Hatred found lacking in church over gay issue

I attempted a step-by-step reasoning on what I believe should be the Christian’s stand on people who identify themselves as ‘gay’. At whichever step you don’t agree with, you may choose not to continue further. If you’re a professing Christian however, I’d encourage you to read till the end. At the end, I discover, that most of the time, the main reason is that we lack hatred, hatred of sin.

Image from thebricktestament.com

Visit to Marine Life Park’s SEA Aquarium at Resorts World Sentosa

Third-world corruption, traffic, and an Overseas Singaporean

I recently changed jobs, and cleared several days of leave out and about in Cambodia visiting my dad, who is an expatriate there. He’s been there for about 10 years by now. I had visited Indochina a long time ago just before I graduated from university, in a whirlwind tour starting in Siem Reap, going through Phnom Penh and Ho Chin Minh, before it ended abruptly thanks to a tropical storm along the Vietnamese coast.

This time it was going to be just Phnom Penh, and the objective would be to catch up with my dad rather than sightseeing. After all, Phnom Penh itself did not have too many tourist attractions which you could revisit again and again. To me there’s nothing new about the usual temples, the infamous S-21 prison for Pol Pot political detainees, the Russian market, and so on. This was a trip to understand expat life in Cambodia better.

Corruption

Reading the only main English newspaper published in Cambodia, you catch a glimpse of the typical challenges of a developing country. There are regular reports of forced evictions of people off village land and tussles over logging, usually with the involvement of government officials like the military, police and forestry officials. There was also a recent case where a local journalist, who had been publishing stories about government officials involved in illegal logging, was murdered with an axe. Such stories from developing countries, as well as the occasional altercations with Malaysian traffic police, remind me that being a government servant can sometimes be a form of tax farming.

This real need to stem corruption struck me the most when I left my job in a startup to join a government ministry. In my work in the startup, I had quite a few Filipino colleagues. When I told one of them that I had joined the government service after leaving the company, he was momentarily cold and distant. He later explained to me that he had encountered lots of problems with government officials in the course of conducting his own business in the Philippines, and it was not about incompetence, but of corruption. Stories from Malaysians whom I know from other workplaces have painted a picture of how government was not always about public service, where even the slightest things we take for granted, like applying for a driving license, or reporting a crime, can be riddled with expectations of “kopi money” or to intentionally misreport the physical description of the criminals.

You can understand why our elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew says that you have to pay politicians enough to prevent them from being corrupted. The more powerful, the more easily corrupted, the more you must pay them. It is a very realistic and pragmatic view of human nature. But is it the way to run a country? What kind of messages are being sent out to the rank and file public servants? What happens when there isn’t enough money to go around? I believe with the recent high profile arrests, the government is trying to use both the hard and soft approaches, but I think most of the Singaporean population is still reeling from surprise that such things have been happening in the first place (naively too, if I may add).

Where there is no law, live out the spirit of the law

Not more than 10 years ago Cambodia was filled with both left- and right-hand drive cars imported mostly second-hand from the more developed countries, until the government finally enforced left-hand drive as the standard kind of car to be imported. Nevertheless, a few minutes in Cambodian traffic and you wonder why they bother. Motorcycles, cars and trucks coming in and out of side lanes, turning off into the other side of the road, will go in any direction that is expedient. And the government is only just planning to make it mandatory for motorcycle pillions to wear helmets.

Of course, all traffic rules are there for the purpose of allowing the police to collect money from you if you happen to pass the most ‘popular’ junctions. After all, motorists there seem to operate quite fine without them, given the speed at which traffic goes along, with people, motorcycles, and SUVs moving around in a chaotic mix. You don’t even need to raise your hand to hold up traffic as you’re making a right turn across the main street into a side lane – just edge across bit by bit unto the oncoming traffic and go through. Such a system of traffic is interesting, because the onus is on motorists to interact and look out for others, rather than rely on traffic lights. The downside is that you can’t go very fast like that (not that you can go very fast with traffic lights every 1-2km anyway, as the now-notorious Ma Chi found out in his red Ferrari).

In Singapore we have the other problem, which is over-dependence on traffic lights, such that people have forgotten about looking out for one another on the road. You’ll be reminded of this the next time you drive through merging lanes. To me, that is just part of the larger problem with our own country, we are so beaten into obeying rules and deferring everything to the authorities that we forget how to regulate ourselves. We forget how to be human.

