Luke Leong stopped your world at 7:55 PM

admin instructions for ah day

the abovementioned event will be a lunch/tea/dinner/supper session at marche (heeren), beginning 1300h on 010106.

the supervising officer is 2lt eugene (logistics). he is responsible for the overall success of the event; coordinating the various aspects of the planning and execution phases.

3sg luke (signals) will be conducting the event. he is to ensure that comms is established by the no move time and is subsequently maintained throughout the duration of ah day. the official mode of comms is gsm (singtel, m1, starhub).

caleb (guards) is appointed csm (class sergeant major); his job is to simultaneously uphold the discipline and welfare of troops. he is to be 'ready to strike' at the first sign of slacking.

the advance party consists of brandon (armoured scout), who will conduct a thorough recce of the area of ops and select a suitable deployment site - preferably one which seats around 10 ppl - and cordon off the location with white tape.

xiangwei (manpower branch) is in charge of accounting for the strength of the platoon. he is to prepare a nominal roll of class members and contact them should they turn up late/go awol. he is also to take down the names of all latecomers and hand the list to the csm/conducting/supervising, who will then schedule them for cny extra duties.

safety coverage: howard is a certified, cpr-trained (u are, right?) lifeguard ready to resuscitate against excessive intake of fluids (ie. binge drinking). in the event that howard is unable to resolve the condition, the nearest hospital is mt. elizabeth and the route of evacuation is along orchard rd. the safety rover is jon's rover and the safety driver is jon, who else (are u even driving, jon?). joshua (artillery) is designated vehicle commander for his extensive familiarity with the orchard rd terrain. he is to ensure that delivery is 'on time, on target'.

finally, justin (6 months mc) is excused from all duties for this event. now, we wouldn't want to aggravate his injury and create another incident, would we?

this is an extremely prestigious occasion with a foreign vip being invited, alvin. by putting up a gd show we should be able to convince indonesia of the credibility of our transformation into a 3g army. furthermore, all personnel are to take note that no off-in-lieu will be given for this event even though it falls on a sunday, cos u have all exercised freedom of choice in deciding to attend. if the indo goes home happy though, i may declare a half day sometime in the future.

stella stopped your world at 7:30 PM

heyhey happy birthday SULYNN shumin zarine betty anqi samuel liew and a whole host of king's kids =)

im leavin in less than 6 hours.. so gotta shower and finito packin and sleep.. eeps..

my phone has no roaming but i'll try to go online once in a while..

please do email? :)

to matthew2.10@gmail.com

spread the love like u got an endless jar of nutella!

my brothers haf each got a girlfriend! they came to stay yesterday..cute pair of sisters...
my mom really loves them....
will post pictures of them before they turn into big cats!

would really be thankful for your prayers..for health, safety, for God to reveal His mAjESTY, His deep love.. His works.. woah.. maanz.. i really really dunno what to expect..i really dun.. i wanna be AWE-STRUCk in the truest sense of the word..

a quote: if u dunno where u're goin and where u've come from, the mean time could be a pretty meAN time.
so....
in the meantime,
i hope urs will be a pretty blessed time =)


HAPPY NEW YEAR PULL YOUR EAR!!!

will be back in melbourne..27 jan 2006.. woohoo.

liz stopped your world at 11:16 PM

it has come to my attention that our friend sulynn is LEAVING ON THE 2ND OF JAN. and that's like... damn soon! so ARE WE GONNA HAVE ANYTHING TO MEET UP BEFORE SHE GOES??

i blog on her behalf since [sulynn]:ima nara kitto aruite yukeru doko made mo says:
the wireless in me house is blocking me from sending emails and blogging and normal msn

it's time to meet. NOW.

joshy stopped your world at 10:42 AM

archives are back =p oh and a lil' extra tt was suggested during supper ystd.. heh.
just like leave a note on your whereabouts and i'll (or someone else) will get about to updating it.. for now i'm keeping it simple lah heh. was thinking about including dates as well.. like when alvin will be back from indo, or how long joy is staying etc... but privacy yeah? heh. can be included if you want! oh and maybe ORD dates for the guys? haha the countdown HAS started :D

on a side note, try to keep the 26th (that's boxing day, day after christmas i.e. monday in a fortnight) free for a gathering/party of sorts.. location and details to be confirmed.

