Friday, July 10, 2009
/ 9:13 AM
When all else fails
Love suffers long and is kind;
love does not envy;
love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
does not behave rudely, does not seek its own,
is not provoked, thinks no evil;
does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;
bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.
And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
-1 Corinthians 13
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
/ 6:50 PM
Externalities: Driving a Lamborghini
Here is one of my school Economics assignment- a blog post on negative externalities.
All of us have dream cars in our lives. Be it a Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche, etc. the thought of driving and owning one of these luxurious sports car is a fantasy that we could only dream about. For the boys at least, who doesn't want to be able to ride on a machine that has horse power that allows you to travel at speeds up to 356km/h ?Postitve externalities of driving a Lamborghini:The luxury and prestige of owning a Lamborghini is what makes people willing to pay millions of dollars to buy them. Men especially, attributes their reputation to the car they own. Some women has like a list of expectations before they agree to marry a man, for example the 5 Cs (in which one of the expectation is a Car). Having a car makes one look good and financially stable. Another positive externalities is you save time travelling, instead of waiting for bus and squeezing in a crowded train, you get to travel in speed, and comfort.
Negative externalities of driving a Lamborghini:On the other hand, driving a Lamborghini has its fair share of negative externalities too. This includes the emission of green house gases (e.g. carbon monoxide), this contributes greatly to harming our already badly damaged ozone layer. Global warming is increasingly being a problem in our generation today. And the main contributors of this problem is the vehicle owners. Cars are not very eco-friendly from the start of production, till it's sold, and even after it is sold. Not mentioning that most cars needs fossil fuels to run (petroleum). Looking and considering all the harmful effects you'd caused to the environment by purchasing a car, one must really think twice before doing so.
Done by:Justine (T02)
Friday, July 03, 2009
/ 12:34 AM
RIP Michael Jackson (1958-2009)
No one can "beat it". The reason why we are watching MTV, the King of Pop, has left his mark in the history books. Was looking forward to his comeback. Anyway, the man has died, but the music certainly lives on. Rest in peace Michael! You're truly an EPIC!
Thursday, July 02, 2009
/ 11:39 PM
Guardian Angel
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
/ 5:19 PM
About 2 weeks ago I had a very interesting guest lecturer that flew in all the way from Germany to give us a lecture. Dr Andreas is a renowned social entrepreneur in the market. His innovation of his social enterprise cum museum- Dialogue in the Dark is probably one of the most creative ideas to raise awareness and at the same time, providing jobs for the visually impaired.What is the idea?
Imagine going into a museum. There are different rooms, all having different settings. For exanple, one room is a setting of a rainforest, you can hear the waterfall, you can smell the flowers, you can even feel the leaves and the bushes, you can taste the fruits. But the catch is this, everything is pitch black. Completely dark. You can hear, smell, taste, and even touch but the whole exhibition is in the dark. You are being led by a guide throughout the whole hour of exhibition. At the end of it, when you walk out of the darkness and into the light, you realise the guide who led you throughout the whole process is actually a blind person.
Wow. People always have a stereotype that the blind are handicapped in our society. However, in the dark, we are the handicapped ones and they are the leaders. They maneuver best in darkness, they are in their element. How creative is that? Not only did it provided 6,000 jobs for the blind community. It also teaches people like us that being blind doesn't mean you are incapable. In fact you can even SEE life from a different point of view.
I learnt someting very imprtant today. You may be visually-abled, but have no vision. Are you just dragging your feet to school, work, home, and just living a routine lifestyle with no sense of achievement? Then you stop what you are doing and reflect on this. Are you happy with your life? What is it that you wanted to do but did not? Can you still do it? Why not?
I started thinking about it myself too. I don't want to look back at my life 10-20 years down the road, and regret not living my life to it's fullest. Not accomplishing what I set out to do. Not running with vision and purpose.
See people, you may have your sight, but running life without a vision, is like running a marathon without a direction. You can still run! Full speed! In record-breaking time! BUT, wait a minute, you're way off track! Eventually you realise you are further away from the finish line then you had started. Don't live this life without a vision, a dream, and a purpose. Life would be meaningless.
Start dreaming again. Start believing. Star visualizing. If you can see it, you can have it.
I love this quote:
"The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision."
-Helen Keller
(American Author, Political Activist, Lecturer. Born deaf and blind)
2 Corinthians 4:18, 5:7 (NKJV)
18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
/ 1:15 AM
Sorry people. I won't be updating anytime soon. This month is gonna be very busy! Will be back by the end of the month! If not, the beginning of May =)
Monday, March 09, 2009
/ 11:51 PM
Soaring to Life's Greatest Heights
All of us, every single one, has an inner desire to soar in life. Be it in our schools, workplace, etc. But what does it mean to soar? What does it take to soar? Today, I'll just share the first of the 4 steps.
SOAR
Step 1: See what you have
The problem with many people today is that they always look at what they don't have! "Ah.. I don't have the money.. Ugh! I don't have the looks!" The list can go on and on. The problem is they should not focus on what they don't have. People that do, never really reach their maximum potential. See what you have, not what you don't have. Don't turn to your neighbors in envy. No! Look at your hands, what do you have?
Never try to be someone you're not. We are all different. Unique in our own ways. Your friend's gift may be different from yours. And if you keep looking at what you don't have, you will end up in disappointment and self-pity. But on the other hand, if you look at what you have, it's a whole different story!
See what you have! Something that you are good in. Art. Sports. Music. Business. IT. Design. Culinary. Writing. Blogging. Talking. Anything! What do you have? Identify it. Only then can you start the process of soaring.
