Not just a student...

Mission to Myanmar

2007-12-13T12:34:00.000+08:00

The preparation and carrying out of this trip has been the most thrilling journey I have been on.

There were points which I was brought lower than I have ever been, and made to carry a burden heavier than I have ever carried. It was in these times when God strengthened my heart, and told me to lift up my eyes and see His great providence.

The beginnings of this trip happened over a casual game of poker back in summer, when ideas were simply exchanged as the cards were dealt. From an idea, came a contact – in the form of Pastor Patrick, and from that came a project. It was off to a typically good start. The team was formed and the goals were set and everything was going according to plan. However suddenly, a time of political instability struck which rocked the country and the project. At that point, I was faced with a hell of a decision. In deciding, I was led to reflect upon my intentions of taking up this project and going to Myanmar in the first place. Was I doing this for the sake of CIP? Was I doing this for a leadership role I could put on my CV? It was then that God revealed that this project lacked soul, and a real purpose was needed. Leading a team into a foreign land, especially in a time of danger was a project extremely luring for me to do. But how selfish could I be? To risk the lives of 14 simply so I could do my thing? The burden of this decision weighed heavily on me and I finally conceded to go with a contingency plan to Philippines, as I could not go forward with Myanmar having the knowledge that I was putting my ambition ahead of the lives of my team.

However, just as I made up my mind to kill the project to Myanmar, Pastor Patrick called and told me that we had clearance by the embassy to go and it will be safe. My spirit was uplifted and it was then a pure desire to assist the good work of New Hope Community Services was placed within me and it burned deep into my heart. My attitude towards the project was completely changed. It was now not just another project, but a mission to do something to benefit the lives of more than a hundred orphans.

Even with renewed vision, the political instability still existed and as a result, funding and parental consent for the team members was still a major headache. Even convincing SMU to let us continue was not a simple problem. I prayed for God to put the right words in Pastor Patrick to convince the necessary parties of the missions’ safety and purpose. God did just that, and not only were the parties convinced, they wanted to assist us and go if possible.

By the time everything was approved and the green light was given, it was deep into the closing weeks of school and seven thousand dollars of funds was still lacking. My dad told me that after I have laid my plea before the Lord, I can cease to worry because Jehovah Jira will provide. And He did just that. On the last day before my exams started, every cent we needed was provided for and generously donated. The cost of the trip for each team member remained exactly as I promised at the beginning and even this amount we found out was in excess of what was needed.

During the trip, we consistently under spent and over ate. We were truly living in plenty. The imagery of the 5 loaves and 2 fishes came to mind as at the end of the trip, we ate and were all filled, and 1,100,000 Kyat was left over, which we donated to New Hope to spread amongst the other orphanages we could not visit.

By seeing the orphans, I don’t know how I can ever look at what I have and complain about wanting more again. There they are, with nothing but the clothes on their back, and rice and vegetable soup for meals. But yet they were happy, happy to exist and have the love of each other. Seeing the children made my heart for these people grow within me and the desire to do whatever I can with my life to help them burned even deeper.

“You remind me still, of a hope and promise, daring my heart to be brave and all the while you strengthen me, so deep in my heart. Open your eyes and see... Lift up your head believe, there is more, so much more to see.”
- More to see (Hillsongs)

These are the kids which blessed and touched our hearts...

And this is our team...

Yado – the team leader

Chang – the programs head

Jit – the logistics head

Daniel – the finance head

Fish – the Myanmar heartthrob

Wilfred – the one with the shlong

Ken – the one with the toothpick

SJ – the one who worked

CK – the one who cooked

Jackie – the other one who cooked

Michelle – the one with zuzu

Pam – the one who pammed us

Steven &

Celine – the ones who did the filming

And this is what we did...

We visited 2 orphanages

Andrew Orphanage

Tender Love Orphanage

Our first objective was to paint

We also had some fun and games with the kids

Soccer with Andrew Orphanage’s finest. We lost by a humble margin of 6-2

Marketing & Cooking dinner for them

Hygiene education

Rounding off with a campfire

We ended our trip with a visit to the Singapore Embassy

And after 8 days, home sweet home

To my team, thank you.

Also many thanks to Pastor Patrick of New Hope Community Services and all the sponsors for making this trip possible

Cycling around Pengerang

2007-06-04T21:55:00.000+08:00

Thanks Wilfred and father for organizing. Great stuff =)

Previously on Lost...

2007-05-20T11:17:00.000+08:00

6 undergraduates from Singapore's top university were recently marooned on perhaps – one of the most beautiful places on planet earth – the Maldives: Island R. Kinolhas

alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket">

The 6 “unfortunate” souls were:

Name: Shakeeb
Aka.: the Maldivian who cannot fish
Profile: Maldivian local and hence most essential member to survival of the group

Name: Daniel
Aka: The Cash Cow
Profile: Sunburns easily

Name: Loh Wei
Aka: Loo Wee (as pronounced by Maldivian locals)
Profile: Especially attractive to mosquitoes

Name: Roy
Aka: Roei (as pronounced by Maldivian locals)
Profile: Especially attracted to hermit crabs (also responsible for 99% of the photos)

Name: Wesley
Aka: Wislee (as pronounced by Maldivian locals)
Profile: Allergic to Maldivian curry

Name: Yado
Aka: Are you local? (as pronounced by Maldivian locals)
Profile: No, Chinese

The 6 Lost

The lost had to fend for themselves to fill their bellies each day…

Reef fishing, with line/rod

Local boy catching his first fish! (quelling rumors that he has become Singaporean and can no longer live the Maldivian way)

Wislee catching the juggernaut!

Deep Sea fishing, with boat and line

Spear fishing! with snorkel & spear

De-feathering a chicken

Cooking Roshi (Maldivian prata)

Only Roei managed to turn his lump of dough into a reasonable circle

The lost travelers also had to forge through many a dangerous terrain…

Through mosquito infested vegetation

Through swamp home to stonefish, shark and stingray

Through beaches teeming with hermit crabs of all sizes

Even through the streets of Male (pronounced mah-leh) where highway code does not exist, only plenty of motorcycles…

When distances got too great, they took to other means of transport…

Such as lorry (the Maldivian idea of a taxi)

or boat

And Air Taxi

The lost soon made friends with the ‘others’ on the island

And played soccer with them

And formed the first Island R. Kinolhas football team

After many hard days of work, the 6 lost students contented themselves with slacking on the beach...

...and just simply drank in the beauty of Gods creation

They sure traveled light =)

Super BIG thank you to Shakeeb & family for letting us stay on your island and being fantastic hosts to us for 8 super days!

2 dads & 2 sons went to Krabi

2007-04-21T20:41:00.000+08:00

And here are some pics...

We arrived at Ao Nang Villa and the first thing they did was to get my name wrong. I really don’t know how Mr. Chia Wei Chiang can be misread and re-spelt to become Mr. Chia Liki Chiang…

Anyway presenting the 4 happy travelers:

Mr. Philip Chang

Mr. Chang

My dad

And Mr Chia Liki Chiang

So of course we kicked off our post exam holiday by using the hotels facilities and we soon discovered there weren’t many...except for ESPN

Then it was off for some bargaining action on the streets of Krabi.

The next day we took a speed boat ride to Phi Phi Island for some snorkeling. They said that if you havn't been to Phi Phi, you havn't been to Krabi. And that even rhymes =)

On the way, we sped past this strange looking thing called the Chicken Island. No prizes for guessing why

We also stopped by some beach where apparently “the beach” was filmed

And they say it was off peak season?

By the way we don’t smoke

I’ve not much to say about the snorkeling…

Except that this kid looks a heck a lot like Wayne Rooney

Some father and son shots

And of the overworked students finally getting a chance to take the chill pill

The next day was declared free and easy day so uncle Philip and I decided to go for an authentic thai massage… and damn it was damn good. However it was quite obvious to me that I was in dire need of a detox from SMU as while I was getting massaged, I found my thoughts drifting automatically to how this massage parlor could improve their business strategy to compete in the perfectly competitive massage industry…

Anyway Krabi is kind of like a cowboy town where nothing is really illegal. And in cowboy town they also allow you to rent brand new motorcycles for 100baht a day (that’s about 5 bucks) without any form of license. For those who know me, driving a motorbike will be one of my forever unfulfilled dreams thanks to the queen mothers wishes. But hey, what happens in Krabi stays in Krabi right?

So next thing I knew I was speeding down to Krabi town on my spanking new Yamaha to get a refuel (cause 100baht doesn’t warrant them putting fuel in the bike for you) And as I opened the throttle on my virgin bike experience…oh my goodness, it was worth every cent I paid…and was about to pay.

Cause what happened next was probably why you should always listen to your mother. Basically I made a turn out of the petrol station a LITTLE too fast and struck the curb and sort of went flying off the bike.

Thank God I wasn’t too badly hurt. A few bumps and bruises that’s all, and I was still smiling all the way back to the hotel on the no longer brand new motorbike. In fact I was smiling all the way until I returned the bike and got the bill for the repairs - 4000 baht!!!
I should have known that 100baht didn’t include insurance...

Thank goodness food there is pretty cheap, or I would have had to starve the rest of the way. I have to highlight that the greatest thing was this bowl of thai beef ball noodles and at 25baht it is some serious quality for value. The shop didn’t at all look clean, and neither did the food, but hey, as they say, the dirtier the better right?

Anyway 4 Days 3 Nights went by quickly and it was soon time to get back to stress land Singapore. However there was one last piece of good news… the 4 month summer holidays had just begun!

Flybar @ D'marquee

2007-04-07T00:35:00.000+08:00

Thanks Amaka for the most excellent photos
http://amaka.multiply.com/photos/album/65

http://xieweichiang.blogspot.com/

2007-02-21T00:34:00.000+08:00

While doing some New year spring cleaning, I unearthed some rather unimportant documents. But nonetheless, I think they were worth uploading =)

Xie Wei Chiang’s ACJC Chinese essays

Flybar Photoshoot

2007-02-07T23:27:00.000+08:00

Late one night, a band of five plus one stumbled onto an abandoned helipad somewhere deep in the western part of the island. After a quick look-around, the leader turned to his band and said “I think we found the perfect spot”

Two and a half hours later…

p.s. Thanks Chris for your time & talent

Flybar in Hong Kong

2006-11-30T23:55:00.000+08:00

So heres what we did...

...before the gig

...and during the gig

And the band that won: Lojic (from USA)

And the band that came in 2nd: voodoo Kungfu (seriously scary hardcore death metal band from China)

And 3rd: Sonic Altar (from NZ)

And the rest in no particular order
Queso (Philippines)

Pablo Honey (Taiwan with the only female in the finals)

Meridian (Australia)

And the home team The Train (Hong Kong)

Thats about all we did.

Catch flybar at our next event:

5 Dec (Tues) @ MOS Tickets $20 from me, $25 at the door
So let me know if you want tickets, our set is at midnight, do come down and support!

Featuring Flybar in - World Battle Of The Bands

2006-10-22T02:33:00.000+08:00

You were there for us, giving us that motivation to succeed
In your presence we found inspiration from the generosity of your cheers
You gave us your shoulders to stand on, to reach for our dreams which we could never have reached without you
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you,
Thank you to the best supporters a band could wish for

-Flybar

Some of the great supporters

Our manager and Timbre's manager

Flybar in action

Some really intense close ups

And some victory poses

Yes we won and will be going to Hong Kong to do Singapore proud in the international finals!
Wish you all could be there

Big thanks to nightlife.sg for the photos
http://www.nightlife.sg/index.php

Featuring Flybar in - Battle of the bands

2006-09-30T21:55:00.000+08:00

To all those who came down for the semis, big thanks for all the support!

We are through to the finals which is held on 21 Oct @ Timbre (our set is at 9pm)
Cover + 1 drink is $20

Do come and support!

