Timbre part 2

Timbre

it feels great being home again.. Kian and Richard met with me earlier for some beef brisket noodles, pork congee and fried wonton dumplings at Crystal Jade (Plaza Singapura, Dhoby Ghaut )and we proceeded to Timbre Old School at Mount Sophia (near Dhoby Ghaut) after that..the live music is fantastic and kudos again to the entrepreneuring people who thought of a place for local Singaporean bands to play while customers chill out with some beer..

of course, if you're talking about charm, ambience and idyllic(some say decadent) settings, nothing beats Dempsey Road at the converted former British colonial Baracks..now that place is the perfect haunt of expatriates and those of us with a sense of taste and finese, if i do say so myself..muahaha

one of the songs sung tonight by the band was Lady Gaga's Pokerface... Acoustic and unplugged..and i couldnt help laughing to myself and thinking about my friends in Newcastle who've seen me go crazy over this song and Lady Gaga's other musical ensembles..my my my my pokerface, my pokerface..this song is for you guys..and of course, the other memorable song that brought tears to my eyes (because i was laughing so hard) had to be..you guessed it, Jason Mraz and Colbie Cailat's Lucky...now that song is for you Dene and Emmerie..hahahahaha

and by God's grace i did have the opportunity before this to meet Ian while i was at the Cityhall Starbucks..which was completely unplanned and random..and we had a great time talking about his counselling work at St Francis School in Bukit Timah and work with Christian youth the past 6 months, while i told him about my past 6 months and the great academic trials i always face every sem..

and after that, i was having some late night supper at the Macas (aka Macdonalds) near my home..and i heard Reo Speedwagon on the radio..and promptly fell in love with Class 95 all over again..that was the radio station that saw me through the years 18 to 22 so i love you guys! Before that it was Perfect 10, 98.7 FM between 14 and 18 of course..buts its too bubble gum pop for me now..oh well..will keep everyone updated..See ya soon

The group

This is my growth group from unichurch..and i do love them..Lachlan Wetherall our group leader, Sam Barnes, in the second row, myself, DJ, Kate, Ellen, Lianna, Pip, Linda Wetherall who's Lachy's wife, Dave and in the last row, Alyssa and Tim Arnold

i've learnt so much from them espcially Lachy and Tim, who've been like my Christian mentors..from Lachy i've learnt the value of humble, quiet service that doesnt get talked about much or hyped up a lot, from Tim i learnt what a Christian husband looks like (especially a young Christian husband who's just starting out in life) and i've learnt from Sam Barnes who's the real philosopher in the group and who always offers a fresh philosophical perspective..or throws light on our thought processes..and Linda has taught me a great deal of what qualities to look for in a Christian wife and what really is valuable..and the younger members of our group remind me that i'm not that old after all..you guys invigorate me with the freshness of life at 20 all over again, before i even left the Army..i feel so alive around you people..great job! haha..

Speaking about youth..i watched Zhongyu's performance on Facebook earlier..i wish i'd been there last October to hear her rendition of Sarach Lachlan's Angel live with her band..now, that woman can sing i tell ya..you know what they say that when some people sing Magic happens? Well, Zhongyu's one of those who works magic when she sings..i feel young again, and i like that..

Man, thats the one thing i hate most about Newcastle Uni..it makes me feel so drained and it saps my energy at the end of every semester..thats why i need a change of environment at the end of each sem..and as a FOCUS helper it sometimes takes its toll with the constant battles between uni work and FOCUS responsibilities and wanting to encourage Christians rather than go off and do what i please..and when i hear friends like Zhongyu, Alvin Tay or Yap, Jonathan Tsang with their bands doing what they really enjoy without a care in the world i really wanna just ditch everything and go do something i like, such as Snorkel and Scuba Dive around the world..and to hell with the rest..i do like feeling young, i do like feeling that the world is my oyster, i do like the feeling of doing everything i enjoy whenever i please..

as i think about what i want to do with my future, i must thank Zhongyu for her performance..cos it has got me thinking and re-evaluating my choices.

Excerpts

"hey guys,

i dunno if you guys share the same concern for the environment, energy conservation and the poor as I do, but an idea just popped into my mind for a business/charity based on those causes.

I thought I'd like to attempt to help people convert waste heat to do something useful around the house like dry clothes.

An initial attempt would be to channel the coolant from a fridge to a larger area that can be maintained and cleaned so that the clothes can be dried on it.

I reckon this idea will not be immediately attractive as the cost savings will be quite little - maybe under $100 a year? and the initial cost of labor and raw materials to set it up may be way above that order of magnitude (some survey will have to go into this).

There are also several technical and aesthetic/design issues to concern oneself with - whether we can come up with designs for each situation that is functional and simple enough to be of casual utility, and that will be the thing which determines if this idea takes off.

In this climate of tightening belts and of people looking for something worthwhile to do, we can take otherwise unemployed people (ourselves) and apply them to helping the poor whom a few dollars in savings would matter to.

