May 14, 2006

New (Or Old?) Hobby

About 13 years ago, I learnt how to knit during my mid-year school holidays. I bought some yarn and learnt it at the knitting shop. My first masterpiece was a blue blouse for myself. My second masterpiece was a wool vest for my dad. But after that time, I stopped knitting completely due to the lack of time.

It must have been about 5 years ago where I picked it up again. This time, a scarf for... I think it was some guy.... but my poor memory could not tell me whom I was meaning to knit it for... I only realised that I had an unfinished piece of work when I was searching for my pair of knitting needles recently and I found them attached to the unfinished scarf (since 5 years back!).

I regained my interest to knit. I realised that knitting is fun because I like seeing the every stitch I knit, slowly forming a piece of garment. Just with 2 basic stitches - knit and purl, so many designs can come out of it. There is great eagerness to begin with the yarn and needles. I try to ensure that each knit stitch is a knit stitch and a purl stitch turns out to be a purl stitch. If somewhere goes wrong, the mistake can be obvious. And as I knit, what keeps me going is the anticipation of the final product. Lots of joy and satisfaction also comes from myself (or the receiver) looking good in the finished product :)

I know there are not much of a knitting craze in Singapore. And besides we don't really wear knitted garments in this humid weather. And even if we do, they are machine made in the factories and not hand-knitted. A thought has crossed my mind that if only I don't need to work but just knit and knit and knit... :P but this is surely a hobby that will make me put on weight especially it involves much sitting down :P

There are not many places that one can buy yarn in Singapore. I first thought of Spotlight at Plaza Singapura. However most yarn on sale there are wool as most (if not all) are imported from Australia. It was only some time later than I found out a specialised shop in Chinatown that sells knitting yarn, threads and materials for other related hobbies. Shop name is Golden Dragon. There are more variety of yarn over there! But I realised that yarn is generally not cheap in Singapore. But I managed to find one which is of acrylic and nylon, double the weight (100g) of normal yarn, but at the price of a 50g type. I bought the pink yarn and began knitting a scarf for myself!

The completed product - lace scarf

It took me about 3-4 weeks to complete this 1.8m project. Some says it looks purple but I insist that its pink. Well I guess it surely looks more pink on the pinkish background :p Enough of pink! Now onto my next project - black vest for.... myself ;)

If you wish to learn how to knit, you may pick up the basics from stitchguide. I picked up some of the stitches from there too! There are many free knitting patterns available if you were to perform a google search. But I think the best site is Knitting Pattern Central. This interest made me started a blog on knitting... but I shall only share it when it is more established :)

May 13, 2006

耶和华祝福满满! (祝福我的父母)

I am not about to blog in Mandarin but I am gonna share another Chinese song. I have heard this song a long time ago. I really like the melody of the song. Once I went to a Cantonese church service in 1999, a group of elder ladies danced to the song.

Today being a public holiday, a group of people in church organised a dinner to celebrate Mother's Day. Mother's Day is this coming Sunday. This dinner was an occasion to invite our Mandarin-speaking parents to have dinner and as a platform to share the gospel with them. I took the chance to invite my parents for the dinner. My mum did backed out at one time becos she thought that she would be tired after a day's work. But thankfully, she agreed again and she did not grumble a word about her being tired.

The programme at the event included some song presentations. Songs were sang in Mandarin, Cantonese and a brother sang the song (below) in Hokkien! (instrumental version here)

田中的白鹭鸶 无欠缺什么
山顶的百合花 春天现香味
总是全能的上帝
每日赏赐真福气
使地上 发芽结实
显出爱疼的根据


The crops in the fields lack nothing. The scent of flowers on the hills are refreshing in Spring time. The almighty God bestow blessings each day. The seedlings on the ground are evident of God's love and blessings.

耶和华祝福满满
亲像海边土沙
恩典慈爱 直到万世代
我要举手敬拜

出欢喜的歌声
赞美称颂祂名永无息

Jehovah's blessings are abundant, like sand on the beach. His grace, mercy and love are everlasting. I want to raise my hands to praise Him, sing joyful praises to Him and worship His name forever.

The song lyrics are rather poetic. The above is my literal translation of the song.

Anyway I'm thankful that my parents got to listen to the gospel message in Mandarin. Pastor OBK knows how to speak in such a way that he could engage the older folks. He used illustrations (makes people laugh) and sometimes in Hokkien, Cantonese and Teochew. He addressed the chinese virtue of fillial piety and how the relationship of God and man is reflected on us relating with our earthly parents. Pastor OBK must have understood that older chinese folks have a mindset that the "Christian God" is just another god, a god of the westerners. If chinese were to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, they will be betraying their ancestors. Pastor OBK addressed these issues in a tactful manner. And he still managed to introduce the Lord Jesus Christ, whom only through Him only are we able to be spared of the wages of our sins. The gospel presentation was very clear. Though the message took 45 minutes, he could hold the attention of everyone. Everyone present stood up and Pastor led us in the sinner's prayer. Praise God for His word preached. Pray that His word will take seed in the hearers present.