Battle of the bands website
My band's website

p.s. thanks to Quentin Lee for the pictures
www.flickr.com/photos/quen

A Global Classroom for a Global Citizen

2006-09-17T00:36:00.000+08:00

If you so happened to be walking around SMU at 9pm on Sep 15th and was wondering why on earth were these fierce looking Gurkhas lurking around, let me offer an explanation: Make up BGS class.

Ok fine, so I happened to be one of the priveleged 20 or so people from my BGS class that got to go for this Global Dialogue classroom. Basically it was a discussion on a case drawn up by World Bank and participated by 5 universities across the globe (South Africa, Moscow, Sao Paulo, Wharton & SMU) via video conference. There were even these 2 delegates from World Bank who came to our SOA classroom to facilitate the discussion. Quite cool to be honest; and you actually have to greet everyone good morning, good afternoon & good evening at the same time.

So the discussion got underway at 9pm (to cater to Wharton of course) on this case about corruption and went on till almost 11pm. I was sitting there rather underdressed in my shorts & slippers (I figured it would be something like that Starhub commercial where the other side can’t really see your bottom half) furiously trying to type & follow the rather intellectual discussion. I gave up after an hour or so and resorted to just listening. Another 15min later and I gave up doing that as well.

During the discussion before the part where I surrendered, I was particularly impressed with the way the Wharton students just freely and openly gave it to their government by calling it corrupt and such in response to a question by World Bank. I also was impressed by the way they all just happily walked out of class when one of the World Bank guys was giving his closing speech. I guess that’s American freedom of speech for you.

Anyway for a make up class it was a good eye opening experience. I must comment that looking at the other 4 universities, we definitely have the best looking classroom. With our plush seats, conducive circular arrangement, a city view behind us and not to mention our 4 projector & plasma screens, seriously, privileged we are.

It's getting harder & harder to breath - Drowning in work

2006-08-31T19:53:00.000+08:00

Mondays in my calendar are an extension of Sunday, but if you were to conclude based on that fact that my life is ‘O so slack’, then you couldn’t have been further from the truth.

So my school week begins on Tuesdays, which contain one of my more enjoyable lessons known as Business, Government and Society (BGS). An entertaining & capable Indian professor leads us into educational discussions on why we as future business people need to be concerned not just about the money but also the society where it comes from. Oh finally, what a joy to attend school when you are learning from someone who speaks clearly and actually knows what he is talking about. However here is where Class Participation, one of SMU’s infamous 4Ps of grading (Projects, Presentations, Papers, and Participation), come into emphasis. And in order to participate meaningfully and not foolishly, would require me to read large chunks of the BGS textbook every week. And to give you an appreciation on how colossally big that text is, I no longer need to do a shoulder workout in the gym so long as I carry that rock in my bag.

Wednesday is the day of the week where I wake up and wish it was another day. I start off early in the morning learning about why it is so important to know how much things cost and how to display that useful bit of info in such detail that no one wishes to read it. Ok that’s not really true but I’m describing Management Accounting from my point of view. Then in the afternoon, a rather round & loud American tells me that it is important that I learn about arguing in all its forms. Actually its quite a fun class and I learnt something rather interesting this week. My American prof was explaining to us why the argument “There is no absolute truth” cannot possible be true. Simply put, if it is a true statement, then it would be contradictory to itself, as the statement asserts that there is no absolute truth, thus it has to be false. Anyway that’s my Analytical Skills class. The lessons are interesting, and the prof has a sense of humor, but when he gives out the insane amount of homework, his jokes don’t seem so funny anymore.

So TGI.Thursday. Cause Thursdays technically mean I can wake up at night and not miss any lessons.

Ah then comes Friday, entering into my life is this Korean prof who has made his debut in Singapore not more than 2 weeks ago. This is where my perfect image of “Wow SMU professors are pretty damn good” gets pretty damn shattered. Loud clear voice, good spoken English, helping me to understand Intro to Statistics B so I would not need to read up on my own would not be adjectives used to describe him. I shall leave it as that.

The Age of Slacking is over

2006-08-21T11:50:00.000+08:00

Now seriously, something has happened to me.

Who has ever heard of an ex-ACS(barker) boy complaining that school is TOO SLACK and that he wants MORE WORK? That’s almost a blasphemy to the good name of ACS.

Well sorry, I’m guilty of it, because something has happened to me. I think I’ve gone mad, and I don’t think it has anything to do with all the unnecessary cheering during orientation camp or all the SMU propaganda which has been spilling out of my ears.

I’ve been pre-assigned quite simply the slackest schedule I’ve ever seen, basically its like 3 days of school a week with 1 class per day – and if you had ever known me in the good o’l barker road days, you would be thinking that I would be dancing for joy. But I am not, I am actually very very irritated.

This is because an even greater insanity is upon me. Obstacles and hardships are being placed in my way PREVENTING me from going to more classes and making my slack schedule less slack. A school that makes it hard not to slack? Outrageous…

In SMU, you have to bid for extra classes using imaginary money; it’s supposed to imbue business sense into us. I don’t disagree and I have learnt a lot through the hours of foraging through the school’s maze of an intranet system, but so far the only imbuement I’ve been saturated with is an angry face. I have to bid and compete against my fellow freshmen & seniors just to get into a class! What abomination…

So why am I doing this to myself? Why am I morphing from my true slack nature and fighting for more work? Honestly, I don’t know. Maybe I truly have gone mad. After 20years of slacking, from a New Zealand kindergarten where we played with saws & hammers instead of learning to read & write, to an ACS education where fun & failure went together in perfect harmony, to finally 2 unbelievably cool years in MDC which I shan’t elaborate any further on how slack it was. Yes… I’ve been slacking all my life. No more.

Thank you from Flybar

2006-08-05T02:04:00.000+08:00

To all who came down and supported our gig, thank you.

http://www.flybartheband.com/

SMUma Cum Laude

2006-08-03T15:42:00.000+08:00

SMU’s pre-uni activities kicked off with the sports & faculty camps and they previewed the fun and laughter that can be expected at this premier university. However after all the dust had settled and the last drop of alcohol consumed, came the more serious stuff, the part where we attended the pre uni briefings and got ourselves introduced to what uni life’s going to be like.

Some say uni is where you have to make a choice, either to strive for the maximum, or to enjoy. However SMU, being different, wants and challenges us to choose both. To achieve summa cum laude*, to do an exchange at an ivy league, to be the president of a CCA, to be active in sports, to be…to do… to obtain… to achieve.

How exciting and yet how psychotic.

I especially love it when those 4.0 GPA seniors who are also involved in all sorts of sh*t come up and give their advice. “Don’t worry la, actually GPA not that important la, must enjoy life k, GPA is only 1 line in your portfolio” Yeap…

But the fact does remain, such psychos do exist, and I want to join that club. As they say, not just a student, but an SMU citizen. Cool.

However another facet arises for me. In the race for the cum laudes, a thin balance between the building of the Portfolio and the building of the Temple of God exists. Excellence is a common material needed in both buildings, but at what cost. As a Christian, people matter above all cum laudes, therefore a greater challenge to live unconsumed by the wave of competition beckons. This really does get interesting.

Another part of the uni briefings which I particularly enjoyed was the part when we took the SMU pledge and the SMU 6 Core Values (Commitment. Integrity. Responsibility. Collegiality. Leadership. Excellence) …Platoon 3 drink up!

Yea, those “tough” days seem so long ago. 27 days of leave would mean I haven’t seen camp in over a month, but what the heck, why am I gloating, I am like the only idiot left in my batch without a pink IC. The 2 most wonderful years of holiday are finally coming to an end, but somehow I can just feel it, even better years are just around the corner.

*summa cum laude means highest distinction

What we did in Redang island

2006-07-25T18:06:00.003+08:00

So we set off from the Golden Mile station at half past ten on what would be a 12 hour ride. I heard that you could go to London in about the same time. And don’t think about getting any sleep when traveling with >1 girl as girls being girls, they would yaba-yaba about the many issues in the feminine world and give no peace to the other passengers.

Anyway, 12 sleepless hours later we arrived at Redang island and its crystal clear seas.

The beach was always a common location for fun, be it slacking around in the sun, lazing around in the ocean or roughing it out at touch rugby. We also met a group of Malaysians who we played beach soccer with on one occasion. They really do know how to play dirty – they had this really hot girl who they played as goal keeper, and since I was kinda like striker…yeap we kinda like lost.

The responsible party for the 12 sleepless hours

Hope I don't get in trouble for this one

The main activity at Redang island is not on the island itself. It requires a 5-15min boat ride away into the surrounding waters, where we snorkel and check out the happy little fish.

My ego is too big for a lifejacket!

Me being me would regret for opening my mouth too soon

Well other than that, we ate a heck of a lot as every meal was buffet, did a little bit of drinking & dancing on the beach at night, played a little bit of poker later in the night and Nadia being Nadia took some naughty photos.

Look close and hard enough and you should see some retards dancing in the darkness

Yea, that’s about it. Goodbye

Hillsongs Conference 2006

2006-07-19T23:35:00.000+08:00

Imagine learning and being in the presence of the world’s most influential Christians – the greatest worship leaders, songwriters, authors, evangelists and pastors. Then add 35,000 fellow believers worshiping God together with you in the Sydney Olympic Arena. Then multiply that by 4 times a day for 4 days. What do you get? = Hillsongs Conference.

It was Church like I have never experienced before. Over the conference week, the passion of the great Christian men and women of the modern age flooded me with inspiration and a renewed desire to live for Christ more so then ever before.

Also the worship sessions were absolutely phenomenal. Never before have I seen such a sacrifice of praise done with so much quality. Now I have seen what it is like when His servants truly give a 100% for Him and settle for nothing less than utmost excellence.

Now to bring a piece of that back to Singapore.

But before I returned, I did some sightseeing in what some people (mostly aussies) say is the most beautiful country in the world. And honestly, I won’t violently disagree.

The scenery

The conference

The cute little animals

And finally the locals

…haha

FIC inc - Football Investment Charity

2006-07-10T06:37:00.000+08:00

A non-profit investment firm started on 9 June 2006 by 2 very football savvy and benevolent individuals, FIC inc. is committed to the love of the beautiful game and to the feeding of the hungry children of this world.

Our goal is to invest successfully on the World Cup matches and to donate all profits to a charity of choice.

Our motivation is to create excitement and hype for our shareholders. We are not driven by greed as almost* 100% of our profits will go to a charity.
*a small portion may be taken for a celebratory function depending on our quad-annual turnover.

Our main business strategy is to diversify our funds over a large portfolio of matches and bet types offered by Singapore Pools. Each investment goes through a rigorous selection process such as extensive research on soccernet.com, long and thorough deliberations by the board of shareholders, and pure feel or some call it the footballing "sixth sense".

FIC inc is also built on the foundation of openness & transparency. Thus all investment speculations & returns will be declared to the public.

End of Term Financial Report

Total Investments: $335.00

Total Revenue: $557.10

Gross Profit: $222.10

Total Returns to Investors: $357.10

Total Donations to Charity: $200.00

Summary:
After a month of sleepless nights, too many heart-attacks, and plenty of heartbreaking moments, the FIC inc team persevered through the tears and successfully churned out a decent package for the less fortunate of this earth.

Special thanks to all the following World Cup viewing locations for your hospitality:
David’s house (FIC inc Headquarters)
Siam Supper Club
China One
Bullfrog
Hooters
LIDO McDonalds
And of course My house

Record of minutes of meetings

4th Board Meeting
16 June 1.30pm
Island Creamery

Present:
CPL Kavid Dwok, Head Secretary
CPL Chia, Head of Finance
CPL hoT naI, Head of Logistics & Transport
Absent:
CPL Luo, President of the Conservative Wing (Dunno where)
LCP Toshi-ba, Minor shareholder
PTE SJ, Minor shareholder

Short notes on decision making process:
New Business plan:

After going very close but loosing on 2 separate occasions (England & Sweden matches), we decided that our business plan needed to undergo some modifications.

