Hi!!!

As promised, here’s my post regarding the recent General Elections in Singapore. 🙂

I shall start with a disclaimer that I am not an expert in politics and that I am not very well-read about the many political issues and the details inherent. However I still wish to share my personal and humble thoughts about the recent and pretty exciting GE.

I would like to start by saying that I am thankful for the current ruling party, People’s Action Party’s (PAP) excellent track record. They have indeed done much for this little country of ours, aka the tiny red dot for the past 45 years and counting. We have come a long way and it’s been incredible how we’ve transformed from a third world country to a first world nation. Under the helm of Lee Kuan Yew, Goh Chok Tong and current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, our past and present leaders have shown intelligence and great foresight in governing our nation.

The second thing I’d like to say is that I am also thankful for the six opposition members that have been fielded into our Parliament from the recent GE. We now have four more (up from two from the last GE) alternate voices to speak up for the people in Parliament debates. I applaud them for their courage to have braved and to continue to brave a difficult political path. The nation thanks them for being the “co-driver” that will watch the “driver” when he dozes off or goes off track.

Through the GE, there has been great political education and awareness on new social media such as on my Facebook and Twitter page. Friends, Straits Times, Online Citizen will post news article, personal views and on-the-ground happenings at rallies which have educated me on Singapore’s politics like never before.

Prior to elections, I actually did not know who my area Minister of Parliament was and I was embarrassed. Was it because I am politically apathetic? I then I realize that many, like me also did no know theirs. I think partly the reason is because my area was not contested for the last elections in 2006 and so the PAP did not require to actively campaign in my area. Another reason could also be my area’s boundary was redrawn and PAP was confident of winning my area without a tough fight. Lastly it could also be because I am not active in grassroots activity and neither do I need to meet my MP in the meet the people’s meeting so I simply didn’t know who my MP was for the last five years.

But then came the elections, I suddenly knew that my area MP is Tan Chuan Jin, that he is new and he came to my house’s doorstep on an early Thursday morning to shake my Dad’s hand and to win our votes.

The elections has revealed the change in Singapore’s political climate. Gone are the days of “apathetic” citizens and youths. Many have spoken via Facebook, Twitter and even cried out in response to the speakers during the rallies due to dis-satisfaction over a gamut of issues such as housing, transport, immigrants and the ruling party governing Singapore like a corporation. Another hot topic was about the minister’s high pay that results in them living lives that are detached from the common man’s and therefore they simply cannot understand what we are going through and not really listening to our cries.

However, with the GE 2011 results revealing that overall 60% of the people’s votes went to the PAP and 40% to the opposition parties collectively, I hope that there will be positive changes with regards to the approach that the PAP takes in implementing policies and governing our nation.

Looking forward, we now have more alternative voices to speak up for the people’s interest. Hopefully the PAP will also take a stronger interest in listening to the people’s cries and not place economical growth as the all important and only defining success of a nation.

I don’t expect housing, transport and migrant issues to be resolved overnight. But I truly hope that Singapore as a nation will be able to find solutions to these problems. I truly hope that the leaders can see that no doubt progress is good, but it should not be forced at the expense of the people’s comfort and ability to cope with these changes. I fear that Singapore is transforming too quickly and that problems arise far faster than we can solve them.

I also believe that the Group Representation Constituency (GRC) system should be capped at 5 maximum since there are only 4 major races in Singapore and that new MPs should prove their worth and fight their own fight in a Single Representation Constituency. This will no doubt be extremely unlikely because then the ruling party’s possibility of winnings may be highly diminished.

After this GE 2011, citizens will no doubt be keenly watching the PAP’s next steps and hold them accountable for their promises to listen to our views and opinions, especially the younger ones like myself. I do hope that the PAP’s manifesto of including EVERYONE in nation building is something I can believe in and not just a nice sounding slogan.

Lastly, perhaps the most important lesson on leadership I take away from GE 2011 is that to be a leader, you must have a heart for your people, listen to their plight, seek to understand them and ultimately it requires sacrifice to help them. I believe many times it may be a thankless job especially those who serve humbly and quietly every week. But when you prove your sincerity, the people can feel it and you will no doubt have the sweetest rewards.

Xx

It’s the Royal Wedding for Prince William and Princess Catherine!

I followed the wedding except for the church procession (because I was on the way home from work). And it’s so amazing and breath-taking. Everything was so pretty, lovely! The couple, the guests, the bridesmaid and paige-boys, the horse-carriages, the crowd, the confetti! It was and probably is better than scenes from a movie! I tweeted, it deserves a photobook on it’s own and in this age, a Blu-ray disc of it’s own!

If you missed the “Live”show… No worries, I bring you the climax!:

The first public kiss of the Royal couple! Hahaha! Credits to my sister’s friend who captured this picture on the live streaming! They actually kissed twice, the second time was upon the crowd’s enthusiastic chanting “Kiss again!”.

Alright~ If you want to know more, go check out BBC’s site here as well as The Royal Channel on Youtube here. 😉

Ciaos~ (Bye in Italian, learning a bit right now.)

