A friend in need...

is a friend indeed.

Several people have come forth to comfort me on my driving test failure. Neil and Seow Yi, who have been through the same dark valley as I have and cleared on their 2nd attempt. Grace, Jason, Colin, Yanling who probably do not know about the test system but still were there to lend a shoulder to cry on. Thanks especially to Yanling who pointed out to me that the retest date was during the holiday period for uni.

Retest is on 22 Sep, 11am session, this time die die must pass!

Still, as I lay awake last night wondering what could have been (If i had not encountered that incident i would have gotten a completely different outcome yesterday)... i am totally flabbergasted at what my CG members have shown themselves to be.

Remember my previous post I wrote that i had an arguement with them after failing my driving test. It's because i decided not to attend one of their prayer meeting, citing that i need some time by myself. Following which 2 of my CG helpers called me up to ask me to attend and the conversation was not on very civil terms.

One of them msg me later at night to ask me if i was okay and wanted to talk. i said can, call me. she never did.

MY CONCLUSION : (And it did not just take me these few days to arrive at this:) My CG helpers are not really concerned about our well being even thought they say i may be. They are only concerned about reporting to the CGL that 'o we got full attendance man..' 'o so and so is bringing so many friends man..'. And of course that is not wrong. I am also sure that if a new friend were to come in to any problems, they would immediately jump to their aid. But what about me, a member who has been with the church for very long, possibly longer than they themselves? When i got problems and want to give their activities a miss, this is what they give me?

WHERE WERE U GUYS when i needed u the most? Where were you when my friend passed away? Where were you when i failed my driving test?

I have always said that my senior pastor's vision is noble, but as it cascades down the hierachy , the original vision somehow gets lost. Its the same in the army lah, the CDF says A, the COA will add B, the Div Comd will make it ABC, the Brigade Comd will add ABCD, the Bn CO will remove A and add BCDE, the OC will remove B and add CDEF.... until the time it cascade down to the men level, it is FGHI.

That is why I never get these kind of ideas when i am in service, cos senior pastor's vision is given to us in its unadultrated form and we can take it as we see it. But within the CG structure, as info cascade down, the Zone pastors and CGLs will add in their own stuffs.

I have thought of leaving the church. But, at this time when I am finally able to bring friends to church, when I am finally able to serve more in usher? Maybe it will be better for me to change CG. Change to an adult CG, the people there will be more understanding... here they are all young punks who haven't seen what kind of shit the world can give you. Pls lah, they trying to counsel me, why should i listen to them when they have NEVER gone through that situation before??

But I will listen to Neil and Seow Yi because they have failed driving test at BBDC before and passed on the 2nd try! If you passed on the 1st try, it helps but not much!! I could have passed on the first try too! IF NOT FUR THAT CISCO VAN AND GREEN VAN THAT KEPT BLOCKING MY WAY.... CAUSING ME TO GET 16 POINTs... I WOULD HAVE PASSED!!!!!

That is why i am damned angry with my CG pple! Only concern about new friends and not about those who have been there for donkey years!

Maybe i should perform disappearing act! That may cause them to wake up their idea!

But so far a lot of other ppl have msg me to encourage me, even tho they din kno about my test! Kitty and Pei Qi (who i din talk to for very long!) msg me yesterday and today! Seems like a lot of ppl pop up from the blue to encourage me EXCEPT MY CG MEMBERS!~!! (church members - my usher friends did encourage me even though they havent started learning driving / not even of age to learn!)

My 21st birthday... not one of them bothered to msg me until one of them msg everyone asking them to wish me! U know how come i know?? Cos she also msg to ME! Then the msgs come in like a tsunami that i have to delete some to make more space!

PS. If any of you see this and want to call me for dunno what reason.. forget it. Damage is done. A FRIEND IN NEED IS A FRIEND INDEED and i don't see this from you all.

i failed my driving test.

Today was my driving test, the judgment day of driving lessons as one of my friends Alwyn (who passed on the first try despite striking a kerb) put it.

I went there confident, and i prayed. Prayed that I would pass on the first try and not waste the additional $300 required to book the next test. I even came prepared with my photo which i would use for my photocard licence and the money to buy my P Plate.

