tomorrow is my last working day with dulwich. it's been 9 weeks. amazing how time flies! and i realised once again, that i don't want to back to singapore. i always feel so stifled and suffocated in singapore. it's a place where my aspirations are usually killed and dreams are buried. sighs.
dulwich has been really good to me. apparently, my boss who interviewed me didn't expect me to accept the job, since according to her, i seem very qualified from the looks of my cv. because of dulwich, i had to prematurely turn down another company (a big listed company) cos i had already accepted the offer to come to shanghai.
the working experience has just been amazing. the colleagues are nice, my boss rocks, i got to work directly with the chairman on the project that became the centre of my work life for the month of august - the soon to be launched qiao18.com! please visit the site from next monday onwards, especially people who need to brush up on their chinese.
well, on going back to singapore. i am really excited to meet my family. i'm really excited to meet yujie who has told me he's excited to meet me too. :) excited to meet friends like xiu whom i haven't seen since the beginning of the year. but i'm not so excited about the rest of the package. i will have to move back home. over here i get to live by myself. gonna be so different.
i miss church so much. it's indescribable really. but having said that, i love my routine here. work, gym, leisure, meeting people, watching church online service. i dont know if i can adapt back to the high commitment level of the church once again.
when overseas, i'm usually stronger. i can handle being alone. i can explore the place and travel alone. but at home, i'm different.
i need to plan my next escape. i can't bear the thought of staying in singapore for too long. london 2010? dubai/abu dhabi 2010? american east coast 2010? american west coast 2010? hmmmmmm....
well, before i go back to singapore, seb's coming to shanghai this weekend! woohoo! i'm quite excited. shanghai may be quite boring. but we're going to travel! i'm really looking forward to going to qingdao. apparently tsingtao beer (which is already my favourite beer in the world) is even nicer in qingdao itself. oh man, exciting!
i remember when seb arrived in beijing in april, i told him, "u're very lucky, it's spring, the flowers have just opened." he replied, "open your head la! bloomed!" i was totally like OMG...i've stayed in china for toooo long. it was the lowest point in my english-speaking life. hope this time it'll be better.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
so old
haha. i got a missed call from singapore and naturally, didn't know who it was because my system doesn't give me caller id. a while later, darian called and asked, "did u call?"
i said, "no, did u?".
he said, "no, i got a missed call from overseas."
i said, "no, i got a missed call from singapore."
and it went on from there. hahaha.
i woke up this morning feeling really old. i was aching all over. it's possible it could be due to the gym work. i've gone to the gym for 19 consecutive days now and this week, i've run 10km every day, done weights and swam more than 800m per day. i think it's the aging. i feel so old. i've turned 23. birthdays used to be energetic and vibrant but these few years, my celebrations have mellowed down to a level i feel comfortable with. basically i'm old!
when i talk to old friends, and we reminisce, we eventually realise what we're thinking about happened many years ago and so it enforces the point that we are really old! next year is actually the year of the tiger. i would have gone through the chinese zodiac twice. 24 years old. and nothing to my name so far.
i can understand why people would go through a mid life crisis. if u haven't achieved much and u just keep getting older, it will increasingly get to u until a certain point when u reach a threshold age and realise u're really not young anymore. that's when u snap and go into a mid life crisis. as i look back, my father resigned in the early 90s to enter into his own business. he was in his early 40s - mid life crisis. but i must say my father has done well. he has tried so many ventures and many have been unsuccessful. but he also has had his successes. we can live comfortably because of him. he's currently trying a new venture. am really keeping my fingers crossed and praying for him. i think his new venture really has a chance to become really really really successful if done right. well, my father's turning 60 next year. this is probably going to be one of his last legacies.
