A Christmassy Christmas

We are still dealing with jetlag, some better than others, four days after arriving back in Singapore. It is not only the disruption in our sleeping pattern and getting really hungry at 2am, but also the over stimulation by the new sights, sounds and experiences. It feels like our bodies are still disconnected with our surroundings. The two younger kids have been pretending to run a hotel offering a full breakfast buffet. The problem is that the plastic looking breakfast spread has taken over the entire living room with very little room to sit - food safety doesn't exist in this world of make believe. They needed to get it out of their systems.

I am still getting to grips with the idea that tomorrow is Christmas. Not that there is much to do to prepare our home for Christmas.  Our Christmas tree is a 12-inch miniature that sits on the dining table. We bought gifts when we were in Italy so that's settled. We are going over to my sister-in-law's place for the Christmas lunch after church tomorrow. And I've already made reservations for the Christmas eve dinner in a steamboat restaurant tonight, partly because we need to catch-up on local food. So the logistics of Christmas has been sorted out.

It is ironic, Italy was very christmassy - the lights, gigantic Christmas tree in the centre of the cities we visited, panettone, Christmas markets, the smell of mulled wine. Renaissance masterpieces that depict Mary's encounter with the angel foretelling the birth of the Messiah and the nativity scene. Back in Singapore, everything tells you it is Christmas too. There is no denying that when even Burger King's seasonal special is called "Melty Cheesemas".

I am every thankful that there is far more to Christmas than BK's cheese specials. The reason for the season is just as comforting as it was when Jesus was born as it is in today's chaotic and troubled world. There is so much indifference, confusion and violence that can lead us to believe that God did not and does not have a plan for humanity. And so, it is important for me to reread the biblical accounts of the first Christmas found in the gospels of Matthew and Luke to prepare by heart for tomorrow.

Peace on earth and goodwill to men.
A blessed Christmas to everyone.

Venezia

View of Santa Maria della Salute fro Piazza San Marco

It was a four hour train journey from Rome to Venice on the Frecciarossa.  Apart from the occasional delays, intercity travel by train has been fantastic - clean, comfortable, and gets us right into the city. On arrival, we were greeted at the platform by Annamaria and her daughter Costanza. Anna and I were staying in International House, in our first year in University of Warwick more than 20 years back. It was so good to see her in person after all these years. We took the vaporetto from Santa Lucia station to San Marco where we did a quick tour in the beautiful sunset before heading to our hotel.  Later, we went to a nearby restaurant for dinner because we haven't yet figured our way around the Venetian calli, especially not in the dark. We had a great time catching up on what we've been up to since graduation and learned more about the Italian way of life.

The plan for the next morning was to walkabout aimlessly and see what we chance upon. As Anna said, Venice is an one big open air museum. There are beautiful and interesting shops and cafes at every turn, and galleries, churches, bridges in between all the multi-coloured buildings that are full of character. Our walk from Piazza San Marco to the imposing Santa Maria della Salute took us through Calle Larga XXII Marzo, the address for all luxury brands. Our walk to the Ponte de Rialto brought us to the fresh produce market and the sight of the giant hands emerging from the Grand Canal to support the Ca'Sagredo Hotel, a sculpture by Lorenzo Quinn.

We did a gondola ride on our Day 3 in Venice. Valentino, our gondolier, was friendly, great with the kids and serenaded us with 3 songs. He also got the kids to post with his gondolier hat. The gondola took us through some quiet canals, Piazza St Marco and under the Bridge of Sigh. It all seems very touristy, but I am all for that these days! We spent the later part of the day at the Doge's Palace. By now the kids were having a museum overload, but when they saw the Palace courtyard and the interior, they were genuinely impressed. On this trip, I realised that it is worth giving the kids a nudge to visit the museums even if they fuss about it. We also got a perspective of the Bridge of Sigh from the inside as we crossed from the Palace to the prison. It was pretty grim.

On Day 4, we took the Line 2 vaporetto service from San Marco to the train station. Even as we were leaving, we were treated with wonderful views of this UNESCO Heritage city from both sides of the Grand Canal. The family was unanimous about Venice being the favourite part of this vacation.

Roma

Rome is just fascinating. I have not visited a city where so much of the present day is intertwined with ancient world. I am not talking about the gladiators and Roman soldiers that invite tourists to the Colosseum for photo opportunities.  Rome is literally a giant museum of history and art. This is the Rome that God used to change the course of history. About 750BC several villages came together to form a city. It was ruled by kings for two centuries before it became a republic. Eventually it was ruled by emperors who declare themselves god man. Under their rule, Rome became the centre of a vast empire.  

It is then recorded for us in Luke 2:1-7 (ESV):  1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.  7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

A Roman decree somehow led to the fulfilment of prophetic words recorded several centuries before. The promised Messiah was born into a tumultuous world in Bethlehem. And as prophesied, he would become the sacrificial lamb for the sins of the world, suffering the cruelest Roman torture and crucifixion under the hands of Pontius Pilate. The early Christians, who were primarily Jews, suffered hideous persecution. 

