I am not confident that I will be able to do justice to the trip by blogging it. There is just so much that cannot be adequately espressed through mere words or pictures. It's such a phenomenal experience that you really had to have been there to comprehend it, as cliche as that sounds.

So bear with me and my rusty memory (growing older by the second, man!) while I try to present to you all that has happened for that amazing week in as much sense as I can manage.

I think the best way to start will be a chronological summary of the whole event, although my decaying memory will no doubt fail me somewhere in the middle.

((Happenings))

Warning: Long and incoherent paragraphs ahead.

We met at the airport at around 1730 on Monday evening. I had the luxury of a long weekend to prepare for the trip, gradually adjusting my bio-clock and what not (I took Monday off from work as well). I was on time; the kids were all there already. Boy, they are an excited bunch. Already you could see them happily snapping away. And mind you, this is the generation of 6.0 megapixels digital camera, and memory space certainly isn't an issue for most of them. I've already mentioned how photo-happy they all are. I'm not complaining, lots of them are well above average on the photogenic scale. Miss Lim was the late one, go figure!



Ms Chua was there to see us off! Such a pity that she won't be able to go together with us. NOt to be rude, but she's nicer than Ms Teo! Oops. Huacheng, Joan and Serene were also there. I bet they are all jealous that they won't be boarding the plane with us. Haha! There's always 2 years later *HINT* HC bought ricola for everyone, how nice!



We went into the holding area and had MacDonald's dinner. There, me and Timo began our quest to "get to know everybody", starting from the 4 seating right next to us.



The choir was divided into 12 groups of 4 for the duration of the trip (the teachers are fond of small groups somehow), but Timo and I were left out. I suspect that it was a cunning move on the teacher's part, bidding us to mingle around with everyone unrestricted by the groupings, which we happily exploited as you'll see.

The flight to Bangkok was uneventful. At the holding area in BKK, Miss Lim lays down her rules.

The flight to Milan was long and tiring. The plane was nice, though. We had individual screens! Beat that, FinAir! (We didn't have individual screens when we went Bremen in 2004.) First time I'm on a flight with personal screens, heh. Watched The Chronicals of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. Still found it as good of a show as I did when I first watched it in the theaters. Food was served, and it was time to sleep (enforced by the teachers). I tried to find a comfortable position but to no avail. So I was literally staring into blank space, sometimes drifting in and out of sleep, while most of the rest were busy snoring. Come breakfast time, everyone woke up and watched more movies and played more games. Not a bad flight all in all.



We touched down at around 0730 Milan time to an 8-degree weather. Blowing out mist while talking was quite cool. We checked out and met our tour guide, a lady named Zwenette (spelling notwithstanding). Headed to Milan city center for a short tour. There was this hugh, beautiful fountain, which of course set everyone snapping away. Then we went into the castle for a walkaround. The guide mentioned about the courtyard having amazing accoustics, and BAM! Here we go! Ave Verum Corpus in the middle of nowhere, earning us applause from strangers! First sign of jet-lagged voices.



Had lunch at a restorant enroute to our Hotel. After the eating, we began taking photos with the chef and waitress. Flashlights everywhere, you'll think some celebrity was having lunch there.



Reached our home for the next 5 days - Hotel Vittoria, Bardolino, Verona, Italy.

We toured the place a bit. Then we had a pretty bad practice. We were split 50-50 into 2 separate but nearby buildings. Me and Timo were in the annex. As guys we helped the girls carry their heavy luggages up the stairs to their rooms, the hotel having no lifts. Who says chivalry is dead! =D Lights out was at 2200, so not much off free time to speak about.

The second day was all about preparation for the competition. We woke up early, ate, and practiced. Not as bad as yesterday, but still not too good. Miss Lim's face turning blacker. Que Ms Teo's two cents. Mr Chia remains calm and composed. Can see a storm brewing (Bremen 04 people should know what I'm talking about!). Nonetheless, we were quite capable of enjoying ourselves, going out for some shopping and lunch. Timmo and I were with Louis, Andrew, Claudia and Chuwen, I think. Strolled along the lake and walked here and there amongst the shops. A very lovely place, I'm sure you all will agree with me.