my mum went through her crisis a little later. she resigned from her high paying comfortable job to take care of us and for many years, that was enough for her. but in recent years, we've all been out (either out of the house or even out of the country). and then she went through her near-death experience. coupled with facing an empty house every day, it hit her. she could do more. that's why she went back to school this year! to pick up a certificate in counselling psychology, and even a degree if she wants to further, so that she can be more effective in her community work.
everyone goes through a mid life crisis. i am at my quarter life crisis now. i need to do more with my life! i know i'm really not that old relative to most of the world's population, but i am really old relative to what i used to be! i know it will take time to achieve anything. but i'm just so impatient. this biding my time thing is not working out so well for me.
well, failing all else, i have lost a lot of weight over the past one year. that's an investment into my future. but i'm still not losing enough. time to gym today! another 10km, more weights and another 800m in the pool. oh gosh i hate exercise.
i said, "no, did u?".
he said, "no, i got a missed call from overseas."
i said, "no, i got a missed call from singapore."
and it went on from there. hahaha.
i woke up this morning feeling really old. i was aching all over. it's possible it could be due to the gym work. i've gone to the gym for 19 consecutive days now and this week, i've run 10km every day, done weights and swam more than 800m per day. i think it's the aging. i feel so old. i've turned 23. birthdays used to be energetic and vibrant but these few years, my celebrations have mellowed down to a level i feel comfortable with. basically i'm old!
when i talk to old friends, and we reminisce, we eventually realise what we're thinking about happened many years ago and so it enforces the point that we are really old! next year is actually the year of the tiger. i would have gone through the chinese zodiac twice. 24 years old. and nothing to my name so far.
i can understand why people would go through a mid life crisis. if u haven't achieved much and u just keep getting older, it will increasingly get to u until a certain point when u reach a threshold age and realise u're really not young anymore. that's when u snap and go into a mid life crisis. as i look back, my father resigned in the early 90s to enter into his own business. he was in his early 40s - mid life crisis. but i must say my father has done well. he has tried so many ventures and many have been unsuccessful. but he also has had his successes. we can live comfortably because of him. he's currently trying a new venture. am really keeping my fingers crossed and praying for him. i think his new venture really has a chance to become really really really successful if done right. well, my father's turning 60 next year. this is probably going to be one of his last legacies.
my mum went through her crisis a little later. she resigned from her high paying comfortable job to take care of us and for many years, that was enough for her. but in recent years, we've all been out (either out of the house or even out of the country). and then she went through her near-death experience. coupled with facing an empty house every day, it hit her. she could do more. that's why she went back to school this year! to pick up a certificate in counselling psychology, and even a degree if she wants to further, so that she can be more effective in her community work.
everyone goes through a mid life crisis. i am at my quarter life crisis now. i need to do more with my life! i know i'm really not that old relative to most of the world's population, but i am really old relative to what i used to be! i know it will take time to achieve anything. but i'm just so impatient. this biding my time thing is not working out so well for me.
well, failing all else, i have lost a lot of weight over the past one year. that's an investment into my future. but i'm still not losing enough. time to gym today! another 10km, more weights and another 800m in the pool. oh gosh i hate exercise.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Virtue Should Be Rewarded
In Malcolm Gladwell's latest book, Outliers (an excellent read which comes with my recommendations), he quotes an old Chinese adage that goes, "No man who can rise before dawn 360 days a year fails to make his family rich." An excellent saying. Hard work is always rewarded. Living in China for half a year now, I realise that opportunities to make money are aplenty. Some people seize them and make it, but many others choose to sit back and cruise by.
There was lady who sells books at a metro station near my old place in Shanghai. There was once I wanted a book rather urgently for a gift. I went looking for her for three consecutive days. But she wasn't there. There was always an excuse. Something cropped up, it was raining so she decided to take the day off and on the third day, she decided to start work late (it was 4pm when I called her). People like that will never lift themselves out of poverty because they are simply not willing to work hard.
