Singapore: First Impressions

Large advertising screens on main streets.

Cutting-edge air blowing technology parts the centre of the water fountain.

So here i am in Singapore. On the bus ride here from Kuala Lumpur, a Nepalese monk who sat next to me offered me a can of fizzy drink. I rapidly rejected him "bu yao" [不要]. He swiftly refused my rejection. So i kindly accepted the drink and put it into my seat pouch. I didn't touch the drink all journey, because i remembered my dad saying that certain Malaysians are very shifty when it comes to customs, passports, and sums of monies. I thought that his plan was to put me to sleep with the spiked fizzy can, then steal my passport, so that he can use it at the border customs.

When we hopped off the bus at Novena Square, which was the final destination, the monk and i said goodbye. I gave him a thumbs up, and he winked rapidly at me, twice.

Here are a few of my first impressions of Singaporeans, trait-wise:

(1) Singaporean streets have no rubbish.

Enlarge picture to look for litters.

(2) On a few occasions, i asked for street directions a few times for train stations and streets. The responses from the street direction givers were the type where, two people are walking towards each other, one of them being myself who raises my hand as a friendly conversation starting gesture, while the other one begins to walk diagonally off the path, rapidly. How confusing.

I have a theory that the more people there are in an enclosed space, the more anti-social the people inside that enclosed space are. The simple reason is that there are so many people to talk to, that a person does not know who to begin with, and in the end talks to nobody. Especially now with the increasing added pressure from peers, academically, the priority is not to be sociable.

Equal spacings for least likelihood of conversation.

At the MRT, for too many people, there were too many people to talk to, to talk to any people.

(3) The people in Singapore are very skinny. At first it was only the girls who were skinny, but after some time, the guys also became a little skinny, with a bit of muscle.

Comfortable dog strapped to front of lean girl.

Here are my hypotheses for skinny people in Singapore:

i) Food portions are about half the size of Australia's. Duck on rice has no bones. Only after food sits in stomach for a while, the oil from the food seeps into the stomach linings and the eater will begin to feel full. Therefore, eating a small portion and eating a small portion gives similar outcomes to fullness. Therefore, Singaporeans don't eat as much.

ii) Heat decreases appetite.

iii) The hot sun sucks water out of peoples' bodies, and in the process, their fats too.

iv) Many shops specialize in good tasting breakfast, therefore people eat it. My mum tells me: "Morning eat till full, midday eat well, night eat little."

v) Crowded city gives limited space for cars to travel. Therefore people prefer to walk to places after using the MRT. Actually, some people such as school kids have no choice. And walking in the sun is a bonus!

(4) There are too many shops for too little people. Shopping complexes are everywhere, such that sometimes there are more shopkeepers, cleaners, securities, promoters inside a complex than shoppers.

A watcher of TV, a browser of newspaper and a reader of book.

(5) A boss is called boss. A waiter is called boss. A shopper is also called boss. What surprised me the most was that they translate 'boss' to Chinese and call customers 'lao ban' (老闆). Does get confusing in a situation with many of the three types of people.

(6) No fear of thieves in Singapore.

Old uncle balances body on plastic bottle.

On the first night in Singapore, Amoz took me to a Seafood Steamboat BBQ Buffet.

Cheek muscles definable.

I asked Amoz to carry me to my hostel if anything happened to me. He said okay. So i took out and drank the fizzy drink from the bus ride, and oh was it thirst quenching! Now, i owe monk an apology.

No Shame No Game

In the lands of Malaysia and Singapore and in fact all of Asia, i am interested in a few things.

1) What do the people like and do? What are their daily routines? What are their feelings when they run their daily routines?
2) What are the challenges that these people face? And how do they overcome these challenges?
3) How has the environment shaped the people into who they are today? In their preferences, personality and character.

I want to capture the answers to these questions to digital image. That is what i want to do all day long.

While using a camera without a big zoom, and without lens rotation, the biggest hindrance to fulfilling my one desire comes in the form of: self-consciousness.

