The meanings of Christmas

i noe many of us have been hearing alot abt the meaning of Christmas. but to me, Christmas means a few things.

most importantly, it has to be the birth of my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. altho December the 25th ain't the actual birthday of the Son of God, this day serves to remind us of Jesus' self-sacrificial love for us sinners. He loves us so much tt He obediently and willingly agreed to be born as man and to die for the sins of the world. tt is why i always say, without Christ, Xmas is meaningless!

next, just like wat Christmas is to many ppl arnd me, Christmas is a season of giving. hai. it means getting gifts for loved ones n friends. i hope the gifts tt i give wud be more thn those tt i recv, for it is more blessed to give thn to recv. heh.

besides these meanings of Christmas tt are more optimistic, the last meaning of Christmas is one tt i'm most concerned n annoyed w/. Christmas may be the most joyous season of the yr for some, but for me, Christmas simply means "Glen, your holidays are coming to an end, and welcome back to school! remember your holiday assignments. :)"

and so, Merry Christmas!

Back from the Land of a Thousand Smiles

i noe it's been a week since i'm back frm my 2-wk missionary trip to Northern Thailand, but i somehow lack the inspiration n motivation to blog abt it. my sis n Solomon recently blogged abt it n i share much of the same sentiments as them so perhaps a visit to her blog n his blog wud suffice. heh. ah, if i have the time n inspiration, i'd blog abt it someday myself.

26 November - 10 December 2006

leaving for Thailand tmr. be back in exactly 2 weeks' time.

ppl/things i will miss:
my father.
my classmates.
my churchmates.
my SFCmates
my soccermates.
my blog.
you.
etc.

26/11/2006
Depart Singapore: MI 706 1520 hrs
10/12/2006
Arrive Singapore: MI 705 2210 hrs

















it'll be marvellous if you can pray for me! thks.

1. Good spiritual & physical health = top form in serving God
2. Constant focus (on why i'm in Thailand for even if i experience spiritual dryness)
3. Leadership (courage to rise up & be used by God in getting things done)
4. Trust in God's miracles (to touch the hearts of the people there & save their souls)
5. Protection upon team members (against spiritual attacks like sicknesses & accidents)
6. Protection upon our loved ones & friends in Singapore (against adversities)
7. Tolerance & understanding (amongst team members)
8. God's providence (in everything)
9. 1st timers (Solomon, Andrew, Elaine & Emma, etc.)
10. Adaptability (to the food & relatively harsh weather conditions)
11. Smooth flow (of activities, programmes & customs)
12. Ability to sense God's pleasure & joy (in everything)
13. Super-memory (in remembering the actions for dances, etc. & some Thai words)
14. Journey mercy (from one place to another in Thailand & back to Singapore)

The Little Things

received this email frm Marc Tan:


As you might know, the head of a company in the World Trade Towers survived 9/11 because his son started kindergarten.

Another fellow was alive because it was his turn to bring donuts.

One woman was late because her alarm clock didn't go off in time.

One of them missed his bus.

One spilled food on her clothes and had to take time to change.

One's car wouldn't start.

One went back to answer the telephone.

One had a child that dawdled and didn't get ready as soon as he should have.

One couldn't get a taxi.

The one that struck me was the man who put on a new pair of shoes that morning, took the various means to get to work but before he got there, he developed a blister on his foot. He stopped at a drugstore to buy a Band-Aid. That is why he is alive today.

Now when I am stuck in traffic, miss an elevator, turn back to answer a ringing telephone ... all the little things that annoy me, I think to myself, this is exactly where God wants me to be at this very moment.

Next time your morning seems to be going wrong, the children are slow getting dressed, you can't seem to find the car keys, you hit every traffic light, don't get mad or frustrated; God is at work watching over you. May God continue to bless you with all those annoying little things and may you remember their possible purposes.