Conversely, just tonight, I wanted to buy a soft toy mascot of the Shanghai World Expo 2010. I walked past a makeshift stall in the metro and expressed some interest. The girl manning the stall immediately asked me what I wanted. I asked for the price of the biggest soft toy. 30 yuan, she said. I know for a fact their cost price is probably 2 yuan. So I asked for 10 yuan. I don't mind letting them earn but I never let them rip me off. She refused and offered 15 yuan. I left. She shouted after me, 12 yuan. I insisted on 10 yuan. She declined. I continued walking. Around 100 metres down, I heard someone say, "Give you one." It was the girl, panting because she ran after me, deciding to close the deal after all. I gave her 12 yuan. Virtue should be rewarded. That girl was probably around 15 years old. She probably had to do some math in her head when I offered her 10 yuan. But she finally decided a sale is a sale. Instead of despairing because I was long gone by that time, she ran after me. This young girl will go far. If she gets an education, who knows where she will end up? If she doesn't get an education, her industrious nature will still ensure she will not fall back too far in life.
A lot of people try to get rich the easy way (So many people in China are like that. I really hate this aspect of the Chinese. A lot of them are 贪小便宜). The truth is, there is no easy way. The best example...MLMs. These schemes always promise an opportunity to make lots of money. To join an MLM, you first need to plough in some money to buy the product and then you sell the product and reap profits. You also bring other people into the business - your lower line. You will get a cut from the sales of your lower line. Ultimately who benefits the most from MLMs? Firstly, the people right at the top, they started the business and they keep drawing people into a silly, almost ponzi-like scheme, except that this time, there is a certain product (that usually doesn't work very well) to back it up. Those are smart people and they will make money. I will not discuss my views on their morality here. Secondly, it's the people who work really hard. They plough in the money and they tirelessly sell the product to make their money back. They bring in more and more people so that they have as many lower lines as possible. It is true - MLMs offer very attractive profit-making opportunities. But most people do not even get past the stage whereby they plough in the money, because they don't work hard. Those are the silly people who allow the people at the top to make money for nothing really.
This not only applies to sales. It applies to life in general. Work hard and you will succeed. It's in the bible. A lazy man will starve to death - that's in the bible too! God is fair. He rewards virtue. Hard work and belief in yourself are the two things that are needed for success. Lack of either and you probably won't be as successful as you wish you would be. Lack of both and you deserve to starve to death. Don't blame me. God decided it should be like that. Read the bible.
There was lady who sells books at a metro station near my old place in Shanghai. There was once I wanted a book rather urgently for a gift. I went looking for her for three consecutive days. But she wasn't there. There was always an excuse. Something cropped up, it was raining so she decided to take the day off and on the third day, she decided to start work late (it was 4pm when I called her). People like that will never lift themselves out of poverty because they are simply not willing to work hard.
Conversely, just tonight, I wanted to buy a soft toy mascot of the Shanghai World Expo 2010. I walked past a makeshift stall in the metro and expressed some interest. The girl manning the stall immediately asked me what I wanted. I asked for the price of the biggest soft toy. 30 yuan, she said. I know for a fact their cost price is probably 2 yuan. So I asked for 10 yuan. I don't mind letting them earn but I never let them rip me off. She refused and offered 15 yuan. I left. She shouted after me, 12 yuan. I insisted on 10 yuan. She declined. I continued walking. Around 100 metres down, I heard someone say, "Give you one." It was the girl, panting because she ran after me, deciding to close the deal after all. I gave her 12 yuan. Virtue should be rewarded. That girl was probably around 15 years old. She probably had to do some math in her head when I offered her 10 yuan. But she finally decided a sale is a sale. Instead of despairing because I was long gone by that time, she ran after me. This young girl will go far. If she gets an education, who knows where she will end up? If she doesn't get an education, her industrious nature will still ensure she will not fall back too far in life.
