Post-CNY 2009

Like most would say, Chinese New Year this year came and went so fast that it didnt really feel like it was actually a festive season. But despite the little time we spent together, relationships were rekindled. Despite the recession, my ang bao money is quite recession proof. Unfortunately for a dear friend of mine, she received an empty angbao! which made me very much amused. Despite certain events in 2008 that forcibly made some couples sign a 1 year exemption from visiting contrat, they still made an effort to meet up with us, but no angbao =(.





Meeting up with my maternal side relatives was more heart warming than expected, and she's still so vain after all these years!



Ah Ma: Aiyo! Ni yao pai zhao ah? Deng yi xia! wo de tou fa hai luan!

(Aiyo! You want to take picture? wait! my hair is still messy!)



K: Aiyah Ah Ma! Buay yeow kin lahh! Le jin chio lehh!

(Aiya Ah Ma! Never mind lah! You very pretty lehh!)



Ah Ma: Wah, ni de zui ba zhen tian, ke shi wo hai yao bian geng mei!

(Wah, your mouth so sweet, but I want to be even more beautiful!)



And everybody laughs at our small exchange of words. Well she is certainly one happy jovial grandmother, the last one standing among my grandparents. Rumour has it that she was really very chio during her younger days. HAHA. I wonder how true.





Meeting my paternal side proved to be an eye-opener, cousins bringing their other halves to bai nian.. To be kinda honest, some of them dont look like couples! hahaha. Oh well, all things work together for the good of His kingdom. Myrna and Belle would love to be there cos there are quite a number of kids running around! My dad even asked my cousins to introduce girls to me. horrible. And I am the 3rd youngest cousin in the family! so you can imagine my cousins age. late 20s to early 30s. Sigh.. Ive this cousin. for the past few years, every year bring different guy to meet us. But this year different status already. bring fiance! was quite surprised. like "so fast?!?" haha God works in ways we cannot understand..





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Was thinking about personality versus character a couple of days ago after listening to "Choosing the Right Partner in Life", and I realised something about it. Personality is actually like cosmetic make up, whereas Character is what truly defines you as a person. It can be any partner, from romantically-linked partners to business-related partners, it dosent matter. Character still prevails over personality. Why do I say that?



When people ask me during heart-to-heart talks about the kind of girl I'd like (4-5 years ago), I'll reply things like "out-going, funny, sociable, etc" all that normal nonsense sec sch kids would blabber about. Thats where sec sch kids get tricked into thinking thats true love. In fact, more often than not, the relationship would fail sooner all later! Why? Because while you are still young, your personality may be quite erratic. Not saying you have a split/multiple personalities, or should I just say, 10 years down the road, your personality will never be the same and if your partner goes for the personality, you are destined for ditchland. (not Deustchland!) For people doing business, your client can be a super fun guy, go out with you, take you to pubs, treat you to meals, play golf etc. 6 months down the road, you dont see him anymore because he has squeezed every cent out of your company. Where on earth is there character in that?!



Pastor Kong quoted a number of examples, your partner can be an outgoing serial rapist, a funny psychopath, a sweet-talking murderer. Which is true. We see on the newspapers that some dont even look like they'd ever commit such a crime in their life, but they do. And their prey are unsuspecting targets like you and I who are attracted to people for their personality. Personality is simply cosmetics. It makes you beautiful, attracts you to people. It is very easy to change your personality, but not easy to change your character. Character needs to be moulded and defined.



What defines character?

How does ______ handle _____ problems/crisis?

Does ______ stick with you all the way or is he/she only there during good times?

How does ______ handle his/her finances?

Of course there are many questions to ask yourself, the above are just some examples. Likewise if you want to get attached, girls, assess your target properly. And guys, mould your character into somebody that can be marketed. If you want girls/guys to fight over you, then character is the way to go! I have seen many youths of today getting into so-called "unneccessary" relationships because the "other half" happened to meet the need of the person at that specific time. No wonder people are getting together and breaking up. The personality makeup wears off and reveals the true raw character of a person!

During this year, many of you have the desire to get attached because you're not getting young anymore. So am I! Im going to be 23 this year! But I want to get things right in perspective, I want to be able to support her emotionally, financially, spiritually and physically. Now that's character.

