I Hope, I Pray

I have been in deep contemplation today. I keep thinking to myself, I can write poetry anytime, anyday but it is only when I am inspired that I can write with such passion and emotion. When I am in that trance, it is God who is speaking, I am merely jotting down what He is saying.

As such, I was thinking about Life Poetry, the anthology of poems which Yi Liang and I are composing. I feel that our poetry should be free for all to read for it is through God that we are inspired to write. I want our poetry to reach everyone. After all, I said this from the very start: I write for the common man.

Hence, our plans have changed a little bit. We will still compose the book but we will also publish our poetry as we write on our blogs and the relevant media.

I was deeply inspired today by four women. I saw them coming out of the same car, walking into the  restaurant to eat lunch together. Two of the women were Chinese, one was Indian and one was Malay. I was so touched that it brought tears to my eyes. I was thinking to myself, “why can’t the rest of Malaysia be like this?” So it was at that moment that I felt that I needed to write. I needed to convey a message and hence, I, with God’s help, composed “I Hope, I Pray”.

Please, do enjoy. Feedback is welcomed.

P.S. one of my heroes in life is Mattie J. T. Stepanek. I composed this poem as a tribute to his message for peace. Will blog more about him soon.

I Hope, I Pray

 

 

Inspired by the works of Mattie J. T. Stepanek.

Dedicated to all Malaysians.

 

 

I hope that someday

we can sit around the table for brunch

with our minds and spirits as one family.

I pray that someday

we will learn to realize

that despite our differences, we all descended from THE One.

 

I hope that someday

schoolchildren will embrace individuality

so that we may strive as a nation of unique solidarity.

I pray that someday

all children will realize

that respect and acceptance are keys to unlock the door to compassion and understanding.

 

 

I hope that someday

our citizens may open their hearts

to help the poor, the aging, the disabled.

I pray that someday

our citizens will realize

that magnanimity and selflessness to a worthy cause bring about true contentment.

 

 

I hope that someday

institutions which mold our minds will consider

education for all that deserve, so not to abide by some faulty criteria

I pray that someday

those in powerful positions will realize

that education is a token to be earned, so don’t treat it as if it be a frugal expenditure.

 

 

I hope that someday

our leaders will join hand in hand

to abolish unjust laws, so to guide us to the rhythm of the marching band.

I pray that someday

Our leaders will realize

that we need them to be our examples; to emulate honesty, diligence and temperance.

 

 

I hope that someday

Our people will understand

Yes! we have many religions but we are bound in one body; it is our spirituality

I pray that someday

our people will realize

that we must stand up together as one, as our Creator desired us to be connected as such.

 

I hope and I pray now

that today will be the day of progression

For it is the choices that we make in our hearts and in our attitudes

to build one humanity and one world.

 

 (c) Keisha Petrus

 

 

 

 

Happy Deepavali

I had a good Deepavali lunch last week on Sunday at my aunt’s house. The food that was prepared by my Amama was just tantalizing to the palate… really fantastic as usual. My cousin Natasha did a great job with the decor…. and I just had to take some pictures….it was just so beautiful.

Simple yet stunning centerpiece

 

 

Serene candlelight

Cool artwork

 

My couz got skill!

 

I

mm MM mmm Dig in!

Scanned soft copy of diploma

Yay, Finally I got it! I am pretty happy that this part of my life is over, not that I am not grateful for what I have benefitted from though. I am just happy I am moving on in my life to college to earn my degree in Psychology. I dream of such a day, where I will graduate and make my mom, my grandpa, Yi Liang and my family proud. Here’s to hoping for the best. xoxoK

Part 2: How to Obtain a Driving License as an OKU

Continuing from a previous post….

8. Once you have registered at the respective driving institution, you first begin by taking 5 hours of the theory class. After taking that burdensome class, start prepping for your color -blind test and your theory test. The keys to passing these two tests are very simple. Memorize your color-blind booklet as well as your Q&A booklet. Trash your guidebook because it is futile to grasp anything from such material!

9. Go to a testing center and take the computerized test. The color-blind test has 15 questions and the theory test has 50 questions. Passing grade for color-blind test is 13/15. If you don’t pass this test, you WILL NOT be able to proceed to the theory test.  Be careful to check your answers! I was of course very obssessive about this test that it drove TYL crazy! ha ha. After everything I have been through, I did not want to be stopped from some stupid color-blind test! Okay la, so I got everything correct here. Next, the passing grade for the theory is 42/50. I scored 45/50 in 14 minutes and I was the first one to finish it among all the test takers!

