Do you believe in heaven…?

Heaven…a term that we often use quite loosely in our conversation but ask yourselves really this question : Is there a place called HEAVEN? I know of a colleague of mine in my current work place who does not believe in heaven and of course if you don’t believe if there is such a place called heaven then naturally you would also not believe that there is really a GOD..and as a matter of fact he uses our lord’s name to curse and swear. Whenever things don’t go the way he expects it to be e.g. projector not working, student give a lousy presentation etc he would just swear uttering loudly “JESUS CHRIST!” …you know just like what you see in some American movies….so I reckon that he is a total non believer in God….well, I am not against that coz as much as we need to respect the faiths of others in our community we should like wise have the same level of respect for the atheist…..as not believing in God is also a “religion”

Now comes back to the question: Is there a heaven? My answer is plainly a yes. Life in this world is absolutely very transient, very temporary, it is a passage necessary for us to get to know who our creator is and to marvel at his creation in this universe. I picture heaven as like one huge enormous spaceship with GOD as the captain of this spacecraft...HE is the cretor of this spacecraft. We, earthlings, for whatever reason end up on this planet earth and the mission of God is to get everyone back on board in this spaceship. Those who has already went up to this space ship (now in heaven) is working very, very hard by praying for us in heaven so that more earthlings can go up to this spaceship ultimately. But of course not all are destined to be in this spacecraft....when the time comes for this planet to close and end some will be safe in this space craft while some will remain on earth…people who has gone before me like St Theresa, St Bernadette, St John of the Cross etc is now in this spacecraft and are doing all they can to get as many souls on board this spacecraft…SO DO YOU WANT TO BE ON BOARD THIS SPACECRAFT?
I have come to know that there is at least one soul who chose not to board and he is of course this colleague of mine that I mentioned in the beginning of this bog entry.....and as he is a non-believer his main focus in life centers around very secular, earthly, temporary things like power, status (e.g size of office, the bigger the better), money, material possessions etc.....Iam not against that but I felt a tinge of sadness for him as he has failed to see beyond this worldly state of being..well for sure St Theresa would be sad as I know her mision would be to get every single soul on board this "spaceship"......Let's pray for him, pray also that he will stop cursing using our Lord's name.....

AlbertY

I have never felt so angry in my life before....

Just back from a counselling session with a group of 6 students, 3 of whom being called to my office for using vulgarity and 3 of whom behave rowdily in class...

Earlier I have given a good "wake up call" for my entire PEM class (Personal Mentoring Class) to behave themselves in class. In my so many years I have never scolded my class to this extent as I have done today...today's scolding session for my class was in fact the worst in my history of employment here...this batch of students has displayed behaviour that we had never seen before in our so many years here and the same feedback seems to be consistent among us, so I have pulled them aside and give them a good and thorough "lecture".

Thinking back, why am I doing all this? Why am I getting so worked up and angry over this bunch of teens? For what? For who? Boss is not going to reward you for this....for sure...? Why bother in the first place! I was reminded my job now is my vocation in life and when the occassion calls for it I had do to what needs to be done regardless of the earthly returns that may comes with it or not.

At the end of the session, they have apologise freely and promised to improve on their behaviour...I think they are sincere about wanting to change for the better...
I hope I have made a positive impact on this bunch of young teenagers under my charge and I hope that God will continue to shower me with graces to carry on with this vocation....

I felt much composed now.

AlbertY

A first for little Felicia....

This evening my dear Theresa decided to join me for my weekly run around the BRP. Little Felicia also would like to particiate in the fun filled activity. Good for her as she really need some toughening up and tone up her body a little so that she is in a better shape....so off we drove to BRP nearby. It was a beautiful evening..as usual I run around the reservoir and now the latest attraction to the park is this floating platform which is indeed a nice spot to relax....here are some of the pictures taken using our mobile phone..at the floating platform.

Well, the scenery at the reservoir is really beautiful...just look at this sunset picture and you will agree with me:

Little Felicia managed to complete the entire course of 4.3 km round the reservoir by walk and some short runs...quite an achievement for this is her first time...

