ChRisTmaS ... tHus faR

While other people are enjoying the festivities of this season, not much actually takes place for me apart from a Christmas lunch on last Friday at Melt the World Cafe in Oriental Hotel, sponsored by the company I'm currently working for.

Saturday was half a daY at the hospitaL for an ultra scan due to recent health report, with afternoon at the movies, Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe. Enjoyed the two-hour movie with certain parts extremely touching, especially when Aslan the Lion has to sacrifice itself to be humiliated and cruelly murdered to save Edmund from the hands of the witch.

Today, attended service in the morning, with a Christian artiste and singer, Bobby Michaels, sharing the word and musicals. Beautiful music and carols with a powerful voice. After service, did not go for any special Christmas lunch because everywhere is just too costly and my finances are tied down for a major cold weather holiday trip for next year's Chinese New Year to Saint Petersburg and beyond.

Hope everyone is enjoying the festivities! Here's wishing you a veRy MeRRy ChRisTmaS and a blessed 2006! (",)

Being Considerate

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit,
but with humility of mind regard one another
as more important than yourselves;
(Philippians 2:3 NAS)

Living up to what the Word of God says about treating others as more important than ourselves is never an easy task.

Take the example of a day to day practice of consideration. When the train or bus arrives, do we take our turn in an orderly manner to pace forward or do we push to get in? How do we feel when others jump the queue and go in front of us? Is it being considerate to let them go first? What about the pregnant, the people with children, or the aged weak, do we give way to them and risk being late for work? To what degree are we to be considerate?

Not many days ago, I was at a shop trying to purchase an item that was placed at the bottom of some shelves. I have to bend down to pick the item but because a couple came by seemingly wanting to pass the narrow passage way, I quickly stood up and have my head crashed into some shelves. I found out then that the couple has no intention to pass through the path, but only wanted to see the items there.

When at the walkway of a path in the heartland, many bicycles and people with multiple children and a cradle often occupy the entire walkway, so I frequently bypass them by walking outside the path on the grass to give them room, but this act of consideration often ends in my having a sprained ankle, resulting from being caught in a hole, with mud and grass.

In a fast food restaurant, I always clear my trays after a meal, and sometimes have to clear others' debris and trays in order to have a space to eat. Imagine what the feeling is like watching others dump and mess up their tables with their debris? As a practitioner of consideration, I tend to expect others to do likewise, and this has make much of my life a misery, because, the majority do not practice consideration.

Occasionally, I ask myself whether I should quit being considerate and tell myself not to be the mister good guy anymore. This is the exact feeling Spider-Man faces when he tries to help and gets misunderstood. Such is the life Spidey and I share, frequently misunderstood for being nice, but self-pity is not a solution. There is a price to pay for being considerate, yet it is not something to be given up, simply because with great power comes great responsibility. I am a Christian and I have the power of the Holy Spirit inside me, so I must continue to bear the responsibility in demonstrating

A Worker's Prayer

Teach me each day O God to walk in Your ways
Remind me to always include You in all my plans
Help me draw strength from You while at work
To do what is right and do it well
To rely on You in my weaknesses
And be able to do the things
I have no courage or confidence to do
To exercise miraculous power
And perform wonderous work

Help me O God in my inabilities
Forgive me for my lack of faith
Teach me and lead me to trust You
More and more each day

~ SpideY ~

Cross Cultural Values

Ideologies of the East and the West differ greatly in the way values are measured. What is seen as unacceptable in Asia may be seen as normal to other parts of the world, especially in countries that practise a liberal media system.

Take the example of feedback received on what I wrote about "Age of Deteriorating Morals", which concerns an underage viewing pornographic anime onboard public transport through a portable video player (PVP). Comments from Asians expressed shock and unbelief, while a westerner said the child is just being curious and experimental.

"This is a reality and yet so difficult to believe ... Indeed, this development is getting to be very alarming," says a blogger from Malaysia.

"Totally agree ... very irresponsible parents," says another blogger writing from Singapore.

"... what is shocking to you may have been due to your own perception of when is the right age to come into sex-related stuffs," says an anonymous blogger commenting on the topic in a blog hosted in America.

"I don't believe there is an actual right age to start experimenting with sex," the anonymous blogger continues. "Children will be children. They will be curious and tempted to experiment ... For all you know, most of them probably find it thrilling for a few days but gradually become uncomfortable with the game after that."

In another blog I wrote concerning the dangers of unhealthy practices of voyeurism and pornography hosted in the United States not too long ago, the feedback I received shows conclusively the difference between the value system of the west and the oriental.

"I think it would be immoral not to be turned on by pornography," says an anonymous commenter on my blog. "I think being sexually aroused by images of others is an expression of human empathy; of identifying oneself with one's fellow human beings. I can't see any wrong with that at all. Quite the opposite. "

"I don't reckon there's anything wrong at all with a bit hardcore movie slap and tickle," says an Australian lady. "Me and my bloke ... watch it all the time and we get bonza ideas from it."

