Firing up Firefox...

Ha, just downloaded Mozilla.org's Firefox. Seems it's getting really popular... I tried it on my lab's computer just now, and I really like the interface. So here we go... hello FF, bye-bye IE... :)



(Hey, Weizhu, u trying it out too?)

Song: I Will Follow Him

Wah... it's 4 am already... I've been taking the past 2 hrs reading and writing blogs... ha... been trying to understand lambda calculus in preparation for my test...



(Actually, I have three tests on 30 Sep... and they are all my famous 'killer' modules... haha... but seriously, I'm not scared... and I really want to thank God for His presence that gives me peace in my heart... 'cos something I've been learning is to "practise the presence of God" as what Hanhui shared during CG this week.)



Ha, back to the point... right now I'm alone in S16 level 5 (East's famous "study room"), so was feeling a bit alone... played some songs, and I remember this song that our dear sister from Mexico (Ana Bonilla) taught the Uni district during our church camp 2000 - A Visionary Church:



"I Will Follow Him"



¡Lo amo! ¡lo amo! ¡lo amo!

(I love Him! I love Him! I love Him!)

Y donde vaya yo voy, yo voy, yo voy...

(And where He goes, I'll follow, I'll follow, I'll follow...)

Siempre mi amor sincero, sincero, sincero

(He'll always be my true love, my true love, my true love...)

Ahora y por siempre, por siempre, por siempre...

(Now and forever, forever, forever...)



No han oceano tan profundo

(There isn't an ocean too deep)

Ni cima tan alta que

(A mountain so high it can't keep)

Que he majenga, lejos de he... [can't remember the Spanish for this...]

(Keep me away, away from His love...)



I will follow Him

Follow Him wherever He may go

And near Him I always will be

For nothing can keep us apart

He is my destiny...



I will follow Him

Follow Him wherever He may go

Ever since He touched my heart I know

There isn't an ocean too deep

A mountain so high it can't keep

Keep me away, away from His love....



(Ha... think Sijia knows this song too... I've checked Google, and found this link.)

A visit to NUH...

Yesterday, Jan and I visited Kangwei in hospital. We had a great time chatting together. Really so glad to see this dear bro recover... =)

Really thank God for Kangwei... 'cos it wasn't easy for him, but he hung on and has made it through.

Throughout this experience, my heart really goes out with thanksgiving to God, seeing how this time of crisis has deepened our hearts in love, and has brought out the finest in our bros and sisters...

I remember that Thursday afternoon, when we found out that KW had been transferred into the ICU due to an infection. I recall Sijia rushing down to comfort Kangwei's mum, who was crying, and how Fengqi, upon seeing KW's father weeping, silently put his arm around his shoulder...

Kin Wee, when he heard about Kangwei's hospitalisation, went down to visit him. We saw that Kangwei couldn't talk much, so we sat down, put our hands on Kangwei's hand and simply prayed for him silently.

Something wonderful about this is that when we walked out of the ward, Kin Wee and I found out from each other that we had prayed the same thing for Kangwei even though we hadn't told each other what we had prayed for!

Wow... really got to thank God for His grace and power!

So many things to write about... but in a nutshell, thank God, on the same day that we fasted and prayed for Kangwei's recovery, God answered our prayers, and we heard from his parents that he would be moved out of the ICU the next day, and Kangwei himself said that he would be discharged at the end of this week, if nothing goes wrong.

When Benaiah heard this good news, he SMSed back, "Wow... God really answers prayer fast! To God be the glory!"

Thank God so much... think through this time, God has deepened many of our hearts and affections for one another as a family, and I'm so glad that the church of Christ, can really be Christ's witness on earth through the way it shows such love, care and concern for its members and even for those who don't know Him yet.

And I don't have enough time to write about all the other bros and sisters who rallied so readily around Kangwei and his family, when we heard about the crisis...

Sijia, Fengqi, Zewei, Claramae, Shirley, Benaiah, Li Siong, Peter, Hanhui, Jiexian, Meiyan (haha... remember the heart monitor, sis? ;) hen3 funny...), Marcus, Robert, Kim Chun, Ellson, Su San, Jiayan, June, Huiqi, Doreen (ah yes! she lent her MP3 player to Kangwei... earphones included!), Kin Wee, Mich (her reminding Kangwei to eat more and put on more weight... haha... really thank God for this dear sis...), Jan, Chi Yen, Sukfern, Yuhui (our radio man), Shiming and the USM bros and sisters... really sorry if I left any names out, but God knows who you are... =)

Thought about Global Awareness...

