Connections that Result in Synergy

Saturday, 7th November 2026

As I look back upon my 30+ years in the corporate world, one thing I realise is of great importance is connections.

Even before officially embarking on my career, I had done some part-time work at Noel Hampers while waiting to enlist in the Army in 1986, and that opening came about through my JC classmate Gerald Ang.  He had joined them just after the A levels and when asked whether he knew anyone who wanted to earn some pocket money, he pulled me and another JC batchmate, Tsae Juan, into the company.

Then in my 2nd year as an Accountancy undergraduate in 1990, it was through NTU lecturer/tutor/mentor (and churchmate) Mrs Wendy Foo that I interned at Price Waterhouse, which then led to working there full-time upon graduation.  When applying for the Internal Auditor role at Singapore Island Country Club in 1994, I put her as my referee in my CV, and it was also she who helped me enrol for the MBA program at NTU, despite missing the deadline for application.

Mrs Foo continued to be my referee when I applied to join Solomon Software in 1997, and again when I went back to PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2000.

In my previous post, I blogged about how the recruiter Orion Consulting had put my name forward to Walton as a candidate for the FC position in 2008.  While decluttering my home recently, I came across a copy of the "Candidate Report" they had drawn up for me, which is basically my CV reformatted into their standard template so that they can give their clients a somewhat like-for-like comparison of candidates.

But it is the "Reference Check Report" that they prepare for candidates being offered the role that lends weight to my earlier point.

Shortly after my 2nd interview with S and G, Orion contacted me and asked me to provide the names and contact details of 4 persons I used to work for/with, namely 2 superiors, 1 peer and 1 subordinate.  Wow, I was used to providing the names of ex-bosses in my CV, but this was the first time I was asked for the names of a peer and a subordinate.

For bosses, I gave the names of TCC (my PW manager), HLG (my Tricor boss), Siew Beng (a peer at SICC) and Irene (an Infineon staff).

While de-cluttering, I came across the Reference Check Report that Orion did on me, and especially felt moved by what Mr HLG had said about me.  As you all may well know, I had quit Tricor in 2004 and joined Infineon in 2005 on a contract basis because my working relationship with him had deteriorated to the point of it becoming unpleasant (for him) and untenable (for me).  He had to micro-manage me because the project he had put me in charge of was not progressing at a pace that was acceptable to him.

Read for yourself what he said about me :-)

He did tell Orion that I had an area of improvement but the way it was put across was very professional and constructive, saying I was too "nice" and needed more "tough love".

And that is similar to what Jesus told His disciples in Matt 10:16, that they needed to be shrewd as serpents and not just innocent as doves.

Truth be told, in the earlier part of my career, from 1991 to 2006, I was 100% dove and 0% serpent.  It was only from 2007 onward that I started to exercise more shrewdness and by the time I left RPG, it was 50:50 and that inspired me to set up my sole proprietorship Akeraios Phronesis :-)

As one climbs higher up the corporate ladder, the importance of connections becomes even more pronounced.  I had sent out dozens of job applications upon being asked to leave Walton in 2010, but nothing came about for 6 months.  I only managed to find a job in my dad's friend's audit firm because of my mom (yup, connections).  I rejoined Walton in 2011 because of existing connections with the CFO, and even joining RPG in 2019 was because ex-colleague Victor Poh (the one who introduced me to the grace gospel) recommended me to Mr K (yup, connections again).

Of course, it is God who is the one behind everything, as He orchestrates circumstances and brings the relevant people into our lives to be our connections.  Rom 8:28 tells us that God works together all things for our good.  The Greek word for "works together" is συνεργεῖ (synergei) from where we get the English word "synergy".

P.S. If the chef in the above AI-generated graphic resembles Ps Prince, it is deliberate ;-)

P.P.S. I also discovered that recruiters like Orion earn a hefty fee for successfully placing a candidate, typically 2 to 3 months of that candidate's compensation.  

P.P.P.S. I received a message from KW of Orion sometime in December 2011 congratulating me for rejoining Walton.  How did he know? Because concurrently, he was recommending candidates to them.  By re-employing me, Walton actually saved the money they would have had to pay Orion had they selected a candidate they had shortlisted :-)

The ALMighty's Answer to ALMost

Monday, 2nd November 2026

"Hi Malcolm, this is KW.  You almost got the job.  You were shortlisted, but eventually they selected someone else who has the relevant real estate experience.  Thank you for your time, and all the best in your job search."