There are some more photos taken by sweetie but I don't know whether she wants to add on to this blog entry....

Sweetie, you want to add some more photos to this blog entry? You can bluetooth to my phone if you have difficulty downloading the photos to the web. OK?

My Lord and My God, I thank you for this wonderful, and inexpensive evening that we had.

(P.S. Ever wondered where is the big one, Tiffany? Well, she is at home studying follow by relaxing by playing computer game)

AlbertY

Start of School Hols and a friend's sad news

Dear All

Today is SACPS PT conference. So, the girls do not need to go to school. Hence their school hols started today (23 May 08 - Fri).

As Felicia was having head and tummy pain prior to the exams and during the exams, she didn't fair too well this SA1. She still complains of head and tummy pain. Sometimes when I lie with her and talk to her, whenever I think how physically weak she is (aesmatic, pains here and there, cough and flu etc), my heart aches with sorrow. Then just 2 weeks ago, a good friend of mine who had migrated e-mailed me asking me to help pray for 1 of her twin boys. Both 13 month old babies had been born with physical defects. Their frontal skull is already fused. The younger one has a more serious problem and needs surgury this 2 June. The older is not as serious but surgury is still needed but not currently. Later on, she told me that both boys do not have their urinary tracts extended to the tip of their penis. The tracts end at the base of the penis. They would need surgery later on to extend it.

Looking at her twins photo, you'll never guess that they have such serious physical "handicaps". It may be due partly to the fact that she had them in her early 40s. When I hear of children with worse problems that my Felicia, I thank God that He is merciful to me that my heart-ache is not as worrying than others and that I should not be so self-pitying. I guess God would only give us burdens that we can bear. My shoulders and heart are weak, I don't think I can bear the burdens that lay on my friend's shoulders as well as she does. I admire her for her courage and faith in God.

Sometimes, we don't appreciate what we have till we see how others around us are fairing. Then we start to see things more in perspective, rather than dwelling in our own sorrows and problems. There are people worse off than us and we should be thankful that our cross is lighter than others.

Love Theresa

06.05.93...the day my life changed forever

5 June 1993....it was my wedding day...the day I was bind in Holy Matrimony with Theresa and that was 15 years ago. How time flies, indeed! Now, that life has been somewhat stable (at least for now)...with children much more independent and older...I have now some time to reflect on the past 15 years of marriage to Theresa...in the past when children are younger, practically no time for anything ....indeed..when life at that time revolves round the children all the time like changing diapers, pacifiying children, feeding, bathing them and then patting them to sleep and by the time all this activities are completed, the entire cycle repeat itself....no time to think and how draining it can be at times...

Now, back track 15 years ago, what happens to me in my life if have not met my Theresa, what will I be today? where will I be today?...I always wonder and wonder...now let me see...most likely I would still be single...I think..yeah most likely...and if I am still single..will I ever get married..er let me see..at the age of 43..er..for a guy, say what you like..I think I am a bit too old to enter the dating game to find a spouse..and moreover one may not have the energy to...so most likely I will continue to work and upon reaching age of 40 perhaps which is most likely I think the best option for me would be to enter the seminary and spent the rest of my life meaningfully as a priest...I think that would be the most probable scenario, if I am still not married by the age of 40...but then I am married to my dear Theresa now for 15 years and I must say truly she is my best friend ever...with I whom I can relate to as much as possible in this life...but then I must add that I must prepare myself one day I may have to live a life without her...remember I mentioned in my one of my blog entry the probability of having to go on to next world first is 0.5...far too high to ignore this probability?

Today is "Eat with your family day" and we are permitted to leave at 4.30pm. As for me I was here early coz of morning class at 8 am and hence I am leaving at 4 pm. Before I leave.....I would like to leave you with this little prayer:

Prayer for One's Vocation in Life (extracted from my mother's Mini Prayerbook)

O loving Father, in your goodness you have chosen me to be your child in baptism. You have a plan for me so that I may attain eternal happiness with you. Help me understand this vocation you have called me to. Give me eyes of faith to see more clearly all the events surrounding me so that I may fulfill your plan for me.
Let me not follow the worldly lifestyle which leads to separation from you. Instead, strengthen me, help me to prefer you to other attractions, and daily to come closer to you in love, joy and faithfulness. I ask this through Jesus Christ, my Lord and my Saviour. Amen.

