Fahoodled

Star Light Star Bright,
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight.

It's there.

A lone star shining brightly in the red of the night - its flickering colours beckoning to me.

Faintly yet surely... as sure as its imminent death.

Who knows? It may have winked out of existence by the time its silent song reached me across vast emptiness.

Will I catch my star in time?

Last monday, just before we met Sandra for her farewell coffee, I wondered what to get her as a farewell gift. Incidentally I was supposed to return Rick Warren's "The Purpose-Driven Life" to my ex-cellgroup leader and it occurred to me to give her just that - a brand new book, of course.

Thing is, have never spoken to Sandra about her beliefs before - she being as quiet as her obsession, Hello Kitty. Prayed about it and somehow giving her that book felt quite right.

En route to town, I was a little uncertain & wondered if a Corinne May CD might be better utilized instead. But decided to stick to the original plan and finally managed to pen down behind the cover "Hope this book will keep you company in Vietnam. It inspired me a lot."

Come wed, saw her online & msg-ed her to ask if she had open the book yet. Her reply "Oh yeah, thanks! Been meaning to get that book."

This verse came to mind "He makes everything beautiful in its time" (Ecc 3:11).

Expecting a mail full of a series of attachments totalling 1GB. Phew!

Was flipping through thursday's papers when lo & behold, there she was. My senior pastor's wife posing in Urban, looking all glam & fashionable - totally over-turning the pastor stereotype (& post-pregnancy haggardness, for that matter). Apparently she's started a fashion boutique with friends.

I immediately thought to myself, what's she gone and done again? Man, I'm definitely gonna hear about this from friends. Can just imagine what people are just gonna say. Incidentally, people were already talking about her, prior to this recent publicity.

As I was lamenting about this to ZH, he asked me a good question to the effect of: Isn't she entitled to her own private affairs?

Yes, she is - the boutique is a private undertaking, a personal enterprise (which makes absolute business sense to build on her fame & connections). But a public profile (with a fansite & a Wikipedia write-up) will always attract criticism and it will reflect on the institutions that she is a member of - in this case, my church which she heads.

As a member of her church & a fellow christian, I understand the rationale for the controversial decision that she took to cross-over into pop music & entertainment. And I love her and respect her for both this work and the work that she does in church as well. But it's tough to deal with all the backlash, especially when it comes from other christians.

One thing I've learnt is: Who am I to judge others, especially when my own church is the source of controversy? When a SoC friend was telling me about the magic shows that Pastor Lawrence Khong's Houdini-like escapist acts, I initially felt disapproval rising from within. Well, the rest's self-explanatory.

At Ray's grandma's funeral wake last night with G, he was telling us how they were simply following her last wishes in having a buddhist funeral. None of them really knew what to do, so they merely followed the instructions of the monks. In fact, in line with common funeral practices, the family covered all the mirrors in the house (to prevent the departing spirit from becoming lost in the reflections), but the monks pointed out that it was unnecessary. Then I was asking about the many blankets draped outside the house and R explained from what little he knew that blankets were considered more practical because they could be re-used. Uh-huh.

Over lunch, a few of us were discussing what kind of work high-ranking people actually do, in view of the fact that some big bosses can afford to take long holidays and things continue to move. On the other hand, when some junior officers aren't around, others get flustered because they are at a loss at how to settle simple administrative or logistical matters. Responsibility does not always equate to work, or work as most of us know it.

The discussion eventually moved to how in society, people naturally equate status with power and wealth. Just ask a kid whether an army general or a recruit gets paid more. Yet when you ask the same person if he knows what the general does, he probably can't answer. One colleague insists it's because of the developed social norms. My take: perhaps this is the result of social-capitalism - where power & wealth are top-heavy according to the evolved social hierarchy.

Moral of the story: There're so many assumptions and rituals in life that we take for granted. And most of them will stay that way - unquestioned and undisturbed.

HSBC/NYAA Youth Environmental Award 1999

Hurhur.

As you can see, have started a livejournal account, haven't decided what to do with it yet. Will update in a moment... or two :)

Cheerios!