Tribute to Mr Chua Tiong Seng

due to my usual procrastinating nature, i've delayed this for a pretty long time. this entry is dedicated to my GP teacher, Mr Chua.

quoting frm his blog itself, it all started like this:

I can remember the first time I met them. hot stuffy Tuesday afternoon. last three periods of the day, at that D-block ground floor classroom which is so distracting because students on their way home via the side gate will inevitably walk past that room, so it is kind of sucky watching them walk by knowing that you still have lessons until 5.15pm. (for my students. Needless to say I am fully attentive even at the end of the day. =p)

These people tried to introduce themselves using someone else's names (a harbinger of things to come?). I still remember Kok Yong introduced himself as Bing Lin. The next lesson I got their mug shots from the office and memorized like ten of their names and started calling people so that I don't have to depend on their unreliable information. (I remember Colin saying "How come he remembers our names so fast?" =p it's just a handful of names, my dear Colin...)


haha. to read the entire entry written by this inspiring teacher abt my class, simply click the title of this entry. btw, i was the one who started introducing myself as Jonathan (cos he was absent tt day), n the rest just followed suit. it's kinda funny cos we started to worry tt the last person's name wud not be marked in Mr Chua's attendance list. lol. i didn't expect everyone to follow suit aft me, otherwise i wudn't have introduced myself as Jonathan. anyway it was really a whacky 1st time meeting a new teacher on the block.

hai. i never expected time wud fly so fast w/ him teaching our class GP. i had thot tt 06S23 was one of the most blessed classes in SAJC for GP, together w/ the other classes which are oso taught by Mr Chua. but news came shortly aft our Promos tt he n the other new teachers wudn't be following us thru to JC2. how melancholic i felt when i heard tt! i'm honestly not exaggerating. i tell u, this entry ain't enough to contain all the appreciation tt i wanna express of Mr Chua. i'm just gonna do my best to show my heartfelt thanks to this teacher here.

basically, like i said b4, he's more thn just a teacher to us, not just some of us, but all of us in 06S23. i believe our schoolmates who are taught by him wud have felt the same way. he doesn't merely teach the students placed under his charge, unlike other teachers, but he goes the extra gigametre to noe each one of us better personally. how nice can tt be?

okay. some of u may think tt any young n new teacher wud do the same cos they tend to be more enthusiastic abt their new career so they enjoy noeing their students better, but i don't believe so. tt's a fallacy of hasty generalisation. i doubt all other young n new teachers wud do tt. alright i'm too lazy to provide elaboration on this now so pardon me.

now lemme talk a lil abt his lessons. interesting (tt's an under-rated word. pardon my lack-lustre vocab.) well-prepared powerpoint presentations. intriguing n interactive sessions. incessant unleashing of vocab, which never fails to make me flip my Oxford mini-dictionary every few mins during his lessons. he never fails to use jargon frm our other subjects during his lessons, esp Econs. again, too lazy to cite examples. pls really pardon me. i'm pretty pre-occupied now. haha.

u noe wat, when i 1st met him together w/ my class on tt hot stuffy Tuesday afternoon, frankly, i didn't have a good impression of him, probably bcos of his appearance, not forgetting his favourite outfit: Anderson JC uniform n a schoolbag tt only pri n sec sch students carry on their backs these days. lol. i tot he wudn't be better thn our previous GP teacher. no offence, Mr Chua! but soon aft tt, during subsequent lessons, it dawned upon me tt i was totally wrong; i had erred in making judgemental views on my 1st impression of someone!

despite his simple outfit (unlike those New Age Metrosexuals) onto campus grounds, aft every lesson listening to him teach us, i got to absorb more n more substance emanating frm him. okay i noe tt sounds a lil gross, but wat i mean is he speaks w/ flair tt impresses me alot. he wrote a card for every single of us at our last lesson w/ him sometime ago, n he wrote on mine, saying tt i'm full of coruscating wit. i feel so flattered by tt la, i seriously think he's the one who's full of coruscating wit. i have only some coruscating wit, but rather more of whacky ideas in my almost-empty brain.

all in all, i just wanna say tt Mr Chua, you're at the top of my Top-4-favourite-teachers chart in SAJC, apart frm my Top-6-hottest-teachers chart. heh. maybe one day i shd publish these popularity charts here. lol. alright, i'm gonna miss you Lenubis Cai Changsheng-ge!