Then we had more practice in the afternoon. Then dinner. Then some of us went for the opening ceremony. Those who were clearly falling sick stayed behind for an early bedtime. In any case, the opening ceromony was nothing fantastic. The theater looked like the set from King Kong, but apart from the rather nice architecture, the program was a bore. Lengthy introductions in 3 different languages grew weary after a while. When the performance finally started, we were already half asleep. After the first item, we quickly sneaked out; the whole program threatened to last till 1am, and we needed our beauty sleep for tomorrow! We ended up reaching the hotel at around 12am.



And the big day arrives! Had an okay warm up in the morning, then it's off to the competition grounds. There was a nervous jitter in the air. Everyone was rather tensed up; well, I was, anyway. We gathered at a holding place not far away, while Miss Lim and the SCs went to check out the theater where we will be singing in. Had a brief warm up. A few of the guys were trying to look for a toilet, but none was to be found. Miss Lim came back and told us about the bad accoustic, which was pretty much expected. Anyway, we headed to the theater and dumped our bags in the cloak room. The dancers changed into their costumes and we went to the holding room to wait.

Short practice at the rehearsal room, which had rather good accoustics, causing us to feel pretty good about ourselves, and boosted our confidence as well.

On stage. Nervous. I thought I wouldn't feel as nervous as I did. I think it's standing in the last row. I've always been in the front row, so was feeling quite uncomfortable behind. My legs were literally shaking as we started "As Vesta Was". Luckily the nervousness faded away quite rapidly. Still, standing at the back meant that I couldn't hear anyone else but myself. Tried to focus; could feel most of the rest doing that too. Miss Lim had a confused look on her face. She later confessed that the accoustic was so bad (a.k.a we sounded bad) that she didn't know what to do. The songs went by quickly. Last song - "Janger". Cil was fabulous as usual. His chanting was so chilling that I almost forgot to start singing when Miss Lim qued us in. The dance was quite well received as well, even though Amos shook a bit at the last pose.

So we had our 10 minutes of fame on stage. Quickly went out and back in among the audience to catch the next choir who was going to be singing Water Night. We experienced the bad accoustic for ourselves the first time. The poor twenty-plus-membered chamber choir on stage sounded thin and unimpressive. Their Water Night was nothing to speak of. We splitted up and found seats where they could be found, but the show started to get boring and I soon dozed off. We left after less than 1 hour, if I recall.



Grabbed our stuff and changed, then headed out for a tour around Verona. Highlight was visiting the balcony of Romeo and Juliet! Not to mention the statue.

Apparently, if a woman touches the hands, she will find a husband soon, and if a man touches the breasts, he will be virile forever!



Our tour guide left us on our own for a while after that. There wasn't much time, so we just grabbed gelato. Then it's back to the hotel for our own dinner.

Went back to the same restaurent as yesterday's lunch, this time with different people. Turns out that a lot of us were at the same place! The word must have spread that the restaurent served food fast. Me and Timmo sat with a bunch of girls; YuehHsin, JiaYun, Tiffany, Joanna, Emile and LingZi. Timmo ate a whole set meal, which came with white wine, which everyone soon had a sip or three. Some, like ZhiRui, had more than that. Oh, I forgot to mention. Some time before this we celebrated ZhiRui's birthday.



Anyhow, while waiting for the food, we went around taking photos with different people (as usual). Then the food came, and we finished it quite quickly, except for Timmo and his 3 course meal. The girls were hurrying him so that they could go shopping. We still ate until quite late though, so that by the time we left the restaurent there wasn't much time for any shopping at all, and most of the shops were closed anyway. So we went for - you've guessed it - gelato! We formed a human road block on our way to the supposedly best gelato shop in the area. The eight of us blocked the alley just nice. The gelato was, of course, great. The best thing about Italian gelato was the generous serving. Fantastic!







