Its been raining... raining...

The weather really is pathetic. I am writing this blog on the 2nd day of the non-stop rain. Yes, non-stop rain. The rain has not stopped a single moment since it started monday morning. If I am not wrong, it has been pouring for more than 30 hours already!!!!

Well, it was pouring yesterday but I didn't really bothered about it coz I wasn't having any plans to go out. The only place I went yesterday was my grandma's house and the rain didn't really affect much of my plans. I was only hoping it would end by Tuesday and it usually would coz rain don't last that long normally. But it didn't. I woke up today to find that IT IS STILL RAINING!!!! Oh man!!

Its bad to rain today coz today is when I do alot of things. First off, I could not go and swim coz of the rain. TUESDAY IS MY FAVOURITE SWIMMING DAY AND IT HAD TO RAIN?!?!?!? Nevermind... So I waited at home untill 5pm then went out to do some christmas shopping. That is, to shop for christmas presents. Well, I went to Junction8 Bishan and burned a $100 hole in my wallet. Jeez, and I didn't even buy for alot of people... So I am really broke now. BROKE. No no money. I hope I can find money somewhere and buy even more presents for more people...

Well, after shopping, I went to book a BBQ pit for my G12. Hey hey, gonna have a BBQ for christmas tmr for G12!! Thats a really cool idea. So if you are reading this and you have no plans for wednesday night, please come to Stagmont Park and look for people who are doing BBQ!! Its us!! ITS FREE!! Hm, BBQ pit is expensive also. $10 booking fee and $20 refundable deposit. But I am sure it will be great. Plus Ton has learned the BBQ chicken wing skill from Pastor Nic and Pastor Lim... muaahahahaa. Food won't disappoint. :) Ahhhh, really really need to pray that it won't be raining tmr night!!!

Hm, then I had dinner. Hehe. And I came home. ^_^

2 days in the week

Well, its another week gone and I am inching closer and closer to christmas, then to new year, then to... NS!!!! Wa, time is just zooming past me like a speeding car and I can't even catch up.

So lets just talk about yesterday and today.

Well, yesterday, which is Tuesday 12th December, I went to swim again. I love swimming on tuesdays coz the pool is closed on Monday to change the water so the water is relatively cleaner on Tuesday. :) So i went to swim and swam for 2 hours non-stop again.

Well, some really interesting things happened at the pool this time. I was just swimming my laps and this kid who I think is about 15 or 16 swam beside me. At 1st I didn't really bothered about him and jus continued on with my laps. Then I realised something really weird. Everytime I touched the wall, he will start with me! Wa, obviously he trying to compete with me lo! But really, his breaststroke really not bad, quite close to mine. So I got really sick of this guy and just switched to frontcrawl (also known generally as freestyle). Lol, managed to just get him away from me. Then after that I make sure I don't swim beside him already. One funny thing I noticed is that although his breaststroke was pretty good, his frontcrawl looked kinda weird. Nevermind about that. :)

Then another thing happened also. I was just swimming and I saw this $2 note floating in the water. Haha, I didn't expect to find money in the pool lo! I figured out it could belong to this guy nearby as he was wearing shorts and seemed to be looking for something. So I swam over and wanted to get the note for him. Then he found it and grabbed it and then looked at me as if I was trying to steal his money. Haha. Weird guy. I mean who would bring money with him to swim de la! Thats quite... unusual. :P

Ok, so after swimming I went to my grandma's house to eat. Well, my grandma jus had some surgery on her eyes so I just go over to encourage her lo. Its very easy to make my grandma happy, jus turning up at her place and eating the dinner that she cook can alr :) My uncle, aunties, cousins were all there as well. Lol. My uncle commented that I looked like my dad. Huh? No lo!! Don't anyhow say ah... he also said that I look fit! Muahaha. Yup yup. :P Hehe. Then my grandma asked me how did her eyes look. I thought about it for awhile then said, "it looks really small." I didn't know what else to say, lol. So after spending time at my grandma's place, my cousin drove me back lo.

Yup yup, then wednesday came. Wednesday is officially soccer day as stated by a friend of mine. So I cycled to school at 11am and jus played soccer untill about 2pm. Wah, then when I was cycling home, it started to rain abit. Thank God by the time I reach home still haven't downpour. Had a super spicy prawn noodle lunch (really spicy!!) then just stayed at home lo. Actually wanted to play basketball with another friend but by that time, it was already downpouring and having a thunderstorm already. Hai, so stayed at home and played maple lo.

Well, then have to go G12 already. Ahh, everybody is so busy so only left me can songlead. This is my 2nd time songleading in a row already leh!! -_-" Nvm, I love to sing anyway, muahahahah.

A Bad Morning

Haha, the guy in this video really is having a bad start to his day. Just when you thought it was bad enough for his car to be covered in ice and snow, see what happens next... just look at him as he keeps on pressing the button in disbelief...

Praising God In The Storm

You would probably have realised the new blog song which I have put up here. Its called "Praise You In This Storm" by Casting Crowns. All of us face storms in our life at one time or another. The storms can be big storms, or just small storms, but they all make life difficult for us. Why do we have storms in our life? Why does God allow these storms to come into our lives? Well, in the 1st place, no one, not even Jesus said that life would be easy. Life isn't easy, thats for sure. But another thing that we can be sure about is that God would be walking through it with us.

Its very easy to praise God for the things He has done for us when everything is sunny and fine, when things just seem to be perfect. Its easy to praise God when we are not facing any storms in our life. But what about when we are facing the storms in our lives? Do we praise God in this storm? Yes of course, thats because when God allows a storm to come into our life, He has a reason for it, and He will either calm the storm for us, or He will just ride through it with us. God will never leave us in the storm. Thats why even in the storm, we will praise God, because we know that He is with us.

There are 2 main reasons why God puts a storm in our life.

One reason is to change our stubborn thinking and mindsets, so that we can walk in His direction. This can be seen in the example of Jonah. You see, Jonah was running away from God's calling of going to Nineveh to preach. He got onto a ship and then faced a violent storm. Well, its a long story, but eventually Jonah was thrown overboard the ship into the sea as he is identified by the sailors for causing the storm as he has incurred God'd wrath. But well, that was not the end of Jonah. In Jonah 1:17, it says "But the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights." Isn't this wonderful? God did not let Jonah die in the storm. God was riding with Jonah through the storm, sending a big fish to help Jonah keep alive in the storm! Well, to cut the story short, after spending the time in the fish stomach, Jonah finally soften his heart to God's calling and went to Nineveh to preach against it, thus saving the entire city from God's judgment. You see, this storm that God puts Jonah through was obviously aimed at softening Jonah's stubborness against the calling of God. Aren't we like Jonah sometimes, refusing to listen to the will of God and thus facing a storm that God put in our life? I myself admit to this. But do not be disheartened, God put this storm in our life only for our own good, and He will ride through it with us.

Another reason why God puts a storm in our life is to make us depend on His power. Many a times, when we are so blessed and have lived a sunny life for too long, we get a little complacent and forgot God's blessing upon our life. We will tend to feel that we do not need God in our life anymore. When this happen, God will put a storm in our life to remind us that we still need to depend on Him as we are not as great we think we are. In Mark 4:35~41, we see that Jesus and his disciples were in a boat when a storm caught them. At that point of time, Jesus was still asleep. So the storm was really violent and the disciples got scared. So they woke Jesus up and Jesus rebuked the winds, calming the storm in the end. After that, the disciples were rebuked for having no faith because they were afraid. In this case, the storm was calmed. All that was intended was for the disciples to learn that they had to depend on Jesus and for them to realise their own state of faithlessness. I believe that before this, the disciples were probably thinking that they were mighty and strong in their faith. The storm made them realise their weakness and made them lean onto Jesus for help. This is true in our lives as well. Sometimes we will face storms in our life to make us realise that we are not as great as we thought we are and we eventually still need to go back to God for His strength and protection. But we do not have to fret, because God is in control all along and the storm will eventually be calmed.

Therefore, we should praise God even in the storm. Reason being in the fact that God puts these storms in our lives only for our own good, to make us learn, and that He is always looking after us, either by riding through the storm with us or by calming the storm in the end.

2 Days Worth Of Exercise

Yesterday and today was really tiring for me. I had exercises and sports
done in the 2 days, and now, I feel real tired and my muscles are aching. All
these done for my pre-NS training which should prepare me for the army when I
enlist on 12th January 2007. And to keep FIT!

Well, yesterday, I went swimming. It wasn't much, I swam for 2 hours
non-stop and I don't know how many laps. At the end of the day, my right calf
decided to cramp and so... I have a little limp right now. Its not that bad
really but I can still feel the cramp now. But well, I feel a little darker
now... not that I am not dark enough... I am just getting closer and closer to
the dark side... as in colour.

Today is a very packed day. In the morning I went to play soccer with my
friends, then cycling in the afternoon then basketball in the evening. At night,
during a basketball match, my upper thigh cramped and I could not even bend my
leg. So I had to back out from the match and just rest on the side. It was
pathetic. Eventually the cramp subsided and I could walk again.

And now, I am just sitting on my chair and blogging. With a right calf that was cramped and a left upper thigh cramped as well. In fact, both my thighs are on the verge of cramping again so I shall not exert myself anymore. Ah, I feel much fitter now! Muahahaha.

Submission

People who know me well enough would know that the past week had been quite a whirlwind for me and that my mood had been in the pits over the weekend. Right now, I am really quite messed up and I do not know what to do with the situation that faces me. This pushed me to look closer at what exactly happened that caused this mess. I turned to God for answers. And God answered.

It was not as if I stopped seeking God or what. It was not as if I wasn't following His will. It was all good at first. Everything was fine. It seemed as though things were going to turn out great. And now this. Things just seem to have taken a wrong turn, a bad turn. And I wonder why.