Instead of diversifying investments across different matches, we will invest more widely on the same match, to cover losses and create more potential big returns.

1. Holland vs Ivory Coast DRAW (1x2)
2. Holland vs Ivory Coast 3 Goals (Total Goals)
Back-up stocks to cover unfortunate incidents (draw) and most likely outcome (3 Goals)

3. Holland vs Ivory Coast AWAY (1x2)
4. Holland vs Ivory Coast H - A (Half time – Full time Double)
Risky investment with very high returns.

5. Holland vs Ivory Coast H - H (Half time – Full time Double)
6. Holland vs Ivory Coast 2 - 1 (Pick the score)
Less risky investment with moderate returns.

In the occasion where the first half ends in a draw, we will all slap ourselves.
Meeting ended 2.45pm

3rd Board Meeting
15 June 3.40pm
MDC

Present:
CPL Kavid Dwok, Head Secretary
CPL Chia, Head of Finance
CPL hoT naI, Head of Logistics & Transport
CPL Luo, President of the Conservative Wing (Dunno where)
LCP Toshi-ba, Minor shareholder
PTE SJ, Minor shareholder
Absent:

Quick update:
1. Our good success rate & charitable goals have attracted 2 new investors.
2. Current business strategy: Mix of ‘risky high return stocks’ to dramatically boost capital & ‘safe stocks’ to cover losses on ‘risky stocks’.
3. Spain rocks

Short notes on decision making process:
1. Sweden v Paraguay DRAW (1x2)
The board came to an instant unanimous decision to buy Sweden v Paraguay DRAW as a ‘safe stock’.

2. England vs Trinidad & Tobago 1 – 0 (Pick the score)
For our ‘risky stock’, more careful deliberation was given. Many opposing feelings were laid on the table like England’s disgusting negative play, T&T’s even more woefulness & the potential appearance of inspirational Wayne Rooney. Finally we took a majority vote and went for a low scoring game.

Actions to be taken:
The major shareholders promptly proceeded to nearby 7-11 to buy the stocks. Follow up meeting will be at the FIC inc. HQ at 12.00am to view proceedings.

Meeting ended 3.45pm

2nd Board Meeting
12 June 9.00pm
FIC inc Headquarters

Present:
CPL Kavid Dwok, Head Secretary
CPL Chia, Head of Finance
CPL hoT naI, Head of Logistics & Transport
Absent:
CPL Luo, President of the Conservative Wing (Dunno where)

Short notes on decision making process earlier in the day:
1. In the morning:
After a unpromising start, we desperately needed to make a good investment to regain morale. A “safe” stock was purchased after consulting our President of the Conservative Wing – Australia to win (1x2). No risky half ball games anymore.

2. Just before the game:
Head Secretary makes a bold but decisive decision and contacts the Head of Logistics & Transport to make a last minute buy in a very “risky” but profitable stock – A–H (Half time / Full time double). (Meaning Japan had to lead by half time, and then Australia had to come back and win by full time)

Minutes
0min+: Members arrive at FIC inc Headquarters late due to purchasing of meeting tidbits
26min: Japan scores through a scrappy goal. Our master plan was on the way
45min: Score remains at 0 – 1. Beer is poured and a few games of pool are played to calm our flittering nerves.
75min: Score is still 0 – 1. Our hope seeps away with each passing minute. Are we ever going to succeed? Are we ever going to feed the starving children?
84min: Australia equalizes through an equally scrappy goal but we don’t care! We are hysterical! All hope is rejuvenated
89min: Australia scores again to take the lead! The roof in FIC inc Headquarters is brought down with all the shouting and screaming and running around in circles.
90min: Australia scores again to seal the match and fires FIC inc right back in business!

Meeting ended: 11.25pm

1st Board Meeting
9 June 2:45pm
Haka yong tao fu stall along Upper Thompson Rd

Present:
CPL Kavid Dwok, Head Secretary
CPL Chia, Head of Finance
CPL hoT naI, Head of Logistics & Transport
Absent:
CPL Luo (in Thailand)

Short notes on decision making process:
7 x $5.00 shares bought from nearby 7-eleven. Collective decision to diversify 7 different shares over 3 different bet types. (Championship, 1x2 & 1/2 goal)

1. Championship (prediction of which team will win the World cup)
These were the high risk stocks and therefore we left it up to pure gut feel and personal support. Spain, Portugal, Holland. England was chosen as a safety.

2. Germany -1.5 vs Costa Rica +1.5 (1/2 Goal)
The away team was chosen as we love living on the edge

3. England -1.5 vs Paraguay +1.5 (1/2 Goal)
The home team was chosen as we believe in the scoring ability of England's star studded lineup and Peter crotch

4. Serbia & Montenegro vs Holland (1x2)
Draw would be the score as Serbia is rock solid but made up of mostly unknowns and Holland has many superstars but is as stable as Britney Spears love life.

Meeting ended: 3.15pm

NOTE: If any readers are convinced by our shrewd business tactics or just want to join in the sheer dumb fun and possibly do some good for charity, leave me a comment and I'll get back to you. All investors in FIC inc will be automatically invited to our board meetings.

Shhh… some silence please

2006-06-06T18:34:00.000+08:00

Over the weekend, my church’s youth service held its annual retreat – Silence & Solitude in the beautiful Bin tan Lagoon.

As the name implies, the retreat is meant for the youth service leaders to get a nice, quiet and relaxing break away from Singapore and to get some time alone with God. For such a purpose, Bin tan is really a terrible terrible place.

Upon stepping off the bus onto the lobby of the resort, we were bombarded with brochures – brochures containing info on all the very very tempting activities to do like wake boarding, jet skiing, go-karting, paintball, and the etc. Then we get to drive cool little golf buggies around the resort to the beach, where there’s volley ball, beach soccer and of course the babes. And to make matters worse, right outside my hotel bungalow are tennis & futsal courts. Wah lau eh, like that how?

Well…

Beautiful weather

Beautiful beach

Beautiful lodging

they have cable here? orh norh...

Rule no.1 - The buggy is not a toy

Sundown Shootout

IR is good for Singapore

All the happy campers

Finally some silence & solitude!

But hey don’t get me wrong, we are good Methodists who are very disciplined and even though we know how to have fun, we also know when to distance ourselves and sit before the Lord and hear His voice. And that, is actually when the real fun starts…

Island Life - Loving it!

2006-06-01T11:06:00.000+08:00

Now Tuesday, 30 May 06 would be a truly joyous day for many of my contemporaries who can finally and officially say the magical words but for me, I was going back to Pulau Tekong.

2 years have past since I packed up my bags from "island life, loving it!" and moved on to gayer, I mean greener pastures. In 2004 I left as a bald recruit, but in 2006, I made my return, as a happy photographer for the "Tekong Recruits Evening" organised by my company. As I got ready to board the boat, I vividly remember how sitting in that "Penguin Fast craft" on Sunday nights was one of the most depressing occasions in a young mans life. However this time it was all high spirits, for the sun, sand and sea of Tekong was a much needed break from all that
sitting-in-the-air-con-office-work.

Walking through my old company line and experiencing the "Tekong Sun" once again brought back fond memories, but it also gave me a wild idea. Maybe carrying all the equipment around in the heat fried a few brain cells or maybe I was just getting too excited from seeing people actually marching again. Whatever inspired me, I don't care, but my crazy thought was, "Don't you think Pulau Tekong would make an excellent tourist attraction?" And here are my reasons:

1) To be truly honest, and for anyone who has been there I am sure you would agree with me, BMTC is visually really quite a nice place. I would even go so far as to say that it would give you a very resort-ty feel if there wasn't such a spirit of depression hanging over its gates. And tourists wouldn't have that spirit so it would be great. Plus, with all the recruits marching too and fro, together with all the cool songs they sing and stuff, I think it would be a great tourist attraction! Not to be rude but imagine some type of 'zoo' of sorts.

2) And if you are a girl who has ever had any male friends who’ve been through BMT, I’ll bet my last OIL that they couldn't stop talking about it whenever they booked out. That’s precisely so because Tekong is packed with fun activities which would be great for tourists! Like for example going to the IMT (Individual Marksmanship Training) where they can shoot a simulated M16 or go on Toner rides through the jungle to see the famous Tekong wild boar and giant spiders.

3) Next, tourists will leave with a good sample of Singapore’s fighting fit 3G army as Tekong is the ultimate place of 'wayang'. That no one can deny. Recruits marching EVERYWHERE, with perfect manners as they greet everyone that passes, along with all the uniformity (the whole bald is beautiful thingy), I mean seriously if I was a tourist, I would be damn impressed and maybe even a little intimidated.

4) So Tekong as a tourist attraction would be a good & profitable excuse to showcase our military prowess and w/o giving away anything classified. I justify that statement as there are school trips to Tekong all the time and anyway half the population (all the males) has already seen the place so logically there shouldn't be anything so secret that people out of the country cannot see or know about.

5) Also, morale would increase for the troops as they would get to see hot Japanese tourists & that would also give them increased incentives to train & perform well as there would be pretty women watching.

6) The Canteen/Cook house would be given a real economic reason to up their standards as tourist come. This would then in turn benefit the troops as well who would eat the improved standard of food.

7) Business for the E-mart (SAF mart which sells really happening stuff like inflatable pillows and sleeping bags along with the usual uniforms & other accessories) would improve and they can make real money as opposed to SAF credit as it would be a great souvenir shop for the tourists.

There, 7 convincing reasons to open the gates of Tekong for the world to get a taste of "Island life, loving it". So if anyone from the Ministry of Trade and Tourism Dept chance upon this article, consider ya?

Anyway my trip back to tekong wasn't mainly about day dreaming, and to prove it, here’s proof of the photography work I did:

Loving it.
P.s. Kudos to all my friends who have just ORD.

Bali rocks man

2006-05-17T10:55:00.000+08:00

Welcome to the ever-sunny island of Bali, where the prices of everything from clothing, to the hotel, to taxi fares, all the way to the exchange rate can be bargained. Can you believe it! The exchange rate! My golly…

Anyway, here’s a typical bargaining scene I experienced:
While strolling along the narrow streets with cars & bikes zooming in and out of the people, something catches your eye and before you know it, the owner of the thing which caught your eye catches you.

“You want Rolex? Very cheap, only 60000 (rupiah)”
“60000! too much la”
“What price you want? I give you”
“20000”
“20000! Nooorh.. 20000 you make me loose money, come I give you good price, 40000”
“40000 too high! The other shop selling me cheaper” As I point to the dozen other shops selling exactly the same thing.
“Okay okay, you buy 2 I give you for 60000, very cheap already”
“2 for 40000!”
“55000!”
“40000!” and I begin to walk away
“Okay okay last price 50000”
I concede and go on to pick out two watches, one “metallic” “rolex” and one “leather” strap “Cartier” and after which I take out 50000.
“Wait wait, this one you pick more expensive (referring to the Cartier), this one real leather. The Rolex I give you 25000 but this one 35000”
“All same la… all fake la… all 25000”
“Noorh.. this one good quality, different! different! Okay you my friend, I give you 30000”
I shake my head and pay.

Bargaining… it’s really quite hilarious…
Especially when you go back to the hotel with your “metallic” Rolex watch and walk through the metal detector, without any sound being made…
Or when the knob to change the time of your “Cartier” falls off...
Nice one.

But hey, Bali rocks man.

The weather is seriously fantastic, not a cloud in the sky to spoil your days plans – of shopping, paintball, snorkeling, surfing, or just plain hanging out on the beach.

I must talk about the paintball in Bali cause it totally kicks the Singapore Orchid country club one in the butt. In Bali they have multiple arenas, all larger, with more interesting covers, and they allow you to roam freely. Which means you can creep up behind your friend and give it to him from the behind.

Another kick ass activity was surfing. Yes, I can now consider myself a surfer! Okay maybe not exactly.

