The God of Hock and Huat

Sunday, 28th February 2010

A couple of weeks ago, my boss told me that "due to the success of the recent D&D and by popular demand of the sales people", I had to dress up as the "cai sheng ye" for the sales event on Friday, 26th February 2010.  For this sales event, there was even a feng shui master who would come and talk about what to expect in the year 2010 for the various zodiac horoscopes.

I actually had a prior appointment --- I was invited to attend a "Friendship Appreciation Dinner ("FAD")" held by the NTU Christian Fellowship, together with a couple of other alumni who are currently in our forties.  Thankfully, the other alumni also felt it was not so appropriate for us "lao ah peks" to mingle with a bunch of late teens and early twenty-somethings, so we all sent our apologies.  Anyway, I saw some pictures of the FAD that the CFers had uploaded to Facebook, and am glad they had a great time where friendships were being cemented amongst the undergraduates.

But I am digressing (again), so back to the topic at hand.

Truth be told, I felt a bit hesitant initially . After all, there are Christians who will have nothing to do with "gods" of fortune or geomancy.  I had an ex-colleague from a Lutheran church who would not pick four numbers from a bowl or wear tshirts with the word "Red Devil" on it because of her stand, and I respect her for that.  In fact, I myself used to have such an unyielding stand as an undergraduate that I even refused to do a 2nd-year assignment (to the bewilderment and despair of my assignment group mates -- which included my then-girlfriend and current-wife) because the company we had to "audit" was British-American Tobacco.

Anyway, now that I have embraced the grace gospel, I also understand the modus operandi of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He was very firm with (and even harsh towards) the legalistic and religious folks of His day -- the Pharisees, the chief priests and the Sadduccees.  Yet, he was extremely gentle and empathatic to the others -- such as the woman at the well, the woman with the issue of blood, the woman caught in adultery, etc etc.  He even ate with publicans and tax collectors -- and that was how He was able to reach out and relate to them.

And thus, I am also very firm with the legalistic folks around me who insist on keeping the Mosaic Laws, while showing empathy to those around me from other religions.  I now have no issues eating food that is being offered to idols, so long as I say a prayer beforehand for the food to be cleansed.  After all, the kingdom of God is not eating or drinking, but righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  Jesus Himself also said that things outside do not defile a person; rather, it is things that are on the inside.

And so, if I had stubbornly refused to wear the "cai sheng ye" costume, I would not only have antagonised my boss but also given many others the impression that I was religious snob.  And even more so, in the light of what recently happened with Pastor Rony Tan of Lighthouse Evangelism.

It was not as though I had wanted the folks at the event to bow down and worship me.  It was a time of fun to celebrate the Lunar New Year, and the furthest anyone did was to rub the tummy area where a pillow was being strapped in front of ;-)

Deep inside, I know that this was only a shadow. The true God of Hock 福 (Fortune) and Huat 发 (Prosperity) is none other than Jesus Christ Himself . 

And it does not matter that my wife is born in the year of the rooster and I am born in the year of the goat (which incidentally are supposed to be the zodiac animals with the best fortune in 2010, according to the geomancer).  For us, we know that 2010 is going to be a year of restful increase because of God's unmerited favour.  Amen? :-)

A Tale of Two Tays

Saturday, 27th February 2010

Last Sunday, the Tay (that is my mom's maiden surname) clan had a CNY gathering at the F&B outlet run by a churchmate of mine, who also happens to have the surname Tay.

This churchmate of mine was also my co-leader when I was the cell leader of 3L7.  We were both previously from another cell known as 3L2.  Sometime in July 2006, my then-cluster leaders, Sunny and Yeok Ming, approached me to ask us to mutiply out into a new cell on 1 January 2007.  The cell was a very cosy one consisting of just 6 members -- Mr Tay and his wife, me and my wife and another couple, Mr & Mrs Ng.

