Quantum of Solace movie review

Caught a movie just the other day with my friends, Kevin, Jin Meng, Bernard and Yuan Zhi, just the other day. As usual, I was the laughing stock for the day - how was I to know that fella was pushing the glass panel towards me when I was looking at the other direction? In the end I embarrassed myself by hitting myself unintentionally against the glass panel in public.

Disclaimer: Hey guys... Don't blame me for being so excited over VivoCity, man. It's my first time there, so I'm going to describe VivoCity as much as I can.

Nevermind that, I am willing to be a fool for Christ, for He who is above the world is far greater than he who is in this world. Anyways, we got the tickets we went for lunch at the food court located at the top floor. And it was the worst place possible to eat cheaply - the food court was designed and embellished so that it looks like a typical Chinese eatery in the middle of the night. With all that engineering feat it was easy to drag us into eating stuff we normally wouldn't pay such extravagant prices for... Thanks Bernard, for leading us into partial bankruptcy on-the-go...

and we went into Golden Village VivoCity. Along the way, we saw a separate corner specially for Gold class seats only. Whoo, looks posh, but definitely costs the customer a bomb, according to Jin Meng. Being the rich fella among us, of course he was being made fun of as the "Big Boss" able to afford such stuff for his 'family' - an internal joke that I'd share someday at the expense of his Internet-ional ridicule, which I just hadn't the heart to.

We went on to the cinema. Quantum of Solace was pretty cool, with all the special effects and stunts. No spoilers for you guys, so here's basically what I like about the movie: It's just stuntful, going around and shooting people like nobody's business, apart from the storyline, and it's a good show to go, if you aren't fundamentalist enough to follow the Bible strictly, verbatim.

However, from a Christian point of view I notice that most of the good movies in the cinemas nowadays either include lots of violence and sex - which explains the high popularity of M18 shows like Kill Bill and 300 - or the ones that are rated NC16 like Rule #1 and Resident Evil movie series. From all this I see sublimal messaging though - people these days are strongly influenced by things that they see in the cinema, so maybe that could be one of the reasons that you see those bad things going on in society - I won't say what.


That being said though, I don't object to watching these stuff - just be watchful of what you're watching and you should be safe - don't let violence from such movies influence you to be violent or stuff like that.

O Level Crisis - Week 4: Feeling like a half-filled cup of water

Ok, the papers are gone. Finally, no more studying for me until next year! Thank you Jesus! Unfortunately, I still feel a bit empty, having to adapt with suddenly having no more school and no more examinations and tests, and most importantly, not being able to be with my good old chums...

O Level Physics Paper 1, 10/11/08, 8.00am
Studied until 12am the previous night, so I wasn't in my best condition to sit for the examination that day. Still made it through, though not without a few careless mistakes. Finished this paper within half an hour, with another half an hour left to burn.

O Level Chemistry Paper 1, 12/11/08, 8.00am
Studied my guts out with everything I had, and threw in everything I had. Finished this paper within 45 minutes, because of chemical equations that had to be intepreted properly. By the time this paper was over, I was already halfway dead when the Physics-Chemistry Double Science students were out to celebrate already...

Nevermind that, just one more day to freedom and I'm outta this O level cage. Must bear, must bear, must bear...

O Level Biology Paper 1, 13/11/08, 8.00am
Threw in every last bit of my strength into this day. Threw in everything I've got, my guts, my brains, my intestines(I made up the intestines part myself), and guess what happened...

...I finished it in 25 minutes. Overdrive mode - Must put in my best, must put in all I've got, must let this be over in the fastest possible time....

...and dozed off for the next 15 minutes until the examiner woke me up. What to do? I checked the answers again for careless mistakes. It was a drag - the next 20 minutes was decades to me, right smack at that particular seat at the examination hall. Air-conditioned hell.

"Time's up!"

My heart rose.

"...and the boys will move the tables to the second level, and the girls will stack up the chairs and put them at the side of the hall..."

My heart sank. Thanks, teachers, for fully utilising the manpower at the expense of our absence from the school for the rest of our lives now...(open sarcasm)

Watched Quantum of Solace with Kevin and the others, then proceeded to hang around in VivoCity for a while before going back to Tampines Sports Hall for badminton. By night-time I was back in action, practicing for the December 13 Christmas Dinner performance item.

Finally, Aaron Goh is back in action!

O Level Crisis - Week 3: Waste of time

Hi, back to what's going on in the GCE O Levels for me, continued from previous posts...

O Level Combined Humanities(Social Studies), 3/11/08, 2.oopm
This paper wasn't as hard as I thought - I was well prepared already when I sat for the paper. It isn't often that you get to sit for a paper so confident in a major examination that determines your future, you know. I chose question (4) as I thought it was much easier as compared to the other questions, namely (2) and (3).

After the paper, I asked around and to my surprise, most of my classmates chose question (3), on Northern Ireland and Sri Lanka. First reaction was "What?" Such a difficult topic to write on, yet so many people chose that? From what I think it looks like, I think everyone else's outta their minds to do something that is going to cost them marks when they could avoid that question altogether and do another.

No offence, but I think I'm saying this because I got stuck halfway while trying to attempt question (3) and cancelled off the whole question because I wrote crap, ending up doing question (4) instead, which was far much easier.

O Level Chinese Papers I and II, 5/11/08, 8.00am and 10.45am
Something happened halfway during Paper I, which is too embarrassing and humiliating to mention. Skip that.

The papers were not as difficult as I thought - I managed to do it with ease, and managed to survive the whole ordeal with a chronic stomachache throughout the examination. Tough luck, eh? Anyways, I did manage to finally finish Paper I, making up for the unfinished Paper I in the Mid-Year Chinese GCE O Level. Paper II was easier too - all the comprehension passages span only about three-quarters of a page!

The remaining days - guess what did I do? Yes, play! But of course there's some discipline involved - with great amounts of play-time also means great amounts of study-time as well. I studied throughout the nights till at least 3am the next day. Today's no different too.

Bad state of the bedroom

Messy, eh? This is the conditions where I live in - always.

Nevertheless it's still rather comfy - and the messier it gets, the more inspiration I draw from the surroundings for stuff. And of course, it has always been that way since last year's Final Term examination period, and hasn't changed since then, even till the Secondary 4 Preliminary Examinations and this current GCE O Level period.

If you're saying it's humiliating to show the state of the bedroom in this mess, it's a big mistake. I'm proud of this room, because that's where I spend most of my time in. After all, what better place than to be in your room doing all that nonsense and serious stuff in the same place?

Coming up with a song - finally!

After hearing so many good songs of worship dedicated to praising God for His presence and power, I thought, maybe it's time for me to compose a song for Him as well. And what better way than to do it on the guitar as well!

Actually, I have been struggling with coming up with something called a "song" for quite some time, when the inspiration just came up from nowhere in the middle of the night. The next day I immediately penned down the song and got my guitar going, without even allowing some time for myself to brush up(eew, that's gonna stink).

It's been written down already for quite some time, but I just thought I wanna share the song with you people:

Title: What a blessing it is to be with You
By: me
*Chords and rhythm are to be released later, when feedback is received about the lyrics

This day I proclaim that You are King
You are Lord and Saviour of my life
You alone are worthy of my praise
Because You are the truth, the life, the way
Who can ever match your lovingkindness
Your grace, Your love and Your peace?
The cross before me, the world behind me
You are the One I long to worship all my life

Chorus:
Oh what a blessing it is to be with You
In all my fears and worries, I turn to You
Jesus, the foundation on whom I stand
I commit my life into your hands

By the way, I usually never write songs and this is my first, so if the lyrics don't sound right, please offer some suggestions. Thanks, people!

O Level Crisis - Week 2: Justification of Study

Well yep. The second week is past - 4 more weeks to go! I say 4 weeks, because there's another two more weeks to the end of the O Levels, and immediately after the GCE "O" Levels, we Secondary Fours are called to practice for 2 more weeks as the cream of the crop in Anglican High Guitar Ensemble... Who said that we were very good at guitar anyway, now that all that full-time studying has turned our skills a bit rusty?

Somehow, I don't think it makes sense for us Secondary Fours to go back there to practice full-time in school anymore - surely a longer holiday break is well-deserved for us after all the hell at Muggers' Paradise*? Unfortunately it seems to be a big NO - we are enlisted to perform exactly one month later, at Victoria JC Auditorium, 7pm on 28th November! The O level break isn't justified - we won't get any fun out of it, neither would we have time to search for holiday jobs, FTW(for the win)! 

If I can help it, I'd skip any guitar practices, since I already have my credit for the stuff I've done for Guitar Ensemble. But if I do that, all becomes very political. If I remember right, I remember Mrs NC Koh saying that we Secondary Fours promised her to perform for this public performance. Yeah, tell me more about promises - I don't remember ME making any such promise from the start, though I don't know about the others.

Enough for all that ranting - time for some serious business with GCE "O" Levels?

O Level Combined Humanities(History Elective), 28/10/08, 2.00pm

This one's a tough nut to crack, but it was yet another morale booster for the rest of the examinations that came later on. Ah finally, though the League of Nation's appeasement policy wasn't justified because it accelerated World War II when it was supposed to prevent war in the first place, my midnight oil certainly was justified. Hell, something that I studied for until 4am the next day past midnight surely must have been justified - the stuff just became second nature at the exam hall, so I just wrote and wrote: 3 pages for Source-Based Questions, and 1 1/2 pages for each of the 2 Structured Essay Questions.

O Level Physics Paper II, 29/10/08, 2.00pm

The moment I finished the paper, I thought - drats. How on earth did such unexpected questions come out on the paper? The size of an atom - the fundamentals - I forgot Chapter 1, of all things! A couple of mistakes could've been avoided easily, had I been more on my toes for Physics paper. So, for those future O Level candidate wannabes, better watch out - I've been there down and dirty on that paper and now, there goes my A1 for this paper...