 It was a miracle that the Christian faith survived at all. Saul, who was a Roman Jew, had a mission to persecute the early Christians because he saw the Christian faith as heresy and blasphemy to God's truth. On his was to persecute the Christians in Damascus, God appeared to him and blinded him temporarily. Ironically, the experience led him to see the truth - that Jesus is the fulfilment of the Old Testament. Saul, who later changed his name to Paul, spread the gospel throughout the Mediterranean before he was arrested in Jerusalem and behead in Rome. This is the true sense of the word martyrdom - dying to self for the sake of the truth, not killing everyone out of a false understanding of God's purposes. In fourth century AD, Constantine became a Christian and the faith spread across the empire. What used to be a empire who believed in many gods, including the emperor as a god man, became the centre for Christianity. We walked in heavy rain from Vatican City to the Pantheon yesterday. The Pantheon was a temple for all gods which was converted into a church in the seventh century, a living artefact of Rome's conversion.

We could easily spend two weeks just wondering around Rome. We only did quick photo stops at St. Peter's Basilica, Castel Sant'Angelo and the Tiber, the Trevi fountain, Piazza Navona, Vittorio Emanuele II Monument. The Vatican Museum, which was awesome, would take at least two full days to do it some justice. We were in and out of the museum within three hours. We skipped having a gelato on the Spanish Step because its been raining since we got to Rome three days ago. 

 This city links the ancient with the present earning it the nickname "The Eternal City". In the Palantine Hills, you can see the Arch of Titus which depicts Roman soldiers carrying the loot from the Jewish temple back to Rome after the destruction of Jerusalem. And on our visit to the Colosseum, I read that the amphitheatre was finances with the spoils from Israel.

I hope Rome left an impression on the kids and that they would come back for a visit with their own kids. 

Firenze

Our third stop on our Italian winter vacation was Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance. Believe it or not, I classified it as optional when I was doing interrailing about two decades back, favouring Rome and Venice. Hey, I wasn't an art history major, nor a liberal arts student with options to do peculiar electives. I was an accounting and finance major, which helped me make choices when I have a budget to work with.

We were delayed by over an hour getting into Florence. We got to the Monterosso station ahead of time and my younger son noticed that SOPP was indicates against our train to Pisa Centrale. I said that may be to indicate that it is a Non-Stop train. Later we found out from another traveller that SOPP (abbr. for SOPPRESSO) meant that the train was cancelled. She advised us to take the next available train to La Spezia and catch the connection to Pisa Centrale, which we did but the train to Pisa departed 17 minutes late which meant that we missed the connection between Pisa and Firenze Santa Maria Novella. It's good that I watched one of Rick Steve's youtube videos about travelling by train when I was preparing for the vacation - the train schedule is good until it gets changed, so don't stress about it.

We arrived in Florence when it was already getting dark. After a short rest at the apartment, we set out to Trattoria Zaza for a wonderful Tuscan dinner. Although everyone was reluctant, I got them to do a detour to Santa Maria del Fiore after dinner. We were treated with the most stunning view of the cathedral.  The Christmas decorations were up and many tourist were out on the streets. It felt really festive. We had our gelato, our first since arriving in Italy, right next to the Duomo.

We returned the next morning to visit the Duomo but did not do the 463 steps up to the copula. Instead we had breakfast across the road followed by a walk to Piazza della Signoria and the historic Ponte Vecchio. I was initially planning to skip the museums because the kids would make a fuss. But after lunch, we decide to give the Uffizi a go, despite the expected resistance. To my surprise, the kids did take in some of the art.  We did quizzes on some of the paintings that depicted events from the Bible. Caravaggio's The Incredulity of Saint Thomas was an opportunity to discuss the prophetic words from the book of Isaiah, what happened during Jesus' crucifixion, and what it took for Thomas to finally believe that Jesus rose from the dead.

The next morning, I wanted to see if I would be twice lucky. I brought the family to Galleria Accademia since we didn't have any plans other than catching the afternoon train to Rome. I didn't know what to expect aside from Michaelangelo's David. The Christian art collection was exquisite and invited a number of questions from the kids - what is INRI? why is there a skull below the crucified Christ? why some of the people in the painting look so grey? The kids giggled at David. The Accademia is a lot smaller than the Uffizi so it is a good beginners art museum.

There is so much more to see and do in Florence and well worth another visit. There are also a couple of day trips that would have been worth doing if we had the time. But I am glad we didn't skip the Uffizi and the Accademia on the assumption that it would be too painful for the kids The problem with skipping such things is that you never know what you have missed, like when I skipped Florence many years back. 

Cinque Terre in Winter?

Cinque Terre, the five lands. In the north eastern coast of Italy, it is part of the Italian Riviera. We arrived in Monterosso  al Mare on Friday to clear blue skies. We had problems locating our accommodation because the address on the internet turned out to be a wine bar. After looking around for awhile, I called the number provided and the host came out of the bar to greet us and took us to the apartment.

