Verbally Unsavvy

I think I'm really quite bad at expressing myself verbally, or would I say "slow"? This is especially so when I receive compliments or even when people say "thank you" to me. Somehow I always seem to get caught off-guard and get tongue-tied. Hmm...maybe I tend to think too much? Then after that, I would regret and think of what I should have said, which would of course be too late.

So friends, please do not be offended if somehow I don't respond well. I'm not being "dao" or rude, I'm just a bit slow/unsavvy at expressing myself verbally.

Jigsaw Puzzle Challenge

Yesterday, a couple of friends and I took part in a jigsaw puzzle challenge organised my my organisation. The idea was to finish as much of a 750-piece puzzle as possible by the cut-off time. The 4 of us as a team took part in the staff & family/friends category. And guess what? We won! Yeah!


Well, as at the cut-off our puzzle was not finished yet. 2 of us stayed back to complete it. We resolved not to give up as if we didn't, we will never continue with it. Anyway, as a good "sportsman", it's only right we did. And eventually, we completed it! Here's how it looks.

The whole puzzle took us 5-6 hours.

《天冷就回来》

一夜就这样过去了。刚看完了《天冷就回来》，也丝毫有了丝丝触动。这部歌舞剧是根据梁文福的歌曲而排编的。也许是那幽忧的旋律和歌词让我如此感怀。它讲述了梦想、希望、执著、原则、抱负。一个抱着梦想的人，会在艰苦的风雪中屹立不倒，抱着希望地挣扎。但在其中，我们不应该放弃原则，走上“不轨”之路以让美丽的梦想蒙上灰暗的面纱。


听着熟悉的歌曲（其实大部分对我来说，比我的时代早一小小点）和那句句带有深厚意义的词，不仅发现梁文福的词很诗意。他用词上非常精粹，很巧妙地在歌词中简洁地点出含意。想当年读大学时，我曾上过他的诗词班。还记得那时学会在不同的诗歌中发掘他们如何运用词语来加深其中的含义如用重叠词。还记得他所写的《担心》（那是他课堂上其中被讨论的一首歌），他解释是用了同音词 - “担心 你的单心。。。”虽然有点忧愁，不过好听又文艺。

大致上这演出是蛮不错的。只是其中有一段剧情让我的朋友感到惊愕的。是这样的，俊强（郑展伦）在一小段里，突然出现唱了一首思念曲《久久才见到你的好》。我们本来觉得很奇怪，但后来，不可思议的事情发生了。他终于找到他曾舍弃的旧情人。但原来他就是其中一位男主角，阿强（陈瑞彪），偶尔“不小心”会想起的旧情人（《如果你不小心想起我》）。我的天啊！怎么突然有同性恋情出现！他们并对唱了《让夜轻轻落下》。我的朋友说那一段“破坏”了那首歌的形象。。。从此以后要如何平静地听那首歌呢？

就这样吧。

Raffles vs Labourers

While being in the vicinity due to the screening of Invisible City, saw this really interesting display along Singapore River put up facing our Raffles statue.

Look at how the statue/sculpture mirrors and contrasts against Raffles' statue. It did look a bit eerie, but it also had some tragic feel about it, like some unsung hero...look at the missing arm. What was really interesting was the inscription on its pedestal.

Here are the words inscribed:

"On this obscure site

and many others

we landed on Singapore soil

since time immemorial

with our labour and toil

changed your genius and perception

from a mere idea to a concrete reality"

And here's the inscription on Raffles':

"On this historic site

Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles

first landed in Singapore

on 28th January 1819

and with genius and perception

changed the destiny of Singapore

from an obscure fishing village

to a great seaport and

and modern metropolis"

As my friend said, it was a reaction to the original Raffles statue. Mark the words & the re-phrasing. Wonder how long it'll be there.

Each instance has a new revelation

Recently, I can't help reveling in how amazing GOD is...there is no word I can describe but "WOW".

I have recently commited/set aside time to take part in the 40-day fast for both the Love Singapore movement and some personal issues. He was really amazing as He revealed many truths from the Word and even in my life. It's hard to describe but there are so many wonders and revelations you can find in the Bible as it is so rich with the wisdom of GOD.
It was also brought upon my heart that my book for the year is 1 Corinthians.

Even though the 40-day is over, I'm still experiencing GOD and I really wish to be disciplined in my walk with Him. I'm really glad that I could share with people and bless them too. I managed to share my career testimony with my sis-in-law as she is looking for a new company to work in and to have more specialisation in her job scope. I was very blessed by GOD in my pursuit of a career and I wished to bless her too since I was blessed. Also, it was great that I could share with a Christian friend about focusing on GOD. I was glad & encouraged that she became clearer of her goals and realised some truths too and to be willing to submit certain areas to GOD. It is always good that we edify and support one another for I was also encouraged in the process and hopefully, it has helped her too.

It has been a fruitful time & I have been more positive about stuff. If people ask me now how I was doing, rather than say "I'm busy" and seem frustrated, I should say "I'm busy, but am doing great...I'm have a good time of revelation".

Invisible City by Tan Pin Pin

I finally caught Invisible City tonight. Good thing they extended it, or else I would have missed it altogether.