Luke Leong stopped your world at 3:38 PM

biblical historicity

"Isn't it likely that their [Matthew, Mark, Luke and John] theological agenda would prompt them to colour and twist the history they recorded?"

"It certainly means that as with any ideological document, we have to consider that as a possibility," he admitted. "There are people with axes to grind who distort history to serve their ideological ends, but unfortunately people have concluded that always happens, which is a mistake."

"In the ancient world the idea of writing dispassionate, objective history merely to chronicle events, with no ideological purpose, was unheard of. Nobody wrote history if there wasn't a reason to learn from it."

I smiled. "I suppose you could say that makes everything suspect," I suggested.

"Yes, at one level it does," he replied. "But if we can reconstruct reasonably accurate history from all kinds of other ancient sources, we ought to be able to do that from the gospels, even though they too are ideological."

Blomberg thought for a moment, searching his mind for an appropriate analogy to drive home his point. Finally he said, "Here's a modern parallel, from the experience of the Jewish community, that might clarify what I mean."

"Some people, usually for anti-Semitic purposes, deny or downplay the horrors of the Holocaust. But it has been the Jewish scholars who've created museums, written books, preserved artifacts, and documented eyewitness testimony concerning the Holocaust."

"Now they have a very ideological purpose - namely, to ensure that such an atrocity never occurs again - but they have also been the most faithful and objective in their reporting of historical truth."

"Christianity was likewise based on certain historical claims that God uniquely entered into space and time in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, so the very ideology that Christians were trying to promote required as careful historical work as possible."

He let his analogy sink in. Turning to face me more directly, he asked, "Do you see my point?"

I nodded to indicate that I did.

- Interview with Craig L. Blomberg, PhD. (Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ)

there was a time when i wondered whether the bible would be more accurately classified as history or literature. if it was considered history, what was there to ensure its reliability? and if it fell under the compass of literature, we could all the more abandon all factual pretensions. after all, history is but a depiction, and literature a concoction.

just because the bible displays historical/literary characteristics, though, does not undermine its divinely bestowed authority. to discern the truth it contains is to grasp the sacred zeitgeist, one far more sophisticated than the nature of historical trends and literary techniques. this, i believe, is the essence of the case for christ.

reminds u of history s, doesn't it? (the case study especially)

leb stopped your world at 3:56 AM

i protest!!!

>>>i miss ashley and liz and michelle lee scampering around behind me picking up the notes falling out of my file...i miss alvin rushing around carrying my paper bag of lit books.. i miss xiang wei doing that MIA thing.. and i can't get that image of caleb leaping out of his seat after the final lit paper and shaking his euphemism for "treasure". (MICHELLE TEO DO U REMEMBER???)

is this how i am to be remembered????

stella stopped your world at 7:49 AM

this is in response to sulynn and her cheena slant in her blog..

ni wen wo ai ni you ji fen?
wo ai ni you duo shen?
ni qu kan yi kan
ni qu xiang yi xiang


remember the prayer i prayed..and sometimes continue to pray..though not as fervently as before?

about how being convinced that God is so big, and God is love, and the bible sez His unfailing love is all around, i prayed that He may open my eyes so i may experieeence His love?

and there have been many moments when i've been so overwhelmed by His love!
the joy that bubbles in my heart, the springs of thankfulness, the fresh streams of praise and the fountains of HOPE.

i look all around me and i see such beauty..
i see it in His creation - nature, people, thinGos..

i feel so good about myself it's incredible.
and where does this feeling of security and confidence come from?
i think it's from an increasingly deepening knowledge of how much God loves me.
the creator of the universe loves me!!!!
and if my dad's a king, what does that make me?
u know...

whatever i do, (actions)
come what may, (circumstances)
His love for me will never change.

NOTHING will make me more valuable.
I CAN NEVER do anything to add more value to my being.

it's not wad i do, but who i am, because of who HE IS.

i am infinitely valuable.
and i can add value to other people's lives.
(not to them per se,but to their lives)

God thinks im worthy to be His servant..to be His child.
He really thinks so!
that really blows my mind.


i have inherent infinite value
YOU have inherent infinite value

if i really believe this, and u really believe this, how will we treat each other?

im starting to understand what C.S. Lewis is talking about in the following:


1. C.S.Lewis in The Weight of Glory
"It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all of our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations -- these are all mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit -- immortal horrors or everlasting splendours...Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbour is the holiest object presented to your senses."