A lot of people try to get rich the easy way (So many people in China are like that. I really hate this aspect of the Chinese. A lot of them are 贪小便宜). The truth is, there is no easy way. The best example...MLMs. These schemes always promise an opportunity to make lots of money. To join an MLM, you first need to plough in some money to buy the product and then you sell the product and reap profits. You also bring other people into the business - your lower line. You will get a cut from the sales of your lower line. Ultimately who benefits the most from MLMs? Firstly, the people right at the top, they started the business and they keep drawing people into a silly, almost ponzi-like scheme, except that this time, there is a certain product (that usually doesn't work very well) to back it up. Those are smart people and they will make money. I will not discuss my views on their morality here. Secondly, it's the people who work really hard. They plough in the money and they tirelessly sell the product to make their money back. They bring in more and more people so that they have as many lower lines as possible. It is true - MLMs offer very attractive profit-making opportunities. But most people do not even get past the stage whereby they plough in the money, because they don't work hard. Those are the silly people who allow the people at the top to make money for nothing really.
This not only applies to sales. It applies to life in general. Work hard and you will succeed. It's in the bible. A lazy man will starve to death - that's in the bible too! God is fair. He rewards virtue. Hard work and belief in yourself are the two things that are needed for success. Lack of either and you probably won't be as successful as you wish you would be. Lack of both and you deserve to starve to death. Don't blame me. God decided it should be like that. Read the bible.
Monday, August 10, 2009
i don't want to go home
it's a very unsettling feeling, knowing that i have to move soon. 15 more working days and that's it for dulwich (unless my chairman really means his word that he won't let me go back until the web site i'm working on is launched! hahaha). i then have some time in shanghai to enjoy myself. and then i need to go back to beijing and head back to singapore. a big part of me does not want to go back.
i really don't know if i can cope. 2009 has been a very good year for me. i realised that i haven't been depressed all year long. sad, yes. upset, probably. disappointed, at times. but never the same emotional pits of 2007 and 2008. i think i know why. i'm not afraid of challenges. in fact, at times, a masochistic part of me likes challenges. but what i cannot cope with is seemingly insurmountable challenges. which is what i felt in 2007 and 2008. i felt that a big mistake caused me to lose what seemed to be everything. 2007 was the worst. 2008 i tried to do something about it. i succeeded for a while but then fell again. 2009 has been good. i thank God that i have been able to pick the pieces up and move on. although i guess i will never be able to fully make up for what it lost, i've managed to work around it. through it all, i realised that the most important thing that i possessed that took me through and helped me to emerge from the pits was really, an undying belief in myself. no matter how bad the circumstances were, or how badly i failed (i literally failed in school), i refused to bow to conventional thought that i couldn't succeed. i guess that is the most important thing. that's why the bible warns against having no root in yourself.
the good thing about going back to singapore is that my friends and family are in singapore. my church is in singapore! but then i really don't think singapore can offer me much more than that. sigh. shanghai is to be honest, not that great. it's really boring on the weekends. apart from aven, i don't really have friends here. but shanghai is not singapore. and that's almost good enough. i enjoy my work, i find fulfillment in it. fulfillment is something that has always eluded me when i was in singapore. i always felt so restricted, so cooped up in singapore. in the singapore education system.
to be honest, singapore offers an excellent primary and secondary school education. our math and sciences are not inferior to the chinese, japanese or koreans (we certainly trump the westerners), and we offer something that is very unique and important - bilingualism in english and mandarin (for the chinese in singapore at least). that is something that is vital in helping singapore keep a competitive edge over other countries. when i have my own children, i will certainly school them in singapore during their early years.
in jc, i was so fortunate to be in the rjc humanities programme. it expanded my horizons and made learning enjoyable. and more than that, many of my good friends were made in rjc. rj was a really good experience. and rj students come out believing in themselves, strong, unyielding to challenges. when i look at my peers, i feel happy for everyone (and a bit jealous at times...haha). i would actually think that my two years in rjc prepared me well for the doldrums of 2007 and 2008.
