Happy Dobby

We broke record - this is the highest no. of pax in our house!

Mr. Jang always takes on the role of Dobby whenever my friends are around, so when I learnt that his whole team would be coming down to our house for team bonding, I took leave so that I can be his Dobby and help out in the kitchen and other miscellaneous tasks.

Had a great time chatting with his colleagues in between cleaning up and putting out more food and drinks on the table.

I think I made a happy and diligent Dobby!

Inspiring lives, realising dreams.

With the event mascots on the last day of the event. Check out the eye bags that came with the 3hrs of sleep per day week! 

My poor paint-stained "brokenstock" after days of walking, climbing stairs and tripping over paint brushes.

We did it! Over four consecutive days we reached out to close to 90 low income families to help their children create a more conducive environment to study, so that they can concentrate on getting a proper education and take one step closer to realising their dreams and ambition.

Personally, it was the toughest event ever (not even APEC can match it) because I was the overall planner and coordinator for internal comms, scheduling the video crew and photographers and producing daily coverage on the website until post midnight. Thank God for my hardworking intern who slogged it out with me at the base and in the office (and also for 2B for her help in getting the interviews and vetting our content). I was quite pleased with the results and grateful that the coverage was rather well-received. Our efforts have not gone into waste.

One of the more touching moments for me during this event was when my "students" from the earlier camp recognised me and gave me bear hugs (yes I was covered in paint!) and big smiles when I visited their homes. I realised truly what it meant when my dad told me "people might not remember what you say, but they will always remember how you made them feel." Even though I had to drag myself out of bed early on Saturday for that camp, I found that it really pays to make that effort and make a difference in these children's lives. They may not remember the money concepts I've taught them, but they remembered that someone care enough to teach them that day.

In another 2-3 months' time there is a possibility of me not being with the current company anymore. It's really a short stint but I enjoyed the portfolio while it lasted and am glad that I made some good friends there. Every job is an opportunity to grow wiser and better in developing skill sets and handling interpersonal relationships. I hope my colleagues have also found me a pleasant colleague to work with. :)

Train a child in the way he should go...

"They have short attention span." " They lack joy in worship." "They don't know how to pray." "We need more parents' involvement in the children's spiritual life...." "We need more teachers!" "Got more budget?"

Interesting thoughts from about 20 of us at the Children Ministry retreat held at the British Club today. I had thought that only the worship team (where Mr. Jang and I were involved) faces such issue since we deal with a big group of kids but in fact, the smaller care groups are facing just the same challenges as we do.

My 1000km/h brain immediately thought of the solutions to all these and I was wondering why PC, who was organising the session, kept asking us to hold discussions on the solutions. I realised after lunch that she wants us to think through why we are here in the first place: Our purpose (the "mission" of Children Ministry), Our product (we actually want the children to be disciples of God who produce more and more disciples!), and Our priorities (building an atmostphere of love, a dependence on prayer, a tripartite relationship with parents and the larger church, a word-centred ministry and inculcating the proper knowledge of Christ and the Gospel).

And then we think about Our processes - do we want more parents-teachers interaction, do we want to plan local missions to orphanages and old folks homes, do we try to have a greater alignment of adult worship and children worship? All these will have to be thought through with the first 3 Ps in mind.

The session was peppered with funny moments too - thanks to Mr. Jang. Our team tried to come up with hilarious acrostics e.g. for the values of Children Ministry, we had "iSWAT" - i) not "I" but "others", ii) Servanthood, iii) a heart of Worship, iv) Applying biblical wisdom to life and v) Togetherness in prayer, sharing of each other's burdens and encouragement.

I was also secretly glad that Mr. Jang and I were in the same team - more that just being husband and wife, I think we complement each other well in that I take down notes and do the writing while he does the talking (what he is good at). Also got to learn much from H and EK, who had loads of insightful thoughts.

The session was finally over after long discussions and presentations (and loads and loads of food!) The road to building an effective Children Minstry won't be easy with so many distractions for the kids today, but at least this team of dedicated teachers will persevere to the end despite occasional burntouts! A demonstration of servanthood indeed!

"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not turn from it." - Proverbs 22:6

Solitude

I love being alone. I love the quietness, the sense of peace and tranquility that makes you go "hmmm, I am breathing in a beautiful, amazing world."

I love the quality time spent with myself be it sitting there pondering over something or picking up my ukulele and singing gentle worship songs. Clears my eyes and mind to "troubles" that shouldn't even be defined as such in the first place, and restores the inner balance I need after a long, hectic day at work.

