Little Ann is sad

Ann was feeling sad. She said that there is this girl (Miss M) in her class who is very bossy and mean. On a few occasions, she has asked Ann to go away when she tried to join them to do homework while waiting for their CCA to start. Yesterday, it happened again. She was asked to go away. You know what, this girl is the class monitor. Sometimes, I wonder how teachers make choices? (Do they start the “tripod” training since young?)

Ann is someone who is very expressive. She loves having friends and loves being with them and having fun, doing things together. When such things happen, she becomes really sad. Mama ain’t happy either.

How can you ever outsource child-rearing? The best maid, the best childcare, the best grands will only provide the best for the child physically but how many actually impart right values and morals?
Yes, I know and I understand that these girls were probably friends since they were P1. After being together for 2 1/2 years, they have already build a strong friendship but do you have to be mean to a girl who has just join you?

Anyway, I have told Ann to ignore her. She will just be a fair-weather friend or acquaintance. There are many other nice girls in class. Like one girl (Miss E) who actually wrote Ann a thank-you note, telling her how much she appreciates her friendship. Yes, that’s what I call feeding the soul and imparting the right values to a child. Told Ann that this is the kind of friend she should keep for the rest of her life!

Told her that she should never behave like Miss M but should always follow the example of Miss E.
I am going to print these pictures and paste them in her room. Little things she must learn to make her a tougher person when she grows up.

人生无常

星期六看新闻，知道艺人，黄文永逝世。星期天晚上, 收到短信，中学同学也死了，得了血癌。感叹人生真的是如此短暂。

会演戏的人很多。可是，会演好戏的，有人要看的，已经不多了！朋友也一样。有很多朋友,不难， 有好的朋友是不多的。

人生是一场旅程, 有许多站，但每个人都会到达终点站。名人，伟人，艺人，平凡人。。。都会有一天来到终站。我想，这就是人人所说的。。。老天是公平的。

Talking about you, dude!

I want to write about this for the longest time but I have to get my thoughts organised.

You know I am a returning Singaporean. Someone who has been away for a considerable amount of years and now back in her homeland. I have said that in my previous blog, living a “relocated” life isn’t easy. I must say that the mothers face the toughest challenge. The husbands go back to office, he works and gets busy. He doesn’t really have to make new friends, there are “instant” friends aka colleagues. The kids carry on with going to school and having fun with new friends. Mums are the ones who have to go find her way around.

Recently, a friend was relocated to China. When she was here, she was a full time working mum, a professional. That made her relocation twice as difficult as mine. Firstly, she has to adjust to life as a stay-at-home mum, then she has to adjust to life in a new environment. Remember, China isn’t a fully developed country yet. It has been in the news lately…dead pigs in Huang Pu Jiang, bird flu – H7N9 and of course, the never-ending pollution. The first tier cities already have their problems, imagine the second and third tier cities.

The last I heard from her was “everyday is a struggle”. Of course I know. Been there, done that.
But you know, life in a foreign land can be made easier for mums when the husbands show some form of care. Yes, I am talking about you, dude! Don’t make comments like “you are in a new place, you suppose to go and explore.” No friends, no families, no nuts about where to go…explore what, where with who?

Hello, you think it is that easy? Why not do a swap. You stay home, send the kids to school and go and explore. That isn’t US of A or Australia or NZ or some sane place. She made the sacrifice of giving up her job, follow you overseas so that you can up a notch in your career. At least, show some love.

In fact, there are so many real-life stories of the struggles of mums who have relocated with their husbands. Some of these are really tough cookies but do not take them for granted. Appreciate them, love them, give them your time…Imagine, when the assignment is over and when she goes home, she has lost her job, she may have lost some friends.  For her, it is all over again from day one. For you, it may be the promotion, the recognition, the status. Remember, without her, you won’t be where you are. (Incidentally, I also know of wives who refused to move and the husbands missed that promotion). Behind every successful man, is a very long-suffering wife.

You won’t get brain damage to be a little more sensitive towards her.

Childlike faith

 Recently, Ann lost her book with her bookmark attached to it. She was very sad. The bookmark was something she had bought when Shanghai was having her book fair. That was last Thursday. On Friday, she went to school to look for them, she could not find them. Every night she would want us to pray for her to be able to find her lost items.