There were four sets of very steep and narrow stairs to climb before we got to the apartment. Fortunately the host carried our luggage bag up the stairs. And I think he felt lucky that we only had one. The apartment was in a rustic looking building in the old part of Monterosso. There were two ensuite bedrooms on one floor and the lounge and roof terrace on another. From the terrace, we had a beautiful view of the town and church tower. Perfecto!

When I was planning the holiday, I wasn't sure what Cinque Terre would be like in winter. It was in and out of my draft itinerary. Would there be decent restaurants opened or just convenient stores selling cold pizzas? Would it be creepy with everything closed and nobody around? Would the kids find it too challenging to do any of the hikes? Would I get grief for not allowing them to play on the beach? And would there be much point coming to the seaside if we were going to avoid the sea? I looked through a number of articles about Cinque Terre in winter and decided to take the gamble. The national park is a UNESCO heritage site after all.

But then there are choices to be made - five towns to pick from, where do we set base camp? The most picturesque or the largest? The first, middle or last on the regional railway line? I kept forgetting what each town offers and what they look like. Every blogger and vlogger has a different opinion on which town is the most beautiful and they will all tell you that they have biased views. I initially settled on Riomaggiore because the apartment was in a location featured in postcards, and supposedly less than 10 minutes from the station. Eventually, I switched to Monterosso because it is the largest and has all the necessary amenities, which is important when travelling with young kids. 

We set out to visit the other towns the next morning. The host told me that it was going to be wet over the next 2 days. He also said that the hikes would be too challenging for the young kids. Great start to this leg of the holiday! We bought a family pass which comes with unlimited travel on the regional trains for a day.  We stopped at all the towns except Corniglia because it was raining heavily at that time. All of them were beautiful even though the weather did not hold up. Manarola was particularly charming from a popular lookout point just 500 meters to the right of the town. 

There was a bit of excitement when we travelled from Manarola to Riomaggiore. It was probably only a minute ride before the train came to a halt in a tunnel. There were no announcements so we thought the train would be on its way again soon. Then we saw people trying to get out of the train. The doors would not open so they ran through several carriages in front. We realised that we were already at the station and ran after the others. It would have been nice if Trenitalia told us to stick to the front carriages due to the short platform in this town.

After getting off the train, we followed the path out of the station. It led to a slope up the hills with a beautiful view of the sea and the train station below us. We passed by homes with lemon trees in the gardens. Eventually, we had to make our way down to the town centre through very steep and narrow steps, where rain water was streaming down. As we were making our way down those steps, I was thinking about the effort required to get back up on our way back. But I was also relieved that we did not book our accommodation here. It would have been a disaster if we had to carry the huge luggage up and down those steps. 

Although we just had some pastries in Manarola, we were famished when we finally got to the Riomaggiore town centre. We had a hearty lunch and tried to wait out the rain. When we were leaving the restaurant I asked the waiter for directions to the station. It turns out that the station was only five minutes away via a tunnel. No slopes nor steps needed whatsoever. To think that I vlogged about this town being beautiful but difficult to access.

So is Cinque Terre worth a visit with the kids in winter? It is a beautifully rustic place in rain or shine. Whilst there would have been much more to see in the summer, it is not jammed packed with tourists on the trains, alleys and restaurants at this time of the year. And you can always create excitement for yourselves if you wanted some by sitting in the wrong train carriage or taking a long footpath to town.

Travel by Train

Milano Centrale

We set out from Milan yesterday morning for Cinque Terre. The hotel was just a 5-minute walk to Milano Centrale. The station is an architectural wonder and I was looking forward to seeing the interior. Its construction started in 1864 but expansions continued into the 1930s as railway connections opened up to Germany and Switzerland making Milan the railway hub in northern Italy. The station owes its grandeur to Mussolini who wanted it to reflect the enormity of his fascist ambition. 

This is the first family holiday travelling by intercity trains. For long holidays, we have always preferred the self-drive option. However, it would not be feasible to drive in Cinque Terre, Florence, Rome and certainly not in Venice. I also thought it would be a fun experience for the younger kids. For this travel arrangement to work, we had to minimise the number of luggage bags. Trying to handle 3 or more luggage bags and 2 younger children in busy train stations would just make us easy targets for pick-pockets. So on this trip, we only have 1 luggage bag, and 3 rugsacks for thick winter clothes. I also chose accommodation that are, by the kids' definition, walking distance to the stations. So far so good.

Our train ride from Milan to Monterroso al Mare took 3 hours. My eldest son occupied himself with an ebook but the younger kids got restless pretty quickly because there was no onboard entertainment. They had some snacks, slept a bit, and woke up to find out how much longer it would take. I, on the other hand, found it quite a nice change not having to drive. It was also nice to see the the changing landscape as we travelled south west to Genoa and then down the coast to Cinque Terre.