Was allocated car no.74 and my warm up instructor was Mr Lai CF, who took me before for Auto lessons. My circuit was alright just that directional change, i struck the kerb! But that didn't happen again for the actual test. Something else happened..

Went out to one of the test routes in Bt Batok Road, ended up there was major road works down there. But everything was okay and I returned after the warm up confident that i would pass.

I drew Route 2, and a certain Mr Quak . I was relieved to know that he was not the tester famed to fail those first timers. And, route 2 is the easiest route of all in my opinion. The hardest part is the narrow divider U-turn at bt batok central.

Test started, first thing I was tested was the emergency stop. Tester seemed very impressed. Next was the S-course and then vertical parking, then slope, then directional change, then parallel parking then crank course. In fact the sequence was almost identical to what my warm up instructor took me through. The problem was that my engine stalled quite a few times, and tester made comment 'what happened to you arh..' but he didn't fault me on that.

Total points in circuit - 8. Both during parking. Turn steering while vehicle is stationary (instructor taught me wrong.. urgh) and fail to confirm safety for parallel parking (i did lah.. but think not the correct way).

After going out road.. everything was ok lah... i was quite confident that i would pass... but when stop at bt batok west ave 2 (after the left turn on red) prepare to turn left, tester ask mi why my braking always jerk one... i was taken aback because all along instructor nv say anything... blame the CHIA C.T. who never teach me properly but only take that chance to fuck me upside down only... that time aso Stage 1 den i never learn properly.. sian 1/2... then now i think i aso must go and black list TAN H.B. also... nv say anything one... i was thinking nvm cos my TP test coming soon so i am not gonna see him again but now different story liao. i think CHUN KS and CHAN HY are good enough liao... actually CHAN HY tell me that the instructors in the group like CHIA and TAN sux one, he is damned angry with them for, in his words "good trainee also teach until like this.."

Before I digress into comments about my group instructors, for the record, i got 34 points. 8 points in circuit, 26 points on the road, of which 18 was due to the fucking incident where i was unable to change lane due to a fucking cisco truck and green van which was unwilling to give way to me.

Before Group 6019 was reshuffled... got two more ENG AM and NG BT.. NG BT another bastard who always address me as "ey mister".. kns.. i think he got smiling greeting badge some more... he chao ah beng pattern one... but ENG AM is overall the best lah.. if i get him for my warm up i think confirm pass one, just by that alone. too bad he transfer to another group liao, same group as the female instructor.

i realise my pattern is when i am happy with that instructor, my driving will be swee swee ... and so far for ENG AM, CHUN KS and CHAN HY lessons i always swee swee one... only yesterday my final revision lesson was with TAN HB.. KNS... made mistakes under Route 6.

I think route 6 is the hardest route in BBDC, not only does it come with a slope that we need to use handbrake to move off, it also has the killer right turn from CCK way to Bt Batok Road.. For that road, its one that all 3 lanes can turn right and after that, its a challenge to filter back to the left lane cos all the fuckers dun wanna give way. Please lah, if you are a qualified driver on the road, YOU WERE AN L PLATER (more so double LE plater) BEFORE so give us chance okay?????

Today i saw the guy who drew Route 6, he kind of gave up straight away cos i heard him muttering under his breath "finish already'. I dun remember seeing him in the video room, what i remember was that the indian lady together with us passed and was there. o well...

Maybe i'll just comment a bit on all the test routes here. Any route that involves right turning from CCK way to Bt Batok Road is already difficult by itself, and also slope. Theres two major slope, one is the killer exit slope from jalan teck whye to teck whye ave, and the other one is at teck whye lane. This one don't really need to care much, unless got pedestrian crossing the zebra crossing right at the top, then must use the handbrake method to move off. (Routes 3, 6 and 8 feature this slope. But most of the time traffic is light, so its just a minor distraction.)

Route 1 is quite normal, just that you need to lane change to the right fast after turing left from teck whye ave. it comes with green arrow though, so there shouldn't be much traffic on the right lane interfering since they will b stopped by red light before.

Route 2 (my test route) is the easiest since it doesn't involve driving on 70km road at all, and it was relatively straight. The biggest challenge is the left turn on red (you can be marked immediate failure for crossing stop line because you are supposed to STOP and look out for traffic before turning left.) and of course the narrow divider u-turn, which is quite ok due to green arrow to help you. I died after the right turn, because somehow too much traffic came in and i wasnt able to lane change to the right. I got distracted and veer off course... and i stopped at filer lane while it was green light! From that moment on i knew that was it.