It could serve as a springboard/source of experience to implementing ideas that involve higher tech, more complication and more cost e.g. I envision solar powered windows to absorb energy from the sunlight to power air conditioners, or an external system to aid in cooling the computer, which is becoming the central problem with computing these days (incorporating the home server with the home water heating system). It has the scope of utilizing some of our trainings - varun's business skills, chua's design training, and perhaps shamir could help us market the product using videos - getting the message across to the our target audience."

To Gabriel:
applaud your thinking that went into this. Am greatly encouraged that friends like you remind me of where i came from. Without people just trying to do something worthwhile in this life like yourself, we'd all be screwed (for want of a better term). Note to self: do something small but worthwhile this week and stop screwing around with selfish ambitions.

Cheers
Chua aka The Creature

Change and Sian-ness

This photo says so much about my mood at the time..around Day 14 of my Japan mission trip last year..actually i think it says so much about everyone of the team at the time..

Ian has been talking a lot about change on his blog and i feel that it is an issue that does tug at my own heartstrings this year. I do believe that certain aspects of my character have changed significantly from last year while other aspects have been, shall we say, re-defined. Take for instance my left wing radicalism. That has mellowed so much. And my skepticism? i think that this year it isn't the in your face variety that it was before..i'm still deeply skeptical of people's motives and hidden agendas..but i believe i would say that i try not to be so hasty to judge..

it could simply be that i'm sian aka tired as in the Japan Mission pic and i'm growing out of my youthful "i can change the world" idealism..or just simply that being more engaged with individuals around me and being more in tune with their personal stories has made me a more practical human being who is much more useful to God than an idealistic hothead..or on a slightly less optimistic note, i'm more selfish in protecting myself by saying polite and moderate things rather than stuff that could ruin my friendships..

Just a few nites back i was at Joyce's place for some dinner and to check out her cool new fish tank (which i must say is pretty impressive but lacks a piranha) and ended up playing Wii with Jeram, Brendan, Joyce and Brandon..we all took turns and Josephine, Serene and Roger Jonas were up next..and i enjoyed it completely..and i felt that i was really engaging with true friends and caring for them..i wouldnt have been so at ease a year back probably as i'd have been more uptight. Its liberating really, being more laidback and sporting.

Its great to change to be a more easy going person i think..you noe, the next time you're over at Barahineban, give me a buzz or drop by my room and say hi..maybe we could have a beer and a nice chat about anything from uni work to life, God and the nature of the universe...except when i'm stressed by architecture maybe..*laughz*

2 Months

2 months is forever by the standards of this ultra fast, information saturated world ain't it? well, not by the architectural clock thats still ticking down to the final conclusion for this semester..eternity is like waiting for the semester to end so one can take stock of all the grenade fragments and body parts littering the sidewalk of our lives..

i remember the time when after seeming years of service to Country and my Fellow Citizens in the Singapore Armed Forces i finally was discharged..or ORD'd as we call it in Singapore...No more armoured vehicles to hose down at the washing bays or Own Vehicle Equipment to oil and maintain..goodbye Company Sergeant Majors and OCs..and then the grenade fragment picking up began where i started to pick up the pieces of my life that had come to a grinding halt while i served NS..

same feeling different circumstances now you might say..Design 3 is not an easy nut to crack..even with all that temp job working in a firm over summer last year..still i don't seem able to execute my conceived ideas quite as well as i wished. Oh well, i figure its due to the disjunction between idea and reality. I must say i'm much more satisfied with my design though. The idea of deformation and skewing of standard buildings to challenge perceptions of what is conventional architecture has great merit. And the use of steel structure in a non-rational, non-linear manner to support the building certainly screws with people's perceptions of what is "accepted practice". As Charles Jencks would have it, " in an age where consensus about any subject is practically non-existent, the answer to any question might as well be fish" (paraphrased)

well, we're having our FOCUS end of semester steamboat session this friday evening at Hamilton Bap.s so i'm looking forward to that and will keep readers who have endured my almost 3 months of silence updated..you deserve it..haha

Book recommendation of the Month

"This stone was raised to Sarah Ford,
not Sarah's virtues to record-
For they're well known to all the town-
No Lord; it was raised to keep her down."

"Here lies the body of Jonathan Blake,
Stepped on the gas
Instead of the brake."

"Here lies Butch,
We planted him raw.
He was quick on the trigger,
But slow on the draw."

that was a selection of epigrams from real tombstones around the world and which i found on the website dedicated to Neil Gaiman's coolest book yet, The Graveyard Book. Thanks to Huixun and my old Neil Gaiman Book Club i was alerted to this cool illustrated book.

written in the great tradition of Rudyard Kipling which Mr Gaiman himself claims was his literary inspiration, its a complex allegory about life, death, growing up, loss and change. Of course, its setting is an English graveyard which is pretty different from the kind one finds in Southeast Asia or the East, which are not seen as places of rest but places of death, rot and evil..even though Asians would not call it evil but the world of yin..but a rose by any other name..

