YAY, away from Melbourne’s cold winter (in Aug) to Singapore’s warm weather!

The Holiday

• Don’t go to the Night Safari! You can’t see anything there!  It’s apparently highly recommended and so I scheduled for us to go there on this family holiday.  But I wouldn’t go back nor recommend it to others!

We queued for 45 min to get on the tram.  It was quite dark for a clear view of the animals.  We’re entertained by my niece rather than the animals.  We happened to be seated at the front where the girl with the mic was.  My niece tapped on her and asked, ‘Miss, why are the elephants there??’

Tour leader:       Of course they’re there – it’s their habitat.

My niece:            Oh ok.  Miss, miss!  Why are the tigers there??

Tour leader:       Well, it’s their habitat.

My niece:            Oh..  Miss, why are the rhinos there??

Tour leader:       .. it’s their habitat.

My niece:            Miss, miss, why are the deer there??

(and for the rest of the 40 min tram ride)

On the other hand, one of my nephews looked around and said, ‘But I can’t see anything.’  A few seconds later, ‘I can’t see anything though.’  And so on.

• The energy level of the children was amazing.  But on the day we went to Gardens by the Bay, it was indeed a long walk.  While the direction signs in Singapore are impressively clear, it may be a good idea to notify on anything further than 1 km or so.  We had no idea how long the walk was going to be, we just kept walking following the direction sign.  By the end of the day, we had walked a total of 14 km.

The way back to the Bayfront MRT was a long way, afraid the kids would be cranky as they get tired, I was trying to find an energy booster.  From where we were, I saw 2 men hanging by the harness sliding down the Marina Bay Sands hotel towers (glass cleaners I suppose).  I shouted to the kids ‘Hey look, spidermen!’  And they went all excited and said they saw the spideys.

That’s what I notice, the kids, it’s like a graph of impulses.  They have certain boosters that can shoot their energy up so high it’s like they’re not tired before.  It’s true, they’re tired and didn’t realise it when they’re excited and playing with one another.  It is when you get back to the hotel that the parents realised the kid’s toenail almost came off from walking / running too much!

• It was nearing the Singapore National Day, there was a fireworks preview which we could see from our hotel room.  So we all gathered in one of the our hotel rooms, switched off the lights and waited for the fireworks.  My nephew accidentally stepped on niece’s hand.

Niece:                 Ouch!  You step on my hand!

Nephew:           That’s because it’s on the floor.

I:                             Hey,.. you apologize, man.

Nephew:           Sorry..

We all laughed at his instinctive reasoning.  But see the natural tendency of even a 3 year old is to defend himself despite having done wrong.  You need not to teach a child that.  A product of the societal conditioning?  No, it’s just what’s natural in us.  Fortunately, we can be corrected to do better next time.

• Taiwanese soap opera sounding at the background remains an irritant to me (it may even be to you too given how often I mention it!).

It’s just like when I was upset how people are habitually not punctual in Indo, but later I realised it’s not they don’t respect your time but rather they don’t even have a concept of respect for others’ time.

Likewise, there’s no concept of disturbing others with the decibels of the Taiwanese drama playing on the Android.  Genuinely not aware of how loud it was.  I realise you can’t use ‘imagine if others do this to you’ to bring an understanding, because in reality, if others are playing their own thing loudly in their presence, they probably really don’t mind that too!  The culture is that far apart.

• On the day the family went back home to Indo, I had a couple of hours before my own flight. Unfortunately this time it was too rush and timing probably won’t work for most of my friends in Singapore as it’s a weekday afternoon, so I only manage to meet up with some.

• Felt like I haven’t watched movies for a long time. I spent my flight time to watch quite a number of Marvel movies.  Did I say baby Groot is so cute??  My colleague said I find things like Gollum cute in the Lord of the Rings, so Groot is one I understandably find cute too.  But isn’t it cute indeed!