I prayed very hard to God, seeking answers from Him, seeking comfort, seeking guidance. And all three He provided. And I realised what exactly happened.

When this all began, I was really seeking God's guidance, walking close to Him on what I should do. Its almost as if I was just one step behind, following God's lead. Things went well, I admit. I was really happy. Its a happiness I have never felt in a really long long time. At that point in time, I thought everything was going to turn out just fine. God was really blessing me.

Then, I let my emotions got the better of me. I got impatient. I wanted to see this will of His be fulfilled, and fast. But God wasn't planning for that. His plan was not for this time. I do not know when it will be fulfilled and I was just afraid that at the end of the day it will be gone. I couldn't see the future, I couldn't see the whole road. So I took one step ahead of God. I ran faster and faster. I thought if I could run fast and far enough, I would be able to see His will fulfilled earlier. I could hear God telling me softly, "No, now's not the time yet. Don't go so fast." I didn't heed that advice of His. I was thinking that if it is God's will, then it is God's will, then it will all turn out right. But I forgot one thing.

God's will comes with God's timing. Everything must go according to His plan or it will not turn out right. I didn't realise that. I was in the heat of emotions and just went ahead of God. Well, at first it seemed all right. Then I started to mess up a little. Then more. Untill I created such a big mess I did not even know what to do. I just cried like a little child. God was still behind. He said "Look, didn't I told you? Now get up, you need to move on."

I learnt my lesson. I dare not run ahead of God anymore. Right now, I just want to stay beside God, walking just beside Him, letting Him lead the way. I want to hold His hand like a little child and not let it go, because I know He will bring to great things. I do not know if the mess could be salvaged or not. Maybe I have missed His will in this one rash action of mine. I don't know. All I know is I am going to let God lead me, and walk just one step behind Him. I am going to submit this entirely to Him, letting God take the lead and guiding me once again. Perhaps things could go back to how it was before, and this will could be fulfilled.

Just submitting to His lead now...

Pieces Of Gold - Water, Fire, Hammer

There is this girl whom I know whose life is a great encouragement and teaching to me. She didn't start well. In secondary school, she was influenced greatly by bad company and became a hooligan. She started smoking. She attached vulgarities to the things she said. She acted like she owned the world. She was what we would call, a mess up. She was literally running a hundred miles an hour in the wrong direction. It would be easy for people to think that she was in a hole so deep she would never be able to climb out. But that was not the case.

There is no pit too deep that God could not pull a person out! She was pulled out. She was saved and her life changed completely. And now, she leads and teach others in the right path. A completely changed person. All this? A perfect example of the work of God. Our life is in fact the ultimate testimony that we can show to anybody that we meet. A completely changed life is all the more better.

Does anyone know how we get the precious metal called gold? How we get that nice jewellery that is worth so much? Gold. It is 1st extracted from the mines as ore. Gold ore. This gold ore is dirty. Theres soil all around it. What to do? The people then use the water to wash this soil away. Wash wash. Some soil are much harder than others to get washed. But eventually, all the soil will be washed away. And that piece of gold ore will be clean. This is what God does with us too. When we are found by God, He will wash away all the sins from us. We will be clean. And from there we can be used by God to do His work.

What does the gold miner do with the gold ore then? He will then put the gold ore into fire and smelt it. He will smelt it so that the gold ore is ready to be worked on by him. The process of smelting is done so as to remove impurities that cannot be removed by just washing through water. God will sometime put us through fire to help us remove our impurities too. You know, just coming to know the Lord will not make us a good person completely. We sometimes have to go through many difficulties to purge the impurities from our lives. To be completely in tune with the christian walk. God puts us through trials to let us know that we need to depend on Him. That is how we develop in the christian walk.

After smelting, the gold miner will take the pure gold and beat it. Beating it with the hammer untill it becomes the shape that is desired. After the beating, the gold would then be valuable and become very worthy. Many a times, God beats us into shape through difficulties in our lives. These difficulties are those that make us a stronger christian so that we can do God's work even better. The gold miner will beat the gold, yes. But he will never beat it untill it breaks. Thats because the breaking the piece of gold would be wasting the gold miner's efforts and time. God will not put us through a trial that we cannot handle. God only puts us through trials that will make us strong. Eventually, we will be made stronger and stronger, being able to do more and more of God's work.

This girl that I know, I could see her life undergo the water, the fire and the hammer of God. From a dirty piece of gold ore, she has been transformed by the hand of God into a precious jewellery. I encourage all of my friends to pick up from this lesson, and learn not to give up when God is shaping you to be a stronger christian. And also, to not despise others and think them as "hopeless". Everyone of us, regardless of status, race, gender, age, education are all pieces of gold. God wants us to help this gold pieces to go under His hand and become precious jewellery.

I encourage all of those who are reading this to see beyond the soil and dirt in a person's life and see the true value of the gold in them. Every soul is valuable. There is no soil that is too difficult to wash off, no impurities too hard to remove and no gold too hard to shape. There is no pit too deep that God cannot reach.

Exam Day 8: Literature Conquered, A'Levels War End

Today is a significant day. The war has ended. With one final battle, Literature has been conquered and the A'Levels war come to an end. Its finally over. The war which started on 2nd November 2006 has finally come to a close on 24th November 2006. And I lived through it.

Today's paper is English Literature Paper 5, also otherwise known as Open Texts Paper. So I basically I bring in 3 texts which I have studied before and do questions on them. Well, the 3 texts issued to us by the school was Top Girls, The God Of Small Things, Another Place. All of them are not easy. But well, no choice la, still need to do lo.

This morning I woke up to find myself in the last day of A'levels. Man, I must say I was really excited. So I woke up at 6am to call Christine to wake up too and then go bathe and change all this. Took a bus to school and reached at around 7.15am. Sat down to study one last time. Then Ann came to join me, followed by Liuzhen, then Janice, then Vivien. One last time. Thats it. I packed up at 7.48am and put my bag in my locker. Today's battlefield: F2-46. That will be where it all end. Reached the classroom at about 7.50am and sat down. Can't get all excited yet or I might just lose it at the last paper. So I kept calm.

• 7.50am: Sat down, calm down and pray
• 7.52am: Take writing paper. Write down name on cover sheet.
• 7.55am: Get question paper. Check check.
• 7.58am: Start paper. Write write.
• 10.58am: End paper. Smiling to myself.
• 11.02am: Leave classroom. Big smile on my face. Its finally over.

Well, no screams no nothing. We are mild people. But everybody was happy, thats for sure. It is finally over. A'levels, done. So we just kept talking to each other with big smiles on our face. Went to play soccer with Bright, Jonathan, Izzat, Sankaran, Vipul, Stanley and Zavier. The girls said they were tired, so ok lo. Soccer was great coz we were all super duper relaxed lo. Then it rained heavily so we played in the rain untill I was soaking wet lo.

Some teacher came and told us off so we moved up to the hall to play. It was fun. After playing they just decided to stay around in school while I quickly went home. I can't stand my socks and shoes being all soaked so I just went back to get my feet dry. Its quite a sick feeling, if you know what I mean. Went home, have lunch then took a short nap. And here I am blogging.

So what am I going to do next. I don't know. But definitely not study. I have so much time on my hands, I am so free!! I can do all the things I like. I can do all the things I used to do. Play online games, cycle, night cycling, cycling at P.Ubin, swimming, gym, basketball, movie, soccer, jogging, go beach, waste time... anything. Anything anything. Its a good feeling. Its a really good feeling. This 1 month of free time, I am going to make sure I enjoy myself. Untill I go packing to Pulau Tekong...

Exam Day 7 - Battling Literature Part 2

This post is pretty late I would say, but I still managed to make it before the day ends. Ok ok, today was exam day no.7. The 2nd paper of English Literature that I would have to take. Today's paper is, English Literature Paper 4. Well, paper 4 is basically the topic paper. Each school chooses a topic to study and then sit for the exam. There are many different topics ranging from War Literature to Detective Literature. For my school, we take a topic called The Gothic Tradition.

So my day starts with me waking up at 6am in the morning. Yesterday slept pretty early at about 1.30am coz I needed to be fully alert for the literature papers. So I woke up, called Christine to wake up as well then went to bathe and changed up. What to study for gothic... well, I just took my note book with me and read it while I head to school. Of course, as usual, I slept on the bus. I wanted as much sleep as possible so I won't feel sleepy during the paper :)

Ok, reached school at about 7.20am. Met Izzat at the notice board and realised that our exam venue wasn't announced yet. So we jus sat down and studied together. Then a teacher came by to tell us the exam venue. F2-46. Same place as the last literature paper. Well well, so Izzat and I studied untill about 7.45am then we put our bags in the locker and headed to the classroom. Battlefield for today is: F2-46. Same old place. When I reached the classroom, there were people inside already so I just went in and sit down. Time: 7.48am

• 7.48am: Sat down, prayed
• 7.52am: Writing papers given out. Write name all.
• 7.55am: Question paper given out. Check check.
• 8.00am: Start paper. Write write.
• 11.00am: End paper. Glad it ended.

Ok, so that basically wraps up my English Literature Paper 4. Its an average paper and I think managed to pull it off. Well, I tried my best and thats the most important.

After the exam, my friends and I went for lunch at Lot1. People present were Bright, Jonathan, Izzat, Evan, Winnie, Janice, Samantha and me. Well, I had fried chicken with rice and we just crapped in the food court over a cup of honey milk tea. Relaxation after the exam is very important. During the chat session, it is decided that tomorrow after the last paper, we will go play sports in school to relax. The guys insist on soccer, but the girls... well, we need to compromise. So tomorrow will include a whole array of sports like soccer, volleyball, handball, captain ball and touch rugby. See can play what then play what lo.

After lunch I went back home and take a nap. Went online then went out for the whole night. Details of my night out is not for viewing. :) Hehe. Then reached home and blogged already. Just before midnight I managed rush to blog. Cool huh.