We need signs to tell us to give up our seat on public transportation. The slightest offence is reported to the police. People quarrel over parking spaces. (By the way, here it’s USD0.50 per ‘entry’ which is paid to the chaps who direct your car into the parking space. No ‘evil landlord’ involved. Reverse sensors are unpopular here.)

Some people will say that being rules-obsessed is a small price to pay for the peace, stability and prosperity we have. And you are surprised why American children say their country stands for freedom of speech, religion, etc, and Singaporean children say their country stands for clean water, clean streets and air-conditioning. “What is freedom, can eat one meh?”

But the real question is this: Is economic progress necessarily tied to tight controls and a rigidly-defined public space? In the creative industry, and advanced sciences, and even business management, stifled thinking is a hindrance. (But we already know that, hence we try to teach creativity.)

A wide income gap’s cool as long as cost of living is low

Back in Cambodia, the roads are filled with Lexus SUVs. They’re mostly imported second-hand from the US, with many owned by the wealthy class and expatriates. The roads are a marked improvement from several years ago, with actual paved roads on most main streets in the capital replacing dirt roads. Income disparity is obvious, but the cost of living there is still very low, so the majority of the population can still get by. Owning property is quite affordable for expats, but ambiguity in the ownership laws applicable to foreigners makes investing a rather risky proposition, so a trusted local partner is essential.

The unwitting Overseas Singaporean

Life as an expat in a third-world country is not much fun. Basically you hang out with the expats all the time, or absorb yourself entirely in your work (which was what the big boss intended anyway). It’s further complicated by the different lifestyles of asian and caucasian expats. You spend a lot of time on the Internet reading news about the world, and about your home country.

But you also slowly begin to become part of the stories unique to the community, that only expats will know. Like the one about how people who were victims of serious crime had to resort to going to the radio station before the police chief intervened and demanded an investigation. Or of successful expats who ruined their lives at the one and only casino in town. The tussles between the Japanese and the Chinese in developing ports and railways. The doctor from Singapore who had been there for over ten years and suddenly left.

Nagaworld, now the only casino in town. There used to be jackpot machines in every other building in the city before the Prime Minister closed them all down. Of course, he has a share in the only one left standing now.

My dad is one of those people of a particular generation. The ones who wanted, or had, to move overseas because they slipped up at that vulnerable point in their career when everything was about cheaper, faster, better, and they were not. The working world is sometimes an unforgiving place, with employees feeling the pressure to continually ‘upgrade’ and ‘prove themselves’. But you’ve already read too many stories about our PMETs who got booted out the corporate world.

At least here, he can be a “rich man” in a poor country. Although that, in itself becomes meaningless after a while. That’s why I got him started on going to church in Phnom Penh on Sundays again.

And thank God that we now have emails and MSN for keeping in touch – although he’s the kind of ‘old man’ who will make a long-distance call to tell you to “check the email I just sent” 🙂

Did you try mousing over the pictures for the captions?

Haters gonna hate, but let the national conversation reign online!

I think Singapore is only just coming of age when it comes to open public discourse on national/social issues. The ‘report police if got racist tweet’ is a clear sign of how we are not ready yet. Not that I’m supporting racism, but I think this shows that we are not ready and mature enough to handle a truly public space where we can debate so-called ‘sensitive matters’ openly.

It is almost an insult to even suggest that some groups of people in Singapore will turn physically violent just because of some comments and remarks made. Yes, remind me about the riots, and maybe even the recent incidents in India, but do we want to grow up, or stay mollycoddled?

Ranters will rant. Just like not everyone talking crap in the coffeeshop can be stopped, so will some corners of our cyberspace be full of such conversations. Our alarm bells should come on only when such talk becomes mainstream.

So what of this whole xenophobia which Singaporeans seem to be exhibiting en masse? For one, I think we are to blame when it comes to targeting the wrong thing. It is natural and easy to blame the foreign worker we see face to face rather than the policies that may need fine-tuning.

And when the middle-ground voices its concerns about the policies, or the direction of policies, some of the haters will just mix their poisonous human attacks and just discredit the whole conversation. And we retreat.

