Red pill...or Blue?: 02/01/2007

Friday, February 23, 2007

The Determination to Serve (from "My Utmost for His Highest", 23rd February)

The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve . . . —Matthew 20:28

Jesus also said, "Yet I am among you as the One who serves" (Luke 22:27). Paul’s idea of service was the same as our Lord’s— ". . . ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake" ( 2 Corinthians 4:5 ). We somehow have the idea that a person called to the ministry is called to be different and above other people. But according to Jesus Christ, he is called to be a "doormat" for others— called to be their spiritual leader, but never their superior. Paul said, "I know how to be abased . . ." (Philippians 4:12 ). Paul’s idea of service was to pour his life out to the last drop for others. And whether he received praise or blame made no difference. As long as there was one human being who did not know Jesus, Paul felt a debt of service to that person until he did come to know Him. But the chief motivation behind Paul’s service was not love for others but love for his Lord. If our devotion is to the cause of humanity, we will be quickly defeated and broken-hearted, since we will often be confronted with a great deal of ingratitude from other people. But if we are motivated by our love for God, no amount of ingratitude will be able to hinder us from serving one another.

Paul’s understanding of how Christ had dealt with him is the secret behind his determination to serve others. "I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man . . ." ( 1 Timothy 1:13 ). In other words, no matter how badly others may have treated Paul, they could never have treated him with the same degree of spite and hatred with which he had treated Jesus Christ. Once we realize that Jesus has served us even to the depths of our meagerness, our selfishness, and our sin, nothing we encounter from others will be able to exhaust our determination to serve others for His sake.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

"What is history, but a fable agreed upon?"

And the Lord said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech." - Genesis 11: 7

"The world today is in a shocking mess!"

So claims the media constantly (without providing any credible solutions, just constant doomsday news).

So proclaim the leaders of the great nations which drive and inspire the global economy (whose solutions are to "increase State expenditure on defence budgetting in order to fight/aid in the fight against the "War on Terror" - whatever that is).

"War" (with a capital W) as we all know, has been fought over ages immemorium.

Its been fought over trivialities of who's-son-looked-at-who's-daughter. Its been fought for possession of land and resources.Its been fought for greed.I watched three films these two days: "An Inconvenient Truth" by Al Gore (who says in his film satirically "I was once the next President of the United States"), "Loose Change", and "Babel".

They all seemed to be addressing different issues - the first one about the US administration's lack of will to address global warming issues that are so starkly apparent, the second implying the possible fright tactics and smear campaign on the "Axis of Evil" carried out by the US Government during and post 9-11; and the third, a startlingly down-to-earth rendition of four different life stories around the world and how they seamlessly fit together amidst the cacophony of voices intoning various dialects and languages.

Yet, as I sat and watched the credits roll for "Babel", my mind was shocked into thinking about how our world has turned out from its beginning. Self-interested individual actors are we all, and this has been so since the beginning of time.

From the conception of Adam, who bit into the fruit of wisdom in order to satisfy his own insatiable curiosity and lust.

From the story of the Boddhisatva, who had actually been a Prince of a powerful realm and had killed many innocents in order to expand his empire, and later realised his massive short-comings - commiting his final years in an act of repentance at the foot of a Boddhi tree in meditation.

"Does crime pay?"

The politically correct answer often rings back in our ears "Of course it doesn't! You go to jail! You get beat up!"

Sure. You see dozens of people on the news each week, being arrested by the police - the official State apparatus for the management of "The Two Ds" (as I'd like to call them) - deviancy and delinquency. There are various reasons for people to get arrested. Some steal to support their family, because the work they are doing just doesn't pay enough. Some rob banks to fuel their passions for a life-time cruise round the world in a nuclear-powered yacht (if that exists!). Some commit shop-theft because they have too much to spend, and would rather experience the feeling of walking out of a shop with the merchandise AND the money intact.

For all of these behaviours, we label them socially as 'deviant', and our social norms have their own unique ways of dealing with them.

We throw thieves into jail. We whip rapists and murderers. We hang drug-traffickers (at least in Singapore).

There is a fixed penalty for a fixed crime. No running away from the system. Its the rational law we are talking about here.

Now, I'm not saying that there is anything wrong about punishment for crime. In fact, I support appropriately meted out punishment. But what about those instances which we hear about, where a 'rich kid' gets away with a certain petty theft - because "he was just learning and finding his roots...let him stretch his wings...you'll see his potential. give him a chance". But put in the same situation, a poor kid is probably going to be damned by his observers: "See? He had it coming. These under-class people...don't know what's good for them. They should just "stay out of (our) upper-middle class uncaring face". (Incidentally, an academic had actually written about this phenomenon of discrepancies in applying the law across the board in the article "The Saints and the Rednecks"...read it for SC1101E...and its in my "Perspectives of Crime and Deviance" pack here in HKU. Liked that story. Got some interesting morals behind it...)