I tell you I have no idea how the skinny people of Bali much like myself get any surfing done, cause it requires a colossal amount of strength. By the time you paddle with nothing but your hands against the big ass waves to get to the right spots, you are already left without an ounce of energy left. And with that you are then supposed to paddle like a psycho in order the ‘catch the wave’ when it comes or risk being totally flattened by it – which was my fate most of the time. But just like golf (the worlds most frustating game), when you finally get it the feeling is out of this world! Standing on this little board in the cool surfer pose with a big angry wave pushing you faster and faster into the shore, with the feeling of the wind blowing at you and sounds of cheering all around from the locals, my gosh, now I know why beach bums exist.

Bali rocks man, but sigh… here I am back in an office, I think I need another holiday… Next stop in June, Bintan Lagoon!

May the 5th

2006-05-08T11:35:00.000+08:00

Have you ever had one of those days which you really just didn’t want to go to work?
Yup that day was last Friday.

The day where the dirt swept under the carpet was uncovered,
The day the where the skeleton in the closet was let out,
The day the where the cat jumped out of the bag,
The day where all the negligence, the slackness, the “I’ll do it tomorrow” finally came to an end.
The 5th of May was the “tomorrow”.

I got to the office a whole 15min early to mentally ready myself for the war I was about to wage with the forces of paper work. The damn auditors were coming to town and a whole years worth of FY05 Financial work loomed before me like a vertical marathon I had to scale. The more I thought about it, the stronger Newton’s 1st Law was on me and it took an eternity to get the engine started. But from the second the clock struck 9.15am to officially begin a MDC working day, my ass got moving and did not stop all the way. It was crazy, it was madness, it was insane, it was a whole year’s work into a singular day – a very very long singular day.

The seconds ticked by like hours, and the hours ticked by like days. I felt like I was in Chinese class all over again, except that this time I was doing something I actually understand. You could think of me strange, but there’s a queer therapeutic-ness & fulfillment to putting together Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. You could also think of me lame to say, I excel at Excel. Haha.

Anyway 12.00 signaled a half time lunch break for me and as I sat in Island Creamery having my tiger beer sorbet, I truly never felt so deserving of it. You never really enjoy the good things in life until it is contrasted in the bad and after 3 hours of sitting in a freezing SAF aircon room, a nice cool ice cream in a nice cool place has to be the most refreshing thing in the world. Ok maybe I got my perspectives all wrong.

ANYWAY, after that short intermission, it was back to the battlefield with my trusty PILOT & stapler. Another few hours of slogging away at the sheetloads of paperwork was my days future. As I sat there all moody, I looked back and reminisced at all the good days of the past week, of watching happy Disney cartoons and trashing Chelsea in FIFA, and gave out a sigh... all this work… this is no way to treat an ORD personnel… when’s my damn understudy coming…(who was asked during the interview if he was straight and he said "I don't know")...Sigh.

But then came that moment, the last stroke of the pen, the last hole punched, the last letter typed, the last CTRL-S and ALT F4. I was done! I had reached the summit! What a feeling, of standing on the mountaintop of work and soaking in the magnificent view of…book out loh!

Controversy theory – the gospel of Judas

2006-05-02T12:46:00.000+08:00

Everybody loves a controversy. Be it Workers Party’s James Gomez and the issue of his minorities candidate certificate, or Wayne Rooney’s new Nike's 'Total 90 Supremacy' boot which may have caused his broken metatarsal, or popular Christian disputes like the Da Vinci Code and the Gospel of Judas.

Much has been spoken about Dan Browns best selling novel since its publishing in 2003 and there has been some renewed interest as the movie is set to open here on May 19. So much has been said and spoken of it that I shan’t bother to here, except for this one thing: I heard that the Bishop of the Methodist church made a request that his church members boycott the show. Then just 2 days ago I saw my church’s youth ministry (which is a Methodist church) publicize an event with one of its activities being an outing to watch the “condemned” show. Damn you gotta love the irony…

Anyway enough of slamming my church, what I would like to talk about is the National Geographic program on the Gospel of Judas.

This controversial gospel is a single manuscript discovered in the 1970s and only this year has it been authenticated by carbon dating, studied, and translated by biblical scholars. The main talking point revolves around the theory that Jesus wanted Judas to betray Him in order to fulfill God’s plan of salvation. Judas was actually the most highly regarded disciple in Jesus’ eyes and Jesus gave this special revelation and mission to Judas. So Judas did not actually betray Jesus, as is stated in the Bible, but was actually obeying Jesus’ orders. In the key passage Jesus tells Judas, “you will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me.”

Now something like that is bound to get Christians and non Christians worked up or excited due to its implication. If it is indeed true, that would mean that the man whom was known for 2 millennia as the betrayer of the messiah was actually his most important accomplice.

National Geographic has much evidence to prove that the few pieces of paper are indeed authentic and written from that time but there is much doubt on the truthfulness of the ground shaking words that they contain.

Firstly, the author of the text is not Judas and is unknown on who he is. The text is also believed to be written sometime in the 3rd or 4th century after Jesus’ death which puts a big question mark on the accuracy of the authors words as it is written so long after the reported events.

Next, the text has a very Gnostic slant and is thus probably written by a Gnostic. Gnostics are a group of people who existed since biblical times and believe that salvation does not come from faith and forgiveness but by seeking and obtaining "special knowledge" (gnosis). Therefore the story is likely to be no more than just a story made up by a Gnostic.

Another point to note is that the Gospel of Judas disagrees and is incoherent with the happenings as recorded in the 4 accepted Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, which we know for a much greater certainty to be true. One obvious point of comparison between Judas gospel and the other 4 is in the number of manuscript copies found - 1 gospel of Judas' VS 5400+ New Testaments.

Then finally there are inconsistencies in logic when put into the context of known recorded events. If Judas was indeed doing the will of God and obeying Jesus, why on earth did he hang himself out of grief?

So the gospel of Judas is probably a work of fiction but I can fully understand why it is so readily embraced – because it answers a question which the Bible doesn’t seem to answer.

The question is, how do you reconcile the fact that God is a loving God who desires all to be saved and yet part of His perfect plan requires the damnation of a man – Judas.

John 17: 12b “While I was with them (the disciples), I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.”

My take on it is that prophecies made by God through the prophets do not eliminate free choice from us. God is supernatural and exist outside the reel of time. I believe that He can scroll into the past, present and future and know what is about to happen before we do, however whatever that happens is a result of our own choices and not predetermined by Him. Sort of like watching a movie which you have already seen, where you know what is going to happen next and can accurately spoil the story for your friend, but you are in no way dictating what happens. This is because I believe that choice is the gift of God to men, making us different from the animals, and thus God’s greatest desire for us is that we freely choose to love Him.

So Judas chose to betray Jesus out of greed and that can be quite evidently seen in the gospels.

John 12 is about a dinner which Jesus attended and Mary poured some expensive perfume on Jesus. Judas reacted in a way which showed his love for money.
John 12:4-6 “But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages." He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

And in Luke 22 & also Matt 26:14-15 Judas struck a monetary deal with the people who wanted to capture Jesus.

Luke 22: 3-6 “Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. They were delighted and agreed to give him money. He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.

So Judas was a man driven by $$ and that led him to betray Jesus. His choice, his fault.

However, and this is totally my personal opinion so please don’t take it as fact, I believe that Judas was forgiven and we will see him in heaven. Why? Because he recognized his sin and the bible says in 1 John 1:9 that “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Matt 27:3,4 When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”

Most people also believe that Judas would go to hell because he committed suicide, but I believe that if indeed Judas was forgiven when he confessed his sin, then the promise that nothing we do can separate us from the love of God would apply to him as well.

Romans 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So would that be considered controversial?

Confessions of a broken heart

2006-04-18T09:28:00.001+08:00

I trusted you. When everyone told me to give up I still held on. Even though the voice in my head told me it was impossible, I chose instead to listen to the voice inside my heart which beats a belief that impossible is just a word. I trusted you, but you broke my heart. I stayed up till dawn with the hope that you would not let me down, that you would just do my one small request. But you didn’t…

Why O why, couldn’t you just score 1 goal and beat Sunderland - the most crap team in the premiership? Why O why my Manchester United…

I trusted you. You had me for almost 2 years now and you treated me with such love and made every effort to take care of me. I thought you were the best I ever had, no one else could take me from place to place which such danger, excitement and yet be in total control all the way. I was sure you were the one for me… until that day in the car park. You were distracted by that other beauty and carelessly turned your head. And you know what happened next… you scratched my front bumper against the wall, my flawless white paint is now tarnished with a hideous black blemish… How could you?

Stop doing this to me, I can’t take it anymore! You give me such joy by showing your face so beautifully but only to take it away, along with that joy. Every morning & afternoon you get me talking to my friends about how nice you look today and I assure them that you would be there for me. But just when I really need you, you leave me, and choose to go with that cloud who is always crying. Well I hate him and his depressive ways, cause he cries and cries and spoils my Sunday game of soccer and my Monday game of golf. Please come back, even if its just from 5-7pm. I need you.

If only all love stories ended like “Memoirs of a Geisha” – the sweetest show ever by the way (sorry I just watched it). Even if they are indeed between a fan and his favorite soccer team, a car and her owner, and a psychopath and the weather.

Leave no gu(a)y behind

2006-04-05T12:42:00.000+08:00

Dark times have befallen the little town of MDC. The dark lord is back and is tightening his stranglehold on the once happy nation of NSFs. The ancient evil known as “regimentation” has resurfaced and the joy that was synonymous with the citizens is quickly ebbing away. Horrible, horrible forces like “booking in” & “roll call” have been let loose on the poor underpaid soldiers. Horrible! Simply horrible!

Gone are the blissful carefree days of OTOT lunch hours, gone are the prosperous times where OIL (Off In Liu) flowed freely. The Golden age of the Tang Dynasty has passed, and a time of social unrest has begun. Disaster! Simply Disaster!

When darkness falls and blinds the people, they will eventually start stepping on each others toes. That is what the coming of the dark lord has caused! NSFs are plotting against each other, once tight fellowships have been split apart, and the outcasts are left to fend off “he-who-must-not-be-named” & his “death eaters” on their own. Already one poor soul has been slain by the “avada kedavra”(In other words he got posted out) and I sure hope a killing spree doesn't start. We have also been frightened into mistrust as we don’t know how many the dark lord has under his “imperious curse” (in other words on his side). Terrible! Simply terrible!

Come on my friends, my once merry gay men. We have got to stick together in this time of oppression. We must not fall to the dark lords evil schemes. United we stand, but divided we will get many extras. Let us not excommunicate any of our fellow comrades but unify as one decisive force. If we look out for one another, and cover each others backsides (not literally please), I am confident that we can march on through this valley of death with smiles still on our faces. However if we continue to exclude & despise one another we will only leave ourselves exposed and naked to the dark lords evil wand. (again not literally please)

So my dear friends, our surroundings may be have been rudely changed and the good ol' days may indeed be gone for a long long time, but we are still the same simple minded, non-combat fit warriors with the same goal - which is to ORD in one piece and as painlessly as possible. Let’s do that together.

my thoughts & feelings of Church

2006-03-20T13:21:00.000+08:00

Gerbils scrambling all over the shop, miniature cars zooming around a track, shouts of “hole in one!” & “Goal!” coming from the same room and hundreds of people young & old running around on top of 48 Barker Road with happy smiles all over.

Yes, Barker Road Methodist Church turns 50 this year and an event called “Family Day” was held last Saturday to kick off the celebrations.

50 is known as the jubilee year and TONS of effort was put in to ensure that everyone shared in the joy. In my opinion, that goal was ensured when dinner was revealed, cause simply put, it was insane – I mean there were 3 friggin’ chocolate fountains la. No wonder people always say BRMC is a rich mans church.

Actually that’s the irony of it all, although BRMC may contain the influential and affluent, with regards to its spiritual wealth, I really find the place quite bankrupt. I’ve been going around visiting different churches for the past few months or so and the seriousness for God that some of the much smaller churches display has really made me wonder what on earth is happening at my home church, and what on earth am I doing there.