I must learn that:
1. i am not as important as i think i am, and i do not attract more attention than everybody else.
2. no one is paying more attention to me than me paying attention to myself.
3. everybody else is mostly paying attention to themselves 99% of the time.
4. just in case, for that 1%, the person i embarrass myself in front of, i will never see again 99% of the time.
5. just in case, for that 1 out of 100, the person probably won't remember my face because he will be too busy feeling important.

To capture true feeling and real juice, i must learn to have thick facial skin, have no shame, and constantly live to take no-regret photography.

So, let's play, dear Singapore and dear Malaysia.

God is in the House

I attended Jesus Culture 09 on 15th Jan - 17th Jan, and it turned out to be as much as i expected and more.

The emphasis of the three days was Power Evangelism, which was how Jesus walked his life. The life of power is supposed to be embraced from the very beginning, when a person accepts Jesus as his Lord and Saviour, in other words, once we are saved, the supernatural realm is opened to us. Then why is it that people have become Christian for so many years, yet their lives do not shine the power of the resurrection? It's a matter of making a conscious decision, to step out into the supernatural (normal for a Christian), just as Peter stepped out of the boat to walk on water.

Quote from William Branham (1909-1965): "Christianity is 100% supernatural." So true.

The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians saying: "My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power." So, during the conference, the speaker demonstrated the power of God, through healing.

He called out sicknesses from a list prepared earlier - sicknesses such as asthma, sports injuries, deafness, stomach problems etc. And he told peopel to stand up if they had any problems that he called out. After they stood, the speaker asked them to test the sicknesses to see if it's healed, and it was amazing. The man with a broken knee since 10+ years ago could suddenly walk straight, the asthmatic girl who once was not able to run for more than 20 metres was able run around an entire Church building, the man whose left lung shut down 4 years ago felt the incapacitated lung ease its way back to normal functioning. I witnessed 40+ healings on that day, and I'm sure there were a lot more, because of the next paragraph...

During his message before the healings, I felt tingles in my whole body. These tingles felt good, and body-shaking. I didn't know what it was until he asked people with sports injuries to stand up. I stood up for my lower left back. He asked us to test, so I got out into an aisle and did aerobics, and it felt very, good. God also healed me of conjunctivitis that day. I know because I've had it before a few times, and it doesn't just go from very red to nothing in 10 minutes, without any eyedrops or rest, one of which is a pain, and the other is a waste of time. This is my testimony.

Just in case you're wondering, the power of God displayed through healing miracles is not uncommon or unusual. You should be grateful and thankful for them, but get used to it.

Try, searching something along the lines of "God healing miracles testimony" in a big search engine, and you'll see that the idea of Christianity being 100% supernatural is to be embraced 100%.

My Brisbane Experience

I never knew plane tickets were so cheap. Joyce invited me to Brisbane, and my first reaction was: YES! All the locals tell you that there is nothing in Brisbane, but how wrong they were! The Brisbane experience opened my eyes.

Joyce showed us, from her New Zealand trip picture album, a photo of a magpie in a cage at a city zoo. I thought it was hilarious and I couldn't get over it for two days.

What have we here?


This photo was taken in the city centre by an Austrian tourist also curious about why there are large birds walking on the biggest street in the city. The local people all said that the ibises are an annoyance. But how is that possible? They are so big, so low-flying, very easy to catch, and furry. And friendly!

Another novelty about Brisbane is the walking Information Centre, who wears a big "I" hat on his/her head. This is a new concept to me - the information specialists actively seek people who need information. Also, streets in Brisbane are much cleaner. I couldn't find a piece of anything floating about in the city. Oh yeah, I think those walking "I"s also walk around to pick up rubbish (haha).

Clothes dry really fast in Brisbane. A drip of water from the clothes line dries up in less than 5 seconds on a normal day. Works the exact opposite way as an aircon unit - sucks the coolness out of everything. This is why all the shops in the city have airconditioning, because customers would 1) go to them, and 2) stay in them. During my walks around the city, I had to take refuge in a shop for a while to cool off and dry off, after every 50 metres of footpath. This reminds me of when my brother tells people that it takes 15 minutes to walk to the station from my house, but I always butt in and say 20. Then he would tell the people that it's 20 minutes only because I take a 5 minute break halfway (haha).