Worship Nite @ CoA!

Come and join us at Church of the Ascension for a refreshing time of worshipping the God of Abraham! Free admission. Click picture to see video clip:

Confirmed a Christian!

whoo!

You confirm(ed) Christian?

yup. i'm getting confirmed this Sunday at my church. for the benefit of those who dunno wat Confirmation is, you may click the title of this entry n it will bring you to Wikipedia.

i may be officially confirmed as a Christian in a few days' time, but i still struggle to live a blameless life as much as those arnd me. may God grant me the power to change my ways, for the better.

oh ya i oso wanna take this opportunity to apologise for the demeaning words i used in my previous entries abt my History teacher. they were merely there to add entertainment n i didn't mean to undermine his reputation at all. thks to those who remind me that i'm an ambassador for Christ.

Last sign from God? Possibly

just returned home. u gotta believe this! this is the 3rd sign tt God showed me just now. tt confirms my sticking w/ History next yr.

i was lingering arnd in church aft service. many had gone home. i walked to the edge of the balcony tt faces St. Andrew's Secondary School. i stood where ppl who walked past Church of the Ascension could have noticed me. n guess wat i saw. a stout figure who resembles something i met before - the dwarf a.k.a Jaw-nerd-turn itself! okay, himself.

i'd wanted to turn away n pretend it/he wasn't there, but i realised i gotta start falling in love w/ its/his adorable face. i mean abominable. so i continued looking in its/his direction n it/he finally caught sight of me. it/he peered at me for a millisecond b4 recognising who i was n gave me a subtle wave n grin, which reminded me of the rare humane expressions tt i got to see on it/him. n i said, "Hi Mr Yoong!" to reciprocate my respect.

i really cudn't anticipate tt one. i knew it/he is frm Chapel of Resurrection but i never saw it/him arnd in SAV on Sundays b4, except once during Saints For Christ camp this June. so it was really a surprise or rather a shock when my eyes caught sight of the dwarf today. it must have been God who's behind this occurence!

3 signs in 36 hrs; tt's too much of a coincidence k. these signs have indeed eliminated my GSC-History dilemma. n i'm gonna sms Mr Kong my decision of not taking GSC 1st thing in the morning tmr.

i still need God to grant me His protection agnst the daunting forces tt Jaw-nerd-turn's gonna unleash in 2007.

Another sign from God? Perhaps

wa lao i really can't believe this man. damn dramatic can! okay i sound like a bimbo.

just less thn 2 hrs aft my last entry, i recvd yet another sign frm God. like i said b4, i choose to see this as divine instead of coincidental.

i was just continuing my long evening of online activity aft blogging. then came Chiewyong signing in. she started asking me abt my History-GSC dilemma. n she left quite soon aft chatting for a while. she said she was gonna catch Enemy Behind The Lines on Channel 5. she said the movie's abt war. i tot i'd be interested so i left my com on n went to watch it.

5 mins into the movie, i realised i actually watched it b4. cudn't get used to Owen Wilson in his short neat hair.
















i was struck again. "not again God, this time it's NATO!"

wa piang. i think i'm really gonna see Jaw-nerd-turn next yr. i'd better stop abhorring it n start loving him. all thks to Chiewyong the Pro. hey Lenubis, she has a reason for acquiring tt nickname of hers, n i'm beginning to see it. lol. but still, all glory goes back to God, cos He's the mastermind of all these. Hallelujah!

oh no, it's 0045 hrs n i gotta wake up early for church later on. God really works in ways we cannot predict.

zzzzz

Sign from God? Probably

i can't believe i got the answer so soon. some may think it's pure coincidence, but i choose to see it as divine intervention. right aft posting the entry last night, God delivered a sign this morning when i woke up to do my Quiet Time (QT).

actually i kinda totally forgot abt looking out for signs abt History n GSC. it was only a few secs aft reading the boldened words when i whispered under my breath, "Are you kidding me, God?" i never came across a devotion which mentions specific historic characters like today's. here is part of today's devotion material frm Our Daily Bread (ODB):


















to access the whole of it, pls click the title of this entry.

