Cien An's Space

Word of God is our food, prayer is our breathing

2011-11-26T09:48:00.004+08:00

Thank God for the prayer meeting last night! He strengthened my soul and asked me to live by faith.

1) This world and our body is our temporary shelter. God has prepared an eternal home for us.

People who live by faith are "...longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." Heb 11:16

2) Our weakness can turn to strength in God when we depend on him.

People "...whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies." Heb 11:34 through faith.

"...he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me." 2 Cor 12:9

A short testimony to share with you:

As you may already have heard from me, I have increased burden for my family and relatives after my grandma passed away and I prayed for them regularly. Not long later, my cousin (younger brother) found a job in Singapore. My aunt asked me to help him find an accommodation. Being a good cousin, I was anxious to help him find the best place to influence him for God. At that time, one of my friends in the ex-ministry house happened to be going back to Malaysia for good. Praise God for the miraculous timing! There will be one vacant roommate. After much talking with my the other friend (who will be my cousin's roommate), concerns were resolved and he finally agreed to let him in. I met my cousin and my friend for dinner early this week. They get to know each other better. Things are smoother now. I am praying that he will be influenced by Christians in that house and come to church soon! Praise God for his marvelous work!

Word of God is our food, prayer is our breathing. I want to encourage you to live by faith through the Word of God and through prayer more and more. Amen.

Giving Breakthrough Testimony

2011-10-08T13:55:00.005+08:00

I was a very stingy person. I always wanted to receive and hoard as much as possible to make my life more secure. I always worried about money and I was not happy with my life.

During Hope Church Conference 2011, God changed my heart. One of our pastors mentioned that "Giving is Living". Holy Spirit led me to repent from my old mindsets. I responded to God by giving to the church building fund. I decided an amount that truly represented my heart. It broke my record of giving to God. I felt happy to be a giver.

Since then, God gave me overflowing joy like never before. The joy in my heart surpasses the amount of money I gave to him. God also leads me in ministry, career and relationship. God recently give me a strong burden to reach out not only my immediate family, but also my relatives in the entire family tree as well. I am praying for them regularly.

All glory be to God!

My Conversion Story

2011-10-08T13:29:00.004+08:00

I was a very bad person. I ever altered my exam result to cheat my family. I took advantage as the only son in the family and I bullied my two younger sisters. I beat them up when I had a bad day outside my home. I asked them to do many things for my own pleasure. I treated them as my slaves. I did not respect my parents and grandparents. I shouted at them when I didn't get what I wanted.

In my first year studying in Singapore in 2000, I was very lonely. My seniors in the university brought me to church and lifegroup. I was touched by their care and love. By faith, I accepted Christ as I was not satisfied with my life.

My dad objected strongly about my conversion. But God changed my life. My dad fell into debt crisis in 2004 just after I graduated. God enabled me to love my dad. With my dad's limited income and amidst the pressure from money lenders, I helped him clear his debt gradually in a painstaking 3 years. My dad's heart was softened after the debt saga. He called me during one Christmas’s eve to say "Merry Christmas" to me. He knew I was celebrating Christmas and what Christmas meant to me (my parents are staying in Malalysia while I am staying in Singapore). My relationship with my two sisters also improved a lot. We are able to share our hearts and our problems with each other despite our distance.

God is still transforming my life to glorify him more. By faith, you can receive him and experience a transformed life too!

Hope Conference Reflections

2011-08-01T23:13:00.006+08:00

1. Giving is living.
2. Sacrifice and suffering to produce maturity and fruits
John 12:24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
3. Jesus is the head and we are his body. If the head commands the right hand to raise, the right hand is raised. It would be strange if the head commands the right hand to raise, the left hand is raised. In the same way, Jesus, who is the head, commands us to do His will, it would be strange if we, his body, refused to obey. The head commands the body to be victorious, so we, also must be victorious!
4. A loving father loves every child the same but he loves each one uniquely. Our heavenly father is a good and loving father. He loves us so uniquely and it is sometimes beyond our understanding. Some might have to go through more suffering. Yet, God's love for them is the same!
5. Best leadership principle - be yourself. It basically means we do what we believe. Don't have to conform to the pressure of this world. It is how we influence the most.
6. Leadership wisdom - seek council to get the best decision. We can't possibly see things from every angle from our position. Don't need to impress and presume we always have the best and right idea.
Pro 11:14 For lack of guidance a nation falls, but many advisers make victory sure.
7. Mission started with the very nature and heart from God. The Father sent the Son. Jesus is the first missionary. He came to live among us. We are called to live in the neighborhood to carry out God's mission.
8. Chairs-for-souls: Faith is much more valuable than gold and silver. Give courageously and generously!
9. Don't allow devil's lie to destroy the unity in the church. The devil plants negative thoughts in our mind against our brothers and sisters. Resist Him! Choose loving and kind thoughts toward them instead.

Righteousness and peace of God

2011-01-20T22:12:00.006+08:00

Rom 4:4-5 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.

Rom 4:14 For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless,

Rom 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is so marvelous to know that we are declared righteous by God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We are not made righteous by what we do (did) and do (did) not do. But we are made righteous through faith and faith alone.

It is clear that righteousness is not earned by work (not even a single good work!), if it is so, it is not a gift, but an obligation. God credits us as righteous through our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

How precious are these thoughts! Thank be to God! Knowing that God is not so concerned about what we do and what we don't do, but more concerned about our faith in Him, how much courage we should have to do His will everyday! How much peace He grants his children when they have faith in Him?

Jehovah Kaddesh

2011-01-12T23:25:00.003+08:00

Is it okay if we are motivated towards being holy because we want to avoid feeling guilty? Of course, not OK! In fact, it is wrong!

What is the bottom of our motivation? We must check and know clearly it is for God or for self. Wrong motivation will last temporary. It focuses on the external and outward appearance. It always has no substance. Right motivation will last for eternity because the source of motivation is from God and the goal is to glorify God. God is an eternal God!

1 Peter 2:9-10 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Are you proud to be called into God's kingdom? Are you afraid of rejection because of God's name? This is what always happened in HK movie: a rebellious youngster who is almost killed from gang fighting, a 'big' brother from another gang came and saved his life. How grateful and loyal will he be to his 'big' brother who rescued him? He would give his life fully to follow his new master since his life 'belong' to him.

1 Peter 1:13-16 Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

What do you think is God’s heartbeat when He gave us the command to be holy because He is holy?

I think a loving father would want his son to possess and imitate his good traits. God loves us and wants the best in us so he command us to be holy. One important theology we need to know about holiness: we are created in God's image - man are made to be holy according to God's design. when we are holy, we are like God and we can give glory to Him. We are able to draw people closer to our holy God. If we are not holy, we draw people closer to our 'unholy gods'.

What do you think is the meaning "living in ignorance" in verse 14?

This means we don't care about the word of God, neglect seeking the truth. We can't be sanctified by God. Bible is the manual of our lives - basic instruction before leaving earth. So it is important that we align our lives with God's word. Sanctification is a life long process. We need to be intentional in seeking God's truth in order to be sanctified by God.

Lessons from Dr. Stephen Tong's gospel rally & book

2011-01-04T23:10:00.006+08:00

1) God gives men work because he does not want men to become lazy. He created objects for men to observe, analyze, see, study and think. Then men shall enjoy the fruits of his labor. All jobs whether it is high level or low level requires our minds to see, hear, observe and think. We have to actively do this to give God glory in our work.

Do you give all your energy and focus to do your work? Do you take short cut / cut corner to get your work done faster?

2) Heb 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

God's existence does not depend on whether we believe him or not. He will not cease to exist whether we meet a problem or not. He will not cease to exist whether we feel him or not.

Do you have a smaller faith in God when things are not turning out the way you want? Does your faith in Him fluctuate so regularly like the wave tossed by the wind? What is the object of your faith?

3) Priority: God --> Men --> Things

We have to constantly remind ourselves that men are more important than things. Things are created by God to serve men, not the other way around. But men must submit to God's rule. We can use the same principle on the stewardship of money. Men must not serve money. Money should be used to serve men.

Do you let money control you or you control money?

4) Order of importance: Truth --> Rational --> Emotion --> Will / Action

Philosophy from Plato:

"The least wisest men let their will control their actions. The less wiser men let their emotion control their action. The wisest men let their mind control their emotion and will, finally action."

A wise man will not let his emotion become the master of his rational. Instead, he will let his emotion become the slave of his rational.

But the wisest men can only go thus far, and nothing else follows...their rational still cannot surpass the truth, which can only be found in God.

Are your rational, emotion, will and action led and guided by the truth?

God's Sovereignty

2011-01-04T22:54:00.003+08:00

A Sovereign Bullet

On April 20, 2001, the Peruvian Air Force shot down a missionary plane, mistaking it for a drug courier. In the plane were the pilot Kevin Donaldson and a missionary family, Jim and Veronica Bowers and their two children, seven-month-old Charity and six-year-old Cory. Veronica had Charity in her lap sitting in the back of the Cessna 185. As the bullets sprayed the plane, one of them entered Veronica’s back and passed through her and into her daughter. Both died. The pilot, with shattered knees, crash-landed the plane in a river, and the other three survived.

Seven days later at the memorial service in Fruitport, Michigan, Jim Bowers gave his testimony and explained why the sovereignty of God in the deaths of his wife and daughter was the rock under his feet.