Have a Blessed Weekend!
God Bless!

AlbertY

I found a precious "gem" while clearing mum's things....

Just this week on Tuesday, I was at home clearing off some things mum left behind..you see although she has passed on closed to about 5 months + there are still quite a lot of her stuff to clear..so while clearing I stumble upon this little prayer book which this morning I decide to take it along with me so that I can have close look at it while in the train...It is really an indeed a wonderful little prayer book left behind by mum...in it there were so many wonderful prayers and partiularly this one..which is the prayer to the Holy Spirit:
(To tell you the truth as a Catholic, I love standard prayers as I am lousy at composing prayers...so this little prayer book comes in handy...)

PRAYER TO HOLY SPIRIT

Holy Spirit, you are our source of strength and holiness, come into our hearts and make them your own.
We thank you for your seven gifts: joy, love, understanding, knowledge, fortitude, fear of the Lord and Piety.
Enlighten our minds and our hearts to understand the word of God, that we may always do his will with joy and faithfulness.
Fill us your truth in our search for the right way to build the kingdom of God, and inflame our hearts with love so that we may love all people as our brothers and sisters in peace, joy, justice and truth.
Amen.

...and here is my mother's little prayer book and now a precious gem for me

Have a nice day!
AlbertY

The day I played football and begin to love soccer...

I have never played a serious game of football...in fact I never like football as my passion lies in field hockey...i have always like field hockey..

But this day, 17 May 2008 turn my dislike into a pleasant discovery for myself...I like soccer now!

I was being asked repeatedly to take part in a soccer game to play against the young and promising students...we were quite anxious to be frank...I think on the team itself I was the oldest being 43 old..(youngest on our team is 29)...and that makes me even more worried..not to mention the weather is also not on our side..it was one of the hottest afternoon ever..just take a look at the footbal scene, and you know what I mean:

We played to our best, although it was a really, really tough and challenging and thank goodness it was a 10 min per half and 7-a-side match with half field being played...but then 10 mins play was like eternity...but in the end we managed to play till the end and the score?....please see below.....
Here is a shot of me in action taken by my sweetie from far: (It was absolutely very nice of her to be there to cheer me on...dispite of the fact that she hated the sun and heat...)

.....and the score is 3-1 ( We WON!). I now begin to love soccer!..and also hockey..Of course!

AlbertY

Mad Mad day today

Dear All

Today was a really mad and looonng day. Bert was the mad "taxi" driver from Calcutta (for those who remember the song that goes..."Car-to-ta , I'm a taxi driver"). Early morning, we drove from Simei to Ulu Pandan to get our car radio repaired. We then "hiked" to find a makan place to have brunch. Then we explored Ulu Pandan reservior for the 1st time in the blistering sun. (Good place to train for marathon as the distance for the entire reservoir is 6 km as compared to Bedok Reservoir is 4.3 km)

Next, we drove back to Simei. Then Bert, on spurt of moment, decided to go to Ikea to get more storage boxes which weigh at least 1.5kg each!! Since we have the car, we got 4 boxes. Then my mum called to say she still has diarrhoea...don't know if it was from the parish feastday food or my dad's birthday buffet. So she couldn't go NTUC shopping and also needed charcoal pills and asked if we could get the pills for her. Also, the main purpose of her call was to tell us dad fell in the bathroom last nite at 11+pm. He refused to go for an x-ray. His left arm and left head were hurt. I was worried. So we offered to also get her groceries which comprise mainly veggies with the intention to visit them after all our errands.

