As January Ends

A parting shot to Jan 08 which has been extremely eventful indeed. This year has heralded new opportunities in both ministry and my career and things have been pretty rosy to date.

I wondered through '07 why my ministry was ineffective and my influence remained small. Why I had roles with little significance and that God was definitely not leveraging on my gifts and strengths haha. But I went along anyway, without a clue.

This year i had an epiphany. Well not so dua zhong (big deal) la, just a realisation of the reason behind it all. I realised that 2007 was a year of preparation, in moulding and shaping my character. God is indeed wise. Without the bedrock of character, our gifts and successes in ministry can so easily cause us to fall flat.

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing."

God enabled me to love and to care for the people around me. I couldn't do it on my own and he deposited within me a compassion and a care for others, especially for those who are outside of a relationship with Jesus Christ. Once I only cared about myself. When I was in ministry, it was more about using my strengths and exercising my gifts than about loving people. Its redefined my life, attitudes and the way i relate to others.

As I began to obey and be faithful with the little, God opened many opportunities this year for service. It was no longer about programs and doing stuff, but to serve others in love and to reach the lost. Furthermore, the things lined up are incredibly daunting and I know that apart from Christ that I wont be able to succeed. It has caused my faith to rise to a new level. Its been a really long time since I lived on the cutting edge, depending on God to see me through each step of the way and its humbling and exciting.

Ive also learnt about the call to discipleship that everyone of us is called to be a disciple and to disciple others. It is the essence of our being as we model ourselves after our Lord and obey Him in everything. It is a call to leave behind a saved by the Sinners Prayer lifestyle and to come into active fellowship and obedience to God, living a life of abundance that God promised.

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?"

This is a verse that has impacted my life and priorities. Every time i read it I "hear" God calling out to me afresh to follow Him. Each time I am tempted, it calls out to me to take a stand or deny my Lord. It makes living a life of discipleship, real and dynamic. It humbles me to know that I cannot do anything apart from Him. Everyday is a choice to either live for myself or God and it take a conscious effort to do the latter.

So these are some of the few things God has been doing in my life. If you are reading and you do not know Jesus, I hope this gives you a glimpse into the relationship that I have with God. Through this, life has purpose and meaning and salvation for our sins. i hope you would consider exploring about who Jesus is and to heed His call to turn from our sinful ways and follow Him.

My First Biz Trip

Im fresh outta school and a couple of weeks into the new job and me boss has decided to send me over to KL and this will be my first business trip. Well its exciting, tho its ONLY KL haha, but it does has a sense of importance to it haha. But besides that I'm thankful for whatever opportunities that come my way and the chance to sample new experiences. The purpose of this trip is to build rapport with the KL folks whom i'll have to work closely with and to gain a firsthand understanding of their operations. So ill be away this Thursday and Friday.

My job doesnt involve much travelling and only the senior peeps really get to go to the nice places like UK and US, so better treasure these opportunities haha woot.

The Long Ride

Went riding yesterday with Shawn and David after cell. Started off at Gombak MRT with Shawn and we headed to Dairy Farm to link up with David. had to crap so we headed to KAP macs which was full of Hwa Chong kids. From there it was the straight road down Bukit Timah till we reached Beach Road and it was on to Nicoll Highway. We took a turn and then went to the indoor stadium crossing the bridge over into Tanjong Rhu. Shawn found the bridge pretty romantic and said commented he'd like to bring his girlfriend there someday haha.

From here it was on to Fort Road and East Coast Park. ECP was one long stretch and at this point our arses and backs were getting really sore. We were all feeling peckish and decided to break for food at the ECP hawker centre. The place had really good old school satay, like the Satay club kind which was a surprising find. Indian Rojak was decnet but the sauce was a letdown. With the food churning, our bodies aching, we set off into the cold morning air and the inertia was really great. Again more long straight stretches up the reaminder of ECP till we hit Changi Coastal Road.

For those who've been to Tekong, Changi Coastal Road is that super long unending road behind the airport that you take to get to the SAF Ferry Terminal from ECP Expressway. It was super long! Cycled till our thighs were chockful of lactic acid and our arses wanted to open flower. Took a short break at the end of the road.

After rounding the bend off the Coastal Road, we cycled on for about another 15 mis and reached Changi Village. Saw a couple of Ah Quas too, surprising they still ply their trade there. Ta powed Nasi Lemak and Teh to Changi Beach Park for supper round 2. Kept lamenting the ride back over food and we didnt know how we were gona ake it back except thru sheer grit and determination.

Pushed off at 3am and headed up Loyang, Bumbled our way through Tampines and found ourselves on Bedok Reservoir Road. Had to resort to looking at bus guides at the bus stops to figure our route cause the place was totally foreign. In the end we decided to follow the 66 bus route after losing 67's. Then we found our way onto Still Road which was in Eunos. That was familiar territory and from there it was down Aljunied, Geylang, Kallang till we reach Victoria Street. We then parted company at Bugis Junction and i rode straight home though Hill Street and Chinatown.

