Puma lying on the grass

It was Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary once again on this day 15 August 2010.  We walked to church.  On the way, I saw Puma among the flowers as shown above, on the right hand side of me, the grass or ‘pasture’ just in front of the block of flat.   It is the New and Everlasting Covenant of God, the Promise of God to his people…  Abraham and his descendants…

I had not seen Puma for a long time.  Usually it is the children or Richard to tell me about Puma.  But this time, Puma was not seen easily on the pavement.  It was an ‘unusual coincidence’.  I don’t know why I JUST turned my head.  I JUST turned my head and Puma was there!  (That is the wonder of the Holy Spirit….)

Puma seemed to have grown bigger still.  His fur was so nice.  His eyes are so beautiful.  Lying on the grass, watching him, I saw that his collar was changed again.  This time, it was brown, shiny brown…

Full of Surprises…

Feather In My Notebook

In the church, I discovered an amazing sight. I took out my notebook (for recording notes). To my surprise, I found a feather attached to the book. Clara sitting beside me, I asked her, “Is it you put for me?” Her eyes turned ‘red’, seemed to be surprised and ‘filled with a bit of water’. She shook her head… We did not pick up any feather on the way either. Then I recalled how I had packed my bag JUST this morning before coming to church. I PUT in this Book Personally into my bag. There was no feather at all, really no feather. I was so touched AS PAST MEMORIES Flashes across my mind about the ‘MIRACLES’ of the FEATHERS that had happened at my home (no time to write about it yet) … about Spontaneous Generation and Regeneration…

The feather was put so nicely within the fold of the notebook as shown above.  You can see that God Works Miracle and it is really ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE, ANYTHING MIGHT HAPPEN…  At the front page of my notebook writes: WE ARE GOOD FRIEND….

Mickey Mouse Notebook

I took photographs of what I had seen, don’t want to MISS IT AGAIN….

It was in Mickey Mouse cartoon shows which I saw that they had used Feathers to write letters when I was a kid.  Next, I tried it out myself.  The feathers cannot write anything at all if there is no ‘ink’ or added pencil lead to it.  It is merely an instrument to help our hands to hold onto it.  It is so difficult to write with feathers also…

In Singapore, almost every students had to attend extra Tuition after school or during their weekends also.  There are so many Tuition Centres and educational institution in Singapore, so much so that it is called an educational hub, a learning hub and so on… Within such a small country, there are so many Universities, and almost everyone is striving to get at least a degree, if not a honour degree or doctorate degree…

In this EDUCATED SOCIETY, why do we see the elderly selling tissue paper around shopping complex or MRT Stations, people sleeping in the streets, littering everywhere, crimes and prevailing divorce rates?  Is this the really so called EDUCATED SOCIETY?  Is this CURRENT Singapore you living in right now, the Singapore you want to continue to see? Is this the ultimate result of education?

Isaac was sound asleep on my left arm. I could not move. How I wanted to walk to the window to see the bird(s) singing. It was such a nice tune…

Clara came to my room. She told me about the bird singing outside the window. She went to see. It was a myna at the window outside the ‘study room‘. She walked a few times to the window and reported what she saw. The last time she went, she said that the myna ‘stared’ at her and she at the myna. How I wish I could get up and see the myna myself. I heard the loud sound of the myna singing and I do not know how many myna are there, until she told me. Cannot imagine ONE myna alone can make sound a ‘loud’ sound, and sing so beautifully… It is so special with 5-syllable sound, so miraculous…

The sound of the bird was the same sound as the day when I wrote about Saint Anthony. Yesterday, it was 7 birds (pigeons) that form the shape of the T-cross on the grass at Woodlands — the Saint Anthony Cross (Tau Cross)…

The Singapore Flag

Yesterday was such ‘a special day‘… Clara came home and she was happy too. She wanted me to guess what the school had given her. To my surprise, it was Singapore FLAG! WOW, this is the first time I had a piece of Singapore Flag, a GIFT, my precious piece of gift.

I don’t know what is the block of the flat, but it was this bird that captivated me. A pigeon perching on the lamp post. A banner with the words of “Live our dreams, Fly our flag”… I was walking along this road, with the dream I had in my mind… it was a ‘dream of reality’… Below is a close-up of the pigeon above the lamp…

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. ~Psalm 119:105

God’s Word, like a lamp, illuminates. It helps us discern spiritual danger so we can avoid it, and it points us in the right direction to take our lives. It lights the path we take through life.