and after more than a month, i'm still pondering what chloe means:

"remember that you're worth more than anything to God.
self worth = being able to love others with confidence."


is it because i think i am valuable, therefore i have confidence that through my interaction with somebody, i can actually be a blessing?



p/s: HI ADEEEEEEEEE.


i really am very thankful...it's super easy to be thankful these days.. i really hope that as i share this u can also share my joy..or jus smile LAH. i'm going to argentina and brazil and peru and i dunno where (erica is tossing up names like uruguay and..i really dun even remember.. once she got so frustrated she threatened/is threatening to buy me an atlas or world map thing.. oh..do u remember the time alvin was so frustrated teaching me history he ended up drawing the whole map of europe?!..yeah...) this is another wonderful blessing from God.. it was all thought of and settled in a scope of 2 days.. it's really difficult to get tickets at this time of the year but.. wow.. im really amazed that everything is going smoothly...going for my 1001 vaccinations later.. (ok, maybe 999..the doctor told me so many on the phone i was like, "er..never mind.. dun tell me..") and.. yup, will be going from the 30 Dec - 27 Jan (1st day of CNY!!!)

my singtel sim card is with mel chew (she's in singapore now..so please bombard her with love)..

and.. im trying to get started on this research essay.. really will try to hit the books now.. BOOKS.. haha.. super embarrassing.. super super super embarrassing...this is another story.

but in case u're interested and u wanna think of me..
the question is...
"Profit Vs Service is a common catch cry in service
industries. When delivering customer service in retail operations,
should cost or quality prevail? Why?"
have until the 20th feb to hand it up for this competition i saw @ safeway.

starting this research has also been an amazing experience of God's love. after 2 months of dragging my feet, the morning i started.. God jus made it sooo smoooth. i prayed and fretted.."i wish howard was here..how can i contact howard? does he get nights off? should i even ask him?" and for the first time in eons (according to howard), he was online and was AVAILABLE and.. wOW, that was just such a blessing to talk to him after so long! (and i saw xiang wei online too..wow..) and i was still dragging my feeet, but ashwin just boUnced onto my msn screen with a YELL..and she (oh my! i see a butterfly outside my window pollinating a flower?? wow.. it;s jus sucking and sucking... mmm... wow... gosh..it must be really hungry.. oooh.. so interesting.... it's still there..and the wind is blowing..but it's still hanging on..eh?? wow.. ok..i think it's going to be there for some time..see i can type without looking at the keyboard..mm if it stays tere any longer it might as well blend in with the petals of the flower..) ok, yup..so ashwin directed me to her melb uni library website..and spurred..*(oooH!! the happy butterfly has fluttered away!!! OH my gosh..it's like ecstatic and craziLLYY fluttering all around.. .my goodness... ok..bye butterfly..) and spurred on my search for books.. and how God just blessedly abundantly provided such kind friends, from the various unis here in melbourne to help me get the books...my poor embarrassed friends like.. JAMIE (oh gosh and her friend too..) and ling earn (oh.. and 2 more friends who trudged with her ard the CT with them)Jehovah Jireh my provider.. and there were many bLAsts of encouragement from jenny..chris..sulYNN..my cousin adrian and eeting.. these pro-researchers who shared with me the importance of planning and reading overviews.. it has been a really smooth start-up.. and reminds me of God's faithfulness, His steadfast generouS provision.

it reminds me to be thankful from the last time i did that research project too.. ADE do u remember? hahahaha.. oh gosh.. i rem being in the council room and u fretting for me.. hahaha.. and all my poor friends who had to tolerate me.. SHERYL who was dragged to nus to help me kill trees..alvin who was MORE THAN HAPPY to accompany me (!!!) and.. yup, i remember receiving so much encouragement and support during that period too.. from Mrs Creffield allowing me to not go for class but to spend the time researching (it was her idea..woahza..) to Ms Leow.. Ms Tan CC.. ahha..alot more people too.. God is generouS lah ;)


i miss ashley and liz and michelle lee scampering around behind me picking up the notes falling out of my file...i miss alvin rushing around carrying my paper bag of lit books.. i miss xiang wei doing that MIA thing.. and i can't get that image of caleb leaping out of his seat after the final lit paper and shaking his euphemism for "treasure". (MICHELLE TEO DO U REMEMBER???)


talk to u soon?

nanaa stopped your world at 6:05 AM

Poetry

As I mulled over what topic to write on for my final poetry paper, I came back to a wonderful poet - Gerard Manley Hopkins. We discussed his lovely, lovely poem in class:

As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame;
As tumbled over rim in roundy wells
Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell's
Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;
Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:
Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;
Selves--goes itself; myself it speaks and spells,
Crying What I do is me: for that I came.