So anyway, Brisbane is hot, hot, and couldn't be hotter otherwise i would need to stay home all day. Imagine Malaysia. But the advantage of Brisbane's weather is that it is not deceptive, unlike Melbourne, where i would go out in a certain way and regret it (usually when it becomes hot). Brisbane is kind, it is very easy to predict.

I was recently telling my dad that his hair would look very nice if he styled it in some way. Perhaps either spike it up or gel it and make it look wet.

And oh, once again, what have we here?


The Chinese characters means, my dad's name. Therefore, I couldn't have been more precise about his hair.

Two Chinese people watched me take this photo, and i overheard them call me a tourist - and quite right, to take a photo of a hair salon.

One of the great highlights for me was attending Hope Church Brisbane, three times in a week. While we were praying at the start of the prayer meeting, which wasn't your typical prayer meeting, a guy in the front row stood out, got the mike and said: "I just begin to sense, that... i just sense that... there are many Samuels in this place..." Right on, that. To sum it up, the Hope Church Brisbane prayer meeting was not typical. It was full of energy, fire, a bit of power, momentum, and there would have been at least 150 young adults in that place, and i dare say that their church was not big sized either.

The Hope Church Youth Service was incredible. There were about 80-90 people in a hired university room. Here is an extract of a letter to the Church leaders:

<<------------------ Start Extract ------------------>>

Generally: - I was/am very impressed with the leadership structure, the mentoring structure, and the structure for growth, which brings about momentum. - I was/am very impressed with the impartation of teaching, and good Church culture from the top of the leadership team, to the lower tiers, to interns, which flows onto attendees. E.g. The leaders' hearts were committed to and desired for whoever belongs to Ablaze to grow strong in the Lord. - I was/am quite impressed by the commitment that was generally shown by big and small leaders, who knew a portion about and practised putting God first in their lives by giving up time, for example. - I was/am quite impressed by the hunger the congregation showed at the Prayer Meeting and at Ablaze. - I was/am quite impressed by the young adults girls who have kept and keep themselves pure, and seek the Lord before seeking a relationship leading on to marriage.


Specifically: - I was/am very impressed by the free flowing worship lead by OO. Non-ritualistic, very heartfelt from OO. During the worship, it sounded like a whole band was present, nevermind not having drums/keyboard/bass/electric. - I was/am very impressed by XX. I completely forgot what she said on stage that Ablaze, but I remember the way she delivered. No one, without experiencing God regularly, can speak like that. No one can be "taught" how to speak like that.
<<------------------ End Extract ------------------>>


At the end of the letter I wanted to add this: "The welcoming was very average. People did not make enough effort to make me feel very welcome. I had a few awkward-for-the-other-party moments in conversation, and at times i felt like i was the one who had to initate the talking. But, even so, and even so, i want to go back to your Church anyday. I say with 75% truth that "i would fly to Brisbane when your Church has 4 meetings in one week, and i'm very seriously"."

Of course, I didn't add the "your people are not very welcoming". But how good it feels to add it to the letter in this post now.

The XX referred to in the letter, i found to be very attractive. She made a few decisions in her life that reflected her commitment to God's calling. The way she spoke on the night told me that she encounters the Lord regularly, and that she has a seeking heart. HOT.

Nothing Can You Do

On the way to Brisbane via plane, I was listening to Mike Bickle's CD on "Sacrificing and Paying the Price to Endure the Boring, Mad God in Prayer" (for another day) on my laptop. I was sitting next to quite a lot of people. I was using headphones because the plane was a little noisy.

About 45 minutes of the CD, I took my earphones off for a break. To my surprise, I realized that taking off the earphones made no difference to the sound, and what had really happened was that the headphones weren't really plugged in, so I was playing the CD on full blast, so much that I could even hear it with headphones on.

So I laughed within because I knew that even if anybody else had found it weird, they could have done nothing about it.

Characteristics Of My Ideal Girl

This post is inevitable.

My dad told me a while ago that I probably don't even know what type of girl I'd like/want/need. I disagreed with him then, but today, I am beginning to realize what he meant by that comment.

