not ashamed of being a sucker for one-liners

Blackmail, or something like it, the business that adultery leads to.

- Patrick Jane, The Mentalist Season 2 Episode 2

Good cooks do not season their dishes to suit the palate of this person or that, but consult the general taste.

- Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century, quoted in Turkish Letters

found myself a new site to follow!

since i can’t build LEGO as well as others, i might as well admire their works of art!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hoyvinmayvin/

nothing like learning from children

i’ve been serving in the choir as a pianist since i was 17. that’s coming to 6 years now. i recognise that i’m not fantastic and actually bordering on mediocre. but i’ve always known that God has led me to play for Him in the choir so i don’t see myself giving up this area of service any time soon, if at all (the white-haired lady playing for hokkien service never fails to inspire me).

in fact, i’ve secretly considered myself superior to the many pianists out there who somehow do not wish to serve as i am. and i also don’t mind the fact that there isn’t a single pianist lousier than i am, either currently serving or have served. all because i think it’s fine, since i’m dedicating my time all the same.

but last night’s christmas candlelight service totally humbled me. this boy who stepped up to play for the children’s choir, was probably no more than 9 and he played the choral anthem to perfection from memory. i was just enthralled by how God has blessed him and it struck me (gutted me, really) that i should always continue to seek improvement instead of being satisfied with my current level of musicality. i had confused my service as the investment of my 5 talents and failed to realise that stagnating at a certain level is no different from burying the talents.

so here’s to always improving our sacrifice of praise!

over teochew muay

people-watching can be therapeutic. today over dinner, i saw the assistants at the teochew muay stall discussing the latest lottery results. they sure invested heavily, judging from the thick stack of slips they were mulling over. reminded me of the fact that none of them would stay on in their current job if the money is right. to see all the colleagues banding over this common goal was also intriguing.

then there was this father eating with his two children. the children were having their usual sibling-squabbles and what caught my attention was the fact that the elder sister said “if you continue to be xxx, you’ll forever be yyy”. left me wondering, how is it that we from young, have a concept of “forever” even though we hardly knew what that means?

another lady was waiting by the side of the kopitiam with a stroller in her hands. in time, her husband (who presumably just arrived after a day’s work) met the mother-and-child pair and they walked off happily in another direction.

an old man sat opposite me enjoying his dinner and it seems that people seem to enjoy their teochew muay a lot more overtly when there’s a fish to polish off, bit by bit. he seemed a little grumpy and i was afraid that he’d notice me looking but his face broke into a gruff smile as another customer greeted him as he strolled into the stall.

this may all seem very expository but i guess this evening’s dinner helped remind me that there is so much going on in the world, even in just a small corner of bukitbatok. there are individuals, couples, families and they all have dreams and aspirations. who’s to say that one is more important than another? but oftentimes we become so self-absorbed in our lives that we become detached from the lives of others. i need to learn how to care more, instead of only being interested in appearing to care in the shortest time possible, heh.

today i realised that

if you’re having QT or reading God’s Word in a rush so that you can get back to chionging your assignments or studying “for God”, you’re not really doing it for Him.

history through novels

i find it terribly ironic, but also fitting, that i have learnt more about history of SEA through a novel than ever before. having read The Glass Palace, i now can appreciate better what our grandparents and great grandparents went through. yes, i always knew that it was terrible to lose so meekly to the Japanese so quickly and that the Occupation was a great awakening and it was unbelievable to hear about the sinking of the Prince of Wales and the Repulse but i never really appreciated/imagined the magnitude until i read the book.

Amitav Ghosh is a brilliant author and his narratives flow easily and beautifully and behind each poetic description of a menial task must have been hours of research and learning. so i guess it is one thing to learn about history in academic settings but another thing to appreciate history through fiction set in historical contexts.

Ayutthaya, once glorious, once destroyed

“As long as _____ could compare himself to other mortals, he was able to sustain a lofty opinion of his own character. The instant he measured himself by the ultimate standard (God), he was destroyed – morally and spiritually annihilated.” – R C Sproul, The Holiness of God

my favourite video

i think some of those standing were not part of the flash mob but just felt the urge to stand and worship God

each book tells a story

i’m repacking my cupboard of books now (still a long way from my dream shelf arrangement, hahaha) and i realised that every book in my collection can tell a story not only about my reading experience but also my background (for better or worse). so i’ll start with this:

i bought this book in primary 5 or 6 – i remember it was one of those books where i bought despite not being very interested + it was very expensive ($10+ back then is more than  a week’s worth of allowance, especially when we’ve always saved up like mad to eat at the nearby ministry of environment building instead of in our own canteen, hahaha)

it’s also super long, and i can safely say that i’ve never progressed past page 50 out of 800 (edit: turns out it is exactly 1275 pages long). i bought it because my classmates were obsessed over tom clancy and the rainbow six computer games (which i naturally started playing also, although i turned out to be terrible and also terribly bored at the easy rate of dying or mission failure) and i was wondering how on earth could my classmates devour books like ‘hunt for red october’ so i thought i should buy a tom clancy novel and try reading..

well, i tried.

Why contest a constituency

Why would anyone or any team contest a constituency? I believe some parties have different reasons from what I feel is the right reason. I believe that in contesting for a constituency, the most important priority and motivation is to represent the residents of that particular constituency.

If the MP is not elected to represent the people of a certain geographical location with varying profiles and needs, what is he or she elected for?

I understand that in Singapore, voting is party-based and not based on individuals. This means that voters must also consider what the party represents, on top of whether the candidate is suitable to address the needs of the constituency. Nevertheless, it does not make sense to me when a party contest a constituency because the party wishes to take issue with the incumbent’s portfolio in the cabinet. In other words, I believe one should not contest a constituency simply to give voters a chance to vote the incumbent out. The more mistaken motivation is to simply ‘let the people have a chance to vote’.

In the case of Tanjong Pagar GRC, the attempt to form a team just to allow the people to vote misses the point of what voting is for. Even if a formidable team is assembled, voters must also ask themselves why is the team here? Does the team understand our specific needs? Has the team been around to meet the people and to profile the area? Is the team able to help? 

The same goes for SDP’s bid in Holland-Bukit Timah GRC and NSP’s efforts in  Marine Parade GRC and Tampines GRC. To contest these GRCs so that the opposition has a chance to take aim at specific politicians and specific policies and to canvass for votes on the basis that certain incumbents should be voted out is really ignoring the equally real work that the MPs have put in to care for their residents.

I am not saying that SDP and NSP are there solely to pick on specific individuals but it appears to be the case. The constant reference for the desire to hold the ministers accountable and requests for them to answer for their decisions paints a picture that misrepresents the main aim of electing an MP. I am not saying that SDP and NSP are not interested in the welfare of the people in the constituency – I am certain they are - but I wish they would not portray their efforts as chiefly to vote out certain individuals for the national policies they represent.

As someone who feels that he is sorely outpriced in the HDB resale market and do not find the locations of BTOs appealing, of course I am concerned about the cost of public housing. As someone who thought the YOG was a success, I am also concerned over the reason for over-budgeting. Similarly, I find it shocking that someone could escape from a detention center and flee the country even as many units are tasked to comb Singapore for someone that has already left the country.

But when it comes to electing MPs, again, I would like to know the basic question: Why contest a constituency?