10. Take your test results back to the driving institution. Register yourself for the second phase, the amali… Basically, you sit down for three hours in the class where the teacher babbles on about what is a steering wheel and its funtion, what is a battery and its function and et cetera. YAWNS! Boring as hell. The next step would be alloting a personal instructor to teach you how to drive. Make sure you get an instructor who is experienced in teaching a PWD. I was given a very nice old man, Mr. Muniandy. He made me drive around the course for a seemingly endless amount of time in the first three hours. Then he basically made me check the dipstick and battery water and yada yada…

11. Welcome to the third phase, where you will drive with your instructor for ten hours learning how to do a three point turn, stop on a hill without killing the engine (if you are driving a manual), parallel parking and driving on the road. I personally found learning everything easy except for the parallel parking. I could do it but I was being my usual paranoid self. I was scared that I was going to knock down the poles! At some point before the 10 hours elapses, you will sit for a mock test with a QTI or Qualified Testing Instructor. I passed that test easily! ha ha.

12. Face those men and women in uniform. The day has come, here you are, you’ve come this far, passed all those gruelling medical, and theory tests and now, NOW, it’s time to face those JPJ monsters, I thought! I felt a ball of nerves on that day, 22nd September 2008. I was not afraid of facing them. I was afraid of failing. I can’t stand the thought of failure so much so because I’ve got something to proove to this world as a PWD. So I swallowed my fear and asked God to see me through this. When this day comes for you, please bring the original copy of the OKU approval form,  insurance document and the original copy of the grant. THe JPJ robots may want to verify that you have got everything in order.

What happened? With God’s grace, I passed all the tests and applied for my probationary license. The feeling I had that day was utterly overwhelming. I was so happy to have finally gotten this far and I made a lot of people swallow their words on that day. I felt unstoppable. I felt great not to be put down… I just felt so happy that I had done my grandfather proud. What he must be thinking up in Heaven, I thought. I shut my eyes and tried to visualize his reaction to my passing the test and it just felt so darn good.

My ability to drive has given me the ability to take the next step to independence which is what I yearn and hope for everyday.

Thank you to all who have supported me. Your support and encourgement means the world.

And good luck to all PWDs in their quest to drive.

completed

On 19th of September, I did my very last assignment for Alpha Omega Academy. How did I feel after? I took a breath of relief. Finally, it’s over after five years of slogging through one assignment after the other, waiting patiently to cross the finish line. And BOOM, five years later through all the ups and downs of life, I am DONE! I am grateful to AOA for educating me for those five years though, I feel that my greatest accomplishment out of such a program is my development of writing, I have learned a treasure of knowledge on how to compose and perfect essays and poetry. For that, I would like to thank AOA.

Right now, AOA is finalizing some details before it officially issues my high school diploma along with my high school transcripts and letters of recommendation. I need those three entities to apply to HELP college in January to gain entry into the American Degree Program.

Since the 19th of September, i have been lazing about doing idle pleasures, being a couch potato, watching movies, eating, sleeping, playing the sims and going to the beach with my dogs. I have loved every minute of it, not having the nagging feeling of having to complete my assignments! This also explains why I haven’t been blogging, because I could not be ARSED, LOL.

But now, I’ve decided to put myself back into reality. Last week, I met up with my boss to discuss how I could contribute to Challenges, the magazine that devotes itself to disabled people’s rights. At the end of the meeting, I ended up getting three assignments. I have a mix bag of feelings about it; on one hand, I was enjoying my lazy time and therefore, was in no mood to have deadlines yet again. On the other hand, i was excited about my new job, and how it could keep my mind active and focused. 

And yes I am getting paid per article, 150-200 per piece, not bad for a 19 yr-old whose just started her writing career eh? What’s even more cool is that I get to work in the comfort of my own home. yay!

My boss feels that I should first start out small and get the hang of things first, after which she would start giving me field assignments.

What else to keep Keisha’s mind busy? Yes, focusing on writing poetry for my book. I better get cracking on it as I’ve been inconsistent.

Next on the list of things to do? Start SAT prep…. oh great, back to studying… maybe I’ll put this off for another month or so.

Hmm…anyway that’s all for now. you know I just got a new Nikon camera and it broke down on its first week, am so upset cause I took some good pictures of my dogs at the beach and wanted to put it up on the blog….. sigh.. now I have to wait for it to be fixed

Ciao.

Oh yes, i passed my driving test for my probationary license, yippy yay! And the next post will be part two: on how to obtain a driving license as an OKU or PWD.

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