an English graveyard with its overhanging tress and overgrowing grass and plants with wild foxes and cats thrown in for good measure becomes the home of a baby who has a rather tragic background..taken in by Mr and Mrs Owens, a childless ghost couple, he becomes Nobody Owens, or Bod, for short..along the way we meet interesting inhabitants of the graveyard such as Caius Pompeius, the oldest resident, a remnant from Roman times and the city of Camulodunum..we meet Josiah Worthington, Bart, local politician and aristocrat who purchased the graveyard and dedicated it to posterity as a government reserve..we meet Silas, the dark resident who might just have been a reformed Jack the Ripper or a vampire turned death highway patrolman..Miss Lupescu, a Hound of God as she calls herself, but known to us as a werewolf, and Elizabeth Hempstroke, a witch drowned in Elizabethan times and buried in the unconsecrated ground of the graveyard, reserved for the criminals, suicides and witches..and of course, Jack, the cause of all of our unlikely protagonist's troubles..

my favourite chapter in the book has to be Chapter 5, The Danse Macabre..when white flowers bloom in the height of winter (they shouldn't) this signals the start of the festival of Macabray, when the dead, in stately fashion, leave the graveyard and meeting the living in the town square, where there is a great dance, until finally, even the Lady of the Grey herself, a figure representing a genial death, appears to dance with them, until mid-night when the dead and living return to their own homes, once more having nothing to do with each other..a macabre version of Cinderella indeed..i especially love the lyrics of the song, "one to leave and one to stay, and all to dance the Macabray" of course, for all my literature inclined friends out there, this is once again, a metaphor for the dance of death all human beings go through all their lives, until death finally claims us..

my second favourite chapter is the story of Bod meeting the witch, Liza (which is such a post-modern version of Elizabeth and appropriate for the story) and learing about the Biblical-English tradition of the Potter's Field where the outcasts of society are buried..this is a veiled attack on the supposedly uncharitable Christian Church of course, for those who have eyes to see it as it is, but totally fun as it were..it ends with Bod fashioning a headstone for the unmarked grave of Liza with a glass paper weight and some paint..appropriate and quirky, but i think some fruitcake and a cricket bat would do better..there are other chapters which are interesting..but i feel that the chapter on the ghoul-gate didnt really fit in with the story..even though the names of the ghouls, such as the Bishop of Bath and Wells, the Duke of Westminster, the Honourable Archibald Fitzburgh, the Thirty-Third President of The United States of America, The Emperor of China and The Famous Writer Victor Hugo was so totally, morbidly cool..until we got to the bit where one finds out the ghouls get their names from the first victim they eat..which even i found a bit much for a children's book..

and in case you thought otherwise, The Graveyard Book won the 2008 John Newbury Award for Childrens' Literature..i dun noe if i'll ever read this to my kids as a bedtime story, but i sure do enjoy the book miself..all in all i'd rate this book 4.5 stars out of 5 for a Neil Gaiman book..well done Mr Gaiman..you've blown us all away again with that trademark quirkiness and "Wodehousian generosity of spirit" as one critic commented on ya Anansi Boys..i seriously recommend this book..

Australia, the Epic

the Epic year at uni begins..i missed Australia so much yet without knowing how much till i reached Newcastle and started distributing flyers for the Lighthouse Walk on Wednesday Arvo (Afternoon is Aussie speak)..the coffee certainly helped fight the tiredness and drowsiness while pamphletting..

Getting Barahineban Unit 121 ship shape and ready for 'combat operations' as i term it took the remainder of the Evening..the only fuel i ran on at that point was pure adrenaline, momentum and lotsa Lady Gaga, Colbie Caillat, NeYo, Jason Mraz and Chris Jordan..No Air indeed..and over the next 36 hours, i would be tracking down, recovering, inventorizing and readying my stored materiale for living in Newcastle..thankfully the night brought deep, dreamless sleep for the exhausted which is the best and most restful of all the various stages and types of sleep possible..until about 4 flipping AM in the morning when the sound of distant drums woke me from my silent reveille..tribal witch doctors or drunk freshmen on the road outside Barahineban i'll never know for sure..that cost me 45 minutes of dis-stress before sleep found me with her silken wings again..i glide into oblivion..

and then the alarm rings at 10am and i stretch out a sleep drenched hand to fling it into the furthest corner, cursing the demons of wakefulness in the Master's Name..but sleep she flutters away like a flock of doves in startled flight from a pouncing cat..Cold be hand and heart and bone, and cold be sleep under stone..as JRR Tolkien's Barrow wright would have it..and i rise to another day's labour, in the fields of golden rye..

oh well, the Bible does say that by the sweat of ye brow ye shall till the earth all ye days, for dust ye are, and to dust ye shall return..lets go kiddo, no rest for the weary..

On The Side of Me

i really enjoy Corrine May..you know, there was a time when she was my Ideal Woman..actually, i think she still is..oh well, thats me being whimsical and quirky..cheers

3 Ministers, One Summer

"I too, am seen as the elder brother and older friend and nothing more. Probably thats why I have so many friends who are girls but they're all not attracted to me as a partner"..that was my response to Ian's comment about the issues with being a professional counsellor and known as one..the perception of members of the opposite sex changes..

I've been blessed to have been taught by great teachers and blessed to have sat at the feet of godly ministers of God's Word who've taught me all i know about the Bible and being a Christian..its really God's grace..i'm going to talk about three of them in this post for they've been some of the most formative in my Christian walk and life here in Singapore..

