Christmas 2009

I attended Christmas Service at the church where my sister sings in the choir and goes to regularly. In the chapel, there was a verse projected on the front wall, "But the Lord is in His Temple: Let all the Earth keep silence before him." (Habbakuk 20:20). I find that moving, as it is only in this silence that we can communicate with god.

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While reading the verse on the wall, I noticed that there is no cross there. I happen to speak to the pastor after the service and he said that it is so that the congregation will focus on the worship of Jesus Christ, rather the symbolism of the cross. Personally, I would go one step further to focus on the teachings of Jesus. That is, not to confuse the singer with the song.

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The sermon mentioned about the historical context of Jesus and Pilate, and how Jesus died for all so that we can have eternal life. The message ultimately was for Christians to live a surrendered life and make Jesus the king of their life.

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"But, how many people, Christians or otherwise, dare live a surrendered life?" I thought. Do we truly dare to follow our hearts? Follow the path that we believe is spoken from the holy spirit. Or would rationality and materialism takes precedence?

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Fears and fatigue abound in life in a city state. It is normal. In urban life, we no longer spend our waking and sleeping hours according to the sun. The rhythm of urban life violates the natural cycles of daylight and tires us. Besides, in Singapore, we don't grow our own food and the only way to survive is to work on a business or job to make money to buy food.

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Before the church service, whilst at the local coffee shop for breakfast, I chanced upon an old lady, probably in her 80s, who was perturbed about a Buddhist monk who had converted to Christianity.

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"I asked him if the church provide his meals, but he didn't get my sarcasm," she said meaning to wake the ex-monk into material reality.

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Did she really mean it to say that if the church does take care of the ex-monk's meals that it would have been worthwhile converting to Christianity? Sadly, even at her advanced age, she suffers the myopia of not being able to see beyond the physical, creature comforts of material survival.

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So contemplating a 'surrendered life' is a tricky one. All mainstream religions preached that. It is therefore down to one's faith and belief in providence and the abundance in our eternally regenerative universe. I think for that, changing one's religion is not necessary, but changing one's thinking and resolve does.

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Here is the choir:

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Dream Interpretation - the riot

I normally do not share my dreams in my blog, but this is an exception because it conjures hard hitting images and conflicts.

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[Start of dream]

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I was cycling along a familiar stretch of a dual carriageway road near my home. I was reaching a traffic light regulated T junction when I was confronted with a big truck coming straight on me violating the flow of the carriageway. I was perturbed but skirted along the side of the truck and proceeded forward.

Then I saw two collided cars, one of them burned to charred black and both drivers were having a punch-up. Then did I realized that the truck was wilfully coming in the wrong direction to block everyone from going forward.

Having gone passed the truck, I have gone into the point of no return and had to go forward and turned right at the T-junction to get home. As soon as I turned right, the usual surroundings of the otherwise familiar road changed. Instead of trees and residence, I saw shop houses on both sides of the road and people fighting.

By the time I saw all that, I was in the middle of a riot. I had no better choice but to keep cycling, avoiding the smashed glass debris on the road, hoping that they don’t puncture my tyres and immobilize my bicycle. To play it safe, I thought I would keep off the road and cycled along the corridors of the shop houses.

It wasn't better along the shop house corridors, as there was also fighting in there. It became apparent to me that there was a younger more ferocious group beating up another milder, older and more pacifist group in saffron coloured robes. They appeared to have Himalayan facial features. These youngsters were mercilessly punching their older compatriots who were petrified and were clasping their hands to beg their assailants to stop.

I was in no position to save them, so I continued cycling, and by now, a little scared that I may be mistakenly dragged into the fighting. As I hurriedly cycled passed those shops, weaving around the spots of violent actions that were sometimes only about six inches away from me. Then, I saw that some of the shop lots were Buddhist shrines and temples with golden Buddha statues. At that point, a voice communicated to me that the youngsters were beating up the shrine keepers for their supporting a regime that held golden statues while the masses starve. The young rebels felt that the gold used to plate the statues could better be melted and sold in exchange for food.