People passing by, and people speaking in different languages, intermittent opening and closing of the coach doors, the public announcements in Italian and English - all of this reminded me of interrailing in Europe when I was an undergraduate. I remember that travelling around Europe was the first thing that came to my mind when I found out that I had received a scholarship to study in the UK. Talk about getting my priorities right. I remember picking Rome and Venice for the Italian leg of the trip and completely missed out on so many other great places. I have expanded my repertoire ever so slightly on this trip.

Travelling by train in Italy with young kids seems manageable. I hope it will grow on them during the rest of the trip. They are already planning to get more snacks for the train ride to Florence. I hope that the trains calling at different towns and cities with strange and interesting names will leave them with a sense of nostalgia when they are grown up. I hope that it will be a topic of conversation that will warm their hearts in their adulthood. I hope they will describe it to their kids with fondness when they too decide to go on a train adventure.

Milano

We got into Milan early yesterday morning after a 12 hour flight from Singapore. It is the first time our family is vacationing in Italy, although we have driven through some parts of northern Italy two years back when we visited Switzerland. My wife's last visit to Italy was when she was younger than my daughter. I spent a grand total of 4 days in Italy after my first year in university. But Milan is a first for all of us and I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I was planning the itinerary.

Well clearly not the best planning because I only found out after I booked the flights that we would arrive on L' Immacolata Concezione, a public holiday to commemorate the Immaculate Conception. Fortunately, most shops, restaurants and museums are still open. I wanted the kids to rest in the hotel from the long flight but they were wide awake and making enough noise to wake the other hotel guests up. So we decided to take a slow walk from our hotel near Milano Centrale to Brera for breakfast. Most things were still closed at that time of the day but there was lovely window shopping in this artsy district. We found a cafe serving wonderful pastries and hot chocolate, which was literally melted chocolate. By the time we were done, the two younger kids were starting to look sleepy - the classic why-didn't-you-take-a-nap-when-you-could situation that most parents of young kids are familiar with. 

So instead of walking around Brera after our breakfast, we went to Parco Sempione to look for ducks. Ducks and chasing pigeons are their all time favourites wherever we go, and it motivates them to stay awake. On the way to the duck pond was the massive Castello Sforzesco built by the Duke of Milan in the 14th century. And after looking at the ducks we visited Arco della Pace, which is also the site of the northern gates to the old city of Milan. (As I was writing this, I suddenly realised what Arco in Arco Lamp means, and just remembered that Milan is its birthplace)

Next we walked to Santa Maria delle Grazie to look at Leonardo da Vinci's fresco of the Last Supper. The kids got to chase pigeons around whilst waiting for our turn. You have to book the ticket in advance and the session allows you 15 minutes in the refractory where the Last Supper is on one end, and Donato do Montorfano's depiction of The Cruxifixion is on another. We were in the same session as a Japanese tour group. The female tour guide was explaining quite a few things about the church, which was extensively bombed in WW2, and the painting. I wondered whether she explained the significance of the Last Supper and why Jesus had to die for all of us on the cross. Amazing opportunities to share the Good News as a tour guide for Italian holidays.

We could not locate an Ubervan and the taxis do not take a family of 5. We were considering taking 2 cabs but eventually resorted to walking. Our phones died along the way so we didn't have access to Goggle Map but fortunately we sighted the church we walked pass in the morning and figured the rest of the way back. We rewarded ourselves with a lovely Italian dinner across the road from our hotel and crashed out immediate after shower.

I was surprised how much less the kids complained about walking. But it is only Day 1.

The Promise

The past week marked several "last times". My second son had some time off from school because it was PSLE marking week. I took a day off because it was my birthday and so on that day my son got to send his sister to kindergarten, the same one he attended several years back. This was the last time for him because she joins him in primary school next year. He looked around to see what has changed since last year. He still has an attachment to the school. We went to Dempsey for a nice birthday breakfast after that. He had a mixed berries brioche whilst I had an organic kaya sourdough toast. I couldn't help thinking about how quickly he has grown up.

We got home in time to see my eldest son off to his first day of A Levels exams. 15 years after he started kindergarten, he is enduring his last major school exams. The Singapore education system isn't the most easy-going. It can often leave the student and parents feeling like there isn't any relief to this big ugly storm. There were times when we were too focused on the raging winds to notice that God is in control. I am counting on God as there is little I can do to help my son prepare for his A Levels. I am very thankful that he has gotten this far, the sense of belonging he feels toward the schools he attended, and the friends that he has made.

Yesterday we attended my daughter's graduation-cum-concert. The final kindergarten concert for us until the next generation of kids come along. The Promise was the continuation from last year's concert The Journey, where the Planet Alpha kids had traveled to Planet Omega to rescue the Omega kids from utter destruction. In this sequel, the kids managed to escape Planet Omega but had to fight a huge fire, which I think occurred on board their spaceship. Fortunately, a team of galactic fire-fighters, including my daughter, managed to subdue the inferno with their dance.

