Question: What do the 3 things have in common?

1. News on Gaza
2. Obama's very multicultural family
3. My extended family having a webcam conference with my uncle in NZ

Answer: They show me how interconnected we are in the world today.

Even though Gaza and Israel have already called for a truce, the devastating remnants of innocent blood and broken bones broadcasted in the news stirred up a sense of injustice within me. Even though we are physically miles apart, the empathy is just as real.

Sometimes I truly wonder if the price of war/conflict is worth it.
How do we measure the worth?
By the number of tangible lives lost or by the intangible ideology of freedom and security? Do we necessarily have to fight for ideologies? Or will they come if we just drop the violence and murder?

Centuries ago, who knows about what is happening hundreds of miles away?
The fact that I can feel for something which has happened in a distant land tells a lot about how globalized our world is.

And talking about globalization, Obama's family is globalization in action. It's a family that spans different continents.
His biological mother is a white American (North America)

I just finished my first reunion dinner with my dad's family 30 minutes ago. My stomach and shorts are both threatening to tear..

But I'm still keen to do this small little post. Read the instructions below.

1. Put iTunes/Napster/Zune Player/WinAmp/etc on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!


IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY", YOU SAY? Rest in You - Hillsong United
WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL? Stolen - Dashboard Confessional
HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY? Flood - Jars of Clay (Flood? Maybe... Flooded with food right now)
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE? King of Glory - Chris Tomlin
WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO? Put your records on - Corinne Bailey Rae (Yea party on everyone! Music makes the world go round)
WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU? Believe in Me - Demi Lovato (My friends, do you believe in me??!!)
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS? If I Kissed You - Corrinne May (I swear I've never ever thought of kissing my parents!!)
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN? Elevation - U2 (Hmm.)
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND? Angel in Disguise - Corrinne May (WAH! I totally think this is tooooooo accurate)
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE? Only Hope - Switchfoot
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY? Star - Simon Webbe (I am a star. A bright bright star!)
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP? Deeper - Hillsong United (yea, totally. I want to be deeper in my knowledge, my walk with God, my love for myself and others...)
WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE? This Road - Jars of Clay
WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU? Tailor Made - Colbie Caillat (Did they do genetic modification to me?! Gasp. No wonder.)
WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING? Uncreated One - Chris Tomlin
WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL? Awesome is the Lord Most High - Chris Tomlin (Pretty good a choice. Yes, when I die, our Lord will deserve all praises because He's bringing me back to my REAL HOME in heaven!)
WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST? Sunday Morning - Maroon 5 (Sunday morning's sleep is my interest)
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS? Won't Go Home Without You - Maroon 5
WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN? The Valley Song - Jars of Clay
HOW WILL YOU DIE? Dare You To Move - Switchfoot (What a way to die. Cannot move already still being dared)
WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET? I Belong To Me - Jessica Simpson
WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH? Bubbly - Colbie Caillat
WHAT MAKES YOU CRY? New Year's Day - U2 (Ya, especially Chinese New Year and those CNY songs)
WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED? Lean on Me - DC Talk
WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST? Bedshaped - Keane
DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU? Everybody's Gone To War - Nerina Pallot (Aww.. That's sad. I feel like the desolate wife of a Prisoner of War)
IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE? I Will Boast - Paul Baloche (LOL.)
WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW? Only Human - Jason Mraz
WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS? Suddenly I See - KT Tunstall (Yes, it's epiphany for me after doing this small random exercise)

***
The Curse of Random-ness
Even though doing this exercise is fun, it made me discover that being random is no way to lead one's life.
You can laugh at the random answers that come out from the shuffled music list in my MP4. You can be amused at some of the answers that random popped out which have absolutely no relevance to the questions being asked.
It's funny to you now but translating this principle to your life, it's not that amusing anymore.
One can end up with the wrong answers and the wrong values if one's life is led without direction or purpose.

If you think you can lead your life just by leaving it to random chance, let's just say, it would be tragically amusing.

Do you know your ultimate purpose in life?

I've found my personal Bible verse for 2009 earlier this month and I'm so glad that I have one. It keeps me going every single day and motivates me to keep God's love in my every action.

I am just relieved that God has revealed to me my folly that I have been committing for the past years - trying to serve and love others with my own strength and knowledge.

