(Saturday, June 30, 2007-)
+2:25 AM]*
+2:25 AM]*
# Camouflage
its 2.30 in the morning and im still not asleep. Well what's new right?
Just wanted to blog abt the Transformers movie i watched today, but no worries, no spoilers here. Just to keep it short (at least relatively), i'll jz break it down into two main points, at least thats all i have in my head for now
[1] The need to fit in
When the Autobots (for the illiterate, read as GOOD GUYS) crashed landed on Earth, they quickly took a stroll around town and "transformed" into their alternate form. While on the other hand, Megatron (for the Transformers illiterate once again, read as BIG EVIL), (although not totally by his decision perhaps) was bold enough to remain in his true alien colours. Yes yes, he was a big gun in G1 illustrations, but im talking about the movie here?
All the other Transformers got their disguise and i say the Decepticons (read : BAD GUYS) chose the better ones. Back to my main point, all the Transformers needed a disguise to fit in and many times, thats the same in our world. Be it the good or bad guys, we all want to fit in. Yes, i used an absolute word. We don't want to be alone, and many times, we have given ourselves at outward appearance that looks pleasing to others, while we "keep who we are on the inside". Yes, even BumbleBee pulled such a stunt to please ... oh crap... mini-SPOILER... ok, if you've watched it, you know which two-wheel scene im talking about.
We always think that on the inside, we know who we are. But take one more look at the transformers, their final "true form" was very much altered by the form they chose to disguise themselves as. And even further, it also later reflected on their abilities, think StarScream? So whether we think it matters or not, eventually, what we choose to live like on the outside, be it even a "mask" we wear, or an "alternate form" just to fit in, do not be deceived, it will slowly transform your life.
[2] Crap i forgot....
Oh well, it's late anyway, and i think nobody wants to read more of the weird stuff i think about after movies anyway.
So yup, that's it for now, maybe if i remember i'll blog abt it, but dun think anyone wants to hear, so bye for now
Students, be ready for a shock when monday comes...
Labels: masks, transformers
the story ends like this;
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
(Friday, June 29, 2007-)
+1:27 AM]*
+1:27 AM]*
# Intelligence
It's a rather weird thing. To some, it can be acquired. While others, doing the same, just get frustrated. And what infuriates me, is how some jut can't be bothered.
Ok, firstly, this post might sound discriminatory, so censor yourself if you don't want to get offended.
From experience, there are a few kinds of people.
[1] The born genius. They understand everything without having to try a quarter as hard as the rest of us. They get to "enjoy" life while we slave away. For the same results.
[2] The understanding. These people are able to understand, and from there, they have the source of their intelligence. Rarely do they break into the realm of inventors or breakthrough scientists. Flexible in thought, but not able to bend out of shape to create something new
[3] The hard worker. Slaves away. Does triple the work the understanders do, just to equal the result, if not lower. Lives a hard life. Studying is a chore, more than any other class. Aims to be among the best, but never reaches the peak cuz of IMBA ppl like [1]
[4] The clueless. They try and try. And that's where they are for most of their lives. Trying to comprehend what others already have wrapped around their fignertips after the 101s. They bend and twist their minds, and end up only with a headache.
[5] The worthless. Sorry abt the harshness, but take it in terms of education, not the value of life. They can't be bothered about studying. Think that they can make it on their own without any kind of education, brag about nothing, and ends up... nothing. And drag people down to their glorified nothingness.
Yup,that's the few i've identified. But what makes me sad is the people in category [4]. Some of them, even after hours of trying to drill in some (at times abstract, mind bending, illusionary) concepts, they don't seem to make the link. Like, they have one terminal less and hence, get all the info, but can't seem to decipher that last bit. And then, a major reset happens, and we're back to square one. Even worse, are those with a preprogrammed reset, where after studying, memorizing, they forget everything within the hour.
And it just brings me to think, how at times, i am actually so privileged. So privileged to be able to capture lessons, and then not having to slave away (most of the time) i am able to reproduce the input (usually without 100% accuracy). And, how it must be really frustrating for those who try so hard, and yet, get nothing for it.
Okay, i rarely blog like this, but this would be how i would change the world. If i were to be in charge of education, i wouldn't make it a big fuss abt having two certs, CCA and academic. Rather, ny dream is to have to certs. One for assessment accomplishments (aka results cert) and the other one would be this.
EFFORT CERT
In recognition of the effort put in, totally separate from results. I mean, this is what employers really look at at the end of the day right? People have always said that head knowledge when ugraduate from uni is only like 5%, the rest u learn on the job. So, employers need to know how well u will work. Will u actually be a slakcer in the office like a parasite, or will u be a contributor. There is completely no recognition for the hours category [3] and [4] put in these days. And i feel its an injustice done to them.
But with all this "justice" in mind, i know this Effort Cert will be misused anyway, making people even more stressed to work hard, even when they already have their string of As or whatever i decide to name the highest grade.
Gold with Honours with Special Mention with High Distinction with ... whatever...
Yup, dun wanna talk about how it will be misused, but in my mind, i already know how.
So back to reality, its a sad story, but people who fall below category [3] have the hardest hand this "education" system can deal. Those on the top, we enjoy it while we're there, but when we look down, are we so high up that we will die from the fall?
And now, just some short whining about category [5]. I would be very happy if people in your category didn't exist in my world. What world? The world where people actually want to get educated. Apart from causing me a headache, heartache and causing me to have to actually waste time thinking about people like you, i realise that it's people like you ... ah.. nvm...
Shall not go on from here. Yup, just to clarify, my world here is where people come to learn. And those with no interest, can very well vanish. And those who can't learn, u have my sympathy, and with that, also my still untiring effort to be a helping hand.
bye
Labels: Education
the story ends like this;
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
(Wednesday, June 27, 2007-)
+2:23 PM]*
+2:23 PM]*
# © ?
Haha! Just had a chat with Shuming and i'm like really high right now... Cuz...
One of the questions i set when i was an RT came out for JCTs!!!
Here are my 12 questions, not sure if i can tell u guys, so i shall censor those that didn't come out. I won't censor no7 cuz it's impossible anyone would ever choose that question.
from
Kenneth Wilson (kensw87@gmail.com)
to
XXXX XXX XXX XXXXX (xxxx_xxx_xxx_xxxxx@moe.edu.sg)
date
Apr 4, 2007 10:16 PM
subject
Re: JCT Paper 1 Setting
mailed-by
gmail.com
Hi here are the top 12 questions i have randomly come up with. Hope they inspire!
1. xxxex xre xhe xrxvxlxxged xxes ix txxxy's xxxld. xoxmxxx.
2. The Internet has created more barriers than it has broken down. Do you agree?
3. xxxtoxy xxs lxxt xxs xxxnixixxnxe. Ix txxs xxux ox xxux cxxntxx?
4. The common language of all sports is money. How far do you agree?
5. "xet xxe xxnxsxmxxt xxtch thx oxxexxe" - xxcxxo
xs txe xxgxl xxxtex txxay xxstxfxex xn xxs pxnxxhxxnxs?
6. xrxvxxy wxxl xxxse xo exxxt xn txe xuxuxe. xo wxat exxenx xs txix txxe?
7. Discuss the parallels that can be drawn between the elderly and the environment.
8. Fear is the root of all evil. Do you agree?
9. xxxetxxs xs xxe xxrbxddxn fxxit xf sxxexce. xxmmxxx
10. xt ix bxttxx tx wxxt nothing xxan xo hxxe xvxrxtxixg. xox fxr xo xxu axxee?
11. xxe Exxt xnx Txx Wxxt xre xuxuxllx exxlxxixe. xs txix xxue?
12. xs xxeedxm x xxth xn Singapore?
Woo hoo!!! Im 100% sure that question 2 was used!! And i know at least one person answered it.... Shuming!!
This feeling is so weird. Having to be responsible for a question. Hmmm... But i think she tackled it quite well, with proper scope, examples, not bad!
I know there was a possibility that no 4, about sports and money was used, not sure if it's mine. And no 7, if any of u can think of points, tell me? There are at least 3 (=
No 8, shums think it came out. Oh well, i'll jz leave it there anyway.
If u wanna decode the rest of the questions i set, so ahead, it will take quite a while! Haha!
Heard from Louisa that she did one on discrimination and blindness (anyone used the myopia analogy i taught in class??), then there's one about science and slavery, one on education and its relevance. Im very sorry Louisa...
Feel free to comment the questions u did, and maybe i'll do a commentary on all the 12 questions on which i think were good choices, bad choices, tricky ones, and which ones are suicide?
Hehe, just really high now!!! Whee!!
One of the questions i set when i was an RT came out for JCTs!!!
Here are my 12 questions, not sure if i can tell u guys, so i shall censor those that didn't come out. I won't censor no7 cuz it's impossible anyone would ever choose that question.
from
Kenneth Wilson (kensw87@gmail.com)
to
XXXX XXX XXX XXXXX (xxxx_xxx_xxx_xxxxx@moe.edu.sg)
date
Apr 4, 2007 10:16 PM
subject
Re: JCT Paper 1 Setting
mailed-by
gmail.com
Hi here are the top 12 questions i have randomly come up with. Hope they inspire!
1. xxxex xre xhe xrxvxlxxged xxes ix txxxy's xxxld. xoxmxxx.
2. The Internet has created more barriers than it has broken down. Do you agree?
3. xxxtoxy xxs lxxt xxs xxxnixixxnxe. Ix txxs xxux ox xxux cxxntxx?
4. The common language of all sports is money. How far do you agree?
5. "xet xxe xxnxsxmxxt xxtch thx oxxexxe" - xxcxxo
xs txe xxgxl xxxtex txxay xxstxfxex xn xxs pxnxxhxxnxs?