Thoughts have been drifting in an out of my mind with regards to my ‘Sunday morning’ future. Should I start my exodus from the church that has given me so much opportunity & helped me grow up in so many different aspects (minus the physical) simply because I think that I have ‘outgrown’ it? Or do I believe that I have something to offer to help solve the spiritual dryness which many feel?

At the moment, there are only 2 things that are keeping me in Barker. First is the youth music ministry which I am heading. I have been laboring for over a year now and remain driven with the vision of building a happening youth music ministry. It has been the joy of my life & the pain up my ass simultaneously but I must admit, it is a hugely fulfilling job. However my term ends soon so what happens next?

Second reason is the community. I honestly love the people of BRMC, young & old. But that’s where my meaning in church ends. Church has become a place for me to work & play, whatever happened to the learning & worshipping? That’s where my dilemma lies… If indeed what Church means to me is a place where I am to grow closer to God through the sermons & praising Him through the music, then I really should go cause I don’t really get it here. BUT, do I really need a Church to give me that?

You see for me, as far as the Christian walk is concerned, 90% of it comes from the daily communion with God & walking with Him wherever you go and the additional you get from “feeding” (sermons, bible studies, cell group etc) is just the remaining 10%. In fact, I find the point of all those sermons & stuff is just to inspire us to get into that personal relationship with God, cause that’s what being a Christian is all about.

So with that view, do I really need to find another church after all? Cause truly, Barker Road Methodist Church is family to me, and though it may be dysfunctional, it is still my home. And I love it!

The old geezers got it right

2006-03-10T11:32:00.000+08:00

The Bible, commonly known as the Word of God is the cornerstone of Christianity and the words on it are what our faith is based upon. It was put together by a few old geezers over various meetings over a period of time, so how on earth can we be sure that they got it right, not to mention base our life upon it?

Here are 7 reasons why

If indeed the Bible we have today is God’s Message to man, then we would expect it to have some particular characteristics:

1. It would be widely distributed so man could attain it easily

It is still the #1 best seller of any book - More than five billion (http://www.amyfound.org/articles/ss23.html ) compared to 255 million copies of all the Harry Potter books put together. (http://www.languagebooks.com.au/sitepages/page125.asp)

2. It would be preserved through time without corruption
To test an ancient document for its reliability, historians look for these things:
• number of copies of the text
• from where they originated
• their age and proximity to the autographs
• if the documents were quoted in other works
The Bible has many many amount of manuscript (copies of the originals) evidence to authenticate its message as it was originally written. Of every ancient literary or historical work, none can come remotely close to the huge amount of manuscript evidence for the New Testament. (over 5,300 manuscripts or parts of manuscripts we can examine today. If you count all the early copies of translations of the New Testament, the number skyrockets to over 24,000)

3. Historical Accuracy
If this truly is a book written by God, then the facts in the Bible must be mentioned by other trusted historical sources. We have many written sources outside the Bible that corroborate its documentation.

For examples:
http://www.christiananswers.net/q-abr/abr-a009.html

Archaeology also confirms the reliability of the Bible. Everywhere the archaeologist searches, he uncovers discoveries that bolster, not refute support of the Bible as being a true account of history

For examples:
http://www.christiananswers.net/q-abr/abr-a005.html
http://www.christiananswers.net/q-abr/abr-a008.html

4. Scientific Accuracy
A set of documents having their origin in the All-knowing God of the universe would not be prone to scientific inaccuracies. Here are some science facts written by people who existed even before the word ‘science’.
• Roundness of the earth (Isaiah 40:22)
• Almost infinite extent of the sidereal universe (Isaiah 55:9)
• Hydrologic cycle (Ecclesiastes 1:7)
• Paramount importance of blood in life processes (Leviticus 17:11)
• Atmospheric circulation (Ecclesiastes 1:6)
• and many others.

Those 4 points were the external evidences to prove that the bible was from God, now for the internal evidence.

5. Consistency
The Bible is a collection of different documents that were written over one and a half millennium, that are devoted to discussing the most controversial and emotionally charged topics man has known. The incredible thing is that they all agree. Taken together, the Bible presents a single, unified message of actions and attitudes by which man can live. This is an unprecedented feat.
To have sixty six books written by about forty authors, from kings and nobles to fishermen and soldiers, in three languages and on three continents, be of the same mind is just not humanly possible.

6. Prophecies fulfilled
The coming of the Jewish Messiah is the focus of the Old Testament. There are over 300 separate prophecies about the "Holy One of Israel" found there. They are so specific as to predict the city of Jesus' birth (Micah 5:2), His nature (Isaiah 7:14), His works of healing and miracles (Isaiah 35:5-6), His betrayal for thirty pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12-13), His suffering (Isaiah 53), His style of execution (Psalm 22) and His resurrection (Psalm 16:10, Acts 13:35) amongst other things. These prophecies were written anywhere from 400 to 1000 years before Jesus' birth, yet they describe His life with the accuracy of an eyewitness. The odds against a living person meeting even a few of these predictions is so astronomical it is considered an impossibility. So surely, they were inspired by someone Higher.

Lastly, the authenticity of a message can be proven by how much a person believes in it. For example if believe whole heartedly that our Army is Always Ready! and even if you tempt me to renounce that fact by letting me ORD immediately I won’t. =)

7. The Authors stood by what they wrote to the death
There is no valid reason to believe that the men who wrote the Bible were lying or trying to deceive. History tells us that each of them suffered and were executed because they would not recant their position that the teachings of the Bible are true and accurate. If their testimony was made up for glory or fame, surely someone would have tried to chao geng to save his skin, but it did not happen. All the apostles and the writers believed unwaveringly that the Bible was 100% fact & absolute God.

So we should too.

A large part of this article was adapted and summarized from http://www.comereason.org/mobile/content.asp?article=cmp005

Of guys, girls, and everything in between

2006-03-01T13:19:00.000+08:00

“Good morning and this is NeeSoonNEWS Today. Last night at around 7pm, a small Jewish shepherd boy with very non-Jewish features was spotted at a popular night club in Central Mall. He was joined but other strange individuals from all walks of Asia and this ain’t Malaysia…”

--Pauses as someone interrupts by whispering something into his ear--

“Oh SAF Music & Drama Company having their annual Dinner and Dance ah? Chey… no wonder there were also men dressed as women and vice versa”

Yes, last night was our D&D at Club Momo; the most “normal” venue so far considering our previous cohesion events were held at Happy (gay) bar and Gold dust. (Kumar’s place) And to my pleasant surprise, it was actually pretty damn good.

Firstly, and least importantly, the catered food was surprisingly very ‘mei wei ke kou’. 2 thumbs up to Siam Kitchen! 2ndly and more importantly and even more surprisingly, I THINK there was actually some inter-department bonding going on. Or maybe I was dreaming after one too many whisky + ginger ale & that damn shisha pipe.

That’s the funny thing, the participation levels of the different departments in the various games that were played is exactly how an MDC performance looks like; the Artistes are in the forefront hogging the spotlight, the Musicians are in the background, the Tech team is invisible and the Clerks are not there.

When I first came to MDC, being part of the clerks ‘which are not there’, I hardly mixed around much and kept my movement space to the office and canteen. But how things have changed, nowadays I continuously get scolded by my dear boss for not being around. Be it jamming with the musicians downstairs, or learning to sing from the choir or joining the hip-hop class with the artistes, my home in the office seems so distant now sigh…

Anyway nuff said, below are the pics of the best cohesion event so far. Enjoy.

Many thanks to Chewable Productions (http://www.chewableonline.com) for the great photos!

Say my name

2006-02-22T09:34:00.000+08:00

From today onwards, you may wish to address me by my new name: Oliver Ren De Lo - because the initials spell out the mode I am now in.

I have dutifully served my beloved country for exactly 1 yr 10mths now, which is now the full NSF service time for the new 3G fighting fit solider. But for the old generation PES C grunt which I am, that means 6 more months.

6 more months is kind of a strange length of time. From one angle, it seems & feels like just around the corner, but then when you actually think about it, it is one whole half of a year more. As a result of this strange concoction of time, a mixture of present enjoyment of NS & future anticipation has welled up in me – and it feels great!

Most of my contemporaries would be and are complaining about serving 4 – 6 months more than the batch after us, but for me, it is 6 months more of sheer enjoyment, and for once I am not being sarcastic. I mean seriously, I am really having a friggin’ good time protecting the nation in my particular vocation. (which of course I can’t describe as it is a national secret)

In all honesty, if someone were to ask me which I enjoyed more - JC or NS, I would have to say both were enjoyable in their own way. See JC was like a roller coaster; intense, fast paced and turbulent with all its ups & downs. However, NS is more like a merry-go-round; relaxing, stress-free, stable. Both rides are amazing, though very different in feel, and each with its own special experience.

So as this Merry-go-round goes round for its final turn, time becomes more & more precious. Never again for the next 40+ years will I have this much time to spend however I want, unless of course I strike the hong pao toto and have an early retirement or I marry Kiera Knightly and live off her. Since the likelihood of either event happening is about as high as Liverpool winning the Champions league this season, I better start planning the last 6 months of my holiday, oops I mean service.

To be a little more serious for a change, the one thing I would really like to take away from these 2 ½ yrs would be a godly character. NS is a great place to learn to serve and befriend as Jesus did, and gaining Christ-like character would mean a lot more to me than a Pink IC. To attain it, I would like to add a few useful habits into my daily living; waking at 7 to spend a few quiet moments with the One I want to be like & reading the Word of God before I sleep. Another helpful thing I would do is to set my phone (my new phone! hehe) alarm to ring at certain intervals during the day to keep me focused on the Christian walk.

Hopefully, with excellence in striving & overcoming, these few simple plans would get me there before I say the most coveted word in the SAF.

And the Oscar goes to...

2006-02-13T11:59:00.000+08:00

If I were to make a decision on who gets an Oscars for the best movie of 2006, it would be a really silly thing to do. Simply because I can only remember watching about 3 movies this year and this year is only 2 months old. Oh but what the heck…

And the nominees for best movie: (since I can only remember these 3 shows, they are all in the running)

1) I not stupid 2
2) Fearless
3) Casanova

Although I watched Number (1) in a real crap of a cinema – some strange place in beach road which was as easy to find as a 6 A1 student from ACS (Barker), it was really one of the better local shows I’ve seen – except for Army Daze of cause (yea right). However it would be really going against the grain for me to vote a show half spoken in a language I don’t understand as my all time favorite for 2006. When you are spending half the time reading the subtitles, it is really quite hard to take good notice of the tear-evoking acting and wonderful special effects (remember the SMS scene? hehe)

As for Number (2), well all I can say is that I HEARD it was a great show. I happily came in 1hour15mins late and just in time to see Jet Li deliver this amazing spinning punch to this Japanese dude who has this uncanny resemblance with the soundman in my church.

So I guess that makes Casanova the winner!

Hey I really thought it was a fantastic show loh. Well it was not exactly the most polished, the acting might have been a little bit exaggerated, and Siena Miller didn’t look THAT fantastic, BUT it was so entertaining and totally my type of show!

World-class seducer, Casanova needs to get married or faces expulsion from his beloved city. Since all the women love him, or at least love his ‘skills’, it seems like an easy task. However love, being the strangest thing, once again rears its spastic head. The one woman he finds truly attractive is the only one that doesn’t fall for his charms. So girls, take this show as a lesson in love, if you want a guy to like you, don’t fall for him! The spastic head of love

Ok fine, doesn’t sound like a very intelligent show but really really, it has my full endorsement. I watched it at half past midnight and I was fully awake for the whole 108 minutes of smooth jokes & comedic love. And though Siena Miller wasn’t HOT, she was really COOL!

So quite obviously, the Oscar for best movie in 06 goes to …. the romantic comedy Casanova! Yup, unlike love, no surprises here.