today's devotion is talking abt International History la! how cool can tt be? n the 1st paragraph contains words tt still resonate in my vacant head thru the barking voice of the dwarf named Jaw-nerd-turn Y****! how traumatising can tt be?

woh. u noe wat, ur prayers work man! to those who prayed n are still praying w/ n for me, i'm extremely thkful. may all glory be given back to God as He is the ultimate guider of our lives!

n Jerome, thks for the encouraging n advising tags. personally i think the most impt thing abt a subject is to be confident to excel in it, no matter wat kind of creature the teacher is - human or dwarf. okay, i noe, here i am again putting Jaw-nerd-turn down. i'm short too, but at least hobbits are slightly taller thn dwarfs.

by far, History seems to be less difficult to grasp thn GSC. History stands a greater chance of helping me get a good grade thn GSC does, in terms of the A levels, cos to take on GSC wud be equivalent to exploring unchartered waters which is very risky. so, i shall be seeing the adorable face of Jaw-nerd-turn once again. i mean abominable.

may God grant me the courage n thick skin to w/stand Jaw-nerd-turn's humiliating remarks in the heavenly year of 2007.

A plea for intercession

urgently requiring prayer.

sometime back, i mentioned i was eager to drop History, mainly bcos of a dwarf named Jaw-nerd-turn Y****, n take up General Studies in Chinese (GSC) instead. today, Mr Kong brought 4 of us who are interested in taking GSC to meet the Chinese HOD. Brandon, Lena, me n Sophia (the councilor). to shorten the long narration, my confidence in taking up Chinese again was like a campfire being extinguished in an instant.

apparently, now both History n GSC are equally difficult to cope. lemme try to weigh the both of them.

Pros of GSC:

1. in the long run, aft gg thru the lessons, i suppose i'd become a critically-thinking person, just like how GP is gonna mould me into.
2. the lessons shd be more interesting n engaging thn those of Jaw-nerd-turn.
3. the teacher shd be humane, unlike Jaw-nerd-turn.
4. i get to improve on my mother tongue, of which i cud further make use in the future, eg translation.

Cons of GSC:

1. in the short run, most probably i'd struggle w/ picking up Chinese again. i had a hard time writing a GSC essay for the HOD to screen 2 weeks ago. this means i might flunk the subject.
2. there are other students currently in GSC (those taking 2-yr course) who are much better n might make me look like an idiot (quoted frm Mr Kong himself).
3. if i were to take up GSC, we wud undergo only 2 school terms of effective learning b4 taking on the prelims. i'm afraid tt's not enough for me.
4. there wud be aft-sch remedial lessons for us to catch up w/ those who have gone thru this one yr of GSC lessons. these wud clash w/ my CCAs.
5. reading of newspapers is essential for survival. i don't even touch Straits Times, let alone Zaobao.

Pros of History:

1. i've taken this subject for a yr. it'd be a waste if i drop it.
2. i'm among the average in the cohort, i.e. not one of the worst.
3. a few of my friends say i can do well in History.
4. it's in English; i won't have to put in much effort in expressing my ideas, unlike for GSC i had to translate almost everything in my head to Chinese when writing tt essay.

Cons of History:

1. the adorable face of Jaw-nerd-turn. i mean abominable.
2. there's a lot of extra reading to do other thn the dwarf's lacklustre notes.
3. the ultimate bore of listening to its monotonous bark during every History lesson.
4. the wrath of being unjustly humiliated by tt mere creature.

okay i noe some of the above are a lil exaggerated. pardon me. right now, most imptly, wat i need is the prayers of those who care for me. i urgently need God's guidance to help me make the right decision. my life is alrdy full of regrets. some may say it won't matter to add another, but i seriously don't agree w/ tt. i don't wanna regret making the wrong decision again. so pls pray for me. thank you very much!

Living in the light

Ephesians 5:3-4a

Since you are God's people, it is not right that any matters of sexual immorality or indecency or greed should even be mentioned among you.