The message also made me and I'm sure the other children who were present, thought of how we have been relating to our parents... the needs of our parents. It made me rethink how I have been a daughter to my parents... I think I ought to spend more time with them, and do acts of service to show my love for them. In all, I pray that I will be a good testimony and love my parents... and that they will be receptive to the gospel and respond to the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. I heard my mum uttered the sinner's prayer softly beside me. I believe she is slowly understanding more of the Christian faith. It is my responsibility to pray for her and continue to share with her. Dad is not so open but I shall pray and try. If you are praying for my parents, thanks... for your partnership in the gospel :)

May 8, 2006

The Steadfast Love of the Lord

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases
His mercies never come to an end
They are new every morning, new every morning
Great is thy faithfulness, Oh God
Great is thy faithfulness

I have not heard nor sung the above song for a long time. I only could remember part of the lyrics of the song "His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness". As I was listening to sermon on Sunday, the tune and words of the song suddenly came into mind. After humming the tune over and over again, the entire lyrics of the song slowly came to my mind.

Psalm 51 reads:
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion, blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.

5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.

14 Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

18 In your good pleasure make Zion prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem.

19 Then there will be righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings to delight you; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

The above psalm was written by King David, after he had sinned against God (read account in 2 Samuel 11-12) David's sorrow and repentence is evident in his writing. It is comforting to know that the Lord my God is a merciful God, one who has unfailing love and great compassion towards us.

Psalm 103:8-12
The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

If we acknowledge our sins and transgressions, God is just and merciful to forgive us. With total repentence and dependence on Him, we are able to be free from the captivity of our sins and in turn, have great joy and praises for Him who is gracious. His mercy is boundless and never ends.

Although we will eventually have to deal with the consequences of our sins, the abundant grace the God poured out on us enables us to put the past behind and strive onwards to the goal which Christ has marked out for us. Praise and thanks be to God!

May 7, 2006

GE 2006

I am not very interested in politics but this 10th General Election of Singapore has seemed to made me a little interested... probably not so much about which party should win in each area, but the saga(s) that this national event has created.

Closer to me, my colleagues have been discussing about the PAP and the opposition parties. Many jokes came up and it provided good humour amidst my stressful work these days. The PAP supporters have been sighted to lunch at the staff canteen, whilst the supporters of the opposition party lunched at the food court at my office. Some are PRs of Singapore and cannot vote. Some citizens want to vote but they lived in districts that PAP had walkovers. It was a tough and heated (friendly) discussion amongst our colleagues whom we see each other everyday....

I don't need to vote. My GRC was a walkover and PAP rules. But I continued my routine of packing lunch from either the staff canteen or food court to my office desk to quietly enjoy my little brain break before embarking on the second half of the day.

At this time that I am blogging away, one of the most talkabout SMC - Hougang's results were announced. The Worker's Party Chief has won over People's Action Party in Hougang. The results were obvious - there were 13,987 votes for WP and 8,306 votes for PAP. I was a little surprised at the margin that PAP lost. Many people all over Singapore have been flogging to Hougang the past 1 week to listen to the rallies. I heard it was obvious that there were more people at the WP rally than the PAP rally in Hougang. But it was not too surprising as the WP rallies were more 'interesting' with juicy bits of speeches.

What's left and the interesting results that are not announced yet, are the Aljunied GRC, Potong Pasir SMC, Jalan Besar GRC and Ang Mo Kio GRC. For the latest interactive news, see here.

I know PAP will continue to govern the country. I think that the leaders in PAP have what it takes to rule the nation but well I guess some opposition voices in the parliament would be good too....

Hmm, but I still like the Mee Pok Man joke ;)

May 2, 2006

Nothing Can Separate Me from Your Love

One of the songs that Watermelon girl wrote... inspired from Romans 8.

The Romans 8 Song
What would it be if I could live my life again

Would I choose riches or the praises of men
Sometimes I'm tempted to choose romance
And the possibility that my loneliness will end

But in your mercy you've brought me here today
After I've searched my heart I know that i will say:
"I choose Jesus, because He chose me first."
And every day I'm so amazed at the sufficiency of His love

Chorus
(So) For I am convinced that neither death nor life
Neither angels nor demons, the present nor the future
Nor any powers, neither height nor death
Nor anything else in all creation
Will be able to separate us from (Your) His love

What shall it be that tries to draw me away
Trouble or hardship, persecution or famine
Nakedness, mortality, danger or sword
Or the humdrum of daily life
Or that I'm so easily bored

Let your love dwell in me fully
So when the evil days come
I can stand my ground
Guarded by your righteousness
Through the blood of Jesus
Shed for undeserved us
While we were still sinners
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