Just a personal thought related to yesterday... Shirley shared with some of us before service about her feelings over the recent terrorist attacks... e.g. the Russian hostage crisis, and the extremely cruel things that some terrorists did to the children...



Was very touched by her heartfelt sharing, and something that she shared with us made me think... that after 9/11, we start getting more and more de-sentitised (sic?) to a crying world that is dying.



Help me, Lord, look beyond my own little world, and renew in me a heart of love and compassion for the lost...



To think about what I do to my fellow brothers and sisters... to my neighbour, the person next to me... and to do what is good in Your eyes, Lord... I know this is the starting point...



Mmm... also, was thinking, not just local awareness, but to start having a global awareness. We can't deny that increasingly, we are becoming more and more a part of a global community, and for us young Singaporeans, we tend to be pretty apathetic to what's going on with the outside world.



I remember what my church loves to say: "Think Globally, Act Locally!"



And it's a good slogan, 'cos God Himself is God of the whole wide world... frankly, globalisation was on His mind even before the world began - He who gave us the Great Commission: "...and you will be My witnesses... to the ends of the earth."



Help me, God, get out of my own little sandbox, my immaturity and to start acting upon what I know of You, Lord...



In Jesus' name,

Amen!

Prayer of St. Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.



O, Divine Master,grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console;

to be understood as to understand;

to be loved as to love;

for it is in giving that we receive;

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

(St. Francis of Assisi)

Revamping Gen-Blogs

Had a mtg abt 2 wks ago. The Cucumber, the Ant, Red Medicine and Joy and Yicheng and Kelvin and who else - we knocked our heads together to discuss how we wanna improve the Gen-blogs.



Main problem is that the WordPress interface for the blog is SUPER-scary to the first-time blogger, though Joy, being the prolific blogger tt she is, managed to get something going... haha...



Some features are so powerful that even yours truly doesn't know what they're for. (And I'm a computer science student liao... haha... win already liao!)



Still super-bz, have to help my mum make some amendments to some documents now...



Will try to blog again soon abt my semester, new friends, and especially what God's been doing in my life... hen3 excited! :D



Haha... sorry... I know this blog is super oldie-moldie... as Robert pointed out, my blog is ancient blogistry... haha...

Double Birthdays!

Yesterday, we celebrated Doreen's and Michelle's bdays. Haha... :D Kudos to Yufen n Sijia for helping organise n run the event... =D they did a fantastic job... haha... Could see Michelle super-touched... Doreen too... :D



For more details on the bday celebration, http://yfworld.blogspot.com (Wed Aug 18 2004 entry) Gosh, linking to other blogs is fun... saves on typing time! :D

Luke 9:23-27

Mmm... am feeling rather melancholic at this moment... So I'm penning down this favourite Bible verse of mine:



(Jesús) Dirigiéndose a todos, declaró:

"Si alguien quiere ser mi discípulo, que se niegue a sí mismo, lleve su

cruz cada día y me siga. Porque el que quiera salvar su vida, la

perderá; pero el que pierda su vida por mi causa, la salvará.



¿De qué le sirve a uno ganar el mundo entero si se pierde o se destruye a

sí mismo?



Si alguien se avergüenza de mí y de mis palabras, el Hijo del hombre se avergonzará de él cuando venga en su gloria y en la gloria del Padre y de los

santos ángeles.

Además, les aseguro que algunos de los aquí presentes no sufrirán la muerte

sin antes haber visto el reino de Dios. "

For those who're wondering what kind of language I'm writing in, it's Spanish... I tend to write things down in Spanish when I feel especially melancholic. Think Spanish has that kind of beautiful lilt and feel to it that helps express the words of your heart... :)



No wonder they call Spanish a Romantic language... hahaha... :( ok ok so it's a linguistic joke... think only Weizhu will understand... :P

Gen-Blog is finally up! :D

Hi people, it's been ages since I last posted a meaningful entry here... Reason is because I was helping do some programming for a blogging system for Gen-ACTS Club...



www.gen-acts.org/tertiary/gen-blogs.php



BTW the website is known as Gen-Blog, but our blogs are known as Gen-Blogs (plural) and we are Gen-Bloggers. Get it? Haha...