"Most of all I want to thank God. He’s a sovereign God. I’m finding that out more now. . . . Some of you might ask, “Why thank God?” . . . Could this really be God’s plan for Roni and Charity; God’s plan for Cory and me and our family? I’d like to tell you why I believe so. He goes on to give fifteen reasons. In that context, he says, “Roni and Charity were instantly killed by the same bullet. (Would you say that’s a stray bullet?) And it didn’t reach Kevin, who was right in front of Charity; it stayed in Charity. That was a sovereign bullet.”
But what about the Peruvian fighter pilots? Didn’t they have wills? Didn’t they make mistakes or, perhaps, even sin against an innocent missionary family? Jim Bowers said, “Those people who did that simply were used by God. Whether you want to believe it or not. I believe it. They were used by Him, by God, to accomplish His purpose in this, maybe similar to the Roman soldiers whom God used to put Christ on the cross.”

Above is extracted from John Piper's "Sweet and Bitter Providence"

Gen 50:19-20 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

Job 1:12 The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”

Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

Job 2:6 The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”

God is in control when evil men seem to harm us or take advantage of us. He uses people and events to accomplish his purpose. No one can touch a strand of our hair without God's permission.

Do you believe in God's sovereign rule over all things?

Knowing the Father of mercies

2011-01-04T00:46:00.002+08:00

2 Cor 1:3-4 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (ESV)

What happen to us is not more important than how we perceive what happen to us.

Why the Father of mercies and not the Father of love is used in this verse?

Since the fall of man, we don't deserve any good things from God. Yes, we face troubles in life, but the trouble actually could have been worse. In his mercy, he only allows trouble that we can bear. God, by his mercy, didn't repay us what our sins deserve.

With this understanding, we can be comforted by God when we go through troubles. For His mercy is sufficient for us!

Precious lessons about work

2011-01-04T00:29:00.002+08:00

I can't emphasize more the importance of patience. Without patience we can't do anything excellently.

I can't emphasize more the importance of clarity. Without clarity of instruction, we can't do anything correctly.

One must know his resources and capabilities before committing to do anything or give any promise. When we are clear what is required, we can give our 100% focus and heart to get the thing done.

Knowing your identity in God to render humble service to others

2011-01-04T00:01:00.003+08:00

John 13:3-5 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

Knowing his power and authority in God, he demonstrated his love, humility, gentleness, servanthood spirit, kindness to his disciples.

Do you ever try very hard to prove something to somebody?

If we know our position and identity in God, we don't have to prove anything to anybody!
We can feel secure to give humble service to others.

Joy comes from total submission to God and humble service to others. We don't have to try to be someone until we forget to serve others.

It is also interesting to note the Lord's incredible patience with Judas Iscariot. He washed his feet and serve him meal just as other disciples. Judas had been dishonest with Jesus for a long time. Yet the Lord still keep him and give him chance after chance to repent. The Lord never gives up on us. He always hopes.

Your hour of trials and tribulations

2011-01-03T18:20:00.003+08:00

John 12:23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

John 12:27 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.

The hour has come for Jesus to suffer and die on the cross. He was willing to submit fully to God. In his mind, he already saw the victory and glory (the resurrection) that is going to come. He must have felt joy despite of the forthcoming trouble.

When your hour of trials and tribulations arrive, will you stand firm in God to go through it and expect God to "resurrect" you till the end? God will spare your life if your time is not up yet.

The greater we suffer for Christ, the closer we reach great victory. Take heart when you suffer for the sake of Christ!

The coolest man that ever lived on earth

2010-07-31T12:35:00.006+08:00

Jesus is the coolest man that ever lived on earth.

John 11: 3 - So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick."

John 11:6 - Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.

Jesus was so calm despite being told the one he loved was sick (v. 3) and the pressure he might have faced from his disciples and love ones. People might have expected him to go and heal Lazarus as quickly as possible.

Yet, Jesus waited and followed God's timing by staying where he was two more days. He didn't act out of impulse. Jesus gave more glory to God after Lazarus was raised from the dead.

Cool and amazing Jesus.

Are you cool when you are facing pressure? Perhaps you can learn from Jesus on how to handle pressure in life.

Struggling with sins

2010-07-14T00:24:00.003+08:00

Hebrews 12:4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

Romans 6:11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

Matthew 5:29-30 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

Sins bring us spiritual death. When we are spiritually dead, our physical body also decays faster and the feeling of "death" is very real. We must resist sins fiercely even to the point of death. The price for walking in righteousness may be high as we have to give up temporary pleasures. The price for walking in darkness and evil is much higher. We yield to Satan's rule and it leads us to death.

We must obey God all the time as nothing can beat our eternal security in Christ. Is there something if I do (or don't do) will cause our eternity to be at stake? If not, just do it / don't do it. The devil cannot harm us when we obey God's will unless our time is up in God's sovereign plan. God also promised rewards in Hebrews 12:11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Measuring Pride

2010-06-19T12:19:00.004+08:00

Do we know when we are proud?

I found some ways we can measure our pride.

When we are recognized by people for our work performance, do we feel over-excited until we cannot keep our feet on the ground and move on to do the next important thing? If yes, we are proud.

When we are criticized or commented for our poor work performance, do we feel so affected until we cannot keep our feet on the ground and move on to do the next important thing? If yes, we are proud.

When we are worried and decided to dwell in it, refusing to act on something concrete and constructive, we are proud. We do not let go and trust in God's sovereignty over our situations.

James 4:6 God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. How true it is.

Surrendering my life

2010-04-24T13:21:00.004+08:00

When pride crippled into our lives, we are blinded and we don't recognize sins in our lives. When he breaks our pride until we become honest with ourselves and with God, we start to see many sins and unrighteousness in us.

How do we respond to him when we recognize our sins? Often time we are tempted to rectify the unrighteousness through our own strength. We try to take control but we still fail to meet God's standard. We feel depressed and stressed. Because it is motivated by self-consciousness rather than God-consciousness.

When we are God-conscious, we surrender our sins and unrighteousness into the hand of God. We let him take control and reign through our weaknesses. In this way, we can overcome our struggle with God's grace and strength.

He will bring us to his destination victoriously.

Lord, help me surrender my life and weaknesses unto you!!! For you are with me. No evil can harm me. Amen!!!

The Cost of Being a Disciple

2010-04-02T13:21:00.003+08:00

Luke 14:28-33 "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'
"Or suppose a king is about to go war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

If our end goal is to become his disciple, we have to prepare to give up everything of our lives to him. It is very easy for us to lose our focus when the worries of life, pleasure and riches tempt us along the way. It is very important that we make daily decision to surrender everything to Him, even our time and our future.

One-day Durian Tour in J.B. on 25 Jul

2009-09-24T10:51:00.009+08:00

My PKI colleagues: ZhangYu, Yuko, Alin and Jasmine

Chocolate Shop

Durian and fruits farm

Seafood Restaurant

Praying for my family...

2009-07-11T19:42:00.002+08:00

My 1st sister is pregnant with a baby boy. She is scheduled to give birth latest by 4 Nov. I am still finding an English and a Chinese name for my very first nephew. I will travel back to see her in Nov.

My 2nd sister still could not rent a furnished eating shop to start her business. Shop owners do not rent out their furnished shop because they are still doing well in their business. So she is still continuing to look out for a suitable shop through asking people and reading newspaper advertisement.

My dad is taking care of my grandma at home. He still needs financial support to pay for business tax and to maintain the new car.

My mum is working in KL now. She is well. She has three more assignments this year after finishing the present one.

Dear God, please protect my family. Please provide for all their needs. Use me to love and support them.

Loving self is right

2009-07-11T07:17:00.004+08:00

The second greatest commandment reads "Love your neighbor as yourself". Jesus seemed to assume loving oneself is so basic that he does not even have to command us to do so. How do we love our neighbor if we do not even know how to take care of ourselves? Therefore, loving oneself is not wrong, it is natural and healthy. More importantly, it is the right thing to do.

To me, loving ourselves is

Eat healthy food and exercise regularly to maintain our physical health
Prioritize our life, our resource, and select our activities wisely. There is time for everything, a time to say YES and a time to say NO.
Purify our minds, hearts and motives to grow our relationship with God
Don't intentionally sin against God for temporary pleasure. We don't love ourselves enough as we allow temporary things to master us and damage our relationship with our eternal God.
Feed and enrich our mind with spiritual nourishment, knowledge & understanding
Don't be unnecessary burdened by things of the world. Cast away our burdens to God and let him do life with us. He would not ask us to do something that his grace can't reach us. Matt 11:28-30
Don't look down on ourselves and feel low self-esteem. We are all unique and equally loved by God.

Loving God is...

2009-07-04T08:08:00.008+08:00

Loving God is...

Choose spending money on oversea mission trip over an oversea holiday
Choose spending money on a brother in need over beers
Choose giving to God over eating an expensive meal
Choose loving people unconditionally when our feelings say otherwise
Choose respecting and honoring our leaders, praying for them and supporting them when they are stressed rather than being disappointed with them
Choose doing the right thing in our job when no one is seeing

I am ready!

2009-07-04T07:39:00.005+08:00

What had happened in the past 6-week of my journey with God is a miracle. I have never felt so complete in my life before. I have tremendous peace and joy in my heart amidst the up-and-down of life.

Yesterday God whispered to me on my way to church corporate prayer meeting. He said that He is a God of miracle. God healed and restored me completely. What had happened in my life is already a miracle. He is going to perform more miracles in the second half of this year in all areas of my life. People will be amazed by God's work in me. They will praise God for what he is going to do.

Pastor Jeff mentioned that the devil will seek to destroy, deceive and distract. I sensed that all of us can flee from the devil's scheme if we allowed Jesus to reside in our hearts. He is powerful and has authority over the devil. In the gospel we knew that Jesus cast out demons. The devil don't dare to touch us or go near to us at Jesus' presense. Therefore, we don't have to fear the devil. We can call on Jesus.