Perhaps Route 3 and Route 4 are quite easy as well. Cos Route 3, although it has a right turn from West Ave 5 to Bt Batok Road, that one is not so difficult if you pick up speed fast enough. And the rest of the route is just simple manouvering around in teck whye estate. Route 4 is also quite easy lah, its mostly within Bt Batok housing estate itself on single lane roads where i dont have to worry too much about lane change, except for the final stage where i turn out from west ave 5 to west ave 2 and then to bt batok road.

I think route 5 could be a killer during rush hour, mainly due to the fact we need to keep left after the u-turn and again keep right for right turn. But if we do the test during quiet hours, it is our grandfather's road and it should be fine. Left turn most of the time, nice tour of bt batok estate. Apart from the first right turn, the other right turns are all into single lane road = no problem.

I've given my comments on route 6.

For route 7, also quite easy. Biggest challenge is narrow divider u-turn along bt batok road. But that one we got the traffic light up front to stop the flow for us.

Route 8 is difficult cos of the slope up teck whye lane and also the killer turn from CCK way to bt batok road.

Route 9 will be difficult if you are not good at controlling speed around bends, but again should be okay. It features the narrow divider u-turn along bt batrok road, though.

Last of all route 10, also quite easy during OFF PEAK HRS. If not, Bt Batok Road is going to pose a problem, as we need to lane change THREE TIMES there. That is the route that uses the most of Bt Batok Road.

so far, assuimng (1) you do not have the idiocy to book a slot during peak hours and (2) you don't have the misfortune of it raining on you during test and (3) you don't commit any stupid mistakes of course (like me)... the routes are ranked below:

Easy 2 4 10
Medium 1 3 5 7 9
Hard 6 8

Beware of the stretch of road along bt batok west ave 5 where a lot of people illegally park their cars, forcing us to lane change to the right. Only route 2 features this. I was not marked down though. Having said that, i think its really our luck not to have any cars illegally parking or roadworks in progress. As a Chrsitian , i am told not to believe in luck, but i guess these kind of 'unforseen circumstances' does play a part though.

Those who learn at BBDC also, do give comments to my 'ranking' of the test routes!

Retest will be in september. By then, the wet season may be starting which means it will be slightly harder then. But on the other side of the coin, got excuse to drive slower.Maybe max 40 along normal roads, 60 along bt batok road.

SEE HOW LAH.

Tall Poppy Syndrome

I got a surge of inspiration to write about my school life.. so here goes..

I consider myself a maverick throughout my school days. Doing things that are out of the ordinary.

If there were two things I could change about the Singapore education system, 1) remove the conformist idealogy and 2) remove the one-chance system. Those who've been through Singapore's education system would know what i mean. I've realised that 1) if you are different, ppl will mock at you and ostracise you simply for not conforming to what the culture of that place expects and 2) singapore's education system, and i would say singapore itself, offers you only ONE chance. cock that up, and you're a goner. Want to become a doctor? Cock up your pri 4 streaming, go to EM3, and kiss that dream goodbye. You cock up your Os? Yes, you can retake it but more than likely you can only consider going to Poly and not JC as you'll be overaged by then.

Same thing with life isn't it? In a moment of weakness, you get caught shoplifting / other petty crime and sit in jail for a week or two. in future.. Wanna apply for job/scholarship? There's this declaration "Have you ever been charged yada yada in a court of law?"?

In fact, i believe that in those application forms, you have to tick all 'No's in order to get it. One 'Yes' and the form is headed for the rejects pile regardless of how shining the rest of the application is.

I'm bloody cynical ain't I? Get what i mean?

Back to school life.

Yes, those who know me from my sec school days know that i VOLUNTEERED to be class chairperson in sec 3. Why did i do that? I don't remember anymore. What I do remember was that there were numerous attempts to oust me from the post, and I was lamblasted on freevote.com, mIRC and other places as well (back then there was a rash of school voting sites on freevote.com like who is the worst teacher is or what. I think the management of freevote.com had since tightened up on such things.)

