Today, 16th September, we celebrate Malaysia Day. On this day, in 1963, Malaysia was birthed as a nation. In Exodus, there is another story of birth of a nation, the nation of Israel[1]. And like every story of beginnings, it begins with the birth of its great leader, Prophet Moses. As I was reading Exodus …
“Please like and subscribe.” This is the ubiquitous catch-phrase found in every YouTube video. Then there is the tongue in cheek response by stand-up comic Jocelyn Chia when she said “Honestly, if Interpol did something about this request and things escalated, can you imagine how famous it is going to make me?”[1] Why is it …
A friend (who kept chickens as pets) told me a profound observation: “If a chicken starts to look towards the skies, it’s a sign that the chicken is going to die.” He was speaking about a condition called wry necks or stargazing chicken which is a disease.[1] I was also reading John 17 at that …
“I couldn’t get Coldplay tickets” I moaned to a friend. “Why do you want to go? Aren’t you afraid of Covid?” she retorted. “You don’t even want to participate in church events, yet you want to go to a concert?” she remarked, exposing my hypocrisy. This Coldplay concert also turned into a political issue, with …
Have you ever read a book and said to yourself “I wish I could meet those characters in that book. I wish they can come to life and chat with me.” I’ve just read one such book. It’s “Heavenly Vision, the story of the Lutheran Church in Malaysia and Singapore 1952 – 1991” by Warren …
Faith that moves mountains: the ordination of women Read More »
John Nelson and his wife Betty Lou came from America to Malaya in 1955. They came as missionaries. They came during the Malayan Emergency. How I came to know and meet them in person is close to a miracle. I was asked by Nelson Leong to do some research on LCM. Rev John Nelson’s name …
“Yesu Lei!” A story of 2 early Lutheran missionaries in Malaya Read More »
When I was growing up in Malaysia 50 odd years ago, life was simple and straightforward. To me, one was either a Man or Woman, a male or female. I could easily differentiate one from the other just by the way the toilet each one went to in school. I learnt in school that men …
International Women’s Day 2023. Happy?! ….Or Confused? Read More »
It’s Chinese New Year (“CNY”) and we hear shouts of “Gong Xi Fa Cai!” which means “Wishing you Prosperity and Good Fortune!” We hear “Niannian You Yu!” which means “Surplus and Abundance Year after Year!” We hear “Ji Xiang Ru Yi!” which means “Good luck, Good fortune!” We greet each other with greetings of good …
Q1: What does Chinese New Year (“CNY”) mean to you? Q2: Do you enjoy CNY? Why? Q3: What are your hopes for CNY? These were the questions posed to a number of friends who celebrated Chinese New Year, (19 people of Chinese descent (3 living overseas), 1 Korean and 1 Japanese). Surprisingly, the …
1st of January 2023 has come. We’ve bid goodbye to 2022. It’s a new year. How is it that I feel nothing has really changed, yet I also feel that 2022 has come and gone too quickly. Who is the person who determined that the 1st of January is a new year in the first …
