My philosophy of life

In the current course that I'm attending, one of the key requirements is that I turn in an 800- to 1,000-word essay on my philosophy of life. It took me eight hours and three revisions before I settled on this one.

I am a Christian.

I learnt to give generously of myself to others from my parents. I come from a poor non-Christian family but I have never lacked love, care and attention.


I played competitive badminton from secondary school to university level. Some values and principles were ingrained in me: If one gives of one’s best, it is good enough; defeat doesn’t mean failure; and winning graciously is as important as losing graciously. I experienced the empowering impact of teamwork, camaraderie, friendship, humility, integrity, honesty, diligence and responsibility.

My auntie and my uncle brought us to Sunday school. My auntie sang to us of God’s love and grace. I grew up thinking that everyone knew how to sing Morning Has Broken, Pass It On and This Little Light of Mine.


I was a sickly child and had three major operations. I remember a nurse telling me “Jesus loves you” when I was wheeled into the operating theatre for my first operation. I remember watching a boy, the only son of an elderly couple, die. My mum and I couldn’t stop crying. I was exposed to pain, suffering and death but I look back very fondly on those long hospital stays because the doctors and nurses treated me with so much love and tenderness. Those days were also some of the happiest days of my life.

Five years ago, a colleague shared the gospel with me. The Holy Spirit convicted me and I understood who Christ was and what He did for me. I started attending my colleague’s church. I asked God whether this was where He wanted me to settle in. He said no. A year passed and my cousin invited me to Church of Our Saviour. When I first stepped into its sanctuary, I told God: “Lord, I’m finally home.”

I was given a dream of God early on. It was of me being cradled by a pair of very big hands. I felt totally assured of God’s love and protection. Even if I were to stumble and fall many times, I know God will help me get back on my feet. He will never abandon me.

Given that I came into this world naked, and shall depart from it naked, all I have is from God and I am only taking care of His resources during my brief stay on earth. They are all His and never mine. I am very grateful to God for all that He has given me in abundance so I can bless others abundantly.

He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

- Jim Elliot

“But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.”

- Philippians 3:7-12

When I see Christ, these are the words I want to hear: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

My words and my actions have also been underpinned by what I hope people will say about me during my funeral:

- I was a faithful servant of God

- I was loving and generous towards my family, my colleagues and my friends

- I was always encouraging and empowering people

- I made a positive difference in other people’s lives

- I left the world a better place than when I first came into it

- They saw Christ in me

I ask God daily for four things: the love and compassion of Christ for people; the passion for Christ and His Word; the wisdom of Christ; and the increasing revelation of Christ in my life.

I like my job because it allows me to be creative and to use my abilities well. I have a few very close Christian friends in the workplace. I also e-mail a once-a-month newsletter to some Christian colleagues about Christian issues, articles and events. I’ve been in the same job for about 13 years. I’m still a “Jonah” because I’m not prepared for God’s calling in my life. I’ve asked God to be patient with me, to forgive my disobedience and to give me courage to conquer my fears.

Regardless of whether I am married, I am content with my life because I have God, my family, and my friends, both Christian and non-Christian. Thank God that He has gifted me with the ability to manage loneliness well. I am 35, single and happy most of the time. With God’s grace, I should be able to manage growing old well on my own.

10 years from now (or earlier), I hope I will grow in maturity in my faith. I want to have the ability to support myself (and my parents) if I were to quit my job and take on a part-time one which involves social or community work. I want to pay off my home mortgage. I want to take one year off to help out at orphanages around the world. I want to volunteer with the Singapore Children’s Society or World Vision.

To me, a good life is simple living and meaningful work grounded on faith in Christ and relationships with people.

Ode to words

Oscar Wilde:

- Those who see any difference between soul and body have neither



- I am not in favour of long engagements. They give people the opportunity of finding out each other’s character before marriage



- One’s real life is often the life that one does not lead. I see an intimate connection between the life of Christ and the life of the artist. Christ’s place indeed is with the poets



- I can resist everything except temptation



- We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars (this is my favourite because it alludes to the power of thought and vision)



- It is the confession, not the priest, that gives us absolution



- The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it



- There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about



- Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them; sometimes they forgive them



- Nothing makes one so vain as being told that one is a sinner



- In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it



- What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing



- Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes



- What a pity that in life we only get our lessons when they are of no use to use



From George Orwell's Politics and the English Language:

Ecclesiastes 9:11 (KJV)
"I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all."

