Blogging from Alor Star, Kedah


Hi Friends, I am now actually hundreds of miles away from home sweet home, in the northern part of Malaysia. I was helping out at another Round Table Discussion (RTD) on lutein with a group of doctors, giving a talk to nurses here tomorrow, and then flying all the way down south to Johor Bahru for another RTD on Saturday. Will fly back to KL on Sunday morning, reaching the airport by 7:45am. Hopefully, I will be able to make it on time for the 1st church service at 9am.

Hey? Since when did they change the name of this town, Alor Setar to Alor Star? I just knew it, when I read the Wiki page of this town. Hmmm... strange. Did anyone remember when exactly, and why?

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the airport here is so much better than the ones in Kuantan, Kuala Terengganu and Kota Bharu (yes, it's my first time flying to Alor Star). The ones there do not have a docking bay, so you would have to walk down from the plane, and walk towards the airport under the open sky. And the facilities in the Alor Star airport is so much more advanced, more well built. And I'm pretty sure all Malaysians know why... Kedah is the ex-PM's birth state. And those three towns are led by the Opposition for many years. Want to learn about Federal spending? Just compare these airports :)

Oh, by the way, just something that caught my eye when reading the Wiki page of Alor Star... the total area of this city is 666 km². Sheesh... ok, ok... I'm not superstitious, but 666 is infamously known as the number of the devil, or the mark of the beast. Why can't they choose to make the area of this city to be something different like 667 or 665? But of course, having that for the area of this city does not make it the devil's city. Neither does reaching 666 km on your car mileage will cause your car to crash or be crashed by somebody else. And 6 o'clock on the 6th of June had come and gone every year without any significant happenings. And millions of children were born on the 6th of June in 2006 (probably at 6 o'clock too!). So why then are there still so many people so conscious and so fearful about these numbers? It's just numbers, right?

Depending on the version of the Bible, 666 appeared once in the NKJV Bible, in Revelation 13:17-18 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.

But in the NIV Bible, 666 appeared 4 times!

1 Kings 10:13-15 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for, besides what he had given her out of his royal bounty. Then she left and returned with her retinue to her own country. The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents, not including the revenues from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the land.

2 Chronicles 9:12-14 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for; he gave her more than she had brought to him. Then she left and returned with her retinue to her own country. The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents, not including the revenues brought in by merchants and traders. Also all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land brought gold and silver to Solomon.

Ezra 2:1-13 Now these are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken captive to Babylon (they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town, in company with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum and Baanah): The list of the men of the people of Israel:

the descendants of Parosh 2,172
of Shephatiah 372
of Arah 775
of Pahath-Moab (through the line of Jeshua and Joab) 2,812
of Elam 1,254
of Zattu 945
of Zaccai 760
of Bani 642
of Bebai 623
of Azgad 1,222
of Adonikam 666

And of course, Revelation 13:17-18 so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.

So who says 666 is devilish? I definitely wouldn't mind receiving 666 talents of gold, and that, for your information, is equivalent to 4.5 tons of gold. Imagine receiving that yearly... phew!!! In today's value, that's US$35.8 million every year. And should I change my Facebook account just because my account ID is 713666841? There are so many highways bearing the Route 666, but with no unusually high number of accidents.

But on the other hand, that does not mean we take Revelation 13:18 lightly. We have to understand that one fine day, when that happens, when people start imposing the rule of having the mark 666 or else you can't buy or sell, we have to immediately recognize that it is of the devil and reject that and make a stand for God.

Oh my... what a long post! And I thought I was talking about Alor Star! LOL Good night, everyone! (Almost 2:00am here!)