It was an interesting documentary. It's set in current times and shows people talking about the past, from the young local archaelogist to past filmmakers, photographers and curators, and even activists of the past.

It dawned on me, looking from our current modern times, how fast Singapore has changed, that such memories has been lost. Looking at the past footage or pictures, we are so far from the past. The poignant question asked by one interviewee was that if no footage was taken, does it mean it never existed...to me, it translated to possible obliteration from all memories.

Also, some of the interviewees were rather old and you could see that their memories were already fading. Would our heritage/past be lost eventually?

One of the striking part of the film was the portion where Ivan Polunin's footage was shown as a blank footage as he narrated while he was shooting his old films. Ivan was a filmmaker/photographer who captured mainly plants & flowers of Singapore & Malaysia during the late 1950s, especially for medicinal purposes. He also captured some lifestyle of tribes and people in the region. Anyway, he was trying to digitise his films by shooting & recording them onto DV tapes or HD DVDs. The blank footage was impactful as the word "invisible" came clear then (after all it's called "Invisible City" right?). As he narrates, you see nothing and what he describes seems invisible to you and you can only imagine what he was actually talking about.
He had answered earlier that he was of course worried that the films would be lost, that's why he's doing some self-digitisation, and even as his memory is fading, he himself is trying to sort out & record what they are about and archiving them, hence the narration (there was not much speech, if any at all, in the films). Even he has some trouble doing so, so how would others be able to understand if nothing is done? Can you imagine the significance of memories lost? And it also emphasizes if something is deemed non-existent if it is not recorded.

Does invisibility = non-existence? Is there a broken link between the past & present?

李大傻 Big Fool Lee

Caught the show 李大傻 at Drama Centre yesterday. I had actually expected it to be a jovial show, but it turned out to be more serious than jovial.

The play was about the legendary Cantonese story-teller Lei Dai Soh (actually I think it should be Lei Dai Sor/Sau) of Singapore broadcasted on radio/丽的呼声 (Rediffusion). His real name is Lee Fok Hong and he took his name 大傻 from some Hong Kong personality/show. Phonetically it sounds like "you big fool" and there is the famous Cantonese tune of "bin gor wa wo sor" ("Who says I'm a fool"). However, due to the reasons of politics (Speak Mandarin campaign) and the TV, he was slowly phased out as he didn't want to change from Cantonese story-telling and also due to the popularity of TV - it would have been meaningless for him and the essence of the story, spoken in a language that is not so familiar to him in terms of speech, would be lost (Note: he understood Mandarin perfectly well). He had many ups & downs in his life even though he was really a simple man.

Watching the show, the significance of how it was played came upon me - the actor playing 李大傻 only spoke Cantonese throughout the whole show as opposed to others. To me, this symbolised his steadfastness in his principles and emphasized certain issues.

National Day songs

It's National Day again (in 2 days time)!
Every year, we will have a new National Day song, but I find that my favourite song is still Count On Me Singapore. However, I only like the original version which was more melodic. Think the 1st MTV produced had many children holding candles, which I liked very much too.

Now, as I've grown up and know/understand our history better, it is really interesting to see how the songs have evolved. Count On Me Singapore was 1 of the early songs and talked about hope for the future of the nation and building it:

"We have a vision for tomorrow, just believe, just believe
We have a goal for Singapore, we can achieve, we can achieve..."

Then recently I keep humming We Are Singapore's starting line, which means so much now. It talks about how we managed to pull through difficult times and celebrates our freedom and success against all odds even though we are a small country, to be what we are today, having advanced so much in less than 50 years of independence:

"There was a time when people said
That Singapore won't make it, but we did..."

Nowadays it's all about "home" and "family".

Relational responsibilities

Something from Joshua Harris' book.

"When you're just getting to know someone, it's essential that you remember what I call your "relational responsibilities"...Imagine you're in a car on a lonely deserted road. No one's in sight, and the smooth pavement stretches out as far as you can see. You know the vehicle can go fast; you just don't know how fast. But you'd like to find out. No one will see you. Why not try it? You throw the car into high gear and roar down the road.

Now imagine you're in the car again, but this time a dear friend sits in the passenger seat. An instead of being on a deserted road, you're in the heart of a busy city, surrounded by other cars and pedestrians. Then out of the corner of your eye, you see a police car. You don't even think of speeding. You drive down the street slowly and carefully.

What's the difference between the 2 scenarios? The difference is that in the first you were an isolated person who only had yourself to worry about. But the 2nd scenario placed you in relationships with others. Instead of being alone, you had responsibilities. If you wrecked the car, you would be responsible for the life of the person strapped in the seat next to you. Your recklessness would also place the lives of the motorists around you in danger. And finally, the policeman's presence reminded you of the traffic laws you should obey. You drove slowly...
If you start out thinking only of yourself...you'll speed...and probably run over people along the way. But if you remember that your actions affect others, you'll find the resolve to proceed cautiously and carefully."

Food for thought

“Any fool can count the no. of seeds in an apple, but only GOD can count the apples in a seed” - Bob Schuller