Orwell's translation into "modern English":

"Objective considerations of contemporary phenomena compel the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must invariably be taken into account."

The link to George Orwell's essay:

http://www.george-orwell.org/Politics_and_the_English_Language/0.html


Ecclesiastes is a book I always return to whenever I want to be reminded of the beauty of words used well.

Have you ever had the moment when someone or something took your breath away? Like a rainbow, a Caravaggio painting, someone beautiful you didn't know smiling and saying "bye bye" to you in the office restroom, a baby gurgling with joy, raindrops falling on the ground, Cavatina, Gabriel's Oboe, the ocean air, freshly baked bread, a home-cooked meal, a new book, a cuddly teddy bear, sunshine, cobbled streets, a hand of comfort, and gosh, I could go on and on. Just closing my eyes to remember the moments. *smile*

I was like that when I first read Ecclesiastes. The book took my breath away and gave me such a revelation of life and God that it has always held a special place in my heart. That's why I was so eager for non-Christians to read the book first before all others of the Bible during my early days of becoming a Christian.

I once photocopied the entire book of Ecclesiastes and passed it on to a colleague, telling her to read it. She read it and told me: "The book is so depressing. In the end, life means nothing." To me, that was the message --- that life was meaningless without God. Suffice to say that I've learnt my lesson, and I've not given anyone else the book of Ecclesiastes as his or her first introduction to the Bible. :-P

Does this make you want to read Ecclesiastes? Ha ha ha!


Recommended movie/read:


V For Vendetta

What V said to Evey when they first met:

"Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it's my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V."

Beat that!!! I feel like memorising the words just to stun people. Ha ha ha! *smile* How can one not fall in love with the movie or the graphic novel? Or V, for that matter? I'll probably have an entire posting on V for Vendetta as soon as I locate the graphic novel, which is somewhere in my room.

The graphic novel is written by Alan Moore, who also wrote other excellent graphic novels - Watchmen and From Hell (account of Jack the Ripper).

I will follow Hymn

Dentist's Hymn....................Crown Him with Many Crowns
Weatherman's Hymn.................There Shall Be Showers of Blessings
Contractor's Hymn.................The Church's One Foundation
The Tailor's Hymn.................Holy, Holy, Holy
The Golfer's Hymn.................There's a Green Hill Far Away
The Politician's Hymn.............Standing on the Promises
Optometrist's Hymn................Open My Eyes That I Might See
The Tax Agent's Hymn..............I Surrender All
The Gossip's Hymn.................Pass It On
The Electrician's Hymn............Send The Light
The Shopper's Hymn................Sweet Bye and Bye
The Realtor's Hymn................I've Got a Mansion, Just Over the Hilltop
The Massage Therapist's Hymn.......He Touched Me
The Doctor's Hymn.................The Great Physician


AND for those who speed on the highway - a few hymns:
45mph....................God Will Take Care of You
65mph....................Nearer My God To Thee
85mph....................This World Is Not My Home
95mph....................Lord, I'm Coming Home
100mph...................Precious Memories

Are you rich?

The world's way to attaining wealth:

- Start saving and investing at an early age.
- Invest in equities and bonds, with the mix being determined by risk profile, time horizon and liquidity.
- Stay invested for the long term. It's time in, not timing of, the market.
- Take up life and medical insurance to guard against unexpected contingencies, especially if one has dependants.
- Diversify your asset holdings.
- Opt for tax-deferred schemes.
- Hire a financial adviser.
- Plan for your retirement the minute you start working.
- Buy a house you can afford to pay off comfortably.
- Stretch the home mortgage over the long term if you are confident of getting returns from your investments that are higher than the mortgage interest rate.
- Live within your means.
- Be disciplined and keep a monthly budget of your spending and expenses.
- Save at least 10% of your salary.
- Bring your lunch/dinner to work.
- Save all of your bonus and channel the money to investments.
- Treat yourself once in a while so you won't feel too deprived and succumb to a spending binge.
- If you're married, spend on one person's salary and put the second salary to work in investments.
- Prepare a will and plan for the distribution of your assets after you die.