First, there's Dr E N Poulsen, the Pastor Emeritus of Grace Baptist Church and Professor Emeritus of Singapore Bible College, the minister who taught my father in Bible College for 4 years many, many years ago..An American missionary from the Church of the Open Door in Los Angeles, he's been in Singapore for the last 53 years! He recently returned to California for what he says will be the last time, because he intends to die and be buried in the mission field of Singapore where God called him in 1955...Now this is a very interesting man who was a naval pilot during the Second World War, actually flying in combat at Guadacanal and Guam..my father and myself recently visited him over the Chinese New Year period in Singapore where he regalled us with stories of eating raw fish yusheng with his chinese co-workers..he gave me good advice that i should finish my studies and work for at least 2 years or 5 before going into ministry..and that in an Asian context, evangelism often involves offering tuition to students in the neighbourhood and telling them about Jesus during short breaks between lessons..of course we should make this clear from the start, but the kinds of pure evangelistic outreach events we do in Australia just don't work well..which got me thinking about Focus..if we have English coaching sessions and breaks where we share 2 Ways to Live with international students, would that work better? we should include that in our advertising so we're not misleading anyone, but is this unscriptural?

Minister no. 2 is the Reverend Fred Abeysekara, an old school and old time Pentecostal man who recently returned from missionary work in Banglore, India..he spoke in Charis Full Gospel Church on Sunday from Matthew 10:1-15..i have not heard a verse by verse exegesis by a Pentecostal minister for a very, very long time..with the exception of my father who even then, sometimes gets carried away.."and proclaim as you go, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying, give without pay. acquire no gold nor silver nor copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, nor two tunics nor sandals nor a staff, for the laborer deserves his food." v. 7-10...he went on to talk about ministry, mission work, service of God and the difficulty faced in the Christian life..of course, i don't agree with everything he preached from a Biblical Theological perspective...but i think often i retreat behind intellectualism and theologising about the Bible which shouldnt be..the thrust of his sermon was right..especially when Rev. Fred said, "i've had people spit on me and hit me for the sake of the gospel..some of them Christians in whose churches i preached, right after the service..the Christian walk and life is Hard and Difficult..but we do it for the sake of Jesus..look to Him"..a far cry indeed from the New Liberal Pentecostals who preach health, wealth and prosperity..now you see why i dislike them and their theology so much? if they're right, that means everything Reverend Fred and my family have endured for the gospel for the last 20 to 30 years has been in vain, because we have far more suffered than been blessed..Of course, few other pentecostal churches in Singapore these days invites Rev Fred to preach..poor man, he preaches too much about the Wrath of God, the sinfulness of man and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the cure..not politically correct in this age of "luv" (not Love as you may notice..as Dr Poulsen says, the Liberals spell it as 'Luv' rather than 'Love' as the Bible spells it)

and no. 3 is Ian Poullier (thats right, my friend, its about you :) a true Christian friend and Counsellor who struggles with singlehood and marriage..he recently underwent an operation for cervical spondelosis because C4-6 of his vertebrae were pressing on his spinal cord, causing numbness, difficulty in his gait and some vertigo..i did not realise my friend, if not i would have been praying for you..i'm sorry for being such a careless friend..he underwent a major surgery which was 7 hours in all and yet, was up and about and discharged within 4 days of the operation..he talked at length about God's Grace, mercy and favour..and i agree and empathise completely..my grandma underwent an operation for cervical spondelosis in 1990 which left her paralysed from the waist down..God is merciful indeed..anyway, he was back in the office last week and counselling students at St Francis Methodist School, even while wearing a neck brace..i always find it refreshing talking to Ian, who never fails to put things in perspective (with that counsellor finesse of his)..from singlehood and marriage to ministry and caring for kids and adolescents..without condemnation and judging and any air of self-righteousness..yet always being realistic and up front..anyways, so that his head doesnt get too bloated (i know you read this space Ian) i'll move on to what he told me about getting some basic training in counselling if i wanted to get involved in ministry..its helpful for ministers to learn how to communicate with distressed people and counsel them with some proper knowledge..and to have some basic bedside manners which don't scare troubled congregation members off..thats something to keep in view for the future..

well, thats enough for tonite..God has been gracious to me in letting me have the fellowship and teaching of these ministers..this is for you.."God rest ye merry gentlemen" indeed..