That was what the headhunting recruiter from Orion Consulting said to me over the phone, sometime just after Chinese New Year, February 2008.

It was meant to be words of reassurance and comfort.

That I came so, so, very, close.  

But it had the opposite effect.

It was like telling someone that they almost struck the lottery, or an Arsenal fan that they almost won the Champions League last season.

According to Webster's, the word "almost" is most commonly used as an adverb meaning, "very nearly", "not quite", or "not completely".

Back to that phone call.

Sometime in January 2008, Orion had sent my CV to Walton for their Financial Controller, Singapore position.  My interview with S, the CFO, went very well and lasted nearly 2 hours long!  He then brought me to see G, the MD, and that encounter lasted less than 3 minutes.  All I recall was G saying to me was, "You ACS boy?  I was from SJI." and then shaking his head and ushering me out the door of his huge room.

I thus had received mixed signals, and told my wife that while it went excellently with the CFO, I was not so sure how it went with the MD.

KW, the headhunter was supposed to get back to me on the outcome, but CNY was coming up so he told me he would only be able to do so after that.

I remember being crestfallen when he told me I "almost" got the job.  But I thank God for prompting me to send S an email that same evening thanking him for the interview, and informing him that should any opportunity arise in future, I would be most interested and he could let me know accordingly.

Well, guess what? KW unexpectedly called me the very next day!  Initially I thought it was for another job opening, but he told me that "Walton changed their mind, and wants to see you again! Oh by the way, their office is no longer at One Fullerton, but they are now at Republic Plaza."

I went to their new spanking office, and S asked me when I could start. I told him 1 April 2008.  He then showed me the org chart, gave me an overview of the dynamics of the Finance department, and also a brief background of each of the 19 staff!  And yes, he also pointed out the potential of vfs to me, even though she was just a junior accountant then.

After doing so, he brought me to G's room. This time around, G was much more warm and friendly, shook my hand, and even put his arm around my shoulder, telling me he was just teasing me about my being from ACS.  He told me he was a big Man U fan and did not like Liverpool, so as a Villa fan, I did not need to worry.  He asked me what my expected salary was, and I replied that it was totally up to him. He offered me 10% higher than what Infineon was paying me, and that was sufficient for me to accept his offer on the spot.  He told me that Orion would get in touch with me.

Subsequently, I discovered why S "changed" his mind.  That email to him did influence his decision to a certain extent, but it was only because the candidate they had initially offered the job to (the one with real estate experience) declined it because his company had counter-offered for him to stay on!

I was actually their 2nd choice, but in life, that is how God shows that He is ultimately sovereign.  

For that matter, David was Samuel's 8th choice!  He had considered Jesse's 7 sons before finally anointing David. 

And that my friends, is the LORD ALMighty's answer to ALMost :-)

When God opens a door, nobody can shut it. And when He closes a door, nobody can open it.

He opened the door for me to join Walton in April 2008, closed it in August 2010 when the environment became too toxic, and then re-opened it in December 2011, only to close it yet again in October 2019, so that I could join RPG in December 2019 after taking a month's break to brush up on my golf.

Hallelujah!

TRAC (The Reverend's Anointed Collection)

Sunday, 1st November 2026

In my 2 previous posts, I had blogged about how Spotify provides a platform for hosting audio and video podcasts totally free-of-charge, and that I will be making available all 121 sermons that TRAC President Rev Reuben Ng preached during his 5-year tenure as the Youth Pastor of Paya Lebar Methodist Church ("PLMC"), from Aug 2007 to Jul 2012.

Here is that link again

https://open.spotify.com/show/1hvLLyamh26v9FSmSaFr3R

121 sermons over 5 years translates into an average of 24.2 sermons per year, or close to a sermon every other week.  That regular feeding on God's unadulterated Word was sufficient sustenance for my wife and I to continue staying on in PLMC.

I did up a Pivot table, and what is pleasantly surprising is that he preached at the Main/Adult service as often as he did at The Next Generation ("TNG") Youth Service!

In fact, after Rev Dr Jonathan Seet was posted into PLMC in 2010 to replace Peter Koh as her Pastor-in-Charge, he made Holy Communion Sunday (ie. the 1st Sunday of every month) Service a combined one (ie. there would not be a separate TNG Service at PLMGS, but the youth would instead attend the Main service.