So we were heading back to the hotel, and met the waitress of the hotel! The very woman who served us our meals! After a few lost-in-translation exchanges, where we finally know that her name is Patricia, she motion for us to sing a song. By then we were joined by another group of people we met at the gelato shop, so there were quite a few of us there, enough for "As Vesta Was", which was what we sang. Even at that time of the night, we still managed to attract a few onlookers who stopped and listened to us. That's what I love about the culture there! In Singapore they will only complain about the noise you're making! Anyway our gelato were melting while we happily sang, so that I was half-singing and half-licking my gelato. I still ended up in a really messy state though, which earned me a joke-ish remark about how I needed to not eat gelato like a kid. We later find out that Patricia met Amos and company by the lake later, and they too broke out in song (with Amos accompanying) for her and others.



Back at the hotel we were chilling outside where there were tables and chairs. Amos was strumming away, Cheryl and company broke into "Fire", which everyone sang along anyway (catchy accompaniment). Then when everyone was present we celebrated ZhiRui's birthday again! There was more singing - we even sang National Dream with Amos on the guitar, which sounded rather good! Everyone was quite high after the competition is over, haha! The fatigue of the day caught up with me, so I didn't stay up till very late. Everyone else were tired as well; I think most slept early that night.

The next morning, we trekked 3km along the lake to the market place, not unlike our own pasar malam. As usual we were singing and snapping photos along the way, but the view was fantastic so I guess the photo-taking was justified. We went separate ways for free time in the market. At first it was just me and Timmo walking together, but we were soon joined by Amos and Cil, and then CJ, Sheena and Sixuan. There wasn't really much to shop. The things sold were not very different from what you might find in SG. So it was more of just walking around, enjoying the view and, yes, snapping photos.





At around 12 we headed back to the hotel, as the stalls were all closing anyway. Had lunch at a different restaurent, but it was pretty much the same food. After lunch and dumping our stuff back at the hotel, me and Timmo went back out to spend our free time. Amos was with us, together with his guitar. At this point I was determined to spend my money on things other than food. It was surprising that I actually managed to buy stuff while shopping with two other guys. In particular there was this little shop that sold small figurines and toys and stuff that were quite retro. Met a bunch of little kids kicking a ball around. We almost joined them, but didn't in the end.

We went to the docks and sat ourselves on this stone/marble table that was supposedly where the natives sold their fish back in the old days. Amos whipped out his guitar and started his thing, so the four of us were pretty much just sitting there and singing/harmonising. Took a while for us to warm up, but in the end we overstayed and had to run back for dinner at the hotel.

I can't remember what we did after dinner. I think we had a little practice in anticipation of the next day, where there will be the prize presentation and the Gold choirs would be asked to perform on stage. As Miss Lim said, "just in case we get Gold".

The next morning we left bright and early for the closing ceremony, sitting at the same place where we sat for the opening ceremony - a single row of circle seats in the third or fourth storey. The American choirs were behind and above us, and they were big and noisy, so we got reminded by the teachers not to make so much noise, especially if we managed to get Gold.

And so began the long and nervous wait. Somehow I thought it was more agonising a wait than that which we had before the competition. I was experienced in waiting for results now, and I don't really want to be disappointed again. Anyway Miss Lim, Cheryl and Mr Chia were seated on stage, and the flag bearers were standing in a row at the back with the flags of the nations represented. After a surprisingly brief introduction (in four languages no doubt), they started giving away the prizes, from Bronze to Silver, in reverse order of merit. It was a terrible wait. The process was such that the schools were announced only in Italian, and the flag bearer of the nation of the school would move to the front to wave the flag when they receive the prizes. As such, all our eyes were on the guy carrying our flag, silently willing him to not move. There were many occasions that he appeared to be moving out, fidgiting and looking to his left and right, so we got quite a scare a few times. Finally all the Silvers were given out, and we all breathed easier.