My feelings after the Architecture Internship

what are my collective feelings after a mnth and half of working in the Architectural Office where i did my "internship"? in the words of Jeremy, "this is for designing buildings without flair, without soul, without passion... just making white goods"

Small Blessings

Count your blessings, name them one by one, count your blessings see what God has done..Count your blessings, name them by the score, count your many blessings, there'll be many more! the words of the old hymn ring true for me today..and i see why this should be one of my father's favourite hymns..

its been a blessing today to meet some old friends whom i've not met for some time and how the sharing can be a blessing and encouragement for all parties..take my friend R for instance..last saw her 3 years ago when she was still doing a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Social Work at the National University of Singapore..she's grown and changed a lot since those days and i find that today i can have a discussion about the Bible and our respective churches that i couldnt have a few years back because our positions and opinions were often diametrically opposed..of course it was i who needed to mature and not her..she was telling me about her issues with her boyfriend who's still quite a young christian and it was a helpful discussion..she reminded me again about what the Bible actually says about relationships and our priorities in this life..

then over dinner i met 3 of my ex-classmates from St Andrews School..since we started meeting regularly again last year whenever i'm back home they've been a great source of encouragement and a pool of Christian wisdom..one of them will be leaving soon to do mission in (of all places) Japan for a year with OMF..another friend was talking about how his church was asking him to consider full time ministry with youths for a year or 2..sort of like MTS..we've all grown up so much from those noisy,rowdy and girl-crazy boys in SAS when we were 14 and 15..next year it would be the 10 year reunion for the class..i wonder how each of us turned out..and how many people will be going into full time ministry from our batch..whenever i think i must be some kinda weirdo talking about christianity and ministry so much..i look at these ex-classmates and am both challenged and encouraged

and today i heard again the desire for effective sharing and bible study amongst university graduates..i heard once again a university grad looking for a bible study that is able to engage with the issues the person is facing at this stage in life..as i meet Michael tomorrow for one to one bible study, i think we should pray about this..

Surviving Valentines' Day

the words of that Gloria Gaynor song ring through my mind..At first i was afraid, i was petrified...i will survive..and survive i did for Valentines Day this year...

the number of flower sellers out to earn a quick buck would put money-grasping wall-street to shame..in fact, i reckon those condemned executives should come over to Singapore and get a second career selling flowers on Valentines Day..i'm immediately reminded of the case of the Hebrew Midwives in Exodus when i see these flower sellers..you know, they couldnt have children of their own so they became mid wives, they can't get partners so they sell flowers..if you can't beat em join em and if you can't join em...well, enter the catering business..

ok, i shouldnt be so mean..Valentines Day is an amazing tribute to love(of the commercialised, commodified variety) that i shouldnt feel envious of just because i can't get attached myself..that is emininently true and i will be the first to deprecate myself..its lovely to see young couples on the streets of Singapore in their couple T-shirts that spell "L-O" for the guys and "V-E" for the girls but which actually mean"I-D" and "I-O-T"..oops sorry its unevenly split..maybe "FOOL" would do better..

amid all the hype, its easy to see why even the Catholic Church is getting involved..according to a news report in the Straits Times today, the Catholic Church has stated that people have been praying to the wrong patron saint (of love) after all..its not ST Valentine but rather St Raphael who's in charge of people encountering their future spouses..ST Valentine is the quasi-divine dude who Marries love struck sweethearts who shouldnt be together...hmmm..is he going against God's Sovereign Will and getting away with it?

i'm actually a romantic at heart dun get me wrong..true romantics love tragedy and how true love is perfected in death and all that..not that farce i see on the streets of Singapore..and like all romantics i'm comforted by my Senecca and Cicero and Herodotus and all that Stoic crowd..so there, i may not have a valentine..but "Call no man happy until he is dead"..as Herodotus would put it..and "the only man who is hurt by the caprices of Fortune is the man who allows himself to be deceived by her favours first"...I Survived Valentines Day!!!!

Re entry to Blog Posting

since Japan, i've been really busy and slack at the same time, which is a contradiction in terms..as i listen to Class 95 on the Singapore radio and sip my glass of white wine on the early early morning of the first day of the Chinese New Year celebrations (and type this online post on my online journal) i find myself unsure of what to post..

about my time since Japan: i've been stupid enough to apply for an internship job at an architecture firm that started just before the start of January and saw me work through New Year's Eve and New Year's Day on a Masterplan project for a Special Investment Region in Ahmedabad, India which was really rushed and full of desperate attempts to make something incomplete look presentable to Big Business Concerns..and drafting plans for Car Park facilities for a convention hall in Singapore and then preparing circulation and conceptual diagrams for an extension to an Anglican Church here..its been pretty hectic but a real learning experience..and with an uncaring Christian boss who just wants to see work completed on time without regard for employees' welfare (by one account, he delays payment of salaries by 3 weeks into the new month)..oh well, if this is working for a Christian Architecture Firm in Singapore..well, i really should reconsider a career in architecture..

about Christian ministry since Japan: i've taken up teaching Kid's Ministry on Saturdays at the Boon Keng Housing Estate near my church from where i left off last year and its been mixed..many of the children i've been sharing the gospel with and teaching the Bible to have left..Wailing because she wants to work on Saturday afternoons (yes, children as young as 12 here can work and she just turned 13 a few months back) ..Donald because he finds playing soccer on Saturday afternoons with his friends more fun than coming to hear about Jesus..Paul, Mervyn and Songlian who want to come but are afraid when Donald, whom they look up to, is not interested.. the only one left is a young boy named Kiat Seng who told me on Saturday when we studied John 3:1-21 that Jesus is so important because ______? His answer was, only Jesus can give eternal life...and his heart wrenching question, "you mean, Jesus is God's judgement on the world because Jesus shows that people hate the light and love darkness?" Truly, from the mouths of babes God has ordained wisdom..Furthermore, my church in Singapore has decided to use 2 Ways to Live as its main witnessing tool..its not true that all Asians are offended by 2 Ways to Live..many of the people my church shares the gospel with are pretty hard and steeped in rebellion against God for 40-60 years of their lives..2 Ways to Live cuts through the hubris and hits people where it hurts, at the root of our sinful rebellion..and it has produced results amongst Chinese educated Singaporeans who are hearing the gospel for the first time..

