-i wanna know You inside and out
better than i even know myself
by heart by soul
that's how i want to know You
keep You as close as
breath is to life
and watch Your love unfold
by heart by soul-
in school now, supposed to be planning my time for this week. hahaa. realized that the end of the semester is officially here! gosh. it seems like just yesterday that i've had my matriculation or something:)
it's been some time since the deejaying at litez as well:) enjoyed myself when i was deejaying but it got to a point of mild irritation when you realize that your 'life' in habbo (if there's such a word to describe the activities in habbo itself) is kinda disrupted by people around demanding that you deejay at that moment. have yet to officially settle a theme for the times when i deejay. running out of songs though. and considering that i don't download songs, that can prove to be a mild problem. hahaa.
-or do you just pick up the pieces after they fall
but afterall
there's a light in your eyes i used to see
and a song in your words you spoke to me
was i wrong to believe you were waiting here for me
there's a light in your eyes
did you leave that light burning for me?-
exams start on the 22nd of november:) woohoo.
i have a lot of things to type about..but have that conscious awareness that my blog have become quite public and all kinds of people might actually read it. lol. nevertheless, i shall attempt to acquire the skill of self-delusion. my blog is mine, and mine alone. for my eyes and my enjoyment.
not
not much happened in life. except for a breakthrough in thoughts about some stuff (wonderful) and a slight awe and amazement about the things people already do at my age. setting up a website and achieving in a game? that idea goes beyond my head. all of a sudden, the candle making venture that we were supposed to have continued with pokes me from the deep depths of my memory once again. lol.
i have dreams that go beyond just a candle making venture. hahaa. i have dreams that involve the arts faculty and its people. i have dreams that involve another country and the people there. i have dreams that involve the little seminary in joo chiat itself. i have dreams that involve a lot of sacrifice and a lot of love and courage (of which i know i am unable to obtain at this moment). yet i have the confidence that each day, what i do, experience and learn propels me towards the dream which i have in mind. and if this dream is funded by my dear Father from up above, there is no doubt in my mind that all things will be found in Him.
yes:)
the installment of great ambitions in everyone awaits the fulfillment of these great ambitions and is dependent upon the source of strength for the person to fulfill all these things. (xinying's spot of inspiration, copyright 2005)
LOL
Monday, October 17, 2005
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
It's wonderful having brothers and sisters staying in the residence halls and hostels around NUS. my crazy project mates have decided at the last minute to meet at 7am at forum in the school itself. I've decided to stay over at qiaoping's room so that i can walk to forum in the morning and YeuAnn, who's staying over at HQ will be helping me take care of my large large project so that i don't have to carry the big big project and walk for 10 mins to ridge hall and then walk another 10 mins back in the morning. woohoo! Thank God for the both of them!:D:D:D
This is an example from the lecture of gender differences in my gender studies module:
David Reimer was born a normal male infant, one of identical twins, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He was named Bruce and his brother Brian. At the age of 6 months, after concern was raised about how Bruce and Brian urinated, both boys were diagnosed with phimosis. They were referred for circumcision at the age of 8 months (it is not known whether alternative therapies were tried). On April 27, 1966, the surgeon Jean-Marie Huot and the anaesthesiologist Max Cham performed the circumcision with the aid of a Bovie cautery machine (which is not intended for use on extremities and genitals). Bruce's penis was destroyed. After this, Brian's circumcision was cancelled, and he made a full recovery from his condition without further treatment. [1] Some believe that this indicates that Bruce's circumcision was unnecessary.
Bruce's parents, concerned about his prospects for future happiness and sexual function without a penis, took him to Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore to see John Money, a psychologist who was developing a reputation as a pioneer in the field of sexual development and gender identity based on his work with intersex patients. Money was a prominent proponent of the theory that gender identity was relatively "plastic" in infancy and developed primarily as a result of social learning from early childhood; most liberal academics in the late 1960s felt that all psychological and behavioral differences between males and females were learned. He and the physicians working with other young children born with abnormal genitalia felt that a penis could not be replaced but that a functional vagina could be constructed surgically and that he would be more likely to achieve successful, functional sexual maturation as a girl than as a boy.
They persuaded his parents that this course would be in Bruce's best interest, and at the age of 22 months, surgery was performed to remove his testes and construct a vagina. He was "reassigned" to be raised as a female and given the name 'Brenda'. Psychological support for the reassignment and surgery was provided by John Money, who continued to see Brenda for years, both for treatment and to assess the outcome. This reassignment was considered an especially valid "test case" of the social learning concept of gender identity for two reasons. First, Bruce/Brenda had a twin brother, Brian, who made an ideal "control" since he had shared not only the genes, but both the intrauterine and family environments. Second, this was reputed to be the first reassignment and reconstruction performed on a male infant who had no abnormality of prenatal or early postnatal sexual differentiation or hormones.
For several years, Money reported on Brenda's progress as the "John/Joan case", describing apparently successful female gender development, and using this case to support the feasibility of sex reassignment and surgical reconstruction even in non-intersex cases. Estrogen was given to Brenda when she reached adolescence to induce breast development. However, Brenda had experienced the visits to Baltimore as traumatic rather than therapeutic and her family discontinued the follow-up visits. John Money published nothing further about the case to suggest the reassignment had not been successful.
Despite Money's accounts, Brenda did not feel like a girl. She was ostracized and bullied by peers, and neither frilly dresses nor female hormones made her feel female. In adolescence the child again began to assume a male gender role to match his male gender identity. By 1997 he had undergone surgery again to reverse the reassignment and was living as David Reimer. He had married a woman, and become a stepfather to her children.
His case came to international attention in 1997 when he told his story to Milton Diamond, an academic sexologist who persuaded David to allow him to report the outcome to dissuade physicians from treating other infants similarly. Soon after, David went public with his story and John Colapinto published a widely disseminated and influential account in Rolling Stone magazine in December, 1997. They went on to elaborate the story in a book.
Although the book made David Reimer more comfortable financially, many other things went badly in his life, including a divorce, severe problems for his parents, and the suicide of his twin brother Brian. David Reimer took his own life with a gun in 2004.
The "Identity" episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit that aired on January 18th, 2005, was based on Reimer's life.
[edit]
Social impact of David Reimer's story
The report and subsequent book about Reimer influenced several medical practices and reputations, and even current understanding of the determinants of gender identity. The case accelerated the decline of sex reassignment and surgery for unambiguous XY male infants with micropenis, various other rare congenital malformations, and penile loss in infancy (described in more detail in intersex.)
It supported the arguments of those who feel that prenatal and early infant hormones have a strong influence on brain differentiation, gender identity and perhaps other sex-dimorphic behavior. The applicability of this case to appropriate sex assignment in cases of intersex conditions involving severe deficiency of testosterone or its effects is more uncertain. For some people the inability to predict gender identity or preference in this case confirmed skepticism about doctors' abilities to do so in general, or about the wisdom of using genital reconstructive surgery to commit an infant with an intersex condition or genital defect to a specific gender role before the child is old enough to claim a gender identity.
Intactivists often cite David Reimer because he underwent both circumcision and sex-reassignment, both of which Intactivists oppose. They argue that in Reimer's case, both were involuntary and medically unnecessary. Intactivists actively try to prevent children from undergoing such procedures. They treat Reimer’s story as a cautionary tale about why one should not needlessly modify the genitals of unconsenting minors. They also mourn Reimer’s death, believing it to be a senseless tragedy that was ultimately caused by his surgeries.
Among the repercussions was damage to John Money's reputation. Not only had his theory of gender plasticity been dealt a severe blow, but he appeared to have ignored or concealed the developing evidence that Brenda's reassignment was not going well.
The reputation of Johns Hopkins Medical Center as an institution at the forefront of progressive care for people with intersex and transgender conditions was hurt as well, and some people seized on this case as proof that physicians should not or could not attempt to help or treat the problems created by birth defects of the genitalia.
Finally, liberal theories of the malleability and cultural construction of gender identity, already falling out of academic fashion in the 1990s, became harder to defend, as the case was used by many to argue that "nature" trumps "nurture". In the face of Reimer's personal tragedy, few professionals felt secure enough to publicly question the accuracy of Reimer's recounted childhood experiences, nor whether the failure occurred because of the relatively late age of reassignment, nor how many more successful outcomes should be considered negated by this failure.
Professor Milton Diamond contributed his feelings about David Reimer's life and death:
"I hope David Reimer's life lives on in documenting the ill in scientific hubris and mendacity and celebrating his courage to expose the harm that was done to him in order to save others from a similar fate. The John/Joan story will be recalled by all those who think that sexual development is simply a matter of upbringing. Rearing is important but must take into account any inherent predisposition with which an individual is born." (e-mail correspondence, May 20, 2004)
David Reimer was born a normal male infant, one of identical twins, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He was named Bruce and his brother Brian. At the age of 6 months, after concern was raised about how Bruce and Brian urinated, both boys were diagnosed with phimosis. They were referred for circumcision at the age of 8 months (it is not known whether alternative therapies were tried). On April 27, 1966, the surgeon Jean-Marie Huot and the anaesthesiologist Max Cham performed the circumcision with the aid of a Bovie cautery machine (which is not intended for use on extremities and genitals). Bruce's penis was destroyed. After this, Brian's circumcision was cancelled, and he made a full recovery from his condition without further treatment. [1] Some believe that this indicates that Bruce's circumcision was unnecessary.
Bruce's parents, concerned about his prospects for future happiness and sexual function without a penis, took him to Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore to see John Money, a psychologist who was developing a reputation as a pioneer in the field of sexual development and gender identity based on his work with intersex patients. Money was a prominent proponent of the theory that gender identity was relatively "plastic" in infancy and developed primarily as a result of social learning from early childhood; most liberal academics in the late 1960s felt that all psychological and behavioral differences between males and females were learned. He and the physicians working with other young children born with abnormal genitalia felt that a penis could not be replaced but that a functional vagina could be constructed surgically and that he would be more likely to achieve successful, functional sexual maturation as a girl than as a boy.
They persuaded his parents that this course would be in Bruce's best interest, and at the age of 22 months, surgery was performed to remove his testes and construct a vagina. He was "reassigned" to be raised as a female and given the name 'Brenda'. Psychological support for the reassignment and surgery was provided by John Money, who continued to see Brenda for years, both for treatment and to assess the outcome. This reassignment was considered an especially valid "test case" of the social learning concept of gender identity for two reasons. First, Bruce/Brenda had a twin brother, Brian, who made an ideal "control" since he had shared not only the genes, but both the intrauterine and family environments. Second, this was reputed to be the first reassignment and reconstruction performed on a male infant who had no abnormality of prenatal or early postnatal sexual differentiation or hormones.
For several years, Money reported on Brenda's progress as the "John/Joan case", describing apparently successful female gender development, and using this case to support the feasibility of sex reassignment and surgical reconstruction even in non-intersex cases. Estrogen was given to Brenda when she reached adolescence to induce breast development. However, Brenda had experienced the visits to Baltimore as traumatic rather than therapeutic and her family discontinued the follow-up visits. John Money published nothing further about the case to suggest the reassignment had not been successful.
Despite Money's accounts, Brenda did not feel like a girl. She was ostracized and bullied by peers, and neither frilly dresses nor female hormones made her feel female. In adolescence the child again began to assume a male gender role to match his male gender identity. By 1997 he had undergone surgery again to reverse the reassignment and was living as David Reimer. He had married a woman, and become a stepfather to her children.
His case came to international attention in 1997 when he told his story to Milton Diamond, an academic sexologist who persuaded David to allow him to report the outcome to dissuade physicians from treating other infants similarly. Soon after, David went public with his story and John Colapinto published a widely disseminated and influential account in Rolling Stone magazine in December, 1997. They went on to elaborate the story in a book.
Although the book made David Reimer more comfortable financially, many other things went badly in his life, including a divorce, severe problems for his parents, and the suicide of his twin brother Brian. David Reimer took his own life with a gun in 2004.
The "Identity" episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit that aired on January 18th, 2005, was based on Reimer's life.
[edit]
Social impact of David Reimer's story
The report and subsequent book about Reimer influenced several medical practices and reputations, and even current understanding of the determinants of gender identity. The case accelerated the decline of sex reassignment and surgery for unambiguous XY male infants with micropenis, various other rare congenital malformations, and penile loss in infancy (described in more detail in intersex.)
It supported the arguments of those who feel that prenatal and early infant hormones have a strong influence on brain differentiation, gender identity and perhaps other sex-dimorphic behavior. The applicability of this case to appropriate sex assignment in cases of intersex conditions involving severe deficiency of testosterone or its effects is more uncertain. For some people the inability to predict gender identity or preference in this case confirmed skepticism about doctors' abilities to do so in general, or about the wisdom of using genital reconstructive surgery to commit an infant with an intersex condition or genital defect to a specific gender role before the child is old enough to claim a gender identity.
Intactivists often cite David Reimer because he underwent both circumcision and sex-reassignment, both of which Intactivists oppose. They argue that in Reimer's case, both were involuntary and medically unnecessary. Intactivists actively try to prevent children from undergoing such procedures. They treat Reimer’s story as a cautionary tale about why one should not needlessly modify the genitals of unconsenting minors. They also mourn Reimer’s death, believing it to be a senseless tragedy that was ultimately caused by his surgeries.
Among the repercussions was damage to John Money's reputation. Not only had his theory of gender plasticity been dealt a severe blow, but he appeared to have ignored or concealed the developing evidence that Brenda's reassignment was not going well.
The reputation of Johns Hopkins Medical Center as an institution at the forefront of progressive care for people with intersex and transgender conditions was hurt as well, and some people seized on this case as proof that physicians should not or could not attempt to help or treat the problems created by birth defects of the genitalia.
Finally, liberal theories of the malleability and cultural construction of gender identity, already falling out of academic fashion in the 1990s, became harder to defend, as the case was used by many to argue that "nature" trumps "nurture". In the face of Reimer's personal tragedy, few professionals felt secure enough to publicly question the accuracy of Reimer's recounted childhood experiences, nor whether the failure occurred because of the relatively late age of reassignment, nor how many more successful outcomes should be considered negated by this failure.
Professor Milton Diamond contributed his feelings about David Reimer's life and death:
"I hope David Reimer's life lives on in documenting the ill in scientific hubris and mendacity and celebrating his courage to expose the harm that was done to him in order to save others from a similar fate. The John/Joan story will be recalled by all those who think that sexual development is simply a matter of upbringing. Rearing is important but must take into account any inherent predisposition with which an individual is born." (e-mail correspondence, May 20, 2004)
Thursday, September 22, 2005
my mum's mood varies. so weird.
and i've got a song stuck in my mind for the past 2 days:) it's called 'light in your eyes'. nice song. no one seems to have it though.
there's a light in your eyes i used to see
and a song in your heart you used to bring
was i wrong to believe in your melody
there's a light in your eyes
did you leave that light burning for me
yeah anyway:) gender forcused group yesterday. went without any expectations. hahha. quite an enjoyable time. we went to the zoo and all the sisters went nuts. there were penguins and monkeys which like to pose and snakes and miniature horses and quarrelsome goats and some wandering ones... there were roaring lions which were fighting over four lioness through the strength of their voices, a peacock we saw wandering on the pathways which didn't wanna spread out its tail, penguins, a pelican (??) which was settling comfortably above the penguin cage and only moved once to stretch itself, group penguins and lone penguin, warthogs taking mud spas and refused to move... there were noisy animals and some which didn't make any sound at all. brilliant. there was also a pool in the children's world playland which we utilised quite a lot. hahahaa.enjoyable enjoyable. too bad we got out too late to have a chance to look at the souvenir store. wellus:)
meeting rongfang and jeff later in tp interchange. wahaha.
and i've got a song stuck in my mind for the past 2 days:) it's called 'light in your eyes'. nice song. no one seems to have it though.
there's a light in your eyes i used to see
and a song in your heart you used to bring
was i wrong to believe in your melody
there's a light in your eyes
did you leave that light burning for me
yeah anyway:) gender forcused group yesterday. went without any expectations. hahha. quite an enjoyable time. we went to the zoo and all the sisters went nuts. there were penguins and monkeys which like to pose and snakes and miniature horses and quarrelsome goats and some wandering ones... there were roaring lions which were fighting over four lioness through the strength of their voices, a peacock we saw wandering on the pathways which didn't wanna spread out its tail, penguins, a pelican (??) which was settling comfortably above the penguin cage and only moved once to stretch itself, group penguins and lone penguin, warthogs taking mud spas and refused to move... there were noisy animals and some which didn't make any sound at all. brilliant. there was also a pool in the children's world playland which we utilised quite a lot. hahahaa.enjoyable enjoyable. too bad we got out too late to have a chance to look at the souvenir store. wellus:)
meeting rongfang and jeff later in tp interchange. wahaha.
Saturday, September 10, 2005
i was bored one day and searched for habbolitez.com (the site i'm deejaying at) just to see what comes out.
quite a lot of stuff surprisingly. lol. found pple's blogs (like zacknorth, rongfang and goodness knows who else) and well, some comments. habbo hotel is actually on wikipedia! can u imagine. lol
from one of the sites abt habbolitez:
'Habbolitez.com is a fantastic fansite based on the .com.sg hotel.
Run by stijlistik and platodino they have news mainly on the Singapore Hotel and articles to boot.
In their own words:
" Habbo Litez serves bite-sized juicy gossips from what's happening (and what's not) at the Singapore Habbohotel. Worry not, it's light on calories.
Habbo Litez is designed by stijlistik and is currently run by a dynamic team of editors and reporters to bring you only the best."
With excellent alterations, animations, information and an off the hook layout this is truely a brilliant site and one I shall be visiting alot :)'
lol. yay:)
quite a lot of stuff surprisingly. lol. found pple's blogs (like zacknorth, rongfang and goodness knows who else) and well, some comments. habbo hotel is actually on wikipedia! can u imagine. lol
from one of the sites abt habbolitez:
'Habbolitez.com is a fantastic fansite based on the .com.sg hotel.
Run by stijlistik and platodino they have news mainly on the Singapore Hotel and articles to boot.
In their own words:
" Habbo Litez serves bite-sized juicy gossips from what's happening (and what's not) at the Singapore Habbohotel. Worry not, it's light on calories.
