A new perspective for moms

Saw this shared on Facebook. Fantastic mini documentary. Elevation Church did a little interview with mums and asked them to "describe yourself as a mother".

Several days later, the mums were called back and asked to watch a video of what THEIR OWN KIDS have to say of them.

This brought some of them to tears. Have a lil' look at this video and hope it helps you to appreciate your mum better :)


A New Perspective For Moms
from Elevation Church on Vimeo.

NTU hall raids

Read this article on NTU students getting upset over the early morning spot checks in NTU halls of residences. These raids are meant to weed out subletters, illegal squatters (like me) and extirpate room profiteering.

Here's the article: http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/singaporeseen/this-urban-jungle/ntu-undergrads-upset-over-early-morning-spot-checks

Yes, I was an illegal squatter. During this raiding period, I also slept over at a 24 hour study area at the School of Material Sciences & Engineering (MSE) E-space for fear of getting my 2 friends who kindly let me squat get evicted.

The fantastic thing about MSE E-space is, it has FREE HOT BEVERAGES! :D They have an array of different drinks from Hazelnut coffee to hot chocolate to jasmine green tea packets.

You put those in the drink-making machine and whoa-lah, you get your hot drink - TOTALLY FREE! LOL. They even have board games, magazines and TV in the Relax & Recreation room! #winner

So yeah, I spent the night there...not alone...but with MANY others who were avoiding the hall raids as well! Haha! Here are a few pictures of our lil' awesome stay at MSE E-space :D

Wei Kit, Me & Xuan Ren :D

Thanks to Wei Kit & Xuan Ren, I manage to get in to this 24 hour study facility :D So thanks a million! :D Haha!

Yes, MSE E-space is strictly for MSE students. Only MSE students' matric card can tap open the room's door. Haha.

And the reason for my heart-shape pose...is to everyone who sees the picture know that their love is still blossoming..HAHAHAHA! :D

More illegal squatters camping at E-space! :D

Yes, Beth also came over with her 2 friends. They were armed with sleeping bags and jackets...haha! There were a couple of other illegal squatters too which we didn't cam whore with. Haha.

As it got kinda boring, Xuan Ren got kinda interesting. I was viewing the Impresario webpage and it showed this performer and she was like "EHH, YOU LOOK LIKE HIM LEH!!"

She then asked me to pose and after a few photo edits, this is the LOL-ROFL quite-look-alike outcome...haha!

Me VS Impresario performer :D

So yeah, our night was spent there. I tried to sleep in the SUPER COLD ROOM and only managed to squeeze 1 to 2 hours of sleep before freezing. Haha!

So I got up and got out to thaw and soon, it was lesson time :D LOL. Had a nice breakfast at Canteen A before fighting the day with only like 2 hours of sleep? Haha.

While others were complaining about hall raids, we were actually quite enjoying ourselves having this lil' sleepover at MSE E-space. Haha!

So, RAID ALL YOU WANT HALL OFFICERS! WE'LL FIND A WAY ROUND IT! :D Haha.

When we love the least of these

This song totally captured me recently. It's called "Kings & Queens" by Audio Adrenaline. The songs paints a powerful picture of the potential of people and what they can be when we love them.

Woven together with a catchy tune and a contemporary rock/pop song writing style, this song speaks a truth really powerful.

The chorus goes:

Boys become kings, girls will be queens

Wrapped in Your majesty

When we love, when we love the least of these

Then they will be brave and free

Shout your name in victory

When we love, when we love the least of these

When we love the least of these

Here's the lyric video of the song. I spent a good 10 minutes finding a lyric video that has the CORRECT LYRICS. So yeah, this is a good lyric video with the correct lyrics and free of grammatical error.

Other lyric videos spell "their" as "there" and "to grieve" as "too brief". I think no effort was put in for the other lyric videos...or the one who made it have an atrocious command of English.

Ok, enough of the grammar-Nazi syndrome...haha! Enjoy this fantastic song put together by Audio Adrenaline :D

The most powerful part of the song is the chorus. It says "boys become kings", "girls will be queens". And this not only apply to boys and girls; but also to everyone around us. Everyone is learning, growing and walking toward their destinies.

The thing is, how often do we view others as potential kings and queens? We view our friends, families and loved ones through our tainted lens of judgement, only seeing their flaws and imperfections AT PRESENT.

How often do we stop to think and realize that, hey, this friend of mine could be the future prime minister, a future CEO, a champion for human rights, an inventor that'll change the world, a heroic father, an understanding mother, a hardworking employee that will see a company through tough times, etc...

All we see is the broken present and don't speak into their future or love them FOR WHO THEY WILL BECOME.

And with that short-sighted mentality deeply ingrained in our numskulls, we live life never appreciating people for all they were created to be.

This results in broken hearts, delusion-ed people who think they'll never make it, self-esteemLESS people who think they're not good enough, suicidal individuals who think there is no hope, no purpose, no future for their meager existence, cynical individuals who believe that everyone is out there to judge them, etc...

But, WHEN WE LOVE THE LEAST OF THESE.......It all changes.