If there was one word I could delete from our Asian vocabularies, it is this word "BEH HIAO BAI". Hokkien for "don't want face." I feel that Asians are too concerned about this four-letter word called FACE. In the name of FACE, ppl who will otherwise achieve great things will just sit back and live their average lives, for the sake of saving FACE, for the fear of losing FACE.

To me this is KIASEE (Fear of dying) mentality. Personally of all negative attributes, i cannot stand KIASEE the most. Fear of dying. Fear of taking risks. As the old proverb says, nothing ventured, nothing gained. You think entrepreuners like Sim Wong Hoo and Elim Chew didn't take risks? But see where they are now? How about those who stuck to the prescribed path and obtained Master or PhD?

Back to my chairperson days in sec3. Right from the start many people in the class did not co-operate with me. At the end of every month there would be a class contact time (meeting) ... and they would want to oust me from the post. Finally in May this was done.

That year i was nominated for student councillor though but did not get past the interview.

In the end in junior college I was elected to the 26th Students' Council.

That day, when I saw my name in the elects' list, the ghosts died in my life.

The ghost of my 5-month term as class chairperson which ended in an acrimonious removal of the post and non-cooperation from my classmates for very much the rest of my two years with them.

The ghost of my unsuccessful shot to become a Student Councillor at the end of sec 3.

The ghost of the times when i was running for council in JC, and those from my secondary school taunted me by saying that there's no one to vote for me and i would get zero votes.

Ok. I do not know the number of votes I got relative to the other council nominees. But the fact that I was elected goes to show that I at least got some votes, more in fact than those who failed to be elected.

Hurtful words can bring our spirits down. But the important thing is NOT to be affected by the opinions of others!

That's one thing I salute well known bloggers like MrMiyagi, mrbrown, xiaxue for.. they have their fair share of detractors but as far as i can see are not affected by them!

(as a side note, i was from the same school as xiaxue, but that's another story...)

My term in council was fraught with challenges by itself. I didn't have the fullest cooperation from my fellow councillors either. One called me 'too enthu.' HELLO? isn't this the students' council? aren't councillors supposed to be enthu? granted, i was not in Ex-Co, neither was i the head of any ad-hoc committee but i dare say i put in my 100 % when it came to council stuff.

I was also quite active after I graduated from JC, coming back for a lot of alumni events in the first 2 years after i graduated. after that, some disappointments in the present culture in my JC caused me to decide to withdraw and move on to the next stage of my life - Uni.

Do not expect me to be a conformist in uni. I will be as much a maverick as I was in my sec sch / JC days. Dislike me, lamblast me all you want, but I want to be remembered as someone who distinguished himself, no matter in a good or bad way, not as simply a face in the crowd, someone who just went along with the flow for fear of losing FACE.

I've learnt during my chairperson days that "It doesn't matter what others think of you; it only matters what you think of yourself."

SO TRUE.

Like the OCS yearbook said, the others are merely pace-setters. I quote verbatim: "But it is ultimately himself (the officer cadet) he comes up against. His name can be inscribed in the annals of SAFTI MI or engraved on the Sword of Honour."

Had I been graded combat-fit and been able to enter BMT, you can be damned sure that I would have put in my 101% and tried my very best to qualify for SISPEC or OCS. What the heck, NS you also cannot be different from the others. Instead of "BEH HIAO BAI", it is now "SPOIL MARKET". I think the only time when people want to be different is when they need to act during SIT test to go SISPEC or OCS.

I believe even in BMT, even if you want to be outstanding you would be labelled as "spoil market" and "er he sure want to suck up to PC so he can go OCS lah..." haiz! that's our culture lor...

Because in the SAF, people generally want to get away with doing less things than is their fair share. If one among them does everything that is required, superiors will generally expect everyone to do all their fair share. Hence people in the SAF generally don't take kindly to people who are over-enthusiastic about the things they are doing because NS is generally seen as an obligation, not a time to impress others.

During my NS tenure, I put in my best in everything I did... at least for the first year or so. But what do i gain?

"It doesn't matter what others think of you; it only matters what you think of yourself."

My entire post has come down to this: people dislike others who are different. Pastor Kong Hee calls this the "Tall Poppy Syndrome". Supposedly, in a field of poppies, all will be the same height except one or two which will be taller. The other poppies will try to grow in such a way that stifles the growth of this tall poppy.

