Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas to all my friends and readers.
Live Life With No Regrets!
Entrepreneur, philosopher, thinker, game designer, software developer, actor, writer.
"My purpose in life is to entertain people, to allow them to have fun, laugh and enjoy life."
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December 25, 2007
December 24, 2007
The Only Way To Success
The only way to live life and to achieve success is to do the right thing, at the right time, in the right way, in the right attitude, for the right reason.
Easy, huh?
December 23, 2007
Why Should Only Italians or Frenchmen Be Known As Great Lovers?
A friend of mine remarked that Italian men are really romantic lovers. But why can't Chinese or Japanese be known as great lovers? What about Christians?
The thing is in the Asian cultures, we are meant to be conservative. And as a Christian there are boundaries in sex, but that doesn't mean we can't be great lovers.
I was reading "Song of Songs" the other day and realized that the first verse starts with "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth..." Now everyone has different levels of comfort. Some people consider the first kiss as the moment of proposal, and some consider it morally fine for people dating to kiss.
But what I want to highlight is that Songs celebrates it by using the words: "lover" and "beloved". I don't want to be just a boyfriend or a husband. I want to be a LOVER. I've never ever met someone introduce his/her boyfriend or girlfriend or husband or wife with "this is my lover" or "this is my beloved". I think Christians should do that. A man can be boyfriend or a husband yet not be loving. But a lover? It goes against its definition.
I think also that Songs of Songs teaches that romantic love and the enrapturement of that feeling is also good. Sure, there is infatuation and true love, but romantic love is still a gift of God. Lovers should praise their beloved, telling them how beautiful they are and how they long for them.
Perhaps it still happens, but I can only guess at best it is done behind closed doors in an Asian culture. I think that couples should use more intimate terms to refer to their significant other especially in public. What I hate most (and this may offend some of my friends) is when they call each other with the terms "Mummy" and "Daddy", as if their identities and relationship with each other is referenced through their children.
December 21, 2007
Whatever You Do...
I always get the feeling that what I'm doing is meaningless, echoing the words of Ecclesiastes.
And its true. No matter what I do, it can be very well meaningless.
The only thing that keeps me going is that Ecclesiastes 9:10 "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom." and Col 3:23-24 paraphrases it and adds"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men."
The other thing is that the greater purpose in it may be hidden from us until maybe decades later. Just think of what Joshua did in prison, unjustly jailed in a foreign country, with no one knowing of his existence. Yet he made do with whatever his hands found to do, being the best servant in Potiphar's household and again in the prisons of Egypt.
December 17, 2007
There Is No "The One"
The myth of someone, somewhere out there who is "the one" for you should be debunked.
If you were to go back to the old testament and start looking for "the one" you will be greeted with mystified looks. In the olden times, people never thought of finding "the one" only "a good one". Why can I say that? Because in those times can be many "good ones" and a man was allowed to married all of them!
Abraham had 3 (Sarah, Hagar (or rather childbearer), and Keturah)
Jacob had 2 (Leah and Rachel)
King David had 8
And lets not get into the numbers that King Solomon had!
If we were to walk up to them, and ask them for advice for finding "the one" they would be perplexed.
Some people think if they pray hard enough or sincerely enough, then a spouse will somehow drop out of heaven. We think of how Eliezer prayed for a wife for Isaac, and one fitting the criteria specified by him just walked by. But if we want to look at it in the full context, it was the servant who did the finding. So shall we ask our maids and butlers to find a wife for us and then trust in their choice? We must remember that the case of Isaac and Rebekah is an arranged marriage.
Another thing is that in Genesis 24:5,8 Abraham and Eliezer discuss on rejection. They take it for a fact that the other person may choose to reject. Sometimes I hear of a guy/girl who says to the other person "God told me that you would be the one. So therefore you can't refuse me." Now it may be true that it truly is God's will. But then again, it is God's will for us not to sin, yet many people do it anyway.