I say more: the just man justices;
Keeps grace: that keeps all his goings graces;
Acts in God's eye what in God's eye he is--
Christ--for Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of men's faces.

Which drew a brief, silent awe from everyone after it was read aloud, and a whispered comment: "It's pretty." a few seconds later.

Check out:
The first one I ever read, The Windhover. Also God's Grandeur. And finally ['I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day'], a disturbing look into Hopkins' depressed mind.

leb stopped your world at 6:21 AM

i found this very funny little comic on http://studentssketchpad.blogspot.com/2005/11/gepers-repent.html
kudos to them! =) i'm sorry if it's somewhat vulgar and some ppl might take offense...but considering how many geps and muggers there were in ah, someone has to take a poke at them. hhaaha =) but u know i love you guys loads so don't take this seriously eh?
cheers!

leb stopped your world at 12:08 PM

mmm...and so..
tonight i had my first ever american acapella concert. do i like it?
erm...
it's a bit strange. and all this do-wopping and dancing thing is really NOT my thing.
but i tried my best! =) so hey! new experiences! and i had fun!
this was our playlist:


building a mystery (pop)
feeling good (jazz)-*** my first every acapella arrangement!
these words (pop)
time is a healer (pop)
ain't nobody (pop)
i don't need no doctor (pop)
a woman's worth (pop)
route 66 (jazz)
tuxedo junction (jazz)
leaving town (pop)
everyday is a winding road (pop)
gee baby (jazz)
god bless the child (jazz)
could you be loved (pop)
collide (pop)

stella stopped your world at 6:42 PM

hey..jus dropping an overdue thought:

this is especially for the beautiful-teachers-to-be..everytime i see someone pay with a victoria teachers union credit card, i'll think of u and i'll be so proud that i haf friends who want to be teachers :) sometimes i even talk about you guys to teachers i meet.. "i have friends who are on scholarship to be teachers! cool right??" :)

"a teacher who challenges u is a teacher who loves you"

*plop*

last sunday i pulled off quite a dangerous stunt; details that i would rather never mention again aside, the scene is set in a car being driven by yours truly, with 1 friend beside me, and another friend behind me.

what was supposed to be a simple turn-left-left-right and come back trip worked itself out into a mind-blowing 15 minute drive.

we went via a really long way so that i would have a traffic light to turn left into - versus cutting across 4 lanes in a total of 5 seconds.

and instead of allowing me to just drop off my friend at the station, she commanded me to ease into the parking lot (more like wriggle in) before i stopped the car.

and instead of permitting me to slide simply into the parking space outside church, she directed me to come beside the car in front and attempt to perform my minus-10-star -rating of reverse parking, declaring, "you're going to have to do this for your test anway."

and i went home blubbering in my head, "gosh..why does she make my life so difficult..."
but u see, i haf confidence that this friend loves me..so.. im sure these actions spring forth from a heart of love YEAH?
(this is what i've picked up in australia..ending sentences with YEA?)

and these conclusions trotted through my mind:
one of the characteristics of a teacher's journey with a student is that.. it really is that -
a journey WITH a student.
the teacher is beside you all the way (i mean this both literally and the metaphoric ac cheer way of ALL THE WAY!)
especially in acjc, the teachers were truly (some say madly) with us all the way...
everytime they pushed us... i think they were pushing themselves incredibly more...
and... why would they do it?


my previous conclusion of how teaching is a very beautiful profession is being cemented into my heart.
i think teachers have a very beautiful heart.. i think it's bursting with love... wow :O

im sorry i only just realised that dosing out challenges is also an arena in which my teachers have been loving me all along :(


sometimes we feel we are in control cos we are the ones at the steering wheel but u know what,
just like the key to start the engine didn't belong to me,
i.e. the power to run the engine is not in my hands
just like how i would have no idea which way to go without my friend navigating beside me,
such are the ways of our somewhat parasitic leEch-like dependence on our Teachers in life.

Thank goodness that's how the Greatest Teacher in the World likes it. :)