Review of Year 2008

On looking back, 2008 has been a challenging, yet amazing year for me personally. Through it all, I can only say that God has been faithful and good. He has given me a certain level of successes at almost every front. I'm quite sure I could not do it, if not for His grace.

1. I was given full teaching load in school, together with other departmental and committee duties.
To RI basketballers: You guys have fought hard together in 2008 and achieved commendable results. And that has taught me more about the Rafflesian Spirit. Thanks, guys!

2. I continued to serve actively in church as a cell leader, imparting my life to the cell members under my charge.
To Kenneth, Jarrell, Kevin, Joel, Joash and Glenn: You guys have been great and teachable. Thanks for sticking together all these years. I've seen all of you grown both physically and spiritually. I am really privileged to be your cell leader.

3. I continued to be active in community work - serving as an adult volunteer at TOUCH Cyber-Wellness Centre almost every Sat.
To Yong Hong, Andy, Nicholas, Yongsin, Mukhlis, Vishnu and Jin Chai: Thanks for being part of us all this while. You guys made a difference to my life.

4. I had to plan my wedding together with my then-fiancee, Dawn.
Planning a wedding must be one of the biggest project anyone would undertake - especially if you intend to get married in Singapore. But thankfully, Dawn and I had a great team of helpers, led by my wedding coordinator, Wai Mun, who made almost everything run smoothly throughout my actual wedding day.


I'm thankful that 2008 didn't pass by just like that. My life has been touched by many people, and I too, had the chance to touch some lives.

I'm looking forward to the year ahead, 2009. It is going to be another extraordinary year for me, I'm sure of it. Not only I have God, but I now also have my wife, Dawn to face the challenges of life together with me. =)

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Honeymoon in Korea Day 6

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Honeymoon in Korea Day 6

Greetings from Korea yet again. We're now at a ski resort in Muju. We won't be doing any ski-ing though. Just rested here last night.

The resort's design & architecture is really interesting & elaborate. (:

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Honeymoon in Korea Day 3

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Honeymoon in Korea Day 3

Finally, we found a place in Korea with free wireless Internet access. It's a Dunkin' Donuts outlet in Jeju Island.

It's been a great trip so far. Just that the weather for the first two days had been incredibly cold. Today it's much better. (:

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Life without Limbs...

Nick Vujicic is back in Singapore.

Born limbless, Australian-born Nick faces far greater life struggles than most, but he breaches and overcomes these barriers with the power of God’s love. Today, Nick trots around the globe to bring his amazing testimony of hope, love and strength to millions worldwide. So get ready to be transformed by another of Nick’s inspiring message for us. (FCBC Website)

If you want to have a change of perspective of life, come and be inspired!

Sunday (9th Nov) 1:30pm @ Expo Max Pavilion

Car-check!

Today, I finally did something that I've never done before. I learned from my dad how to do a car-check in 5 minutes.

It may sound strange. But in the past, I always relied on the helpers at petrol stations to help me check.

(to be continued...)

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Happy & Blessed Birthday, Junhao!

Last Sunday (yesterday) was Junhao's birthday. I really thank God for Junhao - a good brother to me all this while.

He has being such an encouragement to me and my faith. And I know that I can count on him when I need help. That's what spiritual brothers and family are for. =)

Singapore Flyer

Two Sundays ago, I brought my parents to the Singapore Flyer. It was a good time together, and I realized that I haven't been bringing them out like this for some time.

It was our first time on the flyer. To be honest, after a few minutes of rotating, the initial excitement died down quite fast.

But on a more positive note, I found myself taking some photographs from angles previously impossible. I caught a glimpse of F1 build-up, IR construction, floating platform, and yes, even IRONMAN (the competition).

F1, F1 and more F1!!!

The F1 craze is here. Many shopping malls have race cars parked right ouside them. I found one outside CK Tangs.

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Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-class

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I like WALL-E. I just watched it earlier this week.

Two things that I picked up.

1. Be more environmentally friendly. Do your part to reduce, reuse and recyle. Don't let our earth really end up like the one the movie - full of trash.

2. Exercise & keep fit. I don't want to be like the people inside. That's why I have Wii Fit! =)

Discipline

Discipline - it's a dirty word to most people, especially youths. The general perception of it is usually negative.

For those on the receiving end, discipline often includes things like withdrawals of privileges, scoldings & even beatings.

I'll like to paint a perspective from the other end. As a teacher & cell leader in church myself, I have disciplined many young people before. When I see somebody doing something wrong (like latecoming), if I don't correct him, I'm encouraging him to continue doing this wrong thing & I'm not helping him build his character.

Take for example. A child of 5 years dashes across the road without his parents. The father can perhaps smack him on the hand and remind him not to do it again. The child may not understand completely, but the father is teaching him that the little pain he feels is nothing compared to when a car knocks him down. That's discipline.

There is a price to pay when you discipline someone. You risk rejections from that person. You risk relationships. But honestly, you only discipline someone whom you care. If you don't care about that person, you wouldn't bother correcting him. .

Of course, there're people who have abused their authority and disciplined out of anger and selfishness. I myself have being like that before - perhaps being too harsh and use hurtful words. I would like to apologise to those whom I have done that to, especially my students and my cell members. I am sorry.


Don't always view discipline as something negative. You only discipline those whom you care.

I Love Singapore!!

Happy 43rd Birthday, Singapore!!!



This year, we celebrate our nation's 43rd birthday. I'm proud to be a Singaporean.

For such a small nation, our global influence and achievements are simply amazing. We have the world's best airport, the world's top airline, the world's busiest port, etc. We are also one of the best places in the world to do business.

However, all of the above will not last if we have a whole generation of Singaporeans constantly looking outwards and emigrating to other nations at every opportunity. They have forgotten how much blessings they or their forefathers have received from this land.

We have to raise up Singaporeans who are loyal to Singapore and are willing to stay in times of crisis. In this time and age, crisis may strike any time - be it in the form of natural or man-made disasters, or even economic recessions.

Love Singapore.

Singapore, my homeland, my inheritance

Hwa Chong Council Reunion

Last Saturday night, the Hwa Chong Institution (College) 32nd Students' Council organized a really massive Council Reunion. Of my batch - which is the 25th Students' Council, 14 of us turned up.

The shared memories that we had was something that each of us will never forget. I'm really thankful that during my JC days, I didn't indulge in computer games or waste my time away. I was able to build lasting friendships (not to mention serving the school).

Hence, I'm very sad when I see many young people today building their lives in the virtual world all day long - WOW, Maple Story, Runescape, Lineage. They seemed to have forgetten that there is a real world out there.


Even now (almost 10 years since we've parted), I can still relate very well with the councillors of my batch. It's really amazing.

Dream. Team. Fight. Win.

After months of training and preparation, and a month of intense competition, the RI 'C' Division Basketball team finally defeated Yuying Secondary in the South Zone Final and emerged as the new South Zone 'C' Division basketball champions!

The road ahead isn't going to be easy, we all know that. We're right now in the midst of the nationals round 1. We're up against Bukit Panjang, Dunman High and Presbyterian High.

We won our first game in nationals against Bukit Panjang today. 7 more games to the national's title. We can do it.

It is a dream that the RI basketball team is built around. We'll fight together and win it.

Doing things with great love?

Last week, I read somewhere about what Mother Teresa once said.

"In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love."

It caused me to ponder for a moment to do some self-reflection.

I realised that I often do things with my very own self-interests in mind. I didn't do them out of a heart to love others. Not all the time anyway.

For instance, when I do discipline a student in school, I need to do it with the intent that I want him to change for the better, and not just to do it for the sake of doing.