My Thoughts

• Kids understood more than you think. During a dinner, while someone recounted how the grandson was such and such and did so and so and you have to this and that, another person interrupted, ‘he understands every word you say,’ pointing to the child.  Well that is true, I remember my own childhood when as a kid I too knew what the adults were talking about – when they spoke to one another as though you’re not present.  I remembered playing along with the adults to cater to their thinking that I weren’t aware, pretended amusement and ignorance to please them.  So I wonder if that’s the case with yourself, why adults still talk about their kids in front of them in family gathering like they don’t hear?

• It is easier to judge your own family, as it is more accurate?  May be true in one sense, because you may see ugliness in them that outsiders do not see.  So it’s no surprise if you’re not impressed by them as others would be, or when you lose patience with them.  The reverse is quite true too that you also get to see their subtle goodness that others may fail to see.  But all in all, as you get to know someone better it is more often that you realise, ‘no one is perfect,’ than that ‘he/she is incredibly more amazing than I thought!’  Even if I find myself saying the latter at times, give it some more time, I am likely to end with the former.

There’s only 1 in my experience (and in the experience of countless others throughout history) that the more you know the person, the more amazed you are.  To the point that you are so taken you yourself are transformed on the inside to be more (and want to be more) like Him too.  That is the person of Jesus Christ.  One of the things I find upbuilding is to speak to very old Christians who have gone through the many decades in their lives and hear them recounting the goodness of God and how they see more and more beauty of the Lord, how He sustains them.  Their body physically decaying, chronic pain is a norm, but their faith is renewed day by day, their grace keeps growing – isn’t that beautiful to watch?  That’s one of the precious things being part of a church where you have people of all ages coming together as one big family.  Otherwise, I do read writings of old people who’re well dead hundreds of years ago and gain understanding and encouragement from there too.

• Pain in disciplining children. I see good parents will discipline their children as they’re more interested in their children’s true good than merely that their children like them / agree with them.  That’s a picture to me as my God the Father in heaven disciplines me precisely because I am His child.  As I’ve heard in a recent talk, God is dead serious in bringing one to their senses.  Because He truly loves, He doesn’t shrink back from inflicting pain if necessary for my good.

As the bible says,

”..do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,

    nor be weary when reproved by him.

 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,

    and chastises every son whom he receives.”  Hebrews 12:5-6

And then,

”If you are left without discipline, .. then you are illegitimate children .. we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?  For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.”  Hebrews 12:8-10

Lastly, my favourite,

“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”  Hebrews 12:11

• Such kindness, is it of grace or laziness?  How is it that people are so kind, sometimes I wonder.  Perhaps because I’m not a very kind person myself, I am baffled when I witness great kindness especially when it’s extended to people I do not think deserve it (worse still, when I think they deserve quite the opposite).

It is true that one is truly changed only by kindness, extravagant unexpected kindness (e.g., Jean Valjean in Les Miserables).  That’s in fact what’s at the core of my faith belief – grace to the undeserved, loved while enemies of God, saved while I nailed Him to the cross – that is why conversion should bring about a change: I’m a new life, now to live that way and not go back to my old ways.

But back to the kindness that people show, given the particular situation, I sometimes question: is that actually for the good of the other person?  Or is it just a convenient and easy way for us to respond kindly?  Kindness does move people, but I wonder if it always works?  (No, of course it doesn’t)  And at which point do you need to rebuke a wrong?  Will your kindness be taken instead as an approval of what’s done wrong or affirming the lack of seriousness of an act?  Naturally that brings me to the next point.

• What does it do to you as a recipient of undeserved favour and love from people?  Not suffering the consequence of your action.  But on a second thought, I do believe what one goes through inside is a consequence one is living with already.  Sure, some are seared in their conscience and don’t feel much grief as they ought to.  This is where I’m reminded not to envy the wicked, for they will still have to answer to God one day (this of course is only true because I do believe in God of the bible, it’s not applicable if you don’t believe in that concept, in which case in your worldview it logically means tons of horrible human beings will never be brought to justice eventually).

I do question my own motive now and then, where is this sense of indignation from?  Is it really because I want justice?  What about what I get from God despite all my failings?  Well, I’m given grace, and still grace, and will be grace still.

So that gives me more to think about..