6. xrxvxxy wxxl xxxse xo exxxt xn txe xuxuxe. xo wxat exxenx xs txix txxe?
7. Discuss the parallels that can be drawn between the elderly and the environment.
8. Fear is the root of all evil. Do you agree?
9. xxxetxxs xs xxe xxrbxddxn fxxit xf sxxexce. xxmmxxx
10. xt ix bxttxx tx wxxt nothing xxan xo hxxe xvxrxtxixg. xox fxr xo xxu axxee?
11. xxe Exxt xnx Txx Wxxt xre xuxuxllx exxlxxixe. xs txix xxue?
12. xs xxeedxm x xxth xn Singapore?
Woo hoo!!! Im 100% sure that question 2 was used!! And i know at least one person answered it.... Shuming!!
This feeling is so weird. Having to be responsible for a question. Hmmm... But i think she tackled it quite well, with proper scope, examples, not bad!
I know there was a possibility that no 4, about sports and money was used, not sure if it's mine. And no 7, if any of u can think of points, tell me? There are at least 3 (=
No 8, shums think it came out. Oh well, i'll jz leave it there anyway.
If u wanna decode the rest of the questions i set, so ahead, it will take quite a while! Haha!
Heard from Louisa that she did one on discrimination and blindness (anyone used the myopia analogy i taught in class??), then there's one about science and slavery, one on education and its relevance. Im very sorry Louisa...
Feel free to comment the questions u did, and maybe i'll do a commentary on all the 12 questions on which i think were good choices, bad choices, tricky ones, and which ones are suicide?
Hehe, just really high now!!! Whee!!
Labels: JCT 2007
the story ends like this;
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
+1:40 AM]*
# The-Past-Tense-Complement-Of-A-Screwdriver's Life
Once you've figured out the title u can start reading this post.
Actually, in all honesty, today wasn't a bad day. It's jz that at the end of the day, it was a sum of bad events. But anyway, i'll jz blog on what happened today.
Called Yeo at 8.30 as was our agreement, but he chose to use the entire buffer time till 9 before waking up. I also needed the buffer time. haha. So we only left Maluri ard 9.45 after picking C2 up from his house.
So we reached Shaun's hosue at 1005 and proceeded to PS2. First game, Crash Nitro Kart. Brings back memories of the good-old-days of Crash Team Racing. Lost the first race like crap. Won the second! Haha! My skill was still around... or so i thought. Lost the 3rd race.. haha. But it was fun. Then we battled it out, but the noob me got myself into negative score by going into the middle of the Polar like arena. Lost the battle, but i blame it on my skill's rustiness.
Then after much searching (4 stacks ofpirated games)we found marvel vs Capcom 2. The only thing that has changed is the characters and the controls are much harder now. First we had vs and swapped ard, but eventually we braved the arcade mode. And after much stress (of button mashing coupled with skill-led precision) we reached the final stage, where the boss was IMBA and we gave up. Cyclops, Ryu and Venom were just not up for it anymore, though Guile had quite a good chance.
Then Yeo came back aft travelling 60 km (to and from IMU) and we decided to play our final game, Dynasty Warriors 5, which was almost 100% the same as 4 except i seemed to die faster. So it must be the game's fault. But then again, yeo died first, and caused us to lose our wonderful mission!! Almost won then he kena tapau by one hit.
So we played again, i used his character, and i died. The curse of Ma Chao.. Eee...
So we left for Atria and had Nando's for lunch. Word of advice, no need to be afraid of their taste meter, jz go for the spiciest. Doesn;t mean a thing. And the portion quite small for RM14.70 summore dun serve water one.. ee... serve.. what.. PeriAID, which is basically bottled water from Kedah selling at RM3 for 450ml. My conclusion, i'll avoid Nando's from now on. Sorry Nando's u just lost one customer (who think's ur best sauce out of the many u have.. is thebasic ketchup)
Okay, then 5 of us (including a Zao) went to 2 BlitZone CCs and then finally one otehr one before finding a CC with 5 free coms near each other. Not too nice an experience because the guy sitting beside me was surfing porn.. Like... what the...
But at least he was in a corner and turned the monitor away once i sat down, so yeah, it was DoTA after that.
Funny game. I was obviously the lousiest, but came up as top level cuz the people who wer supposed to be top level got bugged. When Lion voodoo-ed them, their level returned to lvl 1. Not a bad spell eh? So only me and Yeo didn't kena. So funny, seeing a Lvl 1 harbinger with two mystic staff. Of course at first it was ratehr easy, but when we got complacent, we almost lost our top lane, but after much running ard and finally starting to work together, the enemy was routed. Haha, fine, they got pwned.
Okay, after DoTA, rshed back for tuition, read Potato People in the car which i had to teach later. Class was fun today. Crapped a lot with the F3 class, which bluffed me that class ended. But nice of them to not really leave and come back. So i told them some background info about the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. But i also did talk a lot of crap and explained a lot of simple stuff to them. Played hangman with the F2 class and pretty much, the quiter they are when doing work the happier i am. So i am happy. And to my surprise, only a girl said she played Red Alert 2 in my class, some admitted to playing GunBound and very few to DoTA (compared to what i was expecting). Worse, they didn;t know Sand king's ultimate.. which was supposed to help them in a vocab question about earthquakes... So much from lerning from games. Guys-read the words in DoTA can??
So where does the title fit in. Well, i've whined to NY and emailed A. It's abt NUS again, i;ve missed 4 deadlines in total so far. How much worse can it get? I don;t wanna know. Jayne, i think i really need to hire u as my personal secretary. THat reminds me, June is ending, Jayne, have u handed in my SGC?
Okay, decided not to bore u with NUS details. Little shoutout to Jocelyn and Eugene, hope to see both of u in TJ soon! Esp hoping u can be teaching there for a while more!!
To Louisa, so so sorry abt the smses. It's really my fault. Should have told u earlier... Arrgh, the guilt... Sorry. I think u;er pretty pissed, jz that u're too nice to tell. But it was nice, and wanna wish u all the best for the rest of the paper. Guess it's my turn to foor the bill.
Actually, in all honesty, today wasn't a bad day. It's jz that at the end of the day, it was a sum of bad events. But anyway, i'll jz blog on what happened today.
Called Yeo at 8.30 as was our agreement, but he chose to use the entire buffer time till 9 before waking up. I also needed the buffer time. haha. So we only left Maluri ard 9.45 after picking C2 up from his house.
So we reached Shaun's hosue at 1005 and proceeded to PS2. First game, Crash Nitro Kart. Brings back memories of the good-old-days of Crash Team Racing. Lost the first race like crap. Won the second! Haha! My skill was still around... or so i thought. Lost the 3rd race.. haha. But it was fun. Then we battled it out, but the noob me got myself into negative score by going into the middle of the Polar like arena. Lost the battle, but i blame it on my skill's rustiness.
Then after much searching (4 stacks of
Then Yeo came back aft travelling 60 km (to and from IMU) and we decided to play our final game, Dynasty Warriors 5, which was almost 100% the same as 4 except i seemed to die faster. So it must be the game's fault. But then again, yeo died first, and caused us to lose our wonderful mission!! Almost won then he kena tapau by one hit.
So we played again, i used his character, and i died. The curse of Ma Chao.. Eee...
So we left for Atria and had Nando's for lunch. Word of advice, no need to be afraid of their taste meter, jz go for the spiciest. Doesn;t mean a thing. And the portion quite small for RM14.70 summore dun serve water one.. ee... serve.. what.. PeriAID, which is basically bottled water from Kedah selling at RM3 for 450ml. My conclusion, i'll avoid Nando's from now on. Sorry Nando's u just lost one customer (who think's ur best sauce out of the many u have.. is thebasic ketchup)
Okay, then 5 of us (including a Zao) went to 2 BlitZone CCs and then finally one otehr one before finding a CC with 5 free coms near each other. Not too nice an experience because the guy sitting beside me was surfing porn.. Like... what the...
But at least he was in a corner and turned the monitor away once i sat down, so yeah, it was DoTA after that.
Funny game. I was obviously the lousiest, but came up as top level cuz the people who wer supposed to be top level got bugged. When Lion voodoo-ed them, their level returned to lvl 1. Not a bad spell eh? So only me and Yeo didn't kena. So funny, seeing a Lvl 1 harbinger with two mystic staff. Of course at first it was ratehr easy, but when we got complacent, we almost lost our top lane, but after much running ard and finally starting to work together, the enemy was routed. Haha, fine, they got pwned.
Okay, after DoTA, rshed back for tuition, read Potato People in the car which i had to teach later. Class was fun today. Crapped a lot with the F3 class, which bluffed me that class ended. But nice of them to not really leave and come back. So i told them some background info about the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. But i also did talk a lot of crap and explained a lot of simple stuff to them. Played hangman with the F2 class and pretty much, the quiter they are when doing work the happier i am. So i am happy. And to my surprise, only a girl said she played Red Alert 2 in my class, some admitted to playing GunBound and very few to DoTA (compared to what i was expecting). Worse, they didn;t know Sand king's ultimate.. which was supposed to help them in a vocab question about earthquakes... So much from lerning from games. Guys-read the words in DoTA can??
So where does the title fit in. Well, i've whined to NY and emailed A. It's abt NUS again, i;ve missed 4 deadlines in total so far. How much worse can it get? I don;t wanna know. Jayne, i think i really need to hire u as my personal secretary. THat reminds me, June is ending, Jayne, have u handed in my SGC?
Okay, decided not to bore u with NUS details. Little shoutout to Jocelyn and Eugene, hope to see both of u in TJ soon! Esp hoping u can be teaching there for a while more!!
To Louisa, so so sorry abt the smses. It's really my fault. Should have told u earlier... Arrgh, the guilt... Sorry. I think u;er pretty pissed, jz that u're too nice to tell. But it was nice, and wanna wish u all the best for the rest of the paper. Guess it's my turn to foor the bill.
