岁月

这两天由于喉咙不舒服，开始时根本发不了声。看了医生，给了我两天病假，并叮咛我两天少说话。其实要怎么说呢，连声音都没有。要买吃地都很困难。
我到我家附近的巴刹，吃了早餐，就回家赶工。也不算是病假，有好多东西需要在这两天赶出来。
当我回家的途中，我看到了一位老人，独自一人在组屋楼下，开着古老的小型收音机，低着头坐在石椅上。好孤独，好憔悴。我心突然一阵难过起来。中午时，我又去吃午餐，他还在组屋落下，另一个座椅旁，同样的姿势，听着收音机播放出的音乐。
我住在一个比较旧的组屋区，有蛮多年长的人。有些时常会聚集在一起，有几个让我印象非常深刻。一位老太太时常一人推着一辆车，载满了很多旧皮箱，旧东西，到处寻找旧东西。碰到时，她也会跟你打招呼。
有好几回，我在想，他们所拥有的岁月也不多了，真希望他们也已聆听到耶稣为他们所做的一切。不知道他们了解这生命的意义吗。也许他们也发现生命的短暂，即使他们活到120岁，生命也还是如此短暂的。
时间不断的前进，我们只是暂时居住此地。知道生命的意义，才是首要的。
耶稣，他们认识你了吗？ 我不知道如何帮助他们，但你必有办法接近他们，传达给他们你的爱。谢谢！

Changes

So many changes happened the last year, and I am still in the flow of the change. I have moved office to Mount Sophia and back again to main office. In the last year, I have been involving in crazy huge master plan competition, as big as 3 new towns but in China, to seeing a small fun project finally completed. Have done many design feasibilities, and learnt many building types, in crazy timeline. Finally now I am back to reality, realizing that I still like to do local projects, so long as it is fun, it doesn't matter the size. It is almost like a tour of discovering and learning, been through frustrating moment of trying to finish thing as fast as possible and happy moments of seeing the end product.

To add to the complication, my family is also moving to the west from the north, to be closer to my sister and my nieces. The whole process was really a journey of perhaps, to should be, to need, from full of hope, to hopelessness and almost giving up and finally casting my cares to Jesus, and finally finding the place. So will be moving in end October finally, after almost 8 long months.

Ministry change and living routine disrupted due to the move, so what's next? I am not sure, everyday is a step of faith. And it is exciting. Changes are not scary, when Jesus is in charge. Totally by His grace and Hia grace alone. No worry, my Shepherd is in charge. :D

A trip to southern China

It was an 8-day trip to southern China, my friend and I travelled from Xiamen, to Fuzhou, to Guangzhou, to Xiamen and Zhangzhou, before heading home to Singapore. It was a pretty tiring trip for me, with all the travel, and my body was not able to adjust to the food. For a few days towards the end of the trip, my body was not able to eat much, except some drinks and fruit, with a little rice. Yet, it is still a fulfilling trip.

First day upon arrival, we went to Gulangyu, walk around and visited the pedestrian street in Xiamen. Early next morning we headed for the rail to go to Fuzhou to meet up some friends and visited the mountain, a beautiful place, on a valley between mountains. We stayed here for 2-3 days, understanding the place. Perhaps here was the place where I started being not used to the food.

After that we headed to Guangzhou to attend Zaha Hadid's talk at the Guangzhou Opera House. It is true that I heard of the bad workmanship of this building, still, it stands as a beautiful piece of architecture, perhaps one of the best in terms of interior for a theatre design, the sensual fluid form, which is a challenge to be built for such an immense space. The design is unique, one that is non typical of a theatre, one becomes enchanted in such a space.

After 2 days here in Guangzhou, where I lost appetite for food, and was pretty exhausted by then, we made our way back to Xiamen, to stay at my friend's relative's place at Zhangzhou, where We visited the tulou and Taxia village. It is a beautiful sight, a place that even make architects ponder at the wisdom of construction technology of so many centuries ago, and so beautiful are these tulous, they are really worth the "motion sickness" up the mountains. But I guess once in a lifetime is enough, unless the Lord has something for me to do there. Almost every photo taken is postcard ready. And also thank to the hospitality of the relatives.

Definitely I need some good rest. A bit exhausted from the trip. But thanks be to my dearest Lord Jesus who has already gone before me, and prepared for me, I totally need Him for seeing me through. I enjoyed the trip despite of a tired body.