But far more dangerous than the fire was Planet Delta. At least a fire looks like a fire. This planet was an illusion of happiness that ensnares anyone who makes a stopover. Even the audience was clapping along when they aired the Planet's anthem. Captain Kirk would not have stood a chance against the lure of Pharrell Williams' Happy. Fortunately, the kids remembered the purpose of their mission and made their flight to freedom.

My kids are moving on to the next stage of their lives. It is difficult to describe the feeling. It feels like I blinked and missed something. It feels like I turned around to get something for them and see them in a distance when I turn back. Time just ticks along, and if you miss it, you miss it. No replays. I just thank God that we did not "miss" having these kids. By the grace of God, our firstborn was safe despite my wife's spotting in the early stages of pregnancy. By the grace of God, we kept believing after 2 miscarriages and 9 years of waiting. By the grace of God, we got to experience being parents to a wonderful girl. 

I have been humming "Lord, I'm Amazed by You" the past week. Perhaps that aptly describes what I feel - utterly amazed. I pray that my kids will remember God's amazing promise when they face up to life's challenges, trusting their faith not their sight. 


You paint the morning sky with miracles in mind
My hope will always stand
For You hold me in Your hand

Lord I'm amazed by You
Lord I'm amazed by You
Lord I'm amazed by You
And how You love me

~ Bethel Music

The Universal Truth

This morning, I read about how the University of Cambridge's Online Access site crashed because there were far too many enthusiasts trying to view or download Stephen Hawking's 1966 doctoral thesis "Properties of Expanding Universes". I went to the site to have a look, literally one glance - saw a mathematical formula and decided that it would be too much for me to handle. This is the realm of theoretical physicists, not a finance major. And it really exasperates me to start reading something and not finish it.

I didn't even know that the word "universe" comes in the plural form. I am thankful that universes, and particularly the one that we are living in, do not count on me understanding their properties in order for them to work. It would be a big mental burden if the entire universe depended on me. I do sometimes go about thinking that everything is a matter of life and death - that we must conclude on that particular issue today, that we need to get that thing close to perfection, we need to figure out a solution right this minute. Someone whom I regard as a mentor reminded me a couple of months back that unless people's lives are at stake, don't lose sleep over it. A good piece of advice and something that I need to gain mastery of before I take on the matters regarding the universe.

In the past, I have attempted to read some of the articles that simplifies the theories and concepts in the field of cosmology. Even those have proven I don't have a scientific bone in me. But it leaves me in awe to think that there are people who are capable of figuring out such complex matters just sitting at their desk. It is no wonder that in Genesis 11:6, it is recorded for us that God said, "nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them."  Yet what mankind knows about the universe today is merely the tip of the iceberg, or more aptly, a minute blob in the universe. Everything we learn something new, we learn that there are far more things that we do not know. It is like a Russian Doll that works in reverse - you open a doll and realize that there is a bigger doll.

The Bible isn't a cosmologist's Guide to the Universe and Everything in it. If it were, it would fail the likes of me. The Bible is like the cheatsheet on everything you need to know to make sense of life. So rather than telling you every single detail of how the universe was put in place, it tells you who did it. Rather than satisfying the curiosities of scientists, the Bible seeks to satisfy the longing of every human heart - that everyone is immeasurably precious in the sight of God. 

What we know today tells us that we know so little about the universe. God is not concerned that we know so little about it. What matters to Him is that you understand you mean the universe to Him.


4 What is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?
5 You have made them[d] a little lower than the angels
    and crowned them[f] with glory and honor.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
    you put everything under their[g] feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
    and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
    and the fish in the sea,
    all that swim the paths of the seas.

~ Psalm 8: 4 - 8 (NIV)

God's Grace

I came across a Ted-ed video entitled "Why is it so Hard to Cure Cancer?" today. Actually I saw facebook post a couple of days back but decided to give it a miss because there didn't seem to be any upside knowing the answer to the question. Beside I felt like I knew what it was going to say. When I saw the post again this morning, I decide to click on it because the cartoon style graphics was rather interesting - the cancer cells were depicted as sinister looking black squids.

And indeed, the video was informative. If it were on some other topic, I would have even called it entertaining. It talked about how cancer cells can replicate into different types of sub-clones. By its very nature cancer cells are mutants, so I guess they are in the business of mutating. Treatment targeted at one sub-clone may be completely ineffective in combating another sub-clone. It talked about cancer cells communicating and inducing healthy cells, and suppressing the immune system. There are cancer stem cells that are stubborn against medical treatment, and all it takes is a single remaining cancer stem cell to trigger a relapse. The video also explained how cancer cells have their own defence system against the treatments administered.

The nature of cancer has such strong parallels to the nature of sin. We are all born fallen, and our fallenness gets the better of us. It becomes our second nature such that we don't necessary see the right from wrong. If we do see it, we hide from it or change our point of view to fit the situation. What starts out as a little experiment can end up permanently damaging us and the people around us. It spreads and morphs, unless something radical is done about it.