Across the road, beside the bus stop, I saw this advertisement below:

(to be continued)

It took only a short while for everything to finish… and I was out of the Parliament House already. Outside the door, many reporters or journalists were waiting there. I did not know at first until two of them approached me — one from RazorTV and another one from Chinese Newspaper.

Many people involving reporters/journalists gathering outside the Parliament House

What is my feeling? Why do I come here? I was full of joy and excitement the very morning I woke up. I spent hours searching for clothes… I was so happy… I did not feel any grief at all. Do I know him? Know him? What do you mean by ‘Know him’? To know a person means SO MANY things. I can say I know him, Dr Goh Keng Swee, since I had watched his documentary on the TV ever since his death. I can say I do not know him, since I really do not know him personally — as in lunching with him, and even conversing with him. I had never never seen this person face to face, I had never talked to this person before at all. So can I say I know him? Or can I say I heard about him?

So how do I feel? Very frankly, I do not feel anything, though I heard of him and ‘knew’ him. But of course, he was a great person, given his tremendous contributions to the development of Singapore. However, there is someone who is greater than him, in my knowledge, in my mind and He had done even more things for me… and this world.

St Anthony Church showing The Last Supper and the ‘Glory of God’, Jesus Christ.

When we were young, we were often asked to write “My Best Friend”. I wrote about my best friend… But to our best friend, we might not be their best friend. It may be a one way traffic and not mutual — just like any love relationship as well. How many of my ‘best friend’ walked out of my life… I do not have any best friends anymore, soon… at my Secondary School. I felt lost, and I learned to be ‘independent’.

Today, I know who is my best friend, a friend who never betrays you, a friend who standby you when you have problems. Once, my best friend was Cebest, the dog who was supposed to be man’s best friend. However, The Lord took away his life. He had to go. Jesus brought him back to me again one night…

Jesus was my Saviour. I had witnessed his miraculous work, his amazing wonder and experienced “New Things”…

What attracted me to go to the Parliament House? The reporter asked why I went there. My answer was so stupid. I did not know what to say, even though I know in my mind, what it was. If I told them my answer, it would be so weird and really ‘stupid’. So I said,”Inspiration”… But truly, I had never been to the Parliament House before. I wanted to go there to see how the inside of the Parliament House looked like. I also wanted to see the coffin of Dr Goh Keng Swee. It was the words “I am the Resurrection and the Life” (that I saw in the TV) and the picture of the Last Supper at the coffin and the angels at the side of the coffin which I was so inspired.

Of course, I got ‘looked at’ Dr Goh Keng Swee. His face was grayish, but not scary… After the RazorTV journalists had gone, another Chinese Reporter came to ask for my Chinese Name. In the end, I think she did not have my answer, as I asked her why she wanted to know, blah blah blah… After talking and talking, I think I never tell her my chinese name at all, and she also forgot…

I did not express any signs of grief or sadness. On the contrary, I was filled with joy and happiness. I saw the miraculous wonder of God, The Resurrection…

This is the Day, by Fred Hammond

My First Unknown Friend
This is a song I was taught at Church of St Francis of Assisi, the first church where I met my friend, Jesus Christ, someone whom I talked to… Little did I know that it was all REAL…..

Importance of Our Body
This Daily Bread has been with me since last year’s Advent. But I was not in the mood to read (my body was not at all in ‘working’ condition.) But yesterday, I took it along so that I can read it in the MRT. Though I was not in the optimum ‘working’ condition, but at least I am ‘half-kicking’.

What You See
I managed to have a seat when someone just happened to leave. Everyday of my pregnancy, I feel terrible — inside my mouth, lots of saliva ‘coming out’ (mouth-watering), and it does not ‘taste’ good. It makes me so uncomfortable. This happens for all my three pregnancies. The first one started somewhere in the late trimester. The second one earlier and this third one, throughout. Everywhere I go, I have to carry a plastic bag. Otherwise I need to drink water (not plain water) to ‘neutralize’ the effect of the saliva.

What You Cannot See
Nobody likes to carry a plastic bag everywhere they go. And nobody wants to behave like an alien, so different from people — and it looks unsightly, very disgusting with the bag of saliva. My mother told me to swallow my saliva. My sister told me not to also. My husband is also scared of it, thinking it is very dirty. Do you think I like it this way? Who do not wish to have a normal body like other people do? I just cannot help it, and it is my natural body response!