Labels: BlitZone, Crash Nitro Cart, DoTA, Dynasty Warriors 5, Marvel vs Capcom 2, See Tho, Shaun, Tuition, Yeo
the story ends like this;
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
(Monday, June 25, 2007-)
+1:33 AM]*
+1:33 AM]*
# Shout Outs
Singapore
TJC
-->All the best to my students and those i know in TJC for your JCT (what a nice play of alphabets eh? TJC JCT TJC JCT, even got JTS.. eh.. wait... haha)
-->Please don't be stressed over it too much. Even if you think you're gonna fail, walk in telling urself u'll try ur best, and that's all you could have done. Don't expect something you're not
-->GP, my classes, keep me informed of how u guys did k? I sort of feel anxious to know.... did i screw up raelly badly, or did i actually make an impact for 4 months (=
-->If possible, don't discuss answers. u don't need the smart***es telling you where' you've gone wrong. Keep the mistakes between u and ur ma(r)ker.. hehe
-->On that note, pray to God for peace and wisdom, cuz He knows everything. And i'll be praying for u guys too! JCT schedule anyone? (tag or comment)
EMMANUEL
-->On the same note (maybe different key), I miss u guys in Emmanuel!! My cell! The music team. Everyone!!
-->Stay on fire, in the time between sowing and reaping. Rachael, heard abt ur awesome msg from 1 Kings 17 from FX, God can be scary too.. hee...
FRIENDS
-->I'll be back on the 4/5
-->Jean, Gilmore Girls still on?
-->Class reunion anyone? before we all go our own ways?
Malaysia
MALURI
-->Transformers anyone? This Friday, 1 Utama. Tag or comment if u wanna watch. Ticket expected to be RM10, student card not allowed cuz aft 6pm on Friday.
-->Congrats to Seraphim, Maluri's cheerleading squad. I still say u guys deserve best dressed, and the judges are obviously not paying attention...
-->If anyone wants to catch me (not like im some convict) before i leave (not like im so popular) for SG which will be quite some time before i come back, do tag/comment cuz i'll most likely hear from u here
LA
-->Hope OpenSong works better this coming Sunday
-->Light the fire again
Labels: Cell, Emmanuel, GP, JCT, Seraphim, transformers
the story ends like this;
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
(Saturday, June 23, 2007-)
+11:33 PM]*
+11:33 PM]*
# Go Seraphim!!
The cheerleaders of SMK Taman Bukit Maluri
SERAPHIM
Wishing The Seraphim's all the best in CHEER 2007!! Sorry sis i wasn't there. Way proud of you!! Live your dream, flap your wings, cheer your heart out, create an everlasting memory.
In support of Seraphim 07
You guys rock!
Rock the final day of Cheer 2007!
the story ends like this;
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
+3:13 AM]*
# Of Mahjongs and Bridges
So what have i been doing the past few days? Let's jsut say it can be summed up in 4 words. Mahjong, Mamak, Tuition and Sleep.
Okay, what's this big picture of an explosion doing here? Well it's just to describe my hand at mahjong recently!! Haha, ok ok maybe a bit too much drama for a game of mahjong, actually quite a few games, but yeah, i won quite big yesterday, except i don't play with money, only chips. Not the potato but the plastic variant ok.
So this is how a typical day starts for me. I have to set the default starting time as 12pm. You'll see why later. I wake up roughtly at about that time, laze around till about 3pm, then call Yeo or whoever's free for breakfast. Then after breakfast, we proceed to do nothing cuz i have to teach tuition, which i shall elaborate about later. Then after tuition, we go to C2'S house and play mahjong!! Haha, and this happens at about 10.30pm. And when we get bored of Pong-ing and Sek-ing, we play poker and more recently, Bridge, with our own house rules for payment. Haha, too bad for contract bridge.
Then when we're done, its usually 3am in the morning, so i go home and sleep. And thus the 4 words that sum up my days here are explained. Did i mention 3 player mahjong is fun?
Ok, back to tuition, the other reason why there is this big explosion picture. Well, let me repeat myself cuz i don't think it can be done enough, that IM VERY THANKFUL FOR MY CLASSES IN TJ!! Teachers should never take for granted that students want to study. Cuz in tuition on Tuesday, about half the class wanted to study, the other half had the life aim of being irritating to me, but not enough that i should kill kick them out of class.
Yes, i am very thankful for people who respond in class, pay attention, do work and once in a while actually ask questions to show interest. But generally, this is what i've been getting. I walk into class and the whole class stares at me (cuz im replacing mom who's busy at the moment). Then i proceed to introduce myself and most of them can't pronounce my name. But i guess Mr Wilson is about as simple as it gets (i stand by my claim that English names are easier to pronounce AND remember).
Then that's about all the time i can get their attention. Trying to get to know them is rather fruitless/unsuccessful/useless. Let me illustrate.
Me : Hi [insert name here, say A]
A : *looks at me*
Me : What CCAs do you join in school?
A : *laughs and turn to friend*, say B
Me : Ok, ok, what club or persatuan (Malay for society) do u join
A : *laughs even more*
Me : Nevermind, moving along, let's see, how about u, B?
B : *laughs and looks at both me and A*
Me : What clubs do you join? Any uniform groups?
B : *laughs* dun have..... *laughs with whole class*
Me : Okay, so all you do is study, go back home, study, go tuition and... study... then reach home and study
Everyone : *laughs*
Me : Okay, how abt u, C?
C : dun have....
Me : Okay, that's it for introductions today, let's begin with the lesson...
And the laughter is the most English i get for the whole lesson. Oh wait, dun have also is apparently english, so i'll jz accept that too. Cuz the rest of the lesson, they speak to each other in Chinese, ask questions in Chinese, and if there is anything else that can be done, it's in... CHINESE.....
So apart from the fact that it's an English class for 1.75 hours, there really isn't much English going on. And actually, im not sure if i should be thankful for that fact considering that their English is... so .... erm... below par.. that i can't think of any examples you would understand. Seriously. To put i into context, let's make a simple comparison...
Word count
GP Essay : 800 words
F3 Summary : 60 words
Time spent
GP : 30 minutes
F3 : 30 seconds
Makes sense
GP : Yes
F3 : No
Pass?
GP : No
F3 : Yes.... sadly... (lifting is allowed/encouraged... but they can't even lift properly....)
So apart from the fact that i've degraded myself to teaching basic comprehension (understanding) of English words, it's really frustrating cuz most of the people who are there are either
[-] smart enough to answer a 1 hour paper in 15 minutes (10%)
[-] have no understanding of 95% of the words in this post (70%)
[-] think speaking in chinese to their friend beside, in front and behind them is what they are paying money for ( 19%) and these are the kind i wanna remove from existence
[-] think that it's a fashion show and try to show off what they have/wear etc (1%)
Yup, so as you can tell, im not enjoying myself teaching here, but it's actually not too bad with the F3 classes. The f1 and F2 (on Tuesday) causes genocide to not sound so bad anymore...
Okay, enough about ranting about tuition, what else have i figured out from Malaysia.
C2's in Uni of Nottingham, doing the course i will be soon. So i can syphon notes and tests from him
Yeo's going Sarawak on July 2nd
Shaun's back till Sept, going to work soon, has a GF, Michelle, and has regular hair once again
Dom, is doing law, somewhere
Jolene is doing food science
Jamie is going to NUS!!
Chia Ling is back from US
Poh Lynn, or May Lynn, is also back, i think it's Poh Lynn though.. hehe, sorry..
Nithiya is back from.. France? I dunno.. but on Holiday now apparently
SuetMei, no idea, but at HELP, Shing Yee too
Chi Yee's going Sabah!
Anyone i missed out, tag me?
To my students, i dun knwo when, but i feel GP is coming real soon. Wanna wish u all the best, hope i've been a good teacher, and no, results dun really show how good ur GP is, wait till Promos. But can i still know ur results?
Shout out for sunday, Happy Bday Cal Vin!
Labels: bridge, Dominic, mahjong, See Tho, Tuition, Yeo
the story ends like this;
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
(Wednesday, June 20, 2007-)
+2:40 PM]*
+2:40 PM]*
# Destiny
The Will of God.Everyone has asked this question. And if you haven't, you are just about to.
Q : What is the meaning of life?
If any of us had the answer to this, life would be so much easier right? Wrong. Knowing the meaning of life, and living it out to the fullest is two separate things. One is an event (knwoing the answer), the other, a process (living out what life means)
I know my blog is deprived of pictures, and i think it'll stay that way for quite a while, but this picture is here to help answer the question on what is the meaning of life.
Of course, the answer is not somethin I personally discovered, but was taught to me by an awesome man of God, Ps Martin Steel from the land of the Kiwis during my AWESOMELY AMAZING TO THE MAX SUPERBLY COOL CHURCH CAMP!!!
Ok ok, back to the point, the meaning of life. Logically, the answer to that should be with the Person who created "life" itself, God. And guess what, the answer is there, in His Word.
Ephesians 2v10
10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
That's it. That's the simple answer to the most complex question in this world. Of course, there is also the part in Isaiah 43v7 that further explains the "good works" we are to do, which is for the glory of God.
So let's break it down. We arecreated to do good works. What are good works, and how is this related to this title, DESTINY, and the mosaic picture above. Let's start from the very beginning.
1. We all have a destiny which God has prepared in advance for us to do. For the Christians, we usually hear it as the "the will of God". So what is this "will of God" which ultimately makes out our purpose for existence? I'll start by saying what the "will of God" is not. It is not
[-] an event in life that will occur
[-] a specific job that we are "called" to do
[-] a position in the marketplace we are "called" to have
[-] a major achievement, like winning a gold medal or an award
[-] a certain field God wants us to be in
[-] being a pastor of a church
[-] save endangered animals
[-] build an orphanage
Yes, i know it is shocking to see all that, but let me explain, all that i listed are just events. Yes, each and EVERY one of the points above can be IN the will of God/purpose for life, but it is not THE purpose of life, meaning to say, it's not like, if we don't end up in that particular job, or achieve a particular dream, we have missed the purpose of life/the will of God. We can be doing those stuff, and still miss the will of God or not find any purpose in it.
