Last Day of 2011

This is kind of a lame title for a post, but I do feel like I want to blog during the last day of the year. I wonder if this is one of those days where blog entries suddenly peak (apart from 1st of Jan).

Swee Yee and Lin Zhi are coming over to my house to count down with myself and Jerome. There's a lot lesser of us than expected but then again it's not always about numbers. I hope we have end the year and start a new one in a meaningful way together. And tomorrow - it's hello 2012! Come to think of it a whole lot of chemicals in my lab are going to expire when the new year comes in.

Next year campus is going to lose Simon around mid-year. He's going to study theology and serve God in a different way from now. Personally I think I'll miss Simon a lot. He really made a difference to my campus life. I always look to various people at different stages of my life for someone whose light I can follow, and I'm thankful I've always met such persons. And I think in Singapore I've always looked to Simon the most. How he loves the Word of God and has sacrificed so much time and energy to prepare Bible Study for us. How he lives the Word of God by relentlessly serving, and loving, and by just being there. How he is so passionate and so serious when he delivers BS messages. And even his FB wall posts is a daily reminder of how I should not stray from the Word of God, from my responsibility to share the gospel, from living a life of love, from admiring the bigness and awesomeness of God as who He is.

I'm really thankful for Simon and thankful to God too, for having big plans for him elsewhere where he could touch the lives of others too.

Wai Pheng is getting married in around two weeks time. I think I'm really blessed to have time to attend both her wedding ceremony and the dinner. It was Wai Pheng who brought me (and many others including Jon) to GLCC, and I am glad I came to this church. Wai Pheng has a special place in my heart - and I sincerely hope that she will have a wonderful marriage life.

Last night during our Romans Bible Study we discussed on how people are reluctant to talk about sin when preaching the gospel. They always preach about love, joy, peace in your heart when they talk about Christ, but that's not all what God is, and when you're not describing God as a whole, you're not describing Him as He is. God is also a righteous God, a holy God who abhors sin. And God's righteousness and holiness is part of who He is, making Him beautiful, magnificent and beyond compare. That's why if we do not deal with sin properly in our lives, we are in great danger - for God desires Christians to pursue after holiness.

So many times we tailor the gospel for listening ears in hope that it will be easier to accept. We blur out the uglier parts and emphasize on what people feel that they need in their hearts. But the gospel is for a listening heart - and I believe if we preach the full gospel as it is, the Spirit will grant understanding; and blessed are those who accept God in His terms, not on their own.

There are still many big and little issues I will have to spring-clean in my life and my prayer for 2012 is that I pursue holiness, pursue love, and have steadfast faith in Christ at all times.

When I'm Still Officially 24 This Year

Last days of 2011 whereby I have not officially reached mid-twenties. 2011 flies. Not the whole of it, but parts of it. The months just zoom by. I date day after day at work, then month after month. Now I've already been working for 5 months. No longer a newbie (but still clumsy and blur).

Many has said 2011 was a good year. Mine was full of blessings, full of grace. But I wish there could be more joy. I think the reason for this lack of joy is that I have not really savoured and tasted God to His fullest. He was there for me, but I was not always there. In fact you could say that I was instead always just 'half-there'.

How true it is when you take away God, nothing can truly satisfy. Family, boyfriend, friends, housemates, colleagues. All wonderful people I've been blessed with. I've enjoyed their companionship, been loved, guided, helped, and taken care of by them. And I am infinitely thankful towards them. But there's this gap that only God can fill. He's there, He's never given up on me. But I'm not always there to remember Him, cherish Him, and just be delighted in His presence.

So this is my earnest wish for 2012 - that I will always be close to God, that He will always be close to my heart in every thing I do and say. That I do the right things and think the right thoughts because I fear Him. That I love others because I love Him. That I strive to be righteous because He wants me to be holy. I don't think I need to break down what I want to do for different aspects of my life - home, work, friends, love. As long as God is in all these, it doesn't matter any more.

Been struggling in work in ways not everyone can understand. Been struggling with apathy at other times with my spiritual life, with my service towards God and others. Been struggling to preserve holiness in both my actions and thoughts; which is probably the most difficult of all. But the joy of the Lord is my strength. I pray for this strength in the remainder of this year, and the whole of future ones.

Of MRT Lines

I was 45 minutes late for work yesterday because something went wrong with Circle Line. It literally went round in a circle. After around 20 minutes of a futile ride, I was back in the station which I started out in. Took an alternative train route to Jurong East, but by then the last shuttle service to my company had already left. So I had to spend a little extra to ride on 193 (which is a snail on weekday mornings) to work. Could have taken a cab but that idea was not at all tempting due to the taxi fare hike this week itself. So I just texted my supervisor and proceeded to go to work the slow and sure way.