Trading Spouses

Of all places, I happened to catch this reality tv show on ch 5 when I went to the medical centre for my ORD FFI checkup. To tell you the truth, I kinda liked this episode although I thought others were really quite bad. Okay, brief outline of the show: 2 families trade wives, of course totally different backgrounds, and across different states, for 1 week. Of course the wives know nothing about the families that they are going to. At the end of a week, they get US$50,000 and write a letter to the family about what they are going to do with the money. They meet at a place, swap envelopes that contains instructions and then return to their respective families where they will reveal what each other has written in the letter.


The last episode that I managed to catch was about this rich, Indian family, and another family living in the countryside and loves medieval stuff. So they swap wives and it was a total disaster. Apparently this rich woman couldnt tolerate the "poor" living conditions and was even made to fix breakfast at 6 in the morning, move in the hay in the barn, and clean up horse poop in the stables. So much so that she attempted to make the family suit her lifestyle through having a family meeting. Then they had voiceovers of what she was feeling inside and she was insulting the families culture. To a certain extent, she was right by saying that they needed to move on from being childish (medieval stuff) and look at the real world. But I guess, the key here is BALANCE. You cant be 100% serious all the time! Which is why at times, I love to keep in touch with the youth within. Like take a break and go really crazy.

On the other end of the country, this country bumpkin housewife was treated to the lifestyle of the rich and the famous, brought to restaurants and branded retail boutiques. She was amazed by all that was around her, and the family even rented a top class hotel to accomodate them for the week. However, the father and daughter had nothing positive to say about the good food and nice clothes. One day the housewife couldnt take it and decided to do something nice and made sushi. BUT, the dad and daughter yet spouted out nothing but words of criticism. Eventually the dad took ice cream from the fridge and the daughter said "this makes me puke". Now obviously this family is spoilt for comfort. They had simply no respect for the lady and just let their mouths rattle. No wonder the Bible says it is VERY hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Their attitude stinks.

Thats probably all that I caught for that episode, was too disgusted. But today I caught a heart warming on and I was touched. There was this black family and another italian family and they swopped wives for the week. For the black family, the italian woman, though rich, fitted perfectly with the 3 kids. More importantly, she met a need that the husband was suffering for a long long time. He was suffering from low self esteem because his dad had nothing good to say about him. Despite the fact that someone new was around, he hammered his own son like nobody's business. So, eventually, she managed to help reconcile the relationship and the whole family was rejoicing.

For the italian family, the black housewife also fitted in well with the family, and she noticed that the dad was distanced from the children. Upon probing, she found out that he was hardly at home because of his career as a dancer, and if he were to quit his job, he couldnt support the family. Because of all that, the relationship between husband and wife deteriorated and had frequent quarrels. First the wife reconciled his relationship with his kids by sitting him and the kids down on the table, and making the dad ask his kids, how do they feel when he's not around. Both had similar answers of "I miss daddy, I want daddy to play with me, etc" And then, she made him to take a piece of paper and write down 3 things that made him love his wife when they were very much in love. That was pretty much about all that went on, perhaps maybe a trip out to the beach (they lived next to one).

So they met at a place and updated each other about what they did in each others families and the italian lady was practically in tears way before reading her husband's note about herself. The black lady was also touched and pleased to know that her husband was reconciled with her dad-in-law. So they hugged and comforted one another and went back to their families. The italian family was reunited and husband and wife once again madly in love. The black family kinda quarrelled because the italian lady basically spended their money on things they didnt need. like a renovation of their entire house. But at the end of the day, the message was clear and simple, family sticks together, thick or thin.


If Singapore ever had a show like that, everyone would want to trade wives with Alan Tern (Priscelia Chan), Glenn Ong (Jamie Yeo), Allan Wu (Wong Li-lin) etc. Singaporeans and their crazy fantasies. Sigh. But I wouldnt want to trade my wife for anything. HEE HEE.

The greyness of Conformity

con⋅form⋅i⋅ty 
1. action in accord with prevailing social standards, attitudes, practices, etc.
2. correspondence in form, nature, or character; agreement, congruity, or accordance.
3. compliance or acquiescence; obedience.
4. (often initial capital letter) compliance with the usages of an established church, esp. the Church of England.
5. Geology. the relationship between adjacent conformable strata.