So, what is the will of God (WOG) or the purpose of life (POL) ? Back to the basics again, we have a destiny. This destiny is not an event, but a PROCESS. And now, i shall explain the mosaic at the start. Destiny in life is very much like that picture mosaic. The complete destiny is a nice picture, but it is made up of many tiny pictures inside it. And each of those pictures represents events in our lives that colour our complete picture of destiny. So, working hard to get into law school might be one picture, and the one next to it, graduating from law school being another picture which makes our pictuer of destiny complete. Getting employed to do a small case for a friend, makes the next picture in the mosaic of destiny. The WOG/POL is not accomplished once you get into a big law firm, or win this particular case, or become an influential lawyer.
The WOG/POL is found in the events that take place each and every day as you work, or as you get fired and how you handle it. How you react to your family when you break the news, all this, though life may seem to be out of the WOG or having your POL destroyed, actually continues to complete your destiny mosaic. So in a mini conclusion, the WOG/POL comes to complete resolution as we do good works, from day to day, adding picture by picture, the good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
So now that we have a clearer picture (hehe) of what the WOG or POL is, let's break down the individual pictures. What is this "good works" that make up our destiny. According to Ps Martin Steel (which this whole post so far has been inspired through him from God), these good works are things that benefit others (and i think it includes yourself as well). He told an interesting story (which i am going to greatly summarize) about how...
There was a man who was brought to church (Ps Martin's) by one of his youth leaders. And God told Ps Martin to preach a sermon on salvation although he had another sermon prepared. So Ps Martin obeyed and at the end of the sermon, he asked if anyone wanted to accept Christ, and as you wouldn't have guessed, nobody said yes. So Ps Martin continued praying and asked God why nobody has responded so God showed him the picture of an old car in a garage. That wasn't going to help Ps Martin a lot so he continued praying and God told him that that is the reason why someone isn't answering this call of salvation, because of an old car in a garage.
So in obeying God, Ps Martin said that there is this old car in a garage that is stopping you from giving your life to God and immediately, the young man who was brought by the youth leader shouted "How did you know that?!!" and then he shouted it a few more times and left the church. The youth leader who picked him up had earlier promised to drive the young man to his destination if he'd follow him to church first, as the young man was a hitch hiker.
So Ps Martin didn't hear of that young man till a year later. The young man had accepted Christ and told Ps Martin that once he left that service and went to his university, it is as if every Christian there found him and told him about God and brought him to their church and two months later he accepted God. He couldn't earlier as he was planning to repair an old car he had bought over the weekends, and wouldn't have time for church cuz of the car.
So, how is this related to our destiny in life? Our destiny in life is not merely to eb a youth leader, or a pastor. But, it is more like this. Every action in that story, comes together to complete the pictures of many destinies.
For Ps Martin
--> to obey God to change his sermon and talk about an old car in a garage
For the youth leader
--> to bring a hitch hiker to church
For the young man
--> it was when he got picked up and stayed for the service
All these events are just parts of the WOG acting in many different lives of people who obey God to do good works. So becoming a pastor deosn't mean you have achieved the WOG or found your POL. But rather, it is the good works you do, that complete your picture mosaic of destiny.
So now that we know it's good works (i know its rather long eh? and believe it or not, this was all during the first session, first night during church camp!!) which are the good works we are to do? Because a picture mosaic cannot be made up of random pictures. We are not called to do all the good works in the world. We would just tire out. We would be leading a meaningles life, and the final picture of destiny will be so distorted, unrecognisable... unaccomplished. Wasted.
The next discovery for us in accomplishing the WOG/finding our POL, is knowing which pictures are we to take in completing our mosaic of destiny. This is where the first part of the Ephesians 2v10 comes in. For we are God's workmanship.
In each of us (consisting of the physical and the spirit (or character of the person)), we have been created with a spiritual SIM card. What??? Yes, each of us are the workmanship of a creator God who crafted us with a SIM card in us. What SIM card? Maxis? StarHub? M1?
SIM here refers to
Are the remaining 19 less spiritual/holy because they don't think of the kid? Are they any less kind/compassionate because theyenjoy rugby? No. It is because one of them has resonated to the call of his SIM Card within him.
The second related illustration is this. Ps Martin took Ps Mark's phone and said that in the air around us, there are thousands of EM waves (ok, i used the more proper EM terminology, but u get what i mean) at different frequencies bouncing all over the place, yet none of the handphone ring. But if we dial Ps Mark's number, yet another frequency will be added tothe thousands in the air, but Ps Mark's SIM Card will resonante and ring to that one call. That one frequency.
That's how it's like in our life. There will be needs all around us, that we can do good works for, but not all good works are within our picture of destiny. It could belong to your neighbour, your friend, colleague, it could be shared between u and ur friend. Eventually, all these good works will add up, to make the clear and complete picture of the body of Christ. Be it starting from YA, CFC, Emmanuel, the Ignite Network, Churches in Singapore, Churches in Asia, The Church of Christ. We will all have our destinies coming together to unfold the great tapestry of time, the perfect, complete Will Of God.
So that's the basics of what the church camp wanted to start on. Accomplishing the WOG in our lives, and that ties in perfectly to our theme
And some updates of me in Malaysia
-i had an awesome time in SG on saturday, the most amazing YA service yet!
-great time on sunday with Bible study with cell and honourary member Jayne, Sorry Chellie, ur sheep got "stolen"
-travelled back to Malaysia which took quite long cuz of one part where 5 FIVE! lanes became one...
-reached back Malaysia and then had to teach tuition
-first class was a Form 3 class which was not too bad, and then the Form 1 was .. err.. a little too young for me...
-reminded me of my time in TJ. Anf my classes, i just wanna say thank you once again for the awesome time ihad with you guys!! You guys are so much more fun than these "kids" hehe
-really appreciate it that u guys gave me the respect to not make noise when i gave work, to listen to me when i talked, to ask questions and make your stand known
-i appreciate all these things more now, now that im teaching these younger kids who either blankly stare at me, or talk to each other.. IN CHINESE... EESSSHH!!!
-played mahjong!! haha! 3 person mahjon is so so so so FUN!!!
-First night (until 3am) i won all the money in mahjong and poker!! woo hoo!!
-Second night (2.40am) i won quite a bit of money, and exploded (full 10 points) 3 times that night!! And one i even won 9 bucks!! Considering each point is only 10 cents!! Ha haa!!! EXPLODE EXPLODE!!!
-Now my favourite word in mahjong is not Pong!! or Kong!! anymore.. it's explode!!!! WHEEE!!!
-more updates soon
-txs for doing the test, hope you enjoyed it!
-should i do one more?
-txs Alvin for the hp batt
Labels: Destiny, Explode, Jayne, mahjong, Purpose of life, Tuition, Unleash Your Potential, Will of God, YA
the story ends like this;
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
(Monday, June 11, 2007-)
+2:36 AM]*
+2:36 AM]*
# Me Madness
Create your own Friend Test here
Or click here directly for the test
Check the scoreboard here too
Have fun... hopefully
Labels: Test
the story ends like this;
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
+1:14 AM]*
# Malaysia Madness
Saturday was fine. Did practically nothing the whole day, which is a good thing, and then went for Hillsong concert at KLBC. What's that? I had no idea either. Where was it, in KL, duh...
Apparently in the heart of KL somewhere. Reached church first, said hello, there was this friend of Melissa. Melissa has changed even. I mean, the Melissa i knew was Mei Ling's sis, but now it's Sheryl's. Anyway, we had a little discussion adn soon were off to i-don't-know-where.
And we ate at i-don't-know-where too. Some Thai place APPARENTLY, but their fried kuey teow betrayed them. Or i have been spoilt by great Thai food, courtesy of Jean. I don't know, but it was so not worth it. RM7 for a plate of fried kuey teow which stayed in my breath for the whole night.. at least i think.. Yup. It also served insane RM15 Tom Yam soup, which was apparently nice, with some crab leftovers in it. Yup, the pieces look like they have alraedy been crushed by some other guy's hammer and thrown into the soup. But it was good apparently and some people were melting from drinking it.
Soon we went over from the allegedly "Thai" restaurant and into KLBC. Kuala Lumpur Baptist Church for the uninformed (aka ME). Along some Jalan Alor in KL, which is apparently (notice i use apparently a lot? That's cuz all i know is what other's say, cuz? I DON'T KNOW KL!) a famous place to makan.
So we went in, waited for Christine and Vee Nee to arrive but they were a little late, so we went in first. Oh, gripe of the day, they were selling All of the Above at only RM33. That's about $5 cheaper than what i bought it for.. But at least i love the album!! Point of Difference still rocks!
The auditorium was rather small.. or was it cramp? I dunno. EXPO CHC spoilt me i guess. The quality wasn't too good either, but then again, CHC must have spoilt me. So all it was that night was praise and worship, with one short testimony and an offering that seemed out of place.
Met Chi Yee, as shall I say David there. Who's right now, doing i dunno what since he's graduated from St John's (Form 6) The band was ok, but it didn't really go into full blast i guess? Or some would put it as "it didn't take off" Only one song from All of the Above, without the crazy electric guitar part (which i've come to love) it was Hosanna. The rest were from United We Stand, Mighty to Save or albums from time unknown. One Way is still their hit song. This Hillsong team needs an update! Hehe.
But what i learnt is that i need to teach myself that it shouldn't be about the songs. Yup. Remind myself that.