Habbo Litez is designed by stijlistik and is currently run by a dynamic team of editors and reporters to bring you only the best."
With excellent alterations, animations, information and an off the hook layout this is truely a brilliant site and one I shall be visiting alot :)'
lol. yay:)
Saturday, August 20, 2005
i saw a rat today. it's black in colour and it's quite big. it's longer than my palm and fingers and fatter than my hamster last time.
i saw it at the side of the entrance to the lift i take to go up.
i was like 'oh!'
and the rat shrank away from me. i think it was more afraid of me than i was afraid of it.
i had to slowly walk into the lift. 'cos it was all ready to run from me :P
wellus:)
i saw it at the side of the entrance to the lift i take to go up.
i was like 'oh!'
and the rat shrank away from me. i think it was more afraid of me than i was afraid of it.
i had to slowly walk into the lift. 'cos it was all ready to run from me :P
wellus:)
Monday, August 15, 2005
The F word --- What's life without it!
hahahaha. tt's the theme for our sat uni service this coming week, anyone wanna join me:)there'll be a talkshow. really cool sia:D
wat F word will it be.. hmmm..
anyway
just finished reading the book "Define 'normal'" by Julie Anne Peters. at first when i read it i was like..this ain't a very chim book. it's not a literary text either. hahaha. but as the story goes on, think what the book tries to bring across is more of the character of 2 seemingly different girls and their interaction through peer counselling... the plot is quite simple, even predictable as moments, but it's really the social issue that she brought across that struck me. and how 2 girls tt seemingly seem so different, well, most of us ain't tt different afterall, just tt when looks are used to define a person, it may seem to say otherwise.
define normal.
what's normal as a person. is there anything considered as normal outside tt of the view of the society.
-ba shou fang le
wo ye xu hui bi jiao kuai le-
haha. waking up in 5 hrs' time. but cool.
hahahaha. tt's the theme for our sat uni service this coming week, anyone wanna join me:)there'll be a talkshow. really cool sia:D
wat F word will it be.. hmmm..
anyway
just finished reading the book "Define 'normal'" by Julie Anne Peters. at first when i read it i was like..this ain't a very chim book. it's not a literary text either. hahaha. but as the story goes on, think what the book tries to bring across is more of the character of 2 seemingly different girls and their interaction through peer counselling... the plot is quite simple, even predictable as moments, but it's really the social issue that she brought across that struck me. and how 2 girls tt seemingly seem so different, well, most of us ain't tt different afterall, just tt when looks are used to define a person, it may seem to say otherwise.
define normal.
what's normal as a person. is there anything considered as normal outside tt of the view of the society.
-ba shou fang le
wo ye xu hui bi jiao kuai le-
haha. waking up in 5 hrs' time. but cool.
hahaha. this is becoming a weekly affair. packed with stuff day to day. interesting. lol.
listening to unchained melody on habbolitez.com. LOL. just finished my dj-ing stint. wah. from 10.40+pm to 2.15am. quite enjoyable. lol. i broke my former record. 'cos last time deejayed at 2am+, then only got 7 pple tuning in. not much motivation, yah. LOL. today got 21 pple as my highest records... at 12+, 1+am. hahahaha. amazed.
and now i got a cd burner drive at home. haha.
ah
went to send tracy and derek off today. or rather. yesterday. hahah. they're on the same flight! so intriguing. everyone's flying off. LOL. so interesting. wellus.
sleepy. sleepy. sleepy
listening to unchained melody on habbolitez.com. LOL. just finished my dj-ing stint. wah. from 10.40+pm to 2.15am. quite enjoyable. lol. i broke my former record. 'cos last time deejayed at 2am+, then only got 7 pple tuning in. not much motivation, yah. LOL. today got 21 pple as my highest records... at 12+, 1+am. hahahaha. amazed.
and now i got a cd burner drive at home. haha.
ah
went to send tracy and derek off today. or rather. yesterday. hahah. they're on the same flight! so intriguing. everyone's flying off. LOL. so interesting. wellus.
sleepy. sleepy. sleepy
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
hahahaha
first day in NUS:) was a bit apprehensive. lol. 'cos first lecture i had no one to take with me..then reached school super early. went to forum coop to try to find the textbooks i had to buy but dunno where all the textbooks disappeared to. LOL. (found out later it was at another side of the bookstore. *faint*)
then walked to lt8...wahahhaa. i was just thinking. God u're very interesting ah. no one i know. lol.
and i met guan on the way to arts canteen! then saw peirong and yixian and this other nanyangal! then guan saw her OG mate from Hi5 - Andy, who's taking the same module as me! SSA2215 Biophysical environment of Singapore:D then guan intro-ed me to limei:D then saw huichun also! WAHAHAHAHAHA:D so fun:D
Yeah:D
after lecture, saw JANE! haha.
then went to find the hope pple at engine bridge:) lol. where they always hang out in between lesson:D went with dai dai and limei to buy books and walked ard bazaar. quite intriguing. a pasar malam in school. LOL
then just lazed ard at the table talking to the rest of the brothers and sisters till 3.40pm and i walked to LT9 to meet minchen for lecture:) LOL! i wanna share. i didn't realise i have a lecture at 4pm until i called minchen to ask her if she wants to buy the book as well. LOL
disastrous. hahahaha
yay:) anyway. saw rachel! haahaha. rachel same module as me. and crystal! LOL and during break, saw YINGXIN BEHIND ME! turvy topsy twin:) saw nicole also! so amused.
:D
:) wonderful wonderful wonderful.
-as the years went by we learnt about gifts
giving of ourselves
and what that means
on a dark and cloudy day
a man hung crying in the rain
all because of love, all because of love-
then went with crystal, minchen and rach to coop to buy their textbooks. lol. bought FIR cd for $9.40. wahahaha. the newest one. not veyr new lah. late by 2-3months. lol.
lol.
met iso and the rest at the busstop! and we went down together to bukit timah to eat:) weez joined us from changi prison later on;) LOL
then after tt joined them at rafflest mrt to go to watch fireworks!:D fireworks very nice!:D 10 mins of it:D
ah. right eye hurts badly. dunno why. i suspect got eyelash go into area under the eye. lol.
-and i dunno tt much abt astronauts
but i do know Jesus cares an awful lot
He made the stars
He made the moon
just think of how much more He loves You-
first day in NUS:) was a bit apprehensive. lol. 'cos first lecture i had no one to take with me..then reached school super early. went to forum coop to try to find the textbooks i had to buy but dunno where all the textbooks disappeared to. LOL. (found out later it was at another side of the bookstore. *faint*)
then walked to lt8...wahahhaa. i was just thinking. God u're very interesting ah. no one i know. lol.
and i met guan on the way to arts canteen! then saw peirong and yixian and this other nanyangal! then guan saw her OG mate from Hi5 - Andy, who's taking the same module as me! SSA2215 Biophysical environment of Singapore:D then guan intro-ed me to limei:D then saw huichun also! WAHAHAHAHAHA:D so fun:D
Yeah:D
after lecture, saw JANE! haha.
then went to find the hope pple at engine bridge:) lol. where they always hang out in between lesson:D went with dai dai and limei to buy books and walked ard bazaar. quite intriguing. a pasar malam in school. LOL
then just lazed ard at the table talking to the rest of the brothers and sisters till 3.40pm and i walked to LT9 to meet minchen for lecture:) LOL! i wanna share. i didn't realise i have a lecture at 4pm until i called minchen to ask her if she wants to buy the book as well. LOL
disastrous. hahahaha
yay:) anyway. saw rachel! haahaha. rachel same module as me. and crystal! LOL and during break, saw YINGXIN BEHIND ME! turvy topsy twin:) saw nicole also! so amused.
:D
:) wonderful wonderful wonderful.
-as the years went by we learnt about gifts
giving of ourselves
and what that means
on a dark and cloudy day
a man hung crying in the rain
all because of love, all because of love-
then went with crystal, minchen and rach to coop to buy their textbooks. lol. bought FIR cd for $9.40. wahahaha. the newest one. not veyr new lah. late by 2-3months. lol.
lol.
met iso and the rest at the busstop! and we went down together to bukit timah to eat:) weez joined us from changi prison later on;) LOL
then after tt joined them at rafflest mrt to go to watch fireworks!:D fireworks very nice!:D 10 mins of it:D
ah. right eye hurts badly. dunno why. i suspect got eyelash go into area under the eye. lol.
-and i dunno tt much abt astronauts
but i do know Jesus cares an awful lot
He made the stars
He made the moon
just think of how much more He loves You-
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Who am I - Casting crowns
Who am I?
That the Lord of all the earth,
Would care to know my name,
Would care to feel my hurt,
Who am I?
That the Bright and Morning Star,
Would choose to light the way,
For my ever wandering heart,
Not because of who I am,
But because of what You've done,
Not because of what I've done,
But because of who You are,
I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow,
A wave tossed in the ocean (ocean),
A vapor in the wind,
Still You hear me when I'm calling,
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling,
And You've told me who I am..
I am Yours.
Who am I?
That the eyes that see my sin,
Would look on me with love,
and watch me rise again,
Who am I?
That the voice that calmed the sea,
Would call out through the rain,
And calm the storm in me,
Not because of who I am,
But because of what You've done,
Not because of what I've done,
But because of who You are,
I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow,
A wave tossed in the ocean (ocean),
A vapor in the wind,
Still You hear me when I'm calling,
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling,
And You've told me who I am...
I am Yours, I am Yours.
I am Yours,
Whom shall I fear?
Whom shall I fear?
'Cause I am Yours,
I am Yours.
Who am I?
That the Lord of all the earth,
Would care to know my name,
Would care to feel my hurt,
Who am I?
That the Bright and Morning Star,
Would choose to light the way,
For my ever wandering heart,
Not because of who I am,
But because of what You've done,
Not because of what I've done,
But because of who You are,
I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow,
A wave tossed in the ocean (ocean),
A vapor in the wind,
Still You hear me when I'm calling,
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling,
And You've told me who I am..
I am Yours.
Who am I?
That the eyes that see my sin,
Would look on me with love,
and watch me rise again,
Who am I?
That the voice that calmed the sea,
Would call out through the rain,
And calm the storm in me,
Not because of who I am,
But because of what You've done,
Not because of what I've done,
But because of who You are,
I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow,
A wave tossed in the ocean (ocean),
A vapor in the wind,
Still You hear me when I'm calling,
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling,
And You've told me who I am...
I am Yours, I am Yours.
I am Yours,
Whom shall I fear?
Whom shall I fear?
'Cause I am Yours,
I am Yours.
Friday, July 22, 2005
"A friend loves at all times" (Proverbs 17:17, NIV).
Babe Ruth was one of the all-time greats of American baseball. For years he had been the idol of sports fans. Time, however, took its toll. I read how, in one of his last games, he began to falter. He struck out and made several misplays that allowed the opposing team to score five runs in one inning. As he walked from the field, he was greeted with an enormous storm of boos and catcalls from the stands. Fans shook their fists.
Then a little boy jumped over the railing and, with tears running down his cheeks ran out to the great athlete. Unashamedly, he flung his arms around his hero's legs and held on tightly. Babe Ruth picked him up, hugged him, set him down, and together the two of them walked off the field hand in hand.
An unknown poet wrote:
I went out to find a friend,
But could not find one there.
I went out to be a friend,
And friends were everywhere!
Babe Ruth was one of the all-time greats of American baseball. For years he had been the idol of sports fans. Time, however, took its toll. I read how, in one of his last games, he began to falter. He struck out and made several misplays that allowed the opposing team to score five runs in one inning. As he walked from the field, he was greeted with an enormous storm of boos and catcalls from the stands. Fans shook their fists.
Then a little boy jumped over the railing and, with tears running down his cheeks ran out to the great athlete. Unashamedly, he flung his arms around his hero's legs and held on tightly. Babe Ruth picked him up, hugged him, set him down, and together the two of them walked off the field hand in hand.
An unknown poet wrote:
I went out to find a friend,
But could not find one there.
I went out to be a friend,
And friends were everywhere!
some people measure their life by the success which they have achieved in different fields in their lives. i measure my life by the decisions in which i have made. whether at that single moment, the decision which i have made will advance growth in me (be it socially, emotionally, physically, spiritually). human beings have this natural tendency to look back, to ponder about whether they have so called made the right decision, to think back on the times when they might have acted out of their impulsivesness and question about the various possibilities which could have occured should they have chosen the other choice instead. This elusive 'the other choice' which bugs many people for years and years ahead.
even to someone's death bed.
you know, i was watching this show called 'boomtown: weasson and smith' at 3am in the morning on channel 5 (not because i chose to watch this show, in fact, i accidentally chanced upon it by flipping channels upon the ending of another show. 'forced', in a way, to watch tv in the wee ungodly hours of today due to a sister wanting to finish her project and my bed being right beside our dear adorable computer:). it's quite a good show, the plot, the twists, the cinematography, worthy to be praised. i was watching this show and this show actually showed quite a lot of flashbacks. flashbacks which occur to show the past of individual characters in the show itself. and it struck me somehow that when you're about to die, you don't really ponder about successes, you ponder about the decisions you have made, and of course.. the elusive 'other choice' which you might have made.
for me, i've made some choices which caused me tinges of regret. i've made others that allowed me to accelerate forward in life. and yet some others which allowed me to discover more of myself and to learn things i have never ever imagined myself to learn.
still contemplating about this choice i've made 2 years, 3 months and an average of 23 days ago... amused at the circumstance in which i was in, amazed at how far this decision has brought me and certain that this is still the choice which i would have chosen should i be able to turn back time to that moment again.
-some say it wasn't worth the things we went through
i said it ain't worth losing you-
you. no. You.
even to someone's death bed.
you know, i was watching this show called 'boomtown: weasson and smith' at 3am in the morning on channel 5 (not because i chose to watch this show, in fact, i accidentally chanced upon it by flipping channels upon the ending of another show. 'forced', in a way, to watch tv in the wee ungodly hours of today due to a sister wanting to finish her project and my bed being right beside our dear adorable computer:). it's quite a good show, the plot, the twists, the cinematography, worthy to be praised. i was watching this show and this show actually showed quite a lot of flashbacks. flashbacks which occur to show the past of individual characters in the show itself. and it struck me somehow that when you're about to die, you don't really ponder about successes, you ponder about the decisions you have made, and of course.. the elusive 'other choice' which you might have made.
for me, i've made some choices which caused me tinges of regret. i've made others that allowed me to accelerate forward in life. and yet some others which allowed me to discover more of myself and to learn things i have never ever imagined myself to learn.
still contemplating about this choice i've made 2 years, 3 months and an average of 23 days ago... amused at the circumstance in which i was in, amazed at how far this decision has brought me and certain that this is still the choice which i would have chosen should i be able to turn back time to that moment again.
-some say it wasn't worth the things we went through
i said it ain't worth losing you-
you. no. You.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Ana Johnsson - We are
See the devil on the doorstep now
My oh my
Telling everybody ,oh just how to live their lives
Sliding down the information highway
Buying in just like a bunch of fools
Time is ticking and we can't go back
My oh my
What about the world today
What about the place that we call home
We've never been so many
And we've never been …
So Alone
Keep watching from your picket fence
You keep talking but it makes no sense
You say we're not responsible
But we are, we are
You wash your hands
You come out clean
But fail to recognize the enemy's within
You say we're not responsible
But we are, we are
We are
One step forward, making two steps back
My oh my
Riding piggy on the bad boys' back
For life
Lining up for the grand illusion
No answers for no questions asked
Lining up for the execution
Without knowing why
Keep watching from your picket fence…
It's all about power, bout taking control
Breaking the will ,and raping the soul
They suck us dry 'til there's nothing left
My oh my My oh my
What about the world today
What about the place that we call home
We've never been so many
And we've never been …
So Alone
Keep watching from your picket fence…
It's all about power, bout taking control
Breaking the will ,and raping the soul
They suck us dry 'til there's nothing left
My oh my
It's all about power, bout taking control(3x)
this song's been revolving around my mind today. hahaha. this and 'all day'. as addictive as linkin' park. though jits will prob differ with me about this song. ah. forgot to mention i heard guan sing for the VERY FIRST TIME in the 6 years of knowing her. *grinz* intriguing.
another song. 'kiss from a rose' from seal.
starting to tire. k. 5.30am. bed, here i come:)
See the devil on the doorstep now
My oh my
Telling everybody ,oh just how to live their lives
Sliding down the information highway
Buying in just like a bunch of fools
Time is ticking and we can't go back
My oh my
What about the world today
What about the place that we call home
We've never been so many
And we've never been …
So Alone
Keep watching from your picket fence
You keep talking but it makes no sense
You say we're not responsible
But we are, we are
You wash your hands
You come out clean
But fail to recognize the enemy's within
You say we're not responsible
But we are, we are
We are
One step forward, making two steps back
My oh my
Riding piggy on the bad boys' back
For life
Lining up for the grand illusion
No answers for no questions asked
Lining up for the execution
Without knowing why
Keep watching from your picket fence…
It's all about power, bout taking control
Breaking the will ,and raping the soul
They suck us dry 'til there's nothing left
My oh my My oh my
What about the world today
What about the place that we call home
We've never been so many
And we've never been …
So Alone
Keep watching from your picket fence…
It's all about power, bout taking control
Breaking the will ,and raping the soul
They suck us dry 'til there's nothing left
My oh my
It's all about power, bout taking control(3x)
this song's been revolving around my mind today. hahaha. this and 'all day'. as addictive as linkin' park. though jits will prob differ with me about this song. ah. forgot to mention i heard guan sing for the VERY FIRST TIME in the 6 years of knowing her. *grinz* intriguing.
another song. 'kiss from a rose' from seal.
starting to tire. k. 5.30am. bed, here i come:)
wahaha. i'm still awake:)
jialat:) why am i still awake. i still owe pris bulletin extractions too. wahaha.
a little advert for Y-Hope's website. haha.
just go to yhope.blogspot.com:) erm. without the :)
-i don't care what it cost anymore
'cos You gave it all and i'm following You
i don't care what it takes anymore
no matter what happens i'm going Your way
i'll love You
i'll follow You
You are my, my God
i will read my bible and pray
i will follow You all day
all day
all day now
all day (all day)
all day
all day now
all day!-
still not sleepy. hahaha. stoning perhaps, but not sleepy.
jialat:) why am i still awake. i still owe pris bulletin extractions too. wahaha.
a little advert for Y-Hope's website. haha.
just go to yhope.blogspot.com:) erm. without the :)
-i don't care what it cost anymore
'cos You gave it all and i'm following You
i don't care what it takes anymore
no matter what happens i'm going Your way
i'll love You
i'll follow You
You are my, my God
i will read my bible and pray
i will follow You all day
all day
all day now
all day (all day)
all day
all day now
all day!-
still not sleepy. hahaha. stoning perhaps, but not sleepy.