Hello! First week of Summer Hol’s is turning out quite fine!

Yesterday I had lunch and movie outing with my sister Jia Hui before attending a cozy sharing session with KIN and Sifr personnels, Faudil and Chris. My sister and I watched Hop and it was quite a ludicrous show. It was quite disappointing to say the least and we felt, a real waste of James Marsden (Cyclops from X-men) and Kaley Cuoco’s (from Big Bang Theory) acting. talent.

So today met up with Martin at Marine Parade to head to East Coast beach to show some scenes for a video contest he’s taking part in. I was acting as a reckless skater who did not take safety measures, fell and knocked my head into a pole. 😛 It was quite awkward getting the footages because I have not skated(I call it the heels on wheels) in two years and I was not used to skating on the bumpy pavements at East Coast. :/ Feel quite bad towards Martin for volunteering something I wasn’t good at. But I had fun acting, being by the beach and just having fun. Really hope he gets the top prize for the contest!

Then I headed to Tampines to pick up clothes for Noel Caleb’s styling and blogging contest!

Check out what I passed by at Tampines:

Due to Ng’s distinctive style, I could immediately identify the work as his. was pleasantly surprised to see it at a garden in Tampines and what more, during the week we celebrate Mother’s Day! 🙂

Then on the way home, conveniently recee-ed a place near by home to take photos for Noel Caleb’s blog post.

Pretty, right? It’s at Technopark near my home. What a beautiful office area! I think it’s a really ideal place to take photos for Noel Caleb’s blog post. 🙂

For dinner, my sister Jia Hui brought my parents and I to Riccioti italian restaurant along Clark Quay. We had awesome pizza, Calzone and Salmon pasta ! *Yums*

Then I followed my sister to meet her friends for a short while at Chijmes. Check out the pretty sight!:

And then I came home and started to work on styling the Noel Caleb pieces with the shoes and bags I have! Came up with 2 styles:

I like both but I prefer Modern as it’s more funky and suitable for my age! Which style do YOU like?

As for makeup…  I think I will keep it simple and natural. Just hues of pink for my eyes and that should be it!

Blueprint project intern interview slated on Thursday morning. Excited for it! Will update again soon with photos for Noel Caleb! Please like Noel Caleb on Facebook and my photo when it’s out! (And ask your friends to like it too! :P)

Xx

Just a thought I had yesterday.

It didn’t use to be like this before.

Maybe I was fortunate, but I had very pleasant classmates from primary school all the way till JC. Maybe I was nice, maybe I was fierce, I was never bullied and neither did I bully. But I had great friends. Classmates = friends and they all still are even today.

But now in Lasalle at college/uni level, classmates may not always = friends.

Or it could be a case where previously friends and then no more.

It happened with me last year in my first class.

It happened with at least 2 other classmates in my current class.

I don’t get it. If we are friends, friends stick till the end, we help one another out. We listen to explanations, we accept differences, weaknesses and even mistakes. HECK, school IS where you MAKE mistakes to learn from, to grow.

But no. Some people just derive a sick pleasure from breaking friendships I guess. The one who makes mistakes, the one who refuses to forgive. The line is blurred and there’s no right or wrong but no one compromises and the friendship is broken.

Then again, maybe as we grow older, we lose our innocence, we become hard and cynical, more demanding (“she/he should know better!”) and ultimately less forgiving. I speak for myself.

If injustice has been done to me, I promise I will try to forgive (at the least spend my life trying). That is what the bible teaches. But why some people will intentionally stir shit and exact injustice/betrayal/anything despicable to friends is just beyond me, unfathomable. To me, you never know what are on the minds of these people. ‘Cause they’re crazy and even they don’t know what they will do next, or even maybe why they do what they do.

Which leads to what I mentioned previously that as we grow older, the more guarded and cautious we become. We don’t trust the “newer” people we meet and we are less forgiving we are towards them precisely because we don’t have the trust in them that takes time to build.

Super ironic but true. Which makes me remember that as children we use to think that there were answers for everything. But it’s only when we grow up we realize we were grossly mis-informed. There is no right formula in relationships. There is no one perfect relationship guru who will or perfect guide book which will teach you how to right all wrongs. No such thing.

As a Christian, I have the privilege of a loving Father who gives me wisdom and love to conquer issues. And I have very thankful for that. But one needs courage even to forgive and forget. One needs to live it, to experience it, to face up to it eventually.

Which leads me to the last point being: I strongly believe it pays to be kind. I know it sounds ludicrous, insane and stupid. But forgive those who did wrong against you. Forget whatever hurt and pain they placed you through. HECK, THANK THEM for it.  God for placing them in your life to make you stronger, to teach you patience. BECOME a BETTER person and one day write a card to them saying “Thanks for the hurt, it made me stronger. I am more successful precisely because of what you did.”

WHY? When we forgive, we let go of the hurt and the pain that bugs US, not them.
And because sometimes we also have our loose-screws moments and we become the people that needs forgiveness. When in that place, we need God’s favour and men’s to be forgiven.