Alas, our cell made history by becoming the shortest-lived cell in the history of Paya Lebar Methodist Church.  Rev Peter Koh, the then-senior pastor, did not like the fact that I was promoting the grace gospel, (which he considers to be heresy), so he made me step down as its cell leader (and Honorary Treasurer) in July 2007.  He then went on to disband 3L7 in December 2007.  Nonetheless, the members of the now-defunct cell still remain extremely good friends (our friendship go back to our 3L2 days, even before Rev Koh was posted to PLMC in January 2006).  That goes to show that when God opens a door, nobody can shut it :-)

For those who are new to my blog, you may want to read the following post for a summary of the eventful happenings that took place between my dear ex-senior pastor and myself, which includes plagiarism, being investigated by the police, potential legal action and so on.  Heheh...

http://rootss.blogspot.com/2009/01/orbi-goot-chiak-chooroot-ang-moh-chiak.html

Anyway, in October 2009, Mr Tay set up this F&B outlet located at Novena Square known as Professor Brawn Cafe.  He even invited Rev Barnabas Chong (the previous youth pastor of my church and the one who offered the Crocs I gave him and his son at half price) to dedicate the cafe to the Lord.  Mr Tay, Rev Chong and myself were all members of 3L2 and I used to be very close to Rev Chong until he discovered my stand on the grace gospel.  LOL.  God really has a great sense of humour, doesn't He?  I'm sure Rev Koh, Rev Chong and I can all laugh about it when we are in heaven someday in the future :-)

But, I am digressing.  Let's get back to the topic at hand...

The name "Professor Brawn" is the brainchild of his son.  The outlet has been set up as a "social enterprise" to create job opportunities for children with special needs.  So whenever you dine there, you are not just feasting on good food, you are also contributing to a very worthy cause :-)

My family simply love the food and the cosy ambience.  Here's a photo that my daughter took of me a couple of months back in a Prof Brawn Cafe tshirt, priced at $30 each, the proceeds of which go to Pathlight School.

And that is exactly what the Tay Clan did last Sunday.  24 of us gathered at the dome area of the outlet and had a wonderful time of food and fellowship, knowing that we were at the same time doing our part for society.  Here is a paranomic photo shot with my Samsung Omnia 2 (I doubt the iPhone can do this :p)

You can check out other photos of the Tay Clan gathering at the following link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=172888&id=751059341&l=4228ad36a3

And so if you happen to be in the vicinity of Novena MRT, do drop in for a slice of cheesecake, waffle with ice-cream or glass of homemade lemonade or orangeade.  Who knows, Mr Tay himself may be the one at your service...

[Afternote: By God's divine arrangement, Mr Tay's cafe has been featured at the foot of page 8 of the 28 Feb 2010 edition of The Sunday Times, Lifestyle section!!!  I have scanned it for your reading pleasure]

On the 7th Day of New Year...

Sunday, 21st February 2010

Last year, leading up to the Lunar New Year, my colleagues had asked me whether there would be a gathering at my (dad's) place. I stay with my parents, so I had to ask them permission to do so.  They kindly said yes, and so it was the very first time I invited friends and colleagues over for CNY.  The gathering was restricted to ex-classmates from NTU, ex-colleagues from PwC and Infineon and current colleagues from my department (Finance) and it was a cosy affair involving about 20 people.

This year, I decided to extend the invitation to the other sales support staff from my company (ie. from Marketing, Corporate Services, Information Technology, Training, etc) and so that number went up to more than 50.

We had such a wonderful time that I may just extend this to the sales people as well, which will see that number go up to more than 200 persons.  Dad, thanks in advance :-)

I really want to thank the Lord Jesus Christ for the awesome weather. It was a cloudy day so it was not too hot outdoors. The buffet was set out in the car porch and my colleagues also enjoyed playing table tennis in the patio or kicking a football in the front yard. Of course, those who preferred cooler surroundings could remain indoors to dine in airconditioned comfort.

There are 12 days of Christmas, but 15 days of Lunar New Year.  Yesterday was the 7th day of Chinese New Year.  It is also known as "ren re" or "people's birthday".  And so, we had a lo-hei to celebrate everybody's birthday as well.