As it turned out, we did even better than we expected, coming in second and earning for ourselves also a Distinction in the set piece "Ave Verum Corpus", which was worth 500 euros. They also gave out a few special awards, like for best interpretation and best conductor. We didn't get any of that, but we were more than happy with our results already. Went up on stage to sing "El Hambo" and "Janger" which were quite well received. Sat through the performances by the rest of the Gold choirs, which was quite enjoyable.

We actually managed to interact with an American choir before the closing ceremony, which was the chamber choir that sang "Water Night". Nice bunch of people. Photos were taken, emails exchanged. Generally same age as us, but they were definately, erm, bigger. Haha.

Anyway after the closing ceremony all headed to the arena for mass singing of this Italian song. The arena had really good accoustics, which this choir (whose conductor, an african american, won the best conductor prize) quickly made use of, presenting quite a few songs. Sang the Italian song twice, and that's it. Quite a short affair. After much persuasion Miss Lim led us for "Janger" and "El Hambo", and as we left we sang "Lay a Garland".



After the whole affair, we changed into casual clothes and went our own ways for sight-seeing and shopping around the area. Walked around in a rather large group. We saw this man painting pictures on the road side, so we stopped for a while to admire his work, which was quite brilliant. Inadvertable, we started singing "Lay a Garland", which brought quite an appreciative crowd.



We also went back to the Juliet statue, where me and XianYong had a change to touch it (previously Timmo was the only guy who did). Then we sang again, this time both "Lay" and "Ave". Ah well, we're a choir after all, and suffering from post-Gold high! Haha!

Anyway after shopping around, a bunch of us bought the same "Romeo & Juliet" t-shirt in different colors; me (dark blue), Timmo (red), Hsin (yellow), Jia (orange), Mae (magenta), Pris (purple), Phoebe (green), and Ting (black). We all wore it on the last day. Power rangers! Haha!



In the evening we went to this little church for an exchange with an Italian choir and an Austrian choir. Quite a cosy place, the church. We sang "El", "Janger", had the a cappella groups ("Fire", "That Thing You Do", "Smooth Criminal", "Dui Ni Shuo"), then sang "Hey Jude" as finale where we sang and walked around shaking people's hands. Our program was a little weird for the church, but it was rather fun. After the singing we retired to a side room for some food and drinks, and of course, more impromptu singing. The Austrian choir was particularly fun. Considering our language difference, there was quite a high level of interaction. It was really a good experience.



By the time we reached the hotel it was almost 1am. Not many people slept, of course. Many had instant noodles party, playing cards and talking and stuff. Those that slept are either the very tired, the sick, or, like Hsin, the I-didn't-want-to-sleep-but-KOed-the-moment-my-head-hit-the-pillow. Haha. Me and Timmo slept quite early at around 3+am. Some stayed up till morning. Well, can't pretend I can match up to the stamina of the kids!

The next day we left for the airport soon after breakfast. Then it's onto the plane and the 14+ hours ride home!

Touch down at Changi Airport at around 12pm. Picked up by Dad and Sis (in her new car!). Reached home and KOed in bed.

Well that's basically it! I'm quite sure I left out some things here and there, but that can't be helped. Also, while the events described are fairly accurate, the chronological sequence may not be. Haha...



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I think this post is becoming too long. I'll post my thoughts and reflections another day! And the photos as well! =)

{/4:38 PM}

me

It's sad to be back.

This post will NOT be about the trip. Well, not much anyway. I intend to blog about the trip when I get the pictures from the rest. Being the extremely lazy me, I didn't bother to take ANY pictures myself even though I brought my camera along. The kids are just so photo-happy that there isn't any real need for me to contribute to the cam-fest. Anyway, it might be a long wait for all the photos to be uploaded, so don't hold your breadth!