Today the one of the trains in North-South Line (red line) broke down, and passengers were stranded in the underground tunnel for more than one hour because the doors couldn't be opened. I was eating a (company sponsored) buffet dinner with my colleagues, and we were appalled by pictures of people smashing MRT glass windows (because we didn't know that they were stuck in the train for so long, with no air-con)! An after-effect of this was a terrible jam along Orchard roads and affected areas. Of course the cabbies got a booming business despite the fare hike.

News spread like wildfire, and despite negative images and comments on the line, I am still glad to read a FB comment posted as such: " Why ask for grace, if one can't even show grace towards a system that has been loyal in serving for years?" Of course things like this are easier said outside an MRT than inside it; but still it's a start. Not that such occurrences are excusable (Singapore won't survive if they happen so frequently), but from the point of view of a consumer, shouldn't we be a bit more forgiving towards these occurrences considering the irreplaceable service the MRT has provided in the past?

All that said I think Singapore ought to start investing heavily in getting more trains, and providing for emergency servicing for existing trains. They have been so over-used that they break down a lot, especially now. And with the expanding population, the need for public transport is higher than ever (not all can afford cars). Frankly speaking I'll rather do without all the new MRT lines coming up if they'd instead enhance the existing services we have right now. The butterfly effect of one day's service break-down towards the working class in particular is very significant.

Mistborn Trilogy Completed

I've finally completed the last book of the Mistborn Trilogy, The Hero of Ages. And that is no mean feat considering the fact that the only free version I've managed to find (without zip or rar), is here. Just click on the link and you'll see what I mean. Someone told me the font size is akin to reading an encyclopedia. I wouldn't have ploughed on with it if not for the fact that I've read the first two books.

As usual, Sanderson ends his stories grippingly. This book is filled with action scenes and revelations. After completing the trilogy, I see this guy more as an engineer than an author. The intelligent way he creates magic worlds (that fits into logic somehow), and open up them layer by layer by layer across his three books - that is no mean feat. And groundwork must be laid properly starting from the first book. There is hardly any conflict in his worlds, yet once you thought you knew something - well you just didn't know it well enough. Very well crafted. And that's what makes the whole trilogy appealing. As I have mentioned (or rather gushed about) before, the idea of Allomancy in itself is novel enough. But that is a just a small part of a big story.

Highly recommend for fiction/fantasy lovers, especially engineer book worms. Beats Harry Potter hands-down with regards to the creation of a magical world (in my opinion). :p I find it better than Hunger Games too, but of course they are kind of from a different fantasy genre. The main flaw I find in Mistborn is the romance between the two main protagonists borders corny-ness. Not really my type. But the rest of the book makes it bearable. :p

Now I'm deciding if I'm going to re-read this all over again, or go for another of Sanderson's work. I've read three of his now, and none disappointed me.

And So We Reach December

December now. I think months just fly by when work is concerned. We're required to sign and date at all our documentations at work. Each new date I date reminds me of each day passed. And it's so fast before we have to write down another number. 2012 seemed so far away. At first. Now it's near, and next year I'll be at the age Jon likes to call 'Christmas Cake'. I still feel like what I used to feel when I was a teen though. But physically I have aged much.

I'm getting more stable at work now, though I still make mistakes. But it feels good to be getting better at something new for once. I haven't been learning new things for a long time, and testing is somewhat new to me, although we do have lab sessions in NUS. But there wasn't so much wet chemistry involved. I used to dread pipetting, but now I'm very much used to it. My accuracy could be improved way more though.

Will be going home for Christmas in the next two weeks. Counting down for New Year in Singapore though, for the first time. Good chance to catch up with friends and have fun together. I'll be sharing a short Christmas message (Dawn too) during our Christmas caroling sessions. I haven't talked in public for a long time. Still haven't really thought of which approach I'd take to share.

Was initially rather appalled about sharing (because I have this vacant expression on my face every time I address a large group of people - in other words my charisma is level zero), but then later I was excited instead. I haven't had the chance to share the gospel for a long time. And the power of the gospel lies in the gospel itself, not the speaker. Where I am weak, God shows Himself strong. May God be glorified. Please pray for me as I prepare: that I am equipped with love, humility, and faith; and pray that hearts are prepared to receive the sowing of the seed.