The above examples are, in my opinion, some of the most prudent ways of ensuring that one retires comfortably and is financially secure. And indeed as Christians, we are called to be good stewards of the resources God has blessed us with, and we will have to give an account of ourselves on Judgment Day.

These days, it seems to me increasingly the spirit of "mammon" or materialism is slowly but surely invading even the area of stewardship of God's money.

Whenever I meet up with people nowadays, our conversations increasingly are being dominated by talk of personal financial planning, investments, stocks, home mortgages, retirement planning, asset allocation, wealth creation, increasing of income streams etc. Very little is mentioned of tithing, offerings, charity, alms and aid for the poor.

I have to admit also that the words "my money", "my income", "my cash", "my savings", "my assets", "my investments" and "my stocks" and so forth also flow quite easily out of my mouth during such conversations.

Given the fact that I came into this world naked, and shall depart from this world naked, I need to constantly remind myself that all that I have is from God, and that I am only taking care of His resources for Him during my brief stay on earth. And that it is all His and never mine in the first place.

Most certainly, prosperity and blessings are promised by God for every aspect of our lives if we abide in Him, but the Bible is very very clear on the type of treasures that we're to build on this earth.


God's way to attaining wealth:

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
- Matthew 6:19-21


"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."
- Matthew 6:24


"Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'
For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."
- Matthew 6:31-34


"Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.
Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share,
Storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life."
- 1 Timothy 6:17-19

Worth a read

Just wanted to share a few articles that I came across recently on the Internet. Some of these articles are long reads. I do not necessarily agree with the conclusions of the articles. But some of them totally cracked me up.


The first batch is a selection of articles from http://www.christianitytoday.com

1. 70 Effective Resolutions
http://www.christianitytoday.com/leaders/newsletter/2003/cln30102.html

Jonathan Edwards was a serious man. Even at 19, the young man who would become a leading figure in the First Great Awakening took his faith seriously. In several sittings over a one-year period, Edwards drafted 70 resolutions by which he governed his life and ministry....


2. Our Chief Work. What Tops Our Shorter To-Do List For The New Year
http://www.christianitytoday.com/leaders/newsletter/2007/cln70101.html

I read an article that created a great deal of anxiety in me. It was entitled "If You Are 35, You Have 500 Days to Live." Subtract the time you will spend sleeping, working, and tending to personal matters such as hygiene, odd chores, eating, and traveling. In the next 36 years you have 500 days of leisure. If this world is all there is, then none of us should waste our time praying. We should literally be grabbing for all the gusto we can get...


3. A Woman Of Influence. Why Elisa Morgan, CEO of MOPS International, is passionate about helping women see themselves as more than their roles
http://www.christianitytoday.com/tcw/2007/001/1.20.html

Elisa Morgan has her audience eating out of her hand. Onstage, the petite dynamo with spiky hair and a warm grin regales the 5,000 women gathered in Nashville for the annual MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) International Convention with a hilarious anecdote about her preschool-aged grandson, Marcus, whom she unabashedly adores...


4. Of Goals and Grace
http://www.christianitytoday.com/singles/newsletter/

"Did you make any New Year's resolutions?" my friend Jill asked me when we were at my friend Kristee Jackson's New Year's Eve party earlier this week.
"Yes, I've decided to try to get to bed earlier in the evenings," I responded, adding that I have the unfortunate tendency of getting a second wind toward the end of the night.
"So, you're saying you want to spend more of 2007 asleep?" she teased...

