House Moving

It's a dread to move house. There is so much to pack, so many decisions of what to keep, what not to (in the end, I keep most and decide that I will only throw those that can't fit into my new room). Here's a picture of my room now....

My hurricane-runned-through room

My brother's room.

Boxes and boxes of books and more books!

Yet, it's kind of exciting. New place, new view, new facilities, the beach nearby, Parkway Parade down the road, Kenny's house just opposite. I was just thinking about my mixed feelings of moving, together with losing all my photos. I can sort of imagine how the residents who were relocated due to Singapore's early conservation efforts in places like Chinatown and Kampong Glam, must feel. The unsettling feeling of losing that which is familiar, that which is so much part of your memories.

It's not that you lose a part of yourself, but rather, you fear the loss of those memories. The memories that are precious to you. Losing them, would mean losing something that was once part of your life. And for people who have lost a dear friend or family, the feeling is more real than ever.

I believe memories are important to preserve. And more should be done to do it sensitively in a economically driven nation such as Singapore.

However, I have also learnt that there is a need to move on with life. I remember this quote, "Live your life as if it is your last day." Would you worry about all these if today was your last day on the earth? Probably not. If you were to see your life on the earth as but a tiny fraction of your life in eternity, then you realise that while memories are important, they are never really lost, neither will you be able to bring your photos and stuff along with you when you physically die.

I suddenly realise a little more what Jesus meant when he said in Matthew 16:24, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." If Jesus were to ask me to drop everything today and go where He says, would I be ready to do so? Matthew 8:18-22 talks about the cost of following Jesus. "Let the dead bury the dead" he says. Indeed, to follow Him at all cost is a tough call. Yet, when you have experienced the reality of God in your life, it is not too difficult a decision to make. Do you know this Jesus that I am willing to give up all for? Go find out today.

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Inspiring Craftsmanship from the Master Creator

I visited "The Art Of Cartier" Exhibition with a friend last Friday. (Cartier is the renowned French jeweler whose creations transcend jewellery into intricate pieces of art.) We happened to walk in after I remembered Hann reminding me to check out the Shigeru Ban pavilion and the new NSM extension designed by Mok Wei Wei opposite it at the re-opened National Museum of Singapore. I must say, the exhibition was literally breath-taking. For one, it is absolutely free. Yup, you don't have to pay anything to get in! Just be sure not to take anything out. All that glitter is not gold, but diamonds. And judging by the amount of diamonds in there, I bet there are invisible snipers aimed at everyone of us who go in (thought I saw a few red dots flying around).

Anyway, I wanted to say something about craftsmanship. What struck me about the exhibition was firstly the way the place was set up. Using ordinary bricks, each piece was stacked up in a diagonal interlocking manner that created an intricate backdrop for the jewels to be exhibited. The beauty of that was it was so intricately laid out, you kind of have the feeling that each brick was exquisitely placed there and belonged there. The same and more could be said about each jewellery. The fine attention to detail and the brilliantly creative ways the diamonds were laid out to form pieces of art to beholdm, spoke of a craftmanship that was par excellence.

I knew this could only come with a commitment of passion and dedication to years of practice and refinement. I was inspired. I thought about what kind of architect I wanted to be and I hope I can be one that reflects such skill and craftsmanship. Recently, I came across a few youtube performances of artistes whom I consider as craftsman of their own art. They are brilliant performers who constantly redefine creativity. Here they are.







A pity most of these songs tend to talk about wanting to have sex. Now, if there was an artiste who had such craftsmanship as these and wrote songs with healthier lyrics that still blew your mind, but in a less "I'm sexy you are sexy, let's get it on" way and a more "You are special, life's an adventure, live it to your fullest" kind of way, wouldn't that be just powerful?

As a Chrisitan, I am inspired to hone the craft and giftings that God has given me so that I can point more people to Him. The Bible tells us that all good gifts come from God. Isn't it only responsible then, that we make sure we live out these talents with a level of craftsmanship that reflects the genius of our master creator? Start today.

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The LITTLE frustrations of life...

It's been terrible. First, I discover to my horror of horrors, that my Achi Year 3 Final Project digital files are missing from any of my digital stroage drives. That was one of my favourite projects and one which I put much effort into. I left my home this morning, instructing windows to do a search of all the drives for those precious files.

And when I thought that the worst had hit me, I came home and while trying to access my external harddisk, I see this message:- "ERROR. Drive is unreadable or corrupted.".............................................................
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What can I say.... All my photos are in there. Let me say that again, ALL MY PHOTOS I HAVE EVER TAKEN IN THE LAST 6 YEARS of my life are in there!!!!!! Together with many other important stuff! No more australia photos, Lijiang photos, Chongqing photos, Sydney, Melbourne, Tasmania, Shanghai, Beijing, Haerbin, Hanzhou, Suzhou, Shanghai exchange, Hangzhou, Great Wall of China, Tribe meetings, Tribe outings, Tribe camps, G12 Conferences, Friends' Birthday, MAAN, React, NYF, etc etc etc etc etc. All the memories. Gone.

I am praying for a miracle. These are really important to me. I think I might not be able to sleep tonight. WHY?!!!!!!!!!!

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A panda writes....

I came across this cartoon while look through one of my friend's youtube favourites. I liked it straight away. It has everything I look for in a good show. Humor, cool effects and a good storyline! I started watching one and could not help searching for all the rest of the episodes trying to piece together the story until now! Ha ha... No wonder I have started to look like a panda recently. I think the animation teaches many good values that we can learn from - Learning to see the best in people, believing in the potential that one has (in God) and being like what God demonstrated for us in Nehemiah 9:17 - slow to anger and abounding in love.
Here's Part 1 of the latest episode of Avatar. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I have always been fascinated by cartoons and animes that have a certain "fantasy" element to them. They make me dream about what could be and amazes me at how limitless our imagination is. I used to have dreams when I was young, about myself being a silver hawk (the cartoon) or just being able to fly like superman. There was even one where I walked down the side of my flat from the 25th storey to retrieve a toy fire engine that my brother threw down!

But more than the fantasy dreams, I am reminded that I personally know a God who is even more imaginative and creative than all these! After all, He is the one who gave us the ability to start imagining in the first place! I always wonder what heaven would be like, since God is the ultimate creator. I have a hunch that it would be surprisingly breathless beyond our human imagination. Isn't that great?! Anyway, speaking about cartoons, here's a link (Part1 | Part 2) to a collection of old cartoon opening sequences that my brother compiled. Enjoy getting nostalgic. :)

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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.

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