So after Ikea, we popped over the Giant which was next door, to get her stuff and to top up our groceries as well as our weekend was "burned" and we couldn't do our usual weekend grocery shopping. We had to complete this mammoth task within 25 min as we had to rush to SACPS to fetch Felicia from her CCA at 2:30pm. Reached school just in time for Felicia. Unexpectedly, her friend Bianca came along. As her dad had given a lift to Felicia before, and we know the family, we offered her a lift, and both little girls were estastic. We thought she was going back to her own home, which we are familiar with the route as we've been there last year for her 7th birthday party. But lo and behold, it was NOT her home, but her grandparents' home. As we had already made the offer, we had to search the street directory for find out the way there. Meantime, the poor girl didn't know her grandparents' number. I never thought of calling her mum as I was busy helping Bert look out for street names whilst looking at the street directory on my lap. We offered to accompany her up the lift, but she sweetly told us it's OK, she can go up herself. Anyway, we were bushed, and our minds were on seeing my dad. So we gladly left her at her block, waited till she "disappeared" behind the pillar of her block before we left.

When we reached my mum's place, it was almost 3pm. Dad's left arm had one "ko-yoh"(chinese plaster), and otherwise looked fine. Mum said he had a red lump on the left side of his head. But she diligently rubbed it till it's gone. I told her to monitor that he is not nauceous and no dizziness for at least 1 day. We then went home. By the time we unpacked our groceries, it was pass 4pm. Time for me to prepare dinner whilst Bert and the 2 girls slept.

Talk about a super-crazy day. At least our $20 day license was well-spent ;)

Love Theresa N Albert

Sharing of Sermon on 18 May 08 (Fr Johnson)

Dear All

Holy Trinity Church celebrated its feastday on 18 May 08, which happens to be my dad's 92nd birthday as well.

His sermon on the Holy Trinity was that we cannot fully fanthom the mystery of the Holy Trinity. However, we can try to live the Holy Trinity. He offered us a simple 3 min prayer to the Holy Trinity.

- 1st min : Think of 1 thing we are grateful for in today's event and offer it to God the Father. For e.g, praying with Felicia tonight (20 May 08- Tues). My thanks - that the repair to our car radio was minor and that we got home safely by car. Felicia thanks - that today's arrangement of new seating arrangement lets her sit with her 2nd best friend - Berjette.
- 2nd min : Think of 1 thing "bad" that happened today and offer it to the 2nd person in the Holy Trinity, Jesus. For me - that Felicia's classmate, Bianca's mum, Felita, is not angry with me, as I had given her daughter a lift home today and never thought of contacting her to let her know I was fetching Bianca home and worse still, oversight on our part not to insist that we accompany Bianca up the lift. (Since she was going back to her grandparents' home, we thought we should contact her grandparents. But Bianca didn't know her grandparents' number. We offered to accompany her up the lift, but she declined. Felita said she was not angry with me, but I have a feeling that she was angry with me at least at that moment).
For Felicia - that Bianca keeps on sticking to her, and that makes her other friends refuse to play with her because of Bianca.
- 3rd min: Offer what we wish for to the Holy Spirit. For me, that my fingers on both my hands are tingling with slight numbness tonight. (Could be due to high cholestrol food I've been feasting on since church feastday and dad's birthday till we 3 girls came down with diarrhoea on 18 to 19 May ... that's why we couldn't make it for the ME Anniversary Mass on 19 May :( for my numbness to be better tomorrow.
For Felicia : For her friends and Bianca to get along and like each other better, and for Felicia's head pain and tummy pain to reduce in intensity.

Just to share Fr Johnson Fernandez sermon and how Felicia and I try to put it to practise. Here is a family shot after the feast day mass having our lunch. It was indeed a hot Sunday afternoon and here I look so tired...

..and here is mum-in-law talking to me...better listen! Must look interested lah!....


Love Theresa N Albert

To all at LC300 Singapore, see you all at Immaculate Heart of Mary

Just fininshed class in the morning from 8am to 10am and now I am back at my table. Now waiting for my next class to start at 12pm to 2 pm. After so many years here, it has it upside as well....I don't need to prepare for classes any more. It is up on top of my head...it has now become second nature to me now...I can even remember how many slides per topic for my module and know what is the next slide coming just like that....this is a plus point when you are teaching the same old subject day in day out, for a good whole 7 years...even if one has totally no clue about the subject in the beginning, he/she will become an expert in that subject in time to come...surely!