Then, as I got out at the other end of the corridor, I was once again out on the road and going over a bridge over a big canal. As I crossed the canal, there was no fighting on the bridge and on the other side of the canal. At the end of the bridge on the other side, there was a group of concerned Chinese looking onlookers watching the ransacking of a Buddhist temple on the 9^th floor of a building at the other side of the canal by a group of Bangladeshis. At that time, the temple was already smoldering in smoke and flames while the temple keepers were crying for help.

[End of dream]

How would you interprete this dream?

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Holistic Monday

(Sometime in November 2009)

1000h: Meeting with the director to discuss about the character of the film, of a father who hasn't seen his daughter for 6 years and to have her appearing out of the blue in the house without warning. "What do you think the father will feel on meeting the daughter?" Script writing can be very revealing I realised. More so when you are playing the character yourself. Isn't life all an act?

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1200h: Time to meet up with the client, a financial service institution. We have been paid to hack into their information system to make sure that their information security is in good health. It is delightful to meet up with this client, as they have been happy customers for some years now. After all the publicity, marketing and advertising, nothing beats giving sincere and quality service and getting repeat business by word of mouth.

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1500h: The mock lecture with a university here was postponed to a later date. I had prepared a role play experiential learning session of a scenario where a bank's internet bank got hacked exposing the identity of its customers! This frightful scenario had entertained and educated my clients for many years. Experiential learning beats mere lecture of knowledge.

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1600h: Phone calls from clients looking to raise capital for their projects. It is difficult to raise capital in developing countries. As such capital becomes very expensive and it stymies the economic progress and the much needed job creation in these countries.

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1800h: An appointment to read the fortune and character of two customers. They are real estate agents, so I provided them a direction chart, the directions which they should focus on to get optimum results. That means, should there be no other business appointments for the day, then take the first one that comes. However, if there are several opportunities coming in, then place priority to those in those directions that will give you success first. One of the customers asked me to check the compatibility with the spouse. This is a common question that sometimes I have to struggle to come out with useful answers for my client. Not so easy! For more, read here

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It has been a colourful day, playing many roles. We all wear many different hats in our life. As wife, mother, daughter-in-law, work colleague, ...etc. But in the end, we must not lose track of who we are, and that we are our peaceful selves.

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Haji Weekend

Sunset and Sepang Gold Coast

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It was decided last minute, and then I was on the road to Malaysia for the Haji weekend. There was the usual holiday road jams at the immigration, so to keep everyone entertained, I did some "character and behaviour" readings based on their dates of birth. They were amazed with the accuracy and details that the readings exposed. Actually, I was equally amazed! My American guests in the car didn't seem to mind though, as they said that in America they can tell you everything about their life, even if you have just known them. (For more, read here and here.)

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It was a welcome change and relief to take a break from urban Singapore once in a while to experience the open space and laid back lifestyle of our neighbour up north with beautiful scenery of the undulating mountain ridges from the road. Given the heavy traffic, it took us a long time to get Sepang Gold Coast, but we managed to make it in time for sunset and dinner by the beach.

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Dinner was splendid! We started off with some delicious satays, prepared by the local Malays at Sepang. My friend told me that it is their plan to integrate the local community with the Gold Coast project by employing them and creating new business opportunities for them. The local staff are such gentle and polite people, characteristic of traditional Malay kampung folks. My friend told me that they did not need to train them to serve well, as they seem to know that naturally.

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The Sea Villas facing the Straits of Malacca

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We spent the evening in the villas in the middle of the sea. These villas are built on stilts and configured to the shape of a palm tree from an aerial view. They are selling well to Europeans wanting a place to escape for winter.

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What is more amazing is that the Sepang Gold Coast Palm Tree project was funded privately by its owner, a Malaysian Chinese businessman. A big financial commitment that is now paying off. At the start there were sceptics who thought that he was taking a big risk, but undeterred he continued. You see, if one has a vision that others cannot see, it would be seen by the others as a risk. Being able to cultivate that vision and stay the course, is the hallmark of a successful entrepreneur.

