, as in this case.  But God will always work them out right. We just have to finish the portion given to us, even if it's just a small thing. Not leave it half-done or walk away before its time. No matter how inconvenient.   

So as I contemplated entering  the 66th year of my life, I see God's perfecting His work in me.  In my email was a message from a devotional website, greeting me with a special word for my specialday...from  

Ephesians 2:10 We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works. The message was entitled "The Masterpiece Within."  How appropriate and how uplifting it is to know I am created by the Mighty Hand of a divine Artist who wills me to be His masterpiece to be seen, a living poem to be read by all

I spent my birthday pottering about in the garden in the morning. Finally I could get rid of the decaying mulberry tree -   it had rotted enough for me to just pull it up, trunk,  roots  and all. I had started with chopping off its diseased branches many many  months ago.    For good measure, I also cut off all the badly-infested spinach leaves in my back garden. I was reminded of all the poisonous  rubbish we all have , some buried so deep and so long inside us, that we have ceased to be even aware of them.  I don't want my garden of life to be filled with rotten and rotting stuff.                                                            

Happily, the first birthday  greeting in my watsapp came from a "old" fren...she had sent a really cute GIF of a cat holding forth a rose. I was so amused, for the cat looked so much like my own fat cat  Maffin. I take it as a sign that the year/s ahead will be a beautiful blooming of my life, as the planting of the Lord Himself. 

For surely, "It is God who works in you (me)  to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose” (Philippians 2:13) ...for my future. Interestingly 66 broken down 6+6 =12  which is one of the foundational numbers of Scripture. It symbolizes  God's power and authority,  completeness and perfection. I can't ask for anything more than that for my 66th birthday.....