Hop over to my Gen-Blog at www.gen-acts.org/tertiary/blogs/yeuann now! :)



(But that doesn't mean that I won't be posting any more entries here... I'll still update more stuff here... the Gen-Blog is more for Gen-ACTS stuff, whereas this one is meant more for personal stuff. :))

Lame Joke #3

Qn: Which side of a chicken has the most feathers?

(scroll down for the answer!)



























































Ans: The outside!

(ok ok!!! put that feather duster down!!!)

Do I see the Value of things, not just do them?

On Tuesday night, Hanhui asked me to pass the rest of our care group some forms to process, as it was urgent. Yesterday night, he asked me whether I had done so. I realised that I had forgotten to do so.



So, Hanhui called me around later on at midnight, and asked me to think NOT about what I should have done, but what were the attitudes in my heart that caused this to happen.



After thinking, I told him, "Laziness and fear of rejection." I elaborated further with him on these two.



Hanhui listened, and then explained to me that he had, in a sense, delegated authority to me regarding the passing on of the forms to the others, and also, responsibility, because my forgetting to pass the forms to the others yesterday affected not just myself, but the ENTIRE group.



And he was looking not for the what-I-should-have-dones, but what-are-the-reasons-that-I-did-what-I-dids. We're not perfect, after all, but we can understand what are the attitudes factors that cause us to do things wrongly.



To paraphrase:

"Remember what I told you last time about godly sorrow versus worldly sorrow? Worldly sorrow merely says 'sorry' to make the other party feel better, like if you accidentally step on his shoes, but godly sorrow makes you look at yourself to really understand why you do what you do, and to consider the results of your attitudes."

Shared more with me on this, that for me, I need to discipline my mind to focus not so much on the what-I-should-have-dones, but on my personal attitudes and values, because I have a tendency to think in terms of 'do this' and 'do that'.



And this tendency makes my mind tend to degrade into doing things for the sake of doing them, without seeing the value of what I'm doing.



That's one reason why he doesn't usually address the issue of ill-discipline so much as the issue of seeing the VALUE of what I do, because ill-discipline is simply a behavioural flaw, a symptom of an attitude.

And that attitude is whether I see the value of what I'm doing or not.

He talked with me for a few more minutes, and then he told me he had to answer a second call, and eat his dinner.



"Dinner? At midnight?" I thought. So I asked him, "Are you feeling hungry?"



He chortled, and said, "Super."

A Blogged Mind

*Sigh*



He looks at the LCD screen before him, tapping thoughtfully.



"Nucleus or WordPress? Which blog to install on the server?"



"The REAL problem is," he thinks, "just how do you enable multiple user accounts on a server-side script for a Content Management System a la Blogger.com using PHP 4.1 and MySQL 3.23?"



*Sigh*

Lame Joke #2: "It's nice having a blog, but not a blogged nose."

Haha... I used the above title as my MSN nickname yesterday, and got 3 (I think) replies:



Huichoon: "Wah, that is super lame liao..."



Dominic: "ertz"



and Kim Chun's reply is the best:

1st msg: L



2nd msg: A



3rd msg: M



4th msg: E



5th msg: ;P



(And you know how MSN plays that funny sound after every message? Go figure... It really sounds like a cheer... hahaha... thanks KC!)

Trying to set up a Content Management System...

Right now, I'm busy trying to set up a blog management system for my volunteer club, Generation ACTS International. If you want to know more about this club, check out http://www.gen-acts.org.

Just to add a note: I joined this club back in 2001 and haven't looked back since. Got to know and network with lots of friends from different universities and faculties, and even countries - you tried Mexican "mole" before? haha... ¡es muy shiok! and also I got to learn Spanish from a very lively Mexican lady, Sofia Montejo.

(I still remember her Mexican-esque cheer... how did it go? "¡A LA VIO! ¡A LA VA! ¡A LA VIM-VOM-VAAA!" Wah, VERY powerful, especially when she yelled it in front of our class to demonstrate... haha...



When we asked her what that meant, she shrugged her shoulders and said, "Oh, it means nothing." *gosh*... but still, that cheer SOUNDS very impressive! :D )

And I also got to help out with matriculation activities... the first time I tried leading a matriculation group, I felt terribly insecure. But I'm glad to God for that experience, because this helped me learn so much more about myself.