You can see other photos that were taken at the following link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=147120&id=751059341&l=7ef024ea1e

Mixing Business with Pleasure

Saturday, 20th February 2010

There is a saying that goes, "you cannot mix business with pleasure".  By and large, when management are in the boardroom talking about setting goals and directions, there is an air of seriousness about proceedings.  Work and fun does not seem to be able to go together.

But what if a company consists of motivated individuals who enjoy working and are passionate about the product they are selling because they know it is second-to-none and there is nothing like it out there in the market?  They enjoy going to work each day.  They enjoy meeting up with clients to share with them the company's value proposition and making a difference in the lives of their clients.

Well, I thank God for placing me in such an organisation!  I started work upon graduating from NTU in 1991 and this is the 7th job of my 19-year career.  The number seven signifies completion, so I would like to believe that this is the perfect and final one. 

I enjoy going to work each day.  I enjoy the working environment.  I enjoy interacting with wonderful bosses and colleagues.

Just four days ago, we had a mega lo-hei that stretched over 8 tables long.  More than 150 of us gathered together to celebrate the Year of the Tiger.  Check out the above pananomic photo that was taken with my Samsung Omnia II.

You can see other photos at the following link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=146370&id=751059341&l=d3d88c1c1d


Thank you Lord for debunking the myth.  Thank you Lord for allowing me to mix business with pleasure each day from Monday to Friday.  Hallelujah!

A Time for Giving and Receiving

Tuesday, 16th February 2010

Wow, how time flies.  Before you know it, the super-duper long weekend is nearly over.

But it has been a wonderful break.  Thank you Lord!

Today, we were supposed to rest at home, but ended up visiting two homes, both of which are located just about ten minutes' away from our place.  The first was that of a fellow Aston Villa supporter who also happens to be the CFO of a foreign bank located in Singapore.  I first met him about 5 years ago at Bishan Junction 8, thanks to the eagle eyes of my son who had spotted his Honda Odyssey with its many Villa decal stickers on it.

The second is that of the current cell leaders of 3L1.  Even though my wife and I are no longer part of the 3L cluster, we still keep in touch with a handful of them, two of which are this lovely couple.  After visiting them, we had lunch together at a nearby restaurant and then they came over to my place for, yup you guessed it, a time of karaoke :-)

I have begun to love CNY because it a time for giving.  I really enjoy giving out angpows to the kids of friends, relatives and loved ones, which is but a token fraction of the joy that God experiences when He gives to us, His children.

By now I am sure many out there will realise that the amount I put into the angpows are "above market rate", and made up only of orange, blue or brown notes.  This is because I have been blessed so exceedingly abundantly over and above what I can ask or imagine by Daddy God so that I can in turn be a blessing to others.

After we leave a particular location enroute to the next destination, our kids would open up the angpows they receive while in the car and tell us how much they got from this uncle or from that auntie.  Invariably, what is given to their kids is always more than what our kids get from them :-)

Here is a picture of our pet chincilla Chuckie holding on to one of the angpows that my daughter received...

When I was a kid myself growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, my 3 sisters and I would look forward to visiting two homes in particular: that of Mr & Mrs Yeo, the neighbours who lived just down the street from us and my mom's eldest sister and brother-in-law, Mr & Mrs Chong.  This is because they would always put $12 in their red packets (which was extremely generous back then, the norm being only $4 or $6). The legacy of generosity they left behind still remain after more than 25 years!  And their younger son is the cousin that we visited for lunch yesterday, the one who owns 2 BMWs and a Porsche.  I am sure his success has something to do with the generosity of his parents.

My dad is also well-known for his generosity.  We used to get $50 angpows from him when growing up.  I do not know how much he put into the angpows that he gave to other children, but I am sure it must have been at least $12 too.  And so, I thank God for the legacy he has left upon me, and the honour and privilege of being able to carry on that legacy onto the next generation.  May my children, in turn, continue that legacy when they have kids of their own in future.  Amen?

But CNY is not only a time for giving but also for receiving.  This year alone, I have received 4 different hampers from my bosses!!!