but once you get to university, singapore's system...let me put it in a politically correct way...cannot meet the needs of every student. it is good that the government is trying to make university education widely available. but in that case, you cannot cater to the needs of everyone. and so, the university becomes a factory for government requirements. if government officials want to challenge me on this, well, i've been studying in nus, where did they study?
well, no point feeling so down. it's only the beginning of august. i have more than a month to enjoy life outside singapore before returning. anw, hopefully working in singapore from sept to next jan would prove to be a good experience!! i'm sure it will be! =)
i really don't know if i can cope. 2009 has been a very good year for me. i realised that i haven't been depressed all year long. sad, yes. upset, probably. disappointed, at times. but never the same emotional pits of 2007 and 2008. i think i know why. i'm not afraid of challenges. in fact, at times, a masochistic part of me likes challenges. but what i cannot cope with is seemingly insurmountable challenges. which is what i felt in 2007 and 2008. i felt that a big mistake caused me to lose what seemed to be everything. 2007 was the worst. 2008 i tried to do something about it. i succeeded for a while but then fell again. 2009 has been good. i thank God that i have been able to pick the pieces up and move on. although i guess i will never be able to fully make up for what it lost, i've managed to work around it. through it all, i realised that the most important thing that i possessed that took me through and helped me to emerge from the pits was really, an undying belief in myself. no matter how bad the circumstances were, or how badly i failed (i literally failed in school), i refused to bow to conventional thought that i couldn't succeed. i guess that is the most important thing. that's why the bible warns against having no root in yourself.
the good thing about going back to singapore is that my friends and family are in singapore. my church is in singapore! but then i really don't think singapore can offer me much more than that. sigh. shanghai is to be honest, not that great. it's really boring on the weekends. apart from aven, i don't really have friends here. but shanghai is not singapore. and that's almost good enough. i enjoy my work, i find fulfillment in it. fulfillment is something that has always eluded me when i was in singapore. i always felt so restricted, so cooped up in singapore. in the singapore education system.
to be honest, singapore offers an excellent primary and secondary school education. our math and sciences are not inferior to the chinese, japanese or koreans (we certainly trump the westerners), and we offer something that is very unique and important - bilingualism in english and mandarin (for the chinese in singapore at least). that is something that is vital in helping singapore keep a competitive edge over other countries. when i have my own children, i will certainly school them in singapore during their early years.
in jc, i was so fortunate to be in the rjc humanities programme. it expanded my horizons and made learning enjoyable. and more than that, many of my good friends were made in rjc. rj was a really good experience. and rj students come out believing in themselves, strong, unyielding to challenges. when i look at my peers, i feel happy for everyone (and a bit jealous at times...haha). i would actually think that my two years in rjc prepared me well for the doldrums of 2007 and 2008.
but once you get to university, singapore's system...let me put it in a politically correct way...cannot meet the needs of every student. it is good that the government is trying to make university education widely available. but in that case, you cannot cater to the needs of everyone. and so, the university becomes a factory for government requirements. if government officials want to challenge me on this, well, i've been studying in nus, where did they study?
well, no point feeling so down. it's only the beginning of august. i have more than a month to enjoy life outside singapore before returning. anw, hopefully working in singapore from sept to next jan would prove to be a good experience!! i'm sure it will be! =)
Sunday, August 2, 2009
City Harvest – Loving God and Loving People. A Tribute on its 20th Anniversary
AS A Singaporean who is currently based overseas, there are only a few things I miss about Singapore. On top of the list is the food. Nasi lemak, chicken rice, carrot cake, sambal sting ray, mee goreng and the list goes on. Right next food, is City Harvest Church. I’ve hardly ever loudly publicized my affiliation with City Harvest Church on cyberspace so I think the church’s 20th anniversary is an appropriate time.