...unless I work really hard this time round for Paper 1?

O Level Elementary Mathematics Paper II, 30/10/08, 8.00am

Morning paper. That's one thing you've gotta be thankful for whenever you sit for any paper - one thinks most clearly in the morning than in the other times of the day! In my opinion, this paper can be better utilised when sent to primary schools to raise their standard by a little, in my opinion, as compared to putting it in front of our desks in the O Level exam hall. Or better yet - use the question booklet as rough paper to fold paper aeroplanes.

O Level Biology Paper II, 31/10/08, 2.30pm

Just thank the Lord they gave me this paper! Having aims to become a doctor, this paper is fundamental to my ambitions - so this is the most dangerous one of all the papers, in a sense that if this paper goes wrong, my ambitions and future can be jeopardised at any moment during the exam period...

Just thank the Lord that these stuff didn't come out for this paper:

1. Mitosis and meiosis
2. Excretion(includes kidney and functions, as well as dialysis machine function)
3. Enzymes
4. Genetic diagrams
5. The heart and cardiac cycle
6. Genetic engineering
7. Down syndrome(trisomy 21)
8. Nervous system and reflex actions
9. Impact on Ecosystems(eutrophication and bioaccumulation)

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good - His love endures forever!

However I, too, must still be on my toes - who knows, they might just test us on this very topics that Paper II failed to test us on. Another great morale booster - I'm one step closer to helping God spread His gospel through getting nearer and nearer to studying medicine!

Granted that I shouldn't start getting complacent, I have to hit the books again, so stay tuned for next week's post - O Level Crisis - Week 3!

Coffee - my good friend, but God is greater!

Depending on this stuff called caffeine since the start of the GCE 'O' Levels. This trusty friend is there when you need him, but you gotta pay for the extra energy boost. And oh, did I mention there's expiry dates for this kind of stuff?

Unlike caffeine, God always gives up strength whenever we are weak. As it says in Isaiah 40:31,

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings as eagles;
they shall run, and not be weary;
and they shall walk, and not faint.

Trusty Jesus always has His way in me, always much better than caffeine itself. Why, He created caffeine within the first 6 days of creation, so needless to say, He's gotta be greater than coffee itself! Just for good measure, having God to keep you awake during study periods is a free service offered to us, if only we ask for it. All praise be to Him for keeping the best things in life free!

Of course, God doesn't have such things called "expiry dates" printed on Him, so don't worry about having no energy if you allow Him to be your powerhouse. However, there's a trick to having Jesus help you out...

Most people probably wouldn't see the connection here between God and coffee, but to gain the effects of caffeine you gotta first fix up the coffee before you can drink it. Likewise, we should learn to serve and love God before we enjoy His presence in our lives. Our longing to love and serve God is part of this "coffee-mix" of a life pleasing to Him.

1. You prepare the mix - learn to love and serve God with the sugar of faith, milk of perseverance. Sieve out the impurities in your mix - remove sin in your life.
2. God adds his water of grace and mercy, and adds in love, patience, peace, kindness, temperance, discipline, joy, forgiveness, and everything nice from Himself to make the coffee top-grade.
   
3. He gives you the mix - enjoy the "Life's Ultimate Victory coffee-mix" recipe, free-of-charge!
   

O Level Crisis - Week 1: Morale Boosters

Just a little sum-up of what's been going on this week, from a personal point of view.

O Level Chemistry Paper II - 20/10/08, 2.30pm
It was tough studying, but the paper simply was a let-down. It didn't justify my effort that I've put in for Chemistry, my favourite subject, because it turned out that most of the questions were either too clichéd or simply questions that appeared in either the Preliminary Examinations or other practice papers, repeated in this paper. A pushover - I enjoyed this paper, though I expected more Qualitative Analysis questions in this paper.

O Level English Papers I and II - 21/10/08, 2.30pm and 5.00pm
English is my greatest liability here, and I can finally say I put in everything I had for this paper. This comprehension paper should get me at least a B3 or B4, I think, instead of the lousy C5 I got for the Preliminary Examinations. The summary question was quite a challenge, but I am sure I got at least 10 points from the passage right...

O Level Additional Mathematics Paper I - 22/10/08, 2.30pm
A complete pushover, though I underestimated the paper after all - a quick check AFTER the examination made me spot careless mistakes here and there, which dashed my hopes for 80/80 marks for the paper. But still, I'm going to be content with just a little over 70 marks for this paper.

O Level Elementary Mathematics Paper I, Additional Mathematics Paper II - 24/10/08, 8.00am and 2.30pm
Another fun time at the examination hall - except that many people ranted about careless mistakes made in E-Maths Paper I, which means that I must have made some of the blunders discussed. Went to disturb Alex and George while they're using Alex's laptop to play Counter-Strike, Diablo II and later DotA. Wow, they sure have a knack for playing games at that point in time, man.

Back in the examination hall. Skipped 3 questions before inspiration hit me in the head in that very instant I prayed for His help. It was getting easier and easier as I progressed into the paper. All thanks, praise and glory be to my Jesus Christ - He turned the A-Maths paper from a chore to entertainment!

Will continue updating the experiences of being in the examination hall on the next post, titled: O-Level Crisis - Week 2.

Christmas Dinner Performance 2008 Auditions

Okay... Here's what's been going on in church. We're called to put up a performance item for My Saviour's Church Christmas Dinner 2008. Of course I'm enthusiastic about it, but the timing is a little bit off, I'll admit. Still, I gotta put in my best for this one, even though significant events are popping up everywhere.

I mean, immediately after the O Levels we Secondary 4 Guitar Ensemble members have to go back to practice for the next 2 weeks, while still trying to market the tickets away. Sometimes I wonder, how did Claudia and the others manage to sell the tickets off so fast?

To make things worse, there's another 2 more chalets to come up, which I must attend. Because, well, 4B'08 will have much less opportunities to be together as a class as each of us goes towards their own paths in life, so this coming class chalet will have a lot of significance. Same goes for the Guitar Ensemble chalet - the Secondary 4s in Guitar Ensemble will no longer be around, so you Secondary 1 to 3 juniors - beware!

Yea, though this is pretty hectic, but with all these things around, I've gotta be down there, being the live entertainment and man-behind-the-scenes? Sigh, freedom after the O Level period isn't free...

...or maybe it is, but just involves shedding a couple of never-shed tears and a couple more "can't-bear-to"s?

Gaining momentum - Veni vidi vici!

I came, I saw, I conquered.

This shall come true for the rest of the papers that I'm taking. So far I've taken Chemistry Paper II, the full English Paper and Additional Mathematics Paper I. And the outlook has been optimistic, I would say.

Ah, 3 days through the examination and I'm already feeling confident for the papers to come. If I know them 4B folks well, they should be slogging their guts out for the next coming 2 papers, even as I type this entry. So, here's just a couple of comments for the papers that I took so far:

Chemistry Paper II
Quite disheartening, because I've studied a lot on Qualitative Analysis, and the paper turned out to only have just 2 questions. First reaction was WTF? Overall, I reckon they purposely put the paper this way to be a morale booster for the papers to come.

English Papers I and II
Wreaked havoc and killed more brain cells that I could estimate, and I got stuck halfway doing Question 1 - The delights and frustrations of being a teenager. I prayed for inspiration, and true enough, Jesus saw me through the whole paper, finally ending with a decent essay to hand in. Did situational writing, deja vu. English Comprehension seemed to be the greatest liability throughout the exam, and I was writing on an empty stomach(Oh God, save me!), but still, the summary question did lift my spirits up in the end, because now I am confident that I put in my best. This paper took everything I had, now it's time to get back at English!

Additional Mathematics Paper I
Not that I like to brag, but this paper...

...just barely managed to kiss my ass. Nice try, A-Maths, but you ain't getting anywhere with me without me first scoring with you. No constructive comments for this one - I'm eager to pwn this paper hard and fast.

Well, that's that for now. I'm going to "kill" the papers one by one until I am the last one standing by the 13th November...

Mixed feelings - What does it mean to be Anglican?

So, the graduation ceremony is over, and all of us will sit for the GCE 'O' Level Examinations. After that, we're going each to their own paths in life. Just feeling a bit emotionally unstable, because it's the last day that the people who make up 4B'2008 are going to gather together like this, in classroom setting. The next time we meet, we could very well be all fully grown-ups, each holding their own jobs and careers.

Here's a little piece of junk that came to my mind during the graduation ceremony in the afternoon, and it seemed like a pretty fitting one, so here goes:

The first howl of wind blew us all into different places.
Some ended up in the same class, same school,
Others flew somewhere else...
The old friends became scattered,
The strangers settled together, all clueless and lonesome.
The PSLE cert did the scattering of the people to the four winds.

Before we knew it,
Everyone was naming each other "Friend".
And so in life, our paths did cross this way.
Friendships were hurt here and there,
But often, hatchets were buried in no time.
We thought, "After all we're classmates,
There wasn't any need to fight anyway."
And so, flames of anger always get quenched down easily,
Never to become political in any form.

The troubles came - it's the friggin' exams.
Every man for himself!
Some soared high,
but others were left behind, trying to catch up.
"Aha," I realised.
That was what friends are for -
To save your butt and throw you into the good-grades bandwagon.
Bonds were formed, both ionic, covalent and friendship,
and ever-continuing self-improvement of class 4B, both academically and socially.
Very reactive - laughs followed wherever we were as a class.

