Punkster, Photographer, Parchitect, Politician?

There is so much to update, yet, I really feel very lazy to type leh. Ha ha. Here goes. Since the first round of the Young Preachers' Contest, I don't think i have said very much about my experience. Well, as you would have known, I did get in to the 2nd round via a wildcard entry. The 2nd round, I made sure I spent more time preparing and rehearsing. So, although I didn't finally make it to the finals, I enjoyed the preaching a lot more. I was more confident, more prepared, and definitely more convincing. Ha ha. The judges thought it was so much better than the last time round and liked a lot of what I did. Well, I realised the last time I felt really lousy after not getting in intially, was because I didn't think I gave my best. This time round, I did and knowing that made it a whole complete experience for me! Anyways, here are my 2 videos from the 2 rounds of preaching.

ROUND 1


ROUND 2

Some of you know that I was involved in this program with the National Youth Council called the National Youth Forum 2006. Last thursday marked the finale of the entire forum, though we still have our community projects to complete. This forum was initiated by NYC to give youths a platform to discuss issues close to their heart, and to have an opportunity to talk and dialogue with ministers and others who are involved in creating the policies that affect us in Singapore. All in all, it has been a really enriching and mind-stimulating time for me in this forum. The theme for this forum, "Take the lead, Be the change" was something that I connected with instantly and could share with the rest of the participants. I would strongly encourage anyone to join it if you are interested. The exposure and insight it gave me was tremendous. Check out my pic and my write-up here. My group's name is called Kulu Melingyu by the way. The name is actually a combination of 4 languages. (We belong to the multi-culturalism and multi-racialism group) See if you can guess what it means. Ha ha.

Anyway, the Finale was a blast and I got to wield my trusty old Canon Powershot G3 once again. Check out the power shots. Heh.


By the way, the food was excellent. The desserts were good to look at and even better to eat.

Look again and you will realise that the last dessert is really from Bakerzin. One of my favourites actually. We went there for a little while after the whole finale ended and I treated Kenneth and Ami to dessert and Evian. :)

Yups, the desserts look really good. But the main highlight for me that night was listening to Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan give his views on our projects. This is one man who is both perceptive and visionary. Though he spent all of 15 min talking to us, they WERE 15 min of gems. I asked myself if I could ine day inspire and influence others the way he did to me today. Why not?

How do I get there? I think it starts with having the right attitude towards learning. Always learn, from all situations and all circumstances. Make it what you breathe and what you eat. Never think yourself higher than someone else. There is always something we can learn from someone else. Finally, know your maker. I believe the only way we can live our life to its fullest is to know the person who created us, who fashioned us in each unique way. He alone knows how we can become the best of our potential. He alone knows. You have only one life. Live it intentionally.