I love just penning down my thoughts in moments like this, because having the ability to write is something that we take for granted most of the time, let alone typing on a laptop when some poorer parts in the world are still coping with the lack of electricity and illiteracy.

When I am alone, I also learnt to appreciate what good company means, and how I need to strike a balance to ensure the growth of a healthy relationship.

Grow old with me

Something about this photo moved me. I think it speaks of the admiration this uncle has for his lady companion while she went on stage to sing.

He even whipped out his camera and took a photo of her.

I think there is nothing sweeter in this world than knowing that love is still in the air even as you reach your 70s. (^ ^)



Everybody wants to be a hero

It would be quite a pointless question if I were to ask how many people have watched the Avengers. It's one of the hotttest, most action packed movies this season and clearly everyone, or at least 8 out of 10 people, would have seen it.

I grew up with Heman, Sheila and other superheros in HK when I was young too. As a child, I dreamt of flying, doing dangerous stunts, rescuing victims and getting my face plastered all over the newspapers so that the citizens can applaud in awe of my bravery and humanly-impossible heroic acts.

There is nothing wrong with having a hero to look up too, whether they are fictitious or real. It also teaches us that good always triumps over evil. But as I grew older, come across different people and witness different politics in the course of work, I took a different perspective on this issue and ask: Do we really need to be a (super)hero?

1. The superhero wins all the time
The superhero always triumps at the end of the movie. It's a given - no matter what obstacles they come across, they will ride over it (most of the time with their super powers) and gain victory. Good lessons learnt on using your wit, assets and abilities. But learning how to deal with defeats are equally important as gaining victory. Without tasting defeat, and learning how to accept them, you will not experience the true joy of success. Are we then teaching our kids enough about defeat, so that when they grow up, they learn to handle it graciously, take it in their stride, and try harder next time?

2. The superhero is always right
The superhero is always right - his predictions, his reasoning... his words has a sense of aura around him. We always want to be right too, to gain that recognition from others that we smarter, more intelligent, and more enlightened than the rest. But the fact is, we can never always be right! So don't assume for a second that we can. The sooner we accept that, the better we are in being humble in our atttitude in continuous learning.

3. The villain is bad, bad, bad
The villain is always bad in the movie and we are taught that following his ways will lead us to doomsville. But in real life, are we confusing "villains" with just simply nasty people? Putting aside the unpleasant feeling of dealing with theses people, can we find something that we can learn? Develop a habit of staying objective (and sometimes immune) to the meanness of the other person, and then we can find that there is something to be learnt, even from the "villain"!

A night. Packed with action.

Was helping out at Fel's event tonight and was expecting a straight foward event - simple registration duties, taking note of a couple of figures, distributing game sheets and door gifts. Little did I expect that it would be a night filled with drama:
1) Fel cut her finger really badly when she caught it in between the glass door (a spoilt one) as it swung shut. It was literally like a murder scene. Blood was splashed against the glass, dripping down her wrist on the floor and staining the registration table. I think her nail was also split open by the impact. She was ever so calm (like she always is) and I was practically fainting inside. Wanted to get the first aid box but it was beside the stage and the event has already started with Min as GOH. Ran to a nearby shop and nearly screamed for help ("Sorry!!!! First aid, first aid!!!!!!!"). Managed to bundle up her finger together with Yv then gotta redo it again an hour later cos it was just bleeding so badly. She only went to see a doctor after the event is over. Boy, is she my heroine.

2) Saw my former colleague who was there to support Min (I miss them so much!)... it was such a nice surprise cos I didn't expect to see him at all though I did wonder who will be coming down and if I'd know him/her since I was in CS for so long. It's so cool that we are at the same work event together, even though we ain't colleagues anymore!

3) Overheard that someone has fainted while taking part in one of the night's activities. Saw his pale looking face when we changed Fel's dressing at the room beside the hall. Wonder if any media has caught that dramatic moment.

It was still overall a good event - one that I enjoyed despite being really tired by the end of it. I think what makes me feel great is that for the first time since coming, I feel a sense of team spirit. For me, this is what makes me want to stay in a work place. Great colleagues and team work definitely make work fun and worth the effort.