Rev Seet would also share the pulpit with his 3 fellow pastors, which meant Rev Reuben ended up preaching more regularly at the main service, and the numbers bear this out:

I have now uploaded 55 of his 121 sermons, together with AI-generated synopses.  Happy feeding!

Oh ya, those who are sharp would have noticed that I have renamed the podcast to TRAC (The Reverend's Anointed Collection): Sermons by Reuben Ng, in acknowledgement of how God has fast-tracked him from a Member-on-Trial in Aug 2007 to President in Nov 2024.  May God continue to lengthen his cords and strengthen his stakes.  Amen?

When he become Bishop of the Methodist Church in Singapore, maybe the podcast will be renamed MCS (Marvellous Collection of Sermons) accordingly :-)

AI = Anointed / Awesome Intelligence

Friday, 23rd October 2026

Artificial Intelligence ("AI") seems to be a very hot topic nowadays.

I recently attended a breakfast talk conducted by Citibank, and noted that practically every speaker made a constant mention of it.  In fact, they even put the word AI in the title.  

OpenAI and Anthropic, the organisations behind ChatGPT and Claude are planning massive trillion-dollar valued IPOs.

We accountants, the boring, bean-counting, archaic, book- and ledger-keeping "dinosaurs", are not exempted from AI either.  The Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants ("ISCA"), the professional body that local practicing accountants are associated with, have kept up with the times by partnering relevant experts to come up with learning content to equip her members to become conversant with AI.

AIxAccountancy, the AI Fluency Programme by ISCA-AINexus seeks to prepare us "for the future workforce".  I just completed the online training today and received the relevant badge and certification, and have duly shared it on Linkedin :-)

Well, any invention by mankind can be used for both good and bad.  After all, God is the source of innovation, while the devil is the source of counterfeiting.

In my previous post, I used AI to discover a free platform to host Rev Reuben Ng's anointed sermons.  They have been uploaded onto Spotify.

And just today, I used Google's Gemini to come up with 2-paragraph summaries for each of his sermons!

This is what it generated for his first sermon:

The maiden sermon "(001) I Shouldn't Be Here" by Rev Reuben Ng, preached at Paya Lebar Methodist Church (PLMC)'s "The Next Generation" (TNG) youth service, is a raw and moving testimony centred on the unconditional love of God.  Reflecting on his personal journey and his new assignment as a pastor, he uses the phrase "I shouldn't be here" to capture the deep humility of being selected by God despite feeling entirely unqualified.  The core message unpacks how divine grace completely overrides human error, flaws, and past mistakes, turning lives around in ways that defy personal merit or human expectation.

The sermon delivers a profound, fresh revelation of the parable of the Prodigal Son, specifically focusing on the overwhelming depth of Abba Father's love. Through the lens of Luke 15:20, Rev Reuben highlights how God runs to embrace us with open arms, regardless of where we have been or what our past looks like. The ultimate takeaway is an encouraging declaration of hope for the listener: your past does not define your future capacity to be utilized by God, because His grace is bigger than your history.

Awesome ya?

That is why I am titling this post, ANOINTED intelligence and AWESOME intelligence.  Hallelujah!

Here is the link to the podcast again:

https://open.spotify.com/show/1hvLLyamh26v9FSmSaFr3R

A Collection of Anointed Sermons on Podcast

Wednesday, 21st October 2026

Regular readers of my blog will know that the main reason why I stayed on in Paya Lebar Methodist Church ("PLMC") despite being made to step down as the Treasurer and a CG Leader by law-based Peter Koh back in July 2007 was because the then-TRAC President, Bishop Emeritus Wee Boon Hup had posted grace-based Rev Reuben Ng (a then-MOT who just graduated from TTC) to replace law-based Barnabas Chong as her Youth Pastor on 1 August 2007.

Rev Reuben's sermons are always focused on Jesus and His finished work, so I would listen to him on Sundays (whenever he preached) and then purchase Ps Prince's sermons to listen to when it was made available the Thursdays that same week.

I was quite the "fan-boy" of his, and bought all of his sermon recordings, and even compiled the 1st 100 of them onto a DVD-R, which he so graciously autographed.

I was de-cluttering my stuff recently and came across that autographed copy, which is definitely a collector's item haha.