After the concert, we left, but it got me thinking a little how Malaysia is so different from SG.
Malaysia in.. erm... Red?
Singapore in white? haha
It's cheaper to go by car to an event
The only logical way to an event is by public transport
People queue to get into events
People queue to get out once it finishes
Life starts after 10 (for the average mamak goer)
Night ends at 10 (everything closes down)
Not totally related to the event
A movie costs RM8 (Ocean's 13)
It's $7.50 if you're lucky
A can of drink here is RM1.60
It's $1.10?
KFC rocks
KFC pebbles
I love my friends and miss them!
I love my friends and miss them!
I love my friends and miss them!
Okay, i'll fast forward to Sunday. Reunion. Just about the time we were supposed to go out, it started to rain. Not only did Shaun come back from the UK, he must have brought the weather along cuz it rained cats, dogs, the night safari, and every other animal in africa. It was so bad, the water rose to my doorstep within 30 seconds. So if you're reading this blogpost, by the end of the next paragraph (if u read as slow as me), your ankle would be covered in water already.
And as if the rain wasn't bad enough, my handphone credit has expired. So yeah, pretty much all alone, communication wise. So i jz waited and finally Yeo came, and i swam to his car while avoiding random floating items. Hopefully none of them were mine. Reached there and went to Poh Lynn's house. Poh Lynn, if you're reading this, i don't know why the meeting point was outside your house, but that's where we met Shaun, or his Nissan technically... technically speaking, it's his mom's Nissan, but not the point. And by now, you'd be drowning in that Malaysian rain.
Okay, from May Lynn's house (they're twins) we set off for Kanna Curry House. Funny name i know, but it's a mamak and the waiter's have name tags. LOlz. Ok, to my surprise, Jamie was there, with Chia Ling, and long lost friend, Jolene. So long and lost i forgot when was the last time i saw her.
See Tho, Dom and I had umbrellas but Shaun and Michelle didn't so we offered to shelter them to Kanna. When we reached, we were quite wet anyway but we soon got down to being ourselves. After 30 minutes or so into the conversation, we start to introduce Michelle to each other. Or rather, Shaun did to those other than c2 and JL.
We had a rather nice time, found out Jolene's doing Food Science in Monash (which i had to embarrassingly ask to find out its in Sunway), Michelle's in HELP, doing some Commerce course. We've concluded business is for men. Commerce is for women.
Interesting bit of conversation, Jolene's phone decided to take a swim so she had to get a new one (apart from her bag which can now double as a water bottle since it drowned her old phone). But unknowingly for Jolene, the phone has a bimbo curse on it and some of it has passed on to Michelle. Haha. And of course Jolene herself was in the below average ranking for brightness today as she struggled to find the camera on her phone. Not the button, the actual camera. How? Go figure... No.. i think u wouldn't be able too. Haha.
Soon, after lots of crap talking and Shaun having to down a Masala Milk, we paid the bill which was not carefully done so we were charged one plate of fried sotong and one drink less. Oh well, that's why we love mamak's ryte?
After mamak, went to C2's for Mahjong and poker. Interesting time of mahjong, i only won twice, but when i did, it was rather big, so i think i had the most money. Poker too, somehow i stayed out at the right times and did have enough money. But it was nice to see Michelle turn from almost broke to make JL the broke "Bangladeshi worker" (think building the wall) and finally the game ended with Shaun going bust first. Hmm.. he should have taken up Michelle's 10% interest per hour loan. Haha, girlfriend but still knows how to do business. Haha, commerce student what.. what to do ryte?
So after an interesting time of mahjong, in which we either taught, or confused Michelle, and poker with one tutorial round of blackjack, i come home, kick some GDI butt and blog here. Cool? Not quite.
Church camp tmr! Yaynesses!!
Apparently in the heart of KL somewhere. Reached church first, said hello, there was this friend of Melissa. Melissa has changed even. I mean, the Melissa i knew was Mei Ling's sis, but now it's Sheryl's. Anyway, we had a little discussion adn soon were off to i-don't-know-where.
And we ate at i-don't-know-where too. Some Thai place APPARENTLY, but their fried kuey teow betrayed them. Or i have been spoilt by great Thai food, courtesy of Jean. I don't know, but it was so not worth it. RM7 for a plate of fried kuey teow which stayed in my breath for the whole night.. at least i think.. Yup. It also served insane RM15 Tom Yam soup, which was apparently nice, with some crab leftovers in it. Yup, the pieces look like they have alraedy been crushed by some other guy's hammer and thrown into the soup. But it was good apparently and some people were melting from drinking it.
Soon we went over from the allegedly "Thai" restaurant and into KLBC. Kuala Lumpur Baptist Church for the uninformed (aka ME). Along some Jalan Alor in KL, which is apparently (notice i use apparently a lot? That's cuz all i know is what other's say, cuz? I DON'T KNOW KL!) a famous place to makan.
So we went in, waited for Christine and Vee Nee to arrive but they were a little late, so we went in first. Oh, gripe of the day, they were selling All of the Above at only RM33. That's about $5 cheaper than what i bought it for.. But at least i love the album!! Point of Difference still rocks!
The auditorium was rather small.. or was it cramp? I dunno. EXPO CHC spoilt me i guess. The quality wasn't too good either, but then again, CHC must have spoilt me. So all it was that night was praise and worship, with one short testimony and an offering that seemed out of place.
Met Chi Yee, as shall I say David there. Who's right now, doing i dunno what since he's graduated from St John's (Form 6) The band was ok, but it didn't really go into full blast i guess? Or some would put it as "it didn't take off" Only one song from All of the Above, without the crazy electric guitar part (which i've come to love) it was Hosanna. The rest were from United We Stand, Mighty to Save or albums from time unknown. One Way is still their hit song. This Hillsong team needs an update! Hehe.
But what i learnt is that i need to teach myself that it shouldn't be about the songs. Yup. Remind myself that.
After the concert, we left, but it got me thinking a little how Malaysia is so different from SG.
Malaysia in.. erm... Red?
Singapore in white? haha
It's cheaper to go by car to an event
The only logical way to an event is by public transport
People queue to get into events
People queue to get out once it finishes
Life starts after 10 (for the average mamak goer)
Night ends at 10 (everything closes down)
Not totally related to the event
A movie costs RM8 (Ocean's 13)
It's $7.50 if you're lucky
A can of drink here is RM1.60
It's $1.10?
KFC rocks
KFC pebbles
I love my friends and miss them!
I love my friends and miss them!
I love my friends and miss them!
Okay, i'll fast forward to Sunday. Reunion. Just about the time we were supposed to go out, it started to rain. Not only did Shaun come back from the UK, he must have brought the weather along cuz it rained cats, dogs, the night safari, and every other animal in africa. It was so bad, the water rose to my doorstep within 30 seconds. So if you're reading this blogpost, by the end of the next paragraph (if u read as slow as me), your ankle would be covered in water already.
And as if the rain wasn't bad enough, my handphone credit has expired. So yeah, pretty much all alone, communication wise. So i jz waited and finally Yeo came, and i swam to his car while avoiding random floating items. Hopefully none of them were mine. Reached there and went to Poh Lynn's house. Poh Lynn, if you're reading this, i don't know why the meeting point was outside your house, but that's where we met Shaun, or his Nissan technically... technically speaking, it's his mom's Nissan, but not the point. And by now, you'd be drowning in that Malaysian rain.
Okay, from May Lynn's house (they're twins) we set off for Kanna Curry House. Funny name i know, but it's a mamak and the waiter's have name tags. LOlz. Ok, to my surprise, Jamie was there, with Chia Ling, and long lost friend, Jolene. So long and lost i forgot when was the last time i saw her.
See Tho, Dom and I had umbrellas but Shaun and Michelle didn't so we offered to shelter them to Kanna. When we reached, we were quite wet anyway but we soon got down to being ourselves. After 30 minutes or so into the conversation, we start to introduce Michelle to each other. Or rather, Shaun did to those other than c2 and JL.
We had a rather nice time, found out Jolene's doing Food Science in Monash (which i had to embarrassingly ask to find out its in Sunway), Michelle's in HELP, doing some Commerce course. We've concluded business is for men. Commerce is for women.
Interesting bit of conversation, Jolene's phone decided to take a swim so she had to get a new one (apart from her bag which can now double as a water bottle since it drowned her old phone). But unknowingly for Jolene, the phone has a bimbo curse on it and some of it has passed on to Michelle. Haha. And of course Jolene herself was in the below average ranking for brightness today as she struggled to find the camera on her phone. Not the button, the actual camera. How? Go figure... No.. i think u wouldn't be able too. Haha.
Soon, after lots of crap talking and Shaun having to down a Masala Milk, we paid the bill which was not carefully done so we were charged one plate of fried sotong and one drink less. Oh well, that's why we love mamak's ryte?
After mamak, went to C2's for Mahjong and poker. Interesting time of mahjong, i only won twice, but when i did, it was rather big, so i think i had the most money. Poker too, somehow i stayed out at the right times and did have enough money. But it was nice to see Michelle turn from almost broke to make JL the broke "Bangladeshi worker" (think building the wall) and finally the game ended with Shaun going bust first. Hmm.. he should have taken up Michelle's 10% interest per hour loan. Haha, girlfriend but still knows how to do business. Haha, commerce student what.. what to do ryte?
So after an interesting time of mahjong, in which we either taught, or confused Michelle, and poker with one tutorial round of blackjack, i come home, kick some GDI butt and blog here. Cool? Not quite.
Church camp tmr! Yaynesses!!