A summary though, is in order. It was fun. It was GREAT fun. It was EXTREMELY fun. If there's a word to describe a higher-order fun, I'll use it. We got GOLD. We came in SECOND. The people are FANTASTIC.

One helluva good trip, I'll say. Thanks for the prayers from all!

Anyway my dad and sis came to pick me up. In her car. What rocks is that my sis will probably be flying off to UK or US in August for a training program for this company who is setting up shop in Jurong Island. Which means I get to keep the car for myself, if I can manage to pass my driving test in June.

Now, back to the sad reality of ordinary life. 8 more months to go!

{/11:06 AM}

me

Bearly Believer

An atheist was hiking in the forest one sunny day.

"What majestic trees! What powerful rivers! What beautiful animals!" he exclaimed. As he walked along the river's edge he heard a rustling in the bushes. Turning to look, he saw a ten foot grizzly bear charging towards him.

He ran as fast as he could up the path. Glancing over his shoulder he saw that the bear was closing in on him. His heart pumping frantically, he tried to run even faster but tripped and fell on the ground. He tried to pick himself up but the bear was already upon him. With a deafening roar,the grizzly raised his massive paw to deal the death-blow.

At that instant the atheist cried out: "Oh my God!..."

Time stopped. The bear froze. The forest was silent.

A blinding light shone upon the man and a resonant voice filled the forest, saying, "You deny my existence for all these years, teach others that I don't exist, and even credit my creation to a cosmic accident. Why do you expect me to help you? Have you now become a believer?"

Realizing his predicament, the atheist held up his hand to shield his eyes from the light and decided to cut a clever deal, saying, "It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly claim to be a Christian but perhaps you could you make the BEAR a Christian?"

"Very well," said the voice.

The light went out and the sounds of the forest resumed.

The bear stopped in mid-swing, lowered his paw, bowed his head and spoke.

"Lord, bless this food which I am about to receive and for which I am truly thankful. AMEN."

{/3:54 PM}

me

My package came yesterday! Finally!

When David Heard
Water Night
Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine
Three Flower Songs
Three Songs of Faith
A Boy and a Girl

Leonardo is my favourite. =) It's such a colorful piece! And the music itself is fantastic!

Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine
Charles Anthony Silvestri

Tormented by visions of flight and falling,
More wondrous and terrible each than the last,
Master Leonardo imagines an engine
To carry man up into the sun...

And as he's dreaming the heavens call him,
Softly whispering their siren-song:
"Leonardo, Leonardo, vieni a volare."

L'uomo colle sua congiegniate e grandi ale
facciendo forza contro alla resistente aria.

As the candles burn low he paces and writes,
Releasing purchased pigeons one by one
Into the golden Tuscan sunrise...

And as he dreams, again the calling,
The very air itself gives voice:
"Leonardo, Leonardo, vieni a volare."

Vicina all' elemento del fuoco...
Scratching quill on crumpled paper
(Rete, canna, filo, carta.)
Images of wing and frame and fabric fastened tightly.
...sulla suprema sottile aria.

As the midnight watchtower tolls,
Over rooftop, street and dome,
The triumph of a human being ascending
In the dreaming of a mortal man.

Leonardo steels himself,
Takes one last breath, and leaps...
"Leonardo vieni a volare! Leonardo, sognare!"

When the alumni grows large enough I'll make them sing the Three Songs of Faith together in one sitting. Woot.

{/10:47 AM}

me

8 Characteristics of a Counterfeit Christian Church

by Eric Johnson

www.mrm.org

With the leaders of thousands of different religions and churches attempting to make their beliefs appear authentic, it behooves a person to carefully ascertain truth from error. In fact, many leaders of these faiths may call themselves "Christian" and even attempt to convert Christians into their churches.

After all, Jesus Himself said in Matthew 7:15, "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." This is why John warned the believers in 1 John 4:1 to "believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." And 1 Thessalonians 5:21 adds, "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good."