Well, tomorrow is my last paper. English Literature Paper 5. That is the Open-Texts paper. Not an easy paper at all and I have never been good at it. After that. COMPLETE freedom!!!! Gosh, I can't wait at all! I can't wait for the A'levels to be conquered and the war to be over! All the way!!!

Things you CAN'T do when you're NOT in a pool

Do you remember what you usually tend to do when you are swimming at the pool. Well, heres a reason why you do them only at the pool. Not anywhere else.

Exam Day 6 - The Fight Into Literature part 1

Well, this post is basically one day late. The real exam day 6 was 17th November 2006 but due to an extremely tight schedule, I was unable to blog yesterday. Therefore this post had to wait untill now.

Ok, yesterday was the 6th day I am having exams. It was English Literature Paper 8. Paper 8 is a paper called "Practical Criticism", which is also "Comment and Appreciation". So basically what you do is that you read a work of literature, and then comment on how the author uses different techniques to bring out the theme of the work. Not quite easy.

Yup, so my exam day starts with me waking up at about 12.15pm I think. My memory is starting to fail me, its been too long so I cannot really remember all the details correctly now. Well, the paper starts at 2.30pm so I guess I had some time. Woke up, got my studying materials then went to eat my lunch at home. Then just bathe and change up for school. Feeling tired, slept at 4am the previous night.

Ok, so I got onto the bus and decided to clear my mind. I need to do this especially before this paper because paper 8 is one which really requires me to have a clear head and understand the work properly. If my mind is too full of thoughts, I will be so dead. Yup, so I basically just shut my eyes and clear my thoughts and pray at the same time in the bus untill I reach school. Reached school at about 2.05pm I think.

2.05pm, I finally reach school. Sat down with Izzat and Evan to study. They were just sitting down at the bench chatting while I was the only one studying lo. Haha. They just seem so relaxed. Well, so after some final revision of the concepts, I put my bag into the locker at about 2.15pm. Headed to the exam venue. The battlefield was: F2-46 classroom. Well its finally not the hall. Reach there at 2.15pm. Just hang around outside the classroom while I was cooling and calming myself down. 2.20pm, we were told to go into the room.

• 2.20pm: Enter room, get my seat, prayed
• 2.23pm: Get the papers and everything. Pass down the writing papers.
• 2.25pm: Get the question paper.
• 2.28pm: Waiting for someone who is late to come, so we cannot start early
• 2.30pm: She didn't come in time, so we started the paper. Read read read.
• 5.30pm: Finished the paper. Not feeling too fantastic about it but glad that it was finally over.
• 5.40pm: Leave the exam room. No one was screaming coz everyone in the room won't end literature untill next friday.

Ok, so that concludes the 1st paper I need to take for Literature. Only 2 more papers left for literature. Papers 4 and 5. Both are not easy. Literature has never been an easy subject at all. Ok, so after the paper, the whole gang decided to go have dinner. So Bright, Winnie, Janice, Izzat, Evan, Jonathan and me went to Lot1 Food Culture to have dinner. Had this pretty tasty chicken cutlet and the soup was pretty good. Lol, after eating I slacked abit then needed to go off already. I have to go church lo. So I split from them at about 6.50pm then headed off to church.

Reached Yishun at about 7.15pm. I knew I would be late. So I just went to the bus interchange to take 804 to church. Didn't realise Jeff was the same bus as me. So I took the bus untill church then met Jeff in church. He told me he was on the same bus. Lol, what could I say... I wasn't looking. So reached church at about 7.45pm. Sang the last worship song. Haha. Then watch the movie. Christmas Child. It's a movie about a guy who was abandoned and then go to some town in Dallas called Clearwater to seek his past. Well, I managed to stay awake through the movie.

After church, went to eat with a whole bunch of people at 925. Mr Melvin drove once again this time and piloted Luke, Joshua, Bernice and me to 925. Lol. Didn't have money with me so I just drank Horlicks Ice. Cool huh. Spent some time crapping with a whole bunch of people. Trina, Feressa, Christine, Stephanie, my sister, Debrina, Dorothy, Alex, Maverick, Luke, Melvin, Joshua. Thats alot of people. 3 tables full of us. Pretty cool huh.

So after supper, Melvin sent the CCK bunch back, which includes Dorothy, Maverick, Bernice, Joshua, my sis and me. Yup. On the way, Christine asked me to go to Trina's house. I obliged. So when I reached home, I quickly did my workout then bathe then went out. Thats the reason why I didn't blog this post yesterday.

Took a cab at 1am then met Christine at Yishun then continued on to Trina's house at Hougang. Reached Trina's house at don't know what time. It is pretty interesting that I know the location of her house without needing to ask her. All based just on my intuition. Cool huh. Well, I've been there before so I roughly know where it is...

Ok, so just spent time in Trina's house. People present were: Trina, Christine, Stephanie, Debrina and me. So I just spent some time chatting with the girls, then I did some studying, then played PS then watched VCD. After that, everyone jus zoned out and all jus fell asleep on the floor. Next thing I knew was that my face was in someone's hair and I woke up. I think it was around 7.15am already. I did my devotion with just prayers coz my bible wasn't with me and then just hang around the living room. Woke Trina up at 8am coz she needed to go work, and she told me to give her another 10minutes. Woke her again at 8.15am and she told me to give her another 5 minutes. Woke her up at 8.30am and she didn't bother me. So I just went back to sleep. By the time I woke up, everyone else was awake. It was about 9.30am I think. Yup, then played PS with Christine while Debrina watched some korean VCD and Trina went to work and Stephanie was doing something in Trina's room.

After some time, at about 12pm I think, we all decided that we are hungry then went to have lunch at some hawker centre at Hougang Central. Then we took the North East Line down. Christine and I alighted at Dhoby Ghaut to transfer onto North South Line while Debrina took on to Outram Park to get onto East-West Line coz she lives at Redhill. Fell asleep on the train and Christine alighted at Yishun. She still got heart.sports after that. For me, I took on to Yew Tee then went home. Fell asleep when I reached home at about 3.30pm. Next thing I knew was that it was already 8.15pm so I just turned on my computer to start blogging.

Well, 2 more exam days left, 2 more papers. A'levels is finally coming to an end. Still got about 5 more days until the next paper come. I need to relax already. Last week's 5 consecutive papers has taken alot out of me and I eventually lost steam during the last two papers. I need to get back my energy, and then, FULL STEAM AHEAD!

Exam Day 5 - Conquering Geography

And finally, after 5 days of exams, the second core subject is conquered. Geography. Today, I took my Geography Paper 2. Well, this basically is the human geography paper. Er, human geography refers to the study of population, urban growth, tourism and this kinda stuff. Some people thought I was studying... human. -_-"

Ok, moving on. Today's paper starts at 9am. And I didn't sleep untill about 4am yesterday. Well, I spent quite some time on the internet then studied as well. Muahahaha. Ok, so I was awoken at 7.30am by my mum. Apparently, I did something to my alarm unconciously and it just did not really ring. Thank God for my mum... the unconcious me is... hard to predict.

Yup, so I woke up at 7.30am then went off to take a bath and change then head off to school already. After getting like only 3 and half hours of sleep, I felt super super lethargic. So I just took a short nap on the bus. Didn't really want to study on the way there. Nothing was in my hand. OK! Reached school at about 8.20am. Started studying in school by myself. This time, I bought some milo from the canteen to drink. I felt really hungry. But milo solved the problem!

At 8.45am, I decided to pack up and put my bag in the locker. So that I did then I went to exam venue. Todays battlefield: The Hall, yet again. Reach the hall at about 8.50am. Slacked with Bright and Alvin outside. Alvin was still burying his head in his notes. Ok, time to go into the hall 8.53am.

• 8.53am: Enter hall, sit down. Prayed
• 8.55am: Receive question paper. Check check.
• 8.58am: Start exam. Start scribbling.
• 11.58am: End exam. Stop writing. Sigh of relief
• 12.10am: Leave hall. People screaming in joy coz it was their last paper. Couldn't be bothered about them.

And that does it. Geography is done. Geography is conquered. And this leave me with just one more subject to conquer: English Literature. Ok, sincerely, thats my weakest subject but no doubt I will do my best to conquer it! 1st literature paper is tmr... English Literature Paper 8...

Ok, so after the paper, it was time to deal with my hunger pangs. Went to eat with Bright, Alvin and Belinda. Had a little meal at Lot1 macdonald's. Had student's meal. Ha. I realised I was very poor. Only 4 dollars in my wallet. So ya, student's meal was affordable. Then we just hang around at Lot1, see vcd and all then went back.

Reached home. Waste abit of time on the net then I slept already. Haha, my eyes were super tired and my brain couldn't concentrate at all. So I didn't blog. I only start to blog now when I have had enough sleep already.

3 more exam days left... 3 more papers... 1 more subject...

Exam Day 4 - Conquering Economics

Today is the 4th day I am having my exams. Well, I am already halfway into it and right now, I am in the heart of the A'levels. This is the 'stress week'. The week with the most papers. 5 papers in 4 days. Thats really crazy. Plus the papers are all back to back. Ok, nvm, I only have 2 papers left for this week...

So, whats for today? Economics paper 1 and paper 2. The last economics papers I am going to take. Which simply means, economics is completed and done. Paper 1 is just MCQ and paper 2 is DRQ. MCQ = Multiple Choice Questions and DRQ = Data Response Questions. Ok, thats for the people who are wondering. Today's paper starts at 2pm. I woke up at 11.20am. Slept last night at 4am, spent the entire night watching anime -_-"

Ok, so I woke up at 11.20am. Apparently I turned off my alarm so I could get some peaceful sleep... I turned it off unconciously. I woke up and realised that I had better get some studying done. So I jus studied abit then bathe then went to eat lunch with my mum. Had duck rice + fishball soup with mum at 12.30pm then went off to school at 1pm.