-every point of view has another angle
every angle has its myth-
just finished module selection. hahaha. i'm going to take PL2131 Research and Statistical Methods I (psychology), SSA2215: The Biophysical Environment of Singapore, GEK1006 - Dynamics of interpersonal effectiveness, PH1101E - Reason and Persuasion (Philosophy) and PH2110 - Logic (philosophy). hahaha. not bad not bad. i like my modules:)
yeshterday was the last day of the ACTStrinsic package. ah. Gen-Acts Idol. hahahaha. we didn't win:D but we celebrated with KTV anyway. hahahaha:D everyone was generally in the mood of singing by the time evening reaches:) haven't really gone to ktv ever since the time i went with qing and the rest O_o
ah. excited about university life:)
every angle has its myth-
just finished module selection. hahaha. i'm going to take PL2131 Research and Statistical Methods I (psychology), SSA2215: The Biophysical Environment of Singapore, GEK1006 - Dynamics of interpersonal effectiveness, PH1101E - Reason and Persuasion (Philosophy) and PH2110 - Logic (philosophy). hahaha. not bad not bad. i like my modules:)
yeshterday was the last day of the ACTStrinsic package. ah. Gen-Acts Idol. hahahaha. we didn't win:D but we celebrated with KTV anyway. hahahaha:D everyone was generally in the mood of singing by the time evening reaches:) haven't really gone to ktv ever since the time i went with qing and the rest O_o
ah. excited about university life:)
Thursday, July 14, 2005
More to this life --- Clay Aiken
Today I watched in silence
As people passed me by
And I strained to see if there was something
Hidden in their eyes
But they all looked back at me as if to say,
"Life just goes on.."
The old familiar story
Told in different ways,
"Make the most of your own journey
From the cradle to the grave
Dream your dreams tomorrow
Because today
Life must go on.."
Oh, and there's more to this life
Than living and dying
More than just trying to make it through the day
More to this life
More than these eyes alone can see
And there's more
Than this life alone for me
He takes care of his family
He takes care of his work
And every Sunday morning
He takes his place at the church
But sometimes he still feels the need to search
"Life just goes on.."
At night he lies in silence
Staring into space
Looks for ways to make tomorrow
Better than today
But in the morning light
He looks to say,
"Life must go on.."
Oh, and there's more to this life
Than living and dying
More than just trying to make it through the day
More to this life
More than these eyes alone can see
And there's more
Than this life alone for me
Where do we start
To find every part
Of what makes this life complete?
If we turn our eyes
To Jesus we'll find
Life's true beginning
Is there at the cross
Where he died
Where he died
To bring us
More to this life
Than living and dying
More than just trying to make it through the day
More to this life
More than these eyes alone can see
And there's more
To this life
Than living and dying
More than just trying to make it through the day
More to this life
More than these eyes alone can see
And there's more
Than this life alone can be
More to this life
More than livin' and dyin'
More than tryin' to make it
Through another day
Today I watched in silence
As people passed me by
And I strained to see if there was something
Hidden in their eyes
But they all looked back at me as if to say,
"Life just goes on.."
The old familiar story
Told in different ways,
"Make the most of your own journey
From the cradle to the grave
Dream your dreams tomorrow
Because today
Life must go on.."
Oh, and there's more to this life
Than living and dying
More than just trying to make it through the day
More to this life
More than these eyes alone can see
And there's more
Than this life alone for me
He takes care of his family
He takes care of his work
And every Sunday morning
He takes his place at the church
But sometimes he still feels the need to search
"Life just goes on.."
At night he lies in silence
Staring into space
Looks for ways to make tomorrow
Better than today
But in the morning light
He looks to say,
"Life must go on.."
Oh, and there's more to this life
Than living and dying
More than just trying to make it through the day
More to this life
More than these eyes alone can see
And there's more
Than this life alone for me
Where do we start
To find every part
Of what makes this life complete?
If we turn our eyes
To Jesus we'll find
Life's true beginning
Is there at the cross
Where he died
Where he died
To bring us
More to this life
Than living and dying
More than just trying to make it through the day
More to this life
More than these eyes alone can see
And there's more
To this life
Than living and dying
More than just trying to make it through the day
More to this life
More than these eyes alone can see
And there's more
Than this life alone can be
More to this life
More than livin' and dyin'
More than tryin' to make it
Through another day
Friday, July 08, 2005
"If you want favor with both God and man, and a reputation for good judgment and common sense, then trust the Lord completely; don't ever trust yourself. In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success" (Proverbs 3:5-6, TLB).
Old habits and old beliefs die hard. For centuries people believed Aristotle's opinion that the heavier an object was, the faster it would fall to earth.
According to a report I read, in 1589 Galileo challenged Aristotle's teaching. He invited learned professors to the base of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Galileo went to the top of the tower and pushed off a ten-pound and a one-pound weight. Both landed at the same instant, but the professors still wouldn't believe what they saw. They insisted Aristotle was right.
Once again, here is another case of people believing what they want to believe. It's like the old saying, "Don't confuse me with the facts, my mind's made up."
Some of us avoid facing facts because they're too threatening. Others of us don't face reality because it's not in sync with our feelings. I'm a great believer in acknowledging feelings but I can't always trust my interpretation of them. There are times Ijust need to face the facts, grit my teeth, and do what the Bible says I should or shouldn't do regardless of my feelings. It is much wiser to trust God's Word rather than my feelings.
How foolish it would be to be driving on a highway and disregard a major warning "danger ahead" sign because we don't feel the sign is correct. Maturity recognizes one's feelings, checks them out for reality, and doesn't allow them to control him or her. When it comes to life, if our feelings don't harmonize with God's Word, we'd better follow God's Word rather than make our feelings the voice of authority which can be a very dangerous path to follow, especially when it comes to eternal life and eternal values.
Old habits and old beliefs die hard. For centuries people believed Aristotle's opinion that the heavier an object was, the faster it would fall to earth.
According to a report I read, in 1589 Galileo challenged Aristotle's teaching. He invited learned professors to the base of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Galileo went to the top of the tower and pushed off a ten-pound and a one-pound weight. Both landed at the same instant, but the professors still wouldn't believe what they saw. They insisted Aristotle was right.
Once again, here is another case of people believing what they want to believe. It's like the old saying, "Don't confuse me with the facts, my mind's made up."
Some of us avoid facing facts because they're too threatening. Others of us don't face reality because it's not in sync with our feelings. I'm a great believer in acknowledging feelings but I can't always trust my interpretation of them. There are times Ijust need to face the facts, grit my teeth, and do what the Bible says I should or shouldn't do regardless of my feelings. It is much wiser to trust God's Word rather than my feelings.
How foolish it would be to be driving on a highway and disregard a major warning "danger ahead" sign because we don't feel the sign is correct. Maturity recognizes one's feelings, checks them out for reality, and doesn't allow them to control him or her. When it comes to life, if our feelings don't harmonize with God's Word, we'd better follow God's Word rather than make our feelings the voice of authority which can be a very dangerous path to follow, especially when it comes to eternal life and eternal values.
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
heyhey! back this morning from matriculation camp (Apprentice camp), first part of the whole ACTStrinsic package. lol.
lemme start from sunday morning;)
sunday morning we woke up and met at tamp mrt station. ate lunch together, got to noe the team pple:D my team (we're call SIXY;););) consists of me, michelle, jiexian, qiaoping, kavita, christine, robert, kenneth, huanyan and edwin:) our facilitators are jieyun and johnathan (JJ!) lol. then went to tamp safra and played games. 8 different games:)
very refreshing game actually. hahahaa. some games are just..erm. quite testing on the knees. our knees were a bit wobbly after the games. lol. but we've kinda started to bond:) my team is small (only 10 pple! other teams have 12, 15! 8 teams in all btw.), but we have lots of potential. lol. we have pple who are loud, pple who are soft, agile, smart, new, veteran..blah. lol. and we're all very accomodating pple.
yay!:D
then we had a most altruistic journey thing whereby we actually went house to house (u're supposed to think of wat to do urself, so the things each team does differs:D) to give out coffee packets and encouraged them to drink coffee with their family or to pass on the coffee packet to neighbours. this component wasn't really good, i felt. but i think it gave the organisers time to actually prepare for the night game.
lol. dinner came and went. and we were at aloha changi chalet! the one facing the road:)
NIGHT GAME! lol. it's a trading war;) lots of things. we ran A LOT. we ran from the chalet to changi village then back again 'cos we can't find the elusive shannavar to trade for textiles. all of us had 10 000 spanish silvers at first. wasted 2 game months (only had 12 to finish game). and we kept getting intercepted by our dear adorable pirates. (they really looked the role) ah. we got intercepted by them like.. 6 times:P
anyway as i was saying, we ran a lot. 'cos nidded to get crude oil and rubber and metal (i think) to trade for plastic and alloys and goodness noes wat to make automobiles..of which we will then liquidize the automobiles and earn spanish silvers. ran a span of 5 bus stops over and over. wahaha. the worst thing is tt the whole team is surrounded by strings and cardboards to keep us together. gosh. 2 hours of running. someone estimated we might have ran for more than 4.8km. perfect for dieting pple:P
yay. really wasted the time at first. nvm
and at night! argh. was falling off to sleep (finally!) at 2.30am when they woke everyone up. segment d of apprentice camp. lol. had to do puzzles and read comprehension and solve qns and do tangrams. intention was to train up our skills in being able to think in tired and stressful conditions (required for an entrepreneur). btw, we were all given points for the activites we do. Sixy never went past 4th position. lol
the next day. woke up at 7am to off the aircon, then at 9am to brush teeth. lol.
wahahaa. second day was... BEACH GAMES! got quite touching moments actually. beach games were very physically draining. as they said, it was when we let our muscles do the talking.
very shocked by kenneth and edwin in some segment of the beach games. kenneth actually ran blindfolded into the water. nono. he banged into another person. immediately picked himself up and continued running..but into the water. robert commented later on tt he didn't noe whether to applaud kenneth or to bash him up. the rest of us were just in shock. think nearly cried out.
edwin also. had to blow this stupid pingpong ball across the stretch of the beach. then he just kept going...saw tt his hands were red from rubbing against the sand.
oh! lemme share our moment of glory. LOL. there was this last segment on how we have to blow balloons and burst these balloons. we were the first team to finish. kenneth ran to get the scores for us. and when he was running, NO OTHER TEAM SENT PPLe to start running. wahahaa. moment of glory. one solitary person running on sand. first and only event tt happened. tt no one else was fighting to get the top score from the pool in the middle of the beach. wahaha.
after tt was lunch. at 3+4+!!!. lol. then we had to analyse Djokoli's (through a thick stack of info on the country) political, economical and social situation and draw out a proposal for a social entrepreneur project into the country, with a starting capital of S$50k in 2 hours.
i really like the proposal we drew up actually:) we're thinking of setting up a shoe factory in the southern part of djokoli (why southern part. 'cos we read tt most of the terrorists and bombings are from the northern part where the muslims are from the news reports...so being in the southern part, we will have a higher chance of not being bombed and actually allow the factory to survive:) we'll be manufacturing shoes because of two reasons -1)latex is readily available in Djokoli 2)we nid hides to do the shoes and most likely the animals they're importing are cows (or camels 'cos of increasing desertification). lol
we will then market these shoes with a brand name. 'cos our shoes will have unique african design (hand sewn) to appeal to the afro-american crowd in USA. the factory will be labour intensive (to help reduce the 60% pple under poverty line). labour intensive is good 'cos dun have to spend money on training the pple up till very high and the cost of machinery is low. the labour cost is already low. they only get like $12 per month for salary(minimum wage rate)...we'll give them $15 and increase as the factory expands:)
in the same time, we'll be having a two pronged approach. we'll also be setting up a social club in the hub of Sangui (the capital of the country) to help to direct girls who came into the city to work to right jobs. we offer them an alternative lifestyle. they come to work for us, they get more than wat others offer and in the same time, we can train them up. this club is set up also to educate the girls abt their rights, give them a career... we aim to help them break through the mentality tt girls are inferior to males and tt they're only created to marry and give birth. the club will be sponsored by the factory to keep it running.
our ultimate aim after 5-10 years is to train up the pple in Djokoli to be able to actually take care of the factory and the clubthemselves, for ultimately it is their land and they'll understand the situation better as well. also the pple in Djokoli can relate better to their own race of people. We wanna also inculcate the belief that they themselves can actually change the country on their own. they can mould society's thinking. they can make the change.
we kinda modelled it after gen-acts club (whereby the director is Julian Lee, a social entrepreneur himself)... gen-acts has been setting up clubs in Chile, Peru and Equador to help the people in shanty towns, in villages.
cool sia.
anyway. the question and answer section was quite funny. i won't talk abt it.
ahh. cut things short. we got 5th overall for all the sections.
wahaha. then we were supposed to use the points we accumulated to bid for the place we'll sell our things at during the 'Who wants to be an entrepreneur' event and bid for permits for the things we can sell. wahahahahaha. we got 5 permits. wahahhaa. we're the only team to have more than 2 permits. LOL.
our team was on euphoria tt night basically. lol. went for supper at changi village. oh! me and kenneth and huan yan decided to take the same module at the first semester --- history. lol. and for singapore studies as well. LOL.
after supper. we went to the beach. not sleeping 'cos we wanted to catch sunrise. lol. talked through the night. lol. 5 hours+. we talked about quite a lot of stuff close to us. hehe. a lot abt relationships and all. buried feet in sand. i got buried in sand:P whole body. feels good actually. lol. me and kenneth have ard the same sleepy times. 12-1+ is our sleepy time and 5+ is another sleepy time for us. so next time can really study together. 'cos we'll be sleepy at the same time. LOL
yesh. sunrise is nice. but we didn't see much of the sun. lol.
then we went for breakfast at tamp macS! wahaha. first team to set off. started discussing business for sunday there. we're really mad pple;)
mad pple with a vision. yesh.
lemme start from sunday morning;)
sunday morning we woke up and met at tamp mrt station. ate lunch together, got to noe the team pple:D my team (we're call SIXY;););) consists of me, michelle, jiexian, qiaoping, kavita, christine, robert, kenneth, huanyan and edwin:) our facilitators are jieyun and johnathan (JJ!) lol. then went to tamp safra and played games. 8 different games:)
very refreshing game actually. hahahaa. some games are just..erm. quite testing on the knees. our knees were a bit wobbly after the games. lol. but we've kinda started to bond:) my team is small (only 10 pple! other teams have 12, 15! 8 teams in all btw.), but we have lots of potential. lol. we have pple who are loud, pple who are soft, agile, smart, new, veteran..blah. lol. and we're all very accomodating pple.
yay!:D
then we had a most altruistic journey thing whereby we actually went house to house (u're supposed to think of wat to do urself, so the things each team does differs:D) to give out coffee packets and encouraged them to drink coffee with their family or to pass on the coffee packet to neighbours. this component wasn't really good, i felt. but i think it gave the organisers time to actually prepare for the night game.
lol. dinner came and went. and we were at aloha changi chalet! the one facing the road:)
NIGHT GAME! lol. it's a trading war;) lots of things. we ran A LOT. we ran from the chalet to changi village then back again 'cos we can't find the elusive shannavar to trade for textiles. all of us had 10 000 spanish silvers at first. wasted 2 game months (only had 12 to finish game). and we kept getting intercepted by our dear adorable pirates. (they really looked the role) ah. we got intercepted by them like.. 6 times:P
anyway as i was saying, we ran a lot. 'cos nidded to get crude oil and rubber and metal (i think) to trade for plastic and alloys and goodness noes wat to make automobiles..of which we will then liquidize the automobiles and earn spanish silvers. ran a span of 5 bus stops over and over. wahaha. the worst thing is tt the whole team is surrounded by strings and cardboards to keep us together. gosh. 2 hours of running. someone estimated we might have ran for more than 4.8km. perfect for dieting pple:P
yay. really wasted the time at first. nvm
and at night! argh. was falling off to sleep (finally!) at 2.30am when they woke everyone up. segment d of apprentice camp. lol. had to do puzzles and read comprehension and solve qns and do tangrams. intention was to train up our skills in being able to think in tired and stressful conditions (required for an entrepreneur). btw, we were all given points for the activites we do. Sixy never went past 4th position. lol
the next day. woke up at 7am to off the aircon, then at 9am to brush teeth. lol.
wahahaa. second day was... BEACH GAMES! got quite touching moments actually. beach games were very physically draining. as they said, it was when we let our muscles do the talking.
very shocked by kenneth and edwin in some segment of the beach games. kenneth actually ran blindfolded into the water. nono. he banged into another person. immediately picked himself up and continued running..but into the water. robert commented later on tt he didn't noe whether to applaud kenneth or to bash him up. the rest of us were just in shock. think nearly cried out.
edwin also. had to blow this stupid pingpong ball across the stretch of the beach. then he just kept going...saw tt his hands were red from rubbing against the sand.
oh! lemme share our moment of glory. LOL. there was this last segment on how we have to blow balloons and burst these balloons. we were the first team to finish. kenneth ran to get the scores for us. and when he was running, NO OTHER TEAM SENT PPLe to start running. wahahaa. moment of glory. one solitary person running on sand. first and only event tt happened. tt no one else was fighting to get the top score from the pool in the middle of the beach. wahaha.
after tt was lunch. at 3+4+!!!. lol. then we had to analyse Djokoli's (through a thick stack of info on the country) political, economical and social situation and draw out a proposal for a social entrepreneur project into the country, with a starting capital of S$50k in 2 hours.
