Sunday, April 25, 2010

The Adventures of Song Kim and Ha Leng

Once literacy comes, there is no ebbing of the flow. My wit and writing are bursting- even the stale topics can seem colourful with my regained ability.

I will reiterate that looking at pretty girls incite me to run. They make me want to feel the same rush of being fast and taking on a purpose with no stop.
I will need to see more, and then move more, because I am in a fat mode as of now.

Today, after service, caught up with Mei Yi at Starbucks, where an Iced Caramel Macchiato did the trick, serving to rouse me and act as a necessary coolant. We chatted rather pleasantly and it's good to have seen an old face which is fresh compared to the tempo of my daily living.

After that, I linked up with my beloved Hakim and we moved on foot to Changi General Hospital to visit the urinals. They were in excellent working condition.

Got to Parkway and browsed through the military history section; I've been intrigued by this genre of late. This coincides with how I'm toying with the idea to have a short military career currently.

Had an intake of ill-meaning calories with a Zinger Meal and a subsequent Carl's Junior dinner. I rationalize this with the fact that I would be kept in along with my recruits for 2 weeks and more.

"To trust in my God, who will make my paths clear and straight"

Saturday, April 24, 2010

I Belong to the Boys' Brigade in Singapore

It feels both good and also a bit saddening while lending the archiving power of Facebook to look through the current photos of my juniors.

Looking at Bennett and 14th's pictures of events that took place after I left, events that mattered to me while I was in their shoes (Passing Out Parades, Adventure Quest, Teaching and Training Recruits, Founder' Badge Presentation...), I feel like I've missed out a great deal.

I cannot bear to reminisce, because it somewhat pains me, because it is a closed chapter of our shared history, and now that we are all over the place, we cannot put it back together because we are apart.

How do I feel- Looking at people I've taught and imprinted on cheers and sobers me.
It sobers me because I realize that in a leading, teaching role, you can influence the younger generation to a sizeable extent. I can also claim a little credit for their growth.

My best moments in BB was coaching Kah Kee and seeing the BB Relay Team win Silver and seeing their pleased faces and rejoicing at having accomplished something unprecedented, that we could not do in our time. I was so proud of these people that shared my passion and my drive. Granted, they were infected by my lapse in mental stability.

Now, another lovely moment, is seeing the Secondary One recruits receiving the Founder's Badge, which was a big thing for me then. A lot has happened between now and then, and I'm saddened to have missed all of it.

I was sorely mistaken to ever think that the BB was irrelevant or was not sufficient and effective in reach. BB values youth and begins to work with and work in young men. It still has a place in a community where the Boys and Girls still will do well with some proper guidance.

Not just Christian values and virtues, but the mixture of purposeful fun and the teaching of leadership, responsibility and so many other intangibles.
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On this thread of being reminiscent and nostalgic;

Rocky is a really good classic. I love it that the underdog gets to win, because us common folk are by default, unfavoured underdogs. It celebrates doggedness, grit and epitomizes the SAF core value, Fighting Spirit.

We probably should air the clip of Rocky Balboa's training montages in the Values lesson to make the point more sensible.

Fighting spirit is an important attribute that most of us lack and have poor concept of prior to the military. Possibly competitive athletes and testosterone-charged males may contain some small trace amounts of the quality.

But I really like the series and the philosophy, that life always tries to knock you down, and in the end, its about how much you can get hit and still keep moving forward.

I would think that ladies will never get why something as dull, dusty and abstract as metal, heavy bag and the boxing ring can attract male attention for such a long period.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

APRIL 01

These weeks, I've been graced with some time to think and reflect and to have my listless mind drift in as many directions.

I've thought of several things which came to me, whilst my journal and pen were on my lap.
Most are not new, but just strands of thought that I'm throwing my belief behind.

First, I firmly believe men need ruling, although some might attempt to refine this with another word called "governance". Otherwise, we would slacken and become unruly, disorganized and non-motile.

We often want people to leave us alone, but really, we do want companionship but we simply want free rein in living our lives, with no one to judge and rebuke our behaviour.

We are all compulsive sinners - hopeless addicts until we have been graced with mercy and redeemed with Jesus' saving power. We need external help, an infusion of strength to overcome our inherent love for wickedness.

If we are stuck chest-deep or chin-deep in quicksand, no amount of flailing will work. We need some strong hand to pull us out of the predicament we have gotten into.

Psalms 40:2
He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.

Everything we neglect will eventually leave our system. Knowledge, health, fitness, prayer.

We don't want others to succeed at where we fail. Verily I often experience this jealousy and bitterness when I have been outperformed.

Right now, at the phase of my life where choosing an occupation is becoming more pressed, I think that I want to work in a field that invests in people. After all, that is what God did, where Christ found it worth laying down His life in the hope of redeeming humans.

To upkeep my literacy, I will journal fervently and then translate it into pixels here.
Who do I write to impress, I now wonder.