about Relationships and those affairs of the heart that really piss me off with their nagging persistence: no progress..consistent and utter disillusionment with members of the opposite sex..and cold comfort that none of my godly christian brothers here are attached yet..am i morphing day by day into this cold, mean, hard-hearted and cynical dude who just wants to be left alone from the stupidities of humanity? if i could do just what i wanted without anybody interfering, would i truly be happy? why do i like John Calvin and the reformed evangelicals so much? because they're as hard hearted as me? or is it just me taking glee at being able to offend, insult, provoke and hurt human beings whom i feel have never been particularly kind to me, like some sort of perverse revenge through preaching the gospel in a way that they will most reject? i admit, i'm as sinful in my motives and desires as anybody..

about spiritual growth and the pilgrim's progress: my sin truly i hate, and my desire is to live for Jesus, in Jesus..i realise any human being placed under sufficient pressure and the right (or rather, wrong) situation will do evil things..still its God's grace and mercy, in Christ, who took our place and died our death, that we might live in His life..He alone counts for anything..and wherever i go, whether Australia or Singapore, my submission, accountability and allegiance is to Him..

about visiting GBC yesterday: thanks Jiamin for being so welcoming..it was interesting sitting next to ur Dad and Mum without even knowing it..haha..and i would like to start an ex-FOCUS bible study in Singapore when i graduate..and i definitely would want to ask ya (being a 'Gong Focus alumni and all) to be a part of it...ex-FOCI shd continue meeting and reading God's Word together and praying..after talking to my fren Ben from UNSW Focus i realise that there is such a huge need..lets pray and dream..

Photos in Japan

With the Kirisutosha Gakusei Kai (Christian Students Fellowship) at Seiwa College

The Bonus

there once were a group of people who talked a lot about God's gifts to humanity..everything was a gift from God..and they are right in saying that everything we have is due to God's grace..however, and we all know there is a big "but" behind this..they wanted to show that God would only act as human beings thought was good..and chose to ignore other parts of God's character..they were like the man who looks through a narrow slit in the wall and sees the elephant's trunk, and to him, the elephant is the trunk and nothing more..

today, i'm gonna talk about tasting God's bonus a little bit..in the book of Judges, we find God's people in God's promised land, the land of blessing and rest..God took His people through hell and high water literally to bring them to this land..and everything else from the time they entered the land was to be God's blessing, peace, rest and bonus..

but God's people took for granted God's blessing and turned to serve their idols..the Baals and Ashtoreth of their neighbours..and of course God, Israel's father, was very very angry..so much so that he sent evil rulers to judge and oppress His people..

of course, God was so merciful that He raised judges from amongst His people to free Israel from the judgement that God Himself had passed on them..now, we are different from the Israelites..in Jesus, God's Spirit lives in us and we are not stubborn and disobedient like those people..we have true peace with God and God forgives us when we sin..He is no longer angry with us and does not judge us like those stubborn Israelites..the Promised Land and God's bonus in that land point us to Jesus..God's greatest blessing and Promise for us..and as a result, if we have Jesus, everything else is really secondary..if i have a family, it is God's bonus..if i have a wife, it is God's bonus..if i have a great career as an Architect or Lawyer, Accountant or Doctor..it is God's bonus..if i have nothing, still i am blessed because God has given me Jesus..

you see, God's bonus only makes sense if i have God's greatest blessing, Jesus..without Jesus, every bonus is just rubbish and counted as loss..that is what Paul says..

and now, for the punchline application: why participate in ministry? why bother about a conference like SPRTE or a mission to Japan which takes away time from my family and my best frens back home in Singapore whom i want to go on holidays with, to some exotic beach resort with some diving thrown in for good measure?after all, a little bit of water sports never did any harm..why spend time away from family over Christmas? and why the heck should one try to care for God's people when my own needs are hardly met and i don't feel like it and i want to be the happy and comfortable?

Jesus is God's greatest blessing to me.the rest is a bonus..i'm living on borrowed time..should not we have gospel priorities and kingdom concern?should we not give of ourselves just as Jesus gave of Himself? Brendan and Aaron and Emmerie encourage me at this point..they're not FOCUS helpers or ministers..they're not that close to the members of NCS who are so keen on SPRTE which is really an Aussie thing, organised for Aussie Christians..they dun have an obligation to come..yet they do..why? Kingdom living..who's really our king?