Sounds familiar?

70, 80 years down the road, I want to look back and think I lived a fulfilling life. Not a submerged life all my 80+ years due to fear of losing FACE

Paradoxical right?

Fear of losing FACE results in you being just a FACE in the crowd.

But without this fear, you can become a FACE in history.

If Mr. Lee Kuan Yew was scared of losing FACE, Singapore would not be what it is today.

In fact, if Sir Stamford Raffles was scared of losing FACE, he would never have embarked on his journey to found Singapore. We would still be in China or something if Singapore had not opened as a free port.

Which famous person out there is not scared of losing FACE?

"People laugh at me because I am different, I laugh at you because you are all the SAME."

There will be only one Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, only one Sir Stamford Raffles, but there are millions of Ah Beng, Ah Lian and Ah Kow around. So what's the difference? You are just one of the poppies in the field.

celebration!!!

ok guys, here's my account of my 21st birthday celebration at marina.. No guys, i am not disappointed by the turnout, anyway it's a decent sized gathering.. 11 of us (tho some left along the way). Alwyn, Yue En, Joseph, Eddie, Huan Ek, Jiawei, Seow Yi, Boon Leong, Don, Gabriel and myself.

Supposed to meet at 6.. but everyone was a little late so we left for the steamboat restaurant at 6.30. My intention was to to go Chong Pang, the one the cell group had theirs at but once outside marina we were accosted by aunties and uncles from "Ping Xian" who offered us a free ride to the restaurant. ok lor, so we went there.

my advice to all: nothing against "Ping Xian", but go down yourselves first to have some freedom of choice... in my opinion Chong Pang is better...

but nevertheless... it was quite fun.. especially later on when we went bowling.. and might i add, for my 3rd official game, i got two strikes in one single game and was very close to scoring a double ( X, 9 / ... darnit) I am still a below average player (score is still double digit) but so was everyone else except one of them hit 3 digits i think.

Alwyn came with his trusty camera! Photos..

And my presents: 3 books.. so including what my cg gave me.. its 4... well... i must admit i haven't finished reading the book they gave me last year... so that is about er, 9 books to finish? (including the benny hinn's books i bought)

i will have a lot of reading to do heh...

Gabriel gave me a non-book item! hooray! it's just what i needed, a pouch with 2 water bottles.. er... joseph called it rocket boosters, i called it an SBO.. hahah... the civilian SBO

joseph asked me if i was pleased with the presents! heh... well...ok lah... the items which i really want though are big ticket items like hp, camera or G2000 jacket which are well beyond anyone's budget.. ok. .. here goes

Wish List
---------
Nokia 6230i
Digital camera
Laptop (Linux would be good.. goodbye spyware and viruses!)
G2000 jacket (the $129 one)
Driving licence (See how i do on 20/6 lor..)
Car (i'll start with a Nissan Sunny manual...cos its better not to show off when it comes to these.. at least it will not get scratched in the parking lot or get tyres punctured by jealous kids. Or i can get the same car BBDC uses, after all i am used to driving that one already, haha)

For clothes, MY WARDROBE IS SELF-SUFFICIENT. :P (Guess i should have posted this before my 21st... but then again... hint hint this is what i want for Christmas... of course not the last item lah... and for the 2nd last item, if you are a driving tester and happen to take me on 20/6, hint hint (just kidding.. i dont think the 50-60 year old men will read this.. tho their kids may? :P )

(can someone show me how to do a wish list for the blog?)

Having said that, i realise that to open most people's blogs i have to use Firefox cos using Internet Explorer will inevitably slow down my pc as some kind of attack is taking place on my comp. What's it with these blogs? background music? or some applets that the bloggers themselves don't know about?

As you can see, i am still very novice when it comes to blogging... there's no tagboard or wishlist or photo gallery which i will do up once i know how to and have time to. (i have 9 books to read! see above)

i am 21!!

i have finally attained The Age of which i am officially considered to be an adult. No longer a minor, no longer a teenager..

Am organising a simple meal at Marina (Steamboat) with my friends this coming sunday... Well i've placed an open invitation on my Friendster profile and to my various church friends and other friends.. So see who turns up lah.. actually too few also okay lah, can have more quality conversation... heh

I am not going to elaborate on the things that I can do now that I am 21.. but I am glad that this is a double celebration for me.. ORD, and turning 21... see how my performance on 20 June then maybe triple celebration.. driving licence! Whatever it is, i aim to complete my licence before my 22nd birthday.