Another thing I sensed very strongly is the love of God especially his equal love. God's love for all human is the same - it is so vast and immeasurable. He loves the guy who is robbing a bank as same as the pastor who is preaching at a church now. He loves the strong as equally as the weak. He loves the rich and the poor. He loves the righteous and the unrighteous. We can never outlove God. The door of God's love is open to all. And it is up to us how much we want to know His love.

More than a friend

2009-07-04T07:24:00.002+08:00

Opposite attracts. This is true in the law of physics as well as the law of boy-girl-relationships. Certain individual of opposite gender may captivate us with their particular personality, physical appearance, character, interest, and life vision. It would be a perfect if the person make good friend with us and compliments us to make a power team, i.e. 1+1>2.

Alone and lonely

2009-07-04T07:18:00.002+08:00

We can be alone yet not lonely, we can be lonely yet not alone...The key lies in whether we have Jesus in our heart...

How to stop loving people

2009-06-29T21:54:00.003+08:00

1. Pride - When we have pride or think more superior than others, we are ugly at its most. Pride is really the ugly side of human. Pride is an anti-love. We can't love when we are prideful.

2. Lack of prayer - When we stop praying for someone, we stop loving the person. How can we love when he/she is not constantly in our mind or prayer? Humanly we can't give what is best for the person. When we pray, we are hoping God the mighty provider would give the best to the person.

Starting a F&B business in Singapore?

2009-06-20T11:32:00.003+08:00

My two younger sisters are quite blessed.

The first one is married to a family who is doing food business. Her mother-in-law cherished her very much. Recently their noodle shop at Cheras became famous after they were interviewed for a TV program. Their noodle is special because they use their own recipe. The number of customers is increasing day by day.

This mother-in-law wants my 2nd sister to look for a shop house in Banting to franchise her noodle food business. The plan is to teach my sister how to make the special noodle and share the profit from the business. According to my sister, they will need to hire at least 5 person to run the eating shop. Now she is looking for a fully furnished shop house with affordable rental price.

I am thinking: If the franchised food business is successful, I may be interested to franchise the business in Singapore. F&B franchise brands like Secret Recipe, Yat Kun, Breadtalk, Pontian wantan noodle, etc. also expanded their business in this way.

Reaching the marketplace for Jesus

2009-06-18T22:58:00.005+08:00

I asked God to guide me in my career during adult camp 2009 and my objective was met. God taught me a couple of things about the right perspectives I should have on serving God in marketplace.

1. Work is a spiritual activity. We need to draw close to God to do our work. God is the originator of work and he wants us to enjoy our work. He is the creator of all things in the universe and he created human in his own image. We can be as creative as God if we have the spirit of God. So it is important that we know him and are close to him.

2. We influence people for Christ through doing the right things at the right time, in the right place and right situation. Having higher position does not mean having higher influence on people for Christ if we don't have a heart for God and people. We solely serve ourselves and our selfish desire. This should not be the case. We serve God fully in the marketplace by reaching out to people. This should be our heartbeat and ultimate aim of our career. Career is only a mean to serve God and not an end in itself.

3. We should never get a job that would always make us feel stressed. If we can be more effective for God by being in a lower position, then we are okay with it. I don't mind to be a road sweeper than being a CoE if that makes me more influential for God.

4. A lot of times we struggle with God because we hold on to our career very dearly. We try hard to climb up corporate ladder by our own strength and selfish ambition. We can achieve it one day but we lose the grace and favour of God. Many times God withhold his blessing in our career such as higher income, position and power because God does not want to let these things destroy us.

Col 1:16,17 All things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Something about girls

2009-06-07T22:07:00.003+08:00

I witnessed an major change in a female colleague's life since the end of last year. I noticed she smiles a lot more despite facing pressures in the work place. She also dresses more new and beautiful clothes with brighter color tones.

What event caused her to change so much? I believe it is after she was proposed by her boyfriend. The happiness must be coming from the sweetness of engagement and the preparation for marriage, from knowing where she belongs and from the security that she is loved.

When a girl feels loved, she is at the top of the world. A girl looks beautiful when she feels loved.

My First Love

2009-05-31T08:07:00.007+08:00

My first love is Jesus, who saved me from all my sins, who suffered so much for all my wrongs, who took away my shame and brokeness, who showed me amazing love and grace, and who gave me a new life and purpose through faith.

But how many times I had forsaken my first love? Countless times! I had loved Him half-heartedly. I had always unconsciously and consciously started to chase after worldly things such as money, power, people's approval, ability to do certain things and etc. These things are good in the eyes of the world but they never satisfy my soul nor make me a more complete person. When I surrender one of them to God, I unknowingly start to chase after the other worldly thing. It is like a vicious cycle. After all these years of loving Jesus half-heartedly, I concluded that it did not lead me to anywhere. I concluded that I need a paradigm shift of mentality. I must know that the biggest loss is never losing the worldly things which will not last forever. The biggest loss is losing my first love - Jesus.

When we lose Jesus, we lose everything. When we gain Jesus, we gain everything! So I must love Jesus and I must not be distracted by the love for worldly things. We must constantly ask ourselves (or ask people to remind us) who is our first love especially when we feel troubled by worldly things. We must remember the following verses:

Matt 22:37 - Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'

John 16:33b - In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

Now I appreciate what apostle wrote below in Phil 3:7-11

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Don't make enemy with talkative aunties!

2009-05-18T23:14:00.003+08:00

It is very common to see stall owners of hawker center make enemy with each other in Singapore. This is particularly evident for drink stall owners. I always feel very amused by one particular drink stall aunty in Geylang East Central hawker center. She mainly sells deserts but does sell a few type of drinks. When we sit near her stall to eat chicken rice, we usually order drinks from her neighbor stall. She will always grumble about her neighbor (just 3 stalls away from her stall) in sarcastic manner. In one ocassion, she told us her neighbor would not bother to keep their drink fresh. She quoted an example saying they keep their longan (龙眼) overnight for many days and use it to sell to their customers. She asked us not to drink from her neighbor stall as the water is taken from "drainage". Whether it is true or pure slander, some of us who heard her comments dare not order drinks from her neighbor anymore. I think this aunty must have told many people about the same thing.

Today I ate at the hawker center again after I finished swimming. I decided not to order any drink from the stall due to psychological effect or just in case something wrong with their drinks. How her neighbor's business is impacted by her slander or sarcastic remark? It is immeasurable!

In my opinion, the aunty's sarcastic remark is > 50 % due to their bad relationship rather than the unhygienic practice of her neighbor. Next time, if you run your own drink/food stall business in hawker center or any other small businesses, the last thing you want to do is make enemy with your neighbor esp talkative aunties. Guess what is the first thing you should do?

The curious case of a special friend

2009-05-17T22:11:00.002+08:00

I know a friend who just uncovered the history of his family. Most importantly, he got to know who his real mum is and what happened to his mum. For the first time in his life, he asked his father about the events that took place twenty over years ago. His father married his mum many years ago and gave birth to him. He was a very difficult baby to look after in the first 6 months as baby. He kept on crying and crying all days and nights. It was the mum's first child and she didn't have the experience taking care of a baby. She was so stressed that she cried together with the baby. His father visited home once a week as his work place was far from home. One fine day, his father was informed his wife had committed suicide by jumping into the river in the town. At that time, the baby was only 3-month old. His father didn't quarrel with his mum. Nobody knew the exact reason she killed herself. According to his father, his mother was very gentle, quiet and submissive girl and she was deeply loved and treasured by his grand-parents.

His father married his step-mother 6-months later to take care of him. The family had been concealing the matter under the carpet all these years. His grandma does not love the step-mother as much and has prejudice against her and her two step-sisters. The matter would be briefly or accidentally brought up when there is heated argument in the family. This friend would not investigate the details further and he would continue to treat his step-mother as his real mum (though he knew in his heart she was not). He did not dare to ask the true story because traditional Chinese culture does not encourage people to discuss or mention about bad things that happened in the past.

This friend had always felt something missing in his life. He had constantly felt he was short of real and tangable mother's love. However, after he uncovered the true story of his mum, he felt as if he has just found his true identify. He was touched simply by knowing his mum had ever loved him in the first 3 months of his life. It must have been tough for his mum to take care of him. He felt that his real mother's blood is in him and he wants to live his life well to love his deceased mum. His deceased mum would want him to live well and be loved. Thank God this friend is a Christian and he is deeply loved by Jesus. When he goes up to heaven, he hopes to meet his mum and ask her what exactly happened at that time. Unknowingly he has lived longer than his mum now if count by the number of years they lived.

Mother's Day Home Trip - Part 2

2009-05-16T00:50:00.018+08:00

Before departure to Singapore At KLIA

Karen at 友明seafood restaurant her Proton Saga as backdrop

Maggie rubs the bell to create humming sound at Jenjarom Thai Buddhist Temple

Ah Bi with flower adorning her at Jenjarom Thai Buddhist Temple

'Dim Sam' breakfast at Jenjarom

Honey Crab at 日夜兴

Mother's day dinner at 日夜兴 seafood restaurant

Mahjong at my house

Peanut toast at Lavender Cafe

PengKiat and MengLee at Lavender Bread Cafe at Bukit Tinggi Shopping Mall

Everyday is Mother's Day to my dad

View from right side of my house

View from left side of my house

My humble house and car in Banting

Mother's Day Home Trip - Part 1

2009-05-15T00:13:00.000+08:00

I went back to my hometown last Saturday and returned lastnight. It was a last-minute arrangement. I felt I could tap on the Vesak replacement holiday on Monday and spend extended time with my family. Overall, the trip was good though it was a little too long. I was getting very bored on the last day and could not wait to come back to Singapore!

