Why I love this island so!

Religious violence is something you see every day on the news.  If it's not Nigerian churches being torched by the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram, it's probably the tension between Hindu militants and Muslim extremists in India.

All the violence we read about is absolutely foreign to us who live in Singapore.  Whatever Western critics may say about a "totalitarian" government (which isn't true at all) or the lack of freedom (I don't know about you but I can do without the freedom to get killed or maimed), my advice to the critics is this - you remain in YOUR country and I'll live here.  On the other hand, if you happen to live here and you really don't like it at all, it's a free world and you can always go where you think the grass is greener.  Lately, there have been a lot of foreigners who come to Singapore and avail themselves of the goodness of the land but post offensive and abusive remarks against the country they're milking from.  Here is where Singapore should show its "totalitarian" strength and send these ungrateful chaps packing.

Anyway, this morning, after a very early breakfast in Little India, I cycled round this lovely part of Singapore and took pics of the various places of worship.  I had intended for this post to be a wordless post with pics alone to tell the tale but alas, it's hard to remain silent when what I see through my camera lens is nothing but perfect peace and beauty.  Mind you, these places of worship are of the four major different world faiths and here they stand, no more than 100 metres from one another in perfect harmony, wonderfully tolerant and a great picture of what faith truly means as they each proclaim its gospel of peace and goodwill to all men.

It's when I see such peace and harmony of these four great faiths in close proximity to one another that I know in my heart of hearts that God is in his heaven and all's right with the world.  May God bless Singapore and its far-sighted leaders!  OK, I'll be silent from here on.  Enjoy the pics!

As I was busy snapping a pic of the Hindu temple, a bell suddenly broke the silence of the morning and religious music could be heard within the temple.  I took a quick video of the worship session from the road.  The video is a little shaky; I had to balance my bicycle against my body, remove my gloves and hold them with my teeth and use both hands to take the video.  If you watch the video carefully, you will see a guy in a pink shirt, slightly to the right playing a wind instrument but he stands in the shade so it's very hard to make out the instrument he's playing.  It closely resembles the clarinet but it's much larger and the bell is way too large for a clarinet.  But it's definitely a reed instrument because I saw the reed - placed on the mouthpiece just as in a clarinet.  It's the only wind instrument that you can hear in the video.  I really wonder what instrument it is.

The Story of Garvan Byrne

Garvan Byrne was a 12 year old Irish boy who died in 1985 of a rare leukemia.  In this video that has been circulated widely on the internet, he talks to a nun about his faith in life after death.  He believes Jesus will look after him and his family.  He speaks with conviction and confidence and without the slightest trace of doubt in his voice.

There have been quarters in the RC church that are asking for Garvan to be considered for sainthood.  See this blog, for an example.  That's of course an indication of the sort of inspiration he has been to lots of people.

It's impossible not to be inspired by this boy who knew perfectly well that he would be dying.  It's only in a religious context that a boy this age can speak of his impending death with eagerness.   Garvan spoke cheerfully of the people he would be meeting in heaven, a grandma he had not seen, a favourite uncle and so on.  When asked if he would miss his family, he looked mildly troubled for a moment but his furrowed brow was smoothed instantly when he spoke about how he would be there in their midst.

This is what Garvan said and I quote verbatim:  "Where two or more are gathered, there I am in the midst of them.  And I will be there in the midst of my family.  They might not see me but I'll be there watching them, looking after them all the time".

Garvan was of course borrowing the words of Jesus in Matt 18:20. "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."  Only a heartless pedant would say that Garvan was theologically incorrect in appropriating the words of Jesus in that way.

But while the story of Garvan illustrates the beauty of religion and the comforting image of Jesus standing with his outstretched hands towards us, his sheep, it does not address the question why Jesus didn't do a thing to heal Garvan in the first place.   Many will say the question is irrelevant for none of the faithful will allow that minor fact to stumble him in his faith.  It doesn't even matter that Jesus didn't do a thing to lessen the pain that Garvan had to go through but no doubt the doctors would have given him a painkiller.  It doesn't matter too that Jesus in his sovereign goodness, mercy and compassion would only guide the hands of surgeons, doctors and nurses in the healing process but only in places where the slow progress of human knowledge and medical advancement have reached.

When I was a boy, I used to wonder why everyone in Pride and Prejudice treated Elizabeth Bennett's common cold with so much concern and fear.  That was only less than 200 years ago but at that time, doctors couldn't even treat a cold effectively and many people died from something as mild as a cold.   Presumably, God could heal the common cold but he must have, in his infinite mercy and love, chosen not to.  God's miracles are strangely always kept in pace with the state of medical progress and when doctors heal the patient, we thank God for guiding the doctor's hands or for breathing efficacy into the medication prescribed.

But there's one thing religion can do that no amount of rational thinking can.  It gives us hope even in the face of utter hopelessness and the story of Garvan demonstrates that.  Highly rational people can be insensitive when they say it's all wishful thinking.  But what is wrong with wishful thinking?  I don't know about you but when my time comes and I'm down on my deathbed with multi-organ cancer and I'm about the breathe my last, I will cling to the hope that is in Christ Jesus and I will think of the love of Christ and the beauty of heaven and I will die with Kyrie Eleison on my lips and a smile on my face.

Xiao Sa, the dog that ran 1700km.

Just read an interesting article about this wonder dog.

Here is the link to the BBC article:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-18218878

Here are other interesting links on the same story:

http://newscontent.cctv.com/news.jsp?fileId=142494

http://www.channelstv.com/home/2012/05/27/stray-dog-completes-1700km-journey-across-china/

http://www.wfaa.com/news/entertainment/pets/Stray-dog-inspires-long-distance-cyclists-in-Tibet-154925235.html

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4341014/Stray-dog-completes-1000-mile-race.html

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xr5pzk_one-stray-dog-s-incredible-journey-with-chinese-cyclists_news

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=71d_1338115156

The last link has a lot of photos of the dog.

"I still have my right hand"

When I first read the headlines, I said to myself, "Sure, they call it robbery but it's probably a street fight and the victim is most likely a secret society member who was attacked by a rival gang."

But something else caught my eye.  This boy is no ordinary boy.  He was the Captain of the canoe team of Raffles Institution, the nation's top school.  This was a definite case of robbery and all doubt in my mind vaporised instantly.  He was set upon by a large group of knife-wielding men and he was hacked and left bleeding to die.  But he was saved by a passer-by some 6 hours or so later.

Re-attachment surgery was done on his palm that was severed in the attack. But four of his fingers on his left hand became gangrenous and had to be amputated.  This picture is taken from the Straits Times (12 July 2010):

What the boy says in the Straits Times on 12 July 2010 surprised me somewhat.  I had expected him to be bitter about what had happened.  There did not appear to be the slightest trace of defeatism or negativity in his speech.

The time will come in my life when some misfortune strikes.  That's inevitable in this vale of tears.  I may be knocked down by a car and be crippled for life or I may be taken ill with a terminal cancer.

When that happens, I will remember what this boy says and I hope to be able to repeat his words, "After all, I still have my right hand."

Here's the story from the Straits Times (click on it for a larger picture):