Plank In My Eyes
At the library, the security guard kept looking at me. He might be thinking what is inside the plastic bag. I definitely don’t feel good, but I cannot help it. Inside the train, I have to eat or drink, otherwise I would spit. Richard always told me when he saw me eating,”Hey, cannot eat!” You think I don’t know?

Plank In Your Eyes?
You are my husband. Did you ever supported me in anything? All you ever wanted is always I supporting you. I have to defend for myself. Fined me if you want, if this is the kind of inhuman society. What is the purpose of setting up all this rules? The main purpose is to keep the train clean, and hygienic. This is the most basic reason. Would you rather forbid someone from eating or to see the train with ‘vomit’? Some people are seen eating on the train too. Some are students, and some are adults. Not many people are doing that. And everyone might have their own reasons which you do not know, such as Type I diabetes. As long as they don’t litter the train, and are not interfering you! Laws ARE SET by PEOPLE. You got to be flexible at times.

Holy Spirit
We were all separated from each other in the train. While sitting at my seat, reading “Our Daily Bread” right from the very first page, I was so moved, and so touched. Tears covered my eyes as I read the words from the pages. (will elaborate more at YrManna.com). But I need to control, otherwise later Richard would ask ‘Why’ again — Ask and I explain. But everytime with disbelief. So I better save the trouble.

Coincidence or Fated
When more people got out of the train, we finally had a chance to sit together. Something caught my attention. It was the banner in the cabin:

The Banner says: Miracles Can Happen To You This April

Good News Singapore

Yes, I believe. Miracles do happen and Miracles do exist and anything can happen if you believe.

Prayers are heard.

It’s my job to bring you the Good News.

It was Saturday again, and I, together with the children, walked to church. Again, it is the three of us, only three of us….hm… or perhaps 3 + 1!

The weather was extremely hot, extremely, extremely and it is so terribly hot…. the same kind of ‘heat’ which I had when I was pregnant with Ricsson in the year 1996…

A Matter of Tails
Walking slowly to Causeway Point, we saw this black cat as shown in the photograph above lying on the floor. It looked like Puma cat, but the skin was not as beautiful as Puma…. We were arguing if the cat is Puma. The children said Puma had longer tail, and this one had a shorter tail — obviously they were right, and I did not notice it until I compared the photographs later!

Cats Are Amazing Animals
This cat was rather ‘sickly’, and did not look as healthy as Puma. As we were walking away from the cat, a Malay woman came forward to touch the cat. I asked if she is the owner. She is not the owner of the cat, but from her, I know that the cat is a ‘Female’. She said,”You must know how to handle her!” She told me that she had seven cats at home and one had died… Puma cat owner also has seven cats at home. The Malay owner told me that Puma’s name was in fact called ‘Black’, and she showed me videos of her ‘weird’ or ‘funny’ cat at home — cat eating durian (durian-lover cat), and cat drinking water with hands (scoping up water with the paws). Those were really AMAZING Cats!

These are some more pictures taken on the way walking to the church of St Anthony of Padua.

Harvest Time

Alexandra Palm with many Philippine Glossy Starling. At the time I took the picture, most had flown away, leaving two behind…

The Cinnamon Story

The young shoot of Cinnamon

Family Of God

The same cat, Mary Cat, lying on the rock at Blk 336 Woodlands — used to wear yellow collar, but on this Saturday, it wore red collar.

Mary Cat was seen after church, lying on this rock here.

A Child was born
At this junction where I had always used to meet Puma Cat or Mary Cat, on this day, on the way to the church, I saw a woman(grandmother or babysitter) carrying a baby. Near the orange bus-stop was a group of people. At first, I thought these two groups of people belong together, but later on, I discovered that they walked different direction. The woman stood standing at the pillar of the linked shelter, carrying and ‘shaking’ the baby in her arms…

来生缘
I was surprised, very surprised to learn on Friday, 26th September 2008, while I was posting songs of Andy Lau, my favourite song…. and very curious to know about his details (profile) as in Anita Mui… was surprised, very surprised to know that his birthday would be 27th September 2008…

This was my matrimonial home. It was blessed by Father Giles.

This is Richard’s maternal grandmother, a woman of great hospitality. I attended her funeral… the chinese funeral with taoist priests… and I dreamed of her…

This is Richard and me, our Chinese wedding day, offering tea to the elders. That was my mother-in-law’s house. The tea-offering was held in front of the altar, just like my case. I do not know exactly what Richard’s mother prayed to… but if I remembered correctly, it is a statue with white beard (Tua Pek Kong if this is correct).