I have been told once by an undisclosed source that Pauline is a conformist. The minute I heard that, I nodded in agreement with the person. Why do I say that? Refer to the 3rd definition. She is always obedient to her leaders. Whenever Pastor tasks her to do something, she will do it without fail. I'm not saying that she's silly to do something without really thinking, but she trusts in the Godly authority placed over her life. I believe in conformity, I really do. But I also believe in a balance between conformity and non-conformity. To do that an individual has to be able to exercise a certain level of maturity and discipline.

The bible warns us not to conform to the ways of the world, and at the same time, it liberates us to do whatever we want! When I say "do whatever we want" it does not mean that we live a life of corruption, but in all our ways we honour God, glorfiy His name, do things that is His will for your life, and make Him proud of you. Sometimes, being out there, people do not understand the way you and I work. We can have excellent ideas, well-drafted plans for the company, but our aim is not to stamp out the ideas of the people in the world. If our "Christian" idea is rejected, so what?! If we are not the ones next in line for promotion, so what?! We are to be conversionists out there! Conversionist - taking what is broken, mending it, and restoring it to its original purpose! (Correct me if I left out anything, its by memory 3-4 years ago) If an idea from a "worldly" person can take the company up another level, without breaking any laws, no underhand means, why not?

Guys lets really renew our minds and not limit our thoughts and actions any further. Yes, the world is corrupted eversince the first Adam sinned. But redemption has been demonstrated through the cross and quoting Dr Bernard, we need to see the redemptive value in each and every person and situation! Lets not be "religious" and rigid, because where the spirit is, there is liberty. Since the spirit lives within us, then of course, our character and mannerisms must be of the spirit. Comon, shallow thoughts no more. The truth has set us free.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

I am not about to become a movie critic like my dear friend AP Tan, just couldnt find a more appropriate title that this. However since I'm on the mood of blogging about superheroes, I thought why not. hehe.





*Somebody gotta teach me how to put peeektures on blogs*







I was suddenly reminded of turtles on the way back home yesterday and I thought it was rather interesting. Many of us dont realise that turtles can have lifespans of a few hundred years, some even up to a thousand over years old. Mind you, this does not happen when it eats the thousand year elixir in seaweed form. Eversince birth, their entire life is a fight for survival. The mother turtle always creeps up the shore just to dig a hole, lay its eggs and cover them up again before heading back to the ocean. This always happens in the middle of the night or before daybreak. Each time, it can lay a couple hundred of eggs. All you mothers who thought 2 was painful enough, shame on you. And you just lie in bed after that. All of you should be thankful you dont have to wade yourself back into the ocean. We realise later how we shouldnt be like the turtle.

The war begins. Even before the eggs hatch, there is a risk that the turtle might've been under the watchful eye of human, who would dig out the turtle eggs to sell. Friends, if you worked so hard like the turtle to birth forth your dream, dont let it die a premature death. Why waste all that hard work? Or even more so, allow others who arent as passionate as you to take it away from you! Dont you ever be like the turtle, give birth and walk away. Maybe the turtle knew that it had 0% chance of saving even one egg from the captors, but as long as the responsibility is there, be a man, do the right thing. Friends in ministry, dont ever let a newly-saved friend die a premature death. See him/her all the way through!

A couple of weeks later, the eggs hatch and there comes the frantic scramble for survival. the turtlings (or whatever you call little turtles) have to dig their way out of their shell, out of the sand covering them, and scramble all the way to the ocean, which is quite far out for their size. Along the way, there are crabs hiding in ambush, awaiting their prey. Again they are much faster and more agile in their movement, chances of evasion is like...zilch. And even if they reach the sea, they may not survive as bigger sea creatures will gobble them up like plankton.

From this journey through the early stages of turtle-hood, its never easy. At every stage, there is definitely a challenge, just like how in computer games are (theres always a 'boss' to fight). True, we can always brave fire alone. However, we run the risk of getting ourselves burnt if the fire is too strong. Every single one of us is in this race to freedom, be it financial freedom or emotional freedom or whatever. Bottomline is, we want to be free, to be given liberty to do what we want, where we want and how we want. But, we cannot do it alone. If there was somebody to ensure that every turtle-ing gets to the ocean, they probably wouldnt be an endangered species now.