Jesus told the Pharisees in Matthew 23:27 that they were "like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness." How can we tell whether or not a particular religious leader (like the Pharisees) ought to be believed, especially when such a person may appear authentic and even claim to be Christian? Let's then consider eight basic doctrinal characteristics of counterfeit groups.

1. Denial in the true nature of God. The rejection of fundamental Christian tenets such as the historical definition of God should be a major warning sign to any perceptive believer. Groups that deny the Christian viewpoint of the deity of Christ and the Trinity typically follow in point-by-point succession each of the other characteristics in this article. One example is The Way International, a group founded by Victor Paul Wierwille, (He once served as a former evangelical pastor. In fact, several cult leaders had their start in authentic Christian denominations and churches.) Wierwille's view of God is Unitarian rather than Trinitarian as he denies that there are three persons in the Godhead. He also claims that Jesus was not God, teaching that the deity of Christ was not a Christian teaching for the Christian church's first 300 years. This is a common (though false) assertion of many cult leaders. Because Wierwille and his church deny the very essence of what makes God who He is, this is a group to avoid.

2. Works-emphasis salvation. Although a counterfeit's doctrine may include the idea that God's grace is important in the role of salvation, the leader normally emphasizes the idea that "salvation" ultimately comes through one's own efforts. Take the Hare Krishna devotees, for instance. These dedicated followers believe that they are in the middle stage of their reincarnation cycle. The way for a dedicated devotee to be born into the next level of existence is to deny himself on this earth while performing good works, including the repetition of the Hare Krishna mantra a total of 1,728 times a day. It may take a devotee who wakes up at 4 A.M. several hours a day to maintain this goal. Those who belong to such work-oriented groups are normally told that they can never know if their works are good enough to please God; instead, they are told to keep trying even harder.

3. The true church. Counterfeit Christian churches often make it a point to cast doubt and suspicion on other churches or denominations, with the leader oftentimes claiming that only his church is true. While many groups hold that the Christian churches do have partial truth, it is taught that full truth has somehow been lost and can now only be found in the "one true church." This may involve utilizing Christian terminology while having a different meaning behind those particular words. An example is the Watchtower Society, also known as the Jehovah's Witnesses. This group, founded by Charles Taze Russell in the 19th century, teaches that those who belong to any church outside of "Jehovah's" church are doomed to annihilation. Only those who belong to the Watchtower organization have a chance to attain "Paradise Earth." This is why Jehovah's Witnesses are adamant in sharing their faith door to door, even attempting to convert those who already attend Christian churches. The Jehovah's Witnesses will often use words that sound reasonable to a nominal Christian (i.e. "Jehovah's Christian Witnesses," "salvation," "Jesus Christ," etc), but they are usually reluctant to tell potential converts that the meanings behind these words are completely different than what has been historically meant.

4. Authoritative leadership. A group where the leader(s) has an authoritative role, even to the extent that they say they speak for God, is another cause for concern. Such leaders claim to have special revelation with God, and their words hold special precedence over their followers. A classic example is Jim Jones, who led almost 1,000 followers to their deaths in the jungle of Guyana in 1978. When men in his charge killed Rep. Jim Ryan (D-CA), a congressman who was visiting "Jonestown" in response to complaints from the relatives of church members, Jones called for his followers to drink cyanide-laced Kool-Aid. The majority of the people willingly followed his commands because they had come to accept his words as truthful and from God. Those who refused were shot. Trusting someone so much that you listen to any command, even to the point of moving to another country and then taking your own life, is something that God never intended.

5. Regimented giving requirement. Another heretical trait is when a church regulates the giving of its people or requires a certain amount of financial giving in order to receive certain privileges related to salvation. For example, the Church of Scientology teaches that people need to discover their true nature through a process called "auditing." This is accomplished by "clearing Engrams" from one's life. One Los Angeles Times article on Scientology religion estimated that it would cost a full "Operating Thetan 8" participant between $200,000 to $400,000 from the beginning of the lessons to the completion. Without these courses, the adherent is unable to clear himself of these unwanted "Engrams." Using finances as a requirement to reach salvation goals is much different than what Jesus, Paul, and Peter preached.