Which leads me to the next point.

Who defines "Crime"?

Certainly not 'normal' citizens like you and I. We, like all other free-citizens of republics are the potential perpetrators of 'crime' (whatever that is).

So instead, according to Social Contract theory (Hobbes-in-motion here), we give a little of ourselves to the State, for the common good of all. But we give as little as it is comfortably possible to maintain our own individuality.

SO YES. The State manages our well-being, in the form of government subsidised education, public housing that is relatively cheap (compared to those oh-so-nice condominiums which seem like castles in the sky to you). And occasionally, like in the case of developmental East-Asian economies - there is the occurence of the "Developmental State" - which takes a totalitarian stance on nation management, along the premise that it is THE only way to ensuring successful development "From Third World to First".

Qn: What about the environment? What about the lives of the common people, whom some may still argue are a simply highly evolved version of Proletariats, living a Capitalist-driven illusion of fast cars, big houses, 'good jobs' (whatever those all are...)??

Ans: The choices 'we' (our collective consiousness embodied in the State apparatus) makes has to be rationally driven. Hence, we will care for the environment, so far as it coincides with our personal interests and agendas.

Just ask yourself...

When was the last time you switched off the lights before leaving your hall room? (I do. But I know ALOT of hostelites who don't...they take it for granted that they've already paid a "flat rate" and are "Entitled" to use all the electricity they want (and can) for a whole semester.

When was the last time you turned on the air-conditioning at home, even though you know full-well that the weather - being oh-so-cool - doesn't warrant it at all?

Perhaps you'd say you're used to "sleeping with air-con on at night", that its just "too stuffy and humid" to do so otherwise.

Well, let's put it this way: If I, a person who has been suffering from eczema and will start scratching myself to bits when I get too sweaty and sticky, can sleep without the air-conditioning on (and have been doing so for the past 23 years of my life), I don't see why anyone who is otherwise medically sound should not.

Think about it....

Lastly for the night, I'll leave you with some food for thought:

Was reading the Da Vinci Code today (yes, I know...I'm living an opulent life-style as an exchange student, catching up on reading of best-selling novels and viewing great films...when its already the third week into term), and I was struck by this quote from Napoleon:

"What is history, but a fable agreed upon?"

Certainly it wasn't cited in the context which I'm using it now (Dan Brown's use of it was more on how the Catholic Church twisted and carved the gospels to fit its own agenda of wanting absolute control over the Catholic population).

However, the idea about totalitarian control over knowledge does seem to ring a bell....especially after viewing those three controversial films.
1) Who gets to dictate environmental policies in the world?

2) Who gets to decide what is the next big enemy of the world?

3) Who decides what we see on the news each and everyday of our lives?

Democratisation of the press, the media, and the world at large is a great and ideal thing to have, but we've got to always remember that someone, somewhere is going to be reading and editting the things we see/hear - and even THINK about (if you're thinking Nineteen Eighty-Four...you're not too far).

P.S. Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" may even become reality. Just look at how its possible now to have test-tube babies who will grow entirely independant of a womb. NO more instances of parents having to find a surrogate mother for the baby. Baby grows too big? Just chuck him in a bigger sized vial...he'll survive with all the right nutrients. Eugenics...ah man.

Monday, February 12, 2007

Views from the Peak

Went Peak climbing with most of the other Singaporeans and a few China exchange students last Saturday. Don't want to say too much, but just enjoy the pics!

Left: The pavilion that overlooks the city is amazing...better than going up to the Peak Tower. Here, you get fresh air, and great scenery (esp if its not foggy)

The Ubiquitous Peak Tower which is shaped like a "giant anvil" say some, houses lots of interesting (and expensive) boutiques, restaurants - and even a huge EA Games outlet - which has the latest games like "The Godfather". Enjoyed beating up rival thugs for Corleone's gang, while it lasted. Heh.

Making dinner...

Today, I tried making dinner again....
Had already marinated half a bag of chicken fillets in the fridge, and decided to do a deep fried chicken rendition.

As you can see on the left, the chicken pieces were soaked in a marinate sauce of Chicken marinate, sesame oil, dark soya sauce, and 'hot sauce' (whatever that is....I found it on the kitchen counter top).

Then dipped the fillets in potato starch (corn starch or tapioca starch does fine as well...I just made use of what was available. As always).

A major problem I encountered while frying the stuff was that...I HAD HEATED THE PAN TOO HOT.

