ChanKelwin.com

It’s quite strange to go off for dinner and to return into an empty office at 8.30pm. Usually, there will be at least a handful of people still hanging around doing their thing.

Then, I chuckled.

When I was out for dinner a while ago, I saw a banner hung out on the first story window with Chinese words written all over it. There were only two things that I understood – “14/8/2008 to 15/8/2008” and “hungry ghost festival”.

I guess everyone must have gone back home early because of this. Either that or they are rushing home to watch the Olympics. In fact, my girlfriend warned me and told me not to go home too late tonight. “Before 12 midnight!” was her order.

I don’t know much about the hungry ghost festival but I know that this is when it is believed that the gates of hell opens and the dead will walk with the living. I remember some Chinese shows I used to watch when I was much younger. Those movies used to scare the shit out of me.

There will also be these performances held to entertain both the living and the dead. If I am not mistaken, the front row seats are always “vacant”. Well, at least to us humans of course. I wonder if anyone has ever seen an occupied front row before. Have you?

Then, there is the big question — “Aren’t you afraid of ghosts?”

Hell yeah I am afraid of ghosts. Who said Christians aren’t afraid of ghosts? Since young, if you were always scared and threatened with ghosts or little “invisible beings” (by friends, elders or television), do you think that has no affect on one’s mind when they grow up?

So am I shivering in my pants now? Not really.

Why should I be any more afraid than what I already am of these two days when the gates of hell opens and all the ghosts are let loose? What can they do? Appear out of a sudden beside me with their 4 feet long hair covering their head? Climb out of the television set while I am watching the Olympics? (5 rings. Get the joke?) Knock on my window on their motorbike asking me directions to the nearest hospital when I am living on the 10th floor?

I am not making fun of anyone/anything. Those that have moved on onto another life deserve the utmost respect. Individuals’ believe deserves as much. The thing is that we are living in a world 24/7/365 where some deem to be far worse than hell. I have been literally living in fear for the past few months. Although the intensity of fear changes as each event evolves. What are these two days compared to that?

I believe I don’t need to elaborate on that point.

Happy Hungry Ghost Festival!

* Note: I couldn’t find any suitable photos on flickr with the ghost theme. Those two are what I found searching for “ghost”. Anyway, ghosts shouldn’t always be portrayed as bad looking and ugly. We have enough of those smoking cigars dressed up in suits.

Have you ever met people who pocket stacks of RM50 or RM100 notes in their pants?

A few weeks ago, I encountered one guy who took out one thick stack of RM50 notes from his trousers’ pocket to pay for his (less than RM50) bill. From the look of it, there could have been 50 pieces of RM50 or more in that stack. I wonder if he has a few more stacks in his pockets. Needless to say, the note that he passed to me was wet. *yuck*

When I was working as a cashier a few years ago, I encountered a few people like this as well. I have always wondered if there are actually people who keep thousands of ringgits in their pockets all the time. Do you know of anyone like this?

Anyway, I am also curious of their occupations. What kind of people would carry thousands of ringgits in their pockets wherever they go? I doubt an IT staff would be able to do that. Below is a list of possible people who would carry stacks of RM50 and RM100 notes with them all the time.

• Business man
• Datuk
• Rich man’s son
• Ah Long
• Contractors
• Gambler
• Politician
• Judge
• Policeman

Please bear in mind that these are just my guesses. Who do you think these people are?

I have seen many photographs of individuals published in blogs and websites online. I am sure you have as well. Sometimes, the person (or people) in the photograph may be a stranger to the photographer.

I have always wondered if there is a legal issue regarding this where the photographer must seek the approval of the “model” before:

1. taking the photo
2. publishing it (online — blog, website, etc and offline — magazine, newspaper, etc)

There are many photos that I see online that I am quite sure the photographer didn’t get the approval of the person in the photo before publishing it. In this case, is it legally wrong or just ethically wrong of the photographer to be doing that? Or maybe the photographer isn’t wrong at all since they were in a public place?

Do you ask the permission of the “model” before taking their photo? Did you inform them that you may publish it online for the world to see? What are your thoughts on this?

I am sure most of you have watched the movie “Signs”. I don’t fully understand the meaning of the movie. I believe it talks about faith but why were there aliens? LOL. Anyway…

Have you ever been in a crossroad where you do not know which path to take? Did you quietly wished or prayed for a sign to guide you through it? What if a sign has been sent to you but you do not realize it?

On the other hand, all these so-called signs could be mere coincidence. There are a lot happening around us and I am sure one or two things could have happen on pure chance.

The question is, do you believe in signs?

There are some things in my life that I can categorize as signs. In fact, something came up the other day and I can’t help but to wonder if this is a sign sent to me. I don’t reject the possibility that it could be a coincidence but what if it isn’t? However, let’s just assume that it was a sign sent to me. My next question would be, “What is this sign trying to tell me?”

From what I can think of, there are two ways to it — positive and negative. So which way is it?

Someone should inform the “sign sender” to make their messages clearer. Some people may receive them but do not know what to do with it. *sigh*

Have you ever received emails from individuals promoting themselves and wanting to be your “friend”? The content of the letter is basically the same — how they found your email address, introducing themselves, hobby, and a small note at the end.

I received dozens of these emails in the past. I suspect it could be sent by the same person or it could be the works of a copycat. That is because I could almost memorize the “Note” part at the end of the email. They usually end like this:

Note:

1) No direct sales, please. The best quality products are
available in Tesco, Carrefour and Giant.

2) No insurance, please. With more than 10 life policies and PAs,
please leave me alone.

3) No unit trust, please. My aim is to grow my existing portfolio of
RM600,000 to RM1.2 million within the next five years, and, I would
like to do it without your “help”.

I wonder what the aim of the email is. Is it to get your email address when you reply and to spam you with other services later? Or is he hoping to trap some girls into going out with them and then…

This is the title of the email, “nothing wrong with knowing a new friend, right?”. There is nothing wrong with knowing a friend but please be careful who you chat with online.