Nor is it fitting for you to use language which is obscene, profane, or vulgar.


many times i really struggle hard w/ pleasing God in this area. i've been seeking to please man, thus joining in conversations tt involve most of the above-mentioned content. i do not speak profanities n vulgarities, n i seldom talk abt obscene things, but to be part of the groups i belong to, i laugh along w/ wat my friends say.

sometimes i feel ashamed when even my church friends spout such things. i noe i'm in no position to judge them, but i do feel tt we young ppl these days really face a whole different set of struggles. we have been lax in our principles n behaviour. this may be a case of hasty generalisation but it's truly wat i feel.


Ephesians 5:5

You may be sure that no one who is immoral, indecent, or greedy (for greed is a form of idolatry) will ever receive a share in the Kingdom of Christ and of God.


i pray tt as God's Holy Spirit continues working in my life, i will slowly but surely rid myself of such unGodly talk n join the rest of the Saints in the eternal Kingdom of Heaven.


~the decadence of society~

The best prayer warriors

Needle nightmare!

went to take my vaccination jab w/ my sis n Marian. photo taken w/ Marian's cam, grabbed frm her blog.

Cling to what is good

06S23 in & outside of school

lazy to rhapsodise on the outing ytd. anyway i hadda return to school for soccer trg. so visit Yew Liang's blog if he has blogged abt it. he's better at it. i shall only show the pics.

those of us who didn't skip school, together w/ our beloved GP tutor Mr Chua Tiong Seng

those who skipped school + those who didn't, outside Suki Sushi

Fallacy of Red Herring

Lenubis, thks for waiting w/ ur bated breath. here's the entry. pls correct me if i have used the fallacy in the wrong context here.


today, an infernal creature dubbed as Jaw-nerd-turn Y**** publicly challenged me during its lecture. (pardon the censorship, cos its surname is a vulgar word.) i was talking to my friend during its lesson. i noe i shdn't be doing tt n i ought to be given a dressing down but i thot i shdn't be feeling humiliated in the process.

so the creature was barking at my friend n me, "don't think tt u can insult my intelligence by keeping quiet whenever i look at ur direction ... i dare u to challenge my intelligence!"

anyway, Jaw-nerd-turn made 2 false assumptions. 1stly, it assumed tt i was trying to insult its intelligence by talking when it wasn't looking. i had no intention to do tt. the reason can be found in its 2nd assumption. it assumed tt it possessed intelligence when it asked me to accept its invitation of challenge.

i can find no single trace of intelligence w/in this mammal in the 1st place to talk abt, thus i struggle to challenge it in the way it wanted. i sincerely suggest tt it analyses its question the next time it intends to make it known to us humans.

other thn tt, it oso barked, "if u talk again, i'll make sure i don't see ur face in my class next yr!" anyway tt statement will come true. i've actually been passionate abt history since sec sch but this mammal has quenched tt passion of mine. thus, i've kinda decided to drop this subject n pursue General Studies in Chinese (GSC) instead. i hope the GSC teacher has a humane nature unlike Jaw-nerd-turn.

Chng Dee Marc Leonard

focus on this guy's nick, not the content of the convo.
click on it for an enlarged version.














anyway i'm truly blessed by this God-loving young man of 06S23.

Tinges of randomness

i just learnt a new acronym: PDA - Public Display of Affection. cool huh. okay i noe many of u knew this way b4 i did, so no big deal. was just amused at Michelle Tan's way of relating the various exemplary PDAs in college. lol.


another random thing tt i encountered lately was frm my sis. i went to have my braces tightened on monday. realised my teeth have been weakened quite a bit n felt as if they were gonna drop anytime. my sis made an attempt to assure me via a pretty famous Bible verse. she modified it a lil.