Let's not be selfish about living life. Share it. We may not be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles who can rescue everybody and anybody in trouble, but we can, one at a time. Singaporeans are always so reserved about their lifestyle. In angmoh countries, they engage people wherever they go. Be it shopping, or eating out, they engage with the waiters/waitresses, salesman/salesgirl. It's an open society out there. I can safely tell you, within 5mins and bam, they can find out something personal. Look at the stark difference in Singapore? People just mind their own business. Dont know, dont ask, dont care. Which is what I dont really like about our culture. I know I always have long posts, but one thing leads to another and the chain of thoughts keep flowing. Do give it some consideration, and make a difference in somebody's life today. =)

*abrupt ending right? purposely, to make you guys think!*

Ip Man

I know people will correct me whenever I say the title of the movie (I pronounce is as eeep man. sometimes I.P. man), but after watching it, I still refuse to change the way I pronounce the title of the movie.

I enjoyed the movie alot alot alot.. but then again I didnt know how on earth did I watch it. Never knew what the plot was about, just watched because friends wanted to, and heard it was good. Thankfully, the movie provided abit of background info about Ip Man, if not I would be totally lost in the cinema. I really think this chinese movie is probably ranked the best I've ever watched. Not because I love kungfu fighting and run as fast as lighting, with a little bit of timing, but because it encompasses Chinese values and our way of life, and of course, I always love movies with a little bit of history.

What makes Ip Man Ip Man is not about his skills in kungfu, but his attitude. Righteousness followed his humble nature, and I guess, the reason why he did not take in disciples was not because he was afraid his disciples would supercede him, but use their skills for the wrong cause (back then he was an upholder of justice, ie policeman). If there was any after-movie feeling, I guess I loved the Chinese even more. The values in our DNA that only we Chinese can comprehend. We love communal living. We stand up as one for each other. We have our pride and integrity. We serve one another. We defend our country and remain loyal towards it. This is something we Chinese hold close to our hearts, even if we are not born from China.

National patriotism, something most botak boys at the age of 18 fail to have. Not to worry, at one point I thought that way too. But I remember telling someone, you can take me out of Singapore, but you can never take the Singapore out of me. If there was ever such a thing as a Chinese Superman/Batman/Spiderman, Ip Man would take the role hands down. Not because he is a superhero, but because he is an ordinary man, with an extraordinary attitude, living out life the Chinese way. He is a role model because even in the face of death, he stuck by his beliefs and core attributes that a true blue Chinese would ever posess.

That my friends, can never be taught.

Going global.

Initially when I was in secondary school, I studied about going global in the Social Studies curriculum. Back then I guess I embraced it with much ignorance of what it really meant for foreign & local companies, MNCs to do so. I am sure most of us would've just memorised everything word for word and then vomit everything out in the O level exam, without realising the impact it had upon the world economy.

Let me post a question now.

'Isn't going global exactly the Great Commandment and the Great Commission and the Cultural Mandate combined?'

The only difference is the worldly mindset and our Christian mindset.


Once upon a time, I recall someone telling me "Successful businessmen take risks." I beg to differ. If that statement was true, then those people who buy 4D, TOTO, Big Sweep, would be millionaires by now. If that statement was true, betting centres would all close down. But I dont think successful businessmen work that way. Its more like "Successful businessmen take calculated risks." I am sure no one in the right mind would want to take a losing bet. Whoever wants to lose? We learn about Probability, and yes, certain things can be calculated to see if you have a chance of earning anything. But, circumstances can easily turn the tables. Sad to say, the winning formula does not work for everyone. To some, it may be a small risk and you are able to lead life as per normal if the risk goes bust. To some, they cannot take the same risk as they struggle with bills and daily necessities.

Why do I bring about risks and going global?

I believe my cell group can go global.

Not in the sense of members going overseas for studies or overseas attachments, but collectively as a cell group. As I chat with members about their respective fields, I grow in excitement and relish the opportunity to work together with them to make a global impact. How so you may ask? Pauline and Rachel have just come back from Indonesia not too long ago doing humanitarian work. Jacqueline is a frequent flyer to Southeast Asian countries. Celeste just came back from Project Angkor, providing medical help to rural areas. Cynthia has tickets every year to anywhere. We are more than capable of sending ourselves out there into the mission field!