The second howl of wind - history repeats itself.
GCE 'O' Levels - every man for himself, its the friggin' exams!
It happens, whether you like it or not.
Great pals get sucked into the JC-choice cyclone,
Eventually going to be scattered once again,
To unchartered waters of confusion and uncertainty.
Here everyone will have to fend for ourselves,
But even as we crawl, grab, squirm, struggle, run, walk,
climb, soar through the difficulties we will face much later in life,
When will we see each other,
In such unity as that we had in those days?

I know it's sounds emo, but I did this on the fly, man. Don't expect quality, I'm not good at writing poems...

Anyways. To be honest, it was the first time in history that I've ever put this tough question in front of my face - what does it mean to be Anglican? In the past, I used to complain about lousy school policies, such as having the Mid-Years AFTER the June Holidays, and the stringent need to really sit down and let morning devotions sink into our heads, and of course, CCA problems here and there.

I used to grumble about the school wasting money on unwanted books and programmes like community service, when that time could have been better spent on studies. However, it was only though these stuff like Hari Raya that made everyone buy Malay costumes to fit into the class dress code, and newspaper collections at apartment flats that made us cooperate with each other and help out whenever possible. And it was all these events that made me feel that, yeah. I'm part of a class, not a lone wolf. The tons of recyclable material could not have been successfully gathered without the help of everybody.

In other words, the 4B class name will always bring me some nolstagia.

The goal becomes clear

Well, many events have been happening and yep, it's not in my favour too. Even so, my targets are clear for now - I desperately need to raise my L1R5 score drastically within this two weeks, or risk not being able to be with most of my classmates in any good JC.

Maybe this might serve as self-encouragement after all, since I figured that the Science subjects are my forte, and getting A1 for them just needs a little more push and a sharp eye, since most of them are due to careless mistakes or concept errors that need to be corrected as soon as they are found. As for English, Paper 2 seems to be my greatest liability, because I always fail comprehension, and close to failing summary at times...

Even so, I'm not going to give up at this juncture. The Lord has given me the peace, the determination, and I'm depending on His wisdom and knowledge for the rest of the revision period and through the GCE O Levels, for the Lord first of all, and to the desired JC my heart and guts will lead me to...

Thank you 4B - for the past 2 years in Anglican High

Just thought that since after this week I won't be able to see most of my classmates anymore until the graduation day, and then each to their own path, hardly crossing any roads with each other anymore, I felt inclined to type this post despite my heavy revision schedule.

Time to get a bit sentimental, but hey, it's dedicated to my class anyway...

Thank you guys, for being lively, as usual. Very cliché, right?

Thank you 4B people, for all the inside jokes and being the rumour arcade for the juciest gossip spread internally, things like Confucius, algae, the rich boss, etc etc, and many others I forgot.

To tell you the truth, it was an eye-opener for me the first day I was in 3B. All along I thought everyone who got into a Triple Science has got to be a nerd like me(back then I saw myself a nerd, but I don't think I am now.) After mingling with you guys, I learned a lot of things:

1. Never crap too much - you might lose your mind anytime.
2. The "big rich boss" has weird taste for his wives - one short and one fat(no offence, just for laughs), and has a small son who loves to "kaopeh"(taunt, pass funny sarcasm and jokes).
3. The blackie "Obama" representative of the class is edible as high quality Swiss bittersweet chocolate.
4. The dog barks a lot - it's a lot much worse than its bite.

Apart from nonsensical ones, I also learned deep insights of life that begin to redefine me as a person:

1. Don't swear too much - you'd be seen as an idiot and jerk, and you end up being attacked with more "kaopehs."
2. Don't go too far in "kaopehs"
3. Always follow where your heart leads you, when you truly like someone. In studies, use your brain more, though, or you'll suffer heartburn when the cert comes to your hands.
4. In exams, jokes or homework, go for the no-brainers first - it'll help you find yours.
5. Don't be a flirt when you don't have the money - learn from the "big boss".

However, there's just a lot more things that I am grateful to you guys for, those jokes, awkward situations, angsts, grumblings, disturbing other classmates for fun after peace and joy, and of course, the times we spent together as a class.

Now, how do I end off?
"Thank you."

What, you were expecting something more?

Uneventful Sunday, but He's moving fast in school

Study time... but I'm still able to blog. Wow.

Man, it's just plain crazy. I've got stacks of worksheets to do, and even more loose ends to tie up before the GCE O Levels. I don't mind all that, but I'm just feeling a bit incompetent due to the poor results I've been getting. Wow, a L1R5 of 15, you see that? Can't even go to the top 5 JCs.

Just the other day, the VJC Principal came to Anglican High to give a talk. The cut-off point is a L1R5 of 4. Why, all my seniors went there, and I'm to be left behind? No way, at least if I can't go there I can't just give up without a fight.

And of course, I've done my own O Level countdown, it's like only 21 days left, from this entry onwards...? Time flies, and I've haven't even started making the best ending impression on the class yet! Needless to say there's so many things going on in my mind, like how to impress the girls in my class(No, really, I'm serious) and doing my best for the O levels, and other stuff like planning for my future and everything...

Anyways, back to what's happening in school. There's now a calling to Christians in school to gather together and pray for revival in the school, that Christ may touch their lives and save them, and a few of us joined in the prayer meetings. Wow, there's even talk about doing praise and worship, and probably even gathering for 4B Christians... But at this point in time I daren't put high hopes in it happening as of yet, since everyone's busy with studying...

Melamine gets into foodstuffs

First it's the killer milk. First time I've heard of people dying from kidney stones from drinking milk, and it affected babies, of all possible consumers. Now it's my House of Steamed Potato crackers. I wouldn't mind giving up that, since the tomato-flavoured ones give me a sharp aftertaste when I eat too much of that junk.

But there is a real liability when both Glenn and Clyde eats this brand of crackers too, and they both eat them more often that their parents who don't say much attention to how many biscuits they eat a day... Adults having kidney stones is bad enough, what more children whose bodies are still not as strong to take that much damage as compared to us physically grown-ups...

Maybe it's high time everybody should ponder about just what they are doing for money's sake. Really, some businessmen do become the black sheep for the country's economy, ruining lives with the very thing needed to sustain life - food.

Wow I love you guys man, you're my lucky stars

This afternoon my friends and I went to form up a "cycling gang" and went roaming in Pasir Ris Park. I was leading, though I didn't like having people behind me. But before all that, we went to Swensen's for lunch.

Boy, was it expensive! The curry chicken baked rice was the only thing I ordered, and it cost me a bomb - $11.90. That's like, half my wallet spent on just the food...? The others were richer, they ordered spaghetti and extra coke, while I stuck to good ol' plain water. Funny, God created water and so far, nobody has improved on it yet. Bernard was making a whole lot of noise during lunch, and I ended up doing stuff like calling on the waiter to hurry them to deliver the mooncake ice-cream(whatever that is) to those who ordered them, and calling for them to settle the bill.

Next, we headed to Pasir Ris Park, and what should we have taken but bus service 3, of all services. We ended up near Rachelle's house, thanks to Cheryl, and, embarrassing to say, I was yelling just opposite the bus stop about how they should've taken bus 17 instead, with all the schoolchildren looking and laughing at us. In the end we split into two, the boys took a taxi while I flagged down another and went with the girls.

We ended up at Carpark C, while Bernard and the others were at Carpark E. Walked halfway until we could see Carpark D, then we rented some bikes, everyone his/her own, and found them. Made another round back to wait for the others to rent and cycle. Fooled around a bit in the Children's Playground, then went for drinks and flying kites(which didn't fly at all due to no wind).

Went to the beach, and boy, there was so much seaweed(or algae, I don't know) on the shore. Then Sue-Ean was picking up one and saying that's Ming Yue(in case you didn't know, there was an inside joke that her chair smelt of algae). Laughing and fooling around like nobody's business, I threw some stones, trying to skip a few in the water, but it all sank down in one plunge(or whatever it's called, those waves that appear from where the stones sank at).

Took some pictures and called it a day. How nice of Sue-Ean, offering me a home-made muffin that she'd make someday after I asked to taste either of Cheryl's or Sue-Ean's cooking while they were talking about food. Needless to say, there'll always be new rumours from all those talk I have with them both boys and girls.

After all that tiring workout I still had one thing to do - fetch my sister home and buy takeaway food home, and who should I meet but the lady boss of BC Super Grill herself, asking whether I or any friends want to work as waiter down there, and she needed like about 3 more people to help out. Wow, after hurting my wallet for the whole day I got a job offer, just like that.

Hallelujah, I think God's trying to tell me something, though I don't know what...

I don't despise authority, but I hate authoritarians.

Gibberish in the morning just because I didn't take the antibiotics for my face on time. Gibberish in the afternoon just because I'm using Wikipedia when I'm supposed to do mathematics. Gibberish because my room has been barged into by my grandpa, talking nonstop about the risks of cycling with my friends today. "The other day someone died because he cycled."

So what? If everyone were afraid of cycling nobody would be making money out of bicycles anymore.

"Then those people are the foolish ones."

"Then I'd rather be foolish."

I'm sick of arguing with you, old man. What, you want me cooped up in this hellhole? Home would be the best place in the world - without that old man's nagging. Just go do your own business, for God's sake, and don't bombard me with senseless conclusions that can be easily toppled by a one-liner. What, I'm already 16, for crying out loud! Stop keeping me in the house - you'll never succeed.

Prelim tomorrow - but I'm still blogging with ease

So here I am, still able to use the computer even after I got locked out of my computer. Reason?

I'm using Uncle Yiye's laptop, again. It's nice because it's Claira, his daughter's first birthday. Jotted down the notes and reorganised them, so it's made my Chemistry studying a piece of cake. Literally, two pieces of cake also went into my tummy as we celebrated her birthday anyway. 