I won't mention any characteristics that are either given or obvious. Otherwise my top 10 would be filled with useless qualities such as: gentle, kind, can understand me or "has more hair than me" type.

So here's my top ten:

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1. Loves God - more than loves me
When she loves God more than she loves me, she will love me more compared to if she loves me more than she loves God. The word 'more' is relative. I find a girl, who loves God with a passion, to be ++x on hot and XxX. It would take my mind for a spin, to see a girl like that.

2. Smaller than me in size
Both height and width.

3. Is a housewife
I'd like to her to be able to take care of all the things a man cannot. And it's not that the man does not want to take care of certain things, it's just that the man simply does not have the ability to. She will look very sweet when she works to takes care of the house.

4. Understands sacrifice and sacrifices
She will know the meaning of sacrifice. She will not live everyday for herself, but instead she will live for other people. By doing so, she will find great joy, and I will be proud of her. She will sacrifice for the right causes.

5. Submissive
For a unit to work, there must be a leader within the unit. God chose the man to lead and to love, and the woman to follow and to love.

6. Sticky
I'd like her to favour the sense "touch", that is, likes to touch and likes to be touched, likes to hold hands and likes to be hugged. Preferably not in an overt, big action way. Preferably in a reserved-desire kind of way.

7. Appears and walks like an Angel
This quality speaks of the girl's physical appearance, as well as the inner beauty 内涵 that shines out from within. To qualify for this characteristic, she would also qualify for the description "nice" - which basically means gentle, soft, angelic, and not easily angered/flustered/annoyed. Those qualities are very attractive to me.

8. Optimistic in every way
A positive person, who can turn a bad situation into a good one, just by using her positive attitude. I dislike negative thinking a lot. Certainly wouldn't want to live with a girl who thinks negatively.

9. Wise
This was the only major characteristic change from about 4 years ago when I created my ideal girl list. The characteristic I had was the opposite of wise, which was dumb, except I didn't use that word. The change came about when I realized that I would have a lot of trouble communicating with a girl who wasn't smart (EQ wise at least), and I'd like the decisions she makes to be made with a high standard of wisdom.

10. Networker of people
I'd like her to be able to, and enjoy being among people. She can be quiet at times, but she will love to meet and get to know people. Her warmness will draw people to her, and I will be proud of her because she will be my wife.

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If you have observed, while the list is not in order, if a girl satisfies #1, most of the other characteristics should also be covered.

The above top 10 characteristics are subject to change. There are other qualities in a girl I look for, such as: has Chinese cultural background, believes in the power of belief, and semi-sporty, and these may or may not be equally important.

My father tells me often to go to more places to see more girls. Then I will have a better idea of what type of girl I should want to go after.

At this point, I am after the "top 10 characteristics of my ideal man" from the perspective of the girl that I am after. That is, if I can, locate her.

The Mind of a Giver

Proverbs tells us that "as [one] thinks in his heart, so is he."
I believe in this literally.

And now I understand why Proverbs 11:24 tells us this:
"One man gives freely, yet gains even more;
another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty."

a) When a man gives freely, he either (1) believes that blessings will come to him as a result of the act of giving, and/or (2) expects to possess a whole lot more in the future.

b) Conversely, a man who withholds unduly, will either (1) believe that nothing good can ever come out of giving, and/or (2) has already planned out exactly how much he will earn for the rest of his life, and any amount given will be the amount subtracted from the savings of his entire life.

Applied to both situations --> "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he." The most inner thoughts and beliefs of the heart, is what can change a person's life!

I know of a particular man.
One night the particular man was approached by a middle-aged woman, who asked him for spare change to help out with renting basic accommodation for the night.
The man was not rich. His most significant source of income was not even enough to cover the rent.
To the request, the man thought for a brief moment. He reached into his pocket to take out two $50 bills and placed them in the lady's hands. The lady was more stunned than surprised. The man walked away. But stopped a few steps later.

He turned around and said: "Do you know why I want to give you $100 tonight?"
The lady responded: "You're a kind man."
"Far from it," the man replied and he paused.

"It's because I'm going to be a millionaire."