My bus ride on Saturday was terrible. It took me 9 hours. This is how - 6 hours from SIN to Klang, 2 hours stuck at Klang area, 1 hour from Klang to Banting. They changed the long-distance bus interchange to a new location at 中路. I've got to take a cab to go to old bus interchange to take another bus. It is so convenient! According to my cab driver, many people protested and are still protesting about the authority's move. Furthermore, the traffic congestion and road/bridge condition is very messy now. They are still constructing a new bridge to smoothen the traffic flow and it will not be finished soon. I decided not to take bus ride anymore in future.

I met a couple of old secondary school friends who live in Klang. One of my friends is very established in his career and life now. He started his own business in the U.S five years ago and is expanding his enterprise across the globe especially the European continent and the Middle East. He is hiring 7 persons to work in his office in Klang. One and a half year ago, he only hired 2 persons. He has a business partner in the U.S. who is in-charged of the operation there. They can execute their businesses and operations around the clock. Their customer orders keep coming in from all over the world and they hired Fedex to ship their goods everyday in contract agreement. The growth potential seems to be huge and unstoppable now.

My friend also mentioned about the hardship he went through in the first 2 ~ 3 years. After his graduation at Kansas University, he worked for other people and designed website for them. He learned the business model his employer used, got to meet clients and grasped the opportunity to run his own from there. Besides his career, he also acquired one shop house for his warehouse and office, one 2 and 1/2 storey house at Bukit Tinggi and two cars. His achievement really caught the attention of my other friends who do not meet him for longer time. They are amazed and wondered how this guy did it.

It took some times for my mind to accept this 'changed' friend. Upon further reflection, I realized it is not so much about his great ability that he achieved so many successes. It is the environment (the U.S) he lived in that made him so enterpreneurer. The environment encourages people to take risk and being open-minded. It is about grasping opportunity whenever or wherever it arises. I guess it is about living our life fully as if there may be no tomorrow. If we view life this way, we will wipe off all our unwanted worries and prepared to take on opportunities.

'Holding' the audience - the art of communication

2009-04-27T01:29:00.000+08:00

I am not a very confident public speaker. I often feel trembling when asked to give a presentation or speech to large group of people. In the past few weeks I evaluated and improved this area in my work place and caregroup. I attend my company's weekly meeting with seniors and managers. I participate in the meeting to report the KPI of my function, review other function's KPI and discuss ideas to solve problem. In the church, I led discussion and chaired caregroup program. Though the group size is smaller, I consider it as good training ground before I speak to a larger group of people.

I learned something about 'holding' the audiences when we speak to them. Holding them means we are fully engaged with them during the delivery. Here are some tips I discoverd:

We have to be very clear of what we want to deliver and what we want the audience to receive. Planning is required most of the time.
We have to connect with the audience by being relax, friendly, be ourselves, humorous and personal if possible.
Observe and pay attention to the audience at all times!
Be self-confident!
Finally, it is not about ourselves; it is about others. No matter what happened, take it easy and see the bright side of life!

The Beauty and Power of our Five Senses

2009-04-25T10:25:00.000+08:00

One of the greatest gifts God has given human is their five senses: ears that can hear, eyes that can see, mouth that can taste, nose that can smell, and skins that can feel. All these senses receive information constantly and send it to our brain. Our brain is like the CPU (Central Processing Unit) of computer. Once our brain receives the information, it interpretes it and responds to it.

The senses we use frequently are hearing and seeing. But do we maximize the usage of these two senses all the time? I think no. Our mind may be idle or asleep even when we are physicall awake. As a result, we are not very alert and sensitive to the surrounding, happening and people. This will eventually affect our effectiveness to achieve something great in life. We need to constantly be alert, watch and observe by hearing and seeing in order to help ourselves and others. Do not waste this precious gift given by God!

Love vs. Fear

2009-04-20T23:44:00.001+08:00

By nature all of us have fears. We fear for different reasons such as below:

Health deterioration
Money not enough/Losing our job and income
Loneliness
How people perceive us
Losing our ability, power and influence
Failure and defeat
Weakness
Uncertain future
Many many......

Fear is harmful. Fear controls and cripples our lives slowly even without our notice. Fear limits us to live life to the fullest. Fear makes us lose our patience easily. Fear causes us to take matters on our own hand. Fear induces us to make rash and unwise decision. Fear is a trap set up by the devil. Once we fall into it, we are in its vicious circle and it has no end to it.

I thank Jesus for saving me from the chain of fears. His unconditional love always satisfy my deepest needs. When I fall in love with Him, I feel as if I have overcome all things in life, even death. When I feel fearful, I don't allow fear to control my mind. I call upon Jesus who will never leave me or abandon me, who loves me and knows what I am going through - my struggle, my pain, my feeling, my thought, my burden, my everything. He really cares for me.

1 John 4:18b - But perfect love drives out all fear. This verse summarizes everything I said above.

Something about my hobbies

2009-04-20T23:28:00.000+08:00

Swimming is a very good sport. It helps to reduce stress and refresh the mind. MM LKY at one period of his life swimmed very morning. No wonder his mind is always so sharp despite living in his old age. I am determined to swim twice a week to exercise my body and refresh my mind.

I really love the DSLR camera I bought two weeks ago. It can shoot photo incredibly fast - in less than 20ms. I love to capture the funny shots and eye-catching moments of event. Picture really speaks thousand words so I posted many pictures in Jedi's blog. I bring it whenever possible so I can utilitize the equipment for maximum "investment return". As I am a beginner, I still have tons of knowledge to learm about photography. My room-mate, shepherd CN, many colleagues and friends also know photography better than me. I can tap on their experience and knowledge in my learning journey.

Footprints

2009-04-19T01:28:00.000+08:00

Below is a Christian poem that I like a lot. I shared it with the people when I led praise and worship last CG.

Footprints

One night I had a dream--I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord and across the sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints, one belonged to me and the other to the Lord. When the last scene of my life flashed before me,I looked back at the footprints in the sand.I noticed that many times along the path of my life,there was only one set of footprints.I also noticed that it happened at the very lowestand saddest times in my life. This really bothered me and I questioned the Lord about it. "Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,you would walk with me all the way,but I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my lifethere is only one set of footprints. "I don't understand why in times when I needed you most,you should leave me." The Lord replied, "My precious, precious child,I love you and I would never, never leave youduring your times of trial and suffering. "When you saw only one set of footprints,it was then that I carried you."

...Mary Stevenson

Making Our Relationships 'Fireproof'

2009-04-04T08:01:00.000+08:00

The 'Fireproof' movie screening presented by our district lastnight taught me a lot of things about relationship.

1. Love is not a feeling. Love is a decision. When Caleb decided to do anything to salvage his marriage, he followed the suggestion given by the lovedare book to love his wife eventhough he didn't feel like doing it.

2. "Do not leave your partner when there is a fire" the famous quote of the movie. He learned this from his profession - fireman. A broken relationship can be amended. So do not give up.

3. Persevere on when things get tough and when we don't see the expected result. I feel sad for Caleb when Catherine does not respond to his love acts after 20 days or so. The relationship seems to get worse after all that he had tried. The breakthrough came finally when he surrendered all his life to God.

4. Coach people to handle relationship problem and be with them throughout the journey. I admired the way Caleb's father guided him to go through the tough times. His father is so loving and patient toward his son. He prayed for him regularly. He visited his son from a long distance when his son feels very discouraged. What a wonderful father!

5. We can't love more than we are loved. We can't forgive more than we are forgiven. When we know Jesus' love, forgiveness, we know how to love and forgive others.

The Art of Relating with People

2009-04-04T07:44:00.000+08:00

Relating with people is one of the most important aspects of our lives, if not the most important aspect. I have come to learn the following principles in somewhat a hard way:

1. Be natural - God created each one of us uniquely. Everyone is so special in the eyes of God and so loved by Him. We don't have to compare ourselves with others and pursue some standards that God do not set for us.

2. Accept others - Before we can build any relationship, we will have to learn to accept people as they are. Do not judge people too early based on their outward appearance, social status, wealth, etc...We will not appreciate them when we start to perceive people negatively. When we know how God accepts us when we do not deserve it, we will know how to accept others.

3. Interested about others - God loves us and he know every detail of each individual. He even know the numbers of our hair! When we know how much God interested about our lives, we will be interested about others as well.

These are very basic principles. But they will bring us a long way.

Jackie Chan Incident

2009-04-04T07:15:00.000+08:00

I unexpectedly met Jackie Chan when I went to Vivocity this Monday evening.

He showed up on stage to promote his latest movie Shinjuku Incident. The place was so crowded. He gave some short speeches to the crowd and then left the stage. When I headed to the basement foodcourt, I happened to have close proximity with him as he also walked down to the basement car park. Then I and a few others stood along the barricade to wait for him to pass by. We waved at him at a distance when he passed by. He came over to give a pad on our hands and ran up to his van! I think I was lucky to meet him in real person for the first time and had a chance to get 'close' to him. Sometimes life is full of surprises.

Wisdoms from Ecclesiastes

2009-03-11T00:48:00.000+08:00

I am in the middle of reading Ecclesiastes and I really love this book. Below are some wisdoms I extracted which is very relevant to my life. I hope you enjoy them as well.

Eccl 7:10 - Don't say, "Why were things better in the good old days?" It isn't wise to ask that kind of question.
I think this verse is warning us against dwelling in the past - the good old days. We must not love our past. We must always look forward to the next best thing to come.

Eccl 8:6 - There's a proper time and way for people to do everything. That's true even though a man might be suffering greatly.
We have to do everything properly when required even though we might be suffering greatly from things such as personal issue, trouble, bad mood, etc...I know this is tough but by God's help it can be trained. This is especially important in our professional job.