Took an MRT this time. Then take bus at CCK interchange. Ok. So I actually did some studying on the way to school. Reached school at about 1.25pm. I studied myself today. Couldn't really find people to study with in school. Then my stomach got abit upset so I went to the toilet to erm... let it be less upset. Got out of the loo at 1.45pm then put my bag in the locker and head to exam venue. Today's battlefield: The Hall, again. Hang around outside the hall and then went in at 1.53pm.

• 1.53pm: Sat down, said my prayers
• 1.57pm: Checking to make sure my pencils are working and loaded with lead
• 1.58pm: Receive question papers
• 2.00pm: Check check
• 2.02pm: Start exam. Start shading boxes on paper
• 3.02pm: End exam. Feeling that the paper is really tough.

And that was paper 1, the MCQ paper. Finished with MCQ paper, had to wait for part 2. The DRQ paper. Well, theres a half hour break so we just worry each other by discussing about the MCQ paper. I told my friends I have a hunch that International Trade might come out for DRQ.

• 3.25pm: Enter exam hall again. Sit down and said prayers
• 3.27pm: Receive question paper. Crap, its not International Trade
• 3.28pm: Start paper. Start reading data. Write
• 5.13pm: End paper. Felt that it was really tough.
• 5.20pm: Leave hall. Hear people screaming in joy coz it was their last paper. Felt like punching them. Didn't punch them.

Ok, and that ends Economics once and for all! Wooohooo. Yeah, it was tough. Wasn't easy and I didn't feel I do very in this one. But well, its over! Economics had been conquered and its the 1st subject conquered in this A'levels war! Well, had dinner with Bright and gang then hang around at Lot1 then I had to go for G12.

G12, Ton talked something about Moses being loving to his people and all. Ya, ok, lets all be loving, and pray for our friends :) Yeah, Bright understands this best. Ah well, had nuggets and some crackers then go home already. Ton said he's gonna bring us for bowling once my A'levels are over next friday. Muahahaha.

Tomorrow is my Human Geography paper, also known as Geography paper2. Gonna be the last Geography paper I am taking and yeah! Tomorrow will be the day I conquer Geography! Study study~~~~ :)

Exam Day 3 - Fighting for Economics part 1

Today, is the 3rd day of my exam. Paper for the day: Economics Paper 3. Well, paper 3 refers to my essay paper and is really the most dreaded one of the 3 economics paper.

So, my day starts with me waking up at about 11am. The paper is at 2pm so I have some time to revise. Slept late last night at about 3am. So ya, 8 hours sleep, just enough. Was intending to wake up at 8am, but well, I just kept on pressing the snooze button on my alarm for 3 hours. Haha. I just did some last minute revision, had lunch, bathe then go school.

This time, I managed to get some reading done on the way to school and on the bus. Didn't take too long and I am at school already. Reached school at about 1.30pm. Sat down and studied abit with Hu Gang then packed up and put my bag in the locker at 1.40pm. Went to the exam venue at 1.45pm. Todays battlefield: The Hall. Yup, I just walked about outside the hall and talked to other people then went into the hall at 1.57pm. Prayed outside the hall.

• 1.57pm: Sat down and calmed myself down.
• 1.59pm: Got my paper and praying.
• 2.02pm: Start paper. Start scribbling. Start wrecking my brain.
• 4.17pm: End paper. Smile on my face
• 4.24pm: Scripts collected, leave the hall. Exam Over.

And that concludes my econs essay!!! Wooo! I just love it when an exam ends. It means I don't have to face it anymore! Well, today I didn't ask if anybody wanted to go eat coz I wasn't really hungry. Had lunch already. So I just went straight home. Some secondary school kids on the bus with me were talking about their A.Math paper. -_-" And I realised the living room TV is fixed. Cool!

Well, tomorrow is the concluding part for economics. Last economics papers I have to take! And thursday is human geography, also the last geography paper to take! Yeah! And I have to be in school on thursday only at 9am coz some American wants to come Singapore. So ya, more sleep for me :)

Missing

Its been 4 days since the incident happened on Sunday, 5th November 2006. Still I can't seem to recover from what happened. I can't believe how badly affected I really am. I miss her so badly. I thought it was going to be alright. That I will recover after awhile. But no, its getting worse. Its getting worse day after day.

Almost every second I will thinking of her. Pictures of her will flash past my mind one after the other. Her voice saturate my thoughts. I simply cannot forget her. Thoughts of her have infiltrated me like a virus, and they are just multiplying. As each second pass, I am missing her more.

It really hurt bad. I hope this will not affect my performance for the A'lvls. When Mr Yeo talked about the impact that relationships can have on our exam capabilities, I just brushed it off as crap. Now I realise it is real. It can affect exam capabilities and I cannot allow it to happen.

Its as though she's missing. Its as though she has disappeared into thin air. She's no longer there anymore. She's just not herself. I don't know whats going on. How is she feeling? Is she badly affected as well? I do not know. All these missing links. All these missing pieces. The puzzle cannot be completed.

And I learnt to depend upon God to give me strength. Personally, I am totally broken. The human me is done for. All I have is to depend upon God. What else can I lean on? People disappoint. People can betray you. People can backstab on you. People might not understand. People might misunderstand. Only God is on your side, always. And I recall the 4 F'dmonitions Of Christian Living:

• Fret Not
• Fear Not
• Faint Not
• Forget Not

Exam Day 2 - The Battle For Geography Part 1

Yeah, today is geography paper 1. Physical geography. Well, geography is the subject I scored best in for my prelim exams, but that doesn't really mean I don't have to prepare for it. I need to. Geography is something you can't trick past. You need to KNOW YOUR STUFF. Ok. So here goes.

I slept at about 3.30am. Turned out my air-con was spoiled. Oh well. Never mind. I woke up at 9.00am to do my last minute revision. The paper is at 2pm so I have some hours to do the revision, which basically is like 4 topics. I won't be able to finish preparing for all, thats for sure. So I revised, went online, talked to some people, revised again. Then mum woke up at about 11am and ask me to go have breakfast with her. So I did. Came back from breakfast at about 11.45am. Wanted to get abit of studying but then I fell asleep. Woke up at 12.15pm. Crap.

So I went to take a bath. Then wear my uniform all then go to school already. As usual, I will take a piece of paper to read. Its called preparing on the go. But, I was really tired. So I jus slept on the bus instead. Vroom vroom, and I am at CCK interchange. Vroom vroom, and I am at school. Walked to school. Don't want to read notes while walking, afraid I might knock into something. So "preparing on the go" didn't really work out.

Ok, reach school at about 1.15pm and met Ann to study together. Ann is a cute girl and she don't seem to be worried abit about the exams. Always smiling. Its good to be positive. Its good. Ok, so we study study and in came Vivien. Vivien looks abit worried but I guess due to her smartness, theres really no need for her to worry about anything. Well, she came and went to the canteen to buy tissue. I guess she dun need any last minute studying ba. Then in came Liuzhen. Ok, Liuzhen is kan chiong, as usual. Came and put her bag then went to the toilet. Then came back again and asked me for my hydro notes so I lent her and she started reading. Then I was just about to pack up and in came Janice. Janice looked flustered. She looks super worried. She always look worried. Turns out that last night she slept at 4 and didn't do any studying and then woke up late today and didn't do any studying too. Ah well... thats a reason to be worried.

Ok, so I packed up my things and went to my locker to put my things. Went to the exam hall. Today's battle venue: The Hall. Time of entry: 1.40pm.

• 1.40pm: Entry, walked about outside hall to wait for instructions to go in.
• 1.45pm: Enter, hall, sit down, prayed
• 1.50pm: Calming myself down
• 1.53pm: Get the exam scripts. Check check check.
• 1.57pm: Start exam.
• 4.57pm: End exam.
• 5.15pm: Leave hall. Sigh of relief

Hooray! And that concludes my physical geography!!! I realised that people have worried looks on their faces. They tell me they didn't manage their time well and didn't complete some questions. Ah... I wanted to tell them "Didn't Mr Osman always said to manage your time well... haven't you learnt yet?" but well, its probably too cruel so I just kept quiet. Wanted to go eat but no one was in the mood, so I just went home. And when I reach home, idiot Huan Jian ask me to go eat with him at Lot1. What?! I mean I just left Lot1 and you want me to go to Lot1?? Ok, I obliged. So I am going to eat with him now. 3 hours paper made me really hungry...

Untitled, still

My miracle did not arrive. She said. No. Actually she did not really say it. She just stopped smiling. Stopped smiling. I got the idea. She did not say no simply because I did not ask. And this saved me from the pits of rejection. I did not know what to do. I simply stood there. Stood there like how I had been all along. Like what I had been doing all along. I quietly took my heart back, turned and walk away. I simply fade into the crowd around me.

I knew this would happen anyway. I was no cassanova. I was not romantic. I wasn't your tall, dark, handsome group of men. I wasn't rich. I wasn't superbly intelligent. I wasn't anything. I was just me. Me, average me. As I blend into the crowd, I looked back at her. She was outstanding. She simply catches the eye of those who pass. How would I have fit anyway.

I walked on. Holding my dear heart. People are not noticing yet. But soon they will. They will probably say, "you shouldn't even have tried anyway." "you should have expected this." I know what they all will say. But still, I hold no regrets. That, simply because I tried. I tried and I did not regret. I didn't believe in not trying. I believed in trying. In fact, I am already glad that my heart was once held by her. That I had the opportunity to stand in front of her. Though brief it may be, such moments are precious and dear.

I tried to fit my heart back into the void where it used to be. It did not fit. It could not fit. It didn't want to fit. Perhaps it would take just a little more time before my heart could get used to being with me again. To being alone again. It would just have to take a little more time. For now, I just have to hold it. Hold it, untill it recovers.