Got to play his PlayStation Portable. Though he only had 3 games inside, they have the potential to last a really long time, simply because two of them are RPGs. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII was nice, but I don't like the complicated gameplay and the stupid spinning DMW system was very distracting. Overall, the graphics are the kind that you would say "Wow" at the first sight, but it gradually gets boring as you get used to the PSP graphics quality. It's no different from the other lousier game systems - graphics will ultimately be secondary when it comes to gameplay and the technical side.

I still prefer Final Fantasy IX. The gameplay is simpler.

Wow. Big boss goes to clinic.

Look at Glenn at the left. And look at us, my sister, followed by Clyde and the maid, then my grandma. In case you're wondering I'm behind the camera.

Lucky brat, having half the family going to clinic with him. Stomach flu. The doctor told him that he wasn't supposed to drink milk until his gut is better. Gave him some stomach flu powder to dissolve in water, and extra fever medicine just in case.

Hey, the price is really steep when you come to a paediatrician. Good money too, for the doctor, since her treatment always works more effectively than the other doctors around the neighbourhood, and the medicine doesn't come cheap either. What more when this is a heavily populated part of Singapore. Hello, this is Tampines for goodness' sake!

As for me, I do have asthma, also treated by her, and now brought under control for many years already. Thank God, I don't have to spend heaps of cash anymore, until when I really need to...

Aims for the future

Well, at least the school shows some much-needed grace for us students at the timely moments - I'm now at home studying for the rest of the prelims during the school holidays. I will do well for the rest of the papers, because there's no excuse to do badly when you are given time to study.

The piece of junk paper is valuable - it gets you anywhere and a basic qualification for higher education, which I was aiming for anyway. I hope to get a qualification in medicine, which poses certain benefits and prestige:

1. Medicine is cheaper when bought from the suppliers directly, so a doctor can give medicine and treat his own family members or other people for free, at his discretion provided that he is qualified to do so.

2. 'Love thy neighbour as thyself.' Best job that is in line with God's word, I reckon.

3. Good pay. In the UK it is said that the doctors are well-paid by the government hospitals, so, why not?

That being said, I still recognise Singapore as the place that I truly belong to, and when my services are called on, I'll be there. But for now, it's the piece of filthy O-level paper that I have to get past.

A rare chance for this period to be typing an entry from the house PC

To sum things up, here's what's happened so far during the preliminary examinations period.

God was so good to me during the Elective History period. Mind you, I wasn't in the mood to study because of the cold weather these days, but I still pushed myself to study in unlikely places. I went to KFC, which was downstairs from my house, to study and have lunch. I was the first customer there, so I was entitled to sit wherever I want and stay there until the customers start pouring in. Hey, at the end of the day you've still got to be considerate for their business-running protocol, right? I mean, if you aren't buying anything much from them, don't hog those seats - at least it makes everyone a little happier that they don't have to face some donkey occupying the seats when you badly need one to sit and eat. I spent my time studying the crap out of myself.

When I started the paper, I was completely clueless about the source-based questions(SBQs). I was thrown off-guard by the sources and Question (c). I had planned to follow Kevin's method of finishing the SBQs within 25 minutes, but I gave myself a little allowance - 30 minutes. I didn't meet that 30 minutes, because I spent 15 minutes more. In the end I was panicking for time, and I prayed real hard that I could remember whatever I studied, at least the ones that I've looked through and memorised one day before. Thanks to Him, I managed to quickly write and check my answer before I went back to question (c) which I left hanging in the air beforehand.

Well, that's that for now, and I've taken English Paper 1, Chinese Paper 1, AMaths Paper 2, EMaths Paper 2, Social Studies and Elective History papers, and Physics Paper 2. There's more to go, but thank God I still have an extra 11-day holiday period to push myself to the limit and more.

Now to some stuff that's been going on within our cellgroup:

(Hey what, you can't expect me not to show some care and concern about what's going on among our brethren, right?)

1. Auntie Sunitha, Brother Jerry's maid, has to go back to Sri Lanka a week later, because from what I heard from Uncle Kelvin, she has something growing in her stomach, and to remove it requires surgery which is much more expensive in Singapore than it is in Sri Lanka. Look at ~S$9000 and now look at ~S$1500. Big difference. So, we're having a cellgroup meeting next Thursday instead of Friday, so she has at least a moment to remember when she goes back to Sri Lanka.
2. Testimony of Shen Jin Xing, a TCS artiste, tomorrow. Since we are not going to have any cell group meeting tomorrow, it's perfect timing that the canteen auntie gave me the flyer. However, she told me this morning that Shen Jin Xing, the testifier, isn't going to turn up because of his busy schedule. In his stead is 3 other artistes and stars that's going to testify in his stead. Wow... one testimony becomes three.

Well that's that for now. If you're interested in going there to hear their testimonies about Jesus coming in their life, it's at the Church of Singapore, at 7.30pm. Admission is free. Do come!

The first of the many trials of my life in Christ, I reckon

Been to the library to use my time more efficiently that at home, been to the Expo to study. Been to home cell meetings. Been even to a healing rally the night before the GCE 'O' Level Chinese exam. And I'm slogging my guts out just to gain the approval to go to church and be with the people there.

Sometimes I wonder why I have to do what I'm doing, risking my grades and all that persecution for my faith in Christ even within my own family. But I cannot fail here. This is just one of the many trials to craft me into His image more and more. Tribulations works patience, patience in turn works experience, and experience hope. I want to be a man of God. I must succeed here, how else can I be able to serve Him at this juncture?

The preliminary examinations

Books! They remind me of the upcoming examinations. There's much less time now, and still the same amount of work to do. I'm already trying my best, and am pushing my limits further.

But there's always the problem with books - you get tired of reading the same material over and over again. And being a person who doesn't like being made to study, that's certainly something that I by hook or by crook have to overcome.

Amazingly, the Bible is magically interesting because when you spend time reading it and understand its meaning within the verses it just gets you fired up - it never gets boring.

Prelim examinations - what you see is what you get!

Busy flow of traffic, eh? That's a representation of the work that's going to come up soon, after the prelims, courtesy of my 4-year old cousin Glenn's toys.

There's just so many things I'm looking forward to do, but there's just so little time left. I have to agree with what Brother Chris told me - it's a rat race out there. All for that stupid piece of paper for a decent job in society. But it gets you everywhere as easy as an ez-link card, 'cos it's internationally recognised.

When it comes to studying, this is the decisive moment, though there was no longer any time left for any back-to-the-books revision since the end of the Mid-Year Exams at the start of this semester. Although I don't know how, I have to put in all that I have, but how?

The construction of a new building

Nope, this isn't the church building progress - that's going to be confidential for now, but the building is pretty much in good progress, and it should be ready by April 2009. For years, I hear my senior brethren say, they have been praying for that new building, and after such a long time, it's finally seeing progress at breakneck speed. Hallelujah!

I'm beginning to enjoy mobile blogging, as i now save time having to use the computer when I can do this while travelling, thus making my study time more productive, since I usually eat into my study time just to post a couple of entries.

Testing out mobile blogging - nice!

Wow, just look at my table - just messy, but it'll do for now. Anyways, I'll not be able to use the computer for quite a while, because it's nearing the preliminary examinations now, so I'll be using this more pricey solution, for now.

Hey this is great, man. Finally I can blog from my hand anytime, from the MRT to the bus. Cool!

God answers prayers, this I believe.

Just the other day, the rain started pouring at 6pm. I was supposed to bring my sister back home before 8pm when the sudden downpour started. The first thing that came to my mind was how I was supposed to bring her back home on time, without getting myself wet and sticky under the humid weather, or risking having to take another shower.

I called for Dad's help, since he was driving the taxi at that time of day anyway. "Sorry ah, son," he replied. "I'm driving to my customer, so can you fetch her back when the rain stops? It's a better idea this way." ...Great. Another trip to the shower after that...

...or maybe not. I went to God, prayed for the weather to stop momentarily, just long enough for me to bring her back home in time, and still not get drenched by the rain. It was then I saw His supreme power over the weather, and His faithfulness which never fails, right before my eyes - the rain stopped by 7pm!

Isn't our God wonderful? Praise be to His name, hallelujah!

Praise be to God!

Uncle Kelvin has been asking for a complete Chinese Bible, which I haven't been able to get without risking spending big bucks at Mount Zion Christian Bookstore. I promised him that I would be able to get one for him from All Saints' Church, which is right within the school compound. I have been yearning to ask one from them, but I didn't know how to go to them seeking for a Bible just like that, because usually people would have told me to just save up and buy one for myself.

So, just a few weeks ago, I went for breakfast as usual, buying my breakfast from the auntie at the drink stall. Tuna sandwich, a can of green tea(they weren't allowed to sell cold coffee anymore). I popped the question about how I can get a Chinese Bible while waiting for her to come up and collect the payment. She said that she had one at home, but she needed to dig for it, and that she could only give me notice by the following Monday.

I waited faithfully, and my waiting paid off. That morning, the canteen auntie passed me the Chinese Bible, both complete with Old and New Testament parts. The amazing thing was how she actually got the book - she said that throughout the whole week she didn't dig for the book at all, when on that Monday morning itself, the Bible was sitting on her bedside table, her maid putting it there.

Wow, it must have been God who helped the maid dig out the Word of God in time. Praise be to God!

The Good Samaritan

The people around these days have so much animosity for each other, it really saddens me. What would seem as a friendly greeting from a stranger could be met with comments that the person greeting is crazy and doesn't know who he's talking to. C'mon man, just harmless attempts to brighten up the day for one another can be met with such far-fetched accusations? Of course, it doesn't happen all the time, because at the end of the day some people would recognise that effort and return you the favour.