The Ted-ed video ends on a slightly positive note. It highlighted the advancement in medicine which has significantly improved survival rates. There continues to be new discoveries and treatments. As with sin, the prognosis is grave. That cancerous stem cell from the Garden of Eden is far too stubborn and aggressive. Whether we think that the Eden episode is a Jewish fable or a godly synopsis, the undeniable fact of human mortality is spelt out. There isn't a cure.

But where there is no cure for sin, there is forgiveness by a gracious God. A God who recognises that we are not capable of leading sinless lives, so He constantly asks us to hand over our cancers to Him. Constantly reminding us that He has paid the ultimate price for our sins so that we don't have to. 

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.                                  ~ Psalm 103: 11-12

The Need for God?

Dan Brown, the author of The Da Vinci Code, recently remarked that AI would replace the need for God. He said, "We will start to find our spiritual experiences through our interconnections with each other." He added, "Our need for that exterior god, that sits up there and judges us ... will diminish and eventually disappear." Although what he wanted to say was that there is no need for God, what he was really saying was that God can be substituted. He was predicting that the collective wisdom of humankind can synthesize intelligence artificially to satisfy a longing that we have so far misplaced with a God that does not really exist. In other word, putting mankind onto his rightful throne; but not really, because his fate will be dictated by something artificial even though seemingly real.

Advances in IA have indeed been feeding our emotional vacuums. It draws on a vast sample of human actions to formulate the expected human behaviour. It trawls through  our digital footprints to figure out what we like and offers us more of it. It suggests to us what other things we may have been missing out on. It puts you in touch with others who have the same interests and who can validate your feelings. Where it cannot directly fulfil your needs, it can suggest substitutes. Where you cannot find satisfaction in the real world, it can bring you into an alternate world - hyper realistic online games, virtual reality, chatbots. If you can find something out there that can satisfy you, why subject yourself to someone that may have different values from you, right? If you have a deep desire to tattoo your eyeballs, why should anyone judge you for it, right?

Dan Brown is sorta daying that if you want to be judged you can choose God; for everything and anything else you have AI. That is a rather odd position to take when information explosion have only confirmed to us that humankind is far from solving the issues of poverty, bullying and persecution, lack of gun control in certain countries, exploitation - whether natural resources, animals human beings. There are all forms of human misery inflicted by humans. Does IA offer us the hope that the human condition will be somehow be perfected by our collective experiences? Augmented reality makes us live in our own bubble of comfort, not realising that there are so many problems and issues out there that cannot be solve by an algorithm.

Although humans have made phenomenal advancements, we are far from understanding all the mysteries of life. We can improve our prediction of an earthquake and a resultant tsunami, but there is still little we can do to prevent them. We know there are risks of a meteor colliding with Earth, but all we can do is to assure ourselves that the probability is remote so far. Our limited understanding of the universe is laid bare this week when scientists witnessed two neutron stars colliding. We celebrate this achievement even though we only got to know about this 130 millions years Isn't it too soon for us to rule out the need for God?

Last Sunday, the guest speaker at the church service talked about how as a Christian we can take what we learn from the bitterness of life and help others to know that there is a God. He made intermittent references to a man name Joe. A Joe whose fiancée accidentally drowned the day before their wedding; the Joe who sent a poem to comfort his gravely ill mother because he was too far away from home to be with her. The Joe who eventually found love again and was due to be married, but his fiancée died suddenly of pneumonia. Joseph M. Scriven's poem to his mother entitled "Pray Without Ceasing" was set to music and known worldwide as the hymn "What a Friend We have in Jesus".  There are no answers to the real questions of life and death until we are willing to listen to the answer God has been offering to us.

1. Are we weak and heavy-laden,
   Cumbered with a load of care?
   Precious Savior, still our refuge—
   Take it to the Lord in prayer.
   Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
   Take it to the Lord in prayer!
   In His arms He’ll take and shield thee,
   Thou wilt find a solace there.
2. 
   

Children's Day 2017

For the school's Children's Day celebration, my second son had the option to dress up as a working adult. He only told us about it 2 days before so there was no time to shop for a costume.  After some deliberation, he settled on dressing up as a tour guide. He has a bright orange sports cap from Maldives which he often uses when he pretends to be a hip-hop dancer. We bought him a pair of sunglasses and DIYed a tour guide flag pole. Mei Mei came up with the name of the tour company - Cool Tours.  She later asked if my son was really going to be a tour guide when he grows up. Given his dislike for walking and the heat, I don't think that is likely.

This morning my wife was trying to convince my son to practise on the piano more regularly. She told him that he could consider becoming a composer, which would allow him to work from home when he grows up. He was horrified by the idea. He said, "There would be no meetings, no computers, no emails and no office". He has visited my previous workplace several time before and thinks he would like to work in a bank. I certainly have meetings and emails - made be feel so thankful for the job that I do.

He's also been asking questions about National Service because my eldest son will be enlisting next year. One thing that concerned him was whether he would be able to have his regular doses of fresh milk, at least 4 times a day. He would not go to sleep without a cup of milk no matter how tired he feels. He is the reason why my daughter, who is a picky eater, also drinks so much milk. So as funny as it may have sounded at first, we shared his concern. How was he going to manage without milk? He said we will have to order lots of UHT milk for him to bring back to camp in the weekends. Glad we found a solution for that one.