6. Loss of salvation for leaving. Many counterfeit Christian churches insist that if a member decides to leave the group, for whatever reason, they jeopardize their salvation before God. One group with such a belief is the Boston Church of Christ, also known as the International Churches of Christ. The leaders of the ICC teach that there should only be one church in any particular city, which they say is the New Testament model. Members who decide to leave are considered spiritually lost and their salvation is considered negated. This is true even for those who leave because they decide to attend a Christian church outside the ICC network. Since the ICC does not recognize the baptisms of other denominations, and since the doctrine of baptism is considered a necessity in order to receive salvation, leaving the ICC negates the baptism that was given when the person joined the church. Holding a person's salvation hostage in such a way is certainly not biblical.

7. Authority beyond the Bible. Although the Bible is sometimes utilized and even considered beneficial by a number of counterfeit groups, it is not considered as a completely authoritative scripture. Therefore, extrabiblical writings are necessary. Normally these scriptures are considered to have more authority than the dated Bible. The Christian Science religion is one example. Those who inquire into this religion are told that Mary Baker Eddy's 1875 pantheistic book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures is a "reference book for life," which is needed by a person who hopes to discover "practical, spiritual answers for health and healing, security, and lasting relationships." This book must be studied in order to ascertain full truth. When the Bible contradicts Eddy's book, then the Bible is considered to be wrong or misunderstood.

8. Unique truths never before revealed. The idea that a hidden mystery or new truth is available through a particular church should be taken as a strong sign that this group is a counterfeit Christian religion. In addition, many such groups may change their doctrines over time. Christians believe that God has very clearly shown His truth through the pages of the Bible; therefore, new or fluctuating doctrine—especially that which contradicts the Bible—ought to be taken with a great deal of caution. The Unification Church (numerous front names include "Association of Families for Unification and World Peace" or "Family Federation for World Peace and Unification") was founded by Korean "Rev." Sun Myung Moon. He teaches that Jesus never fulfilled his mission. Therefore, Moon says that he was commissioned to finish the job that Jesus never finished. Moon's followers (often known as "Moonies") accept Moon as a Christ-like representative on earth whose teachings supersede the Bible. The Unification Church theology has evolved over time, and there may be some drastic changes once he dies in the very near future.

Conclusion Not all counterfeits may be characterized by every one of these traits. However, a person should be cautious when considering a church that is marked by one or two of these characteristics, especially any of the first three in the list. Churches with three or more of the above characteristics ought to be avoided at all cost. In addition, there are some Christian churches that may not have doctrinal problems but are rather sociological abusers. For instance, some churches have controlling "discipleship" programs or church memberships with high levels of guilt or feelings of inadequacy. These types of groups also ought to be avoided. If you believe that your church has problems in either doctrinal or sociological areas, you would be wise not to get involved. If you are already a member, you need to consider leaving. As John 8:32-33 says, "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

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Funny how many of these points can be applied to the RCC, even though the article is probably talking about the LDS. Things like work-emphasis salvation, claiming to be the true Church of Christ, papal infallibility, salvation only for RCC members and extra-biblical authority (sacred tradition).

Do I think the RCC is more cult-ish than Christian? Yes. But most Catholics I've met are not even aware of some of the teachings of the RCC.

Hmm.. Reading Cher's blog makes me feel like going ice-skating! Haha..

{/10:24 AM}

me

"Young people are not interested in politics." - Mr Fong Chin Leong, Singapore Democratic Alliance

I ask a question of my own in reply. "Do we have a reason to?"

Serious, why do people always have to bring that up when talking politics in Singapore? As if it's such a terrible thing? So what if I'm not interested in politics? It's a loaded question presuming politics is interesting, which I beg to differ.

I'm not ashamed to confess that I do not give two hoots about politics, Singapore or otherwise. Go ahead and classify me under "apathetic Singaporean youth who don't care".