This is my mother’s house, offering tea to my parents, in front of the altar. The brown Mary as shown in the photograph is the same as that I saw on 7th September 2008.

This is Richard and me at our church wedding. It was not a grand church wedding. I do not even know how to organize a proper church wedding…. it was really a simple and ‘basic’ church wedding only…

Marriage In God’s Plan
The marriage covenant, by which a man and a woman form with each other an intimate communion of life and love, has been founded and endowed with its own special laws by the Creator. By its very nature it is ordered to the good of the couple, as well as to the generation and education of children. Christ the Lord raised marriage between the baptized to the dignity of a sacrament.

It was 9.05am when the teacher called me. I am grateful that the teacher called me. I thanked her… really thanked her for her effort, and later, accepted my ‘request’ and ‘favour’.

Form Teacher
At the beginning of school, January 2008, the class was given a form from their form teacher, and that is how I got to know their form teacher, Mdm Chua. She was a good teacher. Everyday Clara came home, very cheerful, very motivated, telling me stories (what Mdm Chua had told them), asking me questions(to see if I know).

Everything changed when Mdm Chua gave birth to her baby. She had to go on leave to look after her baby. Clara loves the teacher. She even went to her website, sent her message (that was what she told me).

After that, who is the form teacher? One relief teacher after another one. I am also confused. Just yesterday, she told me again about the current form teacher… saying the class is always ‘last’ and the teacher always scolding the class…. Before this teacher, there was another one (relief teacher also)….

What The Teacher Said:
She had given out consent form for Supplementary Classes (long ago she said), and Clara did not sign it. I told her, Clara was absent a few days ago, she was sick. But she said, she had it.

I asked for the date of the supplementary classes. I did not even know any head or tail about it! I asked and jotted down the dates. I asked her for her name. She was reluctant to say her name, but “I am her form teacher.” But later on, she added, Madam Tan.

After saying so much, she was not going to allow Clara to attend the supplementary class. Then she would have missed the lesson! And she had already called me, and I have consented to it! After that, she agreed… and I asked her to help me to ask Clara to call me later.

Look Into It
She asked me to look into it.

Richard asked me: What are you doing?
I wrote about Biofocus International, he said I asking for trouble. I wrote about the school, he asked me not to write…..

I told him so many things, he also never listen. Bad things are so easy to do. Bad things are so easy to learn. And children ‘pick’ up the habits and learn everything, good and bad…

My fault…
I did not check her school bag. I did not check her handbook. I expect her to do all by herself, to be responsible. My mother was illiterate. My mother never had to check my bag. But I do everything myself. There were no student handbook also! So what if there is student handbook? When I check, it was blank…. soon, I also learned to leave the kids alone… let them learn themselves. I am so busy, I am thinking of earning money, money is a problem already!

You think I love to live this kind of life? I can look for a job, and not care about the family, have money, have CPF, but the family would even be worst!

Co-operation
Not every child in Singapore is born rich. Not every child can AFFORD to go school and have TUITION after school. Not every child is so fortunate to be borned into rich families or LOVING PARENTS who cared about their children. It JUST happened that I AM the unfortunate ONE that was sent to REPRESENT the illiterate, the unfortunate, the poor.

You cannot expect every parent to Check the work of the children. The parent can only tell the children. I always ask her, tell her, and if she wants to listen (it also depends on the teacher-student relationship)!

It takes two to tango.

Not Happy, Come Talk To Me
If I had written here, and anyone is not happy, come and talk to me. I need your help. I am most welcome to sit down with the teachers and the principal, if only you want to help. I am only a mother, a wife and I have to do so many things! Come lor, Come and talk to me, call me if you want. This is the kind of students-turned-parents that Ministry of Education had ‘nurtured’. If only you want to ‘entertain me’!!!