Kids say the funniest things and it is great fun to play along. Who knows what jobs they will do when they grow up. But I hope that whatever they do, they will become the person that God wants them to be. Thank God for them.

Ecclesiastes

Our bible study group meets on alternate Saturday afternoons, which can be a challenging time of the day if you are in a habit of catching a short nap. I can't quite remember how long we've had this arrangement, but long enough to have gotten used to it. There is of course food involved and good conversations. We learn a lot from our different perspectives on life and we remind each other of God's presence in all our circumstances. We took the last 18 months or so to get through the book of Numbers - I must admit it felt like we were wondering through the desert for 40 years!  

Two weeks ago, we started a study on the book of Ecclesiastes. Whether you are from a Jewish or Christian faith or not, you may well have stumbled across the words from Ecclesiastes. The Byrds recorded Turn! Turn! Turn! back in 1965, which adapted the words from Chapter 3. Bible historians believe that the book was written by King Solomon, who having experienced all the great riches and pleasures, in his old age declared that everything in life is meaningless. Right from the start, this book goes into a rant about life being an unending cycle of pointlessness. It feels like it was written by someone experiencing deep depression rather than someone supposedly renown for great wisdom. I would caution against reading the first two chapters of this book if you are prone to Monday blues. 

Yesterday our small group covered Chapter 3:1-15. It was a contrast to the earlier chapters - rather than life being an unending cycle of toil, it talks about life having seasons. It talks about a time to be born, to plant, to heal, to build, to laugh, to dance. Everything in its appointed time. But actually, with each of these, it also makes reference to their antithesis - a time to die, to uproot, to kill, to teardown, to weep and to mourn. It talks about the striking realities of our lives, things that we have no control over. This is the portion of the Bible that is so philosophical that you may think it is written by a humanist. This passage points to some of the ugly downsides in life that, as Christians, we want to get as far away as possible. We quietly hope and pray that we are more fortunate. Yet what it really says is that this is how life is in general. 

I had been following Nabeel Quareshi's vlog over the last couple of months and I shared his story and his condition to the small group. Only 34, so fervent for God, achieved so much yet capable of so much more. Throughout his battle with advanced stomach cancer, he trusted that God was fully capable of healing him, yet at the same time believing that whatever the outcome God is loving and sovereign. This morning, we learnt that Nabeel had gone home to be with the Lord. Even as he took that very difficult final journey, he pointed others to Jesus. He knew that Jesus understood what he was going through because Jesus faced a far worse ordeal. He had assurance that his faith was not in vain because Jesus showed him that beyond death is eternal life. And that too is the wisdom from Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 

Life, with its ups and downs, will remain a mystery to all of us until Jesus returns to make all things new.


1 There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2     a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
4     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.


9 What do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him. ~ Ecclesiastes 3: 1-15

The Old and the New

Today we brought the kids to the Victoria Concert Hall for Peter and the Wolf. We started them on piano lessons a couple of months back and their music teacher recommended the concert. Over the last few weeks, she gave them a preview to the concert by introducing them to the story and its characters. It was my first time watching anything at the VCH and I was awed by the beautiful interior.  Conducted by Joshua Tan, the concert combined the wacky performance of the Magic Circle Mime Company with the acclaimed Singapore Symphonic Orchestra. I think it succeeded in helping the kids appreciate how music tells a story. My son kept humming the hypnotic tune and said that he couldn't get the music out of his head. Talk about getting my money's worth. On the other hand, my daughter exclaimed towards the end of the concert, "There were no real birds!"

After the concert, we walked about the Civic District to look at the outdoor sculptures. I love this part of Singapore - there is so much history here and it is beautifully weaved into the modern bustling cityscape. You feel it particularly at this time of the year, when Formula One is back in town. The fences and lights for the night road races are up, right next to the Victorian buildings in Empress Place. You're reminded that although Singapore has changed so much, in many ways it is still the same - a meeting point for people around the world. On our way back, we walked along Anderson Bridge and stopped by The Fullerton Hotel for tea.

After tea, we visited the hotel's heritage centre, which was opened over a year ago. I learnt quite a few interesting facts - apparently Singapore used the red British pillar mailboxes up until 1950; the stretch where the hotel stands along with a couple of other buildings that have been torn down since was referred to as the Singapore Bund; that aside from once housing the internal revenue office and the General Post Office, the EDB and MAS also had their offices here.

The walkabout and the exhibits at the Heritage Centre reminded me of my parents. I remember seeing a black and white photo of them taken at Elizabeth Walk, near where we were. It's possible that the photo was taken on their honeymoon. Taken at a time when they did not know how many kids they would end up having, much less that their youngest son would settle in Singapore and start a family here. Taken at a time when they knew they had to work hard to make ends meet, but not knowing how much their grandchildren would prosper from the hope they held. When I was younger, my mother would remind me that through the hardship of each generation, the next generation will lead a better life.