This year, Generation ACTS Club will be launching its Project ACTS groups for incoming university freshmen. Essentially it's about service-learning methodology... hmm, I need to find out more about what this "service-learning" thingy is about... heard it originated in the US... very powerful way of helping develop your leadership skills, that's what I understand.

Gosh, that was one LONG note. So far, I tried WordPress (http://wordpress.org), and it was really easy to install, BUT it doesn't support multiple blogs. :( So sad! Because I love its pretty user interface and ease of use.



So I'm investigating b2evolution (http://b2evolution.net/index.php) and NucleusCMS (http://nucleuscms.org/).



Will let you guys know more about my quest for the Ultimate Blog (TM). :) TTFN...

Been very busy the past few days...

Wow, it's been a few days since I last posted here. Night-cycling trip last Friday/Saturday, watched "The Day After Tomorrow" with Kin Wee and Edmund on Saturday afternoon, met my shepherd on Saturday evening and THEN got some sleep on Saturday night.



And woke up super-late for Sunday morning - missed the prayer gathering with the other Sub-D people!



Very busy now, sorry, should be expanding on the following topics most likely by next week:



- Night-cycling trip

- Thoughts about TDAT (and the Troy tickets fiasco)

- Research insights on encouragment

- Intentionality - a principle of impactful communications



Why so late? Because I'll be going to Johor Bahru for church camp from 3 to 6 June this week. Really excited! :)



(Ooh yah! Add "- Church camp objectives" to the list above...)



Share more with you guys next week...

Latest Grub at the Arts Canteen...

Just got this email today...

Ref: OED/CS/222/2004



26 May 2004



Dear Students,



With the expiry of the lease of the food stalls at the Deck @FASS on 31 May 2004, we have invited for new tender early this year.



From June 2004, you will be able to enjoy some changes in the types of food at The Deck as follows :

1. Fish and Seafood Noodles/ Rice Stall

2. Fried Kway Teow Stall which will also be serving fried carrot cakes, fried oyster and fried beef

noodles

3. Authentic Szechuan Noodles Stall serving Dan Dan noodles, Braised Beef noodles etc

4. New Japanese Cuisine Stall serving Udon, Soba besides the usual Japanese set meals

5. New Chicken & Duck Rice/ Noodles Stall which will be serving roasted and char siew meat as

well

6. New Sandwich and Salad stall serving a wider range of sandwiches and salads

7. New Halal Noodles Stall serving a range of Chinese Styled noodles

8. New Snack Stall serving the usual breakfast stuff as well as some Prema Deli products

9. New Chinese Cooked Food stall

10. New Vegetarian Cooked Food stall

11. New Muslim Cooked Food stall

12. New Indian Cooked Food stall



For the first 2 weeks in June, only 7 stalls will be operating. The rest of the stalls will start operation by 15 June. You may patronize the other canteens such as The Terrace @ FASS or Techno Edge @ Engine if you experience long queues at those 7 stalls during the first 2 weeks.

Mmm... will the Arts canteen maintain its unbeaten record of being the best place in NUS to fill your rumbling tummies?



(Hey! My favourite pasta+pizza stall doesn't seem to be included in the list... :( )



Hope Science Canteen's food tastes better this coming semester... :)

That's my MacDonald's...

Haha... *urp... 'cuse me!* came back about half an hour ago from Boon Lay to Bishan.



(Well, almost. The MRT stopped at Ang Mo Kio... thank God I managed to catch the last train.)



Had a great time with the other bros and sisters at Sukfern's place... we had a meaningful discussion, personal heart sharing, and a really silly game, in which we stare at each other till someone laughs. (Ok, so it's MY idea. ;))



Rule of the No-Laughing game:

#1: ABSOLUTELY NO physical contact allowed. (Chi Yen tickled me!!!)



So since I laughed first... - gosh, how do I manage to 'sabo' myself anyway??? - Michelle, being the 'garang' sister that she is, suggested a hundred push-ups as my forfeit. (Easy for her to say - she's not the one doing it... haha...)



Mercifully, the sentence was commuted to 10 push-ups.



Suffice it to say that Chi Yen and Kin Wee, the wonderful brothers that they are, did it together with me. And that I REALLY need to exercise. *ouch*



After the gathering, some of us went to Boon Lay's MacDonalds. Had a great time joking and chatting till closing time... finally, Hanhui managed to get us leaving the place with a VERY appropriate Bible verse: John 14:31.

(You wanna know what it said? Scroll down...)















































It says: "Come now; let us leave."