And How Do I tell YOU to look into it?
I TOLD, I CALLED the teachers of Qi Hua Primary School, to HELP… (elaborate in some other posts)… did THEY or did SHE…

Links:
QiHua Primary School
QiHua Primary School Crest
QiHua Singapore Sculptures
QiHua Victory
Which School To Go

Frasers CentrePoint Malls: Causeway Point
Address : 1 Woodlands Square
Singapore 738099
Telephone : (65) 6894 2237
Opening hours : 10.30am – 10.30pm

A snapshot of Causeway Point, standing at the entrance of Woodlands Civic Centre, while waiting for Richard (nothing to do… photo-taking another hobby, besides reading)

In 1995, Richard and I got registered, and married the following year… Moving to Woodlands, everything was new and fresh… We stayed at Blk 827 Woodlands st 81, and we took many pictures of our neighbourhood…

Causeway Point was under construction, and as soon as it was completed, we rushed to it. It was so spacious and new then. There were Taco Bells, the Teletubbies, the fountains, etc… It is our shopping place…. This is the place where we bought most of our household things. It is 11 years already…..eleven… and I even dream of it…

On 13th September 2008, I went Causeway Point after church to buy a printer. On that day, Clara told me about Causeway Point giving out vouchers… but I did not know the details. While on the escalator, I saw this big banner, it was nice and decide to take a picture of it “The Big Thank You Celebration”.

The Big Thank You Celebration 5-28 September 2008, Causeway Point

Spend $200 and Receive $5 Shopping Voucher
A lot of people on that day… so many people queuing up for the $5 Shopping vouchers. I did not queue up for the voucher… I had to go off as Patrick would be coming soon to my house.

Looking down from the escalator, this is what I see, the Thailand Exhibition… all Thailand stuff, handbags, jewelleries, etc

This is the final product I bought, Epson Printer…

One year ago, the family went UOB Plaza with Richard’s friends.

This is a photo of UOB Plaza and all high-rise building at Raffles Place. This was taken on my birthday.

UOB Plaza is a development consisting of two art deco skyscrapers in the city of Singapore. The complex has two towers, namely UOB Plaza One and UOB Plaza Two. The former is one of the three tallest skyscrapers in the city of Singapore, sharing the title with the OUB Centre and Republic Plaza. The latter is relatively shorter and older than the former with the building constructed in 1973 and reconstructed in 1995 to have the same facade as the newer and taller building. Both the two buildings are connected by a 45 metre long podium supported by four columns. The podium houses the banking hall of the United Overseas Bank’s main branch. The building was opened by then Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew in 1995 which is 60 years after United Overseas Bank’s founding.

The towers have an octagonal base and consists of rotated cubic volumes, which is a distinctive stylistic expression of Kenzo Tange’s works in the 1990s. The cubic volumes on the octagonal base, they rotate on a 45 degree plane of reference and diminish in volume towards the top of UOB Plaza One. UOB Plaza One is a 280-metre tall building with 67 floors, and was completed in 1992. It is the headquarters of the United Overseas Bank and major financial corporations such as UBS. On the 60th floor, there is a restaurant, Si Chuan Dou Hua. The basement of the building houses a mosque known as Masjid Moulana Mohd Ali, which is run by Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS). This mosque is the first in the Raffles Place district and is unique due to the mosque being located underground. This peculiarity has stirred controversy because to some Muslims, it is not good because it is located “in the bowels” of the earth.

UOB PLAZA: This photo was taken on 1st September 2007. We went there by MRT, alight at Raffles Place.

Our destination is Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant. As mentioned earlier, it is located at the 60th floor. We took the lift up. Inside the lift, Ricsson took photographs and I took photographs of the children… we were in high spirit.

This is the entrance to the beautiful restaurant, Si Chuan Dou Hua Restuarant

Si Chuan Dou Hua Restuarant
The address of the restuarant: 80 Raffles Place, #60-01 UOB Plaza 1, Singapore 048624
Tel: 65356006, Fax: 65345878

Being led to our seats: I took this photograph. This is so lovely, so nice. A great dining place, a beautiful place to eat.

Some more variety of seats… great ambience for fine dining.

Authentically Sichuan, Exceptionally World-Class
Spanning over a decade, Si Chuan Dou Hua has honed its mastery of exceptional fine dining, appealing to all senses with its authentic Sichuan cuisine, art of tea and elegant ambience….

60 Dishes Deluxe Feast
Enjoy our popular 60 Dishes Deluxe Feast à la carte buffet amidst the elegant ambience of our restaurants, Parkroyal on Beach Road and TOP of UOB Plaza.

Weekday Dinner, Mon – Thu
$35.80 (Adult) $24.80 (Child)

Weekend Lunch, Sat, Sun &
public holiday
$38.80 (Adult) $26.80 (Child)

Weekend Dinner, Fri – Sun,
eve & public holiday
$38.80 (Adult) $26.80 (Child)

It was a great day. After dinner, we walked around Raffles Place, sight-seeing and taking photographs.

More Photographs
Authentic Si Chuan Food
Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant