Hey Jose

It's not often that you get to hear the leader of a nation really talk about his or her religion. But the president of East Timor did when he spoke at the FCA dinner last night - to a bunch of journalists whose minds are trained to be skeptical. Jose Ramos-Horta's story is remarkable, but after listening it, one can't help but wonder if Christianity - or Catholism, as he practices - is indeed a foxhole religion.

The Nobel Peace laurette told of his frequent bargains he had with the Lord. "If you let me be dispensed from oral exams, I go to church everyday. If you let me pass, but let me have to go through oral, I'll go only on Sundays," he said, to the laughter of the audience. "And so as a matter of fact, I was engaged in negotiation with God."

More than often, he would end up being a deal breaker, he admitted. It wasn't until after his attempted assassination on Feb. 11 this year that he truly drew closer to the Lord. He was shot from the back, at close range - 10m, he says - by militants and lost close to 4 litres of blood before arriving at the Darwin hospital. "As I was battling between life and death... I heard three voices, people trying to asphyxiate me," he said. "That moment a loud voice came and said 'Leave him alone!' and from that moment I knew I was alive."

Today, the president carries a rosary with him. He showed it to us last night. The metal chain glittered under the spotlight. I must say in a way, it was heartening to hear his testimony. I hope it was God who really glittered under the spot light that evening.

By the way, this guy travels budget air hor. Jetstar.

THE EEYOU

Brussels

Alright, honestly, I wasn't quite excited about the EU trip. In fact, at some point, I regretted signing up for it. The thought of having to plough through readings and research again after finishing up all my modules wasn't enticing. That's before I counted my blessings.

As the date approaches, with e-mails sent and several interviews confirmed, I must say I'm getting kinda stoked about it. After doing some Internet surfing, I realised the places we are going are magnificent and rich in history. Schedule's super tight, but I'm grateful that we're there over the weekend to catch the weekend markets and to wonder around Berlin.

Berlin

In Leipzig, we'll be staying with out exchange partners. I've been in contact with mine and he sounds like an awesome guy. Maik's a political journalist and he wrote to me this evening saying:

You're very welcome to stay at our apartment, Derrick!
We have an apartment-sharing community, it's cheaper for students and much better than staying in an
university hostel! I'm staying with two very nice friendly girls. Three comfortable living rooms, kitchen, bathroom - quite good.
And whats convenient for the interviews: We have a telephone and internet flatrate! Within Germany we telephone for free(beside to handy**)!
And if there's not too much stress, we would like to cook together ;-) Some special recipes you can commend??
We're looking forward to have you here!

**Handys are what they call handphones in Germany

How awesome can this get? Cook, nice apartment, 2 gals, very hospitable sounding German dude. Time to check out the PRIMA pre-mixes. Recently we also learnt that we were going to get some allowance at our Brussels leg. Cool!

Guess the only boo boo is that there's really so little time in Germany. And the weather there's horrendously like Singapore's! I was hoping for a cool trip. I'm also worried about all that booze drinking there.

Meantime, I've to start pulling out my suitcase and start packing. Where's that brown GAP jacket of mine?

Voice over

I've always wondered who does all these voice overs. Finally, a glimpse. The one who do the VOs on Channel 5 - And I suspect does for every other English station with MediaCorp - also really really not bad! Wonder how he looks like.

Coming Soon

It has somewhat begun. The whole I've-finally-graduated thing and I'm kinda enjoying it. Having not to wake up to an alarm - which is why I'm still awake at 4am, and why I could actually wake up at 1pm - having no particular deadline to meet, walking down Orchard at 3pm, watching DVDs and all the TV shows I want to.

But I'm glad to report that I'm not slothing around. There are things that are keeping me busy. Prepping for Germany is taking quite a bit of time. Lots of e-mail sending, pleading for people to grant a Singaporean journo - with no newspaper nor agency attached - to talk to me, trying to figure out what to wear, what equipment to bring, and what kinds of sockets the Germans use.

And there's a second trip shortly just after Germany. Up to Indochina - Cambodia & Vietnam. Tics booked. Will miss BB's mid-year camp and farewell party.

Then there's the job hunting. That's probably the one that's keeping me most excited I think. So yes, ST has offered me a job. There's more in the pipeline. That for later. Despite having to work out the snag with AP, I can't help be keep thinking how much He keeps giving me. As the Brian Littrell songs goes:

So many reasons to be thankful
So many blessings that I can't repay
And I never would made it here without you
Sending Angels that guide me on my way

I've been working on the June issue of LiveLine too. The agreement was that I did not touch it at all. But somehow it came back to me. I didn't question the Lord why. I just did it. I guess He put me in this ministry for a reason. Yes, it's a tiring one - which ministry isn't - but there's still that zest in me. I saw and felt it during the planning meeting we had. Exciting topics coming up next year and you heard it first here:

Sept 2008 - Marketplace Christianity
Dec 2008 - Alien-nation: Foreigners in Singapore
March 2009 - The Good Earth: Stewardship of the earth
June 2009 - Family: Dealing with your adult kid
Sept 2009 - Christian Leadership

There will be a new section too. One that digs into the church's roots. I'll keep at as that for now least I spoil the excitement. But please, holler if there are ideas you have or you'd like to contribute in anyway to the mag. Pastor set a vision for us: Aldersgate's LiveLine can be like Sherwood's Facing the Giants. We're also looking at redesigning the magazine. Quotes have come in, and I suddenly find that the work I do for the magazine actually has a monetary tag. Should I redesign the mag and lay the next four issues, I could actually earn $16,800.

That's a huge load of money I tell myself. But I'm reminded too that the price He paid for my salvation is a trillion times more. So much more.

I want to catch up with you. Have I lost a dear friend and brother? Lord please watch over him.

Ad infinitum

24 hours ago.

I found myself sitting on the toilet bowl of my bathroom, staring out of the little window into the grey sky. Quite suddenly, I was overwhelmed by a sense of familiarity - deja vu they call it. It was the same feeling that I had when I came back from the AP interview, but more, a lot more. It was an mix of modest-worry and silent-confidence. Until then, an hour after the interview ended, my heart was still rushing. The adrenaline just didn't seem to drain away. The interview went pretty well, though I think I talked more than I should.

I heard they were impressed, C.G. came and said to me today.

In my quiet corner of the exam hall, I beamed.

It's all in Your hands I tell Him. I want it to be.
Nothing short of His grace.

Last Call

There was a certain glow in us after we finished our FYP presentation.

Think Duffy was glowing too. Don't think I'll ever forget the other day when he came walking, almost skipping, arms wide open towards Gra and I with a huge grin on his face. He'd just finish reading the final product and said he was just about to phone us saying how delighted he was with it. There were times which he had doubts that we weren't going to pull it off, he admitted.

Then came the pre-(graduation) gown parting shots.

"Fairfield brothers," said Sam.

Hoarse

I sang till I lost my voice. It didn't turn out as bad as I'd expected it to be. In fact, it was a time He really spoke to me, to assure me about those uncertainties. Thank you to you guys who encouraged me to go with a God-ward attitude. More importantly, it was about Him, a sweet offering to Him I hope.

In the middle of it, Pa called. He doesn't usually call unless something happens. He later SMSed to say Ma's in A&E for an ECG. Chest was tight and numb, he said. My heart skipped a beat. Yet amidst the music, there was a sense of peace. That Ma was going to be fine. She is.

___

It's hard to keep working for 3 hours at a go these days. Not to mention to start studying. So we ended up doing this on a random Wednesday.







It's a little pre-mature I guess, but the next time we come to school, would be in formal wear for our presentations. So, heck, why not just get some shots with the school first? Can't imagine how uni life would have been without them. Just can't.

___

And we got a taste of Brussels before getting there. For Gra's 23rd.

We love surprising Gra. And she lets us do it.

More outakes

Full-res pics at Photobucket site

Last Lesson

The list of "last"s are starting to stream in I think. Here's photos from the last lesson as an undergraduate at NTU. CS418 - Magazine Publishing. Tutor: Andrew Duffy. Where else can you find a tutor who bakes Cranberry oatmeal cookies and bodaciously buttery shortbread?





Oh, and just as we finish school. NTU decides to open up a food court filled with everything we've always wanted to eat in NTU. Subway, Canadian Pizza, Sushi Teh. It's not hard to hate NTU sometimes.

Super Saturday

It's been an amazing Saturday and nothing short of His grace.
Fairfield kicked off its 120th anniversary celebrations with having 4,500 students, parents, staff, alumni to form a mega school badge on the field this morning. I kinda liked the idea, although I'm not sure if the event turned out to be that meaningful. T'was nice catching up with people and with dear Mrs Choe (who is btw, the most amazing geography teacher I've ever had).

Kinda felt bad that I turned up at 7.30am instead of 5am. Alarm went off, but body just didn't respond.






Just after worship prac ended, the message came: Hi guys, apart from some tabulation of admin matters, as we see it...when we reached the finishing point, WE'RE FIRST!


So yes, we made our inaugural win as champions of the AQ. The second team came in 7th. This was also the first in 33rd's history that both AQ teams made it to the top 10 of the competition. Though I didn't train with the team, I felt so damn proud of each one of them. Even though it's been 3 hours since we already knew the results, I still couldn't sit still while waiting for the official results to be announced. It was a moment of triumph that was hard to describe when the MC said it. We lept into the air.

"Will this be 33rd's year?" goes the AQ blog. Think God's answered that.

I must say if there's one person that I'm most proud of, it would be LF. Dun think I'll forget my first encounter with him - a ride with him to the hospital after his ankle got crushed during company photo taking. Throughout the years, he's been monkeying around and not doing too well for his studies either. One thing remained consistent though, he always took part in AQ.

But throughout the past half a year or so, I've seen him grown leaps and bounds. This year, he straddled as both trainer and participant of AQ. I've seen him take more interest in his studies; I've seen him mentoring, not just taking charge of things, but making sure they run right. Yes, he whines a lot at times, but he gets things done. It's when you see people grow like this, that it makes serving the BB really worthwhile. The next step I hope he takes, is to come to a grater realisation that there's a personal Lord empowering him always.

Imposition

We judge ourselves by what we feel we are capable of doing;
Others judge us by what we have done.

-from a friend's blog

How true this is.
Apologies if I had been imposing.
If only you would be more logical.

This whole moodiness thing seems to be a disease that's plaguing my social circles these days. The blogs say it all. I've not been feeling too dandy myself and I can't seem to put a finger to it. I tell myself it's cos FYP's finally over and I've had more brain space to entertain certain thoughts that I've never had time to think about. But these thoughts aren't good ones. In fact, many of them make me feel lousy. There was a sense of unrealized loneliness that swept through most of last week. Then came a crippling sense of wanting and needing to be vulnerable. It was tough trying to prop my spirits up recently.

I tried to rely on my own strength. I thought talking to people would help. Help eventually came somewhat yesterday morning as I was praying about the SPH writing test. Here's how it came:

Who am I?
That the Lord of all the earth,
Would care to know my name,
Would care to feel my hurt.
Who am I?
That the bright and morning star,
Would choose to light the way,
For my ever wondering heart.

Not because of who I am.
But because of what you've done.
Not because of what I've done.
But because of who you are.

Chorus:
I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow.
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still you hear me when I'm calling,
Lord you catch me when I'm falling,
And you told me who I am.
I am yours.
I am yours.

Who am I?
That the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love
And watch me rise again
Who am I?
That the voice that calm the sea,
Would call out through the rain,
And calm the storm in me.

Not because of who I am.
But because what of you've done.
Not because of what I've done.
But because of who you are.

Who am I really, to throw mood swings? Who am I to think that I can rely on my own strength to lead in the BB ministry? Calm the inner storm in me, Lord, this I pray.

Took the plunge

Dear DERRICK HO,

Thank you for your interest in a career with one of our Time Warner companies!

We have successfully received your submission to the following position(s):

Writer, CNNI Production 025313 98627BR

If it is determined that your qualifications are appropriate for an open position to which you have submitted your resume, you will be contacted directly by a representative of the Time Warner company with the open position.

We encourage you to continue visiting the Time Warner website to learn more about our businesses and about career opportunities at our companies.

Somewhat the end

When pictures convey more than any word can.
Thanks my dear mateys. It's been a blessing... (it's not the end though)
But first... it was time for a good meal!



p/s: thanks gra and joo for photos

It's in!

It's finally here! All 37 copies. It's been nothing short of God's amazing grace.

______

You kinda know you're old when everyone at the table eats 2 bowls of rice while one seems more than enough to fill me up. Or maybe cos I had thick toast earlier.

Family gathering

This year's enrollment felt a little different. Not sure why.

One step closer

Proofs are in. 15 amendments to make. No more coffee for me. (coughs....cou... cou... coughs)
One step closer to completion.