I’ve been a member of City Harvest Church since the year 2004. Over the years, I’ve changed, matured and grown. I’m a proud graduate of City Harvest Bible Training Center with an Advanced Certificate of Theology. I’ve risen up to become a leader within the church. I’m a writer for the church news portal.
City Harvest, along with its founding couple, the Reverend Dr Kong Hee and his wife, international pop star Sun Ho, have had more than its fair share of bad press. Somehow it has become fashionable to criticize this entity that is not a “conventional church” in any sense of the phrase. Yet, many of these critics have never stepped into City Harvest or met the leading couple.
Well, I have. And I am unabashed in my defiance against the critics. City Harvest is nothing like the evil, money-grubbing, attention-seeking organization that it is so often portrayed as. Pastor Kong and his wife Sun are two of the nicest, most compassionate people I have ever met in my life.
So what is City Harvest really like?
City Harvest is an anchor in my life and in the lives of many others. Regardless of what is happening in our lives, we know that the church will always be there to support us through. There are always leaders or friends to look out for you. For myself, I know that my own Zone Pastor, Pastor Chee Kiang and his wife Evelyn, are always there to lend a listening ear and offer advice whenever I face problems, be it in my studies, career-related pursuits, relationships, emotions or spiritual life. Every time I leave Singapore, it tears me apart inside, knowing that I will be leaving the church for a while. But whenever I go back, the church is still there. The people are still there. A sense of familiarity in a time of rapid change. The church is an anchor.
City Harvest is a safe haven. Recession or terrorism, earthquake or tsunami, we know that we can find the peace of God in City Harvest Church. Skeptics or cynics (I know because I was one before) will never be able to experience the peace of God that we call the presence of the Holy Spirit. Regardless of your own situation, stepping into the presence of the Holy Spirit changes everything. You feel peace, you feel love, you feel joy.
City Harvest is not just a safe haven for the able. The church runs services for the intellectually-disabled and the elderly. Every week, the church provides free buses for these people to come to church, and the same buses bring them back home after the service. Each week, the church asks for volunteers to help in these services. The first time I stepped into a service for the intellectually disabled, and I saw the intellectually disabled, and I saw the joy on their faces, singing and praising God at the top of their voices in the uncoordinated fashion that is all they could manage, my heart just melted. I told myself, it’s all worth it. Everything I’ve ever given to the church in terms of my time and my finances, it doesn’t go to the pockets of the Senior Pastor. In fact, both him and his wife do not receive a salary from the church. It goes to helping others who are less fortunate.
The City Harvest helping hand extends beyond Singapore. When the tsunami hit Indonesia and Sri Lanka in 2004, when the earthquake hit Sichuan in China last year, one of the first aid teams to arrive to provide relief was the City Harvest team. The church would raise money in a special collection that would go solely to benefit the victims. The church has built schools, orphanages and hospitals all over Asia. The church is a safe haven.
City Harvest is a family. Two of my three closest friends, Sebastian and Yu Jie are in church. Many of my other close friends are in church as well. We share our lives with one another, we share our dreams and aspirations, we share our struggles and we conquer them together. We celebrate birthdays, we celebrate new relationships. We help with one another’s weddings and we play with one another’s children. All right, I’m not at that married with kids phase yet but we I will get there eventually. In the meantime, I spend my time playing with my zone pastor’s son, Javier!!!
The church leadership is not an unapproachable entity. I’ve had the privilege of meeting Pastor Kong and his wife Sun, and interacting with Deputy Senior Pastor Tan Ye Peng and the other pastors. They are not high and mighty, snooty people. They are down to earth, real people with big hearts and a keen sense of humour!!
In a family, finances are given freely. So many times, the church is criticized because a Pastor on stage each week encourages people to give money to God. Once a year, for six months, and the critics gasp, the church collects money to build a new building. But if you take a step back and think, who would give to the church for a new building, if they are not in the church for the long run? We give because we love the church. We give because we believe in the church’s cause and we’re here to stay. We give because we want a new church building that will become our second home. It will be a place our children can grow up in and our elders can grow old in (oops!). The church is a family.