It's like before a man can fly a kite. He needs to identify what he has. He needs to source for resources. The sticks, the paper, the string, glue, tape, scissors, etc. If he doesn't and if he keeps looking and admiring his neighbor's kite, guess what? He won't ever fly his own kite!
Look at what you have not what you don't have. Sometimes, it's not about having what you want, but wanting what you have. Only then can you truly soar.
-i put my trust in you
SOAR
Step 1: See what you have
The problem with many people today is that they always look at what they don't have! "Ah.. I don't have the money.. Ugh! I don't have the looks!" The list can go on and on. The problem is they should not focus on what they don't have. People that do, never really reach their maximum potential. See what you have, not what you don't have. Don't turn to your neighbors in envy. No! Look at your hands, what do you have?
Never try to be someone you're not. We are all different. Unique in our own ways. Your friend's gift may be different from yours. And if you keep looking at what you don't have, you will end up in disappointment and self-pity. But on the other hand, if you look at what you have, it's a whole different story!
See what you have! Something that you are good in. Art. Sports. Music. Business. IT. Design. Culinary. Writing. Blogging. Talking. Anything! What do you have? Identify it. Only then can you start the process of soaring.
It's like before a man can fly a kite. He needs to identify what he has. He needs to source for resources. The sticks, the paper, the string, glue, tape, scissors, etc. If he doesn't and if he keeps looking and admiring his neighbor's kite, guess what? He won't ever fly his own kite!
Look at what you have not what you don't have. Sometimes, it's not about having what you want, but wanting what you have. Only then can you truly soar.
-i put my trust in you
Saturday, February 28, 2009
/ 11:49 PM
Love or Hate?
Many will say, "hate" is a very strong word. Indeed it is. And we sure hear this word often. Out of anger or a moment of outburst we often hear one raising his voice, "I HATE YOU!" Maybe even you yourself have been guilty of using those 3 words on a friend, foe or even a family member. I search the dictionary and found the definiton of this word-
Hate:
To have a great aversion to, with a strong desire that evil should befall the person toward whom the feeling is directed; to dislike intensely; to detest; as, to hate one's enemies
Wow, it's a very strong word indeed. To dislike INTENSELY! And "a strong deire that evil should befall the person toward whom the feeling is directed."
No wonder John said, "The way we know we've been transferred from death to life is that we love our brothers and sisters. Anyone who doesn't love is as good as dead. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know very well that eternal life and murder don't go together." (1 John 3:14-15) The Message Bible.
It is evil to say to someone you hate a person. Because like the verse says, he who hates is a murderer! Wait wait. A MURDERER? Are you kidding? I didn't kill that person. Well, you may not have, physically took that man's life, but in your heart, that person is already dead, he don't deserve what he can get, he don't deserve mercy, he don't deserve forgiveness. But when one goes too far, his thoughts may even be led to evil, saddistic thoughts- e.g. that person don't deserve to live (in other words, he deserves to die).
Well, as much as you may dislike a person, if your hatred reaches that point, and you are having evil thoughts of things that are bad and unfortunate to strike that person. Then that is way beyond your boundaries. Even though one may say, "B-but it's only a thought! I didn't actually do it!" Well you thought about it, and there's a saying, "as a man thinks in his heart, so is he."
Hating a person won't solve the problem. It'll add more problems, more salt to the already damaged wound, it'll add more weight and burden. Hate and resentment only make one feels worst at the end of the day, it harms both parties. We can see that all around the world now, look at the rate of the hate-crimes, it's going up, the war doesn't seem to stop. Hate amongst nations, amongst races, causes all these casualties. Yet, since we were young we were taught to make "Peace" not War. Well, as long as hate exists there is no end to the vicious cycle of deaths and suffering.
The total opposite of hate is love. When you say you love someone, it is a choice you make. The person may not deserve it, but still you choose to do it. That is love. Real love, is "agape" which means, unconditional. It doesn't have a condition, a checklist, no. Unconditonal.
A poem I came up with:
"This is the test.
Do you still love when you are hated?
Do you still give when you are poor?
Do you still habe faith in times of fear?
Do you still run when you're tired?
Do you still fight for what is right?
For this determines your character."
So here's the question, do you choose to love or to hate?
Luke 6:27-36 (NKJV)
Love Your Enemies
27 “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. 29 To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. 31 And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. 32 “But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. 35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. 36 Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.
-i forgive
Saturday, January 24, 2009
/ 8:52 AM
Peace be still
In times of chaos, where do you find peace? Everything is turning against you. Nothing seems to be right. Your house, your family, your friends, in school, you never feel peace in your heart. You are always, worrying, troubled, distressed. Time is always against you, you are frustrated.
Many people say, I just want peace! But the truth is, they never seem to get the definition of peace right. Having peace does not mean, you get rid of all your problems and situations. That will never be possible. The truth is you will always have challenges in your life! Things that don't go your way. There will never be a "perfect" condition. But amidst of that, will you choose peace? Peace is a choice.
Peace is a state of mind, it is one that choose calmness, and not anxiousness. It choose love instead of hatred. It choose faith instead of fear. It choose joy instead of sadness. It choose forgiveness instead of grudge. That is peace. You make a choice.
The power of peace is that, though it doesn't change your circumstances, it changes the way you look at them. The way you react to them. See, storms will come and go. Even the greatest storm. But peace is different, you choose peace, you can't "make" peace.
And the beautiful thing is. when you do so, you will begin to see things differently. The negative mind begins to fade away. You put on a new mind, one that is optimistic of what the future holds.
Will you choose peace?
Philippians 4:6-7 (NKJV)
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