C.N.Y.F

2006-02-02T10:39:00.000+08:00

Over the last few days, with all the parties, house visits and the sheer variety of great tasting unhealthy food at our fingertips, most of us would have surely put on a few pounds of that CNYF (Chinese New Year Fat).

So I have kindly put together a compilation of articles from various sources to help us rid ourselves of that CNYF.

Avoid the four-letter word
When you lose weight on a "diet," muscle is the first thing to go. It's more expensive for your body to retain than fat is, so when you run low on calories, your body dumps muscle mass and turns it into energy. When you go off the diet, you begin to gain back the pounds - but because you now have less calorie-burning muscle, the weight you gain is fat. By dieting, you've effectively turned muscle into fat.

Put exercise first
Research suggests that the best way to eat less at a meal is to work out right before it. This works in several ways:

First, you're less hungry when your metabolism is revving, such as right after a workout.

Second, you're thirstier, so you drink more water, which uses up space in your belly and relieves hunger.

Third, with your metabolism revved, the calories you do eat get burned for energy pronto - not stored as fat.

Endure & Excel
Here's an eye opener exercise tip. For the first 20 minutes you exercise in your aerobic zone, you are burning about 80% carbohydrates and 20% fat.
For the next 20 minutes, you are burning about 50% carbs and 50% fat. You're getting better. Now you're gonna start to lose some of that weight as the fat is being burned!
So what happens if you start exercising into the above 40 minute range?
A reversal. You are now burning about 20% carbs and about 80% fat. Now that’s some serious CNYF burning!

Calories - that dreaded word
Basic weight loss rule is to use up more calories than you consume. Below are some facts and figures.

Firstly the bad news:
7,700 excess calories would create 1 kg of new fat on your body.
By the way 1 tiny pineapple tart is already 166 calories (GG)

For a very comprehensive food-calorie chart click here

Then the good news:
Resting weight loss: On the average 26 calories per kg of body mass per day

So for e.g. if I am 60kg, I would be burning 26 x 60 = 1,560 calories by simply sitting my 60kilos on my bum

Then add in some exercise and good bye to CNYF!

For a more complete exercise-calorie loss chart click here

So gong xi fa chai & have a xing nian qui le!

Courtesy of, your vurry fat friend

The days are just packed

2006-01-27T11:12:00.000+08:00

And who says that NS men are so free with too much time?

Just take a look at my schedule. . .

Rising early in the morning like Jesus in Mark 1:35, I roll out of bed to spend some quiet moments with the Lord before diving into the day.

Reporting promptly to work at 9.15am, I carry out my daily chores which of course I can’t describe here as they are Government Top Secret!

Ending a really tiring day of hard nation-protecting work, I refresh myself with a spot of exercise before dinner. Be it a quick run around the district, lifting meager weights in the gym or hitting a few balls at the golf driving range.

Monday nights would be taken up by the gay-er side of me by attempting to learn some salsa dancing. I just finished shaking my ass through the beginner course and saw this friggin’ pros dance instructor in my final lesson. Apparently he’s some SMU student, well now he’s the idol of the gay-er side of me.

Tuesday is where my intellectual side surfaces as I recently joined an Inductive Bible Study class in the book of Philippians. If anyone is interested in joining me, contact me, it is highly enriching! However I must give a warning, it is really quite intense and not for the half-hearted. For e.g. we spent the last 2 lessons reading through the ENTIRE book a NUMBER of times, each time spent looking out for references to the author, recipients & places in order to understand the context & overall message of the text. Quite insane if you ask me, but it’s getting really interesting.

Wednesday is when I am SUPPOSED to do this online business finance course supplied by NTU and financed by the SAF in order to keep my brain from rotting like most other NSFs who can no longer count nor spell correctly any longer. BUT I keep getting distracted as events uncalled for keep popping up. Like this week, this guy in my company somehow won many many free tickets to ‘I not stupid 2’ so ya… All I can say is that if these ‘events uncalled for’ keep popping up en route to university, I will be stupid 2.

Thursday night is additional golf practice for me as I intend to hit the ball further than the old lady next to me & not at a 45 degree angle to my right or left. I hope to get my handicap before I enter uni! (New Year Resolution heh)

Friday is my favorite as it is the only unscheduled night and thus gives some randomness to my otherwise very structured week. Tonight I am going to see Dream Theatre & I am displaying much enthusiasm about seeing a band I have never heard of in my life. But oh well, I am going with my musician colleague who swears they are ‘sen’ and anyway I have some SAF concert ticket subsidy fund to burn.

Sigh, see la how busy I am… and with the Australian Open finals this weekend plus the Champions League coming up next month . . . oh dear me.

Operationally Ready

2006-01-19T09:43:00.001+08:00

This is a first hand account of yesterday afternoon’s events which occurred while I was working in camp. No specific identities other than my own will be revealed to prevent embarrassment.

1.35pm:
I walk downstairs towards the canteen and find my boss lying on the MDC steps with 2 ppl attending to her. We deliberate between driving her straight to Tan Tock Seng or activating our operationally ready Nee Soon Medical Centre (NSMC).

1.40pm:
The Maj walks by and seeing the situation, immediately decides to activate the Medical Center to send an ambulance. What a decision…

1.55pm:
(notice the length of time taken for an ambulance to arrive from not more than 600m away. In a reasonable car like a 320i which the Maj had parked right beside us, driven by an adept driver like *ahem* me, we would have easily gotten her to Tan Tok Seng in that time)

Ambulance a.k.a. rover arrives after first going around MDC to SAF Band which is behind. We had to send a person to inform the ambulance a.k.a. rover driver he is in the wrong place.

2 eager NSFs rush out with a stretcher.

They realize that they are unable to lift the fainted person and require the assistance of MDCs dancers & managers.

2.00pm:
We arrive at the Nee Soon Medical Center. The place looks set in the 70s and used to film shows like ‘Growing Up’. The NSMC staff check her condition & attach a drip, oxygen mask & ECG to her before telling me to leave the room.

2.10pm:
Boss is in a lot of pain and lets them know through much groaning. The NSMC staff act decisively and decide to send her to Tan Tock Seng hospital.

2.25pm:
Boss is loaded into the ambulance a.k.a. rover and we set off. (Again notice the length of time taken…)

Just before we leave, a NSMC staff pops his head into the ambulance a.k.a. rover and reminds the driver where to go. He makes a slight chuckle and comments that they went to the wrong place the last time.

The ambulance a.k.a. rover takes off at a lightning fast speed, hitting a peak of 57km/h and goes by the really quick route of Upper Thomson Road. (Just only 11 traffic lights. I inquired why he din take the expressway and he said this is their standard route.)

Somewhere along Upper Thomson Road, The ECG, (I think that’s the part which monitors the blood pressure & heart rate) gives a ‘peeeeeep’ sound like in E.R. and I look over to the medic beside me and asks him if the machine is spoilt. He looks unfazed and just tells me coolly that the battery has run out. Ah yes…

My boss’s phone rings and it’s her daughter. She asks me what her condition is and I ask the medic. He replies me instantly with his astute intuition that she is stable.

After doing a few checks himself with a manual blood pressure monitor, the medic picks up his phone and calls someone. I hear him mumble something along the lines of “Err.. her blood pressure is dropping”. I slap my forehead and shake it.

2.50pm:
We arrive at Tan Tock Seng A&E. (2.25pm – 2.50pm. That’s 25mins. Hey what a coincidence! That’s the same length of time my 167 takes to travel to Nee Soon Camp every morning from my place at Newton)

The medic jumps out of the ambulance a.k.a. rover and rolls over one of the roller stretchers provided by the hospital. Just as we load her onto it, a staff from Tan Tock Seng runs out to stop us. “Wait!" he exclaims. "The stretcher is placed the wrong way round. Her head should be on the other side!” This happened right in front of my boss’s husband who had just arrived.

After passing my boss’s belongings to her husband we decide to make our way back to camp.

3.05pm:
We leave in a car to go back to camp via the expressway

3.20pm:
We arrive back in camp

Care for some emotional rojak this weekend?

2006-01-09T14:51:00.000+08:00

This rainy weekend contained a whole host of different feelings for me.

It began with Restlessness during the 7 hour Annual Sunday School Leaders meeting on Saturday which of course started late in true Barker Road tradition. I was particularly fretful as I couldn’t seem to sit still and had to either keep walking around to fart in various corners of the room, practice my salsa, or sneak to the back to munch on some particularly divine Marks & Spencer’s family biscuits just in order to keep my attention going.

Then came Mournful & Somber as I sped over to Mandai Crematorium in the stormy weather to make it in time for my grand uncle’s funeral. Although I was not very close to him, I could tangibly imagine how my cousin (once removed) was feeling as I am sure I would be equally, if not more upset if my beloved Kong Kong had passed away. That was my first time going to a funeral and I really can’t imagine how the people who run the crematorium survive in that gloomy place.

Following that, Exhilaration & Excitement set in while getting ready to play in my first gig at Phunk Bar for my colleagues band called Flybar. We had a kick ass performance and the band leaders charisma along with our 20-fingered lead guitarist got us mentioned in a popular Singapore music forum =) http://soft.com.sg/2006/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=11634

Sunday morning began with Annoyance & Disgruntlement as 6 very capable & educated personnel including myself simply could not seem to get the overhead projector in my Church working. Our feelings were possibly only rivaled by some of the poor souls that got caught up in the MRT station during our Total Defence’s latest NorthStar V operation. Hey but at least we know our Decisive Force is doing their job well. Kudos to the NSFs on duty!

Disappointment was next on the list and not just for me as our eagerly anticipated game of soccer got washed out for another week thanks to the 21hour non stop rain which did not stop.

Well never mind, at least Sunday night ended on high ‘A’ feelings of Achievement, Accomplishment & Attainment as I successfully brought my originally Div 2 Mansfield Town to the top of the Premier League. That great day came after securing a 1-1 draw with (heavily inverted comerd) “mighty” Arsenal & winning my game in hand.

Sorry for the feelings of befuddlement & puzzlement experienced by any girl readers with regards to the previous paragraph.

This entry was written with the many many help of http://thesaurus.reference.com/

Christmas is …. about turkey

2005-12-27T11:24:00.000+08:00

Now I know quite a few people, especially those in the Christian circle, who love to ask this question: What does Christmas mean to you? Well, how I would interpret that question would be: what is so special & unique about the 25th of December which makes Christmas that magical day which happens only once a year?

So that would immediately rule out Christmas being about family and friends cause I meet up with them on a daily basis, thus one more time on 25/12 wouldn’t be a unique annual event.

Shopping for new clothes & gifts would also be quickly ruled out as I think the world would stop revolving if women could only do their shopping once a year.

Then another popular view is that Christmas is about remembering the birth of Jesus Christ. Firstly I would be very upset with many of my Christian friends if they remember that very important piece of history only once a year and secondly, our blessed Saviour might not have actually been born on the 25th of December. ( For more info see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas. ) Nonetheless, the Christmas season is a great excuse to share the gospel story and I fully encourage doing so. In fact, I was part of a musical entitled ‘Christmas Is’ done by my church and it was a really fantastic experience and well worth all the 6 months of preparation. Sharing an old story in a new way should definitely be done during this time of the year, but please, not only during this time of the year. Anyway following my definition of what Christmas means to me, Christmas Isn’t this.

We get warmer when we start looking at Christmas as being the time of the year when my army company starts getting me really busy by making me hand write Christmas cards to the zillions of clients we had throughout the year. After writing ‘Thank you for your support to MDC, wishing you and your staff a Merry Christmas and Happy New year’ for the umpteenth time, I would have loved to think that this would be an annual & unique event fitting of my definition of Christmas. Sadly, I heard I’ll have to repeat this fiasco during Chinese New Year =(

So what the heck then is Christmas all about to me? What’s the magical event that happens only once a year which I so eagerly anticipate?

Yeap, Christmas is…about turkey =)

What does the Bible say about tattooing?