Labels: Chia Ling, Dominic, Hillsong, Jamie, Jolene, Kanna Curry House, KLBC, mahjong, Michelle, poker, See Tho, Shaun, Yeo
the story ends like this;
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
(Saturday, June 9, 2007-)
+1:20 AM]*
+1:20 AM]*
# More of Malaysia
Well, among other things, i visited my dad. Without mom knowing at first. I thought it would be traumatising or something, but it was ok. I guess it means i have let go, to quite a good extent.
But nothing's changed. It's still as........ as ever back "home". Not too specific i know when i have lived in at least 9 different places for at least a month each. Wow, didn't realise i've been moving around that much in my life. But yeah, i guess this "home" was the longest so i guess it deserves the "home" tag at least.
But yes, it's still the same. Even worse. What happened to the No Smoking sign. Never realised i was actually proud of it till it's gone. The com still works. Generals is still on it, and the mouse works great.. but it's gonna rot away. Okay, lot's of details i don't wanna scare everyone with, but let's jz say it won't exactly house humans.
It's sold. But even before the legal contract, there was someone else living in my room. Well, i guess i can't call it my room, cuz im not exactly staying there. And my name on the door's been torn down too. Wonder if my artwork has been done away with too. But all that's left is a locked door. The stickers are still there. Yup, looks a lot like my room from the outside. Too bad i didn't get to see the inside. Rather, im thankful i didn't have to see it. Nope, no tears this time. I guess my memory in that house is gone for good.
Somehow can't believe i actually lived in that house, seeing it the way it is.
Ok, on to stuff that isn't so gloomy, i watched Ocean's Thirteen today.
I think it was quite cool, but it's the kind of movie you have to watch more than once to get to understand everything. Very complex. Not cheem, jz complex.
Not as comprehensive in terms of character this time round, but still, interesting to see how they get things done. Or rather, pull the "Bank" job. And it was nice to have dinner out with the guys too. Big reunion planned for this sunday, so if u were from Maluri or if u know me or anyone who you think will be at this reunion, the following complete details are for you
Date : 10th June 2007
Venue : Unknown
Time : Haven't decided yet
Event : We'll get to that soon
Attire : yeah right
Okay, that wasn't too helpful right? But yeah, it's this Sunday, in the afternoon cuz morning we have church. I heard sueling can't make it, and not sure if Poh Lynn u'll be back, Shen, no word from u either, but the rest, hope to see u there! Shing Yee, haven't met u yet! Haha
Okay, apart from that, i think 1 Utama is big, but not as big as two Taka's. Why? cuz the parking lot itself could be as big as Taka. Really...
Okay, apart from that, i've been watching Gilmore Girls, and i realise they don't really talk as fast until Paris comes into the picture. And the whole incompatability issues between Lorelai and Emily seem really real. And Rory is too innocent, yet at times, looks like she knows exactly what shes doing when shes with guys. And some people are just jerks?
Okay, enough of blabbering, tomorrow's KFC day. Yes, it's Malaysian KFC, not remotely related to Singaporean KFC. And im helping my younger sis make Egg Sandwiches for CF tmr, i mean in 5 hour's time. I should sleep eh?
But nothing's changed. It's still as........ as ever back "home". Not too specific i know when i have lived in at least 9 different places for at least a month each. Wow, didn't realise i've been moving around that much in my life. But yeah, i guess this "home" was the longest so i guess it deserves the "home" tag at least.
But yes, it's still the same. Even worse. What happened to the No Smoking sign. Never realised i was actually proud of it till it's gone. The com still works. Generals is still on it, and the mouse works great.. but it's gonna rot away. Okay, lot's of details i don't wanna scare everyone with, but let's jz say it won't exactly house humans.
It's sold. But even before the legal contract, there was someone else living in my room. Well, i guess i can't call it my room, cuz im not exactly staying there. And my name on the door's been torn down too. Wonder if my artwork has been done away with too. But all that's left is a locked door. The stickers are still there. Yup, looks a lot like my room from the outside. Too bad i didn't get to see the inside. Rather, im thankful i didn't have to see it. Nope, no tears this time. I guess my memory in that house is gone for good.
Somehow can't believe i actually lived in that house, seeing it the way it is.
Ok, on to stuff that isn't so gloomy, i watched Ocean's Thirteen today.
I think it was quite cool, but it's the kind of movie you have to watch more than once to get to understand everything. Very complex. Not cheem, jz complex.
Not as comprehensive in terms of character this time round, but still, interesting to see how they get things done. Or rather, pull the "Bank" job. And it was nice to have dinner out with the guys too. Big reunion planned for this sunday, so if u were from Maluri or if u know me or anyone who you think will be at this reunion, the following complete details are for you
Date : 10th June 2007
Venue : Unknown
Time : Haven't decided yet
Event : We'll get to that soon
Attire : yeah right
Okay, that wasn't too helpful right? But yeah, it's this Sunday, in the afternoon cuz morning we have church. I heard sueling can't make it, and not sure if Poh Lynn u'll be back, Shen, no word from u either, but the rest, hope to see u there! Shing Yee, haven't met u yet! Haha
Okay, apart from that, i think 1 Utama is big, but not as big as two Taka's. Why? cuz the parking lot itself could be as big as Taka. Really...
Okay, apart from that, i've been watching Gilmore Girls, and i realise they don't really talk as fast until Paris comes into the picture. And the whole incompatability issues between Lorelai and Emily seem really real. And Rory is too innocent, yet at times, looks like she knows exactly what shes doing when shes with guys. And some people are just jerks?
Okay, enough of blabbering, tomorrow's KFC day. Yes, it's Malaysian KFC, not remotely related to Singaporean KFC. And im helping my younger sis make Egg Sandwiches for CF tmr, i mean in 5 hour's time. I should sleep eh?
Labels: Egg Sandwich, Gilmore Girls, House, KFC, Ocean's 13, Reunion
the story ends like this;
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
(Friday, June 8, 2007-)
+12:30 PM]*
+12:30 PM]*
# Malaysia Moments
So I've been here 5 full days already. Been doing quite a few stuff. In essence,
-->Command and Conquer 3 : Tiberium Wars
-->Mahjong
-->Bridge
-->Poker
-->Mamak
-->Blogging/blog surfing
-->Gilmore Girls (txs once again Claire)
-->Pirates of the Carribean : At World's End
Haha, yes shuming, i've been to the mamak quite a bit already. But im still not a fully qualified pig yet.
But the major highlight is just meeting up with sec sch friends and doing practically nothing at mamak stalls for hours. Like receiving a msg at 5.40 saying "lets go for breakfast". And it's 5.40. PM. Yup, we're back to our nonsense again of waking up at 5pm for breakfast, and then CnC, and then bridge.
Yes, bridge has now infested Malaysia too. But above all that, really appreciate friends i have here. Or Malaysia would be a total bore. Like later today, going to watch Shrek 3. And i don't need you to tell em how its gonna be a waste of money cuz i already know that but it's jz spending time with friends. And im gonna make a better estimate of 1 Utama to see how much bigger than Taka it is. (ok, that's bad phrasing... my english is really going down the drain...)
Yup, it has been kind of fun playing and doing crap with them. Blasting motherships out of the sky. Seeing rail-guns topple defences. And trumping that last set.
But church camp is coming, and it'll soon be time to go.
But before that, Shaun's coming back tmr from UK. Chia Ling's already here, Nithiya too. So it'll be like the biggest 5A reunion... well... since we parted ways?
Let's see how big it can get.
-->UK
-->US
-->Australia (not exactly 5A)
-->Singapore
-->New Zealand (not exactly 5A either, but close enough!)
Cool.. But people have changed. Haha, maybe except the few lame ones that are still in Maluri. Haha, thankful for that.
And if you're wondering, this is where the lameness originates from. 5A, class of 2004!
Yes, before i totally forget...
-->Command and Conquer 3 : Tiberium Wars
-->Mahjong
-->Bridge
-->Poker
-->Mamak
-->Blogging/blog surfing
-->Gilmore Girls (txs once again Claire)
-->Pirates of the Carribean : At World's End
Haha, yes shuming, i've been to the mamak quite a bit already. But im still not a fully qualified pig yet.
But the major highlight is just meeting up with sec sch friends and doing practically nothing at mamak stalls for hours. Like receiving a msg at 5.40 saying "lets go for breakfast". And it's 5.40. PM. Yup, we're back to our nonsense again of waking up at 5pm for breakfast, and then CnC, and then bridge.
Yes, bridge has now infested Malaysia too. But above all that, really appreciate friends i have here. Or Malaysia would be a total bore. Like later today, going to watch Shrek 3. And i don't need you to tell em how its gonna be a waste of money cuz i already know that but it's jz spending time with friends. And im gonna make a better estimate of 1 Utama to see how much bigger than Taka it is. (ok, that's bad phrasing... my english is really going down the drain...)
Yup, it has been kind of fun playing and doing crap with them. Blasting motherships out of the sky. Seeing rail-guns topple defences. And trumping that last set.
But church camp is coming, and it'll soon be time to go.
But before that, Shaun's coming back tmr from UK. Chia Ling's already here, Nithiya too. So it'll be like the biggest 5A reunion... well... since we parted ways?
Let's see how big it can get.
-->UK
-->US
-->Australia (not exactly 5A)
-->Singapore
-->New Zealand (not exactly 5A either, but close enough!)
Cool.. But people have changed. Haha, maybe except the few lame ones that are still in Maluri. Haha, thankful for that.
And if you're wondering, this is where the lameness originates from. 5A, class of 2004!
Yes, before i totally forget...
the story ends like this;
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
(Thursday, June 7, 2007-)
+2:23 PM]*
+2:23 PM]*
# The Cultural Mandate
That's something i've never heard of before. But it helped explain to me a lot of things that CHC were doing. Why they do what they do. Why they are so "extreme".
*****WARNING....EXTREME CONTENT TO SOME MAY FOLLOW.... READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED*****
So what exactly is this cultural mandate?