Today is my late mother's birthday. In two days, it would be my late father's birthday.  I thank God for their lives and their perseverance.

Favourite

She has been too shy to admit it for a good 2 years. Whenever I asked her who her favourite is, she would say it is me but only if we happened to be by ourselves. When my wife is around, she would whisper it to me and then run to my wife and sheepishly tell her that she is really the favourite, instructing my wife not to tell me. But most times, Mei Mei would diplomatically declare that my second son is her favourite, knowing full well she isn't answering the question. 

I tease her when she wishes my wife loudly "Bye bye Mommy, I love you" as we leave for the kindie. She only manages a soft "Bye Daddy" when she is about to go to her kindie classroom. Last week, without me asking, she said to me "Children love their mommy more because they give birth to them." Well, how could you argue with that? She sounded like she was narrating an episode of National Geographic. I kept myself from laughing and asked her who told her that. She just said "Ya, because children are born from their mommy" as if to say that nobody needs to tell her that.

That night, when the 2 younger kids were in my room, I played back Mei Mei's claim to my son and asked him whether he felt what she said was true. He found it funny but precarious, so all he did was laugh. Mei Mei continued to defend her position with "Ya, my friends say so". So now it has become a universal truth amongst all kindie-going kids.

Today Mei Mei wanted to have baked apple for dessert. It is something I have made twice in the recent weeks. I remove the core of the apples and stuff them with sliced banana, blackberries, blueberries, a small slice of butter and a drizzle of maple syrup. I really needed a nap after lunch so I told her that I would do it after a short rest. When she saw me falling asleep, she protested. Awakened, I realise that she was nudging my face with her still tiny and soft feet.  A sign of her affection.

University

This morning, I took the two younger kids scootering. The plan was that we would go somewhere close by, have McDonalds breakfast after that and get home in time to prepare for church. Quite a tall order considering that we had less than 2 hours.  I decided to take them to NUS's University Town - it was close enough and there is quite a bit of greenery. The kids are quite particular about where they go scootering - it has to have some slopes, a place to get a cold drink, not too hot, a playground and more. Otherwise, I would receive the "this place is so boring" rating from them. But we only have that much time on our hands so UTown will have to do. Whatever the outcome, I should be able to redeem myself with the McD breakfast later.

When we got out of the carpark, my son was surprised to see that there were eateries on the campus. He liked the idea that there was a Subway and Starbucks, a place for buffet apparently, convenient stores. He said that the foodcourt sells dim-sum. We have visited universities before on some of our holidays including Warwick, which my wife and I attended, so he should not be surprised. Perhaps those visits left him with the impression that there were only cucumber sandwiches and coffee on campus. 

He was curious about the campus accommodation and had quite a few questions for me. He told me that he would like to stay on campus because he would like to learn to live by himself. He asked me if it was expensive and how much money he would need to cover his weekly expenses. He did some financial planning and said that he would not eat out for every meal. I told him that I would miss him if he stayed on campus, so he suggested that he would be home on alternate nights and the weekends. He talked about it a few times more during the rest of the day. It is funny and heart-warming listening to kids at that age talk about their future plans and how they arrive at those decisions. 

We should probably avoid going there too frequently in case the novelty wears off. It would be good if getting a degree remains his aspiration and not something that he does out of his parents insistence. Maybe we could consider scootering in the other universities in Singapore so that they can make comparisons. For today, I am just glad I didn't get the "this place is so boring" vote off.

Permanent Tooth

A couple of days back, Mei Mei discovered that her first permanent tooth is emerging from her gums. Her baby tooth hasn't fallen off yet so this was unexpected. She told me when we were on our way to kindie so I didn't get to have a look at it. It was the first thing she talked about when she saw me 
later that evening and she show me where it is. No mistake, and it was exciting seeing it. I took a photo and showed it to her.  She has been monitoring its progress the last couple of days and giving me regular updates. This morning, she reported that her baby tooth was starting to feel shaky. This is like watching her take her first baby steps.

I like changes, but not too much at one go. There will be a quite a bit of that to get through this year. Last year of driving her to kindie - looking at what she is up to from the rear mirror, answering the curious questions that she has from time to time, responding to her requests to adjust the aircon or the radio. I often tease her for saying "Bye bye I love you mommy" when she leaves for school, but only "bye bye" when I give her a hug before she goes to her class. This would be the last year she gets to go to school without tying up her hair, or carry her school bag with nothing in it. No homework, no exams and lots of party packs.

Yesterday Mei Mei told me she wanted to cut her hair short. I asked her how short she wanted it and she indicated shoulder length. I asked her a couple of times if she was sure and with each time, she scaled backed how much she wanted to cut off. She ended up asking for a trim. Okay, so I did ask her if she was fine looking like her brother, which bothered her. It would be nice for my baby girl to keep her long hair for a little longer even if she is bothered by the hot and humid weather in Singapore at this time of the year.