2005-12-19T09:09:00.000+08:00

“Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.” Leviticus 19:28

Is tattooing indeed defiling your body, a.k.a. the temple of the Holy Spirit?

Firstly, its important to know that Leviticus 19:28 comes from the Old Covenant law, and if one wants to live by the law - the Old Covenant - then one must keep ALL of it and not just pick and choose whichever rule one likes to keep or break.

James 2:10 - For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

So here are just some of the laws that one has to abide by according to Levitical law (Old Covenant Law).
We may not:
- eat the meat of rabbits or pigs (Leviticus 11:6-7), nor lobsters, crabs, prawns, oysters or clams (Leviticus 11:10-12).
- Hybrid breeding of livestock and mixing linen and wool in fabrics is prohibited (Leviticus 19:19).
- Shaving the sides of your head (being clean shaven) or disfiguring the edges of your beard (trimming) are also forbidden (Leviticus 19:27).
So - if you’ve ever eaten a char siew pao, Newton Hawker center seafood, shaved your beard in the morning or worn a wool blend suit - or have gotten a tattoo – you’re guilty under the law!
Thank God he provided a better way for us to be reconciled to Him. Under the New Covenant, we can come to God by putting our faith in Jesus Christ as Lord & Saviour.

Romans 5:1-2 - Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:8-11 - But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Under the New Covenant, all the law is fulfilled in loving God with all your heart, soul and mind and loving your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40). Jesus came to earth and fulfilled the law and now if we accept Him into our hearts, we also accept His right standing with God. Therefore our righteousness with God is based upon His righteousness - not on the law

Matthew 22:36-40 - "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

So does tattooing defile your body?

In the New Testament, a similar issue was going around, which was about eating certain types of food which were against the Old Covenant law which some people in that day were harping about. Jesus & Paul both dealt with that issue.

Jesus said in Matthew 15:11 that it is what comes out of the mouth of a person that defiles him.

Matthew 15:11 - What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean', but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean'.

Paul teaches that it is the attitude of the heart that is important. While all things were legal to Paul, not all things were without consequences. Paul affirmed the freedom we have in Christ, but he also warned us to beware that our liberty does not become a stumbling block for others. With liberty comes responsibility. A word of caution: do not flaunt your Christian freedom. One man’s freedom can be another’s downfall.
(Romans 14 & 1 Corinthians 8)

For example, it is perfectly ok for me to drink alcohol but if I do so in the presence of an alcoholic who is trying to quit, then I would be tempting him & causing him to stumble. Thus that would be sin on my part.

So, then tattooing is indeed ok for us unless God gives you a personal conviction not to. But why then is such a law, or any of those laws in the Old Covenant even mentioned in the Bible?

Here is one possible explanation. The Old covenant law shows us that it is impossible to reach Gods standards by our own effort, that’s why we need Jesus, to fulfill the law for us, and write it on our hearts.

Anyway if all else fails, just tell those critics of tattooing who want to follow the Bible word for word & not the Spirit behind what was written that Leviticus 19:28 clearly states: "You shall not... tattoo any marks on you." - this obviously means don’t tattoo yourself, go to a professional!

This article has been adapted from the information found from the Christian tattoo association website http://xtat.org/tattoosbible.php

Sneaky plans & clever tricks

2005-12-12T18:40:00.000+08:00

On the last night of Sunday School camp, we were treated to a wonderful experience of worship as God graced us with His presence. Many who were normally motionless on Sunday mornings were enthusiastically praising their Creator & others were blessed with an emotional encounter as the Holy Spirit moved strongly in Winfield Hall. However, to a not too small group of youth, the memory they will be taking back from that night would not be the awesome work of God but the crafty work of the devil.

I was enjoying supper with most of the campers after the worship when a boy with a worried look on his face came up to me and asked me to get my dad to come back up to the worship hall immediately. We rushed up and found a boy sprawled on the floor with a large group of adults & youth surrounding him. Apparently an evil spirit was manifesting in him and was causing him much discomfort as he was coughing. The adult Sunday school leader who was present at the scene had requested for my dad as he was more experienced in this field. My dad, after spending a few moments to take in the situation at hand, proceeded to move in with great composure. (Although later he confessed to me he was actually quite nervous as well)

He recoginised the adult Sunday school leader who was praying at that time as being the main authority figure and proceeded to assist him. As my dad prayed for the boy, he noticed some strange reactions from him as prayers regarding a certain topic were said. That gave him a sense as to what was the problem afflicting the boy.

By now, a large crowd of youth were gathering around and they all wanted to lay hands and pray for him as well. My dad was not too comfortable with this as he heard a theory from a pastor that if you are going through similar problems as the person who has an evil manifested spirit and you lay hands on him, the spirit may affect you as well. That may have happened as a young girl who was praying for the boy suddenly broke out in tears and ended up requiring other people to pray for her. My dad took the opportunity to take the boy aside with the other adults so that they could pray for him without the crowd. The other reason for doing this is also because the person being prayed for may be required to confess certain issues which he may find very difficult to do if a large crowd is gathered around him.

Away from the crowd, the adult Sunday school leader prayed against the specific problem which my dad sensed was affecting the boy and his response was favorable. Finally, with the authority that comes from Christ, he commanded the spirit to leave and then requested for the Holy Spirit to come and fill him so he won’t be left empty. The boy regained consciousness and managed to get up, free once more.

The boy is ok now but the damage was already done as the evil spirit accomplished his purpose. His job is to distract the people from the work that God is doing and unfortunately for those youth who had gotten themselves involved, that’s what happened to them as chances are they will remember that devil event far more vividly than the God event which occurred prior to that. That’s why such incidents should be kept from grabbing the spotlight by taking the affected person away from the crowd ASAP, so the people won’t get distracted from what God is doing. It is good that we learnt that.

Clever & sneaky, like a snake in the grass is the evil one.

The game of "life"

2005-12-07T10:19:00.000+08:00

We played this most excellent game during the recent Church Camp which I attended.

It’s basically a simulation of life and its available choices. Each person starts with a small sum of cash & a "lifesheet" which contains all you need to know about the different things you may do (Education, jobs, pleasures, stock market, gambling, buy a house, go to church). It also keeps a record of all the things you have done & accumulated in “life”, which lasts for a total of 15 rounds, 8mins each.

The playing field is a big hall with the different stations (School, job market, pleasure market, stock market, gambling den, house dealer, church) situated in various locations within it. Also, hanging from the ceiling, is a large projector screen which shows the round time & displays the news in “life”, such as the stock market prices & various happenings.

We had some time before the first round began and so I carefully studied the “lifesheet” and meticulously drew out a detailed, minute by minute plan to the fastest & most efficient route to get a kick ass high paying job – which was to become a movie star.
My aim was to get that job in as quick a time as possible so that I could be rich & enjoy the rest of “life”, like marry a pretty wife, buy a sports car & go on a long holiday. So as the seconds ticked down for the preliminary round, I stood, along with all the 70 other campers in eager anticipation for the starting whistle, ready for an all out chiong.

Round 1

Never have I seen so many people so enthusiastic to rush to school! Well no surprise actually, considering there are only 30 slots available and without an education you can’t qualify for almost all jobs. Well, thank goodness I made it, or else my master plan would have been foiled from the start. Speaking about the master plan, I felt quite bad today, this poor girl came up to me and asked for a donation, said something about her house being struck by a tsunami or something like that. Unfortunately for her, the master plan requires me to utilize every single cent I have in order to progress lightning fast and so I had to turn her request down, but I promised her I would make it up to her once I became a Super Star.

9 tiring rounds later…

Round 2 - 9

I am so excited! I’ve almost fulfilled all the requirements needed to get my dream job! But I tell you It’s been no easy task. The master plan required me to squeeze every second out of each round and for the past 9 rounds I’ve been running non stop from school to work, from work to the church to get married, from the church to the house dealer to buy my condo, from there to the plastic surgeon I need to go to in order to change from looking like an armpit to Brad Pitt. In fact I’ve been so focused that I’ve not had time to enjoy any of the other aspects of “life” nor read the news displayed on that big screen.

If only I had seen what was being said in the news, then I might just have noticed the warning signs of a diabolical threat that about to turn my world upside down...

Round 10

I had finally achieved all that I wanted to in “life”! I filmed my first movie, bought a Ferrari F430, married a pretty stock broker, and treated that poor little girl from Round 1 to a holiday in Langkawi, she was so happy! And so am I! Can’t wait to film the sequel to my film in the next round. My wifes shares are expected to rocket next round too! Whoo hoo!

Round 11
Spirits were sky high as we waited for the signal to start the 11th round. And then everything went black. The lights in the hall went off and only 2 big words appeared on the big screen.

JUDGMENT DAY

A deep voice was heard over the microphone as the gamemaster spoke through it
“Christians on my right, the rest on my left”

OH SHUCKS! What a sneaky game! I was so caught up in all the rushing about I did not even realize that Christianity existed in this “life”. Stupid me, this is church camp after all.

As I see a small group of people gather on the gamemasters right, I also notice the much larger group of people sitting on my side – the side that’s going to downtown hell. Sitting next to me was my idol in this “life” who was this multibillionaire investor who had women flocking to him as though he was some Zara sale as he was giving away sports cars to them like free.

After the game came to a close & having shared a few laughs with my ‘idol in life’ over our pointless successes, a thought struck me. There I was, sitting on top of all the wealth I accumulated in the 10 Rounds of “life” but in the end eventually taking my seat on the wrong side of grace. If in this life, I really had the power to plan my life to “success” so well & choing after it with all my heart & strength, would I choose to do that and end up forgetting all about my relationship with God? This game made me remember that if I do solely go after all the pleasures that this world has to offer, I am going to end up falling from grace, and driving my F430 straight to downtown hell.

GG

Warriors on a Saturday Bookout

2005-11-28T14:58:00.000+08:00

My man, how doeth you?
From the jungles of Tekong I receive thee
Lets us go on a journey, suited for a person of thy stature
Get into my white chariot, I will bring thee to the ends of this island
To the far eastern border, to the Singapore Expo ‘Big Boyz Toyz Exhibition’

Does this not catch your fancy? Does this not bring joy to your heart?
Then let us depart at once! And go to the heart of this Great City, to CYC @ Raffles Arcade where we may tailor ourselves a new garment, fit for an officer of the Republic of Singapore

My man, how doeth you?
Has hunger & fatigue overtaken thee?
Then feast we must, to Dover Market XO sauce Yu Tou Mai Fan we shall go

The night is still young, my gallant warrior, the cry of excitement can still be heard
I know of a castle, whos walls are high, and horses are fast that calls out for us to explore
Within those walls sits a king who has lost his leg in a dangerous dance at Zouk
Let us go & share some love to our dear friend, who lies upon his bed day & night
Let us quell his quest to conquer many a land in the World of Warcraft

Before I take thee home, defender of my nation, one more thing beckons
A psychotic French man is on the loose wrecking havoc at Highbury
This my man, we cannot miss, not for the world
After which, you shall have your 7 hours of uninterrupted rest…

2 burgers

2005-11-21T10:12:00.000+08:00

Christianity proud?

2 people were sitting at a table and in front of each of them was a burger, one with a sesame bun & one without. The first friend, being a little hungrier quickly bit into the one without the sesame and exclaimed “Wow, this is fantastic!” As the second friend was about to take a bite into the other burger, the first friend noticed a small note in front of him which said “Burger without sesame bun for eating, burger with sesame bun made to kill rats, contains poison, please do not eat.”

Now, the first friend may not know how true the note is, as he has never tried the other burger but would it be so proud of him to say to his friend “Hey, there is a note here in front of me that says your burger contains rat poison and should not be consumed. How bout you share mine instead?”

Is Christianity so proud when we say to other religions that our way is the only way to life while all others aren’t? Really, I think we are just trying to share something we have read because we want to help.