i really like the proposal we drew up actually:) we're thinking of setting up a shoe factory in the southern part of djokoli (why southern part. 'cos we read tt most of the terrorists and bombings are from the northern part where the muslims are from the news reports...so being in the southern part, we will have a higher chance of not being bombed and actually allow the factory to survive:) we'll be manufacturing shoes because of two reasons -1)latex is readily available in Djokoli 2)we nid hides to do the shoes and most likely the animals they're importing are cows (or camels 'cos of increasing desertification). lol
we will then market these shoes with a brand name. 'cos our shoes will have unique african design (hand sewn) to appeal to the afro-american crowd in USA. the factory will be labour intensive (to help reduce the 60% pple under poverty line). labour intensive is good 'cos dun have to spend money on training the pple up till very high and the cost of machinery is low. the labour cost is already low. they only get like $12 per month for salary(minimum wage rate)...we'll give them $15 and increase as the factory expands:)
in the same time, we'll be having a two pronged approach. we'll also be setting up a social club in the hub of Sangui (the capital of the country) to help to direct girls who came into the city to work to right jobs. we offer them an alternative lifestyle. they come to work for us, they get more than wat others offer and in the same time, we can train them up. this club is set up also to educate the girls abt their rights, give them a career... we aim to help them break through the mentality tt girls are inferior to males and tt they're only created to marry and give birth. the club will be sponsored by the factory to keep it running.
our ultimate aim after 5-10 years is to train up the pple in Djokoli to be able to actually take care of the factory and the clubthemselves, for ultimately it is their land and they'll understand the situation better as well. also the pple in Djokoli can relate better to their own race of people. We wanna also inculcate the belief that they themselves can actually change the country on their own. they can mould society's thinking. they can make the change.
we kinda modelled it after gen-acts club (whereby the director is Julian Lee, a social entrepreneur himself)... gen-acts has been setting up clubs in Chile, Peru and Equador to help the people in shanty towns, in villages.
cool sia.
anyway. the question and answer section was quite funny. i won't talk abt it.
ahh. cut things short. we got 5th overall for all the sections.
wahaha. then we were supposed to use the points we accumulated to bid for the place we'll sell our things at during the 'Who wants to be an entrepreneur' event and bid for permits for the things we can sell. wahahahahaha. we got 5 permits. wahahhaa. we're the only team to have more than 2 permits. LOL.
our team was on euphoria tt night basically. lol. went for supper at changi village. oh! me and kenneth and huan yan decided to take the same module at the first semester --- history. lol. and for singapore studies as well. LOL.
after supper. we went to the beach. not sleeping 'cos we wanted to catch sunrise. lol. talked through the night. lol. 5 hours+. we talked about quite a lot of stuff close to us. hehe. a lot abt relationships and all. buried feet in sand. i got buried in sand:P whole body. feels good actually. lol. me and kenneth have ard the same sleepy times. 12-1+ is our sleepy time and 5+ is another sleepy time for us. so next time can really study together. 'cos we'll be sleepy at the same time. LOL
yesh. sunrise is nice. but we didn't see much of the sun. lol.
then we went for breakfast at tamp macS! wahaha. first team to set off. started discussing business for sunday there. we're really mad pple;)
mad pple with a vision. yesh.
Monday, June 27, 2005
Sunday, June 26, 2005
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
ACTStrinsic Welcome Tea
Are you... excited... curious... or apprehensive about university life? Wanna expand your network before school even begins? Join us for ACTStrinsic Welcome Tea!
Be IN - Informed and Networked - into our up-coming exoteric, mad, adventitious and meaningful orientation package! Come meet with seniors who will share their valuable tips and insights and delicious bites of the undergraduate experience!
DATE: 26th June '05 (Sunday) @ 2pm
PRICE: $3
Program Synopsis:
Multimedia, fun and games, PLUS the opportunity to mingle with your fellow "blur-blur" freshmen, your cool "I've been there" seniors and even those who have graduated and are now snugly in their careers! Ask all the questions you ever wanted to know about campus life, the varsities, and your prospects! Find out more about our club and our past activities! And of course, the chance to register for our fantabulous ACTStrinsic Package! (If you haven't already done so... :D)
5 Extrinsic Reasons Y U HAVE 2 come for ACTStrinsic Welcome Tea:
It's SUNDAY!
It's the best place to start your university adventure!
Make new friends by networking with students, seniors and alumni from NUS, NTU/NIE, SIM and SMU!
Chance to sign up for the ACTStrinsic package on the spot! (If you haven't already done so... remember, it's first-come-first-served!!!)
Freebies/goodies for all who come!
Are you... excited... curious... or apprehensive about university life? Wanna expand your network before school even begins? Join us for ACTStrinsic Welcome Tea!
Be IN - Informed and Networked - into our up-coming exoteric, mad, adventitious and meaningful orientation package! Come meet with seniors who will share their valuable tips and insights and delicious bites of the undergraduate experience!
DATE: 26th June '05 (Sunday) @ 2pm
PRICE: $3
Program Synopsis:
Multimedia, fun and games, PLUS the opportunity to mingle with your fellow "blur-blur" freshmen, your cool "I've been there" seniors and even those who have graduated and are now snugly in their careers! Ask all the questions you ever wanted to know about campus life, the varsities, and your prospects! Find out more about our club and our past activities! And of course, the chance to register for our fantabulous ACTStrinsic Package! (If you haven't already done so... :D)
5 Extrinsic Reasons Y U HAVE 2 come for ACTStrinsic Welcome Tea:
It's SUNDAY!
It's the best place to start your university adventure!
Make new friends by networking with students, seniors and alumni from NUS, NTU/NIE, SIM and SMU!
Chance to sign up for the ACTStrinsic package on the spot! (If you haven't already done so... remember, it's first-come-first-served!!!)
Freebies/goodies for all who come!
Monday, June 20, 2005
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1, NIV).
I appreciate the way the Bible opens. No fanfare. No fancy words. Just the simple statement: "In the beginning God." It is a totally non-defensive statement. God isn't trying to prove himself or defend his existence. He doesn't have to. We can take his statement or leave it. It's up to us. That's our choice.
In his booklet, The Reason Why, Robert Laidlaw shared how a former president of the New York Scientific Society once gave eight reasons why he believed in God.
"The first one is this. Take ten identical coins and mark them one to ten, place them in your pocket, then take one out. There is one chance in ten that you will get number one. Now replace it, and chances that number two will follow number one are not one in ten, but one in one hundred. With each new coin taken out the chances that it too will follow in the right order are multiplied by ten, so that the chance of all ten following in sequence is one chance in ten billion."
George Gallup, the famed American statistician, is reported to have said, "Take the human body alone—the chance that all the functions of the individual would just happen is a statistical monstrosity."
The bottom line is that belief in God is a choice. For some it's a faith choice. For others it's a moral choice. Whatever choice it is, the choice we make will make us. It will also determine our eternal destiny. Forever.
I appreciate the way the Bible opens. No fanfare. No fancy words. Just the simple statement: "In the beginning God." It is a totally non-defensive statement. God isn't trying to prove himself or defend his existence. He doesn't have to. We can take his statement or leave it. It's up to us. That's our choice.
In his booklet, The Reason Why, Robert Laidlaw shared how a former president of the New York Scientific Society once gave eight reasons why he believed in God.
"The first one is this. Take ten identical coins and mark them one to ten, place them in your pocket, then take one out. There is one chance in ten that you will get number one. Now replace it, and chances that number two will follow number one are not one in ten, but one in one hundred. With each new coin taken out the chances that it too will follow in the right order are multiplied by ten, so that the chance of all ten following in sequence is one chance in ten billion."
George Gallup, the famed American statistician, is reported to have said, "Take the human body alone—the chance that all the functions of the individual would just happen is a statistical monstrosity."
The bottom line is that belief in God is a choice. For some it's a faith choice. For others it's a moral choice. Whatever choice it is, the choice we make will make us. It will also determine our eternal destiny. Forever.
Friday, June 03, 2005
on the 30th of January, a Saturday in 2004 i transferred over to Yhope... youth service of Hope. they had a special service with a musical with music from beauty and the beast. i remember a feast.
and on that day, i was kinda happy 'cos pte2 used to pray for 4 pple in vj before jitsy's birthday, and we had 5 pple after the transfer. very very sad, but happy 'cos of that:) it was me, jitsy, jiali (our ul then), lilin and yaoguo.
i had my first sheep on that day as well. with no one to teach me how to fu on pple. *faints* thank God for the essentials of fu in mandarin hotel's hotel room in august (or is it october) in 2003.
on the 18th of June, a Saturday in 2005, i will be officially transferred to the third service. i don't know how i feel, i don't know what i'll face in the future, i don't know who i'll meet, i don't know who i'll miss...
but i know that God is still there for me.
i know that a friend is a friend forever --- if the Lord is the Lord of them.
i know that as long as we keep in this race to the end of time together, we'll probably be visiting each other's houses in heaven.
i know the xinying of this transfer is different from the xinying of the former transfer.
when there is contancy in the midst of uncertainty --- that God's love and presence and character never fails us...O how comforting that knowledge is.
2 years + ago, i said that God is gracious and that to have something change my heart to wanna convert to Christianity, it must be something tremendous.
2 years later, God is not only gracious, He is faithful. and what i wld say is that to be able to stay as a Christian, it requires only faithfulness in my relationship with Jesus. tremendous as well. the tremendous love of Jesus which kept me with him.
and on that day, i was kinda happy 'cos pte2 used to pray for 4 pple in vj before jitsy's birthday, and we had 5 pple after the transfer. very very sad, but happy 'cos of that:) it was me, jitsy, jiali (our ul then), lilin and yaoguo.
i had my first sheep on that day as well. with no one to teach me how to fu on pple. *faints* thank God for the essentials of fu in mandarin hotel's hotel room in august (or is it october) in 2003.
on the 18th of June, a Saturday in 2005, i will be officially transferred to the third service. i don't know how i feel, i don't know what i'll face in the future, i don't know who i'll meet, i don't know who i'll miss...
but i know that God is still there for me.
i know that a friend is a friend forever --- if the Lord is the Lord of them.
i know that as long as we keep in this race to the end of time together, we'll probably be visiting each other's houses in heaven.
i know the xinying of this transfer is different from the xinying of the former transfer.
when there is contancy in the midst of uncertainty --- that God's love and presence and character never fails us...O how comforting that knowledge is.
2 years + ago, i said that God is gracious and that to have something change my heart to wanna convert to Christianity, it must be something tremendous.
2 years later, God is not only gracious, He is faithful. and what i wld say is that to be able to stay as a Christian, it requires only faithfulness in my relationship with Jesus. tremendous as well. the tremendous love of Jesus which kept me with him.
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
hello hello. back from hongkong. kinda broke. hongkong food and transport are super expensive. ohhh. but wonderfully priced clothings though. lol:D
yay.
i shall attempt to type out what i did for the past 5 days. hahaha:D
first day. my first time taking plane! Valuair has good pilot:D hahaa. no air pressure felt on ear drum when plane takes flight. wellus:D we had pleasant weather for the first half of the journey... had my glimpse of heaven...a land of clouds beneath your feet...wow:D second half of the journey, the plane flew into a storm. lol. lightning flashes at 1 per second. lots of turbulence and the plane went up down up down. lol. thank God the plane didn't get struck by lightning or something. it wasn't exactly very scary, but you'll definitely be glad that nothing happened to you.
anyway, to cut everything short, we reached the hostel at 11+ pm. hahaa. our hostel is in causeway bay!:D right smack in the hub of the orchard road of hongkong. at 12pm, there're still groups of people moving around:D we went for a midnight snack around the area on friday night. let's just say that singapore food is like less than three-quarters the price of hongkong food:)
2nd day! oh yes! we ate breakfast at haohao cha2 can1 ting. lol. it's in this uluated street alley. hahaha. the coffee tastes weird. then we took MTR and went to wong tai sin temple..hahaha. very nice scenery inside the temple..got this super big garden thing with a mini waterfall and rapids. i noticed that hongkong is surrounded by mountains everywhere. hehee:D
hahaa. then we went to a dim sum restaurant to eat dim sum for lunch!:D junting's aunt and cousin very nicely brought us around after that:D ahhaa. very funny. didn't really know much of the culture there so quite unused to it. wellus:D then we walked to sha tin marriage registry... lol...and passed it to go to snoopy world:D then we went to xing1 guang1 dao4 da4! ahaha. charm of shine. erm. it's called Avenue of Stars in english..where the famous pple left their handprints on the ground. lol. quite cool:) then we took the ferry back to hongkong island:D oh btw, hongkong is divided into four islands -- hongkong island, new territory, lantau island and oh dear, i can't remember. wellus.
sunday morning! we went for service:D ate breakfast at macs. hahaha. went for hope hongkong international service:D very nice to see brothers and sisters in a foreign land:D then met jeannie beside china bank. then we went to the peak!:D with a lot of mao mao cong. eee. their caterpillars are really very very hairy. hahaha:D white hair with black bodies. but the peak of the mountain is really beautiful and high. hahaha:D very brilliant temperature as well:D we ate ice cream in the cold. mad people:D
oh i love the peak though. should go to the peak and walk around one day if u all get to go to hongkong:) it's worth the mao mao congs:D
then we took the peak tram down!:D hahaa. and walked around. ate macs flatbread for dinner, went shopping. oh! there was like this long stretch of travellators and escalators linking many places. really cool:D jeannie and jits went back to count the number of escalators and took the mtr back to the hostel...19 in all. me and junting took a minibus down to wanchai and changed to tram to go back to the hostel. heehe. kinda like amazing race. hahaha:D
monday.. we went to the giant buddha place on lantau island. super nice scenery too:D *grInz* love the air high up there. hahaa. then we went to eat roasted goose with jt's god mother and god brothers:D wah. roasted goose is super nice. hongkong's yang zhi gan lu is very nice too. and took pictures of the qing ma da qiao. poor jeannie's camera fell to the ground and the front was jammed. thursday was shopping and eating and shopping and travelling and shopping. lol.
and today, we're back. wellus:D miss the mountains in hongkong though:) and my mao mao congs.
yay.
i shall attempt to type out what i did for the past 5 days. hahaha:D
first day. my first time taking plane! Valuair has good pilot:D hahaa. no air pressure felt on ear drum when plane takes flight. wellus:D we had pleasant weather for the first half of the journey... had my glimpse of heaven...a land of clouds beneath your feet...wow:D second half of the journey, the plane flew into a storm. lol. lightning flashes at 1 per second. lots of turbulence and the plane went up down up down. lol. thank God the plane didn't get struck by lightning or something. it wasn't exactly very scary, but you'll definitely be glad that nothing happened to you.
anyway, to cut everything short, we reached the hostel at 11+ pm. hahaa. our hostel is in causeway bay!:D right smack in the hub of the orchard road of hongkong. at 12pm, there're still groups of people moving around:D we went for a midnight snack around the area on friday night. let's just say that singapore food is like less than three-quarters the price of hongkong food:)
2nd day! oh yes! we ate breakfast at haohao cha2 can1 ting. lol. it's in this uluated street alley. hahaha. the coffee tastes weird. then we took MTR and went to wong tai sin temple..hahaha. very nice scenery inside the temple..got this super big garden thing with a mini waterfall and rapids. i noticed that hongkong is surrounded by mountains everywhere. hehee:D
hahaa. then we went to a dim sum restaurant to eat dim sum for lunch!:D junting's aunt and cousin very nicely brought us around after that:D ahhaa. very funny. didn't really know much of the culture there so quite unused to it. wellus:D then we walked to sha tin marriage registry... lol...and passed it to go to snoopy world:D then we went to xing1 guang1 dao4 da4! ahaha. charm of shine. erm. it's called Avenue of Stars in english..where the famous pple left their handprints on the ground. lol. quite cool:) then we took the ferry back to hongkong island:D oh btw, hongkong is divided into four islands -- hongkong island, new territory, lantau island and oh dear, i can't remember. wellus.
sunday morning! we went for service:D ate breakfast at macs. hahaha. went for hope hongkong international service:D very nice to see brothers and sisters in a foreign land:D then met jeannie beside china bank. then we went to the peak!:D with a lot of mao mao cong. eee. their caterpillars are really very very hairy. hahaha:D white hair with black bodies. but the peak of the mountain is really beautiful and high. hahaha:D very brilliant temperature as well:D we ate ice cream in the cold. mad people:D
oh i love the peak though. should go to the peak and walk around one day if u all get to go to hongkong:) it's worth the mao mao congs:D
then we took the peak tram down!:D hahaa. and walked around. ate macs flatbread for dinner, went shopping. oh! there was like this long stretch of travellators and escalators linking many places. really cool:D jeannie and jits went back to count the number of escalators and took the mtr back to the hostel...19 in all. me and junting took a minibus down to wanchai and changed to tram to go back to the hostel. heehe. kinda like amazing race. hahaha:D
monday.. we went to the giant buddha place on lantau island. super nice scenery too:D *grInz* love the air high up there. hahaa. then we went to eat roasted goose with jt's god mother and god brothers:D wah. roasted goose is super nice. hongkong's yang zhi gan lu is very nice too. and took pictures of the qing ma da qiao. poor jeannie's camera fell to the ground and the front was jammed. thursday was shopping and eating and shopping and travelling and shopping. lol.
and today, we're back. wellus:D miss the mountains in hongkong though:) and my mao mao congs.
Friday, May 27, 2005
YAY! i'm going to hongkong tomorrow! i'm quite broke so don't expect too much when i get back. hahahaa. hongkong transport fees are EX! HK$40 (around S$9) for a one hour BUS JOURNEY O_o *faints*
but yeah! i'm going to HONGKONG! lol. pray that nothing happens to the flight.pray that nothing happens to us. pray that no one tries to rob us. LOL. kk:D shld sleep soon. EXCITED! haven't finish packing bag though. die.
lol:D
yayayayayaya:D hahaha
HOPE HK ON SUNDAY. HERE I COME!:D
but yeah! i'm going to HONGKONG! lol. pray that nothing happens to the flight.pray that nothing happens to us. pray that no one tries to rob us. LOL. kk:D shld sleep soon. EXCITED! haven't finish packing bag though. die.
lol:D
yayayayayaya:D hahaha
HOPE HK ON SUNDAY. HERE I COME!:D
Thursday, May 19, 2005
MY GOSH. hahaha. i'm amazed.
i just realised the source of this song (through an email!)we sang in primary 6 to the teachers in my primary school...hahaa. i still remember how that day a teacher stopped me and asked who wrote the song..and i didn't know..but i shared that melissa (my classmate:D) editted the lyrics:)
lol. and i remember the tune quite well.
cool!
i just realised the source of this song (through an email!)we sang in primary 6 to the teachers in my primary school...hahaa. i still remember how that day a teacher stopped me and asked who wrote the song..and i didn't know..but i shared that melissa (my classmate:D) editted the lyrics:)
lol. and i remember the tune quite well.
cool!