5. Remembering To Forget

http://www.christianitytoday.com/tc/2006/001/6.54.html

Forgetfulness comes naturally to most of us. But it is highly selective.
My neighbor Sandy told me about an acquaintance who left the grocery store, went on another errand, then realized she had forgotten her groceries. She went back and checked all the carts in front of the grocery. Her bags were not there. Someone must have taken them.
She marched in to tell the store manager about the crime. "Could you describe your bags, ma'am?" he asked. "Paper or plastic?"
"They were plastic," she said confidently. "There were two." She went on to carefully list their contents.
"Oh," said the manager. "And might they be the two plastic bags that are hanging from your arm?"
The woman looked down. There they were, dangling from her left elbow...

Other Christianity-related articles:


1a. Oscar Wilde, poet, playwright, gay icon and deathbed convert to Catholicism, has been paid a rare tribute by the Vatican.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2531949,00.html

1b. The long conversion of Oscar Wilde

http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/arts/al0010.html

2. Believe it or not - US Presidents and their convictions
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Utilities/printer_preview.asp?idArticle=13111&R=EF2B38411


3. The Triumph of Genius. Celebrating Mozart
http://www.christianitytoday.com/bc/2006/006/9.14.html


4. A country ruled by faith
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/19590


5. The critical distinction between science and religion
http://www2.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=7410436438624172830&postID=599245021269213593



Non-Christian articles:

1. What are you optimistic about?
http://www.edge.org/q2007/q07_1.html


2. Fragmented Future. Multiculturalism doesn't make vibrant communities but defensive ones
http://www.amconmag.com/2007/2007_01_15/cover.html


3. A robot in every home. The leader of the PC revolution predicts that the next hot field will be robotics
http://www.sciam.com/print_version.cfm?articleID=9312A198-E7F2-99DF-31DA639D6C4BA567




Interesting articles:

1. Why women aren't funny
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2007/01/hitchens200701?printable=true&currentPage=all


2. Children of the Brand
http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2968/


3. Love's loopy logic
http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/index.php?term=pto-20061221-000001&print=1


4. Office queen bees hold back women's careers
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2524299.html


5. The Blog Mob. "Written by fools to be read by imbeciles"
http://opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110009409


6a. Mind your language - it matters!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml;jsessionid=VC45VLE5BUF1FQFIQMFCFF4AVCBQYIV0?xml=/arts/2006/10/23/bohumph23.xml


6b. We will soon be lost for words
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/Content/displayPrintable.jhtml;jsessionid=ESWTMEGGZCOPPQFIQMFCFF4AVCBQYIV0?xml=/arts/2006/10/24/bohumph24.xml&site=6&page=0

What are you thankful to God for?

What a year we left behind! I decided to reflect on the year past so that I could think about how God has blessed me and how I could ascribe glory to Him.

I must admit that I took a pretty long time because I had so many things to thank God for. The following people are the reason I told God that if I were to live my life again, I wouldn't want it any other way because then, I wouldn't have them in my life!


I thank God for my family and my relatives.

Sometimes, I find myself wishing that I could have been born into a Christian family and a richer family. But I would banish those thoughts as quickly as they came. I am extremely grateful and thankful that God has placed me where I am and chosen my family and my relatives for me because they have been a wonderful positive influence on my life.

- I thank God for my dad, who was there for me all the time when I was fully involved in badminton during secondary, JC and university. He was there supporting me throughout all my competitions, and would never fail to accompany me home during each of the late nights when my training sessions at the badminton hall in Geylang ended around 11pm or 11.30pm. We would walk through the red-light district on our way to take bus number 13. So yes, I was already aware of the red-light district when I was very young, although it was more of me wondering why there was always one red lantern hanging at each house.

He has never raised his voice at me in my entire life. The silent but ever supportive father. I think my appreciation of him grew more and more over the years as I saw how for some others, the presence of a dad was never certain.

I'm most likely going to treat my dad and my mum as well as my younger sister to a trip to Taiwan in the new year.


- I thank God for my mum, who is probably the single most important reason (apart from God, of course) why I have grown up believing that it is definitely more blessed and rewarding to give than to receive.