Now, to something I experienced this week...just this week a student insist of wearing a baseball cap to my class with the 4 letter vulgar word on it...and has been wearing it on a few occasions...I told him not to wear the cap anymore to my class (not in my class as far as possible)..I know this chap has a rebellious streak in him, he just would not listen. I told him sternly but politely that I cannot compromise on this issue...it will become an issue for him in my presence...

On wednesday, he proudly told that he is not wearing the cap anymore (during my lecture), I thought he was just being playful and not serious about the change...this morning I met him in the lift lobby...again he called out to me "Sir, I am not wearing the cap anymore" I thank him for it.

He has earn my respect for him as an individual though rebellious, has a soft spot for change..and change for the better...I don't mind him being playful, (Who is not?...at the age of 18, 19 years old)..but those who are under my charge, I make sure they are playful in the right way..no abusive language in my class, no unruly behaviour etc..

Tomorrow, Sat I will be playing football together some of colleagues against the students...should be fun, I guess..Sun will be down at Holy Trinity for parish feast day and thereafter to mum-in-law's place to celebrate father-in-law birthday...Monday to Immaculate Heart of Mary to celebrate 15 years of Holy Matrimony....Tuesday on leave to spend time with sweetie and also to rectify car audio system....wow! quite a lot on my plate with lots of "makan" on the way so I am keeping my stomach today for the weekend...

Now come Wednesday, the actual graduation ceremony of our graduates...again makan! And guess what? We are required to put on suit and tie on that day...guess which suit I will be wearing?well! it will be the suit that I wore for our wedding 15 years ago...4 June 1993! I wore it last year , and will be wearing this suit again this time round..and each time I wear it...it brings me back acroos to the time 15 years ago..how time flies!

To all at LC300 Singapore, see you all at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church on Monday!

Have a Blessed Weekend! God Bless!

AlbertY

Remember...there is always a GOD up there...

I have now got about 15 mins before I called it a day....was involved in helping out in the graduation ceremony...my 4th graduation ceremony actually. As usual there were a lot of idling time while waiting for our cue..so meanwhile I kept myself busy on my new U900 Samsung handphone. During lunch I walked over to AMK hub to checkout on a privacy filter for my monitor in the office. I will tell why I need a privacy filter next time round. Mind you it does not come cheap.....3M brand is selling for $140 for a 17" monitor filter. So I managed to place order for an equivalent other brand at a very small AMK shop for $88.

As today is $$ day, I bought myself a pair of Adidas Super Star costing $122...I have decided to keep my old pair (which is unusual of me...I normally ask the shop to dispose off the old pair for me and put on the new pair and walk out of the shop upon payment...it is like a one to one exchange kind of thing..coz I do not like to keep clutter in my house)...but then this old pair is different...as I have wore it throughout the entire episode of my mum's passing on...from the hospital seeing her last heart beat to the day of her funeral, I was wearing this pair of Adidas Super Star...so it has some special meaning with it and I have decided to keep it.

This afternoon nothing much happen, just the normal routine admin work...just thinking...these days with so many natural disaster going on in this part of the world sometimes you just got to believe that there is a God up there...it seems like if the ruler of a country has been unjustly oppressing and illtreating God's people (everyone is considered to be God's people...regardless of the nationality) some disasters will be coming....in the history it happens to Egypt...during the reign of Pharoah...we have seen it now in Myanmar (as to what they have done to their very own people) and then China (as to what they have done to Tibet)...200,000 people just evaporated....is it a wake up call from God..?Every single individual is created by God and belongs to God...so when if you happened to be position of power...controlling a certain group people...always remember it is God's people that we dealing with...black and white...old and young...fat and thin...good and the not so good...all these people are God's people and handle with care..

Time's up and time to go home!

AlbertY

Seven years on....should I be moving on or to stay on in this vocation

It has been 7 years here coming this June..I was leading this group of newly recruited staff about 10 of them in total to our lab facilities just a couple of minutes ago and now am back at my quiet office, I was thinking to myself how time flies past me so fast this 7 years. When I first joined this organisation I was only 36 going 37. But now I am 43 goin 44. Next comes the natural question for anyone to ask: What I have achieved for myself this 7 years....has my job duties been changed or am still doing the same old things since 21 June 2001? Well, as a matter of fact, I must say that I am still doing those things that I first joined without much changes (in fact no changes at all). It has been this way since day one...in other words, I am quite stagnate in my job, to be honest. Imagine yourself for a good whole 7 years you see yourself doing the same thing day in day out and year in year out...there will come a point that you will want to go for a change.