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
have you ever wondered why izzit that towards some people, you can irritated (or hurt) easily by the person's words?
it's not because of the person's face, or character or personality...it's because of unresolved former feelings towards that person. it could have come as a presumption towards the person, or because you have unresolved anger or hurt from interacting with this particular person.
so next time u feel such feelings towards a person, resolve to think through why u feel tt way and resolve the issue as soon as possible..for hiding it will merely cause the feelings to re-emerge in the future, even in the slightest issues.
it's not because of the person's face, or character or personality...it's because of unresolved former feelings towards that person. it could have come as a presumption towards the person, or because you have unresolved anger or hurt from interacting with this particular person.
so next time u feel such feelings towards a person, resolve to think through why u feel tt way and resolve the issue as soon as possible..for hiding it will merely cause the feelings to re-emerge in the future, even in the slightest issues.
Sunday, May 15, 2005
you know there was once i attended a counselling seminar..and something that the person said actually struck me deep.
she shared that there was this person who was actually holding a grudge towards another person and because of this, was unable to continue doing things effectively, even when the person thought that she no longer held the grudge. she decided to move to another place so that it won't haunt her anymore, but gradually, she found out that it's not the circumstances that actually determine whether u do remember something. but it's what had happened in the past that remains in you no matter where you, no matter whether you choose to still acknowledge the fact that you still have it.
and as a human being, we do not have the capacity to forget totally, nor do we have the capacity to actually heal by ourselves. time DOES not heal wounds. it covers them up with sand. and when things actually blow that sand away once more, the wound that is exposed hurts even more as well.
i know much about religions. and religions are of no use.
only a relationship healed me from within me. my relationship with God.
she shared that there was this person who was actually holding a grudge towards another person and because of this, was unable to continue doing things effectively, even when the person thought that she no longer held the grudge. she decided to move to another place so that it won't haunt her anymore, but gradually, she found out that it's not the circumstances that actually determine whether u do remember something. but it's what had happened in the past that remains in you no matter where you, no matter whether you choose to still acknowledge the fact that you still have it.
and as a human being, we do not have the capacity to forget totally, nor do we have the capacity to actually heal by ourselves. time DOES not heal wounds. it covers them up with sand. and when things actually blow that sand away once more, the wound that is exposed hurts even more as well.
i know much about religions. and religions are of no use.
only a relationship healed me from within me. my relationship with God.
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Youth turn to faith-brand T-shirts
WASHINGTON (UPI) -- Christian merchandisers are pushing T-shirts bearing religious slogans and Christian imagery -- products edging their way into mainstream U.S. culture.
In-your-face bold T-shirts bearing slogans such as "My God can kick your God's butt" are part of a brand-intense version of Christianity, said James Twitchell, a professor of English and advertising at the University of Florida, Gainesville.
It is a demonstration of "I'm a true believer," rather than statements focused on denominations, Twitchell told the Christian Science Monitor Wednesday.
Some T-shirts appear to be an extension of the WWJD bracelets of the 1990s -- which stands for "What Would Jesus Do?" -- with alternative versions of popular brand names, such as "Abreadcrumb & Fish," "G.A.P" for God Answers Prayers, and "Got Jesus?"
But some other messages, the Monitor said, appear to strive for greater shock value, such as a T-shirt by Arkansas-based company Kerusso that features Jesus on the cross with the words "Rebel with a cross."
"That graphic nature is just to show you how profound (Jesus') gift was," said Lorri Carter, product-development director at the company whose tagline is "You have the faith. Get the gear."
Copyright 2005 by United Press International.
WASHINGTON (UPI) -- Christian merchandisers are pushing T-shirts bearing religious slogans and Christian imagery -- products edging their way into mainstream U.S. culture.
In-your-face bold T-shirts bearing slogans such as "My God can kick your God's butt" are part of a brand-intense version of Christianity, said James Twitchell, a professor of English and advertising at the University of Florida, Gainesville.
It is a demonstration of "I'm a true believer," rather than statements focused on denominations, Twitchell told the Christian Science Monitor Wednesday.
Some T-shirts appear to be an extension of the WWJD bracelets of the 1990s -- which stands for "What Would Jesus Do?" -- with alternative versions of popular brand names, such as "Abreadcrumb & Fish," "G.A.P" for God Answers Prayers, and "Got Jesus?"
But some other messages, the Monitor said, appear to strive for greater shock value, such as a T-shirt by Arkansas-based company Kerusso that features Jesus on the cross with the words "Rebel with a cross."
"That graphic nature is just to show you how profound (Jesus') gift was," said Lorri Carter, product-development director at the company whose tagline is "You have the faith. Get the gear."
Copyright 2005 by United Press International.
Thursday, May 05, 2005
Monday, May 02, 2005
"If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:31-32, NIV).
It’s amazing how many people actually blame God, the devil or anyone else for their own irresponsible behavior. I have a talk I used to give that I titled, "The Devil Didn’t Make Me Do It--I Can Mess Things Up All by Myself." And I can. Sure we are all tempted from time to time but each of us is responsible for the choice we make either to resist temptation or to give in to it.
A former supporter of our work, a man in his mid-thirties complained to me about the opposite sex because of his repeated experiences in failed relationships and tried, without success, to get me to agree with him in his self-justification. No chance. A
distressed young woman bemoans the fact that she and her boyfriend fell pregnant and wondered why God allowed it to happen. Amazing? Another man I know is convinced that there’s something wrong with most of the men he has had dealings with because none of them like him.
And here’s a classic from a woman in a support group I was leading some time ago. "I can’t understand why God gave me such a terrible husband," she bitterly moaned in a whiney poor-me tone of voice.
"Who chose your husband?" I asked.
"God did!" she said and was dead serious. Her avoidance of personal responsibility and denial of reality was painfully pathetic. There was no way I could even begin to get her to face reality, let alone get her to take a good hard look to see the truth about herself. Without access to the truth there is no resolution, no recovery, and no freedom.
"When dealing with people [like this]," Jim Rohn says, "I generally take the obvious approach. When someone says, 'This always happens to me and that always happens to me. Why do these things always happen to me?' I simply say, 'Beats me. I don't know. All I know is that those kinds of things seem to happen to people like you.'"
That might sound tough but it’s true. The fact is that what we project is what we get back and what we allow we reinforce. We either face reality and admit exactly
what our part is in all of these situations and get into a recovery program, or we continue to repeat our past negative patterns. As the saying goes, "If we keep doing what we’ve always done, we’ll keep getting what we’ve always got, and we’ll keep feeling what we’ve always felt." It’s either resolution or repetition.
The only people God or anyone can help are those who say, "I have a problem. I need help." And as long as you and I allow people in our life to get away with boundary-busting, irresponsible behavior, we become a part of their sickness.
It’s amazing how many people actually blame God, the devil or anyone else for their own irresponsible behavior. I have a talk I used to give that I titled, "The Devil Didn’t Make Me Do It--I Can Mess Things Up All by Myself." And I can. Sure we are all tempted from time to time but each of us is responsible for the choice we make either to resist temptation or to give in to it.
A former supporter of our work, a man in his mid-thirties complained to me about the opposite sex because of his repeated experiences in failed relationships and tried, without success, to get me to agree with him in his self-justification. No chance. A
distressed young woman bemoans the fact that she and her boyfriend fell pregnant and wondered why God allowed it to happen. Amazing? Another man I know is convinced that there’s something wrong with most of the men he has had dealings with because none of them like him.
And here’s a classic from a woman in a support group I was leading some time ago. "I can’t understand why God gave me such a terrible husband," she bitterly moaned in a whiney poor-me tone of voice.
"Who chose your husband?" I asked.
"God did!" she said and was dead serious. Her avoidance of personal responsibility and denial of reality was painfully pathetic. There was no way I could even begin to get her to face reality, let alone get her to take a good hard look to see the truth about herself. Without access to the truth there is no resolution, no recovery, and no freedom.
"When dealing with people [like this]," Jim Rohn says, "I generally take the obvious approach. When someone says, 'This always happens to me and that always happens to me. Why do these things always happen to me?' I simply say, 'Beats me. I don't know. All I know is that those kinds of things seem to happen to people like you.'"
That might sound tough but it’s true. The fact is that what we project is what we get back and what we allow we reinforce. We either face reality and admit exactly
what our part is in all of these situations and get into a recovery program, or we continue to repeat our past negative patterns. As the saying goes, "If we keep doing what we’ve always done, we’ll keep getting what we’ve always got, and we’ll keep feeling what we’ve always felt." It’s either resolution or repetition.
The only people God or anyone can help are those who say, "I have a problem. I need help." And as long as you and I allow people in our life to get away with boundary-busting, irresponsible behavior, we become a part of their sickness.
heh. my feet is still hurting and being suan after having rested for 6 hours and my nose is killing me:) my first day of work as a waitress in intercontinental and i'm falling sick:D
but thank God! i slept for 2 hours last night, and 3-4 hrs the night before and God sustained me both yesterday AND today. gosh.
interesting day today:) took the first train down to bugis to meet jac, then we walked to intercontinental...had to go through security and get uniforms and all tt..hahaa. i think if she's not around, i wouldn't have known where to go:)
yup:)
met meirong in the locker room after changing. erm. got a mild shock at her actions. wellus.
i got to know new pple today!:) rongxin, cherisa and deborah are from tanglin sec...going ngeeann poly this yr:) heh. then got to know hong teck... dunno where he's from. then got to know lina..who looked like my primary sch form teacher miss phua..but lina's only 23! hahaa:)
very tiring. actually not very tiring. it's very... strenuous on the leg. my leg hurt like mad after the buffet hours. and my leg is still hurting now. eeeks. hehe. easier to be a relief teacher i think.
but thank God! i slept for 2 hours last night, and 3-4 hrs the night before and God sustained me both yesterday AND today. gosh.
interesting day today:) took the first train down to bugis to meet jac, then we walked to intercontinental...had to go through security and get uniforms and all tt..hahaa. i think if she's not around, i wouldn't have known where to go:)
yup:)
met meirong in the locker room after changing. erm. got a mild shock at her actions. wellus.
i got to know new pple today!:) rongxin, cherisa and deborah are from tanglin sec...going ngeeann poly this yr:) heh. then got to know hong teck... dunno where he's from. then got to know lina..who looked like my primary sch form teacher miss phua..but lina's only 23! hahaa:)
very tiring. actually not very tiring. it's very... strenuous on the leg. my leg hurt like mad after the buffet hours. and my leg is still hurting now. eeeks. hehe. easier to be a relief teacher i think.
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
okay. nokia hospital called me. my 6020 is officially declared dead.
boohoohooo.
haha. anyone wanna host a burial for it?
anyway, went for nygep gathering yesterday:) erm. not much of a gathering...'cos not many pple turned up:) heh. there was me, weez, jits, qing, trace, yingxin, guan, yun and her friend:)
qing has funky hair! trace has distracting earrings! yingxin looks the same! yun.. nice to see yun after 2 yrs:)
yay:) but had a nice time. OH! saw the moon hidden behind dark clouds at night, so i was commenting tt it's the silver lining in the dark sky, hope in the midst of darkness! trace had camera! but in the end she didn't wanna go get it...so no photo. so sad. but it's very nice:) the beach at night is a very nice place to just stand at, with your friends...
yeah:) me and jits and weez went to bishan pasar malam after tt (actually 'cos i didn't wanna take a bus by myself..so decided to hop onto 55 with them, then there was a pasar malam..and both of them got dragged to view it with me:D) yay:)
yup:)
and went to the library with jits today. hahaa. and then weez came. and then we went to cut hair together. all three of us! then guan came! ah well:) super funny. guan's comment is 'why did i come all the way just to see three pple, whom i just met yesterday?':)
haha:) wellus.
boohoohooo.
haha. anyone wanna host a burial for it?
anyway, went for nygep gathering yesterday:) erm. not much of a gathering...'cos not many pple turned up:) heh. there was me, weez, jits, qing, trace, yingxin, guan, yun and her friend:)
qing has funky hair! trace has distracting earrings! yingxin looks the same! yun.. nice to see yun after 2 yrs:)
yay:) but had a nice time. OH! saw the moon hidden behind dark clouds at night, so i was commenting tt it's the silver lining in the dark sky, hope in the midst of darkness! trace had camera! but in the end she didn't wanna go get it...so no photo. so sad. but it's very nice:) the beach at night is a very nice place to just stand at, with your friends...
yeah:) me and jits and weez went to bishan pasar malam after tt (actually 'cos i didn't wanna take a bus by myself..so decided to hop onto 55 with them, then there was a pasar malam..and both of them got dragged to view it with me:D) yay:)
yup:)
and went to the library with jits today. hahaa. and then weez came. and then we went to cut hair together. all three of us! then guan came! ah well:) super funny. guan's comment is 'why did i come all the way just to see three pple, whom i just met yesterday?':)
haha:) wellus.
Thursday, April 21, 2005
hahhaa:) this comes as an obligation to update my dear adorable friends on my dear adorable life:) oh dear. what am i talking abt:)
-Holy God to whom, all praise is due
i stand in awe of You-
yeah:)
went for smu interview on wed. thoroughly enjoyed myself there. hahaa:) we talked abt languages, abt androids, abt the stupid casino, abt the difference between my high SAT score (according to the female interviewer) and my dear adorable grades (hehehe:D) very interesting topics that we talked abt. took up 30 mins:)
but enjoyed myself thoroughly.
why are u. hmm. interesting qn.
yeah:) been reading books and resting in bed 'cos felt sick for a while. hahaa:) went to celebrate joycelyn's b-day with her and peixin and wanqi and val on tues. interesting:)
qing's birthday tmr!
-Holy God to whom, all praise is due
i stand in awe of You-
yeah:)
went for smu interview on wed. thoroughly enjoyed myself there. hahaa:) we talked abt languages, abt androids, abt the stupid casino, abt the difference between my high SAT score (according to the female interviewer) and my dear adorable grades (hehehe:D) very interesting topics that we talked abt. took up 30 mins:)
but enjoyed myself thoroughly.
why are u. hmm. interesting qn.
yeah:) been reading books and resting in bed 'cos felt sick for a while. hahaa:) went to celebrate joycelyn's b-day with her and peixin and wanqi and val on tues. interesting:)
qing's birthday tmr!
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Monday, April 11, 2005
"God sets the lonely in families" (Psalm 68:6, NIV).
"Loneliness," as Karen Carpenter used to sing so sadly, "it's such a sad affair." Indeed it is. It's one of the plagues of modern Western society.
Dr. James Lynch, a former medical researcher at John Hopkins contends in his book, The Broken Heart, that loneliness is the number one physical killer today. It can literally break your heart.
"Using actuarial tables from ten years research, Dr. Lynch says that those who live alone--single, widowed, divorced--have premature death rates from two to ten times higher than individuals who live with others. Living alone, he says, does not necessarily produce loneliness, but the two are often related. Among divorced people, suicide is five times higher, fatal car accidents four times higher.
People who live alone visit physicians more frequently than married people, and they stay in hospitals twice as long for identical illnesses."
It may not be the most desirable for everyone but we can live without romantic relationships, but none of us can live healthily without at least one or two healthy, close, loving relationships. Without such we limp along in the shadows of life eking out a lonely existence ... and die a little every day.
Dr. Lynch also reminds us that, "If we fail to form loving human relationships, our mental and physical health is in peril."
Besides one's family (if one has one) there's no better place to find love and a sense of belonging than in a healthy non-legalistic church where unconditional love, acceptance, and friendship are expressed in open, positive, and practical ways. In
such a church God does set the lonely in families--that's one reason God has designed the church as a family--the family of God.
Here, too, one can find God--the only one who can satisfy our innate sense of spiritual loneliness. "To live apart from him," says psychologist, Dr. Norman Wright, "is the most pathetic loneliness of all."
"Loneliness," as Karen Carpenter used to sing so sadly, "it's such a sad affair." Indeed it is. It's one of the plagues of modern Western society.
Dr. James Lynch, a former medical researcher at John Hopkins contends in his book, The Broken Heart, that loneliness is the number one physical killer today. It can literally break your heart.
"Using actuarial tables from ten years research, Dr. Lynch says that those who live alone--single, widowed, divorced--have premature death rates from two to ten times higher than individuals who live with others. Living alone, he says, does not necessarily produce loneliness, but the two are often related. Among divorced people, suicide is five times higher, fatal car accidents four times higher.
People who live alone visit physicians more frequently than married people, and they stay in hospitals twice as long for identical illnesses."
It may not be the most desirable for everyone but we can live without romantic relationships, but none of us can live healthily without at least one or two healthy, close, loving relationships. Without such we limp along in the shadows of life eking out a lonely existence ... and die a little every day.
Dr. Lynch also reminds us that, "If we fail to form loving human relationships, our mental and physical health is in peril."
Besides one's family (if one has one) there's no better place to find love and a sense of belonging than in a healthy non-legalistic church where unconditional love, acceptance, and friendship are expressed in open, positive, and practical ways. In
such a church God does set the lonely in families--that's one reason God has designed the church as a family--the family of God.
Here, too, one can find God--the only one who can satisfy our innate sense of spiritual loneliness. "To live apart from him," says psychologist, Dr. Norman Wright, "is the most pathetic loneliness of all."
Saturday, April 09, 2005
You are a
protector.
Yes, you don't like to kill people. That goes
against everything you belive in. It's not that
you are a coward, but your ideals and morals
wouldn't allow it. You are the typical hero, do
the righteous things, get the bad guys and do
it all legally. But just because you don't kill
doesn't mean you can't kick ass. And that is
what you do. You use your brain and your
strength to do honourable deeds and protect
people you know and love. If an evil guy is
going to take over the world soon, it's you who
will get involved. You hate watching innocents
suffer, and love seeing bad people getting what
they deserve. You are probably also happy and
optimistic and work pretty good in groups. And
the friends you usually make are true ones.