Well anyways, I randomly pushed my finger through the book during the weekend, and it led me to the Parable of the Good Samaritan(Luke 10:25-37).

This story really struck me hard, in that it portrayed the Jewish priest and Levite as being cold-blooded people who'd rather walk the other path than to help the dying man lying on the original path.

Because Jesus spoke this parable to a Jewish lawyer, who wanted to test Jesus and justify himself, I suppose this parable is used to highlight that this priest would rather go to all lengths to keep the Law of Moses, and save the hassle of doing all the cleansing for the dying man with blood on his skin(Leviticus 15:1-15) and nursing his wounds, than to do what is morally right in both God and men's eyes - to offer first aid to the dying man. Hence this shows the blind faith of the Jewish people in that time. (I don't know about the Jews of today, but this is lifted off the Bible)

In this, the Samaritan fared much better than the priest and Levite. This must have been a shameful thing to an expert in the law, because Samaritans were despised by Jews, yet a person whose background and heritage were treated as inferior to the Jews could actually be much kinder to his neighbour. From this, I see that the Samaritan indeed showed love to the dying man by taking all the trouble to treat his wounds with oil and wine, bring him back to the inn, and ensured that all his needs were met by paying for his lodging. Now, isn't that good when you have someone to take care of all your needs when you are at your worst?

As Christians, we do in fact enjoy this benefit of the grace and mercy of the Lord, in that he loves us enough to die on the cross for us, paying the price of sin in order to redeem us, just as the Samaritan paid the money to the innkeeper, so that we may be taken care of. We didn't deserve it, just as the man did not deserve any help from the good Samaritan, but he did so willingly, just as God provided for us, and still is to this day, providing for our every need.

Even though the Samaritan had so much to carry that he needed his donkey to carry it, he took the trouble to attend to a dying man, which isn't a small feat in those days. Indeed, loving our neighbour is sometimes tough - he may hurt you so badly you couldn't even walk, but Jesus was able to love us even though we sin against Him. While we were still sinning, He died for us as an ultimate example of loving our neighbours as ourselves.So, what better way to learn how to love our neighbours than through Him?

Intensive Study Time - no time for mistakes!

It's getting harder day by day. You get tired of studying after a few hours of studying when you could've put in more. The lack of time for extra study has its toll on my sleeping hours these days. You hardly have to relax, and considering all the church activities that I'm gonna miss in favour of studying, not to mention the upcoming tests that the teachers are going to throw at us. Man, this is intensive...

...or maybe not intensive enough. Something ought to be done for more effective studying than just staying in school and just studying, studying and studying. I find that I can't concentrate in school, partly because of noise and socialising with fellow classmates and stuff, and a Mathematics teacher who can't really keep the class in control once everyone goes restless with the practice papers. Sometimes the stuff they throw at you takes more time than what is needed.

For now I think I'm gonna stick to the ten-year series, since there's only so much I reckon that I can do for now until then...

Something really challenging

Well now. I've got just a measly 39 more days to the preliminary examinations, so the call to fully make use of the time left is there. More tests, of course. But homework needs to be done, even more so in this period of time. Ms Tay said that the revision would only work while the homework is done. I totally agree.

Anyways, here's a rather profound question: Why must men suffer on earth?

Non-biblical answers:

1. We are fated to suffer.
2. Suffering makes us learn where we've gone wrong.
3. Suffering consists of birth, old age, illness and death, and these are unavoidable. To end suffering, achieve nirvana by following the Eightfold Path
4. Theories about suffering, etc etc...

Biblical answers:

1. Because of the Fall of Man when Adam ate the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and sinned against God. Since then sin has caused curses to befall on mankind.
2. God's using suffering to punish you for something you've done wrong.
3. Suffering is a means of a test of faith in Jesus Christ.

However, I'd pretty much prefer this answer, though: Jesus Christ, being the Son of God, came down from heaven to suffer for our sakes. Think about this: God, being God of everything for all eternity, came down to earth as a man, which is, in my opinion, one of the most humbling acts of all, and to suffer and die for our sins when He didn't need to. There's no reason that an almighty and omnipotent God should even be hurt by the floggings of men, and the pain and bleeding on the cross. But he did it.

He did it for our sakes. He doesn't want us in hell, where we aren't supposed to belong anyway. Sin will ultimately separate ourselves from God and cursed to go to hell after our earthly bodies die off, but thanks to Him bearing all of what was supposed to be OUR curses on the cross, those that believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life(John 3:16).

Even Jesus Christ suffered on Earth for our sakes, what more us for His sake then since we love Him?(doesn't apply to those who still reject Christ at this point of time, but He's still willing to receive you when you receive Him in your life today)

Seriously though, having His presence sometimes brings the unanswerable questions answers that bring it to full circle. Really, He has taught me many things in the past two months.

Smacked right in the face - wrong purposes of studying, I'll admit.

Okay, I'll be honest with myself.

I studied a lot, but I did so half-heartedly, just wanting to get over and done with the Mid-Year Examinations. Because of this, I lost sight of my goal towards the As and I ended up with Bs and Cs for my results. Of course, there was quite some difficulty in the Biology, Physics and Chemistry papers, and that everyone scored badly for them. I however, simply wasn't mentally prepared to get so low a mark.

Why all that bad grades? I found that I am studying just for the sake of getting an opportunity to make it big out there and earn money, but then I found that what I'm working for in my studies is just to let my parents have a better life than what they're working so hard for. If that was so, why bother to study so hard? I could just get an average grade, get into average school, get into average university and get an average degree to earn an average income and feed my parents...

That was what I thought. But this low results and Kevin's words, though soft and casual, woke me up. Why am I doing all this for?

"Don't do it for your parents - they won't care shit about what you're gonna be when you grow up. Do you honestly think they'll follow and guide you for the rest of your life? No - just study to glorify God." He struck a chord in what I was vexed about, the whole time I was studying during the June holidays. I now find that the reason that I'm studying this whole while was just something very temporary.

Given my father's character and what he's done for the family so far, I don't think he deserves much, other than simply for the fact that he's my father. My mom, slogging just to keep us alive, is the one who deserves the bulk of the pay I'm gonna get when I get to work. But then, who am I really gonna work for ultimately when they and the people around me start going off to, touch wood, the grave?

Pondering over this for a while, I start to think: "Yea, the grades are mine, not theirs." Who's gonna care about what I'm getting in the future when nobody else is around? Only Jesus would. He died on the cross, gave his life for me, so why shouldn't I give him what he expects of me - to get better results to glorify His name, rather to please men? It is impossible to please everyone, so I reckon I'll just please God instead. Given His high standards for me, I'll do much better for the preliminary examinations, for ultimately, I will trust in Him to give me strength and discipline to do better.

If anything in particular, I declare that Jesus will be my guide in my academic success from this moment on, however He is much more than just help for my academic successes, you understand... So far I've not met any God who is gracious enough to help me out in academics, other than Jesus.

A great injustice to a man who doesn't deserve it

Recently Uncle Hin, our tenant, got kicked out of our house by our father. Apparently, it was said he was not giving my father the due respect he gets for being the landlord, and were already fighting a cold war.

The cold war, from what I've heard from Mom, happened when Uncle Hin lent my father his CDs to watch, and that my father left scratches on the discs, so Uncle Hin went to get a replacement. However, my father misunderstood it as him not wanting to borrow the CDs to him. Given my father's "addiction" for watching home-bought movie CDs, it broke out into a cold war that lasted for quite a couple of years. From there, many quabbles and temper outbursts led to what happened last week.

I wasn't at home that weekend, due to preparing for my examinations at my grandma's place(where I usually live in). But from what I know, my father was angry because Uncle Hin didn't even greet my father or ask him to eat, which was a common sign of respect in Chinese families. Moreover, my father was even told by my mom to carry his food to the living room so that he can enjoy his food and watch TV at the same time, which was how he usually has his meals at. Because of this, he was way well pissed off because it seemed to him that he was treated more like an outsider and Uncle Hin was behaving more like the man of the house, when my father is the actual landlord.

This turned the cold war "hot", and Uncle Hin, a person who has a proper family to feed in Malaysia, and never owed us rental, had to leave. In fact, WE were the ones who owed him a favour of fetching my sister home everyday after work from my grandma's place ever since our maid, who had served under us for a long period of time, left us.

Obviously, everyone was distraught, even Uncle Kelvin. "Your father always never thinks of what people has done for him, and the consequences of doing so," he commented. "Now see what happens - $500 per month income now lost for nothing!"

My family isn't well-to-do anyway, and my dad, from what I see, never brings back any money from his taxi-driving, but squanders his money elsewhere on his bling-blings like handphones, good food for himself or on his cigarettes and CDs. My mom is the only one supporting this house, I reckon, since most of the family expenses were from her own pockets. Needless to say, a woman with only a fixed salary of $1500 per month working under my aunt, and subject to GST and rising taxes and prices, that extra $500 is extremely important to us.

Unless my father realises that he didn't do any shit in keeping our family together and alive, he's gonna continue being a failure in life... As for why I'm making this statement, I'll put it up on my future posts - it's got to do with my family history, and probably too wordy to put within one single entry.

Doing a quickie

Ah, finally back to blogging after a hard week's work in school, preparing for Mid-Year papers. I still have 2 more papers to go, both of which I'm going to sit for tomorrow, so I'll have to go back to studying right after this quickie post.

As usual, we gathered up to put our bags at some corner so that people wouldn't find and steal stuff from our bags, before going on to the exam hall. Skipped breakfast for the whole week - wow, didn't know I could last till 11am without food. So, just to sum up what I've been doing this whole period of absence from this blog:

• Prayed for His wisdom, knowledge and quick-wittedness before and after studying, and also before and after the papers.
• Studied, studied and studied.
• Ate, slept and drank.
• 2 hours of computer games per day
• 2 hours of TV everyday
• Set the alarm for 5.45am everyday
• Slammed the alarm clock a couple of times(hey, this one's durable!)
• Worried about examinations, but fell back to God's promise of victory

...okay. Gotta go back to studies again. Will be updating again soon.