And I just walk on. Like how I used to walk all my life. The path is familiar. The routines are not strange to me. The people who had been on the road are still here. Not much have changed. Except me. But I suppose it won't be long before I get to become who I was again. Get to place my heart in where it is supposed to be. Get to be whole, again.

And who knows. Maybe along this journey of mine, I might be able to find someone whom I could exchange hearts with. Or maybe, even, I might come one round to this spot again. To find her standing there again. To stand in front of her again. To give her my heart again. And maybe, just maybe, when that time comes, I would receive her heart, and she would keep mine.

And perhaps this story would come to a close for now. Even though the ending is not one I would wish for, it is still an ending I would have to accept. That, simply because I am not the author. I am simply the character. But perhaps this is not the end yet. Perhaps a new chapter would open. And perhaps in this new chapter, the ending could be one that I would wish for.

Untitled

Recently my mind has been in a mess. I could not concentrate on what I am doing and I am just not myself. I figured out that something is wrong with me so I went to the doctor to check up. After an examination, the doctor diagnosed what is the problem. He told me that my heart has been stolen.

I was shocked. What? My heart is stolen? I couldn't believe it. I reached out and touched where my heart used to be. Its gone. When? Who? How? I couldn't remember. Since when was my heart stolen from me? I didn't know. I looked at the void in my chest. Then I remembered what happened. No one stole my heart. I gave my heart to someone. To. Her.

It cannot be like this. I was distraught. I cannot allow myself to remain like this. So I went out. I ran out onto the streets. Desperately looking. Frantically searching. Kept on walking. A man without a heart. It wasn't that hard to find. She wasn't that hard to find. She's been there all along. She's been holding my heart and she might not even have realised it. She looked at me, wondering what I want.

I wanted to ask for my heart. It did not happen. I could not ask back for my heart. In fact, I did not even want my heart back. It was for her. It was intended for her. I finally realised what had happened. All I wanted was her heart. The void was for her to fill.

I wanted to ask for her heart. Still it did not happen. I could not do it. I could not ask. I realised how much of a coward I actually am. A man without guts. A man without a heart. Its not her that I am afraid of. It is the result. Of course it would be wonderful if she would give me her heart if I asked, but what if she would not? I realised that I am unable to face rejection. I realised that I would crush under rejection. I just could not face the consequences. In fact, I do not even know how to ask. I do not know how to open my mouth to ask for her heart. I just do not know.

She looked at me with a smile. Does she know what I want? Does she know what I am here for? Does she know why I am standing in front of her? Its almost as if she would give her heart to me if I would ask. Yet, it seems not. She could be smiling to everybody else. Theres so many people around me. So many people. They all have a heart with them. They looked at me, wondering whats wrong. Why is he not having a heart? Why is she holding 2 hearts? They know whats wrong. They could figure it out. However, they could not help. Some tell me to just take my own heart and go. Some tell me to ask her for her heart.

I could not figure out who to listen to. I am confused. I know what I wanted to do. I just could not do it. I just did not know how to ask. So all I do is just stand in front of her. Without a heart. Speechless. Motionless. Waiting for a miracle. Waiting for something to just happen. Waiting for my courage to arrive. Waiting for someone to push me. Waiting for someone to pull me away. Waiting, waiting. Me. Her. Them.

You CAN

This video clip tells the tale of father and son, Dick and Rick Hoyt. The son was apparently paralysed from neck down and could not move. However, the father did not want his son to give up on his life and kept on encouraging him. As an attempt to show his son the value of not giving up, he joined the triathlon with his son and managed to complete it. A triathlon is a sport competition that involves the need to run long distance, swim and cycle. During one marathon, along with his son, he completed the race only 35 minutes behind the winner. Total respect. It is really inspiring as it shows us not to give up even in the face of adversities. As Winston Churchill said when United Kingdom faced the Germans in World War 2, "Never, never give up"


A Moving Story Of One Incredible Father - Video - video powered by Metacafe

Apart from that, this also shows us how God, our heavenly father always carry us on with the race even when we are in our pits. Even when we are unable to carry ourselves to the finish line, God is always there to carry us through. I wish to encourage all of my friends out there, do not be discouraged. Do not give up. God is always there to help you. God is always helping you.

Exam Day 1 - The General Paper War

Today is the day. Its the big day. The day my A'levels start. 1st paper - General paper.

So I started the day waking up at 6 and bathing all. Reach school extra early coz I wanted to do some final touch up and revision. So I did. Christine called me at 7am when I am on my way to school. Was supposed to call her at 7am but turned out she called me. Haha, happened that she did not sleep the whole night. So I got some final encouragement from her and went into school. Reached school at about 7.10 am. Read up my vocab and some other things on structure, just to make sure I don't make any stupid mistakes in the paper.

• 7.30am, pack up my stuff, put my bag in the locker and head to the exam room.
  G2-39, the battle field for today. 1st paper of the day is - General Paper 1.
  
• 7.40am, sitting down waiting, praying to God for one final time
  
• 7.50am, receive the paper, trying to cool myself down
  
• 7.58am,
  Start exam, read questions and start writing
  
• 9.28am, End paper1, stop
  writing and go out of room to take a break
  
• 9.50am, Back in the room
  again, utter prayers and wait to start
  
• 9.58am, start paper2, read
  passage and start writing
  
• 11.28am, stop paper2, a sigh of relief
  
  

General paper is done!!!! It is over!!! I am so glad. No more general paper for the rest of my life. I am going to take the papers down 1 by 1... Next battle is... Geography paper. Date of battle... 8/11/2006, wednesday. Pray for me. I will bring victory back. KOs are hard to achieve... but I slowly fight untill I win :)

A new look

Ah, my blog jus received a renovation and has gotten itself a new skin! Hooray!
After using the old blog skin for nearly 2 years, I have therefore decided that it is time for a new, fresh look to this blog.

I also updated my photo so that it will not seem as though Zack (the guy in the picture previously) is writing all these things, but me myself. Lol.

And this is a fresh start again.

Oh ya, my A'lvls are coming, to all those reading this, please please please pray for me as I run this final lap in the JC education. Thanks alot!

Cheers - To Every Little Good Thing In Life

Appreciate :)

The Journey South

• Before I tell you about my journey south on 21st October 2006 to Sentosa, I would like to say sorry to people who had been wondering where moi has gone to. Well, I didn't really have the mood to blog the past few days and when I had the mood, blogger decided to play punk on me by not allowing me to post. So only now then I get to blog.
• Ok, so 21st October 2006. Where did I go? I went south, south to Sentosa! Oh yeah, its Deepavali so there was free time to go. Public holiday. People are free, EVERYBODY. We didn't really realise that, and we went to Sentosa to get a big shock, more about that later.
• So I woke up at 7am to give Miss Christine a morning call. Christine is someone who needs to be woken up coz she jus sleeps and sleeps and the next thing you know is she will be late. So I calld her at 7am, and all the way untill 7.40am I think. I don't know how many times I call her already and she just didn't pick up the phone. After checking with Christine, the record was 10 miss calls and the 11th picked up. Ok, so she finally woke and I had to go bathe and all.
• Met Maverick at CCK interchange 9am. Took bus 188 to Harbourfront to meet the Christine, Ryan, Marilyn, Alex, Agnes, Jinglong(dunno if it is spelled this way) at the MRT. Taking 188 from CCK to harbourfront is really... long... long... journey... 1 hour of bus ride. Ok, after a dreadfully long bus ride, we finally met the gang. Had food at the hawkercentre then head off to Sentosa. Took a cab there coz... the queue for the bus was super long la! It was as if Singapore was sinking and Sentosa is the only island left standing and everybody is evacuating there. I realised many indians in the queue but never really bothered about it. They deserve a break anyway.
• So the cab vroom vroom us to Palawan beach, which after spending a short time there, we decided to head to Siloso beach. Palawan beach was packed, which I should have already figured out coz it was public holiday. I actually wanted to head over to my favourite isle opposite the beach to camp one, but upon a closer observation, I decided not to. My favourite isle had been invaded. By the indian army. I shall not go into the racists part but there was really too many people there. It seemed as if they were playing wrestling there. So the gang camped at the normal beach. Found a stone beside a tree and jus slack there. It was very hot, even when I am wearing singlet. Surprisingly the sand was not so hot and good to stand. Had some fun in the water and the curious Alex and Maverick swam over to the isle to check it out. They came back with the report and named it 'Black Ville', which I jus adapted it as 'Black Isle'.
• Then some indians decided to jus park themselves at the tree next to our stone. So for safety reasons, we had to take turns to perform guard duty while the rest play. Then the indians jus decided to jus strip themselves down to jus undergarments! I was shocked, and so were the girls. This particular guy was jus wearing a skimpy thin cloth underwear and jus waltzing around. I saw the backview of him and couldn't bring myself to see the front. What horror.
• Then we jus had fun at Sentosa lo. I built my water storage thing again the gang joined in too. Dunno why but I just like to build this thing whenever I am at a beach. Ok, so after getting sunburnt at Sentosa due to me not putting the suntan lotion properly, we headed to Vivo City to have food and slack. The place is BIG, and surely is Singapore's largest mall. Took a directory and looked for Burger King, and jus could not find it. So the gang jus rested at Carl's Jrs while I go look for BK myself. After scouting, I discovered that it was not even open. -_-" Carl's was expensive but theres freeflow of drinks, which is really cool coz we drank alot while playing 'Mafia/Murderer' at the place.
• Then we went to the playing centre at Vivo City and we played. Played games like catching, hide and seek. We also played 'Octopus', which is jus a game adapted from catching, just that once a person is caught, he/she will join the catcher in hands and catch other people untill everyone hold hands. Interestingly, there were 8 of us there, the number of legs an octopus have. Maybe thats why Christine called it octopus.
• After playing, everyone got tired and decided to go home. It was late, we got a drink and took the train back. I got sunburnt, though its not as bad as the last time. What a day isn't it.
• Testimony: after the day, I checked the PSI for the day and realised that when we went to Sentosa, the PSI actually started dropping and was dropping all the way untill we left Sentosa. Then it rose again. Well, all praises to the Lord it has to be! Prayers work.