So should we ban the poisoners? In an ideal case, I hope that public chastisement will be enough to keep such explosive talk away from our mainstream cyberspaces. In the meantime, some proactive moderation, or community moderation, will be good while we’re ‘growing up’.

As a fly-on-the-wall in cyberspace, I find it extremely encouraging that there have been more ‘moderating’ voices on popular forums like Yahoo Singapore, and even EDMW etc. As a start, people are no longer taking things wholesale without verification (Most senior EDMWers value their street-cred when they start sagas, and I respect that).

And I like how the police have not been (publicly at least) reacting to some of those police reports about ‘offensive tweets’. But as we are still infants in this respect, they still do maintain a threshold which they enforce in certain cases.

There’s this whole thing about ‘national conversation’. Let’s make it happen. There will be bumps on the way, but let good sense prevail.

Tip: I’ve learnt that not responding within 10 seconds of reading an online comment improves the quality of your response by 90% 🙂

And since we’re on the issue of hate-speech and integration:

Sex, threats and the promise of wealth are not ways to spread the “Christian” faith

I want to make it clear that Jesus Christ, who is the basis of faith for all who profess to be Christians, did NOT say that we should “convert” people and spread the gospel (which is that belief in him will bring eternal life after death) through ANY MEANS necessary.

Kong Hee deserves his luxury Sentosa Cove mansion

Christians and especially members of the public should just shut up about Pastor Kong Hee’s multi-million dollar residence in Sentosa Cove, or his wife’s luxury residence in the US. Because he deserves it, according to the Prosperity Gospel:

I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. – Genesis 12:12 (NLT)

It is easy to read it as God will give us wealth so that we can use our material wealth to bless others. Notice how everything about blessing can be interpreted to be in the material sense, although we know the term has been used in other ways, like having many children, spiritual blessing, etc. Combine this with the various promises of increasing your wealth by x number of times – eg. Five-fold, ten-fold and so on, which are promises given to patriarchs in the old testament, and you know you’ve got a great thing going.

So it is perfectly consistent, and rational, that according to his teaching, since he has touched so many lives and he has blessed so many, and is a devout man of God, that these luxury residences are God’s blessing to him.

Another one I keep hearing is:

Jesus nailed your poverty (and sickness, etc) on the cross

Can’t find a bible reference, but just google the phrase, I didn’t make this up. Also doesn’t leave much to the imagination once the Son of God removes your material poverty! And let’s not forget:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. – John 10:10 (1984NIV)

Which can be easily understood to referring to a materially abundant life. Not like this.

By the way, those who believe the above teachings and try to claim them but failed, just haven’t had ‘enough’ faith!

But I want to say right now that this is not the Gospel according to the Apostles Mark, Matthew, Luke or John, but an intelligent patchwork of verses to sell the idea that Jesus came to make you rich.

The Prosperity Gospel’s selective reading of the bible runs contrary to Jesus’ many words in the new testament – where He teaches

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.” – Matthew 6:19 (1984NIV)

which is a general discourse against coveting material wealth. And this is consistent with the rest of the gospel.

So the rest of us should not complain about Kong Hee’s great mansion on earth, for that is his rightful reward, according to his Prosperity Gospel. But those who seek God’s true Kingdom, and the spiritual riches of God, and the forgiveness promised in Jesus, should look elsewhere.

Ever wonder about the origins of the phrase “as poor as a churchmouse”?

(Afternote: This is not a condemnation of rich people. It is about the false teaching that Jesus will make you rich if you believe in him, or Jesus wants you to pursue wealth in order to glorify him)

A prayer for my City Harvest friends

Secular governments have no business judging whether an activity qualifies as a church “mission work” or not. What they do is identify and prosecute dishonest financial disclosure. FCBC’s leader is an entertainer, and any financial matters concerning his church and his entertainment career are openly reported. So the government has no issue with them. It’s that simple.

This matter is for those who profess to be Christians. A magic show is one thing. A music career like Sun Ho’s, embarked on and funded in God’s name, is another thing altogether.

Searching for Gardens by the Bay

Went on a little fun trip to seek out this latest attraction, turns out it only opens next week!

But caught this beautiful view of that half of the Dragonfly Bridge that was already open.

Giant puffs at Biopolis!

No camera tricks! Honest!