Goodbyes

It was Irys' last day with us at the office on Friday. Although I've only known her for 9 months (we came in at the same time last year), I felt rather attached to her because our characters are quite alike and she is one of the very few people in the office I could truly talk to. That common background from the civil service probably helped... Though there are still nice souls around the current organisation, it is a totally different culture out here. Definitely competitive and not the cosy, family kind of environment from my previous jobs. I will miss her loads! Bye bye girl and hope you will continue to shine in your new job! :(

On Friday, we also said goodbye to the old office in town as we will be moving into a swing space in the wild wild west for the next two months while the current office undergoes renovation. I am actually quite glad to be moving out of the old office, because the place was really getting a tad cluttered from all the stuff handed down from the previous generation of predecessors. It was a painful process of packing and throwing out stuff though and there were quite a few human casualties - poor Irys, in her last few weeks with us, suffered a nose bleed from all the dust from the packing, and I cut myself on the finger from a broken painting. I really hope we can keep the new office tidy!

Une goutte de pluie

Tout ce que je veux, c'est devenir une goutte de pluie. Je voyagerai le monde tout entier et quand j'arrive a la fin de ma vie, j'irais au paradis.

 

Jayesslee in CHC 2 (on 9 Jul 2011)

Have always loved their voices.

Their testimony here is very touching. Maybe because Mom also had cancer before, I can somewhat relate.

Thank God, that He gave Mom another chance at life and to be a testimony of His love - being a volunteer on weekends and a bible study leader on weekdays.

And yes, rejoice in all circumstances!

You jumped...

Over the course of three weeks, I have heard three cases of youngster suicides. Nope, not from the newspapers, but from colleagues and friends which made it all the more "real". I suppose it is nothing new, people choose to end their lives for all sorts of reasons. But it makes me ponder: if you have the courage to jump, why not the courage to live?

It is especially sad to hear young suicide cases because they have so much potential to pick themselves up again after failures. Even if the society seems to give no room for mistakes, can we ourselves learn to break loose from the expectations we or others place on ourselves? It is equally important - learning to succeed and learning to fail.

I don't know if there are any books on learning to fail (I know plenty about learning to succeed). My personal experience from trying to be a perfectionist is to make it a habit to forgive yourself. Forgiving does not equate to justifying your actions or making excuses, but admitting that you were wrong and you made a mistake, sometimes grave enough to hurt more than just yourself. In which case, accept the punishment or consequences with humility, and face tomorrow with a new heart and new hope.

my little buddy

Feeling terribly feverish with an itchy throat since Sunday evening. In fact, I haven't had the time to rest at all the whole week due to vol work on Sat morn and CM duties on Sunday and I was working pretty late last week.

But I couldn't miss seeing my little buddy... wanted to pat his head and to bear hug him though I know he hates it - he probably thinks I am messing up his fur for nothing.

Sis said he has been behaving weirdly, scratching the door (the wrong side of it) in the middle of the night for nothing, barking out of the blue. Definitely signs of old age.

One day, his eyes will fail him but I hope he will always remember those soft touches to his head and the not-so-gentle hugs when I pounce on him. I am always prepared for the day when he will go because I know it will come sooner or late. Till then, I will try to spend as much time with him as I can and hope that he is enjoying his last years on earth with us as a family.

"Surprise!" says God.

"I sent you an email. Read it before you open the letter," B said.

I said a timid "OK" before turning to my comp. It was bonus day (or so they called it) and bosses were handing out letters. But he joked that some of us might need to start packing our bags after opening our letters.

I am about six months into the job and I still haven't received a confirmation letter/email yet. Although HR said no news is good news (meaning confirmation might have already happened without you being informed in this company), the worrisome part of me still went "oh no, is he going to explain why he can't confirm me due to headcount freeze/restructuring etc?" :/

The email read something to the effect of B thinking I did a good job during the short time I am here, and he wants to reflect that in my salary.

I did a double-take when I saw the new figure in the letter. Not because it is a sky-high increment (it isn't), but because it is much more than I expected, given that it's supposed to be pro-rated (if any at all). And certainly it is more than what I think I deserved.

Am once again amazed by all the wonderful surprises God is giving out from time to time. Deeply humbled, and very thankful.

What's your storyline?

Am on 2-days MC from a mild case of food poisoning - technically, 1.5 days since I went back to work this morning and am going to continue working from home today. But it's good to be away from the office. Enjoying the peace and quiet at home, and the ability to just sit in a clean toilet as and when I need to (though my 屁股really开花ed from all the passing of all the what-have-yous). But at least I don't feel like vomitting already. I hate the nausea feeling.

Sunday's sermon touched on our life's storyline. Do we allow God to write the script? He is in fact the script writer of our lives. Sometimes, we deviate from the story he wants us to be in and hurt ourselves, as well as others around us, in the process.

How many times have I done that? Do I actively come back to God's storyline of my life?

In the past, I find it hard to tell what God wants me to do in my life. At decision making points, I would "pray" then haphazard a guess. I have no idea if that decision is right or wrong. Just something that I thought God would want me to do.