Main weapon: Anything at all
Quote: "You only live once, but if
you do it right, once is enough" -Joe
Lewis
Facial expression: Smile
What Type of Killer Are You? [cool pictures]
brought to you by Quizilla
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
yay. i went back for another day of relief teaching today:D after a few months. hahaha:D
slept for only 3 hours last night so i was really quite tired this morning. eyes kept threatening to shut and mind to wander off during the times i babysitted the classes:)
took 3N1, 3N2 (both a bit noisy), 1T2 (i literally had to tell them stories and entertain them...quite a nice bunch of students, but very very rowdy), 5N1 (guai class. haha. they entertained themselves. as in. can see some of the students actually taking out work to do. wow. guess it's 'cos it's their O level yr this yr), 3E3 (to my horror, 3E3 contains the most number of chinese students i took in my class in January. hahaa. you won't know whether to laugh or to ask them not to do certain things:P ah well:D.. hejun happily broke something in the homeroom, weiloon had spiked his hair O_o and ivan was..well. bring much crazier than he did last time in my class.. no wonder my 3E class was so wellus, interesting.). supposed to have 5N2 too...then realised that they didn't know there's been a change in classroom. anyway, i told them tt i trust them to be able to take care of themselves...so i left the classroom and went to rest in the staff room:D hahaa.
then went to sembawang to meet jits to go to the lib... had a nice nap on the train. was quite unconscious till the train reached admiralty...hahaha. yep. overshot.
i'm sleepy. i shld go and sleep. i've been awake for... 18 hours and 30 mins. yay:)
slept for only 3 hours last night so i was really quite tired this morning. eyes kept threatening to shut and mind to wander off during the times i babysitted the classes:)
took 3N1, 3N2 (both a bit noisy), 1T2 (i literally had to tell them stories and entertain them...quite a nice bunch of students, but very very rowdy), 5N1 (guai class. haha. they entertained themselves. as in. can see some of the students actually taking out work to do. wow. guess it's 'cos it's their O level yr this yr), 3E3 (to my horror, 3E3 contains the most number of chinese students i took in my class in January. hahaa. you won't know whether to laugh or to ask them not to do certain things:P ah well:D.. hejun happily broke something in the homeroom, weiloon had spiked his hair O_o and ivan was..well. bring much crazier than he did last time in my class.. no wonder my 3E class was so wellus, interesting.). supposed to have 5N2 too...then realised that they didn't know there's been a change in classroom. anyway, i told them tt i trust them to be able to take care of themselves...so i left the classroom and went to rest in the staff room:D hahaa.
then went to sembawang to meet jits to go to the lib... had a nice nap on the train. was quite unconscious till the train reached admiralty...hahaha. yep. overshot.
i'm sleepy. i shld go and sleep. i've been awake for... 18 hours and 30 mins. yay:)
Saturday, April 02, 2005
please read the following without unicode.
She steps out of her life, heaves a sigh and took out her keys to unlock the doors. Again.
She does this everyday.
Opening up the door, a sight greets her eyes. Her cat is lounging on the sofa, mewing softly as she steps into the house.
A warm presence admidst the coldness of the house.
Nobody’s home.
… I couldn’t tell you why she felt that way, she felt it everyday…
Her dad is at work. Her mum has gone out to buy groceries. Her brother has his own classes to attend.
She is all alone at home.
She can’t help but sigh again. She understands in her heart the necessity of her dad’s work, of her mum buying groceries, of her brother studying, but she can’t help wishing that the family can spend more time together.
Dinner time comes. The whole family gathers together at the table.
‘Hey dear, how’s your day?’ her mum enquires.
‘Fine. Just lots of work. Mrs Wong wants me to send in a script for the script writing competition. She feels I’ll be able to win the competition.’
‘Oh that’s good. Do you need any help? By the way, how are the common test results?’
‘It’s okay. I can handle it. Hmmm. Got top in class again, but my grades dropped’
‘Oh. That’s good. Just continue working harder and you’ll definitely be able to get that scholarship you want to study dentistry in Oxford.’
‘Yah okay. Thanks mum’
Home is where a person belongs, isn’t it?
She has burdens. Burdens that cannot be shared with her family.
…And I couldn’t help her, I just watched her make the same mistakes again…
Burdens that her friends seem to understand. Burdens that maybe her boyfriend can soothe?
‘I understand what you mean… hmmm… ‘
‘Haha.. how can you be worried about this? You’re too smart to worry about it.’
But do they?
Can they comprehend how I truly feel?
She wonders.
…What’s wrong, what’s wrong now? Too many, too many problems. Don’t know where she belongs, where she belongs…
In the silence, who is there to be with her?
In her despair, who is there to comfort her soul?
In her loneliness, who will always be there to stand beside her?
In times of insecurity, who is there to assure her always?
Who will be able to understand how she feels inside, how she is inside, with no reservations, no expectations?
Who will carry her burdens for her?
…It’s where she lies, broken inside…
She can’t hide from herself.
She knows the hurts that are still hurting her.
She knows that she longs to show her real self, one without any masks, one that is not merely a façade.
Broken inside.
She steps out of her life, heaves a sigh and took out her keys to unlock the doors. Again.
She does this everyday.
Opening up the door, a sight greets her eyes. Her cat is lounging on the sofa, mewing softly as she steps into the house.
A warm presence admidst the coldness of the house.
Nobody’s home.
… I couldn’t tell you why she felt that way, she felt it everyday…
Her dad is at work. Her mum has gone out to buy groceries. Her brother has his own classes to attend.
She is all alone at home.
She can’t help but sigh again. She understands in her heart the necessity of her dad’s work, of her mum buying groceries, of her brother studying, but she can’t help wishing that the family can spend more time together.
Dinner time comes. The whole family gathers together at the table.
‘Hey dear, how’s your day?’ her mum enquires.
‘Fine. Just lots of work. Mrs Wong wants me to send in a script for the script writing competition. She feels I’ll be able to win the competition.’
‘Oh that’s good. Do you need any help? By the way, how are the common test results?’
‘It’s okay. I can handle it. Hmmm. Got top in class again, but my grades dropped’
‘Oh. That’s good. Just continue working harder and you’ll definitely be able to get that scholarship you want to study dentistry in Oxford.’
‘Yah okay. Thanks mum’
Home is where a person belongs, isn’t it?
She has burdens. Burdens that cannot be shared with her family.
…And I couldn’t help her, I just watched her make the same mistakes again…
Burdens that her friends seem to understand. Burdens that maybe her boyfriend can soothe?
‘I understand what you mean… hmmm… ‘
‘Haha.. how can you be worried about this? You’re too smart to worry about it.’
But do they?
Can they comprehend how I truly feel?
She wonders.
…What’s wrong, what’s wrong now? Too many, too many problems. Don’t know where she belongs, where she belongs…
In the silence, who is there to be with her?
In her despair, who is there to comfort her soul?
In her loneliness, who will always be there to stand beside her?
In times of insecurity, who is there to assure her always?
Who will be able to understand how she feels inside, how she is inside, with no reservations, no expectations?
Who will carry her burdens for her?
…It’s where she lies, broken inside…
She can’t hide from herself.
She knows the hurts that are still hurting her.
She knows that she longs to show her real self, one without any masks, one that is not merely a façade.
Broken inside.
Friday, March 25, 2005
yeah:D so cool. hahaha. i just watched 'eternal happiness' (zai4 shen1 yuan2) again...hahaha:D so many things i missed out the first time i watched it. yup:)
went out with my coreteam for ct retreat on tues:) we went to seoul garden's! hahaha. i was late:P and when i reached, everyone was there, including gwen and jac (who's decided to join us 'cos she's accompanying kim to look for new rc).. yup:)
we stayed there for 5 hrs:P hahaha. seoul garden has sushi too..cool right:)
yepz. then went with huiqi to tpj and srj to appeal on wed, and after tt to rivervale mall to eat sakae sushi NIGHT buffet:)everyone else was late but me and weez. but quite fun:D hahaha. we ate a lot of fried stuff. wellus. iso and jits and chiew and huiyuan and jane turned up after 1 hr++, when we've kinda finished our first round:) yeah. they did something stupid...put the cheesecake on the conveyor belt and let it go around the corner. ah well. i think the pple working there on that day are ready to kill us. hahaa.
yepz:) then to tpj and mj again on thurs. evening saw ea3 and ea1 at maurise's house watching passion of the Christ:) think we were all once again reminded of the great extent of love Jesus has for us...that He chose to endure all that (with the foreknowledge of what He will go through) just to wash away our sins. the more i grow in God, the more i can't deny His existence and the more i love Him more.
good friday happens in my heart, does it mean something in yours? maybe to you it's just another holiday.
ever asked the question of who really knows who you are inside? or who can truly understand you? i've found the answer.
have you?
went out with my coreteam for ct retreat on tues:) we went to seoul garden's! hahaha. i was late:P and when i reached, everyone was there, including gwen and jac (who's decided to join us 'cos she's accompanying kim to look for new rc).. yup:)
we stayed there for 5 hrs:P hahaha. seoul garden has sushi too..cool right:)
yepz. then went with huiqi to tpj and srj to appeal on wed, and after tt to rivervale mall to eat sakae sushi NIGHT buffet:)everyone else was late but me and weez. but quite fun:D hahaha. we ate a lot of fried stuff. wellus. iso and jits and chiew and huiyuan and jane turned up after 1 hr++, when we've kinda finished our first round:) yeah. they did something stupid...put the cheesecake on the conveyor belt and let it go around the corner. ah well. i think the pple working there on that day are ready to kill us. hahaa.
yepz:) then to tpj and mj again on thurs. evening saw ea3 and ea1 at maurise's house watching passion of the Christ:) think we were all once again reminded of the great extent of love Jesus has for us...that He chose to endure all that (with the foreknowledge of what He will go through) just to wash away our sins. the more i grow in God, the more i can't deny His existence and the more i love Him more.
good friday happens in my heart, does it mean something in yours? maybe to you it's just another holiday.
ever asked the question of who really knows who you are inside? or who can truly understand you? i've found the answer.
have you?
Thursday, March 24, 2005
What's Your High School Stereotype? created with QuizFarm.com |
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
got this from huiyuan's post in friendster:)
The psychology instructor had just finished a lecture on mental health and was giving an oral test.
Speaking specifically about manic depression, she asked, "How would you diagnose a patient who walks back and forth screaming at the top of his lungs one minute, then sits in a chair weeping uncontrollably the next?"
A young man in the rear raised his hand and answered, "A basketball coach?"
The psychology instructor had just finished a lecture on mental health and was giving an oral test.
Speaking specifically about manic depression, she asked, "How would you diagnose a patient who walks back and forth screaming at the top of his lungs one minute, then sits in a chair weeping uncontrollably the next?"
A young man in the rear raised his hand and answered, "A basketball coach?"
Monday, March 21, 2005
CAMBRIDGE, England (UPI) -- Scientists at the Babraham Research Institute in Cambridge, England, say sheep have many similarities to humans, including feeling love and loss.
Professor Keith Kendrick said sheep fall in love, have best friends and feel sad when members of the flock die or are slaughtered, the Western Mail reported Monday.
The scientists inserted electrodes into the brains of ewes to measure their reactions to certain stimulations. The sheep were shown pictures of rams they were closely associated with or sheep in their group of "friends." The scientists then analyzed data collected by machines.
Kendrick said sheep and human brains are similar in other areas, as well.
"We have now provided strong evidence that sheep possess very similar abilities to humans in using faces to recognize one another and also have the same specialized neural networks in their temporal and frontal cortices," he said.
intriguing:)
Professor Keith Kendrick said sheep fall in love, have best friends and feel sad when members of the flock die or are slaughtered, the Western Mail reported Monday.
The scientists inserted electrodes into the brains of ewes to measure their reactions to certain stimulations. The sheep were shown pictures of rams they were closely associated with or sheep in their group of "friends." The scientists then analyzed data collected by machines.
Kendrick said sheep and human brains are similar in other areas, as well.
"We have now provided strong evidence that sheep possess very similar abilities to humans in using faces to recognize one another and also have the same specialized neural networks in their temporal and frontal cortices," he said.
intriguing:)
Saturday, March 19, 2005
peekaboo. i'm back!:D been busy. haha.
had sisters' day on tues! hahaha:D we played badminton at this place near maurise's house. me and joce were late 'cos we went for auditions for the easter drama main lead (:P) earlier in the day. needless to say, we didn't get in:D hahaha:D
anyway, badminton:D badminton cum soccer. hahaha. tiring. we sang songs while playing badminton. quite interesting. then we went up to maurise's house to watch movies! watched 'the stepford wives' (which i thought was... not very nice. except tt the last part came as quite a shock) and 'kungfu hustle' (which was. well. not very nice in the front either. until the last part:D) and by that time, it was quite late. ate dinner, and played with maurise's cousins...both aged 5. hahha:D hyper boys.
then adeline came and we celebrated her birthday with her:D everyone wore a pink item tt day 'cos adeline loves pink. hahaa. prayed a prayer of blessing for her as well:)and we watched 1/2 yuan2 fen4 together:D haha. then yup. went home. gwen drove kim to somewhere near her house, me and joyce to eunos area and huiting back home:D
then wed! wed we had east district event! hahaa. super cool:D location was pasir ris park..
had station games and what-nots. kept running around in the mazes. nearly couldn't find my way out. hahaa:) we had to eat this sandwich thing at cheng's station...it tasted quite okay but the ingredients inside were that of a very odd combi. wasabi with onions with bittergourd:P how friendly.
jason and bingliang's station was slippery:P
yeah. then had mega wargame after tt. lots of water bombs flying around..haha. was in the purple team. thought we bombed a lot of people and converted them to the purple team but it turns out that all our pple got snatched away after that. so sad! anyway, the game ended up in a lot of people getting drenched, not because of water bombs, but because pple filled up buckets of water and poured it over people. as an unfortunate victim myself (3 times!O_o), i understand how gwen feels when sengkim poured the water all over her.
yeah. really enjoyed myself tt day. my team was called spongebob and our really stupid cheer was that of 'i say you say we say sponge, ooh bobbobbob, ooh bobbobbob, ooh bobbobbob, spongebob!:P' we had this small boy called jackie (in p2 this yr) in our team as well. haha. he's an important asset during the mega game. no one dares to hit him 'cos he's young:D hehehe.
real nice to have the whole district gathered together:D
and planetshakers concert yesterday! haha. i think we rocked the whole tent thing we were in. most prob the pple at wildwildwet could hear us as well:) hahaha.
it's good to be crazy once in a while. i think most pple forgot how it feels like to just let loose and enjoy each other's company in a fun and innocent way:)
had sisters' day on tues! hahaha:D we played badminton at this place near maurise's house. me and joce were late 'cos we went for auditions for the easter drama main lead (:P) earlier in the day. needless to say, we didn't get in:D hahaha:D
anyway, badminton:D badminton cum soccer. hahaha. tiring. we sang songs while playing badminton. quite interesting. then we went up to maurise's house to watch movies! watched 'the stepford wives' (which i thought was... not very nice. except tt the last part came as quite a shock) and 'kungfu hustle' (which was. well. not very nice in the front either. until the last part:D) and by that time, it was quite late. ate dinner, and played with maurise's cousins...both aged 5. hahha:D hyper boys.
then adeline came and we celebrated her birthday with her:D everyone wore a pink item tt day 'cos adeline loves pink. hahaa. prayed a prayer of blessing for her as well:)and we watched 1/2 yuan2 fen4 together:D haha. then yup. went home. gwen drove kim to somewhere near her house, me and joyce to eunos area and huiting back home:D
then wed! wed we had east district event! hahaa. super cool:D location was pasir ris park..
had station games and what-nots. kept running around in the mazes. nearly couldn't find my way out. hahaa:) we had to eat this sandwich thing at cheng's station...it tasted quite okay but the ingredients inside were that of a very odd combi. wasabi with onions with bittergourd:P how friendly.
jason and bingliang's station was slippery:P
yeah. then had mega wargame after tt. lots of water bombs flying around..haha. was in the purple team. thought we bombed a lot of people and converted them to the purple team but it turns out that all our pple got snatched away after that. so sad! anyway, the game ended up in a lot of people getting drenched, not because of water bombs, but because pple filled up buckets of water and poured it over people. as an unfortunate victim myself (3 times!O_o), i understand how gwen feels when sengkim poured the water all over her.
yeah. really enjoyed myself tt day. my team was called spongebob and our really stupid cheer was that of 'i say you say we say sponge, ooh bobbobbob, ooh bobbobbob, ooh bobbobbob, spongebob!:P' we had this small boy called jackie (in p2 this yr) in our team as well. haha. he's an important asset during the mega game. no one dares to hit him 'cos he's young:D hehehe.
real nice to have the whole district gathered together:D
and planetshakers concert yesterday! haha. i think we rocked the whole tent thing we were in. most prob the pple at wildwildwet could hear us as well:) hahaha.
it's good to be crazy once in a while. i think most pple forgot how it feels like to just let loose and enjoy each other's company in a fun and innocent way:)
Sunday, March 13, 2005
i am encouraged:D
hahaha.
i went on msn, and suddenly, jane (from nanyang..haha. not our jane...another jane from nanyang.. i can't remember her surname..but i remember i was close to her for a short period of time..even when to her house and all hahaa) sent me a msg on msn and asked me which church i'm going to. hahaha:D
so cool!
and she's going for the planetshakers concert too! on friday!
yeah
hope that i'll see her:D
hey steph! u shld know her. she was waiting at the airport for toro and energy when u were waiting at the airport for them! hahaha. as in, when they came over to singapore.
hahaha:D
yeah:D
hahaha.
i went on msn, and suddenly, jane (from nanyang..haha. not our jane...another jane from nanyang.. i can't remember her surname..but i remember i was close to her for a short period of time..even when to her house and all hahaa) sent me a msg on msn and asked me which church i'm going to. hahaha:D
so cool!
and she's going for the planetshakers concert too! on friday!
yeah
hope that i'll see her:D
hey steph! u shld know her. she was waiting at the airport for toro and energy when u were waiting at the airport for them! hahaha. as in, when they came over to singapore.
hahaha:D
yeah:D
Sunday, March 06, 2005
people keep asking me if i'm alright. i'm alright! hahaha:D
it's His strength which held me up after i got my results, His love which kept me going, His presence which comforted me... His purpose which kept me going, and His people who allowed me to think rationally.
and i thank God for the people who were around me as well. thank you. all of your presence meant a lot to me as well.
it's His strength which held me up after i got my results, His love which kept me going, His presence which comforted me... His purpose which kept me going, and His people who allowed me to think rationally.
and i thank God for the people who were around me as well. thank you. all of your presence meant a lot to me as well.