Pictured on the left are what my COO, President and Chairman gave me respectively, and pictured on the right is what my CFO gave me..

Thank you Lord for the unmerited favour with them that you have bestowed upon me.  It is indeed so wonderful to rest in you and enjoy all the wonderful blessings of Abraham.  Amen?

Fruitful Days and Fruitful Nights

Monday, 15th February 2010

The past couple of days have been quite eventful.

Yesterday (which was Day 1 of CNY), we started off the day by attending the 10am service at Paya Lebar Methodist Church.  After that, we went to visit one of my bosses, whose house is located in the east. 

Last year, we had visited him (for the first time) just after having lunch at my in-laws' place, and noticed that he had prepared Peranakan food that could feed a hundred people!!! 

And so this year, we "thickened our skins" and decided to have lunch at his place. 

At the porch, he sets up something that resembles a bar counter, and so I had myself a glass of root beer, as you can see in the picture on the left.  (As a true blue Methodist, I do not drink alcohol.  I'm holding the bottle of Jack Daniels in the picture on the right to spoof what Ke$ha did in her video of the song "Tik Tok" where she sings, "Before I leave brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack".)

Having eaten our fill, it was off to another house in the east -- that of my wife's ex-colleague.  This is a friend of hers that she can spend hours on the phone talking about anything under the sun.

And then, it was off to my inlaws' place to catch up with all her siblings and nephews and nieces.  Including my kids, there are altogether 10 children and it was wonderful to see the next generation mingling.  This is indeed a wonderful testimony to Acts 16:31.  Back in the late 1970s, my wife was the first to come to know the Lord at the age of 10 through a classmate.  Soon thereafter, her siblings became Christians and then her parents followed suit at Easter 2007.  Thank you Lord that the Phuah clan (that's my wife's maiden name, by the way) are now part of your kingdom.

Oh ya, I did not mention this before but I just bought a portable karaoke set for $888 last Thursday.  It is the latest release by a Korean company called Enter-Tech, and is called Magic Sing ET-19KV.  It will only be officially released after CNY, so I got it from the agent directly.

It contains hundreds of English and Chinese songs and just need to be plugged into a TV set via RCA cables to work. 

Needless to say, the Phuah clan enjoyed a 3-hour karaoke session which ended just in time for dinner.

As usual, dinner started with a time of lo-hei, whereby we declared God's unmerited favour upon our lives and the lives of our children.  May the year 2010 be one of restful increase.  Amen? 

Here's a picture of the Phuah clan tossing the yu sheng :-)

After dinner, it was time for one last visit before calling it a night.   I have not mentioned this before on my blog because of the precarious situation previously with Rev Peter Koh, the former senior pastor of my church.  But now that he has been posted out to the smallest Methodist church in Singapore, it is safe to talk about this.  Rev Reuben Ng stays just 5 minutes away from my inlaws' place!!!  I believe it is no coincidence that he does, but all part of God's divine plan. 

And so, I have visited him very discreetly (the way Nicodemus visited Jesus in the stealth of the night) on quite a number of occasions, including every Lunar New Year since he was posted to PLMC.  My kids enjoy the CNY goodies that he has at his place, which is different from the typical goodies you find at other people's houses. 

Rev Reuben has indeed been a Godsend to PLMC.  Even though there were dark clouds of performance-based legalism looming over my church in the past 4 years or so, the silver lining was President Rev Dr Wee Boon Hup assigning him to us in August 2007 to replace Rev Barnabas Chong.  May God continue to use Rev Reuben mightily.  Amen?

Today (which is Day 2 of CNY), it was another day of visitations.  First up, it was a reunion of sorts whereby the members of the now-defunct 3L7 gather together for a late breakfast.  [For the benefit of those who have only recently been following my blog, 3L7 was the cell that was formed in Jan 2007 and shut down abruptly in Nov 2007 by Rev Peter Koh.   Notwithstanding that, the 6 members remain very, very good friends and often meet up for a game of bowling and definitely during CNY.  Mortal man may have tried to artificially separate us, but God prevails and has kept us together all these years.]