But as I grow older, I think God is teaching me how to seek his advice and to look out for the answer to my prayers. I begin to see "signs" of  where He wants me to go, what He wants me to do. And the purpose of putting me in certain situations, both for my own good and for the benefit of others.

Life hasn't changed much since I moved to my new job. In fact, the workload is just as heavy, if not heavier. But I certainly sensed a change in me, something that tells me and reminds me often to slow down, appreciate the things around me, and not to take things so seriously all the time. I feel that I am beginning to enter into another stage of life, going beyond what I used to see into something deeper, a certain sense of peace that can be felt amid the chaos I see.

And I think that is the character God wants me to be in my story. My storyline is being written by a wonderful Creator, and I just need to concentrate on playing my part and be the one He wants me to be!

Month of the travelling roadshow

I feel like I have aged 10 years in the past three weeks. While most people are having a relaxed January getting back into the swing of things after a good December break, I was practically pulling my hair out doing my first ever CEO roadshow. Twenty-one (!!!!) sessions of roadshow with over 3,000 people in total spread across 5 different locations in 9 days within 2 weeks, with sessions starting as early as 8.10am (for registration) and ending as late as 8.30pm in the evening. Four laptops for registration, 24 MAs for rostering, 2 boxes and 20 clipboards for over 950 exit polls. Consolidating daily attendance and doing data entry concurrently at night when I reached home. Arriving at the venue by 7am almost every morning then worrying about 2B who was holding onto 2 lappies but was perpetually late due to traffic jams (bad accidents!)

How did I survived?

And it was probably due to the lack of rest that my cyst problem came back. Have two additional stitches on my face now, on top of the first one. Scarface X 2.

In the midst of all the madness, thank God for providing help in the form of very helpful and diligent MAs (ok most, not all - there was one who made me wonder if he was trying to escape from his duties and was only there for the food). And then, a surprise awaited me on the second last day of the roadshow. When I came back to the office, my colleague grinned and pointed to the table.

It was a handwritten note and a hamper from none other than CEO.

"Dear Grace

With just four roadshows left and Chinese New Year approaching, I want to thank you for managing the roadshows so diligently and to wish you and your family a happy & successful year of the Dragon

恭喜发财 (in ang moh handwritting)

Alex"

Heart melts. And even if it's just a regift (which is likely so cos I don't think CEO will really go and buy a hamper just for his staff), it was really a very kind gesture of appreciation.

Praise the Lord for His never failing providence, grace, comfort and encouragement.

Four times Christmas at Cafe Lumiere

26 Dec, Singapore - Following its soft launch earlier in the month, Cafe Lumiere officially opened its doors to host four Christmas gathering over the long weekend. It first welcomed a care group cum pot luck dinner on Friday evening, which ended at 1.30am and broke the record of previous care groups hosted. It was mainly due to the difficult book of Isaiah, which somehow ended up into a prolonged discussion on tithing. The co-owners, Grace and Mr. Jang, had no recollection of how the topic has gone off the path.

On Christmas eve, Cafe Lumiere hosted a close group of colleagues from Grace's old office, Meeka.  It was the first lunch that Grace ever prepared in the sit down western meal kind of setting. There was pork rib (from NTUC), honey baked ham (from NTUC), wine (from NTUC), and a gigantic log cake (from NTUC). The non-NTUC items were pasta, stringed pineapple and cheese hotdog, and salad with homemade vinaigrette dressing. When asked how she felt on her first attempt to prepare a meal, Grace said: "I was really excited and am just glad that there are no reports of food poisoning thus far! The only negative comment I had was from ex-colleague, Meds, who said my fireplace decor failed... But that's sort of OK coming from Meds!" She quipped.

The Christmas eve dinner session was dedicated to Mr. Jang's JC and majong friends. Interestingly, Cafe Lumiere is also known as MJC - the short form for "Majong Club". True to its name, MJC members presented a majong table as a housewarming gift to the couple. It was quickly put to good use after the members had their Christmas feast and the party ended at 3am in the morning, or so Grace heard as she has already collapsed into her four-poster bed slightly after midnight due to the long day spent in the kitchen.

As for Christmas day, it was a relief for the owners that the party only started around 7pm. Grace and Mr. Jang were exhausted from helping out at the Children Ministry in the morning. Some of the junior kids apparently ate the chocolate stars that they hid in the santuary for the older kids. The latter could not find the complete set of stars for them to piece together the words of "SAVE", "(L)AMB", "H(O)PE" and "LOV(E)". The couple spent some time trying in vain to locate the stars which had mysteriously gone missing.