100 plates "No Guts, No Glory" Sushi Challenge

• Yesterday, 17th October 2006, 5 people challenged the 100 plates "No Guts, No Glory" Sushi Challenge at Suki Sushi Lot1. 5 of us are namely: Yiwen, Huan Jian, Kent, Christine and yours truly. The last time we had a such a sushi feast was 3 years ago when I was sec3. At that time, the people present were Huan Jian, Kent, Benjamin and me. That time, we did not complete 100 plates but managed to hit a 60 plates record.
• This time, we did not manage to hit 100 plates again. But we managed to break our old record by hitting 61 plates. Hehe. 61 plates is now the new "No Guts, No Glory" Sushi Challenge record! I ate alot of soft shell crab, and soft shell crab sushi. Hehe. I love soft shell crab. Then Christine also gave me some tofu skin thing which I didn't felt like eating but still gobbled it up anyway. Lol. She so weird, go and order the thing then made me eat it. I suppose she was very full already, hehe. Although we did not manage to clear 100 plates, being able to hit 61 plates is quite an achievement already. It means that age did not bring our capabilities down! Hehe, feel quite good la.
• Then after the challenge, we go and slack around, waiting for the rice + fish + prawn + crab + egg + etc etc to digest. Hehe, went to video shop in Lot1 and then went to the arcade to play game. Saw a "catch-the-soft toy" machine and Huan Jian said that he knows how to catch the bear. Tried with my card then realized that it is spoiled lo! Wah, sian, my card is MIP card leh, then spoil. Haiz, nvm, then I go buy another card lo. If can get anything then give to Christine lo, since she so good help us with the challenge. But too bad that Huan Jian's theory all so lousy one. I tried 2 times also nv kana the bear. Haiz, too bad Christine, maybe next time ba. Then we jus play the arcade game and Huan Jian show off his racing skill which is ranked 1st on the machine. Pro la. Then Kent played Virtual Cop3 which he got tired and tell me to play the last mission which I died so many times then let Huan Jian play and he died the final time then game over. Lol. Can see that Christine very tired also. She came straight after school mah. Then we all say go home lo. So we went home. I sent Christine home and saw her dog playing with another dog. Lol, was quite glad when I saw her dog having fun, dunno why. Then I said bye and I went to my grandmother house.
• Took 171 from Yishun. Wah, super long bus ride lo. Ride ride ride untill I fell asleep. The haze was pretty bad. Made the roads look like I am in a dream. Maybe I was in a dream as I was sleeping on the bus but its real lo. PSI tonight reached 106. Finally reached my grandma house and have dinner there. Actually quite full alr but jus eat la, or else my grandma will sad. So I ate lo, then watch TV then go home. My cousin suggested that we should build big fans to blow the haze back to Indonesia.

Colour Illusion

You guys just try it.

Color Illusion - video powered by Metacafe

One Moment In Time

• One Moment In Time - thats the theme for my farewell assembly today. Farewell assembly basically means that I am leaving college. I am leaving Pioneer Junior College which I had been in for the past 2 years. Or 21 months, not considering the 1st 3 months which I was not in. Today is the last day of college life. Basically we took many photos and photos and photos. Some people gave me gifts and ESPECIALLY cards with meaningful messages about how they felt about me in the past 2 years. Farewell assembly had many teachers performing for the graduating batch and at the end, we sang the college anthem (school song). This was probably the 1st time I sang the college anthem with my heart. And the last time. Its always like this isn't it.
• But what made this day most meaningful is the fact that I reflect upon the past 2 years, and cherish my friends who have been with me through the 2 years. Basically, I thought of all these things I will miss. I will miss: my friends who joked with me and worked with me and played with me and suffered with me, the sprinting to the gate just before it closes, the preparation for the national anthem, getting prepared to command the school for the anthem, squeezing with everybody to get into our classrooms, shuffling up the stairs with everyone, the fear in me when I realised I forget my homework, the panic as I quickly try to do a sketchy work so I won't be scolded, the yearning for the break after the class, the dreading of the class after the break, the queueing up for food which takes 10 minutes, the chinese rice stall and the malay rice stall, the drinks vending machine which increased its price by 10cents, the yearning for lessons to end so I can get out of school, the dreading of running the 2.4km, getting panic before tests, squeezing onto the bus when going to school and getting home, the fear in us when the teacher comes in with a black face, the fear in us when the teacher comes in holding our exam scripts, being late for PE always, playing pranks on friends, pulling our friends to go toilet with us and getting pulled, waking up at 6am and getting a bath with eyes still half open, falling a sleep on the bus to school, wrote homework in the notebook but forgot to look at notebook, refusing to do the homework even after we see it in the notebook, procastinating to do the homework as deadline is still far and still not doing it even after deadline is up, no toilet paper in the toilet and being super urgent, soccer after school, walking around the school doing nothing, tell myself that I will close my eyes for only 2 mins in class and wake up next thing to find the lesson over, doodling cartoons on the lecture notes, sitting down at the canteen and jus slack, opening the locker and look inside even when we don't need to take anything out of it, feeling annoyed when people keep asking you for money to pay for the notes, saying hi and bye to the security guards even though I don't know them, getting sent out of class for not doing work or bring notes.
• And I will also miss my friends and classmates who have had the fun, the work and the struggle together: Bright Ong who always ask me play soccer and play music and live so near to school lo, Alvin Tan who is always so worried about his studies but really shouldn't coz he's good enough alr, Vipul who is always so interesting and never fail to amaze me with what he is up to, Cheurn Hsi who is always so non-chalant and uses zen-sleeping style to sleep in class, Jonathan who is so good and soccer and crappy also, Sankaran(dunno how to spell the name!) who is also crappy and reluctant to play soccer but always give in to us.
• And I will also miss my teachers who taught me so painstakingly! : Miss Kat my form teacher who teach me econs and always never fail to do her best to answer my witty questions:), Mr Dennis Yeo who teaches my gothic lit and is so witty!!!, Mr Sas who is so fierce in class but is really a good teacher who cares alot for his students:), Miss Nikki Beh who is so cheery always, Mr Osman who got such a charming smile and always wear nice nice when he is in a good mood, Mr Chia who is always teaching with a smile and nv fail to entertain with his lameness, Mdm Hyati who is always so concerned lo!!
• And of coz, I will miss my 2 years life in PJC, and this one moment in time will always be etched in my heart.

Reliving Michael Jackson - Indian style

Doing it their way

A Not Hazy Day Out

• Had church this morning and I realised that the haze is gone! What a miracle. It happens like that. I wake up on saturday morning to find my dear city state covered in haze. Then I spent the day in smoky air and went to bed with PSI at a raging 140. Next morning on Sunday, the haze is gone! Miraculous! It must be God's work! As sudden as the haze came, as sudden it went too!
• Yep, the air is pretty good now and I can see pretty well already. What a relief. You see, we never learn to appreciate good air quality untill we lose it. This really is a lesson for Singapore as a whole. Current PSI stands at 36, which is good air quality lo. Amen!
• Well, let me tell you about today. Had church, both chinese and english services. Pretty good messages about having faith and praying. Then went to lunch with Melvin, Luke, Joshua and Maverick. Yeah, I ate chao kway teow and duck kway teow if you want to know.
• Then waited for sometime in church for Christine, Lilian and Marilyn. Went to have a drink while Melvin had to take his lunch at Long John Silver at Yishun. Melvin ate grilled fish set while I drank some ice lemon tea. Luke and Joshua and Maverick went to the arcade to play game. After finishing the food, we went to find them.
• Played arcade for awhile, then went to watch movie with Christine, Maverick, Melvin and Lilian. Marilyn had to go home to study for POA while Luke and Joshua don't want to watch movie. We watched a show called "Rob-B-Hood", comedy by Jackie Chan and some 'Gu Tian Le'. Quite a nice show that brings both laughter and tears. Man, sometimes I think chinese shows are winning english ones already. Really pity Maverick, he had to read the subtitles all the way, and some of the subtitles also off one. For example, the people were singing a chinese new year song and the subtitle goes "Happy Merry Christmas..." I mean, thats like 10 months away lo! The baby was cute, and Jackie Chan really acted well, especially at the part when he tried to revive the baby. Touching yo.
• Ya, then after the movie, had to go toilet. After that we split and Maverick went to take a bus back to BP, while Lilian took a bus to her house in Yishun, Melvin took a cab, Christine walked home and I had to take the train by myself.
• Oh ya, and this is my 100th post in the blog. Congragulations to me for 100 posts and nearly 2 years of blogging, on one blog!

Haze haze go away

• Man, if you realise that the streets are misty and that the forest seems foggy, nope, you are not in a dream. Nor are you in a horror movie. You are actually in a hazy Singapore. Haze that originates from the forest burning in Sabah has been blown into Singapore, causing the city state to be choked with smoke. For those who are still not clear, the burning has already been going on for some time already and haze has been around for quite around already. However Singapore was saved by the winds as the haze was not blown to the island. It is only untill recently that the winds decided to bring the haze into Singapore. Today, haze reached an extremely high PSI of 150. Note that anything over PSI 100 is considered unhealthy already.
• Had heart.sports today, managed to win region D for captain's ball. Then went to eat and play basketball with Melvin, Marilyn, Christine, Lilian, Lilin, Alex and Ryan(I think thats the name) Haze was really bad and my throat is really dry. Had fun anyway. Also saw a red moon (or an orange moon if Christine really wan to insist it) Then everybody's throat got so dry that we decided to stop playing and go drink at Macdonalds'. Had a chat then we go home lo.
• NEA (National Enviromental Agency) has advised everybody to avoid having heavy exercise in the outdoors due to the heavy haze coming from Indonesia. People with respiratory diseases such as asthma should also try to avoid coming out of their houses if possible. Currently as I type this, PSI is at 140.
• Oh yeah, this is not as bad as last time. In September 1997, PSI got so high untill it reached 226! Thats really really bad lo!
• NEA predicts that air conditions will improve once the rainy monsoon season comes, which will most likely change the wind direction and protect Singapore from haze again.