I caught up with some PLMC members recently, and the common lament is that they miss Rev Reuben's preaching. He is the current TRAC President, a role that is largely administrative, so he hardly gets the opportunity to stand behind the pulpit nowadays.

As part of that de-cluttering, I also chanced upon a Samsung portable disk, on which I had stored in a folder all 121(!) sermons that he preached at PLMC before moving to Toa Payoh Methodist Church ("TPMC") on 1 August 2012.  I also have some of his TPMC sermons, but unfortunately, not all of them.

Here is a screenshot of that folder:

I did an AI search, and discovered that Spotify actually allows one to maintain an audio/video podcast channel totally free-of-charge!

They have an app known as "Spotify for Creators", where their familiar logo is coloured purple rather than green.

So dear PLMC members (and everyone out there in blogosphere), your wish is my command :-)

It will take some time for me to upload his entire 121-sermon library archive, so please bear with me.

For a start, you can listen to his 1st 40 sermons by clicking on the following link:

https://open.spotify.com/show/1hvLLyamh26v9FSmSaFr3R

Recalling the Year of Hesed Wisdom

Monday, 19th October 2026

Hesed Wisdom was the theme for 2018, the year my wife and I officially moved over to New Creation Church.

Besides de-cluttering cupboards, shelves, drawers, wardrobe, etc, in anticipation of the move to our condo, I have also had to do de-cluttering of data that were backed up on CD/DVD-Rs, thumb drives, portable hard disks, etc.

While looking through a particular thumb drive, I came across photos and videos that were snapped in 2018 that are worth watching, and have uploaded them here for everyone's viewing pleasure :-)

This photo was taken using a drone. It was at a gathering that I hosted for fellow drivers serving in the Logistics & Transport Ministry and their immediate family members:

L&T gathering

These are videos of the Hesed Wisdom flashing label affixed to a t-shirt:

            

Video recording of 《大胆宣告》 performed by the Merry Band of the Chinese Ministry at MBS:

Here are the lyrics to the abovementioned song:

Chinese Characters	Hokkien Pronunciation	Mandarin Pinyin	English Translation
岁数越大	Hui-soo lú tua	Suìshù yuè dà	The older I get,
力量越大	Lat-liang lú tua	Lìliàng yuè dà	The stronger I get,
全是耶稣祝福我	Cuan-si Yey-soo ciok-hok wa	Quán shì Yēsū zhùfú wǒ	It is all because Jesus blesses me.
我脚也有力	Wa ka ya u lat	Wǒ jiǎo yě yǒu lì	My feet have strength,
手也有力	Ciu ya u lat	Shǒu yě yǒu lì	My hands have strength,
全是耶稣祝福我	Cuan-si Yey-soo ciok-hok wa	Quán shì Yēsū zhùfú wǒ	It is all because Jesus blesses me.
血路都通畅啊	Wa hueh-loo long-zhong hor	xuèlù dōu tōngchàng ah	My blood circulation is entirely smooth,
身体又硬朗	Sing-ku ya yong-yong	Shēnti yòu yìnglǎng	And my body is robust and strong.
我眼睛明亮	Wa eh bak-jiu kim	Wǒ yǎnjing míngliàng	My eyes are bright,
脸又漂亮	Bin ya Swee	Liān yòu piàoliang	My face is beautiful,
[我人弗皱弗缩水] 一看就是年轻样	Wa lang bo jiu bo sok cui	Yī kàn jiùshì niánqīng yàng	One glance and you can see a youthful look.
我能吃能睡真辛福	E-ciak e-kun cin hok-ki	Néng chī néng shuì zhēn xingfu	Being able to eat and sleep well is such a blessing.
出入平安感谢祢	Cu-lip peng-an kam-sia li	Chūrù píng'ān gǎnxiè nǐ	Safe wherever I go, thank You!

Drone footage golfing with then boss Gary and sales colleague Desmond. The 4th ball was supposed to be my dad, but he backed out at the very last minute.

What the Hack

Friday, 16th October 2026

The renovation of our "matrimonial" home has started in earnest.  The condo is 22 years old, and we were already the 4th(!) owner when we bought it back in 2012.