Got an sms from David this morning, that Shawn's bike got a flat after we parted and he had to take a cab home. Guess everyone was shacked out by the time we got back. I got home arounf 0430, and KOed till 1230. Stil feeling tired now man, maybe ill go back to sleep. All in all it was a great ride and we finally managed to do it. Great ride it was.

No Mean Feat

Today I climbed Mount Faber on a whim. It was no mean feat, breathing in the cold air and pedalling furiously, fighting my way up inch by inch. It was truly rewarding once I reached the summit haha. The highlight of the week.

Works been good so far. Observing how things are done so that i can replicate it next month. Everything is pretty passive, so im trying to suck it in and carry on. Im flirting with the idea of hopping over to business but i want to ensure i maintain a right attitude wrt the current job.

An Ole Saying

'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than to have never loved at all.

Alfred Lord Tennyson

An old saying by Tennyson and subject to much debate over the years. I guess I kinda subscribe to it, unless you're on a consistent losing streak, then you should kinda take a break from love and take a good hard look at yourself. So dear reader, whats your take on this?

Well heres to love, though not for now.

Second Day

Im working as a financial analyst in Shell Chemicals. But i think the name is a misnomer as there really isnt much analysis involved at my level haha. I fele like a automaton.

Well today marks my 2nd day on the job and it has been great thus far. Let me start by describing my workspace. its a nice big cubicle with ample storage space (think contrast big 4 haha). Everyone gets a sweet Herman Miller Aeron chair and it really makes the job comfy haha. For my computer i got a crummy ol HP leightweight laptop. The cool thing about it is that i can dock it and use a monitor, mouse and keyboard config in the office, and undock the laptop to bring it home after work. Its part of their mobile office plan and also business continuity plan which requires you to work from home in the event of a disruption at office. I get to claim for broadband too haha. Beats the Big 4 anytime man!

The job is pretty routine and im trying hard to be positive about it. I don't really like repetitive stuff. I like projects haha. maybe ill keep that in mind for my next posting. For the uninitiated, i'm a management accountant and i prepare figures for management as opposed to accountants/controllers who prepare figures for external users. So my job requires me to collate numbers from various sources on numerous items and generate spreadsheets to be sent up to management. I also prepare budgets and calculate transfer pricing for intragroup transactions. So thats my job in a nutshell.

Special mention goes to my boss and buddy. I work in a team of 6 people including me and 2 are based in thailand and japan. Im due to replace one girl. So in March the singapore team will comprise of my boss, my buddy and me. Nice and tight. Glad that my boss and buddy are Christians and it really reflects in the way they do things and all. My boss rawks! He is incredibly knowlegeble, humble and ready to teach. Everyone in the office ive spoken to has commented that hes a great boss and im really thankful for that.

In all the job is a good learning experience and also training for me. I dun think its my knida job actually cause it deals alot with numbers, routine work and requires me to be very very meticulous haha. All of which im averse to. But i hope to use this opportunity to develop these areas im weak in and to grow through this job. So its gonna be an interesting journey and im pretty much looking forward to it.

Crabbing at Sembawang

So its my third time crabbing and things are improving marginally. Met up at Yang's place for dinner and headed to Bottle Tree Village with him and Wei Ying. Its on the coast along Sembawang where the Sungei Sampang Kiri/ longkang meets the Johor Straits. We found a nice little spot near the river mouth.



As usual the tedious and sian part about crabbing is baiting the traps. We used rotten Kunings (nasi lemak fish) which were repulsive and nauseating. With the help of cable ties, we got the 3 cages and 2 bamboo traps up in a jiffy. We threw 2 cages and the 2 traps off the jetty nearby and one into the mouth of the river and decided to go wading. Essentially, wading is walking in the shallow water along the coast and trying to spot crabs and prawns and use a net to bag em. So with Yang on the torch and me with the net, we combed the beach but didnt really find anything except small mangrove crabs on the rocks. Gave up after 20 mins.





Then the coutdown began and we ushered int he new year there along the coast. From there we witnessed tons of fireworks lighting up the sky across in Johor. Seemed like every Kampung wanted a piece of the action. Tho there was one particular area that started shooting at around 2330, trigger happy sia haha.



We tried our hands at fishing but the lines got sangkok/snared. So we abandoned that endeavor too. Now we were cold and bored. Naturally, the pyromaniac in me arose haha. Went to gather firewood and we built a nice cosy fire. kept us occupied throughout the night, going around harvesting fuel and kindling to feed the fire. Was really nice and therapeutic just poking the fire and watching the flames dance. I love starting fires haha.





Finally, our catch report. We caught a grand total of 2 flower crabs and 1 prawn. The crabs were miserable. Like the shell only 4cm in diameter. The prawn was a good size la, but not much point in cooking 1 prawn. So we played with em, and gave the prawn to the fishermen and threw the crabs back. Very responsible of us, catch and release. End of the day we concluded that Singapore's wildlife is really in a crap state. think the2 camps of anglers around us only caught one catfish and some other stuff not worth mentioning. Guess this spot is great for chilling and all but the crabbing really wasnt all that zai.