In Genesis, God gave Adam the mandate/responsibility to tend the Garden of Eden. According to Ps Kong (who is currently my preaching hero!), the word "tend" actually came from the root word "cultura" which actually means to culture. To grow, according to a certain style i guess. So basically, God wanted us to have dominion over culture, wanted us to shape culture and the world we live in, beyond just the physical "garden".
So what's this culture we see today?
Killings, vulgarities, obscenities, crime?
As we would know, the devil is interested in one thing, ruining God's plan and thus we can all see the fallen state of culture in our world today. But not all is lost.
We still see beauty, care, love, amazing discoveries, fashion (read Proverbs 31 with fashion in mind and see what Ps Kong means). So many things are still going right in a world gone wrong. And obviously not all that is right "comes from God" or better put "coming from Christians". There are good things being done by non-Christians, who are not explicitly given this Cultural Mandate to influence culture, but they are doing a pretty good job. Think charities (other than NKF if that helps ur flow of thought), humanitarian aid, great music, great inventions/discoveries (like broadband internet =).
So if Christians were given this mandate to engage culture, how come God has allowed others to influence the world (for the better as well)? It's through this phrase originally coined by John Calvin, "common grace". It's basically God's grace poured out upon all creation because God is a creative God. Elohim which was the word used to describe God in the begining of time actually means "creator God" or "creative spirit". Yes, in order to create, you need to be creative. One look at our world and you can tell there is a pretty creative God out there =)
So there's this common grace that enables business men and women to succeed, artistes to come up with great songs, scientists with amazing breakthroughs. And with these, they shape, or "tend" the world we live in.
So where does the church come into the equation.
People pay $888 to see one man sing and dance
Some people need to be "paid" to come to church
People sell millions of copies of their albums in music stores
People can't "survive" a 30 minute praise and worship session
People spend hours and days practising their dance moves/routines/stunts for competitions
People need to be asked to serve in church
People queue up for concerts/wait for tv programmes to start
People come as late as they can for service and leave as early as possible
The state of the church is a joke. We show ourselves to be holy and good. So holy and good even Jesus Himself might not enter. After all, He befriended prostitutes and tax collectors, ate with sinners and drunkards. While we Christians "mock" the world for being so evil and polluted. And the world looks at the church as if we're not even living in the same world as them. As if life on the inside of the four walls of church belongs to another dimension while the world moves on.
The world moves on.
The church has lost its relevance. It has failed it's cultural mandate to engage the culture of this generation. And even worse, some churches are even proud to be irrelevant. Proud to be seen as not of this world, to an extreme twisted end "holy and set APART"
What then do we say of John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
If you love something, you long to be with it, to be a part of it, not APART from it. We have become so estranged from this world that people don't dare to believe in God cuz it doesn't look like everlasting life belongs to the Christians. It looks like once u enter church, u're in a cultural prison, where you no longer belong to society because of all the things you can't do in a church.
But clearly the word of God tells us to be "in the world, but NOT of the world" but most Churches choose to not even be in the world. But why? Are we afraid that by letting Christians listen to secular music, they'll become satan worshippers? By letting them watch movies, they'll become materialistic?
Hello... "Greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world". We are to engage the culture we are in today, be a part of it, shape it the way God meant it to be.
If you want to be a rapper, let the church be the place you showcase your rap for the glory of God.
If you wanna be a breakdancer, let the church teach you how to be excellent at it.
If you wanna be a fashion designer, let your youth group be your test bed.
If you want to be a writer, let your cell group be your editors.
I mean, come on, the church isn't ONLY about praising God and worshipping Him (although in no way am I downplaying the significance of that role), but the church is called to be so much more. To meet the true needs of the community, not just feeding the poor and housing the homeless.
There is a generation out there waiting to flourish, and if the church won't engage them, guess who'll get them to sign a contract first?
*****WARNING....EXTREME CONTENT TO SOME MAY FOLLOW.... READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED*****
So what exactly is this cultural mandate?
In Genesis, God gave Adam the mandate/responsibility to tend the Garden of Eden. According to Ps Kong (who is currently my preaching hero!), the word "tend" actually came from the root word "cultura" which actually means to culture. To grow, according to a certain style i guess. So basically, God wanted us to have dominion over culture, wanted us to shape culture and the world we live in, beyond just the physical "garden".
So what's this culture we see today?
Killings, vulgarities, obscenities, crime?
As we would know, the devil is interested in one thing, ruining God's plan and thus we can all see the fallen state of culture in our world today. But not all is lost.
We still see beauty, care, love, amazing discoveries, fashion (read Proverbs 31 with fashion in mind and see what Ps Kong means). So many things are still going right in a world gone wrong. And obviously not all that is right "comes from God" or better put "coming from Christians". There are good things being done by non-Christians, who are not explicitly given this Cultural Mandate to influence culture, but they are doing a pretty good job. Think charities (other than NKF if that helps ur flow of thought), humanitarian aid, great music, great inventions/discoveries (like broadband internet =).
So if Christians were given this mandate to engage culture, how come God has allowed others to influence the world (for the better as well)? It's through this phrase originally coined by John Calvin, "common grace". It's basically God's grace poured out upon all creation because God is a creative God. Elohim which was the word used to describe God in the begining of time actually means "creator God" or "creative spirit". Yes, in order to create, you need to be creative. One look at our world and you can tell there is a pretty creative God out there =)
So there's this common grace that enables business men and women to succeed, artistes to come up with great songs, scientists with amazing breakthroughs. And with these, they shape, or "tend" the world we live in.
So where does the church come into the equation.
People pay $888 to see one man sing and dance
Some people need to be "paid" to come to church
People sell millions of copies of their albums in music stores
People can't "survive" a 30 minute praise and worship session
People spend hours and days practising their dance moves/routines/stunts for competitions
People need to be asked to serve in church
People queue up for concerts/wait for tv programmes to start
People come as late as they can for service and leave as early as possible
The state of the church is a joke. We show ourselves to be holy and good. So holy and good even Jesus Himself might not enter. After all, He befriended prostitutes and tax collectors, ate with sinners and drunkards. While we Christians "mock" the world for being so evil and polluted. And the world looks at the church as if we're not even living in the same world as them. As if life on the inside of the four walls of church belongs to another dimension while the world moves on.
The world moves on.
The church has lost its relevance. It has failed it's cultural mandate to engage the culture of this generation. And even worse, some churches are even proud to be irrelevant. Proud to be seen as not of this world, to an extreme twisted end "holy and set APART"
What then do we say of John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
If you love something, you long to be with it, to be a part of it, not APART from it. We have become so estranged from this world that people don't dare to believe in God cuz it doesn't look like everlasting life belongs to the Christians. It looks like once u enter church, u're in a cultural prison, where you no longer belong to society because of all the things you can't do in a church.
But clearly the word of God tells us to be "in the world, but NOT of the world" but most Churches choose to not even be in the world. But why? Are we afraid that by letting Christians listen to secular music, they'll become satan worshippers? By letting them watch movies, they'll become materialistic?
Hello... "Greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world". We are to engage the culture we are in today, be a part of it, shape it the way God meant it to be.
If you want to be a rapper, let the church be the place you showcase your rap for the glory of God.
If you wanna be a breakdancer, let the church teach you how to be excellent at it.
If you wanna be a fashion designer, let your youth group be your test bed.
If you want to be a writer, let your cell group be your editors.
I mean, come on, the church isn't ONLY about praising God and worshipping Him (although in no way am I downplaying the significance of that role), but the church is called to be so much more. To meet the true needs of the community, not just feeding the poor and housing the homeless.
There is a generation out there waiting to flourish, and if the church won't engage them, guess who'll get them to sign a contract first?
"The tide is turning, this is redemption's hour...." - UNITED - Point of Difference
Labels: Cultural Mandate
the story ends like this;
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
(Monday, June 4, 2007-)
+8:19 PM]*
+8:19 PM]*
# Emerge!
Basically this is the reason why I haven't been blogging the past few days. I've been occupied with the totally awesome Emerge Youth Conference by City Harvest Church! And its so worth it!
What's worth it? Well, for one thing, the queueing (no idea how that's spelt) for about an hour on the first night was good. The crazy 8am till 10am wait was ok but the killer was the 5 till 6 wait in the sun with Heri's cell and some of my youth. Then the last night (that I attended) was brilliant cuz it was after Habitudes and Emmanuel got us a bus down to Expo (that's where it was) and we jz queued and jz moved smoothly all the way in and got ourselves a seat in the main Hall 8 which was most liekly the last of the seats in there! So cool!
Ok, i'll jz start with an overview of the conference
Things I found completely awesome
-->Ps Kong! Like what e405 members had for Gideon, I have for Ps Kong - He can REALLY preach. Not jz the charisma and style and stage presence that he has, but rather the message. He preaches with such power and authority on the Word! Not to mention he (and the rest of city harvest) has a good dress sense!
-->The culture! Hat's off to CHC Youth! They are the most supportive, enthu and well discipled bunch of people around. From the sharpness they have in them, the willingness to stand up and cheer, the endurance (which CFC has too!) for long services, the good attitude while in queue (cuz close to none of them complained or made a lot of noise like us (we made noise lar k?))
-->The songs! Ok, not all, but some. The Malay one which i think is titled Mengenal-Mu which can be sung in Jap and Chinese! And Breathe in Jap is cool too! But overall, their praise and worship is really annointed. Even in the overflow room, you can feel it! And u can follow their songs quite easily even though they are totallly new!
Things i found quite cool!
-->The Emerge! Silver dude on the booklet
-->I CAN DO ALL THINGS as the theme
-->The wristband/bangle for entrance
-->Parade of Schools.. okay, maybe this can go into the awesome category
-->Who Wants To Be A Missionary + Preaching Challenge + Maths Olympiad
Things that were a bit er... yeah.. er.