Eccl 8:9b - A man sometimes makes life hard for others. But he ends up hurting himself.
We must not make life hard for others. Otherwise we will end up hurting ourselves. I think this is basic rule for building good relationship but we must be careful not to subtly fall into the trap of making life difficult for others.

Eccl 8:14-15 - Here's something else on this earth that doesn't have any meaning. Sometimes godly men get what sinful people should receive. And sinful men get what godly people should receive. Here's what I'm telling you. That doesn't have any meaning either. So I advise everyone to enjoy life. A man on this earth can't do anything better than eat and drink and be glad. Then he will enjoy his work. He'll be happy all the days of the life God has given him on earth.
I think Solomon is trying to tell us the importance of enjoying and living life to the fullness everyday. Don't ever live our day by comparing our "righteousness" with other people and the "reward" we are supposed to receive for being "righteous". We will end up being very unhappy because God does not promise fairness. He only promised justice. Our duty is to obey the Lord and follow His lead everyday. We must not use our wealth and status to measure our level of righteousness because such formula does not exist.

Eccl 9:10 - No matter what you do, work at it with all your might. Remember, you are going to your grave. And there isn't any work or planning or knowledge or wisdom there.
No matter what we do, we must work at it with all our heart and might. We can't do it when we are in our grave. Isn't this make perfect sense?

The Art of Surrendering to God

2009-03-08T22:28:00.000+08:00

Surrendering to God means we must learn to "let go, and let God". It's about laughing at ourselves when we make a foolish mistake, face with weakness and failure, feel incapable and powerless. It's about not taking our selves too seriously. It's about acknowledging our shortcomings and inadequacies to learn from each experience.

It's about not dwelling too long in our successes and becoming concerned about our status, recognition, reputation and wealth. It's about moving on to do the next important task God calls us to do.

Surrendering to God also means forgiving others when they offended us. It's about seeking understanding and love instead of judgment. It's about thinking to ourselves, "I know I am a sinful person. Perhaps I did something that created misunderstanding and caused the person to treat me the undesirable way. I must give benefit of doubt to the person. I must seek to know and understand the person better to save and rebuild the relationship"

In other words, surrendering to God is about forgetting ourselves, focusing on God and others.

Proposed Trip to Mt. Kinabalu

2009-02-27T13:35:00.000+08:00

Anyone wants to take a break in the second half of this year? Are you interested to get to the highest point (4095.2m) in South East Asia?

According to officials, the wetter season runs from October to February and the dryer season from March to September. Wet wheather is not suitable for climbing. So I propose we go there in Aug or Sep period.

It is one of the easiest mountain to climb in the world. Do you believe it? However, you must be physically fit to endure some challenging areas as steep as 45%. The reward is you get to enjoy a lot of beautiful and breathtaking sceneries throughout the climbing.

4day/3night is needed if we don't want to rush. Further, we also can spend one day in Kota Kinabalu city to experience the local cultures and foods. The total cost of the trip can be as low as below S$500. Accomodation must be booked at least 4 months before to the trip. (I intended to go in May but it seems to be too late to do the booking)

For those who like outdoor activities and adventures, this is MUST GO!!! Drop me a message if you are interested to go by end of April.

The below website contains a lot of details of the Mt. KK climbing.

http://www.mount-kinabalu-borneo.com/index.html

Hope in Israel-Arab Conflict

2009-02-03T21:37:00.000+08:00

I am extremely interested in the event happening in the Holy Land. The Bible is originated from there so I feel burdened to read more about the history there to understand the issue better. And I am interested to find out whether the Bible reveals certain thing about what is happening there in the present days. I also have many questions why God would allow so many sufferings happen in the Holy Land.

By reading news through the media, we will tend to blame Israel for the terrible sufferings they inflicted on the Palestinian. The videos and pictures of children and women get killed or severely injured would cause the people to feel sympathy toward the civilians in Gaza instead of the residents in Southern Israel. No body knows what is under-reported and what is over-reported. A lot of things are controlled by the media. I think Hamas has achieved their aim as the world start to condemn Israel for the 'crime' they committed.

Through the webcast of "Gaza: The Case for Middle East Peace" in the World Economic Forum website, I listened to the speech of Peres-Israel president, Moussa-Secretary-general of the Arab League and Erdogan-Turkey P.M. Each share their views on the conflict and the solution to address the issue. They are seating beside each other and their speech contain a lot of emotions. Israel president impressed me the most. His speech is powerful. He told me things that I do not read from the media. He also use facts to substantiate his points well.

He mentioned about Iran. Iran dislikes Israel. Their leader ever says that 'Israel should be wiped off from the map'. Such statement is denying the existance of Israel nation and carries the intention of destroying it. It is perfectly logical that Hamas rockets are supplied and funded by Iran to carry out their agenda against Israel. The official policy of Hamas does not recognize the existance of Israel. Iran did the same through Hezbolah 3 years ago in the Lebanon war. The president says that Iran's ambition is to rule the Middle East.

Israel president also said that Israel does not want to go to war, their goal is to achieve peace. They had done it with Eygpt and Jordan before. Israel has the will to help Palestinian establish a state for themselves. That's why they worked closely and is progressing with the other party in West Bank. Why they can't do the same with Hamas in Gaza?

I think this is not entirely the fault of the Hamas movement. They were selected through democratic system introduced by the West. Why would majority elect them to be the government since they deploy extreme policy toward Israel? Reason being that the people in Gaza is not ready to make permanent peace with Israel. Most of them still have a lot of hatred and bitterness toward Israel due to the burden of history.

I am glad to hear that Israel has been supplying water and electricity to Gaza and they make sure no one there is starving. In order to change the hearts of the Palestinian people in Gaza, Israel has to go extra mile to show their kindness and reach out to their needs. Since Israel are a stronger and blessed nation, they have to love their enemy just like what Jesus taught. They have to help them build their country and give to the poor extraordinarily. Perhaps when the hearts of people are genuinely touched and loved, they will one day forgo their bitterness and hatred. That day, Israel and Palestine will coexist peacefully and become a good friend/neighbor.

Now, the enemy government is ruling the area so to do what I suggested above is extremely challenging.

The spirit of the darkness is at work in the hearts of hardened people. God's people, be strong and courageous! Do what is right!

Work - Back to basic

2009-02-01T23:53:00.000+08:00

My cousin is doing extremely well in his career in Singapore. He graduated in 2004 and barely worked for 5 years. But he is now earning big time in the energy sector. His pay is almost doubled compared to his peers' on average in the engineering field. He obtained many valuable certs of his industry within a short time and became a very sought-after engineer. People usually get those certs when they reach their 40s. At the age of 30, he already has a wife, a baby girl, a house and a car. He told me the next goal is to obtain a few more important certs, join a giant energy company to get better pay and bonus and buy a condo. What an amazing guy!

Talking to my cousin leads me to reconsider the meaning of work. I think work means using our skills to do something to meet a certain demand. Let's go back to the basic of work. In ancient time, most of the people worked the land to produce food for their living and survival. Food is a demand in that time. Of course, skills are required to carry out the work. The skills determine the productivity and result which will be translated into some form of return. We call the return wages in modern economy.

I remember the current generation would say things like, "I am not interested in my work". I wonder whether this is a valid statement. When we talk about interest, there are a lot of feelings involved. Our interest may change over time as well. Further, our interest may be not relevant to the demand of the economy. Imagine, a person is very interested and reasonably good at singing but in his village people would not pay him a cent to sing. In order to make a living, wouldn't he get a day time job and treat singing as his leisure activity? A person who truly works would think about whether their skills and abilities meet the job requirement or the demand of the economy. In this argument, interest became a secondary issue. Very few people use their interest as work to make a living. However, many people tend to be too concerned about their interest and ignore what is the demand of the economy.

Recently Singapore government introduced SPUR (Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience) to encourage employers to send their workers for training during this downturn period. The good thing is that people get a chance to upgrade their skills and hopefully they come back equiped with better skills to improve their work productivity. The government has to address the two challenges to make SPUR successful and the money well spent. The first is make sure the workers sign up the right course and come back with targeted improvement. The second challenge is ensure the training provided is relevant to the future Singapore economy.

牛 Year '09 home trip

2009-01-29T21:28:00.000+08:00

I had a awesome and wonderful trip. For the first time, I feel so trouble-free in taking transport when I visited home. I followed my ex-classmate JinCai's car to go back on the 24th dawn and followed my cousin GuiHui's car to come back on the 29th afternoon. I think I was very thick-skin when I requested them to give me a ride...haha. When I was in Banting, my good friend PengKiat came back and forth (35km) from Klang to pick me. In the evening, he sent me to 1U, back and forth again. I was thankful but he said I was too 客气(courteous)！

On the first two days, I helped my sister sell home-made CNY cookies at 1U. I tried my best to be a good salesman to the aunties and 小姐(young ladies)。We hit RM1700 sales on Sat and RM800 sales on Sun (half-day) which is considered very good. I was amazed by the willingness of the customers to spend on our relatively-expensive cookies. Later on I learned from my sister that they are many rich people living in the area. Another unforgettable event is that my sis 美芳 was interviewed by NTV7 reporter and was broadcasted on the evening news.

My father surprised me by cooking reunion dinner for us (my mum was away during this new year). He never did it for us as far as I remember. The dishes are grilled fish cooked with garlic and ginger (it is slightly over-cooked), veggy soup, 菜花+prawn+pork. He also bought and prepared roasted pork and chicken for the dinner. I was quite touched by his act of love. I also feel that his relationship with my 2nd sister had turned better.