Initially wanting to dry out the pan, so that oil wouldn't splatter around when poured into a freshly washed pan, I had turned the hotplate on to full heat (setting '3'). However, when I dipped the chicken fillets into the pan - they started smoking almost immediately! As you could guess, what happened next was that I was left with blackened chicken pieces...that actually tasted alright (if you peeled all the black bits off).

If you notice carefully, the one which is not like the others (the fillet that looks more 'normal' and golden brown), was the result of listening to the advice of Judy.
What advice?
REMEMBER KIDS: When you're cooking batter fried stuff...no matter what...fish/chicken/even goreng pisang...heat the oil up first...and fry your stuff in small to medium flame. NEVER high flame. Or else, you'll get blackened chicken strips like Yours-Truly.
BTW: Judy is the Filipino helper of the young couple down the hallway who have a 10 month old son called "SuenSuen" (I think...that's probably his nickname).

Ain't he adorable?? ;)

Because of the rather miserable looking chicken that appeared on my platter (that I had initially intended to be my entree)...I cooked noodles with dumplings. Threw in a few leaves of lettuce, which actually taste quite good together with the noodles.

Yes...I will be cooking on a regular basis here in HK. The food is generally quite good. But good food does come at a price (esp if you're in campus/ard the HKU Pokfulam Area). This place is considered "rich man's territory". While walking to the nearby "Park-N-Shop" to do grocery shopping, I have spotted several Ferraris and Lotuses (Ricky would be so pleased!).
In the school canteens (which are mostly like foodcourts) - prices for a normal meal begin from HKD$10 for the cheapest fare - and are usually priced in the region of about HKD$25 to HKD$40. "Cheapest fare" is not necessarily "Lousy fare", as I can attest to. So far, I've tried "Potato and Pork Rib Rice" and "Stewed Beef Rice" which were both $10 HK. And both were not only filling (with quite a generous serving of meat on top of rice), but tasty too.
That's one thing that Singapore stallholders can take a tip from (stop scrimping on the food you're giving us man!).
Ahh....but I still like 茶餐厅 "cha can ting" food....cheap, good, and lots. That's where u can really taste the local cuisine - much like a Singaporean would always insist on bringing his foreign guests (if they agree), to the grimiest and dingiest hawker stalls in Singapore to try the "D"-for-Delicious Bak Chor Mee or Char Kuay Teow.
Which reminds me...I'm craving for these foods now.
HOW??
HOW?!?!

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

"Nian: Cultural Learnings from HK make benefit for glorious nation of Singa-Land"

Having been here in HK for close to two weeks, I have begun to realise the many differences that HK-ers have with Singaporeans.

1) Holding Doors Open

People here generally DO NOT hold doors open for you. I'm saying this from pure experience. You could be standing at the lift lobby with a dozen people, and if the lift opens and all of them rush in, leaving you gazing at that interesting poster about a seminar this evening, then too bad. Wait for the next lift - and be alert next time.

No one's gonna call you to join them in the lift. Its too much of a squeeze.

When we hold doors open for others on the corridor, most of the time you'd expect some form of reciprocatory "thank you" gesture. Perhaps a word of "Thanks" or "不该". I seldom get it here. But I still do it anyway.

Its probably ingrained in me from young, you know... Singapore's "好公民" syllabus and all.

2) Food

HK-ers don't really favour eating chilli. The most spicy thing I've had here was Chilli oil...which I always remember to get (asking them for 辣椒浆 or Chilli sauce won't do...there's no such thing here. No sambal, no chicken rice chilli. Not even sliced fresh ones. Zilch). Chilli oil = closest thing to spicy stuff u get ard here.

SO... my food ends up being really red and oily...cos I love my chilli. Yeah. Bring it on. (I need to ask my brother to bring some sambal for me when he comes during CNY).

Singapore's "Hong-Kong" food are definitely better than those "Chinese" outlets you find in the UK (believe you me when i say this, from personal experience). At least you get proper Cha Siew. Sort of. But its no where close to HK style Roasts. The slices are THICK and JUICY. not shrimpy and dried as if it were some beef-jerky from a packet (as you would get in UK "炒面", or rather "Chow Mein").

3) Talking in Classes

Now...if there is one pet peeve that I have, it MUST be people yakking non-stop in classes.
I'm not talking about *whisper-whisper-hush-hush-other's-may-hear" kind of talking. What I'm talking about is a full-blown conversation taking place, in the middle of the lecture!

Having attended two weeks worth of lectures, I dare say that it happens in all my lectures. So its a common trend, and not simply abt Suzy whispering to Mandy about her new makeup kit.