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me'" (John 14:6, niv).
Speaking of dreams, rock-climbing definitely is not a dream of mine. I've seen rock climbers scale the face of El Capitan in the magnificent Yosemite National Park in California. The thought of my doing what they are doing terrifies me. What if they fell? It can happen. Imagine the terror that rock climber, Lynn Hill, experienced in May of 1989 when scaling a cliff face in France. As she reached the top of a 72-foot
ledge, she leaned back into her harness to take a restand her rope didn't hold. She hurtled backwards into space. Amazingly, she survived the fall. She shared this in her autobiography, Climbing Free.
Hill was an experienced rock climber and relied fully on her equipment. Her experience, however, is a powerful reminder of the dangers of putting our trust into something that can fail.
Think of all the people who held stock in companies such as Enron. Thousands thought their future was secure but lost all their retirement funds. Same with me, I put my trust in my broker and he stole my entire retirement fund. True, we can't go through life being suspicious of everyone, but having said that we do need to be wise and careful about who and what we put our trust in.
In some situations where we have been let down, we can recover, but when it comes to putting our trust in planning for eternity, there's no recovery if we place our trust in the wrong religion or in a false "god."
Many religious leaders besides Jesus Christ have and still claim that their religion is the true way to God. But Jesus was emphatic in stating that henot religion nor Christianitybut that HE was the only way to God. "No one," he said, "comes to God except through me!"
While Jesus Christ is not the only religious leader who claimed to be God, he is the only one who ever convinced a great portion of the world that he is. He is also the only leader who ever claimed that he would rise from death. And according to historical evidence, he did. He was seen by the women who visited his tomb and found it empty, by the disciples, and by more than 500 other witnesses.
Christ's resurrection was also recorded by Josephus, the Jewish historian, in his Antiquities. Josephus was a Jew writing to satisfy the Romans, so his report of
Christ's resurrection would not have pleased the Romans at all. He would not have included it had he not believed it to be true.
Had there been any other way to God apart from Jesus Christ, why would Jesus, the Son of God, have come to earth as a baby to identify with mankind and then die in our place to pay the penalty for all our sins on the cruel Roman cross?
So be extremely wise and careful in what religion and in whom you put your trust when it comes to life after death. Your life depends on it. Eternity is forever!
--
haha. i just read the book of Josephus..very interesting:D he's quite sarcastic.
Speaking of dreams, rock-climbing definitely is not a dream of mine. I've seen rock climbers scale the face of El Capitan in the magnificent Yosemite National Park in California. The thought of my doing what they are doing terrifies me. What if they fell? It can happen. Imagine the terror that rock climber, Lynn Hill, experienced in May of 1989 when scaling a cliff face in France. As she reached the top of a 72-foot
ledge, she leaned back into her harness to take a restand her rope didn't hold. She hurtled backwards into space. Amazingly, she survived the fall. She shared this in her autobiography, Climbing Free.
Hill was an experienced rock climber and relied fully on her equipment. Her experience, however, is a powerful reminder of the dangers of putting our trust into something that can fail.
Think of all the people who held stock in companies such as Enron. Thousands thought their future was secure but lost all their retirement funds. Same with me, I put my trust in my broker and he stole my entire retirement fund. True, we can't go through life being suspicious of everyone, but having said that we do need to be wise and careful about who and what we put our trust in.
In some situations where we have been let down, we can recover, but when it comes to putting our trust in planning for eternity, there's no recovery if we place our trust in the wrong religion or in a false "god."
Many religious leaders besides Jesus Christ have and still claim that their religion is the true way to God. But Jesus was emphatic in stating that henot religion nor Christianitybut that HE was the only way to God. "No one," he said, "comes to God except through me!"
While Jesus Christ is not the only religious leader who claimed to be God, he is the only one who ever convinced a great portion of the world that he is. He is also the only leader who ever claimed that he would rise from death. And according to historical evidence, he did. He was seen by the women who visited his tomb and found it empty, by the disciples, and by more than 500 other witnesses.
Christ's resurrection was also recorded by Josephus, the Jewish historian, in his Antiquities. Josephus was a Jew writing to satisfy the Romans, so his report of
Christ's resurrection would not have pleased the Romans at all. He would not have included it had he not believed it to be true.
Had there been any other way to God apart from Jesus Christ, why would Jesus, the Son of God, have come to earth as a baby to identify with mankind and then die in our place to pay the penalty for all our sins on the cruel Roman cross?
So be extremely wise and careful in what religion and in whom you put your trust when it comes to life after death. Your life depends on it. Eternity is forever!
--
haha. i just read the book of Josephus..very interesting:D he's quite sarcastic.
Friday, February 25, 2005
yeah:D
had a great time with some of my cg pple today:D hahaha. we went swimming at val's uncle's house. they're super lame.
went to the jacuzzi and we were playing around with the slides and all..haha. it's really cool 'cos once u press a button, water will just pour out from everywhere (literally!). and there was this super slippery slide...hahaha:D we formed a chain and went down the slide altogether. yeah:D oh! there was this bubble pool thing which looked a bit like lava bubbling away except it's water. hahaha:D think we just went mad today. hahaha:D me and huiqi and peixin and kim and valerie:D
and we went to the sauna after tt. super hot. gosh.
hahaha:D
yeah:D
did u know last time everyone thought claudia would end up with pastor lawrence? i never knew that!:D so amusing. anyway. no link. haha.
had a great time with some of my cg pple today:D hahaha. we went swimming at val's uncle's house. they're super lame.
went to the jacuzzi and we were playing around with the slides and all..haha. it's really cool 'cos once u press a button, water will just pour out from everywhere (literally!). and there was this super slippery slide...hahaha:D we formed a chain and went down the slide altogether. yeah:D oh! there was this bubble pool thing which looked a bit like lava bubbling away except it's water. hahaha:D think we just went mad today. hahaha:D me and huiqi and peixin and kim and valerie:D
and we went to the sauna after tt. super hot. gosh.
hahaha:D
yeah:D
did u know last time everyone thought claudia would end up with pastor lawrence? i never knew that!:D so amusing. anyway. no link. haha.
i had a most interesting night. hahaha:D
was in tamp late at night and hurried to catch the train to go home... was reaching the mrt when i saw the a train leave the station and i was quite comforted 'cos i was thinking to myself that there are still trains available.
interestingly, i went into the station and was about to tap my card when i heard the announcement of 'the last train to boon lay has just left the station. there will be no more trains to boon lay. there will only be trains to pasir ris.' and i was like O_o. intriguing. hahaha.
1st thing to thank God for... that i actually heard the announcement before i went past the gates.
so, fearing that i won't be able to go home, i decided to go and withdraw money. then rushed to the interchange. didn't take 31 'cos it just left so decided to take 28 instead. yepz.
then i saw maurise at the next bus stop! gosh. hahaha:D she and i were like. hey!:D hahaha. so funny! turns out that maurise just missed 293 'cos the bus driver didn't see her. hhaha. poor maurise. but thank God! so warm to see someone u know in the middle of the night:D hahaha:)
yeah:)
u know wat. i can't help thinking how real God is in my life. in every believer's life. was talking to a sister..and i can't help being firstly, shocked at what she went through, secondly, amazed at the transformation that God has done for her, thirdly, at rest that she's not at peace because of God in her life. i think what happened to her was really.. i dunno. it's just something that won't happen to most pple. yes. and even day by day, with God in my life, i have that purpose of why i'm living each day the way it is, what i'm living each day for. for an eternal purpose which doesn't change due to circumstances, nor emotions. or the season. nor the time of the year.
gosh.
was in tamp late at night and hurried to catch the train to go home... was reaching the mrt when i saw the a train leave the station and i was quite comforted 'cos i was thinking to myself that there are still trains available.
interestingly, i went into the station and was about to tap my card when i heard the announcement of 'the last train to boon lay has just left the station. there will be no more trains to boon lay. there will only be trains to pasir ris.' and i was like O_o. intriguing. hahaha.
1st thing to thank God for... that i actually heard the announcement before i went past the gates.
so, fearing that i won't be able to go home, i decided to go and withdraw money. then rushed to the interchange. didn't take 31 'cos it just left so decided to take 28 instead. yepz.
then i saw maurise at the next bus stop! gosh. hahaha:D she and i were like. hey!:D hahaha. so funny! turns out that maurise just missed 293 'cos the bus driver didn't see her. hhaha. poor maurise. but thank God! so warm to see someone u know in the middle of the night:D hahaha:)
yeah:)
u know wat. i can't help thinking how real God is in my life. in every believer's life. was talking to a sister..and i can't help being firstly, shocked at what she went through, secondly, amazed at the transformation that God has done for her, thirdly, at rest that she's not at peace because of God in her life. i think what happened to her was really.. i dunno. it's just something that won't happen to most pple. yes. and even day by day, with God in my life, i have that purpose of why i'm living each day the way it is, what i'm living each day for. for an eternal purpose which doesn't change due to circumstances, nor emotions. or the season. nor the time of the year.
gosh.
Sunday, February 20, 2005
dear all.
i am in full awareness that results are coming out. hahaha.
i am also in full awareness that my birthday is coming soon. yeah!
if you are not in full awareness, it's time u are. okayokay. kidding kidding.
i know you all are sweet people who'll prob find a way to pass me something, but all i wanna say is that what i really want for a birthday (for every year in fact) is to see YOU in service WITH ME.
so yepz:)
that's all i wanna say.
goodbye:)
i am in full awareness that results are coming out. hahaha.
i am also in full awareness that my birthday is coming soon. yeah!
if you are not in full awareness, it's time u are. okayokay. kidding kidding.
i know you all are sweet people who'll prob find a way to pass me something, but all i wanna say is that what i really want for a birthday (for every year in fact) is to see YOU in service WITH ME.
so yepz:)
that's all i wanna say.
goodbye:)
Thursday, February 17, 2005
yeah. interesting few days. hahaha:D
went to relief teach on tues. actually just babysitted all of them:D watched pearl harbour (watched for 2 hours++ before realising that it's pearl harbour. heheh) and children of heaven:) was with this girl called yushan, previously from tj:) hahaha. then went back to vj:D quite fun to go back to vj. hahaha:D
then on wed. shepherding with gwenie. interesting.
then went to changi to find huiqi and maurise, then went to find huiting at her mum's shop:) she's very helpful! hahaa. helped me pick out a present for sharline. yeah:) and then went to huiqi's house with sengkim. yeah! to prepare for cg.
cg was exciting:D we had normal cg. then we had lao yu sheng:D hahaha. poor sasha (huiqi's dog). she kept putting her nose to the table and whining. ah wellus.
then we had steamboat. and watched white chicks in the meantime. ah wellus. hahaha:D funny show ah. lots of crude humour though.
yeah.
then met with maurise today. hehee. we went to the staff canteen at changi. now i know where it is:D
then went to somerset for sakae sushi buffet with sharline and kaimei:D hahaha. sharline liked the present (whew:D)...hahaa. ordered lots of fried stuff. *grInz* very full. we talked a lot about students and teaching and what-nots. eh. heard some stuff which kinda made me disappointed with nvss. ah well.
then we walked to far east. kaimei had to go off for walk, so yeah, left sharline and me.
saw sze and her cousin on the way there. hahaha. actually she saw me first. i didn't even see her. wellus:)
yeah. walked around far east to find the alteration shops, then looked around. hmm. window shopping basically. actually not even window shopping, we just went past the shops and took a glance at each of them. feeling a little tired. sharline suggested that it's 'cos we ate too much and all of the blood went to our stomachs. yeah. both of us love bio. hahaha:D
then we went to tangs to check out the skirt that she liked. wellus. tangs had a revamp and i hardly recognise the place anymore. so yeah.
was going home when i realised that my pass was with kaimei. hahaa. disastrous. went to borders to find her but found out that she was gone. tried looking around for an organiser but they were all quite ex. yeah.
went to isetan to find kaimei. hahaha. finally got my pass back:) yeah.
came back to toa payoh and decided i should get a new pouch or something but can't find a shop with pouches...so i decided to go to popular and purchase my organiser first.
ended up applying for student membership for three years ($15) and spending half of a day's relief teaching salary on stuff to help me organise my room and life. yeah. basically got the post-it sticky board thing and got my organiser and got lots of files. yeah.
tired of seeing mess in my room. so yeah. it shall be tidy from now on:)
i'm actually kinda amazed at how God changed my attitude towards tidiness. like. just last year i dun even care if my room is messy or not, as long as i can find my notes and have a space to do my work. yeah.
went to relief teach on tues. actually just babysitted all of them:D watched pearl harbour (watched for 2 hours++ before realising that it's pearl harbour. heheh) and children of heaven:) was with this girl called yushan, previously from tj:) hahaha. then went back to vj:D quite fun to go back to vj. hahaha:D
then on wed. shepherding with gwenie. interesting.
then went to changi to find huiqi and maurise, then went to find huiting at her mum's shop:) she's very helpful! hahaa. helped me pick out a present for sharline. yeah:) and then went to huiqi's house with sengkim. yeah! to prepare for cg.
cg was exciting:D we had normal cg. then we had lao yu sheng:D hahaha. poor sasha (huiqi's dog). she kept putting her nose to the table and whining. ah wellus.
then we had steamboat. and watched white chicks in the meantime. ah wellus. hahaha:D funny show ah. lots of crude humour though.
yeah.
then met with maurise today. hehee. we went to the staff canteen at changi. now i know where it is:D
then went to somerset for sakae sushi buffet with sharline and kaimei:D hahaha. sharline liked the present (whew:D)...hahaa. ordered lots of fried stuff. *grInz* very full. we talked a lot about students and teaching and what-nots. eh. heard some stuff which kinda made me disappointed with nvss. ah well.
then we walked to far east. kaimei had to go off for walk, so yeah, left sharline and me.
saw sze and her cousin on the way there. hahaha. actually she saw me first. i didn't even see her. wellus:)
yeah. walked around far east to find the alteration shops, then looked around. hmm. window shopping basically. actually not even window shopping, we just went past the shops and took a glance at each of them. feeling a little tired. sharline suggested that it's 'cos we ate too much and all of the blood went to our stomachs. yeah. both of us love bio. hahaha:D
then we went to tangs to check out the skirt that she liked. wellus. tangs had a revamp and i hardly recognise the place anymore. so yeah.
was going home when i realised that my pass was with kaimei. hahaa. disastrous. went to borders to find her but found out that she was gone. tried looking around for an organiser but they were all quite ex. yeah.
went to isetan to find kaimei. hahaha. finally got my pass back:) yeah.
came back to toa payoh and decided i should get a new pouch or something but can't find a shop with pouches...so i decided to go to popular and purchase my organiser first.
ended up applying for student membership for three years ($15) and spending half of a day's relief teaching salary on stuff to help me organise my room and life. yeah. basically got the post-it sticky board thing and got my organiser and got lots of files. yeah.
tired of seeing mess in my room. so yeah. it shall be tidy from now on:)
i'm actually kinda amazed at how God changed my attitude towards tidiness. like. just last year i dun even care if my room is messy or not, as long as i can find my notes and have a space to do my work. yeah.
"When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false" (John 1:47, niv)
I recently read how Ray, an energetic three-year-old, liked to play being Superman. Each morning he would have his mother pin a bath towel to the back of his T-shirt and off he'd go imagining he was wearing the magic blue and red cape pretending he was Superman. In his mind he came to believe he was Superman.
Then came kindergarten. When the teacher asked Ray for his name, he replied, "Superman." Trying to hide her amusement she asked again, "I need to know your real name." Again he replied in all sincerity, "Superman."
The teacher, still trying to hide her amusement, got down to Ray's level and, looking squarely into Ray's eyes, said quite firmly, "I need to know your real name. What is it?"
Little Ray looked around the room, making sure no one was listening and, leaning close to the teacher, whispered in her ear, "I'm Clark Kent."
We smile at a child's innocence and make-believe world. But in reality some of us, afraid of being known for who we truly are, have hidden behind a pretend-mask for so long that we have come to believe that the role we play is the real us. In doing so we fail to realize that the loneliness we struggle with is caused by our living in a make-believe world neither knowing who we are or being known for who we are. For we can only ever be loved and connected to other loving people to the degree that we are known. Masks can't be loved. Only real people can be really loved.
Let's learn to be like Nathanial about whom Jesus said when he first met him, "Here comes a man in whom there is nothing false." Or in our language, "Here comes an honest man."
I recently read how Ray, an energetic three-year-old, liked to play being Superman. Each morning he would have his mother pin a bath towel to the back of his T-shirt and off he'd go imagining he was wearing the magic blue and red cape pretending he was Superman. In his mind he came to believe he was Superman.
Then came kindergarten. When the teacher asked Ray for his name, he replied, "Superman." Trying to hide her amusement she asked again, "I need to know your real name." Again he replied in all sincerity, "Superman."
The teacher, still trying to hide her amusement, got down to Ray's level and, looking squarely into Ray's eyes, said quite firmly, "I need to know your real name. What is it?"
Little Ray looked around the room, making sure no one was listening and, leaning close to the teacher, whispered in her ear, "I'm Clark Kent."
We smile at a child's innocence and make-believe world. But in reality some of us, afraid of being known for who we truly are, have hidden behind a pretend-mask for so long that we have come to believe that the role we play is the real us. In doing so we fail to realize that the loneliness we struggle with is caused by our living in a make-believe world neither knowing who we are or being known for who we are. For we can only ever be loved and connected to other loving people to the degree that we are known. Masks can't be loved. Only real people can be really loved.
Let's learn to be like Nathanial about whom Jesus said when he first met him, "Here comes a man in whom there is nothing false." Or in our language, "Here comes an honest man."