Shoot Me In The Head

• Got back my prelims results today. Woh, isn't too fantastic. The results, as follows: General Paper: B4, Economics: E, English Literature: E, Geography: C. Rank Points: 40. Ok, simply put, I passed all my subjects, which means 3 A' Level passes, and 1 AO pass. Rank points basically is like L1R5, the better you do, the more points you get. Basically, this rank points that I got isn't too great, best in my class got 57 I think. My results put me in 3rd place in my class. Thank God for this result, I could have done worse. God really helped me through my exam period spiritually, mentally and physically. All glory be unto God. And this leaves me with one last exam, the A' Levels. Ooooooh, I am already getting all jittery about it. Need prayers and hard work and a whole lot of revision and consultations!!! Man, I can't flunk this one.
• Oh yeah, just now there was a fire just outside my house on one the factories. Jeez, the flaming factory is just a canal away la! The fire very very the big ah. And there were even explosions. Crazy stuff. Took videos and photos with my phone. See if can upload or not. Lol.

A Just And Merciful God

• This post, is in response to dear Dan, who asked a question in comment to my post, :("However, this angered the Lord and caused the city to be hit by a plague" if God is all that great and sacred,shouldn't he be willing to forgive all that we do? shouldn't he willing to accept our flaws? why must God ask for something in return? why can't he bless us and love us irregardless of whether we trust him or not..?)
• I am really glad someone had actually read my blog, thought about it and posted a question. Not sure from which part of the bible did Dan got that verse from as there were many cities hit by a plague, but it doesn't matter. I believe he is just showing that God did got angered and punished some people for their sins.
• So Dan asked me, shouldn't God be forgiving and accept our flaws if He is all great sacred? Yes, in fact, God is forgiving and has accepted the fact that we are all imperfect. All of us are sinners, God understands that full well. Thats why He prepared for this by sending His own son Jesus to die on the cross for all of our sins. In fact, by sending His son to die for us, God has already shown that He has already forgiven us for our sins. Let me show you how. In the old testament of the bible, that is before Jesus took the sins for us all, people who sinned against the Lord would be burnt, swallowed by the earth and most commonly, stoned to death. That isn't too forgiving compared what we have now right? We don't see people getting punished by God for their sins anymore, no cities get burnt or hit by a plague because of their sins, no one gets stoned to death for committing adultery. No. God has in fact already forgiven us.
• Let me give a real life example. Lets take sins as a crime, which it is, and that would make us all criminals as we are all sinners. We face the judge in court and we are sentenced to a fine. We got no money to pay and thus will need to go to jail. Just as we are getting pulled to jail, someone comes into the courtroom and offers to pay up the fine for us so we don't have to go to jail. That person is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ has already put up His life to pay for our sins so that we don't have to go to hell. That in fact is an act of forgiveness by God already, as in John 3:16 say "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
• So you would ask me, if God is forgiving and accepts our flaws, why do us christians still preach about hell? Shouldn't everybody go to heaven coz God has already forgiven all of us? Well, thats very logical. However, this isn't entirely true. You see, God has given Jesus Christ to die for us, and thus taking our sins so that we can be free and go to heaven. This is a gift to us. God gave this free, as a present. But why are people still going to hell? Thats because these people didn't accept this gift. People didn't accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and saviour. You see, if someone gives you a present and you rejects it, do you think you will get to keep the present? Of course not. If you rejects Jesus Christ, then of course you will not receive this forgiveness and salvation that Jesus Christ has brought with His death.
• Ok, back to the courtroom example. Say the person offers to pay up your fine, and you say "no I do not need you to pay my fine for me." Do you think the person will still pay up for your fine? No way. It works the same way here.
• Then you ask me, why do God have to punish those who sinned then? Why must God even punish people? Why did God create hell anyway? My answer is simple, God is a just God. This means that He has justice and simply cannot let those who are not repentful and sinful get their way to eternal life in heaven. My God is not a God who slacks and just let people off in their sinful nature. My God has His principles and is just, and therefore must punish people who sinned. It is just like the judge in the courtroom, He has to be just and issue punishment accordingly so that He is not seen as corrupted and without principles. Would you want to serve a God who lets murderers, rapists and thieves who has not repented of their ways to get the same salvation as you? Of course not. Because you will say that it is unfair as you have been a kind person all your life. God understands that. God don't let the crooks go free without paying for their sins. And the only way to pay for our sins is through Christ, or to go to hell ourselves, its our choice.
• Why must God ask for something in return? Why can't He bless us regardless of whether we trust Him or not? This is interesting. Did God ask for anything in return? Did God say that you must give Him $1000000 for Him to bless you? Of course not. God simply asked for us to trust Him and have faith in Him. It works in a very simple way. Let me give an example to illustrate this. Say your car broke down and you cannot figure out how to fix it. Some guy walks past and offers a helping hand. And your reply is "Are you sure you can fix this? You don't look like someone who knows how to fix this. I think I better do it myself." Do you think that person will help you to fix the car? Of course not. He will just walk off because you did not have faith and appreciate his help. Same thing with God, how can God bless you and help you if you do not believe that He can do it? That is why I say that we must have faith and then God can help us. And yes, regardless of whether we trust Him or not, God has already loved us, thats why He gave us His son to die. "For God so loved the world..." John 3:16 didn't say for God so loved the christians. No. Its the world. God loves everyone, regardless of whether they trust Him or not.
• So, I hope that after reading this, many doubts about God can be clarified. And please, if there are still any doubts, feel free to comment. Don't hold it back. Don't procastinate. Everyone deserves to know the whole truth so that they will get a chance to be saved as well.

Us VS God

• Many a times, we get into a struggle with God. Its not that we have grown cold in our faith, its not that we are losing our faith, its just that some priorities get in front of our God. And these priorities might not be bad. They don't have to be drinking, smoking, clubbing, gambling etc. They can be healthy activites such as simple work or studies. I take one example: we say we cannot go for a church activity because exams are near and we have to study. Reasonable. Logical. Acceptable. Thats for the "exams are near and we have to study" part. Yet, by doing this, we are quite showing that we do not trust that God can pull us through, and we are simply doing what we can by ourselves to help ourselves. Yes, we still pray that God can help us, but we are sacrificing time that used to be set for God to be used for our studies, just to be a fail-safe.
• I am not saying that studying for exams is wrong. It is important to study for exams. It is definitely needed to prepare ourselves for the exams. However, we ask ourselves one question - will God help us more? Or will our own studying help us more? If we have faith in God, then of course we will choose the former one. Note, I am not saying that we do not need to study, thats coz God only helps those who helps themselves. What I am saying is that why do we want to sacrifice time that used to be for God, to be used for our studying? How much can we exactly put into our head in that few hours that we decide to use for studying?
• Studying for exams is very logical. It is important. Yet many a times, God works in very illogical ways. I take the example of Joshua chapter 6 from the bible. The Israelites were told to march around the city of Jericho for six days, with priests and horns. Then on the 7th day, they will have to march 7 times around the city and sound a loud blast so that the city wall will fall. Ok, totally illogical here. Instead of charging straight into the city to attack, they are told to march around with all their men without doing anything? I am sure the enemies in Jericho must be laughing at them when they saw the march. "What clowns" they must have said. Yet, as we read on, we saw the walls of Jericho eventually fell as the Israelites did what they were told to. It is because God does not need to be logical to work things out. God just needs us to trust in Him.
• We must stay trusting to God always. It is very important. We see in 2 Samuel chapter 24 that David counted his men, just to see how strong he was. However, this angered the Lord and caused the city to be hit by a plague. In 2 Samuel 24:10, we see that David actually exclaimed that he had sinned greatly. Why? Seeing how mighty your army is very logical thing to do, what? Why is it a sin leh? Well, it is simply because by doing that, David is seeing how powerful he is capable on his own, and is relying less on God. Isn't this the same thing when we decide that we need to rely on our own strength rather than relying on God for our studies?
• Lets get this straight. I am not saying that we should all give up our studies and just go serve God everyday. No. I am just saying that even when we need to make more time for studies, that time cannot come from God's time. We need to have faith that when we actually spend our time to serve God, God will help us even more and pull us to even greater heights. That is the faith that we must have. Yes, studying on our own will only get us so far, thats coz its still our humanly abilities. But studying and relying on God will get us beyond our limits, thats coz the strength of God is limitless and His arms never fails to reach us when we trust in Him.

Track And Field - Evangel Style

• Yesterday, which is 9th september, was the 1 day special track and field event for Heart.Sports Evangel. Ya, its called Track and Field and Supergames. So basically theres the normal running events - 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 4 X 100m, 4 X 200m, both men and women. Each region sent 2 person to run per event. As for supergames, I am not too sure what are the games but theres Tug-Of-War, and some other telematches and a poison volleyballoon game.
• So, I basically skip the details as I did not pay much attention at the event. But I do know that region B, my region, managed to clinch 1st for 800m (by Commando Cedric) and 4 x 200m. Impressive results. Also, Region B won all the other regions to win champion for the Tug-Of-War event. Power heavyweights like Chester and Derrick definitely added much strength to the region's pull. Chester even wore jungle boots (when Ton asked him to bring boots, Chester didn't know he meant soccer boots) and looked like a gold miner.
• As for me, I represented the region for the 400m event with Chun Seng. Started off very slowly, I was last for half of the race. Then at the halfway mark, I start to put one gear up, then another gear, then another gear. Untill eventually I managed to catch a 2nd for the region. I was glad. The guy who got 1st was really good, he didn't slow down. Hehe, I learnt the wait then kill techniques from the documentaries I watched whereby the lions will wait for the prey to tire down then pounce for the attack. Also learnt the pushing gear technique from Weihong who paced me earlier in the morning and taught me some tips on running.
• Another note is that the Melvin really did very well. He ran pretty fast for 200m but due to the cramp track, was only able to make it about 3rd or something. He also helped to win the 4 X 200m for region B! And the thing is he wasn't even supposed to run as he was reluctant to come for the event, but after much persuasion, he came. Then the guy who was supposed to run for 200m didn't come, so put Melvin lo. Wah, he surprised everybody.
• So the event was concluded and region B was declared the overall winner of the event. Yeah! Region B managed to get champion for supergames and a close second for the track events against powerhouse region A. Felt really nice to know that we did well.