These are things which wouldn’t really bother us. To her, it means a lot. An unfinished book, a beloved bookmark. So on Sunday night, we decided not to pray for her but instead asked her to pray for herself that she would find her lost items when she went back to school the next day.

Praying and believing by faith is something which we have taught the children since young. They have learned to always turn to God in times when they need help. This is an important virtue to cultivate in our children especially in recent times when the world has become more challenging. We can’t be with them wherever they are but God will always be watching over them.

On Monday after school, the familiar chirpy girl came out from school, “mommy, I found my book and bookmark!”



When daughter is happy, mama is happy too.

Church – to open or not to open 

 I saw this notice outside the church near my house


Many times, we hear preachers telling us that the church is just a building, it is the people who matter most.  Ironically, these days, many churches are locked up some even with high-tech security system. Why? They have gone mega. Fanciful and expensive building, equipped with some of the most advance sound and light system which probably cost thousands or even millions. To safeguard these, the church is now under lock. Probably, only the church office will be opened 24/7.

I remember when I was younger, my sister and I used to play in this playground which was right next to a church. The church is constantly opened. As a very young (I mean very young) girl, I was often touched when I see people going into the church to pray. Isn’t that what a church is supposed to be…

And as He taught them, He said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? (Mark 11:17)

Am I disappointed with where things are going these days, even in the Christian circle. To tell you ‘no’ is a blatant lie. Of course, I am. But I have never been disappointed with God. Many have left church because of issues like this one. These are people who have put their faith in men. Men are humans and humans fail. Even pastors do fail. When you focus on God, when you have built your love and trust in God, you know what is right and what is wrong. You sieved the wrong from the right and keep what is worth keeping and you carry on with life.

Handmade

Isn’t this familiar?

Went for a school carnival and saw this beautiful bag done by some old folks to raise funds. Ann and I fell in love with it and bought it. These days, handmade things are really rare. These are really hardy. It is hard work too. Imagine  every little flower is hand sewn individually. Then sewn together to form a bag. Very impressed.

Cold sweat…

This morning was the usual routine. Woke up at 5.30am, wash up, quiet time with God (never start the day without this). Prepared breakfast, got the kids ready for school. Saw Ann to school, marketing, came back, get ready for exercise…you now those mundane things you do every morning. Then, news came on the radio. The familiar voice of Brian Richmond. “Two bombs went off near the finishing line of the Boston Marathon…three dead and at least a hundred injured.” Not so mundane after all.

Not again. Remember 9/11. The bombing of the Twin Towers in NY. I was in US at that time but left exactly one month before 9/11. When I heard that news, I broke into cold sweat. Today, the same feeling again. Watching Live coverage on the laptop is like watching 9/11 all over again. The only comfort is that this is not as serious but still, lives are lost.

Live your life well, there are times when you really wish that it will just be another day of routines.

This is so de ja vu

The church is under redevelopment. We have to use a hotel for our services for the next 30 over months. Today is the first day of our service outside church. The first thing I told the spouse was that “this is so de ja vu".

Shanghai – Marriott Hong Qiao


Singapore – The Furama Riverfront Hotel

I pray that the people will continue to remain faithful.

One final shot

The church gathered for one final service before the building goes.

 
 
 
So apt

 
Want to guess what this is? It is a piece of the pew which we have been sitting on for the past few decades

 
This is how the new church will look like

 
I hope they have kept this
 
 
One final shot

The Art of the Brick

We also managed to take time out to visit this great exhibition…work done by a lawyer turned artist, Nathan Sawaya. It depicted many of us. Caught between a need and a want. A job is a need, a passion is a want.  Not many will choose passion although that’s what many of us want. A job allows us to have a decent life, a passion… it may not. Excellent exhibition. One of the best I have ever come across.




  
  
  

 
 
 


 

 
 
This piece made use of 80,020 lego pieces. Amazing.


They must get creative too



In art, lies the soul of man. That’s why, Literature cannot and should not die in the journey of learning.

That’s why I do what I do…

Robert F. Kennedy said, “Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

关注孩子，不要关住孩子

It basically meant, watch over your kid but not caged your kid. In spite of the holiday homework given, we made sure the kids have time for play.