This is by no means is an excuse for you to be an ingrate and go around hurting people just ‘cus it’s gonna make people stronger. But I hope that if you have been hurt, you can take heart with what I just shared.

To end off, I just want to share a very real and true story. My friend, Shan Mei’s friend, nicknamed “Cel” passed away yesterday because of a hit and run incident. She was also a student in Lasalle. She lived and breathed in the very school I attend. She was born in 1987. (Which make Facebook very incredible you can know so much about a person.) My friend posted the update on Facebook and her friends expressed disbelief. Life IS vulnerable. I could have been the one (considering if the incident was near school, I’m not sure if it was).

If we see things in this perspective, is it worth it to hold on to grudges and make living a pain? Isn’t it better to let it go, live freely and embrace the world without cares?

And of course, treasure the friends from childhood, they are the ones who will trust you and whom you can trust implicitly.

Xx

It’s been an eventful week. One that ends with me falling sick. Don’t remember when the last time I was this sick! 🙁 I was having a slight sore throat on Wednesday and felt really uncomfortable on Thursday but only went to the doc on Friday and been resting at home since.

Being sick really makes me grateful for health. When I have block nose, I am grateful for the times when I can smell the aroma of food without having to clear my nose. When I have sore throat, I am grateful for being able to swallow food without feeling pain. When I am aching all over, I am just grateful for being healthy… I can’t wait to recover!

Okie till next time.

xx

Caveat: This one is really deep and spiritual and very personal. Don’t make assumptions about me, you or anyone after reading this. IF unclear, consult me, God, your pastor, my pastor. Once again, this blog is just a small percentage of my life, doesn’t represent my whole and I’m just feeling emo and very deep at this point of time. Take with a pinchwhole lot of salt. Xx

The devotional material (Every Day with Jesus, One Year, Bread for the Journey) I’m currently reading really speaks to my heart about the current dark spiritual period I’m facing.

The devotion today talks about how darkness exists to develop character. I para-phrase from Oswald Chambers, “God can take a single moment to make a heart pure but it takes a lifetime to develop character.” Character is precious because of the struggles, the contradictions, the battles fought to obtain in. Amen.

My God has been speaking to me over the course of this dark times. More recently, also from devotion material, from a story of how a woman heard the spirit telling her during winter, “next summer’s apple’s are already on the tree”. I knew that it’s meant for me as well.

But, how do I put it across? I’m like at the end of my tank. Spiritually dry and burnt. It doesn’t help that I haven’t been attending Sunday services because 1. I don’t have the discipline. 2. This probably sounds like an excuse but I may not have people to accompany me so I’ll be alone & awkward. 3. Increasingly affected by the burdens I face that I willingly escape from.

Yet to be perfectly honest, even when I attended Sunday services (when I started to experience spiritual darkness) it wasn’t as though I was more spiritually refreshed by comparison.

There is a process but when it came to a point where I’d being more stoic and just less susceptible to crying / affected by whatever people said/commented/behaved, it seemed like no matter what I was hearing or reading from God, I was just cynical about it. Well, to be honest, I’m perhaps more stoic and cynical now.

I want to believe that “next summer’s apples are already on the tree”. I do believe. But I don’t. Simply because the current odds are too overwhelming for me. All I can see is how I am failing in my character. The pull from church is getter weaker and I am slowly drifting away…

So many nights I have chucked the thoughts I needed to sort, away from my mind. There are so many things I should be doing. But I am tired of doing. And I am doing the bare minimum. I keep asking God, why does this have to happen to me? It’s unfair. I’m tired (even after sleeping for 12 hours because I’m tired of facing things I don’t wanna face, I can sleep forever). Why can’t you just let me see the light at the end of the tunnel?

But no.

It’s as clear as day.

I need to buck up, pull up my socks. Ring an alarm, ask for help. Pray.

Stop avoid church and church people, make more friends. Pray for more church friends who are willing to stick it out with me. Support me, pray with me.

I guess why I bothered to post this is so that I will stop pushing these thoughts away from my mind and take action now.

I heard a message preached today that as Christians we are told to obey before understanding. Obey even if we don’t understand. Because in time to come it will all make sense. Faith in God, is after all believing in the things unseen.

I need to know that this will all work out. I want to stop behaving like an irresponsible coward.  Its so tough man. It’s really easier to just cower back into my own room and sleep away the weekends.

I need to know God can help me through all these. That I will be stronger. That He is training my character. To have more faith. To be more virtuous.

I have my doubts. That these will be words alone. That I will continue to suffer this spiritual leprosy/lameness/lethargy forever on end.

:'(

A beautiful nation, destroyed by the earthquake.
Scarring images of tsunami flooding the nation
Flooded the screens of TVs worldwide
And into our hearts.

Dear God, you can change the heart of men
Surely you can change the state of a nation.
Please keep the young and old, weak and frail
Strong and Healthy through this tough time.

Be Strong, Japan!
My prayers are with you.

—

In difficult times, we see the courage of men. In this tough times, we also witness the loyalty of a dog for his mate. They were thankfully rescued! 🙂