We got to be bold and passionate about it.

Going global is no longer a chapter in the Social Studies textbook.

Going global is a mandate engraved on our hearts.

thanksgiving shoutouts

A little overdue, but do not be disheartened if you do not find your name here or do not have paragraphs written about you.



Pauline- bestest cell group leader ever, though I wish you would reply mails faster.. and tell me moreeee. your mails are too short for me to know anything! nevertheless, thank you for being so ever encouraging in whatever I do in Australia. Even when I am back, you made me feel at home with everyone else.

N309- thank you for giving me such a warm welcome. past few weeks have been nothing short of enjoyable. looking forward to spending more time with my wonderful cell group! thank each and everyone of you for being such a blessing to me. Even for the new people, thank you for not treating me as if I were a stranger but as part of the cell group. thank you for making me feel as if I have not left at all. thank you for all the wonderful reports I have heard before my return, I hope to create milestones after milestones with you guys into this new year, before I leave again that is. =)

Wayne- thank you for being so irritating. hurry up come back from europe so we can run together, before I get too flabby. thank you for being ever so tolerant whenever I suan you and leenie. hahahahahaha.

Dixon- thank you for being so irritatingly funny as well. for bringing joy, and sometimes pain into my life. thank you for constantly provoking me about my love interests. but i think for now.. nothing is going to happen. thank you for psycho-ing me to get a taylor.

Tay SuSu- thank you for laughing at me whenever we go to the gym together, makes me work harder. thank you for letting me play around with your car. thank you for letting me lmao at your ah ma's house. thank you for sharing a PS3 with me.

Aileen- thank you for being so tolerant whenever I suan you about being lovesick about wayne. thank you for being so crazy that you make songs about me and whoever else. thank you for sending me home when I dont have the car. thank you for the countless suppers that make me fat. thank you for tagging me in meaningless photos that suddenly makes sense.

Mic Lamster- thank you for being so open-minded, I love it that way. thank you for allowing me to release whatever emotions within. thank you for being so tolerant of my nonsense jokes and rubbish whenever I am hyper. thank you for accepting my straightforward-ness.

Cavewoman Soh- thank you for being so accepting for who I am. thank you for accepting my views and stands about certain issues. thank you for providing entertainment for me. thank you for accepting my straightforwardness. thank you for being the receiving end of blunt remarks. thank you for being meek. thank you for being so tolerant of my endless suanning.

Sheila- thank you for your shriekifying laughter. it rocks. Shalom.


thats about all i can think of as of now.. still reeling from the shag-ness of ubin.

01/01/2009

Christmas came and went, and I guess, for most who share the same sentiments as I do, feel that Christmas didnt really feel like Christmas. Whether if it depended on the economic situation or not, some how or rather, it did have an impact on everyone, be it financially or simply just the sian-ness of how dark times are. Nevertheless, I guess for me I had good, clean fun with certain groups of friends, even meeting up my primary school friends whom I've never seen eversince the PSLE ended.

As much as I would like to sum up 2008, the dixon and the lengkian are busy winning eleven-ing whilst I type this entry. I guess '08 was really an eye-opener, especially the transition to settling down in Perth. Certainly feels like Abraham, but I am really really grateful for those who kept in touch with me from sunny island of Singapore. It's really assuring to know that people at home have not forgotten you and are still ever so interested in your life. With all that, what else can I ask for?

For '09, I think theres a part of me that anticipates the best for the coming year, and another part of me that "kind of regretted" going overseas. How ironic. I distinctly recall P. YK saying "dont go overseas" to the Indos 1-2 years ago, and yet I turned out to be one that was flying. Well, I cant say it was a good thing, but I cant say it was a bad thing either. Probably the most important thing I'd encourage you guys to do is to get skype on your computer.. it'll be so much more better than just chatting with a blank screen!

For New Year Shoutouts, I guess I'll do some tonight. Right now, I'll just spend the remaining of 010109 chilling out with the 2 guys and winning eleven.