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In contrast, the Dubai Palm Island project is in a financial mess after the banks pulled the plug on them. Now, construction has halted and they are potentially facing legal injunctions. Perhaps the moral of the story here is not to borrow from the banks if one can afford to do so. Funding through financial instruments and bonds are akin to trading financial risks, which strictly speaking, is forbidden in Islam. Ironically, it is the non-Muslim Chinese towkay (businessman) that has conformed to this prudence and reap the fruits of having done so.

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During the evening, after more 'birth date' readings to amuse ourselves, we read a chapter of Ekhart Tolle's book "Stillness Speaks". In the chapter, it speaks about the illusion of duality and that all we see 'outside' are essentially happening 'inside' us in our consciousness. It is hard to conceive that, as we cannot see our own consciousness and that consciousness itself does not have a locale. Since consciousness has no locale, then perhaps it has to be all ONE, and therefore making the concept of 'self' a mere illusion!

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I draw this to a parallel of opening a Word file in my computer. When I open the Word file, there is an illusion that there is a 'file' (self) appearing, however if we dwell into the computer, the contents of the file (self) is scattered all over the memory (one consciousness).

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Do not despair if you are lost in this consciousness-speak, some of us still are. But what else better can a group of four people do in the middle sea in a tropical evening under the stars? :)

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The Village Pau Shop

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The next morning, we had breakfast in the nearby village. We bought some 'pau' (buns) from the famous local stall. They sell about 5,000 paus per day and you have to order them early, before they sell out!

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The pau was delicious. They have pork, vegetable and soya bean fillings. The buns are different from most others in that their 'skins' are exceptionally 'springy' and will not turn soggy when it turned cold.

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After breakfast, we left for Penang to watch the International Dance Competition at Bayview Hotel, Ferringhi Beach. But of course, stopping on the way for durains and other goodies! :)

A roadside durain stall

A pamelo stall

The competition was already on its way when we reached there. Tension was in the air as the dancers dressed in full costume and heavy make-up, awaited their turn to compete. The costumes, I was told, cost at least a few thousand dollars, with the more expensive ones over ten thousand dollars. Add that to the cost of dance instructors, professional dance partners, flights, accommodation for the instructors...etc, and you get a handsome figure. So I guess one has to be financially well heeled in a hobby like this.

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So much time must have been spent trying to perfect their twirls and turns to the day of the competition. To dance well, the dancer has to get almost all his muscles moving in synch. Quite a feat!

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After the competition ended, I had dinner at about midnight with my friends. If you are mixing around with dancers, be prepared for late nights and suppers. They are a bundle of live wire, never seeming to need much sleep.

We left the next morning for Sepang. We were supposed to pick up 3 other friends in our van, but had not accounted for their sizeable luggages. So we had to book a local taxi to ferry some of the luggages and (ironically) our driver. The driver rode in the taxi so that the rest of us can be in one vehicle, and yours truly ended as the driver of the van.

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The driver must be smiling all the way back to Sepang, as he relaxed in the taxi. But I must say, he was always smiling during the few days I know him. He is ever so gentle, polite and so patient; and certainly happier than some of the super-rich people I have met. This is a wonder, as his income as a driver is minuscule compared to the latter. The moral of the story is that money can't buy us happiness and that happiness must come from within.

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The next morning, we left Sepang. Before that, as we went to collect our pau's, the shop owner asked if we could give his daughter a ride to Singapore. This reminded me of old Singapore, when public transport was scarce and we had to hitch rides from neighbours and friends to get to town much of the time. This is grand nostalgia and small town coziness; it also mean that we have made a friend in the village.

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Vacuum State

Thank you for visiting Vacuum State, especially those of you who have actively participated by commenting on the posts and getting in contact with me by email. I have even got to meet some of you in person!

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Nearly 50,000 readers have visited this site since the 4th of July 2005. They come from mainly from India, the USA and Singapore. Readers from these countries normally form about 70% of the readership.

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I have been busy of late and therefore have not updated the blog as regularly as I would like to. There are several talks that I have attended that I would like to have them posted here, so watch this space... more coming up soon!

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