Then, it was off to my cousin's place for lunch.  He is an extremely successful businessman who owns 2 BMWs and a Porsche.  Here are my wfie and I standing next to his Porsche and declaring "my turn is next" :-)

After that, it was time for the Tay clan to visit my place for another karaoke session.  For dinner, my sis brought some prata and murtabak from the famous stall located near her house in Nee Soon.

In the evening, my daughter exclaimed that even though she had collected lesser angpows than she did last year, the overall quantity was much higher.  My son wrote on his Facebook status, "Chinese new year is the celebration when money is received because you ARE NOT MARRIED."  LOL.  God bless them for experiencing "restful increase" in their own way.

And so, it has been 2 fruitful days and nights in catching up with relatives and good friends.  Thank you Lord for our oikos.

A Double Celebration

Sunday, 14th February 2010

Today is a special day in more ways than one.

First of all, it is Valentine's Day. 

And so a couple of days back, I sent to my wife's office half a dozen of flowers (with a couple of bears) to declare to her and all her colleagues that she is my one and only, the sunshine of my life, the apple of my eye and that I will love her always and forever.

Secondly of all, it is also the 1st day of the Lunar New Year.

This morning when I got up, she reciprocated by giving me something to celebrate both occasions -- a red packet with the word "Love" and the verse 1 Cor 13:48 in Chinese on the front, and a sweet and touching message on the back :-)

But what was more significant was the amount that she enclosed inside.

What I have been doing since the start of 2009 is to give 10% of my monthly variable income to her as a means to honour her and acknowledge that she is an integral part of the success that God has given me.  After all, there is a saying that "behind every successful man is his wife".

And what she has now done is to sow 10% of what I blessed her with in 2009 back into my life as a love seed!  And that seed is going to produce a bountiful harvest in terms of even more variable income in 2010, which is the year of restful increase.  Amen?

I really want to thank the Lord for revealing to both my wife and I the secret to unlocking God's riches -- and that is via sowing into the lives and ministries that propagate the grace gospel of His Son Jesus Christ.  Hallelujah!

According to Him

Saturday, 13th February 2010

There is a song that I keep hearing on the radio entitled "According to You" by a female artiste called Orianthi.  In that song, she contrasts the way her current beau sees her to the way another admirer does.

For example, her boyfriend thinks that she is stupid, useless and cannot do anything right.  But the other chap thinks that she is beautiful and incredible, ie. he thinks the world of her.

In the end, she chooses to listen to the positive stuff that the other chap says about her rather than to the negative stuff her boyfriend says.

You can check out her music video here:



It's quite a cute and funny song, but as I thought about it, a deeper spiritual truth dawned upon me.

Every day, we will hear the voice of the evil one telling us that we are not good enough, that we have not been read enough of the bible, that we have not prayed or fasted, or how can we call ourself a Christian when we just lost our temper, that we don't deserve God's blessings. etc etc.  All these negative words make us feel condemned.

But let us learn to shut out such a voice.  Rather, let's see what the Word of God says about us.  According to Him, we are the righteousness of God in Christ.  According to Him, we are heirs of the promise.  According to Him, we are seated with Christ in the heavenly places.  According to Him, we are sons and daughters of the Most High God.  According to Him, we are the pearl of great price that He was willing to give up even His own Son for.

According to Him. we are highly-favoured, greatly-blessed and deeply-loved.  Amen?

Restful Increase (Part 2)

Sunday, 7th February 2010

Yesterday, I blogged about how this year has been one of "restful increase" and gave examples of how the Lord has been providing the increase.

Today, I shall blog about restfulness.

Sometime at the start of Dec 2009, my boss asked me to see him and told me he was appointing me as the Chairman of the Organising Committee for the Dinner & Dance, that was scheduled to be held in Feb 2010. In other words, he was giving just over 2 months to form a committee, plan the D&D and execute it.