At 7pm, Grace and Mr Jang welcomed their friends and family to Cafe Lumiere for the grand finale Christmas Day dinner. And what a feast the group had - it was all from a catering service! But it was all made cosy and personalised by the wonderful presents, desserts, and wine brought by their pals. The Christmas spirit was further enhanced by the fact that everyone came dressed in the theme of "Winter" albeit with various interpretations - tropical winter, temperate winter, but luckily no north-pole winter as the air-con could only go as low as 17C. Come gift exchange time, everyone had a fantastic time unwrapping the goodies brought by one another. Even Grace's brother-in-law, OSH, bought a proper gift from L'Occitane this time round. Suspiciously though, he did not know what L'Occitane is when asked. Being the good wife that she is, Est, Grace's sister, refused to comment when asked if she bought the gift on his behalf. The night ended on a high note as the group laughed their guts out watching an old movie, 唐伯虎点秋香.

We bring you some photo highlights from the dinner finale, which is not a lot as Grace was either too busy in the kitchen or at the dining area eating. For the rest of the other events, there were no photos taken from Grace's phone cam (she totally forgot).

Cafe Lumiere wishes all a Merry Christmas once again!

Cafe Lumiere co-owner Grace (right) with her favourite sister Esther (left) and dog Almonn. She calls them collectively: Sismonn.

Almonn was almost put up for sale, if not for his hidden ferocious character. 

The Crazy Trio from Sec One. From left: Grace, Chick, and Hwei.

(*Grace realised that she also forgot to take a Christmas photo with cafe co-owner and husband, Mr. Jang. Oopsie!)

20th anniversary 万岁!

Mr. Jang and I emceed for gugu and gucheung's 20th anniversary dinner at Shangri-La hotel today. It was a wonderful evening of worship and it felt great to be in a room full of people that shared a common love for God.

At the end of the day, a marriage definitely needs to be centered on God in order for it to work. He needs to be involved in every process of home building.

Praise God for gugu and gucheung's lovely marriage! :)

Birthday log cake! :)



Colleagues gave me a birthday log cake and $40 Capitaland vouchers as birthday present today. Yes, another chocolate cake! Yippie!

To be honest, it was a little awkward cos my new colleagues (except for Irys!) are all quite serious and I thought this birthday celebration felt more like a birthday SOP rather than a genuine celebration. But I really appreciated the gesture and the thought that went behind buying the cake and the vouchers. The cake tasted super yummy (belgium dark chocolate!)

I sincerely think that it is important to have more get togethers like this. It's important to build a culture that is not solely focused on work alone. We are all humans behind the computers and emails afterall.

Hopefully, there will be more occasions for us to get together like this, not just for birthdays or Christmas. A comfortable and welcoming office environment - that's what makes people want to come to work.

So bosses, take the lead and make the difference!

martinis + cakes = happy me

I didn't put the group photo here because I am not sure if they will be comfortable having their photo uploaded on blogs (FB is another matter!) so I just put this happy photo of myself with two glasses of lychee martini.

Am very grateful that they had included me in the celebration of the December babies even though they are more of Mr. Jang's buddies. I seldom join in the gatherings and I always hide behind Mr. Jang but they are always very nice and kind. I even have birthday presents and a mini cake!

Thank you, thank you! :)

More than just moving...

"Survived" my first week at the new house. I used that word because it was with much reluctance that I came to terms with the fact that yes indeed I had moved out of my parents' house. I had a shock when Mr. Jang told me last Sunday that we would not be going back, when I had thought that the move was only temporary. I felt that I was suddenly yanked out of my home, and I didn't have time to say my goodbyes.

I still miss everything terribly. I only pulled through the first week because I can still see Sis and BIL regularly especially when I go to work cos Sis will swing by to pick me up and when I go home to get my stuff. This and the fantastic surprise birthday party that the gang gave me two days ago. Totally made my day.

I miss my little buddy. No matter how hard Mr. Jang tried to tell me that Almonn is no longer my dog (I don't believe it for a single moment) and that he cannot come cos he will scratch the furniture and dirty the place if he comes, I am still very attached to him and I miss him every single day. I think what Mr. Jang doesn't realise is that I can always earn back the money used to refurbish the house or buy back the furniture if there is any damage. But the feelings you have for your pet is something that can never be replaced. I appreciate the efforts that he has made to make the transition less painful and I probably sound selfish when I say this, I will not remember how nice my first house is or how beautiful the furniture is, but I will remember that I miss Almonn every single day that I moved in and that I am forbidden to bring him here with me. :(