Monday, February 14, 2005
hahahha:D
today is valentine's day. and i spent half of the day in dreamland:D wonderful:D
yeahyeah:D
watched the opening ceremony for grammys just now. super cool! as in. i love the last part when they fused all the different songs together. thought it was great. hahaha:D yeahyeah.
if it's not for the fact that i've gotta wake up early tomorrow, i would continue watching it. hahahaha:D
today is valentine's day. and i spent half of the day in dreamland:D wonderful:D
yeahyeah:D
watched the opening ceremony for grammys just now. super cool! as in. i love the last part when they fused all the different songs together. thought it was great. hahaha:D yeahyeah.
if it's not for the fact that i've gotta wake up early tomorrow, i would continue watching it. hahahaha:D
Sunday, February 13, 2005
saw guan yesterday before prayer meet and i was like thinking it's quite nice to have your former classmates in the same church as you 'cos you'll see them quite regularly and it'll feel as if we've never really left each other 'cos we'll still see each other and catch up on what's going on in our lives. and knowing that we have the same vision and all, it bonds the friendship even deeper:)
yeah. anyway, had mtv remix screening today! haha. super funny when we watch it. yeah:D and had a nice time talking to jits too.
i tell u ah. it's hard to find little golden hearts hidden ALL OVER RC. there was this elusive heart in the washing machine that was like hiding from me and jits and showed itself clear to joycelyn. grrr.
hahhaa. wellus. had fun nevertheless. and we ate lunch together and we watched tv together and we played daidee and bridge and daidee and bridge. hahaha:) poor rc is a bit messy after we vacated though.
yeah. then walked around tamp mall looking for stuff. yes. important stuff. whereby after that me and jits took the train home.
hahaha. this guy who was stunk of liquer sat down beside me and started speaking to himself O_o jits was like thinking he's mad and i'm thinking he's drunk and both of us decided to move.
then the guy actually came to around the same place we finally sat down at. hahha. but he was standing, so didn't really bother us. then he started to irritate the people around him, talk a lot of nonsense, point here, point there. i told jits that we should just sleep. hahaa. so that he won't come and bother us. anyway, i didn't see this, but jits saw...
the guy held up a beer bottle and actually wanted to drink it in the mrt train... there was this family across him. and the father of the family stood up and showed him his wallet. hahaha:D
that doesn't sound very intimidating, does it? but the thing is...there was a police i.d in the wallet, and there was a sign saying no drinking on the wall of the train and the guy wasn't really scared till the father picked up his phone and called someone, then the guy who was drunk picked up his stuff and moved off.
wellus.
interesting. hahaha.
yeah. anyway, had mtv remix screening today! haha. super funny when we watch it. yeah:D and had a nice time talking to jits too.
i tell u ah. it's hard to find little golden hearts hidden ALL OVER RC. there was this elusive heart in the washing machine that was like hiding from me and jits and showed itself clear to joycelyn. grrr.
hahhaa. wellus. had fun nevertheless. and we ate lunch together and we watched tv together and we played daidee and bridge and daidee and bridge. hahaha:) poor rc is a bit messy after we vacated though.
yeah. then walked around tamp mall looking for stuff. yes. important stuff. whereby after that me and jits took the train home.
hahaha. this guy who was stunk of liquer sat down beside me and started speaking to himself O_o jits was like thinking he's mad and i'm thinking he's drunk and both of us decided to move.
then the guy actually came to around the same place we finally sat down at. hahha. but he was standing, so didn't really bother us. then he started to irritate the people around him, talk a lot of nonsense, point here, point there. i told jits that we should just sleep. hahaa. so that he won't come and bother us. anyway, i didn't see this, but jits saw...
the guy held up a beer bottle and actually wanted to drink it in the mrt train... there was this family across him. and the father of the family stood up and showed him his wallet. hahaha:D
that doesn't sound very intimidating, does it? but the thing is...there was a police i.d in the wallet, and there was a sign saying no drinking on the wall of the train and the guy wasn't really scared till the father picked up his phone and called someone, then the guy who was drunk picked up his stuff and moved off.
wellus.
interesting. hahaha.
Thursday, February 10, 2005
i think i'm going to puke from eating too much new year stuff. thoroughly sick of them now. hahaha:D don't get them near me!
yeah:D
yesterday was chu yi. and they were so slow in coming to my house i fell asleep waiting for them and woke up after everyone arrived and started knocking on my door. hahaha.
yeah. my nephews came. my niece came. my cousin came. my cousin's wife didn't come. hahaha. turns out that keming knows michael. ah. intriguing. maybe they're in the same platoon? hmm. michael doesn't seem to know him. ahhh wellus. hahaha.nevermind about it.
great. now michael's platoon has a eugene that knows both me and jits. a eugene ho or eugene chua. hahahaha. funny. i dunno anyone called eugene ho or eugene chua. haha. not eugene. yupei! hahaha. gosh. the world is small.
yeah:D
today is chu er. and today is a sleepy day 'cos i finished reading a book at 4am! hahaha. and sleep was scarce. actually not very scarce..just tt i think sleeping so 'early' kinda threw my body clock out of balance.
yeah. visited my aunt (paternal side)...she moved house 'cos of a long story. hehe. anyway, i like her new house better! smaller but cosier. yeah:D got to know my nieces' names. and then visited my aunt too! (materal side. haha) and played with my niece. we played mahjong. muahahhaa. hahaha.
yeah well. u'll realise i dun seem to have cousins playing with me. ALL of my cousins (except one from the maternal side who's decided not to ever marry) ARE MARRIED. gosh.sure makes you feel young, for once.
yeah:D
yesterday was chu yi. and they were so slow in coming to my house i fell asleep waiting for them and woke up after everyone arrived and started knocking on my door. hahaha.
yeah. my nephews came. my niece came. my cousin came. my cousin's wife didn't come. hahaha. turns out that keming knows michael. ah. intriguing. maybe they're in the same platoon? hmm. michael doesn't seem to know him. ahhh wellus. hahaha.nevermind about it.
great. now michael's platoon has a eugene that knows both me and jits. a eugene ho or eugene chua. hahahaha. funny. i dunno anyone called eugene ho or eugene chua. haha. not eugene. yupei! hahaha. gosh. the world is small.
yeah:D
today is chu er. and today is a sleepy day 'cos i finished reading a book at 4am! hahaha. and sleep was scarce. actually not very scarce..just tt i think sleeping so 'early' kinda threw my body clock out of balance.
yeah. visited my aunt (paternal side)...she moved house 'cos of a long story. hehe. anyway, i like her new house better! smaller but cosier. yeah:D got to know my nieces' names. and then visited my aunt too! (materal side. haha) and played with my niece. we played mahjong. muahahhaa. hahaha.
yeah well. u'll realise i dun seem to have cousins playing with me. ALL of my cousins (except one from the maternal side who's decided not to ever marry) ARE MARRIED. gosh.sure makes you feel young, for once.
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
happy new year to all! hahaha.
i do dislike new year eves. all the cleaning up and what-nots. and i'm still stuck in my room sneezing my head off, trying to clean up my mess (made messier since the start of cleaning up) and being frustrated at the various furniture settled in my room, wishing i can throw everything up and redecorate the room again. hahaha.
i've settled for a change in look. yeah. the computer table is now MINE.
hahaha.
i do dislike new year eves. all the cleaning up and what-nots. and i'm still stuck in my room sneezing my head off, trying to clean up my mess (made messier since the start of cleaning up) and being frustrated at the various furniture settled in my room, wishing i can throw everything up and redecorate the room again. hahaha.
i've settled for a change in look. yeah. the computer table is now MINE.
hahaha.
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
stolen from the gepaa website:
According to experts, most people have either a "dog" personality or a "cat" personality, although a small number fall under the "others" category. This is how it works: think of the animal you would most like to have if you could have only one pet. Then think of the animal you would choose if you were allowed a second pet - this could be the same as the first. The first animal represents one's own personality and the second, that of one's spouse or soulmate. So, for example, someone who chooses Cat for the first animal and Dog for the second animal is compatible with someone who chooses Dog first and Cat second.
At a corporate team-building retreat, the trainer posed the personality question to my unwitting colleague. Being a fish lover, he chose the arrowana as his preferred pet. Asked for his second choice, he pondered for a moment. "Perhaps a grasshopper," he finally said. "It would make good fodder for the arrowana".
---
haha.
According to experts, most people have either a "dog" personality or a "cat" personality, although a small number fall under the "others" category. This is how it works: think of the animal you would most like to have if you could have only one pet. Then think of the animal you would choose if you were allowed a second pet - this could be the same as the first. The first animal represents one's own personality and the second, that of one's spouse or soulmate. So, for example, someone who chooses Cat for the first animal and Dog for the second animal is compatible with someone who chooses Dog first and Cat second.
At a corporate team-building retreat, the trainer posed the personality question to my unwitting colleague. Being a fish lover, he chose the arrowana as his preferred pet. Asked for his second choice, he pondered for a moment. "Perhaps a grasshopper," he finally said. "It would make good fodder for the arrowana".
---
haha.
Monday, February 07, 2005
hahah. guess where i am?
ah well. i'm in the staff room of north vista. again. marking books.
so sad. i dun get any salary for today...hahaha...but if i dun mark the books right, then the new teacher would have to mark the books...and she'll most prob kill me. hahaa. had to scold the class for her just now. so strange.
wellus.
ah well. i'm in the staff room of north vista. again. marking books.
so sad. i dun get any salary for today...hahaha...but if i dun mark the books right, then the new teacher would have to mark the books...and she'll most prob kill me. hahaa. had to scold the class for her just now. so strange.
wellus.
Saturday, February 05, 2005
in case some pple don't know
i'm no longer a teacher. hahaa. yvonne happily informed me after all my classes on friday and said that a new teacher's coming in... gee. so friendly. never inform me beforehand.
yeah. shall not type out the details here any more. cried a couple of times. one of my students cried, which kinda surprised me actually..but quite touching..and my guy students were just there... i still miss them.
i'm no longer a teacher. hahaa. yvonne happily informed me after all my classes on friday and said that a new teacher's coming in... gee. so friendly. never inform me beforehand.
yeah. shall not type out the details here any more. cried a couple of times. one of my students cried, which kinda surprised me actually..but quite touching..and my guy students were just there... i still miss them.
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
There can be no such things as an atheist. This is why: Let's imagine that you are a professing atheist. Here are two questions for you to answer: First, do you know the combined weight of all the sand on all the beaches of Hawaii? We can safely assume that you don't. This brings us to the second question: Do you know how many hairs are on the back of a fully-grown male Tibetan yak? Probably not. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that there are some things that you don't know. It is important to ask these questions because there are some people who think they know everything.
Let's say that you know an incredible one percent of all the knowledge in the universe. To know 100 percent, you would have to know everything. There wouldn't be a rock in the universe that you would not be intimately familiar with, or a grain of sand that you would not be aware of. You would know everything that has happened in history, from that which is common knowledge to the minor details of the secret love life of Napoleon's great-grandmother's black cat's fleas. You would know every hair of every head, and every thought of every heart. All history would be laid out before you, because you would be omniscient (all-knowing).
Bear in mind that one of the greatest scientists who ever lived, Thomas Edison, said, "We do not know a millionth of one percent about anything." Let me repeat: Let's say that you have an incredible one percent of all the knowledge in the universe. Would it be possible, in the ninety-nine percent of the knowledge that you haven't yet come across, that there might be ample evidence to prove the existence of God? If you are reasonable, you will be forced to admit that it is possible. Somewhere, in the knowledge you haven't yet discovered, there could be enough evidence to prove that God does exist.
Let's look at the same thought from another angle. If I were to make an absolute statement such as, "There is no gold in China," what is needed for that statement to be proven true? I need absolute or total knowledge. I need to have information that there is no gold in any rock, in any river, in the ground, in any store, in any ring, or in any mouth (gold filling) in China. If there is one speck of gold in China, then my statement is false and I have no basis for it. I need absolute knowledge before I can make an absolute statement of that nature. Conversely, for me to say, "There is gold in China," I don't need to have all knowledge. I just need to have seen a speck of gold in the country, and the statement is then true.
To say categorically, "There is no God," is to make an absolute statement. For the statement to be true, I must know for certain that there is no God in the entire universe. No human being has all knowledge. Therefore, none of us is able to truthfully make this assertion.
If you insist upon disbelief in God, what you must say is, "Having the limited knowledge I have at present, I believe that there is no God." Owing to a lack of knowledge on your part, you don't know if God exists. So, in the strict sense of the word, you cannot be an atheist. The only true qualifier for the title is the One who has absolute knowledge, and why on earth would God want to deny His own existence?
The professing atheist is what is commonly known as an "agnostic" - one who claims he "doesn't know" if God exists. It is interesting to note that the Latin equivalent for the Greek word is "ignoramus." The Bible tells us that this ignorance is "willful" (Psalm 10:4). It's not that a person can't find God, but that he won't. It has been rightly said that the "atheist" can't find God for the same reason a thief can't find a policeman. He knows that if he admits that there is a God, he is admitting that he is ultimately responsible to Him. This is not a pleasant thought for some.
It is said that Mussolini (the Italian dictator), once stood on a pinnacle and cried, "God, if you are there, strike me dead!" When God didn't immediately bow to his dictates, Mussolini then concluded that there was no God. However, his prayer was answered some time later.
Let's say that you know an incredible one percent of all the knowledge in the universe. To know 100 percent, you would have to know everything. There wouldn't be a rock in the universe that you would not be intimately familiar with, or a grain of sand that you would not be aware of. You would know everything that has happened in history, from that which is common knowledge to the minor details of the secret love life of Napoleon's great-grandmother's black cat's fleas. You would know every hair of every head, and every thought of every heart. All history would be laid out before you, because you would be omniscient (all-knowing).
Bear in mind that one of the greatest scientists who ever lived, Thomas Edison, said, "We do not know a millionth of one percent about anything." Let me repeat: Let's say that you have an incredible one percent of all the knowledge in the universe. Would it be possible, in the ninety-nine percent of the knowledge that you haven't yet come across, that there might be ample evidence to prove the existence of God? If you are reasonable, you will be forced to admit that it is possible. Somewhere, in the knowledge you haven't yet discovered, there could be enough evidence to prove that God does exist.
Let's look at the same thought from another angle. If I were to make an absolute statement such as, "There is no gold in China," what is needed for that statement to be proven true? I need absolute or total knowledge. I need to have information that there is no gold in any rock, in any river, in the ground, in any store, in any ring, or in any mouth (gold filling) in China. If there is one speck of gold in China, then my statement is false and I have no basis for it. I need absolute knowledge before I can make an absolute statement of that nature. Conversely, for me to say, "There is gold in China," I don't need to have all knowledge. I just need to have seen a speck of gold in the country, and the statement is then true.
To say categorically, "There is no God," is to make an absolute statement. For the statement to be true, I must know for certain that there is no God in the entire universe. No human being has all knowledge. Therefore, none of us is able to truthfully make this assertion.
If you insist upon disbelief in God, what you must say is, "Having the limited knowledge I have at present, I believe that there is no God." Owing to a lack of knowledge on your part, you don't know if God exists. So, in the strict sense of the word, you cannot be an atheist. The only true qualifier for the title is the One who has absolute knowledge, and why on earth would God want to deny His own existence?
The professing atheist is what is commonly known as an "agnostic" - one who claims he "doesn't know" if God exists. It is interesting to note that the Latin equivalent for the Greek word is "ignoramus." The Bible tells us that this ignorance is "willful" (Psalm 10:4). It's not that a person can't find God, but that he won't. It has been rightly said that the "atheist" can't find God for the same reason a thief can't find a policeman. He knows that if he admits that there is a God, he is admitting that he is ultimately responsible to Him. This is not a pleasant thought for some.
It is said that Mussolini (the Italian dictator), once stood on a pinnacle and cried, "God, if you are there, strike me dead!" When God didn't immediately bow to his dictates, Mussolini then concluded that there was no God. However, his prayer was answered some time later.
Saturday, January 29, 2005
yeah:D emotions service today. hahah.
i missed the first part (last week) 'cos of food poisoning...but today was GREAT. hahaha:D love the keyboard collaboration (really very awe-inspiring), didn't quite understand the drums (but the skills were marvellous hahaa:D) and i think bao wei singing on stage was super amusing!:D
dun ask me why. maybe it's the hairstyle.
hahaha
and we had audience participation:D everyone had shakers. super amusing:D
yeah:D yesh:D
oh yes! we have Hope brisbane people joining us!:D they speak with an accent:D friendly pple too:D and i was like thinking. surprisingly huiyu still speaks without an accent after one yr down under:D haha.
and apparently the food in aus is like 3-4 times more expensive than the food in singapore.
gosh. if i'm in aus, i'll starve to death. hahaha.
i missed the first part (last week) 'cos of food poisoning...but today was GREAT. hahaha:D love the keyboard collaboration (really very awe-inspiring), didn't quite understand the drums (but the skills were marvellous hahaa:D) and i think bao wei singing on stage was super amusing!:D
dun ask me why. maybe it's the hairstyle.
hahaha
and we had audience participation:D everyone had shakers. super amusing:D
yeah:D yesh:D
oh yes! we have Hope brisbane people joining us!:D they speak with an accent:D friendly pple too:D and i was like thinking. surprisingly huiyu still speaks without an accent after one yr down under:D haha.
and apparently the food in aus is like 3-4 times more expensive than the food in singapore.
gosh. if i'm in aus, i'll starve to death. hahaha.
just when i'm feeling a bit tired,
a bit moody,
a bit downcast,
a bit of looking to myself instead of God...
my dear faithful God. what can i say? You who makes the heavens and the earth, who set the stars in their place, who crafted every of the mountains and moulded every of our face...
You did Your work in her heart...
and changed it. for You. to love You more.
a big decision. but nevertheless, the words were said.
thank You Lord.
You are faithful.
the news lightened my heart. God is moving in the hearts in ea3!
third service in march! here we come!
a bit moody,
a bit downcast,
a bit of looking to myself instead of God...
my dear faithful God. what can i say? You who makes the heavens and the earth, who set the stars in their place, who crafted every of the mountains and moulded every of our face...
You did Your work in her heart...
and changed it. for You. to love You more.
a big decision. but nevertheless, the words were said.
thank You Lord.
You are faithful.
the news lightened my heart. God is moving in the hearts in ea3!
third service in march! here we come!