Messed Up Interview

Well, this is a rather old clip but I just forgot to put it up. Theres actually supposed to be an interview with an IT expert on some case between Apple Music and Apple Computers over some music downloading thing. Thats not the main point. The thing is, they mistook this guy in the video as the expert and just brought him ON AIR. Note he is no expert, and he has no idea what the heck was going on. He then gave a "FACE OF HORROR" and went on answering the questions as if he was an expert. Funny guy, he's just so calm when answering the questions, even though the answers were just out of point. Even the interviewer was caught in a shock and could not talk properly at the end of the clip.

Don's 10 Rules To Good Leadership

1. Lead by example. Do what you want your followers to do. Don't do what you don't want your followers to do.
2. Put yourself on the line. Take all the shit when it comes. Don't ever try to push the blame.
3. Share the rewards. When theres a reward, share it with your followers, don't enjoy it yourself.
4. Serve. Being a leader is to serve the followers, not the followers serve you.
5. Never focus on the position. Don't focus so much on you being a leader, focus on how you can serve out your duties.
6. Be proactive. Thats how you lead a group. A passive leader is basically dead.
7. Sacrifice. Your time, your resources, sacrifice, you know you need to.
8. Always be the first to try things out. If you have something new to try, don't make others do it for you.
9. Do the most work in the group. Thats how you can make the group work.
10. Leading with a whip works only on the outside. Leading with a heart works on the inside.

Count On Me Singapore

Well, no idea when this one came out. Old video, not exactly great singing but still... Count On Me Singapore!!!!! Wooooo!!!

Bronze!

• Today marked a significant day in my life. I got another medal for a race. Yes, I have got other trophies before from my other events such as cross country in my secondary years, but what made it significant today is that this medal could easily be the first and the last one I receive in my time in the junior college.
• 3rd for running the 8 x 100m race event. Relay effort, team's glory, but no doubt still a race, still I felt good about it. Well, my team, which is made up of people in my class, trained abit, specifically about 5 minutes a week after PE lessons. Well, some effort. For me, individually, I had a 9km cycling lap around CCK just 2 days before the race. Still, some effort la.
• So on the event day itself, which is today, its time to give it our best. Well, we are definitely not fantastic runners and we certainly are far from the best runners in the school, but we want to make it worthwhile. How to make it worthwhile? Giving it our best. Last year, my class took part in the same event but a small mistake caused the whole team to fall, we were last. This time, we gave it all we had.
• Well, details aside, we managed to make it 3rd, even after a small confusion between another person in the team and me. This means we got ourselves bronze! I was so glad, finally I get a medal in the JC, something at least for me to remember. Nothing much, comparing it to all the gold and champions in the other more exciting events, but still, it is a medal. And it is still something. And I got a box of chocolates. :)
  

Mr Strong Words

Check out this video interview with George Gallaway on the Israel-Lebanon war. If we can absorb this, I tell you, our GP arguments will be solid ah!

Crumpler-er

On 15th August 2006, I officially became a crumpler owner. Yes, crumpler bag. I join in the ranks of many others to own a crumpler bag. Its my first crumpler and jeez, its probably the most expensive bag I have ever bought. The bag is called Team Player, and its big. Big enough to store so many things! I have always wanted to own a crumpler, to see how it is like, why the heck it is so expensive. And yep, its good. Comfortable, theres this weight reduction thing as well, supposed to be durable and it looks pretty cool too. And yes, it gives you the 'crumpler feel' when you carry it. Haha! Maybe its just because of the price!

The Whole Idea Of FAITH

• A friend and I had a chat during one of the breaks when I was in college about a week ago. Both of us being christians, we started discussing about our religion and God. Then she asked a question which I might have thought of, but never really taken note of. She asked me, "If God already know the future, and that He know what is in stored for us, why does He still want us to go through life, why can't He just place us all in the future, coz its gonna happen anyway, isn't it?" I was shocked for a moment. She was right, at least partially. God does know our future, how we will be like and where we will all be. She was right in saying that God has the ability to just place us all in where we were supposed to be. God can do everything. God can even brainwash all of us and turn us all into christians, serving Him with no complains. God can do all these. Why didn't He?
• This set me thinking. And soon after, I began asking God these questions. The answer? Faith. Faith is what christianity is all about. According to dictionary.com, faith is: Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing. Thats faith in the eyes of the world. To have trust for something. To trust that this post will be posted on the internet is faith. But thats according to the world. To christians, what is faith? Well, I copied this from my outreach programme: Faith is not mere intellectual assent, Faith is believing that Jesus Christ is our key to salvation, Faith is the Key that opens the door to heaven.
• Yes, faith = trusting Jesus Christ for salvation. If God brainwashed all the humans and made them all christians, we won't have faith, coz it is built in us, it is not faith. What God wants in all of us is real faith that He is real, that He will be able to save us all, thats why He gave all of us a free will. A will to choose.
• You see, Ephesians 2:8 says "For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God" It is through faith that we have been saved! Faith is the key to salvation. Believing in Jesus Christ is the key to salvation. And to see the faith in us is the reason why God does not brainwash people, it is the reason why God does not skip the process of living on Earth for us. It is to see the faith built in us, to see the faith in us that we can trust and believe something which we cannot see. In John 20:24-29, it is said that Thomas did not want to believe Jesus rose again unless he see Jesus. Eventually, Jesus appeared to him and said "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." Yep, that is exactly what faith is all about.
• Then you ask me, why bother about faith? Why is God so concerned about people having faith in Him? Well, all I can say is, that God is concerned about our heart. He loves us all and wants all of us to go to heaven to be with Him. But we need to deserve it. Thats where faith come in. Faith is the key to heaven, as I have said earlier. When we have faith in God, we can be in heaven coz God knows our heart. Faith is the best thing that we can offer God, thats why it is the key to heaven.
• Why is faith the best thing we can offer? Matthew 8:5-13 tells us about the faith of a centurion, who has so much faith in Jesus as he told Jesus that Jesus need only to say the word so that his servant can be healed. This is so great that in verse 10, it said: "When Jesus heard this, he was astonished..." Wah, Jesus astonished leh! Can you make the son of God astonished? Only by faith can you do that! Faith is such a wonderful thing!
• That is why we as Christians focus so much on believing. It is because only by truly believing in your heart that Jesus can provide you with salvation that you can truly receive slavation and go to heaven. It is not just the mere act of accepting Christ as your Lord and saviour, faith is a very important component afterall!

Interesting

I saw this somewhere. Interesting. Check it out.

• • BIBLE = Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth
  • God always answer our prayers, but sometimes, His answer is "No".
  • God's methods are man, and man's method should always be God.

A Nation Celebrates

9th August 2006, Singapore celebrates its 41st year of independence. Perhaps
many Singaporeans has already been desensitized by all the seemingly identical
and repeated celebrations that happen on this day, such that 9th August holds no
significance at all to the people of the nation. But we must think, know and
remember the significance of this day, of this independence, in order to fully
understand why many people, including yours truly, hold this particular day
close their hearts.

9th August 1965, thats exactly 41 years ago. A time of turmoil for an island
of people. Led by then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, Singaporeans faced a period
of time that could easily mean the end of an entire nation. Singapore, a part of
Malaysia at that time, faces seperation from the peninsula due to differences
that could not be resolved by both parties. Lee Kuan Yew, knowing that Malaysia
would be vital to our survival, could only weep as he announces this seperation
to the nation. No one thought good of Singapore. Lee Kuan Yew himself probably
foresaw what problems could come in the way of the country now that it is by
itself, but he had one thing in mind - he was not going to admit defeat.

So after that fateful day on 1965, the prime minister then and minister
mentor now set plans to work things out. Everybody looked at how Singapore
struggled to climb out of the pit that we were in. Unemployment, a lack of a
defence force, lack of investments, poor housing, poor education, high crime
rates, poor organization of the city, lack of health services, lack of food etc.
Everything that a poorly managed country can face. It was definitely a deep low
for Singapore. But no, Lee Kuan Yew won't take it this way, the rest of
Singapore won't take it lying down as well. Singapore, as a nation, was
determined to pull themselves out of it.

So the problems were tackled one by one. The HDB was set up and all
Singaporeans were housed up in their flats. National Service was made compulsory
and Singapore had its own defence force. Primary education made compulsory and
we saw ourselves educated. The plans just rolled out and we see the knot in our
nation getting untangled.

Right now, look at ourselves. 41 years later, from being looked down and
trying to save our own lives, Singapore has grown to be world class, being
leaders in industries, and helping others in need. And now, we are becoming a
global city. This didn't come easy. It came with trials, turmoils, and
difficulties. And this is the reason we celebrate.

What makes a nation? Is it the place? Is it the government? Is it the
resources? No, its the people. We, Singaporeans, make Singapore to be what it
is. A nation cannot function if it is not united. That is why we have these
celebrations. To remind us of where we come from, and to celebrate our success
today. To keep us united, for it was unity that helped Singapore from becoming a
3rd world country to a 1st world country.

I love my country. I love Singapore. I am proud to be Singaporean. And 9th
August always have a special place in my heart.