The happiest thing this CNY is I can meet quite a few families and friends whom I treasured. I hope to spend more time with them and keep them in my prayer and thought.

The Conflict in Gaza Strip

2009-01-22T00:01:00.000+08:00

I had been following the news on the Israel-Hamas conflict. I am saddened by the many innocent civilians killed during the war. I would not comment who is right and who is wrong. I think both side is equally wrong in many ways.

To Hamas:

You smuggled in weapons and fired rockets at Israel to kill innocent civilian is wrong.
Your movement policy is to wipe out Israel from the map. You are extremely wrong because you plan to murder a nation.
You trained suicide bombers to kill themselves and innocent lives. You disresgard dignity of life so you are wrong.

To Israel ruling goverment:

You are wrong because you invaded Gaza to advance your political cause. You have an election on February and you want to save your 'face' from the humiliated war in Lebanon 2006.
You are wrong if you imposed unreasonable blockade and without providing aid to the Gazans. That caused the people to live in a 'cage' and suffer great poverty.
During your operation, you did not exercise your utmost restraint from killing innocent lives. Palestinian death toll is 1300+ (50% are confirmed civilians). Israel death toll is 10 soldiers and 3 cilivians. Your force is far too disproportionate. This is not a war. This is a bully. You are a big bully because you attacked a defenceless nation to show your military might.

Why these two nations have a long history (almost 100 years) of war? They cannot live in peace because they have not overcome their hatred, intolerance, misunderstanding and selfish ambitions. As long as these human weaknesses still exist, we will not see sustainable peace soon.

《赤壁》决战天下

2009-01-12T21:35:00.000+08:00

上周六我看了《赤壁》决战天下。我最喜欢的环节是各种阴谋和诡计在战场的应用。印象最深刻的包挂周瑜“反间计”和孔明“草船借箭”的并用使曹操中计，误杀两大水军将领蔡瑁和张允。在戏中也看到了孔明“借东风”和“火烧连环船”的威力。在南方二大军师的精明策划之下，曹操做了错误的判断而输了这场赤壁之战。

最有趣的是当周瑜称赞孔明的发明时，孔明回复说，“什么都略懂一点点，生活也多彩一些些”。我觉得这也蛮有道理的。

这部电影在战争场面的拍摄很不错，我觉得很接近西方电影的素质。

Flipping-card testimony 2008

2009-01-10T08:28:00.000+08:00

I gave a flipping-card testimony on stage on 28/12 in the Adults Services. Just as how the ecomony had sank deeply in year 2008, my life had headed to the south in most of the year. I was turned around from "being depressed, in bondage" to "having full of joy and freedom" in the last quarter of the year by the grace of God. I can share with you the "how" part face-to-face if you are interested.

The coming economic collapse 即将来临的经济崩溃

2009-01-04T19:45:00.000+08:00

Recently I read a book called “The coming economic collapse”. This book mainly discusses the effect of oil supply on the future world economy. The author views that there will be a severe oil shortage if the world leaders are not urgent on developing alternate energy. In that time, oil price will go up higher than 200USD per barrel, and the consequence will be grave.

Because now we have sufficient energy, we are able to support the present complex civilization. But when the days of cheap oil are over and we don’t have alternate energy, our civilization will collapse and we will be forced to go back to “stone age”. Reason is very simple: when the oil price is skyrocketed without control due to supply shortages, we will not drive our cars to the city to work due to expensive petrol price. We will rather work near our home. In that time, we probably don’t need very specialized jobs such as finance, banking, etc...Instead, we will work the land to produce crops for our basic needs such as food and shelter.

The other interesting point the author wrote is about “collective blindness”. It happened during the dotcom bubble in 2001 and American War in Iraq 2003.

During the dotcom boom, almost all the investors speculated dotcom stocks had limitless potential for growth. Hundreds of thousand investors lost their investment and retirement fund when the bubble burst.

In 2003 when America decided to wage war against Iraq, all the intelligence was pointing the evidence that Iraq have WMD (Weapon of Mass Destruction), but did not attempt hard to find the evidence that Iraq does not have WMD. In 2004, officials announced there was no WMD in Iraq and the decision to go to war in Iraq because of WMD was wrong.

According to study, we will naturally respect the power (or leader) above us and we do not voice out our disagreement easily when we work in the team. It is important the people follow and respect the leader to create unity to complete certain task successfully. However, we may easily fall into a trap that we do not look at things objectively. The leader may make wrong judgment and the team may collectively head to the wrong direction.

Learning: In order to succeed, we have to assess the fact and info by ourselves to make sound judgment rather than following people blindly.

Christmas Gifts

2009-01-04T19:11:00.000+08:00

I received two very meaningful gifts last Christmas:

The World Map (from Name) - I serve locally and think globally. I hope to have more travelling opportunities in this year.

A book titled "Cross Cultural Conflict" (from Florence) - My caregroup is very diversified and exotic. We have five nationalities - Thailand, Singapore, Myammar, China and Malaysia. Yet we can make good friends with each other. This is amazing. The book will definitely provide me greater insight on cross cultural teamwork and conflict handling.

I also gave out two gifts I think meaningful:

Bible - I bought a quality NIV Bible with good price for Britma - James' brother. It is gold-plated at the pages' surrounding, with reasonably thick cover and quality papers. I was surprised I got it at a much cheaper price at Nexus (after membership discount) compared to other Christian shops in town. I managed to get everyone in the caregroup to write words of encouragement in it. I did all these hoping he will treasure the Word of God.
Shirt - I bought a red-colored Giordano shirt for Name. I blessed him as he needs it to serve in the church's usher team. He desires to live for God and has been faithfully serving in the usher team.

Two good movies

2008-12-27T09:05:00.000+08:00

I watched two movies in the last two days.

Yes Man

This is a hilarious comedy starring Jim Carrey. It is about a man who became very lonely and inward-looking after his girlfriend left her. He became very pessimistic about life and denied (say no to) every opportunities presented to him. One day, he met a friend that introduced him a new philosophy of life called "Yes". In the first seminar he attended, the guru preached to him to make a covenant to "Yes". Basically, he is supposed to say Yes to everything.

A lot of funny things (both good and bad) happened when he said Yes to everything. He found his new girlfriend, got promoted in his job and helped a few people big time by giving them hope. By saying Yes to everything, he also bumped into some troubles. He was arrested by the authority for being a terrorist suspect as he learned flying, dated with Iranian woman, confirmed his flight and destiny at the last minute, etc...

There are some truths in the “Yes” philosophy. The believers must be positive looking but not blindly say Yes to everything. They must also make sense of the things to make the good judgment. He finally realized that he only graduated from the first lesson.

叶问

这部电影真好看。尤其是武打的部分，演员都打的很精采。它也是中国南部（佛山）武林功夫的一些写实。

我最欣赏的是叶问对朋友的谦虚和忠诚，对国家和民族的爱护和忠诚。他的价值观和做人的原则从不被外来压力动摇。

我去年到过佛山工干，只可惜我没时间去了解当地的武林历史和文化。

With God all things are possible...

2008-12-25T10:07:00.000+08:00

Two happenings which I think worth remembering:

Shisha - I was spending time with some of my colleagues in a pub at Arab St on Friday two weeks ago. I tried Shisha. They use charcoal to burn with the selected flavour to create smoke which is filtered by the water in the bottom of the piece of equipment. We have to inhale the smoke through a pipe connected to the equipment. That night, we ordered two Shisha, one is rose flavour and the other is cherry flavour. According to Thiru (my Indian colleague), smoking Shisha is Middle East style of socializing with people.

Sundramoorthy - I played futsal soccer at Farrer Park last Thursday. I didn't know that one of the player in the opposite team is Singapore soccer legend Sundramoorthy. He is now the Young Lion coach.

Last but not least, I like this year's verse at Tang's Shopping Mall. It reads, "......WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE - MATTHEW 19:26"

Christmas Dinner Party - Christmas In The City (New York)

2008-12-25T01:12:00.000+08:00

"Christmas In The City" was held at Dome located at Singapore Art Muzium on the 13th Dec. I helped in the RSVP, admin & registration of the event. Our goal was to hit 70 people attending this event. I was not encouraged when we barely had 40+ confirmed RSVP at the end of Nov. The leaders knew the situation and encouraged the people to pray & fast, and work hard.

As the event date drew closer, the number skyrocketed to 70 in days. On the actual day we have 80 people attending the event! We were desperate and God gave us a miracle!

We had game (drawing the meaning of Christmas), caroling, song presentation, sharing, testimony, dance (this part was the funniest), food & city light bus tour.

Christmas Meals

2008-12-21T07:52:00.000+08:00

Christmas isn't a Christmas without a good Christmas meal for most of the Singaporeans. During this festive season, I have already had several Christmas meals with friends and colleagues to date. Here I recalled them:

Fig & Olive at Vivocity (with QA department) - They serve Halal Western food. I took their BBQ chicken served with pasta. The food is ok. However the service is thumbsdown. The last few persons who got their foods had waited for more than 1 hour after the first few persons got theirs. Because of this unpleasant experience, we decided to "ban" this restaurant for future departmental lunch.
Warunglele at Arab St. (with colleagues) - They serve Indonesian Ala Cart Buffet food. The food is tasty and the service is excellent. The price is very reasonable.
Dome at Singapore Art Muzium (with church friends) - They serve buffet food for 80 people at our Christmas Dinner Party. The food is plain. It could have been better. The cutlery, bowl and plate used are all plastic which doesn't quite match the standard we expected. Furthermore, there is only one male and one female toilet. People are jammed there for long time. We concluded that this place is not suitable for big event like ours.
Grand Copthorne Hotel (with EHS committee) - They serve buffet lunch. Most of my colleagues like the big raw oyster and one of them ate 12! I didn't eat much as my tummy was not well. But I was glad I could take my favourite Jap food - the sashimi. Overall, it is a good and sumptious meal.