Well, I am discerning about it whether or not to leave...and have not come any conclusions of such..coz here is not all doom and gloom and that makes it harder to come to a decision. It has its merits...but the down side is that the longer one stays here, like anywhere else, the higher the chance for that person to stagnate, simply because humans being humans, they like to see new things, new people all the time...take for example electronic gadgets, latest model after latest model, handphones etc...

So it is in us..human nature..I know I have been talking about this job being a vocation for myself and I know it is this vocation I am able to stay on for a good whole 7 years..all my previous working lasted the most 4 years, this one is the longest.

Should I move on? I really don't know...I am at the crossroads now...

Have a nice day!
God Bless

AlbertY

Both of us are now having exactly the same mobile phone..

Over the weekend I upgraded my handphone to Samsung U900..21 month upgrade costing $198. I was actually not eyeing this phone but my sweetie told me that this model is being currently advertised very strongly on the media. (I have not been reading the newspapers lately...) I was thinking of a PDA phone like HTC model or some other brands on the market..but then it is Mother's Day ...might as well get something that she likes for her and as for myself the same as hers so that I can render any technical assistance to her if she need. As for the phone, well I must say it is a nice phone but it is quite a standard 3G phone, slightly heavier than my plastic, "toy" lookalike LG phone (no camera, no nothing, just a bare phone) bought at a cost of $80 without contract. So, I am still adjusting to its weight...I know sweetie would like this phone U900 coz' her previous phone is also a Samsung.....so in terms of controls, it is much the same...there is only one colour so my phone looks exactly the same as hers.

Have a nice Monday!
AlbertY

Mio Plan and Sermon Today

Dear All

Today being Mother's Day, Bert decided to get me a new handphone. I've never had a new one for years as I am not tech-savvy and would stick to 1 phone so as not to have to learn how to use a new one. I then saw the samsung soul U900 and though it pretty "cheap" since my current phone's buttons were finally giving way.

Then, itchy finger me, I went to internet to check about mio plan and asked if the shop can combine all as the cost is about the same with $5 savings to what we are currently getting individually. Then, guess what? After signing up for mio plan today, I went into internet to use their website calculator check to see how much we are saving....and the verdict? We need to pay more (Mio plan of $110 vices $66 of our current bill.."top-up with $40 to enjoy mio plan") with mio plan to get what we are currently enjoying!!!! Shocking that singtel DARE to say that, right? Anyway, no point crying over spilt milk. On the bright side, I'll get a phone upgrade with $100 discount at the 18th month of our 30 month contract. Meantime, am wondering how to get my 1-month MP3 music pack which comes with this latest 2nd day launched handphone. Not bad yah, from an old-bie to a new-bie literally overnight.

On the serious story about today's sermon by Fr John Bosco....1st the lighter side to the story.

Once there was this old lady who was trying to get her son to get up from bed to go to church. The son didn't want to budge and gave her 2 reasons why he didn't want to go to church. Reason 1: They don't like him. Reason 2: He doesn't like them either. His mum sighed, looked heaven-ward and asked God, how could He give her such a son. So she gave him 2 reasons for him to go to church. Reason 1: He is already 50 years old. Reason 2: He is the parish priest!

Lesson to be learned: Since this is Pentencost Sunday, the priest is like the early disciples, afraid to go out to face the people. The old lady is like Mother Mary, coaxing them to go forth. The disciples were "old" as they have been with Jesus for some time and were no longer "infants".

2nd story: The squirrel and the owl
One day, a squirrel asked the wise old owl how much does a snowflake weigh. The wise old owl said "next to nothing". The squirrel then told the owl that last winter, it was on its branch watching the snow fall, and decided to count the number of snowflakes accumulating on it's branch. It told the owl, "When I got to 1,999,999 the next snowflake that fell broke the branch I was on and I couldn't count anymore. So you are telling me that a snowflake weigh next to nothing???"