Speaking of 22nd birthday, there is something else I need to do before I turn 22. Something to do with the fact that I was not born in Singapore...

I have set for myself some goals which I wish to achieve in this coming year. For Usher Ministry, I hope to become a Team IC by year end or latest, by my 22nd birthday. For studies, I hope also to be able to score As for my final exams in the coming year. Lofty goals they may seem but as the saying goes, "Shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the stars!"

Shoot for the moon i will. Even if I don't get it, i will at least get somewhere......

ORD.. big deal?

I realise that a couple weeks after ORD, it doesn't seem to be that much a big deal anymore.

To all the NSFs out there whose greatest aim in life is to ORD... treasure your 2 years in there. Granted, life in there is 'siong' but then again also quite carefree.. Food is provided (in most camps.. and i know its sucky most of the time but hey, it's FREE!) and we also have an allowance we get every month without fail, rain or shine.

Compare that to civilian life.. you're on your own man... it's taken just a few weeks for the reality to sink in. Instead of an allowance of $440 per month, I am now having to make do with $0. To those who say look for temp jobs.... so are the 1000s of students having vacation and the other ORD personnel also job hunting.

Tuition is still a good option but i have to learn back the stuff i forgot during the past 2 yr 4 mths.. :P

I miss the times talking cock with my buddies in the canteen / office while boss is not around.

I miss the times doing ops room duty and talking cock with the DO or warrant.

I miss the times when boss would 'blanja' us makan or when Mess would have functions and we would get called down to help finish up the food...

But there are a lot of things I DO NOT miss about the SAF though.

I DO NOT miss getting f*ck for no rhyme or reason for things that are not my fault.

I DO NOT miss getting last minute arrows shot at 5:20pm when i am about to pack up and go back.

I DO NOT miss being treated like the lowest lifeform in the SAF, when i am already a CPL but because there are no LCPs or PTEs around, so LL have to take the sh*t.

And my pet peeve... I DO NOT miss having NSF 2LTs or 3SGs trying to throw their rank around, especially when I never had the chance to go through BMT and SIT test to prove whether I could have been one myself. (And hey, in my unit, what is a 2LT in a sea of majors and colonels? What is a 3SG in a sea of warrants? wake up your idea lah..)

And there are a lot other things that i DO NOT miss about the SAF which i still think that i am glad to be out of there.

CHC / Christianity bashing?

I've just read the blog of some noted blogger in town. Shall not reveal who though...

It amuses me sometimes the extents to which people go to criticise Christianity, especially on the issue of tithing. Most of the criticism that I've heard so far when people know that I'm a Christian, and from City Harvest Church, is that "oh is it the one that forces you to contribute 10% of your pay every month?"

HELLO?

1st of all, no, tithing (the 10% of our income thing) is NOT mandatory but we Christians believe that by putting God first in our finances, He will bless us in return. Hence, as a church, members are encouraged to pay their tithes to God as the Bible clearly teaches us to do so. However, tithing should be done out of a cheerful and willing heart, and never out of compulsion or necessity. The Bible says that God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Cor 9:7 So if there are church members who for some reason do not wish to tithe, no one is going to force them.

2nd, CHC is NOT the only church which practices tithing. Most if not all churches in Singapore and I believe throughout the world do so.

Haiz.. I don't see why this thing must become such a big hoo ha amongst people...

Oh and also, there are ppl who "add salt and pepper" (direct translation from chinese) and say that CHC imposes 20% tithes or what which is totally UNTRUE. The power of gossip.

Said blogger also don't believe in blind faith.. its the sort of "Show me God, then I'll believe in Him". What a pity.. Paul said in 1 Corinthians: "18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.'" The mind which is hardened against God will find all sorts of excuses not to believe and trust in Him.

Having said that, I believe it would be better if all Christians were to brush up on their apologetics... Meaning explaining the basic beliefs in Christianity... Its something like sales lah, u need to convince others of what you believe in, religion is the same thing... Because many potential fruits are lost when the labourers are not properly equipped to explain with confidence and in so doing lead others to Christ. Almost everyone on the streets will have heard of Jesus Christ but whether they believe and trust in His redeeming work on the Cross is another matter altogether.