Her self-sacrifice for my family has been tremendous. In the past, when I came home after work around 1am or so, I would wake her up so that she could warm up some food for me. This was always what I've done. I didn't realise that this action meant that I was a spoilt brat. Ha ha! And that it was highly inconsiderate of me to do that. I have stopped doing that. Such an action was a blindspot for me because my mum has always bought lunch for us every day, washed and ironed our clothes, and has woken up at whichever time we came home to either cook noodles or warm up food for us.

She has given me and my siblings a lot of her love and generosity, and this has influenced me a lot in how I give to others.

My appreciation of my mum also grew over the years because I realised that not a lot of people have had very loving childhoods or mothers. I was extremely glad that I could bring her and my younger sister to attend my cousin's wedding in the US last year.


- I thank God for my siblings. We're not very close, but I think that even through their actions and my behaviour towards them, I've learnt a lot about grace, love, humility, patience and forgiveness. I want to thank God also for the gift of a much younger sister who has been a joy and blessing to me, especially, because in a lot of aspects I think I'm more child-like and childish than her and she has the good humour to put up with my nonsense. And of course, my wonderful nephew who is smart and intelligent. I plan to spend more time with him this year.



- I thank God for my uncles and my aunties and my cousins.

My auntie and my uncle brought us to Sunday school when we were kids. My auntie sang to us constantly of God's love and grace through songs and I grew up thinking that everyone knew how to sing folk songs (for example, Morning Has Broken) and Christian songs (This little light of mine, I wanna let it shine). I was shocked when I realised that this was not the case.

They would bring us to their home every weekend. After dinner, my uncle would bring us for a walk along Pandan Reservoir where we would be skimming stones across the water surface. Even now, I can visualise the four of us looking for flat stones which would be the best in achieving the highest numbers of skips across the water surface.

My uncle died in his prime. He drowned - suffered a migraine attack and blacked out when he was fishing late at night at Jurong Reservoir 21 years ago. My auntie was pregnant then with my cousin. His favourite pianist was Richard Clayderman and I still keep this precious music tape of a Clayderman recording he made for me before he died. Boy am I so looking forward to seeing him in heaven!

My other uncle also lent heavy financial support to my family during my growing-up years. He's extremely astute and would have been a millionaire by now but for the times when he's had to bail out different members of his extended family during different times. He told me that he bailed them out because "they were family".


I've my cousin to thank for leading me to a church (COOS), where I could say "Lord, I'm finally home" when I stepped into its main sanctuary for the first time. (I had been at another church for about a year but I knew that that was not where God wanted me to be in.)

She's happily married and settled in the US now, and has just given birth to a daughter. J, thank you for your photo frame of your beautiful daughter which I'm proudly displaying on the top shelf of my bookshelf in my room. All my love to you, EZ and MK.

Many of my relatives gave us a lot of love when we were young. By God's grace, many of them have been saved. My family hasn't yet, and this is something I will be working on this year. *smile*



I thank God for my wonderful friends.

- E, LL, M and X: The SexyCrazyCool gang, who have always made me feel at home and accommodated all of me. Many thanks for your friendship and love over the many years. And isn't this family of friends ever growing! All my love to you because you have always made me feel loved and accepted. All your family members (too many to name!) included in my love.

Yes, I know that every year since our 20s, the most fervent hope of you all for me in our resolution book has been for a guy to appear, love and marry me but well, he's not in sight and if he is, I'm too blur to notice or he hasn't made his move. Hope springs eternal and I'm waiting to see how all of us will turn out at age 50. Still, I want you all to know that I am content regardless of whether I am married, okay?

LL, I'm so happy that we'll all get to see you in person soon.

E, your big day this year?

M, I still cannot get to grips with the fact that you're already a mum!

X, you're doing absolutely wonderfully as a wife and a mum and I want you to know that. *smile*


- C, L, P and SL: The "tai-tai" gang, who have never ever criticised me for not bothering to dress up whenever we met for lunch, tea or dinner at fancy restaurants and who are ever patient with me and ever generous in dealing with my idiosyncracies. And also for being willing to hear me out when you all are discussing the latest TV series and movie gossip and I suddenly veer into human poverty and injustice and the needs of underprivileged children. I seem a misfit in the group but you all make me feel so much at home. Thank you.