It was a terribly hard thing to love others when I refuse to love myself. I thought I was confident and I was sure I am beautiful in God's eyes but the core mistake was that I DIDN'T LOVE MYSELF.

Loving myself doesn't mean indulging in shopping sprees, buying 100 pairs of shoes or eating boxes of Royce chocolates. It doesn't mean going for pedicures or manicures or whatever "cures".
Loving myself is about accepting whole-heartedly my flaws, my body and my personality, knowing that nothing can diminish God's unconditional love for me.
It's unconditional! Nothing I do or not do would add or subtract this sacrificial, agape love.

Love is such a powerful force. But love from God is one that truly liberates.

Here is my personal verse for 2009:
If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:1-2 NLT

You know I am stuck in a brain freeze when I start googling about things to do in Singapore for big groups.

Seriously, I have ran out of ideas on what to do when organizing activities for big groups of 15 people and above. WHAT IS FUN FOR BIG GROUPS IN SINGAPORE?
The activity must be affordable for students (ie. around 10 bucks or below) and must not require too much planning.

I have some ideas on hand but these activities are what other 998,457 Singaporeans would think of doing when they are having a group outing.

1) Go for movies
2) Go cycling at Pulau Ubin/East Coast
3) Go ice-skating
4) Go bowling

Please throw me some ideas!

***

Welcome back to windy-and-sometimes-a-bit-sunny Singapore YUE (: (: So glad that you are finally back after 5 whole months!

Many journalists, commentators and scholars I've read lament how Singapore's Chinatown has lost its essence of being Chinese, giving up its authenticity for the tourist dollar. Comparing with other ethnic enclaves in Singapore, Little India and Geylang Serai sure have more flavour than Chinatown.

If you have walked through Little India, you would certainly feel that you have walked into an entirely different world. Stalls hawking their wares at the narrow alleys, people jostling for space at the fivefoot ways, Indians crossing the roads like it's theirs and Bangladeshi/Indians lying down on the grass (any grass patches! Got grass can already) - this is Little India. It is real, untainted by the sterility of tourism; it is essentially Indian. You can practically smell India in the air.

So has Chinatown really lost its essence then?

A stroll down Smith Street (Chinatown) made me realise that indeed, it is so clean, it looks fake. Stalls are neatly lined up in a row and there are no loud Chinese hawkers shouting for attention. It is what many scholars would call "staged authenticity".

But when I was in Chinatown for dim sum a couple of weeks ago, I feel that that place has still retained its Chinese-ness. Yes, I believe Chinatown has not lost its essence of being Chinese.

Yes, it is neat and highly sanitised for tourists' consumption and you don't get Chinese people cooking little delicacies on the street, shouting loudly for your attention, but think about it - isn't THAT fundamentally Chinese?

We Chinese are known to want "face". We want to make everything perfect so that we can preserve our reputation. Being fastidious about being perfect is Chinese and Singapore's Chinatown is the perfect epitome of striving to be perfect. The clean streets, the neat shops and the organized crowd reflect the culture of wanting to be the best to show others that we are tops.

Now this is something worth thinking about, right?

Can't help but feel nostalgic tonight.
Maybe its the cool night breeze that has brought forth memories of long ago.

I have plenty of pictures taken years ago which The Fashion Police would disapprove of but I shall leave it to another day when I have the energy to upload all of them and show everyone (I was cringing really hard when I saw the pictures. The hair, the clothes, the everything... OH MAN)

When we were all still young and the ones being mentored (this was taken in 2002, a couple of weeks after the Blank Rally, a youth drama production featuring Sarah, Sihui, Angie, Wen Jie, Thomas, another guy whose name I can't remember and of course, me! )

Christmas Caroling in 2002 (that's SEVEN freaking years ago!!! I was in Secondary 3 and I still had braces) Psst. That's little Ju in the middle, just in case you all can't recognise her :)

If anyone dare say I'm not happening, I will show them this picture.

This was us at Clarke Quay, counting down to 2005. We all stayed overnight okay, including me! When I was younger, I had the capacity to stay up through the night. Now really cannot already lah.

My junior college days (:

I miss my red specs but not the hair. Hurhur.

Yesterday was a bad, bad day to wear a skirt.

How do I know?
Because I was wearing one. For the whole day, the wind was flirting with my flare skirt, attempting to lift it up. Those Marilyn Monroe moments were... URGH.