I don't really think it's such a big deal. Truth to be told, PAP is doing a wonderful job, in my opinion. There is no major policy that I know of that I can honestly say I'll disagree with. Or maybe I'm just ignorant.

On "Is it necessary to have an opposition in Singapore?":

"If it's just one party, we are looking at a communist state. Democracy requires opposition." - Mr Muhd Ali Aman, Singapore Democratic Alliance

"If there is no opposition, can you call it a true democracy? We need the opposition for checks and balances. We cannot let the ruling party get complacent." - Mr Fong Chin Leong, Singapore Democratic Alliance

Seriously, do anyone else see the problem with these 2 people's statement? "Democracy requires opposition"? Laughable. Shows why the Singapore Democratic Alliance is not the ruling party.

Let me illustrate how Mr Muhd managed to contradict himself with just 3 words. An ideal, perfectly democratic society will, by defination, NOT have any opposition, because there simply is nothing to oppose. Imagine a perfectly democratic government, occupied by a single ruling party. In an ideal situation, all policies made, all decisions, all laws, indeed all things done in the name of the government will by defination be done in a completely democratic manner, which leave no room for opposition, because a purely and totally democratic decision-making system is what everyone (is assumed to) want.

Hence, by defination, a perfect democracy necessitate that there is zero opposition. We have opposition simply because the system is not perfect yet. It will never be, of course, but we see that the chief end of a democratic system is to have no opposition, because everything is done in a manner that everyone agrees upon.

People say there is no political freedom in Singapore. Are they nuts? Do they see the situation in Thailand and go, "Gee, how nice would it be if we could form a 40,000 strong rally and march from Istana all the way down Orchard Road"? Or, looking at France, go "Wow, I wish the NUS/NTU/SMU students would stage a mass protest against the fee hikes, shout some slogans and burn some cars"? These people have no idea what they are asking for.

Do I care about the coming election? Discounting the fact that I can't actually vote, the answer is most definately NO. What I DO care about, though, is that fact that I, at 20 years of age, is not eligible for the progress package. All I got was a measly $100 that goes to each NSF.

Damn you, PAP, why can't you give out the package next year!!!?

{/12:53 PM}

me

Soundscape 2006.

Successful? Depends on how you see it.

Most of the participants (a.k.a the kids) seem to think it was. In fact I'll say all of them thought they did great! All the teachers thought they did great as well. So did Ai Hooi. So did many of the seniors who were there watching.

Makes me wonder, what would Ashleigh think of the concert if she had been there?

I wonder what yardstick they use when they deem Soundscape 2006 a success.

If it's about ticketing, sure, 90+% filled LT5 is pretty good in my book. As I told Angela and Stef, our batch and our seniors could not even fill LT1 back in 2003.

If it's about pleasing the crowd, it was successful too. They obviously loved the A cappella groups, and the Amos solo show.

If it's about the logistics of things, it was rather successful too, save for a few (expected) hiccups here and there. Nothing too serious.

If it's about show the world that they could run a concert all by themselves, well they certainly did.

And if it's about the music?

People always like to say, "it doesn't matter what the end result is, so long as we've tried our best and enjoyed ourselves in the process".

Technically I can't disagree with that, if I want to remain "politically soccret", so to speak.

But really, people just seem to use it as a crutch.

The music wasn't fantastic. I don't think anyone will disagree with me on that. What worries me is that everyone seemed to be happy with their performance. Why is that? Are they all that easily contented? Teachers aside, is Ai Hooi so easily contented as well? I'm quite sure if I had been singing, I would not have been happy about the performance. At all.

This is why we will never match up to the standard of VJC, or ACJC, or VC. Because we are too easily contented with ourselves.

And I actually have alumni members saying "I'm interested in singing for Cantab, but I'm not really keen on coming for practices." I mean, really, you want to sing, but don't want to practice?

/boggle

{/5:43 PM}

me