City Harvest is a place where dreams are realized. Why are there so many successful people within the church? Because it is the right milieu for dreams to be born and realized. When you’re surrounded by people with big dreams, you will tend towards having a big dream yourself. And the church environment of encouragement and positive thinking is perfect for realizing your dreams.
Moreover, while you’re trying to discover yourself, the church gives you opportunities to do things bigger than yourself. Personally, I like to write. Since my internship with The Straits Times, I didn’t have the opportunity to write except on my own trivial blog, until the church gave me the opportunity to write in the church magazine (massive editing required because I really didn’t know housestyle…sorry Glyn!), as well as the church news portal (less editing required). One of the editors who runs her own writing agency outside gave me the opportunity to cover a news event and paid me well! Thank you Theresa!
As a leader in the church myself, I try my best to help my members, with their studies, with their dreams. The least I can do is to give them some encouragement and a push, because someone in the church did it for me before. The church is a place where dreams are realized.
City Harvest is a place where success is celebrated. Whenever one of us is successful, the rest of us don’t become envious or bitter, we celebrate together. We are delighted that Sun is doing well in the music industry. We are proud that Elim Chew has expanded her business overseas. We celebrated as Belinda Lee won the Best Infortainment Host Award at the Star Awards earlier this year. We are happy when students do well in school and businesspeople do well in their careers. The church is a place where success is celebrated.
Regardless of what people say, or what people think, the fact remains, City Harvest has stayed true to its central calling, loving God and loving people. The truth is that lives have been enriched and transformed. More than 27,000 lives in Singapore and many many more beyond Singapore! Thank you City Harvest for 20 awesome years! I may not have been here for all 20 (I joined the church only in 2004), but I will certainly be here for the next 20 and beyond! I love you City Harvest, I always will!!
I’ve been a member of City Harvest Church since the year 2004. Over the years, I’ve changed, matured and grown. I’m a proud graduate of City Harvest Bible Training Center with an Advanced Certificate of Theology. I’ve risen up to become a leader within the church. I’m a writer for the church news portal.
City Harvest, along with its founding couple, the Reverend Dr Kong Hee and his wife, international pop star Sun Ho, have had more than its fair share of bad press. Somehow it has become fashionable to criticize this entity that is not a “conventional church” in any sense of the phrase. Yet, many of these critics have never stepped into City Harvest or met the leading couple.
Well, I have. And I am unabashed in my defiance against the critics. City Harvest is nothing like the evil, money-grubbing, attention-seeking organization that it is so often portrayed as. Pastor Kong and his wife Sun are two of the nicest, most compassionate people I have ever met in my life.
So what is City Harvest really like?
City Harvest is an anchor in my life and in the lives of many others. Regardless of what is happening in our lives, we know that the church will always be there to support us through. There are always leaders or friends to look out for you. For myself, I know that my own Zone Pastor, Pastor Chee Kiang and his wife Evelyn, are always there to lend a listening ear and offer advice whenever I face problems, be it in my studies, career-related pursuits, relationships, emotions or spiritual life. Every time I leave Singapore, it tears me apart inside, knowing that I will be leaving the church for a while. But whenever I go back, the church is still there. The people are still there. A sense of familiarity in a time of rapid change. The church is an anchor.
City Harvest is a safe haven. Recession or terrorism, earthquake or tsunami, we know that we can find the peace of God in City Harvest Church. Skeptics or cynics (I know because I was one before) will never be able to experience the peace of God that we call the presence of the Holy Spirit. Regardless of your own situation, stepping into the presence of the Holy Spirit changes everything. You feel peace, you feel love, you feel joy.