L, I'm looking forward to the Spain trip! It's amazing when I think that we've known each other since our university times and that we also took a very memorable trip to Europe after graduation. And that we'll shortly be embarking on another trip together again. You have such a sweet nature. What is my most heartfelt wish for you? The courage to own your life and the wisdom to realise that happiness first springs from within oneself. *smile*

SL, you and LK are really blessed to be together and his comments about you always crack me up. Undeniably the most "guniang" one in this group (aka, creature of comfort, not to be caught dead in some place without modern sanitary facilities and air-con) but also the most astute. Case in point: I will forever remember the Koh Samui trip whereby you bargained with a lady store-owner regarding a set of cat bookends or a decorative cat sculpture, and in the end, dispatched me to buy them for you after your "let's walk away and she will drop the price" tactic failed. Ha ha ha! Okay, enough of the jokes. One thing I most admire about you is your firmness in standing by your principles, which is a rare trait. And I will always recall with fondness the times when we went for concerts together. *smile*


P, what a joy for me to know a person who lives life with a passion. One who manages her time well enough to pursue her non-work interests such as dancing. Someone who is comfortable in her own skin, and not afraid to express her opinions regardless of whether they are politically correct. Expressive, flamboyant and yet having a tender heart. I just want you to know that your mum is prouder of you than she will ever admit. *smile*

C, did you know that your Christmas gift (which you haven't delivered into my hands yet) will be one of the best gifts I received in 2006? Because you made them yourself, and that makes them extremely special to me. I really look back with joy at the times when we would go swimming at your club and the times when I was at your place and your monster S was always happy to see me. Since then, S has turned pretty snobbish and yes, he's well-built, not fat! *smile*

All my love to you all and this extends to LK and J, who are VIM (very important men) and I happen to think they're very nice! And yes, to C's three monsters, S, T and B too.


- WW: What can I say? One of my closest friends and one of the few I would be comfortable bawling my eyes out in front of and be totally transparent with. Thanks for accepting me into your confidence, and for casting a much-needed critical eye over my idealistic notions. And for pulling down me down to earth whenever my ego lifted me too high up in the sky. I always enjoy myself tremendously whenever we meet because I know I can say anything I want and if I get too ridiculous, you'll just roll your eyes and switch topics.

I always feel very comfortable talking to you. You're a dear friend who, I know, will stand by me. As well, thanks for all the occasions when you've invited me to your place and taken the trouble to cook for me as well. The shabu-shabu meal with you, CT and your brother constituted one of my life's perfect moments for 2006. All my love to you, CT and of course your lovely and highly affectionate M and S.


- R: A very dear friend, and an angel that God has placed in my life. Probably one of the few who have seen and borne some of the brunt of my sometimes Jekyl/Hyde personality, and who can empathise with my daily struggles at work and in life. You personify so much of Christ in your attitude towards me, even though I don't think I can say the same sometimes for my attitude towards you. Sorry for the angst and tension that I sometimes cause in our friendship. I think it's a fire and ice thing --- I get emotional too quickly and I don't understand why you're so cool about certain things. Thanks for being patient with me because I'm still a work in progress under God's hands. All my love to you and D, and your family! *smile*



- SL: It sometimes amazes me how our friendship has grown so much over the past year or so. Your gift of hospitality is tremendous and I just wanted you to know that I have enjoyed every meal that you've ever prepared for me at your place. I will miss the sessions of DVD watching at your place and our phone conversations that ran way past 5am, when you're in the US. Thank you for introducing me to fine food and fine restaurants. As well, for your insight into many of my problems. I haven't opened all of your gifts yet but one of them will definitely occupy pride of place on a wall in my new home. Thank you for spending time with me because I know that to you, time is very precious. All of my love to you and G.


And to all my friends, some words from Les Miserables:

At the shrine of friendship
Never say die

Let the wine of friendship
Never run dry

Here´s to you
And here´s to me


God bless you all, and I wish for all of you a year that is fruitful and fulfilling in the areas that are most important to you. *smile*