And the thing is, most lecturers don't care. The Ang Moh ones do - and often tell the offenders to keep quiet (in the nicest, most sarcastic way you could imagine). But the local teachers probably have been used to the system, and just let it go...as if it was "Ah well, its just the bird's chirping outside the window. Leave them be".

Even with all these grievances, I'm still happy and thankful for being here. At least I'm experiencing yet another different culture from Singapore's "down-at-the-bottom-of-the-well" mentality. I like the weather here...not cold, dry enough (so I don't sweat tsunamis when I go running). I like the food too...cos only in Hong Kong, can you experience authentic "Hong Kong style Wanton Mee" (which by the way, I have not tried yet. Only cooked it by myself from frozen alternatives. I'll go search out a good stall and tell you later).

I like the library too...its one of my favourite haunts here. I've been using it as my unofficial DVD rental place (best of all, its free, and I get to bring the DVDs out for a wk). Also just borrowed "The Da Vinci Code" (yes, I know some of u have already read it...spare me pls, and let me just enjoy the humour) and "Rules of Engagement" (about the Iraq War in 2003).

Still having many cultural learnings to attend to...but I'm keen as ever to explore and discover (instead of merely cooping myself up to "Singapore" mentality...and comparing ).

Disclaimer: The 'rants' above are factual...and are simply observations I made about differences...not meant to be comparisons in anyway.

Monday, February 05, 2007

More of My Food experiences...

Hi Again...

Yup, went to my aunt's house last week to have dinner, and had an enjoyable quiet evening just catching up with my Yi Gu Cheung and Yi Gu Che (2nd Uncle and Aunt, Dad's Side).

She made a delicious dish of fresh minced fish meat stuffed into peppers (looked just as appetising as they smelt!).

Left: Dinner consisted of freshly steamed Teochew style "O-He" (fish), Fish stuffed in peppers, beanssprouts and mushrooms, beancurd and beans, and broiled choy sum. Typical home-cooked food! YUM!

Right: Lunch on Sunday afternoon (the OISE, Office of International Student Affairs) had organised a tour of Kowloon and New Territories area for us) was had at the "Cafe De Coral" (a mega chain of Chinese fast-food outlets, serving seemingly authentic Chinese food, as compared to MacS***) in the Wildlife Nature Park in the New Territories. I had Steamed rice with pork ribs and choysum...sounds simple, but believe you me, this stuff is seriously GOOD! (especially when you've been doing walking for a good part of the day, and its chilly outside...hot rice in you does the trick!).

Left: My first, and probably LAST, KFC meal in HK. Good grief...the chicken in my Zinger Burger was tough, dry and worst of all, STRINGY. (I'm not even gonna start on my Zinger not having enough 'SPICE' in it!).
And its not only me. Paul, who ordered a two-piece chicken meal, was remarking that "the chicken looks mighty stunted in growth...must be the Bird Flu".
The only saving grace of the meal was the crinkle cut fries...which were ALMOST as good as Carl's Jr. But HEY...its KFC...not KFF. SO..."NO GO" by my standards. I'm sticking to Burger King ("It just tastes better"), and "Cha Can Ting" from now on in HK!

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Hong Kong....Food Haven!

Been here for a week and a half now...and I must really thank God for all the people who've been taking care of me thus far. From my relatives (Yi Gu Cheung, Yi Gu Che, Cousin Yueh Yi...as well as Dai Bak and Dai Bak Leong who hosted me last Saturday at a splendid Dim Sum breakfast), to my friends (William, my HK buddy, and his Cousin Hero, who came to pick me up from the airport, as well as brought my roommate - Antoine - and me to try the local claypot rice (煲仔饭) near Tsim Sha Shui (尖沙咀).
The following pictures are a collection of a week's worth of eating (and is by no means exhaustive of the food experiences I've had here!).

Right: Fried fish skin, Beef Tendon Noodles

with Fish balls (牛筋面加鱼蛋)...great stuff that has to be tried here in HK!
Cousin Yueh Yi not looking at the camera, as she awaits to wolf down here own Fish Dumpling Rice Noodles(鱼饺粉).

Above: HK Food culture...no matter where you go...be it a big restaurant, or a little teahouse (茶餐厅)...washing your utensils with tea/hot water is the way to go! P.S. The Yellow Tea Pot contains Tea for washing the utensils! And to think I poured myself a cup!

Left: Coke...or "Coca Cola" in glass bottles...ah...how nostalgic indeed!

Right: Antoine and JC (John-Cristophe) showing off the only two 'Cock' spoons that were dished out to us...which coincidentally is the National Animal of France - Le Coq!

Red pill...or Blue?

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

"One Blood" - Terence Jay