The true reason

Just a few hours ago, my friend Kevin and I were waiting for bus 31, to go home after school. During the waiting and journey, we talked about how Wei Chiat was having the wrong mindset about studying and how this leads to him being always going to be a follower instead of a leader. Sad to say, it turned out that his attitude and having mixed with him for some time led us to think that he's gonna fail in life - though by all means we may be very wrong about it.

Then we talked about how he, being a Christian, has only two ways to realise his ill attitude - either the Holy Spirit reveals it to him while he's alive, or on Judgement Day, when everyone sees his or her own life in front of their own faces after their physical deaths. Later on, Kevin asked me this question that he asked the Lord the other day. It got me really stumped:

"Yea, it's unfair right? I mean, why do some people who do lots of bad stuff like conning people of millions of cash, killing and robbing each other, but at the end of the day are saved because they believed in Jesus Christ, and people who don't seem to sin at all by indulging in these vices don't acknowledge God and are condemned to go to hell ultimately? Like people like Jin Meng, good in studies, rich, morally sound, but aren't Christian. It's just so unfair!"

"Uh, because of sin?" I was brainstorming.
"Actually, no. We still sin all the time, what."
"Uh... I don't know." I was stumped.
"Actually, the answer is very simple. Because they don't acknowledge God."
"Don't acknowledge God?" I was gagged.

"Let's put it this way. You know God is our Creator and Father, right? Not acknowledging God is like not acknowledging your own father. Put yourself in God's shoes - you are His child, and He is your Father. Even though you might do all sorts of things, he has no reason not to forgive you, as long as you repent and seek his forgiveness, simply because you're His child. Tell me, then - would He rather forgive a child that recognises Him as his Father, or forgive a person out there who doesn't even acknowledge his own Father?"

Actually, he's quite right, now that I think of it. Not acknowledging your own earthly father is bad enough already - showing utter disrespect to him and dishonouring his(or the family's) name. What more a heavenly Father up there, who created you and was there for you even before you were created in your mother's womb?

Clearly, the 10 Commandments say "Honour thy father and mother." Not honouring His name, instead choosing not to acknowledge him as who He is, our Father who art in heaven, is clearly sin. (Then again, if the 10 Commandments weren't there we wouldn't know what's sin.)

He later quoted on the story of Ananias and Sapphira and how they lied about the money from the sold property. They both died not because of lying to men, but because of lying to both God and men. We may lie to men, but we cannot lie to God - He sees us like an open book.

"Whenever I read into this story, it scares me, man. They lie once, and they died - on the spot. What more, if we lie so many times in our lives - and do even worse things than just lying! It's really a miracle that we're still walking on our two feet even after doing all those things," he exclaimed.

"Well, it's gotta be by His grace for us, then."

After the conversation and we both set for home on separate paths, it soon struck my mind - so much Bible knowledge, but so little use for that! It was then that I realised just how much I know about Jesus Christ, our Lord. Sure, I know about him - he did miracles, he taught that He was the way to Heaven, he died for our sins to redeem us from them, but how much do I really know Jesus as my Saviour and Lord?? How much do I really know about God as our Father?

The answer - very little.

Just a little thought for thought

While taking a break from study time, I recalled a conversation with my aunt over why people are racist. I was talking about the period of time that I've been spending in My Saviour's Church since around February or March until now, and how Uncle Yiye had some of our Tamil church friends into his condo the other Sunday, and used the facilities in it at the request of Uncle Kelvin. Probably to him they were probably "uninvited guests," as it seemed that Uncle Yiye was telling us not to invite other "geh-leng kia"s for tennis or swimming.

Me: "But they're quite alright, what. They're still people, human like us, what. Why?"

Uncle Yiye: "They're not that goodie-goodie like you think they are."

Me: "But why? I've been around with them for so long, and they don't seem that bad as you've put it."

Aunt Wanyin: (cutting in) "Aiyah, Ah Boy, what you see in your cellgroup is only just one portion of a whole lot of people of other races."

Uncle Yiye: "Yah... so limited! Wait till you go to the workplace, or JC and work with the other races, and you'll see what I mean."

Me: "Whalau, you all very racist leh..."

Aunt Wanyin: " ...'Cos we've haven't had quite a good impression of them in the workplace, as neighbours, as friends... Anyway, bottom line is, you'll know why people are racist when you grow a bit older and have worked with them for some time."

Firstly, there's something I don't quite like about them going about their "when you grow a bit older" statements. Why the procrastination about telling me about the things, when you could just explain the stuff in detail? I ain't a kid anymore - surely telling me about a few incidents wouldn't bring the topic off-centre or something. Why, adults are people whom we're told to turn to when we don't know about stuff, and you tell us to wait and experience it for ourselves to find the answer. More often than not, when we actually do reach working age, we would've already forgotten the question we're asking now by then, so how's that for a change? To me, "when you grow a bit older" is simply telling me "Forget about the topic altogether; Let's talk about something else."

Secondly, why deem the people bad when what you see is only in the workplace? I'm glad for myself that I brought this topic up, because I get to see from all angles and views over how Tamils in Singapore live, in the workplace, outside and at home.

Sure, I've learned in school that we shouldn't be stereotyping people all the time - but what I see is just the opposite! Sure, I've only been with the morally and socially upright Tamils, but there's bound to be black sheep around too, since nobody's perfect anyway. I mean, just look at the Chinese society of our own. There's robbers, thieves, conmen - but that doesn't mean we don't have Chinese judges, policemen, lawyers, doctors, etc.

My point is - They're just human like us. They have different skin colour and language and culture, but they bleed the same way as we do. For their first visit to their condo, and not even giving themselves a chance to talk and make friends with them and living among them... That doesn't give me enough reason to judge them by their race.

What, we Chinese must stay purely Chinese? Like the Aryan superiority theory that Hitler made up to persecute the Jews, nearly 70 years ago? Look at Hitler, then look at ourselves. You'd be surprised what people do without thinking back at their actions and speech.

An episode of PC death

Being without the computer for the last 14-odd hours sucked. And it sucks like hell. The power supply unit broke down - it just up and kaput! - though there wasn't smoke or anything resembling it blowing up. Because I had an appointment with the dentist this morning, I didn't get to press the power switch until after twelve in the afternoon.

"Tick, Tiak. Tick, Tiak." No power. Shit.

I pressed it a few more times, this time also experimenting with the restart button. Nothing happened. Shit. Whatever the hell happened, it can't just up and die just like that, surely something must be wrong! I rang Uncle Yiye up.

"The PC I think die liao," I told him. "Press the power on-off also nothing happen, no light, no sound, no nothing."

He came up afterwards in the evening, came to fix the computer and declared the power supply unit dead, and we had to look for a replacement before Uncle Kelvin comes back and finds it totally defunct and unable to reclaim the stuff inside the hard disk. He brought the batteries to run the motherboard, but that didn't help either - it had nothing to do with it anyway.

The speakers are well and running - nothing wrong with it.
The parts all look okay, just dusty. No burn on them - nothing wrong with it.
The circuit breaker in the consumer unit wasn't tripped, indicating there wasn't any short circuit - nothing wrong with it.
The power switch was turned on, but there wasn't any humming although the mains switch was turned on - something must be wrong with it.

It couldn't be anything else, since everything within the box was okay, so we deemed the power supply unit condemned. Now, here came the problem: How were we going to get a decent power supply unit box replacement at such short notice? Sim Lim Square seemed quite a far-fetched idea, since it would mean going there on a Saturday to buy one. The LAN gaming shop downstairs suddenly seemed like a very good idea, and we proceeded to buy one for $40.

Though it was quite good, it didn't have enough power supply outlets to connect to all of the PC fans, and we ended up having to forgo the side one. Let's just hope it doesn't overheat, otherwise...?

Honesty is the best policy

Today's sermon was very timely when it touched on honesty as pleasing to the eyes of the Lord.

We offered Brother Chris and Sister Osheana a ride to church, since both of them are also our own brethren and Uncle Daniel went to fetch other fellow brethren to our church, all the way from Pasir Ris to quite a distance, possibly from Potong Pasir or Bukit Batok. During the journey I noticed this stench that very much resembled cigarette smoke reeking in Brother Chris's shirt. To be honest, I was quite put off by that, and kept quiet since nobody was actually talking about anything much at that point in time.

"Hey Chris, how's your work?" Uncle Steven asked, while on the way.
"Mmm, okay lah." came the reply.

Being sensitive folks, we talked among ourselves, speculating over what happened to Brother Chris in his newfound job. Having to pay room rent because of being kicked out of his own family for his faith in the Lord, having a job was definitely very precious to someone in his predicament. To speak about it in such a casual tone, and not adding any more to it hinted that something bad must have happened to him.

Church service was good(it always was), but it was now better because Pastor Bennett gave us some Bible scriptures to study on our own, saying that we will be blessed by the verses, if only we took some time to meditate on them. I haven't been memorising much recently, so this served as a good reminder to me that it was high time that I should be reading the Bible more seriously.

During lunchtime while Brother Chris went to buy some fried kway-teow, we then found out from Auntie Noreen and Uncle Daniel that he got the sack after the first day of work, just for being like 5 minutes late for work, both when coming to work from home and after lunch. Later, it was then that I was told about some employer who didn't want to employ him just because he was a Tamil. One employer even called him "Geh-leng kia"(a Hokkien term for calling Tamils, possibly racist) in the workplace, so he threw that job down.