Boys Warfare Post

was thinking of doing my weekly update post but realised that i really dun have that much to update about these days as i'm a pretty boring dude and i'm just waiting for SPRTE to roll around and Japan mission..pretty retarded if u ask mi..will update everyone about my battle at packing everything away for storage cos college is gonna kick me out on 29 Nov..dun worry, they do that for all college students cos thats when our contract ends and Summer accomodation begins and the money-grubbing b*st*rds need the rooms for rentin to summer students..hey but no complaints..capitalism has no heart u should noe if u wanna stay in a Bourgeois country..but that update later..first..

i recall a conversation with Tim Wong last year where we had a typical boys' talk about warfare and weapons and which gun u like versus which gun i like...n i realise that i miss that convo n the ex-radiology student..n i never got around to doing a post in honour of ya Timo (the Hom..never mind ;-) well if you're reading this Timo i hope ya like it..hang in there in pilot training ol' buddy...n gals, i'm sorry we're losing ya from this moment on..

now, Tim i noe we disagree on weapons and u think i have weird tastes and i think u've got too conventional western-indoctrinated tastes..so u like the M-16 (n i've fired it before) whereas i prefer the Ak-74 (not the earlier 47 version)...but still, u gotta agree, the world's best n most terrifying machine gun is...

Maschinengewerh MG-42

sounds like ripping cloth and with a rate of fire up to 1200 rounds per minute..chambered for the 7.92 X 57mm Mauser round..psychologically terrifying for troops that have ever faced it in action..roller-locked short recoil action for the bolt..too bad the poor Soviets din copy it and place it in production the way they copied the Sturmgewehr 44/45 and turned it into the famous AK-47...most important of all to those of us who have fired real machine guns before like the Fabrique Nationale (FN) MAG aka GPMG..it is extremely resistant to dust and dirt, weighs only 11.6 kg versus the 11.79 kg weight of the GPMG (n considering that the MG-42 fires a 7.92 mm cartridge versus 7.62mm for the GPMG, this is significant)..

i fantasized firing this weapon and throwing molotov cocktails (that other famous weapon) during the last day of my A-levels..n there were so many times in the SAF i was tempted to treat my GPMG like an MG-42 and turn it on my officers..now u noe how du-l*n i was with some ocs-iffers back then..actually dun need GPMG, SAR-21 can already...apologies to all my Second Lieutenant and First Lieutenant friends hor..this Third Sergeant (NS) say some not so nice things tonite..but i'm prob not talking about u if u are my fren..

by the way, there is a successor to the MG-42..in the post-ww2 German Budeswehr, the MG-42 was modernised and used as the MG3..similar except that it was now chambered for the 7.62 x 51mm NATO round.. n they still use it today..due to be retired in 2011..but still going strong after all these years..

Budeswehr Marines with post-war MG3

well Tim, nice reminiscing bout Boys' Ultimate Toys, Guns..dun take gun n zhua anyone hor..please..

NCS Ball and Japan Trip

everybody has a happy song or a few of them..this is one of mine..and a high candidate for a wedding song..(dat is, IF i do get married)..i'll reform the old Scout campfire band with Tsang on the guitar and myself on the Bass..maybe have to get a stand-in drummer and some singers..but it'll be fun..

anyways, this song was played again at NCS Ball..where Joyce, Matt and myself had a swell time dancing n going crazy..in part thanks to Chris Webb who started the crazy twisting and jiving like he was 16 or maybe 14 again..the idea of dressing up formally for dinner to bid farewell to graduates and then having a dance floor with amazing tunes where pple can just embarrass themselves doing their lil' 2-step shuffle like myself is a pretty cool idea..and its one of those things that work only with Australians where everyone is willing to be a fool for the fun of it..unlike us uptight Asians..i was not acting in character as an uptight Asian international last Thurs nite and i loved it..haha..even though my Australian frens' view of me probably dropped a few notches because of such undignified dancing..then again, dignity is NOT a fruit of the Spirit but Pommie cultural imperialism..haha

And, i feel sad to see my frens leaving, some of whom entered uni about the same time as me..i'll miss u guys, Bambs, Luke Marshall, Josh Allen, Claire Foster, Katie Pearson..its been a wonderful 3 years..just wish i'd gotten an opportunity to hang out with u guys more..and Chris and Karen Webb are leaving us to go to SMBC next year..and just as an aside, i got to know most of these guys through my first Wintercon where i was the Only international around..and i absolutely do not regret it..on a happier note, Steve Watts is joining NCS for MTS apprenticeship next year..MTS is a 2 year ministry apprenticeship programme to prepare graduates for Bible College and eventual ministry and i absolutely recommend it for pple who are contemplating ministry..its available in Singapore now u noe? and as a final note on NCS Ball, Julie Lindemann has got a Perfect voice..;)

Moving on..Japan!its coming up very very soon..i guess i'm kinda an Adrenalin junkie who needs his regular dose of excitement every sem..last sem i travelled to Cairns and dived plus snorkelled at the Great Barrier Reef..which kinda put my whole first sem in great perspective..dis sem there was Melbourne but it really was kinda a let down...but now, Japan is coming up!! and it looks like we're gonna be budget missionaries..Mission on a Shoestring sounds like a great reality TV Show huh..am looking forward to the culture shock and clash of civilisations between West and East..especially between doing church in Japan as compared to Australia (huge difference expected) and with the rest of Asia (still a critical gap expected)..and it would be nice being a blessing to other Christians and non-Christians rather than senselessly taking all the time..at this point my Social Democratic Conscience, Post-Modern Skepticism and Christianity meet..but enough about ideology..