Proverbs 3:
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your teeth straight.


the last random thing was frm myself. maybe u've heard of this one b4, but allow me to mention it here. when i arrived at our Open House ytd, my fellow Saints for Christ had done up the decors. so i asked them, "hey guys, do u find this pretty or ugly?" without waiting for their reply, as taught to provide balanced viewpts, i gave an apt reply to my own question, "i think it's both; it's pretty ugly."

i was immediately given a cold shoulder by the rest of them for the rest of the day. this clearly shows the strong unity among my fellow Saints for Christ against a common adversary. n i learnt to shut my crap whenever i shd.


NB: the recounting in the previous paragraph never took place at all. Saints for Christ are forgiving, especially towards a repentant gland.

SAJC Open House 2006 occurrences

hmmm. i reckon the Open House shd be a success to many, but for me, i beg to differ. we only had less thn a wk to prepare for the event aft the end of promos last wk. i felt it had been quite a rush.

anyway, i was involved in the event under Saints for Christ (SFC), like everyone else (okay, most of the others) in the CCA. initially i was bestowed w/ the hope of playing drums for worship, but we cudn't lay hands on a good drumset. drumsets were used by the Concert Band n the Students' Council while the only available drumset wasn't complete; the snare drum was missing. so crestfallen i was during the entire wk, being unable to play drums for SFC. well, charming David Boob Yeo comforted me tt i wudn't wanna play cos the rest of them apparently didn't enjoy jamming.

our SFC booth wasn't as popular as the others, but i felt good talking to some Sec 4s abt SFC n Christ, albeit only 3 guys, unlike Boob, who allegedly ushered abt 100 gals into the Lecture Theatre. okay, he's zai, i agree. i'm sure God is as pleased w/ me as He is w/ Boob anyway. lol.

okay, enough of the downside of the event. other thn ushering ppl in to take a glimpse of my beloved CCA, i spent a deal of time walking arnd the college. some of my classmates n i took a photo w/ our amicable more-thn-just-a-teacher GP tutor, Mr Chua Tiong Seng. we oso managed to dig out some information on our Econs grades from him. i'm especially grateful to him for checking our grades for us, cos i cudn't bear the suspense till next Monday. now i've got a positive outlook on my promoting to JC2 next yr.

another 'upside' of the event was as usual, there was quite a no. of eye-catching creatures who visited our Open House. i rem last yr when my eyes were all over the place cos it was my 1st time seeing so many eye-catchers in a single venue. woh. okay, they're just another part of the beautiful creation of human-beings by God n i shan't go further thn tt.

the last 'upside' has gotta be my sister. i managed to get her frm VJC Open House to ours, to collect the coveted shoebag n other freebies for her free-loader bro.

yup, tt's all. may SAJC Open House 2007 be 70 x 7 times better thn 2006's!

SAJC Open House 2006!

9 am - 4 pm

Please note that the Principal's address will be at the following time-slots :
1st session : 11am to 12pm
2nd session : 2pm to 3pm






















Address of SAJC at St. Andrew's Village is 55, Potong Pasir Ave 1, Singapore 358389
Nearest MRT: Potong Pasir (NE10)
SBSTransit: 8, 26, 31, 90, 142 ,151, 154 (Diocese of Singapore); 13, 107, 107x, 133, 142, 147(Upper Serangoon Road); 13, 23, 26, 31, 64, 65, 66, 107, 107x, 125, 125x, 133, 147 (Bendemeer Rd-Bendemeer Camp HQ SCDF)
SMRT Buses: 857, 966, 985 (Diocese of Singapore), 853 (Upper Serangoon Road)

Inauguration of Gland ad nauseam!

the incessant shutting down of my blog at http://gland.blogdrive.com has undermined my loyalty to blogdrive, thus my decision to make the switch and embrace the new faith of blogspot!

despite my disappointment at blogdrive's unreliability, i'm keeping my blog there for memorable and referential purposes.

pls pardon the lacklustre layout of my blog - i'm sticking to my old style of simplicity after all. but perhaps i shd go for a change. well, i'm gonna need time and guidance to build this blog up.

PS: i've actually created this blog some time ago, but i thot it wud be cool to inaugurate it on a nice date: 10/10/2006, so here you are: Gland ad nauseam - rhapsodies of a Glandular life!