"Eh, like that also never pang-chance for him ah? Mana eh sai?" I exclaimed upon hearing such things. It just dawned on me - racial and religious harmony is just very hypocritical in Singapore; they should just simply say it's racial and religious tolerance. Where's the harmony, if racism can just run rampant in the workplace like that?

After discussing about the matter on how to help him, I offered to try to get my friends to hook up a job in the newspaper for him, but it seemed impractical given my age and that I haven't even taken my 'O' Level papers yet. "Well then, is there any practical way I can help out?" I asked.

"You just pray for him, lah," Auntie Noreen replied with a smile. She was right - I couldn't do anything much for him yet, except to just lend a listening ear to him and asking the Lord to help him through everything he's having trouble with.

Just then, Uncle Kelvin received an invitation from Uncle Yiye to take a dip in the swimming pool at his condo, and the rest of the big family got invited too. How nice of him to allow such a large group of us go there. Thanks Uncle Yiye!

After lunch, we decided to hang around Uncle Steven's house, since Brother Chris wanted to view the vacant room that Uncle Steven offered to put him up in, and Uncle Kelvin had to have a haircut downstairs too. At around 2.30pm we foursome were having fun talking.

It was later on in the afternoon when both Uncle Kelvin and I packed the swimming stuff up into my bag and coming down back to the car when Brother Chris became candid about his smoking problem and his background. Due to it probably revealing too much personal info, this shall be written about again after getting his approval first.

In any case, he told me later that whatever was happening in the house between my grandparents and my uncle was that my singing of praises of Christianity in front of them was actually literally scaring them off into their own ancestral worship, and I got some useful advice off him. After talking a while, this verse struck both Brother Chris and me:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
- Proverbs 1:7

The second part may seem harsh on some people, but this verse has a whole lot of meaning within itself, just as Brother Chris said about it when he mentioned that this is one of his favourite verses in the Bible, during the journey. I couldn't agree more - I'll share more on this verse on my later posts when the Lord has taught me more through it.

Disasters strike anytime - cherish your own loved ones while you still can!

Been reading the news these days, and it's very negative. The earthquake at China killed many, Cyclone Nargis killed many, both left many homeless. Natural disasters are on the rise these days, so many so that you never know when a disaster might hit us. So far, Singapore has been a reputable safe spot from many disasters, since it's nowhere near the Ring of Fire, safely at one tetonic plate to be free of earthquakes(tremors maybe, but never earthquakes, yet), nor cyclones at sea yet.

It's morbid, the news. I mean, there's people dying, both young and old. Pictures and videos of the victims and survivors were disheartening. With China's one-child policy, it is indeed a devastating blow to many families whose only sons and daughters get devoured mercilessly by a ugly force of nature.

China's in the news, big time. Look at the Tibetan protests, the Dalai Lama hoohah, Beijing Olympics 2008, and carcinogenic(cancer-causing) Ma-Ling brand canned luncheon meat. Earthquake just had to make things so much worse in China, I can already see myself shedding a tear right in front of the computer screen, producing this blog entry.

And it's not just the Chinese calamity - look at Myanmar's Cyclone Nargis disaster, over a hundred thousand people(estimated) fell victim to it: people losing their homes and family members. Wrath of nature - that's what we get whenever we answer nature's call faithfully every morning?

It didn't just hit them Burmese and Chinese alone - just look at the soaring rice prices, and the possibility of eating bread or potatoes as staple foodstuffs just might be very possible. Singapore suffered severe food shortage during the Japanese Occupation... maybe it's time to go back to eating lalang grass, rumoured to have high vitamin content?

It's a good thing that in Singapore there's still plenty of food around, but then, it's really high time to learn how not to waste a single morsel of food, given the disasters going around and the soaring rice prices. Looking at the food shortages in pockets of Asia, food seems much more valuable than ever...

Combined Family Service-cum-Picnic Day on 18th May

The outing at Pasir Ris Park for a whole of 12 hours, from 9am to 9pm, was significant. It was my first trip with the rest of the church as a family of God. Here, we witnessed many baptisms, which was heartwarming for me, seeing people going back to Jesus Christ.

In the morning, I woke up without the alarm. Packed the stuff the night before, so by morning the things were already done, and we set off to the beach at 8am. Reserved some seats for Uncle Daniel and his family, but they came late, at around 10am, an hour after the service started. It turned out that he had made several trips to bring Auntie Noreen's sisters here as well, resulting in them coming late together as one family.

Morning sermon, about the family as designed by God Himself. After the sermon everyone was stuffed, due to the hot weather, and the limited ventilation underneath the tentage. The weather wasn't the problem actually - the grass was, respiring and giving out carbon dioxide as well. As carbon dioxide is a heat-trapping gas, it was no wonder the tentage was an inbuilt furnace, given the numbers of people that were there.

It was hot, it was boring, it was stuffy. No sports, no swimming, no football. Now I saw the purpose of bringing the guitar, again, as Uncle Daniel, Uncle Kelvin and I sat under the nearest tree singing Chinese worship songs, hoping to spread His love through the songs to the passers-by. It was then that Uncle Yiye and his family came along, being told of our performance to be held later at night, but ended up coming too early.

In any case, the games started, and we were appointed to Orange Team, which ended up the last team. However, we didn't play for nothing - they gave us a tidbit prize which consisted of a bag of Mamee noodle snack, cookies and a sweet. How nice, even losers get some kind of consolation prizes.

The rest of the day after the team games was virtually boring, as there was practically nothing to play or interact with, other than talking to people, playing kapadi(a traditional Indian game that resembles sumo-wrestling) in the mud, or playing soccer with a small football. I thought, no kick, playing with such a small ball! I went later to talk to the fellow brethren watching the soccer game, and then took a shower.

The door was unlocked as the bolt got knocked off, and the floor was barely clean, with mud and sand at all the four corners of the cubicle, but thank God I managed to shower successfully with the help of Uncle Kelvin holding the door from outside, maintaining bathroom privacy in such a public place. After getting out of the showers, the sight of the Married vs Singles football match was already starting, and the first thing I thought to myself was "Why on earth did I hit the showers in the first place? What a waste!"

Eventually I gave in to the urge to play in the fresh new clothing, fully expecting myself to go dirty and sweating in blue jeans. Pastor Bennett was there, and it was enjoyable. Though I was merely playing as a goalkeeper, the tension was there whenever the ball came close, which was often. Caught 2 balls, let in one. Married Team won over us, the Singles Team.

Performance started after dinnertime, and it was then God's mercy and grace truly shone in my life at that moment when a blow of stomachache hit me when the land breeze blew against me near the tentage. The urge was there, nature was calling...

I can't answer now. I can't answer now. If I did, I'd be cocking-up the whole performance item and waste the effort that we've put in to prepare the programme as one whole cell group. "Lord, please protect my underpants, lest I shit myself during the performance," I prayed in desperation as the throbbing gut started to already slowly let out gas stealthily.

The medley went well. Made minor blunders with the change in key, and finished the playing perfectly. Guess what happened - I made a run for the toilet without any toilet paper, still thinking in my mind, Hallelujah Lord for answering my prayer.

"Oops," came the exclamation when I was already at the toilet bowl letting go of that atomic bomb to answer nature's call. "Alamak, what to do?" I groped around for my phone, my only hope of getting out of the toilet, yet remaining clean in the bottoms at the same time. If only I could shout "Hallelujah!" loud enough that the people in the tentage could hear from the toilet that I was in, more than 200 metres away from it.

Mishaps happen all the time, but that ultimately didn't spoil the fun the other programmes had in store for us, and of course there's the exhaustion. What mattered to me even more was that we, as a cell group, could serve God in a practical way by offering a performance programme, to which they were lacking in items for. Praise God for all that!

Near-Brawl Experience: Some people go too far

It was late Thursday. No, it wasn't late Thursday - the announcement made a few days ago told us that we were supposed to report to school, as usual, at 7.25am instead of the much-favoured 8.25am reporting time during Late Thursdays, when we don't have common tests at that day.

Got the first nasty news of the day: Dr Boon, the school principal, issued a warning letter to the canteen auntie who sold drinks, telling her that she was violating the school protocol of selling healthy food, by selling ham and cheese sandwiches. By now, I had gotten used to the crispy toast with the melted cheese and succulent bites of freshly-toasted ham, and this letter sounded all the more ridiculous and illogical to me when the letter claimed ham to be "meat with preservatives high in sodium."

Hello, are you sure you're talking about breakfast ham, madam? You seem more like describing luncheon meat to me, which I'd have no qualms quarreling over.

Anyway, this disheartening news of yet another favourite breakfast item unavailable in the school canteen soured the enthusiastic mood I had towards playing frisbee, or whatever sport our current PE teacher, Mr Tong, allowed us to play during PE lesson.

We got called into the main school hall for assembly. Sat through the whole of the first hour listening to boring current affairs talk by the health-freak Dr Boon. It was worse than a full sermon - there wasn't anything relevant to us that we could relate to, and she was just there blabbering like some baboon(no pun intended), not to mention that at that point in time, I was still lamenting over the loss of my favourite breakfast item.

PE time. Played Captain's Ball. Dunno what's wrong with Wei Chiat today, after deflecting a ball, I got an angry shove from behind. The next thing I knew, he was already looking for a fight. Yes, you're right. Anyone'd be fired up when being shoved by a barbarian hand, but I resisted. "No hard feelings, classmates." I thought, when there came yet another shove.

"What the , just what the you want from me?" I returned that shove.
"You wanna play like some idiot right?" We almost fought. "You want to keep shoving people, I accompany you for the whole game." Hell, how was I to know he was coming from behind? Animal. Lucky for me, he didn't manage to spoil my mood for the rest of the day. A few minutes later, I finally was rid of him when the teams swopped, and I played with Roy's team.