Instead of seeing me smile, like how Monroe is smiling right here, mine was that of a pained and tortured soul. Do you know how difficult it is to carry your laptop and bag whilst struggling to pull your skirt down against the wind's aggressive attempts?

I wore this skirt many times but never did I expect it to be so vulnerable to the wind's aggression yesterday.

Shiying can testify for me. I was crossing this long bridge to get to Temasek Poly's library and as I was crossing it, WHAM! The strong wind hit me and I had to immediately hold my skirt down to stop it from flying up. It didn't help that yesterday was TP's Open House and there were many people around. So embarrassing! When Shiying saw me, she was terribly amused while I heaved a sigh of relief. At least there's someone with me and I won't feel so helpless.

I warn all girls not to wear skirts for the next few days.
When I went out to get lunch today, the wind was just as strong.
Poor girls in skirts.

2009 starts on 7 January for me.

I feel that 2009 came too fast. Resolutions were not made and reflections f0r 2008 were left abandoned halfway. I didn't have time to relax, sit down and ponder upon what I hope to try and achieve this year. I just felt really unsettled after my Malaysia trip.

Well, so I thought about 2009 for the past 7 days. What do I want to learn in 2009? What can I expect? How will I spend it?

I've heard some resolutions and I thought they were pretty interesting. Like learn how to cook 20 new dishes (not the Maggi Mee kind of food). No points for guessing the person's gender.

I decided that for this year, I shall not be vague about what I want to do.
How vague is vague?

Okay, like say, "I would like to be kinder to my mom", compared to "I would do household chores for at least 3 times per week" - which is more vague?

It's the former (If you think it's the latter, you should set your resolution to "improve my English").

The little things count for this year. So, I shall not make grand resolutions but focus on the little things that will enrich my own life and others as well.

At the same time, I don't want to bring the baggages of 2008 into the brand new year.
The recession, the terrorist attacks, the chaotic political arena and tense relationships gave me the last impression of 2008. It was frustrating, depressing and definitely disappointing but I'm stoic in making sure that the past will not affect my present and future (ie. 2009). I will learn to travel light every day by relying on the new mercies of God every morning. God's grace is enough. When difficult things come, I will face them with strength from God and support from family and friends.

In 2009, I hope to achieve these:
1) Discipleship with my girls at least fortnightly
2) Revise my school work and read those course readings for at least 3 hours per week
3) Save $3000 by end of this year. It's very little but that's what I think I can afford
4) Reply urgent smses quickly (within 30 minutes at most)
5) To sleep before 130am (a bit hard lah but I must try!)
6) Quality Quiet Time with God 6-7 times per week
7) Do household chores like wash the clothes and dishes for at least twice a week

That is all. 2009 has begun! Just like what I wrote last year for 2008, let every day in 2009 be glorious in the eyes of the Lord!

*** Renewal Idol 2008***

Prisci came to support me and my team! (: (: (:

The rockin' dance team. Thanks for many weeks all of you have dedicated. I had fun with all of you while preparing this dance. We deserve being the second runner-up!!

I am suffering from a non-contagious illness.
It's not contagious but it brings me so much frustration.

I suspect it is a bad case of BB, also known as Blogger's Block.

I don't know. I can't seem to gather my thoughts and put them nicely in words.
Whhyyyy??? Is it me not thinking? Or is this the case of having uninspiring days or events?

Random rant: School's began. And I have 2 days of 930am lectures! I've never had 930am classes before. The earliest was 1030am. Now I have to squeeze with morning crowd :(

It's the second day of 2009 and I have no idea what I would like to blog about. How tragic. Maybe I need school life to stimulate my rusty mind for a bit...

No wonder they say NS dumbs the mind.
I didn't touch academic stuff for 1.5 months and I'm already rusty. Imagine 2 whole years of no studying but following orders... Sure super duper rusty.

Talking about school, I got my examination results. Nothing to shout about but I know next semester, I must work harder! Still, I thank Him for helping me through my semester. Without God, I'll go crazy with the projects.

In all, I ended my 2008 with a fruitful and fun December.
I have so many nice pictures to show you all, especially for Renewal Idol (it's for you, Weiqi!) but I shall leave it for another day. Special thanks to Prisci and Zxun for coming down to support me and my dance team (:

I promise that my next blog post will be exciting and funny!

Yue, counting down to you coming back from Grenoble... 16 more days!