From the comments above, we can see that moral perception of right and wrong is seldom the same across different cultures. What we perceive as right or wrong however does not matter, because we are all of a fallen race requiring salvation. For the Bible says:

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," (Romans 3:23 NAS)

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8 NAS)

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23 NAS)

"... if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." (Romans 10:9-10 NAS)

Deviance vs Defiance

Society or governance often defines the boundaries of what is acceptable or unacceptable behavior. We live in a world of pre-defined notions of what is right and what is wrong, but what is right in a society may be seen as wrong in another.
In a society where freedom of expression and speech is prevalent, the culture frequently breeds complacency and people demand their rights to information among other things. In a less privileged society, the culture breeds obedience and people conform to a kind of self-regulation in adhering to pre-defined social norms. Neither of the two extremes is ideal, hence a balance is always sought.

Where freedom is restricted, people who question the authorities are often seen as deviants. Prolonged restrictions however beget defiance at every opportunity available, especially when a rule is gray. For example, when the news tell of a magazine or a book that is banned because of inappropriate content, citizens rushed to find ways to obtain the material so they can know what has been restricted or what is hot and juicy. Human behavior is such that the more one is told not to commit a wrong, the more likely the person will choose to defy, if not in front of authorities, will be committed underground.

This is simply the force of nature at work, where unlike poles attract and like poles repel. Many governing systems using authoritarian or socially responsible do not seem to realize that restrictions and constrains breed contempt and opposition, thus increasing defiance. People who defy are not totally to be blamed and variations from norms need not necessary become deviancy. All of us differ in opinions and each of us interprets things differently, yet not of our own, but of a framework within a constructed way of thinking, what is known as hegemony. While we choose to believe we are the ones making up our own minds on issues, we are in truth making decisions based on our upbringing, and our upbringing is based on the education we received, taught by the same people who construct the culture and beliefs.

There is in fact only a thin line differentiating deviancy and defiance, and the people of the new generation know this very well. What parents and society think of the children who disobey and the ones who do things their own way, should realize this is a result of too much constrains and restrictions. Without freedom, people cracked under the yoke, and become defiant. This is how it is of the society today.

Consultative Management

All of us know the many different styles of managing a country or a company or even our subordinates. We sometimes use authoritarian style, at other times liberal style, and occasionally consultative style.

The Bible records one of the ways King David manage his team of warriors in making decisions, through the use of consultative management.

1 Chronicles 13:1-4 (NAS)
Then David consulted with the captains of the thousands and the hundreds, even with every leader.

David said to all the assembly of Israel, "If it seems good to you, and if it is from the LORD our God, let us send everywhere to our kinsmen who remain in all the land of Israel, also to the priests and Levites who are with them in their cities with pasture lands, that they may meet with us; and let us bring back the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it in the days of Saul."

Then all the assembly said that they would do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.

If you are a good leader, a CEO, a director, a manager, or a supervisor, here is something you can learn from king David in the ways he manages his team. Learn to listen to the people at times. Use consultative management, but ALWAYS make decisions with God in your plan! Be sensitive to your staff, colleagues, and subordinates.

Vintage Car

I like vintage cars, especially when it is GREEN in color, my favorite color.

IMM is exhibiting some cars currently with two vintage cars. My dream vintage car is the following:

Vintage Car (Front View)

Vintage Car (Back View)

Age of Deteriorating Morals

I was seated next to a boy of about twelve years old on the train a few days ago. He appeared totally caught up with whatever he was playing on his electronic device.

At first I thought it was just another gaming device, so I did not bother to find out what he was playing, but being always curious to find out the latest gadgets in the market, I took a glimpse at the gadget he was using. What I saw was a device with a relatively larger screen than most gaming gadgets, apparently, a PVP or Portable Video Player as I found out later. On the screen of the device, an animated video movie was being played.

The video played by the boy appears to be just another of those Japanese animated movies telling of teenage girls in classrooms and about their daily lives, something like a family story, so I did not bother much and decided to rest my eyes to sleep. When I opened my eyes later, I could feel from the gestures of the boy that he has become intensely excited, almost oblivious to all his surroundings, engrossed, stiffen, and possibly intoxicated, so I simply had to take a peek at what he was doing.

What I saw on the video was not a family type of movie of a harmless school girl story, but a 'Hentai' type of pornographic anime showing a scene of the school girl tied up and being raped by the professor with her wailing in tears! That really shocked me!

Students these days have too many gadgets to play around, and many of these are unnecessary and sometimes even harmful. To think of underage boys and girls watching videos of such materials on a mobile gadget makes me think what has become of the new age generation today.

Parents these days are too ready to sponsor their children to buy such devices, but few are responsible enough to bother about finding out the harm such gadgets may bring. That is as much as we can say about parental guidance.