If I didn't control myself back then I'd have made a scene. And verbal warfare was already going on since last year, which of course makes anyone pissed when prolonged and personal attacks keep coming to you. He tries that again, I'm gonna make sure it's gonna hurt real bad, both physically and mentally.

But then again, he's ain't worth that time.

Reflection on the movie: Men of Honor

It was nice, it was good, it was everything you'd expect from a show - something bad happens, then gets resolved, then something worse, and makes a good ending when the protagonist finally overcomes the obstacle.

Watched the movie on DVD in school during SEL lessons, which basically is Social-Emotional Learning, that functions very much like Civics and Moral Education, except under a different name. This movie's about Carl Brashear, a young man strong and fit, wanting to be a diver, and goes through all the ups and downs in his diving career.

Later on, his left foot gets cut and mangled by an accident happening while retrieving a H-bomb from under the sea. He later then pleads and pesters the doctors to cut off that foot, seeing that it hindered his career and a prosthetic leg is much more feasible to him. Later on, he tries his best to train and prove himself ready for active duty again as an amputee diver, and succeeds.

Whoa, a feat. The part where the leg got cut off was gory - the scene showed the entire leg severed, and that made the whole class create a big hoo-hah out of it. However, this scene leaves a question in the plot: if the leg truly was cut off by the metal hook, how did they manage to reattach that leg back again in the later scenes? That aside, the movie was well-made. After all, what better way to produce a movie than base it on true stories?

While watching the movie, another question popped up in my mind - what would we have probably done ourselves if we lost our own left legs? Just sit there and whine? That's what many people I know, both in and outside school, are doing nowadays, when it comes to stumbling in schoolwork, office work and other obstacles. Just what's happened to the courageous people who once populated the Earth?

I'm not saying that the people I know are downright chicken-wussies; of course they may be courageous in their own right. It's just that there's lesser of these valuable assets to society. "No pain, no gain" applies to these people very well. I guess that's something worth pondering about, for the day.

Terminal 3 - Terminal human memory work

Oookay. Been there, done that. Went to church and went back to have braised duck. Nice stuff, and of course, slept through the afternoon from 3pm to 6pm, so I'm having a bit of temporal insomnia right now. However it's a good thing, as it gives me some time to type out this entry. Hallelujah.

Went to Changi Airport: Terminal 3 later in the evening at around 7-plus. Explored that area, and believe me - it's majestic. It's so big that you could rollerskate from one end to the other and back, and you'd be exhausted from that distance, especially when there's the risk you might be arrested halfway for doing so for fooling around with the No Rollerskating rules in the airport terminal.

As for the food centres, they were big, but not necessarily many in terms of food varieties within themselves. Kopitiam outlets seem to be very widespread around Singapore, now that I think of it - there's even one outlet downstairs from my flat! Now THAT's food business for you; when you make it big, you get filthy rich quickly, just like Burger King, McDonalds' and other food chains!

Uncles Hin, Teck and my sister went together there, and proceeded to Terminal 2 to collect his complimentary air ticket to fly back to Uncle Hin's house in Sarawak. "Here cannot collect," Uncle Hin later translated the lady at the counter's words. "You gotta buy and collect the ticket at Singapore Shopping Centre(or whatever its name was) at Dhoby Ghaut." After asking around, calling up his company over the ticket, it soon dawned on him that he heard the wrong info - the ticket was supposed to be collected at April 18, but he heard it as May 18(taking into consideration that the month is named by numbers, eg 四月is April, 五月is May, etc).

So, how? Called up to book another 2 tickets while burning their own pockets just for a house visit to a close friend's home in Sarawak. Ate at Burger King later, and this time, probably they were trying to vent their anger on humongous Whoppers, a Single and another, a Double. It isn't surprising - both Uncles Hin and Teck weighed close to 90kg each when they stood on the luggage weighing scale.

Haste Brings Waste

Last night, I was reflecting about the preaching given by Sister Shanthi, which was about the sermon given by Pastor Bennett to the Tamil Congregation. It was about how we should be tactful and patient to things or people around us before doing anything.

Being human beings, we definitely are imperfect creatures. We do things in a rush, especially in school work, preparing for major examinations like GCE 'N', 'O' and 'A' Level Examinations, and of course in everyday office work. We labour, looking for speed and accuracy. More often than not, we tend to go a bit to the extreme, going too fast and losing accuracy, and vice versa. In the end we don't get what we want.

In I Samuel 13:9-14, we see Saul going ahead with the sacrifice when Samuel the Prophet wasn't around, because of the enemies of Israel coming closer and closer to his army to do battle. In Old Testament times, the Israelites sacrificed burnt offerings before battle, and are to be offered to the Lord only by prophets, and since King Saul, the first king of Israel, proceeded without Samuel, and he wasn't a prophet, his position and power was stripped of him by God, and he ended up losing the battle.

This tells us something:

Saul did so in haste because he didn't have enough faith in the Lord to protect his army from the enemies until the sacrifice was offered. Trying to proceed ahead, get done with it quickly, he relied on his own human effort, which we know, always avails next to nothing, wastes time and effort, and ultimately leads to ruin. Even as a king, he is still not spared from human temptations to use our own effort and knowledge, which is of course, very limited when compared to His wisdom and knowledge.

Even prophets are not spared from acting in lack of knowledge and wisdom from God. In I Kings 13, there were two prophets, one younger than the other. God told the younger not to eat or drink, or even go back to where he came from, after prophesying against King Jeroboam because of his practice of idolatry in the previous chapter (I Kings 12). During his journey away from the king, the older prophet asked him to eat and drink in his house. After he refused, the old prophet lied to him that he saw an angel telling him to eat and drink in his house.

Being a prophet too, the younger should have asked the Lord if this were true, but he did not, and was deceived, and ate and drank at the old prophet's house. He ended up being killed and torn apart by a lion.

Even kings and prophets can be deceived or act in haste, what more us normal and common people of today's society? Therefore, the need of wisdom and knowledge to tackle problems is there, but human wisdom and knowledge is always limited. But thank God He's there for us whenever we need help with these! We of course are weak in these areas, more often than not, but Jesus is strong in our weaknesses, so let's ask for Him to grant us His wisdom and knowledge to solve our everyday problems.

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
- I Corinthians 1:25


Beyond this line are contributions by Chee Yiliang, a bosom friend of mine, added with my permission on May 11, 10.24pm:

Cited here are two examples of how situations can be completely turned upside down when man gives in to the temptation of making haste. The severity of God is revealed against those who fail to trust Him and trust in their flesh instead.

However, we must note that these two examples are of men under law. Today in Christ Jesus, we are no longer under law, but under grace. Under law, the severity of God is revealed. We, under grace, will not be able to appreciate the grace of God without first knowing the severity of God. Now that we understand the severity of God under law as revealed by Aaron's post, let us no contrast this with the life we live under the grace of God.

Abraham was a man who lived before the law. Now, God had promised Abraham a son through Sarah. To Abraham, this was a total impossibility as Sarah was unable to bear any children. So Sarah decided that Abraham should have a son through Hagar, Sarah's maidservant. Abraham, in his haste to fulfil the promise of God, agreed to the proposal. Hence, Ishmael was born (after Abraham's self-effort). Now, here we can see that Abraham has both given in to temptation of haste and trusted in his own flesh; according to Aaron, he has utterly sinned against God! But you know what? Despite Abraham's sin, God still gave them the son He had promised them. Ishmael, although he was a mistake, God still blessed him and his children with the riches and fatness of the Earth. That is why the Middle-East is SOOO RICH with oil!

If Abraham, who wasn't even in Christ, could receive such benefits, so much more will we, who are in Christ Jesus receive them! For those of you who have fallen to the temptation, today God says to you: "You may have failed me, but I will not fail you!" You see, your unfaithfulness cannot cause God to become unfaithful to His covenant. Despite our unfaithfulness, He remains faithful. Even when you fail Him, there is a superabounding supply of favour (which you do not deserve, but He gives anyway) to prevent the severe consequences mentioned by Aaron from occuring, and even more favour to turn the situation around for your good!

My Saviour's Church Combined Family Service cum Picnic

Hey fellas, been busy for a while, due to language examinations, so here's an announcement. I'm trying my best not to sound evangelistic(some people don't like it when I invite them to church), so here goes -

The title says it all; There's gonna be a combined family service-cum-picnic on May 18th 2008, and all are welcome. Just show up with the following stuff:

Adults (from 8 years and above) : S$10(not US dollars, duh!)
Children (from 3-8 years old) : S$5
Babies (>3 years old): S$0.00(free!)

Lucky babies, you get a free trip to a picnic. But then again, you might not really be able to enjoy much food and games when you're still on milk bottles, I guess...(no offence to parents intended) But then again, who ever said that babies aren't allowed to be outdoors with their parents?

In case you're wondering, there's no need for NRIC certificates or any form of official identification needed to be brought, 'cos we're holding this picnic at Pasir Ris Park, at a lawn next to Car Park D. There's always people around to ask, public transport and the taxi, so don't come running after me when you lose your way going there... :P

Oh yeah, it's from 9am to 9pm, and early birds get free breakfast when they reach there before 9am.

Of course, other than the usual dull sermons(I write as though a unbeliever would) at the start of the morning, there's games like Treasure Hunt, Football, Captain's Ball, and many games able to keep youself occupied throughout the day. Exercise is good for the body, so why not? Just be sure to drink plenty of water after the games - the weather is very hot lately.

What's more, the next day's Vesak Day, so it's a public holiday, so why not go there and have fun. Good planning on our part, yea?