When we inspected the place sometime at the start of this year (together with our appointed Interior Designer), we noticed the tiles looked rather aged and there were several that were chipped here and there, so we decided to retile the entire place. Also, there was a bathtub which is something anyone hardly uses nowadays, so that was to be removed too.  All the built-in cabinets and kitchenware looked rather dated, and the walls needed a fresh coat of paint.

The tenants handed over our place on Wed 7 Oct, and we had an onsite meetup with the ID on Thu 8 Oct to finalise the carpentry, electrical and lighting.

I have lost count how many times we have met the ID (at least a dozen) even before the actual work began, so I can understand why Josh Lee gave it up after a year. It is definitely not something a one-man outfit can handle.

Oh by the way, the ID so happens to also be from New Creation Church! We had shortlisted 3 and my wife felt most comfortable with her because she comes across as someone who is sincere, does not oversell, but most of all, very calm and collected.

And that steady composure of hers is important, because everyone around her also remains calm and does not get anxious or "gan cheong".    

Upon appointing her as our ID, the first thing I did was to give her a Much More car decal :-) 

The work commenced on Mon12 Oct (which I will refer to as Day 1).

All major renovations start by getting rid of the old, so as to make way for the new.  So the very first step involved hacking away the old floor tiles and wall tiles, and removing the built-in wardrobes, etc, leaving rubble and debris everywhere.

And indeed, that was what I saw when I went to inspect the place on Day 2.

Rubble upon rubble in the bedrooms

Debris upon debris in the hall and kitchen

On Day 3, I went to check out the place again, and noted all the rubble and debris were duly removed...

We will be popping over this weekend, and I will be providing regular progress updates, so stay tuned 😁

From Patrimonial to Matrimonial

Thursday, 15th October 2026

Regular readers of my blog will be aware that we will soon be moving out of my "patrimonial" home (ie. the one that my dad bought way back in 1978, and in which I have been staying for more than 80% of my life), and into what my wife calls our "matrimonial" home.

Why matrimonial home?  Read on.

When I was courting my then-girlfriend (now wife) in 1989 and into 1990 and 1991 (we got married at the end of 1992), dad decided to do some minor additions and alterations, which involved expanding the existing bedrooms, and creating a brand new bedroom where a side yard used to be.

While decluttering, I came across some architectural drawings dated April 1990.

In particular, shown below is the 1ST STOREY PLAN:

As one faces the entrance into the house, the new bedroom (as indicated by the green square) is on the left, towards the back of the house, while all the other bedrooms (including the master bedroom that my parents occupied) are on the right.  The red lines represent where the original walls used to be, and the green arrows pointing outwards indicate how the bedrooms were to be expanded outwards.

Note how all the other bedrooms are on one side of the house, while the newly-created one is on the other.

Note also there is only a single storey.  Mom was very adamant about this, because she did not want us kids to treat the house like a hotel.  Even if we were to retreat into our rooms upon coming home from school, we would still be within earshot whenever she announced that it was time to gather at the dining table for our dinner :-)

So, what was the purpose of the new bedroom with its own attached bathroom?  Let me explain.

All along. my mom had wanted me, being her only son, to continue staying with her and dad, even after I got married, so she asked him to specially construct a proper bedroom for my wife and I to stay in.  So sweet of her, ya?

And the timing could not have been more perfect.  Renovations were completed sometime towards the end of 1991 and beginning of 1992.  Very shortly thereafter, my bedroom became my matrimonial bedroom, when my wife moved in after we had our wedding dinner on 22 Nov 1992.

As you can imagine, I was rather the mummy's boy, so this arrangement suited me just fine.  It also meant that our future kids would always be in the good hands of their grandparents, allowing us to focus on our careers and not be worried about having to find them daycare or babysitters.

The side yard was rather huge, so they could build a bedroom of considerable size (about 15m² /160 sq ft), large enough to fit a queen-sized bed, wardrobes for my wife and I, a dresser, a couple of cabinets, a baby cot and even 2 mattresses to be placed on the floor.

The cot was used by our kids, before they progressed to the mattresses.  And that room was where the 4 of us (my immediate family) stayed in for a good 5 years until the mid-2000s.

In conjunction with my sisters moving out from their bedrooms, the kids took a room each.  So this house is very much their childhood home as well.

Anyway, back to what my wife calls our matrimonial home. The condo we are moving into is exactly that -- a place that we can finally call our very own :-)

When mom went back home to be with the Lord in Jun 2012, we went house-hunting for a place very nearby. Just in case dad asked us to move out, we did not want to be too far away from him. 