When we love people with a vision of who they were made to be, we will treat them different. We will understand that they are still growing up, learning and on their way to becoming that history-maker within their sphere of influence.

You don't know how many people are broken and have no inherent belief in themselves that they were made for so much more.

In my many talks with friends, I discover and uncover all these low self-esteem tendencies and mindsets beneath their cheerful, confident exterior.

So two things I wanna leave with you:

1) When we love the least of these - our friends, family and loved ones - in light of their God-given potential, the world would be a much better place.

Before getting angry, judging or replying a person, ask yourself, "How would I reply him/her if he/she would be the next Steve Jobs, Warren Buffet, Mother Theresa, etc..."

2) You are worth it. Don't let anyone tell you that you're not. I randomly tweeted this to a friend recently and thought I should share it with you.

Sorry Suyi I didn't ask your permission to post this...Haha! But citing the fact that you tweeted it in public social media, me re-posting this shouldn't violate your privacy right? :D

Yup, so YOU'RE MADE FOR A PURPOSE!

God didn't just package all these wonderful skills and talents into you and decide to randomly place you, out of the infinite-ness of time, in the 21st century, year 2013, for nothing! He did that because He wanted to give you a chance to live out His design and purpose for you in this cosmic storybook called life.

If you ever feel worthless, emo, lousy, purposeless, useless and redundant, lemme tell you, you're worth more than GOLD!

Or rather, let Britt Nicole tell you through her awesome song "Gold". Let the lyrics speak deep into your spirit that you're worth it :)

Especially love the lyric in her lil' singing-rap part of the song:

But the truth is that we're all diamonds in the rough

So don't be ashamed to wear your crown

You're a king you're a queen inside and out

Yup, enjoy the song. Lyrics below the YouTube video link :D

Gold

By Britt Nicole

You were walking on the moon, now you're feeling low
What they said wasn't true, you're beautiful
Sticks and stones break your bones, I know what you're feeling
Words like those won't steal your glow, you're one in a million

Chorus:
This, this is for all the girls, and boys all over the world
Whatever you've been told, you're worth more than gold
So hold your head up high, it's your time to shine
From the inside it shows, you're worth more than gold
(gold gold, you're gold)
You're worth more than gold
(gold gold you're gold)

Well everybody keeps score, afraid you're gonna lose
Just ignore they don't know the real you
All the rain in the sky can't put out your fire
Of all the stars out tonight, you shine brighter

So don't let anybody tell you that you're not loved
And don't let anybody tell you that you're not enough
Yeah there are days that we all feel like we are messed up
But the truth is that we're all diamonds in the rough
So don't be ashamed to wear your crown
You're a king you're a queen inside and out
You glow like the moon, you shine like the stars
This is for you, wherever you are

Ashley Madison "Life is short, have an affair"

My dad emailed me this link talking about a Canada-based website which works like a match-making site — except it is targeted at married couples. Check it out: http://sg.news.yahoo.com/ashley-madison-160451322.html and http://www.breakfastnetwork.sg/?p=8438

Their slogan?

"Life is short, have an affair"

It's saddening to hear of its apparent success: "Ashley Madison boasts users from all over the world, from countries such as Mexico, Hong Kong, Brazil and Spain. The site is ranked among the top 2,000 sites in the US."

A company set up to facilitate adulterous dates amongst the married? Wow. It's totally promoting and helping people to have an affair.

One of the most immoral, legal companies I've ever heard of being established.

As captioned in my Facebook post, "Welcome to the 21st century peeps. Where it's all about selfish, frivolous & moral-less #YOLO"

Watch as our depraved, decadent society crumbles under the new world philosophy of nihilism, hedonism, me-ism and self-made spiritualism.

The good Lord's footsteps are getting louder. The clang of heaven's keys in God's hands is getting louder as He nears the door of heaven to pay a visit to Earth for a second time - The Second Coming.

Yep. Just one of the many signs that is telling us...time is short...Lemme leave you with this passage of Scripture that popped into my head as I was typing...

Ephesians 5:15-21 (NKJV)
"See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God."

Lalah Hathaway singing chords / intervals

Chanced upon this video that appeared on my Facebook page. It features an astounding R&B and jazz singer Lalah Hathaway.

The song is totally erratic. This song does not subscribe to any key (like any jazz song). Just go through a few phrases of the song and you will see a few key changes. On top of that, the chromatic note and chord progressions also make the song really hard to sing and play.

But yeah, she pulls it off beautifully in sort of a "live" setting.

The most amazing part is when she sings intervals. She sung out what sounded like chords!! Seek the video to 6:10 and hear her vocal expulsion. It's a harmony coming out, not a single note!

That was MIND-BLOWING. It's my first time encountering a singer singing two notes simultaneously! I went to YouTube more of such videos and then realized that it isn't all too unique. But yeah, packed in this song are fantastic arrangements and it really climaxed at her display of singing out a chord or an interval.

Amazing vocal prowess. Here's the video. Listen to the whole song to get the feel of its intricacy or seek to 6:10 and be stupefied by her sheer control and technique.