The story arose because lots of people say what can they do to witness for Christ? We are only 1 person and whatever we do cannot amount to much. The story shows us that what we do everyday may not seem much, but accumulatively, at the end of our life journey, it will amount to something substantial. Tiffany didn't understand the "parable", and was "mocking" at the squirrel being silly to count the snowflakes. So I gave her the example of her studies. If she does a little work like 3 pages of exercises everyday, after 3 months, it would accumulate to a lot of work done. She would have completed at least 2 of those assessment books from popular just for 1 subject alone. (BTW, that's what Felicia did in P1, so she actually completed 2 books of chinese, 2 books of English and about 2 books of maths. So she did pretty well in her SA last year.) I was amazed as I usually throw out lots of imcomplete books of Tiffany's. So I showed Tiffany that if it can work for her sis, so can it for her. And the best part is, it wouldn't take her too much effort on her part. So she immediately got the point of the sermon.

Pretty nice "parables". No wonder Jesus spoke in parables. It really gets the attention of the congregation and truly delivers its message, simply and the retention rate is at least 70%!! How every teacher and public speaker would LOVE that kind of retention rate, ya??

Love Theresa

05.09.08....really running on overdrive mode

Today is really a day I am tested to my bone....last nite went down to car service centre (C&C) to collect back car being sent in for some minor rectification on the alarm...and guess what as a result of the alarm rectification, the car audio now has no power supply..so was undecided to drive back without my favourite music..in the end..we decide to collect the car and decide later when to sent it back for rectification on the car audio system...so it is really a case of solving a problem with a problem. Any way under warranty..so no charges but then the car is only 2 weeks old.....(P.S. who wish to know the brand of the car, can SMS me)...anyway continue with the story....reach home and Fel complained that her head is pain and stomach is pain as well...she has been complaining about it for the past 11 days and eversince she fell off from her bed the pain has been with her. So start to panic and decided to drive her down to CGH at 11pm...reach our turn and was told by the "botak" doctor (BTW, he is really "BOTAK" with lots of gold on him, and he looks more like a "Tai E Long" to me than a doctor) that the hospital is not a children's hospital as such need to go to KKH....aiya "Cha Kong Lah" (Early tell me lah...why make us wait so long, then tell us?) So off we went to KKH at about 12am...when all is complete , we left the hospital we reached back home at 3am and I slept at 3.30 am in the morning and woke up at 6.15 am as I have morning class today at 8am. So, took a cab down to NY with just only about 2.5 hours of sleep. (We felt we made the right decision of having to collect back the car despite the audio is not working...)..if not we won't be able to run to 2 hospitals in the wee hours of the nite....and during the day, i was really tired with class from 8am to 10 am and then followed by another class from 12pm to 2pm and then from 3pm to 4pm and then guess what...follow the rest of the colleagues to attend a funeral wake of a close colleague whose mother just passed on at Redhill..on my way back from Redhill to Simei, I slept off completely until I reached Bedok station...wow! what a tired day for me. Reached home and after dinner I straight away knocked off and slept at 9pm till now at 1110 pm (Friday) to continue completing this blog entry.

My Lord and My God, if it is your will, please spare me this agony...but your will be done.
AlbertY

Vocation versus ambition

Yesterday the Catholic Church celebrates World Communication Sunday, at Holy Trinity it is also a Vocation Sunday Roadshow to promote and pray for vocations for the church. Fr William Goh rector general of the Major Seminary gave the sermon.

In his sermon he explains the words vocation and ambition. In a nut shell, we humans are always looking to fulfill our ambitions in life...once having fulfill one's ambition we set oursleves with another ambition to achieve and the cycle go and on....we feel great and happy but only for a short while in time and go about chasing another ambition...and we are constantly looking for that happiness as a result of achieving our ambtions but we are never quite there for a simple reason: Ambitions orginate from within ourselves, individualistic in nature and very secular; Vocations on the other hand takes on a higher form as it comes from God Himself and God calls us to various kinds vocations in our lives like the Religious, Homemaker, Educator, Social Worker or any forms of activity that is life giving in itself and to give it all in the process of carrying out the duties of the vocation being assigned by God. While each one of us has a job to earn our keep...let's turn our job into a vocation that has been assigned to us by God Himself; only then we will find true happiness in this very temporary life on earth..