He didn't (chase us out), so we happily stayed on.  Our own place (which was purchased with tenancy) has been rented out to 3 different sets of tenants since.  Initially to an Indian family, then mainland Chinese, and then, most recently, Malaysians.

The latest tenants just vacated the place last week, and we commenced renovation just this week.

We are targeting to move in sometime early next year.  I am not at liberty to reveal the exact location.  Suffice it to say that Mr Seah Kian Peng will still be our MP :-)

Exceedingly, Abundantly, Above and Beyond

Wednesday, 14th October 2026

Yours truly, the GP Unlimited subscriber

I happen to look at the statistics of my blog just this morning, and noted that the top 5 most popular posts are currently as follows:

The top 5 most viewed posts as at 14 Oct 2026

The top 2 are fairly-recent posts regarding topics of great interest:

Ouch, That Hurts and It Should 

(At #1, posted on 28 Jan 2026)

This post talks about how the Body of Christ is affected by the PropertyLimBrothers scandal.

Go Ahead, Make My Day

(At #2, posted on 8 Feb 2026)

This post talks about how God challenges us to test Him regarding tithing.

A very recent post has bulleted into the top 5, which is also understandable, because in it I revealed publicly for the first time how I was initially fired, and then miraculously rehired, by that same employer 16 months later.

How Do We See Ourselves (Part 6)

(At #5, posted 5 Oct 2026)

What DOES take me by surprise are the interest in 2 posts from way, way back:

The Hired Hand Mentality
(At #3, posted on 15 Jun 2008)

This was posted in reflection to a sermon preached by Bishop Emeritus Wee Boon Hup about Jesus being our Good Shepherd and contrasted Himself to hired hands who take no ownership of the sheep.  My take was that there are pastors who are supposed to be shepherds but behave like hirelings in the way they relate to the flock.

A Paradigm Shift in Viewing the Things of God

(At #4, posted on 5 Apr 2009)

This was posted during the time when there was lots of publicity about Ps Prince receiving a half million dollar salary, and I compared him to being the Master Chef of Christos Restaurant.

Well, he requested the Council to stop paying him a salary, and he now relies solely on his intellectual property, ie. his books, his sermons and subscriptions to his GospelPartner app for income.

I myself am an Unlimited subscriber, paying $49.98 every month (see above).

If there are just 1,000 of such subscribers like me, that would already be the equivalent to the $50,000 he was allegedly paid by the church.

I will not be surprised if there are at least 20,000 subscribers, so that translates into $1m of revenue each month for 22Media, the company that handles Joseph Prince Ministries. There are of course other overheads be paid such as rental, staff salaries, production costs, etc, but even after deducting all those, Ps Prince is definitely earning much more than before :-)

Because Ps Prince exalts, focuses on and honours Jesus so much in all his messages, God in turn has blessed Ps Prince with such a flourishing ministry.  Like what Paul says in Eph 3:20, God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we can ask or think. Amen? 

How Do We Identify Ourselves? (Part 10)

Monday, 12th October 2026

PART 10: OUR TRUE IDENTITY 

The last 9 posts were about my 30+ year career, spanning more than half of my life, and what very much was used by society to define me as a person.

As you can see, it has been quite the roller-coaster ride with its ups and downs, mountain peaks and valley troughs. But through it all, I see the faithful hand of God's provision and protection.

Like what I mentioned in the very first post, man's identity is oftentimes tied to his profession.

In his Children's Day sermon on 4 Oct 2026, Ps Lawrence talked about how many parents hope their children grow up to become a doctor, a lawyer or an engineer (he did not mention accountants or architects, but you get the picture).  But we should just be happy that they are our children, and wonderful gifts from God.  As parents we should love them for who they are, just like how God loves us because of who we are.

Classic cassette

It was thus also so apt that just 2 days later, on 6 Oct 2026, the Gospel Partner app's Day & Night Devo was on the very topic about IDENTITY!

The snippet for that day is from the sermon, "Your New Identity in Christ", a true classic, preached by Ps Prince on 7 May 2000.

A friend actually passed me the cassette version of his sermon to convert into MP3 format.

Ps Prince says it best, so I am reproducing the devotional in full below:

GP morning devo on 6 Oct 26

You Are More than Just What You Do

Let me ask you something that might catch you off guard.