Haha... really funny, Hanhui... :)

Lame joke #1

Q: How do you stop a rhinoceros from charging?

(Scroll down to see the answer.)







































A: Take away its credit cards.

An evening at Woodlands...

Was at Woodlands last night with a friend (let's call our friend "J"). To be honest, it's because I needed some help - was feeling rather down - and needed someone who had been through the same experience as me - in other words, someone who understands.



We met up at Woodlands and went to Yoshinoya for a bite. After some light conversation - thank God for J! - we joked, chatted, talked, and finally, I shared with J how I was feeling.



J listened, and smiled. Then J asked, "So, do you think people don't love you?"



I thought about it for a while... and nodded.



I'll keep it short here... J shared with me that God shows His love through imperfect people like you and me. And that "God's love is made perfect in us."

No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.

(1 John 4:12)



If you feel unloved, it most probably is wrong (especially in the church!). Simply that people have been showing love to you, but not in the way that you would like.



Let's have a scenario:

One of your friends shows care and concern for you by looking out for your needs and blessing you with little treats here and there.



And he asks your other friends (in secret), "How is So-and-so recently? Anything that I can help him with?"



But you prefer to have more outwardly expressive forms of love - say, long, long letters or emails - and as a result, you fail to perceive that your friend really loves you a lot.



What is worse, after some time, you believe that your friend doesn't care for you - even though he really does - and you start giving him the cold shoulder.



He feels hurt, because of your response, and he doesn't understand why you're giving him the cold shoulder.



And in turn, you don't understand why he doesn't seem to show much care and concern to you.



Incidentally, this is a semi-hypothetical example.



So, what could be done here?



J suggested that I share with my friend my preferred way of receiving love - and more importantly, how my friend would prefer to be loved.



As Christ said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."



Someone wrote a book (I believe it's Gary Chapman) on the "Five Love Languages". I think it's an excellent book: though it's meant for married couples, the principles can be applied to personal friendships too.



There were many more things that we talked about... too much to write here. But to my dear friend J, thanks so much - I feel much, much better after what you shared to me that night. I really appreciate it. :)



God bless you, J!

Thoughts on a personal word of encouragement from a dear friend...

Just wanted to write this down, as a way of saying "thank you" to Shirley, my dear friend.



I remember I've been going through a few downtimes (the emotional kind, not the computer kind), and Shirley has encouraged me a lot during these times.



One of the Bible verses that she shared with me (about 2 Sundays ago), I'll pen it down here:



"Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain."



Thank you, dear sister. You have been a great and faithful encouragement to me. :)

One of my favourite blogs...

Finally, I've reverted to the first-person perspective. As you may guess, when I'm in a pensive / melancholic mood, I'd rather write in the third-person perspective.



Anyway, have been looking through wei.lookingabove.com (hi Weizhu!). It's a very well-written blog - clear and concise - and more importantly, it's FUN to read. :)



And you can learn something from his writing style...



Gosh, when did I start critiquing blogs? The next frontier in post-modern literature... :)



(It also helps that Weizhu's a very dear friend and brother to me - very kind-hearted fellow!)

What is encouragement?

Encouragement - literally, give courage to the other person.

- the expression of approval and support



- the act of giving hope or support to someone



- the feeling of being encouraged



(www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn)

Romans 15:4

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.



Conclusion:

Encouragement is anything that causes the other person to have hope that all is not lost, and/or courage to do what he/she must do.



What do you think?

The danger of love

C.S. Lewis wrote:

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket --- safe, dark, motionless, airless --- it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable . . . the only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers of love . . . is Hell.

¿Quieres conocer a mi?

You wonder who I am?



Mystery of comprehension,

Depths so fathomed,

Of mind, soul and spirit

With but mere words.



"Ah, but the word is living

Active, sharper than

A finely-honed sword

That pierces the heart so."

El primer día

Hmm.



Tentatively looking around here, he furtively types a few sentences.



The silence of the black night is drowned out by the white light of the room.



"This is strange, this blog." - he wonders. - "But why not? It is good to pen down a few thoughts."



He pauses. And thinks for a while. "Besides, I can share this with my friends..."





Another long pause. What can he write about?



He ponders. Finally, he jots down the following notes:



- On-going research on Identity

- Principles of Encouragement

- Tenets of Communications



Finally, he sits back. He presses the orange button. It is the first day.