Remember, a Vocation must be life giving, giving it all without asking anything in return...while an Ambition is motivated by money, status, power, self-satisfaction, size of office (perhaps) etc...
In our own personal lives, we are called to the Marriage Vocation and to fulfill the duties of Marrige Vocation which is full of challenges but nevertheless we press on and continuously persevere....and like wise in our job (careers) we must do the same...

So, I have decided to turn my job (an educator) into a vocation that God has entrusted in this life...I felt much better now and at peace with myself. Never mind if there is no career advancement, not much prospect..what the heck....it is now a vocation for me...not a job.

Have a nice Monday!
AlbertY

What I did on Ascension 01.05.08...

Went for Ascension Day Mass at Holy Trinity, 11am mass after which we went for a sumptous meal at Eatzi (Jack's Place) Simei together with mum-in-law and family. It was a beautiful hot sunny day...and after which we have quick dash to the basement NTUC to buy some fruits back and after which we (together with mum-in-law) went to St Anne's Church (Sengkang) to pay our respects to mum at the columbarium and also to see for the 1st time since funeral day, the niche now that is complete with mum's photo. We have given mum the best of all the best through out...the urn is the best costing about $400, her oval shape photo slab from Italy cost us $300 and took 3 months to complete, the marble complete with engraving cost us about $200 also of the highest quality...now when I finally saw the completed work yesterday at the columbarium, I think mum would be very happy that we have given her all our best through out. Here is the final resting place of mum:

Mum, please pray for us while you are in heaven....I will and shall always miss you!

Eternal rest grant upon her, O, Lord and may perpetual Light shine upon her. May she rest in peace.

While there, we said 2 decades of the rosary for mum before we depart from the place quietly..it was about 3pm and all was quiet at the church and the sun was shining at its most intense heat...we drove back to mum-in-law's place to have coffee over curry puffs and shortly we drove back to MP...

AlbertY

Being Careful about what we say to our Kids

Dear All

Sometimes when we grouse, we will subconsciously mould our children's perception of life. For instance, when we grouse about our education system and the exam-focused direction of our schools, about the authoritative nature of our govt, the stress at work, not much recreational activities in Singapore etc, our kids would adopt such attitudes as well.

Recently, Tiffy asked me if she could either study in Australia or better still in USA. I told her no. 1stly is the money issue. 2ndly is most likely she'll settle overseas and won't be back here. 17-19 years old is a very impressionable age. I remember then that even in my mid-20s, I didn't fully value life and how my life affects others. I felt then that I was forever young and death didn't terrify me as I lived just for myself then. I was very naive and idealistic then.

I then had to give Tiffany a balanced view of Singapore. I told her that according to a ST forum writer who returned to London for his studies, was surprised that the cab-driver who fetched him from the London airport was all praise for Singapore. He sang praises about the efficiency of our MRT compared to the inefficiency of London's tube. Ours are new and on-time and reliable. London's are old, unsafe and the workers are always on strike, so the public transport is so unreliable.

When the writer lamented that Singapore was full of laws, he said the London cab-driver smiled at him and said that those who have a loved one or themselves been raped, mugged or assaulted before would applaud the stringent laws of a good govt. It's only those who have not been victims that complain about the laws.

So when the writer asked him why after staying a year in Singapore with his daughter who is settled in Singapore, he did not decide to make Singapore his home? He replied he would love too but his wife could not take the humidity. He would have loved to be a taxi-driver in Singapore.

It seems the grass is always greener on the other side.

We tend to complain about the bad things that happen around or to us. But we seldom if ever appreciate what we already have. It's usually when what we have is taken away that we realised what we had been missing out in life. So whatever we say to our spouse or our kids, just be careful to give a balance view...and stop to smell the roses and appreciate whatever "blooms" our situation have to offer.

Love Theresa