Stanchart Marathon 2008

2008-12-11T23:52:00.000+08:00

I ran the 10km Stanchart last Sunday. I was excited because it was my first time running such a long distance. My target was to complete the 10km within 1 hour without stopping. I didn't stop throughout the race. However, my timing is 1h:11m:49s (gun) / 1h:8m:42s (net), slightly falling short of my goal. Jian Ming and I ran together at the beginning but we parted after about 2km.

I think my regular training before the event helped me to finish the race well. I tried to jog 3km at least once a week. In this way, I trained my stamina and maintained a healthy lifestyle. While I was running the race, I was thinking whether I should sign up half-marathon in 2009. If I were to sign up, I will need to jog at least 8km to train up my stamina.

I was later told that Hope Church (the organization I registered with) got 6th place in the Non-profit Org Distance Challenge and it is the only church that receives placing.

Learning from two good books

2008-12-08T16:29:00.000+08:00

I read two good books last week. The first book is Joyce Meyer's "Battlefield of the mind". This book talks about our freedom in Christ in the mind. The content is very practical and useful for personal life. The second book is "The 4th Dimension" authored by Dr David Yonggi Cho. This is a very powerful book for personal life and ministry.

Here are my take-home points from these books:

Battlefield of the mind

The smoke of cigarette is disgusting to people who do not smoke. Negative thinking is best illustrated as the smoke of cigarette for those who have the mind of Christ. In order to live a victorious life, we ought to fill our mind with the thoughts of Christ through knowing His Word. Spend a lot of time in reading and studying His Word!
When we have judgemental thoughts toward someone, we become a god to the person we judge. Don't choose to become a god to other people, rather learn to love people. Judging people is not our job; it is God's job.

The 4th Dimension

The law of faith - a) When we pray, we must pray very specifically. Don't pray vague prayer. Pray and ask God to answer our specific and clear-cut goals. We will know that it is God's answered prayer only when we are clear what we pray for. b) Pray for strong desire to see things happen. c) Pray until we have great assurance from God that he is going to answer our prayer.
The 4th dimension - There are 3 dimensions in the material world. The 1st dimension is a line. The 2nd dimension is a plane. The 3rd dimension is a cubic. But it is in the 4th dimension God's spirit works and creates. Our faith also operates in the 4th dimension. We can experience this by creating and envisioning clear and vivid mental pictures of what we want to see happen in our lives. When we do this, God will work through our visions and make things happen.
The creative power of the spoken word - Don't always beg with God. We have to learn to command things to happen according to God's word and power.
Rhema - Ask Holy Spirit for guidance and direction in our specific situation. Wait upon Him. When God speaks to our hearts He can in one second do far greater than we could do in one entire year. Don't hurry to do a lot of things using our fleshly effort.
School of Andrew - Think big. Think miracles. Persevere on when we face troubles and obstacles. In the story of Jesus feeding the 5000, Philips thought of the impossible. In contrast, Andrew had the possibility thinking. He gave to Jesus what he had though he doubted. God can use the little one of us to do the impossible!
God’s address – He dwells in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. We can tap his endless resource, power and authority to overcome any life challenges.

Improving our languague and communication

2008-12-06T18:47:00.000+08:00

We observed that a lot of people in Singapore like to speak Singlish. What is Singlish? Basically, it is English that is greatly influenced by the Singapore culture and languages. Common words used are "mah", "leh", "lah", etc...People here especially the students love to use words such as, "right?", "like" when they construct their sentences. Honestly I sometimes get irritated because a supposedly beautiful language has been poorly spoken and used. In my opinion, the government should create more awareness in the proper use of English.

Speaking proper English is only one of the communication skills. I am not a language expert or gifted communicator. And I only started to use English more frequently when I came to Singaore in year 2000. However, as I want to improve my communication skill, I set some standards for myself in the following areas:

Speaking clearly - Don't have to use bombastic English to get our points across. But using the correct word is important. It is fun to learn and discover how one English word can be used in so many ways.
Creating simple sentence - Use basic and correct sentence structure. Try not to construct lengthy sentences as it will confuse people. Do away with redundant words. The most basic sentence consist of a noun, a verb and an object.
Listening & understanding - Pro 18:2, "A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions". I learned the truth of this verse in the hard way. I seldom sought to understand and clarify other people's point. I focused on airing my own opinions and I always spoke rashly. Now, I make sure I am fully clear of what people say. If what they say is vague, I will seek to clarify and question what was being spoken. In this way, I not only know the issue clearly, but also help people to clarify their own thoughts.

I believe communication is an art. It requires life-long learning process to improve. We can gradually improve through diligent and active listening, speaking, reading, writing (like what I am doing now) and practising.

A Happening Week

2008-11-29T21:48:00.000+08:00

I have a happening week. I have many thanksgiving points.

My article 'How to be a recession-proof worker' was published in My Paper this Monday. It occupied about 1/3 of the page. Some of my friends read it and sms me. They commented it is a good article and feel proud for me.

I was planning for my CNY home trip. One-way air fare to KLIA shot up to about $180 and bus fare shot up to about $65 due to high demand. I asked God to provide me the most economy way to go back. I also hoped to go back with people rather than alone. God answered my prayer - I suddenly thought about my cousin which we seldom contact each other. He agreed to give me a free ride to KL during CNY. Praise God!

I have personally sowed on two colleagues and have wanted to bless them with a meal during this Christmas season. I did it on Friday. I hope they are blessed. I will invite them to our Christmas service. I hope I will lead them to know Christ soon.

I stayed back in the company this Thursday. My Japanese colleague taught some of us how to make 'Okonomi-yaki'. We mixed flour, egg, ginger, cabbage, water & cheese, then grilled them. We put some typical Japanese source (can also use typical BBQ or curry source) and fish shred on the top and ate it with wasabi/mayonnese. Yummy!

CG is on Friday. We shared a lot of testimonies and answered prayers. My heart is filled with awe. Yanyan prayed that her boss would praise her this week and it happened! Her boss is busy most of the time. This week, he reviewed her work and said to her, "good work!" Kae prayed that God would provide something for her to eat in one rainy day. Out of her surprise, her neighbor brought dinner for her that evening.

We had a 'Eating Marathon' today. We had a few new faces. They are Deo, Kran (Mark's Thai friend) & Shi Wei (James' Myammar friend). We ate our Beef Hor Fun at Geylang Lorong 9. We then moved to Kallang Leisure Park to play bowling. It is Mark and Kae first time and we really had lots of fun. After that, we moved to Golden Mile Complex to have Thai food dinner.

Attempting Small and Ad-hoc Business

2008-11-28T02:04:00.000+08:00

MeiBeng (my younger sister) is going to run a small business soon. She will set up booth to sell cookies at One Utama end of Dec 08 till end of Jan 09. This will be her first time. She called me to ask for financial support. At the beginning, I hesitated to help her. I worried this could be a rash decision and lack of careful business planning. After talking to her, I found out that she is indeed serious about it and had done her homework.

She is a very extrovert girl by nature. She has good track record in her retailer sales job for the past few years. Her previous boss promoted her and entrusted her to supervise a team. I always feel very encouraged when she did well and I always believe she can do very well in this area. I always hope to sponsor/partner her to start our family-owned business one day.

Here are a few things to be considered on this business opportunity:

Strategic locations – The shopping mall is always crowded in normal days and holiday seasons based on past experience. The booth will be set up at ground floor. We don’t have to worry good human traffic passing by our booth.
Quality food – The food is tasty. She managed to sell quite a lot via direct distribution to friends last CNY. She will get the food from the same source and has faith on the food quality.
Good price – We have to prepare to adjust the price as I foresee fierce competition during that period. There will be a few stalls selling CNY cookies as well. We have to manage the price carefully to ensure maximum profitability. Depending on customers’ behavior, we can sell the goods differently, e.g. buy 2 free 1, buy 3 50%, etc...to be more flexible and creative.
Excellent sales person – She and Ah Heng will still work on their current job. Their availability to man the booth is very limited. Initially she planned to get Ah Heng’s mum to help. I was very concerned as the mum is quiet and slow. She will not do a good job. She is now trying to hire an experience sales lady. I advised her to pay the lady commission based on sales volume on top of the basic pay. In this way, she can motivate the sales lady to boost the sales volume and increase profitability.
Aggressive advertisement – If possible, we have to give out flyers at different entrance to attract as many customers as possible. There is power in good advertisement. I already observed how my company’s neighbor does it.
Good operation and management – Ensure supply of food is on time and sufficient. Plan off-day wisely to be available at the booth during peak-hour/peak-day of the week to boost sales.

Recession-proof Our Jobs

2008-11-20T23:18:00.000+08:00

There are many bad news in the business world lately. We heard of many factories closed down in China, demands for goods slowed down, stock price everywhere plummeted, corporates reported losses, widespread retrenchment started, etc...most of the business news are very gloomy.

My company is no exception. They recently repositioned and rebranded themselves to focus on the recession-proof businesses. The so-called recession-proof business are human health and environmental health businesses. They want to sell off one of the core business (consumer lighting business) in Asia which will have direct impact to our Singapore operation. The employees here are generally concerned about future their job security and uncertainty in this company.