City Harvest is not just a safe haven for the able. The church runs services for the intellectually-disabled and the elderly. Every week, the church provides free buses for these people to come to church, and the same buses bring them back home after the service. Each week, the church asks for volunteers to help in these services. The first time I stepped into a service for the intellectually disabled, and I saw the intellectually disabled, and I saw the joy on their faces, singing and praising God at the top of their voices in the uncoordinated fashion that is all they could manage, my heart just melted. I told myself, it’s all worth it. Everything I’ve ever given to the church in terms of my time and my finances, it doesn’t go to the pockets of the Senior Pastor. In fact, both him and his wife do not receive a salary from the church. It goes to helping others who are less fortunate.
The City Harvest helping hand extends beyond Singapore. When the tsunami hit Indonesia and Sri Lanka in 2004, when the earthquake hit Sichuan in China last year, one of the first aid teams to arrive to provide relief was the City Harvest team. The church would raise money in a special collection that would go solely to benefit the victims. The church has built schools, orphanages and hospitals all over Asia. The church is a safe haven.
City Harvest is a family. Two of my three closest friends, Sebastian and Yu Jie are in church. Many of my other close friends are in church as well. We share our lives with one another, we share our dreams and aspirations, we share our struggles and we conquer them together. We celebrate birthdays, we celebrate new relationships. We help with one another’s weddings and we play with one another’s children. All right, I’m not at that married with kids phase yet but we I will get there eventually. In the meantime, I spend my time playing with my zone pastor’s son, Javier!!!
The church leadership is not an unapproachable entity. I’ve had the privilege of meeting Pastor Kong and his wife Sun, and interacting with Deputy Senior Pastor Tan Ye Peng and the other pastors. They are not high and mighty, snooty people. They are down to earth, real people with big hearts and a keen sense of humour!!
In a family, finances are given freely. So many times, the church is criticized because a Pastor on stage each week encourages people to give money to God. Once a year, for six months, and the critics gasp, the church collects money to build a new building. But if you take a step back and think, who would give to the church for a new building, if they are not in the church for the long run? We give because we love the church. We give because we believe in the church’s cause and we’re here to stay. We give because we want a new church building that will become our second home. It will be a place our children can grow up in and our elders can grow old in (oops!). The church is a family.
City Harvest is a place where dreams are realized. Why are there so many successful people within the church? Because it is the right milieu for dreams to be born and realized. When you’re surrounded by people with big dreams, you will tend towards having a big dream yourself. And the church environment of encouragement and positive thinking is perfect for realizing your dreams.
Moreover, while you’re trying to discover yourself, the church gives you opportunities to do things bigger than yourself. Personally, I like to write. Since my internship with The Straits Times, I didn’t have the opportunity to write except on my own trivial blog, until the church gave me the opportunity to write in the church magazine (massive editing required because I really didn’t know housestyle…sorry Glyn!), as well as the church news portal (less editing required). One of the editors who runs her own writing agency outside gave me the opportunity to cover a news event and paid me well! Thank you Theresa!
As a leader in the church myself, I try my best to help my members, with their studies, with their dreams. The least I can do is to give them some encouragement and a push, because someone in the church did it for me before. The church is a place where dreams are realized.
City Harvest is a place where success is celebrated. Whenever one of us is successful, the rest of us don’t become envious or bitter, we celebrate together. We are delighted that Sun is doing well in the music industry. We are proud that Elim Chew has expanded her business overseas. We celebrated as Belinda Lee won the Best Infortainment Host Award at the Star Awards earlier this year. We are happy when students do well in school and businesspeople do well in their careers. The church is a place where success is celebrated.
Regardless of what people say, or what people think, the fact remains, City Harvest has stayed true to its central calling, loving God and loving people. The truth is that lives have been enriched and transformed. More than 27,000 lives in Singapore and many many more beyond Singapore! Thank you City Harvest for 20 awesome years! I may not have been here for all 20 (I joined the church only in 2004), but I will certainly be here for the next 20 and beyond! I love you City Harvest, I always will!!
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