ilook forward to staying in Tokyo and Osaka and Biwako and travelling on the Moonlight Nagara (sounds so culturally Japan, like Cherry Blossom Airlines) and serving in Megumi church...hmmm, i need to find out the actual church names where we'll be serving..anyways, check out FocusinJapan.blogspot.com for more info..dat is, if u give a damn..if u dun, forget it, (such bourgeois utilitarian-materialist self-interested schnobs)

A short Exam Reviver

To those of my friends who are currently hard at work studying for their exams or who are sitting for them as we speak, rest assured that my prayers and hopes go with you all.. i am sure that in this difficult period stress mounts and sometimes tempers fray..sometimes we feel like the end of the world has come..or sometimes we feel that everything takes on negative shades of grey..or maybe we just can't imagine it all ending and if it does, that will be the day of deliverance or salvation or vindication..but again, it will end..This too shall pass..as they say..

Well, at this point no amount of reassurance from this humble friend would quieten the fears and tensions of hearts that are laden with worry and wracked with tension..and the objective eye that wants to place things into perspective for you is cold comfort for your stomach..so probably the only worthwhile thing (and probably the best) that this friend can offer is what Job's friends did for the first 7 days they were with him..and dat is, to sit in silent respect and moral encouragement with all of you and try not to make a nuisance of myself..and NOT to become like Job's friends After the first 7 days when they opened their mouths and became a royal pain in the butt..from their performance we get the term "Job's Comforters" and rest assured, it is not what i desire to be to all of ya..

and, dear friends, here's a final word i'll throw in the mix..God is in charge and watching us in these times...so stop sneaking answers into the exam hall written on your shoes and socks...;)

End Game

Blogging from a uni Pc does have its significant advantages over working from a boring monochrome Mac..well, well...i am at the strange portion of the year where i've finished my last assignment and am getting ready for my final presentation on Monday..which will end it all for this year.. and then i do have one exam on th 22nd of November..which would be for the Introduction to the Bible course under the Provisional Theological Certificate done by Moore College in Sydney...pretty rapid actually, from start to finish of the course..

working with Darius over the past few days was really cool..for once i got to work on a project with a fellow Architecture student rather than separately from them..cos Architecture is a fiercely individual, independent and competitive course which builds up one's hardness, leaness and intellectual defence..i've built some pretty tough muscle in the area of defending my work and counter-criticising my Crit tutors ..anyways, working with Darius reintroduced me to whole new genres of soft rock and pop music which i'd previously abandoned after high school...and some sappy love tunes like Taylor Swift's Teardrops on my Guitar..man..the incurable tragic romantic in me was stirred out of his deep slumber for those few days listening to Darius' music collection..and singing along while working at 3 am in the morning really helps train both the vocal chords and one's ability to handle stress...and of course, his trance music helped me carry on at the ungodly hour of 6 am every morning..even if i was working mechanically in wat i call Zombie Slave mode..even now the tunes play recalcitrantly in the deepest recesses of my mind..

and a last word which is more reflective (like in Reflective Design Theory)...i was talking to a friend recently about...lotsa stuff actualli..and one topic which came up was singleness and relationships. And my friend, being the ever kind and compassionate one who cares for all living creatures and would never harm an ant except for occasional red-back spiders which aren't classified as ants anyway..she promptly compares me to someone who once complained about the same issue and was rebuffed for being selfish and self-centred, and this was given as the probable cause for this person's long time singleness..at first i thought i was being called selfish and self-centred and it was pretty upsetting..den as i prayed and thought about it, i realised that there were lessons indeed to be learned..such as not being too hung up on singleness or marriage, that God is in control and has His plans and reasons for things and that He means us no harm even if it is painful or difficult (which again human beings never consider)..and that i often do care only for myself where relationships are concerned, rather than for others..of course, one might argue that human beings are selfish and so are our relationships, but i think that by God's Spirit, Christians should be different..so yes, i will admit that i often am selfish and self-centred, much as i try, by God's grace, to be God and other-people-centred..and that singleness is an opportunity to learn to care for others in Christian ways without false intentions or wrong motives..and this does prepare Christians in relating to their spouses within the context of marriage..because if we can care for pple and Christians not related to us as Christ intends, so much more will we care for those whom we love dearly.. i won't try to be over-analytical at this point, but i do want to be reflective as a Christian..and at his point, i will say that my friend has encouraged me in a helpful way..even if she probably wasn't thinking things through that widely or thoroughly then..

thus, it is with confidence that i will say to my fellow Christian brothers who deal with this issue on a daily basis that we should place our confidence in Christ and, to quote 2 authors i admire, " when forced to make a difficult decision, take the choice of honour"..and honour is not our own petty male ego-led honour, but Christ's honour..and what is honouring to Christ? Let Him be King and God, over our will, our desires, our ambitions, our wants, everything..