If someone asked you, “Who are you? 

Not what you do, not where you work, not what your title is, but truly, who are you?”

What would you say?

It’s harder to answer than it sounds, isn’t it?

What we do is so deeply woven into the way we relate to one another. We meet someone new, and within the first few minutes, it comes up: “So, what do you do?” And without even thinking, we hand them a label. A title. A function.

“I’m in finance.”

“I’m a stay-at-home mum.”

“I run my own business.”

“I’m in full-time ministry.”

Now, there’s nothing wrong with any of that. The Lord gives us our vocations for a reason. Just as He put Adam in the garden to tend it, not as a punishment but as a gift, the Lord designed us to find real satisfaction in meaningful work. He knows exactly how we’re wired and what will bring us a sense of purpose and fulfilment.

But if we are not careful, we can let the gift become lord over us. Many people strive their whole lives, trying to ascend that corporate ladder or attain that prestigious office overlooking the city.

And it’s not just in the corporate world. Even at home, a mother can let caring for her children weigh on her so much that every parenting mistake, every difficult season with a child, can land on her like a personal verdict. It crushes her sense of self.

That’s why I want to remind you today: Don’t tie your identity to what you do. You are not just what you do. You are so much more.

After all, you are a human being, aren’t you? Not a “human doing.”

Here’s what I’ve noticed. When our identity rests on what we do, we become fragile in ways we don’t expect.

We take criticism of our work more personally than we need to. We compare. We compete. We feel unsettled when someone else seems to be doing what we do, only better. We cling to titles and positions longer than we should, because letting them go feels like losing a piece of ourselves.

That’s not what the Lord desires for you.

Look at this piece of wisdom from the apostle Paul about what we choose to build our lives with in 1 Corinthians 3:12–13:

“Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.”

Paul captures it so well here. He talks about two categories of building materials: wood, hay, and straw on one side; gold, silver, and precious stones on the other.

Now, the wood, hay, and straw? That’s everything you accumulate and build on the outside. The titles, achievements, and roles you occupy. These things are purely temporal… and when the fire comes, they don’t hold up.

But the gold, silver, and precious stones? That’s what the Lord has already established in you through Christ.

Your identity as a son or daughter of the Most High.  Your standing as a new creation. Your righteousness that’s been given, not earned. Your belovedness that’s not contingent on your performance.

These are things the fire cannot touch.

Now, I want you to believe this without reservation: The Lord absolutely wants you to flourish in what you do. He wants to give you skill in your vocation, wisdom in your decisions, and favor that opens doors you could never have pushed open on your own. He is not asking you to care less about your work.

But He doesn’t want you in a place that leaves you exposed and vulnerable. He wants the blessings in your life to endure and truly serve you.

A lady can say, “I am a mother,” but what happens when the children grow up and leave the nest? Will she know who she is when the house goes quiet?

What about the man who says, “I’m a banker.” What happens the day he leaves the bank?

Or consider the leader in ministry who has built their whole sense of self around their title. Who are they when the season of leading comes to an end?

Let me ask you this question.

When our position or our roles change… when the trappings of our fancy corporate titles are stripped away… who are we, really?

That’s the question the Lord wants to help you answer. Not just when the moment of crisis comes, but now, from a place of security and rest.

So today, whatever you’re walking into, whatever you’re carrying, will you take a moment to recalibrate?

You are not your job title. You are not your output. You are not the sum of what you’ve built or produced or led.

You are a son. A daughter. Loved before you did a single thing to earn it, and loved still on the days you feel like you’ve done nothing right.

That’s who you are. And that’s what will truly endure, even through difficult times.

And so dear friends, this is how we should identify ourselves.  We are new creations, sons and daughters of God the Father, highly-favoured and accepted in Christ, the Beloved.  That will never change, no matter what our station in life is.  Amen? 

How Do We Identify Ourselves? (Part 9)

Sunday, 11th October 2026

PART 9: OWNSELF EMPLOY OWNSELF

Pritam responds to ESM Goh

On 26 Aug 2015, the former ESM Goh Chok Tong said, "We are our own checks," at a press conference in response to a journalist asking whether Parliament needed more opposition members to provide a check and balance on the ruling party.

