who doesnt put up a show?

so they came and left. having only really know who they are during my trip in june, i thought that the rest of singapore's knowledge of the royal couple was as limited as mine (except for carol who is like their biggest fan, but she works in the uk so its not a fair gauge). turned out that there was a big group of people who were following them excitedly over their 3 days here.

one picture that has been going around the social media was a shot of a housing estate with the usual fitness area and open area. a picture showed that other than the groups of people waiting behind the barricade for the arrival, the rest of the area is free of people (just like how it is normally). the comparing photo instead showed the large group of elderly doing tai chi, kids playing in the playground. the word of that moment was "wayang" which is malay for putting up a show with people critisizing that singapore only know how to wayang.

while i wouldnt disagree with the fact that we did put up a show it seems, i am rather disappointed with how critical people are. who does not put up a show to impress? who doesnt tidy up the house before guests arrive? who doesnt spend more time dressing up for a first date? who doesnt alt+tab when the boss walk by your monitor?

"Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her"

Patience

how apt is the timing of the reading, just when the irritation level is hitting a max..

"have you noticed that God puts most of us, at some times in our lives, next to another person whose personal habits irrtate us? An obviously tidy person is put with an abnormally untidy one. A stickler for detail is put with a person who lives by vague generalization.... This is to develop Christ-like character in us, particularly patience, and to help us change for the good of other people.... The most spiritual person is the one who accepts irritating things with patience, bearing with the other person in love, not painfully resigning and complaining!"

autumn

we dont have 4 seasons over here, but the closest to experiencing them, or in this case, autumn, is when the hot weather is interrupted by the occasional storms and breeze.

so its time to change my template once more (and realized that i didnt do it for summer.. haha..).. found a template that is remotely like autumn, which suddenly reminded me of the autumn menu that we just launched, with almost 99% of the design done by me! though i am not expert, nor do i plan to be one and make a living out of it, i have really come a long way from the guy who just joined church, got involved with youth camp, and agreeing to do publicity stuff even though i had no experience with it. im surprised i took it up as it isnt uncommon for people to reject tasks fearing that they will embarass themselves if they fail.

for those who arent equipped, God will equip you as long as you are willing.
for those who has the gifts and yet are not using it, it's time to have faith and cast all your reluctance aside.
for those who are afraid of failing, who hasnt fail before? stop worrying about people judging your failure. does your reputation really worth so much? don't allow pride and ego to be an obstacle.while you spend your time worry about such things, others have to put in more effort in areas where you are suppose to contribute but am not because you are more concern with being self centered.

For whoever has will be given more and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matt 25:28-30

Proverbs 12:15

The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.

How often do we insist that we are right? Even when the whole world advised that you are wrong?

dad! i know better..

there comes in time in almost every kid's life where they will find their parents annoying. for some, it started when they insist on sending you to school even after your 14th birthday, for some, it's their constant nagging at your mess of a room, for some, it is the constant doubts they have over things you say, the list goes on. for some of us, that period came and gone quickly, for some, it wasn't that fast. for some, it hasn't end, and it just might not end.

how often do we wish they would leave us alone, that we know better what is right and what's good for us. some of us wish it silently with a smile on our face, some choose to ignore totally, many other choose to react with a lot of angst, to prove to the older people that indeed we are not mature enough to communicate properly. i remember the days when i myself snap back at anything i perceive as a nag.

not that i am a really filial and nice son, but i do believe i came a long way. i look back and wonder, why do we get annoyed in the first place? why dont parents trust us to live our own lives? our proven limited knowledge always tells us that we are right at that point in time. more often than not, we prove that we are indeed too sure of ourselves.  parents nag only because you have shown that you are capable of doing something without their reminders, they don't trust you because you have not done anything to show that you earn the trust. human nature causes us to look for blame everywhere else except looking at ourselves.

recently, a friend of mine, called me really out of the blue, just to chat and to share his concerns about his kid. it was really weird he called me, someone who is unmarried and far from having a kid, must less a kid in the angsty period of their life. as much as he likes to give freedom to his kid, his kid doesnt seem to be able to handle the freedom. whenever he talks about his concerns, the kid gets angsty pretty much because he thinks that he knows it well enough to decide for himself. i couldnt really offer much of an advice, but that got me thinking about how i was once like this too...

death of conversation?

so i was at one of the restaurant, waiting for an opportunity to carry out the surveys i need to do. observing the different tables, it's just a pity that people eat together and yet, they dont talk to each other anymore.

a middle age couple with their teenage son, barely a word shared between the two parents, not a word from the son. kinda reminds me of someone else at that age group.

an elderly couple, enjoying the food, maybe so much that not a word was shared during the meal.

another couple was engaging in conversation, their teenage daughter fished out her phone and spent the entire meal staring at it.

it seems like we are entering an era whereby people don't bother talking to one another anymore. i certainly had my fair share of experience. eating with people that dont bother contributing to a conversation, with people that prefers spending time with the phone or some other activity.

why do they bother meeting up at all? isnt meeting up about spending time with the person you are with?

saying this, it was nice to see groups still enjoying the company they are with. a dad and toddler chatting happily, two male colleagues sharing a lot of laughters.

well, i do suppose it isnt all hopeless just yet..

the power of promises

somewhere people still make and keep promises. they choose not to quit when the going gets rough because they promised once to see it through. they stick to lost causes. they hold on to a love grown cold. they stay with people who have become pains in the neck. they still dare to make promises and care enough to keep the promises they make. i want to say to you that if you have a ship you will not desert, if you have people you will not forsake, if you have causes you will not abandon, then you are like God. With one simple word of promise, a person creates an island of certainty in a sea of uncertainty.

lewis smedes