-->The winning design for the costume/make-up competition
-->Dota competition
-->Swimsuit category for Pageant?
Okay, enough with the basics, time for a breakdown of the event! But I don't quite have the mood to blog so i'll jz have the highlights ya?
Day 1 Night 1
I arrived. That's it. What? I mean, I, I, arrived. Not CFC or even YA. Nobody was there at 5.15... come on ppl, this is City Harvest, You don't turn up half an hour before an event, you simply WON'T GET IN. So I waited and eventually 5 ppl (including me turned up) and we queued. For a long time.... Shall skip the details of how we got crammed ard and then finally the breakthrough came, we were told that we were going into the overflow section.
So yeah, arrived alone, queued late, had to go to overflow, things were looking bad ryte?
No, im not gonna say I felt God and everything was alright. It was kind of crappy. Felt so wasted, shortchanged. Then after that, once i settled in my seat, the worship was nearing its end and Ps Kong came out.
It was jz us in the overflow, (which was jz a section in the main hall which was cordoned off), a screen and one speaker/amplifier in case of ambiguity(which wasn't too good at first but some guy adjusted it halfway and it got better)
Then Ps Kong started introducing the celebrity guests and visiting pastors that were around. Then he said that tonight's service was gonna be broadcasted live across the world! And that they were gonna start the actual service at 7.30! Haha! Then my mood changed!! I hadn't mised much after all! Yup, it was cool! Then there was a countdown to the service going live on air with a cool countdown timer! The cheerleaders with us at the overflow were going nuts and finally, it started!
They had a cool opening video, and then there was fireworks and an opening drum performance, complete with cool lights and water bouncing off the drums! Then we started off in praise and worship! It was really really good! My first time being in an overflow room, but i could feel the presense of God in there! I mean, it really can't be emotions or hype, cuz come on, let's face it, u're looking at a flat tv screen and one speaker... there's no way its the cool swinging overhead cameras, rotating lights or superb music blasting from the speakers. They're services are really annointed man. I didn't know e songs, or the ppl or whatever, but u could jz feel God in that place!! So cool!
Then after that, they had some performances, but the highlight was the parade of schools, in the form of a cheerleading contest, with teams from each cluster! The best in my books were the SMU/SIM team. Saw some cool moves, some not too interesting ones, and some that were jz plain WOW. The best has to be the 3-tier leg split. Haha!
Then came the performances by some popular taiwan pop star Tank, which i had no idea who he was but some girls were going crazy over him. Ok lar, i guess its cuz i dun undz a word he was saying. Fast forward all of that, to the preaching.
It was on spiritual hunger. It was how God could say in Romans 9v13 Jacob (who was a deceiver, cheater) I have loved but Esau I have hated. It was all because of Jacob's hunger for God. How he didn't let go of God although he wasn't perfect. God can only move in your life if you hunger after Him.
There was also this subpoint about how you turn out to be like your mentor. Isaac was a man without vision. He loved food and showed favouritism. So thats how Esau turned out. Had no vision when he sold his birthright, loved food so much that he gave up his birthright and hated his brother.
Similarly for Jacob, his mother taught him how to be tricky and crafty, and that's how he turned out. Of course God didn't jz love Jacob and say it's alright, hunger after me and whatever wron u do, i'll jz overlook. Jacob got his fair share later in life when he got tricked by a man more evil than himself to work for low waes for 10 years, to get tricked into marrying the wrong woman and work another 10 years and how his favourite wife died, and his favourite son was later held captive. But through it all, God saw Jacob, the man who wrestled with God, through the perils in his life and blessed him.
So that was the ending of night one and Ps Kong gave an altar call for uni students, too bad i wasn't there or i would have went! Yup, and it inspired me to go for the next day of emerge! Oh yeah!!
Day 2 Morning
It started with me reaching expo at 8 while Heri said he was reaching there at 7.25, but he actually only reached there at 8.45... Okay, but i queued and got myself a nice seat but eventually moved over to Heri's cell place.
[to be continued if i feel like it]
What's worth it? Well, for one thing, the queueing (no idea how that's spelt) for about an hour on the first night was good. The crazy 8am till 10am wait was ok but the killer was the 5 till 6 wait in the sun with Heri's cell and some of my youth. Then the last night (that I attended) was brilliant cuz it was after Habitudes and Emmanuel got us a bus down to Expo (that's where it was) and we jz queued and jz moved smoothly all the way in and got ourselves a seat in the main Hall 8 which was most liekly the last of the seats in there! So cool!
Ok, i'll jz start with an overview of the conference
Things I found completely awesome
-->Ps Kong! Like what e405 members had for Gideon, I have for Ps Kong - He can REALLY preach. Not jz the charisma and style and stage presence that he has, but rather the message. He preaches with such power and authority on the Word! Not to mention he (and the rest of city harvest) has a good dress sense!
-->The culture! Hat's off to CHC Youth! They are the most supportive, enthu and well discipled bunch of people around. From the sharpness they have in them, the willingness to stand up and cheer, the endurance (which CFC has too!) for long services, the good attitude while in queue (cuz close to none of them complained or made a lot of noise like us (we made noise lar k?))
-->The songs! Ok, not all, but some. The Malay one which i think is titled Mengenal-Mu which can be sung in Jap and Chinese! And Breathe in Jap is cool too! But overall, their praise and worship is really annointed. Even in the overflow room, you can feel it! And u can follow their songs quite easily even though they are totallly new!
Things i found quite cool!
-->The Emerge! Silver dude on the booklet
-->I CAN DO ALL THINGS as the theme
-->The wristband/bangle for entrance
-->Parade of Schools.. okay, maybe this can go into the awesome category
-->Who Wants To Be A Missionary + Preaching Challenge + Maths Olympiad
Things that were a bit er... yeah.. er.
-->The winning design for the costume/make-up competition
-->Dota competition
-->Swimsuit category for Pageant?
Okay, enough with the basics, time for a breakdown of the event! But I don't quite have the mood to blog so i'll jz have the highlights ya?
Day 1 Night 1
I arrived. That's it. What? I mean, I, I, arrived. Not CFC or even YA. Nobody was there at 5.15... come on ppl, this is City Harvest, You don't turn up half an hour before an event, you simply WON'T GET IN. So I waited and eventually 5 ppl (including me turned up) and we queued. For a long time.... Shall skip the details of how we got crammed ard and then finally the breakthrough came, we were told that we were going into the overflow section.
So yeah, arrived alone, queued late, had to go to overflow, things were looking bad ryte?
No, im not gonna say I felt God and everything was alright. It was kind of crappy. Felt so wasted, shortchanged. Then after that, once i settled in my seat, the worship was nearing its end and Ps Kong came out.
It was jz us in the overflow, (which was jz a section in the main hall which was cordoned off), a screen and one speaker/amplifier in case of ambiguity(which wasn't too good at first but some guy adjusted it halfway and it got better)
Then Ps Kong started introducing the celebrity guests and visiting pastors that were around. Then he said that tonight's service was gonna be broadcasted live across the world! And that they were gonna start the actual service at 7.30! Haha! Then my mood changed!! I hadn't mised much after all! Yup, it was cool! Then there was a countdown to the service going live on air with a cool countdown timer! The cheerleaders with us at the overflow were going nuts and finally, it started!
They had a cool opening video, and then there was fireworks and an opening drum performance, complete with cool lights and water bouncing off the drums! Then we started off in praise and worship! It was really really good! My first time being in an overflow room, but i could feel the presense of God in there! I mean, it really can't be emotions or hype, cuz come on, let's face it, u're looking at a flat tv screen and one speaker... there's no way its the cool swinging overhead cameras, rotating lights or superb music blasting from the speakers. They're services are really annointed man. I didn't know e songs, or the ppl or whatever, but u could jz feel God in that place!! So cool!
Then after that, they had some performances, but the highlight was the parade of schools, in the form of a cheerleading contest, with teams from each cluster! The best in my books were the SMU/SIM team. Saw some cool moves, some not too interesting ones, and some that were jz plain WOW. The best has to be the 3-tier leg split. Haha!
Then came the performances by some popular taiwan pop star Tank, which i had no idea who he was but some girls were going crazy over him. Ok lar, i guess its cuz i dun undz a word he was saying. Fast forward all of that, to the preaching.
It was on spiritual hunger. It was how God could say in Romans 9v13 Jacob (who was a deceiver, cheater) I have loved but Esau I have hated. It was all because of Jacob's hunger for God. How he didn't let go of God although he wasn't perfect. God can only move in your life if you hunger after Him.
There was also this subpoint about how you turn out to be like your mentor. Isaac was a man without vision. He loved food and showed favouritism. So thats how Esau turned out. Had no vision when he sold his birthright, loved food so much that he gave up his birthright and hated his brother.
Similarly for Jacob, his mother taught him how to be tricky and crafty, and that's how he turned out. Of course God didn't jz love Jacob and say it's alright, hunger after me and whatever wron u do, i'll jz overlook. Jacob got his fair share later in life when he got tricked by a man more evil than himself to work for low waes for 10 years, to get tricked into marrying the wrong woman and work another 10 years and how his favourite wife died, and his favourite son was later held captive. But through it all, God saw Jacob, the man who wrestled with God, through the perils in his life and blessed him.
So that was the ending of night one and Ps Kong gave an altar call for uni students, too bad i wasn't there or i would have went! Yup, and it inspired me to go for the next day of emerge! Oh yeah!!
Day 2 Morning
It started with me reaching expo at 8 while Heri said he was reaching there at 7.25, but he actually only reached there at 8.45... Okay, but i queued and got myself a nice seat but eventually moved over to Heri's cell place.
[to be continued if i feel like it]
Labels: City Harvest Church, Emerge 07, Heri
the story ends like this;
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________