On 2 Sep 2015, Pritam Singh retorted, using the Singlish phrase, "ownself check ownself" to summarily describe what PM Goh was claiming, and that phrase has since been immortalised in local folklore.

Well today, I will talk about "ownself EMPLOY ownself", which is essentially what a sole proprietorship is all about.

After I left my previous full-time employment on 15 Jul 2020, there was a couple of years that I was totally out of the workforce, making the necessary adjustments to cater to my dad's decreasing quality of life.  After he got his stroke in June 2020, he was hospitalised for two weeks, then transferred to St Luke's where he stayed a month before being allowed to return back home.

He had to be bathed, diaper-changed, tube-fed, assisted in walking and attended weekly therapy sessions.  I also had to bring him to see his geriatrician on a regular basis, and also to monitor his medications and medical supplies.

After about 2 years, his condition stabilised, and with it, a predictable routine to his caregiving requirements, so that was when I seriously considered setting up a sole proprietorship.

(11) Akeraois Phronesis (11 Jul 2022 to date)

I had thought of the name Akeraios Phronesis for quite some time already, those being the Greek words ἀκέραιος for "innocence" and φρόνησις for "shrewdness" respectively, found in Matt 10:16.

Around that time, I got to know Patrick Bezalel Lee, and commissioned him to conceptualise a hyper-realism piece of artwork based on that very verse, for which he quoted me a very good, kingdom-friend price :-)

He shared the masterpiece he came up with in the following Instagram post.  Thanks Pat!

https://www.instagram.com/reels/Cnl5nI0SRd-/

Patrick Bezalel showcasing the artwork he did for Akeraios Phronesis

I then engaged fellow GraceUnited member Eve Elza Zoe Tian to design my name-card.  It was beautifully done.  Thanks Elza!

Name Card designed by Eve Elza Tian

Note how I intentionally use 4 corporate colours: purple, red, white and blue.  These are the 4 colours/materials used in the tabernacle curtains (see Exodus 26) and also the 4 colours representing the 4 Gospels and the person of Jesus Christ:

The 4 faces depicting
the person of Jesus in the Gospels

Purple = Royalty and Christ's Kingship (Matthew, where Jesus is the LION of Judah, the King of the Jews, descended from David)

Scarlet/Red = Blood Sacrifice (Mark, where Jesus is the OX, the Suffering Servant, with no pedigree)

White (Fine Linen)  = Purity and Humanity (Luke, where Jesus is the Son of MAN, descended from the first human, Adam)

Blue = Heaven and Deity of Christ (John, where Jesus is the Son of God, typified by the EAGLE)

I also bidded for the UEN number.  Note how it ends with a series of 7s and 5s :-)

The timing of setting up Akeraios Phronesis on 11 Jul 2022 could not have been more perfect, because a fellow NTU Christian Fellowship alumnus, FT Liu, invited me to speak at the Professional Development Conference held at the Lifelong Learning Institute on 13 Aug 2022. 

Yours truly was a speaker at PDC2022

And then 3 years later, it became the very vehicle I used to register the vehicle I bought for my son to use.  You can read about that here.

https://rootss.blogspot.com/2026/07/god-blesses-neverendingly-perfectly.html

By the way, I have also done the following write-up on LinkedIn:

Having worked for more than 30 years, many a time I have felt like a sheep in the midst of wolves. Yet the wisest Man said we should be shrewd as snakes while remaining innocent as doves.

Akeraios (“A”) and Phronesis (“P”) are the Greek words for "innocence" and “shrewdness" that were used in that passage in Matthew 10:16, hence the name.  The title Chief Mover/Shaker was inspired by 2 of my other passions: Trucking and Droning.

Feel free to engage me, and I will share with you through real-life stories on how to sharpen one’s P, while maintaining one’s A. Let us together become movers and shakers where we are placed in society.

So what is my station in life now?  

Unemployed?

I was exactly that from 23 Aug 2010 to 28 Feb 2011, and then again from 16 Jul 2020 to 10 Jul 2022.

Self-employed?

I have been this from 11 Jul 2022 to date.

Retired? 

I have not actively sought business for my sole proprietorship, so some would refer to me as a retiree.  I recently bought this shirt from Lazada, which defines "Retired" as "the ability to do what I want when I want" and also "not my problem anymore", which aptly describes my current circumstances :-)

Retired tshirt

In the next post, I will conclude this series with what our true identify should be.  So stay tuned!