And for the record, nowhere in the Bible does it say that "God helps those who help themselves." Go check it out. But it's still a basic concept in Christianity that in order for us to see a move of God, we have to act on our faith first before it will happen.

ORD LOH!!!!!!!

'nuff said.

Today was the big day.. went to camp to perform my last act as a soldier. first the branch went out to one of the restaurants outside for a farewell lunch for myself and the others who are going ORD around this period of time. was a good time with good food, and i enjoyed myself thoroughly.

The highlight of the day was of course the collection of the pink IC. after lunch we went back to camp for what we hope will be the final time.

I officially became a civilian again at around 3.10pm, on 5 May 2005, 2 years 3 months 29 days 6 hours 10 minutes after becoming a soldier at 9 am 6 January 2003...

It seems like i woke up from a dream today.....

And for the readers of my previous blog post, no, the plastic cover is no longer there. They must have removed it when updating my new address for me.

:)

Last Day in camp

Today was my last official day of work, before ORD.. naturally, i am on half day leave (in the morning) today. went back around 12 plus for my last lunch at cookhouse. expected it to be western food but it was some normal lunch.. what the heck.. anyway the highlight of the day was the ORD function. this is something camp has every 3 months for thos personnel going ORD.. and.. finally it's my turn. the 29th ORD function. it's just something that every ORD personnel will go up and shake commander's hand and, 3 representatives from the officer, specialist and men will go up to give a speech on their feelings.

This time round, all the 3 speakers were all men (in fact all CPLs). And yours truly was one of them. Commander actually commented me on talking about fun and excitement and also about what i mentioned as 'words of encouragement' to those who have some time left, no doubt we are not here by choice, but we all have a choice as to whether we want to put in our best or not. And i quoted the oft-said quote: do not despair, for your time will come.

after which was the plaque giving ceremony. now i have a new plaque on my display case, to join my St John first aid competition trophy and my RV science quiz trophy... "for my invaluable services and contributions 6 Jan 03 to 5 May 05".. followed by the usual makan at mess.. i felt so good, normally when walking out of the hall those ORD personnel would ask me , just like wedding dinner "so when's your turn:?" and now it is my turn, to ORD...

i saw that signals AS1 has been replaced by a lady 2LT.. ooh.. didn't really talk to her but got to know she would be studying in NUS. think its arts. maybe might bump into her in future (but would she remember? i don't think so)

after that went around saying goodbye to most of the ppl.. wil have to continue doing so tomorrow..

after leaving camp, i went down to Istana to pay my respects to the late President Wee Kim Wee. I had seen him once in person when he was the Reviewing Officer for St John AGI 1998. (1997 was President Ong, and 1999 was President Nathan.) But to me he was a larger than life figure through most of my childhood. truly a People's President. As I was in uniform, for me, I saluted when standing before the casket instead of bowing like the rest did.. though I was to find out later through a chat with a friend that by right, I should have put on my beret and the black arm band to do it, but who cares, it's over! (I don't know if black arm band is applicable for No. 4 though, I know it is applicable for No. 1, 3 and 5 but not for 2.. probably not for 4 either. which means the only thing missing would have been my beret.) If there's a next time though (not any time soon I hope), it would be SJAB full uniform. Better as it's an officer rank. Hopefully i will have my car by then so i can park at PS and not bring in unnecessary stuff.

Met Chung Ming, an old friend of mine from RVHS while waiting for the bus.. joined him and his friends for dinner later. Turned out they were together from Scouts.. anyway had a fun time catching up with him, turned out he's from 2 PDF as well... later on hitched a ride back.. well have the opportunity to catch up some other time heh..

Then now i'm back.. Waiting to go back to camp for the last time.. and to once again, behold in my hands, the precious Pink IC..

Talking about that, when I gave away my Pink IC, it was in a plastic casing.

I wonder if the plastic casing is still there.
Well, in 10 hours' time, i will know.....

in the meantime.. ORD LOR!

Rest in Peace, Mr President - Sir.

Just read in the news that former President Wee Kim Wee has passed away peacefully at the age of 89.

May he rest in peace.