In the end, I think, everyone is given freewill and a choice. Beyond this one instance of divine intervention people in the Bible got married in many different ways, even through a sinful experience like adultery (David and Bathsheba).
I have a few colleagues from India, and the way they approach marriage is in a non-chalant way. Arranged marriage is quite the norm to them. They trust their parents to make the choice for them. They may talk on the phone a few times, go back to India and get married after not meeting them for more than a few times.
The idea of "the one" is a product of fairy tales. That a prince charming will come and rescue the damsel in distress. It is hardly Biblical.
The myth of "the one" causes second guessing, thoughts like "maybe I made the wrong choice. maybe I heard from God wrong. etc.."
The only other instance of an explicit divine command of marrying someone specific is Hosea who was told to marry a prostitute. And even when it was divinely ordered, it brought plenty of pain to him. Did Hosea think "maybe I heard from God wrong? perhaps it was my imagination?"
Perhaps the lesson to learn from this is that if you do have problems in your marriage whom you believe was divinely inspired is that you have to stick with it!
I think the problem with the easy route of divorce is that we cannot accept reality of marriage. That we are marrying another human with all his/her strengths, weaknesses, habits, foibles and follys. We fall into the trap of wishing for a Prince Charming, or Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty.
Note: Please do not think at any point that I am making a case for polygamy, only one against a dangerous myth of "THE ONE". I believe in a "good one" not a "good two or three or four". Remember: Jesus said "No man can serve two masters." :-)
December 14, 2007
You Can't Run Away From Hard Work
You can't run away from hard work. It will catch up with you, sooner or later.
If you live an easy life now, you'll have to work harder later in life. So it is hopefully better to work hard in starting a business now and hopefully it will make life easier for you later down the years.
It's another paradox, our goal is for an easier life, yet we must embrace hard work and taste some bitterness for now.
And if we don't pay for it now, we will pay for it later.
So therefore, better sooner than later, because it isn't a payment but an investment for our future.
Another reason is because of competition, if something is too easy, then everybody will do it, and then you wouldn't be unique and the law of supply and demand comes to play. Too much supply and your unique value proposition goes down.
December 13, 2007
Exercising in the Morning
Somehow even swimming 10 minutes or exercising a little in the morning after you wake up helps to perk you up and relieve depression. It's true! It makes you feel at least you achieved something for today for yourself.
December 11, 2007
Writing Shows That You're Alive
Writing shows that you're alive. It doesn't matter whether you can write like Shakespeare or Tennyson or Hemingway. Words are merely a medium to express your thoughts, your ideas.
When you write you are putting your ideas and thoughts down to be shared with another being, even if it is God. It concretizes what's been floating in your head, it clarifies your vision, it sharpens your ideas.
Writing doesn't have to be perfect.. it can be in spurts.. bits.. pieces. Fragments.
Whatever comes to your mind. The more you write the better you get at it.
Review what you write once in a while, read what you wrote. You can see how you've grown and become better over the years.
December 10, 2007
Be Kind and Show Friendship to Everyone
"Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it." (Hebrews 13:2)
Chinese Restaurant Owners Inherit Fortune.
Tips on writing your will. If you want to show that you purposely don't want to leave anything to someone, just leave them $1 in your will. That token amount will show you did not forget that person. Its harder for the grieved party to contest it.
Good on the restaurant owners! Ms. Bechal was certainly an angel.
The other thing in this article that made me think was that it was an inheritance.
The word "inheritance" comes up 218 times in the NIV bible. We are to receive an inheritance. Are we to be worthy of an inheritance? Should we be like the kind restaurant owners or the greedy nephews or nieces?
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world." (Matthew 25:34)
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." (Colossians 3:23-24)
December 2, 2007
Singapore Marathon
Completed the Singapore Marathon 2007 in 6 hours 19 minutes. A new personal best, shaving off about 9 minutes of my previous finishing time last year.