I believe retrenchment may be inevitable during bad times like this. However, as worker, we should make ourselves recession-proof so we can survive the bad times. Here are a few tips:

Be excellent in our job. Be a star performer. Company would not release a star performer. This is quite common sense. We should always strive for a high standard in the work we produce.
Be volatile and flexible. We should always be ready to take on new roles and responsibility, adapt to changes, work beyond our boundary when needed. Some people are very narrow-minded and rigid, they will never move beyond their well-defined job scope and never learn new things. These people will be the first to go when there is redundancy in the company.
Don't worry, be happy. Happy workers are effective in their work and they produce quality work. They are contagious and they spread their happiness to people who work with them. They build good rapport with their colleagues and bosses. In contrast, some workers are not happy. They are power-hungry and always want to be in control. They frustrate their subordinates and do not build good rapport with other colleagues and bosses. These workers are in danger during retrenchment.
Add value to our job. We have to innovate and improve our work daily. We must always reflect why we do what we do. Does the activity I am currently doing add value to my company's business? We should always be proactive in thinking of new ideas. We shall not wait until our boss gives us instructions.

My Sister's ACCA Graduation Ceremony

2008-11-16T18:25:00.000+08:00

I took flight to and fro Singapore and KL to attend my sister's ACCA convocation last week. It was my first time travelling with budget airlines on this route. I saved a lot of time and energy though I had to pay a little bit more. It's worth the value as I have spent quality time with my families during the trip. Normally, I take more than 9 hours (with 6 hours in the bus) to reach home, as a result, I get myself physically exhausted. Last week, I only took approximately 4 hours (with 45 mins in the air) to reach home. This is the effect and benefit of technology. In the future, I will take plane for short-day home trip and take bus for long-day home trip. To make my time more fruitful, I will get friends to go back with me when I take bus to build friendship.

My sister's graduation ceremony was held on 8 Nov 08 at KL Convention Centre. My sister has done the family proud. Her boss sponsored her part of the tuition fee and she took the course on a part-time basis. She never gave up completing the course despiting facing numerous set-backs (failed exams) throughout the course.

My Thoughts on Using Pirated Product

2008-11-09T23:48:00.000+08:00

I bought a laptop 3 months ago and my Microsoft Office trial version has expired after two months. I now cannot use all the important and critical functions of the software and require to purchase the full version. I knew the price of the software is considerably costly so I hesitated to purchase it without looking for other options. My good friend knew my problem and he passed me his pirated Microsoft Office 2007 to install. I did not feel very right to do so without giving some thoughts on the piracy issue.

In the movie commercial ad, we are told that piracy is equal to stealing. The widespread of piracy activities are affecting the profittability of many businesses who sell their copyrighted products. When we use or buy pirated products, we are indirectly supporting the proliferation of piracy activities by encouraging illegal manufacturers to produce more such illegal products. We are not only doing wrong to the affected business people/product owner, in fact, our action is against the law.

From the biblical perspective, I thought of the following principles:

"You shall not steal" is one of the 10 commandments in Moses' time. Stealing is wrong. Stealing is getting for ourselves something that does not belong to us.

Jesus says in Matt 7:12, "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you..." Just put ourselves in other's shoe, if we don't want people to do this (supporting piracy) to us, then we should not do this to others!

Violating law intentionally is not submitting to authority and is wrong. In Rom 13:1, "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God."

Is it worthwhile to compromise the biblical principles to gain a little money and conveniences? I seriously doubt so. What other alternatives for me now? I hope I can get a shared licenced Microsoft Office 2007 with other people.

My Prediction on American Decides '08

2008-11-03T23:09:00.000+08:00

1. Barack Obama

(Advantages)

He is leading 5 ~ 11% in major national polls. I think racial discrimination is not an issue in this election as I believe majority of voting Americans are open in their thinking. If there is some components of racial biasness and people polled dishonestly, I think the lead may be reduced a little bit only.
I think his tax-cut policy is good despite greatly criticized by the Republican. He will give tax relief to the middle-class and tax the rich more. Majority of Americans belong to the middle class, the working class people.
Because of his young age, he is appealing to a lot of young generation voters. He won the support from well-known leaders in the high-tech industry, like the CEO of Google.
Collin Powell, the respected and influential former secretary of state of the U.S. openly endorsed Barack.
Hillary Clinton, the respected Democratic presidential nominee, openly endorsed and supported Barack. Those independent voters especially the ladies who would vote for Hillary will vote for Barack.
He chose a very safe vice-presidential running mate Joe Biden. Joe is a steady and non-controversial in his Senator career.
He is a very charismatic leader. His speech captured the audience. That's why people praised that he does not speak at you but to you. The word 'change' they use is very powerful and captivating throughout the campaign.

(Disadvantages)

He has much less career achievements.
He lacks of executive experiences to run a government.
He lacks of foreign policy experience.
He was relatively unknown or unheard of until 2 years ago. A lot of people might still doubt his background and link him to muslim, terrorist, and the like.
He can talk well. People doubt whether he can effectively put his words into actions.

2. John McCain

(Advantages)

He is regarded as national wartime hero. He was involved in Vietnam war and nearly lost his life for country. He is regarded as a tough fighter and will fight till the end. He bore the scars of his sacrifice for his country.
He has more career achievements compared to his opponent.
He has foreign policy experience.
People who support him have the confidence he will put the country first.

(Disadvantages)

He is representing the Republican which has 8 years of failed policy. The '8 years of failed policy' is used countless times by Barack in his speeches and it is deeply imprinted in my mind, and in many people's mind as well, I believe. Many people are scared that the failed policy will continue.
His selection of the vice-predential candicate, Sarah Palin, is not impressive. It is a risky and surprised choice. I personally believe she is not ready to run a big country like the U.S. as vice president and she is barely known by the White house elites. She also lacks of foreign policy experience and exposed herself too much to the negative media publicity. I think it is a risky and unwise choice.
The republican spent too much energy and time attacking Barack's identity, associating him with terrorist, or etc. There is no proof to what they claimed so it is a waste of time and resouces. They should focus on their campaign message instead.
He is old and does not seem to appeal to the modern-generation voters. He does not even use computer, does he?

Based on my analysis, I predict a landslide victory for Barack Obama on 4 Nov 08.

Dinner at Adam Road Hawker Centre

2008-11-02T00:05:00.000+08:00

We went to have dinner at Adam Road Hawker Centre after CG. The prawn noodle stall is famous as the queue is long and there are many posters of recognition and publicity. They have small, medium and big prawn for customer to select. I ordered pork rib medium prawn and found that the sliced prawn and soup is tasty. The food there is not cheap. I paid $5 for my food.

During the dinner, I had a good time discussing how to improve men's 'market values' with David and Florence. I must thank them for giving me some good recommendations:

Dressing - Blue, white and black coloured top will look good on me. Dull or brownish colored top is a big NO NO.
Physical Look - Swimming will help give good body shape especially the chest will be enlarged and more muscular. Spiky hair would be good on me.

Besides above, I think having self-confidence is of paramount importance to attact a girl. Girl will be attracted to someone who is clear of his goal and purpose, who can lead her and who can provide her security.

Soaring Amidst Financial Crisis

2008-11-01T11:16:00.000+08:00

1. During the recent financial turmoil, many investment banks have collapsed and their investors make losses of their investment.

2. The interest rate was very low and many people were able to buy new homes. As the demand for homes increased, the price of home also increased.

3. The low interest policy was designed to ease the credit and help people get new homes. However, they did not realize that many homeowners could not afford to repay their loans to the banks. As a result, at the forth quarter of last year, the banks started to feel the credit shortages and were forced to take back their mortgages. In order to get credit, the mortgages (or asset) might be sold off at a cheap price. They eventually did not get back the investment return they intend to make. They called it 'sub-prime mortgage' credit crisis.

4. In the first place, where did the banks get the money to loan out to the home buyers? From the public, or from other banks. They do it through selling bonds to them. In Singapore, the investors bought 'mini bond' of Leighman Brothers through local banks.

5. As the cash liquidity problem surfaced due to the 'sub-prime' crisis and the banks cannot afford to pay back their creditors (creditor is investor who buy their bonds or investment products hoping to reap a return), they filed for bankcrupcy to protect themselves legally and declare they could not pay back their creditors. As a result, the public make losses of their investment.

6. What is the lesson I learned on investment and money management through this financial crisis?

a. There is risk in whatever investment we make. The banks or financial planners are well trained and equiped to persuade people to buy their products but they never emphasize on the risk involved. Therefore, when I decide to invest, I have to study the financial product they offer thoroughly to make an informed decision.

b. I read Matthew 25:14-28. This passage teaches me some very important principles in terms of personal financial management.

Our money does not belong to us. They are God's asset. (v.14) This is a very important understanding and value we should uphold.
God gives us money according to our ability. Some get more and some get less. (v.15) This is God's sovereity.
God wants us to be faithful to reap a return for His money. We do not please Him (v. 26) if we are lazy and do nothing about our money. (v.16-30)

c. The followings are my personal monetary policies and I want be a faithful servant of God's asset:

Rom 13:8 teach me to let no debt remain outstanding. I will aggressively to pay off my tuition fee loan by year 2009 or earlier.
I will give to God faithfully. The money I give to Him will be used to run the church's operation and extend His kingdom.
I will spend to bless people and do God's ministry.
I will continue to support my family financially and pay the home-loan installment.
I will save money to invest and grow myself hollistically to be an effective servant of God, e.g. I will save money to go for Thai Camp '09, Adult Camp '09 to refresh myself spiritually. I will save money to go for short term holiday in Thailand after the camp to relax and build friendship with people I travel with. I will spend to buy a digital camera for blogging purpose. I will buy books and whatever that is useful to help me grow.
I will review my saving / investment in financial products soon.

7. What are the things you learned through this financial crisis? What kind of investment you think will reap good return in future? Gold, property, etc...? I would like to hear from you.