Whoa.  It was at such short notice and I was in the middle of budgets.  I had also never organised an event on such a scale before.   The initial response was for me to decline.  However, I have come to realise that when bosses assign any kind of work or task to us, firstly it is because they trust us to get it done and secondly, it is a God-given opportunity for Him to show that He will provide.

And so, I somewhat reluctantly accepted the challenge.  God prompted me to identify colleagues who were reliable and yet fun to work with, after which I approached the various HODs to seek their permission to rope them into the committee.  And as a clear indication that it was God behind it, every single one of them who were approached said yes!!!

Now, I was about to embark on a business trip to Hong Kong and then to Canada, so the 1st DND meeting could only be held two weeks later upon my return -- on 14 Dec 2009.  Thankfully, one of the committee members had already started liaising with various hotels to find out which ones were available on the night of 6 Feb 2010, and we shortlisted this down to Marina Mandarin.

There was a flurry of activity thereafter, in getting emcees, deejay, sound engineer, wine supplier, sponsors, putting together the programme, etc etc but somehow everything just seemed to fall supernaturally in place!  Sure, work had to be done by each of the committee members.  But there was such a joy in their faces -- they all saw this as a fun project and not an additional chore over and above their routine day-to-day work.

Truth be told, there were a few minor glitches leading up to the big day, but somehow God just caused circumstances to happen and people to be at the right place at the right time such that those hiccups were ironed up on time.

Well, the big event finally took place last night and I really thank God that it was such a rousing success!!!  Many people came up to me to commend me on a job well done, but all the glory ought to go to Jesus Christ my Lord and Saviour for blessing me with such capable and reliable committee members, whom I must say are all extremely talented, dedicated and committed individuals.


We only had 7 meetings and just over 2 months to get everything in order.  I know that in the natural, it would have been a near impossible task,  But with Christ, nothing is impossible.  Amen?

Reflecting upon the past 2 months, there was indeed a sense of restfulness and peace throughout, and I thank God that He has once again shown Himself strong and that He is Jehovah Jireh, our Provider.

By the way, the theme of our DND was "League of Nations" and you can see photos that were taken at the following link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=141623&id=751059341

Restful Increase (Part 1)

Saturday, 6th February 2010

Ps Prince has mentioned that 2010 is going to be a year of restful increase.

I thank God that although it is only February, this has already come to pass.  Today I shall blog about the "increase" while tomorrow I will blog about "restfulness".

January has traditionally been a quiet month in terms of sales for my company.  But this year, the trend was reversed and we actually exceeded the target for the month.  Hallelujah!  That's testimony #1.

February has also traditionally been a quiet month in terms of sales.  But just 2 days ago, we lauched a project that was snapped up like hotcakes in a matter of minutes, I kid you not!!!  It is only the 1st week of the month and our target this month has already been surpassed.  Praise the Lord!  That's testimony #2.

And last but not least, I know all of you have been waiting patiently for your copy of Unmerited Favour.  Subsquent to my discussion with Agnes of Tecman a few days ago, they have dropped the price per book to $29.50 per copy.  This morning, I went there to buy the 50 copies which I had reserved and paid Joanne the cashier $1,475 for them accordingly.  When Francis came by to transport them on a trolley, he told me that the books were packed in cartons of 20, and so Joanne suggested that I get another 10 more so that the box need not be partially opened.  And so, I was prompted to get 60 books instead of 50.  That's testimony #3.

What this means is that I may be able to give the book to *all* that take part in the ROOTS quiz. 

I have decided that those who got 6 out of the 7 answers correct will be given a copy.  This may be extended to those who got 4 or 5 out of 7 depending on the numbers.

Of course, it goes without saying that those who got 7 out of 7 right are guaranteed a copy.  Congrats to Chaldin, Jaslynn and Gerald :-)

So what are you waiting for? Here is the link to the quiz again...

http://apps.facebook.com/knowmenow/index.php?m=quizpage&id=275692

Got to get ready for my company Dinner and Dance already.  Will continue with part 2 tomorrow, where I will testify about the "restfulness" part.  Till then, God bless!