Graduates from the greatest school on earth

2005-11-14T10:46:00.000+08:00

“All clear, proceed with caution”
Two young men, dressed in uniform & on all fours crawl with great stealth through a gently opened door.

Are we in NS serving the nation? Not really, we are actually in 2001, ACS(Barker)

After getting thrown out of class, we try to creep back in. You might be thinking to yourself, why on earth would we want to get back into class? Shouldn’t we simply rejoice and go to the canteen or something? The thing is, class was just damn fun, and not because the lessons were taught by kickass teachers, but because of the spastic individuals that made up the class, my class 4a2.

4 years later, 2 days ago, a bunch of us from that great school met up & had a good laugh recounting the glory days. The mud filled clams in IndoChine couldn’t spoil our mood, and neither could the diabetes we got from Swenson’s ice cream. Our laughter just continued late into the night as each wonderful story was retold & remembered.

Good ole Barker Road, I hope you never change. Stay retarded, its far better that way. It doesn’t matter that we are ranked Band 8 out of the 9 Bands of Secondary school rankings, and it doesn’t matter that our principal & students rejoice when we improve from a 55% to 60% passing rate in our Chinese O levels while other schools yawn at getting their sustained 70% A1’s. What matters is that we leave (yes please do well enough to at least leave) with the best memories of our life & not worry too much about doing too badly, cause what the heck man, the best is yet to be!

20

2005-11-12T11:27:00.000+08:00

Today I turn 20
Below is a list of the many things I can now do which I couldn't at 19:

Glory Glory Manchester United

2005-11-07T13:27:00.000+08:00

History was saved & hope was shed to 19 clubs & millions of fans across the globe early this morning (Singapore time)

It was 94mins of ball-dropping action. Heaven smiled for once upon the Red devils as an unlikely hero named Darren Fletcher gave the hosts the lead in the 31st min with a looping header over the “best goal keeper in the world”. Non-stop onslaught was the reply from the Blues in the 2nd half as Del Horny, Make-ne-ne, Drop-balls and the rest of the overpriced Chelsea squad fought for the equalizer. Tensions started to rise and so did the number of yellow cards as Graham Poll dished out 5 in between the 60-70th min. The match was beginning to take its toll on the United team as fatigue kicked in, but they continued to play with their hearts out and defended with their bodies & souls. My man for the night was Alan Smith. His new haircut gave him a boyish-angelic look but his tackling that night was more like something straight out of hell. Wave after wave of Blue attack was foiled by that devil. As full time approached, millions worldwide feared one of Chelsea’s despicable goals. A corner kick would have been enough, a little flick by Damien Duff would have destroyed all hope, but it didn’t happen & after 4 excruciating minutes of injury time the whistle was blown and the fans with me at Chijmes, Old Trafford & all across the world exploded into celebration.

All hope, joy and faith pinned onto something as fragile & unpredictable as the Manchester United defence. Thank God the Christian walk isn’t likewise. I would like to compare it more to the Manchester United in 1996-2001. Even though there were a few heartaches & minor setbacks, at the end of the day, you would still have full confidence & assurance of their eventual glorification. They never failed their fans who put their faith in them, just like how God would never fail to forgive us, receive us & bless us with everything we need to live a fulfilled life if we put our faith in Him.

Glory to God! And for now, glory glory Manchester United!

A Need for Speed

2005-11-02T13:59:00.000+08:00

A white Honda Civic crawls to a stop at the Tuas checkpoint. The radio clock shows 12.45am and the view out of the front windshield says not a car in sight. The driver, a young NSF in his late 19s, hands over his passport in anticipation to the checkpoint lady. She looks at him with an impatient look and he looks back confused. After an awkward 10secs his passenger realizes what is going on and tells the driver with a laugh, “Insert your cash card la.” The driver obviously having never done this before, slides in his card and gives the lady an embarrassed smile.

A few other checks and one mounted curb later, the duo finally clear the initial & only hurdle of their adventure. The driver takes a quick look around and enjoys the dark silent night which surrounds the white car, but his gaze soon gets distracted by the 3km of 3 lanes that lies in front of him. He takes in a deep breath of the cool night air as his passenger, a veteran to this experience, readies him for the green light. “After this turn, own time, own target carry on”.

A silent night no more… Like a beast which has been released after being kept in a cage for too long, the Civic roars to life. V-Tech kicks in as the floored accelerator pushes the rev counter past 5 and the speedometer climbs to a hundred steadily without any sign of slowing down. 110…120…130….140……..150………160 The 1.6L engine appears to be tiring but he growls forward with perseverance as the accelerator remains stuck to the floorboard.

A lonely JB car travels humbly by at 110km/h along the 2nd link, the driver, half falling asleep glances instinctively into his rear view mirror. WTFF!! A white light in the blackened night appears on it and a second later it burns pass him.

A maxed out Civic approaches the end of the 3km. He has given his all and has no more power left in him. The driver takes a steady hand off the steering wheel. With that hand he takes his colleague’s camera phone and aims it at the speedometer. The feeling of pure joy and exhilaration floods & consumes him as he gives a wide =). Click!

The POWER of a JAM

2005-10-27T11:22:00.000+08:00

Last night was pretty fun. MDC was invited to go to the Power98 Power Jam 2005 competition & I had a great time with my colleagues watching our local bands perform & compete. Congrats to winners B.A.R.B & runners-up monofone. Personally I thought monophone was better but heck, that’s my opinion.

Listening to all these bands, I realized that musically, there isn’t a huge disparity between the bands as they all can pretty much play their songs decently. And I’m speaking from the point of view of a normal someone who doesn’t have the supersensitive musician ear to hear the different quality of notes played. (Something some of my insane colleagues in MDC can do) But what made those 2 the top 2 was definitely their showmanship. They managed to invoke enthusiasm in an originally sober crowd, and groove the bounce into the people of zouk in a way the others bands couldn’t. In fact B.A.R.B did all that a little too well for one of my colleagues as she was jumping around all over the place, and knocking into everyone. Damn… the bouncers should keep a cage for these people.

So after a late night out with thousands of other happy people, I struggle out of bed the next morning at a much too early time in order to go to work. As I spend my usual waking moments with the Lord, some thoughts invoked by the memory of the previous night come floating in. People respond to certain bands better than others, partly due to their songs, mostly to do with their charisma. Would this be the same in a church context? For those who know me, I am heading the music ministry in Barker Road youth and frankly it is not very happening at the moment. Would the same youth, who stand like statues every Sunday morning in Barker road respond similarly to an enthusiastic, charismatic band?

Some people believe that only the Holy Spirit and Him alone can invoke someone to worship God and that you can worship God no matter how bad the music is. Well, ya that’s true provided you are all hyped up & dying to worship God from the start, like my friend yesterday who was dancing & showing us all the mambo actions before even entering zouk. I am becoming a believer to the idea that God realizes & uses the power of good convincing music played through a good convincing band. He knows it is powerful & has the ability to bring life to those statues thus helping them to enjoy praising Him. So my view is that the band is needed to get the people in the mood and the Spirit meets & touches them in that mood, making the experience real & not just an emotional rara.
Haha, how biblical that view is I have yet to confirm but for now, my experience & logic backs me.

So that means unless proven drastically mistaken, I’d better start hitting the jamming room =)

A series of unfortunate events

2005-10-26T10:30:00.000+08:00

What a beautiful morning, the sun shining brightly into my room. I roll over in bed a couple of times and give a contented stretch, yawn & smile after a good nights rest. I think to myself “What a pleasant way to start the morning”

Then I take a look at my swatch

SHIT 8.30!
SHIT I’m friggin late
SHIT the sun is damn bright
SHIT I need to SHIT
Half way through the process
SHIT no toilet paper
SHIT I won’t describe what happened next

Then I grab my ‘bak chang’ & purple water bottle & move as quick as lightning like my Tekong compatriots to the trusty backdoor of Chancery Court (the only reason why my home is considered ‘of good location, near to the MRT station’). I insert the key and turn, but it does not turn. I flip the key around and turn again, but it does not turn (Which is actually quite a retarded move now that I am thinking about it as the key is symmetrical). I do this about 10 times, flipping the key and turning until I finally look up and see a sign in miniscule font pasted on the door
“lock is spoilt” SHIT

So I take the long long way thinking about why don’t they leave the gate open if the lock is spoilt and how many different ways my boss would kill me if she knew that I was still at NEWTON when work started.

The 167 must have been turbo charged along with nitro cause somehow it got me outside Nee Soon Camp in what I believe was 15min. But that’s where the change of luck ended. I step out of the wonder bus to the wonder of water falling out of the sky. SHIT

Well at least I made it to the office alive and stayed alive after apologizing & explaining my series of unfortunate events to my boss.

I guess the only really good thing that happened is that when I got to the newton bus stop there was this reasonably attractive woman sitting there alone. Courage & wit decided not to be my friend that morning and thus I did not try to talk to her. And just as well, with my winning luck of the morning, the conversation would probably have gone like this:
“Hi, late for work too?”
“Ha? Dui bu qi, wo don’t speak English”
“SHIT”

For this cause

2005-10-21T10:52:00.000+08:00

Hmmm...now what does it actually mean to give all of yourself to a cause?
Does it mean to spend every single waking second of your mind, strength & energy either thinking about it or doing something that adds value to whatever cause it might be? Basically, making it what your life is about?

A good example would be Rafael Benitez, the Liverpool FC manager, he who spends all his waking moments trying to make Liverpool into a winning team. Quoting from soccernet.com he "once described himself as a 'loner with a lap top' due to the amount of time he spent alone masterminding tactics on a computer - he is obsessed by football, and by his job". I read he even discusses tactics & watches Liverpool match tapes with his wife before they go to sleep. Come on he even talks about it in his sleep!
That’s hardcore man, giving your life to a cause. If that’s what I got to be like to give my life to God, gotta admit, I’m pretty far off =P

The closest I’ve been to Benitez was probably how I was when I was totally nuts over this girl. Whenever I was not doing anything active, almost every resting thought would be about her or how to get to know her better etc. Sometimes even when I am doing something else, such thoughts intertwine together with what I am doing, or something like that la, I'm sure you all would know what I'm talking about. But my life still operated normally, and I could go about doing my tasks without compromise. So still not quite like the psycho Liverpool manager, as she did not really become what my life was about but oh well.... I think something to that effect would be a good start.

Now then problem would be, how am I to imagine God in a skirt. Lol

It begins today…

2005-10-18T11:08:00.000+08:00

Contentment & fulfillment

2 things which I want, however 2 things which I can’t seem to get. Does chasing of latter bring the former? yet that only sounds contrary.

I love having fun & experiencing new things. Be it getting a new haircut, firing an M16, or learning to drift my car, experiencing something cool & new to me is what I’ve been living for. But then, that fulfillment only lasts a moment, and discontentment sinks in once again until I find another shirt to buy, toy to play with, speed limit to break etc.
Here’s a personal example. I love approaching girls that I do not know, or at least believing & imagining that I can. It is something driven more out of the sense of challenge than the sense of physical attraction, and that challenge is what brings the fulfillment. But this chasing comes from a lack of contentment in the first place, and the success of “fulfillment” only drives the discontentment further.

Fun? Definitely. Fulfilled? Content? Hardly…

The only way then I believe, would be to obtain both at once, but where and what in life gives you that?

Some people tell me God can give you that. I myself am a believer in Jesus Christ, thus making me a Christian. I should consider myself a pretty decent one at that too. I serve in church, read my bible & pray everyday. In fact I’ve been doing this for about 1 1/2 years & have no regrets. Having a relationship with God has given me identity, confidence, peace & security knowing my life is taken care of.
But contentment? Fullfillment? I’ve yet to enjoy that from this Relationship.

Yet somehow, I believe it’s the only way that I may obtain both together, nothing else seems to do it. So this is what I’ll do: 1 month till my birthday, I’ll put all my thoughts, strength & heart into living for Christ and I pray, when I turn 20 heaven will give me 2 presents - Contentment & Fulfillment

It begins today…